IMPROVED STRIKE BELLS, AIR BELLS, AND SIGNAL APPARATUS, APPLICABLE TO CARRIAGES AND OTHER PURPOSES SPECIFIED
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Christopher Richard Norris Palmer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st October 1859.
I, CHRISTOPHER RICHARD NORRIS PALMER, of Islington, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED STRIKE BELLS, AIR BELLS, AND SIGNAL APPARATUS, APPLICABLE TO
CARRIAGES AND OTHER PURPOSES SPECIFIED," to be as follows:-
Omnibus telegraph.-Along the upper roof I fix one or two moulded rubber
air vessels or inflated rings, one inch deep with a quarter-inch passage in the
centre of the ring, thro' which I place a short metal rod having a nob at one
end and a hole at the other, to which I fasten a chain one foot long. A cast-
metal guard completely covers each vessel, except a quarter-inch hole in the
centre, thro' which the rod projects downwards. A whistle or sound instru-
ment, near conductor or driver, is connected with one or both air vessels by a
tube running outside the lining. Any passenger by pulling the chain flattens
the rubber vessel, and effects a signal.
Bell on the centre of a narrow strip of flat brass.-I fix an upright pillar
about two inches high, having one (or two) short arms projecting horizontally;
over this I fix a bell. A flat brass or steel hammer spring (a hammer at one
end, thro' which the spring slightly projects) is fixed on the arm, so that the
hammer hangs downwards, sitting close to the inside rim of the bell. A metal
rod will work horizontally with the base thro' a guide hole in the pillar foot.
A spiral spring circles the near end of this rod, and a catch or swivel is so

page_text: placed near the other end that passengers, by pulling a wire or chain, cause the
hammer head to be forced backwards by the catch, the return action striking
the bell, and the spring bringing back the rod and catch to its position.
Air bell. Or I substitute a mechanism somewhat similar to the above, and
work it by placing an oval-shaped rubber vessel (about 1 &inch diameter,
and 1 inch deep,) in connexion with the horizontal rod described, the air
vessels being also connected together by an air tube. Passengers signal by
compressing one or either of the inflated rings by pulling the chain, as described
in working whistle signals. By enlarging the above bell-striking mechanism
and ordinary contrivances, whether worked by air or wires, or otherwise, I
make it suitable for giving strike-bell signals in houses, hotels, ships, trains,
private carriages, or elsewhere, and by adding a pendulum or silent indicator
sigual of any kind to this strike mechanism I effect two signals simul-
taneously, also by compressing two inflated rings by one pull or pressure
described.
Door bells. I propose to fix the bell over the door horizontally at the end
of an angular strip of brass. One end of the spring is fixed in or thro' the
crown, the other projects perpendicularly below the rim, and catches the door
when opened.
Library or table bells.-The spring hammer is fixed, as described, on the
pillar arm or crown. The hammer head will be raised or forced back by a
catch or swivel, operated by the finger, pressing down (or raising) a rod
working perpendicularly in the hollow pillar on which the bell is fixed,
flat or spiral spring is attached if required.
A