IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES AND TIMEPIECES."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Bruce, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Watchmaker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WATCHES AND TIMEPIECES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Bruce at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents; with his Petition, on the 28th
December 1857.
I, ALEXANDER BRUCE, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Watch Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES AND TIMEPIECES," to be as follows:-
Instead of two mainsprings and two trains of wheels to work the inde-
pendent seconds and time as heretoforé generally adopted, I use only one
mainspring and train with an additional wheel, detent, spring, and check to
the 'scape pinion, and an additional pinion, ratchet, or wheel.
And also for an improved chronometer escapement, which consists of using
a lever to lock and unlock the wheel instead of a détent, the said lever being
acted upon or worked by a small roller having two small stones instead of one
as heretofore, the stones being placed so as to form a slit or fork, or if one
stone only is used, it must be slit so as to form a kind of fork.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Bruce in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
BRUCE, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Watch
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alexander Bruce, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander
Bruce, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Bruce, my executors, administrators, and 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, AND
TIMEPIECES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Bruce, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Alexander Bruce, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My said Invention consists, firstly, of improved modes of working. the
independent seconds. Instead of employing two mainsprings-and, two trains
of wheels to work the independent seconds and time as heretofore generally
adopted, I use only one main-spring and train, and place on the arbor of the
escapement a ratchet wheel or cluck of any number of teeth, which acts by
means of a lever, spring, and catch upon a ratchet wheel.placed upon the staff
or shaft of the cannon pinion, the boss of the said wheel carrying the
independent seconds hand.
Or, instead of the foregoing arrangement, I cause the independent seconds
hand to be put in action, by placing it upon or connecting it to the boss of a
ratchet wheel, acted upon by a catch, spring, and lever, the latter having an

page_text: intermittent motion by means of the vibration of a pin on a lever, operated
upon by a ratchet wheel on the shaft or arbor of the fourth wheel pinion ;'
it can also be produced from the third wheel pinion by the same arrange-
ment or by a ratchet, snail, and lever from the third and fourth wheel pinions
or shafts..
Secondly, in improved chronometer escapements, having circular pallets in
which I employ a lever and spring to lock and unlock the wheel instead of a
detent, the said lever and spring being acted upon by a small roller having
two small stonės placed so as to form a slit or fork, or one stone slit so as to
form a kind of fork or opening.
.
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, with the figures and letters of reference
thereon.
Fig. 1 is a plan, drawn to an enlarged scale, of one of my arrangements for
working the independent seconds of a watch or timepiece with one main-
spring and train of wheels; Fig. 2 is a modification of the same; and Figs. 3,
4; and 5 represent my improved chronometer escapements.
In Fig. 1, a represents the escapement wheel, on the arbor of which is
fixed the ratchet wheel or click 6, which as it revolves gives motion one way
to the lever c, working on the fulcrum d, the reverse motion being given by
the spring e; the lever c is furnished at the bottom with a moveable catch or
ratchet f, adapted to the ratchet wheel ġ, the boss of which is placed on the
shaft of the cannon pinion, and carries the hand h for the independent seconds.
The ratchet wheel 9 has sixty teeth, and is provided with a lock catch i and
spring k. When the lever c moves in the direction of the arrow in consequence
of the action of the ratchet wheel b, the moveable catch rides' over the teeth of
the wheel g without moving it, but when the lever has a reverse action the
catch is firm in the teeth and moves the wheel a tooth, and also a second.
movement to the second hand, both being held steady by the lock catch i
until another movement is given, thus giving motion to the independent
seconds hand with one main spring and one train of wheels.
By pushing the stop ¹ into one of the detents 1 of the spring m, the
lever c' is held out of the reach or click 6, and becomes stationary, giving
no motion to the second hand, and if the stop k is pushed into the other
detent, its turned-up end holds the ratchet or click and stops the going of the
timepiece, both operations being at times desired for purposes of investigation
and science.'
In-Fig. 2 the hand n for the independent seconds is connected to a boss o
and ratchet wheel p of sixty teeth, both of which are placed on the staff or

page_text: shaft of the cannon pinion. Motion is given to the ratchet wheel p. by means
of the moveable catch 9, working on a pin in the lever r, furnished with
springs and acting on the ratchet wheel and hand precisely the same as in the
former example, but the lever is bent, or extended so that one of its ends may
be moved or vibrated by the pin s in the short lever t, working on, the,
fulcrum u, the under side of the lever being cut away, as shewn by, the dotted
lines, so as to act as a catch, which is influenced and. put in motion by
the ratchet wheel v, on the fourth wheel pinion shaft.w, which arrangement,
also gives motion to the independent seconds hand with one mainspring and
one train of wheels.
It is evident that in either mode there is great economy, and-simplicity,
causing less wear and tear, and consequent necessity for reparation than in
any timepieces hitherto in use.
Fig. 3 represents one of my chronometer escapements in which the lifting
spring is acted upon by a roller having a notched stone. The escapement,
wheel is shewn at x, and one of my improved angular levers for checking it
at y, having a circular or curved point or catch z. The lever works on the
fulcrum a¹, and is furnished with the straight spring 6, the end, of which
works in the slit of the stone c¹ in the roller d', on the balance staff, or,. shaft,
the locking spring e¹ being employed to keep the lever at its work..
Figs. 4 and 5 represent other chronometer escapements, in which my
improved angular levers are shewn at f', the lifting springs, at gl, and the.
locking springs at h¹.
In all the foregoing arrangements. I may act on the lifting, spring either by
the ordinary stone or by my improved roller having one or two stones, as circum
stances may require, and adapt the levers to all required positions, slightly.
changing the angle of the fulcrum with the points of action, or making the
exteriors of the levers curved instead of flat, and also employ, the aforesaid
improvements either singly or collectively.
It will be seen that my improved escapements are of great simplicity and s
economy. They are not only easily. repaired, but afford the important.
advantage of having little or no set, in consequence of the lifting spring
becoming shorter, and allowing the stone to pass much sooner than in the
escapements where a straight spring, working on the same line as the balance
is employed.
My improved roller or pallet with the double stone or fork has also: the
advantage of causing little or no set, even with a straight lever and spring, but
acts with still more certainty with my angular levers,, the employment of
which affords an improved arrangement even with the ordinary stone.
9

page_text: The points or catches of my angular levers are curved or circular, thus
giving a complete, dead, or circular action, not subject to the back motion
of the pallet wheel, which some angular points or pins have been found
to give.
The levers are also made in one piece instead of being a combination of
several parts.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth,
as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge
and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm,―
Firstly, my improved arrangements for working the independent seconds of
timepieces with one mainspring and one train of wheels.
And, secondly, my improved escapements, consisting of a small roller or
pallet, having either a double stone or a single stone with a slit or notch;
and also the employment of angular levers and springs, the said levers being
curved on their points or catches, with the necessary apparatus for carrying
out the same, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Bruce, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Alexander Bruce in
the presence of
ALEXANDER BRUCE. (L.S.)
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.