Locking mechanism for ranges

In a range having a plurality of individually operated knob controlled operated shafts, each of the shafts rotatable and controlling the turning on and off of an individual cooking or heating apparatus, the improvement comprising:

• an elongated bar, the longitudinal axis of said bar being disposed tangentially slidable relative to the surface and transverse to the longitudinal axis of each of the shafts, each of the shafts being disposed in spaced apart parallel relationship to one another,
• a plurality of arms, one end of each of said arms pivotably secured to said bar at pivot axes located adjacent to each of the shafts,
• means to bias the other end of each of said arms towards an adjacent shaft thereto,
• a lock, said lock locking the pivot axes of said arms a greater distance radially outwardly from the adjacent shaft thereto when in a locked position than the distance between the adjacent shaft and the pivot axes when said lock is in an unlocked position, and
• a plurality of fingers, one end of one of said fingers fixedly secured to the other end of one of said arms, the other end of said one finger being located intermediate the adjacent shaft and the arm adjacent thereto, each of the shafts having an opening extending radially inwardly from the exterior surface thereof, said other end of said one finger being disposed located within the opening of the adjacent shaft when the opening is rotatably aligned with the longitudinal axis of said one finger and when said lock is in the locked position, said other end of said one finger being disposed outwardly of the opening when said lock is in the unlocked position.