IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE AND THIEF-PROOF SAFES."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Royall Minns, of Bristol, in the County of
Somerset, Locksmith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE AND
THIEF-PROOF SAFES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Royall Minns
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd August 1866.
I, HENRY ROYALL MINNS, of Bristol, in the County of Somerset, Locksmith,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE AND THIEF-PROOF SAFES," to be as follows:- ·
My improvements consist, first, in the application of a series of bolts to safe
doors, such that in addition to bolting and holding the door close they shall
secure the door frame to the door laterally in all directions, so as to prevent
the frame being forced from the door by the introduction of wedges. To
afford further security against this I also adopt a form of metal for the frame
which has a rebate or recess to receive the edges of the door, and which forms
a stop, against which wedges must come in contact and be stopped.
A further improvement consists in the introduction of steel plates or linings
in the body of the fireproof material with which safes are usually lined.
A third improvement consists in the combination of certain materials to
form a fire-resisting compound, consisting of sawdust steeped in alum in
solution and sugar of lead, in proportion, say, about three pounds of alum to

page_text: one bushel of sawdust and six ounces of sugar of lead. The alum may be
mixed with the sawdust in the form of powder.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents the inside of a safe door, and Figure 2
a cross section of the door frame according to my Invention.
a, a, are the rotating bolts, connected by rods b, b, to a rotating disc c,
which moves the whole by a handle or lever; d is the lock which secures the
disc and secures the whole of the bolts a in position; these rotating bolts have
each a recess 6, which when in the position represented in Figure 1 take on
to pins f fixed inside the door frame, thus holding the two parts (door and
frame) forcibly together, while their projection from the edges of the door
prevent it moving on its hinges. When the bolts a, a, are rotated a quarter
of a revolution on their axes 9 they will be within the limits of the door, when
it will be free to open.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Royall Minns in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ROYALL MINNS, of Bristol, in the County of Somerset, Locksmith, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, bý Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Royall Minns, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Royall Minns, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Royall Minns, 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 FIRE AND THIEF-PROOF, SAPES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Royall Minns, my execu-
tors 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 per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within.

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Royall Minns, 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):
My improvements consist, first, in the application of a series of bolts to
safe doors, such that in addition to bolting and holding the door close they
shall secure the door frame to the door laterally in all directions, and so as to
prevent the frame being forced from the door by the introduction of wedges..
To afford further security against this I also adopt a form of metal for the
frame which has a rebate or recess to receive the edges of the door, and
which forms a stop, against which wedges if inserted must come in contact
and be stopped.
A further improvement consists in the combination of certain materials to
form a fire-resisting compound, consisting of sawdust steeped in alum in
solution and sugar of lead, in the proportions of three pounds of alum to one
bushel of sawdust and six ounces of sugar of lead, the alum may also be
mixed with the sawdust in the form of powder.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
"
Figure 1 represents an external view of a safe, and Figure 2 the same with
the door open, said door being fitted and furnished according to my Invention,
that is to say, with suitable gear and bolts, which when locked secure the
door not only in the ordinary way of a lock bolt, but also grip and hold the
surrounding door frame to the door, and so as to prevent the separation by
wedges or other means resorted to by burglars.
a, a, a, are the bolts of the door, which for a small safe are eight in number,
for large doors or safes a larger number may be employed, fourteen being a
suitable number for a large safe, but which may of course be varied according
to circumstances.
Figure 3 represents the safe on a larger scale, having the front plate A of
the door and its hinges removed, and showing in part a section of the door
frame on line 1, 2, Figure 6, the remainder showing the front view of the
door frame; Figure 4 being a like view with the bolts in the unlocked
position. The bolts a, a, are mounted on pivots 6 fixed to the inner part of
the door B, and in the plates c, c, and brackets d, d, fixed thereto. The
bolts a are free to turn on pivots b under the control of the coupling rods e, e, *

page_text: and connecting rods f, f, by which they are connected with a disc plate g
rotating on an axis mounted on B and bracket h fixed thereto. The bolts a
are somewhat of a disc-like form, as shown in the Drawing, but such may be
varied; they are projected through the frame i of inner door, and have a
hook-like projection k, the gab or notch in which is described from the
centre b on. which the bolt a rotates. The door frame is formed with a
double rebate, as seen in Figures 5 and 6, Figure 5 being a partial section of
the safe with the door thrown open, while Figure 6 is a horizontal section of
the door frame and door; the outer rebate receives the thickness of the
outer plate of the door, while the inner rebate m serves for the reception of
the bolts a, a, when projected beyond the limits of the door. In this rebate
or recess are a series of round pins p, p, fixed in the door frame, one for
each revolving bolt a. It will be seen by reference to Figure 3 that the hook-
like parts k take bold of these pins p, p, when the bolts are rotated in locking
the safe. The bolts a, a, are rotated by means of the disc g, whose axis-
projects through the front of the safe door, and is furnished with a suitable
handle or lever for the purpose, the whole being moved simultaneously and in
the unlocked position, appearing as at Figure 4, in which the bolts are all
withdrawn within the limits of the door, and in a position to allow the door to
swing on its hinges. It will be readily understood that by the partial rotation
of the disc g the connecting rods f,f, pivotted thereto and to the bolts a the
pull or thrust communicated to them by g is transmitted to the bolts to which
they are directly pivotted, and to the others by the coupling links e, e, thus
when the door is secured by the series of bolts a, a, as represented at Figure 3,
it will be bound and forcibly held to the door frame in all directions, and in
such manner as to resist all attempts at forcing the door frame from the edges
of the door. The disc g has a notch or recess r which limits its rotation to
the requirements of the bolts; or stops & may be formed on the bolts a to
come against the door frame (see Figure 4) in the one direction, while the
pins and gabs k, p, act as stops in the other direction. In order to secure the
bolts a, a, a lock D is provided and applied to the rotating disc g, the bolt of
which lock D is shot into a notch formed in the periphery of disc g, by which
it is fixed in the locked position of the bolts, when the safe door is closed, and
as seen in Figure 4. It will be unnecessary to enter here into the general
construction of the safe, which is of wrought iron, and otherwise than as
herein-above described is much the same as in ordinary.
.
· Figure 7 represents a front view of a safe with double doors closed, and
Figure 8 the same with the doors open. The same arrangement of bolts and
lock for securing disc 9 is applied to one, E, of the doors, the bolts a¹, a¹, of

page_text: that part locking into the edge of the other door F precisely as into the door
frame as first described. In order to secure the door F at top and bottom
and on its hinged side in like manner I apply a series of bolts a³, a³, a³, thereon
to act as before, but which may be operated and secured by a handle t inside
door F in the closed position and before door E is closed.
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,-
1st, the combination and arrangement of bolts a and parts represented in
the Drawings annexed, and their application to the doors of fire and burglar-
proof safes, whereby to secure them in the manner and as herein-before
described.
2ndly, I claim the particular combination of materials herein-before specified
as a fire-resisting compound to be used between the inner lining and exterior
plates of iron safes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Royall Minns, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
HENRY ROYALL MINNS.
(L.S.)