IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO KNOBS OR HANDLES AND LATCHES FOR DOORS AND OTHER STRUCTURES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLITAIRES AND OTHER FASTENINGS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Young Leiper, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO KNOBS
OR HANDLES AND LATCHES FOR DOORS AND OTHER STRUCTURES, PART OF
WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLITAIRES AND
OTHER FASTENINGS"
Sealed the 13th June 1879, and dated the 19th December 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Young Leiper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th December 1878.
JOHN YOUNG LEIPER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN AND RELATING TO KNOBS OR HANDLES AND LATCHES FOR DOORS AND OTHER
STRUCTURES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SOLITAIRES AND OTHER FASTENINGS."
The latch handles of doors are very apt to come off, and large numbers of Patents
have been taken out for more firmly fastening, but the complaints still continue
and I believe the inconvenience must always continue so long as the handle is
turned at all. Now my Invention is designed to furnish a latch handle that is
rigidly fastened to the door and not turned at all, but a knob in the same is pressed
in like an electric bell. This knob is connected with the latch by means of a stem
armed with a wedge shaped end or inclined plane which operating on a pin or pro-
jection on the latch forces it back. A spring forces the latch forward when not
drawn back by the pressing in of the knob. If two handles are required two
wedges or inclined planes, one on each handle, are required. Instead of inclined
planes, levers or slots could in some cases be used, and the spring could be fitted in
any of a great number of different ways, the plan I at present prefer being a spiral
spring round the bolt of the catch.
That part of the Invention relating to the pin capable of being pressed in and
thus releasing the catch is applicable also to solitaires and other fastenings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Young Leiper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th June
1879.
JOHN YOUNG LEIPER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN AND RELATING TO KNOBS OR HANDLES AND LATCHES FOR DOORS AND OTHER
STRUCTURES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SOLITAIRES AND OTHER FASTENINGS."
The latch handles of doors are very apt to come off, and large numbers of Patents
have been taken out for more firmly fastening, but the complaints still continue
and I believe the inconvenience must always continue so long as the handle is
turned at all. Now my Invention is designed to furnish a latch handle that is
rigidly fastened to the door and not turned at all, but a knob in the same is pressed
in like an electric bell. This knob is connected with the latch by means of a stem
armed with a wedge shaped end or inclined plane, which operating on a pin, pro-
jection, or slot on the latch forces it back. A spring forces the latch forward when
not drawn back by the pressing in of the knob. To elucidate my said Invention I
have annexed the accompanying Sheet of Drawings to which I now refer; Fig. 1 is
an elevation partially in section of my apparatus fitted on a drawer or door; Figs.
2 to 4 details of the lock. A is the handle fitted into a recess in the drawer or
door B, and screwed at its inner end to take into a thread on a boss C by which
the apparatus is held together; this boss forms part of a bracket D (shown in front
view in Fig. 2). This bracket is secured to the drawer or door by screws & passing
through holes, shown in Fig. 2, or in other suitable manner. Through this plate
slides the bolt E furnished with a slot as shown more clearly in Fig. 3. If desired
a pin or projection might take the place of the slot, but is not so convenient. A
spiral spring is fitted on the bolt as shewn tending to force it outwards. Through
the handle A and boss C works a rod F (shown also in Fig. 4) carrying at its
extremity the inclined plane G. A spiral spring as shown tends to force it away
from the bolt, except when pressed in to release the bolt. A cap H is screwed onto
its end for the spring to abut against, and to serve as a knob or push piece as before
described. There is a countersunk hole or recess I in the plate C for the plane G
to abut against when the rod F is held back by the spring and bolt as shewn in
Fig. 1. To release the latch press the knob or push H in; this forces the inclined
plane G on the rod F in the slot into the bolt E, thus drawing it back. On
releasing the rod F the bolt again flies forward. To shut or close the door or
drawer simply push it to. I do not bind myself to the exact details shewn as they
might be indefinitely varied to suit circumstances. If two handles be required two
wedges or inclined planes, one on each handle, are necessary, there must be a
separate alot for each wedge, or the two must be joined together at their ends, and
one spring tending to keep the knob bar in its normal position used. The single
spring in this case brings the bar back to its normal position when not forcibly
pressed out of it, and in some cases the single spring on the latch may be found
sufficient, but I prefer the bar to be also held in its central position (when unpressed)
by a spring or springs independent of the latch. In solitaires and other fastenings
where the head of the solitaire is held to the shank by catches, a spring push pin
with a wedge at the end abutting against abutments on the catches can be used to
draw the catches apart. The push pin can form the centre of an ornamental head
and the wedge or wedges can work through open slots in the shank. Having now
described my Invention, and the best mode known to me of carrying it into effect,
I would have it to be understood that I do not claim as my Invention the various
parts herein shown and described when taken separately and not combined and
arranged to form my said Invention, but what I believe to be new and desire to
claim under the herein before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The manufacture of latches or locks, and knobs or handles for doors,

page_text: drawers, and other places with the handles or knob firmly or immovably fixed in
position, and with the catch or bolt actuated by moving, pushing, or pressing a
projection or rod protruding through the knob or handle as described.
Second. The combination of the projection or rod H, F, with fixed handle A, and
the bolt or catch of a lock, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Third. The combined arrangement of lock or latch and its accessories, substan-
tially as described.
Fourth. The application of the foregoing principle to solitaires, studs, and like
fastenings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Young Leiper, have hereunto set my
.
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
JOHN YOUNG LEIPER. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN O. O'BRIEN,
Clerk to Wm. P. Thompson & Co.,
British & International Patent Agents,
6, Lord Street,
Liverpool,
and
323, High Holborn, W.C.,
London.