Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd June, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Mar., 1900-Accepted, 12th May, 1900
We, THE WORMALD PATENT LOCKS COMPANY, LIMITED, of 139, Norfolk Street,
Sheffield, in the County of York, and HENRY TURNER, of 28, Artizan View, Heeley,
Sheffield aforesaid, Lock Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:
Our said invention relates to an improved lock which is particularly applicable
to lock the doors or money drawers of pre-payment gas meters but which may also
be used for other purposes.
In constructing a lock in accordance with our invention we secure by bracing
or otherwise a tube or sleeve to the portion of the meter against which the closed
door or money drawer abuts. The door or drawer is provided with a bush pre-
ferably circular within which beds the circular plate of the lock.
This plate is pierced for the reception of the key and lies flush with the door
or drawer of the meter so that it cannot be knocked off. Connected to the key
plate and protruding within the fixed sleeve is a hollow spindle carrying a dise
of circular or it might be irregular formation. To the disc is pivotted another
The
disc of similar formation the pivot pin of which is provided with a cam.
pivotted disc is so weighted or operated by a spring as that normally it will
assume a position excentric to the disc on which it is carried.
By means of a key passed through the key hole and along the hollow spindle.
the wards or projections of which may be turned through an aperture in the
spindle to engage with the cam secured to the pivot of the disc, the disc may be
turned concentric with the fixed disc.
The operation of the lock is as follows.
The lock is preferably loose and is provided with a groove engaging with a
corresponding projection in the bush in the door or drawer to prevent the lock
from turning. If desired however the lock could be permanently secured to the
door or drawer. The pivotted disc is disposed concentric with the fixed disc so
that the lock will pass along the fixed tube or sleeve and permit the door to close.
When the door is closed the pivotted disc has reached the end of the fixed sleeve
and falls into an excentric position to the fixed disc which fills up the end of the
sleeve. The sleeve therefore acts as an abutment to the pivotted disc and thus
locks the drawer or door of the meter. By inserting the key and turning the
same, the wards or projections protruding through the aperture in the sleeve act
upon the cam and turn the pivotted disc into a position concentric with the fixed
disc thus permitting the whole to be withdrawn from the fixed tube and the door
or drawer to be opened. Any key of suitable construction may be used although
we prefer to use the spring key made in accordance with the Specification of
Letters Patent No. 23418 of 1892 obtained by Abraham Henry Wormald.
To detect tampering with the lock the head of the lock is formed with a slot
to allow of a paper, or tin or lead foil seal to be inserted the paper covering the

page_text: key hole and being inserted before the lock is placed in position. As the paper
or other material covers the key hole any attempt to insert a key must necessarily
result in the perforation of the paper and lead to detection.
Dated this 21st day of June 1800
Improvements in Locks Operated by Keys.
We, THE WORMALD PATENT LOCKS COMPANY, LIMITED, of 139, Norfolk Street,
Sheffield, in the County of York, and HENRY TURNER, of 28, Artizan View, Heeley,
Sheffield, aforesaid, Lock Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this 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:-
Our said invention relates to an improved lock which is particularly applicable
to lock the doors or money drawers of pre-payment gas meters but which may
also be used for other purposes.
The accompanying sheet of drawings clearly illustrates our invention.
Fig. 1 shows in side view and partly in section a portion of a money drawer of
a prepayment meter with our invention applied.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof.
Fig. 3 shows the hinged flap raised and the money drawer partially withdrawn.
Figs. 4 to 13 show detailed constructions of the lock and a modified form
thereof.
Figs. 14 and 15 illustrate the form of key used to operate the lock.
In constructing a lock in accordance with our invention we secure by brazing
or otherwise a tube or sleeve a to the withdrawable money drawer b. This sleeve a
is shown separately in Fig. 4. The casing or drawer holder c is provided with a
hinged flap carrying a bush d, preferably circular, within which beds the cir-
cular plate e of the lock.
This plate e is pierced for the reception of the key and lies flush with the
bush secured to the flap & so that it cannot be knocked off. Connected to the
key plate e and protruding within the fixed sleeve a is a hollow spindle el carrying
a disc f of circular or it might be irregular formation. To the disc f is pivotted
a wing f the pivot pin f of which is provided with a cam or detent f³. The
pivotted wing f is so weighted or operated by a spring gas that normally it will
assume a position excentric to the disc f on which it is carried as shown in Fig. 8.
By means of a key passed through the key hole h and along the hollow spindle et
the wards or projections of which are turned through an aperture e in the spindle
to engage with the cam or defent f³ secured to the pivot f of the wind f', the
wing may be turned concentric with the fixed disc as shown in Fig. 7.
The key we prefer to use is shown in Figs. 14 and 15.
A barrel is arranged to slide within a hollow sleeve ; against the action of a
spring. Within the barrel i is mounted a spindle 7 secured to the sleeve j by
means of a pin To the spindle / is pivotted a tongue which normally is housed
within the barrel i as shown in Fig. 1. On the key being inserted within the
lock it comes into contact with the disc f and pressure being applied the barrel i
is retracted within the sleeve j against the spring k, the pin j' sliding in a slot i¹
cut in the barrel,

page_text: The spindle attached to the sleeve j is thus traversed within the barrel i and
the tongue is turned on its pivot and thrust out of the barrel i through a slot
as shown in Fig. 15.
The operation of the lock is as follows.
The lock is preferably loose as shown in Fig. 5 and is provided with a groove m
engaging with a corresponding projection m on the bush secured to the flap cl
to prevent the lock from turning. If desired however the lock could be perma-
nently secured to the door or drawer. The flap c¹ of the drawer holder c is turned
down and the pivotted wing f' is disposed by means of the key or by hand con-
centric with the fixed disc f as shown in Fig. 7 so that the lock will pass along
the fixed tube or sleeve a and permit the door to close. When the lock has been
placed in position the pivotted wing f¹ has reached the end of the fixed sleeve a
and on the key being withdrawn the wing f' assumes an excentric position to the
fixed disc which fills up the end of the sleeve as shown in Figs. 1 and 8. The
sleeve therefore acts as an abutment to the pivotted wing f and thus locks the
pivotted flap of the drawer holder c to the money drawer b of the meter. By
inserting the key and operating the same as described or turning the same, the
tongue or projection 7 protruding through the aperture 3 in the hollow spindle e
acts upon the cam or detent f³ as shown in Figs. 5 and 9 and turns the pivotted
disc into a position concentric with the fixed dise thus permitting the whole
lock to be withdrawn from the fixed tube or sleeve a. The flap can then be
turned up as shown in Fig. 3 and the drawer be withdrawn.
Any key of suitable construction may be used although I prefer to use the spring
key described and which is made practically in accordance with the Specification
of Letters Patent No. 23418 of 1892 obtained by Abraham Henry Wormald.
To detect tampering with the lock the head of the lock is formed with a slot e³
to allow of a paper, or tin, or lead foil, seal ol, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6
to be inserted, the paper covering the key hole h and being inserted after the lock
has been placed in position within the sleeve a and before it is shot home therein.
As the paper or other material covers the key hole any attempt to insert a
key must necessarily result in the perforation of the paper and lead to detection.
To prevent the picking of the lock by means of an inserted wire or the like I
may provide the disc f with a semi-circular guard 2 as shown in Figs. 12 and 13
which would serve as an obstruction to prevent the bent end of a piece of wire
engaging with the pivotted detent f³.
In this case the tongue of the key is cut away or recessed as shown in Fig. 12
to embrace the guard o³ the upper portion of the tongue engaging as described
with the detent f³.
In some cases the wing of the key may be cut away on the opposite side and
work in conjunction with a guard o independently carried as shown in Fig. 12ª.
Instead of a pivotted locking wing f¹ I might mount the locking device f¹ to
slide between two discs p p as shown in Figs. 10 and 11 the part f1 being thrust
outwards by means of the spring g. The tongue or projection of the key in this
case is arranged to come into contact with a projection ostud secured to the
sliding locking device f¹ and to retract the same between the discs p p against
the action of the spring.
We might arrange for the wing of the key to take into a slot or gap cut in
the projection or stud r, when the key is in use for unlocking purposes, as indi-
cated in Fig. 11ª.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:-
1) The improved lock arranged constructed and acting substantially as described
2) A lock for prepayment gas meters and other purposes, consisting of the disc
or discs carried within a fixed sleeve, a movable part carried by such disc being
adapted to abut against the fixed sleeve, and to be retracted therefrom by means
of a key, in the manner, and substantially as described.

page_text: 3) In locks for prepayment apparatus and the like, the employment of a seal
of paper, lead foil, or other material, applied and acting in the manner, for th
purposes, and substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of March 1900.
For the Applicants.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
Chartered Patent Agents, 5, John Dalton Street, Manchester.