An Improved Guest Call and Want Indicator.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th June. 1894
Complete Specification Left, 12th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 8th June. 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Guest Call and Want Indicator.
I, FRANK HEWARD GORDELIER of 11 Palace Colonnade Boscombe Park
Dear Bournemouth in the County of Hampshire Chemist and Druggist do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This apparatus is designed for use in hotels and boarding houses and is so
arranged that a signal is given automatically at any time for which the machine is
set & thus compels the notice of an attendant to any specified wants or orders.
66
I am aware that machines are made for similar purposes but mine has the
advantage of being more easily applicable to various requirements by means of the
secondary discs"; also that the clock is automatically "set" or unset" by the
hanging on or taking off of the "primary discs," and that the machine is furnished
with a push or other means of giving the signal at any moment.
To effect. this purpose I use a clock which may have the hour hand so
constructed that a portion of it is formed of material capable of conveying an electric
current and which in its passage round the dial passes over points of similar or
other conducting material thus completing the circuit of an electric current which
is thus carried to an electric bell or other signalling mechanism.
$6
"
gets
A series of "pins" or other projections are arranged around the dial and are so
constructed in connection with springs, pivots or other suitable mechanism that the
act of placing one or more of the "primary discs "
" the clock,
pin
upon a
and the removal of the last "dise" from the "pin ""unsets it.
The primary disc " I make of any suitable shape & material, such as thin metal,
and each bears a number or mark corresponding to a room; a "slot or opening is
made to receive the "pin" and provision is made to carry a "secondary disc
may be left blank and prepared for writing upon.
66
11
or
The "secondary discs "I make of either a temporary or permanent character and
of suitable shape & material, and either leave them blank to receive writing
""bath" "cab".
or prepare them to indicate special requirements such as "coffee
and one or more of these "dises may be used in conjunction with the
"primary discs."
"
A "push" or other suitable appliance may also be connected with the machine
for giving the signal at any moment apart from the mechanism of the clock.
The portions of the machine as indicated or inferred above may be suitably
connected & framed, or may be used in conjunction with a device for displaying
advertisements, preferably an arrangement of one or more pieces of silvered glass,
or other effective material, encircling the dial, and the surface may be divided
into spaces or segments corresponding with the hour markings of the dial.
I do not bind myself to the above details as I may find it necessary to vary them
Bomewhat by equivalent or improved methods and the machine may be modified for
use in other places than hotels, such as workshops.
Dated this Eleventh day of June Eighteen hundred and ninety-four.

page_text: I, FRANK HEWARD GORDELIER, of 11 Palace Colonnade, Boscombe Park,
near Bournemouth, in the County of Hants, Chemist and Druggist, 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
This invention relates to apparatus intended for use in hotels, boarding houses,
and other places where it may be desired to call the attention of a servant or other
person at a predetermined time or hour of the day or night, as for example in the
case of an hotel to call the attention of a porter or other person at the time when
the inmate of a certain room desires to be called, or to the fact that at a certain hour
such inmate desires to have some service performed. The improved apparatus
consists" firstly of a clock the hour-hand, or some other suitable part of which
is adapted to close an electric circuit through certain conducting points or contact
makers which can be brought into its path at certain positions round the clock face
corresponding to the time at which attention is to be called; secondly' of pins
or other projecting parts connected with suitable mechanism whereby the aforesaid
conducting points or contact makers are brought into the path of the hour-hand or
other contact maker operated by the clock; thirdly of an electric battery and bell,
and fourthly of discs or checks adapted to be applied to and removed from
the aforesaid pins or other projecting parts in such manner that the conducting
points are "set" or "unset" automatically. And in order that the said invention
may be fully understood I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to
the accompanying three sheets of drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a front view of one form of the complete apparatus,
Figure 2 a front elevation to a larger scale of the central part of Figure 1,
Figure 3 a back elevation of same part,
Figure 4 a section on line XX of Figure 3,
Figure 5 an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line Y Y of Figure 3,
Figures 6, 7 and 8 similar sectional elevations of modified forms and arrangements
of the devices shown in Figure 5, and Figures 6 and 7^ elevations taken at right
angles to Figures 6 and 7 respectively.
A is a casing or framework carrying the apparatus proper. B'is a clock of
any ordinary or other suitable construction secured in an opening C in a ring-D
preferably made of wood or other non-conductor of electricity. This ring D
is secured in the part A¹ of the casing A; the front surface of the said part A¹
may be utilised if desired for advertisement or other purposes of publicity. E is an
electric battery of any suitable construction, and F is an electric bell actuated by
the battery E when proper electric connections are made as hereinafter described.
Gis a projecting pin forming one arm of a lever turning on a fulcrum pin at H
secured to the back of the ring D. This projecting pin or lever arm G extends
through an opening I in the ring D and is normally held' in the position shown in
full lines in Figure 5 by the counterbalance weight G' which forms the other arm of
the lever fulcrumed at H. Instead of being formed as a counterbalance weight the
arm G' may be acted on by a spring if preferred:
J is a lever turning on a fulcrum K in a carriage L fixed.to the back of the
ring.D. One end of this lever takes into an opening G' in the lever arm G¹ and
the other end is bent & passes through a slot M in the metallic plate N secured to
the front of the ring D. On the front face of this plate N are marked the hours
of the day, and if desired the minutes. In the example shown in the drawings it will
be seen that the slots M in the plate N through which the ends of the levers J pass
coincide radially with the hours marked on the plate N and that the corresponding

page_text: :-
lever arms G also coincide radially with the hours. It will however be understood
that other levers similar to G and J and other corresponding slots similar to I and 'M
may be arranged to coincide with the half or quarter hour divisions if and when it
is desired to make the apparatus available for acting at smaller subdivisions of
time than one hour. The electric connections may be arranged as follows:-
P is a conductor leading from one pole of the battery E to one terminal of the
bell F. Qis a conductor leading from the other terminal of the hell F to the
plate N, and R is a conductor leading from the metallic frame of the clock B to
the other pole of the battery 'E. It will be seen that the clock B has normally
no metallic connection with the plate N consequently the circuit between the
battery E and the bell F is normally broken; but inasmuch as the hour-hand 'S of
the clock B is always in metallic contact with the frame of the clock it is in circuit
through the conductor R with the battery E. Now whenever one of the
projecting pins or lever arms G is pressed down into the position shown in dotted
lines in Figure 5 the end J¹ of the lever J is pressed forward into the position also
shown in dotted lines in that figure and at the same time the end J' comes in contact
with the end of the slot M thereby making a preliminary contact with the plate N,
so that as the hour-hand S revolves it comes in contact with the end 'J' forming the
conducting point or contact maker and as the said end J1 is at that time in metallic
contact with the end of the slot M in the plate N an electric circuit is completed
through the battery E, conductor P, bell F, conductor Q, plate N, lever JJ,
clock hand S, frame of clock B and conductor R back to battery E, causing the
bell F to ring so long as the hour hand 'S remains in contact with the end J. The
duration, of this contact of the hour-hand with the end and consequently
the length of time that the bell F continues to ring can be made long or short by
suitably proportioning the length of the parts in contact. The automatic setting or
unsetting is effected by placing one or more of the discs or checks T. shown in
Figure 1 or other similar device upon one of the projecting pins or lever_arms G,
whereby the latter is depressed from the position shown in full lines in Figure 5
to the position shown, in dotted lines in that figure, and is held in that position
until the disc or check is removed.
Assuming that an inmate of an hotel for example occupying room number 10
desires to be called at say seven o'clock, he takes the disc or check marked with the
number of his room, and which normally hangs on a 'hook in the space below
the clock as shown in Figure 1 and he hangs it by its slot U or by any other means
that may be provided for that purpose, upon the projecting pin or lever G
opposite to the hour 'figure VII on the plate N; this brings forward the eul J of
the corresponding lever J that is to say "sets" it as shown in dotted lines
in Figure 5 and as soon as the hour-hand S reaches the said hour-figure "VI
it comes in contact with the end J and closes the circuit with the 'bell 'Fas
before described, causing the same to ring, and thus drawing the attention of the
attendant, who on inspection sees that the disc or check marked No. 10 is
hanging on the lever G pointed to by the hour-hand S indicating that 'No. 10 desires
to be called at 7 o'clock.
If he then removes the disc or check from lever G the latter is restored
to its normal position by the counter weight G and the end J of the lever J
is drawn back into the position shown in full lines in Figure 5 that is to say it is
"unset. "
The discs or checks bearing the number of the inmates' rooms may be called the
primary discs; other discs or checks which may be called secondary discs such as
those shewn at T for example in Figure 1 may be provided having particular
words indicating certain requirements such as coffee,"
,""bath," "cab "and so forth
marked on them or they may be prepared with a surface suitable for being written
on to indicate special requirements, and one or more of these secondary discs
or checks may be placed with a primary disc or check on the pin or lever G in order
to indicate to the attendant that the inmate of the room corresponding to the
number marked on the primary or secondary disc or check requires, at the

page_text: time indicated by the position of the pin or lever G on which the discs or checks are
hung, the article or service indicated on the secondary disc or check.
Figures 6 and 6 show an arrangement of the devices for closing the electric
circuit in which the lever J J is dispensed with. In this case N₁ is a contact
spring connected electrically by a wire Qi for example through the bell F or otherwise
with the battery E. J is a conductor fixed to the ring D. One end J¹ of this
conductor projects through a non-conducting dial or plate D* to the front so as to
stand in the path of the hour-hand S and the other end terminates in a spring J'
which bears on the part G' of the lever arm G. S' is a contact spring secured to
the hour-hand S. When one of the discs or checks T or T* is hung on the lever
arm G the arm G₁ of the latter is raised and brings the spring part J of the
conductor J* into contact with the spring N¹ in readiness for the passage of the
current when the contact spring S₁ of the hour-hand comes in contact with
the end of the conductor J. "When that occurs the current passes and rings the
bell as before.
Figure 7 shows a similar modification but in this case the conductor J* forms the
fulcrum of the lever G G¹ the part G' of which comes in contact with the contact
spring N without the intervention of the spring part J' when the disc or check is
hung on the arm G, so that the current passes direct from the spring N' to the
end of the conductor J* through the arm G' when the spring S¹ on the
hour-hand comes in contact with the said end.
"
Figure 8 shows a further modification in which a sliding rod G* is employed
instead of the lever arm G. This rod G* is normally pressed inwards into the
position shown in full lines in the figure by means of a spring G³, but when it is
desired to "set the device the rod G is drawn out into the position shown
in dotted lines so that the notch G³ is brought in front of the ring D and the disc
or check T is then slipped over it into the said notch G³ and the rod G is thereby
locked in that position. The contact spring G* fixed to the end of the rod G* is
thus brought into contact with the conductor J* and with the general conductor N
which may consist of a ring connected like that shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 to
the battery through the bell or otherwise. The circuit is closed by the spring S¹
on the hour-hand as explained in reference to Figures 6 and 7. When the
disc or check T is removed the rod G* is drawn inwards by the spring G³ and the
connection between the conductors J* and N is broken.
Instead of making the electric contact by means of the hour-hand such contact
may be made by any other suitable device actuated by the clock, and this device
together with the conducting points with which it makes contact may, if preferred,
be placed entirely behind the face of the clock and the ring D, that is to say out of
sight from the front of the apparatus.
It will be understood that the discs or checks may be made of any suitable
material but by preference of such weight that any one of them is sufficient
to depress the pin or lever G so as to bring the point Jinto position to be touched
by the hour-hand S or other device provided for that purpose.
The apparatus may also be provided with one or more electric pushes V V to
ring the bell F in order to call the attention of an attendant without recourse to the
automatic apparatus, but such application of such pushes forms no part of my
invention.
A switch V may also be provided for throwing the electric appliances into and
out of action if and when desired.
The apparatus maj
may
be mounted and framed in any suitable way, but I prefer to
utilise the spaces
round the clock for displaying advertisements and for this
purpose the said spaces W may be covered with silvered glass or other effective
material on which the advertisements are printed, painted or otherwise applied.
I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the particular details of
construction of the apparatus shown and described as they may be varied according
to circumstances without departing from the nature of my invention.
I would further have it understood that I am aware that guest calls are already

page_text: known in which the electric circuit for sounding the call-bell is closed by the hour-hand
of a clock, or by other contact maker moved by such clock coming in contact
with appropriately placed conducting points or pins, and that I make no claim
generally to such apparatus. I ain also aware that discs, checks and other similar
devices have been used with such apparatus for the purpose of indicating numbers
or requirements in connection with time, but so far as I am aware they have not
heretofore been used in the manner described in this Specification.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
First. The improved guest-call and want-indicator which consists of a series of
conducting points or contact makers so arranged in relation to a clock that the
hour-hand or other suitable contact-making device moved by such clock closes
an electric circuit through such of the said conducting points or contact makers
as have been moved into the path of the said hour-hand or other contact-making
device by the application to mechanism actuating the said conducting points of
one or more discs, checks or other similar devices bearing the number of a room
or the indication of a requirement, substantially as described.
Second. In a guest-call and want-indicator a clock B, a series of movable
conducting points or contact makers J J adapted to make electric contact with
the hour-hand of the clock, or with other suitable contact-maker moved by such
clock, projecting pins or levers G adapted to move the said conducting points
or contact makers J J', discs, checks or other similar devices T or T* bearing
numbers or the indication of a requirement, and adapted to act by gravity on
the projecting pins or levers G, a electric battery E and bell F, and suitable
electric connections, combined, arranged and operating substantially as described
with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings.
Third. In a guest-call and want-indicator a clock B, a series of conducting points
or contact makers J* J'adapted to make electric contact with the hour-hand of the
clock, or with other suitable contact maker moved by such clock, projecting
levers G or sliding pins G* adapted to make electric contact with the points
or contact makers JJ', discs, checks or other similar devices T or T* bearing
numbers or the indication of a requirement, and adapted to be applied to the said
levers G or pins G*, an electric battery E and bell F, and suitable electric
connections, combined, arranged and operating substantially as described with
reference to Figures 6, 6, 7, 7 and 8 of the drawings.
Fourth. In a guest-call or want-indicator in which the electric circuit for
sounding the call-bell is closed by the hour-hand of a clock, or by other suitable
contact-maker moved by such clock, moving the conducting points into and holding
them in the path of the said hour-hand or other contact-maker by means of
mechanism operated by discs, checks or other similar devices acting upon such
mechanism by gravity, substantially as described.
Fifth. In a guest-call or want-indicator in which the electric circuit for sounding
the call-bell is closed by the hour-hand of a clock or by other suitable contact maker
moved by such clock, making the preliminary electric connection with the conducting
points by means of mechanism operated by discs, checks or other similar devices
acting upon such mechanism by gravity, substantially as described.
Dated this 10th day of March 1895
Dated the 19th das
day
March 1895
F. H. GORDELIER,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.
F. H. GORDELIER,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.