US1735540A - Time switch - Google Patents

Description

F. LUX

TIME SWITCH Nov. 12., 1929.

I Filed April 19 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR f-ede ic/r Luz' BY ATTORNEY F. LUX

TIME swITcH 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 19 INVENTOR edefl Ck L ua: BY

ATTORNEY Patented Novo 12, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FREDERICK LUX, 0F WATERBURY,

CONNEGTCUT, ASSGNOR T0 THE LUX CLOCK MANU- NECTICUT TIME SW'ECH Applatll filed .April 19,

This invention relates to time switches, and more particularly to a time switch employing a spring-actuated toggle switch and a clock work mechanism.

One object of this invention is to provide a time switch of the above nature in which the driving power for the clock work mechanism is derived from the spring which operates the switch.

A further object is to provide a time switch of the above nature in which the clock work mechanism has a friction-slippage connection with the drivingl mechanism.

A. further object is to provide a time switch of the above nature having manually operated means for setting it to operate at any predetermined time.

A further'object is to provide a device of this nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy -to manipulate, compact, and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawings one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

Fig. 1 represents a top View of the time switch showing the parts in inoperative position.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view of the same showing the parts in operative position.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the device taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same with the top movement plate removed, showing ythe interior mechanism in operative position.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 4 showing the parts in inoperative position.

Fig. 6 is a perspective fragmentary view of the switch member and a portion of the upper movement plate.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use on electric toasters, but may also be employed for controlling X-ray treatment devices, egg boiling devices, electric lamps, valves, photographic exposure devices, bombs, alarm devices, etc.

The present invention is similar to that dis- 1928. Serial No. 271,341.

closed in a later application by the same inventor, Ser. 396,093, filed September 30, 1929, which is a continuation in part of the present application.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 indicates a switch of any standard type having a toggle-operated contact member 10n adapted to connect a pair of bindin posts 10b located on opposite faces of sai switch 10.

The switch 10 is provided with an arm 1()bb adapted to be actuated in a clockwise direction by a spring 10c whenever the switch is closed. rl`he arm 10bb engages a pin 11 projecting from a slot 16a in front of the movement plate 16 and mounted on a short arm 11a of a drive lever 12, said drive lever having a long handle 12a extending beyond the edge of the frame of the clock. The drive lever 12 is loosely mounted upon a stepped collar member 13, the latter forming a bearingfor a main shaft- 14 having one end journaled in a rear movement plate 15 and its other ond journaled within the collar 13, which in turn is fixed in said front movement plate 16.

The drive lever 12 is provided at a point opposite from the arm 11a with a second short arm 17 provided with a pin 18 upon which is mounted an escapement pawl member 19. The escapement member 19 is provided on its rear end with a tooth 20 adapted to engage a shoulder 21 of a catch plate 22, said catch plate being rigidly secured to said shaft 14 and having a curved periphery 23 in which is a locking recess 24.

Provision is also made of a cam member 25 loosely mounted on the stepped collar member 13 and frictionally held in adjusted position thereon by means of a leaf-spring member 26 secured to said collar member 13.

The cam member is provided with an elongated arm 27 having a setting handle 28 projecting upwardly therefrom through aL slot 29 in the front movement plate 16. In order to permit the cam member 25 to be accurately adjusted in any desired position, a scale 30 is provided on the front movement plate 16 adjacent the slot 29.

The escapement pawl member 19 is provided with a front tooth 31 adapted to ride over the curved edge 23 of the catch plate 22, belng pressed thereagainst at all times by a coiled spring 32. The escapement pawl member 19 is also provided adjacent its front tooth 3l with an upwardly projecting pin 33 adapted to be engaged by the cam member 25 for. llfting the front tooth 31 out of the locking recess 24 whenever the cam member 25 has reached ythe releasing point under the operation of the clock train generally indicated by the numeral 34.

-In order to connect the main shaft 14 with the main wheel 35 of the clock train 34, provision is made of a collar 36 rigidly mounted on said shaft 14. The collar 36 has secured thereto a pair of opposed inwardly curved friction plates 37 which are adapted to resiliently engage the opposite sides of said main wheel 35.

Under normal conditions, when the switch spring 1.0c is unwinding, i. e. when the drive lever 10b is moving in aclockwise direction as shown by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 4, the pressure of the friction plates 37 upon the main wheel 35 will prevent slippage between said plates and said wheel. When, however, the handle 12a of the drive lever is moved in a counterclockwise direction, as shown by the arrow in Figy5, for winding up the spring 10, slippage will occur between the friction plates 37 and the main wheel 35 allowing said spring 10c to be wound up until the handle l2a has reached the limit of its motion.

In operation, the cam member 25 will first be adjusted by moving the setting handle 28 to the desired point on the scale 30. The drive lever handle 12a will then be grasped by the operator and moved downwardly as far as it will go, thereby placing the switch spring 10c under tension. In unwinding, it will be understood that said tension will be transmitted to the clock train 34 through the pin 11, the drive lever 12, the escapement l pawl member 19, the catch plate 22, and the main shaft 14. L

During the winding operation just described, the front tooth 31 of the escapement pawl member will rise over the curved surface of the catch plate`22 and will engage behind the locking recess 24 in said plate. Soon thereafter, the rear tooth 20 will engage the shoulder 21 on the catch plate 22 and cause said main shaft 14 to be rotated.l During this rotation, the friction-plates 37 will slip over the surface of the main wheel 35 which is held from rotation itself by the clock train 34.

Just before the drive lever 12 has reached the limit of its rotative winding movement, the toggle mechanism of the switch 10 will come into action and close the circuit through the electric toaster or other power-consuming unit. When the driving spring 10c has been completely wound up, the operator will release. the handle 12, whereupon the timekeeplng mechanism 34 will begin to operate under the driving force of the switch spring 10c causing the drive lever 12 and the catch plate 22 to rotate in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. The clock train 34 will regulate the rate of the unwinding movement of the drive lever 12 until the' cam 25 comes into engagement, after the predetermined time interval, with the pin 33 on the esca-pement member 19. The front tooth 31 of said member will thereby be lifted and disengaged' from the locking recess 24 of the catch plate 22, thusI permitting the switch spring 10c to instantly move the drive lever 12 the remaining distance backto its original position, suddenly throwing olf'the current from the toaster or other device. The tension in the spring 10 being thus released, the clock work mechanism 34 will stop.

While the driving power for operating the clock work is herein disclosed as a toggle switch spring, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but any other exterior source of power may be employed within the spirit of the invention.

While there has been disclosed in this speciication one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its principles.

In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming Within' the scope of the -following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention,

what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the same axis as said main shaft, said drive lever being pressed by the spring of said switch, means for rotatably connecting said drive lever to said main shaft for transmitting the driving force of said spring to said time-keeping mechanism, and means responsive to the operation of said time-keeping mechanism when said spring-has unwound a predetermined amount for o ening said switch and removing t-he tension rom said spring.

2. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the same axis as said main shaft, said drive lever being pressed by the spring of said switch, means for rotatably connecting said drive lever to said main shaft for transmitting the driving force of said spring to said time-keeping A mechanism, and means responsive tothe operation of said time-keeping mechanism when said spring has unwound a predetermined power consuming nism having a tion to said drive lever,

mamario amount for disengaging the connection between said drive lever and said main shaft for opening said switch.

3. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, a catch plate rigidly mounted on said main shaft, an escapement pawl pivoted on said drive lever for detachably connecting said drive lever with said catch plate, said drive lever being actuated by the spring'of said switch for transmitting the driving force of said spring through said escapement pawl and catch plate to said main shaft, and means responsive to the operation of said time-keeping mechanism for disengaging said escapement pawl from said catch plate, thereby opening said switch and deenergizing said spring. f

4. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, a slotted catch plate rigidly mounted on said main shaft, an escapement pawlpivoted on said drive lever for detachably connectingsaid drive lever with said catch plate, said drive lever being actuated by the spring of said switch for transmitting the driving force of said spring through said escapement pawl and catch plate to said main shaft, and means responsive to the operation of said time-keeping mechanism for disengaging said escapement pawl from said catch plate thereby opening said switch and deenergizing said spring.

5. In a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft/,a catch plate rigidly mounted on saidanain shaft, a spring-actuated escapement pawl pivoted on said drive lever for det-achably connecting said drive lever with said catch plate, said drive lever being actuated by the spring of said switch for transmitting the driving force of said spring through said escapement pawl and catch plate to said main shaft, and means responsive to the operation of sa`id time-keeping mechanism for disengaging said escapement pawl from said catch platey thereby opening said switch and deenergizing said spring.

6. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever` rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connecsaid drive lever being driven by the spring of said switch, and means responsive to a predetermined operation of said time-keeping mechanism for releasing said detachable connection to open .said switch and deenergize said spring.

7. In atime switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotime switch, a time-keeping mechashaft, and a main wheel,

tatable on the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connection to said drive lever, said drive lever being driven by the spring of said switch, means responsive to a predetermined operation of said time-keeping mechanism for releasing said detachable connection to open said switch and deenergize said spring, and friction-slipping means for connecting said main shaft with said main wheel for permitting said time switch to be manually wound up.

8. In a time switch, a time-keeping mecha.- nism having a maink shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connection to said drive lever, a setting member mounted on the axis of said main shaft for disengaging said detachable connection after a predetermined operation of said time-keeping mechanism and thereby opening said switch.

9. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatableon the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connection to said drive lever, a setting cam mounted on the axis of said main shaft for disengaging said detachable connection after a predetermined operation of said timekeeping mechanism and thereby opening said switch.

10. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connection to said drive lever, a setting cam member mounted on the axis of said main shaft, said cam member being positioned in alinement with said detachable connection for breaking it after a predetermined operation of said time-keeping mechanism and thereby opening said switch.

11. In a time switch, anism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis -of said main shaft, said drive lever being pressed by the spring of said switch, means for 4rotatably connecting said drive lever to said main shaft for transmitting the driving force of said spring to said timekeeping mechanism, and means responsive to the operation of said time-keeping mechanism when said spring has unwound a predeterminedv amount for opening said switch and -removing the tension from said spring, said drive lever having a manually-operated handle for winding said switch spring.

12. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted a time-keeping mechi ated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the axis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connection to said drive lever, a setting member mounted on the axis of said main shaft for disengaging said detachable connection after a predetermined operation of said time-keeping mechanism and thereby opening said switch, and spring-pressed friction-slipping means for rotatably connecting said cam member to said main shaft.

14. In a time switch, a time-keeping mechanism having a main shaft, a spring-actuated switch, a drive lever rotatable on the -aXis of said main shaft, means rigidly mounted on said main shaft having a detachable connection to said drive lever, a setting member mounted on the axis of said main shaft for disengaging said detachable connection after a predetermined operation of said timekeeping mechanism and thereby opening said switch, and friction-slipping means for rotatably connecting said cam member to f said main shaft.

In testimony whereof, have axed my

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