IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND BOLTS FOR FASTENING DOORS, AND DOOR BARS, AND DRAWERS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Whitfield, of the Firm of Samuel Whitfield
and Sons, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND BOLTS FOR FASTENING
DOORS, AND DOOR BARS, AND DRAWERS."
Sealed the 25th July 1865, and dated the 1st March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Whitfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
March 1865.
I, SAMUEL WHITFIELD, of the Firm of Samuel Whitfield and Sons, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND BOLTS FOR
FASTENING DOORS, AND DOOR BARS, AND DRAWERS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in employing screw bolts for the bolts of locks, and
bolts for fastening doors, and door bars, and drawers, instead of employing
plain cylinders or bars, and in propelling the said screw bolts into and with-
drawing them from screwed staples, or screw boxes, or plain staples, the
propulsion and withdrawal of the bolts being effected by a screwing motion
instead of a rectilinear sliding motion, as is usual. The screw bolts may be
propelled into or withdrawn from screwed staples, or screwed boxes, or plain

page_text: staples in the jambs of the door, or in the frames or parts of other article in a
variety of ways. For example, in the case of locks having a rotatory motion
the action of the key may cause a worm on the lock to gear with a worm
wheel on the screw bolt, and thereby give to the said bolt the rotatory motion
requisite to propel it into or withdraw it from its screw box or staple. Or a
crown wheel may be made to rotate by the key, the said crown wheel engaging
in pinions on the ends of the screw bolts. The same means may be employed
for rotating screw door bolts which are independent of the lock, the said screw
door bolts being acted upon by a key or by hand.
Screw bolts made according to my Invention, either connected with a lock
or otherwise, may also be used for fastening inside and outside door bars, trap
doors, and drawers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Whitfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
WHITFIELD, of the Firm of Samuel Whitfield and Sons, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Samuel Whitfield, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel
Whitfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Samuel Whitfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 AND BOLTS FOR FASTENING DOORS, AND DOOR BARS, AND DRAWERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samual Whitfield, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one or 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Whitfield, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
:
My Invention consists in employing screw bolts for the bolts of locks, and
bolts for fastening doors, and door bars, and drawers, instead of employing plain
cylinders or rectilinear bolts; and in propelling the said screw bolts into and
withdrawing them from screwed staples, or screw boxes, or plain staples, the
propulsion and withdrawal of the bolts being effected by a screwing motion
instead of a rectilinear sliding motion, as is usual. The screw bolts may be
propelled into or withdrawn from screwed staples, or screw boxes, or plain
staples in the jambs of the door, or in the frames or parts of other articles in
a variety of ways. For example, in the case of locks having a rotatory motion
the action of the key may cause a worm wheel on the lock to gear with a
worm on the screw bolt, and thereby give to the said bolt the rotatory motion
requisite to propel it into or withdraw it from its screw box or staple. Or a
crown wheel may be made to rotate by the key, the said crown wheel engaging
in pinions on the ends of the screw bolts. The same means may be employed
for rotating screw door bolts which are independent of the lock, the said screw
door bolts being acted upon by a key or by hand.
Screw bolts made according to my Invention, either connected with a lock
or otherwise, may also be used for fastening inside and outside door bars, trap
doors, and drawers.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in vertical section a door provided with a lock having
a screw bolt constructed according to my Invention; and Figure 2 is a front
elevation of a portion of the door. a is the screw bolt of the lock working
through a screw box b, fixed to the top edge of the door and being supported
at bottom by the bracket or bearing c; d is the lock capable of a rotatory
motion by the action of the key e. On the axis of the lock d is a bevil wheel
or pinion f, which gears with a bevil pinion g on the bottom of the screw
bolt a; the said pinion g is not rigidly fixed to the bolt a, but is connected
thereto by a pin or key on the said pinion engaging in a longitudinal slot in
the said bolt, the said bolt sliding within the said pinion. By turning the
mechanism of the. lock d by the key e in one direction rotatory motion is
communicated through the bevil pinions f and 9 to the screw bolt a, and the

page_text: said bolt is propelled into a screwed staple or plain staple in the frame of the
door, and the said door thereby securely fastened. By turning the mechanism
of the lock in the opposite direction the screw bolt a is withdrawn. By
making the bolts advance and retire by a screwing motion the said bolts
cannot be withdrawn by pressure applied on their ends.
Figure 8 represents in front elevation a door provided with a lock having
two screw bolts entering screw boxes or plain holes fixed on the frame of the
door at top and bottom. h, h, are the screw bolts working in and being
guided by the screw boxes i, i, at the top and bottom edges of the door; the
opposite ends of the bolts work in the bearings k, k; 1, 1, are the screw boxes
or plain holes or staples fixed to the frame m of the door, into which the screw
bolts h are propelled to fasten the door, and from which they are withdrawn
to unfasten the door. Rotatory motion is in this arrangement imparted to the
screw bolts h, h, by means of a worm wheel n fixed on the axis, carried by
the mechanism of the lock o, gearing with a worm p on the end of each of the
screw bolts h. By giving a rotary motion in one or other direction to the
mechanism of the lock when it has been brought by the action of the key
into the proper position the worm wheel n gives through the worms p rotatory
motion in one or other direction to the screw bolts h, and thereby simulta-
neously propels them into or withdraws them from the screw boxes or plain
staples 1; 1, and fastens or unfastens the door.
. Figure 4 represents in front elevation an arrangement of my Invention in
which the screw bolts are made to enter screw boxes (or plain staples) at the
top and bottom and sides of the frame of the door. q. q, are the screw bolts; r, r,
the screw boxes for guiding the screw bolts situated at the edges of the door;
and s, s, the screw boxes (or plain staples) fixed on the frame of the door. In
this arrangement rotatory motion is transmitted from the axis of the lock t to
the screw bolts g in the following manner :-On the axis of the said lock t is a
bevil toothed wheel u, which gears with a bevil pinion v on each of the ends
of the screw bolts q. The bevil pinions are connected to the screw bolts q
by a sliding key, and the said screw bolts work within the said pinions as
herein-before described with reference to Figure 1. By the rotation of the
lock rotatory motion is transmitted through the bevil wheel u and pinions v
to the screw bolts q, and the said screw bolts are simultaneously propelled
into or withdrawn from their screw boxes.s (or plain staples) on the frame of
the door. I prefer to make the screw boxes r on the door in which the screw
bolts work, and by which they are guided to the screw boxes s, of a case in
which a loose screw box w is fitted, and in which it is capable of a limited

page_text: sliding motion, the said screw box w being pressed up to the face of the
screw box s by a coiled spring a. The screw box r is shown separately on a
larger scale in Figure 4 A. By the use of the said loose screw box the
threads of the screw bolts q are made readily to bite or engage with the
threads of the screw boxess when the said screw bolts are rotated to fasten
the door.
Figure 5 represents my Invention applied to a dead lock; the said lock
being provided with levers. y are the levers, and 2 is the sliding bolt of the
lock, the levers and bolt being of the ordinary construction. On the case of
the lock is a screw bolt 3 working in the screw box 4 and bearing 5. The
end of the bolt is made into a worm 6 which gears with a worm wheel 7 on
an axis or spindle 8; the said spindle passes through the lock case, and its
outer end is furnished with a knob by which it can be turned. By rotating
the said knob the screw bolt 3 may be propelled into or withdrawn from a
screw box or plain hole in the framing or jamb of the door. When the screw
bolt 3 has been propelled into its screw box or plain hole and the plain bolt 2
has also been shot, the end of the said screw bolt is nearly in contact with the
said plain bolt, and the said screw bolt cannot be withdrawn by the rotation
of the knob of the spindle 8 until the plain bolt 2 of the lock has been
withdrawn by the action of the key upon
the levers y.
Figure represents my Invention applied to a dead lock in which the
mechanism is capable of a rotary motion by the action of the key, the rotary
motion being transmitted from the axis of the said lock to the screw bolt by
a worm wheel and worm. The screw bolt is marked 10%, the worm wheel 10,
and the worm 11 in the said Figure 6. I prefer to make the opening in the
striking plate into which the screw bolt enters of an elliptical figure, as
represented at 12 in Figure 6, which represents the face of a striking plate
liaving an elliptical hole or opening. By the use of the said elliptical opening
the bolt is very readily shot into its staple, and the warping or descent of the
door frame or door compensated for.
Figure 7 represents another arrangement of my Invention applied to a dead
lock, the mechanism of which is capable of a rotary motion. 12 is the screw
bolt, rotary motion to which is given in the following manner:-On the axis of
the lock is a pinion 13 which engages with the teeth of a rack 14 made on
the edge of the bar 15. A rack 16 is also made on the face of the bar 15,
with which latter rack 16 a pinion 17 on the end of the screw bolt 12 engages.
On the rotation of the mechanism of the lock by the key the rack bar 15 is
made to rise or fall and a rotary motion in one or other direction thereby given-

page_text: to the pinion 17, the said pinion having a sliding motion on the rack 16;
the screw bolt 12" is thus propelled into or withdrawn from its screw box or
plain hole or staple in the door frame or jamb.
Figure 8 represents in elevation and horizontal section my Invention applied
to the fastening of an outside door bar. 18 is the door bar fixed to the door in
the usual way; 19 is the screw bolt working in the screw box 20 and bearing
21 on the door. Rotatory motion is transmitted from the lock 22 by a bevil
toothed wheel 23 on the axis 25 of the said lock gearing with a bevil pinion
24 on the end of the screw bolt 19, the said screw bolt being capable of
working within the pinion as herein-before explained. When the axis 25 of
the lock is turned in the proper direction the screw bolt 19 passes beyond the
edge of the door through the cranked part 26 of the bar 18 and enters a
screw box or plain staple in the frame of the door, and thus securely fastens
the said bar and door.
The arrangements of parts described and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and
4 may be employed for rotating screw door bolts which are independent of the
lock. In this case the axis carrying the bevil wheel or worm wheel is fixed
in bearings on the door, and may be rotated by a winch applied to the
square end of the said axis, or by a knob or handle fixed on the said axis.
Instead of using an ordinary key for rotating the mechanism of the lock when a
Jock capable of rotation is employed, a key may be employed having a square
end, upon which square end a moveable hollow bit provided with a winch fits.
Although I have described and represented in the accompanying Drawing the
best arrangements with which I am acquainted of transmitting the rotation of
the axis of the lock or a separate axis to the screw bolts, yet I do not limit
myself to the said arrangements as other equivalent mechanical arrangements
may be employed with the same or nearly the same effect. The screw bolts
described may be used in combination with ordinary sliding bolts, or in lieu of
any rectilinear bolt thrown by a key.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the
my
Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in locks and bolts
for fastening doors, and door bars, and drawers herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the use of screw bolts
for the bolts of locks, and bolts for fastening doors, door bars, and drawers, the
said screw bolts being propelled into or withdrawn from screwed staples, or

page_text: screw boxes, or plain staples by a screwing motion, the necessary rotary motion
being transmitted to the said screw bolts either from an axis carried by the
mechanism of the lock or by a separate and independent axis, substantially
in the manner described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Whitfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
SAMUEL WIIITFIELD. (L.S.)