IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING AND GIVING ALARM IN CASE OF ACCIDENTAL FIRE, APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SHIPS, HOUSES, AND SUCH LIKE PLACES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gilbert, of Enfield, Middlesex, Gun Finisher,
Edwin Cooper, of London, Agent, and George Rowland Webster, of
Sheffield, Yorkshire, Chaser, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR INDICATING AND GIVING ALARM IN CASE OF ACCIDENTAL FIRE,
APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SHIPS, HOUSES, AND SUCH LIKE PLACES."
Sealed the 4th April 1865, and dated the 11th October 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gilbert, Edwin
Cooper, and George Rowland Webster at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 11th October 1864.
We, WILLIAM GILBERT, of Enfield, Middlesex, Gun Finisher, EDWIN
COOPER, of London, Agent, and GEORGE ROWLAND WEBSTER, of Sheffield,
Yorkshire, Chaser, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING AND GIVING ALARM IN CASE OF
ACCIDENTAL FIRE, APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SHIPS, HOUSES, AND SUCH LIKE
PLACES," to be as follows:-
Our said Invention consists in a peculiar application of a fusible material or
substance composed of gutta percha, 16 parts; chloride of sulphur, 2 parts;
sulphuret of antimony, 3 parts; copper bronze, 1 part, reduced to a paste by
chloroform, coal tar, naptha, oil of turpentine, or other solvent, then mixed
and submitted to a temperature of 250° to 300° Fahrenheit for from 2 to 7
hours in closed vessel, which.compound will fuse or melt at from 90° to 120°
Fahrenheit according to the quantity of sulphur used. For higher tempe-

page_text: ratures we use a substance-composed of hyposulphate of lead, 1 part; magnesia,
2 to 5 parts (or carbonate of magnesia 2 to 5 parts); gutta percha, 10 parts;
and caoutchouc, 10 parts, treated as above, which compound will fuse or melt
at from 120° to 200° Fahrenheit; and for temperatures above 200° Fabrenheit
we use a substance composed of bismuth, 4 parts; lead, 2 parts; tin, 2 parts;
and mercury, 1 part, which substance will-fuse. or-melt at about 212° Faliren-
heit, and by using more parts lead and lesser mercury and bismuth we
produce a compound which will melt at from 212° to 500° Fahrenheit.
These fusible substances or compounds are made in the form of wire or
cord, and in applying our said Invention to the several rooms in a building or
parts of a ship, one method we should adopt would be to connect them by a
wire to the alarm instrument similar to that used in bell-hanging, and fixed in
like manner by cranks, joints, or other suitable appiances, and in each room
or other parts insert in the length of wire a piece or pieces of the said fusible
substance in such a way as, when acted upon by heat, it will melt or seperate
and the connection being broken, will liberate a hammer connected with a bell
and suitable machinary for giving motion to the hammer, consisting of an
escapement movement, that is, a spindle on which is the spring and wheel,
which wheel connects with a pinion in order to give speed, and on the pinion
wheel is a pallat or lever which works in and out of the teeth on
pinion
wheel, and the hammer being connected with the said pallat or lever, motion
is thus given to the hammer, which, striking on the bell, gives the necessary
alarm.
the
By a dial and,index connected with the apparatus, the room or locality will
be indicated.
+
_
D
+"."
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gilbert, Edwin Cooper, and George Rowland
Webster in the Great Seal: Patent Office on the 10th April 1865...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
GILBERT, Enfield, Middlesex, Gun Finisher, EDWIN COOPER, London, Agent,
and GEORGE ROWLAND WEBSTER, Sheffield, Yorkshire, Chaser, send greeting.
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Williain Gilbert, Edwin Cooper, and George Rowland Webster,

page_text: Her special, licence that we, the said William Gilbert, Edwin Cooper, and
George Rowland, Webster, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as our, the said William Gilbert, Edwin Cooper, and George Rowland
Webster, 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. "IMPROVE
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING AND GIVING ALARM IN CASE OF ACCIDENTAL
FIRE, APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SHIPS, HOUSES, AND SUCH LIKE PLACES,
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Gilbert, Edwin
Cooper, and George Rowland Webster, our executors. or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 we, the said William Gilbert, Edwin Cooper, and
George Rowland Webster, do hereby declare the nature of our, said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
Our said Invention refers to a peculiar application of a fusible wire or cord
and connected with the several rooms of a house, parts of a ship, or other place,
and attached to a suitable alarum, as; described in. the annexed Drawings,
in such a manner as when acted upon by heat, it will be disolved or melted,
by which the train of wheels connected with the hammer and bell is liberated
and the alarm given.
The following is one way we prepare the fusible wire or cord, and of what
it is composed, although we .do. not confine ourselves to those substances alone,
but may use other substances capable of producing a similar result... When a
material is required capable of being fused at a low temperature we use gutta
pertia, sixteen parts; chloride of. sulphur,.two parts; sulphuret of antimoney,
three parts; and copper bronze, one part, disolved in chloriform, naptha, oil of
turpentine, or other solvent, by gentle heat; afterwards submitted to a tempe-
rature of from 250° to 300° Fahrenhiet for from two to seven hours in a
closed vessel, which compound will melt at from 90° to 120° Fab., according
to the temperature and time applied in preparing it. For higher temperatures
we use hyposulphite of lead, two parts; calsined magnessia, from two to five.
parts; gutta pertia, ten parts; coutcheau, ten parts; sulphuret of antimoney,

page_text: two parts; and chloride of sulphur, four parts, treated as above, which substance
will fuse at from 120° to 200° Fah. and is a conductor of heat and not liable.
to be affected by moisture, gasses, or time. We prefer making it into the form
of cord or wire by passing. it between groved rollers or drawing it through a
die. And for higher temperatures than 200° Fah: we use a metalic fusible
wire composed of bismuth, four parts; lead, two parts; tin, two parts; and
mercury, one part, melted together, which will fuse at from 212° to 500°
Fah. by-the omission of the mercury and bismuth more or less. Thus we
obtain a fusible wire or cord capable of being fused at various temperatures
suitable for different climates and other circumstances.
And for the better understanding of our said improvements we will now
proceed to discribe the particulars thereoff, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annaxed.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS..
Fig. 1 is a front elivation of one form of our apperatus; Fig. 2 is a centeral
vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan or top view. The letters in the
Drawings refer to like parts throughout.
A
A, A, Fig. 1, is an outer wood case glazed in front, enclosing the alarum
movement. At the center of the apperatus two plates' contain between each
other a pin B, Fig. 2, on which is attached a spring G, which is the prime
mover of the wheel gear, on which is fixed a ratchet wheel K to enable the
spring to be wound up similar to a clock spring, and a toothed wheel S having
32 divisions, which drives a pinion, whoes spindle passes through both the
holding plates, and carries the escapement 'wheel E, containing 26 divisions; P
is a pallet which regulates the motion of the escapement wheel E, the movement
of which produces an ossilating motion, which communicates' movement to the
wire W, furnished with a hammer L. When the machinery is in motion the
hammer L plays on the bell B, B. wire P, P, is fixed on the same spindle
as the wire W, at P, by which the hammer is held at rest by the leaver H,
which is held in a possition to prevent the motion of the wire P, P, by a fusible
wire or cord Z attached to the end of the. leaver H at a, 'Fig. 2. The fusible
wire or cord Z passes through the stud S, S, where it is held by the binding
screw-b, or carried forward-through a number of rooms or appartments, along
the angles or cornises as is most convenient, and fixed 'in the same way as
bell wires are usually fixed, by 'cranks or joints, and a constant strain main-
tained on the fusible wire or cord by a spring attached to the leaver H at N,
so that should the fusible wire or cord Z be acted upon by heat suffecient to
melt it, a seperation will take place and liberate the leaver H, and the spring. N

page_text: will move it back, as indicated at e, e, Fig. 3, so as to allow the wire P, P, to
ossilate and the hammer L to play on the bell B, B, untill the spring G is
spent.
It will thus be seen that the apparatus consists in a case of wood of
suffecient capasity to contain an alarum movement, as described in the
Drawings, and a bell and hammer fixed on the top of the box outside.
We would observe that in applying our said Invention to the several roomes
of a house, one method we should adopt would be to convey a wire from the
leaver H through the stud S, S, along passages, mouldings, cornises, floors,
ceilings, above or below ground, in any convenient manner, by cranks, joints,
or pulleys, and in each room or other place introduce short lengths of the
fusible wire or cord already described, so that the heat of any room through
which the wire passes rising to a temperature suffecient to disolve or melt the
same, the continuous line would be broaken and liberate the leaver H, which
will in consequence of the spring o, o, attain the possition indicated at
e, e, and allow the hammer to strike the bell, by which the alarm would
be given.
Having thus fully described our said improvements, and one method of
carrying the same into practical operation, we desire it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves in respect to the precise form, number of wheels,
or placement of the several parts, so long as the desired object is attained, and
we do declare that we claim as the novelty of our said Invention is, namely,
the peculiar application of a fusible substance in the form of wire, cord,
ribbon, threads; or other convenient form, as described above, for indicating
and giving alarm in case of accidental fire in any ship, building, or other
place, and at the same time give an alarm of such occurence, as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Gilbert, Edwin Cooper, and
George Rowland Webster, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Eighth-dag of April, in the year of our Lord 1865.