AN IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS, OR CLASPS FOR PORTE-MONNAIES, POCKET-BOOKS, BAGS, AND OTHER LIKE PUR-. POSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Schloss, of Cannon Street, in the City of
London, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS,
OR CLASPS FOR PORTE-MONNAIES, POCKET-BOOKS, BAGS, AND OTHER LIKE PUR-.
POSES." A communication from V. Henry Schloss & Frère, residing
at Paris.
Scaled the 16th August 1859, and dated the 21st February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Schloss at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st.
February 1859.
I, JOSEPH SCHLOSS, of Cannon Street, in the City of London, Manufac-
turer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN LOCKS OR CLASPS FOR PORTE-MONNAIES, POCKET-BOOKS, BAGS, AND OTHER
LIKE PURPOSES," (communicated to me by Ve. Henry Schloss & Frère, residing
in Paris,) to be as follows :-
This Invention is an improvement upon one for which Letters Patent were
granted to me for Great Britain the 18th January 1856, and numbered 136,
and like it is intended to apply chiefly to porte-monnaies, pocket-books, and
other like cases. In the present Invention the bolt which retains the hasp
in the lock is in the form of a lever, having for its fulcrum a pin in the lock-
plate. One end of the lever secures the basp, while the opposite end is made-
to terminate outside of and below the case of the lock. A spring inside the
case presses the lever into the position to secure the hasp. When the,

page_text: resistance of the spring is overcome by pressing the protruding end of the
lever, the hasp is raised out of the lock case either by a spring or by the
finger.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Schloss in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th August 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
SCHLOSS, of Cannon Street, in the City of London, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Joseph Schloss, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Schloss, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Schloss, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN LOCKS OR CLASPS FOR PORTE-MONNAIES, POCKET-BOOKS, BAGS, AND
OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," (a communication from V. Henry Schloss & Frère,
residing at Paris,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Schloss, 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 Joseph Schloss, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say :-
"
This Invention is an improvement upon one for which Letters Patent were
granted to me for Great Britain, the Eighteenth January, One thousand eight

page_text: hundred and fifty-six, and like it is intended to apply chiefly to porte-monnaies,
pocket-books, and other like cases. In the present Invention the bolt which
retains the hasp in the lock is in the form of a lever, having for its fulcrum
a pin in the lock plate; one end of the lever secures the hasp, while the
opposite end is made to terminate outside of and below the case of the lock.
A spring inside the case presses the lever into the position to secure the hasp.
When the resistance of the spring is overcome by pressing the protruding end
of the lever, the hasp is raised out of the lock case either by a spring or by
the finger.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view of a porte-monnaie with.
a lock or fastener constructed according to my Invention attached to it;
Figure 2 is a section through the line a, b, of the same; and Figure 3 shows
the porte-monnaie open. c is a metal plate rivetted to the porte-monnaie or
other article to which the fastener is applied; & is the hasp, which is rivetted
to the cover or flap of the porte-monnaie, and takes into a hole formed in the
metal plate c; e is a lever, which is free to oscillate about the point f. This
lever carries at one end a hook g, which takes into a hole formed in the hasp
that enters the plate c, and at the other end a knob or thuml-piece h. i is a
spring to act on the lever e, and keep the hook g in the hasp until it is released
by pressing out the knob h. To close the porte-monnaie, turn the flap carrying
the hasp & over on to the front plate c, press the hasp slightly, which causes
the spring i to yield, and allows the hook g to enter the hole in the hasp,
where it is held by the spring i. To open the porte-monnaie, press the knob
or thumb-piece f of the lever e from left to right, which draws the hook g out
of the hasp, and the latter flies up. I sometimes place the lever € on one
side of the plate c, as shewn at Figure 4; in this case, to open the porte-
monnaie press the knob of the lever down, which releases the hasp in the
manner before described. The porte-monnaic is closed in exactly the same
manner as in the former case.
Figure 5 shews a porte-monnaie closed, and Figure 6 one open, with a
fastening attached to it, being a modification of that just described, and
Figure 7 is a section through the line x, y, of Figure 5. is a metal plate
rivetted to the inside of the porte-monnaie, between which plate and the leather
another plate is fitted, which is attached to a leather flap nu by metal rivets
22, 22. This plate has two small helical springs attached to it and to the
plate k, which keep the plate above the hole o; p is the hasp which enters
through the hole o.
To close the porte-monnaie, place the hasp in the
opening o; press it slightly, which pushes back the plate l, and allows it to
enter into the hole formed in the hasp. To open the porte-monnaie, pull the

page_text: flap m down, which compresses the springs, and frees the plate l from the
hasp.
In some cases, as shewn at Figure 8, I combine the fastenings before
described in one frame, and fit this to a porte-monnaie or other article to
which such a fastening may be required; for example, the fastener described
at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 may be employed to fasten the outside pocket, and
that described at Figures 5, 6, and 7 for securing one of the inner com-
partments. By these means the fastening is made double-acting, viz., by
pushing the lever from left to right opens the outer case, and pulling the lever
down opens the inner.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improvement
in locks or clasps for porte-monnaies, pocket-books, bags, and other like
purposes, essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Schloss, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine: