IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Brooks, of 43, Edward Street, Dorset
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Locksmith, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS."
Sealed the 24th June 1859, and dated the 17th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Brooks at the.
..Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th January 1859.
I, EDWARD BROOKS, of 43, Edward Street, Dorset Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Locksmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS," to be as follows:-
I form my improved locks with a curtain or circular plate, which moves
round on a centre pin in front of the keyhole by the motion of the lock; the
parts are further so arranged that the bolt shoots twice in one turn of the key.
I employ tumblers somewhat in the ordinary manner, which restrict & control
the bolt as usual. I either employ two sets of tumblers, or invest one set
with a double action, so that the key acts thereon when performing half a
revolution on one side, & moving the bolt once, & again in performing the
other half revolution on the other side, & moving the bolt a second time. The
key gives one motion to the bolt much in the ordinary way, while the second"
motion is communicated by an auxiliary bolt or slide acted on by the key in its
second half revolution, which slide is connected by a lever with the bolt, which.

page_text: tbus receives its second shoot or motion. The curtain or rotating plate is moved
by a pin projecting from the bolt, so that when one movement of the bolt
has been completed the keyhole is closed while the second movement of the
bolt is being effected. I further form a groove round the barrel of the key in
which an edge of the curtain is received when the one motion is effected. On
the complete motion of the locking action the curtain again discloses the key-
hole. In order that the keyhole shall be as closed as possible when the bolt
has performed one movement, I form a central pin much thicker immediately
under the curtain plate than that part which projects beyond. I am aware
that curtain plates have been used heretofore to enclose keyholes, but not with
like effect to that produced by combination with the other parts of my
Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance, of the conditions, of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Brooks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BROOKS, of Edward Street, Dorset Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Locksmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Brooks, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Brooks,
my executors, administrators, and assigns; or such others as I, the said Edward
Brooks, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Locks," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Brooks,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and 'ascer-
tain 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Brooks, 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 Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
I form my improved locks with a curtain consisting of a plate or plates,
which move on a pin or otherwise in front of the keyhole, and so as to close:
it, with the exception of the central opening, by the motion of the lock, and
further so arrange the parts of the lock that the bolt shoots twice in one turn
of the key, by which combination great security is obtained. I employ;
tumblers somewhat in the ordinary manner, which restrict and control the
bolt as usual, and I either employ two sets of tumblers or invest one set with:
a double action, so that. the key acts thereon once when performing half a
revolution on one side; and whereby the bolt is moved a first time, and again:
in performing the other half revolution on the other side, whereby the bolt is:
moved a second time, which completes its throw. The key gives one motion:
to the bolt. much in the ordinary way, while the second motion is com-
municated by an auxiliary slide or piece acted on by the key in its second half
revolution, which slide is connected by a lever with the lock bolt, which thus:
recieves its second movement. The curtain plate or plates is or are moved by.
pin or pins projecting from the bolt or other moving parts, so that when one:
movement of the bolt is effected the keyhole is closed, and remains so while the
second movement of the bolt is being effected, and until that is being completed.
I further form a groove round the barrel of the key in which the edge of the
round aperture of the keyhole in the curtain plate is received. when the key-!
hole is closed. On the completing of the motion of the locking action the curtain.
again discloses the keyhole. In order that the keyhole shall be as close as.
possible when the bolt has performed one movement, I form the central pin on
which the key turns much thicker immediately under the curtain plate than.
that part which projects through and beyond it.
a
I am aware that curtain plates have been used heretofore to enclose key-
holes, but not with like effect to that which is produced by combination with
the other parts of the lock arranged according to my Invention, which render
the lock inviolable. It must be observed that the keyhole is closed by a
curtain plate or plates only when the bolt is half shot, and that in the locked
or unlocked state the keyhole is quite open, except in so far as the thickened.
pin obstructs it, which is the same at all times. The object of thickening the
centre pin is to reduce the size of the central opening that recieves the barrel
of the key to the smallest possible dimensions, that being the only opening.

page_text: exhibited (supposing the key to be removed), and the bolt half shot, and
which, therefore, is the only available opening by which the lock could be
completely picked, which I believe to be an'impossibility.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 represent different views of a lock arranged according
to my Invention, showing some of the parts removed, and also with the bolt
half shot and shot completely, also the positions that the different parts of the
lock occupy in those changes. Fig. 1 shows a lock with one arrangement of
the curtain plate; Fig. 2 represents the interior of the lock with the tumblers;
and Fig. 3, the same view with the tumblers removed; Fig. 4 is a similar view.
to Fig. 2, but with the bolt moved or shot once, and after the key has performed!
half a revolution; while Fig. 5 is a like view, but with the bolt completely shot;:
the key having performed the entire revolution. a is the curtain plate, which:
has two keyhole openings, through one of which the key must pass on entering,
and after having locked or unlocked the lock it is withdrawn through the:
other. The dotted keyhole lines in Fig. 1 show the other position of this:
plate, which is further illustrated in Fig. 6, showing the keyhole as closed by
the plate a, with the bolt half shot, and with the key removed. The plate a is
recessed in the front plate 6 of the lock; it must be covered by another plate,
or by the door or other article to which it is affixed, & thereby protected, so
that it cannot be tampered with. c, c, are the tumblers, arranged like the tumblers
of ordinary locks, on which the key acts as usual. On these tumblers c, c, I form
extensions d, d, d, between which and the ordinary faces of the tumblers the
key works, so that after acting on the faces of the tumblers c, c, as in ordinary,
on the right, it afterwards acts on the parts d to the left. e is the lock bolt,"
which is mounted on the platef of the lock as usual; 'g is the pin ör pro-
jection from the bolt e, which works in the slots of the tumblers; this pin g
passes from the opening h to opening during the first throw, and from
opening i to opening k during the second throw. In order to produce the
first throw of the bolt the key lever acts on the bolt e and tumbler c, in the
ordinary manner; but in order to produce the second throw I introduce an
auxiliary bolt or slide l, mounted on plate f, two pins thereon taking into the
slots of, which guide and sustain it. This slide. is connected with ȧ lever
consisting of a small circular plate mi recessed into. plate f, and having two
radial slots near the periphery at opposite sides of the centre pin n, on which
it moves. The slots receive the one a small pin p projecting from and the
other a similar pin q.projecting from e, so that any motion communicated to
is transmitted to e, and any motion given to e is transmitted thereby to 7..

page_text: The sliding piece l is formed to receive the lever of the key, so that it may be
moved thereby in the same manner as the bolt e; by this means the lever of
the key in one revolution and in locking acts first on tumblers c and on
bolt e, and then on slide l, and at same time on parts d, which form as it
were a second set of tumblers, the motion of being communicated simul-
taneously to the bolt, and thus completing the locking. The reverse order
and movement has of course the effect of unlocking. The pin g.projects up
through the tumblers, and takes into the curtain plate a, as seen in Fig. 1,
whereby motion is given to that plate. This motion of plate a closes that part
of the keyhole where the lever of the key enters, which takes place on com-
pleting half a revolution of the key, and is in the position seen in Fig. 6.
Fig. 7 represents a view of the key, showing the groove or recess x, round the
barrel in which the edge of the hole in the curtain plate is received when it is
in the position represented at Fig. 6. Instead of forming the extension d on
the tumblers, a. second set of tumblers may be introduced to regulate and
control the second movement of bolt c. The number and combination of the
tumblers will of course depend on the character of the lock, all of which is
well understood in the lock manufacture.
Figs. 8, 9, 10, & 11 represent a modification of a lock according to my
Invention in which the tumblers are arranged as before, but in which the
curtain is formed by two half plates, which pass in front of the keyhole at the
proper time. Fig. 8 shows the lock with the front plate removed; 'Fig. 9, a
like view with the bolt half shot; Fig. 10, the same, with the bolt completely
shot, and as when locked; while Fig. 11 shows it with the tumblers and
curtain plates removed. In this case the curtain plates a¹, a¹, are placed
immediately under the front plate, being mounted on stud pins r, r; they
rest immediately on the tumblers c, c, and have motion on the pins 2, r, to the
extent shown by the close position, Fig. 9, and the open position, Figs. 8
and 10. The lever plate s, connecting bolt e with the piece on which the key
acts to impart the second motion is in this case a circular plate recessed into
plate f, and mounted on the centre pin, which receives the barrel of the key.
In this case the piece t, acted on by the key in its second half revolution, is
mounted on a fulcrum pin u; this piece t is furnished with a gab v for the
reception of the lever of the key to impart the necessary motion to it on its
fulcrum u; it also has a short pin taking into the plate s to impart the rotary
or lever motion thereto, which is transmitted to bolt e by a pin projecting
therefrom, each taking into radial slots in plate s, as before explained with
regard to the first lock. A pin w projects upwards from piece t, which takes
into an angular or curved slot y in the half curtain plate a¹ on the left, while

page_text: the pin g projecting up through the tumblers, as before explained, takes into
the angular or crooked slot y' of the half curtain plate a' on the right. The
traverse of these pins w and g in the slots y and y¹ produced by the action of
locking or unlocking the lock, causes the half plates a¹, a¹, to approach or
recede from each other at the required times, as herein-before described, and
as shown in the several Figures of the Drawings, thereby closing the keyhole
as required.
Having described the nature of-my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination of parts con-
stituting a lock or locks, herein-before described, in which the bolt is controlled
by the compound tumblers or by two set of tumblers, and receives two motions
or shoots by one turn of the key, and in which the keyhole is closed by a
curtain plate or plates, 'all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Brooks, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
EDWARD BROOKS. (L.S.)