US746708A - Electric time-switch. - Google Patents

Description

No, 746,708. PATENTED DEG. 15, 1903.

J. M. JOY.

ELECTRIC TIME SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1, 1902. N0 MODEL. I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATE'NTED DEC. 15, 1903.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.1. 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'No MODEL.

mm. Q M UN NM H .N .nNY wfl 3 QM. Q kw m MN 0N NW 9 9w Ill JOHN M. JOY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

Patented December 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR TO PAGE MACHINE OOM- PANY, OF NEW YORK N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NE\V YORK.

ELECTREO TllVl E-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 746,708, dated December'15, 1903.

Application filed August 1,

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Beit known thatl, JOHN M. JOY,a citizen of the United States, residing in the city,county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto automatic timeswitches,and more particularly time-switches for controlling electric circuits, such as light or powercircuits orcircuits containing translating devices of any kind.

The objects of my invention are to improve the construction of such automatic timeswitches,increase the certainty and efficiency of operation, and produce a strong and automatic switch which is not liable to get out of order nor broken.

Further objects of my invention are to enable the switch controlling the electric circuit te be operated at predetermined changeable times, which may be at a particular time of a particular day, or on a particular day, or at a particular time daily. In other words, one of the objects of my invention is to enable the mechanism for operating the switch to be set to operate the switch at predetermined times, which may be at intervals of whole days or at intervals of particular times of different days.

Further objects of my invention will hereinafter appear; and to these ends my invention consists in mechanism for carrying out the above objects arranged and constructed and having a general mode of operation, substantially as hereinafter fully described and shown in this specification and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of portions of the same, showing the operative parts of the setting mechanism. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. t is an enlarged detail view in perspective of connections between the setting mechanism and. the switch. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of the switch, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional View through one of the arbors to which a setting mechanism is connected.

Referring more particularly to the draw- 1902. Serial No. 117,994. (lilo model.)

ings, on a suitable base A is arranged a timepiece or clock mechanism, of which Bis the mainspring and O the winding-stem. Any suitable clock mechanism may be provided for operating my switch, the mechanism itself forming no part of myinvention, as my apparatus is adapted to be attached to any suitable timepiece for operation thereby. It is sufficient to say that the arborD is adapted to be rotated by the clock mechanism once in one hundred and sixty-eight hours--that is, once every seven days of twenty-four hours each while the arbor E is adapted to be rotated once in twenty-four hours or once a day. If desired, the arbor D might be arranged to rotate once in a plurality of days, not necessarily once a week, I having chosen mechanism operating in this manner in order to illustrate my invention. Therefore any suitable timepiece may be provided which will rotate the arbors D and E as described.

As shown in detail in Fig. 5, a suitable electric switch is provided, of which E represents the movable member cooperating with contacts G and H, between which the member F is adapted to make and break circuit. The electric circuit to be controlled may be led to the contacts G and H, and when the member F is thrown to the position shown in Fig. 5 the circuit will be broken.

Any suitable means may be provided for 'supplyingthe power to actuate the swich F;

but preferably the switch-spindle I is placed under a constant stress, as from a spring J, tending to rotate the spindle, which is prevented from rotating to maintain the switch in a given position by any suitable means hereinafter to be described. Suitable connection is provided between the springJ and the switch-spindle I, as shown, a gear a being connected to the spindle I and meshing with another gear Z) on the shaft 0, to which is connected the spring J. A winding-stem (Z is provided for placing the spring under tension, a suitable ratchet e and pawl f being provided for winding up the spring in any suitable and usual manner.

Suitable setting mechanism is provided, actuated by the mechanism of the timepiece, and connections are arranged or interposed between the setting mechanism and the switch for operating or releasing the switch at the predetermined desired time.

The setting mechanism is connected, as shown, to both of the arbors D and E and is arranged to be attached thereto in an adjustable manner. This setting mechanism to be described may be attached to and removed from the arbors, and is thereby adapted to be attached to any suitable timepiece. In this instance the setting mechanism comprises, essentially, adjustable cams 1 and 2, connected to the arbor D, and adjustable cams 3 and 4,connected to the arbor E in such manner that the cams are adapted to rotate with the arbors, and said cams are adapted to be setin different positions in order to control the connections with the switch. Referring more particularly to Fig. 6, upon the arbor E is connected a sleeve 5, provided with screw-threaded end 6, and upon the sleeve 5 is placed a cam 3, which in section is shown with a sleeve 7 extending therefrom along the sleeve 5. Sleeve 5 is provided with shoulders 8, against which cam 3 abuts. The cam 4 is shown provided with a sleeve 9, arranged concentrically with the sleeve 7 of the cam 3, the sleeve of the cam 4 not being quite as long as that of cam 3.

The cams are arranged behind a suitable dial 10, marked according to the hours of a day, with divisions corresponding to twentyfour hours and indications thereon for a. m. and p. m. The dial 10 is secured in any suitable manner, so that the cams may be rotated relatively thereto, and connected to cam 3 is a pointer 11, while connected to the cam 4 is a pointer 12, which may be turned to indicate particular hours of the day. Means are provided for clamping the cams in such manner that they may be rotated with the sleeve 5 and the arbor E, as shown, a spider 13 being arranged upon the sleeve 5, with arms 14 adapted to clamp the cams against the shoulder 8 of sleeve 5, a suitable nut 15 being provided on the screw-threaded portion 6 of the sleeve for this purpose.

The conformation of the cams 3 and 4 may be anything desired, but, as shown, they consist of annular rings provided with projections 16 and 17, the direction of rotation of the cams 3 and 4 being according to the arrow. (See Fig. 4.)

The arrangement and construction of the setting mechanism connected to the arbor D is in this instance the same-as that shown, adapted to be connected to the arbor E, with the exception that the cams land 2, arranged to be actuated by the arbor D, are of different shape from those on the arbor E, and the dial 20 is provided with pointers 2i and 22 and is marked according to the days of the week. The conformation of the cams 1 and 2 is best shown in Figs. 2 and 4, they being represented as annular rings, portions of which are cut away or reduced at 23 and 18, thereby leaving high portions 19 and 20 From the arrangement of cams shown on the arbors D and E it will be seen that the cams 3 and 4 maybe so adjusted that the projecting portions or horns 16 and 17 may be brought to register one with the other, while the cams 1 and 2 may be so adjusted that an unbroken outer bearing-surface may be presented in which there will be no reduced portions.

tVhile any suitable mechanism may be provided between the setting mechanism and the switch for controlling the operation of the switch, in this instance and according to my invention a toggle-acting lever is interposed between the setting mechanism and switch and so constructed that when an abutment is aiforded for one end of the lever the setting mechanism will actuate the lever to cause it to break toggle, and thereby release the mechanism for actuating the switch.

According to the construction shown a rockshaft 24 is provided, suitably supported from the base A and provided with a bell-crank lever K connected thereto, one arm, L, of which extends adjacent the setting mechanism and the other arm, 0, of which is arranged to be pressed by a suitable spring 25. Pivoted to the arm L at any suitable point, as at point 26, there is anotherlever P, the ends of which, as shown, extend opposite the cams of the setting mechanism, and the lever P is preferably provided with followers in the form of pins 27, adapted to bear upon the surfaces of the operating-cams of the setting mechanism. Another arm Q is connected to the rockshaft 24 and arranged to control the operation of the electric switch, as shown, this arm Q being provided with steps 28 and 29, cooperating with' which is a stop 30 upon an arm or flier 31, connected to a pinion 32, which meshes with a gear 33 on the shaft I of the switch.

In the normal position of the parts shown in the drawings the tendency of the switchspindle I to be rotated by its spring is re sisted because of the fact that the stop 30 on the flier 3i normally bears against the stop 29 on the arm Q. If, however, the arm Q, should be rocked in such manner as to withdraw the stop 29 from engagement with stop 30, the flier 31 would be led to rotate under action of the stress applied thereto from the switch-spindle I.

According to the operation of my invention when it is desired to actuate the switch the arm Q is rocked upwardly, according to the position of the parts shown in the drawings, releasing the stop 30 on the flier 31 and allowing the flier 31 to rotate through nearly one revolution, the stop 28 being brought into line to engage with the stop 30 after it is rotated the desired distance.

If the cams 1 and 2 are so adjusted that for a given interval of time a low portion of the cams remains opposite the follower or pin 27 on the upper end of the arm P, then the lower follower or pin 27 on the arm P may be actuated by the horns or projections 16 and 17 on ever, actuating the bell-crank lever K. This is true, because no abutment is afforded for the upper follower 27 when a low portion of the cams 1 and 2 is opposite the follower. )Vhen, however, a high portion of the cams 1 and 2 comes opposite the upper follower 2", an abutment is thus afforded for the upper end of the lever P. WVhen the lower end of the lever is actuated by a projection on one of the cams 3 or at, it will readily be seen that the pivot-point 26 will be moved to the left, causing the toggle-acting lever to break toggle, thereby rocking the shaft 2-1, and with it the arm Q, to release the switch and cause it to control the circuit.

According to the arrangement of cams, dialplates, and pointers described it will be seen that according to my invention the cams l and 2 may be so set that an abutment will not be afforded for the upper end of the toggle-acting lever except atintervals of several days or at the end of a week, and the cams 3 and 4 may be set for a particular time of day, so that at the particular day set an abutment will be afforded for the upper end of the toggle-acting lever and then at the particular time desired on that day the lever will be actuated to cause the switch to changethe circuit.

According to my invention the setting mechanism may be set to cause the switch to operate to break the circuit either daily at particular times or at particular times in intervals of several days and then without changing the adjustment of the mechanism after the desired interval of time the switch will again be actuated. to close the circuit. A means is thus provided for denergizing an electric circuit at changeable times and for maintaining said circuit deenergized as long as desired and then automatically energizing it again. My switch is therefore particularly useful in circuits containing translating devices where it is desired to control the circuits from a distance, maintain them deenergized for a certain time, and then energize them again, thus saving current during the time thatit is not desired to operate the translating devices.

It will be seen that the switch may be operated daily; but provision is afforded for skipping a day or more and then repeating the operation over again. This operation is accomplished by adjusting the length of the low portion 23 of the cam-surfaces 2-that is to say, the length of said low portion deter mines the time during which the switch will not be actuated. For example, a certain regular operation is required in stopping lights or motors at certain times each day and then startingthem again at a certain time the next day, and my switch affords provision for such operation. In addition to this feature the apparatus affords means for stopping the lights or motors at stated periodsfor instance,

every Sunday, and then resuming the operation again (luring the week.

Obviously some features of my invention may be used without others, and my invention may be embodied in widely-varying forms.

Therefore without enumerating equivalents nor limiting myself to the construction shown and described I claim, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent, the following:

1. An automati timeswitch, comprising a timepiece, setting mechanism actuated thereby consisting of cams rotatable once in a plurality of days, and cams rotatable once a day, a switch under constant stress tending to actuate it, connections between said switch and the setting mechanism, and means for adjusting said mechanism to release the switch on a particular day and at a particular time, and means for automatically suspending the regular operation of the appara tus on particular days substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

An automatic time-switch, comprising a timepiece, a switch, setting mechanism actuated by the timepiece, a toggle-acting lever interposed between the switch and the setting mechanism,and means whereby an abutment is afforded for one member of said toggle-acting lever at predetermined changeable times to actuate the lever and thereby throw the switch, for substantially the purposes set forth.

8. An automatic time-switch, comprising a timepiece,a switch under constant stress tending to actuate the same, a setting mechanism actuated by the timepiece and consisting of adjustable cams, a toggle-acting lever connected between said cams and the switch, and means whereby an abutment is afforded for one member of said toggle-acting lever at predetermined changeable times to actuate the lever and throw the switch, for substantially the purposes set forth.

4. An automatic time-switch, comprising a timepiece,a switch under constant stress tending to actuate the same, setting mechanism actuated by said timepiece and consisting of adjustable cams, a toggle-acting lever connected between the cams and the switch, and means for adjusting said cams to afford an abutment for one member of the lever at predetermined changeable times to actuate the lever and release the switch, for substantially the purposes set forth.

5. An automatic time-switch, comprising a timepiece,a switch under constant stress tend ing to actuate the same, setting mechanism consisting of adjustable cams adapted to be actuated by the timepiece, a rock-shaft, an arm connected thereto and provided with a stop for releasing the switch, another arm connected to the rock-shaft, a lever pivoted to said other arm and provided with followers adapted to bear upon said cams whereby when an abutment is afforded for one of the followers the rock-shaft is actuated to release the switch, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. An automatic time-switch, comprising a timepiece,a switch under constant stress tending to actuate the same, a toggle-acting lever, an adjustable cam actuated by the timepiece and adapted to form an abutment for one end of the toggle-acting lever at predetermined changeable times, another cam actuated by the timepiece and adapted to actuate said lever to break toggle at predetermined changeable times when an abutment is atforded for one end of said lever, and connections whereby the switch is actuated when said toggle-acting lever is actuated, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. An automatic time-switch, comprising a timepiece,a switch underconstant stress tend- WM. L. VAIL, HAMILTON Il'IUsK.

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