Sargent v. Hall Safe Lock Co

• Decision Date: 30 March 1885
• Citation: 29 L.Ed. 67,5 S.Ct. 1021,114 U.S. 63
• Parties: SARGENT v. HALL SAFE & LOCK CO. and others
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

114 U.S. 63

5 S.Ct. 1021

29 L.Ed. 67

SARGENT v. HALL SAFE & LOCK CO. and others.

March 30, 1885.

Edmund Wetmore and George Ticknor Curtis, for appellant.

E. N. Dickerson and W. C. Cochran, for appellees.

BLATCHFORD, J.

This is a suit in equity, brought in March, 1877, in the circuit court of the United States for the southern district of Ohio, by James Sargent, the appellant, against the Hall Safe & Lock Company and others, the appellees, for the infringement of letters patent No. 186,369, granted to Surgent, January 16, 1877, for improvements in time-locks. It was afterwards consolidated, as of November, 1879, with another suit in equity, brought in July, 1876, in the same court, by the same plaintiff against the same defendants, for the infringement of reissued letters patent No. 6,787, granted to Sargent, december 7, 1875, for improvements in time-locks, on the surrender of original letters patent No. 121,782, granted to Stephen W. Hollen, December 12, 1871. The circuit court heard the case on plead ngs and proofs and dismissed the bill. The plaintiff had appealed, but no claim is made in this court to recover on the Hollen reissue. The specification and claims of No. 186,369 are as follows:

'Be it known that I, James Sargent, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, and state of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in locks for safe and vault doors, of which the following is a specification:

'This invention relates to certain improvements in locks for safe and vault doors, its object being to construct a time-movement in such a manner as to have it guard, and operate in conjunction with, a combination-lock, so as to render said combination-lock, when locked, inoperative and incapable of being unlocked until the arrival of the appointed hour, at which time the timemechanism will liberate or cease its guarding action on the combination-lock, and admit of said lock being operated and unlocked by the person having knowledge of the combination upon which said lock is set, so as to enable the bolt-work of the safe or vault door to be retracted and the door opened.

'My invention consists in combining a time-mechanism with a combination-lock, and adapting the same to operate in connection with the bolt-work of a safe or vault door, the time-mechanism being constructed to act in conjunction with, and guard, dog, or render inoperative, the aforesaid combination-lock, when locked, the said combination-lock having a bolt or bearing specially constructed and arranged, so that, when in one position, it will rest upon or receive the pressure of the bolt-work of the door when the latter is thrown out and the lock locked, and thus prevent the retraction of the bolt-work. This arrangement retains the bolt-work in a locked condition during the hours appointed for it to remain locked, and prevents the lock from being unlocked by any one having legiti- mate or surreptitious knowledge of the combination upon which the lock is set, until the arrival of the appointed hour, when the time-mechanism will cease its dogging or guarding action upon said combination-lock, and admit of said lock being operated by those in possession of the combination, so as to enable them to place the bolt or bearing of the lock in such position as to enable the retraction of the bolt-work, whereby the safe or vault door can be opened.

'The invention further consists in a certain combination, substantially as hereinafter set forth, that is to say, a union consisting of a combination-lock, a time-movement, and a yoke lever or connection, adapted to be placed upon a safe or vault door, to operate in conjunction with the bolt-work thereon, said yoke lever or connection being constructed and located in such respect to the combination-lock as to render the unlocking of the same absolutely impossible, when locked, and so remain locked until the arrival of the appointed or predeterminate time, at which time the said yoke lever or connection, through the action of the time-movement, is caused to cease its guarding or dogging action upon the combination-lock, at which time, or any time after during the time the time-mechanism has ceased its dogging or guarding action, the said lock can be unlocked by the person in possession of the proper combination upon which the lock is set, the peculiarity and novelty of this union being, that, when the said combination-lock with its time-mechanism, is arranged upon a safe or vault door, to operate in conjunction with the boltwork thereon, and all locked, the tumblers or combination-wheels of said lock, and the spindle of the same, together with its usual indicator, are all left free to be moved or rotated without exerting any unlocking action or rtrain whatever upon the mechanism composing the combination-lock, or the delicate mechanism composing the time-movement.

'In the drawings, figure 1 represents a portion of a safe or vault door, illustrating therein a bolt-work, and a combined time-mechanism and combination-lock, with covers removed, the bolt-work being thrown out into the jamb of the door, and the combination-lock locked and guarded by the time-movement. Fig. 2 is a detail view, illustrating a voke lever or connection adapted to connect with the dog, angle-bar, or fence of the combination-lock. Fig. 3 represents a portion of a safe or vault door, having thereon a boltwork, and a combined time-mechanism and combination-lick, the combination-lick being unlocked and the bolt-work retracted.

'Referring to the drawings, the letter A designates the case of a combination-lick, the lock-works of which may be of any of the well-known forms now in use, provided the same is supplied with a lock-bolt, or a bearing, constructed and arranged so as to connect with, or receive the pressure of the boltwork located on a safe or vault door, when said lock-bolt or bearing and the bolt-work are placed in a position for locking the door.

'The combination-lick illustrated in the drawings is one known as 'Sargent's Automatic Bank-Lock,' upon which letters patent were granted August 28, 1866, reissued January 2, 1872. Said combination-lock is shown as applied upon a safe or vault door, B, upon which is arranged a bolt-work, consisting of the usual bolt-supporting bars, C, bolts, D, carrying-bar, E having a tongue-piece, F, said carrying-bar serving as a medium for projecting or retracting the bolts into and out of the sockets, a, constructed in the jamb of the safe or vault, for the purpose of locking or unlocking the door, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The bolt-work has the requisite projecting or retracting motion imparted to it from the outside of the door, when opened or closed, through the medium of the usual knob, b, and the spindle, c, which spindle passes through the door, and connects with the carrying-bar by any suitable fastening, such as a slot, d, pin, e, and suitable fastening-nut. The lock-bolt or bearing of the combination-lock may be of a circular, segmental, or other desired form, provided said lock-bolt is arranged and adjusted so as to turn upon a suitable axis or bearing, and is so constructed that, in one position, it will prevent the retraction of the bolt-work, so as to retain the safe or vault door locked, while, in another position, it will admit of the bolt-work being retracted for the purpose of allowing the safe or vault door to be opened.

'In the present example, the lock-bolt is shown as provided with an offset or recess, f, which offset or recess is brought in or out of coincidence with the tongue-piece on the carrying-bar, to admit of the bolt-work being projected or retracted through the medium of a sliding-bar, H, which carries a dog, fence, or angle-bar, J, having a hook, g, which engages with the bit, h, of the cam, K, secured upon the dial-spindle, i, which spindle passes through the safe or vault door, in the usual manner, and serves to operate the series of tumblers or combination-wheels, L. The sliding-bar, H, is connected with the lock-bolt or bearing in any suitable manner, its object being to impart motion to said lock-bolt or bearing, to secure the objects above specified. The said lock-bolt or bearing, it will be perceived, is located in its casing, so as to rest closely in the rear of the tongue-piece or connection secured upon the carrying-bar, and is isolated, so to speak, from the tumblers or combination-wheels and the other main working parts of the lock, and, therefore, any strain which is brought to bear upon it by the heavy bolt-work will be expended upon the bolt or bearing, and its axis or bearing, and not upon the tumblers or combination-wheels.

'It will be seen that to unlock the combination-lock the hook of the dog, angle-bar, or fence, J, will drop into the notches or slots of the tumblers or combination-wheels, when the notches are brought into juxtaposition by the operator who has possession of the combination upon which the l ck is set, at which time the bit, h, of the cam, K, will also engage with the hook, g, of the said dog, angle-bar, or fence, when, by moving the dial-spindle, the lock-bolt or bearing can be moved or rotated so as to admit of the tongue-piece or connection, with the carrying-bar and bolt-work, being moved back or retracted, as in Fig. 3 of the drawing, and the safe or vault door opened; but, when said combination-lock is locked, the hook of the dog, angle-bar, or fence, J, is elevated, due to the combination-wheels being disarranged, as in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and then no action can be had upon the connecting-bar, dog, angle-bar, or fence, or upon the lock-bolt or bearing, by turning of the dialspindle, and hence the tongue-piece or connection on the carrying-bar of the bolt-work rests upon, or connects with, the lock-bolt or bearing, and the bolt-work is securely retained in a locked condition. With such combination-lock, or one of substantially the same construction and operation, constructed to be applied for...