OK... Maybe not time travel, but many of these unique time locks crafted in the 1800's very much resemble the golden compass and other devices used to suggest time travel.

A time lock, like the James Sargent Prototype on the left, is most often found in bank vaults and other high-security containers. It was designed to prevent the opening of the safe or vault until the time lock unlocks the safe at a preset time and day, even if you have the combination.

Time locks were originally created to prevent outlaws and criminals from torturing the person who knew the combination, and then using the combination to rob the safe or vault. Today's banks are far more complex.

Time locks shouldn't be confused with time-delay combination locks. You can open them at any time with the correct combination, but they won't actually unlock until a set delay period elapses, usually in a matter of minutes.

So you see, in a way they really are time machines!