PADLOCK CONSTRUCTION

• US 3,750,431 A
• Filed: 08/29/1972
• Issued: 08/07/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Wallace E. Atkinson
• Original Assignee: Wallace E. Atkinson
• Inventors: Atkinson, Wallace E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wolfe, Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US05/284,581
• Time in Patent Office: 343 Days
• Field of Search: 70/21,22,24,27,28,29,41,42,43,45,46,47,48,52
• US Class Current: 70/21
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 37/0034 actuated by either
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 37/025 in padlocks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/415 Combination and/or key-controlled
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/428 Pivoted
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/465 Pivoted

Abstract

An exposed shackle combination padlock having a padlock body and a U-shaped shackle capable of lateral swinging movement to shift a shackle leg through an arcuate path between locking and unlocking positions. The padlock body includes an outer shell portion and a core portion reciprocatively movable relative to each other. The other shackle leg is journaled in the core portion and the shell portion includes a barrier wall portion normally blocking the shackle in locking position when said shell and core portions occupy a selected registering position and shifted out of such blocking position when said shell and core portions are shifted to a displaced relative position. Combination dial wheel assemblies and a fence member selectively interlock the shell and core portions in the registering position. A key locking mechanism may also be provided in the padlock to make both combination locking and key locking available in the same padlock, or key locking alone.

Claims

1. An exposed shackle combination padlock comprising a padlock body and a U-shaped shackle having first and second legs, the shackle being capable of lateral swinging movement about the axis of the first leg to shift the second leg through an arcuate path between locking and unlocking positions, the padlock body including an outer shell portion and a core portion reciprocatively movable relative to each other in directions paralleling said axis, said core portion including means supporting said first leg for lateral swinging movement relative to the core portion and for reciprocative movement with said core portion relative to the shell portion, the shell portion including a barrier wall portion having a normal blocking position barring movement of said second leg from said locking position when said shell and core portions occupy a selected registering position, said barrier wall portion being moved out of such blocking position when said shell and core portions are shifted to a displaced relative position along said axis to permit movement of the second shackle leg to unlocking position, a fence member carried by said core portion, and combination dial wheel assemblies for normally holding the fence member at a position restraining the core and shell portions against displacement from said registering position and having relieved portions for accommodating movement of the fence member to a release position when the dial wheel assemblies assume a selected combination condition to permit movement of the shell and core portions to the displaced relative position.

2. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 1, wherein said core portion has a recess for accommodating said second leg at the locking position thereof and a curved access passage communicating with said recess to accommodate a portion of said second leg during its movement through said arcuate path to unlocking position, and said barrier wall portion being integral with the shell portion and occupying said access passage when the shell and core portions are in said registering position.

3. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 1, wherein said shell portion is of elongated channel shaped configuration defining a base wall portion and channel side wall portions surrounding three sides of said core portion and defining a slide channel within which the core portion is relatively movable along a slide axis between said registering position and said displaced relative position.

4. An exposed shackle combination paDlock as defined in claim 2, wherein said shell portion is of elongated channel shaped configuration defining a base wall portion and channel side wall portions surrounding three sides of said core portion and defining a slide channel within which the core portion is relatively movable along a slide axis between said registering position and said displaced relative position.

5. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second legs of said shackle have laterally extending feet at the lower ends, thereof, and said core portion having means defining socket formations opening through an end wall thereof for accommodating the lower end portions of said shackle legs and having enlarged socket portions spaced inwardly from said end wall for accommodating said feet and restraining the shackle against movement outwardly of said end wall in the direction of said axis.

6. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 3, wherein said first and second legs of said shackle have laterally extending feet at the lower ends thereof, and said core portion having means defining socket formations opening through an end wall thereof for accommodating the lower end portions of said shackle legs and having enlarged socket portions spaced inwardly from said end wall for accommodating said feet and restraining the shackle against movement outwardly of said end wall in the direction of said axis.

7. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 5, wherein one of said socket formations defines a recess for accommodating said second leg when the shackle is in locking position and includes a curved access passage extending along said arcuate path for movement of the lower end portion of said second leg to said unlocking position, and said barrier wall portion being integral with the shell portion and occupying said access passage when the shell and core portions are in said registering position.

8. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 1, wherein said core portion includes socket formations opening through an end wall for accommodating the lower end portions of said first and second legs, said first and second legs having laterally projecting feet extending from the lower ends thereof, and the socket formation for said first leg extending laterally through a side of said core portion and being closed by an adjacent side portion of said shell portion when the shell and core portions occupy said registering position.

9. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 3, wherein said core portion includes socket formations opening through an end wall thereof for accommodating the lower end portions of said first and second legs, said first and second legs having laterally projecting feet extending from the lower ends thereof, and the socket formation for said first leg extending laterally through a side of said core portion and being closed by an adjacent side portion of said channel shaped shell portion when the shell and core portions occupy said registering position.

10. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 1, wherein said dial wheel assemblies are disposed in axially spaced coaxial relation along a common dial wheel axis transverse to said axis of said first leg, each dial wheel assembly comprising an outer annular wheel member having a central bore and an indicia bearing periphery and an inner hub slidably and rotatably journaled for movement relative to said common axis and extending entirely through the bore of the associated wheel member, a pair of the hubs having cylindrical end portions journaled in said core portion and each of the hubs having a circumferential portion coacting with said fence member to restrain the latter in locking position and having a flat at a selected angular position for admitting unlocking movement of the fence member.

11. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 2, wherein said dial wheel assemblies are disposed in axially spaced coaxial relation along a common dial wheel axis transverse to said axis of said first leg, each dial wheel assembly comprising an outer annular wheel member having a central bore and an indicia bearing periphery and an inner hub slidably and rotatably journaled for movement relative to said common axis and extending entirely through the bore of the associated wheel member, a pair of the hubs having cylindrical end portions journaled in said core portion and each of the hubs having a circumferential portion coacting with said fence member to restrain the latter in locking position and having a flat at a selected angular position for admitting unlocking movement of the fence member.

12. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 3, wherein said dial wheel assemblies are disposed in axially spaced coaxial relation along a common dial wheel axis transverse to said axis of said first leg, each dial wheel assembly comprising an outer annular wheel member having a central bore and an indicia bearing periphery and an inner hub slidably and rotatably journaled for movement relative to said common axis and extending entirely through the bore of the associated wheel member, a pair of the hubs having cylindrical end portions journaled in said core portion and each of the hubs having a circumferential portion coacting with said fence member to restrain the latter in locking position and having a flat at a selected angular position for admitting unlocking movement of the fence member.

13. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 4, wherein said dial wheel assemblies are disposed in axially spaced coaxial relation along a common dial wheel axis transverse to said axis of said first leg, each dial wheel assembly comprising an outer annular wheel member having a central bore and an indicia bearing periphery and an inner hub slidably and rotatably journaled for movement relative to said common axis and extending entirely through the bore of the associated wheel member, a pair of the hubs having cylindrical end portions journaled in said core portion and each of the hubs having a circumferential portion coacting with said fence member to restrain the latter in locking position and having a flat at a selected angular position for admitting unlocking movement of the fence member.

14. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 8, wherein said dial wheel assemblies are disposed in axially spaced coaxial relation along a common dial wheel axis transverse to said axis of said first leg, each dial wheel assembly comprising an outer annular wheel member having a central bore and an indicia bearing periphery and an inner hub slidably and rotatably journaled for movement relative to said common axis and extending entirely through the bore of the associated wheel member, a pair of the hubs having cyindrical end portions journaled in said core portion and each of the hubs having a circumferential portion coacting with said fence member to restrain the latter in locking position and having a flat at a selected angular position for admitting unlocking movement of the fence member.

15. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 1 including a key operable bolt member supported by one of said body portions for reciprocative movement between a locking and unlocking position, the other body portion having a locking recess to receive an end portion of said bolt member in interlocking relation when the bolt member is in said locking position and the shell and core portions occupy said registering position, and a key bushing journaled in said one of said body portions for admitting a portion of a key into operative engagement with the bolt member for moving the latter between its locking and unlocking positions.

16. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 4 including a key operable bolt member supported by one of said body portions for rectilinear reciprocative movement between a locking and an unlocking Position, the other body portion having a locking recess to receive an end portion of said bolt member in interlocking relation when the bolt member is in said locking position and the shell and core portions occupy said registering position, and a key bushing journaled in said one of said body portions for admitting a portion of a key into operative engagement with the bolt member for moving the latter between its locking and unlocking positions.

17. An exposed shackle combination padlock as defined in claim 13 including a key operable bolt member supported by one of said body portions for rectilinear reciprocative movement between a locking and an unlocking position, the other body portion having a locking recess to receive an end portion of said bolt member in interlocking relation when the bolt member is in said locking position and the shell and core portions occupy said registering position, and a key bushing journaled in said one of said body portions for admitting a portion of a key into operative engagement with the bolt member for moving the latter between its locking and unlocking positions.

18. An exposed shackle padlock comprising a padlock body and a U-shaped shackle having first and second legs, the shackle being capable of lateral swinging movement about the axis of the first leg to shift the second leg through an arcuate path between locking and unlocking positions, the padlock body including an outer shell portion and a core portion reciprocatively movable relative to each other in directions paralleling said axis, said core portion including means supporting said first leg for lateral swinging movement relative to the core portion and for reciprocative movement with said core portion relative to the shell portion, the shell portion including a barrier wall portion having a normal blocking position barring movement of said second leg from said locking position when said shell and core portions occupy a selected registering position, said barrier wall portion being moved out of such blocking position when said shell and core portions are shifted to a displaced relative position along said axis to permit movement of the second shackle leg to unlocking position, and manually operable means for normally restraining the core and shell portions against displacement from said registering position, and movable to a release position for accomodating movement of the core portion relative to the shell portion to the displaced relative position to effect said unlocking position.

19. An exposed shackle padlock as defined in claim 18 wherein said manually operable means for normally restraining the core and shell portions against displacement from said registering position include a key operable bolt member supported by one of said body portions for reciprocative movement between a locking and unlocking position, the other body portion having a locking recess to receive an end portion of said bolt member in interlocking relation when the bolt member is in said locking position and the shell and core portions occupy said registering position, and a key bushing journaled in said one of said body portions for admitting a portion of a key into operative engagement with the bolt member for moving the latter between its locking and unlocking positions.