Latch key

“ This is the story of the circumstances surrounding the invention of Simpson's Electric Latch-Key, an invention with which everybody is now familiar, but regarding the origin of which the public has never been informed. There were reasons, grave ones for a time, why the story should not be told—in short, there was a love affair mixed with it—but those reasons no longer exist, and it seems a good thing to relate the facts in the case. They may interest a great number of people, particularly middle-aged gentlemen in the large cities. ”

“ The person who entered the house last, whether the prisoner or anyone else, and who fastened up the front-door as it was found by the witness Lucy Jones the following morning, [Pg 78] that person must, for some reason or other, have failed to notice the condition of the latch. She, if we assume it was the prisoner, must be supposed to have been so agitated from some cause that she failed to notice what she was doing when she raised the latch with her key, and failed again to notice how the latch was caught when she proceeded to fasten the door inside. ”

“ When the key is again depressed, another tablet rod rises, but before its shoulder has passed the co-operating latch the first tablet falls upon the latch, which gives way to allow the rod to fall, when the last rod rises and remains exposed to view. These latches are weighted in such manner as to remain in place as the rod rises, but to give way when it is desired that the rod shall fall. The device is an ingenious one, but is chiefly valuable in this connection as showing that, prior to the Ritty and Birch patent, the sliding bar was well known as an equivalent for the pivoted wing. ”

“ The long-stop actuating lever marked 16, corresponds with the lever G of the Felt key-driven calculator shown in a preceding chapter, and performs the same function as the rock bars L of the first Felt recorder patent. These stop levers 16 are pivoted at 17, and are provided with rear arms 86, extending upward with their ends opposite the lateral extending lug 93, of the trigger latch, which corresponds to the order of keys which the lever 16 serves. ”

“ Reversing the ordinary mortise, or rim, lock requires no special ability on the part of the workman, as the operation consists of merely taking off the cap and turning over the latch bolt. Where, however, a mortise lock is to be applied, care must be exercised so that it will work properly. First fit the lock into the door at the proper height from the floor, making the mortise large enough for the lock to enter easily. Bore the holes for the knob and the key, and insert the screws in the lock face and drive them home. ”

“ The stem, therefore, can be left by the principal of an establishment for locking up by a subordinate; but the bit, which is the essential part of the key required for opening the lock, need never be used or seen by any one but the principal himself. As the hole in the external door-plate for the stem of the key has a notch on one side only to admit the key stem, and the cylinder is prevented from making a complete revolution, the stem of the key cannot be withdrawn from the lock except when the bolt is shot ”

“ The ordinary single latchkey is sometimes sufficiently puzzling to the late comer at his own home who has dined not wisely but too well. Try and imagine the effect in similar circumstances of a fourfold key, each arm, or barrel, call it what you will, looking exactly alike, but each quite different, in that only one of the four is designed to unlock whichever particular lock you may be at the moment negotiating, the odds being, of course, exactly four to one against your picking out the right barrel in the first instance. ”

“ To make a really complicated box of wards, and to cut keys which shall accurately fit their sweep, is a matter requiring considerable manual dexterity; and some warded locks are therefore expensive. But even with the best of them, all that it is necessary to do for opening the lock is to take a blank key which will properly fit the keyhole, coat it with wax, and then inserting it in the lock, press it round against the wards, which will cause them to leave an accurate impression of their section on the key. ”

“ Few persons would incur the trouble of using two keys; and besides this, there were not wanting certain defects in the action and reaction of the several parts; for if the clamp-screw were to be left unreleased, the first series of tumblers would be upheld by the second series in such a way that the exact impression of the lengths of the several bits of the key could be obtained through the key-hole while the lock was unlocked or the bolt unshot. ”

“ It is true that iron safes have been made for some years in which any number of large bolts are shot by a handle and then locked by a very small key. But in such locks the key must be used in locking, and this leads to certain objections, viz. the key must occasionally at least be confided to some person whose duty it is to lock up the safe after the owner has left the place; there is also the temptation to leave the key in the lock, since it will be wanted in locking up; and thus there is the danger of some dishonest person taking an impression of the key. ”

“ A latch is a bar moving up and down in a limited space—or, if backwards and forwards, as in some locks—it is called the latch-bolt. A turnbuckle, as its name implies, turns round, and is only limited by the notch, &c. by which it holds. They are chiefly of two kinds: one is a spindle, with a knob or ring at one end, and a tongue or buckle at the other; another is a handle with a tongue attached, moving together freely round, upon a pin or rivets. This latter kind has taken the place of the casement latch represented in your "Current Notes" in present use. ”

“ For if a lock of any given size be furnished with wards in as curious and complete a manner as it can be, those wards being necessarily expressed on what is termed by locksmiths the bit or web of the key, do not admit of a greater number of variations than can be expressed on that bit or web; when, therefore, as many locks have been completed of the given size as will include all the variations which the surface of the bit will contain, every future lock must be the counterpart of some former one, and the same key which opens the one will of course unlock the other. ”

“ When a person who was outside wished to enter, it was necessary for him to insert the key in a little hole and to raise the bolt; and in time this species of fastening was improved by the insertion of the bolt in an iron frame or rim permanently attached to the door by a chain, and fastening the door by the insertion of the hasp, through the eye of which was forced the bolt inside the lock by applying the key. ”

“ Fig. 200 shows a more complicated form of latch with a trigger protruding from the lower part of the door, which is hinged to a wooden shaft, and the shaft in turn is connected with the latch. The fastenings of the trigger to the shaft and the shaft to the latch are made with hardwood pegs or wire nails which move freely in their sockets. The latch is the simplest form of a wooden bar fastened at one end with a screw or nail on which it can move up and down freely; the other end is allowed to drop into the catch. ”

“ You say you yourself keep the only key of the padlock, as well as the key of the safe. So that you open the safe every morning yourself and close it at night?"
"Just so."
"And do you never entrust the keys to anybody else?"
"The key of the safe is on a separate bunch from the key of the box. This second bunch, with the key of the box, is always in my pocket, and not a soul else ever touches it. The other bunch, with the outer key of the safe, I sometimes hand to my partner, or to the head clerk, Mr. Foster, if something is wanted from the safe when I am busy. ”

“ These are very good little padlocks, with an excellent lever action, 'dogged against detent,' as the technical phrase goes; so that only the key properly made for each lock will open it. They are so good, indeed, as locks, that it would be a waste of time to try picking them, when, because of their small size, it is so very easy to break them apart, just as you have done yourself, and just as I could probably have done in half the time, having had rather more experience. Now that is what has been done with your lock by the person who has your bonds. ”

“ As a matter of fact, it is even now in perfectly good order, except for the damage we have jointly committed with the screw-driver. And now, observe! That lock was shut by another key; if the man that did that is as sharp as I suppose he is, he will have got rid of that key at once. But perhaps he hasn't; and if not, then the man who has that key is the thief. At any rate, the key is the clue we must hunt for. Let us have your clerks in one by one, and look at their keys. Some are out at lunch by this time, probably? ”

“ Various sections of keys are shown in fig. 20. At (a) is the hollow or saddle key. With this form of key it is not necessary to cut the shaft in any way, but its holding power is small, and it is therefore only used for light work. At (b) is the key on a flat, sometimes called a flat key. The holding power of this key is much greater than that of the saddle key. At (c) is the sunk key, a very secure and very common form.
The part of the shaft upon which a key rests is called the key bed or key way, and the recess in the boss of the wheel or pulley into which the key fits is called the key way ”

“ Every lock has its own proper key inserted in the key-hole; and as the locks lie down horizontally, the shaft of each key is of course vertical. There are delicate pieces of mechanism contained within the central axis and within the discs, consisting of levers, racks, and pinions; and the Bramah lock is contrived so ingeniously, that the Bramah key, by acting upon that lock, acts upon all this mechanism. The Bramah barrel, in rotating horizontally under the action of its key, gives a rotary movement to a rod passing vertically through the centre of the whole apparatus ”

“ I saw Tarleton’s thick eyebrows go up and down.
“That was very sound advice,” he responded quietly. “However, your brother trusted me, as I have said, and I hope you can do the same. I shall be very greatly obliged if you will let me see the bottle.”
The little woman got nimbly off the couch. “After all, it will be a relief to me to get rid of it,” she murmured. “I have always taken care to keep it under lock and key.”
[232] She produced a bunch of about two dozen keys from her pocket, all of them of that common design that will open each other’s locks with ease, and advanced to a chiffonier. ”

“ More modern, but considered now to be old-fashioned, are the letter lock and warded lock; later still are the patent locks of Barron, Bramah, Chubb, and others. It is not necessary to describe the variations in all these; it may suffice to say that the most trustworthy are those with levers and tumblers, and protected in other ways from false keys and picks. One chief point of security consists in a lock being so unlike any other that no key but its own will open it ”

“ Key to Chubb’s lock.
The key is represented in fig. 32. It has six steps, besides a terminal step to act upon the bolt. The height of each step, or the distance to which it extends from the pipe of the key, depends of course on the height to which its corresponding tumbler is to be lifted; and it matters not whether the steps of the key are adjusted to the slots of the tumblers, or the slots to the steps, provided the agreement be brought about. It is simply a matter of manufacturing convenience that the key-steps are cut first and the tumbler-slots afterwards. ”

“ The inner cylinder can then be turned, by which the bolt is locked or unlocked. If, by the use of a false key, any pin be pushed in too far, it will be as ineffectual in opening the lock as if it were not thrust in far enough; and some of these locks having been made with as many as forty pins, the chances are very numerous against the right combination being hit upon. There is a combination of something like the Egyptian with something like the Bramah lock, here attempted. ”

“ For office work, a small key is desirable, so that cylinder locks are ordinarily employed, as the key for the operation of such locks may be conveniently carried. For hotels, however, a high-grade lever-tumbler lock with round, substantial keys is desirable, because the keys are liable to hard usage, and should not be convenient to carry in the pocket. ”

“ In some instances, for additional security and for special work, the corrugations in the keyway are changed in shape so that the manufacturers’ regular type of key will not enter the keyway, or plug, thus allowing no chance for the regular type of key to operate the lock. ”

“ This is the key of 84, Camford Street. The lock is high up on the left-hand side of the door. There is no keyhole. You will see a green spot. Press the key against the spot and it will enter the lock. Push home as far as it will go, then jerk upwards, and the door will open. Don’t try to enter when anyone is looking. Directly you get it, tear off this label and burn it. Then pass the chain about your waist, underneath your dress, and snap the padlock. If you lose the key, or let it go for a moment from your possession, may the gods burn up the marrow in your bones. And they will. ”

“ Having in the course of their inquiries examined the different existing modes in which locks may be picked, forced, or opened by false keys, the Committee have come to the conclusion that the parautoptic lock cannot be opened by any of the methods now practised, unless by a person in possession of the key by which it was locked, in the exact form of combination in which it was used for the purpose, or in the almost impossible case of the bits being adjusted to the skeleton key by accident in that very form. ”

“ We never pretended that it was anything but a common key. It is a common key to unlock a common lock. You remember that evidence, the lock was hanging onto the hasp, showing that they had not a key to unlock it. It does not matter whether it was a common lock or a common key or not. The key that unfastened that lock had blood upon it and it was found in the Carlson cottage, with paint upon it, or what seemed to be paint, of the same color as the paint that was upon the floor. ”