IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES.
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Adolph Cohen, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES.".
A communication from abroad by Humbert Ramuz, of Chaux de Fonds,
in the Canton of Neufchatel, Switzerland, Watch Maker:
Sealed the 11th February 1868, and dated the 20th August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Adolph Cohen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th August 1867.
I, ADOLPH COHEN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATCHES," & communication to me from abroad by Humbert Ramuz, of Chaux
de Fonds, in the Canton of Neufchatel, Switzerland, Watch Maker, to be as
follows:-
This Invention has reference to what are known as. keyless..watches, and
consists, firstly, of an improved arrangement for winding up the mainspring;
and, secondly, of a peculiar combination of mechanism for setting the hands
or pointers.
The first part of this Invention is intended for application to hunting
watches, which require the case to be opened in order to show the time ;. but
the second part of the said Invention is applicable to all keyless watches..
According to the first part of this Invention I cause the act of opening and

page_text: closing the watch case to accomplish the winding up of the mainspring,
thereby dispensing entirely with the special operation of winding up the watch..
For this purpose a short lever arm is secured at the hinge to the lid or case
of the watch, which lever describes a small are of a circle each time the case
is opened or closed. To the end of the short lever there is jointed a link which
is again jointed at its inner end to an intermediate pin between the link and
a horizontal lever working within the case at the back of the watch; this
intermediate piece is jointed to the last-mentioned lever by a hinge the pin of
which is vertical, whilst the pin of the hinge which connects it to the link is
horizontal. The horizontal. lever turns on a pivot or fulcrum at one end,
whilst its free end has jointed thereto a curved rack the teeth of which are
inclined after the manner of a ratchet wheel; this curved rack is held in
contact with a small ratchet wheel fast on the arbor of the barrel, with the
teeth of which ratchet wheel its teeth engage. A short tail on the jointed end
of the curved rack is pressed upon by a blade spring attached to the horizontal
lever in order to maintain the rack in contact with the teeth of the ratchet
wheel. When the case is released in the usual or other manner it flies open
under the influence of a spring, and in doing so the rack is moved forward
along the teeth of the ratchet wheel without imparting any motion to the
latter, as the inclination of both sets of teeth is such as to allow the rack teeth
to pass freely over the ratchet wheel teeth; but on closing the case again the
curved rack will engage into the ratchet wheel teeth, and as the rack is drawn
back through the intervention of the horizontal lever link and short lever arm
it will cause the ratchet wheel to revolve, and will thereby wind up to a certain
extent the mainspring. In order to prevent the ratchet from turning the
reverse way a small spring detent is engaged therewith; and with a view to
prevent overwinding a. bridle is adjusted in the mainspring box, to which
bridle the spring is fastened. After having received a given number of revo
lutions the bridle turns with the spring, and consequently the opening and
shutting of the case will cease..to affect the spring until it has run down
partially.
i
The mechanism for setting, the bands consists of a short stud or pin, which
is drawn out slightly from the circumference of the case preparatory to setting
the hands; the head of this stud or pin when not in use is pushed into the
case and covered or concealed by a sliding plate which is pushed over it.
When the hands require to be adjusted the sliding plate is pushed back and
the head of the stud protrudes beyond the case; this movement is transmitted
to a sliding pinion on the inner square, end. of the stud through the intervention
of a pair of levers. which operate in, such a manner as to bring the pinion into

page_text: gear with a toothed wheel which also gears with the minute wheel when...the.
stud or pin is protruded; in this condition, by turning the stud or pin which is
provided with a milled head for that purpose, the hands may be set: to any
hour. On pushing inwards the stud and closing the sliding plate or cover the
pinion will by the action of the levers be drawn out of gear with the wheel-
work and the hands will no longer be interfered with. In order to insure the
proper position of the stud before turning the same a small V-faced spring
catch
presses upon a double inclined surface on one of the two levers which
slide the pinion to and fro, and as this catch passes on to one or other side of
the lever it will retain it for the time being in that position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Adolph Cohen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ADOLPH
COHEN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant, send greeting. ?
"WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patert, bearing date the Twentieth, day of August, in the year of our Lord.One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, 'for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Adolphi Colien; Her special license that I, the said Adolph Cohen, my exe-.
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I; the said Adolphe Cohen,
iny executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, 'and.
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES," a communication
to me from abroad by Humbert Ramuz, of Chaux de Fonds, in the Canton.
of Neufchatel, Switzerland, Watch Maker, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Adolph' Cohen, my executors or administrators,; by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal.
Patent Office within six calendar months.next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent...
NOW KNOW YE,. that I, the said Adolph Cohen, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per÷

page_text: formed, 'to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
Jetters and figures marked thereon, that is to say
The said Invention has reference to what are: known as keyless watches,
and consists, firstly, of an improved arrangement for winding up the main-
spring; and, secondly, of a peculiar combination of mechanism for setting the
bands or pointers.
The first part of this Invention is intended for application to hunting
watches which require the case to be opened in order to show the time; but
the second part of the said Invention is applicable to all keyless watches.
According to the first part of this Invention I cause the act of opening and
closing the watch case to accomplish the winding up of the mainspring,
thereby dispensing entirely with the special operation of winding up the watch.
For this purpose a short lever arm is secured at the hinge to the lid or case
of the watch, which lever describes a small are of a circle each time the case
is opened or closed. To the end of the short lever there is jointed a link,
which is again jointed at its inner end to an intermediate piece between the
link and a horizontal lever working within' the case at the back of the watch';
this intermediate piece is jointed to the. last-mentioned lever by a hinge. the
pin of which is vertical, whilst the pin of the hinge which.connects it to the
link is horizontal. The horizontal lever-turns on a pivot or fulcrum at one
end whilst its free end has jointed thereto a curved rack, the teeth of which
are inclined after the manner of a ratchet wheel; this curved rack is held in
contact with a small ratchet wheel fast on the arbour of the barrel, with the
teeth of which ratchet wheel its teeth engage. A short tail on the jointed
end of the curved rack is pressed upon by a blade spring attached to the hori-
zontal lever, in order to maintain the rack in contact with the teeth of the
ratchet wheel. When the, case is released in the usual or other manner it
flys open under the influence of a spring, and in doing so the rack is moved
forward along the teeth of the ratchet wheel without imparting any motion to
the latter, as the inclination of both sets of teeth is such as to allow the rack
teeth to pass freely over the ratchet wheel teeth; but on closing the case again
the curved rack will engage into the ratchet wheel teeth, and as the rack is
drawn back, through the intervention of the horizontal lever. link and short
lever arm it will cause the ratchet wheel to revolve, and will thereby wind up
to a certain extent the mainspring. In order to prevent the ratchet wheel
from turning the reverse way a small detent is. engaged therewith, and
with a view to prevent overwinding a bridle or friction ring or circular spring
is adjusted in the mainspring box, to which bridle. the spring is fastened.

page_text: After having received a given number of revolutions the bridle or friction ring
turns with the spring, and consequently the opening and shutting of the case
will cease to effect the spring until it has run down partially.
-The mechanism for setting the hands consists of a short stud or pin sliding
on a spindle or arbor, and which is either drawn or forced out slightly by a
helical spring from the circumference of the case preparatory to setting the
hands; the head of this stud or pin when not in use is pushed into the case
and covered or concealed by a sliding plate which is pushed over it. When
the hands require to be adjusted the sliding plate is pushed back and the head
of the stud protrudes beyond the case; this outward movement causes a sliding
pinion carried on the inner square end of the spindle or arbor along which the
pin or stud slides to move inwards through the intervention of a pair of levers,
which operate in such a manner as to bring the pinion into gear with a
toothed wheel, which in turn gears with the minute wheel; in this condition,
by turning the stud or pin which is provided with a milled head for that
purpose the hands may be set to any hour; on pushing inwards the stud, and
closing the sliding plate or cover, the pinion will by the action of the levers
be drawn out of gear with the wheelwork, and the hands will no longer be
interfered with. In order to insure the proper position of the stud before
turning the same a small spring catch presses upon an inclined surface on one
of the two levers which slide the pinion to and fro, and as this catch passes on
to one or the other side of the lever it will retain it for the time being in that
position.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the samė
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents an internal view on a large scale of a
hunting watch with the cover removed, showing the hinge and mechanism
O connected therewith. in readiness for winding up the mainspring by the
closing of the case, and also the moveable stud or pin for effecting the adjust-
ment of the hands, such pin being represented as protruding beyond the case
or in a position in readiness for turning the bands; Figure 2 is a similar view
of the opposite side of the watch, showing the general internal arrangements
5 of the going mechanism, which however forms no part of the present Invention,
and also the stud or pin concealed within the case or in the position it assumes
when not in use... The rest of the Figures are details which I shall herein-
after more fully describe and refer.to.
A is the case of the watch, and B is the hinge of the front-cover; this

page_text: hinge has a short arm a projecting therefrom, as shown more clearly in the
detail side elevation at Figure 3, wherein the black lines indicate the position
of the hinge when the cover is open and the red lines its position when closed.
In the arm a there is jointed a link C, which is again. jointed to the inter-
mediate piece D connected by a pin joint to the horizontal lever E; the object
of this intermediate piece is to form a species of universal joint which will
accommodate itself to the movements of the lever E and link C respectively,
for which purpose the two joint pins b and c are situate at right angles, the
one in the link C being horizontal, whilst the other c in the lever E is
vertical. The lever E works on a fixed centre d at one end, and has jointed
to its opposite end by a pine the curved rack F the teeth of which gear into
those of the ratchet wheel G fast on the arbor of the mainspring.. The teeth
in the ratchet wheel G are so inclined relatively to those in the rack F that
the rack will only engage or gear with the wheel G and turn the same when
moving in the direction of the arrow, but will slip over the ratchet wheel
teeth without turning the wheel when it is moving in the reverse direction:
In order to keep the rack in contact with the teeth of the wheel G a small
projection or tail piece f is formed on the jointed end of the rack which is
acted upon by the blade spring g secured to the lever E., H is a fixed plate
which bears upon the surface of the lever E for the purpose of preventing the
lever E from rising; I is a friction: plate let into the plate. K.to prevent any
rubbing of the latter by the sliding link C, intermediate piece D, and lever E.
The ratchet wheel G is prevented from turning accidentally during the passage
of the rack. teeth over it by the spring detent L; which allows the wheel to
revolve freely however when the rack is moving in the direction of the arrow.
The binge B being in the position shown in black lines when the front case is
open, it follows that on shutting down or closing the case the arm a of the
hinge will assume the position shown in red lines in Figure 3, drawing with
it the link C, lever E, and rack F in the direction of the arrow, and imparting
thereby about half a revolution to the ratchet wheel G, and winding up the
mainspring to a certain extent. On. opening the case or cover the reverse
motion takes place, the rack E passing freely over the teeth of the wheel G,
and assuming the position shown in Figure 1 in readiness for a further action
upon the spring when the case is closed again. In order to prevent the over-
winding of the mainspring it is proposed to connect it to an intermediate
friction ring or bridle M (shown clearly colored blue in the detail of the barrel,
Figure 4) in lieu of attaching it directly to the barrel itself. This ring M is
by preference split or open at its two ends, being made to overlap at h, so as to
allow it to expand and fit the interior of the barrel N with sufficient friction

page_text: to drive the works and yet to turn freely inside the barrel when the spring is
fully wound up; i is the hook or catch by which the outer end of the main-
spring is attached to the friction ring or bridle M.
.
The mechanism for setting or adjusting the hands consists of the moveable
stud or pin O, shown detached at Figure 5, which is made tubular so as to fit
on to the arbor or spindle P, and is formed with a milled head for the facility:
of turning the same with the finger and thumb; this tubular stud or pin is
capable of moving in or out of the watch case as required along the spindle P,
a long slot being made therein, as shown, through which passes a pin which
enters the spindle, and thus prevents the part O from being detached. Qis a
conical collar which fits on to the part O and serves to fill up or close the
spring in the case previously occupied by the milled head when pushed,
inwards, and to cover the slot in the tubular piece or stud O. A helical
spring R is fitted on to the spindle P, which spring bears at one end, against
the fixed plate or bearing S and at the other against the conical collar Q, its
object being to force out the hollow stud O, so soon as it is released or
uncovered.by moving back the sliding cover plate T, which works in a grove or,
slot in the rim of the match case when the stud.O is forced outwards; the
inner end of the longitudinal slot therein encounters the pin in the spindle.P,
causing the latter to be also drawn outwards slightly; on this spindle there is
fitted a grooved collar k, into which engages the lever working on a pivot.or
centre.at m. The opposite end of this lever is bent or curved at right angles,
and is connected by a pin joint n with one end of a lever o working on a
centre p, and having its free end engaged into, an annular.groove made in the
boss of the crown pinion g; this pinion slides longitudinally along, a square
portion of the spindle P and turns with it. When the spindle P moves out-
wards the collar & also moves the lever l outwards, and this lever being jointed
to the lever o causes the opposite end of the said lever o to move inwards and
slide the pinion 9 inwards along the spindle P, thus acting as a clutch lever
to bring the pinion q into gear with the wheel r, which gears with the wheel s.
for the purpose of turning the minute wheel and setting or adjusting the hands
to any desired position. On pushing inwards the stud O the reverse motion
takes place, and the pinion 2 is drawn out of -gear with the wheel 1. In
order to maintain the parts in their proper position for setting the hands an
inclined catch t on the end of a fixed blade spring presses upon the inclined
surface of the lever (as shewn more clearly in the detail, Figure 6) when the
parts are out of action, but when the parts are adjusted, so as to bring the
pinion into gear with the wheel r, then the catch t and lever I assume
the relative positions shewn by the detail, Figure 7, and the lever lis

page_text: consequently locked and held steady during the operation of setting or adjusting
the hands.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of Invention,
and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The general construction and arrangement of mechanism for winding
up watches and setting the hands thereof, as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
Second. The combination with the hinge of a watch case of mechanism for
operating upon the mainspring and effecting the winding of the same by the
act of opening and closing the case.
Third. The combination of a toothed rack in gear with a ratchet wheel on
the axis or spindle of the mainspring of a watch and jointed to the end of a
lever which derives its motion from the hinge of the watch case, the whole
operating substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
Fourth. The connecting the mainspring with a friction piece or bridle fitted
inside the barrel in lieu of to the barrel itself, substantially as and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Fifth. The peculiar combination of mechanism for setting or adjusting
hands of what are known as keyless watches, as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Adolph Cohen, have to this my Speci-
fication set. my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.