Патент USA US2045001

June 23, 1936.
'R D‘ 5mm
LOCK STOP DEVICE
Filed May 8', 1951‘
2,045,001
2,045,001
‘Patented June 23, 1936
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE
2,045,001
LOCK STOP DEVICE
Raymond D. Smith, Fair?eld, Conn.
Application May 8. 1931, Serial No. 535,872
16 Claims.
This invention relates to a device which may be
co-operatively arranged with any shaft carried
arm to limit the movement of the latter at varia
ble points in its rotative travel whether such travel
5 is effected manually or by automatic means and
particularly relates to a device of this general
character well adapted to co-operate with the
spring winding and time setting operating handle
of a timing device, analogous for instance, to the
10 handle numbered as part 44 in my U. S. Patent
Number 1,929,455, issued October 10, 1933, and
with various other spring winding or time setting
handles of similar types of mechanism in my
pending applications and issued United States
15 patents.
The present improvements have useful applica
tion to any rotary device which it may be desired
to conveniently establish in selective, locked po
sitions in a manner to be readily adjusted to a
different locked position or if preferred to an un
locked position.
Consequently I have deemed it unnecessary to
disclose any of the many kinds of associated mech
anism to which the invention will have useful
25 application other than a simple operating handle
whose movement may be checked.
In the drawing, Fig. 1, shows such an operating
handle in operative assembly with a lock stop lever
constructed to illustrate the principles of the
present invention and in association with a
notched dial marked to indicate any signi?cance
of the different possible settings of the lock stop
lever.
Fig. 2 shows a horizontal sectional view taken
in part on the plane 2—2 in Fig. 1 and showing
the operating handle as it would appear if hori
zontally aligned instead of vertically aligned as
it actually is in Fig. 1.
Referring to the above ?gures of the drawing,
4 O I0 indicates the wall of any casing or panel which
4
50
may support or merely fall in front of the frame
plate II of some mechanism which may operate
or be operated by the shaft I2 carrying the op
erating handle I3 retained against a shoulder por
tion I4 of such shaft by the screw I5, on a slabbed
extremity of the shaft.
Shaft I2 may be journaled in the sleeve or bush
ing I6 projecting at both sides of the plate I I and
exteriorly threaded to take the rear retaining
nut I‘! and the front retaining nut I8, the latter
of which may clamp against the front surface of
plate II a circular metallic disc or dial I9 with
spaced notches 20 cut radially into said dial from
its periphery.
The sleeve I6 being thus held in rigid relation
(Cl. 161—1)
to the plate I I, projects forwardly to afford a sta
tionary bearing for what I term a lock stop lever
2| which may be made by blanking a suitably
shaped piece from sheet metal to form a pointer
portion 22 and an operating portion 23 at dia
metrically o-pposite sides of the sleeve I6 on which
it is free to swivel being separated preferably from
the stationary retaining nut I8 by a loose thrust
washer 24 and being pressed against said thrust
washer 24 by a leaf spring member 25 which itself 10
is held to an adjustable tension against the lock
stop lever 2| by two more retaining nuts 26 and
21 which also act relative to each other as lock
nuts when suf?ciently tightened and thereby
15
made rigid with the sleeve I6.
I preferably give the leaf spring member 25 a
greater radial extent to the point where it bears
upon the pointer portion 22 of lever 2| than is
given to same where it bears upon the operating
portion 23 and so shape the spring 25 that the net 20
result of its tension against the lever 2| is to force
the pointer portion 22 of same rearwardly and
against the dial I9 or at least into such position
that a projecting tongue 28 which forms part of
an up-turned ?n portion 29 of lever 2| will tend
to engage the notches 20 of the dial I9.
'I may then provide the operating portion 23 at
its extremity with a button member 30 secured by
a screw 3| to make this end of the lever 2| easily
pushed in toward the dial I9 by the ?nger of an
operator’s hand to lift the tongue 28 out of any
notch 20 of the dial I9 against the tension of
spring 25, after which while continuing to hold
the button 30 so depressed, the lever 2| as a whole
can be rotatively shifted to any other desired
notch and when in register with that notch and
released by the operator’s hand will be tilted by
the spring 25 from its broken line position in Fig.
2 to its full line position and thereby ~automatically
lock itself in the notch thereby becoming r0
tatively ?xed to act as a stop in the path of
handle I3.
It will be observed that only the pointer end of
handle I3 can engage with the ?n 29 of lever 2|
and that the opposite or heel side 35 of handle I3
will clear said ?n. It will also be noted that no
part of the operating end 23 nor the button 3|!
can interfere with any portion of the handle I3 so
that the fin 29 comprises the sole means of inter
ference of lever 2| with the handle I3.
I have shown in Fig. 1 broken line positions
of the handle I3 to represent the position of same
when it is abutting against the ?n 29 and also
when it is displaced 180 degrees from this position
to demonstrate that even though the offset bend
2
2,045,001
in the operating portion 23 of lever 2| be suf?cient
to bring it into the plane of the pointer end of
handle l3 so as to interfere with same, there is
still left to the handle I3 a half circle of possible
travel which is desirable in certain applications
of my invention where the possible great thick
ness of wall If!‘ would necessitate a considerable
amount of forward offset in the lever portion 23.
The shape in which said portion 23 is blanked
claims to cover equivalent ways of making use of
the novel principles herein disclosed which would
suggest themselves in the face of this disclosure.
I claim:
1. In combination, a circular plate, notches ex
tending radially inwardly from the edge of said
plate, setting indices arranged in a smaller circle
than the circle of said notches, a member pivoted
to rotatively sweep one surface of said plate, a
10 further contributes to this resultant freedom of
projection carried by said member in a position to
engage said notches, and means to retract said
to have unrestricted travel for at least a half projection for shifting said member to different
circle of movement and upon suitably slight offset, , notches, said member being shaped and disposed
interference with handle I3 to enable the latter
in lever 2| a full circle of possible movement.
15
to indicate and expose the index that quantita
The spring 25 may preferably be given a tongue
engagement 26’ with a hole in the lever 2| to
cause the spring to swivel in unison with th
lever.
'
Dots or other forms of graduations 32 may be
designated by numerals 33 or other forms of in
dices to register with pointer 22 when the tongue
28 is seated in a notch and such graduations need
not be in alignment with the notches to which
they correspond.
The angular displacement of
25 point 22 from ?n 29 renders easier the reading
of the time setting.
Pointing out some of the particular advantages
given by the arrangement and formation of parts
illustrated in the above described construction
it will be seen that the press-turn method of op
erating lever 2| is convenient not only for the
reason that the force required to overcome spring
35
25 is easy to apply by the leverage afforded and
the direction in which the parts move but also
because the hand of the operator in exerting this
force for manipulating the lever is remote from
and therefore gives a clear view of the graduation
"40
marks and their indices which the operator needs
clearly to observe for a quick and accurate ad
justment of the setting of the tongue 28 in any
desired notch on the dial. Obviously such would
2. A look stop lever device including in com
bination with a frame plate, a stationary bushing
rigidly secured to said plate, a stop member piv
oted to rotate about said bushing, an operating
handle, and a shaft carrying said handle and
journaled within said bushing to transmit the
action of said handle to the opposite side of said
frame plate.
3. A lock stop lever for mechanical engagement 25
with a notched dial and comprising in combina
tion with graduation marks on said dial a pointer
portion of said lever, and a tongue portion of said
lever circumferentially displaced from said point
er portion whereby the dial graduation which is
in register with said pointer portion may be un
obstructed to the view of the operator by said
tongue portion.
4. A look stop device comprising in combina
tion, a tube-like bearing structure, a member con 35
strained on the exterior of said structure to be
both rotatable and tiltable so that said structure
serves as pivot and as fulcrum for said member,
a shaft extending thru said bearing structure and
having means thereon whereby said shaft is 40
adapted to be limited in rotative movement by
not be the ‘case if the lever 2| had to be grasped
engagement of said means with said member and
at its ?n portion 29 by the hand of the operator
freely rotatable otherwise in said bearing struc
ture, and means arranged to be engaged by said
member to prevent the rotation thereof when said 45
and it would be comparatively di?icult to remove
the tongue 28 from a dial notch by a pulling ac
tion aside from the difficulty the operator would
have in clearly seeing what he is doing and par
ticularly where the parts are made small in com
parison with the size of the operator’s hand, and
it is desirable that the indices 32 be located radial
ly inwardly of the dial notches 20.
Other advantages are that although the button
30 falls slightly outside the circumference of the
opening 34 in the wall IE! for the purpose of not
55 interfering with handle l3, this nevertheless, does
not preclude the ready withdrawal of all the parts
which are carried by the frame plate | I rear
wardly and through said opening 34 for dismount
ing of the entire device of which frame plate II
is a part from the wall such as I0 of a cabinet
or panel.
While I have described the lever 2| as a rigid
member capable of looking with and unlocking
from the notches 20 without ?exure but by tilting
65
tively designates the notch engaged by said pro
jection.
as a rigid unit upon washer 24 as a fulcrum, I
may make this lever of su?iciently thin and
springy material to exert its own tendency to seat
in the dial notches for eliminating the spring 25.
Such construction, however, would be relatively
70 undesirable where maximum ruggedness is need
ed and it is to the result of ruggedness, simplicity
and compactness that the present improvements
are in part directed.
Other modi?cations will occur to those skilled
75 in the art and I therefore intend the following
member is tilted in one direction and to be cleared
by said member for permitting the rotation there
of when said member is tilted in the opposite
direction.
5. In combination, the wall of a mounting 50
panel having an opening therein, a mechanism
including a frame plate of greater area than said
opening and whose front face is designed to be
mounted in juxtaposition to the rear surface of
said wall, an operating shaft extending through 55
said plate and carrying a rotatable arm at the
front of said plate, and a lock stop device mounted
between said arm and said plate, a part of which
is formed to intercept said arm and a part of
which is of greater radial extent than said arm 60
to facilitate manipulation of said device without
interference by‘said arm, but of su?ioiently small
radial extent to be insertable through said open
ing in said wall.
6. In combination, an adjustable stop member,
an operating handle pivoted co-axially with said
member and shaped with a wing at one side of its
pivot formed to be obstructed by said member
and with a wing at the other side of its pivot
formed freely to pass said member whereby said 0
handle may be grasped by both its said wing
portions for operating but shall be stopped by
said member when only one of said wing portions
engages the latter thereby permitting a rotative
travel of the handle to an extent of substantially
2,045,001
a full turn while grasped for operating at both
sides of its pivot.
'7. A construction for selectively varying the
point on a circle at which the rotation of a shaft
shall be stopped, embodying in combination with
said shaft, a bearing structure surrounding the
same and from one end of which said shaft pro
trudes, a stop lever adapted to be shifted in its
rotative position and pivoted concentrically with
said shaft, means whereby said stop lever may be
10 locked in selective positions, means whereby said
stop lever may intercept said shaft, said stop lever
being constrained by and separated from said
shaft by said bearing structure.
-
8. In combination, a frame plate having a hole,
15 an exteriorly threaded bushing extending through
the hole in said plate and projecting to the rear
and to the front of said plate, a nut on said bush
ing to clamp against the rear face of said plate,
another nut on said bushing to clamp against
20 the front face of said plate, a third nut at the
forward end of said bushing, a lever rotatable
and tiltable on said bushing and constrained
against the latter of said two nuts by said third
nut, and a leaf spring interposed between said
third nut and said second nut for tilting said
lever in one direction While permitting its yield
ing from said position and while permitting its
rotative adjustment in both directions to selec
tive settings.
9. A look stop device comprising in combina
tion with a circularly arranged series of obstruc
tions and a circularly arranged series of setting
indices, a pivoted lever device extending from its
pivot to engage with said obstructions at one
35 circumferential point of said lever device, ex
tending at a different circumferential point to
register with said indices, and having a handle at
a still different circumferential point to provide
a means for manipulating the said lever thereby
40 to disengage it from said obstructions without the
hand of the operator obscuring the view of the
index in register with which said lever device is
being set.
10. Adjustable stop means for limiting the time
setting movement of a winding handle embody
ing in combination, a time dial marked with set
ting indices, notches in the edge of said dial cir
cumferentially exterior to said indices and sepa
rated circumferentially from the respective in
50 dices which designate the time limiting function
of said notches, and a tiltable member adapted
to engage with selective ones of said notches and
formed with a star point to expose and register
with its corresponding and circumferentially sep
55 arated index, and also to lie in the path of said
winding handle to act as a stop therefor for
60
selectively predetermining a period of action of
a mechanism operated by said handle.
11. A lever structure for sweeping into locking
engagement with a circular series of notches ar
ranged around the pivot of said lever, embodying
a flat portion stamped from sheet metal and pro
vided with a pivotal bearing hole whereby said
lever may both swing rotatively and tilt upon its
65 pivotal axis and an upstanding ?n portion formed
by bending the metal of said lever, said ?n por
tion carrying a downwardly projecting locking
tongue composed of the same metal as said lever,
and formed by the shape of the blanked form of
said lever before said lever is bent.
12. A combined fulcrum and pivot providing
structure consisting in the combination of a
frame plate, an externally threaded tubular bush
3
ing penetrating and projecting at the rear and at
the front sides of said frame plate, a nut engag
ing said bushing at the rear of said plate and a
nut engaging said bushing at the front of said
plate to hold said bushing in said plate, two addi
tional lock nuts engaging said bushing and spaced
from the said nut in front of said plate, thereby
to provide an adjustable fulcrum and pivot space
between said holding nut at the front of said
plate and said two lock nuts.
13. Adjustable means for stopping a rotary de
vice in a pre-selected rotative position embodying
in combination with said device, a device frame,
a shaft and arm carried by said frame, a ?xed
structure projecting from said frame including
a bearing for said shaft, and a lever movably
mounted on said structure in a manner to permit
turning of said lever about the axis of said shaft
and also to permit limited movement of said
lever in the plane of said axis and having a por 20
tion adapted to lie in the path of said arm, and
means to lock said lever against rotative move
ment.
14. In combination with a time setting rotor
including an operating handle, an adjustable 25
stop lever for limiting rotative movement of said
rotor and having a portion disposed to be engaged
thereby and rotatably adjustable to various set
tings and mounted to be tiltable in a plane par
allel to its axis of rotation, a series of stationary
obstructions located at the opposite side of said
stop lever from said operating handle and so dis
posed that said lever by its tilting movement may
lock and unlock therewith in various settings,
resilient means biasing said member toward posi
tions for looking with said obstructions, and.
means independent of said rotor to support and
constrain said stop lever for rotative and tilting
movement.
15. In combination with an element adapted
to rotate about an axis, mechanism for selectively
determining the point on a circle at which said
element shall be stopped including a member
having a portion disposed in the path of rotation
of said element to act as a stop therefor, means 45
independent of said element and constructed to
support said member so that the latter may be
adjustably turned about the axis of said element,
and locking obstructions to prevent rotative
movement of said member, said support means 50
being further constructed to permit said member
to be tilted in the plane of said axis and with
respect to said means and thereby to release said
member from said obstructions, the said locking
obstructions together with said support means 55
being ?xed and stationary thereby to determined
selective absolute positions in which said member
shall stop said element.
16. In combination, a rotor having an operat
ing handle, adjustable stop means for limiting 60
the movement of said rotor to predetermined ab
solute positions including a stop lever rotatably
adjustable about the axis of said rotor and tilt
able in the plane of said axis, ?xed and station
ary obstructions arranged to be engaged by said 65
stop lever to lock the latter against rotative
movement, a spring urging said stop lever into
locking engagement with said obstructions, and
a support constructed to carry and constrain said
stop lever for rotative and tilting movement, said 70
support being in ?xed and rigid relation to said
obstructions and arranged to separate the rotor
from the stop lever.
RAYMOND D. SMITH.