AN IMPROVED BURGLAR'S DETECTOR
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robinson Scartliff, of Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Mechanic, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
BURGLAR'S DETECTOR."
Sealed the 9th November 1858, and dated the 17th September 1858.
COMPLETE SH
TON fled by the said John IxODInson Sca
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and.
Declaration; on the 17th September 1858, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, JOHN
ROBINSON SCARTLIFF, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Mechanic,
send greeting:
WHEREAS I am.in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED BURGLAR'S
DETECTOR," and have petetioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have
made solemn declaration that I verily believe myself to be the first and true
Inventor thereof, and that the same is not in use by any other person. or
persons, to the best of my knowledge and belief:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Robinson Scartliff; do hereby,
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal
fully describes the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in. which the
same is to be performed, that is to say :-

page_text: It consists of a peculiar arranged apparatus which being placed in any part
of a house, and made to communicate by means of a series of cords or wires
passing from it with other portions of the building, such as doors and windows,
or with particular articles in the house, such as safes, drawers, or boxes, or
such like, will, upon any of these being opened, operated upon, or tampered
with by burglars or others, be thrown into action in such a way as to give an
alarm, and striking a light, when such is necessary, indicate accurately the
portion of the building or article within it so acted upon, and by thus giving
certain warning and information, assist in a great measure to prevent robberies
and midnight burglaries. The apparatus may for convenience in describing
be said to consist of three principal parts from the three particular effects
produced; first, that part by 'the action of which the alarm is given; second,
that part by which the position of the place attacked is indicated; and, third,
the means by which the light is produced, so that the action of the machine in
the second part may be at once observed whenever such action takes place at
night or in the dark. These three effects being produced from one operating
cause, all take place at nearly the same instant of time; nevertheless, any one
of the arrangements for producing the corresponding result may be detached
from the instrument without affecting the other two, that is to say, the instru-
ment may be constructed to give any one or more of these results.
In order more clearly to illustrate the nature of the Invention, and the
form and mode by which the various parts are combined, the accompanying
Drawings are appended, and reference must be made to the various parts
indicated by similar letters in the different Figures when spoken of in the
following Specification and description.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the back part of the instrument, the back itself
being removed in order to shew the internal arrangement; Figure 2 is a
vertical section upon the line A, B, of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an isometric
view of the rotating discs, fully described herein-after; Figure 4 is a plan, and
Figure 5 an elevation, of the match movement for producing the light.
As before mentioned, the various parts in cach Figure are indicated by
similar letters; thus, A, A, is the front face of a case, about three or four inches
wide, within which the various parts are contained; B, B, the back, and C, C,
the sides of the same. Generally, and for the sake of cheapness, I prefer it to
be of cast iron, and as light as possible, the back removable from the other
parts; nevertheless it may be of deal, sheet iron, or tinned plate, or any such
similar material; it may be made plain in form as a square box, or the face
....

page_text: plate may be formed so as to have an ornamental outline and appearance.
Passing through the upper cover of the box at a', a², a³, a', are series of wires
from the extremities of each of which the wires or cords are attached, which pass
from the machine to the various appartments, doors, windows, or articles in the
house; these communicating cords or wires are carried along in the most easy
and suitable way, similar to the mode of conveying wires in bell-hanging. It
will be observed that the wires are in groups (in the Drawing three in each);
b, 62, 63, 6, are corresponding and equal groups of levers.which rotate round
the hinges d', d², d³, d'; each wire in the group a¹ passes into the interior of
the box, and is attached to its corresponding lever in the group b', and similarly
of the other groups of wires and levers. Fixed on the free extremity of each
of the levers, and at right angles to them, is a small stud or pin e; f, f, twọ
upright rods connected by the bridge or cross pieces g, g, placed immediately
above each series of levers; the upper extremities of the rods terminate or
pass on to fixed guides h, h, one of the lower ends is attached to the spiral
spring i, the other by means of a wire is fixed to the trigger K. The front
face A, A, is perforated with a series of holes or appertures, circular in form,
corresponding in number to that of the wires and levers, or rather according
to the number of places communicating with the wires (in the Drawing
twelve). Within each of these appertures is placed what I call the rotating
discs m, m', which are simply two circular pieces, in diameter nearly the same.
as the appertures, joined together, so that their planes are at right angles to
each other, as shewn in Figure 4. By means of a small pin passing through
the junction of the discs at n, and fixed to the face plate, the discs are made
to rotate within the appertures, so that a slight force applied to the under side
of either face would cause the face to rise and close the apperture, the other
disc falling into a position at right angles to the former. The portion of the
apparatus which I have now described, produces the result which indicates the.
part attacked or operated upon, and may be used alone.
I now. proceed to describe the arrangement of parts called the match
movement for producing the light; o is a straight bolt, one extremity passing
outside the case and terminating in a hook o¹, the other extremity being
slightly inclined, is so arranged that when acted upon as to press on the end of
the match lever p; the rod o passes through a small guide, and is attached to
the spiral spring o", so that if the bolt be drawn by the hook o¹ outwards, it
will draw the spring with it; when drawn out to a proper distance the bolt
is held there by the trigger K, which drops into a necking or shoulder on it;
q is an eye or socket for holding the matches to be lighted close against the
rough surface of the match lever p. The matches may be held fast in the eye

page_text: by means of a wedge or otherwise; if then the trigger K be raised from the
notch in the bolt o, the spring of in recovering its original form will pull, the
bolt back, and the latter acting on the end of the match lever P₁ will cause it
quickly to rotate or turn on its centre, and its face will rub on the matches
and ignite them.
The arrangement by means of which the alarm is produced is shewn on the
left-hand of the instrument in Figure 1; and consists of the frame r, r, formed
of the two side plates r, ?, held together by the tie bars 7, 1; it will be
evident, however, that this frame may be omitted, the parts being supported
by the sides of the apparatus, and other simple means. Upon the arbour or
axle s is mounted a box s¹ containing a coiled spring, and the ordinary ratchet
wheel and stop s; on the same axle is mouted the main toothed driving
wheel t, which works in the pinion t', which is mounted on the same axle as
the pallet wheel v; v' is the pallet mounted on the studs t, u, and having the
cheeks ², v, set at right angles to each other; on the head of the pallet is
fixed, so as to rotate with it, a bent lever x, having on its extremity a hammer
, and placed so as to act either within or upon the bell or gong y, which
may either be within the case or on the outside. Upon the outer periphery of
the pallet wheel is a stud z, and centered upon any convenient part of the
frame is mounted a lever, which may be bent and stretch across the case so
as to rest on the cross piece g, or may be acted upon by another lever
stretching from there. The spring of the alarm is wound up by a key on the
axle s, and is kept in that position by the lever z¹ pressing against the stud
on the pallet wheel.
The action of the whole arrangement is as follows:-Each disc or pair of
discs is marked so as to indicate the particular door or window acted upon by
the wire, and through the action of the corresponding lever upon these discs
all the appertures are closed by the outer discs, the inner ones lying within the
case. Suppose then one of the cords. or wires communicating with a door or
window to be acted upon so as to stretch it, then the tension will be com-
municated to the wire in the case, say one in the group a', this wire will be
raised up, and will raise with it one of the levers in the group b*, the stud
in the end of which, or in some cases the lever itself, will strike the rotating
disc on the lower face m¹, and cause the discs to rotate, so that this disc will
close the apperture, thus shewing that the particular door or window connected
with this disc is being acted upon. This is the indicating part of the appa-
ratus, and may be used by itself; at the same moment that the lever is raised
it carries with it the upright bars by pressing on the cross piece 9; the bar in
rising withdraws the trigger k from the notch in the bolt o, and this latter

page_text: through the action of the spring o², darting quickly back, acts upon the end
of the match lever, causing it to rotate and rub on the matches, thus igniting
them. Contemporaneously with these motions is that of the alarm, for the
cross piece g in rising lifts the lever ¹, and detaches it from the stud on the
pallet wheel, and the spring being now relieved, in trying to uncoil itself gives
motion, through the intermediate wheel and pinion, to the pallet wheel, which
latter acting on the pallet gives an oscillatory movement to it, and through it
to the hammer, which is caused to strike the bell as long as the action of the
spring continues.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and how the same is
constructed, I wish it understood that what I claim as new and require secured
by the petitioned for grant of Letters Patent, are,-
First, the arrangement or combination of parts or their equivalents within
a box or case to produce the result before described, to wit, to indicate to a
person looking on the face of the box or case the action or attack by some
one of some particular part or thing without it.
Second, the arrangement of parts by which a light is produced simultaneously
with the last described action, as particularized in the above description and
Drawing.
Third, the arrangement of parts by which the alarm is produced simul-
taneously with the last-mentioned two actions, as described in the Specification
and Drawings.
Fourth, the application of the said arrangement of parts either to produce
the first claim, or second claim, or third claim, singly orgcollectively, or any
one combined with any other.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robinson Scartliff, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
JOHN ROBINSON SCARTLIFF. (L.S.)