AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR GATES AND DOORS
Year: 1864

page_text: 4.
LETTERS PATENT to John Eldridge Spratt, of Margaret Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Surgeon, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
FASTENING FOR GATES AND DOORS."
Sealed the 13th October 1864, and dated the 19th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Eldridge Spratt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th April 1864.
I, JOHN ELDRIDGE SPRATT, of Margaret Street, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Ax
IMPROVED FASTENING FOR GATES AND DOORS," to be as follows:-
My fastening consists of a plate on which are suspended upon pins two
lugs or catches, each of which rests at bottom upon a ledge, and between
which there is a space or opening; each lug is free to swing inwards, and is
prevented from swinging or moving, outwards by the ledge upon which it rests
at bottom..
Supposing this apparatus fixed to a gate post, and the gate be free to
swing in either direction, and to be provided with a bolt or bar, then upon
the bar moving along the ledge in either direction it will move one of the lugs
inwards, and as soon as it has passed under that lug the lug, falls, and the bolt
coming in contact with the other; lug fails to move it outwards, and is thus
held between the two lugs until it or one of the lugs is raised to liberate it.

page_text: I prefer to use a lever bolt moving on a fixed point, the outer end provided
with a handle, which on being depressed raises the engaged end of the bolt
and frees it from the fastening. If applied to a gate or door moving in one
direction only. then one lug and a fixed stop will be sufficient.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Eldridge Spratt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ELDRIDGE SPRATT, of Margaret Street, in the County of Middlesex, Surgeon,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant 'unto me,
the said John Eldridge Spratt, Her special licence that I, the said John
Eldridge Spratt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Eldridge Spratt, 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 "AN
IMPROVED FASTENING FOR GATES AND DOORS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Eldridge Spratt, 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 Eldridge Spratt, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is 'to 'say:
:-
My fastening consists of a plate on' which are suspended upon pins two:lugs
ör catches, each of which rests at bottom upon 'a ledge, 'and 'between which
there is a 'space or opening. Each lug is free to swing inwards, and is pre-

page_text: vented from swinging or moving outwards by the ledge upon which it rests at
bottom.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a face view of my improved
fastening. A is a plate on which two lugs or catches B, B', are suspended
upon pins C, C'; each of the lugs B, B', rests at bottom upon a ledge D;
there is a space between the two lugs, as shewn.
Supposing this apparatus fixed to a gate post, and the gate be free to swing
in either direction, and to be provided with a bolt or bar, then upon the bar
moving along the ledge D in either direction it will move one of the lugs, say
the lug B', inwards into the position indicated by the dotted lines, and as soon
as it has passed under the lug the lug falls, and the bolt coming in contact
with the other lug B fails to move it outwards, and is thus held between the
two lugs until it or one of the lugs is raised to liberate it. I prefer to use a
lever bolt moving on a fixed point, the outer end provided with a handle,
which on being depressed raises the engaged end of the bolt, and frees it from
the fastening. When my fastening is to be applied to a gate or door moving.
in one direction only, then one lug and a fixed stop are sufficient.
Figure 2 shews a fastening with one lug. B suspended on a plate A upon a
pin C; D is the ledge on which the lug rests at bottom; and E is a stop for
the bolt or bar attached to the gate or door.
And 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 improved
fastening for gates and doors, herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Eldridge Spratt, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
J. ELDRIDGE SPRATT. (L.S.)