AN IMPROVED SAFETY PADLOCK
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jules Dortet and André Barthelemy Denis, of Paris,
in the French Empire, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SAFETY
PADLOCK."
Sealed the 23rd October 1857, and dated the 28th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Dortet and André
Barthelemy Denis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 28th July 1857.
We, JULES DORTET and ANDRÉ BARTHELEMY DENIS, of Paris, in the French
Empire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
SAFETY PADLOCK," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is intended chiefly for the use of the Post Office in securing
mail bags, but is equally applicable for other purposes where a safety padlock
is required.
The body of the lock consists of a box holding a spring catch and a hinged
plate carrying two raised projections, which when closed form with the top
of the box a continuous circular rim. This plate on being pressed down is
kept in position by a spring catch, and is intended to receive a wax or other
seal within the raised rim; the hasps or bolts of the lock fixed upon a metal
plate connected by chains to an address plate for post office purposes, and
then to the body of the lock by other chains, or to the body of the lock direct,
are passed into the back and moved sideways, when the spring catch will
become engaged and so fixed in the bolt plate that the lock cannot be opened

page_text: or the spring catch forced back without the seal being broken. The scal
may be in wax, soft metal, or other suitable substance. To open the back,
a pointed instrument is introduced into an aperture or hole in the top of the
lock and pulled back, whereby the spring catch is withdrawn, the seal broken,
and the lock thereby opened.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jules Dortet and André Barthelemy Denis in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JULES
DORTET and ANDRE BARTHELEMY DENIS, of Paris, in the French Empire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Jules Dortet and André Barthelemy Denis, Her special licence that we,
the said Jules Dortet and André Barthelemy Denis, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Jules Dortet and André
Barthelemy Denis, our executors, 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 "An IMPROVED SAFETY
PADLOCK," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Jules Dortet
and André Barthelemy Denis, or one of us, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands
and seals, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Jules Dortet and André Barthelemy
Denis, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :--
Our Invention is intended chiefly for the use of the Post Office in securing

page_text: mail bags, but is equally applicable for other purposes where a safety padluck
is required.
The body of the lock consists of a box holding a spring catch and a hinged
plate carrying two raised projections, which when closed form with the top
of the box a continuous circular rim. This plate on being pressed down is
kept in position by a spring catch, and is intended to receive a wax or other
seal within the raised rim; the basps or bolts of the lock fixed upon a metal
plate connected by chains to an address plate for post office purposes, and
then to the body of the lock by other chains, or to the body of the lock direct,
are passed into the lock and moved sideways, when the spring catch will
become engaged and so fixed in the bolt plate that the lock cannot be opened
or the spring catch forced back without the seal being broken. The seal may
be in wax, soft metal, or other suitable substance. To open the lock. a
pointed instrument is introduced into an aperture or hole in the top of the
lock and pulled back, whereby the spring catch is withdrawn, the seal broken,
and the lock thereby opened.
.
The Drawings hereunto annexed exhibit the details of our Invention, and
the best method of carrying the same into effect.
Figure 1 represents a plan of our padlock open and furnished with the
address plate for postal or other like purposes; Figures 2 and 3 represent
a longitudinal view at right angles to Figure 1; Figures 4 and 5 are cross
sections; Figure 6 is a longitudinal section; Figure 7 is a plan view of
the lower plate of the body of the lock. The box a or body of the padlock
is of brass or other suitable metal, and encloses an iron piece b, capable
of turning through a considerable angle about the two pivots c. Figure 6.
This piece 6 carries two portions (which it intercepts) of the projecting
rim d; when this pieco is in place, the rim d is completed in the circular
form. The cavity thus formed is intended to receive the scale in wax, soft
metal, or other suitable material. The piece b is held in place by a spring
catch o. To close the lock, the bolts g, g', which are in the form of square
hooks, Figure 1, are inserted into the holes f,f', formed in the end of the
padlock, see Figure 4. In the interior of the box a is a rod i, surrounded by
a spiral spring j. This rod is furnished with the rectangular piece /, which
is terminated without the box a at m, and slides in the piece k fixed to the
bottom of the box.
The box a and the picce carrying the bolts g, g', are connected together by
a chain, in the middle of which is placed the plate n (bearing the addresses of
the offices of departure and destination when used for postal purposes.) The
piece 6 being closed, a quantity of wax or other fitting mäterial is poured into

page_text: the cavity formed by the rim d and a seal impressed upon it. The chain is
passed through the straps of the mail bags, or suitably attached to any other
object, and the bolts g, g', are inserted in the orifices f, f¹. By forcing the
bolts into the lock, so as to bring the hooks to the inner surface of the front
piece of the lock, the piece carrying those bolts is forced close to the outer
surface of the said front piece, and the spring rod i is forced back till the
projecting part m is made to coincide with the outer surface of the lock. The
bolts now receive a side motion, so as to make the hooks of the bolts take hold
of the front plate of the lock. By this side motion, the orifice p, formed in the
piece carrying the hook bolts is brought over the end of the spring bolt m,
which then enters this orifice and prevents any lateral motion of the bolt
piece. The lock is now closed and cannot be opened without breaking the
seal.
To open the lock, a metal rod is inserted in the hole r, which, acting as a
lever, disengages the piece 6 from the spring catch o. The piece 6 opening
breaks the scal, while its lower end enters the rectangular aperture land
forces back the spring bolt m, thus releasing the bolt piece, which can then
be withdrawn by hand. It is evident that the lock cannot be opened without
the knowledge of the partics concerned, if the seal used be that which is
peculiar to the office whence it is sent. The lock will serve for the double
journey if the address plate n and its chains be fitted on swivel bolts t, t.
The metallic seal is produced by means of the stamp P, shewn in Figures 8,
9, 10, and 11, and in the following manner. Figure 8 is a section, and
Figure 10 an end view, of the stamp P unexpanded, and Figures 9 and 11 are
corresponding views of the stamp expanded. A thin leaf of soft metal capable
of readily receiving the impression of a stamp is taken. This is cut into the
form of a circle, whose diameter is slightly larger than that of the circular
recess on the lock, and is placed fairly over the circular space enclosed by the
rim d, and pressed into that space by means of the stamp P. The pressure
applied to the stamp P forces down an interior sliding rod p, which is
ordinarily about three-eighths of an inch within the outer part of the stamp,
and which has on its extremity the impression to be made on the metallic
seal. The end of this rod is tapering, as shewn in the Drawing, Figure 8,
and when it is pressed down it causes the outer part of the stamp p' (which is
divided in four for the purpose) to expand and force the metallic seal to fill
up closely the bottom of the circular-recess, where it is made somewhat wider
than at the top. Thus the metallic seal is at once securely fixed in its place,
and the proper impression imprinted on it by means of the stamp P. When
this is thus accomplished, the piece b, and therefore the lock, cannot be opened

page_text: without the metallic seal being destroyed, as in the case when ordinary wax
is used.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we do not confine
ourselves to the precise details herein-before described, but we claim the
construction and employment of an improved safety padlock possessing the
same essential features as that herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said Jules Dortet and André Barthelemy
Denis, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
J. DORTET.
(L.B.)
A. B. DENIS. (L.S.)