US1182251A - Drip-pan alarm. - Google Patents

Description

T. COMEAU.

DRIP PAN ALARM.

APPLICATION mu) NOV. 23, 914.

Patented May 9, 1916.

Yusk

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TELESPHORE COMEAU, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

DRIP-PAN ALARM.

Application filed November 23, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TriLEsPHoRE COMEAU, of Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drip- Pan Alarms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to attachments for refrigerator drip pans, having means for audibly indicating when the pan is so nearly full as to need emptying.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and easily applied attachment of the character mentioned, which will be effective and of exceedingly low cost.

To these ends my invention consists in the improvements which I shall now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings Figure 1 i a side elevation illustrating my invention in one of its embodiments, a portion of the pan to which the attachment is connected being shown in section. Flg. 2 18 a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation from the left of Fig. 1, the float arm being broken. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the spring bracket, or clamp member by which the device is removably connected to the pan. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating my in- .vention in another form.

bracket, which is adapted to he slid on to or removed from the upright side of the.

pan, comprises a single piece of wire, bent at its mid-length to form a loop 13, adapted to bear against the inner surface of the Wall of the pan, the wire being then bent to form coiled eyes 11, the two ends of the wire forming arms 15 adapted to yieldingly bear against the outer surface of the Wall of the pan.

A pivot bolt 16 extends through the two eyes 14, said bolt forming the pivot for the float arm 17, which is formed of a length of wire having a coiled eye 18 mounted upon the pivot 16, the end of the inner long arm 17 entering a 'hole bored in a block of Wood 19 which constitutes the float adapted to be raised by the action of the water that drips from the refrigerator into the pan 12. By coiling the float lever or arm 17 around the pivot bolt 16, between the eyes 14 of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ma 9, 1916.

Serial No. 873,508.

spring bracket, said lever or arm i guided in its rocking or tilting movements. As shown by Figs. 1 and 2, the eye 18 fits closely between the two eyes 11, the head and nut of pivot bolt 16 confining the three eyes in the relative positions shown, so that the contacting sides of the eyes prevent the lever or arm from swinging laterally. The short outer arm 20 of the float lever is preferably formed with a loop 21 to act upon the push-release 22 of the bell 23. The bell is of a well-known type, commonly called a bicycle bell, which is wound up by the user, which has a hammer which is released and rings an alarm whenever the member is pushed in. This type of bell is well known and needs no further description. The bottom of the bell is rigidly connected by any suitable means to a base plate 21 (Fig. 3) carried by the arms 15. i

The spring clamp, or bracket, which carries the pivot 16 is, as explained, made of one piece of wire, and it is, therefore, a cheap and effective construction, providin a means of easily slipping the entire attachment onto a pan or off from it.

The wire arm 17 can be readily bent to adapt the attachment to different pans, or to vary the point at which the alarm willbe operated by the increasing amount of water in the pan. In other words, if it should be desired to have the alarm operate when there is a considerably lesser amount of water in the pan than is indicated in Fig. 1, the arm 17 may be easily bent downwardly. This is, also, especially effective when it is desired to adapt the attachment to a pan having a more or less flaring side wall instead of a vertical wall.

The float 19 is made of a Hat piece of wood having a hole bored therein, preferably at an angle to snugly admit the end of arm 17. This provides a cheap and easily removable float. Of course the float may be of any suitable size, or of any suitable wood. The fit of the end of the arm in the hole bored in the wood is. of course, quite tight, and the swelling of the wood when the attachment is in use makes the connection amply tight for all practical purposes.

The attachment shown in Fig. 5 is sub- .stantially the same as shown in the other socket carried by the base of the'bell 23 and secured as by a screw This brings the bell in such a position that the push-release member 22 may contact with the outer surface of the wall of the pan so as to cause the alarm to sound when the float"19 is raised sufficiently to swing the bell inwardly or toward the pan to the necessary extent to release the hammer of the bell.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

A drip pan attachment having a spring bracket consisting of a single piece of Wire, bent to form inner and outer members for engaging the wall of a pan and having intermediat coiled eyes, a pivot bolt mounted in said eyes, a lever-consisting of a length of wire having a coiled eye mounted on said bolt and fitting closely between the coiled eyes of the bracket, a float carried by the inner end of the lever, means for confining the eyes of the bracket against opposite sides of the eye of the lever, and a bell adapted to be sounded when the float reaches a predetermined upper position.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

TELESPHORE COMEAU.

Witnesses:

EMILE hlE R C-IER, Snmox E. J. LE GENDER.

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