A NEW OR IMPROVED DOOR FASTENER
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gorse, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED DOOR
FASTENER."A communication.
Sealed the 30th January 1857, and dated the 8th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gorse at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
August 1856.
I, WILLIAM GORSE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED DOOR FASTENER;" that the same has been communicated to me by a
foreigner residing abroad, to be as follows:-
The said door fastener consists of an instrument to be used for fastening
doors, so that the said doors cannot be opened excepting from the interior of
the room.
The said fastener consists essentially of two plates of metal jointed
together so as to turn upon one another, one of the said plates being longer
than the other. The loose end of the longer plate is serrated and turned at
right angles, and the loose end of the shorter plate is also turned up; on the
inner face of the longer plate, or on another parallel plate lying thereon, an
incline or wedge is formed. In using the fastener, the short arm is turned

page_text: aside from off the long arm, and the said long arm is placed against the inner
face of the door frame, the serrated end bearing against the said door frame;
the door is then closed, and as it closes it presses upon the wedge and forces
the teeth into the door case. When the door is quite closed the short arm is
turned upon the long arm, and the end of the said short arm bearing against
the door, prevents the said door from being opened until the said short arm
has been restored to its original position, which can only be done by some one
in the room. A second short arm may be situated on the outer side of the
long arm to act as a guage in placing the fastener against the door case.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gorse in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GORSE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,. send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Gorse, Her special licence, that, I, the said William Gorse, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Gorse, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED DOOR
FASTENER," a communication, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Gorse, 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 William Gorse, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
The said Invention consists of the instrument or apparatus, herein-after
particularly explained, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for fasten-
ing doors, so that the said doors cannot be opened excepting from the interior
of the room, or that side of the door at which the fastening is applied.
a
Figure represents in front elevation, Figure 2 in back elevation, and
Figure 3 in side elevation, the new or improved fastener of the full size.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent the method of applying the same to.a door.
is a plate of metal, being serrated or toothed on its edge, as shewn at a¹; b is
a plate of brass or other metal, jointed to the plate a at c; the said plate 6 has
two inclines b¹, b¹, made thereon, d is another plate of metal, of the form
which will be understood by an examination of Figure 2; e is another plate of
metal, resembling the plate d, excepting that its edge is straight instead of
curved. The plates d and e are secured by the pin c to the plates a, b; the
plate d is capable of turning upon the plate b, as indicated in dotted lines in
Figure 1, and as shewn in Figure 4. In using the improved fastener, the
plate dis turned aside from off the plate b, as shewn in Figure 4. The instru-
ment is placed against the door frame, in the manner represented in Figure 4,
the teeth a' being placed against the inside of the door frame f, and the
plate e serving as a stop or guide to determine the position of the fastener.
The door g (see Figure 5) is closed, and pressing against the inclines b', 6',
forces the teeth a' into the door frame f. The plate d is now turned into the
position represented in Figure 5, when the door g can no longer be opened
excepting from the inside of the room, or the side on which the fastening is
used. The door g can only be opened by turning aside the plate d into the
position represented in Figure 4, and this can only be effected on that side of
the door at which the fastening is applied.
Figure 6 represents a door to which the improved fastener is applied, the
said fastener being represented at h.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of the said Invention; but I
claim as the said Invention the new or improved door fastener herein-before
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a door
fastener, consisting of a plate of metal inserted between the door post and the
edge of the door, the said plate being secured to the door post by the closing

page_text: of the door, the said plate carrying at its projecting end a plate, arm, or
bolt, which being brought against the door prevents the said door from being
opened.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gorse, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
WILLIAM GORSE. (L.S.)