IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Solly Hirsch and Moritz Stern at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th December 1876.
SOLLY HIRSCH and MORITZ STERN, both of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturers and Merchants. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS." A com-
munication from abroad by Jules Joseph Schreiber, of Paris, in the Republic of
France.
The said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in con-
structing and arranging the parts of a safety lock.
The essential feature of the said Invention consists in arranging the bolt or the
fastening or unfastening part of the lock in such a manner that when the said bolt is
in its normal position it is situated out of the range of motion of the bit of the key,
the said bolt or moving part being brought into its shooting or withdrawing position
by a "check or short cylindrical rod inserted in the pipe or hollow stem of the
key, as herein-after more fully described.
"
In constructing a lock according to the said Invention the peg on which the key
rotates to shoot or withdraw the bolt is carried by a sliding plate pressed towards
the keyhole by a bow or other spring situated between it and the lock case. This
plate has at its upper end two studs or pins on which the bolt of the lock is sup-
ported. These studs or pins pass through a longitudinal slot in the bolt, and act as
guides to the said bolt in its motion. A false back is fixed in the lock case, through
which back the peg on the sliding plate and the studs on which the bolt slides pass.
This false back also serves as an abutment for the pipe of the key to bear against
when shooting or withdrawing the bolt. By the action of the spring on the sliding
plate the bolt is pressed outwards or towards the keyhole of the lock case, and
when the key is introduced into the lock and fitted on the peg, on the sliding plate
described, the said key turns freely on the said peg, but the "bit" is situated beyond
the plane of the bolt, and hence the said bit is prevented from acting on the said
bolt, and shooting or withdrawing it. The pipe of the key is also unable to act
upon the peg on the sliding plate.
In order to act upon the lock so as to bring the bolt into a position to be operated
upon by the key a "check" or small cylindrical rod is used in the pipe of the key.
The said check or rod when introduced into the pipe fills up about one-half of it,

page_text: When the key is introduced into the lock, and its pipe fitted on the peg of the
sliding plate described, the check or small rod in the pipe bears upon the said peg,
and prosses it and the sliding plate inwards or towards the back of the lock case;
the bolt of the lock is thereby forced back, and brought into such a position that
the bit of the key can act upon it to shoot or withdraw it. On removing the key
from the lock the bolt is again forced outwards so as to be beyond the range of
motion of the bit of the key.
On the inner side of the plate of the lock and around the keyhole a block of
metal is fixed, giving to that part of the lock plate such a thickness that the key
cannot turn until it comes against the false back of the lock.
The improvements described may be applied to door locks, padlocks, cupboard
locks, trunk locks, and other kinds of locks.