Patent for a Keyless Security Lock

On 28 February 1871, Wilson Bohannan received U.S. Patent No. 112,211 for a “Keyless Lock.” The patent was associated with the American Seal Lock Company and represented a different approach from the key-operated padlocks Bohannan had patented during the previous decade. The design was intended for applications including mail bags. Rather than being routinely opened with a key, its security depended on a marked locking component that had to be cut to open the lock. Corresponding identification marks on the lock and locking piece provided a means of checking the integrity of the closure. The patent reflects the range of specialised security mechanisms Wilson Bohannan was developing alongside our conventional padlock designs in the early 1870s.