Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating and Registering the Operations of Watchmen and others.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1899-Accepted, 15th July, 1899
Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating and Registering the
Operations of Watchmen and others.
I, PAUL VIRGILE VAUDREY, of 212, Rue Lafayette, Paris, in the Republic of
France, 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:-
-
The object of my invention is, by the installation of a series of apparatus
intended to act in combination, to indicate at determined intervals the movements
and operations of watchmen on their rounds, or other persons, so as to immediately
control their service and register the same in a permanent manner.
This invention is applicable for the purpose of assuring the regular stoking
of the furnaces in factories, keeping boilers under constant pressure, and generally
in all establishments where rounds must be made to avoid the risk of fire, fraud
or malevolence.
The installation firstly automatically warns the workman by an electric alarm
when the hour of his service has struck, secondly immediately warns by another
alarm mechanism the overseer or manager when the watchman is absent or
sleeping or does not do his work, thirdly leaves an evident and permanent trace
showing the overseer the neglect of the watchman, fourthly prints or otherwise
indicates on a sheet arranged at the office of the director or owner of the establish-
ment, the execution or neglect and the time thereof of the services entrusted to
the watchman and the overseer. This installation is. chiefly composed of (1) an
automatic distributor which establishes an electric current at determined intervals
of time in the circuits of the installation, an alarm mechanism and a station
provided with a disconnecting contact to be operated by the watchman; these
three apparatus being arranged near the station occupied by the watchman.
(2) a controlling clockwork mechanism arranged near the overseer, charged with
the immediate control, (3) a registering apparatus arranged near the director or
owner of the establishment allowing him to assure himself at any moment that
the service is being satisfactorily performed.
The annexed drawing represents this installation as a whole and in its essential
details.
Fig. 1 is a diagramatic view of the whole of the installation.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the automatic distributor.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the station, the cover of the box being removed.
Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the centre of the station.
Fig. 5 is a front view of the alarm mechanism.
Fig. 6 is a transverse section of Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is a partial view of the ground plan of the registering mechanism.
The automatic distributor I Fig. 2 consists essentially of a clock work
mechanism H which gives the hour, the axle of the main wheel carries a disk a
having one or more notches a¹. On a side plate 6 of the mechanism H are
pivoted two arms c and d the extremities of which are drawn by the springs c¹ di
Price 8d.]

page_text: against the periphery of the disc a. Adjacent to these arms are fixed the
contacts electrically insulated from the clock work H which is connected
with the positive pole of the battery 2 Fig. 1. The apparatus has moreover a
switch and nine contact binding screws 1 to 9.
Fig. 1 indicates clearly the connections between these screws and other parts
of the installation.
The alarm A Fig. I has a switch allowing the function of the apparatus to
be stopped during the periods when it is to be out of use.
The station P (Figs. 3 and 4) is composed of an electro-magnet e whose oscillat-
ing armature f allows the gripping of a movable switch g which tends to rock
under the action of its weight and to fall upon a press button h arranged in the
outside wall of the box containing the apparatus. The button h pushed outward
by a spring h¹ can be pressed in by hand so as to relift and again put the
switch into gear when it has been released by the keeper f. This button h
carries a contact & which extends horizontally with regard to a spring m fastened
on to the frame of the apparatus intended to close the circuit from the battery
to the registering apparatus when button is pressed by hand. This apparatus
is completed by switch n and four contact binding screws 10, 11 12, and 13
for effecting the connections indicated in Fig. 1.
The alarm mechanism C (Figs. 5 and 6) consists of an electric bell combined
with a current connecting and disconnecting arrangement. This latter consists
of a switch movable round a horizontal shaft p₁ arranged upon the front
surface of the casing, an oscillating keeper q, which allows the switch to be
thrown into gear in its lifted position, is arranged opposite one of the arms of
the electro magnet r, so that by the passage of the current in the electro magnet,
the keeper oscillates and lets the switch p drop and at the same time rings the
bell. The switch can be lifted by hand and be again thrown into gear from
the moment the current is interrupted. A switch can be arranged in the circuit
of the mechanism C to allow of its interruption as desired.
The register E Fig. 7 consists essentially of an electro magnets whose arma-
ture has a point u arranged to perforate a sheet of paper each time the
armature is attracted under influence of the current.
A clock work mechanism turns the frame carrying the sheet of paper v
giving to it a rotation of one turn in twentyfour hours. The divisions traced
on the sheet of paper allow of recognising with which moments of the day the
perforations correspond.
Between the apparatus described hereinbefore exists a certain number of con-
nections established in the following manner (see Fig. 1). From the positive
pole of the battery p the current goes to the binding screw 1 of the automatic
distributor 1), through the switch when the latter is closed then into the body
of the clock work H; from there the current passes to one of the two contacts
or d according to the position of the cross rods or arms e and d.
The contact is joined by the binding screws 7 and 12 to the electro magnet
of the post or station P'; then through the switches 7 and and the binding
screw 11 of post or station P and the binding screws 95 and 2 of the dis-
tributor 1, the current comes to the negative pole of the battery.
Between the contact C² and the binding screw 5 of the preceeding circuit
is a shunt circuit to the alarm mechanism A.
The second contact is joined by the binding screws 4 and 16 with the
mechanism C whose other binding screws 17 is connected by the binding screws 3,
8 and 10 with the contact of post P', when the switch g is in contact with
contact the circuit of the mechanism C is closed by means of the interrupter n
and the binding screw 11 of the post P and further by the binding screws 95
and 2 of the distributor.
When the contact is put into contact with the spring m the circuit of the
register is closed; the contact k is in fact joined with the pole of the battery by
means of the switch g switch and the binding screws 11, 9, 5, and 2, on the other

page_text: hand the spring m communicates by the binding screws 13 and 19 with the
electro magnet of the register which is put in circuit with the positive pole of the
battery by means of the binding screws 18, 1.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
The disk a rotates constantly and presents at determined intervals each of its
notches a first under the arm then under the arm d. When the first arm c
sinks by its end falling into a notch a¹ it comes against the contact c² and
establishes the communication of the latter with the body of the clock work
joined with the positive pole of the battery. The circuit of the alarm A is thus
closed through the electro magnet of the post or station P; this latter drawing
the atttention of the watchman on duty by its noise. At the same time in the
station the switch g thrown out of gear by the keeper f falls on to the contact k.
When the audible signal stops, the watchman must show his presence by pressing
the press button h so that it lifts the switch g and throws it out of gear and
it holds it so by the keeper f which has returned into its resting position under
the effect of its spring. In so pushing the button h the watchman produces at
the same time the contact of the contact k upon the spring m and closes con-
sequently the circuit of the register E, this latter thus comes into operation and
produces a perforation on the sheet of paper so that a visible and permanent
trace of the presence of the watchman on duty is put under the eyes of the chief
of the establishment. At the same that the switch g has been lifted the circuit
of the controlling mechanism C has been interrupted at this point so that at
the moment the second cross bar d falls into the notch a this mechanism C does
not operate.
When on the contrary the watchman is absent from his duty and has not
pressed the press button, the contact remains established between the switch I
and the contact k and when the cross bar d comes onto the contact d², the circuit
of the mechanism C is closed. The overseer near whom this mechanism is
placed is then notified by the sound of the bell and the fall of the switch p.
This latter signal which remains apparent after the operation of the mechanism C
allows the overseer to take notice how the service is done when he has been
away.
On the other hand when the press button has not been pressed either by the
watchman or by the overseer, the circuit of the register is not closed and the
neglect in the service is shown by the absence of a perforation on the sheet of
paper .
The apparatus of which this invention consists can receive certain modifications
without altering the principle of my invention. For instance instead of using
in combination with the arms c and d a disk with notches a¹ there can be
employed in certain cases a ratchet provided with teeth or any projections. The
interval between the notches or teeth can vary; also their number and form
according to the individual duration of the notifications, the time-intervals between
the two vigilant notifications and the intervals between one vigilant and one
controlling notification. When several notifications are to be given during an
hour's time, the ratchet a fixed on the shaft of the large wheel of the clock-
work is provided with so many notches or teeth equally distanced. When on
the contrary the intervals are more than an hour, the ratchet a is operated by
gearing to turn slowly, for instance one turn in 12 or 24 hours. In order to
regulate easily the interval which must exist between the operation of the
notifying mechanism and that of the controlling mechanism, one of the arms can
be provided, as Fig. 2 indicates, with a sliding face or made in two parts connected
by bolt and slot which allows of modifying its length, so that the distance between
the noses of the two arms and corresponds exactly with the desired time
interval.
In certain cases the automatic distributor can be combined with the register
and the disk which carries the sheet of paper and the ratchet a be driven by

page_text: the same clock work, the apparatus operating exactly in the same manner as
herein before explained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. An alarm or detector and controlling apparatus making immediate register
of the operations of watchmen and others comprising essentially the combination
of an automatic distributor of an electric current passed at time intervals as
determined in the circuits of the installation, an alarm electric mechanism, a
post or station provided with a press button with movable contact opposite a
disengaging switch and a spring m, a controlling mechanism with disengaging
disk and a registering device working by points when the contact is brought
into contact with the spring m, the three first mentioned parts being arranged
near the post or station occupied by the watchman, the fourth near the chief or
overseer and the last by the owner or manager of the establishment all sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
2. In an installation as in Claim 1 an automatic distributor comprising essen-
tially two arms c and d maintained pressed against a ratchet actuated by a clock
movement, and two contacts arranged opposite these arms so that the working
of the first cross bar e closes the circuit of the alarm or detector mechanism
whilst the action of the second cross bar d closes the circuit going through
the post or station and the controlling mechanism substantially as described and
illustrated.
3. In an apparatus as in Claim 1 a post or station comprising essentially an
oscillating switch g, an oscillating keeper arranged to throw the said switch into
gear, an electro magnet influencing the said keeper for disengaging the switch,
a contact arranged opposite the switch and allowing the latter to be placed in
its engaging position by means of an outer press button, when the switch is
disengaged in consequence of the current established by the first arm c of an
automatic distributor as in Claim 2, and closing the circuit for the passage in
a controlling mechanism of the current established by the second arm d of the
said automatic distributor; the post or station comprising further in combination
with the contact k a contact spring m allowing the circuit of a registering
apparatus to be closed when the press button is actuated the whole operating
substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated this 2nd day of February 1899
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant, 18; Buckingham Street, Strand, London.