IMPROVEMENTS IN Locks
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, of the Firm of
Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City
of London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Locks." A communication from abroad by John Dewe, George
Harding, and Bartholomew Lalor, all of Toronto, Canada.
Sealed the 8th January 1869, and dated the 11th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 11th July 1868.
I, CLINTON EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman,
and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOCKS," to be as follows:-
The nature of this Invention consists in providing locks with wheels
or indicators each marked with the figures 0 and 1 to 9 inclusive,
which wheels or indicators are connected with certain mechanism,
herein-after described, inside the lock, so that the lock cannot be opened
without a change being made in the numbers on the said indicators
as seen through small apertures in the face of the lock. The figures

page_text: on the said indicators are capable of nine hundred and ninety-nine
changes, more or less, which changes cannot be repeated without the
destruction of a seal made of lead or other material.
I proceed to describe the Invention as applied to a padlock; it may
however be also applied to locks of other shape and kind. Inside the
lock is fitted a rotating cylinder on which a ratchet wheel or flange is
formed. This cylinder is connected with a spring or paul which
prevents it from ever turning except in one direction. This cylinder
is acted upon by a slide bolt, which being pushed upwards by the
turning of the key causes the cylinder to turn sufficiently to let the
spring or paul catch into another tooth and by its motion to turn also
a wheel or indicator fitted to the axle of the cylinder. The cylinder
after this partial revolution is locked by two tumblers, the hook-shaped
ends of which fit into apertures or indentations formed in or through
the sides of the cylinder, which tumblers are released by the action
of the key at the same time that the slide bolt is pushed upwards.
When the key is inserted it first acts on the tumblers so as to free the
cylinder and to allow the slide to be raised, and it then raises the slide
so as to turn the cylinder. The slide bolt is replaced in its original
position by the turning back of the key after the lock has been opened.
Attached to the slide bolt is a guard, which when the slide bolt is
replaced in its original position, as above described, completely covers
the face of the locking bolts, so that no access can be had to them
through the keyhole without pushing the slide bolt upwards, and thus
causing a change in the numbers on the wheels or indicators. These
wheels are geared together, and are confined in a case which is fixed to
the front plate, and on which case apertures are formed through which
one figure of each wheel can be seen. On the first wheel there are
the figures 0 and 1 to 9 inclusive, and this wheel is so adjusted that
one turn of the key which is required to open the lock acting on the
slide bolt and cylinder, as above described, will cause that one of the
figures seen through the first aperture in the face of the case to disappear
and the figure next in succession to take its place, one complete
revolution of the wheel causing ten changes in the said figures.
Connected with this wheel and moved by it by gearing there is a second
wheel numbered in like manner, only that each figure is or may be
repeated 3 times more or less, the sign of each figure of the same
denomination gradually diminishing as it approaches the figure next

page_text: to it in succession. On every complete revolution of the first wheel
one of the figures on the second wheel (repeated 3 times as above
described) passes under a point in the second aperture in the face of
the lock, ten complete revolutions of the first wheel being required to
complete one revolution of the second wheel, and thus to produce 99
changes in the numbers read off from the two wheels. Connected
with the second wheel and moved by it by gearing there is a third
wheel numbered in the same manner as the second wheel, only that
the numbers are placed in the reverse order to the numbers on the
second wheel, as the third wheel revolves in the opposite direction. On
every complete revolution of the second wheel one of the figures on
the third wheel repeated three times, as above described, passes under
a point in the third aperture in the face of the lock, ten complete
revolutions of the second wheel and 100 complete revolutions of the
first wheel being required to complete one revolution of the third wheel
and thus to produce 999 changes in the numbers read off from the 3
wheels. The numbers on the first wheel indicate the unit figures, the
numbers on the next wheel the tens, and the numbers on the third
wheel the hundreds. The size of the figures in the last two mentioned
wheels diminishes or may do so as they approach the numbers next
in succession, which must be taken as soon as the stroke between the
small and large numbers appears under the point in the aperture.
When a complete revolution of all the wheels has been made a
projection on the 3rd wheel is caught by a pin which is fastened into
the face of the lock by a screw, which screw is countersunk, the
indentation being larger at the base than at the top for the reception
of a seal of sealing wax, lead, or other material, and which before the
screw by which the pin is fastened can be taken out must necessarily
be destroyed. Over the three apertures in the lock face there is a
slide by which the said apertures can at once be covered over so as to
protect them from dust and dirt. The lock is furnished with three
locking bolts more or less of C shape, each of which not only has an
independent action but catches the shackle of the lock both at the
back and front, thus affording the security of a double number of
fastenings and preventing the lock from being opened or picked by an
instrument which does not at once operate in the necessary manner on
all the bolts.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 11th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLINTON
EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company,
of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, Her special licence
that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS," (a communication from abroad by John Dewe,
George Harding, and Bartholomew Lalor, all of Toronto, Canada,) upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, 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, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a face view of the lock showing the face plate removed;
Figure 2 is a detailed face view of the lock without the front plate that
covers the indicating wheels; Figure 3 is a face view of the lock without
the front plate that covers the indicating wheels; Figure 4 is an edge

page_text: view of the lock; Figure 5 is an elevation of one face of the lock;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the cylinder by means of which the
indicating wheels are operated; Figure 7 is a detailed sectional view
taken on the plane of the line xx, Figure 5; Figure 8 is a sectional
view taken on the plane of the line y, y, Figure 1; and Figure 9 is a
view of the key for operating the lock. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts.
The nature of the Invention consists in providing locks with wheels
or indicators, each marked with the figures 0 and 1 to 9 inclusive,
which wheels or indicators are connected with certain mechanism,
hereafter described, inside the lock, so that the lock cannot be opened
without a change being made in the numbers on the said indicators, as
seen through small apertures in the face of the lock. The numerals on
the said indicators are capable of 999 changes, more or less, which
changes cannot be repeated without the destruction of a seal made of
lead or other material.
I proceed to describe the Invention as applied to a padlock; it may
however be also applied to locks of other shape and kind. Inside the
lock is fitted a rotating cylinder a, on which a ratchet wheel or flange p
is formed. This cylinder is connected with a spring or paul 6, which
prevents it from turning except in one direction, as indicated by the
arrow. This cylinder is acted upon by a slide bolt d, which being pushed
upwards by the turning of the key causes the cylinder to turn suffi-
ciently to let the spring or paul 6 catch into another tooth, and by its
motion to turn also a wheel or indicator f fitted to the axle of the
cylinder. The cylinder after this partial revolution is locked by two
tumblers c, the hook-shaped end r of which fit into apertures or
indentations formed in or through the sides of the cylinder, which
tumblers are released by the action of the key, at the same time that
the slide bolt d is pushed upwards. When the key is inserted it first
acts on the tumblers, so as to free the cylinder and to allow the slide to
be raised, and it then raises the slide so as to turn the cylinder. The slide
bolt is replaced in its original position by the turning back of the key
after the lock has been opened. Attached to the slide bolt d is a
guard p, which when the slide bolt is replaced in its original position,
as above described, completely covers the face of the locking bolts n, so
that no access can be had to them through the keyhole without pushing
the slide bolt d upwards, and thus causing a change in the numbers on

page_text: g
the wheels or indicators f, g, and h. These wheels are geared together
in the manner indicated, and are confined in a case C, which is fixed to
the front plate B; in this case apertures Nos. 1, 2, and 3, are formed,
through which one figure of each wheel f, g, and h, can be seen. On
the first wheel f there are the figures 0 and 1 to 9 inclusive, and this
wheel is so adjusted that one turn of the key which is required to open
the lock acting on the slide bolt and cylinder, as above described, will
cause that one of the figures seen through the first aperture No. 1 in
the face of the case C to disappear, and the figure next in succession to
to take its place, one complete revolution of the wheel causing ten
changes in the said figures. Connected with this wheel and moved by
it by gearing there is a second wheel g, numbered in like manner, only
that each figure is or may be repeated 3 times, more or less, the
sign of each figure of the same denomination gradually diminishing as
it approaches the figure next to it in succession, as shown. On every
complete revolution of the first wheel f, one of the figures on the second
wheel (repeated 3 times, as above described) passes under a point & in
the second aperture No. 2 in the face of the lock, ten complete revo-
lutions of the first wheelf being required to complete one revolution of
the second wheel g, and thus to produce 99 changes in the numbers read
off from the two wheels. Connected with the second wheel g and moved
by it by gearing there is a third wheel h, numbered in the same manner
as the second wheel g, only that the numbers are placed in the reverse
order to the numbers on the second wheel g, as the third wheel h
revolves in the opposite direction. On every complete revolution of the
second wheel one of the figures on the third wheel repeated three times,
as above described, passes under a point s in the third aperture No. 3 in
the face of the lock, ten complete revolutions of the second wheel g
and 100 complete revolutions of the first wheelf being required to
complete one revolution of the third wheel, and thus to produce 999
changes in the numbers read off from the three wheels. The numbers
on the first or right-hand wheel indicate the unit figures, the numbers
on the next wheel g the tens, and the numbers on the third wheel h the
hundreds. The size of the figures in the last two mentioned wheels
diminishes or may do so as they approach the numbers next in suc-
cession, which must be taken as soon as the stroke between the small
and large numbers appears under the points in the aperture. When a
complete revolution of all the wheels has been made a projection on the
third wheel is caught by a pin i, which is fastened into the face of the

page_text: lock by a screw k; the screw is countersunk, the indentation / being
larger at the base than at the top for the reception of a seal of sealing
wax, lead, or other material, and which before the screw k by which the.
pin is fastened can be taken out must necessarily be destroyed. Over
the three apertures in the lock face there is a slide m by which the said
apertures can at once be covered over so as to protect them from dust
and dirt. The lock is furnished with three locking bolts more or less of
C shape, each of which not only has an independent action but catches
the shackle O of the lock both at the back and front, thus affording the
security of a double number of fastenings, and preventing the lock from
being opened or picked by an intrument which does not at once operate
in the necessary manner on all the bolts.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
construction, general arrangement, and combination of the parts forming
a lock, as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.