Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 7th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 25th Apr, 1896
443
I, EUGÈNE GEORGES RASSINIER, of 15 Rue Victor Massé, Paris, in the
Republic of Fiance, Locksmith, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to improvements in locks of the kind or class known as
Biamah locks, the improved lock being characterized by the peculiar arrangement
of the key and of various parts of the lock-mechanism.
My improved lock will be easily understood from the following description
reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 shows a part of the body of the box or case.
Figure 2 shows the lock in vertical section on the line 1-2, Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows the said lock in vertical section on the line 3-4, Figme 1.
Figure 4 is a similar view to Figure 2, showing the position of the parts when
the key is introduced into the lock
Figure 5 shows the key separately in elevation.
Figure 6 18 an end view thereof.
Figure 7 18 a longitudinal section of the key on the line 5-6, Figure 6.
Figure 8 18 a transverse section of the said key, on the line 7-8, Figure 7.
Figure 9 shows in front and side view one of the washers which are inserted
into the key of my improved lock.
Figure 10 shows a part of one of the sliders or plates of my improved lock.
As may be seen in the drawings, Figures 5 to 9, the key of my lock, instead of
being formed with grooves of fixed depth, as in the keys of the ordinary barrel-
locks or Bramah locke, receives in its grooves a any suitable number of washers b
having spurs or teeth c, which are inserted into the bore of the key one after
another so as to give different combinations
The key is provided with marks for each groove indicating the different units
which are reproduced in the lock with reference to each slider or plate as shown
in Figures 1 and 5 of the drawings.
All the washers are perforated in the centie by a hole through which' passes
a binding screw e which holds them fast.
The screw is fixed in a screw-threaded part formed at the bottom of the bore
of the key and its head projects slightly in order to facilitate the introduction of a
screw-driver into its groove.
In my lock, as in all the previous Bramah locks, a banel is provided which
receives the sliders the latter being continually pressed forward by the spiral
springs and pistons J.
This barrel is moreover provided with a spring rod or lever L mounted in a
gioove formed for this purpose in the wall of the bore of the barrel. The end of
this rod is flush with the edge of the barrel when it is pressed in by the bit of the
key. The thickness of this rod is less than that of the barrel so as to form a kind
of notch L'in which rests the cut-away part n' of the bit of the key.
The barrel is made from a block or piece of brass, so that, being in a single
piece, the bottom or inner end k cannot be driven back for a wrong purpose.
When the key is adjusted by the washers so as to push in all the sliders or

page_text: plates of the barrel, the said sliders present one of their notches in front of the
plate or collar m of the case, so that the key may be turned and carry with it the
barrel.
The rotary movement of the barrel is effected by the bit of the hey, and as
the barrel itself is provided with a bit o, it acts on the beaids or parts p of the
bolt g and opens the lock.
The slides of the banel to the number of four, for example, have their
notches at different heights, so that, to open the lock, it is necessary that the
key be so adjusted by means of the washers that it may push in all the sliders
together, so that all the notches register with the plato forming the surface of
the case
The sliders of the barrel are formed with four recesses so as to form all the
combinations from 0 to 10,000.
To obtain this result, the washers are piled oue above another, according to each
particular case, so that their spurs or teeth c stand at different heights, according
to those of the sliders, this done, it is only necessary to secure the said washers by
means of the screw.
The inside of the lock is also provided with a barrel-opening g' and piston
arrangement, but without sliders. This arrangement consists of a piston **
continually pressed forward by means of a spiral spring s.
The said piston is provided with a tenon t which is pressed by the key into a
groove u formed in the barrol.
•
This tenon prevents the piston from turning by itself, but ensures its being
moved by the barrel when the bit of the key turns the latter
The bit of the key engages with the ginove u of the barrel and turns it so
that the projection or bit u of this bariel acts on the bends on parts a of the bolt
to open or close the lock.
The drum B, in which are mounted the sliders h, is covered by a cap C which
can be taken off by the aid of a key acting on a small bolt, specially provided
therefor.
Dated this 7th day of Nos 1805
D. YOUNG & Co,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C,
Agents for the Applicant.
1, EUGENE GLORGES RASSINIER, of 15 Rue Victor Masse Paris, in the
Republic of France, Locksmith, do hereby declate the nature of this invention
and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement.
This invention relates to improvements in locks of the kind or class known as
Bramah locks, the improved lock being characterized by the peculiar arrangement
of the key and of various parts of the lock mechanism.
The Bramah lock as heretofore constructed consisted essentially of two
concentric barrels the outer oue fixed, the inner one free to rotate. The inner
barrel carries a projection, hook or spur which operates to shoot the bolt on
rotation of the barrel. Within the inner bariel aud parallel to the axis radial
grooves are cut in a way which is well understood and slides or thin plates of stool
are inserted in these grooves. The slides engage with slots in a fixed steel plate,
at right angles to the axis of the barrel, called a lock plate and thus ordinarily
prevent the barrel from 1otating. In each slide, however, a notch is cut at
different distances from one end so that on bringing all these notches into the

page_text: plane of the lock plate the barrel is free to rotate. The slides are usually held
forward by springs but are pushed back by the insertion of the key to the
revolving barrel the ends of the slides taking into corresponding slots in the
koy; the amount by which the slides are pushed back thus depends on the depth
of the slots in (the barrel of the) key. If each slide is pushed back till each
notch just comes into the plane of the lock plate the bariel can then be turned
and the lock opened. Thus, the deeper the slot in the key the less the slide will
be pushed back. Also the neare the notch in the slide is to the back end of the
slide the less the slide will have to be moved in order to bring the notch into the
plane of the lock plate and the deeper must be the corresponding slot in
the key.
It is on this supposed unknown distance of the notch in each slide from the end
of that slide and the consequent assumed unknown depth which must be given to
the slot in the key that the security of the Bramah lock depends
The Bramah lock, howevol, as thus constructed, has certain disadvantages,
namely, that if the key is lost another cannot be made without ascertaining the
position of the notch in each slide which might necessitate breaking open the lock;
also, when the lock has been repaired and a new key made the lost key will still
open the lock.
Now, by my invention I avoid both these inconveniences and also greatly
enhance the security of my lock.
My invention consists in a method of applying the principle of permutations to
both lock and key so that unless the same permutation be used in both lock and
key the lock cannot be opened.
I employ in my improved form of lock a barrel having any desued number of
grooves to carry slides and I make a corresponding number of grooves in
the key.
For convenience of description I shull describe a lock having four grooves in
the barrel to carry four slides and there will be four working slots in the key but
1 would have it clearly understood that I do not in any way limit myself to this
number.
I desiguate the grooves in the barrel respectively as the thousands groove, the
hundreds groove, the tens groove, and the units groove, and the same notation
applies to the slots in the key.
1 provide for sertion into the grooves in the barrel of the lock a series of
slides having notches cut in their edges at various distances from one end. I may
with advantage employ a series of ten slides cach slide having one notch cut in its
edge of a size which will enable the slide to clear the lock plate when the slide is
in the requisite position. The notches in the slides will be arranged at different
distances from one end so as to form a progressive series numbered from 0 to 9
and each number of the series will differ from the preceding number in having its
noich nealer one end of the slide by a fixed and constant length such length being
exactly equal to the thickness of certain washers which I shall presently describe
with reference to my key. For convenience of description I shall call this
distanco one-twentieth of an inch though, of course, any convenient distance may
be selected.
The numbering of these slides 18 80 arranged that the slide numbered 0 has its
notch the furthest from the front or key end and the slide numbered 9 bas its
notch the nearest to the frout or key end.
Now, I may select any slide, sny No. 2, and place it in the thousands groove,
and any other slide, say No. 1, and place it in the hundreds groove, any third,
Bay No.
aud place it in the tens groove, and any 4th say No. 3 and place it in
the units groove.
I shall then have a combination called according to my
notation 2143 and this is one of a very large number of permutations and com-
binations that can be made. It now remains to explain how I am able to construct
a key which shall when the requisite adjustment is made, have the power of opening
the lock no matter what combination the lock 18 Bet to.

page_text: I employ a key whose slots when empty are all of such depth that ther would
produce the requisite backward thrust of the slide numbered 0, the slide
numbered 0 being the one requiring the least backward thrust to bung its slot
into the plane of the lock plate. The slots in the koy are respectively marked
thousands, hundreds, teus, units An extra slot is also cut in the key of the same
depth and marked reserve slot. The bore of the key, shown in Fig. 5, of the
drawings filed with the Provisional Specification is adapted to receive a series of
four washera and the bore of the key shown in Fig. 11 of the drawings filed with
the Complete Specification is adapted to nine washers each provided with a
projection or spur capable of entering any one of the working slots or the reserve
slot shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14. These washers are of the uniform thickness of
say one-twentieth of an inch that being the difference in position of the notches
on any two consecutive slides. The washers are each provided with a central
hole adapted to receive a screw which enters the shank of the key and firmly
secures the washer in place. For convenience I shall number the nine washers
1 to 9 the washer numbered 1 being nearest the bottom of the bore of the key
The method of adjusting the key to open the lock when the lock 18 fitted with
any given combination of slides is best described by an example :-
:-
If washer No 5, for example, has its projection or spur projecting into the
thousands slot, that slot will be shortened by five-twentieths of an inch, and will
consequently be adapted to push the slide numbered 5 into the requisite position
for opening the lock. Thus if the lock is set to the combination 2143 as above
described, the following is the way in which the key must be sot :-
Washer No. 1 must have its projection or spur projecting tuto the hundreds
slot, washer No. 2 into the thousands, washer No. 3 into the units, washer No. 4
into the tens, and in the case of the nine washer key washers Nos. 5 to 9 into the
resei ve.slot.
It will be clear that as there are two ends and two sides to each slide I may combine
four slides into one if preferred by cutting a notch at each side and near each end
without danger of such notches interfering with one another. In this way the
number of slides used may be diminished and indeed a very large number of
combinations may be obtained by merely using the slides which are required to
fill the grooves.
And in order that my invention may be clearly understood I will proceed to
describe and ascertain the same by reference to the two sheets of drawings filed
with my Provisional Specification and a third sheet filed with my Complete
Specification.
Fig. 1 shows a part of the body of the box or case with the bolt and the main
and auxiliary barrels.
Fig. 2 shows the lock in vertical section on the line 12, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shows the same lock in vertical section ou the line 34, Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 2, showing the position of the parts when the
key is introduced into the lock.
Fig. 5 shows a key with four washers in elevation.
Fig. 6 18 an end view thereof.
Fig. 7 18 a longitudinal section of the key on the line 5 6, Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the key on the line 78, Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 shows a front and side view of one of the washers which are to be
inserted into the key of my improved lock.
Fig. 10 shows one of the compound slides or plates of my improved lock.
Figs. 11 to 15 are similar views to Figs. 5 to 9 respectively but showing a key
with nine washers and a reserve slot as well as the four working slots.
My lock consists of two mechanisms, the main locking mechanism by which the
lock is operated from the outside and which is provided with my new permutation
slides, and an auxiliary locking mechanism operated by the same key from the
anside of the door on which the lock is secured.
The general arrangements of the parts of my main locking mechanism is best

page_text: understood by reference to Figs 2 and 4 of the drawings, Fig. 2 showing the
position of the various parts before the insertion of the key, and Fig. 4 the
position after inserting the key and turning the same through a right angle.
For convenience of description I shall refer to the main keyhole side of the
lock as the frout this being the left hand side in Figs. 2 and 4
The inne barrel carrying the slides is mounted at its front end within
the outer barrel and at us back end in a circular hole cut in the lock plate m.
Slots are cut in the lock plate m in the well known way to take the slides h, and
notches are cut in the slides which notches allow the slides to clean the slots in
the lock plate m when the slides ate in such a position that these notches are all
in the plane of the lock plate as 19 well understood At the back of the lock
plate m I fix a movable cap C containing a rovolving bariel free to revolve within
the cap
This barel contains a series of cylindrical apertures corresponding to
the grooves in the inner bariel and containing pistons; pressed for waid
against the ends of the slides h by means of springs thus contiolling the slides
and tending to retain them in their for waid position. The cap is secured within a
ring at the back of the lock plate m and externally to the lock by a spring catch
shown in the drawings, which can be opened by a small key from the interior of
the 100m the door of which the lock is destined to secure. By this method of
attachment the cap can be readily removed froin the insule when the door has been
opened and a fresh combination of slides inserted.
The outer fixed barrel within which the inner barrel y revolves is designed to
project through the door to the outside the lock being secured on to the inside of
the door and an opening is made in the outer bartel to admit the key and a
slot L' is cut to perimit the passage of the projection of the key. A tongue L
is fitted into a groove in the innei bairel g and normally projects into the slot in
the outer banel being constrained to occupy that position by a spiral spring,
shown in Fig. 2. Thus the inner barrel cannot normally revolve until the
tongue L has been pushed in clear of the slot L' in the outer barrel. This is
effected by the insertion of the key, the projection n bearing on the tongue L and
forcing it back into the groove in the inner barrel 9 clear of the slot L'. The
inner barrel carries a projection or spur o which takes into the notches p, see Fig 1,
and operates to shoot the bolt on rotation of the barrel.
I now proceed to describe the method which I employ for varying the length of
the slots in my key.
The slots a are cut in the key of such depth that they will push back a slide
marked 0 till its notch comes into the plane of the lock plate. Those Blots
correspond in number and position to the slides in the lock and in the nine washer
key an additional slot a', Figs. 13 and 14, is also provided called the reserve slot
the object of which has already been explained.
Each washer b 18 provided with a projection or spur o and a central hole d.
The cucular portion of the washers fit inside the bore of the key and the pro-
jections or spurs are formed to fit into any working slot a or the reserve slot a¹.
All of these washers are of uniform thickness, say one-twentieth of an inch, and
are secured by a screw e passing through the central holes d in the washers and
taking into a female sciew in the barrel of the key as is clearly shown
in Fig. 14.
The slots in the key are numbered respectively the thousands slot, the
hundreds slot, the tens slot, and the units slot, and, as may be clearly seen from
the drawings, the length of any slot may be adjusted by placing any desired
washer with its projection or spui c projecting into that slot.
Fig. 10 shows a compound slide containing what is for all practical purposes
four slides in one and this form of slide may be inserted into a slot in the barrel
in four different ways.
Such a slide has one notch on each side near each end, and it is clear that more
than four slides cannot be compounded together into one for were this done there
would be more than one notch on one side at one end.

page_text: Besides my main locking mechanism to be opened only from the outside,
I provide an auxiliary mechanism enabling the lock to be opened from the inside,
as shown in section in Fig. 3, where an auxiliary barrel is shown in section
provided with a projection or spur v taking into auxiliary notches on the bolt
(see Fig. 1) and operating to shoot the bolt. This bariel is noumally prevented
from rotating by a piston r carrying a tongue sliding in a groove u in the barrel
and projecting beyond the end of the barrel This tongue normally engages
with the slot cut in the exterior baitel to permit the introduction of the projection
01 spur of the key being constrained to occupy that position by the spiral spring
which forces the piston back against the exterior barrel.
"
On the introduction of the key the projection or spun thereon thrusts the
tongue clear of the slot in the exterior barel and takes into the slot w m the
inner barrel and on rotating the key the barrel will now rotate with it and operate
to shoot the bolt.
It will be observed that one of the great advantages of my invention consists
in the fact that should the key be lost and the number of the combination be
remembered another blank key can be procured and set to that combination when
the lock can be immediately opened and the combination changed in both lock and
key so that the old key will no longer open the lock.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inveu-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is-
1. In a Bramah lock, the employment of interchangeable slides tu the barrel in
combination with slots of adjustable length in the key so that unless corresponding
adjustments are made in the lock and key the lock cannot be opened.
2. In a Bramah lock, the employment of interchangeable slides or plates having
notches cut at various distances from one end, but not having more than one
notch cut on one side at each end, the variations in the distances of the notches in
the different slides from the ends of the slides being multiples of the thickness of
the washers employed in the keys substantially as described
3. In a koy for a Bramah lock, the combination of working slots and a reserve.
slot with washers of uniform thickness lying within the bore of the key and each
provided with a projection or spur capable of being slipped into any slot and
secured for the purpose of adjusting the length of that slot substantially as
described.
4. In a Bramah lock, the herein before described method of applying the
principle of permutations to the construction of both lock and key so that given a
certain alteration in the combination of the lock corresponding alterations must
be made in the key.
5. The several constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts embodying
my improvements in locks and keys substantially as herein described and as
allustrated by the drawings.
Deted this 6th day of February 1896.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17 St. Ann's Square, Manchestor, Agents for Applicant.