IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE AND THIEF-PROOF SAFES, CHESTS, AND STRONG-ROOM DOOBS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Walter Henry Tucker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
February 1865.
I, WALTER HENRY TUCKER, of 6, Southampton Street, Strand, London,.
W.C., do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FIRE AND THIEF-PROOF SAFES, CHESTS, AND STRONG-ROOM DOOBS," to be as
follows:-
The first improvement has for its purpose the construction of what is
technically termed the "body" of a safe or chest in such a manner that it
shall present no external joints for the insertion of wedges or chisels into it,
the bodies of safes as now constructed of several pieces dovetailed or riveted
together being readily broken open by the use of such instruments; and the
manner in which I effect this purpose is, either by casting the body of the safe
or chest entire of malleable iron or steel, or any other suitable malleable or
non-brittle material; or by making it in parts, and welding the several parts of
which it may be formed into one homogeneous whole, so that in neither case
would there be any joints left for the insertion of wedges or chisels into the
bodies of such safes or chests, while from the malleable nature of the material
used in their construction there would be no liability of their becoming
fractured, either by blows or by sudden changes in their temperature, such as
would exist were they made of common or non-malleable cast iron, or other.
non-malleable or brittle material.

page_text: The second improvement is also for the purpose of protecting the body of a
safe or chest from the operations of wedges, chisels, or other burglar's instru-
ments; and in this case I produce the desired effect by the construction and
use of a homogeneous jacket or case, either cast or welded together in parts
(as described for the first improvement) in some malleable metal or material,
for the purpose of enclosing the safe proper within it, by which means a safe
or chest put together in the ordinary way may be rendered more secure
through the protection afforded to it by the homogeneous jacket in which it is
encased. But I do not limit.my use of such a malleable homogeneous jacket
to the casing-of safes or chests of the ordinary construction alone, but claim
its use or application to safes or chests of all kinds, whether made with doors
of their own, or otherwise, or whatever may be their mode of construction or
combination with the said jacket, or whatever may be the materials of which
they are made. As the advantages resulting from the use of the malleable
homogeneous body and the malleable homogeneous jacket, respectively con-
stituting the first and second improvements herein-before described, may be
partially obtained by casting or welding certain portions only of the said
bodies or jackets, so as to leave some part or parts of them to be fastened by
other means, I hereby separately claim the use of such partially cast or
welded bodies or jackets for the purpose of obtaining the important but still
limited security against the instruments of burglars, which such partial casting
or welding the said bodies of or jackets for safes or chests is calculated to
produce.
The third improvement is for the purpose of firmly connecting the large
lock bolts to the doors of safes, chests, and strong rooms, and to the doors of
the before-mentioned jackets; and to produce this effect I either cast with,
or weld, or otherwise fasten to the said doors strong pieces, into, under,
or through which the bolts themselves are caused to pass, thereby giving the
said bolts a tenacity of connection with the doors which is unattainable where
the bolts are only indirectly secured to the doors by the fastenings of the lock
case, as is now the practice in safes.
The fourth improvement is for the purpose of firmly fixing the lock cases to.
the doors of safes or chests, and jackets for the same, and to the.doors of
strong rooms; and this effect I produce by casting with or welding, or
brazing on to the insides of such doors strong projecting pieces, so formed"
and situated 'that the lock case can be connected to the said projecting pieces
by screws, nuts, or other fastenings, and be, in consequence of the rigidity of
the said projecting pieces, more firmly fixed to the doors than by any of the
means at present in usc.
.1

page_text: The fifth improvement is for the purpose of giving increased firmness to.
those parts of the before-mentioned jackets, and to those parts of such safes,
chests, or strong-room doors (as are made of a malleable material), into ori
behind which parts the lock bolts shoot, in order to keep the doors of the said:
safes, chests, or strong-rooms fast; and I effect this purpose by casting with,
or welding, or brazing on to the bodies of the said safes or chests, or jackets
for the same, or the door frames of the said strong-rooms, parts suitably:
formed for the reception of the said lock bolts, in place of or in addition to
screwing or riveting on the said parts, as is now done.
The sixth improvement is for the purpose of increasing the rigidity of thei
bodies of safes and chests, or jackets for the same, and of the frames of strong:
room doors; which effect I produce by casting with, or welding, or otherwise
fixing to the said bodies or frames certain parts so formed and situated that
recesses or projections in or upon the doors of the said safes, chests, jackets,
or strong rooms shall as the said doors are closed fasten upon or into the
parts attached to or forming part of the said bodies or frames, and thereby
bind and hold them firmly together, the doors themselves by this means being
caused to give increased strength and rigidity to the bodies or frames which
surround them.
The seventh improvement has for its purposes, first, that of casting the
doors of safes, chests, and jackets for the same, and the doors of strong rooms
of malleable cast iron or steel, or any other malleable or non-brittle material;
and, secondly, such a formation of the inner and outer plates of the doors of
strong rooms, and of the inner and outer plates of the doors or of the bodies
of safes, chests, or jackets for the same, when they are rendered drill-proof, by
the insertion of hardened steel, chilled iron, or other drill-proof material
between the said plates, that they may be fastened together without making
either screw or rivet holes in the outer plates of such doors or bodies; and
this I effect by casting with or welding to the inner surface of the said outer
plates strong studs or other projections which pass through the drill-proof
material and the inner plate of the door or body, to which inner plate they
may then be screwed, nutted, or riveted as required. In some cases I also
make the said outer plate with a raised rim or border on its inner surface,
which rim serves not only to encase the edges of the inner and the drill-proof
plates, but may also be riveted or pressed over the edges of the inner plate, so
as to bind the two plates firmly together, and give stability to the drill-proof
material between them.
The 8th improvement consists in so forming and arranging the body plates
of a safe, chest, or jacket for the same, that the fastenings which connect the

page_text: said plates shall not come through to the exteriors of such safes, chests, or
jackets; and I effect this by casting with, or welding, or brazing to the
insides of some of the said plates strong. projections, so formed, and with the
necessary perforations through them, that projections cast with, or welded, or
brazed to others of the said plates may be fitted to and riveted or otherwise
fastened to the strong projections named, so that the said fastenings shall be
inaccessible from the exteriors of the said safes, chests, or jackets; or I effect
it by casting with, welding, or brazing to the insides of the said body plates
strong projecting pieces, which can be passed through suitable holes in an
internal frame, and be thereto secured, so that the fastenings shall be
inaccessible from the outsides of the said plates..