Improvements in Safety Vaults and like Structures.
Year: 1890

page_text: te of Application, 18th Nov., 1890-Accepted, 20th Dec., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Safety Vaults and like Structures.
I, GEORGE SHIRAS CLARK, of 329. Chestnut Street, in the City of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Mechanical Engineer, 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:-
The object of my invention is to provide a level passage into and out of safety
vaults and like structures in which raised sills are used. This object I attain in the
following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1, is a sectional view of a portion of a vault and door showing my improved
sill;
-:
Fig. 2, is a sectional perspective view showing a vault with two doors, the sill being
raised and the doors closed;
Fig. 3, is a view similar to Fig. 2, with the sill depressed and the doors open;
Figs. 4 and 5, are views illustrating one of the simplest forms of my invention;
Fig. 6, is a sectional plan view illustrating the sill adapted to slide in ways;
Fig. 7, is a section on the line 1-2, Fig 6;
Figs. 8. 9 and 10, are sectional views illustrating modifications of my invention;
Figs. 11 and 12, are sectional perspective views illustrating still another
modification of my invention;
Fig. 13, is a plan view showing a single swinging sill, the sill being shown in
position and the filling plate up;
Fig. 14, is a section on the line 3-4, Fig. 13, showing the filling plate down in
position;
Fig. 15, is a section on the line 5-6, Fig. 13, showing the sill in position ;
Fig. 16, is a sectional plan view showing the double swinging sill; and
Fig. 17, is a longitudinal sectional view showing two swinging sills for a vault
having two doorways.
All burglar and fire proof vaults of modern construction are provided with raised
rabbetted sills which form with the rabbetted doors a staggered joint making the
vault burglar proof. These sills project several inches above the level of the floor
of the building and the floor of the vault, and in many cases two or more of these
sills are used for two or more doorways.
In large safe deposit institutions there is a constant passage of persons into and
out of these vaults and consequently each sill has to be stepped over, and it often
happens that persons stumble over these sills, and it is this objection to the raised sills
which I wish to overcome.
I so arrange the sill that it can be bodily removed and the space filled with a
filling plate even with the floor of the building and vault, or so arrange the sill
that by inverting it, it will itself form a flush tread as fully described hereafter.
I will first allude to the invention in one of its simplest forms reference being had
to Fig. 1, in which A, is the floor of the building and B. the floor of the vault on the
same plane as the floor of the building. D, is the sill having its front edge rabbetted
to correspond with the rabbet on the door E. This sill is pivoted at d, in any suit-
able manner; in the present instance trunnions on the sill enter bearings in the floor
of the vault, but it will be understood that other forms of pivots may be used without
departing from my invention.
I stagger the joint between the sill and the floor by means of a tongue e, which
passes into a groove a, in the floor A, and I extend the body portion of the sill
below the level of the floor, as clearly shown.
Projecting rearwardly from the sill is an extension D¹, the end of this extension
being the same distance from the pivot d, as the front portion of the body of the sill,

page_text: .
so that when the sill is turned to the position shown by dotted lines, the end d', will
fit snugly against the edge a', of the floor A, and the part d² will rest against the
stop, which limits the motion of the sill.
The sill swings in an opening or well F, between the floor A, of the building and
the floor B, of the vault, and a filling plate G, flush with the floors of the building
and vault fills in the space between the sill and the vault floor, the plate resting in
the depression in the sill and a depression in the floor as clearly shown in Fig. 1.
Adjusting screws f, can be placed on the part d², of the sill or on the stop f, to
level the sill when turned, as shown in Fig. 1.
When an inner and outer door is used forming a vestibule the swinging sill can
be duplicated as shown in Fig. 17, the floor of the building, vestibule and vault being
practically on the same level, but where circumstances permit I prefer to use the
construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3, in which the swinging sill D, is used, similar
.in construction to that shown in Fig. 1, for the outer door, and I depress the floor H,
of the vestibule C, so that the inner door E', will fit into the rabbetted sill h, which
is below the level of both the floor B, of the vault and the floor A, of the building,
these two latter floors being on the same plane.
•
.
When the doors are open, as shown in Fig. 3, and the sill D, reversed, a. filling
plate G', clearly shown in Fig. 3, is inserted between the inner sill h, and the rear
of the movable sill D, this plate being on the same plane as the floor A, of the
building and the floor B, of the vault, and thus ingress to and egress from the vault
is not interfered with by the sill of either of the doorways.
Figs. 4, and 5, illustrate one of the simplest forms of my invention, the sill D,
being rabbetted to fit the door, and rabbeited at i, to fit the rabbetted walls of the
well F, a tongue in the present instance preventing the sill from moving
backwards.
The rabbetted portion of the well F corresponds with the rabbetted portion of the
sill, so that by simply lifting the sill from the position shown in Fig. 4, and turning
it so that it will fill the well, as shown in Fig. 5, the back of the sill will be level
with the floor of the building and with the floor of the vault, and will thus form an
uninterrupted passage.
In Figs. 6 and 7, I have shown the sill in the form of a sliding sill instead of
being pivoted, being made in two parts D², D2, adapted to slide in cavities A', in the
side walls of the vault; and preferably hinged to the vault floor is a filling plate g
so that when the sill sections are moved back into the cavities, the plate g, is turned
over closing the space in which the sills slide, thus forming an uninterrupted passage.
The plate g, instead of being hinged may be made detachable, as shown in Fig. 1.
The sections D2, of the sill are locked together when extended, by a bar I, having
pins, which fit into openings in the back of the sections. A dowel pin projects
from one of the sections into an orifice in the other section, thus keeping the two
sections in line.
Figs. 8, and 9, illustrate a modification of my invention in which the sill D, can
be removed from its raised position and set into a deep opening F', the opening
being of such depth that the top of the sill will be below the level of the floor, and
the opening can be covered by a suitable cover plate G, as shown clearly in Fig. 9.
In Fig. 10, I have shown the sill pivoted at such a point that when moved back to
the position shown by dotted lines a filling plate or plates can be inserted.
In Figs. 11 and 12 I have shown a pivoted sill, but instead of moving the sill
backwards as in the devices described above, move the sill forward on a pivot
until the portion a, strikes the rear wall of the pit or other stop, the portion a,
forming a continuation of the floor as shown in Fig. 11.
When the sill is raised, as shown in Fig. 12, I lock it in position by means of
a bolt or hcok m, pivoted to the side of the vault, the hook passing into a cavity
in the sill by simply raising this hook the sill can be depressed by moving it
forward on its pivot to the position shown in Fig. 11.
Figs. 13, 14 and 15 illustrate a sill that can be moved on a vertical pivot to a
position at the side of the vault or vestibule. The sill D, is secured to an arm D³,

page_text: which is pivoted at n, and the outer end of the sill is provided with a roller p
so that the sill can be readily swung around from the position shown by full lines
in Fig. 13, to that shown by dotted lines in said figure; and where a vestibule is
used as shown in Fig. 13, the inner door E' is hung on the same side as the pivoted
sill, so that the sill when moved out of position will be hidden from view by the
door E' as shown in Fig. 13.
In order to provide a flush door in the vestibule 1 hinge a filling plate G³,
preferably to the opposite side of the vestibule, the legs g' of the plate resting on
the floor H, of the vestibule as shown in Fig. 14, the top of the plate being flush
with the floors of the building and vault.
In Fig. 14, I have shown the sill moved out of position and the filling plate G³,
moved down into position.
The filling plate G, has two extensions g², one of which covers the opening for the
sill D, and the other extends over the sill h.
In Fig. 16, I have shown the sill made in two parts D³, D' the part D', is pivoted
to the part D, and this part D³, is pivoted to bearings in the vault in a manner
similar to that shown in Fig. 13. This is especially applicable where the two door-
ways are near together.
It will therefore be seen that I overcome the objection to the raised permanent sill
by making the sill detachable, either by making it wholly detachable or swinging
away from the line of the sill, or depressing it as clearly shown in the accompanying
drawings.
When three doors are used, one in advance of the other, I prefer to construct the
vault as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the second vestibule after the door is opened
being provided with a suitable filling plate so as to provide an uninterrupted passage
into and out of the vault, or the movable sill may be used as in Fig. 17.
In most all cases some suitable device is provided by which the sill can be raised,
as for instance a depressed handle may be inserted in the sill or openings may be
formed therein so that a hook can be inserted to move the sill.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of a vault or analogous structure, the floor of the vault being
on the same plane as the floor of the building, with a movable raised sill, substantially
as described.
2. The combination of a vault or analogous structure, with a raised sill pivoted
so as to be moved to provide an uninterrupted passage into the vault, substantially as
described.
3. The combination in a vault or analogous structure, of a movable raised sill, with
a filling plate, substantially as described.
4. The combination in a vault or analogous structure, having one or more inner
doorways and an outer doorway, the floor of the vault being on the same plane
as the floor of the building, a depressed vestibule between the doorways, with a
movable sill for the outer door to fit against and a movable filling plate adapted to
the space between the doorways, substantially as described.
5. The combination in a vault or analogous structure, of the movable sill and a
hinged filling plate, substantially as described.
6. The combination in a vault or analogous structure, of the floor of a building,
Hoor of the vestibule, and floor of the vault, all on or about the same plane, with
a movable sill or sills between the several floors, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 13th day of November 1890.
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.