US3220175A

US3220175A - Alarm delay mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3220175A
Application number: US322297A
Authority: US
Inventors: James W Richmond
Original assignee: Sunbeam Corp
Current assignee: Sunbeam Corp
Priority date: 1963-11-08
Filing date: 1963-11-08
Publication date: 1965-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 1982-11-30
Also published as: GB1015053A; DE1523833A1; DE1523833C3; DE1523833B2

Description

Nov. 30, 1965 J. w. RICHMOND 3,220,175

ALARM DELAY MECHANISM Filed Nov. 8, 1965 I I 3 Sheets-Sheet l i INVENTOR.

P/ F ca i 4 Nov. 30, 1965 J. w. RICHMOND M 7? 7076- x \g W 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 and Nov. 30, 1965 J. w. RICHMOND 3,220,175

ALARM DELAY MECHANISM Filed Nov. 8, 1963 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofitice Patented Nov. 30, 1965 Illinois Filed Nov. 8, 1963, Ser, No. 322,297 7 Claims. (Cl. 58-21.155)

The present invention relates to an alarm clock and more particularly to a mechanism used on an alarm clock for temporarily interrupting the sounding of an alarm for a selected period of time.

The present invention represents an improvement over the alarm clock delay control disclosed in Chartier et al. Patent No. 2,996,874 which is assigned to the same assignee as the instant application. It is well known in the art to provide an alarm clock with a mechanism whereby the sounding of the alarm may be temporarily interrupted, permitting the user of the clock to go back to sleep for a selected interval of time. After the expiration of this interval of time, the alarm will again be permitted to sound. This type of mechanism has become sufiiciently popular that almost every major manufacturer of electric alarm clocks includes at least one model equipped with such alarm delay mechanism. While there are, of course, many ways of interrupting the sounding of the alarm, the highly competitive conditions in the clock industry require that the feature be included in the alarm clock at a very small addition in cost. The abovecited Chartier et al. patent shows one simplified and inexpensive approach to the alarm delay mechanism.

In recent years, however, manufacturers have been including delay mechanisms which provide means for varying the interval of alarm delay or interruption which may be obtained. It is not uncommon to provide a mechanism in which the delay period may be varied from five to fifteen minutes. The Chartier et al. delay mechanism includes no means for varying the delay interval. The patent to Gordon No. 2,541,817 is noted as one example of a patent on a variable interval, alarm delay or interrupting mechanism. The present invention is similar to the mechanism disclosed in the Gordon patent but is considerably more simple and has functional advantages when compared to the mechanism disclosed in the Gordon patent.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved alarm delay mechanism for use with an alarm clock.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simplified alarm delay mechanism which is equal to or superior to those heretofore known in the art.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a one-piece alarm delay mechanism which may be easily added to a conventional alarm movement.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an alarm delay mechanism which provides extremely accurate periods of alarm interruption regardless of the position of the time driven control wheel which actuates the mechanism.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric alarm clock embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 with the clock casing thereof removed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevational view similar to FIG. 3 but with the alarm delay mechanism shown in the alarm shutoff position;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the variable interval cam taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 6 showing the variable interval cam in one of its alternative positions from that shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary rear plan view of the motor and movement with portions thereof removed to more clearly illustrate the action of the alarm delay mechanism; and

FIG. 9 is a greatly enlarged rear elevational view similar to FIG. 8 but with the alarm delay mechanism shown in the position assumed upon release by the time driven wheel.

The present invention provides a greatly simplified mechanism for temporarily interrupting the sounding of an alarm. The mechanism consists of little more than a one-piece stamping which is secured to the back plate of a clock movement and is driven by a time driven wheel during the period of alarm interruption. Means are provided to vary the period of interruption and to release the alarm restraining means at a very precise time.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an electric clock generally indicated at 24 comprising a suitable casing 21, the front of which includes a transparent crystal 22 which shields and exposes to view a clock face or dial 23. Disposed between the transparent crystal 22 and the clock face 23 are the conventional sweep seconds hand 24, minute hand 25, hour hand 26 and alarm indicator 27. The

elements

24, 25, 26 and 27 are rotatable about a common axis and are supported on an arrangement of concentric shafts. The clock 20 includes a front mounting plate 28 from which is supported a clock motor and movement 29 by means of rearwardly extending supporting posts 30.

The details of the clock motor and movement 29 form no part of the instant invention and are fully disclosed in a copending application Serial No. 322,218, Jepson, Morgan and Richmond, filed Nov. 7, 1963. Briefly, however, the clock motor and movement 29 includes front and rear supporting

plates

31 and 32, respectively. The

plates

31 and 32 are steel stampings which serve as field members for the clock motor as well as supporting members for the various portions of the movement and the alarm mechanism associated with the clock.

The clock motor and movement 29 is provided with a vibrator 33 which is secured at its lower end to plate 31 by means of rivets 34 and extends upwardly in spaced relation to the plate 32. As may be seen in FIG. 2, the upper end of the vibrator is formed with an enlarged end portion 35 which serves as an armature for moving the vibrator 33 in the magnetic field produced adjacent the plate 32 by a motor field coil 36. As is more completely explained in the above-identified copending Jepson et a1. application, the field 36 cooperates with the

plates

31 and 32 to deliver magnetic flux to field pole pieces 37 shown in FIG. 3. The pole pieces 37 are positioned around a permanent magnet rotor (not shown). As is well understood in the clock art, the pulsating magnetic field produced adjacent the support plate 32 will cause the vibrator 33 to move in and out rapidly against the plate 32 producing an audible alarm indication. Approximately midway between the ends of the armature portion 35 of the vibrator 33, there is provided an alarm lever 38 which is mounted for pivotal movement into wedging engagement between the vibrator 33 and the support plate 32. In such wedging position, the vibrator is restrained from moving and produces no sound. The alarm lever 38 is normally positioned in restraining or wedging engagement with the vibrator 33 and is rotated out of engagement with the vibrator when the alarm mechanism included in the clock motor and movement 29 pivots the alarm lever 38 at the preselected time for the alarm to sound. The mechanism for accomplishing this pivotal movement of the alarm lever 38 as well as the details of the alarm lever 38 and its mounting are completely shown in the above-cited Iepson et al. copending application. As is also conventional, the clock includes a manual shutoff 39 which permits the holding or retaining of the alarm lever 38 in the vibrator restraining position.

Mounted on the rear face of the support plate 32 is an alarm delay mechanism 40 which functions to temporarily interrupt the sounding of the alarm vibrator 33. The alarm delay mechanism 40 consists only of four parts which have been added to convert the conventional alarm movement into one equipped with the delay mechanism. These parts are an alarm restraining member 41 which is slidably supported on the rear face of the plate 32, a biasing spring 42, a shouldered retaining screw 43 for the restraining member 41 and a small movement driven shaft 44. With the addition of these four parts to the alarm movement, it is provided with the additional feature of the alarm delay mechanism. By providing one additional part, a variable interval cam member 45, provision is made for selecting any one of a number of different periods of alarm interruption.

The restraining member 41 is a substantially fiat memher having a centrally located slot 46 which serves as a guide slot in cooperation with the shoulder screw 43. To facilitate the sliding movement of the restraining member 41 with respect to the plate 32, three small bearing bosses 47 are formed rearwardly on the member 41. These projections space the member 41 from the plate 32 to eliminate engagement between the plate 32 and member 41 and blanking burrs which may be present around the edges and openings in either the plate 32 or the member 41.

Extending downwardly from the main portion of the restraining member 41 are a cam follower projection 48 and a ratchet projection 49. As is best shown in FIG. 4, the lower end of the cam follower projection 48 has a forwardly extending portion 50 which is slidably received in a slot 51. At its lowermost end, the extension 50 is rearwardly inclined, terminating in a retaining portion 52 which engages the inside face of the rear plate 32 immediate below the slot 51 as is best shown in FIG. 4.

The ratchet projection 49 is substantially parallel to the cam follower projection 48 but is much narrower in width than much longer. Because of its length and narrow width, it is flexible in the plane in which it slides. At the upper end of the ratchet projection 49, a protuberance 54 is provided for engagement with the end of the biasing spring 42. Below the protuberance 54, the projection 49 is formed with an inwardly displaced portion 55 which serves the same purpose as the bearing bosses 47 in spacing the plate 32 and the restraining member 41. At its lowermost end, the projection 49 is formed with a row of ratchet or rack teeth 56 which are arranged in a straight line as is best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The biasing spring 42 serves to urge the restraining member 41 to its uppermost position in which the shoulder screw 43 engages the lower end of the slot 46 in the member 41. The spring 42 is mounted to the clock motor and movement 29 by means of a forwardly projecting portion 5'7 which is received within a tubular plastic member 58 which is molded integrally to an opening in the plate 32. A second plastic member 59 molded to the plate 32 overhangs the mid-point of the spring 42 and prevents its deflecting outwardly away from the plate 32. Thus, the spring 42 is secured to the plate 32 by the plastic members 58 and 59 with the free end extending into upwardly biasing engagement with the protuberance 54 on the restraining member 41. Because of the position of the protuberance 54 displaced sidewardly with respect to the slot 46 and the shoulder screw 43, there is a tendency for the spring 42 to rotate the member 41 counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 3.

Positioned almost directly above the ratchet projection 49 is an arm 60 which mounts on its upper end a button 61. As is obvious from FIGS. 1 and 2, the button 61 extends outwardly from the case 21 through an opening 62 to a position where it is convenient for manual actuation. When the button 61 is actuated, the member 41 is rotated clockwise as is shown in FIG. 3 by the dotted lines. It should be understood that the cam follower projection 48 and its forward extension 50 permit only limited rotary movement of the restraining member 41. As is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 8, the cam slot 51 is wider at its upper end, being separated from the lower end by a stepped portion 63. The stepped portion 63 separates an upper cam surface 64 from the lower cam surface 65. Upon initial depression of the button 61, the extension 50 on the restraining member 41 is rotated out of engagement with the upper cam surface 64 into engagement with the left edge of the slot 51 as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 8. As the button is further depressed, the extension 50 moves downwardly in the slot 51 past the stepped portion 63 and into engagement with the lower cam surface 65.

The extent of depression of the restraining member 41 is determined by the selected position of the variable interval cam member 45, which cam member is best shown in FIGS. 2, 6 and 7. The cam member 45 is an elongated die cast member which is rotatably supported in aligned spaced openings in the

plates

31 and 32. The portion of the cam member 45 towards the front plate 31 is provided with a T-shaped stop member 66 which includes outwardly extending ends 66a and 66b which are movable into engagement with a plastic mounting boss 67. The mounting boss 67 serves the dual function of supporting the motor and movement 29 with respect to the front mounting plate 28 and also serves as a stop in cooperation with member 66 to limit the extent of rotary movement of the cam member 45.

Positioned along the cam member 45 rearwardly of the stop member 66 is a detent 68 having three flatted

surfaces

68a, 68b and 68c which cooperate with a resilient projection 69 on the mounting boss 67 to provide a detent mechanism for holding the cam member 45 in any one of three selected rotary positions.

Adjacent the rear support plate 32, the cam member 45 is provided with a cam portion 70 which has three

cam surfaces

70a, 70b and 700. The cam surfaces 70a, 70b and 700 are adapted to be engaged by the lower end or retaining portion 52 of the restraining member 41 as it is moved downwardly. Each of the

surfaces

70a, 70b and 700 are positioned different distances from the axis of rotation of the cam member 45 in order to vary the amount of downward displacement permitted the restraining member 41. With the greatest amount of downward displacement obtained when the surface 70c engages the retaining portion 52, an alarm delay of fifteen minutes is obtained. With the cam surface 70b positioned to engage the retaining portion 52, a delay of ten minutes is obtained. Similarly, a delay of five minutes is obtained when the cam surface 76a is positioned to engage the restraining member 41.

The cam member 45 extends rearwardly through the rear support plate 32 to a position where it is provided with a manual control knob 71 which extends outwardly through the back of the clock casing 21. Thus, through the use of the control knob 71, the cam member 45 may be rotated to position the cam portion 70 in any one of three rotary positions. The detent 68 will retain the cam member 45 in the selected position.

1 In order to holdthe alarm vibrator 33 immobilized or shut off during the period in which the restraining member 41 is in its downward position, there is provided a projection 72 which extends sidewardly from the member 41 for engagement with the vibrator 33. The upper end of the vibrator 33 is formed with an inclined surface 73. A cooperating surface 74 on the projection 72 permits the vibrator 33 to be biased outwardly by the projection 72 as the restraining member 41 is moved downwardly. The member 41 and the vibrator 33 are shown in their engaged positions in FIG. 5.

The movement driven shaft 44 is mounted between the

support plates

31 and 32 as is best shown in FIG. 4. Intermediate the

plates

31 and 32 the shaft 44 is provided with an integrally molded gear 75 which is driven by a gear 76 which is one of the movement gears shown and completely related to the rest of the motor and movement 29 in the above-mentioned copending Jepson et al. application. The forward end of the shaft 44 is of reduoed diameter and is received in a hole in the plate 31. An enlarged conical portion 77 on the shaft 44 engages the rear support plate 32, thus preventing axial movement of the shaft 44. Extending rearwardly through an opening in the plate 32 is a ratchet wheel 78, which wheel is provided with small inclined ratchet teeth 79 as best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The pit-ch of the ratchet teeth is essentially twice the pitch of the in line teeth 56 formed on the restraining member 41. Since it is relatively simple to mold the fine teeth 79 in a suitable plastic, it is possible to obtain the closely spaced teeth 79. The member 41 is a metal stamping thereby presenting problems with respect to providing fine closely spaced teeth 56. Since it is only necessary to have interengagement of one tooth on the member 41 with one tooth on the wheel 78, no accuracy in positioning of member 41 is lost in making the teeth 56 half the pitch of the teeth 79.

Referring to FIG. 3, the action of the ratchet projection 49 is shown as the teeth 56 move downwardly toward the ratchet wheel 78. As shown in dotted lines, the teeth 56 are displaced to the left of the edge of the ratchet wheel 78. The end of the ratchet projection 49 is formed with an inclined surface 80 which causes the projection 49 to be deflected to the right as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 8 bringing the teeth 56 into engagement with the teeth 79 on the ratchet wheel. It should be noted that the leading edges of the teeth 79 slope very gradually and are almost tangent to the diameter of the ratchet wheel 78. The trailing edges of the teeth, on the other hand, are inclined very steeply and are almost radial with respect to the axis of the ratchet wheel 78. Because of this configuration of the teeth 79, the teeth 56 may be moved across the teeth '79 very readily as the restraining member 41 is moved to its lowered position. The projection 49 and the wheel 78 have been termed ratchet members because of the manner in which the teeth 56 ride over the teeth 79 in the downward travel of the member 41.

' When the cam follower projection 48 has moved downward to such an extent that the extension 50 is in engagement with the lower cam surface 65 and the ratchet teeth 56 are engaged with the wheel 78, the two projections are spread apart so that the ratchet projection 49 exerts a force urging the teeth 56 into engagement with the Wheel 78. This arrangement eliminates the necessity for a separate biasing spring to accomplish this function.

As is indicated on FIGS. 8 and 9, the ratchet wheel 78 rotates counterclockwise as viewed in these figures. As a consequence, the rotation of the wheel 78 causes the member 41 to move upwardly from the position restraining the vibrator 33 to a position out of engagement with the vibrator 33. The teeth 79 on the ratchet wheel 78 have been made very fine so that accuracy of positioning of the restraining member 41 could be obtained even though the entire delay period, whether it be five or fifteen minutes, would involve a very small amount of travel of the member 41.

One of the problems associated with relying on a small amount of travel in the restraining member 41 is that of obtaining an accurate release point between the mem ber 41 and the ratchet wheel 78. With the more or less tangential engagement between the member 41 and the wheel 78, the rotary position of the specific teeth 79 may make a substantial difference in the vertical position at which the lowermost tooth 56 on the member 41 is released thereby permitting upward movement of the member 41 under the influence of the spring 42. In the alarm delay mechanism of the instant invention, means have been provided to cause the teeth 56 to disengage in a radial direction from the wheel 78 rather than disengaging in a tangential direction as might be expected. As the member 41 moves vertically upwardly toward the point of disengagement, the spring 42 urges the member 41 counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 3, 5, 8 and 9. The member is restrained against counter-clockwise move ment by the retaining screw 43 and the engagementbetween the cam follower projection 48 and the cam slot 51. In FIG. 8, the extension 58 on the cam follower projection 48 is shown in engagement with the lower cam surface 65 while the lowermost tooth 56 is still in engagement with the ratchet wheel 78. As the extension 50 moves over the stepped portion 63, it moves into engagement with the upper cam surface 64 permitting the member 41 to rotate counterclockwise a small distance to the position shown in FIG. 9. As is evident from FIG. 9, the ratchet teeth 56 on the member 41 have moved out of engagement with the teeth 79 on the ratchet wheel 78. At this point, the member 41 is free to move upwardly under the influence of the biasing spring 42. It should be evident from the above description that the release point for the member 41 is determined by the location of the stepped portion 63 in the cam slot 51. Thus, it is the position of this stepped portion rather than the position of any individual teeth '79 which determines the point in the upward movement of the member 41 at which it will be released.

In connection with the explanation of the small size of the ratchet wheel 78 and the teeth 79 thereon, the desirability of a small amount of vertical travel of the restraining member 41 was mentioned. For both styling and functional reasons, a large amount of travel in the button 61 on the member 41 would be unwanted. In comparing the distance moved by the restraining member 41 between FIGS. 3 and 5, it can be readily appreciated that such a small amount of movement between the rest position and the fully depressed position (fifteen minute delay) depends on a small ratchet wheel 78 rotating at a relatively slow speed.

Another device used to minimize the amount of movement of member 41 is the angling on the slot 46. It should be noted that the slot 46 has an upper vertical portion 46a and a lower angled portion 46b. As the member 41 is depressed, it rotates slightly at first as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 3. As a consequence of this rotation, the lower end of the cam follower projection 48 is displaced to the left and the button 61 has moved vertically. By providing the angled portion 465 on slot 46, the top of member 41 is displaced to the left the same amount as the bottom thereby counteracting or reversing the rotary downward displacement of the button 61. By means of the angled slot portion, the vertical movement of button 61 is effectively translated into true vertical movement of the entire member 41 rather than some rotary movement and some vertical movement.

In view of the foregoing description, the improvements and advantages of the alarm delay mechanism of the present invention should be obvious. The mechanism is structurally simple requiring little more than a onepiece metal stamping and a cooperating movement driven ratchet wheel to control the movement of the stamped member during the delay period. The design of the stamping as well as the cooperating cam slot in the movement supporting plate 32 has permitted this structural simplification. Other aspects including the design of the ratchet wheel 78 and the slot 46 have made it possible for the mechanism to function effectively over a relatively long delay period with a minimum movement of the manual actuating button 61 for the delay mechanism.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may obviously be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and it is desired in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Delay means for an alarm mechanism comprising a clock motor and movement having support means, a one-piece alarm restraining member mounted on said support means for sliding movement in a plane, said restraining member having a main portion and a cam portion rigidly connected to said main portion, spring means on said support means biasing said member to an inoperative position, manually actuatable means for sliding said member against said biasing force from said inoperative position to an alarm restraining position, said member including an integrally formed elongated flexible arm extending outwardly from said main portion and having a free end spaced from said main portion, said arm having ratchet teeth on said free end thereof, a ratchet wheel positioned in the plane of said member and driven by said movement, cam means on said cam portion and said support means, said cam means operating on said member at a position spaced from said ratchet teeth to deflect said flexible arm urging said ratchet teeth into engagement with said wheel whereby said wheel retains said member in the alarm restraining position against the biasing force of said spring, said wheel being rotated in a direction to move said member to the inoperative position.

2. The delay means of claim 1 wherein said cam means comprises a stepped cam surface and a cam follower, said stepped cam surface being positioned to move said ratchet teeth radially with respect to said wheel to disengage said teeth and wheel.

3. The delay means of claim 1 wherein said cam means comprises a stepped cam slot formed in a portion of said support means, a cam follower on said cam portion of said member extending into said cam slot for guiding the sliding movement of said member, said cam means being positioned laterally of said elongated flexible arm so that said arm is flexed provided a biasing force when said teeth and wheel are ur ed into en a ement bv said mm means.

4. An alarm delay means for an alarm clock comprising a one-piece alarm restraining member mounted for sliding movement on a clock frame, means defining a guide slot in said member for guiding engagement with means projecting from said frame, a spring biasing said member to an inoperative position, a manually actuatable portion on said member positioned laterally of said slot for moving said member to an alarm restraining position against the biasing force of said spring, a cam slot in said frame and a cam follower projection formed integrally with said member, a ratchet projection formed integrally with said member and spaced from said cam follower projection and having ratchet teeth on one edge at the outer end thereof, a ratchet wheel positioned for engagement by said teeth to hold said member in said alarm restraining position and rotatable in a direction to move said member toward said inoperative position, said'wheel being between said cam follower projection and said ratchet projection so that at least one of said projections are flexed apart by engagement with said cam slot and said wheel to provide the engaging force between said teeth and said wheel, and said cam slot having a stepped portion permitting said member to pivot said ratchet projection radially out of engagement with said ratchet wheel.

5. The alarm delay means of claim 4 wherein manual actuation of said member from said inoperative position to said alarm restraining position pivots said member whereby said cam follower projection is moved across said stepped portion of said cam slot.

6. The alarm delay means of claim 5 wherein said guide slot in said alarm restraining member is inclined with respect to said cam slot to pivot said member back to a position aligned with said cam slot as it moves downwardly.

7. An alarm delay mechanism comprising a one-piece alarm restraining member mounted for slidable movement on a clock frame between an alarm sounding position and an alarm restraining position, a ratchet wheel carried by said frame and being driven at a constant speed by a clock movement, said wheel having ratchet teeth, a ratchet arm on said member having ratchet teeth along a straight edge thereof for engagement with the teeth on said wheel, the teeth on said arm being angled to slide across the teeth on said wheel when said alarm restraining member is moved from the alarm sounding position to the alarm restraining position, spring means urging said member to an alarm sounding position, manually actuatable means for moving said member from said alarm sounding position to an alarm restraining position wherein engagement of said ratchet arm with said wheel retains said member against said spring means, said wheel rotating slowly in a direction to move said member toward said alarm sounding position, means guiding said member for movement along the line of the ratchet teeth on said member while in engagement with said wheel, said ratchet arm is resilient being deflected by said wheel on movement of said member to said alarm restraining position, the resilience of said arm urging the teeth on said ratchet arm into engagement with the teeth on said Wheel and permitting the teeth on said arm to move across the teeth on said wheel when said member is moved to the alarm restraining position, and means moving said member laterally with respect to said line of teeth to disengage said member from said wheel and permit sounding of the alarm after an interval determined by the initial position of the alarm restraining member and independent of the rotary position of said teeth on said wheel at the time of disengagement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 702,682 6/ 1902 Sunderland 743.54 2,503,736 4/1950 Hodges 74-3.5 2,541,817 2/1951 Gordon 58-16 2,548,362 4/ 1951 Gordon 58-21155 2,773,548 12/1956 Thompson 743.54 2,920,438 1/1960 Phaneuf 58-2l.12 2,996,874 8/1961 Chartier 5821.155 3,039,260 6/1962 Morrison 5821.l55 3,085,136 4/1963 Boyles 20038 3,109,280 11/1963 Ring et al 5821.12 X 3,127,733 4/1964 Robinson 582l.l55

FOREIGN PATENTS 588,599 11/1933 Germany.

LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. DELAY MEANS FOR AN ALARM MECHANISM COMPRISING A CLOCKO MOTOR AND MOVMENT HAVING SUPPORT MEANS, A ONE-PIECE ALARM RESTRAINING MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT IN A PLANE, SAID RESTRAINING MEMBER HAVING A MAIN PORTION AND A CAM PORTION RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO SAID MAIN PORTION, SPRING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS BIASING SAID MEMBER TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION, MANUALLY ACTUATABLE MEANS FOR SLIDING SAID MEMBER AGAINST SAID BIASING FORCE FROM SAID INOPERATIVE POSITION TO AN ALARM RESTRAINING POSITION, SAID MEMBER INCLUDING AN INTEGRALLY FORMED ELONGATED FLIXIBLE ARM EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID MAIN PORTION AND HAVING A FREE SPACED FROM SAID MAIN PORTION, SAID ARM HAVING RATCHET TEETH ON SAID FREE END THEREOF, A RATCHET WHEEL POSITIONED IN THE PLANE OF SAID MEMBER AND DRIVEN BY SAID MOVEMENT, CAM MEANS ON SAID CAM PORTION AND SAID SUPPORT MEANS, SAID CAM MEANS OPERATING ON SAID MEMBER AT A POSITION SPACED FROM SAID RATCHET TEETH TO DEFLECT SAID FLEXIBLE ARM URING SAID RATCHET TEETH INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WHEEL WHERBY SAID WHEEL RETAINS SAID MEMBER IN THE ALRARM RESTRAINING POSITION AGAINST THE BIASING FORCE OF SID SPRING, SAID WHEEL BEING ROTATED IN A DIRECTION TO MOVE SAID MEMBER TO THE INOPERATIVE POSITION.