Shut-out device and the like

Application filed January 10, 1921. Serial No. 436,219.

To ahi whom, it may concern:

_ Be it known that I, John H. Shaw, a citizen of the United States, residing in New Haven, county of New Haven, State of Con6 necticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shut-Out Devices and the like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to shut-out devices, 10 and more particularly to a device which is adapted to be locked in the keyhole of a door to prevent the insertion of the usual key therein. Such n. device is sometimes necessary to prevent the door being unlocked by 15 an unauthorized person.

When salesmen visit hotels, it is common for them to arrange a display of their goods in the rooms of the hotel and bring their customers in to examine them.. In . such 20 cases it is desirable for the· salesman to· be provided with a key or some means of locking his door from the outside so· that no one, not even the employees of the hotel, may enter while he is absent. It will, moreover, be ²⁵ found desirable in many other cases. for guests of hotels to have, keys or shut-out devices which will enable them to secure their doors from the outside against the entry of an unauthorized person. For this purpose it 30 is sometimes the custom to give such guests or salesmen a display key, which will, when used, lock the door of the room from the outside, so that it may only be opened by use of a master key or a key in the hands 35 of a manager of .the hotel, or someone in authority. The employees are enabled though at times to have duplicates of these keys made, which will, of course, enable them to· secure entrance to the rooms even 40 when they have not been given these master keys. Such an arrangement, moreover, requires one of these display keys for each door, as. of course, they must all be different, and when one is lost, the lock must be 45 taken off and a new key made, or it is useless for this purpose.

I have found it to be very desirable to provide a simple unitary device which will enable a person to lock his door from the ⁵⁰ outside and be sure that no one will be able to gain entrance during his absence. Moreover the device which I have invented will be universal in its use, as it may be applied to all locks which have keyholes for the insertion of wing keys. 55

One object of my invention is to provide a shut-out device which may be securely locked within the key-hole of the door and prevent the insertion of the key therein.

Another object of my invention is to pro- eo vide a unitary device of the. class described, which will be applicable to any door and still be effective to prevent the unlocking of the door.

A still further object of my invention is 65 to provide a device of the character described, which will be universal in its use in that it may be applied to any door.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a shut-out device, which will 70 close the keyhole of a door against the insertion of a key therein, and one which may be securely locked in. operative position within the keyhole by a key which is individual to the lock connected with the ⁷⁵'shut-out device.

. To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed. 80

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door and door lock with my improvements applied thereto·;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of 85 the door and lock case, a part of the case being broken away for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3—3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the parts ⁹⁰shown in Fig. 3 · . Fig. 5 is. an enlarged elevational detail view of the interior of the lock case showing my improvements in operative position;

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of my ⁰⁵shut-out device removed from the door; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of the same with the key inserted therein.

To accomplish the results and objects heretofore set forth, I have provided a plug Ιθθ which is insertable into the keyhole of a door and is adapted to be locked against removal therefrom except by the use of the proper key. Fig. 1 of the drawings shows a section of a door at 10, provided with an ¹⁰⁵escutcheon plate 11 and a door lock pro1,513,433 videcl with a face plate 12 and a lock case 13. A keyhole 14 upon the outside of the door is adapted to admit a key for the operation of the dead bolt 15 after the usual 0 manner.

My shut-out device consists of a plug 16, which is adapted to be inserted into the keyhole 14 of the door. This plug 16 is .adapted to be inserted far enough into this key10 hole to abut against the lock case 13 adjacent the keyhole 17 formed in the same for the admission of the regular key. The plug16 is provided with a lock case 18, Avhich is formed integral with the plug in the era15 bodiment shown, although the arrangement of this detail may be varied, if desired, which contains pin tumblers 19 adapted to cooperate with the pin tumblers 21 provided in a key barrel 20 rotatably mounted in .the 20 lock case 18. The portion of the plug v>⁷hich forms this lock case is made larger, as shov>⁷n in Fig. 4, than the remainder of the plug, so that the lock case will not be admitted to the keyhole 14. The size of this lock case, how 25 ever, is not essential to all aspects of the invention, but may be varied so that even the lock case itself may be small enough to be admitted into the keyhole 14.

A key 22 of the form commonly used Avitli 30 pin tumbler locks is provided to operate, the key barrel 20 within the lock case 18. The. key barrel is, as stated, rotatably mounted Avithin the lock case 18 and the pins 21 Avithin the barrel cooperate with the pin tum35 biers 19 in the lock case in the usual way.

The key can, in the arrangement shoAvn, be removed from the lock case only Avhen the parts are in locked position, as shoAvn in Figs. 2, 4, 5 and 6, so that when the shut40 out device is inserted into the keyhole of a door, the occupant of the room may be sure that when he is enabled to remove the key, the plug is securely locked in position to close the keyhole.

The key barrel 20 is provided Avith an extension 23. secured thereto for rotation thereAvith. Tliis extension 23 is provided with a reduced end 24 formed with a shoulder 24' and carrying a wing 25, which reduced end 50 and wing are adapted to project within the lock case, and when the wing has been turned out of alignment Avith the keyhole 17 of the lock case, the plug Avill be prevented from removal from the keyhole of the door.

The extension 23 is secured to the key barrel 20 by being provided Avith a tongue 26, which fits Avithin a recess 27 formed in the key barrel and is secured therein by a pin or rivet 28. The particular connection be⁶⁰ tween these, two parts, however, is not essential to the invention and the two parts may be formed in one piece, if desired. The extension 23 is thus rotatably mounted above the plug 16 and will be turned by the rota65 tion of the key barrel. A pin 29 mounted in the lock case projects into a groove 30 formed in the key barrel to limit the rotation of the latter to a fraction of a turn. As shown, the key barrel enjoys only about one-eighth of a turn, but this, of course, may be varied, as desired.

The operation of my device is as folloAvs: When a guest desires to lock his. door from the outside against intrusion, he is given my shut-out device and key, as shown in Fig. 7. 7-⁾The door to his room would first be securely locked from the outside by the usual key and then my improved shut-out device would be inserted into the keyhole until.the shoulder 24' abuts against the lock casing, ⁸⁰the wing 25 being received within the lock case upon the door. The wing would then be in the clotted line position shown in Fig. 5. A slight turn of the key to the position shown in Fig. 4 would turn the wing to the ^8;)position shown in Fig. 5 and the wing would then be prevented from passing out through the keyhole, so that the shut-out device could not be removed from the door. The lock casing will then be engaged betAA⁷een the ⁹⁰wing and the shoulder 24' on the stem. The guest of the room Avould then be assured as long as he retained possession of the key. 22 that no master key or device of any kind could be inserted in the keyhole 14 to oper- ⁹·’ ate the lock bolt 15 to gain access to the room.

It Avill be seen that a hotel or roominghouse may be provided only Avith a limited number of these shut-out devices, as they are adapted to be used with any door, and are not restricted to the lock for which they are especially made, as is the case Avith a display key.

My device might also be very useful to prevent door locks being forced or picked bj⁷ the insertion of a tool into the keyhole for this purpose. It is usually the case that a lock with which a wing key is. employed is easier to pick or force than a pin tumbler lock, so that my shut-out device might be applied to such a lock to make it safer. Such an application would, in effect, transform such a lock from a Aving key lock into a pin tumbler lock.

While I haA⁷e shoAvn and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is not to be limited thereto in all of its details, but that various changes and modifications may be made which will lie within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.