CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RENDERING THE SECURITY OF SAFES AND OTHER DEPOSITORIES MORE EFFECTUAL
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Goodbrand and Thomas Eccles Holland, of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machinists, for the Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RENDERING THE SECURITY OF
SAFES AND OTHER DEPOSITORIES MORE EFFECTUAL."
Sealed the 9th April 1867, and dated the 7th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Goodbrand and
Thomas Eccles Holland at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 7th November 1866.
We, WALTER GOODBRAND and THOMAS ECCLES HOLLAND, of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RENDERING THE
SECURITY OF SAFES AND OTHER DEPOSITORIES MORE EFFECTUAL," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention is designed for the purpose of indicating burglarious
attempts to open safes, and for giving alarm or information of the same to
watchmen or others, the first being accomplished by extinguishing a certain
gaslight by means of a novel arrangement of mechanism, the alarm being
given by electrical apparatus in combination with such mechanism, which

page_text: first arrangement: either, used combined with parately from the electric
apparatus, constitutes the chief feature of our Invention, the extinguishing
of a gas jet for such a purpose being well known.
The apparatus is secured within the safe or depository, and consists of a
chamber which is supplied with gas from outside the safe, and a glass tube
through which the gas passes to a lamp or jet situated outside the building,
or in the street or other conspicuous position, a metal pipe enclosing the
glass tube also is connected to this chamber, the other end of which pipe is
open to the atmosphere. The gas is prevented from passing into the atmo-
sphere through the metal pipe by means of a valve which is mounted on a
spindle or rod; the upper end of which is bent and retained in its position
by hooking or ledging on a hinged rod secured to the opposite side of the
safe, which rod is also connected with a piston and rod enclosed in a box,
and as long as the apparatus is in this position the gas will burn in the lamp;
if, however, any attempt be made to force open the safe by wedges, levers,
or other means that will dislodge the hook- or ledge and release the valve it
becomes forced by a spring over the glass tube aperture, and extinguishes
"the light, and leaves the other aperture and the gas open to the atmosphere,
and at the same time the other end of the valve 'rod in falling completes an
(or elsewhere), and causes a bell
electrical circuit from a battery in the safe
to ring above the lamp (ör elsewhere) for any duration of time, which may
be determined by any well-known arrangement of spring and clockwork.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Goodbränd and Thomas Eccles Holland in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 'we, Walter
GOODBRAND and THOMAS ECCLES HOLLAND, of Manchester, 'in 'the County of
Lancaster, Machinists, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by 'Her Letters
'Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Walter Goodbrand and Thomas Eccles Holland, Her special license that we,
the said Walter Goodbrand and Thomas Eccles Holland, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or 'such others as we, the said Walter Goodbrand
and Thomas Eccles Holland, our executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RENDERING THE SECURITY OF
SAFES AND OTHER DEPOSITORIES MORE EFFECTUAL," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Walter Goodbrand and Thomas Eccles Holland, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one
of our, 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 Thomas Eccles Holland, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
The Invention is designed for the purpose of indicating. burglarious
attempts to open safes, and for giving alarm or information, of the same to
watchmen or others, the first being accomplished by extinguishing a certain
gaslight by means of a novel arrangement of mechanism, the alarm being.
given by electrical apparatus in combination with such mechanism, which
first arrangement either used combined with or separately from the electric
apparatus constitutes the chief feature of the Invention, the extinguishing
of a gas jet for such a purpose being well known.
The
". apparatus is secured within the safe or depository, and consists of a
chamber which is supplied with gas from outside the safe, and a glass tube
through which the gas passes to a lamp or jet situated outside the building,
or in the street,, or other conspicuous position, a metal pipe enclosing the
glass tube also is connected to this chamber, the other end of which pipe is open
to the atmosphere. The gas is prevented from passing into the atmosphere
through the metal pipe by means of a valve which is mounted on a spindle
or rod, the upper end of which is bent and retained in its position by hooking
or ledging on a hinged rod secured to the opposite side of the safe, which
rod is also connected with a piston and rod enclosed in a box, and as long as
the apparatus is in this position the gas will burn in the lamp; if, however, any
attempt be made to force open the safe by wedges, levers, or other means
that will dislodge the hook or ledge and release the valve it becomes forced
by a spring over the glass tube aperture and extinguishes the light, and leaves

page_text: the other aperture and the gas open to the atmosphere, and at the same time
the other end of the valve rod in falling completes an electrical circuit from
a battery in the safe (or elsewhere), and causes a bell to ring above the
lamp (or elsewhere) for any duration of time which may be determined by
any well-known arrangement of spring and clockwork.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about three inches to the foot.
Fig. 1 represents the relative position of the safe inside the building, and
the lamp and alarum with which it is connected outside the building;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged, sectional view of the apparatus contained within
the safe, and Fig. 3 represents an enlarged sectional view of the alarum in
the lamp.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 a, a, is the safe, the door of which is open in order
to shew the position of the apparatus inside; b is the outside wall of the
building; c, the lamp containing the alarum; d'and e is the tube connecting
the safe with the lamp. The apparatus in the safe seen in Fig. 2 consists of
a case or box f containing a sliding valve 9, which is mounted on a vertical
spindle h; the upper end of this spindle outside the box is bent over so, as
to catch when raised on to a projection formed on the rod i, one end of this
rod is supplied with a piston k, between which and the cover of the recess in.
which it works a strong helical spring is placed, the said spring having a
constant tendency to withdraw the rod i into such recess; the opposite end
of the said rod is supplied with an eye through which when drawn out so
as to support the spindle h one end of a bent rod is placed, the opposite
end of which on the opposite side of the safe is supported in a similar manner
by means of the bracket m, the latch or catch n fixed to the safe door when
closed attaches itself to the rod in such a manner that upon the door being
opened the rod is displaced and the piston rod i released. Through the
pipe o gas is admitted into the box f containing the spindle and valve h
and 9. its escape therefrom to the burners of the lamp c through the con-
necting pipe p being effected when the valve is raised so as to allow the
spindle h to rest upon the projection formed on the piston rod i, as seen in
the Drawing. When an attempt is made to open the safe the spindle h is
released and allows the valve to close the passage for gas supplying the
burners of the lamp c, but in order that simultaneously with the light being
extinguished an alarm may be given the flexible insulating pipe o through
which the gas flows from the safe to the burners is provided with a copper wire
protected by gutta percha or other insulating material, which wire forms an

page_text: electrical connection between the spindle h and the keeper p¹ of an electrical
magnet confined inside the lamp c (seen in Fig. 3), the circuits of the
electrical current being mounted by means of the outer metal protecting
pipe g, a battery being placed inside the safe. The action of the apparatus
upon reference to the foregoing description will readily be understood. When
preparing the apparatus before closing the safe door the spindle h is raised
so as to rest upon the piston rod i; the spindle when in this elevated position
it is brought into contact with one end of a steel blade spring o¹, which is
connected by a wire with one pole of the battery r, the other pole being
permanently connected by means of a wire in connection with the outer
protecting metal tube g; thus when the spindle h is raised the electric
current is complete, which causes (so long as the safe door is closed or the
safe is not otherwise tampered with) the keeper p₁ of the electric magnet
to be raised,.which causes the end of a lever secured to such keeper to come
into contact with the stop wheel t of an arrangement of clockwork in con-
nection with an alarum bell u; but should the spindle h be displaced so that
in falling it simultaneously destroys the electric current and shuts off the
gear so as to extinguish the light in the lamp, immediately the electric
current is destroyed the "keeper" of the electric magnet falls to its lowest
position, which relieves the stop wheel t of the clockwork, thereby effecting
a rapid rotation of the striker u¹, which sound a continued alarm until the
safe has been attended to and the apparatus once more set.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be distinctly
understood that we claim the novel arrangement, construction, and com-
bination of apparatus for indicating attempts to open safes surreptitiously, as
herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the Drawings
attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Eccles Holland, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven
THOMAS ECCLES HOLLAND. (L.S.)