AN IMPROVED LOCK, OR SYSTEM OF LOCKS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Whishaw, of No. 9, John Street;
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED LOCK, OR SYSTEM OF LOCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Whishaw
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th January 1853.
I, FRANCIS WHISHAW, of No. 9, John Street, Adelphi, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "AN IMPROVED LOCK; OR SYSTEM OF Locks," to be as
follows, and to consist in locking the locks of doors, safes, &c., by
means of electro-magnetism; and the way I apply the power of electro-
magnetism may be thus described:-I attach to the door frame or
casing, as the case may be, an electro magnet of sufficient power,
which, as is well known, is produced by passing a current of elec-
tricity by means of properly insulated wires (coiled round the soft
iron) in connection with a galvanic battery. The electro-magnet is
let flush into the frame or casing of the door, so as not to be visible

page_text: externally; the poles of such magnet are made perfectly smooth.
and even throughout, so as to admit of an uniform surface for the
end of the iron bolt (or any suitable lock which may be fixed on the
door, or a simple iron bolt alone, will answer the purpose) to abut
against, in order that when the surface of the end of the bolt is in
contact with the poles of the magnet (provided the electric circuit
is complete), the electro-magnetic locking is perfected; but immedi-
ately on the circuit being broken the electro-magnetic lock is un-
fastened, and, in the case of an ordinary lock, the security will then
depend simply on the bolt being shot into its keeper. By this Inven-
tion I can secure as many locks as there are electro-magnets and
ordinary locks included in the circuit.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Francis Whishaw in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 27th July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
FRANCIS WHISHAW, of No. 9, John Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three, in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Francis
Whishaw, Her special licence that I, the said Francis Whishaw,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Francis Whishaw, my executors, administrators, and as-
signs, 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 IMPROVED
LOCK, OR SYSTEM OF Locks," upon the condition (amongst others) that

page_text: I, the said Francis Whishaw, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the na-
ture 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 Francis Whishaw, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be perforined, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to
say:
My Invention consists in fastening and securing doors, shutters,
and similar things by means of electro-magnetism, applied as herein-
after mentioned, so as to constitute what I terin an electro-magnetic
lock, or system of electro-magnetic locks. The simplest form of
clectro-magnetic lock consists of a plate of soft iron, with an even
surface on its exterior, and fastened by countersunk screws, or other-
wise, to the inside of the door, &c. to be secured. Opposite to this
plate I fix an electro magnet on the jamb frane, lining, or the solid
wall, as the case may be, so that when the door, &c. is closed the
surface or surfaces of the pole or poles of the electro magnet may
be in contact with the surface of the keeper plate. On a current of
electricity being passed by means of properly insulated copper or
other metallic wires or ropes from a galvanic battery to the magnet,
the electro-magnetic locking is effected, and the door cannot be
opened until the electric current is broken. This operation of con-
necting and breaking the current, or, in other words, locking and un-
locking the lock, may be effected either near to the door so locked or
at any convenient distance, according to the position and power of
the battery, the length of the wires, and other circumstances of each
case, as will be at once understood by all persons conversant with
electricity batteries, keys, and other arrangements for making and
breaking circuits.
Another mode of applying my Invention is by using the bolt of
an ordinary lock or an ordinary bolt as the keeper plate, the magnet
:

page_text: being placed opposite the bolt, so that the surface of the bolt, when
shot forward, shall be in contact with the surface or surfaces of the
pole or poles of the magnet, and when the current is on the bolt and
the magnet will be so strongly attracted to each other that the bolt
cannot be drawn back by the application of the key or ordinary force
applied by hand to move such bolt.
It will be obvious that a great number of locks may be placed in
one and the same circuit, so as to be locked and unlocked by the
making and breaking of the contact, the power of each lock to resist
the opening of the door depending on the power of battery employed,
and other circumstances which are well understood. The keeper
plate may be affixed to the jamb and the magnet to the door, but I
believe the arrangement before described the most convenient. .
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do not
claim as my Invention or the exclusive use of any of the several
parts of locks or batteries as above described; but I claim as my
Invention a lock, or system of locks, fastened and unfastened on.
making and breaking the electric circuit as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Whishaw, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three.
FRANCIS WHISHAW. (L.S.)