IMPROVED SAFETY LOCK
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Jules Léandre Pichery at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th May 1872.
I, JULES LÉANDRE PICHERY, of Boulevard de Strasbourg, No. 23, Paris,
Gymnast, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "
IMPROVED SAFETY LOCK," to be as follows:-
AN
Hitherto the safety lock has been rather an object of luxury than of
practical utility on account of its high price. This Invention relates to
a system of lock which gives absolute security for all general purposes
and which is capable of the most varied applications.
The chief feature of my Invention consists in arranging upon the
key several moveable wards and in the interior of the lock the same
number of movable tumblers. The wards and the tumblers are
numbered and notched in order to correspond together in the numerous
combinations which the owner of the lock may effect as he desires. The
lock can be sold as it is in various forms and sizes, and the buyer himself
can then make, by changing the position of one or more of the wards
of key and the tumblers of the lock the combination he desires.
The

page_text: peculiar merit of my system consists in its low price which renders-it
accessible for general domestic purposes; but one property amongst
others possessed by it, is its capability of use as a means of safety for the
closing of despatch bags, bottle, or flasks, bracelets and other applica-
tions. Another peculiarity which should be mentioned is, that my lock
cannot be opened for interior changes and repairs if the bolt has not
been first opened.
Having thus explained the general character of my system I proceed
to describe its arrangement. Upon the barrel of the key, the lower part
of which is a square section or with flattened surfaces, in oval section
or circular with a groove or projection guide; upon this lower part of
the barrel several wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, in optionable numbers are freely
adjusted; these wards of variable forms and dimensions may be changed
at will; it suffices to unscrew the screw which holds them all upon the
barrel and to remove one or more wards in order to change the position
upon the barrel. That done, the screw is returned to its position which
is screwed either by a turnscrew or by means of a fork piece introducing
itself by its points into two notches of the head of the screw; thus held
the wards are solid. Upon the bolt of the lock are mounted upon the
same pivot, with freedom to oscillate, as many tumblers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c.,
as there are wards upon the barrels of the key; these tumblers are
notched and numbered in relation to the wards, so that when a change
is made in the arrangement of the wards of the keys it may be easy to
effect a corresponding change of the tumblers in the interior of the
lock.
It will therefore be understood that an innumerable quantity of
changes may be effected in the lock, all of which tend towards its
security. The tail of the bolt at the same time that the closing of the
lock takes place is acted upon with an oscillating click with a spring.
This click engages into a fulcrum formed in the plate of the lock. The
plate, which is provided with a bolt upon the body of the lock, is found
thus fixed in an invariable manner with the lock at the same time that
the bolt is closed. It follows from this that if any one has not at his
disposition the pre-arranged key in order to open the lock, the lock
itself cannot be opened. The wards and tumblers are manufactured by
stamping or casting, and it is this which permits the sale of my lock at
a very low price and renders it within the reach of all; and in con-
sequence my system is made in several sizes in order to be applicable
for domestic purposes like an ordinary lock.

page_text: As a complement a place is reserved in my lock for an arrangement
to open my lock with and without a key or for some other such organ.
I have also recognised the utility of appropriating my double
arrangement of key with wards and lock with tumblers for different
arrangements by reducing the dimensions of my safety lock and its
key, and by modifying its form.
In order to render my lock suitable for closing a bottle, or fastening
a bracelet, or some other such purpose, the body of the lock is a box
of cylindrical form with an entrance for the keys. Except the dimen-
sions and the form the key and lock have the same combination of
tumblers and wards as in the example above described. The lower
part of the lock takes the form of a collar which embraces the neck of
the bottle or flask, the collar is composed of two parts, one is jointed
upon the body of the lock in order to bring about the closing either of
the body of the lock or of the collar if necessary; the other part of the
collar is united to a hinge with the part in order to permit it to embrace
and to detach it when necessary from the neck. In this transformed
system the part of the collar is above the notch which as in the pre-
ceding arrangement is engaged with the interior of the lock so that the
lock is equally inviolable.