IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDRICAL DOOR BOLTS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Grafton Page, of Washington City, in the
United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CYLINDRICAL DOOR BOLTS."
Sealed the 22nd December 1857, and dated the 25th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Grafton Page
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th June 1857.
I, CHARLES GRAFTON PAGE, of Washington City, in the United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CYLINDRICAL DOOR BOLTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making the slot in the guard plate, through which
the handle of the bolt passes, inclined to the axis of the bolt. It further
consists in making the handle of the bolt loose, so that when the bolt is shot
the handle may slide into a notch, mortice, or slot, and lock the bolt to its
place.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Grafton Page in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
GRAFTON PAGE, of Washington City, in the United States of America, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of June, 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 me, the
said Charles Grafton Page, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Grafton Page, or my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Grafton Page, or my 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 Inven
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDRICAL DOOR BOLTS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Grafton Page, or my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
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 I, the said Charles Grafton Page, 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 certain improvements in cylindrical door bolts,
described, represented, and specified as follows:
The first part of my Invention relates to an improvement in pushing the
bolt back and forth, by which a heavy bolt, a rusty bolt, or a bolt that is
moved with difficulty from any cause is moved with ease, and that without any
greater number of parts than is found in common door bolts.
Fig. 1 represents a well-known form of cylindrical door bolt, in which the bolt
a is pushed back and forth by means of the handle or knob 6 passing through
the longitudinal slot or opening c, in the guard plate c'. The cross slots d, d,

page_text: are catches, to receive and hold the knob when the bolt is pushed back or
forth, and prevents the slipping of the bolt either way, by pressure upon the
end of the bolt or by the motion or jarring of the door. Fig. 13 represents
in section the common bolt, and the mechanical disadvantage under which the
hand is applied to remove the bolt longitudinally; and Fig. 11 represents a
case of displacement, in which the bolt could not be made to enter the catch
without the exertion of great force.
My improvement consists in making the slot in the guard plate of the
form and character shewn in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This slots is oblique to
the axis of the bolt, except at the end portions m, m, where it may be at
right angles to the axis, as shown in Fig. 5. The bolt is moved longitudinally
by raising and depressing the handle b, which presses alternately in the back
and forth motions of the bolt against the inclined sides of the slot, and thus
exerts a powerful leverage in overcoming resistances to the motion of the
bolt. To further facilitate the action of this bolt in cases of displacement, I
taper its ends or make them conical, by which the entering of the bolt is
secured for all ordinary displacements of the parts, that is, the bolt and catch;
and it is found with these provisions but little strength is necessary to lift a
swagged door or shutter by the power of the bolt alone. In order to check
the bolt or prevent its slipping longitudinally when fastened or unfastened, the
end portions of the slot m, m, are not inclined, so that when the neck of the
handle b is within these portions, the bolt cannot be moved either way by
endwise pressure, which could be done when the neck of the handle 6 is
within the inclined part of the slot. Either of the forms represented will
answer for upright bolts, and one side of the straight portion of the slots may
in that case be notched out a little so as to receive the stem of the handle, to
more effectually prevent its jarring out of place. These "power-bolts," as they
may be called, can be made or cast as easily as the common bolts, the handle
of the bolt being used as the lever for moving the bolt, and no extra or
additional parts being introduced, while at the same time the guard plates can
be made much stronger than in the common bolts. If it should be desired, a
cylindrical collar or antifriction roller may be slipped over the stem or neck
of the handle b before it is secured in the bolt. This would facilitate the
operation of the bolt when it binds hard from rust or other causes, and
would add but a trifle to the expence of each bolt. If it should be required
to move the bolt through a considerable distance to reach and pass through
the catch, the oblique slot may be repeated or made in a zig-zag form, instead
of having one oblique slot, in which the inclination might be too slight to give
sufficient leverage in moving the bolt.

page_text: My improvement also consists in locking cylindrical door bolts, described
and represented as follows:-Fig. 1 represents a common form of door bolt,
in which the fixed knob or handle 6 of the bolt is retained in the notches or
cross slots d, d, when the bolt is fastened or unfastened, so as to check the
longitudinal motion of the bolt, and secure it, when fastened, against being
easily slipped back by thieves, and to prevent the slipping forward of the bolt
when unfastened by accidental causes, such as the sudden swinging of the
door. If we suppose the knob to be left in the horizontal slot c when the bolt
is unfastened or in the upper portion of the upright or cross slot d, the sudden
swinging to of the door may throw the bolt forward, so that it will strike a
hard blow upon the back of the catch e, or, as it not unfrequently happens, the
bolt is thrown exactly as to enter the catch, and sometimes persons are bolted
out of their rooms and houses.
This Fig. 1 represents what is commonly termed a right and left bolt, that
is, a bolt which may be used on the right or left side of a door, and in both
cases allow the handle to be down or in the lower portion of the cross slots
d, d, when the bolt is in its forward or back position. Fig. 7 exhibits a
common "one-handed" or one-sided bolt, which must be placed on the left-
hand side of the door, so that the knob may be down when the bolt is
fastened or unfastened. If this bolt were reversed to the right side, the knob
of the handle would be necessarily up when the bolt was fastened or
unfastened, and of course in an unsafe position. The right and left bolt
represented in Fig. 1 is generally preferred. The one-handed bolt, however,
is stronger than the right and left bolt, inasmuch, as less metal is taken from
the guard of the one-banded bolt to form the slots.
Fig. 7 represents my mode of locking the bolt when it is in either its
forward or back position, so as effectually to prevent its being thrown out of
place by the jarring of the door, when the bolt has been drawn back, and
especially to prevent the picking by thieves of the bolt when fastened. a is
the bolt; b, the knob or handle, which, instead of being secured fast within
the bolt, plays loosely through the bolt, as shown in Fig. 8, for a sufficient
distance to drop into the holes or notches h, h, in the guard a¹, when the
bolt is either in its forward or back position, and thus securely lock
the bolt.
Fig. 8 shows in section the mode of inserting, and the working of the
handle of the bolt. The stem K of the bolt being a little smaller than the
hole through the notch h in the guard, and its end is provided with a head n.
which passes readily through the notch h, but cannot pass back through the
bolt. When this head is drawn towards the bolt, it fits into the countersink

page_text: in the bolt, and does not interfere with the rotation of the bolt and guard. It
is shown that the guard is open for a considerable distance, and this opening
allows the head n to be readily formed by riveting or hammering up, or by
attaching a previously formed head to to the end of the handle by screwing
or riveting.
Fig. (10) shows the application of the lock to a common bolt, the only
change necessary being the introduction of the loose handle in place of the
usual handle.
Fig. 7 shows the lock applied to a left-handed bolt, here represented as
inverted, to show that this bolt is convertible into a right-hand bolt; for
when the bolt is reversed the handle will be always down, in the forward and
back position of the bolt, and then be like a commen left-handed bolt, as in
Fig. 14.
Fig. 4 shows the lock applied to the power bolt, which is here shown in a
right-handed bolt, but which may be converted into a left-handed locking
bolt, by inverting it and using the lock to keep the handle in place when the
bolt is fastened and unfastened. When the lock is applied to the bolt in Fig. 2,
with a single cross slot, the bolt also becomes a right and left bolt, although it
is only a left-handled locking bolt; and applied to Fig. 3, it would make also a
right and left bolt, but only a right-handed locking bolt; applied to the bolt
of Fig. (3), with the double oblique slots, the bolt becomes a right and left-
handed locking bolt.
What I claim under the above in part recited "Letters Patent" is, making
the slot in the guard plate, through which the knob or handle of the bolt
passes, inclined to the axis of the bolt, substantially in the manner and for the
purposes set forth.
Qudly, I claim locking the bolt by means of the loose bandle, substantially
as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Grafton Page, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
CHARLES GRAFTON PAGE.
(L.S.)