AN IMPROVEMENT IN SECURING SAPES AND STRONG ROOMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hill, of Stepney Green, in the County of
Middlesex, Safe Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN SECURING SAPES AND STRONG ROOMS."
Sealed the 8th September 1865, and dated the 18th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hill at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th March
1865.
I, HENRY HILL, of Stepney Green, in the County of Middlesex, Safe Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN SECURING SAFES AND STRONG Rooms," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in securing safes and strong rooms by means of a
slide in lieu of a hinged door, made to run in grooves provided at a distance
from the front of the frame of the safe or room at top, bottom, and in the
end opposite that at which the slide is introduced. The lock is fitted in the
slide.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HILL, of Stepney Green, in the County of Middlesex, Safe Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth 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 Henry Hill, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Hill, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN SECURING SAFES AND STRONG Rooms," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Hill, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Henry Hill, do hereby declare the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention consists in the particular manner in which I cause iron safes
and strong rooms to open and shut, and by which the door is secured so as to
prevent the safe or strong room from being forced open by burglars. This I
effect by making the door to draw out at one of the sides or at the top, and
slide backwards and forwards in a groove made on the inner side of the safe.
The edge of the safe is made sufficiently thick to allow of the groove being
cut in it without weakening it. When the door is pushed into its place it can
be locked in the usual way. The front of the door is made rather wider than
the sliding portion, and fits into a recess in the side of the safe. A handle
may also be supplied to facilitate the drawing out of the door when it is
required to open the safe or strong room.

page_text: In order that my said Invention may be more clearly understood, I shall
proceed to explain the same more particularly, and in order thereto I shall
refer to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures
of reference marked thereon, in which the same letters denote similar parts
throughout all the Figures.
Figure 1 is an elevation of an iron safe made according to my Invention.
E is the body of the safe, which is shewn partly open by the door F being
drawn back in the groove G, G, G, which runs around the inside of the safe
at a short distance from the edge. The groove G, G, G, may either be cut
in the iron forming the sides of the safe, or it may be made by welding or
rivetting a piece on the inside of the required depth. The door is furnished
with a handle H to facilitate its being drawn out and pushed back into the
groove G, G, G; and I is a lock which is fastened with a key in the usual
manner. Fig. 2 is a side view of the safe showing the appearance of the
sliding door when shut; Fig. 3 is a section of the iron sliding door on the
line C, D; and Fig. 4 is a cross section of the same on the line A, B, shewing
more clearly the nature of the groove G, G.
Having now fully described the nature and object of my said Inven-
tion, together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise form of door herein-before described and illustrated,
but what I claim is a door for iron safes or strong rooms made to slide in the
manner substantially as herein-before described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
CHARLES S. BAKER,
General Patent Co., Limited,
71, Fleet Street.
HENRY HILL. (L.S.)