US3885236A — Fire alarm box

Claim 1

Independent Claim 189 words

In an alarm box for signaling an alarm at a fire station or other remote location, said alarm box having a lever actuated signaling mechanism enclosed within the box, an inner door enclosing the signaling mechanism with the lever projecting through said inner door, and a generally locked outer door enclosing the lever, means for actuating the lever which comprises: a card having a preselected magnetic pattern formed therein; a slot formed through the outer door and adapted to allow passage of the card through said outer door; a magnetic lock interior to the outer door and projecting through the inner door, said lock having a card receptacle designed to be solely fully engageable by the card having the preselected magnetic pattern; means for actuating the lever to activate the signaling mechanism responsive to fully engagement of the card receptacle by the card; and means for capturing the card upon full engagement of the card receptacle, said capture means being manually operable to release the captured card, said capture means located within the outer door to necessitate unlocking and opening of said outer door to manually release said card.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 189 words

In an alarm box for signaling an alarm at a fire station or other remote location, said alarm box having a lever actuated signaling mechanism enclosed within the box, an inner door enclosing the signaling mechanism with the lever projecting through said inner door, and a generally locked outer door enclosing the lever, means for actuating the lever which comprises: a card having a preselected magnetic pattern formed therein; a slot formed through the outer door and adapted to allow passage of the card through said outer door; a magnetic lock interior to the outer door and projecting through the inner door, said lock having a card receptacle designed to be solely fully engageable by the card having the preselected magnetic pattern; means for actuating the lever to activate the signaling mechanism responsive to fully engagement of the card receptacle by the card; and means for capturing the card upon full engagement of the card receptacle, said capture means being manually operable to release the captured card, said capture means located within the outer door to necessitate unlocking and opening of said outer door to manually release said card.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 135 words

An alarm box as recited in claim 1 wherein the means for actuating the lever to activate the signaling mechanism comprises a cam follower on the free end of the lever, a slideable bar mounted on the inner door, one lateral edge of said slidebar providing an elongate cam surface adapted to abut the cam follower, said cam surface adapted to depress the cam follower to actuate the lever upon sliding of the bar, means biasing the bar into sliding movement in one direction, means releasably retaining said slideable bar in a fixed position to prevent sliding of said slideable bar responsively to said bias means, and means for disengaging said retaining means responsive to full engagement of the card receptacle by the card to allow sliding of said slideable bar to activate the lever.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 159 words

An alarm box as recited in claim 2 wherein the slideable bar has a small aperture formed therethrough, and wherein the means releasably retaining said slideable bar comprises a pin adapted to project through and engage the aperture in the slideable bar, and wherein the means for disengaging said retaining means comprises an arm depending from the interior of the inner door, said arm having a first end attached to the inner door and a second end intermediate the card receptacle so that insertion of the card having the preselected magnetic pattern formed therein into full engagement with the card receptacle forces said second end of the arm away from the inner door, said pin being mounted intermediate the first and second ends of said arm so that movement of the second end of said arm away from the inner door moves said pin out of engagement with the aperture in the slideable bar to release said slideable bar.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 179 words

In an alarm box for signaling an alarm at a fire station or other remote location, said alarm box having a signaling mecHanism within the box for transmitting a coded signal to the remote location which identifies the alarm box location when said mechanism is activated, and a door enclosing the signaling mechanism, improved means for actuating the signaling mechanism, which comprises: a card having a preselected magnetic pattern formed therein; a slot formed through the door and adapted to allow passage of the card through said door; a magnetic lock mounted interior to the door, said lock having a card receptacle designed to be fully engaged solely by the card having the preselected magnetic pattern; means for activating the signaling mechanism responsive to full engagement of the card receptacle by the card; means for capturing the card upon full engagement of the card receptacle to prevent disengagement of said card from said receptacle; and means for releasing the captured card, said releasing means located interior to the door to necessitate opening of said door to remove said card.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 179 words

In an alarm box for signaling an alarm at a fire station or other remote location, said alarm box having a signaling mecHanism within the box for transmitting a coded signal to the remote location which identifies the alarm box location when said mechanism is activated, and a door enclosing the signaling mechanism, improved means for actuating the signaling mechanism, which comprises: a card having a preselected magnetic pattern formed therein; a slot formed through the door and adapted to allow passage of the card through said door; a magnetic lock mounted interior to the door, said lock having a card receptacle designed to be fully engaged solely by the card having the preselected magnetic pattern; means for activating the signaling mechanism responsive to full engagement of the card receptacle by the card; means for capturing the card upon full engagement of the card receptacle to prevent disengagement of said card from said receptacle; and means for releasing the captured card, said releasing means located interior to the door to necessitate opening of said door to remove said card.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 102 words

An alarm box as recited in claim 4 wherein the means for capturing the card comprises a rigid member interior of said door and having a sharply pointed portion directed at said card upon full engagement of said card receptacle by said card, means for biasing said pointed lever at said card, restraining means adapted to generally prevent movement of said pointed member toward said card, and means for disengaging said restraining means upon full engagement of said card receptacle by said card to allow the pointed portion of said rigid member to impale said card to prevent withdrawal of said card.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1978-05-19	1978-11-18	1979-05-20	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1982-05-19	1982-11-18	1983-05-20	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1986-05-19	1986-11-18	1987-05-20	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Fire alarm box

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