Electric button

“ Wires were then run from the lamp socket through the cork and wood disks and the whole painted with melted paraffin to close all apertures and keep out moisture. Good rubber-covered electric-light wire will do nicely for the wiring outside the house, although, if it can be obtained, a piece of lead-covered paired wire is preferable. These wires must be only long enough to reach inside the house, where they may be joined to the ordinary sort of wire used in electric-bell work for connecting with push button and battery. ”

“ Another crank, d, upon the same axle serves like a push button to close the electric circuit at the right instant. The wire g from the battery cell encircles the electro-magnet c and then is connected to the iron base of the toy. When the crank d touches the conductor e, which is a spring, the electric current passes around the magnet, the magnet pulls the iron armature a, and this gives an impulse to the wheel f whose momentum carries it around during that portion of the revolution when d is separated from e and a is receding from the magnet. ”

“ The connections between battery push button and bell form a complete circuit. In Fig. 40 B represents a battery, usually of dry cells, B' represents the bell, and P represents the push button. The electric circuit is "open," (that is, there is a break in the conductor) at P until some one "pushes the button," that is, simply pushes against a spring so as to cause a piece of metal to bridge the gap in the conductor. Then we say the circuit is "closed."
[74]
Fig. ”

“ At the back are an inlet and an outlet valve. Between the front and a side window is the transmitter of a loud-sounding telephone, and in the crown the receiver and the button of an electric bell. The telephone wires, and also the wires for a powerful electric light, working on a ball-and-socket joint in front of the dress, are embedded into the life-line. The air-tube, of canvas and rubber, has a stiffening of wire to prevent its being throttled on coming into contact with any object. A pair of weighted boots, each scaling 17 lbs., two 40-lb. ”

“ Being screwed up near the door pull, a wire is run from the latter and fastened to lever L. When the pull is drawn out the lever L turns on a pivot and a projection presses the insulated spring S against the metal base B. The circuit of the bell and battery being thus closed, the bell rings.
Fig. 21 Indicating Push Button. ”

“ This can be readily proved by joining together the two yoke ends and the two armature ends of the spool wires. Then pass the current through these two joined connections.
Fig. 16 Fig. 17 Fig. 18 Fig. 19 The Push Button.
Push buttons, or pushes, are made in a variety of forms, with metal, wood, hard rubber, or porcelain bases.
Fig. 16 has a metal base, and is suitable for a front door.
Fig. 17 is a wooden pear push, and is attached at the end of a cord which has the two conductors braided in it, each, however, having its own insulation. ”

“ All that he does is to control our march, by means of an electric push and a battery at one end of the wire, and it is we who produce the signals at the distant end of the wire. Each time man presses the push we move the distant lever. When we pull the lever down it is so arranged that it makes a sound like "click," and when we let it spring up against a stop it makes another sound not unlike [Pg 91] "clack." Our long and short marches are therefore converted into long and short "click-clacks." ”

“ Why can a bird sit on a live wire without getting a shock, while a man would get a shock if he reached up and took hold of the same wire?
We have just been laying emphasis on the fact that for electricity to flow out of a dynamo or battery, it must have a complete circuit back to the battery or dynamo. Yet only one wire is needed in order to telegraph between two stations. Likewise, a single wire could be made to carry into a building the current for electric lights. This is because the ground can carry electricity. ”

“ Many of the troubles on a modern car are apt to be in connection with the electrical equipment—battery, lights, magneto, timer, self-starter, etc. Sooner or later, a boy who takes an interest, is apt to become more or less familiar with the principle of all these things, especially if his nerves and brain are not deadened by forced application. At any rate, this boy soon did. This led to an interest in other electrical things—the ringing of bells and buzzers about the house, and the installation of an electric motor which would run the sewing machine, or a grindstone, or a little lathe. ”

“ When they pass along a damp wall, it is best to fix a board and loosely staple them. In no case allow more than one wire to lie under the same staple, and do not let the staples touch one another. In many cases, electric bells have been an incessant annoyance and complete failure, through driving the staples tight up to the wires, and several wires to the same staple,—this must not be done on any account. A number of wires may be twisted into a cable, and run through a short piece of gutta-percha tube, and fastened with ordinary gas hooks where it is an advantage to do so. ”

“ If I connect by a wire one end or pole of the battery with the other, I, being close at hand, can see a small spark. There is now flowing through that connecting wire what we call an electric current, which passes from one end of the battery through the wire to the other end. When there is very little resistance offered to the passage of the current, there is no [Pg 90] sensible heat developed; but if I sever the wire in the middle and unite the ends by a thin platinum wire, the thin platinum wire introduced into the circuit is first raised to incandescence and then fused. ”

“ How quickly a spoon inserted into a hot cup of tea becomes uncomfortably hot, though the hand can be held very close to the liquid without feeling more than a gentle warmth. And we all have noticed that the very least air-gap in an electric circuit effectively breaks a current capable of traversing miles of wire. If the current is so intense that it insists on passing the gap, it leaps across with a report, making a spark that is at once intensely bright and hot. Metal wires are to electricity what speaking tubes are to sound; they are as it were electrical tubes through the air and ether. ”

“ In booth No. 56 you will find a piano played by electricity. Its keys are moving, but no hands strike them. There is no ghost at work here. A little strip of iron has been placed upon the under side of each key and a small electro-magnet is placed under that. It is only necessary that wires should run from these electro-magnets to two dry-battery cells and to push buttons, and a person far away may play the piano. In reality, however, it is not a person but a roll of punctured paper that opens and closes the electric circuits to these various magnets underneath the keys. ”

“ Now, the electricity which is constantly being made fills the wires and acts as a pressure to force the current through the wires back to the dynamo, and, if we put no resistance or opposition in the way, it would have a very easy path to travel in and would do no work at all. The wires leading to an electric lamp should have very little resistance, not sufficient to require any work from the current in passing through. ”

“ There is no fundamental objection to operating make and break bells on electric light circuits. Providing the voltage and amperage are the same, there is little difference between the current from a direct-current dynamo and that from a battery. But owing to the higher voltages of the lighting circuit over that generally employed from batteries, the bell coils must be wound to high resistances to keep down the current strength. ”

“ Fig. 122.—Diagram showing how to connect a Bell, Battery, and Push-Button. A little experimenting with the bell will soon enable one to find its best adjustment. Figure 122 shows how to connect a bell to a battery and a push-button. A push-button is simply a small switch which closes the circuit when pressed. Do not make the armature spring too weak, or the hammer will move very slowly and with very little life. Each time that the armature moves toward the magnets, it should barely touch the iron cores before the ball strikes the bell. ”

“ In making a communication to the person stationed at the point where he wishes the information to be received, the operator, by turning the handle to the right or left, breaks the electric current; then, pressing the wire against pins connected with the battery-poles, the coils of wire receive their full deflective force, and attract the magnetic needles to either side, according to the course of the current.143 Thus, if the stream of electricity passes into the coil on the right, the upper part of the needle will be attracted towards it ”

“ We have to use a more powerful current to make the bell ring, but the telephone itself is so sensitive that we have to guard against any excess of current. On this frame here, we have lightning arresters, heat coils, and fuses that will melt through if too heavy a current should come over the wires, as, for instance, if any electric-light wires should happen to cross one of our wires. ”

“ When the armature is attracted by the magnet it breaks contact with this spring, the current is interrupted, and the magnet being no longer energized allows the armature to fall back on the spring and thus restore the circuit. In this way a rapid to and fro motion is imparted to the hammer. The electric current is supplied by a battery, usually either of Leclanché or of dry cells. One bell will serve for all the rooms of a house, an “indicator” being provided to show from which it has been rung. ”

“ When an electric current has travelled for a long distance through a wire its strength is much reduced on account of the resistance of the wire, and may be insufficient to cause the electro-magnet of the sounder to move the heavy lever. Instead, therefore, of the current acting directly on the sounder magnet, it is used to energize a small magnet, or relay, which pulls down a light bar and closes a second "local" circuit—that is, one at the receiver end—worked by a separate battery, which has sufficient power to operate the sounder. ”

“ CHAPTER IV CELLS AND BATTERIES In order that the young experimenter may obtain electricity for driving his various electrical devices it is necessary to resort to batteries, a small dynamo, or the house-lighting current.
All houses are not supplied with electric current. Furthermore, many boys have no source of power from which to drive a small dynamo. ”

“ The difficulty of operating a lamp on the alternating current circuit lies in the fact that while a current will flow freely through it in one direction, when the current reverses the negative electrode or cathode acts as an electric valve and stops the current, thus breaking the circuit and putting out the light. ”

“ The battery current is flowing over the line all the time when the receiver is up, but the transmitter and the receiver offer so much resistance to its flow that not enough current can pass to ring the bell until the resistance is cut out by short-circuiting them with the push-button. ”

“ To do this, rub it on a permanent horse-shoe, or other magnet, until it will attract an ordinary sewing needle strongly, or wrap it up in several turns of insulated line wire, and send many jerky charges of electricity from a strong battery through the wire. When it has been well magnetised, mount it on a spindle of fine hard wire, and secure it by a drop of solder. ”

“ Moreover, a single lever will work two or more switches, locks, &c, simultaneously, where desirable. The absence of outdoor connexions above ground is also an advantage. Since about 1900 electric power has come into use for working both points and signals. ”

“ Automatic maintenance approaches a high degree of perfection in the electric starting and lighting device on a modern automobile. In this case, a small dynamo geared to the main shaft is running whenever the engine is running. It is always ready to "pump" [Pg 251] electricity into the storage battery when needed. An electric magnet, wound in a peculiar manner, automatically cuts off the charging current from the dynamo, when the battery is "full;" and the same magnet, or "regulator," permits the current to flow into the battery when needed. ”

“ As it jumps from one ridge to another the current will be rapidly interrupted.
APPARATUS 107.
158. Interrupter. Hold the end of the wire from one pole of a battery upon a saw-blade. Draw the other wire along over the teeth of the saw. As the wire jumps from one tooth to the next the current will be broken.
APPARATUS 108.
159. Automatic Interrupter. An ordinary electric bell, or buzzer, may be used as an interrupter. Every time the vibrating armature swings, the circuit is opened. The combination of a battery, induction coil, and electric bell makes a very good outfit for medical purposes. ”

“ The cable car must close its grappling iron and grip the cable before progress can be made. It must come in contact with the power. An electric lamp will swing dark and unlighted while all the other lamps about it send forth enlightening rays, and all the dynamos in the world may be revolving in the engine house, sending a surging current within a few inches of the isolated lamp, and all in vain unless it come in contact with the power. You must turn the switch and let the current flow in, and then the lamp will itself shine and will illumine its surroundings like the rest. ”