Improvements in and connected with Electric Calls and Indicators for Hotels.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 11th Nov., 1890-Accepted, 7th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Electric Calls and Indicators
for Hotels.
I, STEPHEN GARDINER, of the Central Station Hotel, Glasgow, Lanarkshire,
Superintendent, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to and comprises certain new or improved arrange-
ments of devices and apparatus to be applied to the bedrooms of hotels, whereby
the occupant before retiring may give notice on the outside of the door when he
requires to be called in the morning, and so that the boots or porter, in coming
round late at night or early in the morning to remove the boots for cleaning, will
see the hour the occupant desires to be called in the morning and either attend to
this himself or give orders to ensure that it is done by the proper attendant, who
when he comes to the particular bedroom in the morning will by a further arrange-
ment of improvements touch an electric switch at the door, which will ring an
electric bell on the mantelpiece or at the head of the bed, which will continue to
ring until the occupant turns it off himself by moving a switch attached thereto.
A tell tale index or semaphore, preferably with enclosed mechanism, automatically
worked either by the attendant in switching on the current to ring the bell, or by
the occupant when switching off the current to stop the bell, would be fixed at
either switch to show that the bell had been rung, and in this way prevent vexatious
disputes between the managers of hotels and their patrons, and enable mistakes to
be discovered. This system will also prevent the wakening of the sleepers in
adjoining bedrooms by knocking up occupants.
The first improvement consists in the use of a dummy timepiece or clockwork
fixed in a recess in the door with a face and hands both on the inner and outer sides,
the outside face being enclosed by glass so that it cannot be tampered with, while
the inner face would have a hinged opening cover so that the occupant of the room
after shutting his door could set the hands by a key or otherwise to the time he
wished to be called in the morning, and which would show on the outside to the
boots or other attendant, when he wished to be called in the morning, and also
confirm the order to the person coming to call the occupant, as to the time, before
he switches on the electric bell mounted in the bedroom and which might be of any
of the ordinary tinkling electric bells ringing loud enough to awaken any ordinary
sleeper, or it might be a small gong or other equivalent alarm actuated by a local
electric magnet and battery. In some cases an ordinary clock may be fitted on the
mantelpiece of the bedrooms and electrically connected with the alarm, bell and
made to stop either while the current is on, or when it is shut off, to show that the
bell had been rung at the appointed hour. A small curtain or other cover may be
used to hide the clock face on the outside of the door, in cases where the occupant
does not desire to be wakened at any particular time.
Dated the 11th February 1900

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Electric Calls and Indicators
for Hotels.
I, STEPHEN GARDINER, of the Central Station Hotel, Glasgow, Lanarkshire,
Superintendent, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying sheet
of drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My invention has reference to and comprises certain new or improved arrange-
ments and combinations of devices and apparatus to be applied to the bedrooms of
hotels, clubs or other public buildings, passenger ships or the like having sleeping
apartments, whereby the occupant before retiring may give notice on the outside of
the bedroom door when he requires to be called in the morning, and so that the
"boots
or attendant in coming round late at night or early in the morning to
remove the boots or shoes for cleaning will see the hour the occupant desires to be
called in the morning and either attend to this himself or give orders to ensure that
it is done by the proper attendant, who when he comes to the particular bedroom in
the morning will by a further arrangement of improvements touch or press an
electric switch at the door, which will ring an electric bell on the mantelpiece or at
the head of the bed, which will continue to ring until the occupant turns it off
himself by moving a switch connected thereto. A tell-tale index or semaphore,
preferably with enclosed mechanism, automatically worked either by the attendant
in switching on the current to ring the bell, or preferably by the occupant when
switching off the current to stop the bell, would be fitted at either switch to show
that the bell had been rung, and in this way prevent vexatious disputes between the
managers of hotels and their patrons, and enable mistakes to be discovered. This
system will also prevent the wakening of the sleepers in adjoining bedrooms when
knocking up occupants.
39
In my new system a dummy timepiece or clockwork is fixed in a recess in the
door with a face and hands both on the inner and outer sides, the outside face being
enclosed by glass so that it cannot be tampered with, while the inner face would
have a hinged opening cover so that the occupant of the room after shutting his
door could set the hands by a key or otherwise to the time he wished to be called in
the morning and which would show on the outside, to the "boots'
or other
attendant, when he wished to be called in the morning, and also confirm the order
to the person coming to call the occupant, as to the time, before he switches on the
electric bell mounted in the bedroom, and which might be of any of the ordinary
tinkling electric bells ringing loud enough to awaken any ordinary sleeper, or it
might be a small gong or other equivalent alarm actuated by a local electro magnet
and battery. In some cases an ordinary clock may be fitted on the mantelpiece of
the bedrooms and electrically connected with the alarm bell and made to stop either
while the current is on, or when it is shut off, to show that the bell had been rung
at the appointed hour. A small curtain or other cover may be used to hide the
clock face on the outside of the door, in cases where the occupant does not desire to
be wakened at any particular time.
And in order that my said invention and the manner of performing or carrying
the same into effect or practice may be properly understood, I have hereunto
appended an explanatory sheet of drawings, in which the same reference letters are
used to indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where shown. Figure 1 is a
front elevation and Figure 2 a sectional edge view of one form of dummy timepiece
as constructed in accordance with my improvements having dial faces A, A', and
pointers or hands B1, B2, both on the inner and outer sides of the door Z, the
pointers B1, B2, being mounted to turn simultaneously on a central arbor or
spindle B operated by a milled finger head or thumb screw B" from the inside of
the door of the bedroom or apartment in which it is fitted, the dials A, A', and the
pointers B', B2, being protected by outer glass covers A" fitted in annular brass

page_text: frames A2 screwed to the opposite sides of the door Z. Figures 3 and 4 are views
corresponding to Figures 1 and 2, of a slightly modified construction of my dummy
timepiece, in which the metal frame A2 carrying the glass cover A" on the dial A
inside the apartment is hinged at A³ to open out while the hand B' is set, and the
cover is then secured by the thumb screw A. In this arrangement an extra short
pointer is shown as fitted on an outer hollow spindle or sleeve to be set to
indicate on the dials whether the occupant desires refreshments or a bath in the
morning at the hour he is awakened, and indicated by the other pointers B', B².
Figure 5 is an elevation of the box C, C', containing the semaphore and setting on
electric contact mechanism of the awakening alarm bell, which would be secured on
the outside of the door of the apartment, to be operated by a key held by the
waiter or attendant. Figure 6 is a plan view corresponding to Figure 5 with the
top of the box removed. And Figure 7 is a view of the key to be used by
the waiter or attendant for operating the mechanism. Figure 8 is an elevation and
Figure 9 a sectional edge view of the make and break contact push mechanism with
which the occupant switches off the current and stops the ringing of the electric
bell or alarm after he has been awakened. Figure 10 is a view of the tinkling
electric bell used and its actuating electro magnet and fittings.
Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 of these drawings, the occupant of the
bedroom desiring to be wakened turns the milled head wheel B", secured on
the spindle Boutside the glass A" to set the pointer B', inside the door Z to
the hour he desires to be wakened, so that the waiter or attendant can take
notice of same on the dial A¹ and pointer B2 outside the door simultaneously set to
the same hour and ring the alarm bell at the appointed hour as hereinafter
described. Or as in Figures 3 and 4, the occupant may open the case A² by the
thumb screw A and set the pointer B' on the inside of the apartment by hand
to the hour he desires to be wakened, or if he desires a bath or refreshment at
same hour he also sets the short pointer to the particular circle indicating
the bath or refreshment he desires. And in either of these arrangements
Figures 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, he may set the pointers to zero when he does not
desire to be wakened, or he may turn or drop a curtain to cover the outside dial
on the door.
Referring to the arrangement of electric contact setting on mechanism contained
in the locked box C, C, Figures 5 and 6, one of which is screwed up on the
outside of each bedroom door Z, for setting on the electric bell Figure 10, and
giving the alarm near the bed of the occupant, this consists all as follows:-Of a
switch lever D, secured on a spindle D¹ to rotate through a plate D" and hole in
the bottom of the box C, with a flat head D2 projecting through a hole, so that
the attendant can from the outside insert the key D³ Figure 7, and turn the
spindle D and lever D to switch this on to or off from the contact spring d
connected by a wire to the terminal at the top of the box C to which one
outer wire N of the circuit is secured. The other outer wire S of the circuit is
connected to the terminal 3 outside the box C, and connected by the wire d
inside the box to the plate E carrying the disengaging counterweighted
lever E pivoted to a bracket at E" on the plate E. This lever E' is connected
by a make and break contact spring E² to a screw terminal d secured in the
back of the box C, and connected by an electric wired to complete the circuit
through the lever E¹ with the lever D and its plate D". This lever E has its
counterweighted arm E³ held up by an insulated stem D projecting up from the
lever D, when this is out of contact with the spring d, and the circuit is broken,
the lever E being held in this position by the weighted catch end F of another
lever F, F, fulcrumed to the bracket 1", projecting out from the plate E having
an armature on the end of the arm F of this lever, over the core poles of the
electro magnet F2, carried by a bracket F³, projecting from the plate E, and
having the wires e e' of its coils connected by screws at e" to the terminals e² e³
outside the box C of another circuit n, s. The lever E also carries a semaphore
arm E, preferably with a semaphore of red colour at its outer end, and is shown

page_text: in sharp lines as held out of action and sight by the lever F, F', and is shown
dotted in in its released position when the lever F F is drawn down by its electro
magnet F, to its dotted in position. The wires are connected up and the action is
as follows:-The wires N, S, are connected up to complete the circuit through a
local battery, with the wires N', S', of the electro magnet G of the tinkling bell G
shown in Figure 10, which would be screwed or hung up to the wall near the bed
of the sleeper, so that when the waiter or attendant in his rounds passes the bed-
rooms saw that the hour or time indicated on the dial had arrived when he had to
waken the occupant of the bedroom he would insert his key D³ through the hole in
the lower part of the box C, and turn the spindle D' and switch lever D on to the
terminal spring d, and complete the circuit through the wires dd" and terminals d², d³,
and outer wires N, S, and set on the alarm bell G' in the bedroom, which would ring
on until the occupant awoke and pushed in the switch knob H Figures 8 and 9, to
momentarily complete the circuit through the wires n', s¹, of this make and break
contact "push," through the local battery to the wires n, s, of the electro magnet F²,
which would then pull down the armature arm F of the lever F, F, and release the
lever E and disconnect the circuit through this lever and its spring switch E² with the
terminal D' of the alarm bell circuit N. S. as shown dotted in in this position in
Figure 5 : and which action also brings the semaphore E opposite the glass
aperture C2 in the locked door C¹ of the box C and show to the attendant that the
Occupier had awakened and stopped the ringing of his bell. The semaphore E
will remain in this set position until shifted by the attendant inserting his key in
the hole in the box C and turning the spindle D" D' and switch lever D out of
action, and relocking the lever El there by the lever F, F, in its disengaged position,
until the next alarm requires to be given to the next occupant of the room, both
circuits being disconnected with the local battery in this position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is
First. The system of, or arrangement and combination of devices for awakening
the occupants or sleepers in bedrooms or apartments, comprising a "dummy" time-
piece on opposite sides of the door, a tell-tale index or semaphore and switching on
electric contact mechanism, and an electric bell or gong or equivalent alarm and
switching off mechanism within the apartment, all excited by connections through a
local battery, substantially as herein described in reference to and shown in the
accompanying drawings.
Second. In a system for awakening the sleepers in the bedrooms of hotels and the
like, the combination of a "dummy timepiece on opposite sides of door an electric-
bell or alarm, local battery, and electric current, switching on and off mechanism,
substantially as herein described, in reference to and shown in the accompanying
drawings.
Third. In a system for awakening the sleepers in the bedrooms of hotels and the
like, the combination of a tell-tale index or semaphore, automatically operated by
the switching off or on mechanism to indicate that occupant had been wakened,
substantially as herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying
drawings.
Fourth. In a system for awakening the sleepers in the bedrooms of hotels and the
like, the combination of two electric current circuits, the one for ringing the electric
bell or alarm, and the other for switching off the alarm, and at the same time
moving a semaphore to show that the alarm had been given, substantially as herein
described in reference to and shown in the accompanying drawings.
W. R. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents.