Improvements in Alarms, particularly adapted for Awakening Persons and Ensuring the Arising of the Persons Awakened.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Jan., 1890.
Complete Specification Left, 20th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 22nd Nov., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Alarms, particularly adapted for Awakening Persons
and Ensuring the Arising of the Persons Awakened.
I, MATTHEW DICKIE Junior of Park Mill, Stockport in the County of Chester,
Cotton Doubler, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
a
My invention relates to a system of alarm particularly adapted for awakening
person and ensuring the arising of the person awakened, and my invention consists
in causing firstly to be sounded to awaken the person to be aroused, a bell or other
similar apparatus which the person aroused may without leaving the room, cause to
cease sounding and secondly to be sounded after a determined time the same bell or
other similar apparatus or another bell or similar apparatus which can then only be
caused to cease sounding by means of apparatus which has to be operated in a room
other than that in which the person was awakened.
To accomplish my invention I employ a clock and a part by means of which the
alarm is adjusted to be sounded at a certain time. I provide a finger which when
the alarm is to be sounded completes an electric circuit in which is an electric bell.
When the alarm clock at any desired time completes the electric circuit above
mentioned the bell in such circuit will be caused to ring and will continue to ring
until the electric circuit is interrupted by means of a switch or other suitable apparatus
with which the circuit is provided. A further movement of the alarm clock will
cause the finger above named or a corresponding part to complete another electric
circuit in which the bell before named or another bell is situate, such bell continuing
to ring until the electric circuit is interrupted by means of a switch or other suitable
appliance situate in some room or place other than that in which the person to be
aroused was awakened so that such person will be thoroughly aroused and required
to go to the room or place in which is the said switch or other suitable appliance in
order to interrupt the circuit in which is the electric bell.
I have hereinbefore referred to an electric bell or electric bells being employed but
other similar apparatus operated by an electric current may be employed.
Dated this Eighteenth day of January 1890
W. T. CHEETHAM,
Manchester, Agent to the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Alarms, particularly adapted for Awakening Persons
and Ensuring the Arising of the Persons Awakened.
1, MATTHEW DICKIE, Junior of Park Mill, Stockport in the County of Chester,
Cotton Doubler 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 :-
My invention relates to a system of alarm particularly adapted for awakening a
person and ensuring the arising of the person awakened, and my invention consists
in causing firstly to be sounded to awaken the person to be aroused, a bell or other
similar apparatus which the person aroused may without leaving the room, cause to
cease sounding and secondly to be sounded after a determined time the same bell or
other similar apparatus or another bell or similar apparatus which can then only be
caused to cease sounding by means of apparatus which has to be operated in a room
or place other than that in which the person was awakened.
To accomplish my invention I employ a clock and a part by means of which the

page_text: alarm is adjusted to be sounded at a certain time. I provide a finger which when
the alarm is to be sounded completes an electric circuit in which is an electric bell.
When the alarm clock at any desired time completes the electric circuit above
mentioned the bell in such circuit will be caused to ring and will continue to ring
until the electric circuit is interrupted by means of a switch or other suitable
apparatus with which the circuit is provided. A further movement of the alarm
clock will cause the finger above named or a corresponding part to complete
another electric circuit in which the bell before named or another bell is situate,
such bell continuing to ring until the electric current is interrupted by means of a
switch or other suitable appliance situate in some room or place other than that
in which the person to be aroused was awakened, so that such person will be
thoroughly aroused and required to go to the room or place in which is the said
switch or other suitable appliance in order to interrupt the circuit in which is the
electric bell.
The accompanying drawing illustrates one method of carrying my invention into
effect and illustrates an arrangement in which one electric bell is caused to sound at
one time and again after the lapse of a determined time.
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the general arrangement of the apparatus employed and
Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a front elevation and a plan of the clock employed
and the parts attached thereto.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken through the axis of the arbor of the hour hand
of the clock and
Fig. 5 is an end view of tho said arbor.
Figs. 4 and 5 are drawn upon a larger scale than Figs. 2 and 3.
g
a is a clock which may be of any ordinary construction provided that it is sufficiently
strong and not readily deranged. On the arbor of the hour hand of the clock a
a metal sleeve e is mounted as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 so that while when necessary
it may be turned around the said arbor by hand it will during the working of the
clock a be carried round by such arbor without slipping thereon. To the sleeve c
is connected a metal arm or finger d which in the revolution of the arbor is brought
into contact first with a spring e secured to the case a', or other suitable part of the
clock a and afterwards into contact with a spring falso secured to the case a¹ or other
suitable part of the clock a. The springs e, f are preferably made of platinum or
other metal which is not liable to speedy oxidation and such springs e, f must be so
made that while being sufficiently strong to keep in contact with the arm or finger d
to the required extent they will not interfere with the proper working of the clock a by
retarding or arresting the revolution of the arm or finger d and arbor 6'. The spring e
is placed in metallic connection with a binding screw e and the spring f is placed in
metallic connection with a binding screw f¹. An insulated wire 9 placed at one end
in metallic connection with the binding screw e¹ is at its other end placed in metallic
connection with a binding screw h² connected to one portion h' of a switch h. The binding
screw connected to the other portion of the switch is in metallic connection
with an insulated wire i in metallic connection at one end with the binding screw k¹
of an electric bell k and at the other end with the binding screw f'. The other binding
screw ² of the electric bell k is connected by an insulated wire m to one terminal u
of a battery n the other terminal or pole n² of which is placed in metallic connection
with one portion o¹ of a switch o the other portion 02 of which switch o is placed by
means of an insulated wire in metallic connection with the metallic framework a² of
the clock a and thus with the arm or finger d. Although it is in practice sufficient
to connect the terminal n² of the battery n to the metallic framework a² of the clock a
the contact between the parts of the clock a being sufficiently close to ensure electrical
connection between the finger or arm d and the terminal n² of the battery n it is obvious
that if in any case it is desirable a spring connected in any suitable manner to the
terminal or pole n² of the battery n may be caused to bear upon the sleeve c and so
place such sleeve c in connection with the battery n. When the switches h and o are
closed so as to complete the electrical circuits in which they are placed and the clock a
is "set going" the finger or arm d will after a time longer or shorter as the case may

page_text: be, arrive in contact with the spring e and so complete the circuit of which the wire g
forms part and cause the bell "to ring." The ringing of the bell k may be caused
to cease by the switch h being "opened" so as to interrupt the circuit of which the
wire g forms part. If the switch h be not opened so as to interrupt the said circuit
the arm or finger d will in time pass out of contact with the springe and so cause the
bell to cease ringing. Soon after passing out of contact with the spring e the arm
or finger d will pass into contact with the spring f and so complete the circuit which
includes the whole of the wire i and again cause the electric bell k to ring, when
unless the switch o be "opened" or caused to interrupt the said circuit the bell k will
continue to ring until the finger or arm & passes out of contact with the spring f
In practice the bell and the switch would be placed in the room or place occupied
by the person requiring to be awakened or aroused and the clock a would be placed
in some other room or place and thus when the bell k is soundel in consequence of the
finger or arm d coming in contact with the spring e such bell k may be caused to cease
soun ling by the person awakened or aroused "opening" the switch so as to interrupt
the circuit of which the wire g forins a part, and the said person after leaving the room
in which such person was awakened or aroused may "open" the switch o so as to
interrupt the circuit which includes the whole of the wire and thus prevent the
bell k from being caused to ring when the finger or arm d comes into contact with
the spring. Should the person awakened after opening the switch again go to
sleep or fail to be fully aroused the bell would in a short time again be caused to ring
by the finger or arm d arriving in contact with the spring and the said person could
not cause the bell k to cease ringing without going to the room or place where the
switch o is situate or disconnecting one of the wires i, m, from the bell k which should
be fixed so as not to be within easy reach of such person.
Having thus described the general arrangement and operation of my invention
I will now proceed to describe in greater detail certain parts of the apparatus which
I employ.
The switches and o may be of any suitable construction and the movement of the
movable parts of such switches may be limited in any suitable manner.
To enable the time at which the arm or finger d will be brought into contact with
the springe by the revolution of the arbor to be readily determined and changed
when required I provide the sleeve c with a disc c¹ bearing numbers corresponding
with those on the dial of the clock a. The position of the numbers on the disc c¹ must
The
be such that the number on the disc c¹ which is covered by the hour hand of the
clock a will indicate the time at which the arm or finger d will be brought into contact
with the spring e. The contact of the arm or finger d with the spring f will thus take
place a little later than the contact of the arm or finger d with the spring e.
position of the arm or finger d in relation to the numbers on the disc will depend
upon the position of the spring e in regard to the numbers on the dial of the clock a.
In the case illustrated in the accompanying drawing the part e² of the spring e is placed
near the figure 12 on the dial of the clock and thus the finger or arm & on the sleeve c
must be placed in a corresponding position near the figure 12 on the disc c¹ attached
to the sleeve c. In order that the arm or finger d may be caused to arrive in contact
with the part of the spring e precisely at the time corresponding to that indicated
by the portion of the disc e which is covered by the hour hand of the clock a the
arm or finger d may be bent so as to point in a direction inclined more or less to the
radius of the disc c which passes through the base d' of the arm or finger d, it being
thus easy to adjust the extremity of the arm or finger d so that it shall be in
the precise position for causing the bell k to ring at the time corresponding
to that indicated by the number on the disc c¹ opposite to the hour hand 6 of the
clock a.
The springs e and fand the arm or finger d may be placed in front of or behind
the face of the clock a but I prefer that they should be in front of the said face as then
any adjustments which may be required in such springs e, f and arm or finger d may
be more readily accomplished.
The degree of pressure and the duration of contact between the spring ƒ and the

page_text: arm or finger d may be adjusted by means of the screw f2 and nut f³. The screw f
passes through the case a¹ of the clock a and through the spring below which a pin
or cross-bar f passes through or is secured to the screw f2. The spring f is bent in
the manner illustrated in Fig. 2 so that the portion f³ of such spring f is at some
distance from the inner surface of the case a¹ of the clock a. By the nut f³ being
turned so as to raise the screw f' the end f³ of the spring f will be caused to be a
shorter time in contact with the arm or finger d when such arm or finger d is brought
into contact with the said spring f by the revolution of the arbor and by the
nut being turned so as to lower the screw f2 the end f³ of the spring will
be caused to be a longer time in contact with the arm or finger d during the
revolution of the arm or finger d. The turning of the nut 3 in the manner
described will also cause the time elapsing between the contact of the arm or
finger d with the spring e and the contact of such arm or finger d with the
spring to be varied in length. The battery n may be of any kind which is
suitable for use in connection with electric bells but I prefer to use what is known
as a "dry battery" as when a battery of such kind is employed it may be secured
to the case a¹ of the clock a as illustrated in the accompanying drawing and thus
the connection between one of the poles of the said battery and the portion o₁ of
the switch o being made once for all the application of the apparatus in the various
places in which it is required is facilitated and made possible for persons of little
skill in electrical arrangements.
"
"
In the accompanying drawing the wires forming the electric circuits are indicated
by lines formed of alternate long and short strokes. I will now assume that the
apparatus is to be employed to awaken a person about six o'clock a.m. and that
the time when the apparatus is
"
set is some time after six o'clock p.m. The
person "setting" the apparatus
55
closes the switch o or turns the movable part
of such switch o into the position in which it is indicated in full lines and turns
the sleeve c around the arbor of the hour hand b of the clock a until the
figure 6 is covered by the said hour hand. The said person then ascertains that
the switch is "closed" or that the movable part of such switch his turned
into the position in which it is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The apparatus
is then "set." When the hour hand b of the clock arrives at the figure 6 on
the dial of the clock a the finger or arm d will arrive in contact with the spring e
and so cause the bell k to ring and awaken the person to be aroused who may
then turn the movable part of the switch into the position in which it is indicated
by full lines in Fig. 1 and so cause the bell k to cease ringing. Shortly for
instance a quarter of an hour after the hour hand of the clock a arrives opposite
to the figure 6 on the dial of the clock a the finger or arm d will arrive in
contact with the spring f and again cause the bell to ring until the switch o is
moved into the position in which it is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 or until
the finger or arm & passes out of contact with the spring f.
As the finger or arm & comes into contact with the springs e, f twice in every
twenty-four hours it is obvious that at the time when the bell is not required to
sound the switch o should remain open so that the current from the battery will
not pass when the finger or arm d arrives in contact with the springs e, f.
Although I have shown one electric bell as being caused to sound when either
the circuit of which the wire forms a part or the circuit which includes the
whole of the wire is completed I would have it understood that one, two or
several electric bells may be employed and that the circuit completed by the
contact of the finger or arm d with the spring e may include one electric bell or
two or several electric bells and the circuit completed by the contact of the arm
or finger d with the spring f may include another electric bell or other electric
bells and that in place of the switches hand o other appliances by means of which
electric circuits can be completed or interrupted may be employed and that the
switch o or the other appliance used in place thereof may be placed elsewhere than on
the case of the clock.
In a modification of the arrangement illustrated
D:
1

page_text: accompanying drawing parts hinged to the casing a¹ of the clock a may be employed
instead of the springs e and f. This modification is illustrated in the accompanying
drawing by Fig. 6 which is a front view of so much of the apparatus employed as
is necessary to illustrate the said modification. Upon a pivot 9 secured to the
casing a¹ of the clock a and placed in electrical connection with the binding
screw e is mounted a part E which is capable of being readily turned upon the
pivot 9 and normally hangs in the position in which it is indicated so that its
extremity E' is within the path of the finger or arm d above mentioned. Upon
a pivot secured to the casing a¹ of the clock a and placed in electrical connection
with the binding screw fis mounted a part F which is capable of being readily
turned upon the pivot and normally hangs in the position in which it is indicated
so that its extremity F¹ is within the path of the finger or arm d. The finger or
arm d will in its revolution with the arbor 6' of the hour hand of the clock a
come into contact with the part E and afterwards turn such part E into contact
with the part F and so complete the two electrical circuits provided in a manner
similar to that described in reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying
drawing. After passing clear of the part E the finger or arm d will pass into
contact with the part F. If the part F be made of sufficient length for the part E
to be turned into contact with it by the finger or arm d it is not necessary for
the part F to be of such length that its extremity shall be within the path of the
finger or arm d but it is preferable that the part F should be made long enough
to project into the path of the finger or arm d.
I have hereinbefore referred to an electric bell or electric bells being employed
but other similar apparatus operated by an electric current may be employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The hereinbefore described system of alarm apparatus in which of two electric
circuits which are provided one is completed by a part attached to a clock some
time before the other is completed and while the circuit first completed can be
readily interrupted by a person in one room or place the means provided for
interrupting the circuit last completed can only be made use of by a person going
to some room or place other than that in which are the means provided for the
purpose of interrupting the circuit first completed.
2. In the system of alarm apparatus herein before described the arrangement
consisting in the spring e and switch and spring fand switch o and the electrical
circuits of which they form parts and arranged and operating in conjunction with
a finger or armi d revolving with the hour hand of a clock substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein before described.
3. In the system of alarm apparatus herein before described the arrangement
consisting in the part E and switch h and part F and switch o and the electrical
circuits of which they form parts and arranged and operating in conjunction with
a finger or arm d revolving with the hour hand of a clock substantially in the
manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
Dated this Eighteenth day of October 1990.
L
ANTITY E
W. T. CHEETHAM,
Manchester, Agent to the Applicant.