IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Pope, of No. 146, Cheapside, in the City of
London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Pope at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
March 1867.
I, FREDERIC POPE, of No. 146, Cheapside, in the City of London, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Locks," to be as follows:
It
My Invention has reference to that description of lock with double key-
hole, in which a sliding plate is brought into action by the shooting of the
bolt so as to cover the outside keyhole, similar to the arrangement described
in the Specification to certain Letters Patent granted to me, and bearing date
21st November 1865, No. 2991.
In the present: improved arrangement the sliding plate is situated under
the outer plate of the lock 'upon an inner plate covering the bolt and tumbler
thereof, to which inner plate it is connected by means of a pin upon which it
is free to turn. The sliding plate has a keyhole which, when the plate is in
one position corresponds with the keyhole of the lock, so that the key can be
inserted, while when the plate is made to turn upon the before mentioned pin
by the act of shooting the bolt from the inside the keyhole moves away,
and the solid part of the plate covers the keyhole of the lock. This motion

page_text: of the plate is effected as follows:-The inner lock plate has a slot or hole
through which passes a stud on the under side of the sliding plate. The
tumbler of the lock is provided with a tail piece, which when the key is
inserted from the inside and turned so as to shoot the bolt is raised thereby
to such a height as to strike against the projecting stud on the sliding plate,
and thereby to move the latter so as to cover the outer keyhole. When
the bolt has been completely shot forward so as to lock the door the sliding
plate is held securely in the position just described by the stump of the bolt,
which passes through a slot in the inner lock plate, and is made to press
against a shoulder formed in the sliding plate. When the bolt is shot back
again in unlocking, the stump acts upon a second shoulder in the sliding
plate, thereby moving it back into the position in which it uncovers the outer
keyhole, and the said stump holds the sliding plate in this position so long as
the bolt is not shot. The beard of the key has two steps which act upon the
tumbler, of which steps the highest one acts upon it when the key is
inserted from the inside, and thus effects the motion of the sliding plate, as
described, while when the key is inserted from the outside the lower step acts
upon the tumbler and does not raise the tail piece sufficiently high for it to
act on the stud of the sliding plate, which consequently remains stationary.
Slots or notches are formed in the sliding plate corresponding with the slot in
the inner lock plate, through which the stump of the bolt works in order to
allow of the motion of the stump, and consequently of the bolt when the
sliding plate remains stationary, as last described, and the position of the
stump in one of these notches, when the bolt has been shot forward from
the outside prevents its being shot back from the inside as in endeavouring
to do so, the tail of the tumbler strikes against the stud on the sliding
plate which is held stationary by the stump of the bolt, and the tumbler
can consequently not be raised high enough for the key to be turned round.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic Pope in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th 30
September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
POPE, of No. 146, Cheapside, in the City of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 35
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord One

page_text: thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederic Pope, Her special licence that I, the said Frederic Pope, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederic
Pope, 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 Frederic
Pope, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 mouths next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederic Pope, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention has reference to that description of lock with double keyhole
in which a sliding plate is brought into action by the shooting of the bolt
so as to cover the outside keyhole, similar to the arrangement described in
the Specification to certain Letters Patent granted to me, and bearing date
21st November 1865, No. 2291.
In the present improved arrangement the sliding plate is situated under the
outer plate of the lock upon an inner plate covering the bolt and tumbler
thereof, to which inner plate it is connected by means of a pin upon which it
is free to turn; the sliding plate has a keyhole which when the plate is in
one position corresponds with the keyhole of the lock so that the key can be
inserted, while when the plate is made to turn upon the before-mentioned pin
by the act of shooting the bolt from the inside the keyhole moves away and
the solid part of the plate covers the keyhole of the lock. This motion
of the plate is effected as follows:-The inner lock plate has a slot or
bole, through which passes a stud on the under side of the sliding plate..
The tumbler of the lock is provided with a tail piece, which when the key is.
inserted from the inside and turned so as to shoot the bolt is raised thereby
to such a height as to strike against the projecting stud on the sliding plate

page_text: and thereby to move the latter so as to cover the outer keyhole. When the
bolt has been completely shot forward so as to lock the door the sliding plate
is held securely in the position just described by the stump of the bolt, which
passes through a slot in the inner lock plate and is made to press against a
shoulder formed in the sliding plate; when the bolt is shot back again in
unlocking the stump acts upon a second shoulder in the sliding plate, thereby
moving it back into the position in which it uncovers the outer keyhole, and
the said stump holds the sliding plate in this position so long as the bolt is
not shot. The beard of the key has two steps which act upon the tumbler, of
which steps the highest one acts upon it when the key is inserted from the
inside, and thus effects the motion of the sliding plate as described; while
when the key is inserted from the outside the lower step acts upon the
tumbler and does not raise the tail piece sufficiently high for it to act on the
stud of the sliding plate, which consequently remains stationary. Slots or
notches are formed in the sliding plate corresponding with the slot in the inner
lock plate through which the stump of the bolt works in order to allow of the
motion of the stump, and consequently of the bolt, when the sliding plate
remains stationary, as last described; and the position of the stump in one of
these notches when the bolt has been shot forward from the outside prevents
its being shot back from the inside, as in endeavouring to do so the tail of the
tumbler strikes against the stud on the sliding plate which is held stationary
by the stamp of the bolt, and the tumbler can consequently not be raised high
enough for the key to be turned round.
Having thus set forth the nature of my Invention I will now proceed more
particularly to describe the manner in which it is to performed.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is shewn the construction of a
lock with my Invention applied thereto.
Figure 1 shews the lock with the outer lock plate, the sliding plate, and the
inner lock plate removed, and the bolt shot forward; Figure 2 shews the lock
with the inner lock plate and sliding plate in position, and the tumbler raised
to its highest position by the key inserted from the inside and half turned in
the act of shooting the bolt; Figure 3 shews the same with the bolt shot
wholly forward; Figure 4 shows the same with the bolt shot wholly back;
Figure 5 shews the same with the key inserted from the outside, and the
tumbler raised to its then highest position in the act of shooting the bolt;
Figure 6 shows an elevation of the key. Similar letters of reference indicate
similar parts in each of the Figures.
A is the tumbler of the lock, shewn in blue lines; it is provided with a tail
piece a, but is otherwise of the ordinary well known construction for locking

page_text: b
the bolt B either in the forward or the backward position; C is the inner lock
plate having a slot or hole at c, across which the tail piece a of the tumbler
passes when raised to its highest position, as shewn at Figure 2. The plate C
has a second slot c' through which the stump 6 of the bolt B passes, and in
which it works backwards and forwards with the bolt; D is the sliding plate
(shewn in red lines in Figures 2 to 5) capable of turning on a pin E fixed to
the lock plate C, so that it can assume either the position indicated in Figures
2 and 3 or the position shewn in Figures 4 and 5; this plate is provided with
a keyhole d which when the bolt of the lock is shot back, as at Figure 4, or
when it is shot forward by inserting the key from the outside, as at Figure 5,
corresponds with the keyhole of the lock, but which is moved away so as to
cause the plate D to cover the keyhole when the bolt is shot from the inside,
as at Figures 2 and 3. Upon the back of the plate D is a stud f which passes
through the hole C of the lock plate, which hole is made sufficiently large to
allow of an extent of motion of the stud corresponding with the extent of
motion that the plate D is required to have. It will be seen that if the bolt
of the lock is shot back, and the plate D is consequently in the position shewn
in Figure 4, and the key G is inserted from the inside and turned so as to shoot
the bolt, the highest step g¹ of the two inner steps 9', 92, will act on the
tumbler A, and will raise it to such a height as to cause the tail piece a thereof
to strike against the stud f of the sliding plate D, as shewn in Figure 2, and
consequently to move the latter into the position there indicated. In order to
hold the plate D firmly in this position when the bolt is wholly shot forward,
and the tumbler has consequently moved down again, the plate D is provided
with an opening h through which the stump 6 of the bolt projects, and against
a shoulder h¹ of which this stump presses when the bolt is shot forward, as
shewn at Figure 3. In shooting the bolt back again the backward motion of the
sliding plate is effected by the pressure of the stump b against the shoulder h³,
as at Figure 2, and when the bolt is shot completely back, as at Figure 4, the
sliding plate is held in the position shewn by the stump 6 fitting in the notch h³,
which with the notch h* corresponds with the position and form of the slot c¹
in the plate C, and which consequently admit of the stump 6 moving backward
and forward with the bolt when actuated by the key from the outside, as at
Figure 5, in which case, as before stated, the sliding plate remains stationary,
as it will be seen that the lower step g¹ of the key then acts upon the tumbler,
and does not raise it high enough for the tail piece a to strike against the
stud of the sliding plate. The motion of the bolt is effected by the two outer
steps g, g, of the key. It will be seen that when the bolt has been shot
wholly forward from the outside, and the stump 6 thereof is consequently in
b
b
b

page_text: the notch the bolt cannot then be shot back by the action of the key
from the inside, because in endeavouring to do so the tail piece a of the
tumbler strikes against the stud f of the sliding plate D which is held
stationary by the stump 6, and consequently the tumbler cannot be raised
sufficiently high for the key to be turned round from the inside. The other
parts of the lock are of any suitable known arrangement and need not be
further described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the application of my Invention to the precise form of lock shown
on the accompanying Drawing, as it is evident that it is equally applicable to
various other descriptions of locks having tumblers, but what I claim is,-
First, the employment of a sliding plate D with stud f and aperture h for
covering the one keyhole of locks, actuated by the tail piece a of the tumbler
and by the stump 6 of the bolt, in manner and for the purposes substantially as
berein-before described with reference to the accompanying Drawing.
Second, I claim in combination with the before described lock constructing
the key with two steps of different heights, of which the one acts upon the
tumbler when the key is inserted from the one side of the lock, while the
other acts upon the tumbler when the key is inserted from the other side of
the lock, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described with
reference to the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof I, the said Frederic Pope, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
JOHN HODSON, Jun',
Candlesby Hall,
Spilsby.
(L.S.)