Period Padlock Question

[Hank Trent]

Could any period padlocks lock without a key, like modern ones, where you can just press the U down and it'll lock automatically?

Simple question, long story why I need to know, but I'm having a hard time finding the answer! I've looked at period patents, but don't know enough about locks to figure out the answer from the drawings and descriptions. Antique lock collecting sites have a lot of detail on how to unlock them, how to pick them, how secure they were, etc., but I can't find a discussion of how they locked.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[C.R. Henderson]

I've never seen any period locks that locked like the modern Master locks. I've used several on field desks that I've made and have never come across one with that function.