IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY BOXES FOR CASH AND OTHER VALUABLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Ellis, of Stratford, in the County
of Essex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Ellis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th June 1875.
I, WILLIAM HENRY ELLIS, of Stratford, in the County of Essex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY BOXES FOR CASH AND OTHER VALUABLES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates more particularly to what are known as
travelling cash boxes, but it is also applicable to other purposes for
preventing cash or other valuables which have been inserted in a box
from being withdrawn therefrom by any other than the rightful parties
in charge of the same. In the cash boxes of this description as
ordinarily constructed, and which aro employed on railways, cash parcels

page_text: are inserted at the several stations on the route in the upper part of the
box, whence they fall into a compartment below, to which access can
only be obtained by the person in charge; but considerable risk is
incurred of such parcels being fraudulently removed by the act of
inverting the box, causing the parcels to return to the top compartment
into which they were inserted, and of their being withdrawn therefrom.
Now my Invention has for its object to remedy this defect and to
prevent the possibility of any parcel deposited in the box being with-
drawn except by the person in charge.
In order to effect this object I construct my improved safety box in
the following manner :-I provide a box or casing which is divided by a
horizontal partition into an upper compartment and a lower compart-
ment, and in the former I fit a drawer having a hinged flap at its
bottom, and an aperture is provided in the horizontal partition so as
to admit of the descent of any parcel or article deposited in the drawer
into the other compartment below. When the drawer is closed the
hinged flap is pendent downwards into the lower compartment, but in
the act of opening the drawer the flap is caused to close by passing over
a transverse rod or cross piece so as to form a receptacle for the parcel
or article, such flap then gradually opening again as the drawer is
closed in order to admit of the descent of the parcel or article. The
opening in the horizontal partition between the two compartments is
closed by a moveable cover carried upon a swinging frame, so arranged
that as the drawer is closed the frame will be moved in order to allow
the parcel or article to descend.
In order to prevent the possibility of small and light articles being
obstructed by the closing frame I cause the back or other suitable part
of the drawer to act as a tappet upon a projecting portion of the frame
and move it sufficiently to ensure the descent of the article, such tappet
after passing the projection allowing the swinging frame to resume its
normal position.
With a view to prevent the possibility of the parcel or article being
returned to the drawer by the act of inverting the box I suitably load
or weight the flap in order to ensure its closing when the box is moved
out of its normal horizontal position.
I also employ the following additional means of precaution to prevent
the withdrawal of the parcel or article from the drawer when it has

page_text: been inserted or in case it should by any possibility have been
fraudulently returned from the compartment, and also to prevent the
drawer from being reopened when it has been but partially closed, or
closed when it has been but partially opened. I provide on the top or
bottom or in any other convenient part of the drawer a rack, in con-
nection with which works a detent carried by a cross piece above, below,
or otherwise; this detent when the drawer is being moved in either
direction passes over the teeth of the rack, but if it be attempted to
reverse the motion before the drawer is either fully opened or closed, as
the case may be, the detent immediately engages with the teeth of the
rack and arrests the motion, until by completing the first movement
in the particular direction the pawl has been released and reversed by
falling into a suitable recess or space provided for its reception.
I also employ an additional rack on the under side of a projecting
bead formed on each side of the drawer, below which racks there are
fitted suitable detents mounted on centres in the frame of the box and
weighted so as to be capable of oscillating by the act of tilting the box,
and of thus by engaging with the teeth of the racks preventing the with-
drawal of the drawer.
The position of the racks and detents may be inverted, and the
arrangement of the details otherwise modified without departing from
the principle of my Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Henry Ellis in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY ELLIS, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Henry Ellis, Her special license
that I, the said William Henry Ellis, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said William Henry Ellis, my
executors, administrators, or 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 “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN SAFETY BOXES FOR CASH AND OTHER Valuables," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Ellis, my
executors or administrators, 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 per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Ellis, 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 accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say :-
My said Invention relates more particularly to what are known as
travelling cash boxes, but it is also applicable to other purposes for
preventing cash or other valuables which have been inserted in a box
from being withdrawn therefrom by any other than the rightful parties
in charge of the same. In the cash boxes of this description as
ordinarily constructed, and which are employed on railways, cash parcels
are inserted at the several stations on the route in the upper part of the
box, whence they fall into a compartment below to which access can
only be obtained by the person in charge, but considerable risk is
incurred of such parcels being fraudulently removed by the act of
inverting the box, causing the parcels to return to the top compartment
into which they were inserted, and of their being withdrawn therefrom.
Now my Invention has for its object remedying this defect and
preventing the possibility of any parcel deposited in the box being
withdrawn except by the person in charge, and this object is attained in
the manner herein-after described.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both
Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal vertical
section of my improved travelling cash box; and Figure 2 is a hori-
zontal section of the same taken along the line 1, 2, Figure 1.
A is a box or casing which is divided by a horizontal partition B into
an upper compartment C and a lower compartment D, in the former of
which I fit a drawer E for the reception of parcels or other articles.
This drawer has a hinged flap F at its bottom, and an aperture G is
provided in the horizontal partition B so as to admit of the descent of
any parcel or article deposited in the drawer into the other compart-
ment D below. When the drawer E is closed the hinged flap F (which
works between two plates or cheeks O) is pendent downwards into the
lower compartment D, as shewn in red lines in Figure 1, but in the act
of opening the drawer the flap is caused to close by passing over the
roller H and the edge a of the opening G so as to form a receptacle for
the parcel or article, such flap then gradually opening again as the
drawer is closed in order to admit of the descent of the parcel or article
into the compartment D, the opening G in the horizontal partition B is
closed by a moveable cover I carried upon a swinging frame K hinged
at b, b, to the framing c of the upper compartment C, and so arranged
that when the drawer is partly closed the frame will be moved into the
position shewn in red in Figure 1, in order to allow the parcel or article
to descend.
In order to prevent the possibility of small and light articles being
obstructed by the closing cover I and frame K, projections or tappets L
are fitted on the back part of the drawer E, as shewn, or on any other
convenient part thereof, which tappets by acting upon a projecting
portion M of the frame K move it sufficiently to ensure the descent of
the article, after which as the drawer closes they pass the projections M
and allow the swinging frame to resume its normal position.
With a view to prevent the possibility of the parcel or article being
returned to the drawer by the act of inverting the box I suitably load
or weight the flap F in order to ensure its closing when the box is

page_text: moved out of its normal horizontal position in one direction, another
flap N provided for the same purpose being brought into action when
the box is moved or tilted in the opposite direction.
I also employ the following additional means of precaution to prevent
the withdrawal of the parcel or article from the drawer when it has been
inserted, or in case it should by any possibility have been fraudulently
returned from the compartment D, and also to prevent the drawer from
being reopened when it has been but partially closed, or closed when it has
been but partially opened. On the top of the drawer E I provide racks P
in connection with which work detents Q carried by the frame c and
arranged in such a manner that when the drawer is being moved in
either direction the detents pass over the teeth of the racks P, but that
if it be attempted to reverse the motion before the drawer is either fully
opened or closed, as the case may be, the detents shall be immediately
caused to engage with the teeth of the racks and arrest the motion,
until by completing the first movement in the particular direction the
detents have been released and reversed by falling into one or other (as
the case may be) of the recesses or spaces R, R', provided for their
reception in the projecting beads d on each side of the drawer.
I also employ an additional rack S on the under side of one of the
projecting beads d, below which rack there is fitted a suitable detent T
mounted on the centre U in the frame of the box A, and weighted so as
to be capable of oscillating by the act of tilting the box, and of thus (by
engaging with the teeth of the rack 8) preventing the withdrawal of the
drawer.
The drawer E is prevented from being entirely withdrawn from the
box A by means of the projections or tappets L which come in contact
with the swinging frame K when the drawer is fully opened. A spring
detent V is also provided for the purpose of preventing the frame K
from moving backwards, until the flap F in closing the drawer arrives:
at the edge a of the aperture G in the partition B, and for causing the
articles contained in the drawer to be forced on to the flap F before the
latter commences to open; so soon however as the flap arrives at the
aperture G, the back of the drawer by acting upon an inclined pro-
jection c formed on the detent V forces the latter out of contact with a 3
bar W carried on the axis ¹ of the swinging frame, whilst at the same
time the projections L by coming in contact with the projections ¼ on

page_text: the frame K remove the cover I from the aperture G so as to admit of
the descent of the parcels or other articles into the compartment
below.
The position and arrangement of the racks and detents P, P, S, Q,
Q, T, may be inverted, and the details generally otherwise modified
without departing from the principle of my Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
First. The employment in a box consisting of an upper compartment
and a lower compartment of a drawer fitted in the upper compartment
and having a hinged flap arranged in such a manner that the flap shall
be closed when the drawer is opened for the insertion of a parcel or
article, and be opened when the drawer is closed so as to admit of the
descent of such parcel or article into the lower compartment, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Second. The combination with a box consisting of an upper compart-
ment fitted with a drawer into which the parcel or article is inserted,
and a lower compartment into which such parcel or article is discharged
through an aperture in the bottom of the drawer controlled by a hinged
flap, and through an aperture in a horizontal partition, separating the
two compartments, of a movable cover for closing the said aperture
forming a communication between the two compartments, such cover
being carried upon a swinging frame, arranged and operated in such a
manner as to cause the cover to be moved by the act of closing the
drawer in order to admit of the descent of the parcel or article into the
lower compartment, and then to be returned to its normal position, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
Thirdly. The combination with the movable cover carried by the
swinging frame for closing the aperture forming the communication
between the upper compartment with the lower compartment of hinged
flaps arranged in such a manner that they shall be closed by the act of
tilting or inverting the box, and thereby prevent the return of a parcel

page_text: or article from the lower compartment to the upper compartment, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Fourthly. The mode or method of controlling the motion of the
drawer receiving the parcels or articles, as before mentioned, by the aid
of racks and detents or equivalent devices, so arranged as to prevent the
movement of the drawer from being reversed during the traverse of
such drawer in either direction until the completion of the traverse in
the respective direction, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Fifthly. The peculiar system of detents or catches mounted and
arranged in connection with the receiving drawers of boxes for the
purpose before mentioned, in such a manner that they shall be brought
into action by a tilting or inclined movement of the box, and thereby
prevent the drawer from being opened, substantially as hercin-before
described.
Sixthly. The combination in a safety box having an upper compart-
ment and a lower compartment of a drawer for the reception of the
parcels or articles of hinged flaps and traversing covers for regulating
the communication between the upper compartment and the lower com-
partment, and of racks, and detents, or catches, or equivalent devices for
controlling the movements of the drawer, all substantially as and for
the purposes herein-before described, and as illustrated by the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Ellis, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of
11
night hundred and seventy-five