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  1. #1
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    Default One King West, Toronto

    A Toronto hotel, One King West, includes a former bank (Dominion Bank, 1914). One floor below the main level there is a large vault with a 4-foot-thick door:

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    It is peculiar because the bolts can be seen but the boltwork is hidden (additionally there are only 20 bolts instead of the more common 24). The only other one I've seen like this is in the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland (which has 16 bolts) and is made by York. So, tentatively, the Toronto vault is probably a York?

    I haven't run across any patents for this style of boltwork. Can anyone help?

  2. #2
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    I believe that is a Remington Sherman door having seen pictures of one just like it, but as you say it is strikingly similar to the Cleveland York. I, too have found nothing in the patents for either door. If I remember correctly, York did take over Rem Sherm but that happened later. The overall design of both doors was both innovative and more modern looking than other doors of time, especially if the Toronto door is from 1914. Both doors use pins in the jamb that mate up to pins in the door to push and pull the boltwork. There is definitely a connection between the two but I have yet to figure it out.

  3. #3
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    I think I have found the connection here. Frederick S. Holmes, who was a very active vault engineer during that period designed several doors of this type based on what I have found searching his name. If you have "Lure of Lock" he includes some door pictures in his article at the back of the book. Still haven't found any patents though for this type of door.

  4. #4
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    I do have Lure of the Lock and will re-read Holmes' article.

    Attached is another image of One King West, which shows pins on the door (left side of image); are these the ones that operate the boltwork? I'm also intrigued by the long rod which seems to go to the time lock, and the small indicator reading "Open".

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  5. #5
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    I found some candidate patents. Joseph E. Casserly was issued a string of US patents, numbers 811,695 through 811,701, in 1906. -696 and -699 look like the mechanism could easily be placed out of sight. These were all assigned to Remington & Sherman which seems to have been absorbed later by York.

  6. #6
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    Yes, I have seen those. What I haven't found is the jamb mounted locking method, except in a later 1930's York patent for a totally different type of door. If the design was used only on the Fed door, I would say it might not have been patented but we know that isn't the case.

  7. #7
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    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):

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    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.
    Last edited by wylk; 24-03-12 at 10:32 PM. Reason: Add date of image

  8. #8
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    Yes, now I do remember seeing those other patents. Nice find on that Rem Sherm rectangular door by the way. It is that mechanism that I can't find any patent for. And here you can clearly see the pins operating on the central circular bellcrank. So far there are the two R-S doors, Toronto and Denver that were both pre- WWI and the Cleve Fed York door that was 1922. From what I remember reading, York didn't takeover R-S until later than this, but maybe it did occur earlier. Also, I can believe that Holmes was possibly the engineer in all 3 cases and therefore the connection and the reason they all use this mechanism. What is strange is that no patent is showing up for it.

  9. #9
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    I keep trying to find out when R&S disappeared. The last patent I could find which is assigned to them is 1,478,085, filed in 1922. There is mention of them in a 1926 issue of Architecture and Building, and as late as 1929 in banking directories but perhaps the publisher didn't realize they were no longer in business so that's not terribly definitive. Philadelphia telephone directories and/or city directories might help but I don't believe any are online (are there any Philadephians in the group?). Aside from Google and Google Books, are there any suggestions for further searching?

  10. #10
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    I ran across this image of the Cleveland FRB door during construction. Note the boltwork-operating pins in the door, as well as the jamb-mounted controls. Just another link between York Safe and Lock, and Remington & Sherman.

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