IMPROVE- MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THIEF AND FIREPROOF SAFES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sacheverell Gisborne, of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Electrical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THIEF AND FIREPROOF SAFES.
MENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THIEF AND FIREPROOF SAFES.
Sealed the 13th November 1866, and dated the 16th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sacheverell Gisborne
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th May 1866.
I, JOHN SACHEVERELL GISBORNE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THIEF AND FIREPROOF SAFES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to enable the proprietors of or persons in
charge of thief and fireproof safes to know whenever any surreptitious inter-
ference with, or improper opening of, or damage to any such safe takes place,
the said interference, opening, or damage being the cause whereby electrical
apparatus connected to or with the safe are made to give a signal or
signals.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I construct the walls or other principal
portions of a safe, or the door or more exposed portion or portions only, or
the lock, bolt, bar, or other fastening, in two portions, say, inner and outer,
and separate or insulate these the one from the other by an electric non-
conducting material or substance such as india-rubber or gutta percha. To.

page_text: the said separated portions I connect wires from a galvanic battery placed in
the safe or other secure position. When so connected the electric circuit is
not complete so soon however as the parts are brought into communication
or contact by a key or "picker" passed into the lock, a drill forced through
the walls or other part, or by other means, the electric circuit will be esta-
blished, and at this instant a signal, say, the ringing of a bell, will be given
either in or at the safe or at any desired distance therefrom. It will be
obvious that, instead of the said interference, opening, or damage being the
cause of establishing the electric circuit it might be the means of breaking
the circuit, and 1 purpose so adjusting the wires and connections when advisable
so to do.
To shew at what time a safe fitted as above, when once locked or fastened,
was opened, or vice versa, I propose to connect the electric conducting wire
to the well-known registering apparatus consisting of clockwork, revolving
cylinder, spaced web of paper and pencil, and when the circuit is completed or
broken, causing the pencil to make an indellible mark.
By thief and fireproof safes I mean all such chests, boxes, and strong
rooms or chambers as are used to contain deeds, money, and other valuable
articles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Sacheverell Gisborne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SACHEVERELL GISBORNE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Electrical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Sacheverell Gisborne, Her special license that I, the said John Sache-
verell Gisborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, 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 AND CONNECTED WITH THIEF AND FIREPROOF SAFES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement (that is to say) :-
The object of my Invention is to enable the proprietors of or persons in
charge of thief and fireproof safes to know whenever any surrepticious inter-
ference with, or improper opening of, or damage to any such safe takes place,
the said interference, opening, or damage being the cause whereby electrical
apparatus connected to or with the safe are made to give a signal or
signals.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I construct the walls or other
principal portions of a safe, or the door or more exposed portion or portions
only, or the lock, bolt, bar, or other fastening, in two portions, say, inner and
outer, and separate or insulate these the one from the other by any non-
conductor of electricity. To the said separated portions I connect wires from
a galvanic battery or magneto-electric generator of electricity placed in the
safe or other secure position. When so connected the electric circuit is not
complete; so soon, however, as the parts are brought into communication or
contact by a key or "picker" passed into the lock, a drill forced through the
walls or other part, or by other means, the electric circuit will be established,
and at this instant a signal, say, the ringing of a bell, will be given either in
or at the safe, or at any desired distance therefrom. It will be obvious that,
instead of the said interference, opening, or damage being the cause of
establishing the electric circuit, it might be the means of breaking the
circuit, and I purpose so adjusting the wires and connections when advisable
so to do.
To shew at what time a safe fitted as above, when once locked or fastened,
was opened, or vice versa, I propose to connect the electric conducting wires
to the well-known registering apparatus consisting of clockwork, revolving
cylinder, spaced web of paper and pencil, and when the circuit is completed
or broken, causing the pencil to make an indelible mark.

page_text: By thief and fireproof safes I mean all such chests, boxes, and strong
rooms or chambers as are used to contain deeds, money, and other valuable
⚫articles.
That others may be enabled to carry my said Invention into practical use,
I have attached hereto a Sheet of illustrative Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a safe with wires and attachments
for signalling either with an open or closed circuit; Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
are views of parts of Fig. 1 drawn to a larger scale. Like letters of refer-
ence denote the same parts in all these views.
a is the body of the safe, that is to say, sides, back, top, and bottom; b, the
door; c is a strip of an insulating material, such as india-rubber or gutta
percha, let into a; and d is a wire or thickness of metal resting therein and
insulated thereby from a; e, f, are respectively insulating material and wire
similar to c, d, let into the door b; 9 are conducting wires, in this arrange-
ment coming through the back of the safe, connected to or in contact
with d, f. When d and f are so fitted that on the closing of 6 they do not
touch each other then the circuit is not completed; if, however, a wedge such
as is shewn by h, in Figs. 2 and 4, is inserted, then the circuit is instantly
completed. When d and f are so fitted that they touch each other then the
electric circuit is complete; in this latter case the wires do not need to be
connected into the safe at the back or other protected part, as in the event of
the wires being severed a signal would be given; the opening of the door and
the breaking of the circuit would also give a signal. It will be obvious that c, d,
or e, f, may be dispensed with and the safe itself made one pole of the battery.
As a protection for the exposed portions of the conducting wires when an
incomplete circuit is the arrangement used, I connect the said wires here
marked to the two strong metal tubes j, one placed within the other, and
make these tubes the conductors, wires, or connections, & being made to d, f,
or to the safe and either d or f. The outer tube j, which I prefer to insu-
late from the safe, as shewn, is separated from the inner one by an insulating
agent, such as india-rubber or gutta percha, marked l. In the event of any
person trying to sever these tubes from the safe by a file or other tool, the
tool itself would complete the circuit and give the signal. To protect the
conducting wires from destruction by fire, they could be carried through
the inner of the two tubes shewn and so be protected.
Fig. 7 represents a transverse section of a safe or strong box, the inner
lining a being separated from the skin or fireproof part 6' by the insulating
material c¹; d¹, d³, are conducting wires connected respectively to a¹ and b³,
that connected to b¹ being insulated where it passes through a¹. In this the

page_text: circuit is incomplete; should a drill be forced through a' to 6' the circuit would
be established.
Figs. 7 and 8 are views respectively in longitudinal and transverse section
of locks, one part of each of which is separated from the other and arranged
to come into use on the completion of the circuit by the insertion of a key or
picker. In Fig. 7, m is one portion of the lock and n the other, these being
separated by the insulating material o. On the insertion of the key on to the
pin p the circuit is not complete; so soon, however, as the key is turned
round to the position shewn in dotted lines so as to touch the wards or parts
in m the circuit is complete. The conducting wires 9 are connected to m
and n.
In Fig. 8 the front plate r is insulated from the back plate sand
safe t by the insulating material u. The conducting wires v, v', are connected
respectively to 7 and 8, t. The insertion of the key or of a picker is here
the means of completing the circuit so as to insure that the instrument or tool
will touch both poles of the battery, a sliding metallic piece wis fitted in r ;
this has to be pushed against and made to slide out of the way before the key
can be entered so as to operate on the lock.
Fig. 9 shews part of double doors w for a safe or strong room to which the
conducting wires a, a³, are connected, a being insulated as it passes through w.
When the doors are closed the circuit is complete by contact of the end of
the. wire and the bolt y, but whenever the doors are opened the circuit is
broken and a signal given.
i
It will be obvious the most convenient place in which to have the battery
or generator of electricity and the signalling apparatus is the police office, for
on burglarious or improper interference with the safe a signal would be given
in the proper quarter. The character of the signal it is unnecessary here to
explain; there are many arrangements well known to electricians for giving
both audible and visible signals. The clockwork mentioned above is so well
understood that further description is not necessary.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and described
details by which the same can be carried into effect, I would have it under-
stood that such details may be varied without departing from the leading
features of my said Invention; I would also have it understood that for
economical working and certainty of action, without frequent attention, that I
prefer that arrangement in which the circuit is not completed or made when
the safe is closed. What I claim is,―
First, connecting or combining electrical apparatus to or with thief and
fire proof safes in such manner that the completion or making of the electric

page_text: circuit by the application of tools or implements. is the means of giving signals,
substantially as set forth and illustrated by the Drawings.
Secondly, connecting or combining electrical apparatus to or with safes,
substantially as described and shewn on the Drawings, when the breaking of
'an electric circuit is the means of giving signals.
And, thirdly, connecting or combining clockwork of the kind herein-before
described, with thief and fireproof safes for the purpose set forth..
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN SACHEVERELL GISBORNE. (L.S.)
In the presence of
JOHN T. KING,
Patent Agent,
Liverpool.
..