US2265816A

US2265816A - Chime signal

Info

Publication number: US2265816A
Application number: US407644A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rittenhouse Lloyd
Original assignee: A E RITTENHOUSE CO Inc
Current assignee: A E RITTENHOUSE CO Inc
Priority date: 1941-08-20
Filing date: 1941-08-20
Publication date: 1941-12-09
Anticipated expiration: 1958-12-09

Description

Dec. 9, 1941..

| RITTENHOUSE 2,265,816-

CHIME SIGNAL Filed Aug. 20, 1941 2 Shee'ts-Sheei 1 I fig ATTORNEY,

Dec. 9, 1941. RlTTENHOUSE I 2,265,816

CRIME SIGNAL Filed Aug. 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 9, 1941 CHIME SIGNAL Lloyd Rittenhouse, Honeoye Falls, N. Y., assignor to The A. E. Rlttenhouse 00., Inc.,

Honeoye Falls, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 20, 1941, Serial No. 407,644

8 Claims. (Cl. 177-7) This invention relates to a chime signal, with more particular reference to the type of construction that includes two oppositely arranged chime bars and resonance chambers with striker mechanism located therebetween, and it has for its object to afford a structure employing a support for mounting the various parts which is of simple, light-weight and economical construction, and affords an eflicient and durable assembly that maintains the various parts permanently in their proper relationship.

A more particular object of the invention is to afford an arrangement embodying a support which can be manufacturedas an integral or onepiece unit and which holds the striker mechanisms, chime bars, and resonance chambers in such a way that the chime bars are protected against possible contact with the electrical wire connections or with the decorative shield which is conventionally applied to the front of the structure to conceal the operating mechanism.

A further purpose of the invention is to reduce the cost of manufacture and simplify the assembly by making the support as an integral unit including a back plate that is attachable to a wall or mounting, and side portions, with striker mechanisms secured between the side portions, and the chime bars and resonance chambers secured to the side portions and located outwardly therefrom.

Still another purpose of the invention is to protect the chime bars against accidental contact with the wiring or shield and thus increase the efficiency of the device, by providing the side portions of the support with outwardly and laterally extending front portions that overlie the chime bars, and which at the same time afford convenient means for holding the decorative shield in place, the spring character of the side portions being such as to permit yieldability of the front portions toward each other and thereby permit removal of the decorative shield when desired.

An additional purpose of the invention is to adapt such a support to a double-purpose chime signal in which one striker engagesboth chime bars on opposite sides of the support to give a double note while one striker engages only one of the chime bars to give a single note, by providing the side portions with openings permitting movement therethrough in both directions of one striker-carrying plunger, while one of the side portions includes as an integral portion thereof a barrier that limits the movement of the other striker-carrying plunger when traveling in one direction, thus causing it to engage only the one chime bar.

Another object. of the invention is to afford the support with front lateral portions that overlie and protect the chime bars from contact with the decorative shield or wire connections and which also serve as a means for holding the decorative shield. so that the latter can be removably secured in place without contacting the resonance chambers and consequently without loosening the fastening means which holds the resonance chambersin place, each chime bar and resonance chamber being securely mounted on one of the side portions and yieldable with the latter as a unit to permit the necessary movement between the side portions for a spring engagement with the decorative shield.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts.

that will appear clearlyfrom the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

Fi 1 is a view in front elevation of a chime signal incorporating a preferred embodiment of the invention, and with the decorative shield removed;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation with the near resonance chamber removed;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken centrally, looking toward the front of the device, and with the decorative shield in position;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view, and

Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

The structure herein disclosed is illustrative ofone practical embodiment of the invention, which may be adapted in otherwaysand referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, there is provided a support, preferably formed from a single piece of sheet metal, and including a back wall I adapted to be secured to any suitable retaining means for holding the signal in operative position. The support also includes the side portions 2 preferably formed integral with the back wall I and extending forwardly therefrom at its side edges, and the side portions 2 terminate in laterally extending front portions 3 preferably formed integral with the side portions and extending out wardly therefrom and overlying the chime bars, as appears in Fig. 1.

A chime bar 4 and resonance chamber 5 are attached to each side portion 2 by suitable .fastening devices including posts 6 fixedly attached to the resonance chamber and extending through openings in the chime bar, and secured to the side portion of the support. The chime bars I are located behind and spaced from the front portions 3 of the support which may partially overlap the resonance chambers, but are preferably suiilciently spaced therefrom to permit ready engagement with the decorative shield and to retain the latter out of contact with the resonance chambers.

Attached to the back wall I is a partition I including a base flange 8 riveted or otherwise permanently attached to the back wall I and an inclined flange 8 at its front edge provided with the electric terminals to which the wires are connected for furnishing current to the striker mechanism, that includes solenoids 9 and Hi secured between a wall forming a part of one of the side portions, and the partition I.

The solenoids 9 and 10 include the plungers I2 and I movable in tubes l4 and H which extend through openings in the partition I and wall II, the plunger l3 being provided at each end with a striker for engagement with both chime bars while the plunger I2 is provided at only one end with a striker for engagement with one of the chime bars, thus enabling the sounding of a single or double note signal, as usual in this class of construction. The side portions are cut away to afford openings, permitting movement of the plunger I3 in both directions, one of the side portions including as an integral part thereof a barrier It to limit movement of the plunger l2, the barrier It being preferably provided with a suitable bumper to engage the plunger H on its return movement. The plungers are held in their normal positions, as shown in Fig. 1, by the springs H. The side portions and front portions of the support are cut away to afford openings |8 in order to reduce the weight of the support to a minimum while retaining sufficient strength and stiffness to hold the parts in their properly assembled relationship, and at the same time permitting a slight yielding of the side portions toward each other when pressure is applied, for a purpose that will appear later.

With this arrangement, the chime bars are located behind the front portions of the support between the side portions of the latter and the resonance chambers, and are thus protected from possible contact with the wire connections or from contact with the decorative shield to be described presently, and which overlies and is attached to the front portions 3 of the support.

The decorative shield is designated at I! and preferably includes side flanges at its edges which overlie the side edges of the front portions 3 of the support when in operative position, the decorative shield being held in place on said front portions by retaining means consisting of upset projections 2| that underlie the front portions 3, as shown in Fig. 5. The shield is properly located endwise of the front portions by stop means such as the lugs or abutments 22 provided on the front portions and arranged to engage and limit the endwise movement of the projections 2| on the shield.

The front portions are held in retaining engagement with the decorative shield by the inherent spring character of the side portions, and this spring action permits the sideportions being forced toward each other sufficiently to release their edges from engagement with the retaining removal of the latter when desired. To secure the shield in place, it is positioned over the front portions with one edge engaged with the edge of one of the front portions, with. top projections 2| above lugs 22, and the front portions are then pressed slightly toward each other to spring the other front portion into engagement behind the other edge of the decorative shield, and when in this position, the edges of the shield are preferably sp'aced slightly from the resonance chambers so that there is no opportunity for the shield to contact the resonance chambers or the chime bars when the device is in operation.

While the construction has been described with relation to the particular embodiment shown, it is not confined to the details herein disclosed, and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvement and the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, striker mechanism carried by said support, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield attached to said front portions.

2. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, striker mechanism carried by said support, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield having means engaging the side edges of said front portions to retain the shield thereon, said front portions being yieldably engageable withthe shield to permit removability of the latter.

3. In a chime signal, a support including aback wall, side portions extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, a partition located between the side portions and secured to the back wall, a solenoid and striker mechanism secured between said partition and one of said side portions, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield attached to said front portions.

4. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, a partition located between the side portions and secured to the back wall, a solenoid and striker mechanism secured between said partition and one of said side portions, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield having means engaging the side edges of said front portions, the latter being yieidable to permit removability of the shield.

5. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, striker mechanism carried by said support, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, a shield having retaining means engaging the side edges of said front portions, the latter being yieldably engageable with the shield to permit removality of the latter, and stop means on the side portions cooperating with said retaining means on the shield for limiting endwise movement of the shield.

6. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions integral with and extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions integral with and extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, striker mechanism carried by the support, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield carried by said front portions, the latter being yieldable toward each other due to the spring character of the side portions to permit removability of the shield.

7. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions integral with and extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions integral with and extending laterally and outwardly from the side portions, striker mechanisms carried by said support and including solenoids, solenoid plungers, and strikers carried theneby, the side portions having openings to permit movement of one of the plungers therethrough in both directions and one of said side portions including a barrier limiting movement of the other plunger in one direction, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield having retaining means at its edges engaging and underlying said front portions which are yieldable toward each other due to the spring character of the side portions to permit removability of the shield, and stop means on the side portions engaging said retaining means on the shield to limit endwise movement of the latter on said front portions.

8. In a chime signal, a support including a back wall, side portions integral with and extending forwardly from the back wall, and front portions integral with and exttnding laterally and outwardly from the side portions, a partition secured to the back wall,. striker mechanisms including solenoids mounted between one of said portions and said partition, solenoid plungers and strikers, said side portions having openings to permit movement of one of said plungers therethrough in both directions and one of said side portions including a barrier limiting movement of one of said plungers when traveling in one direction, chime bars and resonance chambers secured to said side portions and located outwardly therefrom, the chime bars being arranged behind said front portions, and a shield engagingthe side edges of saidfront portions, said front portions being yieldable toward each other due to the spring character of the side portions to permit removability of the shield.

LLOYD RITTENHOUSE.