IMPROVEMENTS IN STRONG ROOMS AND IN SAFES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles de Bergue, of 10, Strand, in the City
of Westminster, Engineer, and John Coope Haddan, of 39,
Vincent Square, in the City of Westminster, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STRONG ROOMS AND IN SAFES."
Sealed the 12th January 1869, and dated the 15th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles de Bergue
and John Coope Haddan at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 15th July 1868.
We, CHARLES DE BERGUE, of 10, Strand, in the City of West-
minster, Engineer, and JOHN COOPE HADDAN, of 39, Vincent Square,
in the City of Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STRONG ROOMS AND
SAFES," to be as follows:-
The Invention comprises the constructing strong rooms of thick iron
or steel plates or slabs to form the sides or walls, including top and
bottom, with the plates themselves, or with flanges or fittings on the
plates, so fashioned and relatively disposed, as that with or without the
interposition of wrought-iron flanged beams or girders, or of separate

page_text: dowels or tongues between the plates, the said beams or girders when
employed or the plates themselves, or the said fittings fashioned on the
plates, or the said dowels or tongues between the plates, any or all of
these (beams, girders, plates, fittings, dowels, or tongues) shall when the
structure is fitted together afford a support, clip, and holding of the
plates together in proper relative position without or with the additional
hold or security which may be obtained from the simple bolting or
keying together of the parts, such bolting or keying when employed
being entirely or generally from the interior of the structure. We
propose that the form of these safes be rectangular on plan with corners
rounded off, and rectangular also in vertical section in either direction
across the plan; or the form in plan may be circular, or elliptical, or
otherwise; the wrought-iron beams or girders to be preferably rolled or
solid; the shaping and fittings of and on the plates to be formed
generally by the casting, but an accurate or precise fitting when
requisite to be obtained by planed surfaces. The several parts may be
built up in their intended permanent position, and if desired within or
be afterwards surrounded by brickwork, masonry, or concrete, whereby
the same may be rendered fireproof, and also additionally secure against
the attempts of burglars. The thickness of the plates may be from two
to four inches, and size according to circumstances in strips of, say, thirty
to fifty inches width, and length sufficient to form one side or top or
bottom of room, and the edge may have male and female fittings or
dowels to fit against each other or against the girders. When the strong
room is to be made circular the plates may be put together like the
staves of a cask, and held together by external or internal rings, or both,
and with or without bolts, but if with bolts then with the nuts inside.
The improvements in safes refer to portable safes of dimensions
convenient for removing from room to room, circular or cylindrical in
form, and such as have both the body and door with an outer and inner
case with a powder composition or fireproof material interposed. With
respect to these the Invention comprises the making the inner face or
lining of the door to fit against the inner case, but if desired against the
outer case also; and the making the inner case of cast iron and the
outer of wrought iron; and the constructing the door at end of cylinder,
made to open and close directly flat or endways away from and towards
the body of the safe by central pillar and screw appliance, which it is
contemplated may be effected after the fashion of the rising and falling

page_text: movement of the seat of a music stool, and with any convenient
fastening; and constructing a hinged door on the flat end of the cylinder,
with the door completely circular and of the size of the inner casc, and
fitting either the inner case or an annular plate covering the space
between the outer and inner cases. And the mode in which the several
improvements may be performed is to make the fittings of the doors bevil
or conical, which may be effected by turning the contact surfaces of both
the doors and the seats against which they close. It is intended to use
any two or more of the improvements in safes in one or more com-
bination or combinations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles de Bergue and John Coope Haddan in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
DE BERGUE, of 10, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Engineer,
and JOHN COOPE HADDAN, of 39, Vincent Square, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Charles de Bergue and John Coope Haddan,
Her special licence that we, the said Charles de Bergue and John Coope
Haddan, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Charles de Bergue and John Coope Haddan, our execu-
tors, 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, usc, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STRONG ROOMS AND IN SAFES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Charles de Bergue and John Coope Haddan, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Charles de Bergue and John
Coope Haddan, 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, that is to say:-
One improvement comprised by the Invention is the constructing
strong rooms of thick iron or steel plates or slabs to form the sides or
walls, including top and bottom, some or all of these parts or places with
the plates themselves, or with flanges or fittings on the plates, so
fashioned and relatively disposed as that with or without the inter-
position of wrought-iron flanged beams or girders, or of separate dowels
or tongues between the plates, the said beams or girders when employed
or the plates themselves, or the said fittings fashioned on the plates, or
the said dowels or tongues between the plates, any or all of these
(beams, girders, plates, fittings, dowels, or tongues) shall when the
structure is fitted together afford a support, clip, and holding of the plates
together in proper relative position without or with the additional hold
or security which may be obtained from the simple bolting or keying
together of the parts, such bolting or keying when employed being
entirely or generally from the interior of the structure. To perform this
improvement we propose that the form of the safes be rectangular on
plan, and also in vertical section in either direction across the plan; or
the form in plan may be circular, or elliptical, or otherwise; the wrought-
iron beams or girders to be preferably rolled or solid; the shaping and
fittings of and on the plates to be formed generally by the casting, but
an accurate or precise fitting when requisite to be obtained by planed
surfaces. The several parts may be built up in their intended permanent
position, and if desired within or be afterwards surrounded by brickwork,
masonry, or concrete, whereby the same may be rendered fireproof,
and also additionally secure against the attempts of burglars. The
thickness of the plates may be from two to four inches, and size accord-
ing to circumstance in strips of, say, thirty to fifty inches width, and
length sufficient to form one side or top or bottom of room, and the
edges may have male and female fittings or dowels to fit against each
other or against the girders.
This Specification is illustrated by five Sheets of Drawings, in which

page_text: "
Figures 1, 2, 3, are two vertical and one horizontal sections of our
improved bankers' "built up strong room in accordance with the
improvement above set forth. The form is rectangular, and the four
sides are of metal, as also is the top or roof, but the bottom is formed
by the ground or floor upon which the room is erected, a foundation. of
masonry being provided to carry the sides or walls. A is a cast-iron
binding curb, resting on the masonry B, and having a shallow. groove or
recess presented face upwards, and furnished at intervals with square
pockets to receive the feet of the H-shaped vertical wrought-iron girders
or standards C. The roof girders are of cast iron, and are designed to
carry a boarded floor, but this construction is no part of the Invention.
The two outside girders D have a shallow groove or recess presented
face downwards, and furnished with pockets to receive the tops of the
standards, and act as binding curbs to two sides of the room; and the..
intermediate girders E have clipping or binding snugs E* cast on them,
and are bolted to transverse angle irons F, which with the snugs serve in.
place of binding curbs or for the other two sides; moreover the girders D
and E are (omitting the part for carrying floor) somewhat of a H-shaped
section.. G, G, are cast-iron vertical plates or slabs between the
standards; and G*, G*;.cast-iron horizontal plates or slabs between the
roof. girders, the form of the edges of. the slabs and the form of the
standards and roof girders being such as supply the clip or holding:
together of the plates above set forth. The vertical and roof slabs are in.
two pieces (in the length) with joint or fitting, as at I in Figures 1 and 2,
excepting the corner verticals, which. are cast in one length.. When
girders and standards are dispensed with, as herein-after mentioned, the
slabs should be in one length; though shewn as square, the corner
slabs may be curved or rounded off. When the slabs, whether vertical
or horizontal, are in two or more lengths the fitting instead of being
formed as at I in the Figures 1 and 2 may be as in Figures 4 or 4*,
or of any other approved form, to lock into each other, and tongues or
keys may be used as at K in Figures 5, 5, 5b, or dowels or. other keys
may be used. instead of or in addition to the fittings described. Also
any of these fittings together of the slabs. may be employed to replace
the fittings against the H-shaped standards C and girders D, E, which
in such cases may be dispensed with; or the said standards and girders,
or some of them, may if used be made of different section, as, for
instance, as shewn at Figures 6, 6, 6b. The doorway of the strong
room may be constructed either as shewn in. Figures 2 and 3 or in

page_text: are shaped to correspond, and these with the radial girders are arranged
to alternate or break joint with the standards and vertical slabs.
In other respects the description of the improved rectangular strong
room applies generally to this, also including the remarks as to the
modifications in the manner of fitting together of the slabs (vertical
and horizontal), and dispensing with standards and horizontal girders
or ribs. Interposed between the slabs M is an internal angle iron ring to
which the top and side slabs are bolted, the heads of the bolts being
countersunk, and M³ is a wrought-iron ring shrunk on a similar internal
angle iron and basement ring, but both of smaller scantling, are repre-
sented at the bottom. No doorway is shewn in the Figures as it
constitutes no part of the Invention, but it may be constructed in any
convenient manner through the vertical wall, or access may be provided
through the roof or floor.
Figures 11 and 12 shew a section and an inverted plan view of an
arrangement for holding together slabs radially disposed, these having a
projecting fillet N on to which a ring O is shrunk or clipped when in
place; or the horizontal girders and plates may have a parallel instead
of a radial disposition, the external, circular, or other form being or not
being observed as may be wished.
Before passing to the next feature of the Invention we would
remark that strong rooms in accordance with the improvement set
forth and described may, if desired, be constructed of any regular or
irregular geometrical or other figure.
The further improvements comprised by the Invention refer to
portable safes of dimensions convenient for removing from room to
room, circular or cylindrical in form, and such as have both the body
and door constructed with an outer and an inner case with a powder
composition or fire-proof material interposed.
One of these improvements consists in making the inner face or
lining of the door to fit against the inner case or lining of the body,
and if desired against the outer case also. Figures 13, 14, and 14,
illustrate this improvement, Figure 13 being a vertical section,
Figure 14 partly a top plan view, partly a plan with door removed, and
partly a horizontal section through body of safe, and Figure 14° a
sectional figure explaining hinge joint of door. a is the outer case of
the body of safe; b, the outer case of the door; a* and 6* are the
corresponding inner cases or linings, which latter have not hitherto

page_text: been made closely and properly to fit each other, but between which
the Figure 13 (at c, c,) represents an accurate fit established, and
which is effected by making the contact surfaces of a conical form and
perfecting such form by turning if desired.. And also, if desired,. in
combination with the foregoing; a fitting may be made between the
outer case a of the body and the outer case b. of the door;. m, m, are
hinges on which the door opens. The Figures 15, 16, herein-after
referred to, also illustrate the internal fitting between the door and
body.
Another improvement consists in the constructing the door at end
of cylinder, made to open and close directly flat or endways away from
and toward the body of the safe by central pillar and screw appliance..
This may be effected after the fashion of the rising and falling move-
ment of the seat of a music stool, and with any convenient fastening..
Figures 15 (vertical section), and 16 (plan at various levels) illustrate
a safe thus constructed, which may be used as a settee or article of
furniture, for which purpose the top or door may be covered with a
cushion, though not so represented in the Figures. Q denotes screw
fixed to door or seat, and R. pillar socket fixed to floor of safe. The
fitting of the door is the same as in the Figures 13, 14, or may be as in
any of the Figures 17 to 21, herein-after referred to and represented in
Sheet No. 4, and repeated in Sheet No. 5.
Another improvement consists in the making the inner case of cast
iron and the outer of wrought iron. This improvement is also illustrated
by the Figures 13, 14, and 15, 16, the inner case a* of the body and 6*
of the door is of cast iron, and the outer case a of the body and 6 of the
door is of wrought iron. d is a cover plate rivetted over joint between
edges of the plate a; e and fare wrought-iron binding rings shrunk on
at top and bottom respectively of the safe. In fitting the parts together
the ring e is to be shrunk on when the inner and outer cases are in the
position shewn in the Drawing, and rivetted or screwed at intervals to
the outer case a; they are then to be inverted and the fireproof com-
position to be filled in and the bottom of the outer case to be applied and
screwed by the ring f, which is to be shrunk on and screwed to the outer
case at intervals. When the safe is constructed with central pillar, as
at Figures 15, 16, the packing piece Rx is to be put in place before the
bottom is put on.
And another and concluding improvement consists in constructing

page_text: cylindrical safes with a hinged door on the flat end of the cylinder, and
with the door completely circular and of the size of the inner case, and
fitting either the inner case or an annular plate covering the space
between the outer and inner cases.
The Figures 17 to 21 are sections of various modifications of safes
illustrating this improvement, all of them, excepting Figure 21, dis-
pensing with the ring e, represented in the Figures 13 to 16. Figure 17
shews the inner case of cast-iron body a* being continued on the top a²,
and returned as a flange at a³, to which part the outer or wrought-iron
body a is rivetted or screwed. is the door of the full size of and fitting
the inner case at S, and completely circular on plan. Figures 18, 19, 20
shew outer and inner cases, both constructed of wrought-iron plates,
and some with, some without angle iron, rivetted or fixed to a cast iron
or may be a wrought iron non-flanged or flanged annular plate t covering
the space between the cases; g is the door the full size of and fitting
the said annular plate, and completely circular on plan. Figure 21
shews outer case of wrought iron and inner case of cast iron with
annular flanged plate t covering the space between them, and with ring e
shrunk on, as in Figures 13, 15, the inner case being rivetted or secured
to the said flanged plate. The seating of the door is against its inner
case, but the seating may be made against the angle of the flanged
plate, as in Figure 20.
In these last-mentioned several safes the door may be either hung on
hinges or made to open and close by music stool screw movement, as
above described.
Finally, we would remark that, so far as practicable, it is intended to
use any two or more of the improvements in safes in one or more
combination or combinations.
In witness whereof, we, the said Charles de Bergue and John
Coope Haddan, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.