Lock (navigation)

“ Every lever is under lock and key, each being a part of the key which unlocks some of the others, and each forming a part of the lock which secures some of the others against possible movement, while each is at the same time subject to the control of all those which are related to it.
"This result, complex and difficult as it seems, is achieved by mechanism of great simplicity and beauty. Immediately under the floor of the platform, and just in front of the levers, are arranged several series of vibrating and sliding bars, somewhat like the tumblers of a lock, placed horizontally. ”

“ They have been too simple to require it, and too little varied to permit it. That some such fastenings must be employed wherever doors of any kind are used is sufficiently apparent; and there is a little (though only a little) information obtainable, which shews the nature of the fastenings adopted in early times. The bolt, the hasp, the chain, the bar, the latch, the lock, all were known, in one or other of their various forms, in those ages which we are accustomed to consider classical. Travellers, generally speaking, do not descend to locks, or rather they do not think about them ”

“ The principles of mechanical science are also appreciated by many lock-makers. The lever, the inclined plane, the eccentric, the cam, the screw, the wheel and pinion, the ratchet, the spring,—all are brought to bear on the internal mechanism of locks, frequently in many novel combinations. ”

“ Well padded with fenders, and with one line forward and two aft, we entered the first lock, slipping in just behind the freighter Santa Olivia. We had elected to go through by tying alongside the walls, rather than tying to another boat or being held by lines in the middle of the lock. The walls 271stretched high above our heads. It was much the worst lock, but even so, when the water started pouring in, I was surprised at the turbulence. With a man on each line, we strained to keep our position. ”

“ Then another ring which binds more than the rest is treated in a similar way; until at length all the rings seem to be so far liberated as to indicate that the notches are in the right positions. In the dial-lock, similarly, when a pressure has been brought to bear upon the bolt in the right direction, a trial of the pointers will soon bring the notch in each wheel to the required position. ”

“ If the wheels, A, B, C, and M, are turned as described until the cam part, n, of the wheel, A, shall be in position to come under the roller, S, and keep the lock from opening on Sunday, it will continue to do so on Sunday each week, if the clocks run on unchanged. In case that it shall be desired that the lock shall not open for a holiday or other day, the said wheels may be rotated until said cam part, n, is in position to come under and hold up the lever, R, on said day. ”

“ What we do insist upon, however, is a "safe and sure draw" for a lever pallet which will hold a fork to the banks and will also return it to such banks if by accident the fork is moved away. We are well aware that it takes lots of patient, hard study to master the complications of the club-tooth lever escapement, but it is every watchmaker's duty to conquer the problem. The definition of "lock," in the detached lever escapement, is the stoppage or arrest of the escape wheel of a watch while the balance is left free or detached to perform the greater portion of its arc of vibration. ”

“ Joe and Blake, who had gotten all the pictures they wanted of the approach to the lock, stopped grinding away at the handle of the camera long enough to look at the chain.
These chains, for there are several of them, each designed to protect some lock gate, consist of links made of steel three inches thick. They stretch across the locks, and any vessel that does not stop at the moment it should, before reaching this chain, will ram its prow into it. ”

“ The axle traveling lock is a device employed to relieve the traversing mechanism from unnecessary stress when the [Pg 189] carriage is in traveling position. When the carriage is prepared for traveling the traveling lock engages a series of square grooves cut in the center of the axle. The lock is operated by an eccentric on the end of the traveling lock shaft which is controlled by the lock lever fixed on outer end. The lock lever may be placed in two positions marked “to travel” and “to fire,” by means of its handle which is provided with a spring plunger engaging the traveling lock catch. ”

“ Ships pass in and out, either at high tide, when the lock or gate can be left open for a time, or, if at other stages of the tide, by means of the lock, which, being made up of two gates at the opposite ends of a long, narrow, canal-like passageway, makes it possible for the ship to pass into the lock, where the water level can be made to coincide with the level of the dock or of the water outside. ”

“ Unless, therefore, a method be contrived to bring the notches on the ends of the levers in a direct line with each other, and to retain them in that position till an exact impression of the irregular surface which the levers will then exhibit can be taken, the workman will in vain attempt to fit a key to the lock, or by any effort of art to move the bolt. ”

“ Opposite the center or hub, q, of each wheel, and located in the outer rim, I place a locking device or bolt, r, which, when forced in against the said center or hub, holds the same firmly in place with the outer rim; but, when thrown out, disengages said parts, and allows the centers to turn free while the rims remain stationary. Against the locking device or bolt, r, rests a cam or eccentric, s. Through each or all of these cams, and also through the back plate of the lock, is inserted a key, P, Fig. ”

“ When the key is inserted, and the fastening device thrown back, it will be seen that the rims of the wheels are held stationary by the key, while the centers may be turned to any different position by the spindle, thus setting the lock to a new combination. ”

“ In all, no less than 98 motors will be set [186] in motion twice during each lockage of a single ship, and this number may be increased to 143, dependent upon the previous position of the gates, valves and other devices. Down under the surface of the lock wall, packed into a little crypt which seems barely to afford room for its revolving, is a great cogwheel 20 feet in diameter, revolving slowly and operating a ponderous steel arm which thrusts out or pulls back the gate as desired. ”

“ She was very much interested in the opening of the lock gates and deplored the necessity which kept her in the boat, hanging on to the edge of the lock with a boat-hook while he wielded the crowbar. The locks on the Medway are primitive in their construction and heavy to work. There are no winches or wheels or artful mechanical contrivances of weights and levers and cables. There are sluices, and from the sluice-gates posts rise, little iron-bound holes in them, holes in which the urgent nose of the crowbar exactly fits. ”

“ ON TUMBLER, OR LEVER LOCKS. Security being the primary object in all locks, any considerations as to mechanical ingenuity and graceful decoration give place to those which relate to safety. A spring lock may be ingenious and even beautiful in its construction, but an imitative key will easily open it. Hence arose the invention of wheels or wards ”

“ The lock-chain ground out the wagon tire in one spot. The brake saves that; and it also saves the animal's neck from that bruising and chafing incident to the dead strain that was required when dragging the locked wheel.
There is another difficulty that has been overcome by the wagon-brake. In stopping to lock wheels on the top of a hill, your train get into disorder. In most cases, when trains are moving on the road, there is a space of ten or fifteen feet between the wagons. Each team, then, will naturally close up that space as it comes to the place for halting to lock. ”

“ The springs, which by the turning of the key must be raised together with the tumblers, are attached to levers, and press upon the latter at their centre of gravity, in consequence of which all crowding towards either side is prevented, and the key can be turned with facility, in spite of the many combination parts which it has to raise; and the springs themselves are by their positions so little called into action, that their strength can never be impaired by use.
The lock has also another very complete arrangement in the detector-tumbler, which is attached to the cap or covering of the lock. ”

“ No one who has the combination, whether obtained surreptitiously or otherwise, can open the lock when the time-movement is set, for the simple reason that no connection can be made between the tumbler or combination-wheels, the dog, angle-bar, or fence, the spindle, and the lock-bolt, or bearing. ”

“ An air-lock separates the diver's section from the main hold so that it is possible to pass from one to the other while the entrance to the sea is still open. A person entering the lock from the large room first closes the door between and then gradually admits the compressed air until the pressure is the same as in the diving compartment, when the door into it may be safely opened. ”

“ A carriage cannot, in general, travel any great distance without finding occasion to lock the wheels; this is commonly done with an iron shoe, which is placed under the wheel and secured to the body of the vehicle by a chain; thus saving the wear of the wheel-tire. My wheels, however, required no locking, and I jogged on from village to village, joining company with any wagoner or wayfarer whom I could overtake, and stopping occasionally to gossip with the villagers and country people. ”

“ Those that do need to be opened regularly for crew access to other parts of the vessel, such as wheelhouse doors onto the deck, should remain open for the shortest possible time and must consequently be quick and easy to operate with a positive and secure locking mechanism. ”

“ I came out on the upper gate of the last lock just as she passed out from the lower gate. The horses were just put on, and a reckless boy gave them their first blow after two hours of rest and corn. As the heavy boat started off under the new motion, I saw, and her skipper saw at the same instant, that a long new tow-rope of his, which had lain coiled on deck, was suddenly flying out to its full length. The outer end of it had been carried upon the lock-side by some chance or blunder, and there some idle loafer had thrown the looped bight of it over a hawser-post. ”

“ The chief parts of a lock are: the bolt, its essential feature, the selvage, the plate which appears at the edge of the door or drawer, the box, which contains the mechanism including the tumbler, ward, spring, etc., the key-pin, into or around which the key is inserted, the strike, the plate attached opposite the selvage, (often left out as in drawer-locks, but essential in hook-bolt locks, and self-locking locks,) and the escutcheon, the plate around the keyhole.
Locks may be classified: (1) According to their uses, of which there are two types. (a) , Fig. ”

“ When a fellow goes down from the surface he can’t be seen and so he has to have a signal line and a rope for hauling him up. But down here I can come back to the sub whenever I please and just climb into the air-lock on the ladder, and if I want to signal I can do it without any line—just wave my hands—as you can see me all the time. The airhose runs from a connection in the air-lock and I carry a light line along just as a safeguard and have a man in the air-lock holding it. ”

“ Tassifer," remarked Bennie, "that is the air-lock. It has double doors. When the car is in a vacuum, or beyond the earth's atmosphere, the contained air would all rush out into space if there were any direct communication with the outside. You enter the air-lock from the inside, close and bolt the inner door behind you, open the other door and step out, just as the divers leave and enter a submarine on the bottom of the ocean." ”

“ I saw the central arm, which held the end of the cable with its automatic lock, force the end behind the rudder chain, withdraw, catch it from the other side, carry it forward to a rudder post, thence onward to another rudder post, withdraw it, catch it in its steel fingers, pull it farther around another chain and then back to the cable itself, where for a time it fumbled clumsily before reaching its appointed place and clasping down, after which the huge, tempered, and waiting jaws of the lock came to direct contact and snapped viciously shut as if clutching hold forever. ”

“ In speaking of the operation of locks, he calls attention to the fact that the experience at the lock at St. Mary's Falls is not a safe guide for reaching conclusions regarding the safety of six such locks as will be required for the Panama Canal. Their lift is 50 per cent, greater, and the dangers increase at a more rapid rate than proportional to the lift, and the dangers are magnified by the fact that the locks are to be in flights. ”

“ If parties do not know your letters, nothing but violence, applied by some means or other, can enable them to get into your safe; for the lock will not open to any thing but its talisman. Take off all the large wheels and open the lock: you will see that the large wheels have a number of false chambers; if you get the spurs of the bolt into three real chambers and one false, you are as fast as ever, for all four must be right.
“Having placed your key and pointer outside the door to point to W on brass-plate No. ”

“ If we study the large drawing, where we delineate the escape wheel ten inches in diameter, it will readily be seen that although we claim one and a half degrees lock, we really have only about one degree, inasmuch as the curve of the peripheral line m diverges from the line B f, and, as a consequence, the absolute lock of the tooth C on the locking face of the entrance pallet E is but about one degree. ”