A NEW OR IMPROVED LOCK
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Sandell Mappin, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED LOCK."
Sealed the 20th June 1862, and dated the 20th January 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Sandell Mappin at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th January 1862.
I, WALTER SANDELL MAPPIN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW OR IMPROVED LOCK," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a lock constructed essentially as follows:-To the
face plate or casing of the lock a short cylinder made in one or more pieces
is fixed, the diameter of the said cylinder being greater than its length. In
the axis of this cylinder is a cylindrical hole, and in the said, hole a second or
small cylinder made in one or more pieces is made accurately to fit, and to
be capable of a rotatory motion therein. In the axis of the small cylinder is a
hole into which the key of the lock enters for locking or unlocking the lock.
In both the cylinders one or more rows of holes are made. The said holes
being situated radially, but at unequal distances apart, each hole in one
cylinder being a continuation or prolongation of one of the holes in the other
cylinder. Each of the said holes is provided with a bolt, the end of each bolt
in the small cylinder being presented to the end of a bolt in the large cylinder.
Springs in the outer ends of each of the holes in the large cylinder press the
bolts inwards, forcing the end of each of the bolts in the large cylinder into the
holes of the small cylinder, the ends of the bolts in the small cylinder being

page_text: forced more or less into the hole in which the key is inserted. The small
cylinder is thus prevented from turning in the large cylinder. The key is so
shaped at its end that when inserted in its place it projects each of the bolts
in the inner cylinder, so far that the ends of the said bolts are exactly flush
with the outer surface of the said cylinder, and the ends of the bolts in the
large cylinder are flush with the inner surface of the said large cylinder. The
small cylinder can now turn in the larger one, and the bolt of the lock may
be shot or withdrawn. If a false key is used, some of the bolts are pressed
too far, or not sufficiently far, and the inner cylinder cannot be turned as it
is only when each of the said bolts is pressed to the exact distance necessary
to bring its end flush with the surface of the cylinder in which it works that
the inner cylinder can be turned in the outer one...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Walter Sandell Mappin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
SANDELL MAPPIN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Walter Sandell Mappin, Her special licence that I, the said Walter
Sandell Mappin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Walter Sandell Mappin, 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 Inven-
tion for "A NEW OR IMPROVED LOCK," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Walter Sandell Mappin, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or 'one of their 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Walter Sandell Mappin, 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a lock constructed essentially in the manner
herein-after explained and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
1. Figure 1 represents in front elevation the principal internal mechanism of
a lock constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a similar elevation
with the annular plates a, b, of Figure 1 removed; Figure 3 is a back eleva-
tion; and Figure 4 is the same, with the plate c Figure 3, removed; Figure 5
is a section of the same taken through the line d of Figure 2; and Figure 6
is a section of the same taken through the line e of Figure 4; Figure 7 is an
edge view of the outer cylinder f; and Figure 8. is an edge view of the inner
cylinder 9- The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 1 to 8 both
inclusive. f is a short hollow cylinder made in one or more pieces, and
attached to the lock case in the manner herein-after explained.. In the axis
of the said hollow cylinder f, and in the cylindrical hole of the said cylinder,.is
a second hollow cylinder g, which said cylinder g. is also made in one or more
pieces, and is fitted accurately in the cylinder f, so as to be able to perform
a rotatory motion therein. In the hole in the axis of the cylinder g,. the key
of the lock is inserted for the purpose of locking and. unlocking the lock.
The key. of the lock is represented in side elevation in Figure 9, and in end
elevation in Figure 10. In each of the cylinders f, g, one or more rows of
holes or grooves are made, the said holes or grooves being situated radially,
but by preference at unequal distances apart. The lock represented in the
Drawing has two of the said rows of radial holes or grooves. The positions
of the radial holes or grooves in the upper part or front of the lock are
indicated by the letters h, in Figures 2, 5, 7, and 8 and the positions. of the
radial holes or grooves at the lower part or back of the lock are indicated by
the letters i in Figures 4, 6, 7, and 8. The radial holes or grooves h and i are
common to both the cylinders f and g, when the inner cylinder g. is brought
into one particular position within the outer cylinder f. In those portions of
the holes or grooves h which are in the outer cylinder f, bolts marked k are
placed, and in those portions of the holes or grooves h, which are in the
inner cylinder g, bolts marked are placed. In the lower row of holes or
grooves i, bolts marked m and n' are situated, the bolts m occupying. those
portions of the holes or grooves i which are in the outer cylinder f, and the
bolts marked n occupying those portions of the holes or grooves i which are
situated in the inner cylinder g. As the construction. and action of the lower

page_text: row of bolts in the holes or grooves i exactly resemble the construction and
action of the bolts k, l, in the holes or grooves h, I will for convenience of
description herein-after only refer to the upper row of bolts k, l, the descrip-
tion which I shall give of the action of the said upper row of bolts being
equally. applicable to the lower row of bolts.
Figure 11 represents in elevation and plan' one of the bolts situated in the
holes or grooves in the outer cylinder; and Figure 12 represents in elevation
and plan one of the bolts situated in the inner cylinder. When the inner
cylinder is in the position within the outer cylinder, represented in Figures
2, 4, 5, and 6, the end of each bolt in the outer cylinder is presented to the end
of a bolt in the inner cylinder. The bolts k in the outer cylinder fare pressed
inwards by a series of helical springs o, or other springs, each [of which is
made to act on one of the bolts k. The several parts of the lock, Figures 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are in the positions they respectively occupy when the key
is not in the lock, that is, the bolts k in the outer cylinder f are pressed by
the spring o into the holes in the inner cylinder 9, and the bolts / in the
inner cylinder g are forced so far as they can move towards the centre of
the lock. The bolt of the lock is moved in the manner herein-after explained
by the rotation of the cylinder g. This rotation can only take place when
the inner bolts are severally pushed so far outwards or from the centre of
the lock as to bring the inner ends of the bolts k flush with the inner surface
of the cylinder f, and the outer ends of the bolts 7 flush with the outer surface
of the cylinder g, that is, the rotation of the cylinder g within the cylinder f
can only take place when no part of any of the bolts k enters the holes in
the inner cylinder g, and no part of any of the bolts enters the holes in the
outer cylinder f. The key, Figures 9 and 10, is so formed that when intro-
duced into the centre of the lock, and pushed forward; it presses the several
bolts so far outwards as is necessary to bring them into the positions last
described, when the inner cylinder g is free to turn in the outer cylinder f, and
by giving a rototary motion to the key the turning of the inner cylinder g may
be effected, and the bolt of the lock shot or withdrawn. The part of the key
marked 4 operates upon the upper row of bolts, and the part of the key
marked 5 operates upon the lower row of bolts. On withdrawing the key
from the lock the bolts resume the positions represented in Figures 2, 4, 5,
and 6, and the cylinder g is no longer capable of turning in the cylinder f.
If a false key is introduced into the lock some of the bolts are pushed
outwards too far or not far enough and the cylinder 9 cannot be turned.
When a false key is introduced into the lock it is made to lock one of the bolts
in the following manner:-The mechanism, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, is

page_text: fixed in the lock case, Figures 13 and 14, by means of two screws at p, q,
Figure 13. These screws are passed from the back plater and engage in
the front plates. The said screws support the mechanism, Figures 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, and 7, by engaging in the slots t and u in the cylinder f.. As the
slots t and u are rather larger than the diameter of the screws at p, q, the
cylinderfis capable of a slight play or rototary motion in the case r, s, and
when a false key is introduced into the lock and turned in either direction
the cylinder is moved slightly in the same direction. This effects the
locking of one of the bolts by means of the lever v, Figure 2. On the upper
end of the lever v is a pin w, which engages in the hole a in the front plates,
Figure 13, the said pin w fitting the said hole x accurately. When the
cylinder fis turned slightly, one of the curved cheeks y of the cylinder fis
pressed against the middle of the lever v, and one or other of the ends v², v²,
of the said lever vis pressed forcibly against one of the two bolts k, against
which the ends of the lever are situated, and the pressure or binding which
might otherwise be produced on some of the other bolts is prevented. The
motion of the inner cylinder f is made to effect the moving of the lock bolt z
.by a pin 2 on the back of the inner cylinder g engaging in a slot in the bolt z.
This bolt is shown separately in Figure 15, and the slot is marked 3.
Figure 16 represents in front elevation the internal mechanism of a lock
similar to that already described excepting that the bolts in the outer cylinder
are all pressed inwards by one spring instead of each of the said bolts being
pressed inwards by a separate spring. Figure 17 represents the same in
front elevation, with the plates 6, 7, of Figure 16 removed. Figure 18 repre-
sents the same in back elevation with the back plate removed, and Figure 19
represents a section of the same taken through the line 8, Figure 17. The
spring 10, which presses simultaneously on the outer ends of all the bolts in
the outer cylinder, consists of a strip of steel or other elastic metal bent into
the figure of a ring with its ends overlapping and unjoined. This spring
is represented in front and side elevation in Figure 20. As the lock, Figures
16, 17, 18, and 19, resembles that already described in all respects excepting
in the kind of spring employed, I do not think it necessary further to describe
the said lock.
Figure 21 represents in front elevation a lock having separate springs to
5 operate on the bolts in the outer cylinder. These springs marked 11 are
made of sheet steel or other elastic metal, and their form and the method
of attaching them will be understood by an examination of the Drawing.
The bolts I employ may either have parallel sides, as represented in Figure 22,
or they may be wedge shaped in section, as represented in Figure 23. In

page_text: the latter case the holes or slots in the cylinders are made of a similar figure
with the narrow edge turned outwards. The bolts, Figure 23, are inserted
by a sliding motion in the wedge shaped slots in the cylinders, and they
require no plate to be placed over them to keep them in the holes or slots.
Or the bolts may be made of a cylindrical figure, as represented in Figure 24.
Figure 25 represents in section the internal mechanism of a lock having
cylindrical bolts. Although in the several locks described and represented
two rows of holes and bolts are employed, yet the lower row of holes and
bolts at the back or under side of the cylinders may be dispensed with, and
where it is thought desirable more than two rows of holes and bolts may be
employed.
The circular spring herein described and represented in Figure 20 may
be applied to all locks in which radial bolts requiring to be pressed inwards
are employed.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in
the Drawings as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
Invention; but I claim as my Invention,-
of my
Firstly, a new or improved lock, the parts of which are constructed and
combined substantially in the manner herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, the application of the circular spring of steel or other elastic
metal herein-before described and represented separately in Figure 20 of the
accompanying Drawings to all such locks as have radial bolts or slides which
require to be pressed inwards.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Sandell Mappin, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
WALTER SANDELL MAPPIN. (L.S.)
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.