IMPROVE- MENTS IN FIRE ALARUMS AND INDICATORS OF TEMPERATURE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Neild, of Cheadle, in the County of Chester,
Accountant, and John Hopkinson, of York Place, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Neild and John
Hopkinson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 18th November 1862.
We, CHARLES NEILD, of Cheadle, in the County of Chester, Accountant,
and JOHN HOPKINSON, of York Place, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE ALARUMS AND INDICATORS OF TEMPERATURE," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a mode of starting an alarum when a room or
building is on fire by the consequent increase of temperature of the surrounding
atmosphere. Within the room or building is placed a suitable vessel con-
taining a fatty substance, or an alloy which retains an iron ball or weight..

page_text: When the temperature of the room or building arrives at a certain number
of degrees, the fatty substance or alloy will melt and release the ball or
weight. The ball is so arranged that when released it runs down an incline
tube turning on a pivot or other suitable apparatus, and by turning the tube
on the said pivot releases a catch, which retains a coiled spring or weight
previously wound up, and thus sets in motion certain mechanism to strike a
bell, gong, or other alarum. This can also be effected by means of the
descent by its own gravity of a loosely fitting piston in a cylinder partly
filled with a fatty substance or an alloy.
This Invention can also be applied to indicate on a dial when an oven or
liquid has arrived at a certain temperature.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Neild and John Hopkinson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
NEILD, of Cheadle, in 'the County of Chester, Accountant, and JOHN HOPKINSON,
of York Place, Manchester, in the County of: Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles Neild and John Hopkinson, Her special licence that we, the
said Charles Neild and John Hopkinson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Neild and John Hopkinson,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ALARUMS
AND INDICATORS OF TEMPERATURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that
We, the said' Charles Neild and John Hopkinson, our executors or admini-
strators, 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

page_text: round it is wound a rope or chain attached to a weight (or a coiled spring
may be used) serving as a motive power; turning with the barrel is a ratchet
wheel M, the ratchet being carried by an escapement wheel N that turns
loosely upon the shaft O, the ratchet being so arranged as to allow the barrel
to be turned or rotated in the proper direction to wind up the weight by
means of the handle P, but when the weight acts upon the barrel, which
would be of course in the opposite direction, the ratchet would then turn the
escapement wheel with it; in connection with the escapement wheel are the
ordinary escapement pallets Q, R, supported by and fixed to the small shaft
or spindle S, which carries also the arm T, the extremity of which works in
the slot U, made in the rod V, supporting the bell hammer W; the rod V
oscillates freely upon the stud a, and is in one piece with the catch plate C,
having a slot in it as before described; A is the bell.
I will now describe the action of the apparatus. The weight is first wound
up by the handle P, then the ball tube B is fixed in a slanting or inclined
position, as shewn in the Drawing, the fatty substance or alloy being in a
solidified state, and the ball retained by it at the upper extremity, as shewn in
dotted lines in Fig. 2; the pin D is then in the notch in the catch plate C,
which arrests the motion of the alarum. When the temperature of the
surrounding atmosphere arrives to such a degree of heat as to melt the fatty
substance or alloy, the weight immediately descends in the inclined tube B,
and turns it upon E, the pin D being withdrawn from the notch in the catch
plate C, and the alarum consequently released, the weight at the end of the
cord 6 turns the barrel L, and with it the escapement wheel N, which drives
the pallets Q and R to and fro, thus giving a pendulous or oscillating motion
to the arm T, and therefore to the hammer which strikes alternately each side
of the bell. In resetting the alarum when the fatty substance or alloy has
solidified it is necessary merely to withdraw the pin G, and take off the tube B,
turning it about and replacing it with the other side towards the catch plate,
a similar pin F being provided to enter in the notch as the one D herein-
before described.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and a mode of
carrying the same into practical effect, we would have it understood that we
do not bind ourselves to the particular mode of starting the alarum herein-
before described, as various modifications may easily be made without departing
from our said Invention, nor to its application to any particular construction of
alarum, nor to the purpose to which it is applied. What we claim is, "A
mechanical arrangement by which the liquefaction by heat of any solid

page_text: substance is employed to start an Alarum or indicate change of Tempera-
ture."
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Neild, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
(L.s.) CHARLES NEILD.
Witness,
RICHARD A. CATON,
Clerk to Messrs. Willcock & Brewer,
Patent Agents, of 89, Chancery Lane, London,
& 24, Market Place, Manchester.