One King West, Toronto

[VaultDoors]

Jamb-mounted locking was also used by Remington & Sherman, so when York took them over they might have continued and improved on it. For example, here is a Remington & Sherman door with jamb-mounted controls (circa 1915):

Attachment 5457

The controls and the boltwork-operating pins resemble the round door at One King West.

I assume the other patent you refer to is 2,081,316 which is a revolving door as used at the NY federal reserve, and assigned to York. Similarly there is 1,478,085 assigned to Remington & Sherman though the locks are in the revolving door, and then there's 1,574,295 by Laucks and Wilkinson (Wilkinson is the inventor in 2,081,316) but assignment is to Laucks.

I haven't seen any patents for the jamb-mounted controls outside of revolving-door models.

Here's a clip of the New York Federal Reserve vault door in action:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cantonv...57639257967464

[VaultDoors]

Here are some close-ups of the One King West electrical contacts inside the vault:

[Doug MacQueen]

Amazing! Are you building a movie prop? If that little box above the snubber bar says "open", then it sounds like it is being used as a detent safety latch. If you go to Mark Franks (always improving) My Time Machines website and look at the big M Quad timelocks, you will find a model with a little round "open" window. The latch allows the timelock to be wound up but prevents it from locking if the door is shut. So on the One King West door, the actual timelock blocking snubber is probably a pin projecting inward from the same point where the long snubber bar is attached. Just guessing here but some close up angled pics should clear things up. Doug

[wylk]

Here are some close-ups of the One King West electrical contacts inside the vault:

In the first image it looks like there is also a mechanical interlock-type switch at the top. Which in turn makes me wonder about the nature of the other two "wired" bolts. Is it possible they they were not simple contacts, but that the bolts held something like a bismuth-metal alloy as a high-temperature detector? Three contacts and two methods seems extreme merely to detect whether the bolts are extended or retracted. Alternatively, the top switch may have been added later and the others were retired but left in place.

[wylk]

Here is a good image of the "OPEN" indicator:



Posted earlier, a good image of the timelock end of the bar:

[VaultDoors]

In the first image it looks like there is also a mechanical interlock-type switch at the top. Which in turn makes me wonder about the nature of the other two "wired" bolts. Is it possible they they were not simple contacts, but that the bolts held something like a bismuth-metal alloy as a high-temperature detector? Three contacts and two methods seems extreme merely to detect whether the bolts are extended or retracted. Alternatively, the top switch may have been added later and the others were retired but left in place.

Here's a couple close-ups of the time lock flag box showing a channel in the long bar. It looks as though the flag box can be manually operated as when it is 'Closed' the top button is extended, the side lever is up and the long bar extends past the end of the side lever. When it is 'Open' the top button is depressed, the side lever is down and the long bar is even with the side lever. I thought there would have been a 'Closed' flag but apparently closed is just a blank space. There also appears to be a slot in the end of the side lever, maybe for some adjustment.





Also, these pics show a device mounted on a black angle iron inside the vault (hinge side) that appears to engage the time lock rod somehow:

[VaultDoors]

The last time I checked there were a couple members in Toronto who I may ask to conduct a photo expedition for a few elements I still am unable to see from the pics. I may be in Toronto for business this year and if so I will take pics and dimensions.

I am planning to build a scale model of the One King West door from Styrofoam and wood, no larger than 8" diameter. I believe I have all the materials required to really hurt myself :-)

Attachment 10436

Here is a 9' round vault door model and here's how it was built.

The 9' round vault door model is $7k and the artist plans to show it in South Carolina in a few months.

[wylk]

Here's a wacky idea on the two hollow-end bolts and corresponding contacts. Is it possible they filled the depression in the bolts with mercury and used the two prongs to electrically detect bolt extension? They might have used two for redundancy. And years later this could have been replaced with a more reliable mechanical switch at the top? Does anybody know if something like this was ever done?

Toxicity of mercury around 1914 might have been a minor concern.

[VaultDoors]

There are a couple pins between the remote combination dials. Does anyone know their function?

[timelocks]

I was wondering, assuming someone is accidentally locked in the vault. How does one open it from the inside? I can see how one can disable the time lock by pushing the actuator connected the lock, but then how are the bolts retracted? I see no mechanism to do this from the inside.

Here's a couple close-ups of the time lock flag box showing a channel in the long bar. It looks as though the flag box can be manually operated as when it is 'Closed' the top button is extended, the side lever is up and the long bar extends past the end of the side lever. When it is 'Open' the top button is depressed, the side lever is down and the long bar is even with the side lever. I thought there would have been a 'Closed' flag but apparently closed is just a blank space. There also appears to be a slot in the end of the side lever, maybe for some adjustment.





Also, these pics show a device mounted on a black angle iron inside the vault (hinge side) that appears to engage the time lock rod somehow: