Calling the Servants
You may recall my post about discovering that I had speaking tubes in my house. Anyone who wants to put these back in their house knows how ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE it is to find the mouth pieces, especially the ones that whistle. If you want a recap of what these whistling mouthpieces are you can check out this other post I did on it here: Speaking Tubes . After searching for years I got lucky on Ebay one night and one popped up. It was for a set of 3 with one of them being with the whistle. I couldn't believe how lucky I was, especially when it was offered with the buy it now option. I snapped it right up and I was lucky enough to have it a few days later. I'm not at the point of putting it in yet, but to actually have it is such a lucky find.
I did find however a different version of a floor key button that would go under a rug. After more consideration I thought this made perfect sense. The floor key pictured above could either have the pin removed and the wires run to a typical button on the underside of the table or you could leave the pin in, but I am assuming you would need to have a hole in your rug for the pin to go through. So with a strike of luck I found a different version and after doing more research another seller had the full story on them:
UNITED STATES Patented September 6, 1904.
PATENT OFFICE.
WILLIAM J. TONKIN,
ANSON IA ELECTRICAL COMPA CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.
FLOOR-TREAD.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,198, dated September 6, 1904;, Application filed a May 23, 1904:. Serial No. 190,317- (No model.)
To all whom it may concern.-
Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. TONKIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ansonia, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Floor- Tread, of which the following is a specification.
This invention has for its object to provide a floor-tread adapted for general use, as under a mat to give warning when a door is opened or under a table or elsewhere to ring a call bell or other alarm; and my invention has for its object to produce an article of this character which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, certain in use, and practically impossible to get out of repair and, most important of all, which shall be so constructed as to effect an electrical connection when the slightest amount of pressure is placed upon any portion of the tread without regard to the direction from which the pressure may be applied.
Heretofore the floor-treads in general use have comprised a leaf or plate hinged at one end, the result being that if the pressure was placed at or near the hinged end of the plate it was by no means certain that electrical connection would be made. In order to overcome this objection and provide a floor-tread that will be certain in use and will always make electrical connection under reasonable conditions, I have devised a floor-tread consisting, essentially, of a lower plate and an upper plate insulated therefrom centrally and provided with a plurality of outwardly-extending arms any one of which is adapted to close the circuit upon being placed in contact with the lower plate.
In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of my novel floor-tread complete, and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 in Fig. l.
A denotes the upper plate, B the lower plate, and C an insulating-block lying be tween the plates and to which both plates are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured at or near the center. Upon the under side of the lower plate is rigidly secured a sheet of felt or other insulating material, which I have indicated by 10. In the present instance I have shown the lower plate and insulating-disk 10 as circular, although it will be obvious that the special shape of the parts is wholly immaterial so far as the principle of the invention is concerned. Upper plate A comprises a central portion 11 and a plurality of arms 12, extending outward therefrom, the shape and number of these arms being wholly immaterial so far as the principle of the invention is concerned. In the present instance I have shown the plate A as comprising a central portion and six arms extending radially therefrom, as I have found floor-treads of the form illustrated in the drawings very efficient in use. Any other number of arms may be used, if preferred, and it is obvious that they need not extend outward radically, as in the drawings ,but may be curved, if preferred. The essential feature of the invention is a plurality of contact-points surrounding a central portion, so that no matter upon what portion of the tread pressure is applied electrical contact may be effected without fail. In the present instance I have shown the arms as curving upward slightly and then downward toward the lower plate. The arms are of course spring-arms, and the normal position of their ends is just out of contact with the lower plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.
13 denotes a binding-screw upon the upper plate, and 14: a binding-post upon the lower plate, the said binding-post being shown as struck up from the metal of the plate. It will be obvious, however, that the special manner in which the electrical connections are made is not of the essence of the invention.
Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. Afloor-tread consisting of a lower plate and an upper plate insulated therefrom, said upper plate comprising a central portion and a plurality of arms extending therefrom either of which is adapted to be placed in engagement with the lower plate.
2. A floor-tread consisting of a lower plate, an upper plate comprising a central portion and arms extending therefrom either of which IO ment with the lower plate and an insulating block between the central portion and the lower plate to which both plates are rigidly secured.
The one I purchased is the same as this although a little less worn. The images above was from a different one that sold on Ebay a month earlier for just a pittance. I sadly had to pay quite dearly for the one I bought, but I have very rarely seen these and I only needed one so such is life.
So if anyone finds a speaking tube moth piece with whistle and wants to sell it, I'm the one that wants to buy it! Until we speak again.
I also had another strike of luck and that was while I was browsing around I found a servant push button for the dining room. I was specifically looking for a floor key that I have seen mentioned numerous times in old books, but I nor anyone I know has seen an actual old one. They are even rarer than the speaking tube mouth pieces. I wrote an earlier article concerning annunciators in general and you can find that here: All About Annunciators
I did want to however focus more on the foot petal and learn all about this little instrument I could.
From the Western Electrician 1888:
UNITED STATES Patented September 6, 1904.
PATENT OFFICE.
WILLIAM J. TONKIN,
ANSON IA ELECTRICAL COMPA CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.
FLOOR-TREAD.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,198, dated September 6, 1904;, Application filed a May 23, 1904:. Serial No. 190,317- (No model.)
To all whom it may concern.-
Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. TONKIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ansonia, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Floor- Tread, of which the following is a specification.
This invention has for its object to provide a floor-tread adapted for general use, as under a mat to give warning when a door is opened or under a table or elsewhere to ring a call bell or other alarm; and my invention has for its object to produce an article of this character which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, certain in use, and practically impossible to get out of repair and, most important of all, which shall be so constructed as to effect an electrical connection when the slightest amount of pressure is placed upon any portion of the tread without regard to the direction from which the pressure may be applied.
Heretofore the floor-treads in general use have comprised a leaf or plate hinged at one end, the result being that if the pressure was placed at or near the hinged end of the plate it was by no means certain that electrical connection would be made. In order to overcome this objection and provide a floor-tread that will be certain in use and will always make electrical connection under reasonable conditions, I have devised a floor-tread consisting, essentially, of a lower plate and an upper plate insulated therefrom centrally and provided with a plurality of outwardly-extending arms any one of which is adapted to close the circuit upon being placed in contact with the lower plate.
In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of my novel floor-tread complete, and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 in Fig. l.
A denotes the upper plate, B the lower plate, and C an insulating-block lying be tween the plates and to which both plates are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured at or near the center. Upon the under side of the lower plate is rigidly secured a sheet of felt or other insulating material, which I have indicated by 10. In the present instance I have shown the lower plate and insulating-disk 10 as circular, although it will be obvious that the special shape of the parts is wholly immaterial so far as the principle of the invention is concerned. Upper plate A comprises a central portion 11 and a plurality of arms 12, extending outward therefrom, the shape and number of these arms being wholly immaterial so far as the principle of the invention is concerned. In the present instance I have shown the plate A as comprising a central portion and six arms extending radially therefrom, as I have found floor-treads of the form illustrated in the drawings very efficient in use. Any other number of arms may be used, if preferred, and it is obvious that they need not extend outward radically, as in the drawings ,but may be curved, if preferred. The essential feature of the invention is a plurality of contact-points surrounding a central portion, so that no matter upon what portion of the tread pressure is applied electrical contact may be effected without fail. In the present instance I have shown the arms as curving upward slightly and then downward toward the lower plate. The arms are of course spring-arms, and the normal position of their ends is just out of contact with the lower plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.
13 denotes a binding-screw upon the upper plate, and 14: a binding-post upon the lower plate, the said binding-post being shown as struck up from the metal of the plate. It will be obvious, however, that the special manner in which the electrical connections are made is not of the essence of the invention.
Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. Afloor-tread consisting of a lower plate and an upper plate insulated therefrom, said upper plate comprising a central portion and a plurality of arms extending therefrom either of which is adapted to be placed in engagement with the lower plate.
2. A floor-tread consisting of a lower plate, an upper plate comprising a central portion and arms extending therefrom either of which IO ment with the lower plate and an insulating block between the central portion and the lower plate to which both plates are rigidly secured.
The one I purchased is the same as this although a little less worn. The images above was from a different one that sold on Ebay a month earlier for just a pittance. I sadly had to pay quite dearly for the one I bought, but I have very rarely seen these and I only needed one so such is life.
So if anyone finds a speaking tube moth piece with whistle and wants to sell it, I'm the one that wants to buy it! Until we speak again.
You brat! You stole my mouth piece!
ReplyDeleteJust teasing...congrats!!!!!!!!
I needed four for my 1894 house, and managed to acquire three so far. Amazing! Although one is, I think, a marine mouth piece, so I might sell it off.
I was infuriated when the previous owner told me he pulled on the floor buttons in the library and dining room when he put wall to wall carpeting in and said, what's the point of having them. But to make matters worse. He trashed them
ReplyDeleteOy that hurts! Why do people do this? Don't they know we spend our lives searching for this pieces they just casually just toss into a dumpster?
DeleteI know it’s an older thread....If anyone knows where I can get the floor button/key. I would be eternally grateful. I have the original plate but missing the both the plunger mechanism and the conical Bakelite piece that keeps the wire separate. Thoughts?
DeleteI have never seen a fully intact floor key in person. Frankly I thought one would be easy to rig up with something like a trombone key and a simple mechanism like the wall buttons to create a floor key. Maybe it's time for you to get inventive?
Delete