US2069583A - Warning signal device - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 2, 1937. G, LEWI 2,069,583

WARNING S IGNAL DEVICE Filed June 7, 1932 Geocge [Lea/21 11v VENTUK Patented Feb. 2, 1937 PATENT OFFICE WARNING SIGNAL DEVICE George I. Lewis, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor of two-fifths to Frederick P. Hockland, Cincinnati, Ohio Application June 7, 1932, Serial No. 615,851

Claims.

An object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive electrically operated born that will emit a loud but mellow note simulating that of the more elaborate and expensive air operated 5 horns now in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a horn having the above stated characteristics, which is simple, compact, and inexpensive of manufacture and practically free of wearing parts.

A further object is to provide a novel, simple, and readily accessible adjusting means for altering the tone of a horn of the above stated character.

The invention consists in other features that will appear from the following description and upon examination of the drawing. Warning signal devices that contain the invention may partake of different forms and may be varied in their details and still embody the invention. To illustrate a practical application of the invention I have selected a device embodying the invention as an example of the various featured structures and the details of such structure that contain the invention and which describe a selected device hereinafter. The device selected is shown in the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the signal device of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental cross-sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view, on a reduced scale, taken on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 3.

The device of the invention comprises in general a coil or electro-magnet 8, and an armature 9 rigidly supported upon a suitable vibratory member it which may be a diaphragm, a circuit breaker mechanism I2, and a vibratory member or diaphragm 13 having a shock absorbing connection M with the primary diaphragm or vibratory member ID. The electro-magnetic coil and the circuit breaker may be of any approved or suitable type. The foregoing elements preferably are encased within a housing consisting of the body 15 which has an end plate or cap l6 between which is secured the periphery of the vibratory member Iii. The securing means may be constituted of peripheral flanges I1 and 18 integral with the members [5 and I5, respectively, and a series of bolts or screws l9, arranged to pass through the perforate flanges and the peripheral portion of the diaphragm II).

A characteristic of the improved warning sig-' nal or horn is the provision of a resilient or shock absorbing connection l4 between the pri- 5 mary and secondary diaphragms or vibrating members It) and I3. The vibratory members consist of tuned metal or other suitable discs, the disc l3 being of very thin (approximately .010 inch) metal, and the disc It! being of heavier construction (approximately .25 inch) to withstand the powerful vibratory movement of the armature which would be destructive to any very thin diaphragm connected directly thereto.

Although the shock absorbing device may be made in various forms, a preferred form thereof is illustrated clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, wherein 20 indicates a substantially fiat leaf spring (.025 inch thick) having the ends. 2lthereof riveted or otherwise fixedly secured as at 22, upon the extensions or ends 23, of a shock absorbing spring support or bridge member 24 which is fixedly secured to the vibratory member I0. For purposes of explanation, there is shown a rivet means 25, whereby the bridge member, the diaphragm I0 and the armature 9 are securely fixed together for unitary vibratory movement. The rivet passes through perforations provided in each of said members, and through a spacer or washer 26 interposed between the bridge member and the vibratory member [0. It is to be understood that the vibratory member It) need not be circular or disc-like in shape, but may be in the form of a resilient bar or plates extending diametrally of the housing member.

The electro-magnetic coil 8 may be enclosed within a suitable cup shaped. casing 21, which, with the body of the coil, may be securely fas-, tened to the rear wall 28 of the housing member I6 bymeans of a suitable rivet or equivalent securing means 29. The housing 21 may be cut away or slotted, as at 30 to permit a lug or extension 3| of the armature 9 to extend therebeyond. This lug or abutment may be integral with or fixed to the armature, and is so located relative to the circuit breaker 52 that upon energization of the electro-magnet coil, said abutment will strike an insulating resilient arm 32 which carries one of the contact points 33. Movements of the armature toward the magnetic coil thereby efiects separation of the contact point 33 from a second contact point 34 which is fixedly mounted upon a rigid contact supporting member 35 carried by the housing member H5 or by any other stationary part of the apparatus. The circuit 66 insulated therefrom by means of the insulating washers 42. Intermediate the member and the housing 16 is disposed a compression spring 43 which tends always to resiliently urge the member 35 toward the head of the screw. Said spring serves also to maintain a nut 44 in abutting relationship with the housing l6, said nut being threadedly received by the threaded end 45 of the screw or bolt 38. longitudinally of the bolt 38, the spring may be compressed more or less and the head of the bolt moved toward or from the housing member l6 for changing the location of the contact point 34 relative to the vibratory contact point 33., The vibratory movements of the diaphragm l0 thereby may be altered. It is' to be noted that the opposite end 46 of the contact support 35 is fixedly secured to the housing member I6 and electrically insulated therefrom. The means for thus securing the end 46 of the member 35 may be a bolt 41. The character 48 indicates an insulating bolt or terminal which extends exteriorly of the horn casing, to which bolt electrical connection may be made to a battery or other suit able source of direct current electricity. It may be noted that terminal 48 has electric connection with the conductor 31 which supplies current to the electro-magnetic coil 8.

Attention now is directed to a tone adjusting means whereby the thin diaphragm I3 is mechanically connected to substantially the midpoint of the leaf spring 20 or shock absorber. Said means :comprises a threaded bolt 50, the head end 5| of which is fixedly secured to the midpoint of member 20. The opposite end 52 of the bolt is adapted to threadedly receive interior and. exterior nuts or members 53 and 54, respectively, which may be adjusted longitudinally of the bolt by rotating them upon the threads thereof; The interior nut is providedwith a shoulder 55 that extends through a, central aperture 56 of the diaphragm l3, and said shoulder is provided with suitable angularities or projections 5'! whereby a tool, or the fingers, may be applied for rotating the interior nut. is made cup shaped, whereby to surround and cover the shoulder 55. An annular flange 58 of the exterior nut is adapted to abut the exterior surface of the diaphragm l3, and to clamp it against the interior nut 53. The exterior nut preferably is provided with exterior angularities orabutments 59 for receiving a tool or wrench that may be employed for tightening the nut structure. From the foregoing it should be apparent that the tone of the horn may be readily altered by simply unscrewing and removing the projector 68 and applying a wrench to the nut 54 for removal thereof, whereupon the interior nut 53 may be adjusted longitudinally of the bolt. The projector 60 preferably is of along and slender type, and it may be supported forwardly of the diaphragm [3 by means of a suitable bell shaped housing 6| that may be employed for jected by the heavy diaphragm.

By adjusting thenut The exterior nut 54 preferably breaker and the electro-magnetic coil are electrically connected in series in accordance with maintaining the diaphragm l3 in abutment upon 62 thereof. Screws 63 provide a means for maintaining the bell shaped housing in position.

The advantages of the foregoing described device are that an air horn sound can be imitated thereby, without necessitating the use of fragile, numerous and expensive parts such as are found in the air horn structures. The light weight diaphragm, in the device of this invention, is not subjected to the direct harsh action of the electro- 'magnetic vibrator and as a consequence the danger of diaphragm breakage anddistortion is eliminated. In other words the lightdiaphragm receives its vibratory movement indirectly from the heavy diaphragm by means of the shock absorber spring and by means of the air vibrations pro By utilizing, diaphragms of different tone qualities, either harmonious or out of harmony, some very pleasin and distinctive sounds can be producedffor the sounds of the diaphragms are emitted simultaneously.

I claim: 7 f

1. In a sound producing apparatus, the

securing the diaphragms at their edges in spaced combination of a pair of spaced diaphragms, means for the casing [5 in the region of the large opening parallelism, one diaphragm having a normal' higher rate of vibration than the said other divibrated by the last named diaphragm as modi fied by the said resilient member to produce another tonal effect by the vibration of the first named diaphragm, a circuit breaking means for v controlling the electro-magnetic means and operated by the said last named diaphragm whereby the said diaphragms are vibrated at different and characteristic tonal rates to produce different tones at the same time.

2. In a sound producing apparatus, the combination of a pair of spaced diaphragms, means for securing the diaphragms at their edges in spaced parallelism, one diaphragm having a normalv higher rate of vibration than the said other diaphragm, a resilient metallic .ribbon extending.

parallel to the diaphragms and normally nonbiased with respect to the diaphragms, means for connecting the resilient member at its ends to the central portion of one diaphragm, means for connecting the central part of the resilient memher to the central portion of the other diaphragm and. increasingly tensioned by movement of either diaphragm relative to the other in either direction, an electro-magnetic means for operating the last named diaphragm, a circuit breaking means for controlling the electromagnetic means and operated by the said last named diaphragm whereby the said diaphragms are vibrated at different and characteristic tonal rates at different rates.

3. In a sound producing apparatus, the combination of a shell, a pair of spaced diaphragms, means for securing the diaphragms at their edges to the shell and in spaced parallelism, one diaphragm having a normal higher rate of vibration than the said other diaphragm and phonically responsive to the last named diaphragm, a resilient metallic oblong ribbon extending parallel to the diaphragms and normally non-biased with respect to the said diaphragms, means for connecting the ends of the ribbon to the central portion of the last named diaphragm, means for connecting the central part of the ribbon to the central portion of the first named diaphragm, the said ribbon normally non-biased with respect to the diaphragms and increasingly tensioned by movement of one diaphragm relative to the other, an electro-magnetic means for operating the last named diaphragm, a circuit breaking means for controlling the electro-magnetic means and operated by the said last named diaphragm for vibrating the said diaphragms at different rates as reactively modified by the resilient member and the first named diaphragm.

4. In a sound producing apparatus, the combination of a shell, a pair of spaced diaphragms located in the shell, means for securing the diaphragms at their edges in spaced parallelism, one diaphragm having a normal higher rate of vibration than the said other diaphragm, a resilient metallic ribbon-like member having spaced parts rigidly connected to the central portions of the diaphragms and normally non-biased with respect to the diaphragms relative to the other in either direction, an electro-magnetic means for vibrating the last named diaphragm to produce one tonal effect, the first named diaphragm vibrated by the last named diaphragm as modified by the said resilient member to produce another tonal effect by the vibration of the first named diaphragm whereby the said diaphragms are vibrated at different and characteristic tone producing rates.

7 5. In a sound producing apparatus, the combination of a shell, a pair of spaced diaphragms located Within the shell, means for securing the diaphragms at their edges in spaced parallelism, one diaphragm having a normal higher rate of vibration than the said other diaphragm, a resilient metallic ribbon-shaped member extending parrallel to the diaphragms, means for rigidly connecting the resilient member at its ends to the central portion of one diaphragm, means for rigidly connecting the central part of the resilient member to the central portion of the other diaphragm and normally non-biased with respect to the diaphragms and increasingly tensioned by movement of one diaphragm relative to the other in either direction, an electro-magnetic means for vibrating the last named diaphragm and for vibrating the first named diaphragm as modified by the vibration of the said member whereby the said diaphragms are vibrated at different and characteristic tone producing rates.

' GEORGE I. LEWIS.

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