IMPROVEMENTS IN LATCHES LOCKS AND LOCK FURNITURE
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Robert Wethered of Woolwich in the County of
Kent for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LATCHES LOCKS AND LOCK
FURNITURE
"3
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Robert Wethered at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th March 1883.
EDWIN ROBERT WETHERED of Woolwich in the County of Kent " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LATCHES LOCKS AND LOCK FURNITURE
"
This invention has for its object improvements in latches, locks and lock
furniture.
In the latches and locks described in a former Patent granted to me N° 482 in
the year 1882 an incline is provided on the striking plate which as the door is
closed lifts the end of the latch bolt and thereby frees it and allows it to shoot
forward. I now form this incline so that the bolt drops behind it when the door
is closed. The door then cannot be opened until the end of the bolt has been
drawn in past the incline. I thus ensure the bolt being caught and retained within
the lock as it should be until it is next liberated by the incline in again closing
the door.
The bolt may be held back in the lock case by a longitudinal slot and notch in
the bolt and a pin in the lock plate or vice versa.
The handle may be applied in various ways: thus the bolt may be worked by a
handle capable of turning either way and which operates by a tumbler or follower
pressing against projections on the bolt. The tumbler or follower may have a
double arm so that in the event of the spring breaking the bolt can be forced
outwards as well as drawn inwards and the door closed and opened without the
spring or the bolt may be drawn back by a handle attached directly to it or it
may be moved by a lever handle having a finger projecting through the case of the
lock and pushing the bolt back when the handle is drawn forward.

page_text: &
In mortice locks where a turning handle is employed I provide the handle with
"rosette" or collar in which it can turn freely and this rosette
lock case and not as heretofore only to the wood of the door.
attach to the
I form holes in the lock case to receive screws which pass through the edges of
the rosette, and through the wood and screw into the lock plate.
To facilitate fitting the lock I provide a template to be applied to the front of
the lock and having a flap to lay against the door.
In this flap there are holes corresponding to those to be bored in the wood to
receive the screws for fixing the rosette as above mentioned also to receive the
spindle and to form the key hole..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edwin Robert Wethered in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th September 1883.
EDWIN ROBERT WETHERED of Woolwich in the County of Kent "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LATCHES LOCKS AND LOCK FURNITURE
"
This Invention has for its object improvements in latches, locks, and lock
furniture.
In the latches and locks described in a former Patent granted to me N° 482 in
the year 1882 an incline is provided on the striking plate which as the door is
closed lifts the end of the latch bolt and thereby frees it and allows it to shoot
forward I now form this incline so that the bolt drops behind it when the door
is closed. The door then cannot be opened until the end of the bolt has been
drawn in past the incline. I thus ensure the bolt being caught and retained
within the lock as it should be until it is next liberated by the incline in again
closing the door.
Figure of the annexed drawings is the front view of the lock, with the cover
plate removed, and the Figures 1ª are the front view and section of its striking
plate. Figure 2 shows the lock partly in section, with some of the parts removed,
and with the striking plate in the position it occupies relatively to the lock when
the door which carries the lock is closed.
a a is the lock case. b is the latch bolt. The bolt b is pressed forward by the
spring c and the opening in the front of the lock case at a is sufficiently large to
allow the bolt to rise and fall as well as to be protruded and withdrawn. b² is a pro-
jection or tooth upon the latch bolt which when the bolt is drawn back, drops
behind and engages with a stud a² in the lock case. At its rear end the latch bolt
is provided with a slot b' which receives the boss of the tumbler d, and so the
bolt b, is controlled at its rear end. is the square hole in the tumbler for the
reception of the spindle on which is the handle.
e is a lock bolt and fare tumblers provided in connection with it;
when this
bolt is shot by means of a key the latch bolt cannot be withdrawn. gg are inclines
upon the striking plate and beyond these inclines are the shoulders g' g'. The
striking plate here shown is suitable for doors opening either inwards or outwards.
In closing the door the end of the latch bolt (which from the formation of the
lock case as shown is suficiently exposed) rides up the incline g, until the tooth b
is clear of the stud a², and then as the Specification of my former Patent describes
the spring c throws the bolt forward into the bolt hole 7, in the striking plate.
According to my present Invention however the incline on the striking plate is s
formed and applied that the bolt b when the.door is closed passes over and drops
behind the incline g, and consequently the door cannot be opened again until the
bolt has been drawn so far back into the lock case as to clear the incline and con-
sequently so far back as to bring the tooth be well to the rear of the stud a². This
arrangement ensures the engagement of the tooth with the retaining stud which
may not occur if the door be free to open immediately the end of the bolt is free
from the opening h, in the striking plate.
The bolt may be held back in the lock case by a. longitudinal slot and notch in
the bolt, and a pin in the lock plate or vice versa.
The handle may be applied in various ways: thus the bolt may as the drawing
shows be worked by a handle capable of turning either way and which operates by
tumbler or follower pressing against projections on the bolt. The tumbler or
follower may have a double arm, so that in the event of the spring breaking the

page_text: bolt can be forced outwards as well as drawn inwards and the door closed and
opened without the spring or the bolt may be drawn back by a handle attached
directly to it or it may be moved by a lever handle having a finger projecting
through the case of the lock and pushing the bolt back when the handle is drawn
forward.
In mortice locks where a turning handle is employed I provide the handle with
a "rosette " or collar in which it can turn freely and this rosette I attach to the
lock case and not as heretofore only to the wood of the door...
I form holes in the lock case to receive, screws which pass through the edges of
the rosette, and through the wood and screw into the lock plate.
To facilitate fitting the lock I provide a template to be applied to the front of
the lock and having a flap to lay against the door.
.
In this flap there are holes corresponding to those to be bored in the wood to
receive the screws for fixing the rosette as above mentioned also to receive the
spindle and to form the key hole..
Figure 3 is a section of a door with a mortise lock to which the handle is secured.
in accordance with my Invention.
a is the lock in its place in the mortise in the door. The internal parts of the
lock are omitted. b is the spindle of the usual square form and passing through a
corresponding hole in the tumbler or follower. c is the handle, and a the rosette
or collar. The rosette is shown separately in Figure 4, it is connected with the
handle by a nut c¹ screwed on to the neck of the handle or in other convenient
manner which leaves the handle free to turn in the rosette. ce are the screws by
which the rosette and handle are-fixed; they screw into the metal of the lock case
and not simply into the wood of the door as heretofore. Figures 5 represent the
template which I prepare to aid in fixing the lock, it is preferably made in sheet
zinc or other thin metal. The metal is bent to a right angle to fit to the edge of
the door, it is notched to engage with the door bolt and thus the position on the
door which the template will occupy is controlled.
The template has holes in it corresponding to the positions in which the spindle b
and the screws e, are to be inserted. It has also a hole for a key hole if the lock
be made to receive a key. The holes in the wood of the door are formed in the
positions indicated by this template and the screws e may thus without difficulty
be inserted to meet accurately the tapped holes prepared for them in the lock
plate. The screws have threads adapted to the threads within the tapped holes of
the lock case and not as heretofore threads adapted to engage with the wood of
the door to which the lock is applied.
Having thus described, the nature of my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same I would have it understood that I clain :-
First. My improved latch lock in which in the closing of the door the latch bolt
being liberated by an incline and shot forward, drops behind the incline in such
manner that before the door can be opened the bolt has to be withdrawn so far as
to insure its being caught and retained substantially as herein described.
Second. My improved method of connecting and applying the handle to a
mortise lock substantially as described. .
In witness whereof I the said Edwin Robert Wethered have hereunto set my
hand and seal this fourteenth day of September in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
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