US3967477A — Multiple dial combination lock

Claim 1

Independent Claim 137 words

A combination lock comprising a bolt, means for moving the bolt between a locked and an unlocked position, a gate plate, means mounting the plate for movement along a line perpendicular to the plate between a first position holding the bolt in its locked position and a second position allowing the bolt to be moved to its open position, a plurality of openings in the gate plate, a plurality of tumblers mounted for rotation in the openings, having exposed dials for positioning the tumblers in accordance with a combination, a fence carried by each tumbler and a gate intersecting each opening in the plate to receive the fence and allow the plate to move along the longitudinal axis of the tumblers only when all of the tumblers are positioned in accordance with the combination of the lock.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 137 words

A combination lock comprising a bolt, means for moving the bolt between a locked and an unlocked position, a gate plate, means mounting the plate for movement along a line perpendicular to the plate between a first position holding the bolt in its locked position and a second position allowing the bolt to be moved to its open position, a plurality of openings in the gate plate, a plurality of tumblers mounted for rotation in the openings, having exposed dials for positioning the tumblers in accordance with a combination, a fence carried by each tumbler and a gate intersecting each opening in the plate to receive the fence and allow the plate to move along the longitudinal axis of the tumblers only when all of the tumblers are positioned in accordance with the combination of the lock.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 25 words

The combination lock of claim 1 further provided with means for locking the tumblers against rotation when the bolt is urged toward its unlocked position.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 59 words

The combination lock of claim 1 further provided with means for allowing the bolt to be moved only a limited distance toward its unlocked position after which the tumblers must be reset to another position before the bolt can be moved to its unlocked position to insure that the combination is not left exposed when the lock is open.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 86 words

The lock of claim 1 in which the gate plate includes a cam attached to the plate, and the bolt moving means includes a bolt control member for engaging the cam when the bolt is moved from its locked position toward its unlocked position, said cam being positioned to hold the bolt from moving to its unlocked position unless the tumblers have been positioned to the proper combination thereby allowing the cam to move out of holding position by moving the plate to its second position.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 73 words

The lock of claim 4 in which the bolt control member is pivotally mounted for movement between a position to engage the cam and a position for bypassing the cam and the lock further includes means located on the opposite side of the lock from the exposed dials of the tumblers for moving the member to its cam bypassing position to allow the lock to be opened from this side at any time.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 79 words

The lock of claim 1 in which each tumbler includes a dial portion and a barrel portion to which the fence is connected, and means connecting the barrel portion to the dial portion for rotation therewith, said connecting means being releasable when the fences of all of the tumblers are positioned in the gates of the gate plate to allow any or all of the dial portions to be set to a different number to thereby change the combination.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 148 words

The lock of claim 6 further provided with means for opening the lock when the combination is lost comprising a spare combination plate mounted parallel to the gate plate and having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of tumblers extend, each of said openings being large enough to also receive the fence carried by the tumbler located therein, a stop located in each opening to engage the fence and limit the rotation of the tumbler, and means for moving the spare combination plate into position for the stops to limit the rotation of the tumblers so that the fence of each tumbler can be rotated in one direction into engagement with the stop after which rotation of the tumblers through a predetermined angle will position the fences on the tumblers to move through the gates of the gate plate and allow the lock to be opened.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 54 words

The lock of claim 7 further provided with means mounting the stops in the openings for movement around the periphery of the opening and means for locking the stop against such movement when in the desired position and for releasing the stop for movement to another position to change the spare combination when desired.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 36 words

The lock of claim 1 in which each tumbler has a surface configuration that is positioned in a preselected relationship to the fence that can be used to open the lock should the combination be unavailable.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 43 words

The lock of claim 1 further provided with means located on one side of the lock to prevent the lock from being opened from the other side and means to automatically release said means when the lock is opened from said one side.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 191 words

A combination lock comprising a bolt movable between a locked and an unlocked position, means for holding the bolt in the locked position, a gate plate, means mounting the plate for movement along a line perpendicular to the plate between a first position allowing the bolt holding means to hold the bolt in the locked position and a second position that moves the bolt holding means out of holding engagement with the bolt to allow the bolt to move to its unlocked position, a plurality of openings in the gate plate, a plurality of tumblers mounted for rotation in the openings and having exposed dials for positioning the tumblers in accordance with a combination, a fence carried by each tumbler and a gate intersecting each opening in the plate to receive the fence and allow the plate to move along the longitudinal axis of the tumblers to its second position only when all of the tumblers are positioned in accordance with the combination of the lock and means to move the gate plate to its second position to release the bolt from the holding means for movement to its unlocked position.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 191 words

A combination lock comprising a bolt movable between a locked and an unlocked position, means for holding the bolt in the locked position, a gate plate, means mounting the plate for movement along a line perpendicular to the plate between a first position allowing the bolt holding means to hold the bolt in the locked position and a second position that moves the bolt holding means out of holding engagement with the bolt to allow the bolt to move to its unlocked position, a plurality of openings in the gate plate, a plurality of tumblers mounted for rotation in the openings and having exposed dials for positioning the tumblers in accordance with a combination, a fence carried by each tumbler and a gate intersecting each opening in the plate to receive the fence and allow the plate to move along the longitudinal axis of the tumblers to its second position only when all of the tumblers are positioned in accordance with the combination of the lock and means to move the gate plate to its second position to release the bolt from the holding means for movement to its unlocked position.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 25 words

The combination lock of claim 11 further provided with means for locking the tumblers against rotation when the bolt is urged toward its unlocked position.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 59 words

The combination lock of claim 11 further provided with means for allowing the bolt to be moved only a limited distance toward its unlocked position after which the tumblers must be reset to another position before the bolt can be moved to its unlocked position to insure that the combination is not left exposed when the lock is open.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 48 words

The lock of claim 11 in which the gate plate moving means includes cam means movable relative to the plate to move the plate to its second position and means operable outside the lock for moving the cam means to move the gate plate to its second position.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 69 words

The lock of claim 14 further provided with resilient means urging the gate plate toward its first position and the means for moving the cam means including resilient means for transmitting the moving force to the cam means to allow the moving means to be operated without moving the cam means when the tumblers are not in position to allow movement of the gate plate to its second position.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 79 words

The lock of claim 11 in which each tumbler includes a dial portion and a barrel portion to which the fence is connected, and means connecting the barrel portion to the dial portion for rotation therewith, said connecting means being releasable when the fences of all of the tumblers are positioned in the gates of the gate plate to allow any or all of the dial portions to be set to a different number to thereby change the combination.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 36 words

The lock of claim 11 in which each tumbler has a surface configuration that is positioned in a preselected relationship to the fence that can be used to open the lock should the combination be unavailable.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 59 words

The lock of claim 17 in which the surface configuration is a cavity and the lock is provided with pins movable from outside the lock to engage the cavities and position the tumblers in a preselected position from which they can be moved in accordance with a master combination to open the lock when the current combination is forgotten.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 87 words

The lock of claim 11 further provided with means for stopping the rotation of each tumbler in a known position and means for releasably holding the tumbler in each of the plurality of positions to which the dial may be moved so that the torque required to move the tumbler to successive positions is sufficient for an operator to feel the movement from position to position to allow the tumblers to be positioned to open the lock even though the dials cannot be seen by the operator.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 44 words

The lock of claim 19 in which the tumbler holding means includes a plurality of flat surfaces on each tumbler and resilient means engaging one of the flat surfaces in each position of the tumbler to resist rotation of the tumbler from such position.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 64 words

The lock of claim 14 provided with a housing for the lock mechanism and in which the means for moving the cam means includes a plunger assembly having one end attached to the cam means and the other end extending externally of the lock housing so that moving the plunger axially will urge the cam means to move the gate to open the lock.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 61 words

The lock of claim 21 in which the housing includes a plurality of parts held together by releasable means located inside the assembled housing, an opening in the housing providing access to the holding means, and means carried by the cam means to close the access opening except when the cam means has moved the gate plate to its second position.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 91 words

A combination lock comprising a bolt movable between a locked and an unlocked position, means for holding the bolt in the locked position, a plurality of tumblers having exposed dials for positioning the tumblers in accordance with a first combination, means for releasing the bolt holding means when the tumblers have been so positioned, and means for holding the bolt from moving to its unlocked position until the tumblers have been moved by the dials to a second combination to prevent the combination from being exposed while the lock is open.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 91 words

A combination lock comprising a bolt movable between a locked and an unlocked position, means for holding the bolt in the locked position, a plurality of tumblers having exposed dials for positioning the tumblers in accordance with a first combination, means for releasing the bolt holding means when the tumblers have been so positioned, and means for holding the bolt from moving to its unlocked position until the tumblers have been moved by the dials to a second combination to prevent the combination from being exposed while the lock is open.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 20 words

The lock of claim 23 in which all of the dials are returned to zero to form the second combination.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 43 words

The lock of claim 23 further provided with means to stop the rotation of the dials at a preselected number and with means to releasably resist rotation of each dial from each number to allow the first combination to be dialed by feel.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1979-07-06	1980-01-05	1980-07-06	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1983-07-06	1984-01-05	1984-07-06	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1987-07-06	1988-01-05	1988-07-06	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Multiple dial combination lock

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