US1520040A

US1520040A - Controller for automobile lamps

Info

Publication number: US1520040A
Application number: US636686A
Authority: US
Inventors: Waldorf Fred
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1923-05-04
Filing date: 1923-05-04
Publication date: 1924-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 1941-12-23

Description

F. WALDQRF CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMOBILE LAMPS Filed May 4. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEY 552% W240 v \NALQJQRF CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMOBILE LAMPS Filed May 4, 1923 2 Sheets-Shee 2 INVENTOR. 8Y4: WM

A TTORNEY Patented Dec. 23, 1924.

UNITED STATES FRED WALDORF, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMOBILE LAMPS.

' Application filed May 4, 1923. Serial No. 636,686.

1 citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Alleghen and State of Pennsylvania, have invents new and useful Improvements in Controllers for 1 Automobile Lamps, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to controllers for automobile or other lights.

, The laws of the several States require that the lamps of automobiles parked in public places shall be lit at a certain hour in the evening. It is the object of my invention to provide a time-controlled device -which maybe set to cause the lamps to be lit at an desired time and to remain lit, if desire for a definite period, as, for ex ample, until a definite time before sunrise. I obtain these results without disturbing ithe usual manual control of the lamps.

Other objects appear hereinafter. Referring to the accompanying1 drawings,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view s owing the electric system and portions of the clock mechanism for controlling the electric sys tem; Fig. 2 is a side view of a portion of the mechanism,the gearing being arranged 3is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the trip-setting devices; and Fig. 4 is a diagram of the circuits of a modification of my invention. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the lever 61 and adjacent parts, and Fig. 6 is a lan view of the lever 66.

n the drawings, 1 designates the bright head-lamps,.2 the dim lamps, 3 the dash lamp, and 4 the tail lamp.

5 is a switch pivoted between its ends on the pivot 6 and having'the arm 7 constructed to engage either the contact 8 or the contact 9. It hasthe wide arm 10 arranged to connect the

contacts

11 and 12 whenever the arm 7 is on the contact 8 or 9.

l 13 and.14 are a pair of contacts arran ed to automatically separate when permitte to do so; and 15 and 16 are a second pair of 15 is connected by the wire 19 to one terminal of the dash lamp 3 and the tail-lamp 1 4; andthe contact 16 isconnected by the wire 20 to the contact 11. The generator 21 has one terminal connected by thewire 22 to the switch 5 and contact 12. The remaining terminals of the generator and the lamps are grounded to the frame of the car which is indicated by the. bar 23.

24 and 25 are contacts connected respectively to the

wires

17 and 19; and 26 and 27 are two switches connected by the insulating piece 28 and connected respectively to the

wires

18 and 20. The

switch members

26 and 27 are arranged to simultaneously engage the

contacts

24 and 25, but the contacts are normally open, as they are for use only when the controlling mechanism is out of order.

The switch contacts or members 14 and 16 are forced againstvthe' contacts or members 13 and 15 by three

cams

29, 30, and 31011 the face of the wheel or disk 32 having in its periphery or edge the six radial slots 33 arranged degrees apart, the cams being arranged 120 degrees apart and beear 39 and havingits free end overlapping in a ,line for the sake of clearness; and Fig.

the disk 35 and adapted to ride on the ledge 40 on the disk 35 at the rear of the in 34, the lever being forced toward the isk 35 by the spring 41 assoon as the ledge travels past thelever. The lever 38 has the lug 42 which interlocks with the wheel 43 of the usual alarm-train 44 of a clock mechanism, this train being driven by the usual spring in the s ring-barrel 45. The post 46 of the springarrel carries the gear 47 which meshes with the pinion 48 on the shaft 36, the latter having a gear 49 which meshes with the pinion 50 on the shaft 51 which carries the wheel '43.

52 is the time-controlling train of a clock mechanism, the escapement mechanism being omitted. 53 is the usual alarm-trip wheel which keeps in step with the hourhand wheel 54, the driving-spring drum being shown at 55. The wheel 53 is loose on the trip or setting-shaft 56, and carries the hub or collar 57 havin free edge, the notch aving the inclined wall 59 leading to the said free ed e. The wheel 53 has secured thereto the ger 60 which lies on the said free end of the collar 57, the latter being kept in contact with the finger by the spring-actuated arm 61 which is urged against the rear side of the wheel 53 by the spring 62. The shaft 56 is turned by means of the knob 63. The shaft 56 carries the pointer 64 which over lies certain numerals arranged as they are on a common clock-face. All the time-controlling mechanism 52 so far described is old and well known.

The spring-actuated arm 61 surrounds the shaft 56 and extends to a point opposite the disk 35, where it is provided with the bellcrank lever having the

arms

65 and 66 urged clockwise on its pivot 67 by the spring 68, the arm 61 having the stop-lug 69 to limit the movement of the lever-arm 65 to a po+ sition overlying the disk 35. The lever-arm 66 is adapted to lie beneath the hook 70 on the arm 38 so as to lift the arm 38 when the notch 58 comes beneath the finger 60. The lifting of the arm 38 lifts the stop-lug42 away from the wheel 43 and allows the train of wheels driven by the wheel 47 to turn the disk 35. a

When the automobile is driven after dark and bright lights are desired, the switch 5 is set with the arm 7 on the contact 8, current passing from the generator 21 through the arm 7, the'contact 8, the bright head-lamps 1 and the frame 23 to the generator 21. Also current from the generator passes through the arm 10, the

contacts

12 and 11, the wire 20, the contacts 15 and 16, the wire 19, the

. tail anddash lamps 4 and 3, and the frame 23 to the generator. The clock mechanism will have previously closed the contacts 15 and 16 at a time predetermined bythe setting of the shaft 56, exactly as the operation of an alarm would be tri ped by the said shaft in the usual alarm c ock.

If dim lights are desired, the switch 5 is moved so that the arm 7 engages the contact'9. Current from the generator 21 then passes through the wire 22, the arm 7, the contact 9, the wire 17, the contacts 13 and 14, the wire18, the dim head-1i hts 2, and the frame 23 to the enerator. The circuits of the dash and tail amps remain as before.

In case the driver wishes to park his automobile before the legal time for lighting the lamps and to have the dim and tail lamps lit at a definite time, he places the switch 5 with the arm 7 on the dimmer contact 9 and sets the shaft 56 so that the notch 58 will come under the finger 60 at the said definite time. When that t1me arrives (the contacts 14 and 16 being previously off from any of the

cams

29, 30, and 31, causin the contacts 1314, and.1516 to be open the spring 62 forces the arm 61 out, causing the arm 66 to lift the arm 38 which lifts the trip-lug42 from the stop-wheel 43. The gear-train driven .by wheel 47 causes the disk 35 to rotate, the pin 34 turning the wheel 32 onesixth of a revolution and bringing the

next cam

29, 30, or 31, as the case may be, under arm 38 to ride upon.

tion leaves the arm 61' pressed outwardly.

In order that the arm 38 may not drop until the pin 34 has passed beyond the arm 65, the

ledge 40 is provided for the end of the lifted The length of the ledge is such as to allow the arm 38 to drop soon after the pin has passed the arm 65. As the time-train travels, the notch 60 riding under the finger pushes the wheel 53 and the arm 61 inwardly until the outer end of the incline 59 is reached by the finger. At or slightly before this, the arm 61 has been moved inwardly enough to cause the arm 66 to ride down the inclined outer end of the hook 70, the bell-crank turning to permit the arm 66 to do this, and to snap back under the hook. It is thus seen that at a predetermined time the dim and tail and dash lamps will be lit and that they will remain lit unless interfered with, until the wheel 53 makes another revolution, at which time, say 12 hours later, the wheel 53 permits the arm 61 to be a sin raised. This again setsin operation t e mechanism to rotate the wheel 32 one-sixth of a revolution and to move the cam from beneath the contacts 14 and 16, thereby opening the light-circuits, which will be again closed in twelve hours, if the mechanism is allowed to operate as described.

It is seen that when the

switches

26 and 27 are closed, the lamps can be controlled by the switch 5, even though the clock mechanism is out of order so that the contacts 1314, and 15-16 remain open.

Referring now to Fi 4, I have omitted the dimming lamps, an provided for dimming the lamps 1 by the insertion of the resistance 71 in series with said lamps when the arm 7 is on the contact 9 and either the contacts 13 and 14 are closed or the switch 26 is on the contact 24. In this figure as well as in Fig. 1 all the lamp circuits ma be opened by moving the switch 5 free the

contacts

8, 9, 11 and 12.

I claim- 1. In an electric light-controlling system, a time-clock having a tri ping mecha anism, means carried by the wheel for closing and opening the switch at alternate steps, a manually controlled switch having alternate contacts, one of the contacts being in series with the first switch, a second circuit including the generator, and a second lamp connectible to the second circuit by the second switch when on the remaining contact. thereof.

- 2. In all-electric light-controlling system, a time-clock having a tripping mechanism automatically releasable thereby at predetermined'times, an electric circuit containing an electric lamp and a switch, an electric generator for the circnit,".-a motor-driven switch-controlling train of gears, means,

controlled by the tripping mechanism for releasing and stopping the said train of gears, a wheel driven step by step by the train at successive releases of the said tripping mecha anism, means carried by the wheel for closing and opening the switch at alternate steps, a manually controlled switch having alternate contacts, one of the contacts being in series with the first switch, a second circuit including the generator, a second lamp connectible to the second circuit bythe second switch. whenon the remaining contact thereof, a third lamp, and contacts tor the third lamp closed by the second switch when the same is on either of its contacts.

3. In an electric light-controlling system,

- a time-clock, a pair of switches controlled thereby, dim-light and tail-light circuits controlled by the respective switches, a

bright-light circuit, and a manually-controlled switch having one contact in series with the dim-light circuit and another con-v tact in series with the bright-light circuit.

4. In an electric light-contro ling system, a time-clock, a pair of switches controlled thereby, dim-light and tail-light circuits controlled by the respective switches, a bright-light circuit, and a manually-controlled swich havin one contact in series with the dim-light "circuit and another contact in series with the bright-light circuit, and having contacts adapted to be placed in series with the tail light circuit, and to be disconnected when the latter open position,

5. In an electric light-controlling system, a time-clock, a pair of switches controlled thereby, dim-light and tail-light circuits.

controlled by the respective switches, a bright-light circuit, a manually-controlled switch having one contact in series with the dim-light circuit and another contact in series with the bright-light circuit and havin contacts adapted to be placed in series wit the tail-light circuit, and to be disconnected when the latter switch is in 0 en position,

and a second manually-contro ed switch inshunt with the pair of switches.

6. In an electric light-controlling system, a light circuit, a time-clock mechanism, a motor driven mechanism, means controlled by the latter for opening and closing the light circuit, a lever having a stop device for stopping and releasing the motor-driven mechanism, and a lever controlled by the time-clock mechanism for operating the first lever 1 '2. In an electric light-controlling system, a light circuit, a switch therefor, a step-bystep wheel for controlling the switch, a wheel for operating the first wheel,.a lever carrying a stop for releasing and stopping the second wheel, a time-clock mechanism,

FRED WALDOBF,

switch is in whereof, I hereunto afiix