IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAFES OR RECEPTACLES FOR SECURING AND PROTECTING VALUABLE PROPERTY
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Loysel at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th March
1865.
I, EDWARD LOYSEL, of Park Place, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAFES OR RECEPTACLES FOR SECURING AND
PROTECTING VALUABLE PROPERTY," to be as follows:-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Safes or Receptacles
for Securing and Protecting Valuable Property" has for its object to con-
struct these receptacles in such a manner as effectually to defy the attacks of
burglars.-
It is well known that burglars seldom take the trouble to pick the locks of
safes, doors, drawers, or other places they wish to open when searching for
valuable property, but they usually adopt the speedier method of forcing open
the door by means of chisels, crowbars, or other appliances of the kind.
My Invention consists in protecting or covering the entrance to the safe
with a moveable steel wall, which, when released from the bolts which retain
it in its place, may be moved laterally so as to uncover and expose the opening
or entrance. To this end, in one form of safe the body is constructed of two
concentric cylinders with an annular space between them to receive the
moveable steel wall before mentioned. Access is obtained to the interior of
the safe through an opening of any convenient shape made in the side, and
closed by a door mounted on binges and secured by a good ordinary safe lock.

page_text: This door is fixed on the inner cylinder, and acts in every way as an ordinary
safe door, but access is barred to this door by the steel wall, which consists of
a strong curved steel plate of suitable thickness. This plate is made to run
on rollers in the space between the inner and outer cylinders, and can be
moved laterally in its grooves. It is capable of being pushed on one side with
facility when released from the safety bolts by which it is held in place. These
safety bolts (of which there may be several) are secured by good locks, which
are capable of being opened by suitable keys. For further security, an addi-
tional or outer door may be employed, and thus complete the outer cylinder,
but, if desired, this additional door may be dispensed with. Sometimes it will
be found convenient to place the protecting steel wall in the top or end of the
cylindrical safe, and cause it to rotate on a central point, so as to expose the
opening in the inner cylinder.
As a modification, when it is required to adapt the Invention to a flat
surface, a lining of metal is arranged, so that a space between it and the
outer metal wall may be left, in which a steel wall plate may be made to slide
laterally in a straight line between the inner and outer plates as in the
circular safe. An inner and also an outer door may also be employed, as in the
former instance, and are secured by means of suitable locks. In order to
prevent the walls of the safe from being pierced with cutting tools, I propose
to make them of iron, in which that kind of iron known in the manufacture
as spiegeleisen is largely employed. This particular kind of iron is exceedingly
hard, and when cast in combination with other iron will present a surface
which will be all but impervious to any of the cutting instruments usually
employed by burglars.