Improvements in Latches or Fastenings for Doors, Casements, Sky- lights, Fanlights, Show Cases, and other like Hinged or Pivoted Articles.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Jan., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 21st Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 16th Nov., 1888
Improvements in Latches or Fastenings for Doors, Casements, Sky-
lights, Fanlights, Show Cases, and other like Hinged or Pivoted
Articles.
We WILLIAM HENRY TONKS of the firm of William Tonks and Sons of Moseley
Street Birmingham in the County of Warwick Manufacturers and JOHN BURN of
Watt Street Sparkhill near Birmingham aforesaid Tool Maker do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows
-
Our invention consists of the construction and combination of the parts hereinafter
described of latches or fastenings for doors casements skylights fan lights show cases
and other like hinged or pivoted articles the object of our invention being to produce
self fastening latches without the use of springs.
We will describe our invention in connection with a door.
We make the bolt of the latch of the figure of a truncated cone the said conical
latch bolt working in a case mortised in the edge of the door the smaller end of the
cone shaped latch bolt being inwards.
In the axis of the latch bolt are pins or pivots which engage with oblique slots in
the latch case so that the said latch bolt is capable of sliding up and down the said
slots. The said latch bolt is also capable of rotating on the said pins or pivots. When
the cone shaped latch bolt is at liberty to move it falls by its own weight to the
bottoms of the oblique slots and on reaching that position a portion of its conical edge
projects from the edge of the door and forms a bevil at the said edge of the door
similar to the bevilled end of an ordinary spring latch bolt. On shutting the door to
which the latch bolt is attached the bevilled projecting part of the latch bolt is pushed
back and raised in its case by coming against the striking plate on the door frame
and when the door is completely shut the latch bolt falls into the staple or recess in
the edge of the door frame and fastens the said door.
The lifting of the cone shaped latch bolt to unfasten the door is effected by a knob,
on the outside of the latch case the said knob being on one of the pivots on the
latch bolt

page_text: Instead of placing the cone shaped latch bolt in a mortice in the door it may be
arranged in a case mortised in the door frame or in a case on the outside to the door
frame. In the latter arrangement a bridge piece having a single oblique slot for the
pivot of the cone shaped latch to work in may be used."
In applying our invention to skylights and fanlights and other articles having a
vertical motion upon hinges after the manner of skylights and jointed fanlights the
cone shaped bolt may have a vertical rising and falling motion in its case or frame
instead of the oblique rising and falling motion first described.
In these modifications of our invention the wide end of the cone shaped latch bolt
is situated inwards and the bevilled edge of the said latch bolt when in its normal
position projects from the edge of the door skylight or fanlight frame to be pushed
back and lifted by the closing door skylight or fanlight.
Dated this Eighteenth day of January 1888.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Latches or Fastenings for Doors, Casements, Sky-
lights, Fanlights, Show Cases, and other like Hinged or Pivoted
Articles.
We WILLIAM HENRY TONKS of the firm of William Tonks and Sons of Moseley
Street Birmingham in the County of Warwick Manufacturers and JOHN BURN of
Watt Street, Sparkhill, near Birmingham aforesaid Tool Maker do hereby declare the
nature of our Invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention consists of the construction and combination of the parts herein after
described of latches or fastenings for doors casements skylights fanlights show cases
and other like hinged or pivoted articles the object of our invention being to produce
self fastening latches without the use of springs.
We will describe our invention in connection with a door.
We make the bolt of the latch of the figure of a truncated cone the said conical
latch bolt working in a case mortised in the edge of the door, the smaller end of the
cone shaped latch bolt being inwards.
In the axis of the latch bolt are pins or pivots which engage with oblique slots in
the latch case so that the said latch bolt is capable of sliding up and down the said
slots. The said latch bolt is also capable of rotating on the said pins or pivots.
When the cone shaped latch bolt is at liberty to move it falls by its own weight to the
bottoms of the oblique slots and on reaching that position a portion of its conical edga
projects from the edge of the door and forms a bevil at the said edge of the door
similar to the bevilled end of an ordinary spring latch bolt. On shutting the door to
which the latch bolt is attached the bevilled projecting part of the latch bolt is pushed
back and raised in its case by coming against the striking plate on the door frame and
when the door is completely shut the latch bolt falls into the staple or recess in the
edge of the door frame and fastens the said door. The lifting of the cone shaped
latch bolt to unfasten the door is effected by a knob on the outside of the latch case,
the said knob being on one of the pivots on the latch bolt.
Instead of placing the cone shaped latch bolt in a mortice in the door, it may be
arranged in a case mortised in the door frame, or in a case on the outside to the door
frame. In the latter arrangement a bridge piece having a single oblique slot for the
pivot of the cone shaped latch to work,in may be used.
In applying our invention to skylights and fanlights and other articles having a
vertical motion upon hinges after the manner of skylights and jointed fanlights the
cone shaped bolt may have a vertical rising and falling motion in its case or frame
instead of the oblique rising and falling motion first described.
In these modifications of our invention the wide end of the cone shaped latch bolt
is situated inwards and the bevilled edge of the said latch bolt when in its normal
position projects from the edge of the door, skylight or fanlight frame to be pushed
back and lifted by the closing door, skylight or fanlight.

page_text: We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation and Figures 2 and 3 in horizontal section,
partly in plan, a latch or fastening for a door, casement or show case constructed
according to our invention applied to the outside of the door, casement or show case
frame. In Figures 1 and 2 the door is represented latched or fastened and in
Figure 3 unfastened: Figure 4 represents in front elevation, plan and side elevation,
the latch in the fastening position Figures 1 and 2 detached and Figure 5 represents
in front elevation, plan and side elevation the latch in the withdrawn or unfastening
position Figure 3.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawings.
a is the door (or casement, show case door or other like hinged article) and 6 is the
frame of the same. On the outside of the frame & the latch or fastening is screwed
and to the edge of the door a the striking plate c is affixed. Our improved latch or
fastening consists of an open sided oblique case made of the angular front plate & and
the flat back plate & secured together at their ends.
its case.
In the said open sided case the conical latch bolt e, consisting of a truncated cone,
works or slides the smaller end of the cone being outwards as represented. In the
bolt case is an oblique slot fin which a pin g carried by or fixed to the conical latch
bolt e works so that the cone shaped bolt is capable of a rising and falling motion in
The pin g projects from the oblique slot f and carries a head / by which the
bolt is lifted in its case for unlatching the door. The latch bolt is capable of rotating
in its case, the pin g constituting the centre of the said bolt. When the cone shaped
bolt is at liberty to move it falls by its own weight to the bottom of the oblique slot f
in the case and in that position a portion of its conical edge projects from and forms
a bevil at the edge of the door frame b as seen in Figures 1 and 2. On shutting the
door a the hevilled projecting part of the latch bolt e is pushed back and raised in its
case by the striking plate e on the edge of the door and when the door is completely
shut as represented in Figures 1 and 2 the latch bolt falls in front of the edge of the
door and thereby fastens or latches the said door.
In order to unlatch the door the latch bolt e is lifted by its knob h to the top of
the slot as represented in Figures 3 and 5 when the door is unlatched and may be
opened. The fastening or latch may be made right and left handed to be used with
right and left handed doors.
Instead of placing the latch or fastening at the vertical side of the frame of the
door or casement it may be fixed at the top of the door or casement frame.
When
the latch or fastening is so disposed the slot in the latch case is made vertical instead
of oblique. A modified latch of this kind is represented in front elevation and edge
view in its normal or fastening position in Figure 6 and in front elevation, side
elevation and edge view in its raised or unfastening position in Figure 7 and applied
to the top of the frame of a door in front elevation in Figure 8 and side elevation in
Figure 9. The action of this latch is the same as that first described and corre-
sponding parts are marked with the same letters of reference, the pin of the latch bolt
descending vertically in the slot in the case to fasten the door and being raised
vertically in the said slot to unfasten the said door.
Figure 10 represents in front elevation and Figure 11 in side elevation the last
described arrangement of latch bolt applied to the fastening or latching of a fanlight
or skylight.
In the said Figures 10 and 11 the pivoted fanlight is marked i and the frame of
the fanlight to which the latch is applied is marked k.
Figure 12 represents in side elevation; Figure 13 in edge view and Figure 14 in
plan, our improved latch or fastening mortised in the edge of the door instead of
being fixed outside the door frame; Figure 15 represents the conical latch bolt
detached. In this arrangement the smaller end of the conical latch bolt e is situated
inwards and the screw pin g carrying the head h works in oblique slots fat opposite
sides of the latch case; m is the striking plate on the door frame b. When the latch

page_text: bolte is in its normal position the pin g is at the bottom of the oblique slots f and the
conical edge of the said bolt projects from the edge of the door a the projecting part
of the latch bolt when the door is closed being pushed back and raised in its case by
coming against the striking plate m on the door frame b. When the door a is
completely shut the latch bolt e falls into the staple or recess n in the edge of the door
frame and behind the striking plate m and fastens the said door as represented in
Figures 12 and 14.
The lifting of the cone shaped latch bolt to unfasten the door is effected by the
projecting knob on the pin or pivot g of the latch bolt as before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we claim as
our invention :-
Latches or fastenings for doors casements skylights fanlights show cases and other
like hinged or pivoted articles consisting essentially of a bolt having the figure of a
truncated cone the cone shaped latch bolt being capable of an oblique rising and falling
motion or a vertical rising and falling motion in the latch case and also of rotating
in the said case, the cone shaped latch bolt falling by its own weight to the bottom of
the case so as to cause its conical or bevilled edge to project over the edge of the door
or other frame or to project from the edge of the door casement fanlight skylight or
other like hinged or pivoted article, the several parts of the latch or fastening being
constructed and combined and acting substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Dated this 10th dow of Sentember 1888
WILLIAM HENRY TONKS.
JOHN BURN.