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HISTORYOFLOCKS
Emory Stockwell, superintendent
at Yale’s bank lock division
until his death in 1891,
patentee of the Yale Pindial
Time Lock. Stockwell was
awarded numerous patents
relating to time locks.
April 1831) was awarded to
an English inventor William
Rutherford Jnr. and described
thus:“… The object of this
invention … is to secure for a
given period of time, property
consigned to safes … The dial
wheel, by means of toothed
gearing, is engaged with and
made to revolve at a regulated
speed by a pinion that obtains
motion from clockwork
actuated by springs or
weights”
But reliability and length
of time on guard were both
drawbacks for most early
models and any prospective
users.
But this story is about
the Yale ‘Pindial’ lock also
sometimes known as the
‘Button’ lock. The Pindial also
found favour amongst the
English safe makers; indeed,
many examples found in
the UK are from safes or
strong rooms by Victorian
manufacturers such as Milner
and Chubb.
In 1872, Yale introduced
- initially with 48 hour
movements by Seth Thomas
- their Pindial Time Lock,
and a design largely by
Emery Stockwell who was
superintendent at Yale’s
Yale plaque from a safe fitted with a Yale Time Lock, it would
be futile to try and open until the set time had elapsed.
bank lock division. The
Thomas movements proved
unreliable, however, and
were very quickly changed
to 56 hour movements by E.
Howard. Sometime during
the 1880s the standard
movement changed to 72
hours. At the time the lock
was sold for around $400,
plus $50 if the optional
weekend attachment
(introduced in 1876) was
also purchased. Although
the price is similar to other
competing time locks of
the day, it must have cost
considerably more to
produce - if for no other
reason than the large number
of component parts. It is
interesting that the price
remained the same through
its life.
The case was bronze and
finished in nickel plate,
measuring 190mm wide x
160mm high x 75mm deep,
and weighing in at 6.4kg.
The door had a small lock
to secure it and prevent
tampering; it also has a glass
panel into which two eyelets
have been fitted to enable the
winding of the movements.
Once set it was not necessary
to open the door, as the
winding each day was all that
To read more, visit www.locksmithjournal.co.uk
was required and this could
be safely left to untrained staff
if desired.
The most innovative feature
though, is the two dials, one
for each movement, each
consisting of 24 pins. Each
pin is capable of locking or
unlocking for each of the
designated hour for which
it is set, and needing no
further or adjusting other
than winding the movements.
This feature does not appear
again in the UK for some 75
years, with the Chubb electric
time lock that was produced
during the early post-WWII
years.
A redesigned/engineered
version, the Single Pindial
Lock, was introduced in1884.
It still had dual 72 hour E.
Howard movements, but with
both movements operated
with the one dial. This offered
both cost and space savings. It
is worth noting that Yale was
the first to introduce modular
movements in time locks.
About 4,000 Pindial Locks
were made during its lifetime
(1872-1907). There are
thought to be low hundreds
of Pindial Time locks to have
survived to date, mostly in the
USA, with perhaps a dozen
in the UK. Most common
An early Flyer from around 1875,
illustrating the early lock with
Seth Thomas 48 hour movements.
are the versions without the
weekend attachment with E.
Howard 62 hour movements.
The 56 hour versions are
rare, even more so are the 56
hour versions with weekend
attachments. No Pindials with
Seth Thomas movements
have been recorded or known
to exist – unless you have one
and know different!
The Time Lock is now firmly
established as part of the
global security armoury.
Operating and setting
instructions for the Yale
Pindial are available to
COLTi and TLCA members
to download from their
respective forums.
Brian Morland, curator of the
Heritage Collection of locks
and keys, welcomes comments
and corrections on historical
aspects of locks and keys. Brian
can be contacted by e-mail:
[email protected]
THE JUL/AUG 2014 ISSUE
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