Improvements in or connected with the Construction and Fastenings of Safes, Strong Rooms, Vault Doors, and the like.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 8th Oct., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with the Construction and Fastenings
of Safes, Strong Rooms, Vault Doors, and the like.
A communication by FRIEDRICH AUGUST GOETZ, of the firm of Goetz and Co.,
of Stuttgart, in the Empire of Germany, Safe and Lock Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool & 6 Bank Street, Manchester,
both in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare 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:-
In safes constructed at the present time, the doors are either sunk (that is to
say, set deeper than the frames) or hung by means of projecting columns, trusses or
supports, but, by the arrangement of flush doors (that is to say, closing level with
the frame) without projecting hinges, the doors cannot be completely opened but
only to an angle of 90 degrees, and in any case, in order to allow of the swinging
back of the door, more or less space must be left at the side where the hinges are.
The above mentioned recesses or projections for the suspension of the doors afford
points of attack for thieves, and facilitate breaking into, and the air spaces or
hollows allow, in case of conflagrations, fire to penetrate into the interior of the
safe.
In addition to this imperfect suspension of the doors, the fastening devices in
safes as at present constructed are defective. The round, flat, hooked or turning
bolts, hitherto employed, which are not provided with blocks which hold them
firmly attached to the door frame, or to the lock, certainly prevent the doors from
being opened to the front, but afford no, or only slight, resistance to the knocking
back or drawing out of the bolts, or to a breaking out or separating of the door
frames by thieves, or expansion and bulging of the safe in case of fire, or a fall.
In consequence of this, it was possible for the safe to be broken into, or for fire to
penetrate into the same.
A further drawback in the receptacles hitherto employed is the method in which
turning handles, lock nuts and other movable parts passing through the doors or
sides of the safe, are arranged, as the pins, etcetera, of the same are either made of
equal thickness or are diminished at one side only, and, consequently, may be either
drawn out, or driven in, and thereby form starting points for a powerful attack.
Now this invention has for its object to remove these drawbacks and to produce
receptacles for valuables of all kinds, which do not possess the above named weak
points, and to increase the security of the same against being broken into, and
against fires or falls. This is attained by an improved connection of the door with
the receptacle, both as regards their suspension as well as their locking, and by
ensuring this connection by doing away with points of attack.
These improved safety appliances are shown more particularly on the accom-
panying drawings, Figures 1 to 8.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and
Figure 2 a cross section of a cash safe.
By the arrangements shown in Figures 2, 24 and 2º, as well as in Figures 3
and 34, an improved connection of the door with the receptacle or holder by its
suspension is attained, as well as a thoroughly satisfactory uniformly close fitting
door, and also the outside thoroughly flat (that is to say, shutting level with the
frame), and yet, with these improvements, the capability of opening completely to
fully 180 degrees.
Figure 2 is a vertical section :

page_text: Figures 2 and 2B, as well as Figures 3 and 34, are horizontal sections through
the part of the safe in question.
In Figures 2, 24 and 2B, the pivots c' (both the top and the bottom ones) of the
doors are each arranged in prisms p, which are made adjustable in suitable slots
in the frame a of the safe. When the doors are opened, the prisms slide so far out
that the full opening of the door, even to 180 degrees, is rendered possible, and,
when the door is closed, the prisms are again pushed in. The prisms p as well as
their slots may also be curved to any suitable section, instead of being made
straight, the pivots c¹ may also be placed further inside the doors, so that these
latter cover the faces of the prisms.
In Figures 3 and 34, the pivots c¹ of the doors beach rest in links d, which are
arranged to turn on pivots c of the door frame u. The links d are drawn out when
the doors are opened, and thereby the door pivots c¹ are brought so far forward
that the door may be swung back quite 180 degrees. When the door is closed, the
links are again pushed in. These hinges may be so arranged that they fit
close into suitable recesses and allow the door to fit perfectly level. When the
door is closed, they lie under the door plate and are not visible from the outside.
If necessary, other pivots may be inserted between c and c¹.
A better connection of the door with the receptacle at the fastening points is
obtained by screwing or locking together both parts by means of the screw or lock
bolts shown in Figures 4 to 7.
Figures 4 to 4 represent a movable bolt A with a screw head which fits into a
corresponding screw thread in the plate of the door B or the case of the lock, and,
when turned, engages in the bolt hole of the edge of the safe, or in the door
frame C, or in a fastening catch, and thus screws together the door and the safe.
In Figure 5, only the front part of the bolt A', which projects out of the door
edge or the lock case, has a screw thread, and, when turned, is screwed, by means
of this, into a thread on the bolt-hole of the edge of the safe, or of the door
frame C, or a fastening catch, and the bolt is retained by a block a behind the
door plate or lock case.
In Figure 6, which shows the bolt A' in its position when not pushed forward,
this bolt is provided with a hollow thread, which, when turned, screws over a screw
core A fixed in the bolt hole of the edge of the door or of the door frame C, or of
a fastening catch. As in Figure 5, the bolt A2 has also at the back a block a³ for
holding it firm to the doorplate or lock case.
Figures 7 and 7 show a lock cross bolt A', which may be again held firm to the
doorplate or the lock case by means of a block at. If the door be fastened, that is,
the bolt pushed forward and turned, the attachment between door and holder is
brought about by means of this block at and the two engaging projections a³.
The turning bolts in question may be made of various other shapes, and the
arrangements shown in Figures 4 to 7 may be applied in other ways, what is
regarded as essential is the screwing or locking together of doors and holders by
means of screw bolts with or without blocks, or bolts with blocks only.
By making the thread on the bolt or in the bolt hole taper to the front, in such
a way that the screw bolt may engage before the door fits close, the result may be
obtained that, by screwing up the bolt, the door may be pressed to tightly and
firmly.
The bolts may be arranged in any suitable number on one or more sides of the
door, or, when the fastening mechanism is placed in the safe itself, may be inserted
in that or in separate locks.
The turning and screwing up of the bolts may take place, as shown in Figures 4
to 4º, by the moving forward of a toothed bar e, operated by means of a key or
handle or the like, which bar engages in the toothed shank d' of the screw bolt A,
or by means of an eccentric mechanism, or in any other suitable manner.
The arrangements shown in Figures 8 to 80 have for their object a further
securing of the connection between door and safe by doing away with the points of
attack which are afforded by the key holes, handle pins, etcetera. For this purpose,
I'

page_text: the handle spindles (that is to say, the bars or spindles of the knobs or handles by
means of which the bolts are moved) and the lock nuts (that is to say, the pins in
which the key hole is inserted) and other revolving and movable parts, which pass
through the doors or walls of the safe, are tapered, once or more, on both sides, so
that, when they pass through the doors or walls of the safe, they may have a
thickened part of any shape, such, for instance, as the conical block o, Figure 8;
semi-conical block o¹, Figure 84; cylindrical block o³, Figure 8B; or globular
block o, Figure 8°.
or outer
These thickened parts (blocks o) are imbedded in such a way in suitable recesses
between two or more plates, sheets or casings, which form the door plates
walls of the safes or the protective covering of the same, that the pins are inserted
before the plates are connected with one another, so that, when these latter are
fastened together, the pins can neither be drawn out nor driven in, but still may be
turned if the bearings are made round or may be slid to and fro by arranging
sliding parts or room for play.
The patterns of thickening blocks may differ from the four above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The improvements in suspending doors in the kind of depositories mentioned,
consisting in the employment of adjustable prisms p for placing the pivots c¹ of the
doors in, which, when the doors are opened, are pushed forward so far in guides
that they allow the doors to be turned to an angle of 180 degrees, and are again
pushed in when the doors are closed.
2. A modification of the arrangement described in Claim 1, consisting in
arranging the door pivots c¹ in hinge or link arms d revolving at one or more points,
which are movably arranged in the door frames either direct or by means of inter-
mediate links.
3. The employment of revolving bolts A to A³ for screwing together or locking
the door with the safe or the door frame when the door is closed, which bolts are
provided, wholly or partially, outside or inside, with screw threads, or have threads
in front and blocks behind, a¹ to a³, whilst suitable threads are formed at corre-
sponding places in the door plate or the lock case and the edge or door frame or
fastening catch, in which the bolts engage when screwed forward and thus screw
either the door and safe together by means of the screw threads, or lock them
together in conjunction with the blocks.
4. A modification of the door fastening described in Claim 3, consisting in
applying the abovenamed blocks, a' to at, to the revolving or hook bolts already
employed, instead of to screw bolts, and then, as with the well known revolving
cross bolt A holding and locking together the two parts, which are to be held
together between the block a' and the projections a*.
5. The means for insuring the safety of the above mentioned connection of the
doors and safes, and for doing away with points of attack, consisting in suitably
thickening the handle spindles, lock nuts, or other movable parts which pass
through the doors or walls of the safe, at any suitable part of their passage, and of
imbedding these thickened parts in suitable recesses between two or more of the
plates, in such a way that the driving in or drawing out of the above mentioned
parts is only possible after such plates or their counections have been destroyed,
substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 8th day of August 1892.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.