IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS FOR SECURING DOORS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Fletcher, of Erdington, near
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Tube and Nail Maker, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS FOR SECURING DOORS AND FOR OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 27th May 1859, and dated the 6th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William Fletcher
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th December 1858.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM FLETCHER, of Erdington, near Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Tube and Nail Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS FOR SECURING DOORS
AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in making bolts for doors, gates, and other similar
uses, with an eccentric or lever action, so that great power can be exerted in
sliding them to and fro, and the bolts are at the same time prevented from
being surreptitiously forced back by reason of the centre upon which such
eccentric works being upon the same line as the bolt. The eccentric consists.
of a plate of metal pinned loosely upon the bolt plate, and working the bolt by
means of a slot upon the under side of the bolt; consequently it moves freely...
between the bolt and the back plate, and being pinned upon. the back plate
carries the bolt backwards and forwards according as power.. may be exerted.
upon a small thumb-knob fixed upon a point of the eccentric opposite to that.

page_text: at which the centre pin is fixed. This eccentric may be attached to any
suitable portion of the length of the bolt, preference being given to about
the centre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick William Fletcher in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WILLIAM FLETCHER, of Erdington, in the County of Warwick, Tube and Nail
Maker, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of December, A.D. One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederick William Fletcher, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
William Fletcher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick William Fletcher, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS FOR SECURING DOORS AND. FOR OTHER SIMILAR
PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
William Fletcher, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick William Fletcher, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consist of a certain mechanical contrivance for obtaining
power, and for more easily forcing out and withdrawing the rod, bar, or shoot
of bolts used for door fastenings and other similar purposes, and which consist
of the following:-In the centre of the back plate of the bolt, and central
with the rod, bar, or shoot, is rivetted a steel or other metal pin, the upper

page_text: portion of which projects for the purpose of receiving an eccentric or disc
plate that lays flat upon the said back plate, and which partially revolves upon
the steel or other metal pin or axis, in giving motion to the rod, bar, or shoot, the
said rod, bar, or shoot being held in its horizontal position in the usual manner
by metal straps, firmly rivetted or otherwise secured to the back plate; or a
brass or other metal case may be used in lieu of the said straps. A portion of
the length of the rod, bar, or shoot is cut away or flattened on the under side
to receive the excentric or disc plate, the length of the flattened portion being
equal to the diameter of the excentric or disc plate, and which said excentric
or disc.plate is a partly circular plate of metal, having a portion of its periphery
made concentric with the steel or other metal pin or axis that is rivetted to
the back plate. In the centre of this concentric portion of the periphery is a
neck, to which the knob or handle for giving the requisite motion is secured.
The points of contact in the under side of the rod, bar, or shoot that the
excentric or disc plate works against for forcing out and withdrawing the
same, are perfectly lineable with the axis, and when the rod, bar, or shoot is
forced either in or out by the aforesaid excentric or disc plate to the fullest
extent, the concentric portion of the same is then against the point of contact
in the rod, bar, or shoot, thereby forming a perfect stop, and it will be a
mechanical impossibility to force the rod, bar, or shoot either in or out,
without giving motion (by means of the knob or handle) to the excentric or
disc plate, until the concentric portion shall have passed the point of contact.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed to describe the several explanatory Figures (drawn full size) on the
Sheet of Drawings hereunto attached.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of a bolt constructed according to my improvements;
Figure 2 is a side elevation; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section; Figure 4 is a
transverse section on the line A, A, (see plan;) Figure 5 is also a transverse
section on the line B, B, (see plan ;) and Figures 6 and 7 are an elevation
and plan of the rod, bar, or shoot, detached. C is the back plate of the bolt,
and is composed of a strip of flat iron or other metal of the required size, and
upon which are fixed and placed the several stationary and working parts of
the bolt; D is a steel or other metal pin, rivetted into the back plate C, upon
the upper portion of which works the eccentric or disc plate E, and which said
excentric or disc plate may be stamped out of a piece of flat iron or other
metal, or otherwise formed to the required shape, see Figure 1. It is of a
circular form, except at a portion of its periphery directly opposite to the

page_text: excentric working axis D, and from this comparatively flattened portion
projects a neck F, thus forming two shoulders G, each of which is concentric
with the excentric axis D. To the neck F is secured the knob or handle H.
I is the rod, bar; or shoot, which may be of iron or other metal; it has a
portion of its under side slotted or flattened to the form indicated by dotted
lines in Figure 1, and more clearly shewn in the detached views, Figures 6
and 7; the length and depth of the slot or flattened portion between the points
of contact J and J', being equal to the diameter and thickness of the excentric
or disc plate E, so that it shall lie in a longitudinal direction, and directly
over the axis D, and rests upon the back plate except where the excentric
or disc plate E intervenes. It is now held in its longitudinal position by two
or more metal straps K firmly rivetted to the back plate C, or a complete
brass or other metal casing passing over it (and secured in the usual manner).
may be used.
It is now obvious, that by moving (by means of the knob or
handle H) the excentric or disc plate E to the left band, that it will press
against the point J, and gradually force out the rod, bar, or shoot I, until the
knob or handle H lays against it; by this time the shoulder G will have
moved round to the point of contact J, thus preventing any possibility of the
rod, bar, or shoot I being withdrawn without. a retrograde movement being
given to the excentric or disc plate E.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise methods herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but what I consider as
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the adaptation of the excentric
motion in any form whatsoever to all bolts for securing doors and for other
similar purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Fletcher, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
FREDERICK WILLIAM FLETCHER. (L.S.)
JOHN WEBB, Solicitor,
Birmingham.