K. ^^ 



rat to any bf the ordinary keys, and cutting additional notch*, in UM 



. . 



WM K. 



-I 



Owing to the small size of the protecting apparatus, the Bramah lock 

 has been applied to many ingenious purpose* for which other kinds of 

 looks are lea* suitable, among which we may notice the locking of 

 bquor-coeks. Mr. Mordan afterward* invented what be call* a "lock- 

 protMtor.- which w, in fact a shield, adapted to cover the key-hole, and 

 having in it* centre a mimite lock with seven slider*. By applying 

 this to a key-bole on UM ouuide of a dour, and turning it* key a 

 quarter round, two lancet-shaped pieces of steel are projected from a 

 little box. in such a manner a* to dig into the wood on the opposite 

 idea of the key hole, and to bold the shield so firmly in iu place that 

 nothing short of the application of violence can remove it, until, l.y a 

 fresh application of the little key. the blade* are withdrawn. A lock 

 was invented by Mr. Kemp, in 1810. in which the peculiarities of both 

 Barruo and Bramah'* lock* are combined in such a way as to sfford, 

 in the inventor's opinion, greater security than can be attained by 

 either alone. 



Ptrmmltixm Aenb. Of these, the simplest is a kind of padlock 

 tenoni a punle look, which open* without a key, but is regarded 

 rather a* an iafssjlniis toy than as an available substitute for lock*. In 

 the commtioeet form a bar, with square or other projections, is slipped 

 through a series of circular discs, each of which is capable of being 

 turned round upon it a* an axis. The apertures through the centre of/ 

 these disc* are so formed that unless the whole of them are turned 

 round to the exact position they occupied when the bar was slipped in, 

 it cannot be withdrawn. To provide for bringing the rings to this 

 position the periphery of each is marked with a series of letters or 

 numbers, a certain predetermined combination of which must be 

 brought into a straight line by turning the several rings round with 

 the thumb and finger. A* the number of combinations which may be 

 effected, like the number of changes in the relative positions of the 

 sliders of a Bramah'a lock, is almost infinite, while only one combina- 

 tion will enable a person to open the lock, a high degree of security 

 may thus be attained. Many varieties of thus lock have been invented. 

 One, by Mr Mackinnon. is a tumbler lock, in which each tumbler is 

 numbered, and a corresponding number is stamped upon each of a 

 series of small plate*, which, when put together upon an axis at the 

 end of the shank of the key, as represented in /ty. 1 7, constitute a bit 



Fig. 17. 



ilL 



2| 



that of the key of an ordinary tumbler lock. Each bit is 

 pierced with two holes, one of such a form as to fit upon the pear- 

 shaped end of the shank, while the other is round, to receive a pin 

 which is attached to the uppermost or end member of the bit, and 

 which passes through all the others, as indicated by the dotted lines in 

 n. A small bole in the end of the shank serves to receive a screw by 

 which all the part* of the bit are kept firmly in their place. The end 

 division of the bit, which is not numbered, is that intended to shoot 

 the bolt; others, marked 1, 2, S, 4, and 5, may be varied in position 

 at pliasms, so as to correspond with similar changes in the positions of 

 the tumblers, or so ss to unfit the key for opening the lock. In some 

 kicks increased complexity is obtained by the use of two distinct sets 

 of tumblers, capable of impeding ;ach other's motion except when 

 rightly acted upon. 



Some looks have been made in which the action depends on the key 

 being a powerful magnet. In others the difficulty of opening is in- 

 creased by requiring a peculiar method of applying the key. In 

 Laweon's kick there U a sliding curtain, by which, it is stated, " the 

 key bole is so perfectly closed during the act of unlocking, that it 

 would be impossible to move the bolt while a pick remains in the 

 aperture." In Gottlieb's lock, a piece of paper is so placed that no 

 try can be put in without perforating it.and that it cannot be removed 

 excepting by an application of the proper key. In Rutherford's lock, 

 there is a stop-plate to the bolt, rendering it imponaible to open the 

 lock with He own key until, by the action of clockwork within or con- 

 nected with the lock, the stop-plate should be brought into a certain 

 position. Many contrivances nave been aJeiited for attaching an 

 alarum to locks by which the introduction of a false key should ring a 

 a pistol The compound locks generally used for the doors 



h ponderous and eotupli 

 . n \ >. u ! 

 --, and towards the t i. and 

 bottom of the door, theae are usually but so many branches 



^-pieces of iron, capable of being simultaneously projected or 



of inn safes, and f<* similar purposes, though ponderoui 

 cated in appearance, are, in reality, of simple cowl met in 

 they often throw out boh* on each aide, and towardr 



retracted by a handle in the centre of the door ; the actual lock Wing 



but small, and merely intended to move an apparatus by which the 



| great bolts are themselves locked ; so that the key may be small in 



1 proportion to the bolts by which the door is secured. Among the 



useful inventions relating to street-door locks is Chubb's combination- 



latch, which combines the simple lifting action of the ordinary French 



latch, or that which opens with a handle inside the door, and with a 



key from without, with much of the security of a tumbler-lock. 



In the above description of the three principal classes into which 

 locks may be grouped, we have only noticed a few examples in each 

 clans to illustrate the general principle. Our limits will i,.-t 

 mure detailed treatment. The number of patent* relating to locks is 

 immense, and every year is adding to it. In mentioning such cele- 

 brated makers as Chubb and Bramah, we have adverted chiefly to the 

 original patents on which their locks were constructed ; but numerous 

 patents have subsequently been obtained by the same makers, which, 

 though adhering pretty nearly to the same principle, exhibit wide 

 diversities in detail. The earlier patents, too, have long since run out ; 

 and many other makers now construct locks involving the essential 

 pi iti.-iplcs of the earlier Chubb and Bromoh locks, though known by 

 other names. 



A very remarkable stimulus was given both to the invention and tin- 

 manufacture of locks by occurrences which arose out ot tl> 

 Kxhibition of 1851. Until that year, Ameri ;ii locks were little 

 known iu England ; but it then became known that gn 

 had been displayed in this art beyond the Atlantic ; and also, that the 

 factory system, aided by machinery, was adopted to an extent fur 

 a- head of that followed by the lock -makers of Kiuland. Staiislinry's 

 lock, one of the American inventions, is a modification of the K ;yptmn 

 lock. Yale's lock bears some resemblance to the Bramah ; but it has 

 two concentric cylinders working one within another. Andrews'^ bank- 

 lock is constructed on the principle of changing the interior nuvl. 

 at pleasure, and adapting the moveable bits of the key to suit it, no as to 

 produce a comparatively new lock by every change. Andrews's ('nail- 

 wheel lock bos a series of revolving discs to take the place of tumblers. 

 Newell's lock, like Andrew's bank-lock, has a provision for altering the 

 tumblers and key at pleasure without removing the lock from tin 

 or essentially altering its mechanism ; but this is brought about !>y the 

 use of two sets of tumblers, the one to receive motion from the other, 

 and having different offices to fill ; namely, the key to act upon the 

 first series, and the second series to act upon the bolt. The Am 



secret) bank-lock, invented by Mr. Newell when lie 

 found that his former lock was not proof against picking, contains 

 a very elaborate series of primary and secondary tumblers, the po 

 of which are subject to curious changes by the action of the key 

 itself; the owner con change the arrangement of the bits of the 

 key at pleasure ; these bits re-arrange the tumblers in the act of lock- 

 ing; and then the lock cannot be opened with the farmer arrang. 

 of bits in the key. This lock obtained a high reputation in A: 

 and on the continent ; and in 1851 Messrs. Day and Nrwi-ll took out 

 an English patent for it. Mr. Hobbs afterwards produced his pro- 

 tector-lock, a cheaper and more generally useful v.m.ty; : 

 modification of the six-tumbler lock, and contains a small piece called 

 a moveable stump, which resists the withdrawal of the bolt until 

 acted upon by the proper key. Another lock by Hobbs has for its 

 'object tbe absolute closing of the key-hole during the process of 

 locking, which is effected iu a most curious but complicated manner. 



Such ore a few of the principal American locks. Long before the 

 date of the Great Kxhibition, the makers of those locks maintained an 

 animated controversy respecting the merits of their several inventions, 

 accompanied by challenges and prizes for the picking of the locks. 

 Newell not only picked Andrews's unpickable lock, but picked his owu 

 also ; and then set about devising new means of security just as 

 Vauban, having invented a particular system of fortification (his 

 " drot ' ), found out means of capturing fortresses constructed on that 

 system, and then devised another system (his " second ") to remedy 

 the defects of the first. When similar lock-picking challenges and con- 

 troversies took place, at a meeting of the Institute of Civil Kngiueers 

 in 1850, the American exploits in this art were mention* il , lint it was 

 uot till the following year that the matter acquired public no:. 

 During the Uic.-it Exhibition in 1S51, Mr. Hobbs made knov 

 pinion that nil Kngliah looks could be picked; he picked one mode by 

 Messrs. Chubb, to justify his belief; and then arose a warm con- 

 troversy as to the question whether the operation was, under all the 

 circumstances, fairly conducted. Messrs. Bramah had for many years 

 bad a most complicated lock, for the picking of which a price of two 

 hundred guineas was ottered ; Mr. Hobbs undertook this task, asked 

 for thirty days to do it in, succeeded, and obtained the prize. But 

 here again a discussion arose as to the fairness or unfairness of thu 

 process. And so it has been in other cases. Mr. .Smith picked a 

 Newell lock ; but in a way which (it was contended), amounted only to 

 " ringing of the changes " among a certain number of combinations, 

 and not a real picking Messrs. 1'uckeredge and Parnell invented a 

 lock, the picking of which was to be rewarded with a prize; the lock 

 was pi. k.-d, or at least opened, and the price claimed ; but a court of 

 law decided against the claimant. If it would answer any 

 purpose to notice other lock-picking exploits, there are ample mu 

 for doing so ; but it is obvious that all the challenges on this subject 



