IMPROVEMENTS IN MORTICE LOCKS AND LATCHES, AND OTHER LOCKS AND LATCHES
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Cummins Harvey and
Thomas Walton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st February 1871.
We, HENRY CUMMINS HARVEY, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Lock Manufacturer, and THOMAS WALTON, of Birmingham,
aforesaid, Locksmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MORTICE LOCKS AND LATCHES, AND OTHER LOCKS AND
LATCHES," to be as follows:-
:-
Our Invention consists in constructing and arranging in the manner
herein-after described the parts of locks and latches.
Our Invention is specially applicable to mortice locks and latches, but
may also be applied to other locks and latches.
We will describe our Invention as applied to a mortice lock and latch
in which the same bolt is used both as the lock bolt and latch bolt.
Upon the bolt of the lock and latch we
working in a recess made across the bolt.
place a slide, the said slide
The said slide is shorter in
length than the breadth of the bolt, and is capable of moving from side

page_text: to side or across the bolt in the recess described.
In the rear end of the
bolt is a slot or opening in which a strong stump fixed to both sides of
the lock case engages, the motion of the bolt being limited by the said
stump. The slide described has in its rear end a recess of the same
width, but of somewhat less length than the slot in the bolt. When
the said slide is brought to one side of the bolt its recess is immediately
over and coincides with the slot or opening in the bolt, and the said bolt
can be moved backwards, that is, its acting end may be withdrawn from
the staple.
When the said slide is brought to the other side of the bolt
its recess no longer coincides with the slot or opening in the bolt, and
the bolt can no longer be withdrawn. The front end of the said slide is
made of a figure proper for the key of the lock to engage with. Upon
the bolt is a lever of the ordinary kind, in the gating of which lever a
stump on the slide works.
The action of the lock is as follows:-When the key is introduced into
the lock and turned it first acts upon the lever, bringing it into the
position proper to allow of the stump on the slide passing from its lower
gating into its upper gating. The key next acts upon the slide, bringing
it into the position in which it fixes the bolt, and on the removal of the
key the stump on the slide engages in the upper gating of the lever and
prevents the return motion of the slide, until by the action of the proper
key the lever is brought into the required position. The withdrawal of the
bolt when locked is resisted by the strong stump described instead of by
the lever or gating stump, as in ordinary locks. Around the follower of
the latch we place loose bushes, by which the motion of the follower is
greatly facilitated, and its liability to become fast wholly or mainly
removed. The case of the lock is made of sheet metal turned up at its
edges and end, the two parts meeting at or about the middle of the edge.
of the said case. In order to strengthen the case as well as to provide
a guide for fitting on the cover of the case, we fix raised strips of metal
inside the case along the whole length of the sides and into the fore end.
The case of the lock is but little larger than the bolt, the said bolt
almost wholly filling up the said case. We make the keyhole double,
that is, we make an opening for the bit of the key above and below the
circular opening at which the stem of the key is introduced. By this
arrangement the lock can be used on a door however hung without any
alteration. The follower by which the door knob is made to act upon
the bolt is constructed as follows:-On the periphery of the follower is

page_text: a projecting tooth, which engages in a recess or between two teeth on
the crank of the follower; or the tooth may be on the crank, and the
recess in the follower. By this arrangement the latch knob only
requires to be moved through a small angle to effect the withdrawal
of the bolt.