Improvements in Fastenings applicable to Deed Boxes and Jewel Cases and also to Doors and the like.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th July, 1893-Accepted, 19th Aug., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fastenings applicable to Deed Boxes and Jewel
Cases and also to Doors and the like.
I, JOSEPH FLETCHER GREEN, of Blackwall in the County of Middlesex, a
Member of the Firm of. Richard & Henry Green, Shipbuilders of Blackwall
Yard, London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner.
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide fastenings such that the box or case,
or it may be the door, to which the fastening is applied can only be opened by the.
owner or other person who by prearrangement is intended to have this power.
1 avail myself of the fact that scarcely ever are two people found having hands
of the same size and form and I so arrange that the hand of the owner is the key
to the fastening. Each finger is made to move a bolt a distance dependent on the
length of the finger and when every bolt is moved the correct distance, neither
too much nor too little the fastening will permit the lid or door to be opened.
For further security the fastening is so arranged that the bolts must be first
set and locked fast in position before any further attempt to open the lid or door
can be made.
The annexed drawings show a deed box or jewel case with its fastenings in
accordance with my invention.
Figure 1 is an end elevation and Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section ;
these figures are about half size. .
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section full size of part of the lid of the box or case
together with the bolts and parts in connection therewith.
Figure 4 is an end elevation of the bolts and most of the parts shewn in
Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a plan of the locking parts as seen when the top of the lid is
removed to expose the parts below.
Figure 6 is an underside view of the bolts and locking parts.
In Figures 1 and 2 a is the lower part of the box or case and b is the lid ;
this latter may be connected with the lower part by hooks cc one of which is
shown separately at Figure 14. d is a plate upon the lid, it has apertures in it
through which the fingers of the left hand may be thrust. But in the raised
position of the lid in which it is shown in Figures 1 and 2 and in which it is
maintained by the hooks c the apertures in the plate d are covered on the inside by
the top of the part a of the box or case; it is therefore necessary before the
fingers can be inserted to disengage the hooks c and allow the lid to descend to a
lower position and then the apertures in the plate d will correspond with other
apertures at a¹. When the fingers are inserted they are made to thrust inwards as
far as may be three (or it might be four) pushers e (one only is seen in Figure 2)
and these pushers are connected with bolts f. g is a handle which when raised as
in Figure 2 locks the bolts fast in whatever position they may be. As seen
in Figure 2 the ends of the bolts protrude and catch upon the under side of the
ledges h but when the bolts have been properly placed and locked by raising
the handle g then on the left hand being withdrawn the lid may be lifted off. The
object with which the ledges h h are so placed that the lid, when locked, can still
be raised a distance, is that all access to the pushers e may be cut off before the
bolts come to bear upon the ledges h otherwise it might be possible to feel the
bolts so as to ascertain which was resisting the opening and to move this bolt
accordingly. As will be seen in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 each pusher e controls two
bolts ; with one of these it is rigidly connected by a stem e'. The two bolts

page_text: forming a pair are coupled together by a lever and links. The several levers are
marked iii, they can rock upon an axis k; llare links by which each lever is
connected with the bolts which it aids in coupling. m m are the guides or sheaths
in which the bolts slide, these have slotted holes in them where necessary to allow
the connections to be made.
On the stem of each pusher e is a spring e³ and these springs e tend to hold the
bolts in the locked position, that is to say the springs make the bolts to protrude
beyond the ends of the sheaths m m; but when the pushers e are thrust in the
proper distance, the two ends of every bolt come flush with the ends of its
.sheath m; the bolt then can pass up between the ledges hh. In Figures 5 and 5^
the pushers e and the plate d are shown in their proper relative positions. The
handle g as before stated serves to lock and retain the bolts and this it does in the
following manner; it has projecting fingers g₁ g' beneath its pivots and these as
the handle is raised press down upon the levers n n which are pivotted at n'. The
ends of the levers n enter openings in a frame o and this frame which is suspended.
by springs o¹ is consequently forced down when the handle is raised and so
wedges oo which form part of the frame o are forced down between and against
the bolts, and the bolts are thus locked fast in any position they may happen
to be.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A fastening such that the human hand serves as the key, the fingers when
inserted as far as a suitable stop admits moving bolts and placing them in accord
with the lengths of the fingers; whence results the disengagement of the fastening,
provided the lengths of the fingers be suitable, that is to say if the hand be
that of the owner or person to whom the fastening is adjusted.
2. A fastening in accordance with the preceding claim and provided with a
locking appliance to hold the bolts after they have been set and so arranged that
the hand must be withdrawn before the opening takes place.
Dated this 13th day of July 1893.
JOS. F. GREEN.