IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS
Year: 1853

page_text: Sealed the 22nd July 1853, and dated the 23rd May 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Simson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd May 1853.
I, WILLIAM SIMSON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, Banker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in increasing the security of locks of the
descriptions in general use by adapting and applying to them the
following new parts or mechanism :-
In the first place, I introduce into them a double set of bolts with
springs and wards, springs and tumblers, or with all combined. The
ordinary horizontal bolt is, in such case, crossed at a right angle or
other suitable angle by another bolt, with or without the protection of
springs, wards, or tumblers. This bolt is not shot beyond the side of
the lock, and is brought down into a notch or recess in the other bolt,

page_text: or to cover the ends of tumblers, when they are used, to prevent the
bolt from being forced back. By this arrangement the horizontal bolt
is prevented from moving until the vertical bolt has been raised, the
required liberation of both bolts being effected by one turn of the key.
In the second place, I adapt and apply to such locks a kind of pro-
tector (composed of metal or other suitable material) for the wards,
springs, tumblers, or bolts of the lock, to move round with the key
when it is turned. This protector may be used either with or without
the double set of bolts. The form of the protector on its face may be
circular, with a suitable opening to admit the key, or semi-circular, or
segmental, and its thickness may be about the depth of the lock, the
edges being even or otherwise, as preferred, or cut to fit the irregu-
larities of the bolts, springs, tumblers, or wards, and the sides either
plain or grooved to fit wards, or warded to fit grooves in the lock.
The upper edge next to the hand may be made to overlap the bolt or
tumblers, and to close up the key hole as soon as the key is slightly
turned, and the lower part may be made either with or without a
tongue, either to follow or to precede the key into the recesses of the
bolt and tumblers.
The protector may be made to fill up the whole space hitherto left
open for the action of the key, thus forming, together with the key and
the wards filling the grooves, an almost solid block, and thereby affording
great protection against forcing and picking.
The hole in the protector for the key may be made rectilinear or
square, and the key may be made to correspond therewith, in order to
allow the said protector, when desired, to turn partly round by means
of a secondary key, after locking by the principal key. The protector
in such case, be adjusted by the secondary key, in order to admit
the principal key previous to opening the lock, or it may be so adjusted
when displaced by accident or design; and the side of it next the hand
may have a notched circle, to be acted upon by any suitable pointed
instrument, instead of the aforesaid secondary key.
may,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Simson in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 23rd November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM SIMSON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, Banker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Simson, Her special license
that I, the said William Simson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Willam Simson, 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
1, the said William Simson, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Simson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
!
My Invention of "Improvements in Locks" consists, in the first
place, in adapting and applying to them a double set of bolts, with
springs and wards, springs and tumblers, or with all combined, in place
of the single set, as in ordinary use.

page_text: The extra set of bolts, &, are employed to retain the ordinary Hori-
zontal bolt after it has been shot beyond the case of the lock, so as to pre-
vent the possibility of its being withdrawn until the extra bolt has been
removed. The extra bolt is fixed in a vertical direction, and crosses
the ordinary horizontal bolt at a right angle or other suitable angle,
and is made to retain it, or the tumblers belonging to it, when brought
lown upon it or them, by means of different contrivances, according
to the particular arrangement of the parts of the lock to which the
said double set of holts may happen to be applied. When the vertical
bolt is brought down or shot, its lower end is made to enter a kind of
box or receiver closed all round except where the bolt enters, by which
the latter is guarded from access or pressure, in case of the door being
pierced.
The object of this double set of bolts, &, is to impart strength and
security to the lock by the mutual support which the bolts and tumblers
give to cach other. The full advantage of the combination will result
from the adoption of tumblers, with their accessories, to each bolt; to
which also may be added other well known parts of locks; but in many
cases the set of horizontal tumblers may be dispensed with. And even
in such cases, it will be observed that the security afforded by one set
of tumblers is increased by removing them from a bolt which has its
end exposed by being shot beyond the lock, and combining them with
a bolt which has no part of it projected beyond the lock at any time,
and which is effectually guarded from access or pressure from without.
In some cases also both the horizontal and vertical tumblers might be
dispensed with. Both the vertical or retaining bolt may be raised,
and the horizontal or ordinary locking bolt afterwards withdrawn by
one turn of the key, the peculiarities of which will be herein-after
described. Also in locking, one turn of the key first throws out or
shoots the horizontal bolt, and then brings down the vertical bolt upon
it, so as to retain it.
And my Invention consists, in the second place, in adapting and
applying to locks with the double set of bolts, &, above referred to, a
kind of protector, composed of metal or other solid material, and made
to cerov the lower part of the tumblers, so as to prevent access to them,

page_text: and, by filling up the space between the front and back plate of the
lock, to present a solid block turning round with the key, and moving
along a part of the tumblers and bolts. This protector may be
variously formed and adapted to the peculiarities of the lock to which
it may be applied. Its sides may be either plain or grooved to fit
wards, or warded to fit grooves. The protector may also be grooved to
fit capped wards, either in the bottom or cover of the lock, by making
it of two or more circular pieces, like so many coins, which, after being
cut in the sides and otherwise, as required, are rivetted or screwed
together. There is also an object in the use of the protector beyond
that of filling up the ordinary spaces with solid metal and partly closing
in the gates of the tumblers and other important parts of the lock,
which is, the prevention of the revolution of the protector except when
the bolts are in motion. This object is accomplished by means of a
tongue, fixed to the lower part of the protector, which is intended in
opening to follow, and in locking to precede the key into the recesses
of the bolts.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I
will proceed to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accom-
panying Drawing, in the several figures of which the same letters o
reference indicate corresponding parts.
Fig. 1, is an inside view of the lock, with the front plate, tumblers,
and protector removed, and showing the two bolts (horizontal and ver-
tical) in the position which they would respectively occupy after locking,
their unlocked positions being indicated by the red lines. Fig. 2, is an
inside view of the lock complete, with merely the front plate or cover
removed, and shewing the bolts in their unlocked positions. Fig. 3, is
a transverse vertical section; and Fig. 4, a horizontal section (in the
line A, B, of Fig. 2) of the same. Fig. 5, is a view of the lock, with
the front plate or cover screwed into its place. Fig" 6, to 10, represent
in several views the protector detached; and Fig 11 to 16, several
views of the key or keys detached. a, is the ordinary horizontal bolt,
formed with a projection b, on the upper edge, to dovetail into a lateral
projection c, on the vertical bolt d; both these bolts are fitted to the
lock so as to be capable of sliding in the usual way. e, is an arm fixed

page_text: to the vertical bolt d, and is used to shut down the tumblers of the
horizontal bolt a, by entering a notch or cavity f, in those tumblers;
9, is the box for receiving the lower end of the vertical bolt d. The
horizontal bolt a, is projected by the key dropping into the ordinary
notch or cavity ; and i, is the notch or cavity for the same purpose
in the vertical bolt d; i, j, are the tumblers; and h, k, the springs for
the same, is the front plate or cover, and m, the back plate of
the lock; n, (Fig. 1,) is the plate (screwed into the plate m,) with
circular wards, into which the grooves of the protector fit; o, (Fig. 2,)
is the overlapping plate of the protector, covering to some extent the
bolts and tumblers; p, is the solid block, formed, as shewn, with
grooves to fit upon the circular wards in the plate n. Fig. 6, is an
elevation of this solid block or protector, with the overlapping plate m,
screwed on to it; Fig. 7, is an underneath plan or horizontal view
shewing the steel rings, which may be enlarged to the circumference
of the protector, and on which the longitudinal ward, as at r, may be
fastened; Fig. 8, and 9, are sections in two different lines, and Fig. 10,
is an upper plan or horizontal view of the same; s, is the tongue, which
is intended to precede the key in locking, and to follow it in unlocking.
This tongue can only pass so as to allow the protector to make a
complete revolution when the bolts a, and d, are in motion; and it
forms an additional impediment to any attempt to get at the bolts and
tumblers in an irregular way, which will be seen thus :-Supposing it
were possible to take the tongue s, past the vertical tumblers j, j*, and
bolt d, at the same time shooting the latter by means of picking instru-
ments, the protector will be held fast by the tongue in the angle formed
by the two bolts, and it cannot be brought back into the suitable posi-
tion to admit a key without relocking the vertical bolt d; neither can
it be moved forward without some progress be first made in the
unlocking of the horizontal bolt a. Figs 11, and 12, represent the
secondary key for turning round the protector, (by laying hold of two
feathers which are fixed in the open centre thereof, the end of the
longitudinal ward being carried far enough forward to serve for one,)
so as to bring the slot in the plate m, into suitable position for the
insertion of the key. This secondary key has no bit, and is fitted only

page_text: to the centre of the keyhole. Figures 13, and 14, represent the master
key. Figures 15, and 16, represent the two combined in one, the
secondary part being made to slide within the tube of the key.
On reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the gates of the tumblers:
and other important working parts of the lock are covered; and it will..
also be seen, on reference to Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9, that there is solid
metal filling up the spaces between the plates n, and o.
The operations of locking and unlocking will be readily understood.
The former operation may be performed by inserting the key in the
space shewn in Fig. 2, and turning it from right to left a sufficient
distance to project the horizontal bolt a, into the position shewn in.
Fig. 1; then a further turning of the key in the same direction will
bring down the vertical bolt d, into the position shewn in the same
figure, the lateral projection c, of the bolt d, being thereby brought
behind the projection b, of the bolt «, dovetailing with it, and re-
taining the said bolt a, in its position, and the arm c, stretching from
the vertical bolt d, being also thereby brought down into the notch or
cavity f, in the tumblers connected to the horizontal bolt a. In order
to unlock the bolts the key must be turned in the opposite direction';
by which the bolt d, will be first raised thereby, taking the lateral pro-
jection c, on this bolt past the projection b, on the bolt a, and raising
the end of the arm e, out of the cavity in the tumblers of the bolt a, as
shewn in Fig 2; and a continued turning of the key in the same direc-
tion will withdraw the bolt a, into the position shewn in Fig. 2.
I have thus described a mode in which my Invention may be carried
into effect; but my Invention is not confined to such mode as respects
the details of the lock which have been referred to in illustration thereof.
And I have not thought it necessary to describe the action of the tum-
blers, because my Invention does not relate to them. With reference
also to the protector, various points of detail may be changed, and it
may have other wards or grooves adapted to it besides those represented
and described especially. Additional wards, running longitudinally
with the key-hole, may be fastened to the ring r, (which must be
enlarged for the purpose) so as to extend upwards into the space in
the protector block P, the key being cut to fit such wards.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be perforined, I would have it understood that
I do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise forms and
arrangements of the parts represented and described. But what I claim
as of my Invention is,--
First, the double system of bolts or of bolts and tumblers, of what-
ever form and combination, worked with one key, and by means of one
turn thereof, as described.
Secondly, the adaptation of the protector to the same, and its com-
bination therewith; such protector constituting a solid block by filling
up the otherwise unoccupied spaces between the plates, and preventing
the withdrawal of the horizontal or locking bolt, as described.
Thirdly, the protector so combined and formed to work in longitu-
dinal wards, and with a feather or feathers in the centre, as described.
Fourthly, the said protector so combined, and combined also with
capped wards, as described.
And lastly, the said protector so combined, and also combined with
the secondary key, without a bit, either used separately or fitted to the
pipe of the master key, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Simson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
(L.S.) W. SIMSON.
ARCH" MACQUEEN, Witness.