IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR CARRIAGE DOORS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wheatley and William Wheatley, both
of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR CARRIAGE
DOORS."
Sealed the 15th March 1870, and dated the 18th September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wheatley
and William Wheatley at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th September 1869.
We, THOMAS WHEATLEY and WILLIAM WHEATLEY, both of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR
CARRIAGE DOORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has principally for its object to secure increased safety
in railway travelling by applying simple contrivances to the carriage
doors to prevent their opening accidentally; the improvements are
however also applicable to other carriages.
The Invention comprises various modifications to suit the different
arrangements of fastening in use with railway and other carriage doors,

page_text: but in most of the modifications a separate spring latch bolt is added to
or combined with the flat latch ordinarily actuated by the door handle.
This spring latch bolt is bevilled so as to be momentarily forced in on
closing the door, whilst when the door gets quite close it springs out
into a socket provided for it in the door frame, and so secures the door
automatically even although the handle should not be turned.
In one modification the spring latch bolt is arranged just above the
ordinarily latch, and when the latter is turned by the handle to unfasten
the door it acts on a projection on the under side of the spring bolt
and forces it back to let the door open. This combination may be
arranged as a mortise lock for new carriages, or it may be fitted in that
form to old carriages.
In another modification more suitable for some existing stock the added
spring bolt is fitted in a small box to be fixed outside of the door, and in
it the bolt is acted upon by a boss, and the spindle of the handle passes
through it and through the inner ordinary latch lock. The boss acted on
by the handle spindle is formed with a catch, which can act on the spring
bolt only when being turned to open the door. The ordinary railway
carriage door handle is sometimes apt to work gradually round and lift
the latch, but to prevent it from being lifted in this way an external latch
is set loosely upon the handle spindle, and it and a boss on the spindle
are made with counterpart projections whereby the handle acts on the
latch when closing, whilst if the handle should work round in the
direction for lifting the latch the handle projection will simply leave the
latch projection without moving the latch.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Wheatley and William Wheatley in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wе, THOMAS
WHEATLEY and WILLIAM WHEATLEY, both of Glasgow, in the County g
of Lanark, North Britain, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the

page_text: thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Wheatley, and William
Wheatley, Her special licence, that we, the said Thomas Wheatley
and William Wheatley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Thomas Wheatley and William Wheatley,
our 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR CARRIAGE DOORS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Wheatley and William
Wheatley, our executors or .administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, 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 months next and immc-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Wheatley and William
Wheatley, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement in writing, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
Our said Invention has principally for its object to secure increased
safety in railway travelling by applying simple contrivances to the
carriage doors to prevent their opening accidentally; our improvements
are however also applicable to other carriages.
Our Invention comprises various modifications to suit the different
arrangements of fastening in use with railway and other carriage doors,
but in most of the modifications a separate spring latch bolt or its equi-
valent is added to or combined with the flat latch ordinarily actuated "
by the door handle. In some modifications an external latch is applied
to prevent the door from opening in the event of the ordinary latch and
handle gradually working round.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, we have hereunto appended a
Sheet of explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and repre-
senting various modifications of carriage door fastening embodying our

page_text: improvements. The same reference numerals are used to mark the
same or like parts in the various Figures in which they occur.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section showing one modification in con-
nection with a door 1 and door frame 2; Figures 2 and 3 are views at
right angles to each other of the lock 3, the cover plate being supposed
to be removed in Figure 3. In addition to the ordinary latch 4 actuated
by the handle 5, the lock 3 is fitted with a spring latch bolt 6, which
is bevilled so as to be momentarily forced in on closing the door from
the bevilled edge encountering the striking plate 7 on the door frame
whilst when the door gets quite close it springs out into a socket 8,
provided for it in the door frame, and so secures the door automatically
even although the handle 5 should not be turned. The additional or
safety self-closing latch bolt 6 has a projection 9 formed on its under
side within the lock, and when the handle 5 is turned sufficiently round
in the direction for opening the door the main latch 4 acts on the pro-
jection 9 and forces back the safety bolt 6 to let the door open. With
the parts as shown in Figure 3 the handle 5 is horizontal when the
main latch 4 is fully closed, and it is in a vertical position when the
main latch is fully open and just in contact with the projection 9 of
the safety bolt 6, so that the handle has to be turned over a little beyond
the vertical position in order to open the door. The parts may how-
ever if preferred be arranged as shown in Figure 4, with the handle 5.
so set in relation to the other parts as to draw in the safety bolt 6, when
turned to the vertical position, whilst when it is left to itself the
spring acting on the safety bolt 6 will shoot out that bolt and move
the handle into the slightly inclined position indicated by the dotted
lines. The general arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 4 being in the
form of a mortise lock may be fitted to all new or old carriages.
Another modification more suitable for or conveniently applicable to
some existing stock is shown in Figures 5 to 9, Figure 9 being a
horizontal section of the parts as fitted in position. In this case the
main latch 4 is fitted in the ordinary way, in a mortise lock 3 shown
separately in Figures 7 and 8, and the safety bolt 6 is fitted in a small
box or lock 10 shown separately in Figures 5 and 6, to be fixed outside
of the door 1, and in it the bolt projection 9 is acted on by a boss with
a catch 11, the squared spindle 12 of the handle 5 passing through the
boss as well as through the ordinary latch 4. A keeper or holding
-plate 13 is fixed to the door frame 2 for the safety bolt 6 to engage in.

page_text: Figures 10, 11, 12, represent a modification derived from those herein-
before described by embodying the essential features in fewer parts.
Thus for the safety bolt there is an extension 6' formed on the main
latch 4, so as to act as a spring latch bolt when the body of the latch 4
is turned into the vertical position, as indicated by dotted lines in
Figures 11 and 12. The spring 14, which is as usual applied to the
squared boss of the latch to hold it in its horizontal or vertical position,
also serves to produce the proper action of the safety extension 6'.
Figures 13, 14, 15, represent a modification in which the safety latch
bolt 6 is made to serve also for the main latch, the handle spindle 12
having on it a boss 15 formed with a projection for drawing in the
bolt 6.
Figures 16, 17, represent a modification in which the ordinary latch 4
is made to serve also as a safety spring latch. Its boss is made with an
inclined side so that when the handle 5 is turned upwards the spring 14
tends to hold the latch in the inclined position indicated by the dotted
lines. The point of the latch is bevilled so as to be temporarily forced in
on closing to the door. The ordinary railway carriage door handle 5 is
sometimes apt to work gradually round and lift the latch 4, and to
prevent it from acting in this way we employ contrivances, one modifi-
cation of which is shown in Figures 18 to 21. An external latch 16 is
set loosely on the handle spindle 12, and it and a boss 11 on the spindle
are made with counterpart projections whereby the handle 5 acts on the
latch 16 when closing, whilst if the handle should work round in the
direction for lifting the latch the handle projection will simply leave the
latch projection without moving the latch. A latch catch 17 is fixed to
the door frame 2 for the latch 16 to engage on, and a small handle 18 is
fixed to the latch to lift it by. A spring 19 is also applied to act on
flattened or suitably shaped parts of the boss of the latch 16, and acting
in combination with the external incline of the catch 17, shown separately
in Figures 22, 23, renders the latch 16 a safety latch that will secure
the door of itself when the door is closed to.
Figures 24 to 27 represent a modification in which the boss 11 on the
handle spindle 12 is arranged to lift the external latch 16 when turned
for opening the door, but the latch 16 is made to act as a safety self-
closing latch by the application of a spring 20, as shown in Figure 25,
this Figure being an inside view of a small box or lock 10 fixed to the
outside of the door 1. The latch 16 has a pin 21 fixed in it and pro-

page_text: jecting in through a curved slot in the outer plate of the box 10 to be
acted on by the spring 20 inside.
In most of the modifications herein-before described provision is made
to allow of the door being locked by means of a separate key through
the agency of a contrivance which fixes the ordinary latch 4' in a locked
position, and so dispenses with a separate lock and bolt. The contrivance
consists of a boss 22 arranged to receive and be turned by the square or
other shaped key and formed with a cam-like projection, which on being
turned into the proper position prevents the latch 4 from being lifted, or
the handle spindle 12 from being turned.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we have to state that we do not
restrict ourselves to the precise details herein described or delineated,
but that what we believe to be novel and original, and claim as
the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
1. The combining of the action of a safety self-closing latch with the
ordinary carriage door fastening, substantially in any of the modes
herein described and delineated.
2. The providing of carriage door fastenings with an additional latch
arranged to be closed but not opened by the turning round of the
ordinary handle, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wheatley, on behalf of
the said Thomas Wheatley and myself, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
W. WHEATLEY. (L.S.)