.:: Keypicking :: Anything And Everything For Locksmiths, Hobbyist Lock Pickers, Locksport, Lock Picking, lockpicks, cutaways and Security. Simply The Best Lockpicking Forum Around!

Patents have great information about how companies build safes. Today I have here in this thread start a few patents about modern anti-drill hardplates which are or were recently used in GSA containers.

The Shwayder company seems to be quite famous for the anti-drill hardplates. Shwayder is no safe manufacturer. They develop drill resistant and wear resistant stuff. They have quite a few patents regarding hardplates:

US3049435 filed 1957 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US304 ... =US3049435) coating steel with a layer of carbides.
US3205841 filed 1961 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US320 ... =US3205841) describes a flat steel container ("envelope"), that is filled with carbide pieces brazed together.
US3715999 filed 1971 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US371 ... =US3715999) describes the concept of a hardplate with carbide pieces brazed together and having a rough surface.
US6541124 filed 2001 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US654 ... =US6541124) describes a steel plate which is thinly covered with rough carbide pieces.

On their website is the most important trademark MaxAlloy. They write it is produced since 1951, which predates all Shwayder patents.

There is also a patent by Kennametal, which uses very modern methods. Kennametal is also not a safe manufacturer, but a specialist in carbide drill technology. They filed patent US4608318 in 1981 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US460 ... =US4608318). This stuff is made from fine tungsten carbide grains (or similar) and stainless steel powder. First this mixture it is compressed and then heated for sintering.

I could not find out, what Relsomite, Relsom (read backwards) and Mosler 1061 Rex 49 could be.

Great safes are filled with materials like aluminum and corundum like shown in the photos on this website: http://realsafes.ru/burgsafesmenu/real-smp-safe

I thought this technology was invented in the 1980s, or perhaps already in the 1970s, but then I found patent US1422295 from 1921! https://patents.google.com/patent/US142 ... =US1422295 Awesome!

Good info Martin, thanks for sharing.

Another hardplate patent. It is Amsec's patent US8555793 from 2012/2013. https://patents.google.com/patent/US855 ... =US8555793 This is a movable hardplate. To drill it the drill bit has to be pressed to the hardplate. With this force a pin attached to the back of the hardplate is pushed into the bolt work thereby locking it in place. It is used in the current BFII gun safes and the UL tested burglary safes. Here is a video, that shows this setup in a BFII safe. https://youtu.be/8BiNpdd3F-8?t=501 All is hidden inside that box.

And another patent for the stuff inside the safe wall. It is US4377977 from 1980/1983. Its was filed originally by Mosler. https://patents.google.com/patent/US437 ... =US4377977 This is the oldest patent I found for a filling consisting of concrete and steel fibers. In the building industry it is known as SFRC - Steel Fiber Reenforced Concrete. I don't know if these two applications of this type of concrete are somehow related. My guess is, that the safe industry looked for something cheap and durable from common available materials and found it there. I believe this material is now quite common at least here in Europe. The Spanish company BTV states this publicly with their grade 3 safes. "Shielding of the body filled with vandal-resistant concrete with steel fibres." https://btv.es/en/products/category/saf ... enas-ac-30 Here is a video where someone tests this kind of filling with a sledge hammer. https://youtu.be/9HkGGJxOAjA?t=213 And here with a electric hammer. https://youtu.be/9HkGGJxOAjA?t=110

Great stuff! Thank you.

I like your brief description relative to each patent! That's much clearer than the description in the patent itself and is very useful.

Cheers

That hard plate holds up well against the thermal lance attack. Thanks for sharing all this info Martin!

Another SFRC patent is US4389948 from 1981/1983 filed by Chubb. https://patents.google.com/patent/US438 ... =US4559881 It patents modular vault panels filled with steel fiber reenforced concrete.

And another one is US4559881 from 1983/1985 filed by Diebold. https://patents.google.com/patent/US455 ... =US4559881 Here vault panels are constructed with rather specific mixtures of SFRC. This patent is interesting, because it makes this very specific claim on burglary resistance: "These new results, some of which are set forth above involve characteristics of the formulation which resists burglarious attack as outlined in Underwriters Laboratories Standard No. 608 in thicknesses of 8 inches for one hour and 11 inches for 2 hours."

Excellent information I've got files of information just from you thank you and happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, who have it. I don't.

Today something Russian. It is patent RU2466260 from 2011/2012 filed by Промет-сейф (Promet). https://patents.google.com/patent/RU246 ... U2466260C1 You can get translations if you go to https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/ ... U2466260C1 The patent is about a safe wall constructed from steel sheet, expanded steel, some steel pipes, rubber, gravel and a bit concrete. There are photos of walls constructed according to this patent at http://realsafes.ru/privatetests/fort-valberg

Here another variant of SFRC. EP0348556 from 1988/1990 filed by Burg-Waechter. https://patents.google.com/patent/EP034 ... =EP0348556 The main feature of this SFRC is, that the concrete is made more durable by adding epoxy/PU, but there are lots of options of steel fiber, glass fiber, alox lumps, etc. in this patent. The patent mentions explicitly, that this concrete is suitable for C2 rated safes. This one is such a C2 rated safe from Burg-Wächter from a few years after filing the patent. https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 3-87-22434 Normally these safes are rated C2F, where F is for a light fire protection, but there is no F in this case. After change of the RAL rating system with C2 to the European rating system (EN 1143-1) the same safe is available with a grade 1. rating https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 14-87-3380