IMPROVEMENTS IN ALARUMS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
FOOTE, of Faversham, in the County of Kent, Watch Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twelfth day of May, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard
Foote, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Richard Foote, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Richard Foote, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ALARUMS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that I, the said Richard Foote, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the saine
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Foote, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-

page_text: pended thereto a weight counter-balancing the float e, there being a screw nut
on the small rod, which, coming in contact with the lever i, causes it to descend;
as will be hereafter explained. At the right-hand end of the lever i there is
a projecting stud, which comes under the lever g, and is the means of raising
that lever at the proper time; k is a spring which rests against a stop formed
on the under side of the lever g, as is shewn in Figure 1, the spring being
bent towards the left hand, in order to be placed against that stop; lis.
a wire attached to the spring k, and also to the lever a. It will be evident
that if the lever g be raised, and the spring k thereby let go, the force-
of the spring would draw the lever a into the position shewn by the dotted lines
in Figure 1, and thus let off the alarum. It will be seen that the thermometric
apparatus of the alarum is affixed to a plate m, and the apparatus (except a
portion of the bent tube d) I prefer to be covered with a brass or other plate;.
as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, for the purpose of protecting it.
from dust or injury. The bent tube d is capable of being raised or lowered by
means of the plate n, which has a slit formed through it, through which the
fixing screws o; o, pass, as is clearly shewn in the Drawing; by this means
the mercury in the tube may be regulated so as to let off the alarum according
to the higher or lower degree of the temperature of the atmosphere, for by
covering or raising the bent tube d it is apparent that a greater or less heat
will be required to force the mercury up to the float.
Having thus described the method of applying my new apparatus to
ordinary alarums, I shall now proceed to describe its application to dial,
bracket, and other clocks (for the purpose of enabling them to act also as
alarunis), reference being had to the Figures and Drawings in Sheet II. The
thermometric apparatus will be precisely the same, and applied in a similar
manner to that before described as applicable to ordinary alarums; the mode
of adapting it to clocks is best explained by the following reference to the
Drawing, Sheet II.
Figure 1 represents a section of such parts of an ordinary dial clock (having
no striking parts) as are necessary to be acted upon by my apparatus, with my
additions thereto; Figure II. represents a side view; and Fig. 3, a plan of a
similar clock, with my additions. A, B, E, is a double lever moving laterally
upon an upright pivot attached to the upper pillar of the clock. The upper
link A, B, of this lever, which must be attached to or connected with the
thermometric apparatus by means of a wire in a similar manner to that before
described in reference to an ordinary alarum, being acted upon or pulled by the
thermometric apparatus, and coming in contact with the upper part of the pallets.

page_text: C, C, throws off those palletts from the usual swing wheel D to produce this
result; the verge of the clock in addition to its ordinary movement must also be
allowed to move horizontally from back to front when acted upon by the lever
for the purpose of enabling the pallets to disengage themselves from the swing
wheel. This horizontal movement may be obtained by making the front and
back pivots or points of the verge penetrate further than usual into the pivot
holes, and play freely therein. The lower limb E of the double lever is a
curved arm with a forked end, which clasps the circular plate F fixed upon
the detent F, f, at the same time that the upper arm of the double lever
acts upon the verge, as before described; the lower limb E acts upon the detent
F, f, and forces it a little forward. To this detent is fixed a tail H similar to
the ordinary hammer tail of a clock, except that it should be triangular, or
with a flanged edge, and so placed as not to present a broad or flat surface to
the pins or pegs next mentioned, and so as when the clock is in its ordinary
movement the tail shall be clear of those pins or pegs, but when the detent is
pushed forward, as above described, the tail shall come in contact with them.
To the outer extremity of the detent behind the back plate is fixed a crank at
right angles with the tail before described, and to which crank a wire is attached
to communicate with a bell or other alarum to the back surface of the great
wheel of the clock, and as near to the edge as practicable must be inserted
four or five pins or pegs bevilled off or pointed at the extremity, and of a
suitable length to come in contact with or to act upon the tail when brought
within their reach, as above described. G is a pin or stud fixed in the back
plate in such a position that the tail coming against it will be prevented from
going past the back surface of the great wheel, and so out of reach of the pins
projecting therefrom. The upper arm A, B, of the double lever having pushed
forward the verge, the pallett is disengaged from the swing wheel, and the
lower arm E having pushed forward the detent F, f, and brought the tail H
in contact with the pins or pegs, the swing wheel is set at liberty, and revolving
with great rapidity sets the great wheel in a greatly accelerated motion, and
bringing the pins successively in contact with the tail forces the tail out of
their way, acting in a somewhat like manner to similar pins in the striking
part of a clock, it necessarily follows that the crank is drawn down, and
occasions the ringing of the bell or alarum. This bell or bells may be
placed in any room or rooms of the house at pleasure, and acted on by
means of the ordinary connecting wires and cranks. In order to replace the
works of the clock after the foregoing operations in their usual state, I apply
two springs K, L, which are screwed into the front plate, and which operating

page_text: on the points or pivots of the verge and the detent F, f, force them back into
their proper places, and by resetting the thermometric apparatus, as before
described, the tension on the double lever ceases, and the clock is restored to
its usual working condition.
Having thus described the nature and mode of working the apparatus
constituting an alarum according to my Invention, I would remark that I lay
no claim to any of the parts separately, nor do I confine myself thereto, as the
kind of alarum, whether clock or otherwise, may be varied, and some variations
may be desirable in respect to the thermometric apparatus described, without
departing from my Invention. From the foregoing description it will readily
be seen that the alarum, or that portion of the alarum connected with the
clock, may be in one apartment, and the thermometric apparatus in another,
and the bell or bells in another, at pleasure. There may be many such
apparatuses in different apartments in connection with the same alarum,
whether it be a clock or otherwise; or the thermometric apparatus may be in
connection with more than one alarum, there being suitable wires for connecting
the parts of the alarum, which may be arranged in like manner, to the wires
from one apartment to another, as is well understood by bellhangers; by this
means a fire taking place in any apartment or locality where the thermometric
apparatus is placed, the heat thereby occasioned will expand the air in the
larger leg of the bent tube, and be the means of raising the lever g by means
of the lever i, and thus let go the spring k, and consequently let off the alarum
or alarums with which the spring k is in connection, and thus give an alarm in
one or more places.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim as my
Invention is, the mode of constructing apparatus by so arranging the parts that
the local heat (caused by a fire) may set off an alarum, as herein described.
And, secondly, I claim the means herein described, whereby a clock may be
employed as part of an alarum for ringing bells or letting off other instruments
of alarm when the ordinary working of the clock is interfered with, by a suitable
thermometric apparatus acted on by local heat.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Foote, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and forty.
RICHARD (L.S.) FOOTE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of November, in
the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Richard Foote came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.