A New or Improved Alarm Clock and Apparatus for Automatically Operating Electric Signals at Definite Hours.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 18th July, 1896
BUTTCATION
A New or Improved Alarm Clock and Apparatus for Automatically
Operating Electric Signals at Definite Hours.
I, LEONHARD MESMER-WEBER, of Bienne, in the Republic of Switzerland,
Hotel-keeper, 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 :-
For many years endeavours have been made to solve the problem of calling the
guests and also the servants of hotels at the desired hour in an automatic manner
without the aid of the door-keeper and without occasioning too much noise, 80
disturbing the persons occupying the adjoining rooms. Up to the present time no
good result has been achieved. The alarm clock hereinafter to be described
combines in itself the advantages which such an apparatus must possess; moreover
it is of simple and solid construction and can be very conveniently used. It consists
of a clock-work operating outside the ordinary minute hand a rotary drum
carrying a certain number of pins, which by reason of the rotation of the drum
will press successively upon a corresponding number of contact springs, connected
electrically to a corresponding number of metallic terminals arranged upon a dial
plate of insulating material, thus establishing successively the electrical connection
between the source of electricity, one of the poles of which is connected to the
said drum, and the said terminals which may be connected to the electric bell
or bells in one or more chambers, the second conductor of the said bells being
connected to the second pole of the source of electricity, so that when the minute
hand of the clock indicates the hour corresponding to the terminal connected
to the bell in the room in which the guest must be called this bell will be set.
in action the contact of the corresponding pin on the drum with its contact
spring.
The pin druin is arranged for enabling it to be displaced in the direction of
its longitudinal axis so that it may be disengaged from the clockwork and thus
permit of its position being made to coincide with that of the minute hands, this
position being adapted to be controlled by the position of a hand fixed on one
of the journals of the drum and displayed upon a small face, graduated for hours,
provided on the hour dial of the clock."
The new alarm clock is moreover combined with a table indicating the number
of each room, the bell of which has been set in operation, this table being also
provided with a device whereby all the bells may be caused to operate at the
same time in case of danger.
The construction and operation of the new alarm clock will be understood from
the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which-
Fig. 1 represents, by way of example, a constructional form of the invention,
this figure showing a front view of the box enclosing the mechanism of the alarm
clock combined with the indicator table, shown partially in section, and the
connection of the terminals of the apparatus with the bells by means of a second
table bearing the various numbers of the rooms.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the box containing the mechanism of the alarm clock, the lid
being supposed to be closed; whilst
Fio 3 is a plan of the box the lid being sunnered to he

page_text: Figs. 4 and 5 show respectively two transverse sections of the box on the
lines U U and V-V of Fig. 2.
In the box B, made of wood or other insulating material, is fixed the metallic
plate A carrying at its front part the clock-work C whose dial D having a
peripheral horal graduation is at the front face of the box B and is covered by a
glass lid d. In supports a, a' fixed to the plate A, the metallic drum E is free to
turn, and is provided at its periphery with forty-eight pins e arranged helically
and corresponding to the forty-eight quarter hours on the hour dial; one of the
journals e of the drum E carries a toothed wheel e gearing into a wheel c of the
clockwork C. The number of teeth of the wheel e is such that the drum E,
participating in the movement of the hour hand of the clock, will make a complete
turn in the direction of the arrow y every twelve hours. The pivot e carries
moreover at its extremity traversing the box B a hand f which during the rotation
of the drum turns upon a small interior horal dial do comprising the saine divisions
as the peripheral horal graduations of D and placed in a recess in the dial plate D.
During the normal movement of the apparatus the hand f must always occupy on
the graduations of do, the same position which the hour hand occupies on the
peripheral graduations of D; but as during the setting of the clock the hands turn
alone without operating the clockwork and as then the position of the drum E
would no longer correspond to that of the hour hand, the drum E must be so made
as to be displaced in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 3), which is obtained by
means of a button or knob e" fixed upon the extremity of the rear journal e¹ of the
drum, and which is accessible through a small door 6 of the box B. In the normal
position of the drum E, that is to say when its wheel gears with the wheel c of
the clockwork, a pawl a pivoted to the support a¹ enters an annular groove in the
journal el and keeps the drum E in this position, whilst by turning the pawl a² so
as to cause it to leave the groove in the journal, the drum can be displaced in the
direction of the arrow z thus disengaging the teeth of the wheel from those of
the wheel c. Below the drum E is arranged upon a transverse piece G made of
insulating material fixed to the plate A, forty-eight contact springs 9, corre-
sponding to the forty-eight pins e on the drum E, and each of the pins e will
come once in contact with the corresponding spring g during a complete turn of
this drum. In each quarter of an hour another pin e will rub against the
corresponding spring; thus when for example the hands of the clock indicate
midnight or noon the first pin et on the drum E comes in contact with the first
spring g, whilst a quarter past twelve at night or at noon the second pin e will
come in contact with the second spring 9 and so on. The transverse piece G may
be displaced more or less relatively to the drum E in order that the time of contact
of the pins et with the springs g may thus be regulated. There is moreover fixed
above each spring g a support g¹ carrying an adjusting screw g² whose point bears
upon the spring, so that by turning this screw in one or the other direction I can
lower more or less the free extremity of the contact spring g and thus regulate the
contact of the latter with the corresponding pin e. Conductors connect the
drum E to one of the poles of a source of electricity H the other pole of which is
connected to the common return conductor of the various electric bells S.
Upon the cover I of the box B is fixed a plate J of insulating material furnished
with a graduation in quarters of an hour and carrying for each quarter of an hour
a terminal K. Each of the terminals K is connected to a spring g by a conductor i
and in the notch or slit k of each terminal K the extremity of one or more
conductors, can be clamped, by means of a ring . The other extremity of each
conductor terminates at a number on the table L bearing the numbers of the
various rooms, and is connected in its turn by a conductor to the electric bell S in
'the corresponding room.
By means of the movable conductors j, I can thus connect the bell of any room,
or of several rooms, with one or other of the terminals K, so that as soon as the
pin e corresponding to the spring g connected to the terminal K comes in contact
with this spring the bell or bells in the before-mentioned chamber or chambers

page_text: will be set in operation and will remain in operation until the said pin has left
its spring. Each bell can be provided with a device (such as for example the
contact breaker ) enabling the person in the room to interrupt its operation.
In the vicinity of the table L is arranged a second table M serving to control
the operation of the apparatus, and in which for this purpose the number of the
chamber whose bell has been set in action appears at the opening m, the number,
of these openings corresponding to that of the chambers. Behind each opening m.
a metallic plate N carrying an electromagnet n is fixed to the back m of the
table M, m being of some insalating material. One extremity a of the winding
of each electromagnet n is connected to a metallic frame o common to all the
electromagnets and itself connected to the return conductor A' of the various bells,
whilst the other extremity n² of the winding of each electromagnet is in electrical
connection with a contact spring a fixed to the hack m' of the table and insulated
from the plate N. The arm p of a bell crank lever P bears against this spring
when the latter, which can turn about a pivot on the plate N, is in its upper
position, in which position the plate 9 bearing the number of a room and fitted
to this lever arm p is not visible at the corresponding opening m.
The bell
crank lever P is retained in this position by a nose r of a lever R adapted to turn
about a pivot r fixed to the plate N and carrying the armature of the electro-
magnet which in this case is separated from the pole or poles of the letter. Each
plate N is electrically connected by a to the conductor leading to the bell in the
corresponding room so that as soon as this bell is set in operation the current
shunted from the conductor / passes through the corresponding plate N, its bell
crank lever P, the contact spring a and the conductor a into the electromagnet a,
and thence through n' and the part o through the return conductor . The
electromagnet then attracts its armature and consequently the nose of the
lever R will relinquish the arm p whilst the bell crank lever P and the plate q
bearing the number will fall under the action of their own weight to their lower
position, in which the number of the plate g appears at the opening m (as in the
case of the first number of the lower row on the table M, Fig. 1). As soon as by
this movement, the lever arm p abandons the spring n³, the current exciting the
electromagnet n is interrupted, and its armature abandons its pole or poles. Below
each row of electromagnets n is arranged a rod t, so arranged as to be moved in the
direction of its axis, these rods being fixed to a common rod T passing out through
a lateral opening in the box and terminating in a button t
Each rod t carries a series of pins which when the rods are displaced in the
direction of the arrow X, Fig. 1., will strike against the second arm p of the bell
crank levers P which are in their lower position and thus bring them to their upper
position, causing their numbered plates to disappear from the openings m, the rodst
being returned to their position represented in Fig. 1 by a spring as soon as the
pressure exerted upon the knob t is discontinued.
In the interior of the table M is arranged a series of contact springs w insulated
from each other and one of which is connected to one of the poles of the source of
electricity H or to one of the poles of an auxiliary source of electricity H', the
other pole of which is then connected directly or indirectly to the return conductor A',
whilst each of the other springs we is connected by a conductor u' to one of the
metallic plates N. Below these springs is arranged a metallic rod W adapted to
move in the direction of its longitudinal axis and whose extremity passing laterally
from the box of the table M is furnished with an operating knob w. The rod W
carries a series of pins w, the number of which corresponds to that of the springs u,
and which are normally held at a certain distance from these springs by a spring w²,
but when a pressure is exerted upon the rod w' in the direction of the arrow a the
rod W will be displaced and the pins w will come in contact with the springs w,
which has the effect of operating all the electric bells connected to the table and
thus enables all the persons who are in the establishment to be simultaneously
called in the case of danger.
A pawl w, which under the action of a spring w, passes into a notch in the

page_text: rod. W, maintains the pins w in contact with the springs u, whilst when by a pull
on the pawl w, the latter are disengaged from the notch w³, the spring w³ moves
the rod W back to its normal position as represented.
If for instance it is wished by means of the described alarm clock, to cause the
bell to operate in room No. 11 at a quarter past four it is only necessary to connect
by means of a conductor j the conductor of the bell in this room, terminating
at No. 11 of the table L, to the terminal K corresponding to the first division on
the right of the number IV on the disc J. As soon as the clock indicates a
quarter past four the corresponding eighteenth pin e on the drum E will come in
contact with the eighteenth spring g, and will thus close the circuit of the bell in
the room No. 11 and cause this bell to ring; at the same time the electromagnet n
corresponding to No. 11 on the table M being supplied with current by.
the corresponding shunt the corresponding numbered plate q will appear at the,
corresponding opening in the table M as hereinbefore set forth.
It is evident that the same alarm clock can operate a greater or smaller number
of bells. In order that the bells shall not make too much noise they can be made
of material which is but little sonorous.
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 new or improved alarm clock and apparatus for automatically operating.
signals at definite hours, substantially as set forth.
2. An alarm clock with an electric device for automatically operating electric
bells at definite hours by the aid of a drum E set in rotation by clockwork and
arranged to be connected to one of the poles of a source of electricity, the said
drum being provided at its periphery, with a helicoidal row of plugs or pins e, and
by means of contact springs g insulated from each other and arranged in a straight
row, and in number equal to that of the plugs or pins e, each of the said contact
springs g being connected to a terminal K of a graduated disc J carrying a
number of insulated terminals equal to that of the plugs or pins e, in combination
with
(a) A device enabling the coincidence of the position of the drum E with that
of the hour-hand of the clock to be controlled and consisting of a handf
fixed upon one of the journals of the drum E and moving during the
rotation of the latter upon an horal dial do arranged in a recess in the
ordinary dial D with a peripheral horal graduation, in principle as
hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing;
(b) A device indicating the number of the room, the bell of which has been set
in operation by the alarm clock, consisting of an indicator table M with as
many openings m as there are chambers, and having in each opening an
electromagnet n supported by an insulated metallic plate N electrically
connected to a shunt of the conductor / leading to the bell in the corresponding
chamber, and attached to which plate are a bell crank lever P and a lever R
the latter of which carries the armature of the electromagnet n and is
furnished with a nose piece r against which the arm p of the lever P' bears
carrying a numbered plate g, when the latter is in its upper position, in which
this arm is in contact with a spring 3 insulated from the plate N and
connected to one of the extremities of the winding of the electromagnet n,
whose other extremity is in connection with the common return conductor of
the bells, so that when the circuit of the corresponding bell is closed the
current also passes through the plate N, lever P and spring into the
electromagnet which is excited and attracts its armature, causing the rocking
moveinent of the lever R whose nose piece then abandous the arm p of the
lever P which consequently falls back to its lower position with its
numbered plate becoming visible at the opening; these levers are adapted

page_text: to be brought back to their original position by rods t furnished with pins t
and actuated from the outside by a rod T, in principle as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
(c) A device enabling all the bells of the installation to be operated at the
same time, this is arranged for in the table M and by a series of contact
springs u insulated from each other, one of which is connected to one of the
poles of the source of electricity serving the bells or of an auxiliary source
of electricity whose other pole is then connected to the common return
conductor of the bells in the rooms, whilst the other springs arc connected
each to a corresponding plate N, these springs being all adapted to be
connected with each other by ineans of a metallic rod W carrying pins w
and capable of being actuated from the outside so as to close the circuit of
all the electric bells, and the rod W being so placed as to be retained in this
position of contact by a pawl w' passing under the action of a spring 10 into
a notch win the rod W, whilst after the disengagement of this pawl, the
rod W is moved back to its normal position by a spring w, in principle as
hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 11th day of April 1896.
J. G. LORRAIN, M.I.E.E, M.I. Mech. E.,
Chartered Patent Agent.