IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINATION PADLOCKS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINATION PADLOCKS."-A
communication from abroad by William Orr and John Sherman
Bancroft, both of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United
States of America.
Sealed the 19th April 1876, and dated the 26th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th October 1875.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
5 Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINATION
PADLOCKS," to be as follows :-

page_text: in a line corresponding with the line of notches. By turning one or
more of the rings round the combination is destroyed, and thus the
withdrawal of the bow is prevented until the combination is restored.
The bow or shackle may be provided with two shanks, in which case
the rings are provided with notches opposito to each other, but when
only one notched shank is used the other end of the bow may be
arranged to enter a recess in the cap, by which means it will be secure
against any attempt to wrench it out of place.
In the bottom of the groove in the spindle is a supplemental groove
to receive the point of a screw passing through the shank, by which
means the motion of the shank is limited and its entire withdrawal is
prevented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Newton,
Her special licence that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Edward Newton, 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 Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINATION PADLOCKS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by William Orr and John
Sherman Bancroft, both of Brooklyn, in the State of New York,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said Henry Edward Newton, 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 5
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the naturo of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in 1
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
This Invention consists in a novel construction, arrangement, and
combination of a bow or shackle, a base plate, a spindle, a cap, and a 1
series of rings whereby the parts are securely held in place, and the
entrance of dirt and water is prevented, and provision is made for
transposing the rings in order to change the combination, and whereby
also provision is made for limiting the motion of the bow or shackle
when desired in order to prevent its entire withdrawal.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a side view of a lock
constructed according to this Invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal
transverse section of the same taken in the line x, x, of Fig. 1, with
the bow removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken in the line y, y,
of Fig. 2, also with the bow removed.
Fig 4 is a separate view of the bow.
S
Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line y, y, of Fig. 2, with the bow
in place in the body of the lock, but partly withdrawn, as herein-after
particularly described.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section, shewing a modification.
3
The body of the lock is composed of a base plate A, a series of rings
O, and a cap D. From the base A rises a central spindle B, on the
upper portion of which is a screw thread, which engages with an
internal thread in the cap D, by which means the parts are secured
together, and form a cylindrical body, the spindle passing through the 3

page_text: centre of the rings. On one side of the spindle B is a longitudinal
groove b, the lower end of which terminates in a recess a in the base
plate A. In the cap D is a notch d corresponding in width and depth.
with the groove b, and when the cap is screwed home the notch d is in
line with said grove. Instead of being in one piece with the spindle B
the base plate A may be a separate piece attached to the spindle by a
screw thread, in which case the recess a is located so as to be in line
with the groove 6 when the base plate is screwed home.
In each ring C is a radial notch c equal in width to the groove b, and
nearly equal in depth. When the rings are placed one above another,
resting on the base plate and surrounding the spindle with the cap D in
placo above them so as to form the cylindrical body of the lock, and
with the notches c in line with each other, and with the groove b
and notch d, a recess is formed by said groove and notches for the
reception of the shank e* of the bow or shackle E. Each of the rings
C is formed with a rim e on its under side extending downward like the
rim of a box cover, the outer surface of the rim being flush with and
part of the periphery of the ring itself. On the upper side of the ring
is an annular bead or rib f, the outer edge of which is about in line
with or slightly nearer the centre than the inner surface of the rim e.
On the upper side of the base plate A around the periphery thereof is a
rebate or shoulder a* for the reception of the rim e of the lowermost
ring, and on the under side of the cap D is an annular groove d* for the
reception of the bead or rib f of the uppermost ring.
By this construction the parts are held securely in place, and the
engagement of the ridges and grooves prevents the insertion of a chisel
or other tool for the purpose of forcing the parts asunder, and also
excludes water and dirt from the interior.
By this construction also the rings may be transposed so as to occupy
different positions on the spindle with relation to each other, and tho
proper engagement of the lowermost ring with the base and the upper-
most ring with the cap is always ensured.
The construction of the ring with the lower rim e and the upper
rib fleaves a thin flange-like annular portion g about midway between
the upper and lower sides of the ring. The shank e* of the bow or
shackle E is provided with notches corresponding in position with the
flange-like portions g when the rings are in place one upon another, and

page_text: of sufficient width to allow said portions to work freely in the notches
when the rings are turned.
On the periphery of each ring is a series of figures or letters, and
when the same Figures are used on all the rings they are located at
different points with relation to the notches c, that is to say, the notches
have different Figures opposite to them on the different rings.
The notches c being in line with each other, and with the notch d,
groove b, and recess a, the shank e* of the bow or shackle is inserted
therein until its lower end enters the recess a in the base. The parts
being in this position a certain combination of Figures appears on the
outside of the cylinder in a line corresponding with the line of
notches c. By turning one or more of the rings around the spindle B
as an axis this combination is destroyed, and at the same time the
flange-like portion g of each ring engages with one of the notches /
and prevents the withdrawal of the bow until the combination is
restored.
When the shank is in place as described the engagement of the
notch & therewith prevents the possibility of the cap D being unscrewed
by reason of the shank being held in place by the groove b. When tho
base A is made in a separate piece from the spindle the engagement of
the lower end of the shank with the recess a prevents the base from
being unscrewed and removed.
The bow or shackle E may be provided with two shanks similar to
that shown herein at e*, in which case the rings are provided with
notches opposite to each other. When only one notched shank is used
the other end of the bow may be arranged to enter a recess d'in the
cap D, by which means it will be secure against any attempt to wrench
it out of place.
Instead of being screwed directly on the spindle B the cap D may be
attached to the spindle by a separate screw, which may be covered by a
cap plate held in place by the shank passing through it; or the cap
may be attached and secured by any other suitable means.
In the groove 6 in the spindle is a supplemental groove i for the
reception of the point of a screw passing through the shank e*, as
shewn at Figures 4 and 5. By this means the motion of the shank is
limited so that it can be only partially withdrawn by reason of the

page_text: contact of the screw with the cap D (see Fig. 5) which thus arrests
the outward movement of the bow.
Instead of passing through the shank into a groove in the spindle
the screw may be passed diagonally through the spindle, and enter a
groove in the shank of the bow, as shewn in Fig. 6, or in any other
manner which will produce the same result.
Instead of the notch or open ended slot d the cap D may be provided
with a simple opening for the reception of the shank e* and lower
portion of the bow E which may be curved inward so as not to extend
as far as the periphery of the cap, as shown in Fig. 6.
Having now explained the nature of the said Invention, and
described the manner of carrying the same into effect as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,—
First. The combination of the baso A, the fixed grooved centre
spindle B, the notched cap D, and the shank e* of the bow or shackle
E passing into an opening in the cap and a groove in the spindle,
substantially as herein shewn and described.
Second. The combination with the cap D, the shank e* of the shackle,
and the grooved centre spindle B of a screw in the shank or the
spindle, substantially as hercin described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
iz