IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Henry Tucker, of 181, Fleet Street, London,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Henry Tucker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th December 1861.
I, WALTER HENRY TUCKER, of 181, Fleet Street, London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN Locks," to be as
follows:-
The first improvement consists in such an arrangement of parts in locks
that false keys or instruments cannot damage them, but may be used and
turned continuously round in them without giving to their bolts any backward
tendency, and without strain or injury to the locks. And I customarily
produce this novel effect in locks made on the lever principle by attaching
the gating stump to a detached or secondary bolt, so made without any back
talon to it that no backward pressure can be given to it by the key or other
instrument, and by the use of a spring so arranged as to carry the gating
stump into the gatings of the levers, and thereby enable one of the said levers,
which is suitably formed for the purpose, to grasp the stump, and carry it and
the secondary bolt to which it is attached (and indirectly the main bolt also)
to their full unlocking distance. But I do not confine myself to producing
this novel effect by the precise means before specified, nor to producing it in

page_text: locks made on the lever principle only, as I effect the same object by suitable
modifications in locks wherein the combination security parts are sliders, discs,
or tumblers, instead of levers, and whether such combination security parts
are stationary, or in any manner moveable. I, therefore, claim, as part of my
first herein stated improvement, and for the purpose specified, the application
to locks of springs or weights, arranged so as to impel the traversing security
parts of locks into or on upon the opposing security parts, whether such
traversing security parts be the gating stump, and the opposing security parts
be the levers, as in the lock before described, or the contrary; and whether the
security parts of locks be in any other manner formed and arranged, named,
or known. And I also claim for the same purposes, so to form and arrange
the piece or pieces to which such security parts may be attached, that false
instruments can neither directly nor indirectly convey backward or unlocking
pressure to the bolts of such locks, and so that the true key itself cannot
do so, until their traversing security parts have passed into or upon their
opposing security parts, whether such piece or pieces to which the security
parts are attached shall be either a secondary bolt or the main bolt, or any
other piece or pieces which may be used for the purpose, and whether such
piece or pieces be carried to their full unlocking distance by one of the levers,
as before described, or by any other piece or pieces which may be used to
produce the effect.
The second improvement consists in the application to locks of springs or
weights, so disposed as to bring the traversing and the opposing security parts
of locks into contact with each other, and in so arranging and forming the
piece or pieces through which the said springs or weights produce such contact
of the security parts, that unless they are correctly adjusted by the key, the
pressure of the said springs or weights will so move some piece in the lock as
to divert such pressure from the security parts, and convey it to some other
point in the lock. This I customarily effect in lever locks by the use of the
same spring and the same secondary bolt as are described in my first improve-
ment, and by making such a recess or projection in such bolt that the pressure
of the spring will (unless the true key be used) divert the bolt from its course,
and bring the face of such recess or projection against a stop in the lock, to
which stop the pressure is thereby transfered, leaving the tumblers free. But
as I do not limit myself to the use of the precise means before described for
the purpose mentioned, I claim for such purpose the application to locks of
springs or weights, and of such a form and arrangement of the piece or pieces
through which such springs or weights produce contact of the traversing and
the opposing security parts of locks, that the pressure of the said springs or

page_text: weights shall be diverted from the security parts and transferred to some other
point or points in such locks, unless the true keys be used in them.
The third improvement has for its purpose an addition to the resisting
power against violence of such padlocks as are made to lock at the tail ends
of their shackles, and is especially intended to remedy a weakness which has
shown itself in some padlocks manufactured under a previous Patent of mine,
which was sealed on the 20th November 1855, and No. 1127, in which locks
a revolving key-hole, screen, or curtain attached to a hollow cylinder or barrel
is made to serve as the bolt. This cylinder being necessarily cut through to
admit the key, has been found at times to collapse when violence has been
used against it, and it is to provide a padlock which shall be capable of
resisting such violence that the present improvement has been designed by me,
and I effect my object by the use of a rotating bolt placed at the bottom of the
padlock under the security parts, and by pivoting such bolt to the seat of a
strong pin or stud (usually the drill pin or axis of the key), by which means,
there being necessarily no open or unsupported space in such bolt, the
possibility of collapsing any part of it by violence is entirely prevented. To
this rotating bolt I attach the gating stump, in such a manner that it both
serves as the traversing security part in such locks, and by acting on the com-
bination security parts in the process of locking restores them to their proper
positions before they can be removed from the lock; but as I do not limit
myself to the use of the precise means herein described, I claim the application
to all such padlocks as have their shackles locked at the tail end of a rotating
disc or bolt placed at the bottom of such padlocks, for the purpose of locking
the tail ends of such shackles, whether such rotating bolt be pivoted to a pin
or stud, or be in any other way supported in the lock. I claim also the
attachment of the gating stump to such rotating bolt, for the purpose of
producing the effects before mentioned.
The fourth improvement consists in the application to all kinds of locks of
rotating discs (having the gating stumps usually attached to them) placed at
the bottoms of such locks, and in so forming and modifying such dises where
necessary, that they may be made either to serve as the bolt in such locks, or
to carry back the bolts in all locks wherein they do not themselves form the
bolts. And I therefore claim the application to all kinds of locks of such and
so situated rotating discs for the purposes herein-before mentioned, whether
the gating stumps be attached to such rotating discs or not.
The fifth improvement has for its purpose the construction of locks in such
a manner that no key or other instrument can remain in communication with
their combination security parts while they are in contact with their opposing

page_text: security parts. And it has also for its purpose the exclusion of dirt from such
security parts during the time the key is out of the locks. And I effect these
purposes by attaching the combination security parts to a moveable piece in
such a manner that they can be brought within the influence of the key to
have their proper unlocking arrangement imparted to them, and be again
carried beyond the reach of the key before the opposing security parts can be
brought into contact with them. And by the use of a shield or shields so
formed and situated as to prevent all communication with the security parts
except at an opening which is left for their admission within the key's
influence, in conjunction with the use of a vertical revolving shield running
parallel to and concentric with the axis of the key, and so attached to a
rotating piece as to pass between the security parts and the key's axis, and to
completely close up the opening which communicates with them whenever the
opposing and the combination security parts are in contact with each other,
and during such times as the key is not in the lock; and I therefore hereby
claim for the purpose of producing the effects specified, first, to attach the
combination security parts to a piece which is moveable; and, secondly, the
use of a shield or shields formed and arranged as described; and, thirdly, the
use of a vertical revolving shield running parallel to and concentric with the
axis of the key, whether such revolving shield be made to revolve inside
the other shield or shields mentioned or otherwise, and whether such other
shield or shields be formed as a central block or chamber, into which the key
passes, and around which the revolving shield turns, or be formed as a ring
partially encompassing such revolving shield, or be in any other manner formed
or arranged in the locks; or I produce the same effects by the use of a vertical
traversing shield (so arranged and acted on as to close up communication
with the security parts, as before described,) in place of the revolving shield
before specified; and I hereby claim the use of such traversing shield for
the purposes stated in locks.
The sixth improvement has for its purpose the construction of changeable
or permutating locks, in such a manner that by the use of two series of com-
bination security parts only in them, such locks shall be more efficient, and
less liable to derangement, than others in which three series are employed.
And I effect this purpose by the use of and the material modification of the
mode of arranging the two series of security parts applied by Mr. Parsons to
the changeable lock patented by him in December 1833, No. 6516, which
arrangement I modify by doing away entirely with the moveable supports
between the two sets of security parts, by means of which the changes were
produced in his lock, and by so attaching the second series to the bolt or

page_text: other traversing piece that while the bolt is unlocked the two series shall
have no communication with each other, and the key shall act only on the
first without giving motion to the second series, but so also that while the bolt
is locked out, the two series shall be in such relation to each other, that the
key shall arrange them both simultaneously.
By reason of this modification in the process of locking out the bolt, the key
imparts the relative arrangement of its bits to the first set of security parts
only, and after the key has ceased to impel them the said primary security
parts transfer such relative arrangement to the secondary ones, which are
then in connection with them, and retain them in such arrangement until a
key with bits similarly arranged is used to release them and convey them away
from the primary ones on upon a non-permutating gating stump, or opposing
security piece, which is suitably placed to resist their progress if any other
than a correctly arranged key be used in the lock. Without limiting myself
to the precise details herein described, I claim as my sixth improvement the
use and arrangement of two sets of combination security parts in changeable
locks, in such a manner that while the bolt is unlocked they shall have no
communication with each other, and that while the bolt is locked out they
shall be in such relation to each other that the key shall give motion to both
sets simultaneously, and so that in the process of locking out the bolt the
primary security parts shall transfer the relative arrangement imparted to them
by the bits of the key to the secondary security parts after the key has ceased
to impel such primary security parts.
My seventh improvement consists of improved methods for retaining the
secondary security parts in the form or arrangement imparted to them by the
key, in such changeable locks as are constructed, so that the first and second
series are in contact with each other when the bolt is unlocked, or wherein the
second series has been retained in such arrangement by a cramp plate, operated
on by a second key from behind such locks. And my improved methods
consist in doing entirely away with such cramp plate and with such second
key, and in producing the required retaining pressure upon the secondary
security parts by a moveable self-acting piece, so made and arranged as to
press upon them when the bolt is locked out, and to release them from its
pressure, when the bolt is again unlocked. This self-acting piece I customarily
pivot to the bolt at one end, while the other end is made to play or turn on a
stud fixed to the case of the lock, by which means as the bolt passes in or out
the self-acting piece is caused to turn on its axis on the bolt, and alternately
to press upon and to release the said security parts. In conjunction with such
self-acting piece I sometimes use a spring so placed as to press upon the security

page_text: parts, and be alternately relaxed and compressed by the self-acting piece as
the bolt passes in or out; or I cause such spring to be compressed by the
pressure of a fixed piece in the lock, so shaped and situated that as the bolt is
locked out the spring shall pass under or over such fixed piece, and become
compressed by it, and as the bolt is unlocked the spring shall pass away from
such fixed piece, and become thereby relaxed so as to free the security parts
from its pressure. I therefore claim for the purpose specified the use of a
moveable self-acting piece in changeable locks, and of a spring acting in
conjunction with such self-acting piece, or acted upon by a fixed piece, as
above described for the like purpose.
The eighth improvement has for its purpose the construction of changeable
or permutating keys in such a manner that they shall possess greater facility
for and greater range of permutation than has yet been attained.
And one
mode in which I construct such keys is as follows:-For a key to a lock in
which there are six primary security parts, I use as many changeable pieces
or bits, through each of which is a hole at unequal distances from its ends;
I then place these bits, by means of the holes through them, on upon the
lower end of the stem or shank of the key, around which they are free to turn
either separately or collectively. I also place upon the stem a spring or
elastic washer, by means of which when the seventh or terminal step is finally
fixed to the end of the stem, the moveable bits are pressed together suffi-
ciently tight to prevent their moving of themselves. The key will now be
seen to possess six moveable double-ended or two-fold bits (having collectively
twelve ends or steps of varying lengths), each of which can be made to turn
separately on the stem, so as to change the position of its ends, and thus
simply to enable the key to produce a fresh set of permutations in its lock,
without the necessity of detaching such bits from the fixed portions of the key.
Such detachment can, however, also be effected, and the bits transposed as in
other permutating keys, while the use of double in place of single-ended bits
multiplies the number of permutations which can be produced in and by such
keys by the square of the number of bits employed in them. Another mode
by which I construct such changeable keys is more particularly applicable to
locks on the Bramah or slide construction, or modifications thereof, and consists
in placing on the key shank or stem a series of moveable discs, each of which
has cut through it radial slots to allow of their passing all but one of the
security slides in the lock, while from there being no slot to admit the remain-
ing slide, the blank space acts upon the slide with which it comes in contact
and carries it down like the bottoms of the slots in the ordinary Bramah key.
As these discs can be either separately or collectively made to turn on the key

page_text: stem, the blank spaces in them can be brought to bear on any particular slide
by merely shifting the discs round on the key stem, and the key thus becomes
a permutating or changeable one, possessing the same facility for alteration,
and the same extent of permutating range, as the double-ended key first
described; and I hereby claim the application to all kinds of locks (whether
changeable or otherwise) of changeable or permutating keys, constructed or
arranged as before described, with double-ended moveable bits or with
moveable discs, or any colorable modification thereof, whether such keys be
used in changeable locks for the purpose of aiding in producing the permu-
tations, or be used in them or other locks for the purpose of a master key, or
be used for the purpose of enabling the owners of such keys to change their
combinations at will, so as to prevent their being used to open their own locks
until they are again correctly arranged. The use of such keys for these
purposes is therefore also claimed by me.
The ninth improvement is for the purpose of constructing locks so that
false keys cannot be made to them means of smoking or mapping the
security parts of such locks. And I effect this purpose by causing the key or
such parts of it as act upon the security parts to remain stationary while they
impart the necessary arrangement to the security parts, and by attaching
such security parts to a moveable piece in such a manner that they can be
brought into contact with the key for the purpose of being arranged by it, and
be again conveyed beyond the influence of the key for the purpose (among
others) of enabling the key to be removed from the lock, or by causing the
security parts to be acted on by a moveable piece so as to be brought within, and
carried beyond the key's influence, as before mentioned, without such security
parts being themselves attached to a moveable piece. In order to carry out
this improvement, I customarily use a key so constructed that the steps or
bits which act on the security parts can remain stationary while the other
parts of the key revolve in the lock for the purpose of giving motion to. the
other parts of the lock, which peculiar construction of key I hereby claim;
but as I do not confine my use of the arrangements specified for the purpose
of preventing the security parts being mapped to a conjunction with the use
of a key constructed as herein described, I claim also, for the purpose men-
tioned, to use in all kinds of locks the contrivance or arrangement of causing
the key, or such parts of it as act upon the combination security parts, to
remain stationary while the necessary unlocking arrangement is being imparted
to the security parts, and I also claim to attach such security parts to a move-
able piece, as before described, for the like purpose.
The tenth improvement is for the purpose of increasing the security of slide

page_text: locks, such as Bramali's, or modifications thereof, and I effect it by the use in
such locks of two sets of combination security parts, so formed and arranged
that the key shall arrange the both sets simultaneously, and so that the first
set on which the key directly acts shall be carried away from all commu-
nication with the second set, in which the gatings are situated before such
second set can be brought into communication with the locking plate or
opposing security part of such locks, by which means the position of the
gatings in them cannot be ascertained by the pressure or tentative method of
picking; or I effect it by the use of two sets of combination security parts
so arranged as to be always in the same line with each other, and by placing
the gatings (both false and true) in the second set, with which no instrument
can directly communicate, by which means, if the drum containing the security
parts be turned so as to produce tentative pressure upon them, it will be
impossible to ascertain whether the gatings which are passed on upon the
locking plate or stump are false or true, and the security of such locks will
thereby be materially increased. In conjunction with either of the foregoing
arrangements, I at times do away entirely with the spiral springs usually
applied to such locks, and substitute for them a revolving piece (surrounding
or surrounded by the drum to which the security parts are attached), and
furnished with a series of inclines, so arranged that the security parts shall be
carried by it as it is turned in one direction, and be again set free (so as to
allow of their arrangement by the key) when it is turned in the contrary
direction. To this revolving piece the key is made to give action in such a
manner, that as the key is taken out of the lock the revolving piece turns,
and the inclines in it bring all the security parts into their proper locked
positions more certainly than a spring; I therefore claim the use of two
sets of security parts or slides in locks on the slide construction for both
the purposes specified, and I also claim the use of a revolving piece, arranged
and acted on, as described, as a substitute for the spiral springs customarily
used in such locks.
The eleventh improvement is for the purpose of preventing the possibility of
picking locks (which are constructed so that their security parts are arranged
by notches in the stem or barrel of the key) by means of a quill or cane,
piece of soft wood, or other analogous instrument, and I effect it by so forming
and arranging one or more of the security slides in such locks that a bit or
bits projecting from the barrel of the key shall act upon such slide or slides
in place of causing the whole of the slides to be carried by the notches in the
barrel of the key; or I effect it by the use of catches or bolts, so arranged
as to hold the drums to which the slides are attached until a bit or bits pro-

page_text: jecting from the barrels of the keys of such locks shall act on such catches so
as to release the drums. And I hereby claim, for the purposes specified, the
use of the foregoing arrangements and contrivances in all such locks as have
been or are constructed so that the security slides have been hitherto arranged
by notches in the barrels or stems of their keys, whether the slides of such
locks move either horizontally or vertically.
The twelfth improvement is for the purpose of so modifying the construction
of a peculiar kind of lock commonly called a "combination latch," that it
shall not be possible to pick such lock by the pressure or tentative method;
and I effect this by so forming and situating one or more of the levers or
latches in such locks that they shall come into contact with and receive the
pressure of the staple on the door post before the others, and so that such
levers or latches, in consequence of their form and relation to a moveable
piece in such locks, cannot be conveyed into the position requisite for their
passing into the opening or gating in the staple while keys or other instru-
ments are in the lock until such instruments are carried away from all com-
munication with the remainder of the levers as and for the moveable piece
before mentioned. I customarily use a revolving barrel and curtain, or key-
hole screen, which, in addition to being constructed or modified so as to
control the motion of the advanced or pressure levers specified, also closes up
the keyhole against fresh instruments, while those already in the lock are
carried beyond the rest of the levers in it. The use of such barrel and curtain
in conjunction with a pressure lever or levers, as described, I therefore claim
for the purposes stated; but as I do not confine my use of such pressure
levers to a conjunction with such barrel and curtain, I claim their use for
the purpose specified in the class of locks known as "combination latches,"
whether the necessary control of their action is effected by such barrel and
curtain, or by any other piece or pieces in such locks.
The thirteenth improvement is for the purpose of adding to the security of
locks, by so forming, coating, or prefacing either the opposing or the combi-
nation security parts of such locks with india-rubber, or some other elastic or
compressible material, that when end pressure is applied to the bolt, the
presence or intervention of such elastic material will cause the pressure on the
bolt to bind all the combination security parts equally, and thereby prevent
their being separately arranged, or if the combination security parts have false
notches cut in them, it will be impossible, in consequence of the presence of
such elastic material, to ascertain the false notches from the real ones; or I
produce the same effect in locks by the use of either fixed or moveable pieces
in them similarly coated or prefaced, and made to bind against the combi-

page_text: nation security parts equally, and thereby to prevent the separate arrangement
of such security parts, and to render it impossible to discover the false from
the real notches or gatings, where such false notches exist in the security
parts. I therefore claim the use and attachment of india-rubber or some
other elastic or compressible material either to or between the security parts
of locks, or to either fixed or moveable pieces in such locks, as described, for
the purposes herein declared.
The fourteenth improvement is for the purpose of constructing locks, so
that they cannot be injured by gunpowder; and I effect this purpose by the
construction and use in locks of a chamber or cavity large enough only to
admit the part of the key which passes into the lock without allowing it any
room to turn in such chamber, which chamber I customarily use in con-
junction with a key constructed as I have claimed for my ninth improvement,
but as I also use it in conjunction with keys of the ordinary kind, I hereby
claim the use and application to locks of such a key chamber as described,
for the purpose stated, without regard to the kind of keys which may be used
in such locks, and whether such key chamber remain stationary in such locks,
or be moveable within them.
The fifteenth improvement is for the purpose of so constructing, situating,
and acting upon the key-hole escutcheons of locks that they shall more
certainly exclude dirt from such locks, and be less easily injured or taken
away, than the escutcheons at present in use, and I effect these purposes by
placing such escutcheons either within the lock or outside it between the lock
and the material of the door, instead of attaching it to the outside of the door,
as is usually done, and by so arranging and forming such escutcheons that
they shall be acted on so as to be carried away from before the key-hole of the
lock by a handle, pin, or knob from the outside of the door or by the direct
action of the key upon a part of such escutcheon in such a manner as to
remove the escutcheon from the key-hole before the key passes into the lock.
And I hereby claim, for the purposes stated, to construct, situate, or act upon
the key-hole escutcheons of locks in the manner described, whether such
escutcheons be carried into their places before the key-holes by springs or
otherwise.
The sixteenth improvement is for the purpose of so constructing the
handles of locks, and so modifying the arrangements by which such handles
are commonly connected with the bodies of such locks, that they shall be
more firmly united to them, and more accurately adjusted to the varying
thicknesses of the doors to which such locks may be fixed than hitherto;
and one mode by which I effect these purposes is by worming or screwing the

page_text: spindles of such handles in the manner patented by Mr. Duce, in 1842,
No. 9364, and by placing on over such spindles close to the door a washer or
collar, having a hole in it to fit the spindle without turning on it, and provided
with teeth, sinks, or spaces in it (usually on its edge or circumference) into
or upon which a click, pin, or screw attached to the handle is made to fasten,
the handle itself being screwed on to the end of the spindle similar to Duce's.
By thus fixing the handle to the washer mentioned, at a much greater distance
from the centre of the handle than can be effected by Mr. Duce's arrange-
ment, I secure a greater range and nicety of adjustment and increased con-
tinuity and firmness of hold for such handles. In another mode by which I
effect these purposes, the spindle (which goes through the lock in the ordinary
way) is not made to screw into the handles, but fits loose in them in such a
way that the spindle turns with the handles, while the necessary connection
between them is maintained by so attaching the handles to the door on which
the lock is fixed that they shall be free to move and act upon the lock bolt,
and yet be so firmly connected with the lock, that no ordinary use of such
lock shall loosen or detach such handles. And my improvement consists in
the use of a metallic washer inside the door between the material of the door
and the lock, and in so forming and arranging such washer that the handle,
or the rose connected with such handle, can be fastened to such washer from
the surface of the door, by which means, as the disc of the washer will be
inside the door, and the rose or handle (which is fastened to it by metallic
connexions) will be on the outside, no ordinary use of the lock can loosen the
handles, or separate them from the lock, as frequently occurs when the con-
nection of the handles with the body of the lock is made to depend on screws
wormed into the material of the door from its surface, as has hitherto been
the practice; and I hereby, therefore, claim the application to the handles of.
locks of metallic washers or collars formed and situated in both the manners
specified, for the purposes herein-before stated.
The seventeenth improvement is for the purpose of adding to the efficiency,
and lessening the liability to damage, of a self-locking spring lock, specified
by me under a previous Patent of mine (bearing date the 18th June 1856),
No. 1436, in which lock the traversing tumbler therein claimed by me "to.
lock the bolt dead after it has sprung into the staple," produced that effect
only, whereas I now find that I can prevent such lock being damaged by the
partial or incomplete closing of the door, drawer, or cover, to which it may be
applied by the use in it of a moveable tumbler or catch so formed and.
arranged as to prevent the bolt spring from shooting the bolt forward again
as it is carried into the lock by closing the door, drawer, or cover to which it.

page_text: is applied, unless such door, drawer, or cover be completely closed or shut;
and I hereby claim, for the purpose stated, the application to locks of a
moveable tumbler or catch, whether such tumbler or catch be attached to the
tumbler which holds out the bolt after it has been carried forward by the
spring or be made or used independently of such latter tumbler in such self-
locking spring locks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Henry Tucker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
HENRY TUCKER, of 181, Fleet Street, London, Lock Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Walter Henry Tucker, Her special licence that I, the said Walter
Henry Tucker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Walter Henry Tucker, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Walter Henry Tucker, 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 Walter Henry Tucker, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
The first improvement consists in such an arrangement of parts in locks
that false keys or instruments may be turned interminably round in them

page_text: without conveying any backward pressure to their bolts and without strain or
injury to the locks; and I sometimes produce this novel effect (in locks made
on the lever arrangement) by attaching the gating stump to a detached
secondary bolt so made without the customary back talon on which the key
acts (in lever locks) to carry the bolt back that no backward pressure can be
given to the bolt by the key or other instrument through the key-hole until
the gating stump has first passed into the lever gatings, and by the use of a
spring so arranged as to impel the secondary bolt and carry the gating stump
into the gatings of the levers far enough to enable one of the said levers,
which is furnished with an inclined gating and is otherwise suitably formed
for the purpose, to grasp the stump and to carry it and the secondary bolt to
which it is attached (and indirectly the primary bolt also) to their full un-
locking distance; or, in place of employing one of the levers, I at times use
for the purpose an auxiliary key bit having a tooth which can act upon a
tongue in the secondary bolt (after the gating stump has entered the lever
gatings), and so carry back or unlock the bolt. Were any other than the
true key used in a lock constructed as before described the gating stump would
not enter the gatings of the levers, and the instrument would consequently
pass round in the lock without conveying backward pressure to the bolt and
without strain or injury to the lock; but I do not confine myself to producing
this novel effect by the precise means before specified, nor to producing it in
locks made on the lever arrangement only, as I effect the same object by
appropriate modifications in locks wherein the combination security parts are
slides, or discs, or tumblers, instead of levers, and whether such combination
security parts are stationary, traversing, or in any other manner moveable.
And one modification of the aforesaid means consists in attaching either the
traversing or the combination security parts to a moveable piece working in
conjunction with the bolt in such a manner that unless the gatings of the
security parts are correctly arranged by the key, the said moveable piece shall
be diverted from its course by a false instrument so as to allow such instru-
ment to pass round in the lock without carrying back the bolt, but if the true
key be used the said piece will be so influenced by it as to cause the bolt to
be unshot; I therefore claim as a part of my first herein stated improvement,
and for the purposes specified, the application to locks of springs or weights so
5 arranged as to impel the traversing security parts of such locks into or on
upon their opposing security parts, whether such traversing security parts be
the gating stumps and the opposing security parts be the levers, as in the
locks before described, or the contrary, and whether the security parts of such
locks as the said springs or weights may be used in be in any other manner

page_text: formed and arranged, named or known; and I also claim, for the same pur-
poses, so to form and arrange the piece or pieces to which such security parts
may be attached that false instruments shall not convey backward or unlocking
action to such pieces or to the bolts of such locks, and so that the true key
itself cannot do so until after their combination security parts have been so
arranged by it that their traversing security parts either can or shall have
passed into or on upon their opposing security parts, whether such piece or
pieces to which the security parts are attached shall be either a secondary bolt
or the primary bolt or part connected therewith, or any other piece or pieces
which may be used for the purpose, and whether such piece or pieces be
carried to their full unlocking distance by one of the levers or by an auxiliary
key bit, as before described, or by a rotating disc, or a curtain acting directly
upon the gating stump or the part to which it is attached, or by any other
piece or pieces which may be used to produce the effect.
The second improvement consists in the application to locks of springs or
weights so disposed as to bring the traversing and the opposing security parts
of locks into contact with each other, and in so arranging and forming the
piece or pieces through which the said springs or weights produce such contact
of the security parts, that unless they are correctly adjusted by the key the
pressure of the said springs or weights will so move some piece in the lock as
to divert such pressure from the security parts and convey it to some other
point in the lock; this I customarily effect in lever locks by the use of the
same spring and the same secondary bolt as are described in my first improve-
ment, and by making such a recess or projection in the said bolt that the
pressure of the spring will (unless the true key be used) divert the said bolt
from its course and bring the face of the recess or projection against a stop in
the lock, to which stop the pressure is thereby transferred, leaving the levers
free; but as I do not confine myself to the use of the precise means before
described for the purpose mentioned, I claim for such purpose the application
to all kinds of locks of springs or weights, and such a form and arrangement
of the piece or pieces through which the said springs or weights produce
contact of the traversing and opposing security parts of locks that the pressure
of such springs or weights shall be diverted from the security parts and trans-
ferred to some other point or points in such locks unless the true keys be used
in them.
The third improvement has for its purpose an addition to the resisting power
against violence of such padlocks as are made to lock at the tail ends of their
shackles, and is especially intended to remedy an evil which has become
apparent in some padlocks manufactured under a previous Patent of mine,
ย

page_text: No. 1127, which was sealed on the 20th November 1855, in which locks a
revolving key-hole screen or curtain attached to a hollow cylinder or barrel is
made to serve as the bolt. This cylinder, being necessarily cut through to
admit the key, has been found at times to collapse when violence has been
used against it, and it is to provide a padlock which shall be capable of
resisting such violence without any sacrifice of the advantages afforded by
locking the shackles of padlocks at their tail ends that the present improve-
ment has been designed by me, and I effect my object by the use of a rotating
bolt placed at or near the bottom of the padlock under the security parts, and
by pivoting such bolt to the seat of a strong pin or stud (usually the drill pin
or axis of the key), by which means the key does not necessarily pass through
the bolt, and there being no sufficient open or unsupported space in it, the
possibility of collapsing any part of it by violence is entirely prevented.
To this rotating bolt I attach the gating stump in such a manner that it both
serves as the traversing security part in such locks, and by acting on the com-
bination security parts (in the process of locking) restores them to their proper.
positions before the key can be removed from the lock; but as I do not limit.
myself to the use of the precise means herein described, I claim the application
to all such padlocks as have their shackles locked at the tail end instead of at
the ordinary or spoon end, of a rotating disc or bolt placed at or near the
bottom of such padlocks for the purpose of locking the tail ends of such
shackles, whether such rotating bolt be pivoted to a pin or stud or be in any
other way supported in the lock; I claim also the attachment of the gating
stump to such rotating bolt for the purpose of producing the effects before.
mentioned.
The fourth improvement consists in the application to all kinds of locks.
or latches of rotating discs having the gating stumps attached to them,
and placed at or near the bottoms of such locks, and in so forming and
modifying such discs where necessary, that. they may be made to serve as
the bolt in such locks, or to carry back the bolts in locks wherein they do
not themselves form the bolts. And I therefore claim the application to all
kinds of locks or latches of such and so situated rotating discs, for the purposes
herein-before mentioned.
The fifth improvement has for its purpose the construction of locks in such
a manner that no key or other instrument can remain in communication
with their combination security parts while they are in contact with their
opposing security parts. And it has also for its purpose the exclusion of,
dirt from such security parts during the time the key is out of the lock; and
I effect these purposes by attaching the combination security parts to a move-.

page_text: able piece, in such a manner that they can be brought within the influence
of the key to have their proper unlocking arrangement imparted to them and
be again carried beyond the reach of the key before the opposing security parts
can be brought into contact with them. And by the use of a shield or shields
so formed and situated as to prevent all communication with the security parts,
except at an opening which is left for their admission within the key's influence,
in conjunction with the use of a vertical revolving shield running parallel to and
concentric with the axis of the key, and so attached to a rotating piece as to pass
between the security parts and the key's axis, and to completely close up the open-
ing which communicates with them, whenever the opposing and the combination
security parts are in contact with each other, and during such times as the
key is not in the lock. And I therefore hereby claim, for the purpose of
producing the effects specified, first, to attach the combination security parts
to a moveable picce or part; secondly, the use of a shield or shields, formed
and arranged as described; and thirdly, the use of a vertical revolving shield
running parallel to and concentric with the axis of the key, whether such
revolving shield be made to revolve inside the other shield or shields men-
tioned or otherwise, and whether such other shield or shields be formed as
a central block into which the key passes and around which the revolving
shield turns, or be formed as a ring partially encompassing such revolving
shield, or be in any other manner formed and arranged in the lock, or I produce
the effect of closing up communication with the security parts, while they
are in contact with the opposing piece, by the use of a vertical traversing
shield having an opening in it, through which the key is made to arrange the
security parts, but which opening becomes closed before and during the time.
that contact of the opposing and combination security parts can be effected.
The use of a vertical traversing or sliding shield for the purpose of closing
up communication from the key-hole with the opposing and the combination
security parts of locks during such time as they can be in contact with each
other is therefore also claimed by me.
The sixth improvement has for its purpose the construction of changeable
or permutating locks in such a manner that by the use of two series of com-
bination security parts only in them, the locks shall be more efficient and
less liable to derangement than others in which three series are employed.
And I effect this purpose by the use of and the material modification of the
arrangement of the two series of security parts applied by Mr. Parsons to the
changeable lock patented by him on the 3rd December 1833, (Number of
Patent 6516, which arrangement I modify by doing away entirely with the
moveable supports between the two sets of security parts, by means of which

page_text: the changes were produced in his lock, and by so attaching the second series to
the bolt or other traversing piece that while the bolt is unlocked the two series
shall have no communication with each other, and the key shall act only on the
first without giving motion to the second series, but so also that while the bolt
is locked out the two series shall be in such relation to each other that the
key shall arrange them both simultaneously. By reason of this modification
in the process of locking out the bolt, the key imparts the relative arrange-
ment of its bits to the first set of security parts only, and after the key has
ceased to impel them the said primary security parts transfer such relative
arrangement to the secondary ones, which are then in connection with them,
and retain them in such arrangement until a key with bits similarly arranged
is used to release them and convey them away from the primary ones, on upon
a non-permutating gating stump or opposing security piece, which is suitably
placed to resist their progress if any other than a correctly arranged key be
used in the lock. Without limiting myself to the precise details berein
described, I claim as my sixth improvement the use and arrangement of
two sets of combination security parts in changeable locks, in such a manner
that while the bolt is unlocked they shall have no communication with each
other, and that while the bolt is locked out they shall be in such relation to
each other that the key shall give motion to both sets simultaneously, and
so that in the process of locking out the bolt the primary security parts shall
transfer the relative arrangement imparted to them by the key to the secondary
security parts after the key has ceased to impel such primary security parts.
my
The seventh improvement consists of improved methods for retaining the
secondary security parts in the form or arrangement imparted to them by
the key in such changeable locks as are constructed, so that the first and
second series are in contact with each other when the bolt is unlocked, or
wherein the second series has been retained in such arrangement by a cramp
plate operated on by a second key from the backs of such locks. And
improvement consists in doing entirely away with such cramp plate and with
such second key, and in producing the requisite retaining pressure upon the
secondary security parts by a moveable self-acting piece so made and arranged
as to press upon them when the bolt is locked out, and to release them from
its pressure when the bolt is again unlocked. This self-acting piece I custom-
arily pivot to the bolt at one end, while the other end is made to play or turn-
on a stud fixed to the case of the lock, by which means, as the boit passes
in or out, the self-acting piece is caused to turn on its axis on the bolt, and
alternately to press upon and to release the said security parts. In conjunction
with such self-acting piece, I sometimes use a spring so placed as to press

page_text: upon the security parts, and become alternately relaxed and compressed by
the self-acting piece as the bolt passes in or out; or I cause such spring to
become compressed by the pressure of a fixed piece in the lock so shaped and
situated, that as the bolt is locked out the spring shall come into contact
with such fixed piece and be compressed by it, and as the bolt is unlocked
the spring shall pass away from such fixed piece and become thereby relaxed
so as to free the security parts from its pressure. I therefore claim for the
purpose specified the use of a moveable self-acting piece in changeable locks,
and of a spring acting in conjunction with such self-acting piece, or acted on
by a fixed piece as described for the purpose.
The eighth improvement has for its purpose the construction of changeable
or permutating keys in such a manner that they shall possess greater facility
for and greater range of permutation than has yet been attained. And one
mode in which I construct such keys is as follows:-For a key to a lock in
which there are six primary security parts, I use as many changeable bits,
through each of which is a hole at unequal distances from its two ends; I
then place these bits, by means of the holes through them, on upon the lower
end of the stem or shank of the key, around which they are free to turn
either separately or collectively. I also place sometimes on the stem a spring
or elastic washer, by means of which when the seventh or terminal step or
bit is finally screwed or otherwise fixed to the end of the stem, the moveable
bits are pressed together sufficiently to prevent their moving of themselves.
The key will now be seen to possess six moveable double ended or two-fold.
bits (having collectively twelve ends or steps of varying lengths), each of
which can be made to turn separately on the stem so as to change the position
of its ends, and thus simply to enable the key to produce a fresh set of per-
mutations in its lock without the necessity of detaching such bits from the
fixed portions of the key. Such detachment can however also be effected,
and the bits transposed as in other permutating keys, while the use of double
in place of single ended bits multiplies the number of permutations which
can be produced in and by such keys by the square of the number of bits
employed in them. Another mode by which I construct such changeable
keys is especially applicable to keys for locks on the Bramah or slide con-
struction or modifications thereof, and consists in placing on the key shank
or stem a series of moveable discs each of which has cut through it radial
slots to allow of their passing all but one of the security slides in the lock, while
from there being no slot to admit the remaining slide the blank space acts
upon the slide with which it comes in contact and carries its down like the
bottoms of the slots in the ordinary Bramah key. It will now be apparent

page_text: that as these discs can be either separately or collectively made to turn on
the key shank the blank spaces in them can be brought to bear on any
particular slide by inerely shifting the discs round on the key stem, and the
key thus becomes a permutating or changeable one possessing the same
facility for alteration and the same extent of permutating range as the double
ended key first described; and I hereby claim the application to all kinds
of locks (whether changeable or otherwise) of changeable or permutating
keys constructed or arranged as before described with double ended moveable
bits or moveable discs, or any colorable modification thereof, whether such
keys be used in changeable locks for the purpose of aiding in producing
the permutations in them, or be used in them or other locks for the purpose
of a master key, or be used for the purpose of enabling the owners of such
keys to change their combinations at will, so as to prevent their being used
to open their own locks until they are again correctly arranged, the use of
such keys for these purposes being also claimed by me.
The ninth improvement is for the purpose of constructing locks so that
false keys cannot be made to them by means of smoking or mapping the
security parts of such locks; and I effect this purpose by causing the key
(or such part of it as acts upon the combination security parts) to remain
stationary while it imparts the necessary arrangement to them, and by
attaching such security parts to a moveable piece in such a manner that
they can be brought into contact with the key steps for the purpose of being
arranged by them and be again conveyed beyond the influence of the key
for the purpose of enabling the key to be removed from the lock. Or, by
causing the security parts to be acted on by a moveable piece, so as to be
brought within and carried beyond the key's influence as before mentioned,
without such security parts being themselves attached to a moveable piece
for the purpose.
In order to carry out this improvement I customarily use
a key so constructed that the steps or bits which act on the combination
security parts can remain stationary while another part of the key revolves
in. the lock for the purpose of giving motion to other parts of the lock, which
peculiar construction of key I hereby claim for the purpose specified, but as I
do not confine my use of the arrangements described to a conjunction with
the use of a key so constructed, I claim also to use in all kinds of locks for
the purpose mentioned the contrivance or arrangement of causing the key
or such portions of it as act upon the combination security parts to remain
stationary while the necessary unlocking arrangement is being imparted to
the said security parts. And I also claim to attach the said security parts

page_text: to a moveable piece or to act upon them by means of a moveable piece as
herein-before mentioned for the like purpose.
The tenth improvement is for the purpose of increasing the security of
slide locks, such as Bramab's, or modifications thereof. And I effect it by the
use in such locks of two sets of combination security parts, so formed and
situated that the key shall arrange the both sets simultaneously, and so that
the first set, on which the key directly acts, shall be carried away from all
communication with the second set, in which the gatings are situated, before
such second set can be brought into contact with the locking plate or
opposing security part of such locks, by which means the position of the
gatings cannot be ascertained by the pressure or tentative method of picking.
Or I effect it by the use in such locks of a first and second set or series of
combination security parts or slides, so arranged that a slide from each
of the said sets shall be contained in the slide grooves in the drum of the
lock, so as to be always in the same line with each other, and be from their
forms so relatively connected that if a primary slide be pushed into or down
in the lock it will carry down the secondary slide also, but should any
attempt be made to pull up the primary slide by a picking instrument, it will
become separated or detached from the secondary one, in which the gatings
(both false and true) are situated, by which means, if the drum containing
the slides be turned so that tentative pressure against them be produced, it
will be impossible to ascertain whether the gatings which may be passed on
upon the locking or opposing plate are the real or the false gatings, and the
security of such locks will thereby be materially increased.
In conjunction with either of the above arrangements, I at times do away
entirely with the spiral springs customarily applied to such locks, and substitute
for them a revolving piece, surrounding or surrounded by the drum to which
the security parts are attached, and furnished with a series of inclines so
arranged that the combination security parts shall be carried by it as it is turned
in one direction, and be again set free so as to allow of their arrangement by
the key when it is turned in the contrary direction. To this revolving piece
the key is made to give action in such a manner that as the key is taken out
of the lock, the revolving piece is turned by it, and the inclines in it bring
all the said security parts into their proper locked positions more certainly
than would be effected by a spring. I therefore claim the use, and the
arrangement as described, of two sets of slides or combination security parts
in locks made on the slide or Bramah construction, or modifications
thereof, for the purposes specified; and I also claim the use of a revolving

page_text: piece arranged and acted on as described as a substitute for the spiral springs
customarily used in such locks.
.
The eleventh improvement is for the purpose of preventing the chance
of picking locks (which are constructed so that their security parts are
arranged by notches in the stem or barrel of the key) by means of a quill, or
cane, piece of soft wood, or other analogous instrument. And I effect it by
so forming and arranging one or more of the security slides in such locks
that a bit or bits projecting from the barrel of the key shall act upon such
slide or slides, in place of causing the whole of the slides to be carried by the
notches in the barrel of the key. Or I effect it by the use of catches or
bolts, so arranged as to hold the drums to which the slides are attached, until
a bit or bits projecting from the barrels of the keys of such locks shall act
on such catches so as to release the drums. And I hereby claim for the
purposes specified, the use of the foregoing arrangements and contrivances in
all such locks as have been or are constructed so that the security slides have
been hitherto arranged by notches in the barrels or stems of their keys,
whether the slides in such locks move either horizontally, vertically, or
otherwise.
The twelfth improvement is for the purpose of so modifying the construction
of a peculiar kind of lock, commonly called a "combination latch" that it
shall not be possible to pick it by the pressure or tentative method. And I
effect this by so forming and situating one or more of the levers or latches in
such locks, that they shall come into contact with and receive the pressure of
the staple on the door post before the others, and so that such levers or
latches, in consequence of their form and relation to a moveable piece in
such locks, cannot be conveyed into the positions requisite for their passing
into the opening or gating in the staple while the key or other instrument
is in the lock, until such instrument is carried away from all communication
with the remainder of the levers. As the moveable piece before mentioned, I
customarily use a revolving barrel and curtain or key-hole screen, which. in
addition to being constructed or modified so as to control the motion of
the advanced or pressure levers, also closes up the key-hole against fresh
instruments, while those already in the lock are carried beyond the other
levers in it. The use of such barrel and curtain, or of any attached or component
part of either of the same, in conjunction with a pressure lever or levers' as
described, I therefore claim, for the purposes stated, but as I do not confine
my use of such pressure levers to a conjunction with such barrel and curtain,
I claim their use for the purposes specified in the class of locks known as
"combination latches," whether the necessary control of their action is effected

page_text: by such barrel and curtain, or by any other piece or pieces in such locks.
For the purpose of retaining the levers (other than the pressure levers), in
the positions imparted to them by the key, after it has passed away from them
in the process of unlocking, I at times use a catch, spring, or detent so
arranged as to act upon the said levers at such time, but which is made to
release them again before the key is removed from the lock. The use of such
detent, catch, or spring, is therefore also claimed by me.
:
The thirteenth improvement is for the purpose of adding to the security of
locks by so forming, coating, or preparing either the opposing or the combi-
mation security parts of such locks with india-rubber, or some other elastic or
compressible material, that when end pressure is applied to the bolt, the pre-
sence or intervention of such elastic material will cause the pressure on the
bolt to bind all the combination security parts equally, and thereby prevent
their being separately arranged; or, if the combination security parts have
false notches or gatings cut in them, it will be impossible, in consequence of
the presence of such elastic material, to ascertain the false notches from the
real ones; or I produce the same effect in locks by the use of either fixed or
moveable pieces in them similarly coated or prefaced, and made to bind against
the combination security parts equally, and thereby to prevent the separate
arrangement of such security parts, and to render it impossible to discover the
false notches from the real ones where such false notches exist in the security
parts. I sometimes also form or preface the detent or catch mentioned in the
twelfth improvement of or with the elastic material herein described, and its
use therefore for that purpose, as well as for the other purposes herein declared,
is hereby claimed by me.
The fourteenth improvement is for the purpose of constructing locks so that
they cannot be injured by gunpowder; and I effect this purpose by the con-
struction and use in locks of a chamber or cavity large enough only to admit
the part of the key which passes into the lock, without allowing it any room
to turn in such chamber. This chamber I customarily use in conjunction with
a key constructed as I have claimed for my ninth improvement, but as I also.
use it in conjunction with a key of the ordinary kind; I hereby claim the use
and application to locks of such a chamber as described for the purpose
stated, without regard to the kind of key which may be used in such locks,
and whether such chamber remain stationary within the lock or be moveable
within it.
a
The fifteenth improvement is for the purpose of so constructing, situating,
and acting upon the key-hole escutcheons of locks that they shall more certainly
exclude dirt from them, and be less easily injured or taken away than the

page_text: escutcheons at present in use; and I effect these purposes by placing such
escutcheons either within the lock or outside it between the lock and the
material of the door, instead of attaching it to the outside of the door as is
customarily done, and by so arranging and forming such escutcheons that they
shall be acted on so as to be carried away from before the key-hole of the lock
by a handle, pin, or knob from the outside of the door, or by the direct action
of the key upon such escutcheon or some part connected therewith, in such a
manner as to remove the escutcheon from before the key-hole ere the key passes
into the lock. And I hereby claim for the purposes stated to construct;
situate, or act upon the key-hole escutcheons of locks in the manner described,
whether such escutcheons be carried into their places before the key-holes by
springs or otherwise.
The sixteenth improvement is for the purpose of so constructing the handles.
of locks and so modifying the arrangements by which such handles are com-
monly connected with the bodies of such locks that they shall be more firmly.
united to them, and be more accurately adjusted to the varying thicknesses of:
the doors to which such locks may be fixed than hitherto. And one mode by.
which I effect these purposes is by worming or screwing the spindles of such
handles in the manner patented by Mr. Duce in 1842 (Number of Patent,:
9364), and by placing on over such spindles close to the door a washer. or.
collar having a hole in it to fit the spindle without turning on it, and provided.
with teeth, sinks, or spaces in it (usually on its edge or circumference), into or.
upon which teeth, sinks, or spaces, a click, pin, or screw attached to the.
handle (which screws on to the wormed angles of the spindle, similar to
Duce's) is made to fasten. By thus fixing the handle to the washer men-.
tioned at a much greater distance from the centres of the spindle or handle.
than is possible by Mr. Duce's arrangement, I secure a greater range and.
nicety of adjustment, and an increased continuity and firmness of hold for the
handles. I customarily use a screw in preference to a pin or click for the pur-.
pose of fixing the handle or knob to the washer mentioned, and I usually make.
the hole for such screw transversely through, or into the base or seat of the
knob (or the metallic mounting thereof when the knob is made of other:
material than metal), so that the said screw may connect itself with the washer,.
which, when the knob' is in its place on the. door, fits into a circular. recess or
5 chamber in the under surface of the seat of the knob, and which chamber is.
made of the required depth to allow the sinks or spaces on the edge or circum-
ference of the washer to be on the same plane as the screw in the seat of the
knob, and thus admit of their being connected. together by the screw in the.
knob seat, as before mentioned. I also customarily form the roses (which are.
..

page_text: as usual placed against the door under the knobs) with a recess or cavity on
their outer surfaces, sufficiently deep to enclose the circumference or edge of
the seats of the knobs, and thereby both conceal and secure the screws which
connect them with the washers.
It is by no means necessary that a washer as described should be used on
both sides of a door, as the spindle may be screwed or permanently fastened if
desired to the handle at one end, while the other end of the spindle may be
secured to the remaining knob by the arrangement herein-before detailed, and
which arrangement I hereby claim, whether it be applied to one only or to
both ends of the spindle, and whatever be the material of which the knobs,
washers, or roses may be formed.
1.
In another mode by which I effect these purposes, the spindle (which goes.
through the lock and the door in the ordinary way) is not made to screw into the
handles, but fits loose in them in such a way that the spindle turns with the
handles, while the necessary connection between them is maintained by so
attaching the handles to the door on which the lock is fixed that they shall
be free to move and act upon the lock bolt, and yet be so firmly connected
with the lock that no ordinary use of such locks shall loosen or detach the
said handles. And my improvement consists in the use of a metallic washer
.or clamp inside the door between the material of the door and the lock, such
washer or clamp being so constructed that the handle, or the rose connected
with such handle, can be fastened to such washer from the outside surface of
the door, by which means, the discs or clamps of the washer being inside the
door, and the rose or handle fastened thereto by metallic connections from
the outside of it, no ordinary use of the lock will loosen the handles or sepa-
rate them from the lock, as commonly occurs where the connection of the
handles with the lock is made to depend on screws wormed into the material
of the door from its outer surface. The washer or clamp mentioned I usually
construct in two parts, one part comprising a socket wormed on the inside
with clamps or tongues projecting from its outer circumference, and the other
part forming a socket wormed on the outside with a flat cap plate at one of
its ends, of so much greater a diameter than the socket itself as to constitute
a flanch either partially or wholly around the said socket, and having through
it in its centre within the diameter of the socket a hole for the most part
circular, but with two or more recesses or slots diverging from it. In order
to fix the said washer to a door, wherein a mortise lock is to be used, the two
portions of it before described should be connected by screwing the socket of
the first-mentioned portion on to the socket of the second part, until the
distance between the clamps of the one socket and the flanch of the other.

page_text: shall be something in excess of the thickness of the wood of the door before
the lock; the said clamps should then be passed through slots (radiating from
the spindle hole in the door) into the mortise hole in the door, and the socket
then turned about a quarter round, so as to carry the said clamps behind the
material of the door before the lock; the socket of the other portion of the
washer must then be screwed further on until the flanch attached to it is close
against the door's outer surface, when the knob (supposing it to have been
previously connected with the outer portion of the said washer) would be
firmly connected with the door, and by means of the spindle would be retained
in permanent communication with the lock. The knob itself is made with a
short socket at its lower end, from which socket project laterally two or more
tongues or clamps, which are used to pass through the recesses or slots in the
cap plate of the upper part of the washer before described, and by being
turned round so as to come behind the under surface of the said cap plate to
connect the knob to the washer in such a manner that when the spindle is in
its place the knob can be turned in either direction to draw back the latch bolt
of the lock without becoming disconnected from the washer. The ornamental
rose which, as usual, surrounds the base of the knob is made with a recess in
it to receive the said base, through the bottom of which recess is a hole large
enough to permit the tongues which protrude from the socket of the knob to
pass freely through, by which arrangement when a knob is attached to a door
it will retain the rose in its place; but the knob and rose are not in any
other manner fastened or connected together, nor is the rose itself screwed
either to the door or to the washer before described.
I sometimes modify this arrangement by connecting the knob or handle
(by means of the tongues protruding from the socket of the knob) to the
ornamental rose itself in the manner before explained for connecting the knob
to the cap plate of the washer, there being in this case a hole formed through
the seat of the recess in the rose similar to the hole before described as being
made through the cap plate of the washer, and this mode of connecting the
knob to the ornamental rose I hereby claim as part of my Invention, whether
the said rose be screwed or fastened to such a washer as described, or be in
any other way fastened to the door or to the lock.
IIaving now detailed the modes or arrangement of parts by which I produce
tbis improvement, I hereby claim for the purposes specified the use of washers
or clamps constructed and applied as described, and the methods herein
stated of connecting the knobs or the roses of locks with such washers or with
each other; but I make no claim to the use or arrangement of a screw nut
(consisting of a plate with a tube screwed on the inside) the tube of which

page_text: requires to be passed through the material of the door before the lock from
the inside of the mortise hole in the door, and to which screw nut a rose per-
manently connected with the knob or handle is made to fasten.
The seventeenth improvement is for the purpose of adding to the efficiency
and lessening the liability to damage of a self-locking spring lock, specified by
me under a previous Patent of mine (No. 1436) bearing date the 18th
June 1856, in which lock the traversing tumbler therein claimed by me "to
lock the bolt dead after it has sprung into the staple," produced that effect
only; whereas I now find that I can prevent such lock being damaged by the
partial or incomplete closing of the door, drawer, or cover to which it may be
applied, by the use in it of a moveable tumbler or catch so formed and
arranged as to prevent the bolt spring from shooting the bolt forward again as
it is carried into the lock by closing the door, drawer, or cover to which it is
applied, unless such door, drawer, or cover be completely closed or shut.
And I hereby claim the application to self-locking spring locks of a
moveable tumbler or catch for the purpose stated, whether such tumbler or
catch be attached or otherwise to the tumbler which holds out the bolt after
it has been-carried forward by the spring, or be made or used independently
of such latter tumbler.
The foregoing description particularly describes and ascertains the nature of
my Invention for improvements in locks.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Henry Tucker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
(L.S.) WALTER HENRY TUCKER.
Witness,
GEORGE HARPER,
17, Little Queen Street,
Holborn.
WALTER TUCKER,
26, Colebrooke Row,
Islington.