USRE8267E - Improvement in fire-alarm signal-boxes - Google Patents

Description

R N TOOKER zsneets sheet 1. Fire-Alarm Signal-Boxes. 7

No. 8,267. Reissued May 28,1878.

Witnesses- Ill/Baton 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. N. TOOKER. Fire-Alarm Signal-Boxes.

No. 8,267. Reissued May 28,1878.

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UNITED. STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT TGOKER, on omo eQiLLmoIs. I

1M P'RQVEM ENT IN Fl RE-A'LARM" SIGNAL-BOXES.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent K0 165 406, dated June-l5, 1875; lteissneNo. 8,267, dated May 28, 1878; application filed lip-1120,1878.

To all whom it may concern: i Be itknown that I, ROBERT N. TOOKER, of Chicago,- in the county of Cook and-State of Illinois, haveinvented certain Improvements in Fire-Alarm SignaleBoxes, of which the following is a specification: Fire-alarm signal-boxes,as now usually constructed, can only be opened by appropriate keys, which are carried bypatrolling policemen, or deposited insomebuildi-ng .near by, the building, in the latter case, being designated, by a sign placed upon or adjacent to the box. Hence, any one, other than a'custodian of a key must,' before he can give an'alarm, look up on'eof those instruments. Muchtime is'apt to be lost'in this search by such contingencies as the absence of the inmates vof the building where the key. is kept, or the '-'loss or misplacing of the key, and from other causesinot nee-- essary to be enumerated here. I

upon the average at least five minutes are lost between the breaking out of a fire and the giving of the alarm, and that much of this lost time maybe charged to the causes mentioned. What is done'during these five minutes in bringing the fireextinguishing apparatus into play is, of course, of the utmost'consequence v in determining the extent and duration of the fire, .a nd hence it becomes very'desirable to obtain'some form of alarm-box-whi'ch :may be opened without a key by any one desiring to give an alarm, but which shall atthe same time-afford such means for the idetectionj'of trifling and malicious persons thati'theyjwill be deterred from meddling with the same, and so prevent,- in a'measure, false" 'a-laims.

'-My invention has for its main object the pro= I viding of a box which shall possess the qualities just mentioned, and I accomplish it, by attaching a gong or hell, which iis sounded by mechanism-set inmotion by turning-the handle to nnlatchthe door, thebell thus acting as alocalalarm.

I am aware that a fire-alarm in a locked box has heretofore been'providedwith a sounding apparatuawhereby the signal sent was made audible'to the ear of the sender; butsuch apparatus did not'accomplish the purpose of the. invention herein described, because, first,'it1 was in a box locked againstfall except the may be mentioned the providing of mechanism whereby, in theturnin'g of the handle in opening the door, power'is stored up which-is expended in sounding the bell; also, in pro- 'vidin g the box with devices by. which-the soundin g mechanism shall be automatically set ready for the next alarm by simply closingthe door, and also by which the door shall-be automatically latched in the same operation. This will more fully appear from thesubj'oined descrip-'. tion and the accompanying drawings, whichare made a part hereof, and in which- Figure 1 is. a front View of the inside of the door of a box to which my improvement is atv tached. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same, It is estimated by experienced firemen that with the upper part cut away to show a vertical central sectionof thebell and the'devices by which'it is held. Fig. 3 is afront view of the boxwith the door closed, and Fig. 4 is a front view of the same with the door removed,"

- Like letters of reference made use of indicatellike parts in allthe figures.-

In saiddrawin gs, A represents the door of an alarm -box, andB the handlebyjwhi'ch'it is opened. This handle is attached toone end of and turn's'a shaft, S; At the, other end of the shaft, and sliding up and :--turned'by it,- is

a drum l), one side of which is cntto clutch with thebarr'el-or sleeve 0, revolving upon saidshaft-and carrying the wheel 'E. A spring, F, is made to encircle theshaft and press, the drum against the barrelj so that when moved in one direction. it will not fail to engage and 'c'ar'rythe latter-with it. The wheel E meshes into the pinion G, vwhich imparts its motion so received to ,the escapementwheel and palletH and H and thereby act uates the hammer I- to sound thebell K. The

partsdescribed .npto this point are set in motion by the-turning of the handle, The

position of'the pinion'G is shown by dotted lines in Fig.1, Upon the other side ofthe wheel E,jand'me'shin'g into it, is another pin ion, (not shown in the. drawingglocated upon the shaft S, to which it imparts motion. IIov cated upon-the farther end-of this shaft, and

fastened thereto in such manner that when .ing the hammer I to strike the hell. [0 is a chainfastened to the drum D, and upholding.

va spiral spring, I, the latter being held. at its lower end by the projecting rod R. In the operationof opening the door this chain is wound upon the drum and the spring dis tended.

' Pivoted upon the shaft S, and carried thereby, is an arm, U. When the shaft is turned a half-revolution, as it must be to open the door, this armassumes the reverse of the position shown in Fig. 1, striking in its passage the guide W, and lodging under the shoulder b of the upright spring P, (the two latter .bein g shown in Fig. -1 by-dotted lines,) where it is held until released,'as hereinafter described. When this happens it is forced back to its first position by the tension of the spring I, as are also the. shaft and all the parts carried by it. sis a stop, whereon the arm rests when in the position shown by the drawing.

In Fig. 3, the apertures n in the door are for I the purpose of permitting the escape of the sound from-the box. The central aperture n" is a key-hole, which can be vused in setting the bell into or putting it'out of position. This bell, it will be noticed by Fig. 2, is heldupon a screw, f, working in a threaded sleeve, 3'. The outer end off is slotted or recessed to re;--

' ceive a key from the outside, by which It-may be turned, and'so forced in or out, as desired, for the purpose of bringing the bell within or placing it beyond the reach of the hammers.

.In Fig.4 the curved projection m upon the inside of the box is placed in such position. that the arm U will, when the door is closed, be just within its inner line, and so that-when. the arm is in the position represented by Fig. 1, or in any position between that and its reverse, the projection will serve as a catch, but when its position is completely reversed it willjust escapen'nder the point of the projection.

The small lug g upon the bottom of the box shown in the same Fig. 4 is so placed that in closing the door-the'foot of the upright spring P will strike against it, and thereby cause the release of the arm, which then returns to its first position, as before mentioned.

. The operation of my invention is as follows: lhe door being closed, a half -revolution to the right is given to the handle, and thereby to the shaft, drum, and arm also, the latter being held by the shoulder upon the spring P, as before stated. The moment the drum begins to move it clutches with the sleeve 0.. and forces it and the wheel E in the same dimotion The wheel E Q llpunicates thi'sjii tion, by means of the. pinibn G parts,

which actuate the hammer I; and hence this hammer begins striking as soon as the handle commences-its half-revolution, and continues so doingu'ntil the completion of that move- .ment. The wheel E-also' communicates niotion, by means of the pinion upon the shaft 8, to that shaft insuch direction that the latter, by its revolutions, winds up the spiral spring L. As soon as the half revolution of the handle is completed thedoor is ready toopen.

The gong, however, will be sounded for some time after by both hammers, which will receive'motive power, through the mechanism shown, from said spring L, the'recoilofwhich sets its own shaft in motion -in.a directionopposite to that received fromthe turning of the handle, This reverse motion actuates the clickand ratchet, by which the wheel M ismade to revolve and to carry the parts'whichl'givemotion to the hammer I'.' 4 It also, by meanfs' of the wheel E, sets. in operation the m'echam ism by which the other hammer is moved. The length of time during which the hammers will continue striking dep'ends'upon the m.

ture and strength of the springrL, and in no wise is influenced by the closing of the door;

The operation 'IWhich takes place nponthe' clo'sing ofthe door is fully apparent from what-- has already been written..

-While I have shown the gong as inside the box,"I. do not limit myself to that precise construction, as, the gong may be placed in any ;othe'r-'part, or even-upon the outside, without changing in any degree the'principle of my inventiom It: will be noticed that the projection m is,so

madeaszto necessitate the lialtrevolutionof' Of.1.thiS is to prolong the operation of opening the bo'xf sutficiently to permit the sounding of an alarmjbefor'e that operation is' completed; and it might be, further. prolonged without changing the nature of this part of my invention.- I

. Having thus fully described my invention,

Letters Patent, is-- 1 1-, The combination, with a fire-alarm signalbox, of an" alarm-bell or 'its'equivalent, located at the box and sounded by mechanism which is set in motion by the operation of the device which allows the box to be opened, substantially as specified. v

2; The combination, with'the hell or gong, of the handle, the hammer I, and the inter vening mechanism by which the motion of the handle is imparted to. said hammer, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with a fire-alarm box, of the handle, the shaft S, the arm U, and the curved cat-ch m, substantially as specified;

. 4. The combination, with a'fire-alarm box,

.what I claim as ,new,'-anddesire to secn're'by of the arm U, the drum D, both beingcarried by the same shaft, the chain 0, spiral spring P, (which is held at itsunder end,) catch m,

upright spring P, provided with the shoulder b, and the lug g, substantially as specified, whereby the door is automatically latched.

, 5. The combination, with a fire-alarm signal-' box, of the gong K, screw f, sleeve j, and apertnre a, substantially as specified.

'6. The combination, with. a fire-'alarm'signal-box, of a local alarm which is sounded by mechanism receiving motiongfrom a spring wound up by the revolution of the handle in opening the door, substantiallyas set forth.

. 7. The. combination, with a'fire-alarm sig-' nal-box, of a local alarm which is sounded by mechanism receiving motion from a spring wound up by the revolution of the-handle in opening the door, and released as soon as that revolution is completed, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with a fire-alarm signal-box, of a localalann which is sounded by ing apparatus.

2:1 opening of the door, substantially as speci- 9. Incombination with theloeal alarm mechanism, a spring which is wound up by thehandle operated by the person giving the fire-signal, and which expends its power in continu- .in g the alarm after the handle has completed its movement. a 10. The combination, with a fire-alarm signal box, the signal-giving mechanism whereof is accessible to the public, without keys, of a local alarm so attached thereto or connected therewith as to. be necessarily sounded in givingthe fire signal, whereby false alarms are prevented without looking up the signal-giv- ROBT. N. TOOKER. Witnesses:

EDW. S. Evniars, Joan W. MUNDAY.

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