A NEW OR IMPROVED SELF-ADJUSTING ELECTRIC BELL INDICATOR
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Allen Morton, of the Borough and County
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Electric Bell Hanger, for the Invention
of A New Ann Quen
B... T- "
Scaled the 23rd December 1875, and dated the 2nd October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Allen Morton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd October 1875.
I, JOHN ALLEN MORTON, of the Borough and County of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, Electric Bell Hanger, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED SELF-ADJUSTING ELECTRIC BELL
INDICATOR," to be as follows :—
This Invention has for its object the saving of time and inconvenience
necessary for the re-adjustment of electric bell indicators as now used.
Hitherto the means employed to indicate the origin of the ring or
summons has necessitated the re-adjustment of the indicator by the
domestic or attendant before a second call from the same source could
be made manifest.

page_text: My improved self-adjusting indicator (in its most simple form)
consists of an ordinary electro-magnet having a pendulum, so formed
and hung in such a manner as to be influenced by the same circuit of
electricity that rings the bell, consequently when the circuit is com-
pleted and the electric bell rung, the pendulum is attracted out of the i
perpendicular by the aforesaid electro-magnet and made to oscillate to
and fro, thus indicating to the attendant the source of the disturbance
by means of the name or figure painted thereon.
To that portion of the pendulum which is acted upon by the electric
current I fasten a strip of paper intervening between it and the magnet;
this prevents the pendulum if it ever becomes magnetised being held to
the magnet aftor the current is broken.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
.
filed by the said John Allen Morton in the Great Seal Patent
⚫ Office on the 1st April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ALLEN MORTON, of the Borough and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Electric Bell Hanger, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Allen Morton, Her
.special licence, that I, the said John Allen Morton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Allen
Morton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "A NEW OR IMPROVED SELF-ADJUSTING ELECTRIC BELL INDICATOR,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Allen
Morton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly

page_text: in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Allen Morton, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawing (that is
to say) :-
My Invention relates to electric bell indicators, and has for its object
the saving of time and inconvenience necessary for the re-adjustment of
the same as now used.
Hitherto the means employed to indicate to the observer the origin of
the ring or summons has required the re-adjustment of the indicator by
the attendant or domestic before a second call from the same source
could be made manifest.
My improvements remove this difficulty by rendering the indicator
self-adjusting, and consist of a pendulum hanging in front of an electro-
magnet by which it is influenced when a current of electricity is made
to pass over the said magnet. The pendulum is then attracted from the
vertical line to the magnet, in which position it remains so long as the
circuit is completed and the bell continues ringing. The pendulum
being now out of perpendicular indicates from the name or number
painted on the disc the origin of the disturbance. But should the
servant be absent and not return before the bell has ceased ringing, the
source of the alarm is still made apparent by the oscillation of the said
pendulum, which immediately the current is broken falls from the
magnet and swings to and fro. In the course of a minute the aforesaid
pendulum ceases vibrating, and thus becomes re-adjusted for the next
summons.
Till AW NA
11
A

page_text: 1 and 4 are swinging to and fro, showing that the occupants of rooms
numbered I., IV., have summoned the attendant. Pendulum 2
indicates that the bell is now ringing from room II., where the call
button is pressed down by the occupant thereof, as at A. Pendulums 3
and 5 have re-adjusted themselves ready to indicate when the occupants 6
of their respective rooms require the attention of the domestic.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same; and Figure 3, an end view, showing
the construction of the pendulum.
In all these Figures a', a", a", a", and a", are the indicators for the
rooms supposed to be numbered 1., II., III., IV., and V., and are made 1
as shown in Figure 3 in three different sections or divisions, b, c, d. The
first portion 6 is simply an ordinary wire with a disc fastened to the end,
and having the name or number of the room painted thereon. The
central portion c is a piece of soft iron, which when the call button is
pressed, as at A, Figure 1, and the circuit completed, is attracted to and 1
forms the armature of the electro-magnet M².
To prevent the soft iron becoming magnetised and clinging to the
electro-magnet after the current is broken, I fasten a piece of paper or
other non-conducting substance on that face which is drawn against tho
magnet, consequently when the pressure on the call button is removed 2
and the electric current thereby broken, the pendulum being no longer
supported out of the perpendicular falls and oscillates until it comes to
rest, in which state it will remain so long as the current of electricity
from the same quarter is not made to act upon it. The upper part d of
the same pendulum is formed of a flat thin piece of steel fastened by a ɛ
pin to the projecting pieco E, see Figure 3, from which the pendulum is
suspended. This piece of thin steel gives elasticity to the pendulum,
and offers but slight resistance to the attractive power of the electro-
magnet.
The mode of operation is similar to ordinary electric bells, thus:—On
pressing, say, the call button B, the positive and negative wires p, n,
(see Figure 1), to and from the battery (which is not shown in the
Drawing) are connected, and a current of electricity passes over the
horse-shoe M, rendering the same magnetic, and instantly attracting to
it the soft iron portion of the pendulum 5, causing the indicator to
assume the position shown by the pendulum 2, where the call button A
is supposed to be already pressed down. This position of the indicator

page_text: (also not shown in the Drawing), which causing a current to pass
through that portion of the apparatus that rings the bell sets the same
in action. The point of contact for this second circuit is F, and the
electric current passing from the wire p' ascends the pendulum to the
wire n' with which it is in communication, and from thence to the bell
which is rung in the usual way of electric bells. The pressure on the
button being removed the indicator or pendulum falls and oscillates as
before mentioned, and as shown in Figure 1, at 1 and 4.
Each indicator is actuated by an electro-magnet, as shewn in Figure 1,
M', M", M", M", and M", which are connected in the usual way to their
respective call buttons.
In some instances one battery only is used; in that case the wires
p and n', with their appendages, are dispensed with, and the wire
n before leaving the apparatus is connected to the bell in the ordinary
way.
Having described the nature and object of my said Invention and in
what manner the same may be carried into effect, I claim the arrange-
ment and application of pendulums in the manner and for the purpose
herein set forth and illustrated by the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Allen Morton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.