A SAFETY HINGE, AND CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE DETECTION OF BURGLARS AND PREVENTION OF BURGLARIES
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
STEPHEN RIDLEY, of Vincent Square, in the City of Westminster, Surveyor,
and JAMES EDSER, of Saint James' Terrace, in the said City, Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Henry Stephen Ridley and James Edser, our exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority, that we,
the said Henry Stephen Ridley and James Edser, our exors, admiors, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Stephen Ridley and James
Edser, our exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, aлl no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of
"A SAFETY HINGE, AND CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE DETECTION OF BURGLARS AND
PREVENTION OF BURGLARIES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that we, the said Henry Stephen Ridley and James Edser, or one of

page_text: us, shall cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's Iligh Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Henry Stephen Ridley and James Edser, hereby declare that the nature of
our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are
fully described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Firstly, our Invention for the detection of burglars and prevention of
burglaries, consists of a safety hinge to be attached to doors, shutters, or
windows, and of an alarm apparatus to be actuated by the movements of said
hinge. Figure 1 is a front view of the same. A and B are the two wings or
flaps of the hinge; A2 is a tumbler lock, which is attached to the inner face of
the wing A; C is a supplementary flap, which falls into a recess in the inner
face of the wing B, and turns on a pin a common to all the three pieces. The
supplementary flap C serves as a keeper to the lock A³, having two staples
L, L, into which the bolts L', L', of the lock take when actuated by a key
in the manner of the ordinary chest or door locks, or by the movements of the
safety binge, in the manner to be presently explained. Figure 2 is a section
of the safety hinge through the lock attached to the wing A, and Figure 3 a
cross section on the line a, b, of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a plan, shewing how this
safety hinge is attached to a door and the apparatus in connection therewith,
whereby its movements are made to give notice of any burglarious entrance
being attempted. Figure 5 is a side elevation on the line c, d, of Figure 4,
and Figure 6.a front elevation on the line e, f, of Figure 4. The wing of the
safety hinge which carries the lock is sunk into the style S of the door, and
the other wing, which carries the keeper, sunk into the door post S2. To the
back of the keeper there is attached a chain D, which, after passing over the
guide pullies E, E, is connected to the lower end of a spring rod G, which
puts in motion the alarm apparatus, the construction of which is represented
separately in Figures 7 and 8, the former being a front view and the latter a
section on the line g, h. In these Figures the apparatus shewn is supposed to
be connected with three different entrances to a house, the front door, area
door, and back door, but it may by a mere multiplication of the same parts be

page_text: connected to any number of doors or to any number of window shutters or
sashes as well as doors. O is a bearing plate, which is affixed to one of the
walls of the apartment, to which it is desired to communicate the alarm; T, a
bracket, which carries a set of vertical levers, R', R2, R. To the lower ends
of these levers there are hooked on by rods running in guides a set of labels
indicating the doors with which they are respectively connected, as "front
door," "back door," "area door," and at top each lever has two chains or
wires branching off from it, one connecting it with the spring rod G of the
safety hinge of the particular door with which it is in communication, and the
other connecting it with a fourth lever R on the bracket T, to which last lever
there is attached by a spiral spring an alarm bell B³.
Supposing, therefore, each door to have its safety hinge properly set, that
is, with the one wing let into the door-post and the other into the door style,
and both connected by a lock and keeper, as before described, then. it follows
that on the door being forced open, it will pull the chain D attached to the back
of the keeper flap C, and that will draw down the spring rod G, which, again
pulling back the corresponding lever R of the alarm apparatus, will set the
bell ringing, and simultaneously therewith unhook the rod of the label bearing
the name of the particular door which is attempted to be opened, and thereby
allow it to fall below the line of the other labels. In Figure 7, an exemplifi-
cation is given of the relative positions which the labels would in such a case
of attempted burglary assume; the label belonging to the front door, which
is that supposed to be forced open, is shewn as unhooked and dropped down,
while the others remain in their original places. When it is desired to have
an alarm bell on the outside of a house, which may be put in motion by the
movements of a safety hinge, such as has been described, and rouse the polico
or others to the detection of the burglars, independently of any person inside, we
either connect the alarm bell with the safety hinge, in the manner before deseribed,
or by means of an apparatus, such as represented in front and end elevations in
Figures 9 and 10. This apparatus consists of a train of wheel work acted upon
by a spring or weight, and which when liberated by the movement or pulling of
any of the wires J*, gives motion to the outside alarm bell. A is the frame-.
work; B, the spring barrel; C, C, the wheel work; D, an escapement wheel, which
actuates the lever E, to the upper end of which there is attached a connecting
rod F, which again through the lever G imparts to the bell H an oscillating-
motion; I is the lever to which the wire 12 is connected, and by which the
wheelwork is liberated upon pulling that wire. Secondly, for further security
against burglars and burglaries, we propose to fill in and strengthen the panels.

page_text: and styles of doors, shutters, and other framed carpenter's work exposed to be
broken through for burglarious purposes, in the manner shewn in Figure 11,
which is a vertical section of a door rail and part of two panels with those
additions. A, A, is the style, which is formed in two thicknesses a¹ and a².
Previous to these thicknesses being put together, the iron plate 6 is sunk into
one of the halves or thicknesses and embedded in marine glue. The other
part of the style is also glued to its place over the iron plate, after which the
whole is made fast by screws c, the heads of which are sunk in the rail and
afterwards. covered in with wood, so as to conceal completely the fastenings.
The panel is formed by cementing by means of marine glue to each side of a
plate of metal a piece of canvas, and gluing over the canvas a veneer of
wood. Doors and shutters so formed are put together in the usual manner, and
exhibit externally all the appearance of doors and shutters formed entirely of
wood, and at the same time present great difficulties to their being forcibly
broken open.
And having now described our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim as of our Invention
is as follows:-
First, we claim the employment for the purpose of detecting burglars
and prevention of burglaries of a safety hinge to be attached to doors, shutters,
or windows constructed and operating as before described.
Second, we claim the employment of the alarm apparatus, represented in
Figures 7 and 8, and the modification thereof, shewn in Figures 9 and 10,
whether actuated by our safety hinge or by any other suitable mechanical
movement.
And, third, we claim the employment for the purpose aforesaid of panels and
styles, and other like, framed carpenter's work, composed of wood and metal,
or of wood, metal, and canvas combined, and fastened together in the manner
before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Stephen Ridley and James
Edser, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-fourth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-one:

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Henry Stephen Ridley and James
Edser came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statutes made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.