UNITED STATES PATENTS

Patents are very useful tools for collectors who want to know more about the items they collect. When I first started researching patents, before the information was readily available on the internet, I had to travel approximately 100 miles to the closest patent repository.  There I manually reviewed each hard-copy annual index of issued patents to identify patents that I thought were applicable to my research.  After cross-referencing the patent to identify what roll of microfilm the information was located on I checked out the film, loaded it to a reader and manually scrolled thru each frame.  Once I found what I was looking for, if it was related to my research, I printed a hard-copy for my personal reference library.

Times certainly have changed!

Today, you can research patent information online from the comfort of your home.  Additionally, the information can formatted and saved electronically.

Below you will find a table with links to patents I have been able to identify that are related to safe banks.

TYPE	NUMBER	PATENTED	INNOVATION	PATENTED BY	OF
DESIGN	D0005494	1/23/1872	METROPOLITAN SAFE	Anthony M. Smith	Brooklyn, NY
DESIGN	D0010851	10/1/1878	EMBELLISHED SAFE	Augustus E. Taylor	New Britain, CT
DESIGN	D0012357	7/12/1881	IXL SAFE	Louis Kyser Alfred C. Rex	Philadelphia, PA
DESIGN	D0013144	8/8/1882	EGYPTIAN SAFE	Louis Kyser Alfred C. Rex	Philadelphia, PA
DESIGN	D0020646	3/31/1891	HEART SAFE	Russel Frisbie	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0022419	5/9/1893	WORLDS FAIR SAFE	Eugene Charest	Detroit, MI
DESIGN	D0025577	6/2/1896	SAVINGS BANK	Charles A Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0027526	8/17/1897	BURGULAR PROOF SAFE	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0027527	8/17/1897	TREASURE SAFE	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0027566	8/24/1897	KEY LOCK SAFE #50	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0035864	4/15/1902	COIN DEPOSIT SAFE	John W. Eshleman	Mount Joy, PA
DESIGN	D0037432	5/16/1905	KODAK BANK	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0038326	11/27/1906	MEDALLION SAFE	Elwood Headley	New York, NY
DESIGN	D0038,810	9/17/1907	MEDALLION SAFE	Peter G. Wing	Chicago, IL
DESIGN	D0039660	11/3/1908	KLOTZ SAFE	Louis Krajeski	Chicago, IL
DESIGN	D0041326	4/25/1911	SAFE BANK GRILL	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0041697	8/22/1911	CUPID SAFE	Lewis S. Bixler	Kenton, OH
DESIGN	D0041947	11/28/1911	YALE LOCK SAFE	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
DESIGN	D0041948	11/28/1911	HORSEHEAD SAFE	Lewis S. Bixler	Kenton, OH
UTILITY	77,560	5/5/1868	TOY SAFE W/PUZZLE LOCK	Abram Wright Geo. F. Wright	Clinton, MA
UTILITY	153,501	7/28/1874	COMBINATION LOCK	Anthony M. Smith	Brooklyn, NY
UTILITY	229,829	7/13/1880	PERMUTATION LOCK	Daniel J. Kenny	Cincinnati, OH
UTILITY	237,757	2/15/1881	LOCK & ASSEMBLY	Louis Kyser Alfred C. Rex Rudolph M. Hunter	Philadelphia, PA
UTILITY	317,771	5/12/1885	COIN GUARD & ASSEMBLY	Henry C. Hart	Detroit, MI
UTILITY	351,995	11/2/1886	PERMUTATION LOCK	John H. Morris Thomas D. Morris	Seward, NE
UTILITY	358,697	3/1/1887	COIN GUARD & LOCK	Alfred C. Rex	Philadelphia, PA
UTILITY	376,014	1/3/1888	LOCK SPINDLES	Alfred C. Rex	Philadelphia, PA
UTILITY	451,529	5/5/1891	PERMUTATION LOCK	William P. Shattuck	Minneapolis, MN
UTILITY	528,018	10/23/1894	TOY MONEY-BOX	Robert Nicol, Jr.	Chicago, IL
UTILITY	574,179	12/29/1896	LOCK	Swen E. Swensen	New York, NY
UTILITY	574,180	12/29/1896	COIN-BANK	Swen E. Swensen	New York, NY
UTILITY	589,327	8/31/1897	COMBINATION LOCK	Charles A. Bailey	Cromwell, CT
UTILITY	651,612	6/12/1900	LOCK RELEASE	Emile Reizenstain	Philadelphia, PA
UTILITY	668,579	2/19/1901	TOY SAVINGS-BANK	Aaron Kaufman	Baltimore, MD
UTILITY	707,875	8/26/1902	SAVINGS-BANK	Charles B. Stilwell	Philadelphia, PA
UTILITY	1,168,512	1/18/1916	LOCK FOR TOY SAFES	Harry T. Kingsbury	Keene, NH

Design Patent:

Issued for a new, original, and ornamental design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture, it permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the design. Design patents issued from applications filed before May 13, 2015 shall be granted for the term of fourteen years from the date of grant. Design patents are not subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

 

Utility Patent:

Issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof, it generally permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to twenty years from the date of patent application filing, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.  Utility patents are also referred to as “patents for invention”.

See U.S. Code Title 35 – Patents, for a full description of patents and patent laws.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers an online patent research tool.

‎GOOGLE also offers an intuitive patent research tool.