IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Locks
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Locks."-A commu-
nication from Laurentius Mathias Eiler, of Copenhagen, in the Kingdom
of Denmark, Land Surveyor.
Sealed the 5th December 1854, and dated the 3rd October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,, on
the 3rd October 1854.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Locks" to be as
follows.
The object of this Invention of Improvements in the Construction of
Locks is to dispense with the use of a key, and consequently obviate the
necessity of having any key-hole or other opening whereby access may be
obtained to the interior of the lock with any instrument whatever. Instead
of employing a key or other analogous instrument provided with wards,
pins, or other equivalent contrivances for bringing the several internal and
moveable parts of the lock into their proper position for shooting the bolt

page_text: back for opening the lock, this object is effected by means of the power of a
magnet.
The foundation plate of the lock must of course he made of some metal,
.such as brass or copper, which is not capable of affecting or being affected
by the magnetic influence of a permanent or other magnet. On the inner
side of this plate are made a series of grooves or channels arranged and com-
bined in any arbitrary manner. In these grooves or channels are made to
work a series of iron or steel slides, which must be capable of moving to and
fro in the grooves, and should be so arranged that they cannot be moved
except in a given and pre-arranged order and succession. When the bolt of
the lock is shot forward, one of these slides or pieces is brought up behind it
in such a position that it cannot be moved back until the slide has been first
removed, and this cannot be done until all the other moveable pieces are
brought in succession into their proper positions. These moveable pieces
or slides must be moved by the power of a magnet applied at the back of
the copper or brass plate, and which will be sufficiently powerful to attract
and move the small slides inside when it is applied immediately above them.
As three, four, or any number of these small pieces or slides may be com-
bined and arranged in any pre-conceived manner, it follows that unless a person
wishing to open the lock knows precisely the position, arrangement, and com-
bination of the parts, he cannot bring these parts into their proper places, and
consequently will not be able to open the lock.
The proprietor must provide himself with a plan, shewing the position of
the pieces, and with this before him he will have no difficulty, by the aid of a
powerful magnet, to draw back the slides in their proper order, so as to leave
the bolt free to move back.
In locks where a trifling additional expense is not an object, and great
security is required, this may be obtained by the application of one or more
permutation plates, whereby the combination or arrangement of the internal
parts may be changed at any time with facility. Several bolts may be adapted
to the lock, if required, and these may be so arranged that they must be moved
in some pre-arranged order. For instance, they may be marked with letters
to form a particular word, and unless moved in their proper order the lock
will not open.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my exccutors, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCKS," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention of Improvements in the Construction of Locks
is to dispense with the use of a key, and consequently obviate the necessity
of having any key-hole or other opening whereby access may be obtained to
the interior of the lock with any instrument whatever. Instead of employing
a key or other analogous instrument provided with wards, pins, or other
equivalent contrivances for bringing the severa internal and movable parts
of the lock into their proper position previous to shooting the bolt back

page_text: for opening the lock, this object is effected by means of the power of a
magnet.
The foundation plate of the lock must of course be made of some metal, such
as brass or copper, which is not capable of affecting or being affected by the
magnetic influence of a permanent or other magnet. On the inner side of this
plate are made a series of grooves or channels arranged and combined in any
arbitrary manner. In these grooves or channels are made to work a series of
iron or steel slides, which must be capable of moving to and fro in the grooves,
and should be so arranged that they cannot be moved except in a given and
pre-arranged order and succession. When the bolt of the lock is shot forward,
one of these slides or pieces is brought up behind it in such a position that the
bolt cannot be moved back until the slide has been first removed, and this
cannot be done until all the other moveable pieces are brought in succession
into their proper positions. These movable pieces or slides must be moved
by the power of a magnet applied at the back of the copper or brass plate, and
which magnet will be sufficiently powerful to attract and move the small slides
inside when it is applied immediately above them. As three, four, or any
number of these small pieces or slides may be combined and arranged in
any pre-conceived manner, it follows that unless a person wishing to open the
lock knows precisely the position, arrangement, and combination of the parts,
he cannot bring these parts into their proper places, and consequently will not
be able to open the lock.
The proprietor must provide himself with a plan shewing the position of the
pieces, and with this before him he will have no difficulty, by the aid of a
powerful magnet, in drawing back the slides in their proper order, so as to
leave the bolt free to move back.
In locks where a trifling additional expense is not an object, and great
security is required, this may be obtained by the application of one or more
permutation plates, whereby the combination or arrangement of the internal
parts may be changed at any time with facility. Several bolts may be adapted
to the lock, if required, and these may be so arranged that they must be moved
in some pre-arranged order. For instance, they may be marked with letters
to form a particular word, and unless moved in their proper order the lock will
not open.
In order, however, that the Invention may be clearly understood, I have
shewn in the accompanying Drawings various views of different forms of the
improved locks.
Fig. 1 is a view of the interior of a lock intended to be applied to a box, all

page_text: the internal parts being in the position they would assume when the bolt is
shot and the lock closed or shut. Fig. 2 is another view of the same lock, but
with the parts in the position they would assume when the bolt is moved back
and the lock opened. A is a strong metal frame made of brass or gun
metal, but not of iron or steel, and to this frame is rivetted a plate B,
which is provided with grooves made on the inner face thereof. In these
grooves are laid small flat pieces of iron or steel C, C, C, C, which I call
shutters or slides. These shutters or slides can be moved backward and for-
ward in their grooves in such a manner that when the first is carried forward,
the next also can be carried forward, and in consequence thereof prevent the
first one from getting back to its former position, and so on, with all the slides.
D is the main bolt of the lock, and when the box is to be locked, this bolt
must be carried forward in the groove made for the same, and in this manner
will pass through the catch or hook E, which is attached to the front side of
the box, or to some other fixed part. This catch or hook is covered with a
plate or plates (according to the peculiar construction of the catch). When
the shutters or slides are placed in their respective grooves, in the plate B,
they are to be covered with another plate of strong metal, though not of iron,
and which will form the bottom part of the lock. This plate must correspond
exactly to the plate B, in which the grooves are made, and is to be fastened
to the latter with screws; the lock is then complete. I propose to call this
improved lock the magnetic lock, in consequence of the movement of all the
sliding pieces or shutters being effected by the influence or power of a magnet,
which may be moved along the outside of the plate of the lock, and will by
magnetic attraction cause the several small iron slides or shutters C, C, C, C,
to move in their grooves. These movements must, however, take place in
proper order; otherwise the slides will prevent one another from moving. In
order that the owner of the lock may know the proper order in which to move
the shutters, he is to be provided with a plan in which the position of the
several sliding pieces C, C, is to be accurately marked. All the turns made
in the grooved plate B being drawn thereon exactly on the same scale as the
grooved plate B, no difficulty will be experienced in applying the magnet in a
proper manner to the back of the plate B to open the lock. When the
magnet has been carried over lines in the back of the plate B, corresponding
with all the grooves laid down on the plan, and has thereby moved all the
sliding pieces or shutters forward, beginning with the main bolt D and ending
with the last shutter F, then, by means of a needle or pin, which is to be
inserted through a hole made near the end of the groove at F, the position of

page_text: this slide or shutter may be examined, and if the needle can be passed through
the frame A, and also through the thickness of the plate B, its doing so will
prove that the shutter F has been moved forward, and that the lock is
perfectly shut and locked. When the lock is to be opened, the operation must
commence with carrying the sliding piece F back, and so on, with all the other
sliding pieces or shutters, together with the main bolt D, and the lock will then
be opened, as shewn in Fig. 2.
It should be here remarked that the sliding pieces or shutters C must be
provided with brass at their extremities, in order to prevent them from
adhering too strongly to the plate B, when under the influence of the
magnet. The number, position, and arrangement of the sliding pieces or
shutters, main bolt, and other parts can be determined by the person ordering
the lock, and if the plan of the lock should be lost, then it is only necessary,
on a duplicate plan, and also on the lock, to add an additional shutter or
shutters C, which will at once effectually prevent the former plan from being
of any service in opening the lock. The grooves and false shutters or sliding
pieces Gare only added to the lock in order to mislead any person attempting
to tamper with the lock, as they will be attracted and moved forward by being
acted upon by the magnet in the same manner as the slides or shutters C,
and will make the same noise when moved. The slides C can, with the
exception of the bolt D, be made very slight, as they are protected from any
violence being used to them. Fig. 3 is a view of the interior of a drawer
lock, in which the several parts are somewhat differently arranged to these of
the lock shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but the lock is constructed upon precisely
the same principle, and the same letters are marked upon corresponding
parts. Fig. 4 represents a lock intended for a safe, and is provided with
four bolts to secure the same; Fig. 5 is a door lock, in which the bolt is
formed of a round piece of metal, tipped with brass. In this instance the
sliding pieces or shutters C, C, are placed in a horizontal or nearly hori-
zontal position. Fig. 6 is another form of door lock, in which the bolt
is secured and held by four or more slides C, all of which are in contact
with it, or take into notches made therein, as shown in the Drawing.
Figures 7, 8, and 9 are views of padlocks constructed according to the present
improvements.
Locks on the construction above set forth can be made for a moderate
price, considering that they contain no complicated parts, and yet afford the
most perfect security. They can never get out of order, as the shutters follow
each other regularly; and as no key is required, violence cannot be offered to

page_text: the internal parts. The plan of the lock, which is required to assist in
opening the same, can be made of thin paper or silk, and carried without
inconvenience in a small pocket-book. These improved locks are particularly
calculated for safes and boxes containing valuable documents, but may also
be applied to writing desks and drawers, or to any other places or articles
where the common lock is available.
In order still further to increase the security of the magnetic lock, it is
also proposed to combine therewith permutation plates, also provided with
sliding pieces, and which permutation plates may be changed when required.
The permutation principle may be applied to these locks, as shewn in Fig. 10,
by making a depression more or less large in the plate B, and laying therein
the plates H, H, by which the permutation is produced. Each lock when
made may be accompanied by, for instance, three or four plain permutation
plates, without any grooves, but all furnished with the name and stamp of the
patentee, and the purchaser may then apply to three or four different smiths,
and let each of them cut a different figure therein, and have the sliding pieces
made by a fifth. Provided with these materials, he can alter his lock as often
as he pleases.
It will be seen, on referring to Fig. 10, that the outer plate is provided with
a series of letters round its four sides, and also round an internal circle.
Certain of these letters correspond with the position of the bolts and sliding
pieces, and when the letters are taken in order, they will be found to form the
word HORTENSE, both in large and small characters. As the several
pieces must be moved in proper order, the proprietor of the lock must of
course recollect the word, and will then be able to move the pieces in their
proper order of succession. A small plan of the arrangement of the slides on
the permutation plates may be made, if required. By this improvement a
degree of security hitherto unknown can be obtained, as the slides or the per-
mutation plates act as stops to some of the other parts until they are moved
out of the way. Fig. 11 is a detached view of a second pair of permutation
plates, in which the arrangement and position of the sliding pieces or shutters
is altered.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me as
aforesaid, and the means of carrying the same into effect, I claim, in conclusion,
the method herein shewn and described of constructing locks, or any mere
modification thereof, in which the lock bolt is prevented from being moved in
either direction, and the lock thereby secured by means of a combination of
movable pieces, slides, or shutters, which can only be moved by the influence

page_text: of a magnet or magnets, the whole being so combined and arranged that
access from the outside to the inside of the lock with any instrument capable
of moving the stop pieces is prevented.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)