US53015A - Thief-alarm - Google Patents

Description

1.. F. LEWIS.

Burglar Alarm.

Patented "March 1866.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. LEWIS, OF PITTSTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

THlEF-ALARM.

pecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 53,0] 5, dated March 6, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. LEW1s, of Pittston, in the county of Lnzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Thief Detecter or Alarm; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to a thief detecter or alarm, designed more especially to be used in gardens, fields, orchards, yards, and other outof-door places, so that the robbing or pilfering of any articles belonging to such places, or of clothes hung upon clothes-lines, &c., can be to a great extent, if not entirely, prevented; and it consists in a novel-arranged alarm or detecter to be inserted in the ground, which, when the least pressure is exerted upon it by any person walking over such ground, will cause an instant explosion to occur, which, if it does not injure the person, will at least so frighten and alarm him as to cause him to make a hasty retreat without securing the intended plunder or property.

In accompanying plate of drawings my improved thief detecter or alarm is illustrated.

Figure l is a central vertical section through the thief-alarm device; Fig. 2, a plan or top view, and Fig. 3 a similar view to Fig. 1, but with the alarm inserted in the ground.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This alarm consists of a wooden box or tube, A, made of either a square or cylindrical shape in cross-section, and of any desired length as, for instance, one or two feet, or more or less-according to the size and weight of the bottle B used,the box being of sufficient size to allow the bottle to move or play easy and free in it.

In the neck 0 of the bottle is inserted an ordinary gun-cap tube, D, and the bottle, by its lower end or portion, E, is placed in the opening F of the top piece, G, of the tube or box A in an inverted position-that is, with its neck downwardthe bottom of the bottle slightly projecting beyond the'said top piece, G. This bottle B it is intended to fill with gunpowder or other suitable explosive material or materials, previous to inserting itin the box-top G, as above explained, and its captube has also a percussion-cap placed upon it.

The box A, thus provided with a bottle containing an explosive material, is, when to be used, placed in and below the surface of the ground, as plainly shown in Fig. 3, its lower end resting upon a flat-shaped stone or other material of sufficient hardness to explode a percussion-cap when the latter is brought in contact with it with any degree of force; and then, in order to disguise and prevent it from being readily observed or discovered, its .upper or top piece is covered over with turf or dirt.

From the manner in which the bottle is hung in the box A it is obvious that, with a slight pressure upon it, it will be let free, falling within the tube and striking by its cap end against the stone upon which the box rests, thereby exploding the same, which,communicating with the powder in the bottle in turn explodes it, causing a loud report, according to the quantity of/it, and thus producing the necessary alarm.

From the above description it is obvious that by inserting several of my improved alarms in the ground at such places as may be deemed most advisable and desirable, if any person not acquainted with their respective locations should attempt to pass over or trespass upon such ground, there would be but very little, if any, uncertainty of his soon stepping upon one of the same, and thus cause its charge to be exploded and the alarm to be sounded, warning the people occupying such ground of his approach, even if no serious injury is occasioned to him by such explosion, thereby causing him to make such a hasty retreat in order to escape, if able so to do, as to have no time to think of the plunder or property which he had intended to secure.

In addition to the above-described burglaralarm I deem it prudent and expedient to use what I term a safety-valve, H, in the bottle, box, or casing, which valve, when so desired, is thrown across the box between its bottle and its lower end, a wire, I, being connected therewith for convenience in moving it, the

object of which valve is to enable the alarm to be retained in the ground, and yet render it safe to pass over such ground without exploding the charges in the same, even if by any possibility they should be trod on, the percussion-cap of 'th e bottles inwsnch cases striking against this valve, which is intended to be of such a material as to cause no explosion of it to occur.

From the above it is manifest that by my invention I have-produced a thiefv"(letecterpossessing simplicity in construction, cheapness, durability, and utility, and certaintyof operation, all of which are quite important to the successful introduction and use of suchimplements.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letter's-Patent- The tube or spout A, either with or Without the safety-valve H, in combination with the bottle B,or other suitable receptacle for the explosive material,-having a cap-tube, 0, when arranged together, so as to operate in the manner and for the purpose specified.

JOHN F. LEWIS. Witnesses THOS. FORD, t r a J. B. SHIFFER.

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