Improvements in Fire Alarms.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 17th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM JACOB SCHWEIGER, of 200, East
3rd Street, New York, in the County and State of New York, United States
of America, Electrical Engineer.]
Improvements in Fire Alarms.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide a concealed fire alarm within each of
the several sleeping and other apartments of a hotel, steamship or dwelling, which
on the outbreak of a fire will be capable of being operated from different parts of
the structure to awaken all occupants and indicate thereto by printed matter, caused
to be exposed, the presence of fire and means for escaping.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a hotel sufficient to illustrate the
application of my invention to the several rooms thereof, and means for operating
the same from different parts of the structure.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an alarm instrument, the casing therefor being shown
in section and set in a wall.
Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same, certain parts being omitted.
Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the lower portion of the same, and showing the
door open.
Fig. 5 is a detail.
A designates apartments in each of which a fire alarm instrument, B, is applied
in such a manner as to be practically unobservable by a guest occupying the
same.
bis a casing for the instrument and may be of any suitable material such as wood
or metal. is a door therefor hinged at its lower edge so as to open downwardly.
This door and the exposed edges of the casing are arranged flush with the wall of
the compartment and are papered or painted to correspond therewith, and therefore
forming in appearance a part of the wall.
C is a magnet arranged to act on a lever c mounted to rock on pivots c' and held
normally against a stop e' by means of a coil spring c³.
This lever c is provided with a hook portion c adapted to engage with a resilient
hook secured to the door when the latter is closed.
d is an adjustable stop to limit the motion of the door when closed to properly
engage with the hook c.
E is a make and break magnet having an armature e' fulcrumed at e' and
provided with a hammer arm ³ bent or looped at e around the edge of a bell, F,
shown dotted in Fig. 3, so as to enable the hammer e to act on the outside of the
bell. By thus arranging the magnet and its parts on the inside of the bell, and
the hammer on the outside thereof, a better tone is obtained and the parts are
protected from dust besides economizing space. ƒ is a resilient stop to impart the
initial return motion of the armature from the magnet-poles.
g is a light coil spring to hold the armature spring e in contact with the
stop e'.
H is a spring, of which there may be two if desired, serving to impart the initial
opening motion of the door when the latter is released from the hook c'.
After being forced outwardly the door will fall in a downward position by
gravity and display printed matter as shown in Fig. 4.

page_text: I is an incandescent lighting lamp of ordinary construction secured to the door 6¹
adjacent to the hinges thereof, and connected by expanding coils of wire i to the
binding posts which are connected by wire to the binding posts respectively.
k is a wire extending from the binding post to the magnets C and thence by
wire k¹ to the post j¹.
l is a wire connected to the wire and extending through the magnet E to the
fulcrum e which is in electrical connection with a wire connected to the wire k'.
mm are the main circuit wires connected respectively to the posts jj.
The magnets C and E together with the lamp I are preferably connected in
multiple are as shewn, and will be simultaneously operated to respectively cause
the opening of the door, the ringing of the alarm bell, and the lighting of the lamp
whereby the printed matter may be read, on an alarm of fire.
The position of the lamp in-Fig.-3-when the door is closed is indicated by dotted
lines. N denotes hallways on the several floors, in which switches P of ordinary
construction are secured. These switches are connected to the main circuit wires
in multiple arc, whereby any one of them, on an alarm of fire may be used to
operate all the instruments B throughout the entire structure simultaneously.
The source of the electrical current may be derived from an incandescent
lighting circuit or from a storage or ordinary primary battery Q arranged in the
cellar or other convenient part of the structure.
If desired an ordinary automatic fire alarm switch may be arranged in the main
circuit wires at convenient parts of the structure and adapted to operate to close
the circuit when the heat caused by the presence of fire reaches a certain tem-
perature. I have shewn wires m², m³, extending from the circuit wires m m' of the
structure, to a fire department station.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
1. In an electrical alarm system as described an alarm bell for the several
apartments inclosed in a casing concealed in a wall and having a door adapted to
open on an electrical alarm and display printed instructions for escaping, the said
casing having an electric light lamp arranged therein and capable of being lighted
simultaneously with the opening of the door substantially as described.
2. In combination the bell detachably secured to a post extending from the
casing, the magnet E supported by the casing band having an armature el
provided with a hammer arranged to act on the exterior of the bell, and circuit
breaking mechanism as described, the latter and the magnets E being wholly
enclosed within the dome of the bell substantially as described.
3. In an electrical fire alarm system the instrument B comprising a casing let
into a wall, a door therefor provided with printed instructions in case of fire, and
arranged flush with the wall to form a part thereof in appearance, a magnet
arranged to act on a catch as c to release the door, a make and break magnet as E
for sounding an alarm bell, an electric light lamp secured to the door, and circuit
wires connecting the lamp and magnets to the main circuit wires to operate
simultaneously, substantially as described.
4. In an electric fire alarm system as described, an alarm bell for the several
apartments, inclosed in a casing concealed in a wall and having a door adapted to
drop on an alarm of fire and display printed instructions for escaping substantially
as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.