Improvements in the Manufacture of Safes or Strong Rooms.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 18th May, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 19th Feb., 1900-Accepted, 24th Mar., 1900
Improvements in the Manufacture of Safes or Strong Rooms.
I, DANIEL ROWLINSON RATCLIFF, of 51, Moorgate Street, in the City of London,
Safe Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as
follows:-
The object of my invention is to make safes or strong rooms in an efficient manner
and with a minimum of joints and of great strength. According to my invention I
provide a plate of sufficient length to make the front, back, and two sides of the safe
or strong room and of a width corresponding to the height of the safe or strong room
with the addition of portions to form flanges to be turned over at top and bottom.
The part of the plate at front is cut away to form the opening for the door but
leaving portions around the opening to support the door-frame. Angular pieces are
cut out at the sides of the plate where the corners of the safe or strong room are to
occur, the said angular pieces being cut to a depth corresponding to the width of the
flanges which are to be bent over at top and bottom. The plate is bent so as to form
the front, back, and two sides, the place at which the two ends of the plate meet being
at any suitable part of the sides, or back, or front, but preferably at or about, the
centre of the back, and the flanges at top and bottom are turned over. Plates to
form the top and bottom are then put in place from the inside by abutting them
against the internal faces of the flanges. Their external faces may be flush with the
general line of the outside surface of the safe or strong room or additional plates may
be put in between the flanges to make the top and bottom flush. The door frame is
put in place and secured against the internal faces of the parts constituting the
Hanges around the front with, or without, the intervention of filling pieces or
strips.
In place of making an opening in the plate to form the door opening, the plate
may be bent so that the door opening is between the two ends which are turned
over to form the side flanges the top and bottom flanges being formed on the top and
bottom plates.
1000

page_text: I, DANIEL ROWLINSON RATCLIFF, of 51, Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Safe
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 my invention is to make safes, or strong rooms, in an efficient
manner, and with a minimum of joints and of great strength. According to my
invention I provide a plate of sufficient length to make the front, back, and two
sides, of the safe, or strong room, and of a width corresponding to the height of the
safe, or strong room, with the addition of portions to form flanges to be turned over
at top and bottom. The part Part of the plate at front is cut away to form the
opening for the door but leaving portions around the opening to support the door-
frame. Angular pieces are cut out at the sides of the plate where the corners of the
safe, or strong room, are to occur, the said angular pieces being cut to a depth
corresponding to the width of the flanges which are to be bent over at top and
bottom. The plate is bent so as to form the front, back, and two sides, the place at
which the two ends of the plate meet being at any suitable part of the sides, or back
er-front but preferably at, or about, the centre of the back, and the flanges at top
and bottom are turned over. Plates to form the top and bottom are then put in
place from the inside by abutting them against the internal faces of the flanges.
Their external faces may be flush with the general line of the outside surface of the
safe, or strong room; or additional plates may be put in between the flanges to make
the top and bottom flush. The door frame is put in place and secured against the
internal faces of the parts constituting the flanges around the front of the safe with,
or without, the intervention of filling pieces, or strips.
In-place of making an opening-in-the-plate-to-form-the-door opening the plate
may be bent-so-that-the-door-opening is between the two-ends-which-are-turned
over-to-form-the-side flanges-the-top-and-bottom-flanges being formed on the--top
and-bottom-plates.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in plan a plate from which the
main body of the safe, or strong room, is to be made according to my invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the main body as formed, and Figure 3 is a trans-
verse vertical section on the line 1-2 Figure + shewing the top and bottom plates
and door frame in position. Figure-1-shows-in-plan-a-plate from which a modified
construction-of-safe-is-made. Figure 5 is a horizontal-section-of the-same-when
bent-to-form-the-body-of-the-safe-and-Figure 6-is-an-edge view of a--top-or-bottom
plate-detached. Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 the The plate A is of sufficient size
to form, when bent into shape, the front, back, and two sides, of the body of the safe,
the portion of the said plate which is to form the front, when the plate is bent to
form the body of the safe, having a part cut away as shewn at B to form the door-
way the opening thus made being of such a size as to leave a flange or surrounding
portion a of metal to support the door frame D. The plate A is sufficiently large to
provide for bending sufficient of the upper and lower parts of the said plate inwards,
to at right angles to the sides, back, and front, of the safe, to form internal flanges b
as shewn in Figures 2 and 3. To permit of these flanges 6 being formed triangular
notches c are formed in the upper and lower edges of the plate at the parts where
the plate is to be bent to form the vertical corners of the safe, the adjacent sides of
each of the said notches c when the flanges b are formed and the plate is bent into
position shape coming into contact so as to make a close joint. The flanges 6 having
been formed the top plate C and the bottom plate C¹ are inserted and secured

page_text: respectively to the upper and lower internal flanges 6 after which plates may be
secured to the exterior surfaces of the top and bottom plates to fill up the recesses
formed between the edges of the surrounding internal flanges b, so as to form flush
surfaces at the top and bottom of the safe. Instead of attaching plates to the top
and bottom of the safe the said top and bottom plates may be formed with a pro-
jecting centre position portion which will fill the space between the flanges and
form a flush surface when the said top and bottom plates are fixed in position. The
door frame D is inserted through the door-way B and is secured to the interior
surface of the metal front a which surrounds the said doorway. The joint at the
back of the safe where the ends of the plate meet may be covered by a plate_either
in the interior or on the exterior but preferably on the interior of the safe. In--the
arrangement illustrated by Figure--the-plate-as-shewn in Figure-1 from-which-the
body-of-the-safe-is-to-be-made-is-not-provided with an opening-to-form-the-doorway
but-the-sides-of-the-opening-for-the-doorway-are-formed by-the-ends-of-the-plate
when-bent-into-shape.-In-this-construction-there-is-no-joint-down-the back of the
safe us in the-arrangement-before-described, there are however as before internal
flanges-formed-at-the-upper-and-lower-ends-of-the-plate-to-receive-the-plates-which
form-the-top-and-bottom of the--safe--the said-top-and-bottom plates-CC¹--each
having-a-turned-up-end as shewn-at-e-in-Figure-6-to form the top-and-bottom--of
the doorway-when-the-said top and bottom-plates-are-fixed-in-position. Plates--or
filling pieces are fixed to the-exterior-of-the-top-and-bottom-plates of the cafe--to
form Hush surfaces ns-in-the-arrangement Figure-2. The-door-frame can be-formed
by-securing-strips-of-metal /-to the metal surrounding the doorway and filling pieces
such-as-y-may-be inserted-where-required to make external-flush-surfaces.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Forming the front back and sides of a safe or strong room from a single plate
having an opening therein to form the doorway and bent into shape substantially as
hereinbefore described.
2. Forming the front, back and sides of a safe or strong room and flanges to
receive the top and bottom and the door frame of the safe or strong room from a
single plate shaped and bent substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 19th day of Fe
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.