Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 7th Oct, 1887.
A communication from PERRY BROWN, of 459 Jefferson Street, Louisville, xentucky,
United States of America, Real Estate Agent.
1, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.M.E. 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 :-
This invention relates to that class of seal locks in which an attempt to open the lock
tears a seal. To better describe these improvements I will refer to the accompanying
drawings forming part of this specification in which figure 1 is a perspective view of
a section of a freight car provided with this improved lock.
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line xx fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a similar view on the line y y same figure.
Fig. is a back view of a part of the lock detached and with the back plate
removed.
Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same.
Fig. 6 a vertical central section of the lock in position.
Fig. 7 is a reversed plan of a modification.
Fig. 8 is a section of the same through the line in figure 7, and
Fig. 9 is a detail which will be explained hereafter.
Referring now to the details of the accompanying drawings-A represents the body
of the car, provided with the usual door opening, B is the door, made to fit snugly
between two cleats C, fastened on the car body at each side of the door opening. The
door has secured to it the vertical battens D, forming double rabbets to make the door
weather tight when closed. Across the door, upon the inside and at about the
longitudinal center thereof, is secured a wide bar E, while at the bottom of the door,
also upon the inside, is secured a cleat e (see Fig. 3) designed to rest upon the sill A' of
the car when the door is closed. Across the door, upon the outside and near the bottoni,
is rigidly secured an iron bar G, the projecting ends of which, when the door is closed,
rest within the hook brackets H, projecting from the side of the car, as shown. At
the top of the door are two or more chains I or other suitable connections for hanging
017

page_text: the door upon the rod J, and the upper edge of the door, when closed projects behind
a rail K, which excludes the weather, and also acts as a top fastening.
The lock proper, consists of an annular case L, having two annular recesses in
its face, one of which contains a gasket M. of rubber, leather, or other suitable
material, and the other has countersunk screw holes to receive screws to secure the
lock to the door.
In the centre of this lock is a cavity L' containing a spindle N, carrying a coiled
spring O, one end of which is fastened in any convenient way to said spindle, and its
other end to the inside of said cavity by a hook (not shown) in a manner well under-
stood by mechanics, and therefore unnecessary to describe.
In front of this spindle and fast thereon is a disk P having on its face an indicator p
whose projecting edge is preferably made sharp enough to cut the seal when pressed
on the same, and a series of sharp hooked points p'. In the rear of this spindle and
also fast on the same is a wheel Q having a series of ratchet teeth y and a long tooth
or lug g which extends considerably beyond the ratchet teeth.
At R is shown an elbow lever or pawl pivoted at to the case, one end of which
pawl catches in the teeth of the ratchet wheel, while the other engages with a lug s on
a bolt S, said bolt having suitable guide arms ss (working in guides 13 13) a forked
arm engaging a guide y cast on the back plate g' of the lock and two locking
arms s11
At T are represented spiral springs working on studs or wires and having their
points of resistance between the edges of the bolt and eyes attached to or formed
with the casing L.
As shown in Fig. 4 there is a rim that partly surrounds the ratchet wheel, but it
is cut away from the point marked 2 in Fig. 4 to the upper edge of the stop 3 (shown
in dotted lines in the same figure) and from the lower edge of the said stop 3 to the
point indicated by the numeral 1. This last cut is made to allow of the pawl R
catching in the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and the former is to allow of the lug g¹
passing around from the points marked 2 to the stop 3, for a purpose to be hereafter
explained.
At U is shown a screw bolt having a nut on its threaded end and its head perforated
to receive the pivot Y of the hasp V, which bolt passes through the door B and a
tumbler W pivotally connected with the two door bolts X X, which work in a recess
between the door B and the bar E and when the hasp is in the position shown in Fig. 6
said bolts are
into the cleats C as shown in Fig. 2, and the door is securely
locked in position.
"shot
"
The hasp V is forked at its upper end and embraces the head of the screw bolt U
and is pivoted thereon by a pin so as to swing thereon towards or from the car door.
Its center is of ring shape so as to show the disk P through it when in the locked
position, and it terminates in a handle u which is of sufficient length to rest in the
hook attached to the door B. When the hasp is in this position the tumbler and
bolts assume that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. and the door is then unlocked, and
by raising it slightly the bar G is lifted clear of the hook-brackets H and the door will
then hang on the chains I and can be removed and placed between the staples a a on
the sides of the car where it may be locked if desired, or the door may be thrown up
on the top of the car if preferred.
The circular part of the hasp has two annular ribs and ¹¹, the former of which
presses on the gasket M in the face of the lock case while the latter enters the groove /
and has two books v³ (one of which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6) which enters
holes in the faces of the casing and catch under the arms on the bolts S. The
opening in the centre of the hasp is closed by a glass Z through which the seal can be
seen, which glass is secured by the ring or rib and is embedded in putty to make it
water tight.
In practice, when it is desired to close the door, the car being loaded, the door is
brought in front of the door-opening, and its upper end is inserted beneath the rail K
and pushed up behind it until the bar G will engage with and drop into the
brackets H.

page_text: The hasp now being in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, a key is then
inserted in an opening p" made for its reception in the centre of the disk P, and by
turning the key the spring O is wound up and is kept wound by the pawl catching in
the teeth of the ratchet wheel, until it is released in the manner hereafter explained.
A paper seal, preferably provided with suitable identifying marks, is then placed over
the disk P and forced on the indicator p and hooks p' which may pierce or force their
way through said seal, or a slit to receive the indicator and holes for the hooks may be
previously cut in the seal to allow the indicator and hooks to more readily pass through
the seal.
The hasp V is then lifted off the hook band turned down over the lock as shown
in full lines in Fig. 1, and is then forced down over the lock, the rib
pressing on
the rubber gasket M makes a tight joint and holds the seal fast, and the hooks 1³
catch under the locking arms of the bolt S in which condition the door
bolts X X occupy the position shown in Fig. 2, and the door is locked fast. When in
this condition the door cannot be opened without breaking the seal and consequently
if any one opens the door it is instantly shown by the seal being torn.
To unlock the door a suitable key is inserted as shown in dotied lines in the
openings which by pressing on the arm of the pawl R will cause said arm to
push the bolt S upwards thus moving the arms" out of the notches in the hooks
23 so that the hasp is unlocked and the door bolts can be readily drawn inward as
shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. This same motion of the pawl which unlocks
the hasp, causes the pawl to move out of the teeth of the ratchet wheel Q, and the
force of the spring O, rotates the disk P, and the indicator and the hooks p¹ tear
the seal so
as to utterly deface the same, and thus show that the hasp has been
unlocked.
The indicator being much larger or longer than the hooked points will readily
show whether the spring is wound or not without actual manual examination of the
The hooked points would not show this so well because they are smaller and
as there are necessarily more than one of them, if they were arranged so that one of
them would be, say at the top when the spring was wound and below when unwound,
it would still be rather difficult to tell whether the spring was wound or not because
one of the other hooked points may be at the top. By the use of the indicator this
difficulty is avoided.
same.
The construction shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 may sometimes be used, which differs
from that shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, it being so constructed that the tearing device
rises up and pierces the seal previous to revolving for tearing it.
In this form the hasp and casing are very similar to that shown in the other figures
of the drawing heretofore described but the cavity L' in the centre of the casing in
which the tearing disk works has on its opposite sides grooves or slots having notches
at their backs or lower ends like those shown in in Fig. 9, which represents a
detached view of the walls of said cavity. The tearing disk P is somewhat differently
constructed and operated from that shown in the Figs. 4, 5 and 6, it having no ratchet
wheel but has two arms 7 q projecting on opposite sides and working in the
grooves in the walls of the cavity L'. The spindle of the disk is bored out to fit
over a stud grising from the centre of the back plate gand which thus acts as a
guide for the same. Around this spindle is a spiral spring O' which is so arranged
that it not only rotates the disk P in the same manner as the spring O but it also
drives the disk outwards at the same time.
The operation of this form of the invention is as follows:-
The door being closed as before, a key is inserted in the hole in the centre of the
disk and is forced downward and partially revolved which causes the arm q" 2¹ to
descend in the slots 16 16 until said arms reach the bottom of the slots when a slight
turn in the opposite direction caused the arms to rest in notches in the ends of the
slots. A seal is then placed over the disk P and the hasp closed over the case and
locked as before, when the door cannot be opened without breaking the seal, because
before a key can reach the bolt it must push the arm q" (and with it the other arm q11)
out of the notches into the main grooves 11 which enables the spring O' to act upon

page_text: the disk and force its cutters or points through the seal and as they pierce the seal
and the disk revolves, the seal is pierced and torn as to be utterly defaced, and thus it
is impossible to unlock the hasp or open the door without its being detected.
It is evident that the shape of the slots may be changed so that instead of piercing
and tearing it may pierce only, in which case the slots would have to be straight.
It is considered important that the tearing devices should be operated by the
spring when in the act of tearing the seal instead of its being operated by a key and
then returned to its original position by spring, as has been proposed because if
the slightest movement is given to the spring in my construction the seal is
necessarily totally defaced, as the force of the spring cannot be controlled, whereas
where the tearer is moved by a key an attempt might be carefully made and on
the discovery that the scal would be broken by further movement of the key it
might be stopped without sufficient damage being done to the seal to show without
comparatively close inspection.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1-A seal lock provided with a seal defacer and means, substantially as described
for operating said defacer as the bolt of the lock is moved, as set forth.
2-A seal lock provided with a spring operated seal defacer, constructed to tear
the seal by spring power, substantially as described.
3-A seal lock provided with a rotary spring-operated seal defacer, substantially
as described.
4-A seal lock provided with a spring operated indicator, substantially as described,
set in motion by the insertion of the key that opens the lock, as set forth.
5-A seal lock provided with a rotary indicator and tearing hooks, substantially
as described.
6-A seal lock provided with a rotary indicator and tearing hooks, and a spring
for operating the same, substantially as described.
-
7 The combination in a seal lock of a casing containing the locking and seal
defacing mechanism, with a hasp securing the seal to the casing and the door bolts
connected to and operated by said hasp substantially as described.
8-The combination in a seal lock, of a casing containing the locking and seal
defacing mechanism, with a hasp operating the locking bolts and provided with an
opening filled with a transparent substance covering the seal, substantially as
described.
9-The combination in a seal lock, of a casing containing the locking and seal
defacing mechanism and provided with a groove to receive a packing ring with a
swinging hasp having an opening filled with transparent material covering the seal,
and a rib fitting water tight against said packing ring to protect the seal from the
weather, substantially as described.
10 The combination in a seal lock, and with the bolts of a door, of a hasp, covering
the casing containing the locking and seal defacing mechanism, and constructed to move
the bolt operating mechanism, substantially as described.
11-The combination in a seal lock and with the bolts of a door, of a hasp covering
the casing containing the lock and seal defacing mechanism, a tumbler connected to
the door bolts and to said hasp, and both tumbler and hasp connected to move
simultaneously, substantially as described.
12 The combination in a seal lock of a casing constructed to receive the seal
defacing mechanism, a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the
door bolts, and locking mechanism, as the bolt S for securing the hasp over the seal,
substantially as described.
13 The combination in a seal lock, of a casing constructed to receive the seal
defacing mechanism, a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the
door bolts, and a bolt to lock the same to the casing with a spring to impel the
defacing mechanism and a dog or pawl to hold said spring in its wound condition

page_text: constructed to be operated by the key that moves the locking bolt, substantially as
described.
14-The combination in a seal lock, of a casing constructed to receive a rotary
seal defacer and a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the door
bolts, with a bolt to lock the same to the casing, a spring to impel the defacer, a
ratchet wheel connected with the same and a dog or pawl having one end engaging
the teeth of the ratchet wheel and the other arranged to act on the seal lock bolt to
open the same, substantially as described.
15 The combination in a seal lock, of a casing constructed to receive a rotary seal
defacer, and a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the door bolts,
with a bolt to lock the same to the casing, a spring to impel the defacer, a ratchet
wheel connected with the same. and a dog or pawl having one end engaging the teeth
of the ratchet wheel and the other end arranged to close the key hole of the lock,
substantially as described.
16 The combination of a hasp V connected with the door bolts and having an
aperture filled in with transparent material, with a casing L, a spindle M carrying a
seal defacer, a spring surrounding said spindle, a ratchet wheel fast on the same, a
pawl R engaging in the teeth of the ratchet and a holt. S for securing the hasp to the
lock substantially as described.
17 The combination of a hasp V connected with the door bolts and having a
central aperture filled in with transparent material, with a casing having apertures 1²,
and a central cavity L, a spindle N carrying a seal defacer working in said cavity,'
a spring surrounding said spindle, a ratchet wheel fast on the same, a pawl R,
engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and a bolt S provided with locking arms st
on opposite sides to secure the hasp, substantially as described.
18 The combination of a hasp V having an aperture filled in with transparent
material, the door bolts X, a tumbler and pivotal connections between said bolts and
hasp, with a casing L having central cavity Land side apertures 12, a spindle N
carrying a seal defacer, and working in cavity L, a spring surrounding said spindle, a
ratchet wheel fast on the same, a pawl R engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and
a bolt S provided with locking arms on opposite sides to secure the hasp,
substantially as described.