US20970A - Improved electro-magnetic house-alarm - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES v PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WRITING, on ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. y l

IMPROVED ELCTRO- MAGNETIC HOUSE'ALARM.`

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20,9170,vdated July 20, 1858.

To all whom it may concern.- Y

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WHI'IING, counselor at law, yof R'oXbury in the county of Norfolk and State ot' Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Electro-Magnetic House-Alarms, ot' which the inghouse with my improved Aapparatus at-I tached. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through' the room, showing the indicating and alarm apparatus in elevation. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and. 7, details, to be referred to hereinafter.

I am aware that an apparatus has beenv ein,r ployed as a burglar-alarm in which asinglc electric circuit was employed in connection with the windows and doors of a building', and so arranged that the opening ot' any one of them should close the circuit and sound `an alarm. Such apparatus, however, furnished no indication of the whereabout of the window or door so opened, and the proprietorwas left to Search th-rough the whole house for the intruder, who was himself perhaps alarmed, and enabled to escape. y

My invention has for its object to produce a house-alarm which shall lnot only alarm the proprietor or guardian of the house on the'intrusion of a burglar, but shall at the saine time indicate to him the part of the house attacked, that his attention may be immediately directed` to the particular room where an entry has been attempted or e'ected; and this I accomplish by the employmenty of a Series of electromagnetic circuits (one for each distinct room or portion ofthe house to be guarded) in connecf tion with an indicator for indicating the portion of the house attackcdand with an alarm apparatus for sounding the alarm, the doors and windows of the housebeing soconnected with the circuits that the'opening of any one of them shall close or break. the circuitwith which it is connected, cause the alarm to be sounded, and indicate upon the indicator/.the particular room assailed.

That others skilled in theart may understand and use Inyinventiomy Willproceed to describe Athe manner in which I have carried the same into effect. y

In the drawings, B is the indicator, which is placed in anyV convenient position in the house to be protected, (as in the sleeping-room ofthe proprietor.) It is here shown attached tothe Wallof the room. It consists of a board to which are secured-the electroanagnets l, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, there being one magnet for each indicating-circuit. The operation of all being similar, but one will be described.

I'may here remark that each circuit of wires may protect a single window or door," or a singieA room or entry. The latter plan is the one here represented. j

Near the indicator, in any convenieutplace, is secured a shelf, C, which supports the alarm apparatus. This consists of an electro-magnet, F, the armature of which, as the magnet is made by the closing ofthe circuit of its battery, operates thehammer of a b ell, andcauses it to ring so long as its circuit remains closed and its battery continues in operation. This ringing is accomplished by a Well-known device, ot' inserting a small piece of a non-conducting snbstancein avibrating arm connected with the arma-ture, one of the wires lof the' battery being incontact with the-arm, and the arm bein gconnected with one end of the coil; but as the method of ringing the hell forms no part of my present invention,.it .need not be more fully described. v

A battery, D, which opera-tes the alarm apparatus, and a battery, E, which operates the indicator and the indicatif] g-circuits, are placed in any convenient andsecuresituation. From one pole of the battery D the Wire aleads to .the bellmagnet F, and from this magnet anotherwire, c2, leads to a piece of metal, b, secured to the board of the indicator B. vTo this piece bis plvoted, atc, the armature j' ot' the magnet l of the indicator. From the opposite polevot' the battery D the wire d leads to a hook or staple, at e,- on the indicatorboard, against which the armature f springs back when the coil of the magnet l ceases to be charged. This armature is furnishedfwith a small spring, t, which bears against a pin in the board, for the purpose of throwing the armature back.` i

The wires a, a2, and d and battery D constitute the bell-circuit, (shown in red,) which is closed when the armature f is in the position seen in Fig. 2, and the bellis rung, as bef fore explained.

From one pole of thc battery E the wire h is led to the magnet 1, and from the opposite end of the coil of this magnet other wires and springs complete the circuit, as will be hereinafter explained, the wire g entering the opposite pole of this battery. These wires, with the springs and boxes to be described and the battery E, constitute the indicator circuit. (Shown in blue.) "When this circuit is closed the magnet 1 is made, and its armature j' is drawn up to it. This breaks the bell-circuit, as explained; but when the current through the coil of the lnagnet 1 is broken the armaturef is thrown back by its spring t' into contact with the staple e, and the bell-circuit is completed. A small shield, k, on the end of the armature, f, covers a letter, A, attached to the upper side of the board whenever it is drawn up to its magnet, and discloses the letter whenever the armature is thrown back by its spring. Thus the bell is rung and a letter indicating the room is exposed to view eachV time the indicator-circuitis broken. The man-ner in which this circuit is broken or closed by the opening or shutting of a door or window will now be explained.

In the door-frame G, Figs. 1 and 3, (ou the side to which the hinges are attached,) is secured a metal box, m, the back part of which may be open. Apiece of nou-conductin g mate rial, Z', rises vertically from the frame G. To this piece l', is attached an insulated piece of metal, n. A slot, o, is cut through the front plate of the box m of a sufficient size to allow a roller, 1J, to project a short distance beyond the line of the door-frame. This roller p has its axle hung in a piece, u, to which is attached a bent spring, r. The piece u is pivoted at to the sides ot' the box m, and is so arranged with respect to the piece n that when the roller p projects through the slot o the spring` 1 will not be iu contact with the piece n, but rest against the upper part of the piece Z', and when the roller is pressed in by the closing of the door, the end of the spring r shall slide down onto and in contact with the piece a, as in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 4 is shown the manner in which raising a window allows the roller p tc spring out through the slot.

I may here state that a similar arrangement to that just described for the door is placed in the side of the frame of each window.

A groove, s, is cut in the side of the windowsash next to the box m, of a sufficient width and depth to allow the roller p to spring out through the slot o, as in Fig. 3. But as this groove does not extend quite up to the top of the sash, the upper part, at t, which is not grooved, will press the roller backinto the box whenever the sash is shut down, and when it is raised the roller will spring out into the groove s, and allow the spring r to come away from the piece a. A similar arrangement is attached to the upper sash, so thatv when it is pulled down its roller p will spring out. Each of the above-described spring arrangements is included in some one of the indicator-circuits in such a manner .that whenever the springs fr are in contact with the pieces n, the circuit will be closed, and when away from them will be broken. The following is the arrangement here adopted The wire g, from the battery E, is attached to the boxm at another wire, y, is attached to the insulated piece n, and is led thence to the next box, m, in the circuit, (in the drawings to the box in Fig. 4*;) and from the insulated piece n of this window t0 the next box (if there are more of them) is lled another wire, z, and so on for each door or window of that room or circuit. From the last 'one the wire z, Figs. 4 and 2, is led to the magnet] of the indicator. Thus the circuit 'which makes this magnet is from the battery E, through the box m, pivot c, spring fr, to. insulated piece u, (when the spring is down on it,) thence through the wire y to the next box, (and so through all the boxes in thev circuit;) and from the piece n of the last one through wire z to the magnet 1 thence through wire h to the opposite pole ofthe battery E. The wires used are coated or insulated in the ordinary man ner. When thus arranged, it' 'allthe doors and windows embraced in this circuit are shut, the circuit will be closed,the magnet 'l will be made, and its armature j' will be drawn up to it, when the shield k will cover the indicatingletter A and the bell-circuit will be broken, as before explained. But on the opening of a door or window the spring r will move out ot contact with the piece n', and the indicatorcircuit will be broken, when the coil l will cease to be a magnet, its armature will be thrown back by the spring t', its indicatingletter will be disclosed, and the bell-circuit will be completed through the armature itself, causing the magnet F- to ring the bell and give the alarm, which will be sounded so long as the indicator-circuit remains broken and the battery D lasts.

The system which I have described, iu which a series of closed circuits is employed in connection with an open bell-circuit, is the one which I prefer; but this order may be reversed and a series of open indicating-circuits may be used in connection with an indicator and an alarm apparatus, but this arrangement is by no means so safe as that above described.

As before stated, each room or entry will have its own indicator or circuit and magnetv and its indicating-letter, label, or number; but the same batteryE (if of suiiicientstren gth) may be embraced in all the circuits or as many of them as it is found convenient, and the armatures of all lthe indicator-magnets may be embraced in one bell-circuit by connecting them with the wires a2 and d.

The wire a of the bell-circuit-y is furnished with a switch, e, and the wire h of vthe indicating-circuit with a similar switch, f2. These are for the convenience of the proprietor when he wishes to open or close either circuit-as, for instance, when he rises in the morning and wishes to render the alarm inoperative-ehe turns the switch e2, when the bell-circuit will remain open, and the bell will not bey rung when the doors and windows are opened. B efore switching on the ybell-circuit at night he .examines to see if all the indicating-circuits are closed. This he will see at a glance, for if any door or window has been left open the armature or magnet belonging to that circuitfwill not be drawn up, and consequently they indicating-letter ot' that circuit will be exposed; and if the battery -E has failed, none of vthe magnets on the board will be made and all the letters will befexposed, andif this battery should give out in the night the bell would be rung and give notice of it. When he iinds the iu'- dicating-circuits are all in operation he closes the switch e2, and then to inform himself if the battery D is operative he turns the switch f2, which breaks the circuit through the wire h, and this causes the bell to ring if its circuit is not interrupted. He may then close the switch f2 and retire, knowing` that the whole apparatus is in working order.

As it is desirable to have it in the power of the inmates to open a door or window without sounding the alarm, each room, or, if preferred, each door and window, maybe furnished with a switch similar to f2, placed in such a posithat by turning it the circuit will continue made when the roller p springs cutfor example, by attaching to one side ot' the box m and turning it in contact with the insulated piece n. When the door or window is closed again this private switch is turned oi, and the place is protected as before.

It' desirable, two or more bells may be included in the same alarm-circuit (the battery D being made strong enough) and be placed in di'erent parts of the house, so that the inmates may be simultaneously informed of an attack, and thus render each other prompt assistance. In this case a switch, as at e2, may be placed near each bell 5 or they may all be under the control of the proprietor by means of switchcz.

In lieu of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, wherein the closing of the window presses in the roller p, and thereby closes the circuit, another arrangement has proved, in practice,

. still more ecient. The cavity s is made opposite to the roller p, and of a length not .much exceeding the diameter of the roller. When the window is closed the roller springs out into this cavity. Instead of the wire z being attached to the piece a it is attached to a similar insulated piece, c', Fig. 5, on the upper part of the piece l., so that when the window is raised the roller p is pressed in and the spring r slides down out of contact with the piece c',

to which the wire is connected, and thus the circuit is broken and continues broken .until the window is again placed in itsorigi'nal position.` This insures not only the sounding ot' the alarm,but the continuance of the ringing ofthe bell while the window is open, andrenders it stillmore diicult for a burglar to inedldle with ythe window-spring without giving an alarm, while, inthe arrangement represented in Fig. 4, if the lower sash. be raised entirely up, the roller p will be again ypressed in and the circuit closed; and if to prevent this the groove s be cut entirely to the bottom'cf the` sash and the latterbe raised entirely up, the roller might be reached by a stick or wedge and be pressed in. and thus thc continuons ringing of `the bel-l be prevented.

In placeot' the above-described spring ararrangements .l sometimes use the -following more simple one: Twof insulated pieces ot metal, d', Fig. 6, similarI to a, Fig. 3, are secnredto theinner face of that part of the window-frame with whichthe sash slides in contact when it is raised or lowered. To each of these pieces ld' is connected one yot' the wires y and z. To the inner edge of the sash,vop posite these pieces when the sash is closed,is secured a spring, fw., Fig. 6, in such va manner that when the window is closed the two arms l and 2 of the spring shall bein contact with the insulated pieces of metal d', but whenever the window is raised the spring w will slide out of contact with one or both of the pieces d and the circuit will be broken and the alarm be sounded, as before.

One mode in which burglars sometimes en ter dwellings is by removing or breaking out panes of glass from a window. To protect the building in this case I have adopted the following arrangement: I sometimes connect the wire leading to the window with that leading from the window, or to or from a series of windows in one circuit, by means of a ne con ducting-wire,f, Fig. 7, having attached to it ateach end a small and light spring-clip of metal, one of these clips being slipped onto one -of the wiresjt, Fig. 7, of the indicatingcircuit, and the other one onto the ether wire h', the conducting-wire f being carried across the panes of glass to be protected. I use a separate indicating-circuit for this tine protecting-wire, so as not to interfere withthe circuit passing through the window-springs. When thus arranged, any attempt at forcing in a pane ot' glass or any attempt to enter will either break the tine wiref or cause it to pull the spring-clips oft' from the wires h', on which they have been slipped, and thus break the circuit and give the alarm. If preferred, this wire f may be removed out of the way, except when its use is required. It may be covered with a protecting-coating ot' some color that will render it nearly invisible at night.

A convenient arrangement ofthe last-described method of protection is to attach permanently to one side of the window-frame a small spring-box, g', Fig. 7, in which the wire j" may be coiled up by the retraction of a spring, (in a manner similar to that used for tape-measnres,) one end of the coil being in Contact with one of the circuit-wires h', and a clip being attached to the other end of the wiref, so that this wire may be drawn out of the box g', when required, across the window, and the clip on the end of it may be attached to the other wire, h', of the circuit on the opposite side of the window.

Instead of the alarm apparatus above dcscribed, l sometimes dispense with the magnet F and battery D and use a bell rung by mechanical power, the same being so arranged that when by the breaking of either one of the indicating-circuits the armaturef is thrown back by its springt it shall let oft a detent,

which will allow the power employed to ring the bell to act. The Ways ot' constructing alarm bells which are rung by mechanical power, and where the ringing is permitted by the motion given by machinery to a detent, are well known and need not be here described; but in my invention the motion of the, detentis caused not by the action of any part of the mechanism of the bell itself', but by the move ment of the armature caused by the breaking of the electric circuit, in the manner substantially as described.

When a. series of indicating-circuits is employed, the closing of either one of them draws up to the armature and thereby allows the movement ofthe detent, and lthe alarm apparatus is set in motion. Under certain circumstances a separate alarm apparatus may bc dispensed with, the noise made by the armatures coming in contact with the magnets be' ing snfcientto give the alarm. Such method, however, I do not recommend.

Hercinbcfore the letters of the indicator have been represented as exposed to view by the motion ofthe armatures of the indicatormagnets; butitis obvious that other methods of indicati n gmay be employed, as, for instance, pointing to a word or letter or number.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The improved house-alarm hereinbefore described, consisting of a combination of the following elements, viz: iirst, a series of electromagnetic circuits; second,an indicator to designate the respective circuits third,an alarm apparatus fourth, the window or door springs, the whole operating, as set forth, to sound the alarm and indicate the circuit attacked.

WILLIAM WHITING. Witnesses: l

. HENRY W. HAYNE,

Trios. It. RoAcH.

Images