Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Operating Electric Lamp Switches.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 21st Feb., 1893-Accepted, 25th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Operating Electric
Lamp Switches.
I, PERCIVAL EVERITT, of 47, Cannon Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for automatically operating electric lamp
switches so that the lamps are automatically lighted and extinguished at predeter-
mined times.
In carrying out my invention I use a clock movement with adjustable cams
operated thereby and adapted to operate a drum or its equivalent forming a switch
provided with insulating pieces on its periphery; contact brushes are provided
connected with the electric leading-in wires so that, as the drum is moved under the
action of the cams to bring the brush against the uninsulated portion of the
periphery, the circuit will be completed and the lamp will be lighted and so remain
until the next movement of the cams partly rotates the drum so as to again bring
the brush against the other insulated part of the drum and so on, the lamp being
alternately lighted and extinguished at the times for which the cams are adjusted.
It will be obvious that any other suitable switch can be employed.
D1 L 014
A _: 1900
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Automatically Operating Electric
Lamp Switches.
I, PERCIVAL EVERITT, of 47, Cannon Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to apparatus for automatically operating electric lamp
switches so that the lamps are automatically lighted and extinguished at predeter-
mined times.
In carrying out my invention I use a clock movement with adjustable cams
operated thereby and adapted to rotate a drum or its equivalent forming a switch;
contact brushes are provided connected with the electric leading-in wires so that as
the drum is moved under the action of the cams to bring the uninsulated portion of
the drum into contact with the brushes the circuit will be completed and the lamp
will be lighted and so remain until the next movement of the cams partly rotates
the drum so as to again bring the insulated part of the drum into contact with the
brushes and so on, the lamp being alternately lighted and extinguished at the times
for which the cams are adjusted.
It will be obvious that any other suitable switch can be employed.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which :-
Figure 1 is a front sectional elevation of my improved mechanism :
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same; and,
Figure 3 is a rear elevation partly in section on the line 3-3, Figure 2:

page_text: a is the electric switch which as shewn is composed of a cylinder or drum of
vulcanite in which is embedded a block b of metal, the said block extending
through the drum from side to side in the manner shewn most clearly in Figure 3
and being of such shape that it occupies only part of the periphery of the said
drum. The drum a is mounted upon a central spindle c carried in brackets d, d
fixed to the insulating base plate e. ff are the contact brushes which are also
secured to the said base plate e and the free ends of which are in contact with the
periphery of the switch a.
g is a clock movement which serves to intermittently rotate the switch a as
hereinafter described, the said clock movement being carried upon the plate h
secured to uprights ', ¹ fixed to the base plate e.
i is a double cam carried upon the hour spindle of the clock mechanism in such
a manner that it rotates once in 24 hours, the said cam having two projecting or
operating portions,, the former of which serves for operating the switch to
complete the electric circuit at the required hour and the latter to again operate
the switch to break the circuit at the required hour. The cam as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 is adapted to operate the switch at 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. respectively.
When, however, it is desirable to light a lamp earlier or later than 6 p.m. and to
extinguish it later or earlier than 6 a.m., I advantageously employ cams of slightly
varying form, for instance the cam shewn in Figure 4 is adapted to operate the
switch to light the lamp at 5.18 p.m. and to again operate the same to extinguish
the lamps at 7.11 a.m. These removable cams are readily slipped onto and removed
from the hour spindle of the clock and are caused to rotate therewith by means of
a spline or feather or by means of a pin connected with the spindle through the
medium of the hour disc and adapted to enter a hole in the cam, a nut being
used to clamp the cums in position. The nut is prevented from slipping off the
spindle by means of a plate connected at one end to the plate h and having
at the other end a notch adapted to pass over the hour spindle, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2.
These
jis the lever against which the cam i operates, the said lever being pivotted at
one end to the plate hat j¹ and acted upon by a spring which serves to hold the
pin upon the lever j in contact with the periphery of the cam. l is a hook or
catch pivotted to the other end of the lever ; and at its free end adapted to engage
with pins m upon a disc m³ secured to the spindle c carrying the switch a.
pins m, m are placed equi-distant apart and the projecting portions i, of the cam i
are of such height that they will depress the lever j to cause the hook / to move
from the position shewn in Figure 1 downwards sufficiently far to engage with the
pin m immediately below it, so that when the cam has moved far enough to release
the said lever the latter moves upwardly under the action of the spring k and
rotates the switch a quarter of a revolution. The lower end of the hook lis
adapted to form a stop against which the next following pin will impinge so that
when the hook has moved the drum the required distance the momentum shall not
carry the said drum still further.
n is a spring which serves to hold the hook in contact with the pins m, and o is
a detent pawl for preventing the disc m from being rotated in the reverse direction
by the pressure of the end of the hook against either of the pins.
It is to be understood that the apparatus herein before described is in practice
enclosed in a suitable outer case of wood or other desirable material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination with an electric switch of means for operating the same at
predetermined times by means of clock mechanism, substantially as, and for the
purposes, described.
2. The combination with an electric switch in the form of a cylinder or drum, of
clock mechanism, a cam or cams rotated by the said mechanism and a lever operated

page_text: by the said cams and serving to move a hook engaging with pins upon a disc secured
to the shaft carrying the said drum or switch in such a manner that the switch will
be moved twice in every 24 hours, once to turn the switch to complete the electric
circuit through the same and once to break the circuit, substantially as
described.
3. The manufacture and use of the improved apparatus for automatically
operating electric lamp switches substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 21st day of February 1893.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.