IMPROVED ELECTRIC BELL APPARATUS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th June 1883 communicated to
him from abroad by La Société Dany et Lepage, of Paris, France
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED ELECTRIC BELL APPARATUS [A
communication to him from abroad by La Société Dany et Lepage, of. Paris,
France]
This invention relates to electric hell apparatus the distinctive feature of which
is the combination in a single apparatus, of batteries, bell, and all the necessary
electric conductors.
Heretofore with electric bells used as means of communication in workshops,
buildings or the like places, it has been necessary in the first instance to find a
suitable place for fixing the batteries and further to set up the said batteries, fix
the wires, and connect them in a proper manner, first to the batteries and then to
the bell. Some knowledge of electricity is necessary to perform this operation
and it was consequently requisite to employ a special workman to set up the
apparatus. In the country especially it is sometimes a matter of difficulty to find
a workman capable of fitting up, even in an indifferent manner, apparatus of this
description, which, in order to work properly, requires certain conditions to be
fulfilled such as the adjustment of the hammer, a proper arrangement of the
contacts, and a suitable establishment of the electric communication.
In carrying the present invention into practice I make a complete electric
apparatus in which the bell and the batteries, as well as all the conductors and
contact pieces, are combined and fitted in such a manner that it is sufficient to
suspend the apparatus against a wall, for instance, and to fix the two conducting
wires which are attached to the bell, to two attachment screws placed outside the
apparatus, to obtain an electric bell complete and in good working order. This
apparatus which can be fitted up by any workman, servant, or person having no
special knowledge of electricity offers the advantage of being easily removed as it
can be unhooked in the same manner as a picture. The apparatus can thus be
transferred from one room to another.

page_text: In order to further illustrate this invention the apparatus complete is shewn in
the accompanying drawing, in which.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus, the box in which the bell is
enclosed being removed.
Figure 2 shews a plan or top view of the same.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts in these figures.
a is the electro-magnet of the apparatus, the armature b of which carries the
hammer c which strikes the bell d. The arrangement of this part of the apparatus
may be varied without departing from the nature of the said invention.
On each side of the bell are placed the batteries e, e which may be of different
nature and assume different shapes; for instance Leclanché or Daniel batteries
may be used, or any other description of batteries whether they are worked with
one or two liquids or without liquid. As shewn in the drawing the batteries are
supported by metal wires j twisted into the shape of a spiral and forming a socket
but any other mode of support may be used.
The wire puts the batteries in communication with one another, the wire g
puts one of the poles in communication with the attachment screw h of the bell,
and the wire connects the other pole with one of the attachment screws of the
line. The wire is fixed in the attachment screw through which the current
leaves the apparatus by means of the other attachment screw h¹.
The apparatus being thus arranged and complete in itself, it is sufficient in order
to fit it up, to suspend it from a hook secured to a wall, by means of the lugs m
and to attach the line wires to the attachment screws . As above stated, the
fitting up of the apparatus does not require any special knowledge, nor any
preparatory arrangement.
The above described apparatus may be enclosed in a box which conceals it
entirely from view and which protects it from dust and from liability to breakage.
Any kind of batteries may be employed, those shewn on the drawing are
"Leclanché" batteries previously arranged so that all that is required to set the
apparatus in action is to pour water into the apertures n closed by corks or other
plugs.
The said invention permits of combining together in a small volume all the parts
of an electric bell and obviates the necessity for employing a special workman to
fit the said apparatus up. The said apparatus may be easily removed and easily
transported; one single apparatus can be disconnected from a set of conductors
and connected with another set in a few minutes. The shape size and arrangement
of the said apparatus may be somewhat varied without departing from the nature
of the said invention.