Parautoptic Safe Lock circa 1840s-1850s

drcwks

Here’s a self contained safe lock with bolt work. I have had the pictures for sometime and the lock is in storage so I’m going by memory right now.
I’m sure there will be questions and that will force me to revisit this MYSTERY SAFE LOCK which I have been meaning to do. I HOPE to find
another collector who has the ENTIRE SAFE. That’s what I’m after right now is to find out what safe manufacturer USED this lock. A special thanks
to Carl King who identified the KEY Patent way back in 1999. I finally downloaded from the U.S. Patent Office once the site was available to do so.
It will be attached later in the post.

First off. I’m just a collector…antique padlocks, safes, related advertising ,etc….. I’m not a locksmith so some of the terminology I use may be a little elementary but hopefully I’ll get the point across.

This will be an on going transition…These are the pictures I have available at my finger tips …but I may be revising this when I get the lock out and take more
pictures. SO….if there are any pictures you want…you had better save them now…. :-) I hope the ending format keeps the pictures set WITH the captions
underneath. I really don’t use this HTML editor that much…..Well…here goes…I’m not sure how this will post on Paul’s site….we’ll see…

I bought this lock years ago at an estate auction here in Kansas. I knew it was some type of safe lock but didn’t have any idea what brand of safe used
this type lock. I was sure it was American and since it used a key I figured it dated to the 1840s-1860s. It did have ⅜″ half pin (not original) that fit into the
hole shown below. It turned and the bolt open and closed. UNBEKNOWNST to me at the time…. the KEY bit was in position. I didn’t find that out until
many months later. I just never had the time to really disassemble it. The lock weighs about 28 pounds. As you can see below it’s about 17 inches from tab to tab
by the bolts. I hope there is enough text on the pictures to explain how it works.

I was going to try and insert pictures as I went…. but decided to just paste ONE large picture and make some ending comments below. I wasn’t sure how the pictures and
text would end up. First off the above key is very similar to the patent below held by Albert Betteley. But the lock is more like the one in John & David Erroll’s
book “The American Genius” on page 78. The safe lock maker was William Hall. THIS bit is NOT changeable like Hall’s. I’m hoping to find someone who has this
exact lock in a safe. I would like a picture of the safe. After seeing the picture in “The American Genius” I’m sure that there never was a permanent dial or handle that
threw the bolt…Just a half-pin type key like the William Hall’s lock…..anyway….I hope you find this interesting. The key holder ends are spring loaded (spring steel?)
I don’t think the design of the removable key was that great. VERY easy NOT to be able to extract the KEY BIT. That’s probably WHY I found the lock with the bit
still in it! Of course the design was to keep the levers away from being manipulated which I think that was accomplished with this mechanism.
My holiday project will be to get all the parts cleaned up and inside painted and mounted on a frame of some kind.

Here is the Betteley Patent

Parautoptic

Very interesting pictures…. I remember reading about a similar lock that took the bit and returned it via a little chute inside the door. This denied an attacker the chance of examining his false bit for any clue(s) as to why it had failed and alerted the owner to tampering. The true bit could of course be retrieved because the lock would be open. I do not recall mention of any special tool for inserting the bit or turning the lock.

I cannot recall where I read about this, (more than thirty years ago!) but the description has stayed with me and indeed is the reason for my username on this site. It may have been in the “Rudimentary Treatise”

Is the lock shewn here any relation to the one I read about all those years ago?

Tom Gordon

That key bit was banana shaped with a groove to ensure it was inserted the right way around-unfortunately it was quite easy for it to wear and be inserted the wrong way up and as far as I could see the only realistic way to then get it out at the time was to turn the safe upside down.

Syd Waterman

Hi.
Do you know the name of the Patentee or manufacturer of the lock with the “banana shaped” key?
Thanks in advance.
Patent.

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

The banana shaped key is commonly referred to as a ‘grasshopper’ because of the way it ‘jumped’ out of the lock. I believe it was made by Linus Yale Sr. under US patent number 10,584.
BBE.

Steve Dudley

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2628[/ATTACH]I have a Silas C. Herring safe that uses a “Grasshopper key” . The [ATTACH=CONFIG]2627[/ATTACH]“Grasshopper Lock” was originally designed and Patented by Joseph L. Hall on 1 August, 1848, for Silas Herring. Silas Herri[ATTACH=CONFIG]2626[/ATTACH]ng began producing safes around 1840. I will try to attach a photo of my lock and key.My safe was built around 1855 I think[ATTACH=CONFIG]2625[/ATTACH]

Syd Waterman

Thanks BBE for this info. I have looked up the patent diagram (was this lock ever produced by Yale in this format?).
I think that this design lead onto Yale’s"Peanut" lock.
Patent.

Doug MacQueen

It was William Hall of Boston, not Jos. L Hall of Cincinnati that designed the “grasshopper” lock. Both of these men have several lock patents to their name. I have not yet determined who William worked for, so if anyone out there knows, give a yell. There were a couple locks, US and Brit, where the key bit traveled into the lock, and if I remember correctly, one that was deposited in a chute on the door.

Syd Waterman

Hi Doug.
One British lock that comes to mind that fits your reference “where the key bit travelled into the lock, and if I remember correctly, one that was deposited in a chute on the door” is Fenby’s" Adytic" lock. This lock is described in the" Rudimentary Treatise" I believe that this is possibly the lock that Parautoptic alludes to in previous post.25.01.2010.

" I remember reading about a similar lock that took the bit and returned it via a little chute inside the door. This denied an attacker the chance of examining his false bit for any clue(s) as to why it had failed and alerted the owner to tampering. The true bit could of course be retrieved because the lock would be open. I do not recall mention of any special tool for inserting the bit or turning the lock.

Paul Prescott

Rings a bell, I think it was in Tomlinson. Has anyone ever seen one ?

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

Steve Dudley wrote
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2628[/ATTACH]I have a Silas C. Herring safe that uses a “Grasshopper key” . The [ATTACH=CONFIG]2627[/ATTACH]“Grasshopper Lock” was originally designed and Patented by Joseph L. Hall on 1 August, 1848, for Silas Herring. Silas Herri[ATTACH=CONFIG]2626[/ATTACH]ng began producing safes around 1840. I will try to attach a photo of my lock and key.My safe was built around 1855 I think[ATTACH=CONFIG]2625[/ATTACH]

I can’t get the attachments to load, do you have a patent number for the Hall? I can’t seem to find it.
BBE.

[unknown]

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

Patent wrote
Hi Doug.
" I remember reading about a similar lock that took the bit and returned it via a little chute inside the door. This denied an attacker the chance of examining his false bit for any clue(s) as to why it had failed and alerted the owner to tampering. The true bit could of course be retrieved because the lock would be open. I do not recall mention of any special tool for inserting the bit or turning the lock.

I cannot recall where I read about this, (more than thirty years ago!) but the description has stayed with me and indeed is the reason for my username on this site. It may have been in the “Rudimentary Treatise”

A lock that fits that description is the subject of another Yale US patent, 12,932, that was issued in 1855. This patent uses the same Grasshopper type key.
BBE.

[unknown]

Steve Dudley

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2629[/ATTACH]

BBE:
I do not have a patent number however Doug MacQueen correctly pointed out that the grasshopper lock was patented by William Hall. Attached is a drawing by E.Willis of the grasshopper lock and key.

Syd Waterman

BBE. William Hall of Boston. Power Proof Lock. Patent number 5686. August, 1st. 1848.
Regards.
Patent.

Syd Waterman

BBE.
Thanks for the reference to US patent, 12,932. I believe that lock is refered to as Linus Yale’s Peanut Key Lock. There is an example in the Mossman collection.
Is anybody aware of the existance of the lock as described in US Patent 10,584.
Thanks.
Patent.

Doug MacQueen

Referring back to the original post and lock, I recently looked at a Edwards and Fernald (Boston) safe with a keyhole setup like the one pictured. One rectangular slot above another rectangular slot. I think I found the patent for that one. The key bit, after it is inserted into its slot (lower), the handle closes a curtain on the key hole and it is forced up against the tumblers. I will double check this info and the patent and post pictures and the patent if it is different than the one already posted.

Paul Prescott

Steve Dudley wrote
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2629[/ATTACH]

Steve, None of your attachments appear or even seem to exist on the server. Could you please try to upload again ?

Thanks

[unknown]

Parautoptic

Thanks to all for the info on these locks, I never knew that there were so many variations on this theme. I have always wondered why a similar system is not common today. Locks working on similar lines would not be difficult to make using modern CNC manufacturing techniques and indeed could use fewer, smaller and more simple parts, use less precise lever packs etc. if the levers were not available for manipulation. Or have I missed something? Being an amateur I probably haven`t spotted a major flaw in the whole idea….

Doug MacQueen

I am unable to send any pics today but the patent which seems to fit the lock pictured in the first post is by M.R. Stephenson 9,126 Jul 13, 1852.

Steve Dudley

I will try to figure out what I’m doing wrong with my photo’s

I tryed to upload one at a time. This is my key and a drawiing of lock