IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AND REGULATING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd December
1866. A communication from abroad by Joseph de Susini, Gentleman,
of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AND REGULATING MOTIVE POWER,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to utilizing the power produced by the tension of
an elastic cord having a self-acting escapement regulated according to the
nature of the application; this apparatus is chiefly applicable where but a
small amount of power is required, and especially to give motion to mechanical
toys, as, for instance, toy watches.
This latter application is represented in the accompanying Drawing, the
apparatus consists, 1st. of a lever a, Figure 1, turning on a pin 6 fixed to the
case; the lever a is provided at its centre with a projecting part c fixed
thereto made of some soft material, such as leather, india-rubber, cork, or
soft wood; 2ndly, of a cord d composed of india-rubber and silk, or other
elastic material, or it may be a small spiral spring; 3rdly, of a small spindle e
carrying a pulley f at its upper part, which is fixed thereto, the part c above
mentioned being in frictional contact with this pulley, the pulley and spindle
may also be made in one piece; 4thly, of a grooved guide pulley 9 turning on
a pivot fixed to the case, the elastic cord d passes round this pulley 9, and so

page_text: produces it of sufficient length to be wound three or four times round the
spindle e below the pulley f, one end of the cord being passed through an
orifice in part e, and secured thereto by means of a pin; 5thly, of a cross
piece h, serving as a guide and support for the spindle carrying the pulley f;
this guide has a hole at its centre, in which fits the one end of the spindle e,
being free to turn therein, the squared end of the spindle e projects above the
guide bar on which to mount the hands of the watch, the lower end of the
spindle e also terminates in a squared part, seen in Figure 2, on which is
applied the key for winding the watch. The cross bar h, Figure 3, is secured
at each end to the watch case. The parts of the spindle immediately adjoining
the squared ends are slightly shouldered off, and in order that the spindle
may turn with as little friction as possible I apply a small washer of glove
leather slightly greased. All the parts above described forming the watch
movement are enclosed in a case of more or less elegant appearance provided
with a face, the hands being fixed on the square end of the spindle e, which
projects a little above the face, and the whole covered with a glass as usual.
In order to set the watch in motion the key is applied on the squared end of the
spindle opposite to that carrying the hands, and turned from the left to right
like an ordinary watch, as the winding continues the elastic cord becomes
wound on the small spindle e to which one end of it is attached, while the
other is fixed to the end of the lever a pulls the latter, and causes the part c
of soft leather fixed to a to bear on the pulley f in proportion to the tension
of the india-rubber cord. After turning the key two, three, or more times
it is removed, when the hands of the watch will move very slowly and regularly
by reason of the part c bearing on the pulley f, the pressure on the same
decreasing as the cord becomes unwound.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the apparatus constitutes a novel
self-acting mechanism, and although I have only described it with reference
to a toy watch, I also apply it for giving motion to other mechanical toys, and
for producing and regulating motion when applied to other purposes.