US1181181A - Alarm-clock mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

T. B. STEPHENSON.

ALARM CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1916.

1 1 8 1 1 8 1 Patented May 2, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I T. B. STEPHENSON.

ALARM CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8. 1916.

Patented May 2, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 .Z'nvanfar: 7M 6 JW WASHING-mu. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS B. STEPHENSON, OF FORESTVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SESSIONS CLOCK COMPANY, OF FORESTVILLE, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

ALARM-CLOCK MECHANISM.

Application filed January 8, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, T mums l5. STEPHEN- soN, a citizen of the Fnited States, residing at Forestville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut. have invented certain new and useful lmprovei'nents in Alarm-Clock Mechanism. of which the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in alarm clock mechanism, and the object of my impmvcment is simplicity and economy in construction and convenience and elliciency in use. involving in part certain features shown and described in my application Serial No. 54.726. tiled October S, 1915. and also features shown and described but not claimed in the companion application that will be filed with this.

The special feature of this application is a push-button mounted on the side wall of the casing and bodily shiftable back and forth along the said casing a limited amount. and in combination therewith a latch of peculiar form. In one position of the pushbutton the smile serves as a temporary check for temporarily checking the alarm. which ten'iporary checking is eliminated and the control of the alarm is automatically restored to the regular alarm sounding means before the elapse of the period for another sounding of the alarm. In the other position of the push-lmtton the same so engages with the said latch as to serve as a permanent check for the alarm sounding mechanism. Thus the push-button may be shifted at will to a position to serve either as an ordinary temporary check or as a permanent or Sunday check.

In the accompanying drawing :Figure 1 is a front elevation of. an alarm clock pro vided with my improved alarm clock mechanism. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the upper part of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. on an enlarged scale. of a partof the interior mechanism. showing the latch and the adjacent parts. the push-button being shown in broken lines. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a plan view of ti e blank for the alarm spring. on a re duced scale. Figs. 6 and 7 are each a front elevation of the push-button and latch in a different position from that shown in Fig. I. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the blank for the latch member. Fig. 9 is a sectional View, on an enlarged scale, of the push-button.

The alarm clock shown in the drawing Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Serial No. 71.091.

comprises a casing 10 in which is housed clock mechanism for operating the time indicating devices and fo operating the alarm. which mechanism may be generally ordinary, and with which I incorporate special means for controlling the alarm. involving checking and releasing the same.

The mechanism shown and described herewith corresponds to that shown and de scribed in the companion application re ferred to above. So far as concerns the present application. other means may be employed than those shown for effecting the adjustment of the alarm. such for instance as those shown in the application at present on file and referred to above.

The clock mechanism serves to operate the alarm at the time for which it is set and by momentarily depressing the shiftable spring supported push button 11. shown in Fig. '1. when in normal position. the ringing of the alarm is checked in such a manner that the same will be automatically reset in time for the next ringing for which the alarm is set. and when the push button 11 is shifted bodily along the casing 10 to another position there is effected a permanent check or look or what. is termed a Sunday check.

In the first case mentioned the ringing devices are locked by means that are released hy the operation of the clock mechanism before time has elapsed for another ringing of the alarm so that the alarm is free to be set off at the proper time. In the second case the locking is effected in such a manner that the same cannot be re stored to the operating position by the clock mechanism. but such restoration is effected by shifting the push-button l1 bodily back to the normal position.

Considering the constructive details. the alarm mechanism comprises the usual escapement wheel 12 which is operated in cooperation with the pallet member 13. mounted on the pallet shaft 14. The operation of the alarm is effected by the usual cam members, comprising the cam disk 15. s idably mounted on the cam shaft. 16 and the cam stud 17. rotatively mounted on the said cam shaft 16. The cam stud 17 rotates in a fixed plane. The cam disk 15 opposed to the cam stud 17 has a plane face for the greater part of the circumference and for an appreciable portion of the said circumference has a cam groove 18 in registration with the path of the said stud 17.

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The cam groove 18 comprises a step at one end, into which the stud 17 drops. and inclines from the said step outwardly, to the general surface of the disk. The cam disk 15 is maintained in contact with the stud 17 as is usual in such devices. so that for the greater part of the rotary movement of the stud the cam dish is held in essentially the same position and when the stud is in registration with the groove 18 the camdisk is moved from such position bodily along the cam shaft 16.

The means for holding the cam disk 15 in engagement with the cam stud 17 comprise the cam spring 1 The said cam spring 19 is of sheet material, is secured by one end to the frame 20 in some suitable manner. as by means of the screw 21; extends across the cam shaft 16. being provided with a recess 22 to receive the said shaft 16: and is in bearing engagement with suitable sliding dcyices 23 mounted on the cam shaft 16. which sliding devices are opcratively connected with the cam disk 15 in the usual manner. Accordingly. the cam disk 15 and the portion of the cam spring 19' crossing the can] shaft 16 have a to and fro movement along the cam shaft 16 responsive to the cooperation of the cam members 15 and 17.

The alarm pallet shaft 14 is provided with a plurality of generally radial arms, there being three such arms as shown, comprising a hammer arm 24, which is provided with a hammer 25 at the free end. suitable for operating on the gong, a cam spring arm 26 that is engaged by the cam spring 19 in a manner to be described; and a latch arm 2? that is engaged by a latch 28.

The cam spring 19 is of appreciable width and has the free end divided by a cut suitably to provide two fingers. comprising shown the upper finger .29 that is in direct extension of the body portion. and the lower finger 30 is bent at right angles to the body portion. being also at right angles to the cam spring arm The lower finger 30 is oi suitable length and suitably positioned to extend over the cam springarm 26 in one of its limited positions and to prevent the free movement thereof and to clear the same when in the other limited position. The first limited position mentioned corresponds to the position of non-operation of the alarm, when the cam stud 17 is out of engagement with the cam slot 18 and the other limited position corresponds to such position of engagementof the said cam members. Thus the cam members through the medium of the lowerfinger 30 serve either to prevent or to permit the operation of the pallet member and the ringing of the alarm according to the particular relative position of the said cam members.

The latch 28 is generally in the form of a rod. the body portion of which is straight and radially directed, and slidably mounted inways farmed byhole's" arm the arms- 32 or a [it-shaped yoke 33', suitably supported from the frame 20. The upper end of the latch 28 is bent to one side, to the right, as shown in Fig. 1. to form an oi 'erhanging branch 41, of such length that some part of the upper end of the latch is in position to enwith the lower end or contact portion of the push button 11.-

T he push button 11 is radially directed, is positioned in a slot 1-2 in the casing 10, and is mounted on a plate 43 engaged with the lower face of the lateral wall of the casing 10, bridging the slot 42. the said plate L3 be-- ing' sli'dably engaged with the said lateral wall so as to permit a lii'i'iited bodily shifting of the push-button 11 as described.

A latch spring 36 tends to hold the latch 28' in theelevated position. so that the upper end portion 41 thereof will always be engaged with the lower end of the push-button described.

The lateral wall of the casing 10 is cylindrical so that the to and fro movement of the push-'biitton will be along an arc, concentric with the clock structure. The branch 4H- is inclined dowirwardly from the said lateral wall. away from the concentric line. and in such a position relatively to the pushbutton 11 that the same is normally engaged with the free end portion of the branch 41 and the latch 28 will be operated by pressing the push-button 11 and when the pushbut'ton is shifted upwardly to the limit away from the normal position the lower end of the push-button will ride along the branch -11. the'latter serving as a cam surface, until the pllSh-biltiiofr is in line with the body of the latch 28. In this movement the latch 28 is depressed essentially the same as by depressing the push-button when in the normal position; and the effect in checking the' ringingof the alarm is the same, except that in the position last described the latch is locked in the depressed position.

The latch 28 is preferably made of sheet metal; and the holes 31 fit the same. so that the latch is non-rotatively positioned.

On the rear edge the latch 28 is provided with a nose 34 and an arm 35. The nose 34 is positioned adjacent the upper finger 29 suitably to engage therewith in one of the limited positions thereof and has an inclined edge on the rear and lower side and on the upper side is at a' right angle to the general line of the edge. suitably for serving as a holding tooth in engagement with the lower edge 0 the upper finger 29.

In orient the limited positions of the cam spring 19 and the upper finger 29 the nose 34 is clear of the said upper finger 29 and in the other of the limited positions thereof the said no's M is in line therewith, and-normally above the saml Whenin this last named position, by depressing the latch 28, as by means of the push-button 11, the inclined face of the nose 34L serves to momentarily push the upper finger 29 to one side until the holding edge of the nose 34 has been brought below the same when the upper finger 29 snaps back into engaging position with the nose 3%, and will be held in such position when the finger is released from the push button 11. The latch 28 will thus be held in the depressed position.

The lateral arm 35 on the latch 28 extends over the radial. latch arm '27 on the pallet shaft 14, and is so positioned that when the said latch is in the elevated position the radial arm 27 is free from engagement with the lateral arm 35, so that there will be no checking of the ringing of the alarm, and when the latch is in the lower position described the lateral arm 35 is positioned in engagement with the radial latch arm 27 so as to hold the pallet member 13 from operating and thereby preventing the operation of the alarm.

The particular limited position of the cam spring 19 in which the nose 34 is in line with the upper finger 29 with which the same cooperates corresponds to that in which the cam stud 17 is engaged with the cam groove 18, and which is the position in which the lower finger 30 is disengaged from the cam spring arm 26, so that the latch device 28 may be used to check the alarm when the cam spring arm 26 serves to permit the alarm to operate. Thus it will be noted that the cam spring alarm controlling device involving the use of the lower finger 30 serves normally as the alarm controlling means to start the alarm at the time for which the same is adjusted or set and after the same has operated to start the alarm the sounding of the alarm may be checked by means of the latch device, involving the use of the latch 28, and operated by means of the push-button 11, the latter being exposed on the outside of the casing, and readily accessible for use. After the usual period provided for during which the sounding of the alarm may be continued unless intentionally checked the cam spring 19 is brought back to its position for checking the alarm, the lower arm 30 being brought across the cam spring arm 26 and at the same time the upper finger 29 is slipped 011' from engagement with the nose 34, when the latch spring 36 restores the latch 28 to the normal, elevated position.

Except for the feature of the shifting of the push-button 11 the mechanism described corresponds essentially to that shown and described in the patent application referred to above. The third method of checking the ringing the alarm described in the said application involving engagement with the hammer supporting arm, is herewith dispensed with and in lieu thereof the method described for locking the alarm in the checked position is used.

Thus the means for checking the alarm consist of the means operated by the clock mechanism comprising the lower finger 30 engaging with the cam spring arm 26, and the manually operated releasing means involving the operation of the latch 28, and which latter may be used to operate as a temporary check, permitting of automatically re-setting or as a permanent or Sunday check, involving a permanent locking of the alarm in the checked position.

The alarm dial :7 and the hands cooperating therewith are arranged and operated similarly to the devices shown in the companion application and form nopart of the present application.

The alarm hands comprise the dead hand 49 for indicating the time, the ringing of the alarm being effected at the moment when the live hand meets the dead hand.

As described the push-button device when shifted to the limit permitted in one direction, which corresponds to the normal position, operates actually as a push-button and when shifted to the limit in the opposite di rection serves essentially as a dead stop or fixed lug. the same movement of the latch being effected in both cases. In the first case however the push-button is cleared of the latch after depressing the same, thus permitting the latch to be restored to nor- .mal position before the time for again ringing the alarm, whereas in the second case the latch is permanently depressed, and the same cannot be again elevated to its normal position until the push-button device has been shifted back along the casing to its normal position.

I claim as my invention 1. In an alarm clock, alarm actuating mechanism having a pallet member, a cam member slidably mounted on a shaft, a second cam member, a cam spring holding the said cam members in engagement, a finger on the said cam spring serving to control the operation of the said pallet member responsive to movements of the said cam members, and a second finger on the said spring, a latch slidably mounted, having means for connecting the said finger and pallet member, a push-button mounted on the casing, generally in alinement with the said latch. the said latch having a cam face on the end opposed to the said push-button, and the means for mounting the said push-button on the said casing permitting of bodily shifting the said push button so that the same will engage with different parts of the said cam face of said latch.

'2. In an alarm clock. a latch serving as connecting means between the pallet member and the cam positioning spring, the said latch lreving :r cam face at the outer end, a piis'h button on the casing for engeging' with the said latch, and means for suppbrtihg fihe said push button so that the same can be shifted so as to engage with different parts of the said earn face.

3. In an a'la'rm clock, a latch serving as connecting means" between the pallet member and the cam positioning spring, the said latch having a cam face alt the outei end, {I push button on the c-(i'singfor engaging with the said latch, means for supporting the said push button so that the same can be shifted so as to engage with different parts of the said cam fate, and the said cam face being so' formed that in one position the sit-id latch will be depressed by pressing the said pushbutton and in another position the Said lz-itch will b held in the depressed position.

4. In an alarm clock; a cnm' spring having a linger for controlling the alarm responsive to movements of the clock mechanism; and a, second finger, a latch having an arm for checking the alarm and a nose for engaging with the said second finger, a push-button,

for operating the said latch; the coiipe'mting portions of the said latch and push-button being in the form of end cam members, and means for shifting the points of. engagement of the said end cam members.

5; In an alarm clock. a cam spiing havinga finger for controlling the alarm resiiionsi'v to' movements of the clock mechanism. and a second finger, a latch having" an arm for ch'eclzing the alarm, and a nose for with the said second finger, a pushbtitton for operating the said latch, the co operating portions of the said latch and push-button being in the form of end cam members; means for shifting the points of engagement of the said end cam members, and the said end cam members being so formed that in one position the push-button can be manually operated to depress the said latch zind in another position the said latch will be iernisinently depressed by the said push-button.

(3. In an alarm cloclge casing, time indicating and Alai'fn actuating mechanism honsed therein, checking means housed in the snid casing for che'clting the sztid alarm tetra-(sing mechanism; control means extending through the said casing for operating the said checking means; means for shifting the position of the said control means relzitiielfi to the said casing, and the said control means serving in one positioh sis a pn'sil'i-bntton for Bringing the said checking means to the checking pan-non, and in another pbsitioh his a lock for permanently holding the Sltld checking means in the checking position. v o

THOMAS B; STEPHENSON.

\Vitness'e's SAMUEi, SLoAN, CHAS. PoNnl Copies of this patent may be obtained fox five cents eah'; by addressing the Coriimissioner o! Pitenta, Washington, D. C."

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