IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GIVING ALARMS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles West at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th February
1865.
I, CHARLES WEST, of No. 7, Queen's Place, Kennington Park, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GIVING ALARMS," to be as follows:-
As I purpose chiefly to apply these alarms to the preservation of life and
property against robbery, burglary, and fire, and any sudden eruption of water
in mines, or leakage in ships, I necessarily modify the apparatus according to
the particular application of the alarm.
For the prevention of robbery and burglary my apparatus is composed of
vulcanized india-rubber, in which I place two steel or other metal springs,
one of them slightly arched, with a separate wire from each one leading to an
alarm, and the other to a galvanic battery. I fix this apparatus in the door
posts, window sills, drawers, desks, or otherwise. Upon closing the doors,
windows, drawers, or articles, the pressure upon the india-rubber and the
arched spring breaks the connection between the two wires, but upon opening
again contact is immediately made, and the alarm given.
I also apply this apparatus to the locks of iron safes or chests where money
or other articles of value are kept. It being completely covered with the
india-rubber, and the wires leading to the alarm and battery also insulated,

page_text: no contact with the iron of the safe can take place. When the safe is locked
the bolt presses upon the india-rubber and arched spring, and breaks the
contact, so that the alarm is silent; but upon opening the lock, or foreing it,
the pressure of the bolt is taken off the spring, contact is again made, and the
alarm immediately commences to ring.
Among other applications of this portion of my apparatus I adapt it by
merely reversing it and placing the arched spring downwards, so that it can
be fixed to the matting and carpets in houses, by which any thief who may
have surreptitiously obtained an entrance and concealed himself during the
day cannot, when he steals from his lurking place, move about the house
without himself giving the alarm to the inmates.
I prepare a special apparatus for the use of sick and other persons bed-
ridden, helpless, and incapable of moving. This consists of two insulated
wires fixed in an ivory or bone or any other suitable non-conducting material
with two prongs something like a musical instrument for pitching the key
note. On the internal surface of each of these prongs is a small strip of
metal; one of these wires is attached to one of the prongs, and the other wire
to the other prong. In this state there is no contact between the wires, but
on the slightest pressure at the end of the prongs the metal strips are brought
into contact, by which the bell is instantaneously rung without the patient
having occasion to move or make the slightest exertion.
By a very simple application to the taps of gas meters or casks I cause an
immediate alarm to be given if they are not securely turned off. This I do
by placing a piece of cork or other non-conducting substance between the tap
itself and the metal socket in which it is placed. I fix on the cork a small
strip of metal, to which I attach an insulated wire brought through a per-
foration made for the purpose, and connected with the battery; the other wire,
which is attached to the alarm, is fixed to the tap, which when turned is by a
small pin or cog brought into contact with the battery wire, and gives an alarm,
which will not cease until the tap is closed.
For the prevention of fire in dwelling houses, public buildings, bonded and
other warehouses, as also for protecting ships from spontaneous combustion, or
fire arising from other causes, I prepare an apparatus which will give an almost
immediate alarm before the fire has time to become sufficiently active to burst
into flame. This is a very simple but very efficacious apparatus, which I make
of copper, brass, or other metal which may be a good conductor of heat. I
make it in the shape and about the size of a lady's watch, and coat the interior
with thin enamel. To this 1 attach a small circular tube, also lined with
enamel. I fill the case with mercury, which, from its well-known property of

page_text: expansion under heat, will rise under a very trifling increase of temperature
until it brings the two wires in the tube into contact, and causes an immediate
alarm.
In bonded or other warehouses, or in buildings not inhabited, I place a
large turret alarm on the outside, which is set in motion by the wires acting
on a magnet, which releases a detent that holds the weight or spring. This
at once sets the bell ringing, and alarms the immediate neighbourhood.
I fix my water apparatus in the holds or wells of ships, so that it may give
immediate notice of any sudden leakage, and also in mines, to give the alarm
throughout the mine, and at the pit's mouth, of any sudden eruption of water,
so that immediate assistance can be rendered from above, and the miners have
ample time to escape. The apparatus is somewhat similar to a miniature
drawbridge; it has two buttresses made of wood, on each of which there is a
small surface of metal, to which the connecting wires are fixed, one to either
buttress. The bridge is fastened to one of the buttresses by hinges; it is of
wood, but has a small metallic band, which when raised to its level brings
the two wires into contact. One end only is fastened; the other is allowed
to fall down, but is immediately raised upon any sudden eruption of water,
when contact is made, and the alarm given.
It is essential that the wire used as part and parcel of the various apparatus
should be able to withstand moisture and heat, for which purpose I specially
prepare a wire by first coating it with cotton and then coating it with a solu-
tion of oxidized oil, gum thus, minium, and black carbon. I generally use
two or three coats, and allow each of them to dry before I apply the others.