IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hadfield, of Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hadfield at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd March 1876.
ROBERT HADFIELD, of Southampton Buildings, London.
SAFES."
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
This Invention has for its object improvements in safes, and consists in casting
the shell or body of the safe at one operation in steel or iron, but preferably of steel
manufactured from the best Swedish or other foreign iron. This I do by melting
such metal in crucibles, as ordinarily practised in steel making, and then pouring it
into composition or other suitable moulds prepared to receive the same. The shell
or body of the safe is cast with the hinges or tugs attached thereto, but the external
door or doors I cast separately, but in a similar material and by a similar process
to that above described. Safes manufactured on my improved principle have
neither screws, bolts, or fastenings of any description, nor are they welded together
as ordinarily, as they are at once cast into the required form, and only require
fettling, softening, or annealing to render them ready for the locksmith and for the
reception of the safe furniture. The interior fireproof lining is then together with
the lock or locks fastened thereto in the ordinary way. By my Invention a solid
crucible steel safe may thus be cast at one operation, without being subjected to
any manufacturing or mechanical processes, and when this safe is finished and
completed it will be found practically indestructible, as it cannot be broken, having
no loose joints to force. This process also entirely dispenses with a large amount of
labour, such as planing, punching, drilling, and shearing, and also with nuts and
bolts and other machinery; it also dispenses with the operation of cutting up
boiler plates and welding the same together and with the bending rolls, and also
the use of spiegelheisen used for the purpose of chilling the interior or exterior of
the safe, and there is no need for hardened steel plates to be inserted between to
prevent the same being drilled through; it saves also the expense of the present
method of building up and welding in wrought iron, and dispenses with the largo
bands of wrought iron usually welded round the exterior of the safe to prevent
the same being burst open, and owing to its many advantages the weakness of

page_text: ordinary safe plates, which are dovetailed, welded, and fastened into each other,
is entirely obviated. These improved steel safes can also be readily made of any
size or form.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Robert Hadfield in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 1st September
1876.
ROBERT HADFIELD, of Southampton Buildings, London.
SAFES."
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
The shell
This Invention has for its object improvements in safes, and consists in casting
the shell or body of the safe at one operation in pure, solid, or crucible steel
manufactured from the best Swedish or other foreign iron. This I do by melting
such metal in crucibles, as ordinarily practised in steel making, and then pouring it
into composition or other suitable moulds prepared to receive the same.
or body of the safe is cast with the hinges or tugs attached thereto, but I cast the
external door or doors separately of similar metal and by a similar process to that
above described. Safes thus manufactured have neither screws, bolts, or fastenings
of any description, nor are they welded together as ordinarily, as they are at once
cast into the desired form, and only require fettling, softening, or annealing to
render them ready for the locksmith, and for the reception of the safe furniture.
The interior fireproof lining is then together with the lock or locks fastened thereto
in the ordinary way. By my Invention a pure, solid, crucible steel safe may thus
be cast at one operation, without being subjected to any manufacturing or
mechanical processes, and when finished it will, be found practically indestructible,
as it cannot be broken, having no loose joints to force, and will resist a tensile
strain of nearly forty tons to the square inch. My improved process entirely
dispenses with a large amount of labour, such as planing, punching, drilling, and
shearing, and also with nuts and bolts and other machinery; it also dispenses with
the operation of cutting up boiler plates and welding the same together, and with
the bending rolls, and the use of spiegeleisen hitherto used for the purpose of
chilling the interior or exterior of the safe, and there is no need to insert hardened
steel plates to make the safe drill proof; it saves also the expense of building up
and welding in wrought iron, and dispenses with the large bands of wrought iron
usually welded round the exterior of the safe to prevent the safe being burst open,
while owing to its many advantages the weakness of ordinary safe plates, which
are dovetailed, welded, and fastened into each other, is entirely obviated. These
improved steel safes can be readily made of any size or form.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hadfield, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.