A NEW Oor Im- PROVED LATCH FOR DOORS AND CASEMENTS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Anthony Wheeler, of Swindon, in the
County of Wilts, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A NEW Oor Im-
PROVED LATCH FOR DOORS AND CASEMENTS,"
Sealed the 23rd June 1874, and dated the 21st April 1874.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Anthony
Wheeler at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st April 1874.
I, CHARLES ANTHONY WHEELER, of Swindon, in the County of
Wilts, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED LATCH FOR DOORS AND CASEMENTS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce a latch that shall supercede
the ordinary "Norfolk" or "thumb" latch, or any other latch operated
by leverage, by a more simple and efficient arrangement without increasing
the cost thereof.

page_text: In carrying out my said object in practice I make my improved latch
shorter and consequently stronger than the ordinary Norfolk or thumb
latch, and instead of using the usual lifting lever, I raise my improved
latch by pressing forward, from without, a sliding inclined bar or bolt
which lifts it clear of the catch, which catch is affixed as usual to the
door frame or casement. On the pressure being withdrawn from the
sliding bolt the latch descends by its own gravity and thus forces back
the said sliding bolt to its normal position.
In order to make my improved latch serve the purpose of a bolt or
lock I pivot above the said latch a swing stay or stop, which is arranged
for its lower end to fall vertically or nearly so into a notch formed in the
upper edge of the latch, and which stop, in this position, effectually
prevents the latch being raised from without. This swing stop can be
instantly released from within by simply raising and throwing it back
when the latch is free to be operated.
When it is desired to secure the door after him by a person leaving a
house, he has only to keep the latch raised and place the swing stop
with its lower end resting thereon until the door is closed, when on
releasing the latch it falls to its normal position, and the swing stop at
the same time drops into the said notch in the latch and prevents the
latter being raised from without as previously described herein.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Anthony Wheeler in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ANTHONY WHEELER, of Swindon, in the County of Wilts, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four,
in the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler,
Her special license, that I, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said

page_text: Charles Anthony Wheeler, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED LATCH FOR DOORS AND
CASEMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Anthony Wheeler, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of hands and seals,
should particularly 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 Charles Anthony Wheeler, 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:-
The object of this Invention is the construction of a latch that shall
supersede the ordinary "Norfolk" or "thumb" latch, by a more simple
and efficient arrangement without increasing the cost thereof when made.
of the same material and of equally good finish.
In order that my said Invention may be more casily and more
fully understood and be more readily performed, I now proceed to
explain the same with the aid of the accompanying Drawing which
forms part of this Specification, reference being mado thereto by the
numerals and letters marked thereon, and which reference applies to
each Figure of the said Drawing where the same index numerals and
letters appear.
Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved latch as seen inside when
affixed to a door, and when the inner plate is pierced for the sliding bar,
herein-after called the "plunger" to pass through; Figure 2 shows the
same latch as seen outside the door; Figure 3 is a horizontal plan of the
same; Figure 4 is a side view of the same.
Figure 5 is an elevation of the latch and swing stop detached, and also
shewing one end of the plunger.
Figure 6 is a side elevation of the said plunger.

page_text: In carrying out my said Invention in practice I make my improved
latch a shorter and consequently stronger than the ordinary Norfolk or
thumb latch, and instead of applying the usual or any other lifting lever
I raise the said latch a by pushing or pressing forward, from without,
the plunger which raises the said latch by the inclined plane at '
formed thereon clear of the catch c, which catch c is fixed to the door
frame or post d as usual. The angle of the incline at ' and the weight
of the latch a are so regulated as to enable the latch a freely to descend
to its normal position by its own gravity, on the pressure being with-
drawn from the plunger b. The said latch a is raised on the inside of
the door d¹ by the knob e, or by any other convenient means. The
plunger will vary in length according to the thickness of the door or
other material in which it is inserted. The said plunger need not neces-
sarily be made to pass through the internal plate, as shewn in Figure 1.
In order to make my improved latch a serve the purpose of a bolt or
lock, I pivott above the said latch at fa swing stay or stop 9 which is
formed and arranged for its lower end to fall vertically, or nearly so,
into the notch a¹ formed in the upper edge of the latch a, see Figure 5,
and which stop in this position effectually prevents the latch being
raised from without. The said swing stop is withdrawn by turning it
on the pivot at fand throwing it back to the position shewn in Figure 1,
when the latch a is free to be operated or raised.
When it is desired to secure the door after him by a person leaving
a house, the said person has only to keep the latch a raised by pressure
on the plunger, as in opening the door, and to place the swing stop
with its lower end resting on the said latch, as shewn by the dotted lines
in red in Figure 1, until the door is closed, when by withdrawing the
pressure on the plunger the latch a falls to its normal position and the
swing stop at the same time drops into the notch a¹, as shewn in
Figure 5, and thus prevents the said latch being raised from without, as
previously herein described.
Having thus fully explained the nature of my said Invention, and the
method of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise shape and dimensions of the plunger nor
of the several details now illustrated, nor do I claim the swing stop, per
se, but I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by the herein-before
mentioned in part recited Letters Patent, the method of raising door and

page_text: other latches by a moveable inclined plane, substantially as and for the
purposes herein described and shewn in the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Anthony Wheeler, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.