One King West, Toronto

[wylk]

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.

In nearly all cases it is impossible to open a bank vault door from the inside. In many cases the time lock can be disabled from the inside but all that does is enable the door to be opened (with the combinations) from the outside. In the case of doors with a pressure bar system, even if you could disable the combination lock there is no way to release the pressure bars from the inside. This is probably a good idea in the sense that if somebody does break into a vault (not via the door) you don't want it to be easy for them to get out, or to open the door for even more burglarious activity.

I assume this is still generally true for bank vaults; any word from the experts?

A few "thin" vault doors which are actually designed as fire doors (and not bank vault doors) can be opened from the inside merely by operating the handle. I worked with one at a university computer center constructed in 1969 and we had such a Mosler door.

FWIW I tried to find a single case of somebody suffocating when locked in a bank vault but found no examples (excepting a case of murder, an employee who had a severe asthma attack, and an employee suffocated by the CO2 fire system that went off when she pulled the fire alarm inside the vault to get attention). This doesn't mean vault ventilators are a bad idea, of course.

[wylk]

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

Strictly as an educated guess, there needs to be a way to switch the optical "peephole" from one lock to the other. The position of the pins would be consistent with such a mechanism. Unless the optics allow you to see both combinations and the pins do something else!

A related question: how can you see the combinations without interior illumination? I think there would need to be a small light inside and the pins might be an on/off switch? Imagine the havoc a burned-out bulb could create.

[VaultDoors]

The Guaranty Trust Co. vault door was designed by Holmes and appears to have electrical contacts in the same positions as the electrical contacts inside the One King West vault:

[VaultDoors]

Can anyone help identify the devices mounted on the One King West vault door frame in these old pics? One is positioned between the hand wheel and remote combination lock at the top of the frame and the other is installed about 5' to the right of it. My guess is they were part of an alarm system.

[Doug MacQueen]

It has been years since I looked down the comb peekhole and just can't remember much about it. But regarding alarms and electrical contacts, just about anything is possible here. Holmes worked with Hollar on electrical locking devices earlier in his career and electric bank alarms go back as early as the Civil War days. And in the early 1900's, it was not unheard of to utilize booby traps, thermal contacts against burning attacks and such. There was a hidden gun turret in one of the statues outside the building that was recently removed. Doug

[VaultDoors]

Strictly as an educated guess, there needs to be a way to switch the optical "peephole" from one lock to the other. The position of the pins would be consistent with such a mechanism. Unless the optics allow you to see both combinations and the pins do something else!

A related question: how can you see the combinations without interior illumination? I think there would need to be a small light inside and the pins might be an on/off switch? Imagine the havoc a burned-out bulb could create.

There must be a light source in the Pennsylvania Treasury Vault periscope as the dial appears to be lit:



There is a "1" hand and a "2" hand on the dial that I suspect corresponds to each knob and since there are two periscopes this vault actually has four combination locks.

[VaultDoors]

I created the Pennsylvania Treasury Vault set which has pics and videos of the vault cylinder operation, bandit barrier, tear gas, alarm, bullet-proof glass, toxic fumes, gun port, and remote combination locks with a periscope view. This one has it all!

If you can't view the videos in Flickr you can download them in .wmv format:

PA Treasury1 (14 MB)
PA Treasury2 (44 MB)
PA Treasury3 (107 MB)

I believe this vault is described in US Patent 2081316

[VaultDoors]

Thanks! I am not a locksmith, just a safe/padlock/vault door enthusiast. Vault doors are works of art and I have been curious about them for a long time. There just doesn't appear to be a comprehensive resource on vault doors, which is why I started the 'Vault Door Book' post. I am working on a 'Vault Door Anatomy' file that labels components and their use. I have been gathering information found in vault door patents but I still have many questions.

Here is the first pass at "Vault Door Anatomy". Corrections and/or suggestions for improvement are appreciated

[Doug MacQueen]

The vestibule was the area between the outer and inner doors that were popular prior to this door. On this, vestibule should be changed to "jamb". Also I suspect the actual snubber is hidden from view a la Cleve Fed door, and in this case the long snubber bar is used only as the linkage for the "open" safety feature. Like on a gun, cocked but safe. Doug

[VaultDoors]

The vestibule was the area between the outer and inner doors that were popular prior to this door. On this, vestibule should be changed to "jamb". Also I suspect the actual snubber is hidden from view a la Cleve Fed door, and in this case the long snubber bar is used only as the linkage for the "open" safety feature. Like on a gun, cocked but safe. Doug

Thanks Doug, I updated the file with your suggestions and other clarifications. If anyone else would like to critique please do so.