IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Locks
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Player Miles, of Ravensbourne Park,
Lewisham, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Locks."
Sealed the 22nd December 1854, and dated the 4th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Player Miles at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th August 1854.
I, LOUIS PLAYER MILES, of Ravensbourne Park, Lewisham, in the County
of Kent, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCKS" to be as follows:-
Any number of tumblers may be used, according to circumstances, each
combined with its own spring, for which purpose brass will be found suitable,
so that for marine and other similar purposes the objectionable use of steel
or iron in any portion of the lock can be avoided. A tumbler, called "the
regulator," is also introduced, which has a different motion from the others,
being without a spring attached to it; but it receives the pressure from the
springs of the other tumblers, and in case of any attempt at picking, it reacts
upon them, and produces such a combination of difficulties as must insure the
highest amount of safety in the lock. The different parts, their objects, and
modes of action, are detailed in the Drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: INDEX TO THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, the case. a, stud for slot of bolt (d, Fig. 2, to work upon; b, pin for
pipe of key; c, regulator stump for 1, Fig. 3, to fit on; c', raised portion of
case (may be omitted in larger locks).
Fig. 2, the bolt, three views. d, slot to work on a, Fig. 1; c, regulator stud
fixed in the bolt to act within the aperture m, Fig. 8; f, tumbler stump fixed
in bolt; g, h, portion of bolt raised level with regulator; g, edge of g, h,
raised at right angles for tumbler springs to press against; i, aperture for key
to move bolt.
Fig. 3, regulator or double-action tumbler. k, tumbler stud fixed in regu-
lator, to act within aperture n of tumblers 4, 5, and 6; 7, hole to receive
regulator stump c, Fig. 1; m, aperture for regulator stud e, Fig. 2, to work
within.
Fig. 4, 5, 6, tumblers. n, n, n, apertures for tumbler stud k, Fig. 3, to
work within; 0, 0, 0, springs; p, p, p, holes, to receive tumbler stump f
Fig. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
The bolt, Fig. 2, is laid upon the case, Fig. 1, with its slot d placed over
the stud a, Fig. 1, which comes flush with its surface. c', a raised portion of
the case, is also level with the substance of the bolt.
The regulator (or double-action tumbler), Fig. 3, is then placed on the bolt
with the hole fitting on the regulator stump c, Fig. 1, and resting on c 1,
Fig. 1. The aperture m also works upon the regulator stud e, Fig. 2, which
is level with the surface of the regulator.
The tumbler stud k, Fig. 3, is fixed into the regulator to work within the
apertures n, m, n, of the tumblers Figs. 4, 5, and 6. These tumblers, (of which
the number may be varied as circumstances require,) have, with two excep-
tions, the upper and lower portions of their apertures n fitted with the usual
catches, as shown in Fig. 6.
The other two, which may be termed guide tumblers, Figs. 4 and 5, are cach
deficient of one catch on the upper portion of their apertures, and have instead
a plain side, each in an opposite direction to that in the other, so that when
(as in Fig. 7) the bolt is shot, a pressure is maintained by the plain side of the
aperture in the guide tumbler, Fig. 5, against the tumbler stud and regulator,
as shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 7, at the same time the catch of the other
tumbler is in operation, as shown in Fig. 9. On the contrary, when the bolt
is drawn, as in Fig. 8, the guide tumbler, Fig. 4, has (as represented by the
dotted lines) the plain side of the upper portion of its aperture n pressing

page_text: against the tumbler stud k. Thus, either when the bolt is drawn or shot, the
pressure of one or the other of these guide tumblers preserves the regulator
in its due position.
The different parts being completed and put together, a key is fitted, so as
to raise the regulator and the other tumblers to the exact height requisite to
disengage their respective studs and permit the bolt to pass, and should any
attempt be made, either more or less, than sufficient to raise any one or more
of the tumblers or the regulator to the exact height necessary, such attempt
must fail to move the bolt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Player Miles in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
PLAYER MILES, of Ravensbourne Park, Lewisham, in the County of Kent,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Louis Player Miles, Her special licence that I, the said Louis Player
Miles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Louis Player Miles, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF Locks," 'upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Louis Player Miles, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 Louis Player Miles, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, that is to say :-

page_text: Any number of tumblers may be used, according to circumstances, each
combined with its own spring, for which purpose brass will be found suitable,
so that for marine and other similar purposes the objectionable use of steel or
iron in any portion of the lock can be avoided. A tumbler, called "the regu-
lator," is also introduced, which has a different motion from the others, being
without a spring attached to it; but it receives the pressure from the springs
of the other tumblers, and in case of any attempt at picking, it reacts upon
them, and produces such a combination of difficulties as must ensure the
highest amount of safety in the lock. The different parts, their objects, and
modes of action, are detailed in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
INDEX TO THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, the case. a, stud for slot of bolt (d, Fig. 2, to work upon); b, pin
for pipe of key; c, regulator stumps for 1, Fig. 3, to fit on.
Fig. 2, the bolt, 3 views. d, slot to work on a, Fig. 1; e, regulator stud
fixed in the bolt to act within the aperture in Fig. 3; f, tumbler stump fixed
in bolt; g, h, portion of bolt raised level with regulator; g, edge of g, h,
raised at right angles for tumbler springs to press against; i, aperture for key
to move bolt.
Fig. 3, regulator or double-action tumbler. k, tumbler stud fixed in regu-
lator to act within aperture n of tumblers 4, 5, and 6; 7, hole to receive
regulator stump c, Fig. 1; m, aperture for regulator stud 1, Fig. 2, to work
within.
Fig. 4, 5, 6, tumblers. These tumblers can be used alone, the regulator
tumbler with its stud and stump being omitted, as also the stud a, Fig. 1; in
that case, a stud called the tumbler stud would be inserted into the case, and a
slot made towards the end of the bolt to work upon it; the tumblers would
then be placed with their apertures over it on the surface of the bolt, and a
raised piece made conveniently for their springs to press against. n, n, n,
apertures for tumbler stud k, Fig. 3, to work within; o, o, o, springs; p, p, p,
holes to receive tumbler stump, Fig. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
The bolt, Fig. 2, is laid upon the case, Fig. 1, with its slot d placed over the
stud a, Fig. 1, which comes flush with its surface.
The regulator (or double-action tumbler), Fig. 3, is then placed on the bolt
with the hole fitting on the regulator stump c, Fig. 1.
The aperture m also works upon the regulator stud e, Fig. 2, which is level
with the surface of the regulator. The tumbler stud k, Fig. 3, is fixed into the

page_text: regulator to work within the apertures n, n, n, of the tumblers, Figs. 4, 5,
and 6. These tumblers, (of which the number may be varied as circumstances
require,) have, with two exceptions, the upper and lower portions of their aper-
tures n fitted with the usual catches, as shewn in Fig. 6. The other two,
which may be termed guide tumblers, Figs. 4 and 5, are each deficient of one
catch on the upper portion of their apertures, and have instead a plain side,
each in an opposite direction to that in the other, so that when (as in Fig. 7)
the bolt is shot, a pressure is maintained by the plain side of the aperture in
the guide tumbler, Fig. 5, against the tumbler stud and regulator, as shewn by
the dotted lines in Fig. 7; at the same time the catch of the other tumbler is
in operation, as shewn in Fig. 9. On the contrary, when the bolt is drawn, as
in Fig. 8, the guide tumbler, Fig. 4, has (as represented by the dotted lines)
the plain side of the upper portion of its aperture n pressing against the tum-
bler stud k. Thus, either when the bolt is drawn or shot, the pressure of one
or the other of these guide tumblers preserves the regulator in its due position.
The order of these tumbles can be changed to suit convenience. The different
parts being completed. and put together, a key is fitted, so as to raise the regu-
lator and the other tumblers to the exact height requisite to disengage their
respective studs and permit the bolt to pass; and should any attempt be made,
either more or less than sufficient to raise any one or more of the tumblers or
the regulator to the exact height necessary, such attempt must fail to move the
bolt. The whole is surmounted by a cap or covering, which being in constant
use, there is no need to describe.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I claim, as the
Invention intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent, is the manufacture
of. locks having one or more spring tumblers, constructed and combined as
above described..
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Player Miles, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
year of
LOUIS PLAYER MILES. (L.B.)