IMPROVE- MENTS IN SAFES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Felton Elwell, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and Joseph Grove, of Birming-
ham, aforesaid, Safe Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SAFES."
Sealed the 20th December 1872, and dated the 6th July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Felton Elwell
and Joseph Grove at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 6th July 1872.
We, JAMES FELTON ELWELL, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and JOSEPH GROVE, of Birmingham, aforesaid,
Safe Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFES," to be as follows:-
"
Our Invention has for its object to render safes secure against the
attacks of burglars and others by so constructing the fastenings by which
the door when locked is connected to the framing of the safe as to make
it impossible or very difficult to force open the door by the use of
wrenching instruments.

page_text: Our said Invention consists in constructing and actuating in the
manner herein-after described those parts of; the door and of the safe by
which the connection of the door to the safe is effected in the act of
locking.
In constructing a safe according to our Invention we fix on the inner
face of the framing of the safe and on the four sides thereof a series of
pierced knuckles, the said pierced knuckles having the same general
figure as one half of the joint of a door or butt hinge. On the inner face
of the door of the safe we fix a series of other pierced knuckles having
the same general figure as the other half of the joint of a door or butt
hinge. The knuckles on the door are fixed in such positions that when the
door is closed they engage respectively with the knuckles on the framing
of the safe, each pair when thus engaged together resembling the joint
of a hinge, excepting that there is no pin or axis passing through them.
On the inside of the door is a series of sliding bolts, which said bolts
carry pins or axes, and connected with the said bolts is mechanism which
on the turning of the knob or key of the safe door can be made to shoot
forward the pins or axes described into the openings in the engaged
knuckles, and thereby join them together as the knuckles of a hinge are
joined together by their pin or axis. When the said pins or axes of the
bolts are in their shot or advanced position, they securely fasten the
door to the safe and by withdrawing them the door is unfastened.
The mechanism by which the bolts are actuated may either consist of
a series of levers worked from the spindle of the knob or key of the safe
door gearing with the bolts described, or the said bolts may gear with a
toothed wheel on the spindle of the knob, or the bolts may be connected
together by means of chains so that by operating upon one or more of
the said bolts the whole series is actuated.
The fastenings described may be applied to one or more or all the
sides of the safe, and one, two, or more of the said fastenings may be
applied to the same side of the safe according to the degree of strength
and security it is required to give to the safe.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said James Felton Elwell and Joseph Grove in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
FELTON ELWELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, and JOSEPH GROVE, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Safe
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said James Felton Elwell and Joseph
Grove, Her special license that we, the said James Felton Elwell.
and Joseph Grove, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said James Felton Elwell and Joseph Grove, 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,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said James Felton Elwell and Joseph Grove, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Felton Elwell, on behalf of
myself and the said Joseph Grove, 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 state-
ment thereof, that is to say :—
Our Invention has for its object to render safes secure against the
attacks of burglars and others by so constructing the fastenings by which

page_text: the door when locked is connected to the framing of the safe as to make
it impossible or very difficult to force open the door by the use of
wrenching instruments.
Our said Invention consists in constructing and actuating in the
manner herein-after described those parts of the door and of the safe by
which the connection of the door to the safe is effected in the act of
locking.
In constructing a safe according to our Invention, we fix on the
inner face of the framing of the safe and on the four sides thereof a
series of pierced knuckles, the said pierced knuckles having the same
general figure as one half of the joint of a door or butt hinge. On the
inner face of the door of the safe we fix a scries of other pierced knuckles
having the same general figure as the other half of the joint of a door or
butt hinge. The knuckles on the door are fixed in such positions that
when the door is closed they engage respectively with the knuckles on
the framing of the safe, each pair when thus engaged together
resembling the joint of a hinge, excepting that there is no pin or axis
passing through them. On the inside of the door is a series of sliding
bolts, which said bolts carry pins or axes, and connected with the said
bolts is mechanism, which on the turning of the knob or key of the safe
door can be made to shoot forward the pins or axes described into the
openings in the engaged knuckles, and thereby join them together as
the knuckles of a hinge are joined together by their pin or axis. When
the said pins or axes of the bolts are in their shot or advanced position,
they securely fasten the door to the safe, and by withdrawing them the
door is unfastened.
The mechanism by which the bolts are actuated may either consist of
a series of levers worked from the spindle of the knob or key of the safe
door gearing with the bolts described, or the said bolts may gear with a
toothed wheel on the spindle. of the knob, or the bolts may be connected
together by chains, so that by operating upon one or more of the said
bolts the whole series is actuated.
The fastenings described may be applied to one or more or all the
sides of the safe, and one, two, or more of the said fastenings may be
applied to the same side of the safe according to the degree of strength
and security it is required to give to the safe.

page_text: Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation a safe provided with a single
3 door, the said door being open, the fastening mechanism of the said safe
being constructed and actuated according to our Invention; Figure 2
represents a vertical section of the safe door taken on the, line A of
Figure 1, and Figure 3 is also a vertical section of the safe door taken
on the line B of Figure 1. In Figure 1 the inner cover of the door is
removed in order to exhibit the fastening mechanism. The same letters
of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawings.
c is the framing of the safe and d is the door of the said safe. On the
inner face of the framing c of the safe and on its four sides we fix in the
manner herein-after described sets of pierced knuckles marked e, c. On
the top and bottom of the framing of the safe one set of knuckles is
fixed, each set consisting of three knuckles, and on the sides of the
framing three sets of knuckles are fixed, each set consisting of two
knuckles; the number of sets of knuckles and the number of knuckles
constituting each set may however be varied according to the security
required in the safe. The said knuckles e, e, as will be seen by an
examination of the Drawing, resemble the eyes or knuckles of an
ordinary door or butt hinge. On the inner face of the door d of the
safe other sets of pierced knuckles marked f, f, are fixed in the manner
herein-after described, the said sets of knuckles f, f, being so arranged
on the door that when the said door is closed they engage respectively
with the sets of knuckles e, e, on the framing c of the safe.
When the
door d is closed and the several sets of knuckles e, e, f, f, are engaged
together, the said sets of knuckles resemble the joint of a door or butt
hinge without the central.pin or axis.
-
The said engaged knuckles e, e, f, f, of the safe and door are secured
together so as to effectually fasten the safe by the following mechanism :-
On the longer sides of the inner face of the door d, and parallel therewith,
vertical sliding bolts g, g, work, and near the top and bottom of the said
door horizontal sliding bolts h, h, also work. The said vertical and
horizontal sliding bolts g, g, h, h, are geared together by the cranked
levers i, i, turning on the centres, . The said vertical bolts g, g,

page_text: carry a series of pins or axes k, k, for entering the openings in the
engaged knuckles on the sides of the safe and door; and each of the
.horizontal sliding bolts h, h, carries a pin or axis & for entering the
openings in the engaged knuckles on the top and bottom of the safe and
door. The pins or axes of the said bolts g, g, and h, h, are situated in a
line with the respective openings in the knuckles into which they are
to enter. The sliding bolts g, g, h, h, are shot and withdrawn so as to
engage the pins or axes k, k, with or disengage them from the holes in
the knuckles by means of the wheel which is turned either by a knob
or by a key outside the safe door. The spindle of the knob or the
axis on which the key fits is carried by a cross bar on the wheel 1.
The said wheel is connected with the vertical bolts g, g, by the cross
bars or levers m, m. The sliding bolts are guided so as to move in a
rectilinear direction by the tops of the arms f carried by the base plates
of the knuckles f, f, engaging in slots n, n, in the sliding bolts g, g, h, h.
The tops of the arms f2 are secured in the slots n, n, by the screws and
washers represented.
When the safe door d is closed the several sets of knuckles ff, on the
said door engage with the sets of knuckles e, e, on the framing c of the
safe respectively. By then turning the wheel 7 in the direction indicated
by the arrows by a key outside the safe placed on the square axis 1 of
the said wheel, or by a knob on the said axis 1, the vertical bolts g, g, are
moved in opposite directions, and the horizontal bolts h, h, in opposite
directions, as indicated by the arrows, and the several pins or axes k, k,
are simultaneously shot into the openings in the engaged knuckles
e, e, f, on the safe and door. The door d is thereby fastened very
securely to the safe c on all its sides, and the forcing open of the door by
wrenching instruments is rendered impossible or very difficult. The
wheel is fastened in its shot position by means of two locks p, p, the
shot bolts of which engage with stops or shoulders at q, q, on opposite
sides of the wheel Z. The said locks p, p, are actuated in the usual way
by keys from the outside of the safe. The wheel may also be fastened.
by one lock or by more than two locks acting on stops in a similar
manner.
By turning the wheel in a direction contrary to that indicated by the a
arrows the sliding bolts g, g, and h, k, also move in directions contrary
to those indicated by the arrows, and the several pins or axes k, k, are
withdrawn from the holes in the engaged knuckles e, e, ff, and the safe

page_text: is unfastened and may be opened; the parts of the locking mechanism
occupying the respective positions represented in Figure 1.
Although we have represented in the accompanying Drawings the
best mechanism with which we are acquainted for shooting and with-
drawing the sliding bolts carrying the fixing pins or axes, yet we do not
limit ourselves to the use of the said mechanism, as the said bolts may be
worked in a variety of ways. For example, a toothed wheel on the axis
or spindle may gear with teeth on the inner edges of the bolts, or the
said bolts may be connected together by means of chains working over
pulleys, so that by operating upon one or more of the said bolts the
whole series is actuated.
13
The manner in which we prefer to construct the sets of knuckles of the
safe and door is illustrated on a larger scale in Figures 4 and 5; Figure 4
represents in front elevation and end elevation one set of the
knuckles ff, fixed on the safe door d. The said knuckles ƒ, ƒ, are
made in one piece with the base plate f³, which is secured by
screws 7, r, (sec Figures 1 and 3) to the door d. The said base plate f³
is furnished with the arm f which engages in the longitudinal slot n in
the sliding bolt. The manner in which the base plate ƒ³ carrying the
knuckles is fixed to the safe door is best seen in Figure 3. The said safe
door is made of two wrought-iron plates, between which a thin plate of
steel is secured. The screws r, r, for fixing the knuckles on the door
pass through the thin steel plate, but before the outer wrought-iron
plate is secured to the said steel plate the ends of the screws may be
clinched upon the said steel plate. Additional security in the fastening
of the knuckles to the door is thereby obtained.
The door may also be made of one thick solid plate, the screws used
for fastening the knuckles to the door not coming through to the outside.
When doors of this kind are used a steel plate fixed between the lock
mechanism and the door protects the said lock mechanism from a drill
applied through the outer plate of the door..
Figure 5 represents in front elevation and end elevation one of the sets
of knuckles e, e, fixed to the framing c of the safe. The base plates e³
of these sets of knuckles have dovetail edges and the dovetail edges are
taper or inclined to one another, as seen in the front elevation of
Figure 5. In the framing of the safe dovetail recesses are made of a
corresponding figure to receive the said dovetail base plates e³. After

page_text: the dovetail plates e have been inserted in their places in the framing
of the safe the said plates are fixed by screws.
Figure 6 represents in perspective a safe with a double door, provided
with our improvements. In this safe each door s, t, is furnished with
sets of knuckles and mechanism of the kind herein-before described, and
the framing of the safe has upon it the required sets of knuckles for the
sets of knuckles on the doors to engage with. The fastening mechanism
of each door is actuated by a separate key or knob. In safes with
double doors those sets of knuckles f, f, on the outer edge of the.
door
s are similar to those on the framing of the safe, that is, are without
the fixing pins or axes k, so that when the two doors are closed the sets
of knuckles f,ƒ, on the outer edge
of knuckles ff, on the outer edge
of the door t engage with the sets
of the door s, and on shooting the
bolts of the doors s, t, the pins k, k, at the edge d³ of the door t enter the
holes in the engaged knuckles at the two edges d², d, of the doors s, t,
and thereby fasten the two doors together in addition to fastening the
doors to the safe.
The said sets of knuckles at the outer edges d², d³, of the doors s, t,
are constructed somewhat differently from those used with the safe
having a single door. That is to say, the sets of knuckles at the outer
edge of the doors have the form represented in Figure 7, and the
sets of knuckles at the outer edge d³ of the other door t have the form
represented in Figure 8. These knuckles only differ from those
previously described in the respect that the said knuckles are situated
nearly in the same plane as the base plates, instead of at right angles to
the base plates. The parts of the double safe, Figure 6, are marked
with the same letters of reference, as corresponding parts of the single
safe, Figures 1, 2, and 3, and the description of the action of the
fastening mechanism applies equally to both safes.
Although we have only described our Invention in connection with
safes of the kind called single and double safes, yet we wish it to be
understood that our Invention is applicable to all other kinds of safes,
such for example as deed boxes or chests, strong rooms and the like, but
we believe our Invention will be fully understood in its various appli-
cations by the description herein-before given, reference being had to the 3
accompanying Drawings..

page_text: Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein-described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
our Invention. But we claim as our Invention the improvements in
constructing and actuating the fastenings of safes herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, fixing to
the door or doors of the safe sets of pierced knuckles and fixing on the
framing of the safe other sets of pierced knuckles, with which last-
mentioned knuckles those on the door or doors engage, when the said
door or doors is or are closed, the sets of engaged knuckles of the door or
doors and safe being fastened together by means of pins or axes passed
through the holes in the said engaged knuckles, whereby the door or
doors is or are fastened very securely to the safe, substantially as de-
scribed and illustrated, whether the fixing pins or axes be actuated by
the mechanism described and illustrated, or by other mechanism.
Also fastening the overlapping edges of the doors of double safes,
together by means of sets of knuckles on the said edges, and fixing pins
or axes, substantially as described and illustrated.
Also the combinations or arrangements of parts herein-before described
and illustrated, for actuating the sliding bolts carrying the fixing pins or
axes of the sets of knuckles.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Felton Elwell, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JAMES FELTON ELWELL. (L.S.)