IMPROVEMENTS IN DOOR FASTENINGS."
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ambrose Hudd Smith, of Clifton, in the County of
Gloucester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DOOR FASTENINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ambrose Hudd Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th April 1879.
AMBROSE HUDD SMITH, of Clifton, in the County of Gloucester.
IN DOOR FASTENINGS."
"IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention has for its object improvements in door fastenings, and relates
more particularly to that class of mortice locks which are fitted to the doors of
shops, offices, and other similar buildings where constant traffic necessitates that the
door should open and shut easily, at the same time that it should remain firmly
closed when shut.
It has been found that the fastenings at present in use for this purpose, although
acting casily, fail after a short time to retain the door in its proper position when
closed, and that it is very liable to be opened either by the wind or any other
similarly slight impulse, thus causing considerable discomfort and annoyance, and
necessitating constant repair and expense.
Now in order to obviate these disadvantages I take an ordinary mortice lock bolt,
and I fit therein at the back by screws or in any other convenient manner a small
vertical roller so adjusted that it works easily on its bearings. In order to open
the door from the inside such roller is acted on by means of a crank handle ter-
minating in a rigid tail piece cast on the base of such handle, and which tail piece
is inserted into the body of the lock through a longitudinal slot formed in the
back plate of the lock case, and passing through the lock projects through a cor-
responding slot formed opposite in the face plate in order to allow of the easy play
to and fro of such tail piece. Suitable lugs are cast on the plate, which is affixed
to the door, in which lugs convenient orifices are formed to allow of a small pin or
bolt passing therethrough, and being rivetted or otherwise secured therein, on which
pin or bolt the crank handle and tail piece work freely to and fro. When the tail
piece is so inserted into the body of the lock it comes in contact with the vertical
roller placed at the back of the lock bolt, as before mentioned, and when the crank
handle is pulled forward the bolt together with the lock catch are thrown back by

page_text: the tail piece, and so the door is at once opened, while immediately the handle is
released a suitable spring placed inside the lock case at the back of the bolt again
throws the bolt and catch forward, and so securely fastens the door.
In order to open the door from the exterior a crank handle fitted to lugs formed
on the exterior of the door plate, as already described; is placed on the outside of
the door. Such second crank handle has a tooth or cog and suitable stops cast on
its base, and is provided with a movable shank or tail piece which is cast with a
shoulder at the top, in which shoulder a suitable notch is formed, into which the tooth
or cog cast on the base of the crank handle takes when the tail piece is in position.
In order to fasten such tail piece to the crank handle the door plate has lugs cast on
inside similar to those on the outside thereof, each lug having a suitable hole therein
to receive a screw pin or stud, which when inserted passes through a corresponding
hole formed in the shoulder of the tail piece, and when the pin or bolt is screwed up
it thus securely holds the tail piece in position, at the same time that it forms a
bearing whereon it works easily backwards and forwards when actuated by the
crank handle.
When the handle and tail piece are thus fitted together the tail piece is inserted
into the body of the lock through a second longitudinal slot formed in the face
plate of the case, and projects through a second corresponding slot formed in the
back plate thereof in a similar manner, as before described, and when such lever
handle is pulled backward the movable tail piece is brought in contact with the
vertical roller in the lock bolt, and forcing it back together with the lock catch thus
allows the door to open freely, while immediately the lever handle is released the
bolt and catch are again thrown forward, thus at once securely fastening the door
until the lock is manipulated either from the inside or outside by either one of the
lever handles.
My improved door fastener, as above described, combines the advantages of sim-
plicity, effectiveness, and durability, and is more economical than any of those in
present use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ambrose Hudd Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
October 1879.
AMBROSE HUDD SMITH, of Clifton, in the County of Gloucester. " IMPROVE~
MENTS IN DOOR FASTENINGS."
This Invention has for its object improvements in door fastenings, and is more
particularly applicable to the mortice locks which are fitted to the doors of shops,
offices, and other similar buildings where constant traffic necessitates that the door
should open and shut easily, at the same time that it should remain firmly closed
when shut.
It has been found that the fastenings at present in use for this purpose, although
acting easily, fail after a short time to retain the door in its proper position when
closed, and that it is very liable to be opened either by the wind or any other
similarly slight impulse, thus causing considerable discomfort and annoyance, and
necessitating constant repair and expense.
And in order that my said Invention may be better understood and readily carried
into effect I will now, with the aid of the accompanying Drawings, proceed to more
particularly describe and ascertain the same. Figure 1 shews a plan view of the
interior of one of my improved locks with tlie face plate removed; Figure 2 shews
a similar view of the face plate; and Figure 3 shews a sectional view of the lock
when fitted to a door.
To carry out my Invention I proceed as follows:-I take an ordinary mortice
lock bolt, and I fit therein at the back by screws or in any other convenient manner
a small vertical roller a, so adjusted that it works easily on its bearings. In order
to open the door from the inside such roller is acted on by means of a crank handle b
terminating in a rigid tail piece b' cast on the base of such handle, and which tail
piece is inserted into the body of the lock through a longitudinal slot formed in the
back plate of the lock case c, and passing through the lock projects through a corre-
sponding slot formed opposite in the face plate d in order to allow of the easy play
to and fro of such tail piece.
Suitable lugs are cast on the base plate, which is affixed to the door on the
inside, in which lugs convenient orifices are formed to allow of a small pin or bolt b²
passing therethrough and being rivetted or otherwise secured therein, on which pin
or bolt the crank handle b and tail piece b' work freely to and fro. When the tail
piece b' is so inserted into the body of the lock it comes in contact with the vertical
roller a placed at the back of the lock bolt, as before mentioned, as seen in Figure 3,
and when the crank handle b is pulled forward the bolt e together with the lock
catch e' are thrown back by such tail piece, and so the door is at once opened, while
immediately the handle is released a suitable spring f placed inside the lock case c
at the back of the bolt e again throws the bolt and catch forward, and so securely
fastens the door.
In order to open the door from the exterior a second crank handle 63 is fitted to
lugs formed on the base plate, placed on the exterior of the door in a similar manner
to that already described with reference to the inside handle. Such second crank
handle 63 has a tooth or cog g and suitable stops g' cast on its base, and is provided
with a movable shank or tail piece k, which is cast with a shoulder h¹ at the top, in
which shoulder a suitable notch i is formed, into which the tooth or cog cast on the
base of the crank handle takes when the tail piece is in position, as shewn in
Figure 3. In order to fasten such tail piece to the crank handle the base plate
bas lugs cast on inside similar to those cast on the outside thereof, as already
mentioned. Each of these lugs has a suitable hole formed therein to receive a
screw pin or stud i', which when inserted passes through a corresponding hole
formed in the shoulder of the tail piece h, and when the pin or bolt is screwed up it
thus securely holds such tail piece h in position, at the same time that it forms a

page_text: bearing whereon it works easily backwards and forwards when actuated by the
crank handle b³.
When the handle 63 and tail piece are thus fitted together the tail piece.h is
inserted into the body of the lock through a second longitudinal slot formed in the
face plate of the lock case, and projects through a second corresponding slot formed
in the back plate thereof in a similar manner, as before described, and when such
lever handle is pulled backward the movable tail piece is brought in contact with
the vertical roller a in the lock bolt, and forcing it back together with the lock catch
thus allows the door to open freely, while immediately the lever handle is released
the bolt and catch are again thrown forward by the before mentioned spring f, thus
at once securely fastening the door until the lock is again manipulated either from
the inside or outside by either one of the lever handles. The slots formed in the face
plate are shewn at 8, s, Figure 2, and those in the back of the lock case at r, r,
Figure 1; v, Figure 2, is a stop which serves to keep the roller a in position.
My improved door fastener, as above described, combines the advantages of sim-
plicity, effectiveness, and durability, and is more economical than any of those in
present use.
In fixing my improved lock to shop doors I prefer to fit the same with a loose
connecting rod in the ordinary manner, which serves as a revolving rod at the same
time that it imparts additional strength to the lock fittings.
Having thus particularly described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details hereinbefore set forth, as the same may be
varied without departing from the principlo of my Invention. What I claim is the
application of a roller to a mortice lock actuated by means of crank handles arranged
and fitted substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth
and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ambrose Hudd Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.