Improvements in or connected with Clocks, Watches, and Timepieces of All Kinds.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 11th Jan., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Clocks, Watches, and Timepieces
of All Kinds.
A communication by the MARQUIS FREDERIC DE GRAVISI and LEONARdo
SALERNO, both of Naples, in the Kingdom of Italy, Lawyer and Professor
respectively.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street,
Manchester both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street Birmingham in
the County of Warwick, and 31 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention relates to the application to clocks, watches, and timepieces of
all kinds of a system for synchronizing the local times of the principal towns of the
world.
The invention is applicable to timepieces of all kinds whether for hanging on a
wall, or placing on a dressing table; and whether table clocks, carriage clocks, or
pocket timepieces; and speaking generally, to all timepieces which are open to the
public, and to chronometers more particularly those in use on ships of the mercantile
marine and navies.
The problem of producing a clock that will indicate with sufficient precision at
the same time the local, and the synchronous time, of numerous principal towns,
must be resolved not by the special construction of a particular clock which would
encounter insurmountable obstacles in its industrial and commercial application
through the competition of the cheaper ordinary clocks, but by a method affording
at little cost an easy & rational system to be applied to all timepieces under con-
struction or in use without introducing the slightest modification in the mechanism
as well as preserving the ordinary division of the hours and even retaining if
required the hands which mark the minutes and seconds as hitherto.
This object has been attained by the invention of the present universal system
by replacing the existing dial plate with another double one, that is to say, a dial
which is formed in two parts, viz. a fixed annular dial plate of the precise dimensions
of the dial plate which is to be replaced, and a central smaller dial plate which may
pivot on the arbor of the hour hand so that at the same time whilst it follows the
entire revolution of this hand, it may be turned on the arbor when desired without
the hand itself being interrupted in its movement, or displaced.
The very important novelty of a small central dial plate free to turn easily on the
arbor of the hour hand, affords the observer the capital advantage of being always
able to read the actual hour by the ordinary system whatever may be the meridian
under which he is located at the moment of the observation, since he can turn at
bis will the small central dial plate on the arbor of the hour hand so as to cause it
to correspond to the mark of the town where he may be, and he can in consequence
regulate the time of his watch to the time of the town in which he is located.
In practice the application of this system may be equally well made to dial
plates both with and without second hands, and this is shown in the accompanying
drawings in Figures 1 & 2 in which two views of dial plates are shown, whilst
Fig. 3 is an end view of the small movable dial.

page_text: in the accompanying drawings, the local time of 49 principal towns of the
world of all meridians are marked on the dial plates. The rational order in which
the towns are distributed and the spacing of them admit of any number of towns
being arranged as desired, without any confusion, although it is understood that
the artistic execution of the plan must be such as to give a clear reading.
All towns and marks corresponding to the west of the meridian of Greenwich
should be engraved or marked in deep tints (blue or black), as well as the marks
of the minutes and of the 12 hours in Roman numerals, whilst the towns and the
corresponding marks to the east of the meridian of Greenwich, as well as the
Arabic numerals from 13 to 24, superposed on the Roman numerals I to XII
should be marked in red, carmine, or vermilion. These colours, which may of
course be varied at will, are only employed to obtain greater clearness and to give
a better appearance, and in order to avoid fatigue to the eye of the observer,
without being in any way necessary.
As regards watches having dial-plates of a smaller diameter than 038 of a
metre, it has been suggested that a concavo-convex lens should be substituted for
the usual glass in order to produce a slight magnifying effect sufficient to allow of
these dials being easily read, which may of course if desired be applied to other
clocks or timepieces.
EXPLANATION OF FIGURES.
A. Fig. 1 is the annular fixed dial-plate which is marked on its external edge
with the 60 ordinary minutes and on its internal edge with 12 divisions for each
of the 12 hours, which latter are subdivided and marked in such a way that all
round the dial there are 144 lines made up of two short lines and one longer line
alternately. The longer lines represent the quarter, the half, the three-quarter,
and the full hours. The space comprised between the two above mentioned edges,
is occupied by the Roman numerals I to XII, on which are superposed the Arabic
numerals 13 to 23, whilst No. 24, also Arabic, is placed under the Roman XII for
the purpose of rendering more apparent the rotation of the 24 hours on the dial,
which has merely 12 divisions.
B. is the movable central dial pivotted on the arbor of the hour hand, the
periphery of which dial extends to only half a millimetre from the inner edge of
the fixed dial O. This dial, provided with a little holes near its external edge,
bears the inscription of 49 principal towns of the world arranged in an elliptical
form one after the other in two colours, so that the towns to the east of the
fundamental meridian are arranged according to their meridian distances from
Greenwich to Sydney, in the direction of the movement of the hands, whilst the
towns to the west of the fundamental meridian are arranged in an opposite
direction up to San Francisco in California, distributed in the spaces arranged
between the other towns so that the whole of the design presents the figure of
an ellipse, and the distinction of colours renders the reading easier. Further the
dial lines run in different directions, and end at the periphery of the movable dial
in correspondence with one of the lines placed at the inner edge of the fixed dial
on which they indicate the hour shown by the numbers, and the minutes, indicated
by lines. Each space between the lines of the minutes on the inner edge of the
fixed dial, corresponds exactly to 5 minutes, but as the lines which start from the
towns would, in the movement of the dial, arrive at the fixed lines a little more to
the left, or to the right, it is easy to appreciate at sight the small differences of
several minutes.
In order to read the local time without fear of mistake, the hours must be
counted by 24 from one midnight to another, and consequently the observer may
find the local time of the towns to the east of the meridian of Greenwich on the
numbers which indicate a time increasing relatively to that indicated by the two
ordinary hands of the watch, and he can find the local time of towns to the west

page_text: of the meridian of Greenwich on the numbers which indicate a time decreasing
relatively to that indicated by the two hands of the watch; for instance if the
clock indicates 15h. 35m. at the meridian of Termoli, the local clock will
synchronically indicate for Calcutta 20h. 38m., as may be seen by following the
line which runs from this town, while the local hour of New York is indicated by
the line which starts from this town to 19h. 39m.
In Fig. 2, A is the annular fixed dial constructed like the fixed dial A of
Fig. 1., with the sole difference that, in the spaces between the numbers, it has on
its periphery 29 towns which proceed from east of Greenwich in a reverse
direction to that of the movement of the hands, as far as Sidney which adjoins.
Greenwich on the other side as shown on the fixed dial, whereon the reading of
the oriental towns is rendered clearer by means of the indication of a star or the
like at S.
The remainder of the space of the fixed dial up to the edge O¹, which is
distant at least a half millimetre from the small movable dial, is occupied by lines
which run in curves or zigzags from the towns to the lines which are marked on.
the inner edge of the same fixed dial.
The central dial B₁ is divided into a dozen spaces and marked circularly with.
Arabic numerals from 1 to 24 following an inverse direction to that in which the
numbers are arranged on the fixed disc A¹, and in the intervals between the
numbers 20 towns are marked proceeding from the west of Greenwich and which
run backwards from the hour hand in such a way, that the last western town
San Francisco in California at the one end, is adjacent to Madrid, which is the
first at the other end, and the point from whence the reading or tour is taken is-
marked on the little dial by a star or a hole S¹, which also serves for turning, if
need be, the small movable dial on the arbor of the hour hand.
The reading is very easy in this case, because the hours of the oriental towns
being inscribed on the fixed dial, the numbers of the small movable dial may be.
read which indicate the increasing time relatively to that indicated by the-
ordinary watch hands, whilst the times of the western towns, inscribed on the
small movable dial, may be ascertained by counting them on the numbers of
the fixed dial, which indicate time preceding or decreasing as regards that
indicated by the hands of the timepiece.
In Fig. 3, the small movable dial is seen in side or edge elevation, in order to
show how it is pivotted with a little friction on the arbor of the hour hand. L is.
the hour hand, D the disc of the movable dial, and R a very thin washer fixed on
the end of the arbor of the hour hand. The object of this is to enable the dial to-
revolve with slight friction.
It must be noted that these three figs. have been designed for clocks which.
have 12 divisions on the dial, and which are the most commonly used. To any
other kind of clock with 24 divisions, 3 hands, or the like, this improved system.
may also be easily applied by simply modifying the spaces or arrangements
between the numbers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In clocks, watches, or timepieces of any kind, a diál composed of a fixed
annular outer piece and a revoluble inner piece, said dial having indicating lines,.
and names of towns of different meridians, marked thereon, substantially in the
mauner described, whereby universal local time may be ascertained or indicated
without necessitating any modification or derangement of the mechanism of the
timepiece, and without recourse being had to special constructions even of very
small parts of the mechanism or of the frame.
2. In a system such as hereinbefore described, the application to clocks, watches,
or timepieces of any kind, of a fixed annular dial, and a central movable dial,.

page_text: constructed and arranged substantially as herein before described and shown on the
accompanying drawings.
Deted this 4th dor of December 1895
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.