US3608341A - Safety medicine chest - Google Patents

Abstract

A SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST, WHICH CAN BE MADE ENTIRELY FROM PLASTIC, TO PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY BY CHILDREN, INCLUDING A CABINET HAVING OVERLAPPING SLIDING DOORS WITH A LATCH MEMBER CENTRALLY LOCATED TO PREVENT OPENING OF EITHER DOOR UNTIL A LOCK APPARATUS IS OPERATED. THE LOCK APPARATUS INCLUDES A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED TUMBLER MEMBERS EXTENDING ACROSS THE CHEST IN A CHAMBER AT THE LOWER FRONT PORTION OF THE CHEST, THE TUMBLERS BEING DESIGNED TO PERMIT THE LATCH MEMBER TO BE PUSHED DOWNWARDLY AND OUT OF CONFLICT WITH THE MOTION OF THE DOORS ONLY WHEN THEY HAVE BEEN PLACED IN PREDETERMINED RELATIVE LOCATIONS. THE TUMBLERS ARE ACTUATED BY A SLIDE MEMBER WHICH IS OPERABLE FROM THE FRONT OF THE CHEST BY A SLIDE MEMBER WHICH PROTRUDES THROUGH A LOWER FRONT PANEL ON THE CHEST AND IS LINEARLY MOVABLE ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE CHEST. THE SLIDE PROTRUDES THROUGH AN ELONGATED SLOT ABOVE WHICH WORDS ARE IMPRINTED OR EMBOSSED. THE PERMUTATION FOR PROPERLY LOCATING THE TUMBLERS IS ARRIVED AT BY SPELLING A WORD, MOVING THE SLIDE SEQUENTIALLY TO VARIOUS LETTERS IN THE LEGEND ADJACENT THE SLOT. THE FINAL POSITION LOCATES THE SLIDE MEMBER ITSELF ADJACENT THE LATCH CARRYING MEMBER WITHOUT MOVING A TUMBLER, THE SLIDE CONSTITUTING THE FINAL TUMBLER. PORTIONS OF THE DEVICE WHICH MOVE RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER ARE RATCHETED TO PREVENT PICKING THE LOCK. BY USING A WORD FOR THE COMBINATION, OPENING BY ONE WHO CANNOT SPELL, OR WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE KEY WORD, IS PREVENTED.

Description

Sept. 28, 1971 6;. s. GALTZ 5 SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST Filed July 6, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 29 WEHW 75m "1'" 4 I 53 INVI'JNI'OH.

CIMRLES 5 641.12

p 8, 1971 c. s. GALTZ 3,608,341

SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST F1 5, CH/IRLE'S 5. GALT 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 z \& Mm m 6 E w, & o m T m s. M M 6. E Q m llll i H \n C W ww Sept. 28, 1971 c. s. GALTZ SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST Filed July 6. 1970 w ||T /T El f .yw Q QM m fr m- N h w m k m. v T 3 v n m w p 28, 1971 c. S.'GALTZ 3,608,341

SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST Filed July 6, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 H D N H I a iz l lia lu INVI'JNIUH. C/MRLESSGALTZ ATTORNEYS Sept. 1971 c. s. GALTZ 3,608,341

SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST Filed July 6, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 01 fice 3,608,34l Patented Sept. 28, 1971 3,608,341 SAFETY MEDICINE CHEST Charles S. Galtz, Pittsburgh, Pa., assiguor to Namir Industries, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed July 6, 1970, Ser. No. 52,649 Int. Cl. Fb 65/08, 37/00 US. Cl. 70-95 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A safety medicine chest, which can be made entirely from plastic, to prevent unauthorized entry by children, including a cabinet having overlapping sliding doors with a latch member centrally located to prevent opening of either door until a lock apparatus is operated. The lock apparatus includes a plurality of elongated tumbler members extending across the chest in a chamber at the lower front portion of the chest, the tumblers being designed to permit the latch member to be pushed downwardly and out of conflict with the motion of the doors only when they have been placed in predetermined relative locations. The tumblers are actuated by a slide member which is operable from the front of the chest by a slide member which protrudes through a lower front panel on the chest and is linearly movable across the front of the chest. The slide protrudes through an elongated slot above which words are imprinted or embossed. The permutation for properly locating the tumblers is arrived at by spelling a word, moving the slide sequentially to various letters in the legend adjacent the slot. The final position locates the slide member itself adjacent the latch carrying member without moving a tumbler, the slide constituting the final tumbler. Portions of the device which move relative to each other are ratcheted to prevent picking the lock. By using a word for the combination, opening by one who cannot spell, or who does not know the key word, is prevented.

This invention relates to chests or cabinets for storing materials which can be dangerous, and for preventing entry into the chest by unauthorized persons, especially children, but including persons who cannot spell or persons who do not know the key word used in the operation of the lock.

Much effort has gone into the design of chests for storing medications, drugs, poisons and the like to safely store such articles so that they cannot be obtained by individuals too young to recognize the danger in their use. Especially, the major emphasis has been on designing cabinets which can be quickly and easily operated by an adult but which frustrate the attempts of a curious child to gain entry. Because of the fact that cabinets of this general class should be readily obtainable by anyone having small children, it is highly desirable that the cabinet be available at relatively low cost so that the safety features inherent in their use will not be available only to the wealthy.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety medicine chest which can be manufactured at low cost from plastic parts which can be molded.

It is a further object to provide a safety medicine cabinet or chest which functions quickly and easily and can be readily opened by an adult, but which cannot be opened by one too young to be able to spell.

Yet another object is to provide a safety medicine chest which does not require a key and which, therefore, includes a permutation type of lock, the permutation being arranged so as to be easily remembered.

A further object is to provide a safety medicine chest in which a permutation lock is used, and in which the tumbler members of the lock are sturdy and operate smoothly, but which nevertheless are inexpensive to manufacture and which provide definite security.

Briefly described, the invention includes a case having five closed sides and an open side with at least one, and preferably two, doors closing the open side. Frame means surround the open side to retain the doors and hold means for permitting motion of the doors between a closed position and an open position. Releasable latch means is mounted in the frame means for retaining the doors in a closed position until the latch means is released. A lock apparatus is mounted adjacent the frame means in which the latch is mounted for controllably releasing the latch, the lock means including a latch arm which supports the latch means, and a number of tumbler plates each having an opening. A slide is movable through the frame means from the open side of the case for selectively and sequentially moving the plates to align the openings for releasing the latch means, the frame means also including guide means for restricting the motion of the slide to linear motion wherein the plates are sequentially aligned.

In order that the manner in which the foregoing and other objects are attained in accordance with the invention can be understood in detail, a particularly advantageous embodiment thereof will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view, partly in section, of the safety cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a staggered fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged transverse fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken on line 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical view taken on line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view, taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 3 with the slide in the position under the letter D;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged isomertic view of the slide member;

FIGS. 10-13 are elevational views of the back plate, the front plate, the latching element and the separator plate, respectively;

FIG. 14 is an exploded isometric view of the tumblers and the latch member, respectively; and

FIGS. 15-18 are schematic diagrams of the tumblers and latching member illustrating the permutation positions thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a specific embodiment of the invention includes a case indicated generally at 20 which is a box-shaped structure having a top wall 21, a left side wall 22, a back wall 23, a right side wall 24, and a bottom wall 25. The exposed edge of top wall 21 is provided with a top frame member 26 which extends entirely across the upper edge of the open side and which can be adhered or otherwise conveniently fastened in place against the top wall. The front edges 27 and 28 of side walls 22 and 24, respectively, form side frames for the open side of the case. A bottom frame member which also constitutes the front panel 29 extends across the exposed edge of bottom wall 25 and extends upwardly along the exposed edges 27 and 28 of side walls 22 and 24 to cover the lower portions of the edges. These four frame portions completely surround the open side, front panel 29 additionally partially closing that open side. The amount of closure accomplished by panel 29 is, of course, a function of the actual dimensions of the cabinet which can vary substantially and which are of no specific importance to the invention.

Case 20 and the frame and front panel members thus far described can conveniently be manufactured from a plastic such as a high impact polystyrene and, although they can also be manufactured from metal or other suitable materials, the fact that the structure can be manufactored inexpensively from plastic is a considerable advantage. The specific embodiment shown also advantageously includes a vertical center divider, not shown, and structural support members and shelf supports 30, 31, 32 and 33 which extend along the interior of walls 22 and 24 and can extend across the entire cabinet.

The back wall 23 of the case is provided with conventional "keyhole openings 34 for mounting the cabinet on a wall, although the cabinet can also be inserted through an opening in a wall in a conventional manner.

The remaining open portion of the front of the cabinet is closed by two sliding doors, a right door 35 and a left door 36. Door 35 rides in upper and lower tracks, the upper track 37 being formed in upper frame member 26 as a downwardly opening U-shaped channel. The lower track 38 is an upwardly opening U-shaped channel formed in the upper portion of front panel and lower frame member 29. It will be observed that member 29, in addition to including the front panel, includes two rearwardly extending portions 39 and 40, member 39 being the main support for the lower edge of the door and constituting the lower frame member. Members 39 and 40 with the front panel portion constitute three sides of a chamber which contains the lock to be hereinafter described in greater detail.

Door 36 similarly rides in a downwardly opening U- shaped channel 41 formed in upper frame member 26 and the lower edge of door 36 rides in an upwardly opening U-shaped channel 42 formed in portion 39 of member 29. The outer edges of doors 35 and 36 terminate in vertical frame portions 43 and 44, respectively, which are formed on and move with the doors, to match the other frame portions in appearance and to prevent entry from the sides.

As seen in FIG. 1, front panel 29 includes an elongated slot 45 which extends across the front panel for nearly the entire width of the chest. A slide member 46 protrudes through the slot so that the edges of the slot act as a guide means to limit the motion of the slide to longitudinal motion across the front of the chest. The slide is provided with a central depression 47 into which ones finger can be inserted to move the slide to various positions in slot 45.

Immediately above slot 45 is the legend Safety Medicine Chest, a legend which not only describes and identifies the structure but which provides the indicia 48 by which a series of slide movements can be accomplished to operate the lock to be described. As previously indicated, a significant aspect of this invention is the use of letters in the legend to spell out a word other than the words appearing in the legend to arrange the tumblers and the lock in the proper alignment for opening the chest. For purposes of illustration, the combination word HAND will be used. Accordingly, to unlock the chest the slide will be moved first to the letter H in the chest, then to the letter A in safety, then to the letter N in medicine and then to the letter D in medicine. It will become apparent hereinafter that the slide must be moved in this sequence in order to properly align the tumblers, and it will also become apparent that the motion of the slide is in smaller increments as the combination is operated. These features tend to minimize the possibility of accidental or unauthorized unlocking of the chest.

As will be seen in the broken out portion of FIG. 1 and the section of FIG. 2, the front panel and the rearwardly extending portions 39 and 40 together with a rear panel 49 constitute four sides of a chamber which include the lock mechanism. The lock mechanuism controls the movability of latching means which protrudes upwardly through a central opening 50 in rearwardly extending portion 39 of the front panel structure. The latching means, which is more clearly seen in FIGS. 3 and 8, includes two upwardly extending tabs or lugs 51 and 52 which are carried by a tab plate 53. Lug 51 extends upwardly adjacent the inner edge of door 35 and, when the lock mechanism is set to prevent motion of the tabs, prevents door 35 from being moved from its closed to an open position. Similarly, lug 52 prevents motion of door 36 from its closed position. As will be seen in FIG. 3, door 35 includes an inwardly extending surface 54 which abuts an upwardly extending surface of lug 51 to prevent motion of the door. Similarly, door 36 includes a surface 55 which abuts lug 52. This relationship can be seen from the partial section of FIG. 7, the surfaces of the lugs facing the doors being at approximately a 45 angle to the vertical and the abutting surfaces 54 and 55 similarly being angled to mate with the tab surfaces. It will be observed that the tendency is for the angled surfaces of the door to press the tabs downwardly and out of interfering relationship. However, so long as the lock members are so placed to keep the tab plate and its tabs from moving downwardly, the camming action cannot occur.

Tab plate 53 is carried by a latch arm 56 which forms an integral part of the lock structure.

FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 8 show the relationship of the various portions of the lock structure at the front of which is front panel 29 and at the rear of which is rear plate 49.

Immediately behind front panel 29 is a front spacer 60' which extends between the end walls 22 and 24. Spacer 60 includes a forwardly extending lateral rib 61 which abuts the rear surface of front panel 29 and holds the main body of the spacer away from panel 29. This forms a channel in which slider 46 can move laterally across the front of the chest. Immediately behind spacer 60 is a first tumbler 62 which will be referred to as the H tumbler. Immediately behind the H tubler is an intermediate spacer 63 which separates the H tumbler from the A tumbler 64 which lies between spacer 63 and the latch member 56. Behind the latch member, and in front of back plate 49 is the N tumbler 65.

The location, mounting and action of latch arm 56 can be seen from FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 12. The right-hand end of latch arm 56 is formed with a cylindrical extension 66 which protrudes forwardly toward spacer 60 and rearwardly toward back plate 49. Protrusion 66 has a central bore 67 which extends completely through the cylindrical protrusion to receive a cylindrical peg 68 which protrudes from the rear surface of spacer 60 and provides an axis about which latch arm 56 can pivot. As previously mentioned, latch arm 56 carries the tab plate 53 and, in the most counterclockwise position of latch arm 56, as viewed in FIG. 5, the latch plate and the tabs carried thereby protrude upwardly to interfere with movement of the doors and retain the doors in their closed positions. The arm is normally maintained in the locked or latched position by a compression coil spring 69 which abuts the inner surface of the side wall at one end and surrounds a tab 70 which protrudes outwardly toward the side wall from the lower end of the right-hand portion of latch arm 56. When the lock mechanism is operated to release latch arm 56, the latch arm still remains in the counterclockwise position due to the action of spring 69 and is moved clockwise to its released position only when one of the doors is moved. Movement of one of the doors causes either surface 54 or 55 to press against the mating surface of one of the tabs, causing the tabs, the tab plate and the latch arm to move downwardly, pivoting the latch arm in a slightly rotary movement clockwise as illustrated in FIG. 12.

The details of the slide member are more clearly seen in FIG. 9 wherein the member is seen to include a substantially vertical portion which is integrally formed with a horizontal rearwardly extending portion 76 which forms an L with member 75. At the front surface of member 75 is an operating portion 77 which has upper and lower surfaces which abut the upper and lower interior surfaces of slot 45 and limit the motion of the slide member to linear transverse motion across the front of the chest. Finger opening 47 is formed in protrusion 77. At the right end of portion 76 is an operating tab 78 which is disposed to come in contact with the tumblers and the lower surface of the latch arm to operate these members as the slide is moved. The tab is in an L shape and can be integrally formed with the remainder of slide member 46. It will be seen that the rearwardly extending portion of the slide member, including portion 76 and tab 78, presents three levels to the other portions of the lock. The upper surface of member 76 generally does not come in contact or operate with any of the other portions of the lock. The tab is primarily relied upon to perform the various necessary operations as will be seen in the discussion of the individual tumbler members.

FIG. is a front elevation of back plate 49 which is seen to include a boss 80 which protrudes forwardly from the front surface of back plate 49 and is aligned, when the unit is assembled, with the rearwardly extending portion of cylinder 66 on the latch arm. A transverse rib 81 and a rib 82 extend across and protrude from the front surface of the back plate to provide structural rigidity and to permit tab 78 to provide structural rigidity and to permit tab 78 to extend beyond tumbler 65. Vertical ribs 83 and 84 serve similar functions. Rib 82 in addition acts as a seal to prevent entry of liquids into the lock chamber, and also provides a sliding contact surface for base 76. Holes 85 at the corners of plate 49 are provided so that pins can be passed therethrough for assembly of the structure.

FIG. 11 is a front elevation of front spacer 60 showing the forward extension 61, which is a continuous transverse rib at the upper edge of spacer 60, and which contacts the rear surface of front plate 29 as previously discussed. Vertical ribs 86 and 87 are provided to maintain parallel relationship between front plate 29 and plate 60. It will be noted that a centrally located recess 88 is provided on the back surface of spacer 60 at the upper edge thereof. This recess is to provide clearance for tab plate 53 as it moves downwardly into the unlatched position. This can be more clearly seen in FIG. 8. It will be noted that the lower end corners of plate 60 are notched to permit ribs to be passed from the front to the rear plate.

FIG. 13 shows the inner spacer 63 which is provided with a centrally located rectangular notch 89 which provides clearance for tab plate 53 as the plate moves downwardly. Spacer 63 also includes a hole 90 through which protrusion 66 can pass. As previously discussed, spacer 63 lies between the H and A tumblers, 62 and 64 respectively, in the assembled apparatus to prevent undesirable frictional contact between the tumblers.

FIG. 14 shows the H, A and N tumblers and the latch arm in exploded relationship with the spacers and other apparatus not being shown. This figure shows the three tumblers with their notches properly aligned to permit tab plate 53 to be moved downwardly as latch arm 56 rotates. It will be seen that tumbler 62 includes a notch 91 in its upper edge, tumbler 64 includes a notch 92 in its upper edge, and tumbler 65 includes a notch 93. When these notches are aligned by moving the tumblers transversely to their proper positions, movement of either door presses the appropriate tab downwardly, rotating latch arm 56 clockwise and releasing the doors for movement. It will be observed that the upper edges of each of the tumblers is serrated and that the lower surface of tab plate 53 is similarly serrated to create a jamming action preventing .motion of the tumblers while any opening force is being applied to either door. With this feature, it is impossible to detect the arrival of any tumbler at the notched position or to detect any specific relationship between parts, thus tending to inhibit unauthorized picking of the lock. Similarly, the lower edge of at least part of latch arm 56 is similarly serrated to engage an upper surface of tab 78 on slide 46.

It will be noted that the three tumblers shown in FIG. 14 are sufiicient only to spell out the first three letters of the word HAND. The fourth letter, however, is also necessary to open the lock. Latch arm 56 is not released so long as tab 78 on the slide is anywhere except in thenotch 94 which protrudes inwardly from the lower surface of latch arm 56. Thus, even though the three tumblers are properly located, the slide must also be properly located in order to operate the lock. It will also be noted that the lower surface of the distal end of latch arm 56 is bevelled at 95 and 96 to permit the latch arm to rotate without interfering with the bottom wall of the case.

In FIG. 14 it will be seen that tumbler 62 is a substantially rectangular plate having a notch 97 which extends upwardly from the lower edge of the plate and which extends transversely for nearly the entire length of the plate. The right-hand limit of the notch is a surface 98 against which tab 78 can work to move the tumbler transversely behind front plate 29. At the left-hand end of the notch is a surface 99 against which the tab can work to move the plate in the opposite direction. Also at the left-hand end of the notch is an extension 100 of notch 97 which is provided solely to provide clearance for back portion 76 of slide 46. However, surface 99 is the surface against which tab 78 works and determines the effective limit of notch 97. -It will be noted that the outer dimensions of plate 62 are significantly less than the total length of the chamber which contains the tumblers, as seen in FIG. 4.

Plate 64, which is the A tumbler, is also a substantially rectangular plate, shorter than plate 62', and includes an inwardly extending notch or recess 101 which is terminated at one end by a surface 102 and at the other end by a surface 103 against which tab 78 can work. An extension notch 104 is provided for clearance for rear portion 76 of tab 46.

Plate 65, constituting the N tumbler, also includes a notch 105 terminating in surfaces 106 and 107 against which tab 78 can work, and an extension notch 108 for the same clearance purpose.

FIGS. 1518 schematically show the manner in which the tumblers are moved to their respective proper positions to align notches 91, 92 and 93 to release the doors. It will be seen that tab 78 is shown in four parts, but it will be recognized that the tab is actually a single member and is shown thus in these figures only for purposes of illustration.

In FIG. 15 tab 78 is moved to the right until the slide aligns with the letter H in the word chest on the front panel. As the slide is moved to the right, tab 78 comes in contact with surfaces 99, 103 and 107 of plates 62, 64 and 65, respectively, moving all of these plates to the right as shown in FIG. 15 (to the left in the actual cabinet). This motion is indicated by arrows 109, 110

and 111. Although all three tumbler plates are moved simultaneously, the only plate which is moved to its ultimate releasing position is plate 62. This can be seen by the alignment of notch 91 with the tabs carried by latch arm 56.

In the next movement, shown in FIG. 16, the slide is moved to the left, permitting tab 78 to contact surfaces 102 and 106 of plates 64 and 65, respectively, moving those plates in the direction of arrows 112 and 113. This movement aligns notch 92 of plate 64 with the tabs carried by the latch arm. Notice that tab 78 does not come in contact with surface 98 of plate 62 so that the H tumbler remains in is initial correct position.

The next movement in the sequence occurs when the slide is moved into alignment with the letter N on the front panel, permitting tab 78 to come in contact again with surface 107 of plate 65, moving the plate in the 7 direction illustrated by arrow 114 until notch 93 is aligned with the tabs carried by the latch arm.

This completes the setting of the tumblers. However, at this point tab 78 lies beneath latch arm 56 and an attempt to move the doors will result only in the latch arm being pressed against the tab but will not result in enough motion to permit tabs 51 or 52 to move clear of the doors. The device is thus still locked. Accordingly, one further motion is necessary, this being a motion of the slide to the letter D at which position tab 78 is aligned with notch 94 in the lower surface of latch arm 56 as shown in FIG. 18. With tab 78 thus positioned, latch arm 56 is free to move downwardly and movement of either door will cause one of surfaces 54 or 55 to contact its associated tab, pressing tab plate 53 into the now aligned notches 91, 92 and 93 of the tumbler and allowing notch 94 to pass over tab 78. Latch arm 56 thus rotates clockwise a few degrees, permitting tabs 51 and 52 to be pressed downwardly through the opening in rearward extension 53 and permitting free movement of the doors.

In order to lock the cabinet again, it is simply necessary to close the doors, permitting spring 69 to again urge latch arm 56 counterclockwise, causing the tabs to again protrude upwardly through the lower guide channels. Slide 46 can then be moved to one extreme or the other of its transverse linear movement, moving the tumblers to non-aligned positions. The cabinet is then fully locked and it is necessary to go through the permutation steps described above to permit opening of the doors, starting with slide 46 at the extreme left end of slot 45.

While one advantageous embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A medicine cabinet having means for preventing entrance by children comprising the combination of a case with an open side;

a pair of doors mounted in said open side,

said doors being movable between a closed position and an open position;

frame means for supporting said doors;

releasable latch means mounted in said frame means for retaining said doors in said closed position until released; and

lock means mounted adjacent said frame means for controllably releasing said latch means, said lock means comprising a latch arm supporting said latch means, a plurality of substantially planar plates, each having 'an opening therein;

slide means movable from the open side of said case for selectably moving said plates to align said openings to thereby release said latch means; and

guide means for restricting the motion of said slide to linear motion.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said doors are sliding doors relatively movable in closely spaced parallel planes.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said frame means includes a pair of parallel tracks for guiding said doors; and

said lock means comprises a sear having two lugs, said lugs being disposed to extend through said tracks at the center of one side of said frame means adjacent the centermost edges of said doors when said doors are in the closed position.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the open side of said case is partially covered by an elongated cover plate,

said slide means extends through said cover plate,

said cover plate including said guide means; and where in letters are provided on an exterior surface of said cover plate adjacent the linear path of said slide means, said slide means being movable to certain ones of said letters in a selected sequence to spell a preselected word and to simultaneously properly position said planar plates to align said openings.

5. Apparatus comprising the combination of a cabinet having an open side;

a front panel partially covering said open side;

at least one door mounted in said open side for movement between a closed position, in which the remainder of said open side is covered, and an open position;

a latch member movable between a locking position in which said at least one door is prevented from opening, and a released position; and

a lock having a plurality of tumbler members having notches alignable to release said latch member, each member being movable along a line in either direction;

a slide member linearly movable parallel to the direction of movement of said tumbler members,

said slide member having a portion protruding through said front panel;

tab means carried by said slide member for contacting and moving each of said plurality of tumbler members to the aligned position; and

indicia appearing on an exterior surface of said front panel adjacent the path of travel of the portion of said slide member protruding through said front panel,

said slide being sequentially movable to selected ones of said indicia in successively smaller longitudinal movements to properly align said tumbler members.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said latch member includes a recess adjacent one point of the path of travel of said tab means to receive said tab means when said tumbler members are properly aligned and when said slide member is placed at a selected position after said tumblers are aligned.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein each of said plurality of tumbler members comprises a flat substantially rectangular plate having a notch in one longitudinal edge thereof, said one edge being parallel to the directions of movement of said tumbler members,

said plate further including a recess in the edge opposite said first edge, said recess being substantially longer in the direction of movement than said notch,

the limiting ends of said recess being positioned to contact said tab means to move said tumbler member;

said tumbler members being diiferent from each other in the lengths of said recesses.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein each of said tumbler members further includes at least one rib protruding from one fiat side of said plate and extending longitudinally along said plate.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 and further comprising spacer means being adjacent ones of said tumbler members,

said latch member being disposed to act as one of said spacer means.

10. A permutation lock comprising the combination ahousing;

a latch arm pivotally mounted near one end to said housing,

said latch arm being contained within said housing, a spring urging said arm to a locking position; first, second and third tumbler plates within said housing, each of said plates comprising a substantially rectangular planar body having a notch in a first edge and an elongated recess extending across a second edge opposite said first edge, each of said plates being movable only in directions parallel to said first and second edges; locking means carried by said latch arm and protruding through one side of said housing,

said latch arm and said locking means being pivotable to move said locking means to an unlocked position when, and only when, said notches in said tumbler plates are aligned in a direction perpendicular to said tumbler plates adjacent said locking means; and slide means protruding through a surface of said housing and across said elongated recesses in said tumbler plates for sequentially moving said plates to predetermined locations within said housing,

said slide means being linearly movable in a 10 sequence of oppositely directed movements, each such movement being of smaller extent than the preceding movement. 11. A lock according to claim 10 wherein said latch arm includes a notch in one edge adjacent the path of travel of said slide means, said slide means being dimensioned to prevent pivotal movement of said latch arm to said unlocked position except when said slide means is aligned with said notch in said latch arm. 12. A lock according to claim 11 wherein said one edge of said latch arm is serrated except at said notch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 348,227 8/1886 Mayhew 3l2215 769,146 9/1904 Bright 70299 1,346,080 7/1920 De Leeuw 70-299 2,822,683 2/1958 Kahn 70290X PAUL R. GILLIAM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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