US1012490A - Clock-controlled switch. - Google Patents

Description

A. K. WHITE.

CLOCK CONTROLLED SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1910.

1,012,490. Patented Dec.19,1911.

a SHEBTSSHEET 1f I W J ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLAN c.

A. K. WHITE. cLocK CONTROLLED SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA, 1910. 1,012,490, Patented-Dec. 19, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 110., WASHINGTON, n. c.

A. K. WHITE.

CLOCK CONTROLLED SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA, 1910.

1,012,490. Patented Dec.19,1911.

3 SHEBTE-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES: llVl/ENTOI? COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR K. WHITE, OF MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

CLOCK-CONTROLLED SWITCH.

Application filed September 1, 1910.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ARTHUR K. Wrrrrn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Marysville, in the county of Yuba and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Glocl:Gontrolled Switch, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to electric lighting of show windows and the like, and its object is to provide a new and improved clockcontrolled switch, designed for automatically turning on and off at predetermined times the electric lamps used in a show window or other place, say, turning the lamps on at the beginning of dusk and turning them off at midnight, or, if desired, turning on a series of lamps at the beginning of dusk, turning off the lamps at midnight, and turning on a single lamp during the remainder of the night.

For the purpose mentioned, use is made of a motor for actuating a switch controlling the lamps, and a clock-controlled releasing device for the said motor and controlled by the said switch.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front face view of the clockcontrolled switch, parts being broken out, and the clock dial and the hour and minute hands being removed; Fig. 2 is a sectional front elevation of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same, parts bein broken out; Fig. A is a face view of the four-point switch with the casing covering removed; Fig. 5 is a like view of a three-point switch with the casing covering removed; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the electric connection between the four-point switch shown in Fig. 4 and the electric lamps in the show window; and Fig. 7 is a similar view of the electric connection between the three-point switch shown in Fig. 5 and the electric lamps in the show window.

On a suitably constructed frame A are mounted the spring motors B and C, of which the spring motor B forms part of an ordinary clock mechanism having the hour hand D and the minute hand E mounted on the hour hand sleeve D and minute hand shaft E, respectively, as indicated in Fig. 3.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

Serial No. 579,976.

The spring motor C is provided with a gear wheel C in mesh with a gear wheel F employed' for turning the contact arm G of a four or three-point switch G, as indicated in Figs. 1, 6 and 5, 7, respectively, the switch G being mounted on the frame A, as shown in the drawings, and the contact arm G of the four-point switch is adapted to successively engage sets of fixed contacts G and G as will be readily understood by reference to Figs. 4 and 6, while the contact arm G of the switch shown in Figs. 5 and 6, is adapted to engage successively the fixed contacts G*, G and the turning off contact G The gear wheel F is secured on the shaft G of the contact arm G and is connected by a spring G with the said contact arm, so that when the shaft G is turned it winds up the spring G until the latter overcomes the friction between the contact arm G and the fixed contact G G Gr or G so that the contact arm G disengages this particular fixed contact and quickly moves in engagement with the next following contact. As this construction of the switch is well known further detailed description of the same is not deemed necessary. As shown in Fig. 6, the switch points G are in the circuit for the electric lamps H, and consequently when the switch arm G engages the switch points G the electric lamps H are burning, but when the switch arm G is turned to engage the switch points G then the lamps H are out out. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, the shaft G of the switch arm G is in the circuit, and the switch point G is connected with the circuit for the electric lamps H, and the switch point G is connected with a single electric lamp H while the switch point Gr is to cut out all the lamps. I

In order to start and stop the motor at proper intervals for actuating the switch Gr so that the electric lamps H, H, H in the show window are turned on and off at the proper predetermined time, the following arrangement is made: The dial I turns with the minute hand sleeve D of the clock, and is provided with teeth, preferably forty-eight in number, and the said teeth are adapted to be engaged by pins 1 projecting forwardly from spring arms I mounted to turn loosely on the sleeve D of the hour hand D of the clock. Thus by pressing a spring arm I rearwardly its pin 1 can be disengaged from any one of the teeth of the dial I to be engaged with another one on turning the arm I correspondingly and then releasing it, so that the pin I engages the desired tooth, opposite an hour or a half hour of the dial 1, which latter is preferably provided with a graduation indicating twenty-four hours. For a four-point switch G, as shown in Fig. 4:, two arms I are used, but for a threepoint switch, as shown in Fig. 5, three arms I are employed. Each of the arms I is provided with a rearwardly-extending pin 1 adapted to engage and swing upward a lever J, fulcrumed at J on the frame A, and the said lever J is adapted to engage with its free end an arm K projecting from a shaft K journaled on the frame A. The free end of the arm K is connected by a link K with the upper end of a sleeve K preferably made of an insulating material and slidingly mounted on a swing arm K of which the sleeve forms part, the sleeve being normally held in a lowermost position by the action of a spring K attached at one end to the sleeve K and at the other end to the swing arm K The free end of the sleeve K is adapted to rest on pins L of a pin wheel L, centrally secured to the contact arm G so as to rotate with the latter, the pins L being arranged in a circle placed equidistant apart, as plainly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The swing arm K extends from a shaft K journaled in the frame A, and provided with a locking and a releasing arm N, provided at its'free end with an angular lug N, adapted to engage a notch N formed in a wheel N secured to a gear wheel C forming part of a train of gear wheels drivefi by the motor C. As long as the lug N engages the notch N the motor is held in a stopped position, but when the arm N is swung upward and the lug N disengages the notch N the wheel N and with it the motor C is released so that the motor begins to run, and in doing so turns the wheel F for imparting an intermittently swinging motion to the switch arm G in the direct-ion of the arrow 64. hen the several parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the sleeve K rests on the right-hand pin L of the pin wheel L, so that the swing arm K is held in an inclined position. Now when the clock is running the dial I is rotated in the direction of the arrow I), and in doing so it carries along the arms I so that a pin 1 of one of the said arms finally engages the lever J and swings the same upward, and in doing so the lever J acts on the arm K so that the latter exerts an upward pull by the link K on the sleeve K to move the lower end of the sleeve K out of engagement with the right hand pin L of the pin wheel L. When this takes place the sleeve K and its swing arm K swing to the left the locking and releasing arm N is swung upward to disengage the wheel N and thus release the motor C, which now starts runnin and 1n doing so turns the gear wheel 23, F to turn the contact arm G, as previously explained.

Now presuming that the four-point switch G shown in Figs. 4c and 6 is used, and the two arms I are set in such a manner that one engages the dial I at say six oclock in the evening and the other engages the dial at twelve oclock midnight; now when the clock is running the switch arm G engages the contact G at six oclock in the evening, so that the circuit for the electric lamps H is closed, and the latter are lighted to illuminate the show window, and when midnight comes the contact arm G is turned to disengage the fixed contact G and thus extinguish the lamps H, the contact arm then engaging the contact G Thus the electric lamps are automatically turned on in the evening and turned out at midnight. In case it is desired to keep the show window dimly illuminated after midnight, use is made of a switch, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, and besides the regular lamps H for brilliantly illuminating the show window, an extra lamp H is used for dimly lighting the show window after midnight and after the lamps H are turned out. In this case the contact arm engages the fixed contact G say at six oclock in the evening, to turn on the lamps H, and at midnight the contact arm G disengages the fixed contact G to turn out the lamps l, and. the contact arm G now makes contact with the fixed contact G to turn on the extra lamp H which burns during the remainder of the night, and say at six oolock the next morning the contact arm G disengages the fixed contact G and moves in contactwith the fixed contact G thus extinguishing the lamp H From the foregoing it will be seen that by this arrangement the show window is brilliantly illuminated during a portion of .the night and dimly during the remainder of the night and the lamps are completely extinguished during the entire day.

When the contact arm G is turned by the action of the motor C and spring G as above explained, the pin wheel L turns with the contact arm G and in doing so swings the swing arm K and its sleeve K back to inclined position, as shown in Fig. 1. When this takes place the arm N is returned and the lug N reengages the notch N to hold the wheel N against further turning thus stopping the motor C.

It is understood that the pin I which lifted the lever J on the further rotation of the dial I drops oii the free end of the said lever J to allow the latter to drop to normal position and thus permit the pin wheel L to return the swing arm K to normal inclined position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The lever J also controls the temporary stop mechanism for the governor O of the spring motor C, that is, to prevent the motor from starting prior to full disengagement of the lever N from-the wheel N As this mechanism is of the usual kind further description is not deemed necessary.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A clock-controlled switch, comprising a switch, a motor for actuating the said switch, a stopping device for the motor, a swing arm connected with the stopping device to swing the same, a clock controlled device for releasing the swing arm to cause the stopping device to move to releasing position to allow the motor to start, and means controlled by the movement of the switch for engaging and moving the swing arm to reset the stopping device to stop the motor.

2. A clock-controlled switch, comprising a switch having a fixed contact and a turnable contact, a spring motor connected with the said turnable contact to intermittently start the same, a stopping device for the motor, a swing arm connected with the stopping device to swing the same into and out of stopping position, the said swing arm having a sliding member, a clock-controlled device connected with the sliding member of the swing arm for moving the same to release the swing arm and allow the starting of the motor, and means controlled by the movement of the turnable contact for engaging and moving the swing arm to reset the stopping device and stop the motor.

3. A clock-controlled switch comprising a switch having fixed contacts and a turnable contact arm for making contact with the said fixed contacts, a spring motor connected with the said turnable contact arm to intermittently start the same, a clock, a series of adjustable pins rotating with the hour hand sleeve of the said clock, a lever controlled by the said pin, a swing arm controlled by the said lever, a pin wheel rotating with the turnable contact arm and engaged by the said swing arm, a locking arm moving with the said swing arm, and a stopping and releasing wheel for the said motor and en- 0 I gaged by the said locking arm.

4. A clock-controlled switch, comprising a switch having fixed contacts and a turnable contact arm for making contact with the said fixed contacts, a spring motor connected with the said turnable contact arm to intermittently start the same, a clock, a series of adjustable pins rotating with the hour hand sleeve of the said clock, a lever controlled by the said pin, a pin wheel turning with the said turnable contact arm, a swing arm having a sliding terminal adapted to rest on the pins of the said pin wheel, the said sliding terminal being controlled by the said arm, a locking arm moving with the said swing arm, and a notched stopping and releasing wheel for the said motor and adapted to be engaged by the said locking arm to stop or release the motor.

5. The combination with a switch provided with fixed contacts and an intermittently turning contact arm for making contact with said fixed contacts, of a gear wheel for starting the said turnable contact arm, a motor geared with the said gear wheel for driving the same, a stopping device for the motor having a member mounted to swing, means controlled by the movement of the contact arm for releasably engaging said member of the stopping device to normally hold said device in position to stop the motor, the said device being adapted to move to position to release the motor when the said member is released, and a clock controlled device for automatically releasing the said member at predetermined intervals.

6. A clock-controlled switch having a switch provided with fixed contacts and an intermittently turning contact arm for making contact with the said fixed contacts, a gear wheel for starting the said turnable contact arm, a motor geared with the said gear wheel for driving the same, a stopping device for the motor having a member mounted to swing, means releasably engaging said member to hold said stopping device in position to stop the motor, a clock-controlled device for automatically releasing the said member at predetermined intervals to permit the stopping device to move to release the motor, and adjustable means for setting the said clock-controlled device to a plurality of predetermined hours for each twenty-four hours.

7. The combination with a switch, and a motor for actuating the switch, of a clock, a toothed wheel rotating with the hour hand sleeve of the clock, a series of spring arms mounted to turn loosely on the said sleeve and each having two transverse pins extending from opposite faces of the arm, one of the said pins being adapted to engage the teeth of the said toothed wheel to lock the wheel and arm together, a lever fulcrumed on the frame of the machine and adapted to be engaged and swung upward by the other pin on said spring arm, and a stopping device for the motor having a sliding releasing member actuated by said lever when swung upward to release the stopping device and allow the motor to start.

8. A clock controlled switch provided with a switch having three fixed contacts, a turnable contact arm adapted to engage successively the said fixed contacts, a motor for actuating the said contact arm, a stopping device for the motor having a locking member, a shaft mounted to turn and carrying the locking member, and a swing member extending from said shaft for moving the locking member into and out of locking po- 1 sition, a clock controlled device for releasing said swing member to cause the locking member to move out of locking position to allow the motor to start, means moving with the contact arm for engaging the said swing member of the stopping device to reset the latter, two sets of electric lamps, and circuits for the same and connected with said fixed contacts.

n1 combination, a clock controlled switch having three fixed contacts and a turnable contact arm adapted to engage successively the said fixed contacts, a motor for turning the said contact arm, a stopping device for the motor having a locking member, and a swing member connected with the locking member to move the same into and out of locking position, a clock-controlled device for releasing the said swing member to cause the locking member to move out of locking position, a pin wheel moving with the contact arm and controlling the swing member of the stopping device to reset the latter, two sets of electric lamps, and circuits for the said lamps and connected with the said fixed contacts.

10. The combination with a switch, of a motor for actuating the said switch, a clock, a. stopping device for the motor, an arm mounted to swing and connected with the stopping device to move the same into and out of stopping position, the said arm having a member controlled from the clock to release the stopping device to allow the motor to start, and means moving with the switch for engaging said movable member of the swing arm to move the latter to reset the stopping device to stop the motor.

11. The combination wit-h a switch, of a motor for actuating the switch, a stopping device for the motor, an arm mounted to swing and connected with said stopping device to swing the same into and out of stopping position, and means controlled by the movement of the switch for moving said swing arm in one direction to move the stopping device into position to stop the motor, the said swing arm when released from said means being adapted to swing by gravity in the other direction to move the stopping device into releasing position, and a clock controlled device for releasing said swing arm.

12. The combination with a switch, of a motor for actuating the switch, a stopping device for the motor, an arm mounted to swing and having a spring-pressed sliding member, the said arm being connected with the stopping. device and adapted when swung in one direction to move the stopping device to release the motor, and when swung in the other direction to move the stopping.

device to stop the motor, a series of stops moving with the switch and successively engaging the sliding member of the swing arm to move the arm in the direction to stop the motor, and a clock-controlled device for moving said sliding member of the swing arm to release the same from said stop, the said swing arm when released from one stop moving by gravity into engagement with the next stop and actuating the stopping device to release the motor.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR K. WHITE.

lVitnesses PETER ENGEL, FRANK LANE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

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