Year: 1886

page_text: I EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER of 36 Southampton Buildings in the County of
Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature
of this invention (communicated to me from abroad by Henry Gross of Chicago,
County of Cook and State of Illinois, United States of America) and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement
In the manufacture of fire-proof safes and vaults, it is of the greatest importance
that the door of the safe or vault shall fit the jamb so very closely that in case of
fire the intense beat and flame cannot pass between the two and injure the contents
of the safe or vault. For this reason it has been heretofore proposed to provide
the jamb of a fire-proof safe with a groove of uniform shape extending around its
face and adapted to receive a corresponding rib on the door. In order to enable
the rib of the door to enter the groove of the jamb at the rear edge it is necessary
to connect the door to the jamb by a hinge of such character as would permit.the
door to swing until its rib was in front of the jamb groove and to be then forced
inward by a pressure-bar a slight distance in a straight line. In other words the
uniform arrangement of the jamb-groove and the door-rib has heretofore been such
as to render it necessary to connect the door of the jamb by a special construction
of hinge that would perinit a slight sliding movement inward and to preclude
the use of an ordinary swinging hinge fixed in the usual manner to the door
and jamb.
The present invention has for its object first, to provide means whereby a
uniformly tight joint may be formed between the sides of the door and jamb of
the safe (having its door attached by the usual fixed swinging hinge) and to this
end this invention consists in providing the several slides of the door frame and
the corresponding parts of the jamb with a series of grooves and ribs arranged in
such manner as to coincide and interlock when the door is closed and yet to permit
the door to be readily swung upon its hinges.
In order to secure a perfectly tight joint between the jamb and the door when
the latter is closed, it is desirable particularly if there be a felt backing to the

page_text: grooves of the jamb to provide means whereby the door may be forced tignuy
against the jamb. A further object of this invention is to supply this desideratum
and to this end this invention consists in the novel construction of the pressure-
bar hereinafter described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a safe embodying
this invention. Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the safe and its
door through one of the bolt sockets. Figure is a perspective view of the
pressure-bar detached. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the retaining plate for
the pressure-bar. Figure 5 is a front view of a single-door safe having the
pressure-bar thereon. Figure 6 is a view in cross-section on line X-X of Figure 5.
Figure 7 is an enlarged detail view in cross-section of the rear side or edge of the
grooved door-plate and jamb-plate.
A designates the main body of the safe and B B¹ denote the doors which are
connected to the body by means of the fixed swinging hinges C of the usual con-
struction. In safes having two doors (as seen in Figure 1) the door B is provided
with a frame or plate B having upon its top, bottom and front sides a series of
ribs b and grooves b¹ like those shown in Figure 2 and the top and bottom edges
of the door jamb are provided with a plate A¹ having corresponding ribs a and
grooves a as there seen. The plate of the door B has its top and bottom sides
furnished with ribs and grooves similar to the door B¹ while its front side is pro-
vided with ribs and grooves corresponding to the ribs and grooves a and a¹ upon
the jamb-plate in order to receive the front side of the plate or frame of the
door B¹. The rear side of the frame B2 of each of the doors B and B¹ is provided
with a series of ribs 6 and grooves 63 and the rear or hinged side of the jamb
frame A¹ is furnished with ribs a³ and grooves a³ adapted to mesh with the corre-
sponding ribs and grooves of the door plate or frame B2. As will be seen by
reference to Figuros 2 and 6 the ribs and grooves a and a¹ of the jamb frame
extend in the same plane as the wall in which they are formed while the ribs and
grooves band of the door frame extend in a plane at right angles to the plane of
the door. In order to permit the door to be connected to the safe by fixed swinging
hinges it has been found necessary to provide a different arrangement of the
grooves and ribs on the hinged sides of the door and jamb frames or plates. The
grooves and ribs of these frames are preferably formed as seen in Figures 6 and 7;
those of the jamb frame projecting in a plane at an angle to the plane of the side
wall of the safo and approximately at right angles to the plane of the joint between
the jamb and door while those of the door frame extend in a plane approximating
that of the door and approximately at right angles to the plane of the joint. By
this arrangement the door may be connected to the safe wall by fixed swinging
hinges and at the same time a very tight joint effected between all the sides of the
door frame and jamb. It will be noticed that in the grooves of the jamb frame
a packing of felt a is placed, against which the ribs of the door frame will
firmly bear.
The improved pressure-bar mechanism for tightly closing the safe doors will next
be described.. Upon the jamb of the safe (or upon the door B' when two doors are
employed) is screwed or rivetted the retaining plate D the upper portion of which
is recessed to receive the end E of the pressure-bar the body of this bar being bent
as at El and provided with a handle as at E2. In the retaining plate D is formed
the holed through which and the hole e of the pressure-bar passes the screw F
which is embedded in the wall of the safe and serves as a journal for the pressure-
bar. Near the edge of the door B is fixed the cam-plate G against which will bear
the inner face of the portion E of the pressure-bar when the door is closed and this
. bar is forced downwards.
The retaining plate constructed as shown not only serves to securely hold the
pressure-bar but also affords a firm bearing for the outer end of the screw F and
avoids all danger of this screw becoming loosened by the operation of the bar.
When two doors are used for the safe (as seen in Figure 1) the door B¹ or tha
which is first closed has the pressure-bar attached thereto near its edge. In orde

page_text: to secure a tight joint between this door and the jamb the ends h of the bolts H
are bevelled as shown upon their outer sides so that when the door is closed and
the bolts are thrust outwards by means of the turning handle K and disc L the
inclined ends of these bolts will ride against the bolt holes or sockets in the jamb-
plate and will tend to draw the door inward. Instead of bevelling the ends of the
bolts H the sockets may be bevelled or both the bolt ends and the sockets may be
bevelled as seen in Figure 2. The operating handle K by which the bolts of the
door B¹ are thrown is placed upon the inner face of the door so that but one set of
lock mechanism need be employed for both doors.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a safe the combination of a frame or jamb and a door connected thereto by
fixed hinges, said door and frame or jamb being provided at their top bottom and
front faces or edges with ribs and grooves adapted to mesh and being provided on
their hinged faces or edges with ribs and grooves arranged at an angle to the plane
of the ribs and grooves on their front faces or edges substantially as described.
2. In a safe the pressure-mechanism for the door comprising a cam plate Ga
bent pressure-bar pivotted at one end and provided with a handle at the opposite
end a recessed retaining plate D for said bar, and a journal-pin for said bar having
one end held by the retaining plate and the opposite end held in the wall of the
safe, substantially as described.