ROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED AS AN ALARM AND DETECTOR INCASSO AR BUDALARY
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robinson Scartliff, of Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Whitesmith and Bellhanger, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED AS AN ALARM AND DETECTOR
INCASSO AR BUDALARY"
Sealed the 17th February 1857, and dated the 9th December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robinson Scartliff
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th December 1856.
I, JOHN ROBINSON SCARTLIFF, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Whitesmith and Bellhanger, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED AS AN ALARM AND
DETECTOR IN CASES OF BURGLARY," to be as follows:-
A series or complication of levers and cranks acted upon by wires attached
to the doors and windows and other means of access into and out of houses
and premises, indicates upon a dial attached to the apparatus the part upon
which any burglarious attempt be made, and at the same time gives an alarm
and provides a light, and which I propose to designate a "burglary alarm and
detector."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Robinson Scartliff in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROBINSON SCARTLIFF, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Bell-
hanger, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, IIer heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Robinson Scartliff, Ier special license that I, the said John Robinson
Scartliff, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Robinson Scartliff, my 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 TO BE EMPLOYED AS AN ALARM AND DETECTOR IN CASES OF
BURGLARY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Robinson
Scartliff, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 I, the said John Robinson Scartliff, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of my improvements is to obtain by means of a system of levers,
cranks, and connecting wires acting upon a dial or index, an apparatus which
shall possess. the power of indicating, both by sight and sound, any burglarious
attempt that may be made upon the doors, windows, or other means of ingress
to a house, at the same time indicating also the particular part of the house
upon which the attempt is being made; this I effect in the following
manner :-

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front view of the dial or index, intended to be placed upon
'the mantel piece, or any other more suitable position of a sleeping chamber;
Figure 2 is a back view of the same, the back of the case being removed to
shew the working parts of the apparatus.
:
(A) is a box or case upon which is fixed an alarum (B). Inside the case is
placed a crank (C), upon the heel of which is secured the plate (D), through
which plate the series of wires (E) passes. (F) is a frame in which are
mounted the bell cranks (G); to one end of each of these cranks is secured
one of the wires (E), and the other side of the crank actuates another wire of
the series marked (H). A number of spheres (I), corresponding to the number
of cranks and the wires in each series, are placed in hollows in the face board
of the case and from the dial. These spheres are loaded on one side, and
upon the other is printed the word "burglar." Round the hollows or apertures
in the face board of the case is conspicuously painted upon each one the
name of some particular door or window by which an entry to the residence
could be effected. The spheres (I) aro furnished with projecting points or
pins (K), the duty of which will presently appear. A sliding frame (L)
provided with studs (M) and kept in position by the springs (N.) is affixed to
the back of the face board. This frame is raised vertically by pulling tho
handle (O), being connected thereto by the wire (P), and this is for the pur-
pose of restoring the spheres to their original position after they may have
been disturbed by the action of the instrument. To an arm of the crank
(C) is pinned the rod (Q), working a somewhat similar crank (R), to
which is affixed the bar of the striker (S). This rod Q is kept in position with
considerable freedom of action by means of compensating springs (T).
In the opposito anglo of the case is mounted a bell crank Ụ, similar in all
points to those marked G, but having its own independent wires; that marked
V passing from one end of the crank up to the plate D, and being secured
thereto, and the other W communicating with a lever X furnished with a
compensating spring Y. The axis upon which the lever X works carries on
the face plate of the apparatus a rubber Z, and a match being placed in the
holder (Z) is ignited by the action of this rubber, and is thus made to light a
taper placed in the socket below. Each of the wires (E) is connected by bell
wires to the point of ingress corresponding to the title labelled round that
one of the spheres (I) which it operates upon, and there the connecting wire is
attached to the door or window shutter; for instance, the wire from the butler's
bedroom window would be connected to that marked (E), which governs the

page_text: sphere (11), and a burglarious attempt being made upon that point would be
indicated by the appearance of the word "burglar," as seen in Figure 1, the
alarum would be sounded and the taper lighted simultaneously.
The action of the instrument must now be described. We assume that the
point before named, the butler's bedroom window, is being forced, the wire
attached to the shutter or sash working like a bell wire, and through similar
cranks, draws the wire (E¹) upwards through the plate (D,) until its further
passage is prevented by the knot (E"); it then raises with it the plate (D), by
which action, through the communication effected by the rod Q and crank R,
the striker S is caused to sound the alarm, at the same time the bent end II"
of tho wire (H) is withdrawn from its pressure upon the sphere I', allowing
the sphere to fall over and display the word "burglar" on the face of the dial.
The wire V being also secured to the plate (D) is also raised with it, and
through the crank U and lever (X) brings the rubber or match igniter Z into
operation and the taper is lighted. To restore the apparatus to its original
position, and refit it for use, the handle (O) must be pulled, which will raise
the sliding frame (L), whose studs (M) engaging with the projecting pin K',
on the sphere I', will raise that sphere and cause it to reassume its position,
the others having been undisturbed.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that that which
I claim and desire to have secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is, the arrangement and combination of the several mechanical
appliances herein specified and shewn in the Drawings, forming apparatus to
be employed as an alarm and detector in cases of burglary, in manner herein
more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robinson Scartliff, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
EDWARD JOHN PAYNE.
JOHN ROBINSON SCARTLIFF. (1.8.)