IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS
Year: 1884

page_text: I JOHN AMHERST WALTER of Berengrave, Rainham, in the County of Kent Clerk
in Holy Orders do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOCKS," to be as follows:-
An arrangement of a double bolt so contrived that when the door is open, the
outside knob, as well as the inside knob will draw the bolt back and allow the door
to be closed without slamming; but when the door is closed, one part of the bolt,
in consequence of an arrangement in the staple, is prevented from shooting out to
its full extent, and the relative position of the parts of the bolt allows a tumbler
to fall and fix the bolt. The result is that the outside knob, which is constructed
to strike the bolt only, in consequence of the bolt being fixed, becomes incapable
of action, and the only way of again opening the door, is by turning the inside
knob, or by a key from the outside, both of which are so arranged as to raise the
tumbler before striking the bolt.
By means of a subsidiary bolt on the inside the lock may be turned into an
ordinary latch lock, or when the door is closed, be so secured as to make it
impossible, or very nearly so to open it from the outside.
Dated this Kirst day of Tam
100
JOHN AMHERST WALTER.

page_text: I JOHN AMHERST WALTER of Berengrave Rainham in the County of Kent Clerk
in Holy Orders do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOCKS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The locks are especially applicable to the front doors of dwelling houses, or to
any doors which open into a public way.
The advantage is that the door can be closed by a person going out by turning
the outside handle, as if it were an ordinary latch lock, without the annoyance
and damage caused by being obliged to slam it in order to close it. Directly the
door is shut the outside handle becomes automatically fixed, and re-entry without
a latch key is impossible. The inside handle remains capable of action whether
the door be open or shut.
To achieve this result there are two bolts moving parallel to each other. In
each bolt is a slot, and between the bolts is a tumbler which has a pin running
through it and projecting on both sides. The pin, when the bolts are in a certain
position, falls into the slots and secures the bolts. The slots are so placed that in
this position, they become opposite each other, this allows the tuinbler to fall,
in consequence of the pin falling into the slots.
The inside handle of the door is attached to a single follower which acts upon
both bolts, and is so arranged that it will, if necessary, raise the tumbler before
striking the bolts. The outside handle is attached to a double follower which
acts on both bolts. A latch key on the outside has a similar action to the inside
handle.
When the door is standing open, both handles are capable of drawing back the
bolts, and on their being released, the door still being open, they would both shoot
out again as before; but if the door be closed, and the bolts allowed to shoot into
the staple, a block placed in the staple prevents one of the bolts from shooting out
to its full extent, thereby bringing it into the relative position to the other bolt in
which the slots are opposite each other, and the pin of the tumbler falls into them
and fixes the bolts. This renders the outside handle, which acts only on the bolts,
immoveable; and the tumbler has fallen into such a position that the arm of the
follower of the inside handle, which has been slightly turned round by the tumbler
in its fall, must first raise the tumbler again to its former position, before it can act
upon the bolts. The latch key from without acts similarly.
It will be observed that the closing of the door was effected by turning the
outside handle, but the opening it again can only be effected by the latch key from
without, or by the handle from within.
Springs aid in keeping the parts in their relative positions.
A subsidiary bolt, moved either by a thumb-piece within, or by a key which
may act both from within and without, is capable by its action, when the door is
open, of rendering the lock an ordinary latch lock or by the same movement
when the door is shut, of securely fastening it.
In order to prevent any tampering with the lock, while the door is standing
open, by one of the bolts being pushed back until they both become fixed, a small
drop, working on a pivot is placed over the bolts, having one end resting on them.
In the bolt which is intended to be obstructed by the block in the staple, is a
shoulder, so arranged that if the bolt be pushed back, it catches against the drop,
and the backward movement of the bolt is stopped before the point is reached at
which the slots become opposite and the pin falls. In the other bolt instead of a

page_text: shoulder is an meine so placed that when the bolts are drawn back simultaneously
and equally, it raises the drop sufficiently to avoid contact with the shoulder, before
the shoulder reaches the drop.
In the block in the staple may be fixed an adjustable screw to allow for any
alteration caused by shrinkage of material
That my Invention may be the better understood Drawings of it are added.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In each of the Figures the same letters are used to indicate corresponding parts.
Fig. 1. shows a view of the lock when the door is standing open.
Fig. 2 is a view of the lock when the door is shut, one bolt being kept back
by the block in the staple, thus allowing the pin to fall and secure the bolts.
Fig. 3. is a view of the lock with one bolt removed.
a. a. indicate the case or frame of the lock b. and c. are the two bolts working
parallel to each other. d. is the tumbler, turning on the pivot d. e. is the pin in
the tumbler projecting on each side. f. is the slot in bolt b. g. the slot-in bolt c.
h. is the follower attached to the inside handle. i. the follower attached to the
outside handle, . . being the arms of the follower. k. is the pin for the latch
key. . the spring acting upon the tumbler. m. the spring acting upon the bolt b.
n. the spring acting upon the bolt c. o. is the subsidiary bolt worked by the
thumb piece p. from within, or, if desired, by a key from both within and without.
q. is the drop, working on the pivot q¹. t. is the shoulder in bolt b. and u. is the
incline in bolt c.
Fig. 4. is a section of the staple in
adjustable screw 7. opposite the bolt b.
which is fixed the block r. having the
Fig. 5. is a Drawing of the block shewing the screw.
In addition to the adjustable screw the slot f in bolt b. may be made wider than
the slot in bolt c. to allow for any shrinkage of the materials of the door.
From Fig. 1. it is clear that both bolts when drawn back by the handle will
keep the same position with regard to each other, and therefore the pin e. cannot
fall into the slots f and g. since they are never opposite each other. But when the
door is shut, the bolt b. being in the position shewn in Fig. 2. for the block in
the staple has stopped it from shooting out to its full extent. f. becomes opposite
to g. and the pin e. consequently falls into the position shewn, thereby fixing both
bolts, so far as any action of the outside handle, which acts only on the bolts, is
concerned. The tumbler in falling has slightly turned the follower h. and placed
itself in such a position that h. must raise it, and thus release the bolts from the
pin e. before it can act upon them.
To open the door again, therefore, the inside handle may be turned, the effect of
which is, as stated above, to release the bolts from the pin e. by raising the tumbler,
thus allowing the bolts to be withdrawn.
The latch key from without has exactly the same action and effect.
To turn the lock into an ordinary latch lock which can be opened from the
inside or out, it is only necessary, while the door is open, the bolts and tumbler
then being in the positions shewn in Fig. 1. to move forward the bolt o. which
enters into the notch d". of the tumbler and holds it in that position so that the
pin c. cannot fall to secure the bolts b. and c. as in Fig. 2.
The same movement of the bolt o. when the door is shut and the bolts and
tumbler in the positions shewn in Fig. 2. will fasten the door securely, for the
bolt o. will pass over the head of the tumbler and hold it down, so that it is
impossible by any action of the handles or the latch key, to release the bolts from
the pin e.
If the bolt o. be fitted with a key to be used both from within and without, it is
obvious that when the bolt is moved forward as last described, before the door can
be opened, the lock connected with o. as well as that at k. must be unlocked, thus
rendering the fastening very secure against picking.

page_text: Fig. 6. is a Drawing of the bolt b. of which Fig. 7. is the section through C
and D.
Fig. 8 represents bolt c. and Fig. 9 the section of it at E and F.
Fig. 10 shews the section A to B in Fig. 1..
Fig. 11 is a Drawing of the tumbler d. together with a section of it through G
and H.
Fig. 12. shows the drop q. and a section of it.
Fig. 13 represents the plate of the case towards the outside.
Fig. 14. shews a simplification of the lock.
In Figures 1. and 2. in order to gain as much strength as possible the bolt c. is
made to shoot out of the case into the staple, but in Fig. 14. it remains wholly
within the case. The action is similar to that already described. The bolt b. is
prevented from shooting out to its full extent by the staple.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
First. The arranging or combining of the bolts and handles and latch key
and staple so that the closing of the door automatically locks it so far as the
outside handle is concerned, as substantially described in relation to Figures 1. 2. 4.
and 14.
Secondly. The arranging or combining of the bolts and drop, whereby the bolt
cannot be tampered with when the door is opon as substantially described in
relation to Figures 1. and 2.
Dated this Twenty-fourth day of September 1884.
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