Improvements in Appliances Operated by a Door for Turning Up or Down Electric or other Lights.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 15th May, 1894-Accepted, 4th Aug., 1894
Improvements in Appliances Operated by a Door for Turning
Up or Down Electric or other Lights.
We, EDWARD MANN of Palace Chambers 9 Bridge Street, Electrical Engineer
and JAMES HOPWOOD of Queen Anne's Mansions Carpenter, both in the City of
Westminster do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
The object of this invention is to automatically by opening a door turn on or off
or turn up or down as required the light or lights in a room or other place, and
more especially a water closet, lavatory or cupboard occasionally used. For this
purpose we apply the switch proper to the door frame and a spring pawl to the
door. The switch proper is enclosed with the terminals so placed that the contact
bar can rotate between them, but the rotation is possible in one direction only
because of a stop. The bar in one position connects the terminals and is off in the
other position.
The spindle on which the bar is mounted is provided with a pawl wheel which
is actuated by the spring pawl on the door in such manner that, supposing the
current is off, and the door be opened, the pawl on the latter will turn the switch
bar so as to complete the circuit; when the door is thereupon closed the pawl will
ride on the pawl wheel without moving it, the switch bar in the " on" position
being held sufficiently in a recess or recesses in the terminals. When the door is
again opened, the pawl on the door will operate the pawl wheel so as to push the
switch bar out of its recess and break the circuit. The door may then be closed,
the current remaining off until the door is opened again. By means of a cord or
rod the pawl may be pulled out of gear with the pawl wheel when desired.
The invention may also be applied to a mechanical arrangement for turning gas
up or down.
152 1
3000
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Appliances Operated by a Door for Turning
Up or Down Electric or other Lights.
We, EDWARD MANN of Palace Chambers, 9 Bridge Street, Electrical Engineer,
and JAMES HOPWOOD of Queen Ann's Mansions, Carpenter, both in the City of
Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
.
The object of this invention is to automatically by opening a door turn on or off
or turn up or down as required the light or lights in a room or other place and
more especially a water closet, lavatory or cupboard occasionally used. For this
purpose we apply the switch proper to the door frame and a spring pawl to the
door. The switch proper has the terminals so placed that the contact bar can
rotate between them in one direction only. The bar in one position connects the
terminals and is off in the other position.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a vertical section through a switch constructed according to our

page_text: Figure 2 a plan of same and of the spring pawl which operates the switch,
partly in section, and
Figure 3 is a plan of the switch or contact bar.
The switch is enclosed in a casing A and is provided with two.terminals N and S
between which the contact bar B can rotate, the rotation being possible in one
direction only because of the four slanting steps or stops C two of which are of
metal and in one with the terminals N and S respectively and the other two of
which are formed in the cylindrical piece of non conducting material I into
which the terminals N and S are fixed. The bar B has a hole in the centre
through which goes the spindle D. The spindle D on which the bar B is mounted
is provided with a pawl wheel D' which is actuated by the spring pawl F on the
door G. This pawl is jointed to its bracket F¹ and held up to a tooth or stop on
same by the spring F. The body B' of the contact bar is made of insulating
material and has on its underside the contact bar B with metallic teeth of easy
slope which gear and make electrical contact with corresponding teeth or steps on
the terminals N and S, a helical spring D' on the spindle D permitting the teeth to
rise out of or into gear and contact when the spindle D is turned round.
Supposing the current is off, that is to say the contact bar B standing at about
right angles to the terminals N and S as shewn; then when the door G is opened,
the pawl F on it will act on the pawl wheel D¹ and turn the bar B round
oue fourth of a turn so as to complete the circuit by contact of the teeth of the
contact bar B with the terminals N and S. When the door is thereupon closed
the pawl F will ride upon the teeth of the pawl wheel without moving it, the
switch bar B in the "on" position being held sufficiently by the spring D³ causing
the teeth on the bar B to hold in the sloping recesses of the terminals N and S in
the body part I of insulating material. When the door is again opened the pawl F
on the door will operate the pawl wheel so as to push the switch bar out from the
terminals N and S and break the circuit. The door may then be closed, the
current remaining off until the door is opened again. By means of a cord or rod
connected to the eye-H the pawl-F-may be pulled out of gear with-the-pawl-wheel
when desired; the switch may then be operated by hand independently of the
door. K is a hole in the casing through which the wires are led.
The invention may also be applied to a mechanical arrangement for turning gas
up or down. In such cases we connect the spring pawl on the door with a lever
on the pawl wheel spindle which latter forms the plug of the gas tap. The tap
must be so constructed that it never turns off the gas completely but leaves a small
flame burning in the off position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :
1. The application to a door of a spindle with pawl wheel and to the door frame
of a spring pawl the pawl wheel being connected to a switch or other part for
automatically by the opening of the door turning on and off electric or other light,
substantially as set forth.
2. The construction of switch applied to a door frame and spring pawl applied
to a door for automatically by the opening of the door turning on and off the
electric light, substantially as described and shewn.
Dated this 15th day of Mov 1801
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.