IMPROVEMENTS IN BURGLAR-PROOF SAFES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert Allman, of 10, Ampthill Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BURGLAR-PROOF SAFES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert Allınan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
August 1865.
I, HERBERT ALLMAN, of 10, Ampthill Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BURGLAR-PROOF SAFES," to be as follows —
My Invention for certain improvements in the construction of burglar-
proof safes is as follows:-I construct the safe in any convenient form, either
cylindrical, square, or polygonal, or of any other form, except in so far as
regards part of the said improvements herein-after described.
The first part of my improvements consists in casting the parts of the safe
so that they become chilled iron or iron chilled in the process of casting, a
result of using metal moulds well known to manufacturers, and which I apply
to the construction of safes. The effect of chilling renders the metal of the
safe so hard as to be proof against the use of cutting tools, such as drills,
centre bits, or such like instruments.

page_text: The second part of my improvements relates to the manner of forming the
door or closure; this I construct so as to slide in a groove, and I form it of
less depth on one side than the other, that is to say, slightly wedge shaped so
that when run forward it fits on three sides in an undercut rebate or groove,
and when run back it stands clear of such groove, and is capable of being turned
on its hinge or joint.
By this arrangement the safe cannot be opened unless the door bo first
drawn back (moved laterally) out of the groove, and then it can be turned on
its hinge. To prevent its being drawn out of the groove the lock of the safe
shoots one or more bolts at right angles to the sliding motion.
Thirdly, in fixing a safe by bolts, I prefer to put on the nuts inside the safe,
and thereby prevent their exposure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Talent, filed
by the said Herbert Allman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
ALLMAN, of 10, Ampthill Square, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, scud
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of August, in the year of our Loid
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Iler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Herbert Allman, Пor special licence that I, the said Herbert Allman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Herbert Allman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
Lse, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BURGLAR-PROOF SAPES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Heibert Allman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or then, 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 with six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Herbert Allman, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is be to
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say)
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
burglar-proof safes, and consists in making the safe so as to present externally
surfaces of so hard a nature as to be very difficult or even impossible to
operate on by cutting tools, and therefore may be said to be practically
impregnable. I construct the safe of any suitable form, either cylindrical,
square, or polygonal, or of any other convenient form. In constructing my
improved safes I cast the parts of the safe in such manner that all the
surfaces to be presented on the outside become chilled iron, that is to say,
the iron becomes chilled in the process of casting, which, as is well known, is
the result of using metal moulds, and is commonly practised. The process of
chilling applied to the construction of safes renders the external metal of the
safe so hard as to resist the action of cutting tools, such as drills, centre bits,
or such like instruments. I connect the parts of the safe in any suitable
manuer, as well understood in the trade, or the safe may even be cast all in
one piece excepting the door which must be hinged or otherwise applied
thereto in a secure manner.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of perform-
ing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the berein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the process of chilling
cast on applied to the construction of safes in order to render them burglar-
proof as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert Allman, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
HERBERT ALLMAN. (L.S.)