IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH FOG SIGNAL OR ALARM APPARATUS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Smith, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman,
and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH FOG SIGNAL OR
ALARM APPARATUS." A communication from abroad by George Sweanor,
of Montreal, Quebec, Dominion of Canada, Machinist.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Thomas James Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd November 1877.
THOMAS JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of
166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AND CONNECTED WITH FOG SIGNAL OR ALARM APPARATUS." A communication
from abroad by George Sweanor, of Montreal, Quebec, Dominion of Canada,
Machinist..
This Invention relates to mechanism to sound an alarm by means of air forced
through a reed or whistle connected with an air cylinder, said mechanisin operated
by steam from a boiler; and the object of the Invention is to construct such
mechanism to operate automatically, and in the construction and arrangement of
the boiler, steam cylinder, and air cylinder, to admit of being compactly portable,
and the Invention consists,―
1st. Of a steam cylinder and an air cylinder provided with reeds or whistles
arranged vertically and alongside a steam boiler and furnace, the cylinders having
each a piston secured to the ends of one piston rod, whereby the injection of steam
into the cylinder operates both pistons in one direction, and causes the air in the
cylinder to be expelled through the reed or whistle to sound an alarm.
2nd. Of a mechanism operated by the rise and fall of the pistons to open and
close a three-way valve, consisting of a lever, having at one end two pins, one
of which passes through the top end of the steam cylinder, and the other vertical
thereto projects into the air cylinder through its bottomless end, whereby the steam
piston in rising and the air piston in falling strike the pins and elevate and depress
the lever alternately, to cause its opposite end to operate a lever connected to a
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page_text: three-way valve in the steam pipe to shut off steam and open the exhaust port,
and vice versa, for the operation of the piston.
The Drawing hereunto annexed represents an elevation of this machine partly in
section.
A is an upright steam boiler; B, the fire-box; C, the ash-pit, the latter forming
the base of the portable machine.
D is a vertical steam cylinder contiguous to the boiler, and above the same;
and vertical thereto is the bottomless air cylinder E, each cylinder having a
piston D, E, secured to the ends of a piston rod F. On the top of the air-
cylinder E is a hollow chamber F' provided with a reed or whistle and a horn G,
through which the air is expelled by the rising of the piston E¹, as herein-after
explained, and sounds an audible alarm. The cylinder D is open, perforated, or
inwardly valved at its top or head, and is fed with steam from the boiler below the
piston D¹ by a supply pipe H connecting with a pipe I at the lower end of the
cylinder. At the junction of the pipes H, I, is a three-way valve J, and the exhaust
section of the pipe I is provided with an exhaust regulating valve K.
K' is a lever, fulcrumed at the top of the boiler or other suitable fixture, one
end connected by rods L, L¹, to operate the three-way valve J; and to the other
end of the said lever is attached an upright fixed pin M, which projects into the
cylinder E through its bottomless end, and a pin N hinged to the lever K near the
pin M projects downwardly through the head of the cylinder D into said cylinder;
the piston D in rising strikes it and forces it upwardly, whereby the opposite end
of the lever is depressed, and causes it to operate the levers to close the channel in
the three-way valve to shut off steam from the cylinder D and open the channel to
the exhaust pipe I to allow the piston D¹ to fall. The cylinder E is bottomless,
and in its top may be placed an inwardly operating valve E² to admit air while the
piston E¹ is descending, but such means may be dispensed with and the suction pass
through the reed, thus causing the alarm to sound during the downward as well
as the upward motion of the piston; but when the said valve E2 is rendered
inoperative the sound will occur only at intervals, namely, during the expulsion of
air through the reed or whistle in chamber F¹. The piston E¹ in descending strikes
the pin M, which forces upwardly the opposite end of the lever K¹, thereby
operating the connecting levers to operate the three-way valve to shut off the.
exhaust channel and open the steam supply channel, to cause the steam to lift the
piston D¹ and E¹, the latter expelling the air through the reed to sound the alarm.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,---
Firstly. The combination of appliances herein described and shown in the
annexed Drawings.
Secondly. The air cylinder E provided with a sounding reed or whistle, and a
steam cylinder D vertically arranged, each having a piston D¹, E1, connected by a
rod F in combination with a steam boiler A and valved tubes for supplying and
exhausting the cylinder D of steam as set forth, and as shown in the Drawing.
Thirdly. I claim the lever K having pins M and N operated by the pistons
D, E, automatically opening and closing the three-way valve connecting the
supply and exhaust pipes H, I, of the boiler A and cylinder D, as set forth, and
substantially as shown in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-seven.
T. J. SMITH. (L.S.)