AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Duncan Morrison, of Bordesley Works, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, and Samuel Lilley, of Birmingham aforesaid,.
Engineer and Machinist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Duncan Morrison and
Samuel Lilley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 2nd April 1857.
We, DUNCAN MORRISON, of Bordesley Works, Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, and SAMUEL LILLEY, of Birmingham aforesaid, Engineer and
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "An
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the improvement or improvements in locks
herein-after described, whereby the interior of the lock is made inaccessable
on the withdrawal of the key, and great security in the lock thereby attained.
That part of the lock into which the key is introduced consists of a cylinder
or tube, the end of which has a cylindrical hole, into which the key is inserted.
The key, consisting of a hollow cylinder screwed both within and without, on
entering the lock is turned in a direction proper to drive home the screw on
the outside of the key. The key thus advancing in the lock, engages by its

page_text: interior with a convex screw, the thread on which fits the interior of the key.
After the key has passed the screw in the keyhole and disengaged itself there-
from it can be pushed forward and made to act upon the mechanism of the
lock; but the said key as it advanced with a screw motion engaged with and
carried forward a piece previously screwed into the interior of the lock; the
said piece being now screwed on the end of the key constitutes the true key,
which acts upon the mechanism of the lock. When the bolt has either been
shot or withdrawn and it is wished to withdraw the key, the said key is pulled
forward and then turned round, so as to cause the thread on its exterior to
engage in the thread in the keyhole. During the turning of the key it dis-
engages itself from the piece which acts as the true key, and leaves the said
piece screwed into the keyhole. Access to the works of the lock is thus
effectually prevented, and the lock can only be acted upon by a hollow key,
having screws within and without, which fit respectively the true key and the
keyhole, and which key is also so formed at its end as to act properly upon a
series of bolts carried by the true key.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Duncan Morrison and Samuel Lilley in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DUNCAN
MORRISON, of Bordesley Works, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, and
SAMUEL LILLEY, of Birmingham aforesaid, Engineer and Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Duncan Morrison and Samuel Lilley, Her special licence that we, the said
Duncan Morrison and Samuel Lilley, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Duncan Morrison and Samuel Lilley,
our 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOCKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Duncan

page_text: Morrison and Samuel Lilley, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, 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 we, the said Duncan Morrison and Samuel Lilley,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists of the improvement or improvements in locks
herein-after particularly described, and illustrated in the accompanying Draw-
ing, whereby the interior of the lock is made inaccessible on the withdrawal
of the key, and great security in the lock is thereby attained.
Figure 1 represents, in longitudinal section, a lock constructed according
to our Invention; Figure 2 represents a transverse section of the same;
Figure 3 represents a plan of the interior of the lock; and Figure 4 repre-
sents a plan of the interior of the lock with a portion of the works removed.
a is a hollow cylinder or tube, constituting the keyhole of the lock. The
key, represented in elevation (partly in section) in Figure 5, consists of a
hollow cylinder screwed within and without. On inserting the key into
the keyhole a, and turning the key in a direction proper to drive home
the screw on the outside of the key, the key advances in the screw a¹ in
the tube a, and the screw in the interior of the key engages with the screw
b of the piece c. The said piece c is represented separately in elevation in
Figure 6. Figure 7 represents a plan of the under side of the piece c, and
Figure 8 represents a plan of the upper side of the said piece c. During
the time that the key is engaging with the screw b on the piece c it is
passing through the screw a' in the keyhole a. As soon as the end of
the key has reached the shoulder c¹ of the piece c, the further turning of the
key causes the piece c to advance in the screw d, with which the piece c
engages. By the further turning of the key, the piece c is liberated from the
screw and enters the chamber e. The said piece c, firmly attached to the
end of the key, may now be pressed forward by pushing the key, and made to
operate upon the works of the lock, so as to shoot or withdraw the bolt.
In the particular lock represented in the accompanying Drawing the piece c
carries slides f, which enter notches g in the piece h, forcing back the slides ¿
and engaging in the said notches g, so that by turning the key and effecting

page_text: the rotation of the piece, the projection (see Figure 3) on the said prece
shoots the bolt 7.
We do not think it necessary, however, to enter into further detail relative
to the construction of the lock represented, as our Invention relates only to
that part of the lock with which the moveable key first engages, and our
Invention may be applied to locks of various constructions.
The key, Figure 5, carries round the piece c, without screwing or unscrew-
ing upon the said piece, by the slide m engaging in the notch n in the key,
the engagement of the notch n with and disengagement from the slide m
being effected in the following manner-Before the key is inserted in the
lock the shoulder c¹ of the piece c is in contact with the shoulder a¹¹ of the
keyhole a, the slide m being held down flush with the shoulder c' by the
shoulder a. The end of the key can consequently turn upon the shoulder c¹
without the notch n engaging with the slide m, but when the piece c begins to
advance in the screw d, the slide m rises, and engaging in the notch n, causes
the piece c to follow the rotatory inotion of the key. On withdrawing the key,
the shoulder c¹ coming in contact with the shoulder a", the slide m is again
depressed, and the key may be unscrewed from the screw b on the piece c.
Having described the several parts of the lock, we will now briefly explain
the method of locking and unlocking a lock constructed according to our
Invention.
shoot or withdraw
The key, Figure 5, is introduced into the keyhole a, Figure 1, and screwed
therein; it thereby engages with the screw b, advancing at the same time
through the screw a'. By the continued motion of the key, the piece c
advances in the screw d until it is liberated from the said screw d, and the
piece c is free to be pushed forward in the chamber e. The said piece c,
securely attached to the end of the key, may be made to
the bolt of the lock in any convenient manner. When the bolt has been shot
or withdrawn and it is wished to withdraw the key, the said key is pulled
forward and turned round in a direction proper to unscrew it. The piece c
first engages itself in the screw d, and the slide m being depressed against the
shoulder a", allows the key to rotate without motion in the piece c. The said
key is withdrawn by its further rotation from out the screw a' and from off
the screw b. On the removal of the key, access to the works of the lock is
completely prevented by the piece c; the lock consequently cannot be picked.
The lock is also powder-proof.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not
limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and represented, as the

page_text: same may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention; but
we claim as our Invention the improvement or improvements in locks herein-
before described, and represented in the accompanying Drawing, that is to
say, inserting in the lock or in the keyhole of the lock that portion of the key
which acts upon the lock, and causing the said acting portion of the key to be
left in and close the keyhole on the withdrawal of the moveable key, the said
moveable key on entering the lock engaging with the moveable portion and
liberating it from the keyhole before it can act upon the bolt of the lock, the
said moveable key also fixing the acting portion of the key in the keyhole
before the said moveable key can be withdrawn.
In witness whereof, we, the said Duncan Morrison and Samuel Lilley,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-eighth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-seven
Witness,
JOHN BEARDMORE.
D MORRISON.
(L.S.)
SAMUEL LILLEY. (L.S.)