IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING ELECTRIC CIRCUITS and in
Year: 1885

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I JAMES MACKENZIE of 48 Osnaburgh Street, London in the county of
Middlesex, Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING
ELECTRIC CIRCUITS and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
"
This invention relates to certain improvements in and relating to apparatus for
opening and closing electric circuits.
The object of this invention is to provide a neat, effective, and cheap instrument,
applicable to all electric circuits, for the purposes of making or breaking such
circuits instantaneously, and without risk of the switch being left, as is often
the case, partly "on and partly
"off." This switch is compact, small, and
ornamental, and therefore is particularly applicable for fixing in domestic rooms
where switches of ordinary construction would appear unsightly.
"
The
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1, is a plan, with the upper casing
removed, and Figure 2, is a view of the underside of my apparatus, with the under
casing removed; Figure 3, is a section on line a, b, Figure 1; Figure 4, is a plan
of a modification of my apparatus, when intended for currents of lesser resistance.
Like letters indicate like parts in all of these figures. A, is a casing of wood or
suitable nonconducting material, through which the wires or cables enter. The
one wire or cable, is connected to a block of metal B, the other to the block C,
connected with the block D, by the safety fusible connection E. To B, and D, the
spring contact bars F, F, are suitably fixed and adjusted. About the centre of the
case A, the spindle G, is placed, having upon it a metallic contact maker H.
top of this spindle G, is supplied with a knob or handle J, of any convenient shape,
projecting outside of the upper casing of the apparatus, as shown in Figure 3.
The whole of the internal fittings are mounted on a disc of slate, or suitable non-
conducting material. The spindle G, is carried through the slate disc, and a
pring K, is arranged beneath the disc, as shown in Figures 2, and 3. Near the
bottom of the spindle a pin L, is placed, and the degree of revolution of the spindle,
s determined by the two stops M, M, Figure 2. When a circuit in which this
pparatus is placed is open, the contact piece H, is in the position shown in
Figures 1, 3, and 4, which is the normal position in which it is held by the
[Price &di

page_text: spring K, and when it is desired to close the circuit, the spindle is turned in either
direction, and the contact piece H, presses the spring bars F, F, firmly against the
blocks B, and C, as shown by dotted lines, Figure 1; the current passes through E,
and C, and the circuit is closed. The bars F, F, have the effect of preventing the
current from leaping or forming an arc, between B, or D, and H.
When it is desired to open the circuit, the spindle is turned, and the spring K,
causes H, to return instantly to its normal position, thus rendering it impossible
for the switch to be partly "on "and partly "off."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The switch for making contact for electrical circuits, and breaking it instan-
taneously and effectually, by means of the mechanism described, the whole being
compactly arranged in an ornamental casing, substantially as and for the purposes
herein before set forth, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
WAUGH & CHAPMAN,
Agents for Applicant,
70, Chancery Lane, W.C.