IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR DOORS, ESPECIALLY THOSE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Montague Davenport, of No. 35, Leadenhall
Street, London, in the County of Middlesex, Architect, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR DOORS, ESPECIALLY THOSE
Sealed the 20th April 1875, and dated the 8th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Montague Davenport
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th December 1874.
I, MONTAGUE DAVENPORT, of No. 34, Leadenhall Street, London, in
the County of Middlesex, Architect, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR DOORS, ESPECIALLY
THOSE OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
.
This Invention relates to fastenings for doors, especially those of
railway carriages and other vehicles, expressly designed for simplicity
of construction and working and inability to get out of order, combining
also an automatic self fastening when the door is shut to,

page_text: The
The detail of the fastening is a latch with a one-sided handle secured
on the surface of the door by a plate, on which the latch works.
catch is fixed on the surface of door frame. The latch closes upwards
and is kept in its position by the weight of the handle, and is opened
by simply raising the handle, a projecting shoulder preventing its being
lifted unnecessarily high. The handle being let go the latch resumes
its horizontal position, which again enters the catch on the door being
closed, the inside of the latch and outside of the catch meeting each
other with sloping sides to effect the self-closing movement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Montague Davenport in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MONTAGUE
DAVENPORT, of No. 34, Leadenhall Street, London, in the County of
Middlesex, Architect, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Montague Davenport, Her
special licence that I, the said Montague Davenport, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Montague
Davenport, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
time agree

page_text: after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR DOORS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF RAILWAY
CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Montague Davenport, 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 Montague Davenport, 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 following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to fastenings for doors, especially those of
railway carriages and other vehicles, and are expressly designed for
simplicity of construction and working and inability to get out of order,
combining also an automatic self fastening when the door is shut to.
The detail of the fastening is a latch with a one-sided handle secured
on the surface of the door by a plate, on which the latch works. The
catch is fixed on the surface of door frame. The latch closes upward
and is kept in its position by the weight of the handle, and is opened by
simply raising the handle, a projecting shoulder or stop piece preventing
its being lifted unnecessarily high. The handle being let go the latch
resumes its horizontal position, which again enters the catch on the door
being closed, the inside of the latch and outside of the catch meeting
each other with sloping sides to effect the self-closing movement. In
cases where a handle is required on both sides of the door the latch
would work on a spindle.
My Invention will be clearly understood by reference to the annexed
Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a face view; Figure 2, an under side
view; and Figure 3, a perspective.
a is the fastener or latch proper, forming an extension or one end of
a rock lever, whose opposite end. servesas the handle for releasing the
latch end from the claw or catch c, this being secured upon, say, the

page_text: '
door post, by screws or other appliances. The rock lever is centred
at d on a stud projecting from a base plate e, on the inner face of which
the tail of the stud is rivetted within a countersunk hole to hold it firmly
therein. The journal ƒ of the rock lever has a broad bearing upon the
base plate e to prevent vibration, and this with the breadth of the stud
head maintains the rock lever in position for the rocking motion; g is
a stop piece formed in a piece with the base plate e, and against which
the top face of the latch can come into contact, the depth of this stop
piece determining the distance which the latch proper shall enter the
catch. The top of the stop piece has a "cut off" or angle face h,
against which a lip on the rock lever impinges when the handle end
is raised, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1.
The nose of the catch c is chamfered or rounded off from the body to
the edge, and also inclined, as more particularly represented in Figure 3,
the inner face of the latch being also "angled off," so that when the
latch is forced against the nose of the catch it rides down it without a
jerk, the two angled faces being so arranged as to act in unison for
effecting an easy operation of the latch for fastening purposes.
The handle end of the lever has a preponderance of weight over the
latch end, and this serves to hold the latch within the catch while the
door, gate, or other article to which my apparatus is affixed, is closed,
the locking or latching operation taking place automatically.
The handle is so shaped that the lifting action by the hand tends to
open the door, consequently the labour of the opening is reduced to a
minimum, an advantage of importance should my fastener be fitted to
the doors of a railway carriage, for which it is specially intended, there
being no springs or other appendages, as in most other forms of self-
acting fasteners.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
The construction and employment of self-acting fasteners, herein-
before described and shown, and their employment on doors, especially
those of railway carriages and other vehicles, as set forth.
Secondly. I claim the combination of parts and their method of action,
by which doors can be fastened and unfastened with ease, as herein-
before described and shown.
In witness whereof; I, the said Montague Davenport, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Third day of May, One thousand
cight hundred and seventy-five.
MONTAGUE DAVENPORT. (L.S.)
MONTAGUE DAVENPORT. (L.S.)