Lock Device

Abstract

A lock device, particularly for a compartment of a strong room comprising a key operable bolt and a member for locking the bolt operated by an electromagnet. An actuator co-operates with the fillister of the compartment provided with the device. The actuator controls a series of electric switches arranged in a supply circuit for the electromagnet, whereby the condition of the switches represents the open and/or closed position of the door of the compartment.

Description

The invention relates to a lock device in particular for a compartment of a strong room or the like comprising a lock key operable bolt and a member for latching the bolt.

It is known that in safe-rooms, strong rooms or the like with a plurality of compartments to which users may have access, means are generally provided which enable the opening of the compartment by its owner or beneficiary only after authorization by a clerk responsible of the surveillance of all the compartments of the strong room.

In such known set-ups, where each compartment is equipped with a lock device which may be unlocked by remote control by an electromagnetic command controlled by the clerk in charge of the surveillance of all the compartments after the user has been identified, a failure in the source of electric current prevents the opening of the locks of the compartments and access by the user to his compartment is no longer possible.

In these set-ups, moveover possibilities of false manoeuvres are not excluded in closing the compartment so that a user may leave the strong room after removing the key from the lock without its compartment being closed.

A general object of the invention is to provide a lock device for a compartment of a strong room which overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages of known set-ups.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lock device which enables the clerk in charge of the surveillance of the compartments to determine from a distance the open and/or closed condition of the compartments.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lock device whose operability is possible even in case of a failure in the electric system of the control system for rendering the lock operative from a distance.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lock device that enables the reduction of the number of conductors necessary to connect a control and checking panel that the clerk is watching over in order to determine the condition of each of the compartments of the strong room.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a lock device that is of a simple construction and operation.

The lock device for a compartment of a strong room according to the invention comprises a bolt operable by a key of a mechanical lock, a member for locking the bolt, and an actuator adapted to co-operate with the fillister of the compartment provided with the device for the control of a series of electric contacts in the supply circuit of an electromagnet for operating the bolt locking member, the position of the contacts representing the open and/or closed condition of the door of the compartment provided with the device.

The invention will be fully understood from the description which follows and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a lock device according to the invention for a first embodiment ;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a member of a lock device ;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a switch device of a lock device ;

FIGS. 5-7 are schematic views illustrating different operating positions of the lock device ;

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram ;

FIG. 9 is a partial view analogous to FIG. 1 on a larger scale but for another embodiment ; and

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram relative to the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.

A lock device 10, (FIGS. 1 and 2), comprises a lock case 11 with a bottom wall 12 and side walls 13, 14, 15 and 16. A bolt 17 is adapted to co-operate with a catch G for the compartment on which the lock device is mounted and has a tail end 18 which extends along the side wall 13 of the case 11. The tail end 18 is adapted to be operated by a lock 50, for example a cylinder lock fixed to the bottom wall 12 of the case 11, and comprises a plate having a first rectangular portion 19 with longitudinal sides 20 and 21 in which is arranged a slot 22 for receiving a tongue 23 integral with the bottom 12 of the case for guiding the tail end of the bolt during translatory movement and a second inverted L-shaped portion 24 with longitudinal sides 25, 26 and lateral sides 27, 28 connected to the sides 20 and 21 of the portion 19. The latter terminates at its end portion remote from the portion adjacent the portion 24 as a flange 30 perpendicular to the plane of the plate 19 and having a cut out 31 through which passes a rod 32 extending parallel to the wall 16 of the lock case.

The rod 32 has a tip 36 at its end in the vicinity of the side wall 12 through which it extends by an opening 35. The tip 36 formed, for example of plastic material comprises a sleeve 37 fixed on the rod 32 and a head 38 disposed outside the case adapted to co-operate with the fillister of the compartment provided with the device. A pin 39 is fixed to the rod 32 for bearing one end of a spring 40, the other end of the spring bearing against a guiding ring 41 having a cylindrical portion 42 and a truncated conical portion 43 disposed between the flange 30 and the end of the rod 32 carrying the head 38. At its end remote from the head, the rod 32 carries a contact abutment 45 comprising a block having a rounded upper surface as shown at 46 in the drawings. The abutment 45 is retained at its forward end on the rod 32 by a clip 47 and at its rearward end by a plate 48 and a pin 49.

The length of the plate 48 is sufficient to co-operate with an unlocking member 52 (FIG. 3), pivotally mounted on the armature 57 of an electromagnet 58 fixed to the bottom wall of the case 11 by a support 63 integral with an angle iron 62. The member 52 which extends along a plane parallel to the bottom wall 12 of the case 11 comprises a generally elongate plate (FIG. 3) having a body 53 with a hole 54 for pivotally mounting it on a journal 54' projection from the bottom wall 12 of the case. The member 52 has an elongate portion 55 in which is located a slot 56 for mounting the armature 57 of the electromagnet 58. The elongate portion 55 of member 52 is delimited by a straight edge 55' which is at the top in the drawings as well as in the normal position of the lock, by a straight edge 55" parallel to the edge 55' followed by an oblique edge 57' connected to an oblique edge 58' which is slightly inclined relative to the edges 55' and 55", an edge 59 almost perpendicular to the edge 55' and 55" and an inclined edge 60 connected to the edge 61 at the end of the elongate portion 55.

An electric switch 64 is fixed on the angle iron 62 and comprises a pair of switch contacts A and B mounted on resilient blades 70, 71 and 72, 73 respectively (FIG. 4). The blades 71 and 72 carry at their free ends stud members 74 and 75 adapted to co-operate with the guiding ring 41 on the rod 32 and the rounded surface 46 of the block 45 respectively.

In addition to the mechanical lock 50 a second lock 80 is mounted on the bottom wall 12 of the case. The second lock 80 is, for example, a tumbler lock having a substantially L-shaped bolt end portion 82 with legs 83 and 84. An upstanding portion 87 perpendicular to the bottom wall 12 is provided at the free end of the leg 84 and has an appended portion which is large enough to co-operate with member 52.

The operation of the lock device according to the invention is as follows :

In the closed condition of a compartment provided with the present lock device, (FIg. 5), the bolt 17 is received in the catch G such that the flange 30 is substantially in line with the stud 74, the ring 41 co-operating with this stud. The rod 32 with its head 38 in engagement with the fillister of the compartment, compresses the spring 40 and is in its retracted position in which the rounded surface 46 of the abutment 45 faces the straight portion 55" of the unlocking member 52 close to the body 53 thereof. The switch contacts A and B are in their closed position, and an electrical signal indicating this condition may be transmitted to the control panel which is in front of the clerk.

As long as the electromagnetic 58 is not energized, member 52 is in the position in which the end of the elongate portion 55 faces the appended portion 88 on the end portion 82 of lock 80 and the stepped portion 59 is substantially in line with the upper part of the flange 30. The opening of the compartment by the actuation of the lock per se 50 is not possible since the translatory movement of the end of the bolt 19 in the direction of the arrow f is prevented by the abutting co-operation of the flange 30 with the stepped portion 59. In order to be able to open the compartment, the user must request the clerk to make the lock device operative. By actuating the electromagnet 58 the clerk causes the pivoting of the member 52 in the direction of the arrow p about the pivot 54' in order to disengage the flange 30 and the stepped portion at 59 thereby enabling the actuation of the lock 50 and thus the movement of the bolt 17.

In the case of a failure in the electrical system where it is not possible to render the lock 50 operative by the energization of the electromagnet 58 from the surveillance station, the actuation of the lock 80 causes the displacement of the end portion of the bolt 82 thereof along the direction f and the appended portion 88 in co-operation with the elongate portion 55 brings about the pivoting of the unlocking member 52 in order to pass the stepped portion 55 over the flange 30 : the operation of the bolt 17 by the lock 50 is thus made possible.

As soon as the bolt has been operated by means of the lock 50, after rendering it operative from the surveillance station, or by actuating the lock 80, the position is that shown in FIG. 6 in which the user can open his compartment. The member 52 is held in its unoperative position and is maintained in this position by the co-operation of the flange 30 with the edge 58 on the elongate portion 55. The ring 41 fixed to the flange 30 which is displaced in the direction of the arrow f is no longer facing the stud 74 : the contact A is open and the contact B, the stud 75 of which is out of engagement with the rounded surface 46 remains closed. An electrical signal of the opened condition of the compartment may be transmitted to the control panel at the surveillance station. The head 38 is in its retracted position, the flange 30 being in contact with the front face of the abutment 45. The spring 40 is in its unbiased condition.

If the user removes the key from the lock 50 without closing the compartment, the bolt is caused to move outwardly and the condition of the compartment is that shown in FIG. 7. The unlocking member 52 is maintained in the same upper position as shown in FIG. 6 by the upper surface of the plate 48 and not by the upper surface of the flange 30. The distance between the flange and the plate is such that in moving the end portion of the bolt 18 in the direction f', opposite the arrow f, the plate reaches the edge 58 of the elongate portion 55 of member 52 substantially at the moment the flange leaves this edge. During this movement in the direction of arrow f', the flange 30 by bearing against the rear portion of the guiding ring 41 drives the rod 32 with its end carrying the tip 36 visibly beyond the side wall 13 as does the bolt 17 owing to the operation of the key in the lock 50. The stud 74 engages the ring 41 and the stud 75 engages the abutment 45 so that the contact A is closed and the contact B is opened which signals the clerk in charge of monitoring the strong room that the compartment has not been closed if (see FIG. 8) the switches A and B are arranged in series in a circuit 90 including the coil of the electromagnet 58 in addition to a push button or the like for controlling the coil of the electromagnet 58, together with an audio or visual indicator.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 9 and 10 which relates to another embodiment of the lock device. In this embodiment of a construction similar to that illustrated in the previous Figures, the electric circuitry comprises a first contact switch A with resilient blades 70a and 71a and a second contact switch B with resilient blades 72a and 73a. The blade 71a of the switch A has a stud 74 at its free end and the free end of the blade 73a of switch B is arranged to be actuated by the armature 57 of the electromagnet 58.

The operation of this embodiment is substantially the same as that of the previous embodiment.

The electric circuit comprising the electromagnet 58 and the switches A and B is as shown in FIG. 10 with, as shown at the right of this Figure, the push button 91 of the unlocking devices as well as the lamp advantageously incorporated in the push button to indicate the open and/or closed position of the compartment door.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A lock device, particularly for the door of a compartment of a strong room, comprising a key-operable bolt, a bolt-locking member, an electromagnet operatively connected to said member for actuating the same, electric switches arranged in a current supply of said electromagnet, and an actuator adapted to co-operate with the fillister of the compartment equipped with the device and with said electric switches, whereby the condition of said switches represents the open or closed position of the door of the compartment.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises the tip of a rod extending parallel to the bolt, the end of said rod remote from the bolt-carrying means being adapted to co-operate with movable contact blades of said switches.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein said rod is slidably mounted and biased by resilient means, and wherein the means adapted to co-operate with the movable contact blades comprise a ring adapted to co-operate with a movable contact blade of a first electric switch adjacent a flange on the end of the bolt, a second switch having a movable contact blade adapted to be actuated selectively by an abutment fixed to the rod and by displacement of the armature of the electromagnet for controlling the unlocking of the lock.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the electric switches adapted to be controlled by said ring and said abutment fixed to said rod are arranged in series with the coil of the electromagnet, whereby two electrical conductors only are needed for controlling the electromagnetic unlocking and the transmission of data relative to the open or closed condition of the door of the compartment equipped with the device.

5. An apparatus for locking a door comprising, a key-operable bolt, a bolt-locking member, an electromagnet operatively connected to said member for actuating the same, electric switches arranged in a current supply of said electromagnet, an actuator adapted to co-operate with the fillister of the compartment equipped with the device and with said electric switches, whereby the condition of said switches represents the open or closed position of the door of the compartment, and a lock adapted to be actuated by a key for controlling said bolt-locking member independently of said electromagnet.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said lock is a tumbler-type lock having a bolt one end of which is made as an appendix adapted to co-operate with said bolt locking member.