AN IMPROVED SAFETY Lock
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jozé Luis, of the British & Foreign Office for
Patents, No. 1, Welbeck Street,. Cavendish Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SAFETY
Lock." A communication from abroad by Lasserre and Sarthon, of Paris,
in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 29th June 1860, and dated the 2nd January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jozé Luis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd January 1860.
I, JOZE LUIS, of the British & Foreign Office for Patents, No. 1º, Welbeck
Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SAFETY
Lock," (& that it has been communicated to me from abroad by Lasserre &
Sarthon, of Paris, in the Empire of France,) to be as follows:-
The construction of the lock is as follows:-The plate of the lock supports
all the pieces of the mechanism of which the lock is composed, viz., 1st, a bolt
having three grooves or notches made in it; 2nd, of four'springs; 3d, of two
knee-jointed bolts; 4th, of a catch moving on a pivot; 5th, of a pivot on which
the key turns. The key has two arms or levers fixed at obtuse angles one to the
other, and on being introduced into the lock one of the arms acts on the catch,
by which means the knee-jointed bolt which holds the principal bolt when the
lock is open is withdrawn, and on continuing to turn the key the other arm

page_text: forces on the principal bolt till the second knee-jointed bolt catches in it,
pressed by one of the four springs, and the door is locked. A plate having
five openings suiting the shape of the key permits the entrance and removal
of the key in various positions, and before this a second plate is fixed at a
short distance, biding three of the entrance holes of the key. Two of the
springs above mentioned act on the two knee-jointed bolts, and the other two
springs maintain the position of the catch, which when acted on by the key
moves one or the other of the knee-jointed bolts. The shape of the centre
groove or notch in the principal bolt is made to suit the working of one of the
arms of the key, so that on the movement of the key being completed the prin-
cipal bolt has moved a sufficient distance to be caught by one or other of the
knee-jointed bolts which catch in one of the grooves made on either side of
the centre groove. When the key has acted either in opening or shutting the
lock, it experiences resistance and can no longer act on the catch; it must then
be withdrawn through the first plate having the five openings, and made to
enter in another of these, when it can at once act on the catch, thus neces-
sitating a key of the same shape, and a knowledge of the way in which it is
used before the lock can be opened.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jozé Luis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd July
1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOZE
Luis, of the Britisli & Foreign Office for Patents, No. 1º, Welbeck Street,
Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant uuto
me, the said Jozé Luis, Her special licence that I, the said Jozé Luis,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Jozé Luis, 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 "AN

page_text: IMPROVED SAPETY LOCK," a communication from abroad by Lasserre &
Sarthon, of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Jozé Luis, 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 Jozé Luis, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
The improved safety lock is of extremely simple construction and by aid
of the accompanying Drawings will be readily understood. The plate of the
lock supports all the pieces of mechanism of which the lock is composed, viz.,
1st, a bolt (1), having three notches or grooves; four springs, 2, 3, 4, 5; two
bent bolts, N, O; a catch M moving on a pivot, and, lastly, the pivot L, on
which the key turns. The key (represented Fig. 4, front view, and Fig. 5,
side view,) has two levers, and is so made that when one of its levers by means
of the catch M causes the bolt of the lock to be disengaged from one of the
bent bolts, the other lever of the key forces on the bolt, so that the bent lever
cannot re-enter the groove. As the key completes its revolution it pushes the
bolt until the second bent bolt is able to enter the notch, being pressed by the
spring with which it is furnished. The cover plate, Fig. 2, has fivo openings
by which the key may be inserted and withdrawn. A second or exterior cover
plate having two openings hides the inner one. Between these two plates the
key turns freely and enters any of the five openings; for instance, the lock
being open, the key A, B, Fig. 4, is inserted in the first plate with two
openings; it is then made to give a half turn to the left between the two
plates, and is then inserted in F, G, Fig. 2, when it is turned to the right, and
the lever A of the key acts on the catch M, Fig. 1, which raises the bent
bolt N. The bolt 1 is thus disengaged from the two bent bolts, and the
lever B of the key acting on the part H, Fig. 1, of the bolt drives it on, when
the bent bolt O falls in the notch R, being pressed by the spring 2, and the
door is locked. On turning the key then either to the right or left, it meets
with resistance from the bolt, and is unable to touch the catch M. In order
to open the lock the key must be withdrawn to be inserted in C, E, Fig. 2.
It is then turned to the left, the lever B of the key acts on the catch M,
Fig. 1, and raises the bent bolt O; the lever A of the key acts on the part P

page_text: of the bolt 1, and drives it on; the bent bolt N falls in its notch S, being
pressed by the spring 5, and the lock, is open. On turning the key when in
this position it will meet with resistance, and not be able to touch the
catch M. Should the lock be tried with a hook or picklock, the catch M,
Fig. 1, may be raised, and even made to raise the bolts N, O, but the pick-
lock on making a half revolution, not being able to act in the same time on
the parts H or P of the bolt 1, the bent bolts fall back in their natural
positions. It is thus impossible to open the lock without having the proper
key and the knowledge how to use it. From the simplicity of the construc-
tion the lock is not susceptible of getting out of order. Should the lock be
attempted and an impression be taken in wax in order to make a key to fit,.
even supposing the way of using the key was known, it would be impossible
to succeed in opening it for this reason, viz., the outer cover plate is always
joined to the inner, one having five holes, and has the same configuration as
that given to the key, which varies according to the desire of the manu-
facturer, for example, as in Fig. 6; and further, the fillet or thread I, I,