REPEATER ACTION TO BE USED FOR STRIKING RAPIDLY CALL, BICYCLE, AND OTHER BELLS
Year: 1884

page_text: DEVITICAL
I, ALFRED NICHOLAS of No 3 Malvern Villas Havelock Rd Handsworth in the
County of Stafford Call Bell Maker do hereby declare the nature of my Invention
for A NEW REPEATER ACTION TO BE USED FOR STRIKING RAPIDLY CALL, BICYCLE,
AND OTHER BELLS to be as follows:-
A tube A with bell B attached, is fixed in the center of a frame. C. C. C which
carries a pinion D with the escape wheel E, a crutch F holds the verge G and
hammer H, inside the tube A is a spring I and the grooved rod J pressing its lower
end when the rod J is pressed down with the finger, the grooved end of it
engages the pinion D through a gap in tube A, the escape wheel revolves, giving
to the verge G and the hammer H a rapid reciprocating movement, the bell B.
being so placed as to receive the blows from hammer H, the finger being removed,
the spring I forces back the rod J to its normal position, ready again for use.
Dated this 9th day of February 1884

page_text: I, ALFRED NICHOLAS of 3 Malvern Villas, Havelock Road Handsworth in the
County of Stafford, Call Bell Maker do hereby declare the nature of said
Invention for "A NEW REPEATER ACTION TO BE USED FOR STRIKING RAPIDLY,
CALL, BICYCLE AND OTHER BELLS" 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 my Invention, is to produce a repeater action, to be used, for
striking rapidly and intermittently, call bells, bicycle bells, and other bells; that is,
on pressure being applied to a pusher situated on the top or at any other convenient
part of the bell, a reciprocating movement is imparted to a bell-hammer or clapper,
by the teeth of a face wheel, which intermittently strikes and returns the hammer
or clapper, on motion being imparted to the face wheel, by rack like teeth, on the
pusher rod engaging within the teeth of a pinion, attached to a ratchet wheel,
which rotates on the same axis as the face or escape wheel. A pawl on the face
wheel engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, so that when the pusher
ród is pressed for ringing, it moves vertically, down the tube; and in its motion,
the annular or rack like teeth engage with the pinion crossing the gapped part of
the guide tube; the pawl now being engaged with the ratchet teeth compels the
face wheel and pinion to move together, and thus the rotation of the face or escape
wheel compels the teeth upon its face to act alternately upon a verge or pallet
oscillating upon an axis carrying the stem of the hammer or clapper; so that on
the movement upwards of the escape or face wheel, the teeth upon its outer edge
presses the verge or pallet aside, and forces the hammer or clapper in contact with
the edge of the bell. The verge by this movement has now come in front of the
teeth on the inside face of the said escape wheel, so that on the continued motion
of the said escape wheel the hammer is returned or brought back to its former
position with the verge again in front of a striking tooth, thus a series of rapid
impulses or vibrations are imparted to the hammer by the continued movement of
the escape wheel.
The return movement of the pusher is effected by a coiled spring situated in the
lower part of the guide tube, upon which the lower end of the said pusher presses
when forced down, the return movement of the pusher rod rotates the pinion, but
allows the escape wheel to remain at rest, by the pawl attached thereto, slipping
over the ratchet teeth.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, partly in vertical section, a call bell with
repeater action constructed according to my Invention, for striking rapidly or
imparting a series of impulses to a hammer for the ringing of the bell; the repeater
action being in its normal position ready for striking. Figure 2 represents
a longitudinal vertical section of the same with some of the parts broken off, so as
to better exhibit the acting parts; the pusher rod being shown partly compressed,
and the verge just being acted upon by one of the striking teeth of the escape
wheel. Figure 3 is a side elevation of Figure 1. with the bell partly in section.
Figure 4 is a plan of the repeater or striking mechanism with the bell removed.
Figure 5 shows a diagram upon a large scale of the part of the escape wheel,
exhibiting the striker teeth acting upon the verge carried by the hammer axis; and
Figure 6 shows the same view as Figure 5 with the back-action teeth on the inside
of the wheel bringing back the hammer after having struck the bell. Figure 7

page_text: shows a plan of the hammer, and verge, and Figure 8 an end view of the same.
Figure 9 is the pusher rod, and Figure 10 is the gapped tube in section, and in
front elevation.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
A is a tube or hollow central stem upon which the repeater mechanism and
bell B is supported; the said central tube A, rests upon a stand a³. C is a bracket
carrying the pinion D and ratchet wheel K, and also the escape wheel E upon the
axis d³. The pinion D also travels with the escape wheel E when in motion in
a direction indicated by the arrow Figure 1, but when the ratchet wheel moves in
the opposite direction, the escape wheel E remains stationary. The connecting
or travelling together of the ratchet and escape wheel is effected by the pawl or
click L, which allows the pinion as before stated to travel without the wheel one
way, but taking the escape wheel with it the other way. F is a crutch or bracket
supporting the axis carrying the verge G, and hammer axis g'. H is the hammer
or clapper, which oscillates upon the axis g on the verge G coming in contact with
the moving teeth e²es of the escape wheel E. The return movement of the pusher
rod J is effected by a coiled spring I on pressure being relaxed on the top of the
said pusher rod.
The pinion D gears with the annular grooves or rack like teeth j through an
opening or gap in the central support or tube A.
The action of the bell is as follows. On downward pressure being applied to
the presser knob or cap ³, Figure 1, the pusher rod J is lowered and the annular
grooves or rack like teeth j engaging with the pinion D, turns the said pinion and
ratchet wheel K, and the escape wheel E also, by the pawl L attached to the
escape wheel engaging with the ratchet wheel on the pinion axis; the result is,
that the escape wheel E is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow Figure 1
and that each time one of the teeth e strikes the verge or pallet G, it partially
rotates the axis g' and consequently impinges the hammer against the bell. The
throwing of the hammer into this position brings the face of the verge or pallet G
upon the teeth e³ on the inside edge of the escape wheel, which recoils or brings
back the hammer to its normal or non-striking position; that is, when the
pusher rod is depressed it turns the pinion, ratchet wheel and escape wheel, the
teeth of which said escape wheel are presented alternately to the two sides of
the verge so that each oscillation or reciprocation of the hammer is occasioned by
the pressure of the teeth of the escape wheel against the said verge, and the
oscillation of the hammer is performed with greater or less rapidity, according to
the pressure exerted upon the knob or cap on the summit of the pusher rod, or in
other words, the rapidity of vibration of the hammer is determined by the force
with which the pusher rod is pressed. The pusher rod now being in its depressed
position by relieving pressure from the knob or cap³, the said rod rises or is urged
upwards by the coiled spring I, enclosed within the bottom of the tube or central
support A; the result is, that the upward movement of the rack like teeth,*
rotates the pinion D with it, and also the ratchet wheel K mounted upon its axis,
leaving the escape wheel at rest. The ratchet wheel and escape wheel being
disassociated from each other's motion by the pawl L slipping or wiping over the
reverse way of the teeth of the ratchet wheel, by the return movement of the
pusher rod; the parts resume their normal positions, and the bell is again ready
for use.
The application of my Invention to bicycle and other bells, differs in no essential
respect from its application to a call bell herein-before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is. In the repeater action to be used for striking rapidly, call bells,
bicycle bells and other bells.
First. Oscillating bell hammers or clappers, for striking rapidly and intermittently
call, bicycle and other bells, by means of a pusher rod constructed and acting

page_text: substantially as herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1. 2. 3 and 4 of the
accompanying Drawings; that is to say, rapidly vibrating a bell hammer or clapper,
by moving a verge or pallet mounted upon the same axis through an arc, by the
teeth of a face wheel impinging alternately upon the opposite sides of a verge or
pallet, on motion being communicated to the face or escape wheel by means of
a grooved pusher rod, gearing with a pinion crossing a gapped tube, in which the
pusher rod works; the repeater action of the bell, resuming its normal position by
a coiled spring, as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The construction and combination of the parts of a repeater action
hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying
Drawings for rapidly striking, call and other bells, the parts being constructed,
operated and working in the way as described and illustrated.
Thirdly The gapped tube or central support marked A, a³. The annular
grooved pusher rod J, js, as represented in Figures 9 and 10 of the accompanying
Drawings.