IM- PROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND KEYS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, E.C., Patent Agent, for the Invention of." IM-
PROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND KEYS."-A communication from abroad by Jules
Emile Petit, of Paris.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th August 1859.
*City
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E.C., Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND KEYS," (communicated to me from
abroad by Jules Emile Petit, of Paris,) to be as follows:-
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a view of the internal parts of a lock
constructed with these improvements in locks; and Figures 2 and 3 are views
of a key and part of another key both constructed with these improvements in
keys. The two tumblers A and B are fixed to the case Z, and are each furnished
with a projection e and e', and are acted upon by springs r,, which press
them against the bolt I. The spring r is of less force than 7. In the initial
position of the bolt I, when the bolt is not thrown, the projection' e enters the
recess s; but when the bolt is thrown, the said projection e enters the recess t.

page_text: The projection e¹ of the tumbler B will enter the recess u only when a false
key is employed. The bent oscillating lever E is also fixed to the casing Z; it
has two branches or arms, in order to receive the action of the key from both
the inside and the outside. A spring X forces the projections G and G¹ (of
which the former only is shown in the Drawing) to bear against the gudgeon d,
one from the outside. and the other from the inside. The lever E acts upon
the tumbler B by means of the lever C, and the tumbler B in its turn acts
upon the tumbler A by means of a projection b. The key is formed to
correspond to the gudgeon, the shape of which may be varied. The key
carries a bit J, which serves merely to guide it into the keyhole. Two other
bits, h, h¹, are also formed upon the key, to act respectively when the key is
entered from the inside or the outside, their positions being varied without
limit if desired, they being sometimes placed on the end of the key, as shown
in Figure 3. In the Drawings the lock is shown with the bolt thrown or shot.
In order to release the bolt, it is necessary to act upon the lever C in such
manner as to place the two tumblers in intermediate positions. For this
purpose, by turning the key from left to right, ör from right to left, according
as it is to be operated from the inside or the outside, the bit h or h¹ will raise
the projection G or G¹ of the lever E, which, by turning on its axis will, by
means of its arm K move the lever C through the fork c on its lower extremity.
The lever C is provided at its upper extremity with two notches c, c", in
which the projection 6 alternately takes. At the moment when the lever C
moves with the lever E, the projection 6 disengages itself from c¹. The
tumbler B pressed upon by its spring 1 (which, as has been said, is of greater
force than the spring r of the tumbler A,) acts upon the tail of the tumbler A
by means of the arm g, and disengages the projection e from the recess t.
The projection e¹ of the tumbler B is then ready to be engaged in the recess u,
but it ought not to enter it except when a false key is employed, and in that
case the tail of this tumbler instead of remaining beneath the click M will
pass above it, and the stop Y preventing the tail of the tumbler B from
re-descending, the bolt would be fixed by the projection e¹ entering the
recess u; but when the proper key is used, the bit h comes against the pro-
jection G, and moves the lever E, disengaging the tumbler B from the lever C,
and a sector F on a disc D is brought by the key under and against a roller N
fixed to the arm g of the tumbler B, and holds the tumbler suspended at the
middle of its course. The bolt is then free. When the sector Fleaves the
roller N, and the bit & leaves the projection G, the lever C will return to its
first position, and the projection 6 will become engaged in the notch . The
disc. d is in one with or connected to the gudgeon d, which is maintained
"

page_text: This gudgeon turns
A wheel R, toothed
above and below by two attachments fixed to the case Z.
as well as the disc D, and fulfils the functions of a key.
on part of its periphery, is placed under the disc D. The diameter of this
wheel is greater than that of the disc D, it has the same centre, and is
movable around a concentric socket fixed to the lower attachment. This
wheel is flush with the surface of the disc, which is provided with a circular
concentric slot n, n, in which is a button v fixed on the wheel. The wheel is
in gear with a rack on the under side of the bolt I, and the disposition of the
teeth of the wheel is such, that they escape from those of the bolt at the ends
of its course, in order to engage with a pinion V, which commands the
rack of the latch L. The flattened edge D of the disc D comes against a
spring piece P, in order to prevent the key moving too far. When the bolt I
has moved about half its distance, the button o fixed to the bolt comes under
the roller N and raises the tumbler B, thereby causing the projection 6 to
return to the notch c'. The bolt slides beneath the projection e until the
latter falls into the recess s. For throwing the bolt out, the before-described
operations are reversed.
The Inventor reserves to himself the right of modifying the details of the
Invention
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E.C., Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald 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

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS AND KEYS," (a communication from abroad by Jules
Emile Petit, of Paris,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Richard Archibald 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald 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):-
The Drawings hereunto annexed are views of a lock and key constructed
according to this Invention, the details being somewhat modified from those
shewn in the Drawings which accompanied the Provisional Specification.
Figure 1 is a view of the internal parts of the lock; Figure 2 is a longi-
tudinal section of the same lock with the key a inserted; Figures 3 and 4 are
views in side elevation and plan respectively of the bolt detached; Figures 5
and 6 are detached views of the safety tumbler; Figures 7 and 8 show a
mortice disc d carrying the spindle for the key, which spindle may be of a
triangular, square, or any other suitable form. The disc d carries a sector f
of copper or other metal, it is shewn in plan at Figures 1 and 7, and in side
view at Figure 8. On the spindle for the key, and forming a part with it, a
cylindrical plate g is formed, on which the sector f is adjusted and kept in
position by a screw. Figures 9 and 10 are views, in plan and side elevation,
of another disk k, which has teeth formed round part of its circumference, and
carries a pin h, which is intended to slide in the mortico i of the disc d. This
disc is made hollow at the centre, as shewn, in order to fit on to the shoulder
of a cross piece l, Figures 11 and 12, which carries a plate m, Figure 2, to
which the neck ¹¹ is screwed, as well as the discs & and k. The bolt 6 has teeth
formed on its under side, which take into the teeth on the pinion or disc k.
A spring o, shown in dotted lines, Figure 1, keeps the blade of the bolt against
the head of a screw p, which is free to slide in a grooved slot q. r, r, are
notches or recesses formed in the bolt for the hooks s, s', in the double
tumbler A to take into. This double tumbler, Figures 5 and 6, is composed
of two tumblers or catches connected together by a shoulder hinge, and held
by means of a pin t; a spring & attached to the tumblers by screws exerts a
pressure on the two portions, and keeps them constantly in contact, either

page_text: with the bolt b, or with the foot of the lever B by means of a catch v, which
takes into notches a formed on the end of the foot thereof. A spring u exerts
its pressure on the double tumbler by the moveable end of the spring entering
a notch formed in the tumbler. This spring serves to keep down the part a'
of the tumbler until it comes in contact with the bolt b, so that the pin fixed
to this part of the tumbler takes into a notch in the bolt. R is a projection
formed on the part a³ of the safety tumbler, and in a piece with it. This
projection is acted on by the sector f, and prevents by this means the part a¹
of the tumbler falling and penetrating into the notch. On the bolt 6 there is
a stop, in copper or other metal, which is intended to raise the projection R,
in order to force the tumbler to enter the first notch formed in the foot of the
lever B. The foot of this piece B, Figures 1, 18, and 14, oscillates about a
point 2, and has one end forked, as shown at y. A forked piece D, Figures 1,
15, and 16, is fitted to the body of the lock by a screw; it carries at the end
of one arm e' a projection c¹, and terminates at tho other into a curve n', the
end of which takes into the fork y. A spring E fixed at one end on the body
the lock acts on the arm e³, and forces the forked piece D down when the
lock is at rest.
The half-lock bolt F, Figures 1 and 2, is compared of a drawing button C,
a helical spring I abutting at one end against the lock frame, and at the other
against a collar which is attached to the rod L of the bolt, and by this means
the bolt is always kept in the position indicated in Figures 1 and 2. The
rod L has a mortice formed in it at or about midway between the bolt and
the collar, in which a lever N works, which is free to rock about the point N'.
This lever has some teeth formed on the extremity opposite to that which
works in the mortice corresponding with the teeth in the toothed disc h, and
from which the lever receives motion. By this arrangement, when the lock
is opened or closed with a key (after the bolt 6 has been drawn), the bolt F is
acted on also by the key through the balance lever N. On the circumference
of the mortice disc d there is a piece cut away, which acts, as a stop to a
spring P, which prevents the disc from turning too freely, and the key being
turned too far. n, n, are ward plates or projections placed near the bottom of
the barrel of the lock and close by the spindle, which are intended to form an
obstacle to the passage of a false key. The barrel is funnel-shaped, in order
to allow the key to enter in the middle, and fit itself on to the spindle easily,
which is the counterpart of the key. The barrel being funnel-shaped, renders
the interior of the lock invisible, and by the arrangement of the barrel no
needle point or picker cau be introduced into the interior of the lock.
The key Q, which is shewn at Figures 17 and 18, and in plan at Figure 19,

page_text: is similar in shape to keys usually constructed for "Bramah locks," but is
provided with a bit and piped barrel, on which grooves and projections are
formed. When the key is thrust into the neck ", the blades n fixed to the
spindle enter the grooves formed in the barrel. The position and number of
these grooves and blades may be altered. The projections q¹ are intended to
act on the projection c', the latter acting on the fork y by means of the arm n',
which is worked by the foot of the lever B, and disengages the hold of the
tumbler from the bottom of the notch. To close the lock the key is turned
from right to left, the gearing on the disc k works the rack on the bolt 6, at
the same time the projection on the key, or the pins 7 raise the projection c¹,
as has been before described, and disengages the bolt, which then follows the
teeth on the disc k. If a false key is introduced into the lock, the
pro-
jection will be acted on too soon, which would disengage the foot of the
lever B. By this means the safety tumbler would be no longer held by the
disc, but would fall on the bolt, and the one or other of the extremeties of this
tumbler would fall into the cavity of the bolt, which would stop its motion;
the quadrant formed by the abutment would pass below the section of through
the space s¹ formed for that purpose. The key will then turn in every
direction, and will produce no effect on either of the bolts.
The fundamental part of this lock is the position that the sector f occupies,
for by it the lock is rendered unpickable. In case of success in finding the
position of the sector, the safety tumbler acts as a detector. If the key is lost,
it suffices to change the position of the sector f in order to render the lock
still safe, and if this is done, the original key will be useless. A tooth on the
disc separated from the other teeth forces the bolt always to return to the
same position. The button, which usually serves to stop the half-lock bolt at
the end of its course is almost always a foot inserted in the lock case; in this
arrangement the foot is attached to the wheel, and in case of wear forces the
bolt to work, and the tumbler always to fall into the proper notch.
The Inventor reserves to himself the right of modifying the details of the
Invention, and particularly he does not limit himself to the number of ward
plates, projections, or grooves, or to the position the sector and discs with their
adjacent parts occupy.
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,―
First, the general arrangement of the parts of locks, as herein-before
described and illustrated at Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the construction of keys for locks, as herein-before described and
illustrated at Figures 17, 18, and 19, of the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Third, the construction of a double safety tumbler, in the manner and for
the purposes herein-before described, and more particularly illustrated at
Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying Drawings.
And, fourth, the employment of discs and sectors, as herein-before described,
and particularly illustrated at Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10, of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.B.)