IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Robert, of 34, Clerkenwell Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Watchmaker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Robert at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th May 1879.
HENRI ROBERT, of 34, Clerkenwell Road, in the County of Middlesex, Watch-
maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES."
My Invention relates to improvements in watches, by which they will go eight
days without winding up by the action of a single spring. The advantages of the
Invention are that the main spring ratchet clickspring and all the other works for
winding up will be less liable to break and wear out, having the strain of rewinding
only once a week instead of once a day.
The barrel is made about one third larger than ordinary barrels of other watches,
and the main spring also is longer, wider, and stronger. The centre wheel is put
on one side instead of in the centre to give more room for the barrel. The hand
setting pinion or axle is also on the side and not at the centre, and has an extra
wheel more than in ordinary watches. The system is not applicable to existing
watches, but requires the parts to be made specially for the purpose. The train of
wheels follows just within the outer circumference of the watch, and is different to
the train of wheels now employed in the numbers of teeth and pinions.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henri Robert in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th November
1879.
HENRI ROBERT, of 34, Clerkenwell Road, in the County of Middlesex, Watch-
maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES."
My Invention consists in an improved construction of watch whereby without
increasing the dimensions or cost of the watch it is rendered capable of going 8 days
without being rewound.
The advantages of an 8 day watch, besides the obvious convenience of requiring
to be wound only once a week instead of once a day, are that the main spring,
click spring, and other parts by which the watch is wound up are less liable to
break and wear out, as the strain of rewinding is less frequent.
The chief features which distinguish this watch from other watches are
that but one barrel is employed (instead of two, as in some watches, made
to go for long periods) about larger than the barrel of an ordinary watch
of the same size, the said barrel occupying however its usual position between
the plates of the frame on a level with the rest of the movement, so that the watch
is no thicker than usual instead of the barrel being placed above as in some other
watches with a single barrel going for a long period. The diameter of the barrel is
consequently more than half the diameter of the watch frame, and the centre wheel
cannot therefore be placed at the centre of the frame, as in cominon watches, but
towards one side in order to make room for such barrel. The number of wheels in
the train is the same as usual, and there is no extra complication of movement.
The canon pinion occupies its usual place with regard to the rest of the motion
work, but, instead of being fitted upon the centre wheel arbor as usual, revolves
loose upon a fixed stud projecting from the centre of the under or dial side of the
pillar plate.
Upon the centre wheel arbor is fixed an intermediate wheel that gears with the
minute wheel, and so transmits the movement of the centre wheel, or of its arbor
to the "motion work" moving the hands. The numbers of the teeth of the wheels
and pinions necessarily differ from those of ordinary watches, but I would have it
distinctly understood that I do not in any way limit myself to the particular
number indicated in the Drawings, as they may be varied according to the desired
number of vibrations per hour the balance is to make, as will be readily under-
stood. It will also be understood that I may use any form of escapement preferred,
and the watch may also have the ordinary keyless mechanism.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of the watch movement with the top plate removed, and shown
separately in Figure 1ª; Figure 2 is a plan of the underside of the pillar plate (the
side next the dial) showing the motion work; Figure 3 is a vertical section on
line 1-1, Figure 2, through the axes of the hour wheel, minute wheel, and centre
wheel; and Figure 4 is a similar section showing all the motion work detached'
from the plate. All these Figures are drawn about double the actual size.
In Figures 1 and 2 the wheels and pinions are indicated only by their rims and
pitch circles. The numbers of the teeth given are for 18,000 vibrations per hour,
but they may be varied as before stated.
A is the pillar plate (or the plate, if there be no top plate), and A¹ the top plate;
B is the barrel; C, the centre wheel; D, the third wheel; E, the fourth wheel;
F, the escapement wheel; and G, the balance wheel. The pinions of these wheels
are indicated by the letters c, d, e, f, respectively; h, centre square and arbor; i is
the intermediate wheel driven tightly thereon; M is the minute wheel, and m its
pinion; N is the hour wheel riding loose as usual on the canon pinion P, which

page_text: turns on a fixed pin or stud p screwed into the plate A instead of being fixed on
the centre wheel arbor h as is usual when the latter passes through the centre of
the plate A. It will be seen that the barrel B is of very large diameter relatively
to that of the watch whose semi diameter it exceeds; it is in fact equal to nearly
two thirds of the diameter of plate A. It is therefore evident that the centre
wheel cannot be pivoted in its usual position at the centre of plate A, since this
position is occupied by the barrel, and the centre wheel C is accordingly placed
towards one side as shown, and the position of the other wheels D, E, is slightly
altered to suit this new position of the centre wheel. The height of the barrel is
rather greater than in common watches, and is shown in dotted lines in Figure 3,
and the pillar plate is hollowed to receive it. The main spring is graduated, that
is to say, the end of the spring attached to the spindle is increased gradually in
thickness, beginning at a point about three inches from such end, so as to be as strong
when nearly run down as when wound up, in order that the regulation of the
watch may not be altered by the weakening of the spring.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The arrangement of the mechanism of the improved 8 day watch, substan-
tially as herein described.
2nd. A watch in which the barrel is of greater diameter than the semi-diameter
of the pillar plate (so as to extend beyond and occupy the centre of the watch
frame), but is yet located in the usual position in the watch frame, substantially as
shown and described.
3rd. A watch in which the barrel has the relative diameter and position herein
specified, and in which the centre wheel is not at the centre of the watch frame but
towards one side, substantially as shown and described.
4th. In a watch in which the barrel and the centre wheel occupy the positions
herein specified I claim the connection of the centre wheel arbor with the motion
work by an extra or intermediate wheel fixed on said arbor and gearing with the
motion work, substantially as described.
5th. In a watch in which the barrel and centre wheel occupy the positions
herein described I claim mounting the canon pinion to rotate on a fixed pin
or stud instead of on the centre wheel arbor, substantially as shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Robert, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
HENRI ROBERT. (L.S.)