Collection · 1834 to 1932

Safe & Lock Patents

The drawings inventors filed at the Patent Office, from fire-proof chests to time locks and round doors. Each one with what it actually claims, in plain English, and the maker who used it.

30 patents

Subject

Maker

1830s1 patent

1834 Jesse Delano Fire Proof Safe Patent No X8356

13 Aug 1834 (reissue) · US 8356X

Fire-proof wrought-iron chest

An iron chest with a lining that keeps heat away from the papers inside. Patented in 1826 and reissued in 1834, it is one of the first American attempts at a safe that survives a fire, years before the Salamander.

Jesse Delano

1840s1 patent

Patent drawing of a lock case opened to show two pairs of notched disks and the bolt

20 Oct 1843 · US 3,312

Combination safety-lock for doors

A lock for doors and trunks in which a key turns spindles that carry pairs of notched disks. The bolt only slides back when the notches line up, so a wrong setting leaves it held fast.

Linus Yale and Charles Wilson, Springfield, Massachusetts

1850s2 patents

robert Newell Parautoptic Lock patent US8145A

10 Jun 1851 · US 8,145

Parautoptic bank lock

A lever lock whose key bits can be taken apart and rearranged, so the owner can change the key whenever he likes, and whose works stay hidden from anyone peering through the keyhole.

Robert Newell · Day & Newell, New York

Patent drawing of a lock with two round clock dials on the left and a bolt mechanism on the right, labelled Holbrook and Fish, Time Lock, No. 17,150, patented Apr. 28, 1857

1857 · US 17,150

Clockwork guard for a lock

Two clock movements guard a single lock, so the door cannot be opened before a set hour even with the right key. Two clocks, because one might stop.

Amos Holbrook and Henry D. Fish

1860s3 patents

Patent drawing of Linus Yale Jr.'s cylinder lock with sections through the pin tumblers and plug, and the flat key

27 Jun 1865 · US 48,475

Pin-tumbler cylinder lock

The pin-tumbler cylinder: a row of split pins that only line up when the right flat key is pushed in. The idea behind most front-door locks today.

Linus Yale Jr.

Patent drawing of a safe with a fold-down book-case and a section through an iron ball

19 Mar 1867 · US 62,974

Spherical burglar-proof safe

A hollow ball of chilled iron, cast in two halves with a second shell poured round them, sits inside an ordinary safe with a pull-out book-case. A little alum in the bottom was meant to melt in a fire and keep things damp.

Benjamin Sherwood and Daniel Fitzgerald, New York · Marvin & Co., New York

Patent drawing of a safe on castors with layered dovetailed plates and a tapered pin in section

23 Jul 1867 · US 67,046

Dovetailed door and casing

The plates of the body and door are dovetailed into each other, and tapered pins driven in from outside and keyed on the inside hold the layers together. Taking a Hall safe apart one plate at a time was meant to be slow work.

Joseph L. Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio · Joseph L. Hall, Cincinnati (Hall's Safe & Lock Co.)

1870s6 patents

Patent drawing in section of a round safe with an inner spherical door inside an outer shell

30 Apr 1872 · US 126,133

Spherical safe with revolving door

Two spheres, one inside the other: the inner ball is the door and turns on a shaft until its opening meets the mouth of the outer shell. A ring fitted into that mouth after assembly means the door can never be pulled out.

William Corliss, Providence, Rhode Island · Mosler (rights from 1895)

Patent drawing of a heavy hinge leaf, a crank-shaped pin and the hinge in section

25 Feb 1873 · US 136,239

Crank-pin safe-door hinge

A hinge with a crank-shaped pin, so a heavy door moves straight into its frame for the last bit of travel instead of swinging in on an arc. Dovetailed door edges can then fit tight, with no crack left for a wedge or powder.

Joseph L. Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio · Joseph L. Hall, Cincinnati (Hall's Safe & Lock Co.)

Patent drawing of a spherical safe in cross-section, showing a thick round shell made in two threaded halves, a round door and the screws and gearing that pull the door into its seat

25 Mar 1873 · US 137,061

Spherical burglar-proof safe

A ball-shaped safe whose shell is made in two parts screwed together, leaving no straight seam for a wedge or a charge of powder to work on. The start of the cannonball safe.

William Corliss, Providence · Mosler (rights from 1895)

Patent drawing of a fire-proof safe in section, showing hollow walls and door packed with fire-resisting filling, T. Hyatt, No. 166,107, patented 27 July 1875

1875 · US 166,107

Fire-proof safe filling

Sections through the walls of a safe packed with a wet-setting filling. The patent names gypsum and Glauber's salts among the ingredients, which is why it turns up in the asbestos question.

Theodore Hyatt

8 Feb 1876 · US 173,121

Time attachment for locks

Two clock dials that hold a combination lock shut until the set time. Hall's early time locks were built on it.

Henry Gross, Cincinnati · Hall's Safe & Lock Co.

Patent drawing of a safe door with two clock movements mounted above a combination lock, labelled J. Sargent, Time Attachments for Locks, No. 186,369, patented Jan. 16, 1877

Jan 1877 · US 186,369

Twin-movement time lock

A time attachment with two movements that guards a combination lock. Applied for in June 1873, granted in January 1877; by then Sargent's locks were already in banks.

James Sargent

1880s1 patent

Patent drawing of a permutation lock with a perforated driving disk, tumblers and sections

2 Oct 1888 · US 390,528

Permutation lock with combination changer

A way of changing the combination of a permutation lock: a slotted arm on the spindle has a bent end that drops into one of a ring of holes in the driving disk. Move it to another hole and the lock has a new combination.

Thomas S. Spivey, Cincinnati, Ohio · Victor Safe & Lock Co., Cincinnati

1890s4 patents

Patent drawing of a safe door edge with dial knob, layered plate and combination wheels

16 Sep 1890 · US 436,411

Drill-proof plate behind the lock

A plate of welded steel and iron layers fixed inside a fire-proof safe door, with the combination lock mounted on it. A drill or punch coming through the door meets the plate before it meets the lock.

George J. H. Goehler, Buffalo, New York · Cary Safe Co., Buffalo

26 May 1891 · US 452,781

Time lock

A time lock by Cary's in-house inventor. Goehler also patented the drill-proof plate behind the dial that so many Cary safes are stamped with.

George J. H. Goehler · Cary Safe Co., Buffalo

Patent drawing of a plate bent step by step into a box-shaped welded safe body

21 Aug 1894 · US 524,941

Seamless welded safe body

A burglar-proof body bent from one long plate into a band, welded at the edges, with front and back plates welded on and the door hole cut afterwards. No seams, so nowhere to start a wedge or pack gunpowder.

George J. H. Goehler, Buffalo, New York · Cary Safe Co., Buffalo

24 Oct 1899 · US 635,291

Screw-door safe

A round door cut with a thread, screwed into the body like a jar lid. No gap round the edge means nowhere to pack explosive.

Charles E. Blechschmidt · Victor Safe & Lock Co., Cincinnati

1900s6 patents

Patent drawing in section of a stepped safe door and jamb with packing strip and filled walls

4 Aug 1903 · US 735,588

Fire and water proof safe door

Stepped door and jamb edges with a thin elastic packing strip set in a groove, and the door drawn tight onto it whenever it is shut. The aim was a safe that stays waterproof even after years of use.

William H. Reynolds and Charles F. Meilink, Toledo, Ohio · Meilink, Toledo

Patent drawing in section of a round screw door seated in a heavy safe body, with thread segments

27 Jun 1905 · US 793,072

Rotary-door manganese steel safe

A screw-door safe whose manganese steel door and body are too hard to cut threads in, so the threads sit on segments of workable metal let into both. The patent says tests had shown bolted-on rings could be blown off.

Henry D. Hibbard, Plainfield, New Jersey, and Wilbur M. Stone, Brooklyn, New York

Patent drawing of a tall two-door cabinet on a plinth with a cornice, one door cut away to show pigeonholes and shelves inside, signed Willis V. Dick

9 Jan 1906 · US 809,497

Fire-resisting cabinet

A light office cabinet with insulated walls instead of a heavy iron safe. Filed in February 1905; the Safe-Cabinet Company grew out of it.

Willis V. Dick · The Safe-Cabinet Co. (later Remington Rand)

Patent drawing of an express box lid seen from inside, with two bolt rods and the lock

6 Feb 1906 · US 812,044

Self-locking bolt work for express boxes

Bolt work for the lid of an express box: unlocking draws the bolts back and holds them there, and shutting the lid shoots them again by itself. Nobody has to remember to throw the bolts.

William J. Kasselman, Buffalo, New York · Cary Safe Co., Buffalo

Patent drawing of a round cannonball safe with its screw door, crane and front shield

10 Nov 1908 · US 903,800

Shield over the screw-door joint

A shield on the front of a round screw door that overlaps the joint and a ring of the safe front around it. Burglars had been hammering the edge open to pour in liquid explosive; the shield leaves them nothing to hit.

Thomas S. Spivey, Cincinnati, Ohio · Victor Safe & Lock Co., Cincinnati

Patent drawing in section of a thick round safe door with chambers, lock and bolts

12 Jan 1909 · US 909,568

Round door with explosion chambers

A round door with hollow chambers inside, closed at the edge by thin metal set slightly back from the rim. Liquid explosive poured into the joint collects in the gap, and the gas of a blast can burst into the chambers.

Sumner A. Ely · Ely-Norris Safe Co., Perth Amboy (York made Ely-Norris safes from 1916)

1910s4 patents

7 Jun 1910 · US 960,982

Wall safe

A small safe built to sit inside a wall, flush with the plaster. Meant for houses, where a free-standing safe was the first thing a burglar looked for.

Charles F. Meilink and William H. Reynolds · Meilink, Toledo

Patent drawing of a tall safe cabinet on castors, partly cut away to show its frame

19 Mar 1912 · US 1,020,652

Sheet steel safe cabinet

A safe cabinet of sheet steel: angle frames at front and back, a housing between them, and bolts that draw the whole box together. The drawing shows it on castors, with a combination dial and a handle.

Charles F. Meilink, Toledo, Ohio · Meilink, Toledo

Patent drawing in section of a stepped round door with threaded rings in a layered frame

28 Jan 1913 · US 1,051,681

Threaded round door

A round door built up in stepped layers, some held in the frame by screw threads and some by plain tapered faces. The plain faces can be ground to a perfect fit, which threads cannot.

Sherman L. Cary, Buffalo, New York · Cary Safe Co., Buffalo

Patent drawing of a round-door safe on a pedestal base, with sections showing the locking lugs around the circular door opening

18 Apr 1916 · US 1,180,256

Round door with interlocking lugs

A round door that turns a short way so lugs on its edge lock behind lugs in the frame. Quicker to open than a fully threaded door.

Sherman L. Cary · Cary Safe Co., Buffalo

1920s1 patent

Patent drawing in section of a double-walled safe with hinged doors and packed joints

6 Nov 1923 · US 1,473,117

Fire-proof safe with packed double doors

Double doors for a double-walled fire-proof safe, with ribs on their edges that swing into undercut grooves in the jamb. Three pairs of packing strips and an air pocket sit in each joint between the fire and the papers.

Charles F. Meilink, Toledo, Ohio · Meilink, Toledo

1930s1 patent

Patent drawing in section of a tapered steel floor safe set in concrete, with its flanged base locked into the concrete and two lockable doors one above the other at floor level

1932 (filed 1926) · US 1,887,866

Double door floor safe

A safe sunk into a concrete floor with two doors, one above the other. Six years from filing to grant, which says something about the Patent Office in the 1920s.

Samuel L. Belknap