US882620A - Burglar-proof safe and vault. - Google Patents

Description

No. 882,620. PATENTED MAR. 24, 1908.. W. BRINTON. BURGLAR PROOF SAFE AND VAULT.,

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1906.

otherwise.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER BRINTON, OF HIGH BRIDGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO TAYLOR IRON & STEEL COMPANY, OF HIGH BRIDGE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

BURGLAR-PROOF Specification of Letters Patent.

SAFE AND VAULT.

Patented March 24, 1908.

Original application filed May '7, 1904, Serial No. 206,84A. Divided and this application filed. January 30, 1906. Serial No. 298,610.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER BRINTON, a citizen of the United States, residing in High Bridge, in the county of Hunterdon and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burglar- Proof Safes and Vaults, of which the following is a specification.

The present improvement relates to burglar proof safes and vaults, the object of the invention being to provide an improved manganese steel safe or vault, or safe or vault member having superior resisting qualities.

The subject-matter of the present divisional application originally constituted part of my co-pending application Serial No. 206,844, filed May 7, 1904, now Patent No. 813,304, dated February 20, 1006.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of one form of this improved safe or vault body, Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the door.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

It has been found that superior results are obtained by the use of steel having a predetermined quantity of manganese therein and which steel when it has from 7 to 30 per cent. of manganese therein has now become well known as manganese steel in the manufacture of safes and vaults, since it is practically impossible to drill or cut it, the only practicable machining thereof being by grinding. Consequently a safe or vault formed of this material is drill and saw proof. It is, however, when un-heat-trcated, more of less brittle so that it is necessary to properly toughen it in order that it will effectively resist the force of high explosives. This has prior to my invention been done by subjecting the casting to heat-treatn1ent which has been carried out by placing the casting when cold or after it has been cooled, in a cold furnace and then heated, first slowly and then rapidly up to a predetermined point when it is rapidly cooled by immersing it in brine water or Manganese steel, however, is a very difficult and peculiar metal to handle and frequently owing to this rapid cooling immediately after casting, an entirely too rapid shrinkage or contraction of the metal takes place, resulting in internal strains which cause cracks and imperfections in the castings, rendering them valueless for the purposes for which they were designed, this being especially true of very large castings or those of intricate design. In order to prevent this too rapid cooling, and to further prevent the casting from reaching a point of rest, that is, a point where there is an entire or substantial absence of heat from the casting, and to maintain therein a part of the original casting heat thereof, such part being determined according to the size and character of the casting, the casting, as soon as it has solidified suflicient to permit it to be handled, or in other words, when it has reached a point where its strength is sufficient to retain its own weight without warping, is, after be ing first freed from any parts of the mold which would have a tendency to retard its contraction or shrinkage, covered with sand or preferably placed in a pit specially prepared for this purpose where it is free from drafts of air which would tend to rapidly cool it.

In this manner the casting is kept at a uniform temperature throughout and the too rapid cooling and consequent too rapid contraction or shrinkage thereof prevented. hen the casting has cooled down to the right degree of heat for final toughening, which is determined by the operator and necessarily varies according to the size and character of the casting, superior results having been obtained by maintainin in the casting a certain part of its origina casting heat varying between about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, that is to say, above normal atmospheric temperature, and substantially 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, varying according to the size, design and character of the casting, it is placed in a heated furnace having a temperature corresponding or substantially corresponding to that of the casting at this time and then heated up, usually rapidly, to a high temperature now well known in the art of toughening manganese steel, in some instances to an orange heat. The casting is then removed nd rapidly cooled, which may be done by immersing it in brine water or by other suitable means adapted for this purpose. By this method I have been able to successfully produce very large, heavy safe castings, entirely free from internal strains.

I apprehend that the strain-free safe casting is due to a less disturbance of the molecules of the metal between the inner and outer surfaces of the casting under the present mode of treatment as compared with the old mode of treatment. That is to say, under the old mode of treatment, where the casting was permitted to become cold, the inner and outer surfaces or walls were, during the subsequent heating, affected more rapidly than the metal between the two walls, consequently resulting in a more rapid expansion of these inner and outer walls than of the metal therebetween, this causing the inner and outer surfaces or walls to pull in opposite directions so that the metal was lia le to rupture. But in the present mode of procedure, since the metal is not permitted to become cold, there must be materially less disturbance of the molecules of the steel forming the safe, and in consequence the metal is strain-free, as there is no tendency of the outer and inner walls or surfaces to pull in opposite directions to rupture the metal. 7

The safe shown in the present instance, made according to this process, comprises a body 2 of integral formation, having a projection or flange 3 of a peculiar formation and which may or may not be provided with a series of metal inserts located therein during the casting of the structure. These inserts are of such composition as will be proof against and withstand enormous compres sion, thereby insuring against any possible peening effect by stretching of the steel of the door jamb opening by sledging or otheriwse, wholly preventing the admission of fluid GX- plosive material. This result has been obtained by forming the inserts of chrome steel. The jamb 5 of the body projects inwardly beyond the front proper of the body being formed by a flange 6 free of the side walls of such body, but braced by a series of braces 7 integral with such flange and side Walls. This construction affords a very strong jamb' from a comparatively small mass of metal. The door 4 of any suitable formation, is likewise of an integral structure and formed in the same manner as the body. A part of the purpose of these inserts is to prevent the peening of the metal adjacent to the door joints, and they are so designed that when the main safe body is in the process of casting, the fluid manganese steel completely envelops the inserts, which are larger inward than outward, that is, tapered, so that the exposed part which is merely on the surface is of less area than the base or inner surface of the inserts. The inserts are, therefore, firmly fixed or held in position, making it impossible to loosen or remove from their position except by the destruction of the manganese steel which it is entirely enveloped with. These inserts when used per form several functions in assisting to make the safe body casting a success from the casting standpoint when such casting has the swell 3 around the doorway, therefore insuring a superior safe body casting to the castings heretofore made for this purpose. Not only in their value from the point of hardness which they present on the. surface of the jamb, but they give very great assistance toward making the main body of the safe casting solid and perfect because of their tendency to solidify the molten steel by cooling or absorbing the heat at the point in the casting where the greatest amount of heat accumulates and is retained during the pouring of the casting and also during the cooling of the same to the proper degree of heat preparatory to the toughening or treating process, such inserts thus acting as chills and being hardened during the toughening of the safe body by the heat treatment to which the structure is subjected as hereinbefore set forth. It is, however, to be understood that it is not necessary to use these inserts in all instances, or that their use is a necessity in the production of a superior and practicable safe.

The present method of forming and tough ening safe or vault bodies is known to be so superior to the method heretofore practiced under prior patents of others in which the casting to be toughened is heat-treated from a cold condition, or placed in a cold furnace as hereinbefore described, that not only may it be comparatively rapidly heated up to a predetermined point instead of first slowly and then rapidly, but superior results are ob tained even though the casting be not so uniform as has heretofore been deemed necessary for the heat-treatment of manganese steel safe or vault bodies. By the present method of treating manganese steel safe or vault castings I have been able to success fully treat and perfect a single casting weighing as much as eight and one-half tons, which it is not practicable to do under the processes as practiced under prior patents of others, and have found that this-method also gives superior results with smaller sized castings.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. An integral cast, toughened and strainfree manganese steel safe or vault body formed by casting it and then heating it while it has retained therein a part of its casting heat, and then rapidly cooling it.

2. An integral cast, toughened and strainfree steel safe or vault body or member having therein from 7 to 30 per cent. of manganese and formed by casting it and then heating it up to a predetermined temperature while it has retained therein a part of its casting heat ranging upwardly, according to the size of the casting, from a point above normal atmospheric temperature, and then rapidly cooling 1t by immersing it in a bath.

3. An integral cast, toughened and strainfree manganese steel safe or vault body formed by casting it and then rapidly heating it While it has retained therein a part of its casting heat ranging from a point above nor- Inal atmospheric temperature to substantially 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the size and design of the casting, and then rapidly cooling it by plunging it in water.

4. An integral cast, toughened and strainfree unmachineable-metal safe or vault body having therein a predetermined quantity of manganese and formed by casting it, then rapidly heating it While it has retained therein a part of its casting heat, and then cooling it.

5. An integral east, toughened, strain-free unmachineable-metal safe or vault body or member having a predetermined quantity of manganese therein and provided With a reinforced surface around its doorway and formed by casting it and then rapidly heating it u p to a predetermined temperature while it has retained therein a part of its casting heat, and then rapidly cooling it by quenching the casting in a bath.

WVALTER BRINTON.

Witnesses:

HARRY A. HUNT, WILLIAM W. SWAYZE, Jr.

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