IMPROVEMENTS IN ALARM BELLS, CALL BELLS, AND OTHER BELLS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Pemberton and George Arthur Pem-
berton, both of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brass
Founders, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ALARM BELLS, CALL
BELLS, AND OTHER BELLS."
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 4th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Pemberton and
George Arthur Pemberton at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th May 1868.
We, THOMAS PEMBERTON and GEORGE ARTHUR PEMBERTON, both of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brass Founders, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ALARM
BELLS, CALL BELLS, AND OTHER BELLS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the construction and arrangement herein.
after described of the parts of mechanism for actuating the clappers or

page_text: hammers of alarm bells, call bells, gongs, church bells, and other bells,
and also for restoring the working parts of the bell to their original
position after the bell has been struck or rung. By our improvements
the use of springs is rendered unnecessary.
We will describe our Invention in connection with an alarm bell for
a door. The bell is fixed in a vertical plane on a horizontal rod carried
by a base plate as usual, and on the said base plate a lever is jointed
turning in a vertical plane. To the end of the short arm of the said
lever the wire for working the bell is attached, and on the other and
long arm of the lever a stud or peg is made at right angles to the said
arm. The clapper or hammer of the bell consists of a weighted arm
or lever turning in a vertical plane, the end of the said clapper or
hammer most distant from the lever herein-before described turning on
a centre on the base plate of the bell. The bulb or weighted end of the
clapper or hammer bears against the stud or peg on the long arm of the
lever, and by its weight depresses the said lever when the latter is at
liberty to move. When the wire of the bell is pulled down the short
arm of the lever is depressed and the opposite arm is raised. By the
raising of the long arm of the lever the peg or stud on its end raises
the clapper or hammer, and throwing it forcibly against the bell rings
or sounds the said bell, the said peg or stud as the arm is raised
approaching the centre on which the clapper or hammer turns. On
loosing the wire of the bell the lever and parts connected therewith are
restored to their original position by the descent of the clapper or
hammer, the said clapper bearing upon the peg or stud on the long arm
of the lever.
In applying our Invention to other than alarm bells the parts are
constructed and arranged substantially in the manner already described.
The essence of our Invention consists in actuating the clappers or
hammers of alarm and other bells by means of a lever, and restoring
the said lever and parts connected with it to their original position
by the action of the clapper or hammer, thereby avoiding the use
of springs.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
PEMBERTON and GEORGE ARTHUR PEMBERTON, both of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Brass Founders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Thomas Pemberton and George Arthur
Pemberton, Her special licence that we, the said Thomas Pemberton and
George Arthur Pemberton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Thomas Pemberton and George Arthur
Pemberton, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter 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 Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ALARM BELLS, CALL BELLS, AND OTHER BELLS,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Pemberton and
George Arthur Pemberton, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed 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 George Arthur Pemberton, on
behalf of myself and the said Thomas Pemberton, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:―

page_text: Our Invention consists of the construction and arrangement herein-
after described of the parts of mechanism for actuating the clappers or
hammers of alarm bells, call bells, gongs, church bells, and other bells,
and also for restoring the working parts of the bell to their original
position after the bell has been struck or rung. By our improvements
the use of springs is rendered unnecessary.
We will describe our Invention in connection with an alarm bell for
a door. The bell is fixed in a vertical plane on a horizontal rod carried
by a base plate as usual, and on the said base plate a lever is jointed
turning in a vertical plane. To the end of the short arm of the said
lever the wire for working the bell is attached, and on the other and long
arm of the lever a stud or peg is made at right angles to the said arm.
The clapper or hammer of the bell consists of a weighted arm or lever
turning in a vertical plane, the end of the said clapper or hammer most
distant from the lever herein-before described turning on a centre on
the base plate of the bell. The bulb or weighted end of the clapper or
hammer bears against the stud or peg on the long arm of the lever,
and by its weight depresses the said lever when the latter is at liberty
to move. When the wire of the bell is pulled down the short arm of
the lever is depressed and the opposite arm is raised. By the raising
of the long arm of the lever the peg or stud on its end raises the clapper
or hammer, and throwing it forcibly against the bell rings or sounds
the said bell, the said peg or stud as the arm is raised approaching the
centre on which the clapper or hammer turns. On loosing the wire
of the bell the lever and parts connected therewith are restored to their
original position by the descent of the clapper or hammer, the said
clapper bearing upon the peg or stud on the long arm of the lever.
Having explained the nature of our Invention we will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation, partly in horizontal section, an alarm
bell with a vertical pull constructed according to our Invention; Figure 2
is a side elevation partly in vertical section of the same; Figure 3
represents the same view as Figure 1, but with the parts in the positions
which they respectively occupy when the clapper is about striking the
bell; and Figure 4 represents in section and plan the clapper of the bell

page_text: separately. The same letters of reference are employed to indicate the
same parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
a is the base plate carrying the bell b, the said bell being supported
on the horizontal rod x. On the base plate a is a lever c, c², turning
in a vertical plane on the centre c. To the arm c of the lever the
wire d is attached for working the bell, and on the end of the other
arm of the lever and at right angles to it is a stud or pege; fis the
clapper or hammer of the bell, the hollow end or eye f' of the said
clapper turning in a vertical plane on a pin or centre g carried by the
plate a. The bulb or weighted end of the clapper or hammer 9 when
it is in its normal position, as represented in Figures 1 and 2, bears
against the said stud e, and by its weight depresses the arm c³ of the
said lever.
The action of the bell is as follows:-When the wire d is pulled down
the arm c of the lever is depressed and the other arm c is raised. The
pin or stud e on the said arm is thereby made to press against and raise
the clapper or hammer fand throw it forcibly against the bell 6 and ring
or sound the said bell, the parts occupying the positions represented in
Figure 3, where the clapper is shown in the act of striking the bell.
By an examination of the said Figure 3 it will be seen that as the peg e
of the arm of the lever raises the clapper f, the said peg approaches
the pin or centre g on which the said clapper turns, thereby causing the
clapper to be thrown with great force against the bell. After ringing
the bell and loosing the wire d the clapper f descends by its own weight,
and by pressing on the arm c² of the lever restores the parts to their
normal positions, that is, to the positions represented in Figures 1 and 2.
When the pull of the bell is required to be in a horizontal direction the
lever c, c, is cranked in the manner represented in Figure 5, where
the parts of the bell are marked with the same letters of reference as
corresponding parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3. Instead of transmitting the
motion of the wire d by which the bell is worked to the clapper through
a single lever as in the arrangements last described, a compound lever
may be employed for that purpose, as illustrated in Figure 6 of the
Drawing. In this arrangement h is the lever, to the upper arm of which
the wire d for pulling the bell is attached. On the end of the other arm
of the lever h is a pin or stud i, which stud works in a slot k in a
second lever, the said second lever turning on a centre immediately

page_text: under the centre on which the first lever turns. By pulling down
the lever h by its wire d the short arm is raised, thereby lifting the
lever and causing the latter to raise the clapper m and ring the bell b.
On loosing the wire d the compound lever l, h, is returned to its normal
position by the weight of the clapper m.
Figure 7 represents in side elevation, partly in vertical section, an
alarm bell constructed according to our Invention to be worked or
rung by the opening of the door instead of by hand. In this arrange-
ment we attach the wire d connected with the lever c, c³, of the bell
to an arm n turning on a centre or axis p carried by a prolonged
part a³ of the base plate a of the bell; also turning on the centre or
axis p is a lever q, q³, the short expanded upper. arm q' of which can
be made to press upon and depress the arm n. The lower arm q of
the lover q, q, is situated below the top of the door r, so that on
opening the said door the said lower arm is raised in the manner
indicated in dotted lines. Its upper arm is thereby made to depress
the arm n to which the bell wire is connected, and cause the bell to
be rung. The closing of the door does not affect the bell. The
mechanism of this bell is of the kind herein-before described and
represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
In applying our Invention to other than alarm bells the parts are
constructed and arranged substantially in the manner herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, such changes
only in the details being made as are necessary to fit the said parts
to the kind of bell with which they are to be used.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention the improve-
ments in alarm bells, call bells, and other bells herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, actuating
the clappers or hammers of the said bells by means of a single or
compound lever, and restoring the said lever and parts connected
with it to their original position by the action of the clapper or hammer,
thereby avoiding the use of springs; the said lever and clapper or

page_text: hammer being constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Arthur Pemberton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE ARTHUR PEMBERTON. (L.S.)
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.