US790303A - Burglar-alarm. - Google Patents

Description

. PATENTED MAY 23, 1905. J. E. LIESS.

BURGLAR ALARM.

'APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 1a, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATENTED M Yzs'. 1905., J. E. LIESS. BURGLAB ALARM. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13,1903.

2 SEEETSSHEET 2.

Patented May'23, 1905.

'UNITED. ST TES PATENT OFFICE.-

JOHN EDWARD LIESS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BURGLAR-AILARM.

i SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 790,303, dated May 23, 1905. I Application filed. November 13, 1903- Serial No. 181,007.

To all whom, it may concern:

- Be it known that I, JOHN EDWARD LIEss, a

citizen of the United States, residing at, Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement 1n Burglar-Alarms, of whlch the following is a full, clear, concise, and ex- My invention relates to an improvement in electrical burglar-alarm systems, and has for its ob ect a novel arrangement of-electr1cal circults and controlling mechanism whereby cally or at a central station.

Heretofore in burglar-alarm systems when an alarm was sounded the system was incapable of sounding another alarm until placed in normal condition by an attend ant. Owing to the fact that the circuits employed in such systems are broken circuits that is, have many points of contact-such as connections at doors, windows, vault-entrances, &c., that are often broken'during the day and connected during the night, false alarms due todust,

bits of paper, or other insulating material.

jolting between the contacts are a fruitful cause of trouble and annoyance. An ordinary wind-storm will shake a building sufficiently to sometimes cause several such false alarms during a night. Breaks in the current that thus soundan alarm are oftentimes momentary; yet heretofore a second alarm could not be sounded until the bell-drop or other equivalent device had been restored to' its normal condition by an attendant, notwithstanding the break in the circuit corrected itself almost immediately. Where also such break in the circuit was of a permanent character, the system was rendered incapable of further performing its-detective function until such break in the circuit was located and remedied, frequently necessitating an inspection of the entire system. Furthermore, wheresuch systems were installed in private residences and the occupants were away the ringing of the alarmibells for such false alarms often constituted amuisance to the neighborhood, the bell s'ou nding 'until the battery was exhausted or until the cause of the alarm was corrected,

as above stated.

My improved burglar-alarm system provides means whereby when a false alarm occurs, as above described, whether such break in the circuit is of a temporary or permanent character, the alarm will be sounded for a predetermined time, a shorter time in the former casethan in the latter, after which the alarm will cease andthe circuit will automatically be placed again in normal condition to perform its protective function, the sounding of said alarm and the duration thereof being 2 communicated to a central station. successive alarms may be sounded either My invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, and in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of one way of arranging the circuits of myimproved system, showing mechanism for automatically controlling the same. Fig. 2 is a detailed view of a portion of the circuit-controlling device. Fig. 3 is a View of one way of connecting the circuits of my improved system upon a window. Fig. 4: is an enlarged view of the wheel audits associated parts.

Referring now to the drawings more particularly by reference characters the main protective circuit consists of the coils 1 and 2 and includes the battery 3 and relays 4:, 5,

and 6. This circuit is normally closed, thea window the usual method of wiring burglaralarm systems. Assuming the window-casing 11, containing the sashes 12 and 13, to be located at the point 14 in the main circuit,

the conductor 1 being connected with a spring 15, secured to the casing 11, said spring maintaining electrical connections with the'plate 16, secured to the sash 12, when the sash is down, the plate 16 being carried out of engagement with the spring 15 when the sash 12 is raised, the conductor 2 passes around the casing 11, as shown in Fig. 3, and is connected upon each side of the window by means of a wire leading therefrom with a detent or hook 17, said hook being secured to the casing 11 and adapted to form electrical connection with the spring 1 5 when the plate 16 is carried out of engagement therewith by the raising of the sash 12, thus forming electrical connection between the conductors 1 and 2 at the point 14.

The operation of my invention with'reference to the method of wiring the point to be protected will be hereinafter described.

The plates 16 16 upon the sash 12 are electrically connected by a silver leaf or amalgam conductor 18. It will be understood that the arrangement of the coils 1 and 2 and the method of wiring the window above described are not essential. A different arrangement of said coils and any suitable method of connecting the conductors composing the closed circuit at the point to be protected may be adopted in lieu of that described without departing from the spirit of my invention.

A relay 19, located in a circuit to be hereafter described, attracts its armature 20 against the power of the spring 21, said armature being pivoted to a suitable support 22 and having an extended portion 23 adapted to coact with plates 24 and 25 and contact-points 26 and 27 to close their respective circuits when the relay 19 is energized. A lever 28,

pivoted at 90,- is held in its normal position.

against the pin 28 by a spring 29, the armature 20 when attracted by its relay 19 depressing the end of the lever 28 against the power of the spring 29, said spring returning the lever toits normal position after the armature has passed the end of the lever, the lever 28 after the armature 20 has been attracted by its relay and has passed downward by the endof the lever being adapted to engage the end of the armature 20 and hold the armature in such position as to maintain close electrical connection between the plates 24 and 25 and contact-points 26 and 27 after the relay 19 has been deenergized. Any suitable spring-actuated movement, as the wheel 30, is adapted by means of arms 31 31 to move the lever 28 against the power of spring 29, the opposite end of the lever 28 passing downward and releasing the armature 20 and opening the circuits controlled by said armature at the contact-points 26 and 27. The wheel carries an arm 32, adapted to move the switch 33 into connection with the contactp'oint 34, closing a circuit to be hereinafter described. The movement of wheel 30 may be controlled by the relay6 in any suitable manner- I prefer to provide an arm 35, which is pivoted to the armature 8 and has formed upon the opposite end thereof a lug 36, adapted to engage the upturned edge of the plate or strip 37,.said strip being suitably journaled to revolve with the wheel 30. Any suitable means may be used for causing the plate or strip 37 to revolve with the wheel 30, as the gear-wheels 82, which are adapted to mesh together, one of said wheels being adapted to revolve directly with said plate or strip, the other of said wheels being disposed at an angle thereto, the wheel carried by the shaft of the wheel 30 being shown in dotted lines. When the relay 6 is deenergized, the spring 38, attached to the armature 8, carries the lug 36 upon the arm 35 out of engagement with the strip 37, thus permitting the wheel 30 to revolve. The relay 6 is not of suliicient strength to move the armature 8, but is of sufiicient strength to retain same in position when the armature is carried into contact therewith. To carry the armature 8 into contact with relay 6 and to bring the lug 36 into engagement with the extended ends of the strip 37, thus stopping the rotation of the wheel 30, I provide suitable arms 39 upon the wheel 30, adapted to engage the end of a pivoted arm or lever 40, the opposite end of said lever coacting with a piece 41, attracted to the arm 35 and having a slot 42 formed therein, said slot permitting a slight vertical movement of the arm 35. The arm 39 upon the Wheel 30 carries the lower end of the pivoted lever to the right, the opposite end thereof engaging the piece 41, thus raising the arm 35 and carrying the armature 8 into engagement with the relay 6, the lug 36 dropping into engagement with the extended ends of the strip 37, stopping the wheel 30 from rotating.

Contact-points 43, adapted to engage a contact-breaker 44, are provided upon the wheel 30, said contact-breaker 44 closing a circuit consisting of the conductor 45, battery 70, relay 48, and conductor 46, said circuit being adapted to notify a distant or central station of the movement of wheel 30 in any suitable manner, preferably by the tape ticker or register 47, the armature 49 of the relay 48 cooperating with the contact-point 72 to cause the L-shaped armature 73, which is pivoted at 74 of the relay 75, which is located in a local circuit consisting of battery 76, relay 75, conductor 77, and armature 49, to bring the pin or impression member 79 into contact with the tape 80 to form characters thereon or indent the same in the usual manner. The ticker or register 47 may be connected in a groundcircuit with the wheel 30, if desired, by means of conductor 50, movement 30, contact-points 43, contact-breaker 44, and conductors and 51, including the battery 81 and'relay 48. .It will be understood that any suitable centralstation apparatus may be used in lieu of that described. The contact-points 43 may be placed at intervals about the periphery of the wheel 30, the number and disposition thereon of said points being adapted to notify the central station of the duration of the movement of the wheel 30, thus indicating thenature of the alarm, whether said alarm" is a false alarm, as above descrlbed, or a permanent break in the circuit.

their respective coacting lever or switch.

The arm 32, carried by the wheel 30, is also adapted to open the switch 52, which opens the bell-circuit and stops the bell from ringing, as will be hereinafter described.

The particular method of controlling'the circuits at contact-points 26 and 27 is-not es- Any suitable means controlled by the wheel 30 for opening and closing said cir' sential.

.cuits may be adaptedin lieu of that above described.

The operation of my invention is as follows:- Should the main protective circuit (represented by conductors 1 and 2) be broken, as

by the opening of avault-door or the accumulation'of'dirt or othernon-conducting material-between the plate 16 and the spring 15, as shown in Fig. 3, the relay 5 would be denergized and its armature 7 7 would be brought into contact by means of the spring 53 with the contact-point 54,-completing a circuit through the bell 55, which may be traced from the armature 7 through the conductor 56, relay 19, switch 52, battery 57, through the bell 55 to the-armature 7; At the same time the relay 6 would release its armature, and the lug 36 upon the arm 35 would be carried out of engagement with the strip-37, permitting the movement to run, the wheel 30 moving from left to right. ,The relay.19 would attract its armature 20, the extended portion 23 being held in firm en: gagement with plates 24 and, 25, by the lever 28,.as shown by dotted lines. A circuit would thusbe closed from the contact-point 27,. through the conductor 58, conductor 2, battery 3, relays 5' and 4, conductors 1 and 59 to the contact-point 27.' It will be seenthat should the break in the main circuit 1 and 2 be of a temporary character, as. by dirt or dust becoming lodged between the" contacts, and" should such break in the main circuit correct itself at once the circuit just described would again energize the relay 5 and withdraw the armature 7 from the contact-point 54, placing the apparatus in conditiontoreceive another alarm; The bell 55, however,

would continue to sound until the armature 20v was released by the-lever 28 and the arm' 31 upon the wheel 30,- the bell-circuitafter the armature 20 is attracted being in shunt about therelay 19 and being traced fromthe contact-point 26 through conductor 60, bell 55, conductor 56, battery 57, switch 52, and

conductor 61 to contact-point 26. Assuming thefalse alarm or temporary interruption in I the main circuit above described to'ha've corrected itself at once, it will be seen that the hell would continue to sound until the arm 31 upon the wheel 30, coacting with the lever 28, released the armature-20, which would be 'withdrawn by the spring 21, thus opening movement controller 37, thus locking the wheel 30 against further rotation. It will be seen that. the device would then be in condition to receive another alarm. Any number of such false alarms may be provided for, depending upon the number of arms 31 and 39 upon the wheel 30, and the wheel 30 may be geared to allow any desired time interval during which the bell will sound before the device is automatically reset, as above described; The contact-points 43'upon the wheel may bearranged thereon to indicate the character of the break or interruption in the protective circuit at the central station or any suitable method ofnotifying the central station'of the rotation of the wheel 30 may beadapted in lieu of the points 43 and contact-breaker 44. Should the break in the conductor 1 be of a permanent'character, as the breaking of the glass 62in the sash 12, the wheel 30 would 'revolve as before, the arms 31 and 39 successively restoring the apparatus to its normal condition and the permanent-break in the circuit, resounding the alarm as thearms 31 and 39 .pass the points ofcontact with their re-v spective levers 28 and 40. This would-con: tinue until the arm 32, carried by thewheel 30, came in contact with and closed the switch 33;, thusv completing a secondary protective. circuit consisting of the switch. 33, conductor 63', relays 4'and 5, battery 3, conductor 2, relay 6, and conductors 1 and 59,-to contact-,

point 34. :Itwill be seen that this secondary protective circuit again energizes the'relays 4, 5, and 6, stops the bell from sounding, and

resets the device to receive another alarm, notwhere saidconductor crosses a window-pane,

as shown in Fig. 3.- Let the sash 12 of another window located at the point 14 in said I circuit be raised. The plate 16 would be ca'r described, are not essential.

ried out of engagement with the spring 15, which would form electrical connection with the detent or hook 17, thus short-circuiting the relay 6 by means of a circuit consisting of the battery 3, relays 5 and 4, conductor 63, switch 38, conductors 59 and 1, spring 15, hook 17, and conductor 2 to battery 3. The relay 6 being thus short-circuited, the relay 4: would attract its armature, completing a circuit through the bell from contact-point 64 through conductors 65 and 56, relay l9, switch 52, battery 57, and conductor 56 to the contact-point 64.

Should the short-circuiting of the relay 6 occur at the point 67 in the main protective conductors, the circuit would be from battery 3 through relays 5'and 4E, conductor 1, spring 15, contact-plate 17, conductor 2 to battery 3. In such case the same bell-circuit above described would'be closed by the point 64 and armature 9 of the relay 4. It will be understood that after a permanent break in the main protective conductor 1 protection is afforded upon either side of said break by reason of the circuits above described and that an alarm will be sounded when the conductors 1 and 2 are short-circuited or crossed, as above described, notwithstanding the break in the conductor 1. The precise location of the break in the conductor 1 and the relative locations of the crossing of conductors 1 and 2, as above The break in conductor 1 may occur at any point and the crossing of conductors 1 and 2 to produce the secondary protective circuits, as above described, may occur approximately near or at a distance from the break in the conductor 1.

If the short circuits above described as occurring at the points 14 and 67 were of a per manent character, the alarm would sound for a predetermined time or until the movement 30, which would be set in motion when the relay 6 was short circuited, as above described, carried the arm 32 upon the wheel 30 into engagement with the switch 52, said switch opening the bell-circuit and stopping the sounding of the alarm.

It will be noted that I have shown and described a normally-closed circuit, which I have referred to as the primary circuit, and a normally open circuit system which I have designated as the secondary circuit. It will be understood that while I have shown and described a normally closed circuit as the primary circuit and a normally open circuit as the secondary circuit that this arrangement is not essential and that any other arrangement of circuits whereby a primary circuit is provided and afterward the system is automatically changed and a secondary circuit is brought into use may be adapted in lieu of the particular circuit arrangement herein described.

By internal abnormal conditions of the protective circuits I wish to be understood as meaning the false alarms referred to above, and by externally-caused abnormal conditions I wish to be understood as meaning abnormal conditions caused by the dangers said circuits are designed to protect against.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respond to abnormal conditions of said circuit, a secondary protective circuit, and means for antomatically substituting said secondary protective circuit for said primary circuit.

2. In an electric burglary-alarm system, the combination with a primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respond to abnormal conditions of said circuit, a secondary protective circuit, and means for antomatically substituting said secondary protective circuit for said primary circuit, said alarm-sounder being adapted to respond to abnormal conditions of said secondary protective circuit.

3. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a normally closed primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respondto abnormal conditions of said circuit, a secondary protective circuit, and means for automatically substituting said secondary protective circuit for said primary circuit, when said primary circuit has been permanently broken.

1. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respond to abnormal conditions of said circuit, means for automatically stopping the sounding of said alarm-sounder, a secondary protective circuit, and means for automatically substituting said secondary protective circuit for said primary circuit.

5. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respond to successive temporary abnormal conditions of said circuit, means associated with said circuit for automatically stopping the sounding of said alarm-sounder after each of said successive temporary abnormal conditions, a secondary protective circuit, and means for automatically substituting said secondary protective circuit for said primary circuit.

6. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a normally closed primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respond to successive temporary abnormal conditions of said circuit, means associated with said circuit for automatically stopping the sounding of said alarm-soumler after each of said successive temporary abnormal conditions, a secondary protective circuit, and means for automatically substituting said secondary protective circuit for said primary circuit, when a permanent abnormal condition occurs therein.

-7. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a normally closed primary protective-circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapt-.

ed to respond to successive temporary abnormal conditions of sald circuit, means associated w1th sald c1r cu1t for automatically stopping the sounding of said alarm-sounder after each of said successive temporary abnormal conditions, a secondary protective circuit, and means for automat1cally substituting said secondary protective circuit for mary circuit when a permanent abnormal condition occurs therein, said. alarm-sounder being adapted to respond to-abnormal conditions in said secondary protective circuit, and means for automatically stopping'the sounding of said alarm-sounder after a predetermined time.

9. In an electric burglar-alarm system, the combination with a primary protective circuit, of an alarm-sounder adapted to respond to abnormal conditions of said circuit, a secondary protective circuit, means for automatically substituting said secondary protective'circuit for said primary circuit, said alarm sounder being adapted to respond to abnormal conditions in said secondary protective circuit, -a suitable central-station apparatus, and means adapted to transmit to said central-station apparatus the condition of said primaryand said secondary protective circuits.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name inthe presence of two Witnesses.

J. EDWARD LIESS.

Witnesses:

DAVID B. LYMAN, J r., L. W. MAY.

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