Improvements in Clocks.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 15th July, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Clocks.
I, ALMERON MARK LANE, of Home Avenue, Meriden, in the County of New
Haven, State of Connecticut, United States of America, Superintendent of Parker
& Whipples Co.'s Clock Manufactory, do hereby declare the nature of my
said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOCKS, and in what manner the same is
to be made, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification:-
My invention relates to improvements in clocks having an internal rack and
planet wheel and the objects of my improvement are general efficiency of the clock,.
and simplicity and economy in construction, whereby 1 employ said rack and planet
wheel in connection with a striking clock.
In the accompanying drawings-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my clock without the dial.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the major portion of the time and strike trains
thereof, the front movement plate and connected parts being removed.
Figure 3 is a rear elevation of my clock with one of the main springs and its
barrel removed while other parts are shown in section and in broken lines.
Figure 4 is a rear view of the front movement plate and bridges, with one of the
winding wheels, pinions, ratchets and pawls, and a transverse section of the pinion
shaft.
Figure 5 is a partial horizontal section and partial plan view of clock
movement.
my
Figure 6 is a side elevation of some of the principal parts, one of the pillars being
partially broken away.
Figure 7 is a detached side elevation of the center shaft on an enlarged scale,
and-
Figure 8 is a similar view with the friction sleeve in horizontal section on the
line xx of Fig. 7.
A designates the rear movement plate and B the front plate, between which
plates the major part of the time and striking trains and mechanisms are mounted,
which in their general features are of ordinary construction and for which equivalent
devices may be substituted.
This
8 designates the center or pointer carrying shaft, having the pinion 9 mounted
thereon and made to rotate therewith by means of the friction sleeve 10 in any
ordinary manner, the same being in effect like the center shaft ordinarily employed
in clocks that do not have the internal rack. At each side of this center shaft, the
rear movement plate is provided with a large round hole that receives the tenon 11
on the front end of the main spring hub c, to which hub the inner end of the main
spring 12 is secured by means of a pin or hook 13 in any ordinary manner.
hub c is supported at its rear outer end by the hub 40 of the spring barrel cap, said
hub 40 being supported by the bridge 14. The outer end of the spring is secured
to the spring barrel 15 at 16 Fig. 5. The main spring hub c passes through the
base of the spring barrel 15 while its outer end is journaled in the spring barrel
cap as before stated, so that said hub may rotate within said barrel and said barrel
may rotate on said hub. The hub c in addition to carrying the inner end of the
main spring is provided with an arm 17 whose contour is indicated by broken lines
in Fig. 3 and on which the planet wheel 18 is mounted. A stationary internally
toothed rack 19 is secured by any suitable means, as for instance short lugs or post,
to the rear plate, concentrically with the hub c and eccentrically with the planet
wheel 18 engaging its teeth.
The hub c is bored axially to form a bearing for one end of the shaft 21 and is

page_text: also counterbored so as to receive into it one end of the pinion 22 that is rigidly
mounted on or made fast to said shaft, which pinion engages with and is driven by
the planet wheel 18, a slot being made on one side of the hub c to admit one edge
of said planet wheel as shown in Figures 3 and 5. The front end of the shaft 21
has its bearing in the sub bridge 41 on the winding wheel bridge 42 that is secured
to the back side of the front movement plate B. The first or main wheel 24 is
mounted on the same shaft 21 as the pinion 22 and rotates therewith.
Between the winding bridge 42 and the front plate, I mount the winding wheel 44
on the winding arbor 43 concentrically to the main spring hub and barrel, the
ordinary squared end of said winding arbor projecting through the front plate for
the application of an ordinary winding key. On the winding arbor I also mount
at the rear of the winding bridge the ratchet wheel 23 and the spring pressed
pawl 25. A pinion shaft 45 has one end mounted in the front movement plate B
and its rear end in the spring barrel bridge 14. On this shaft are two pinions one
of which 46 engages with the teeth of the front winding wheel 44 while the other
pinion 47 engages a rear winding wheel 48 which is rigidly secured to and rotates
with the spring barrel the same as if the two were one and the same piece, whereby
turning the winding arbor rotates the spring barrel to wind up the main spring
from its outer end.
As before implied there are two main spring hubs with connected winding and
driving mechanism, one upon each side of the clock, the first or main wheel 24 on
the time side of the clock being engaged with and driving the pinion 9 of the
shaft 8 which shaft also carries a wheel 26 and the rest of the time train that
leads from said pinions. On the strike side of the clock, the left hand side in
Figures 1, 2 and 5, the first or main wheel 24 engages with and drives the
pinion at the rear end of the shaft 52 which also carries the hammer lifting
device 27, Fig. 2, and from which shaft the balance of the clock striking mechanism
extends. The lock work of the striking side may be of any ordinary construc-
tion. That which I have illustrated is of the class known as a rack and snail
strike.
It should be noticed that all of the wheels of the train on the striking side
except the stationary rack and planet wheel are between the front and rear
movement plates, that is to say the first or main wheel 24, the pinion at the.
rear end of the shaft 52 which is engaged by said wheel, and the other shafts,
bearing wheels and pinions leading to and including the ordinary fly wheel or
fan, are all between said plates and these parts I designate as the major portion
of the striking train.
The disc 488 which bears the trip pin or pins 49 (there are two of such pins in a
clock for striking the half hour) is mounted on the center shaft 8 in front of the
front movement plate B, but this is not essential to my present invention. The
bridges 14 in which the hubs of the spring barrels are mounted are attachable to
and detachable from the rear of the rear movement plate by means of screws so
that both main springs may be detached for repairs or cleaning without disturbing
the movement plates. It may also be noted that I employ a second hand 50 which
beats half seconds the same being mounted on the second hand shaft 51.
The internal rack and planet wheel when considered by themselves, are the same
as heretofore and need not be specifically described, but I believe in former
constructions the center shaft which carries or drives the pointers has been mounted
concentrically with the internal rack, and was therefore provided with a pinion and
ratchet wheel loosely mounted thereon. By my invention I dispense with a ratchet
on the center shaft and I mount said center shaft eccentrically to the internal rack,
while the pinion and wheel are driven by the planet wheel and both rigidly
mounted on their shaft. I am also enabled to apply the internal rack and planet
wheel to both the time and strike sides of the clock. I not only make a very
compact movement for a striking clock, but I am enabled to make an eight day
clock with such main springs as have heretofore been employed in thirty-hour
clocks. Of course my improvement may be applied to a thirty-hour clock if

page_text: desired and to either a pendulum or marine clock. Although the planet wheel and
internally toothed rack are on the back of the clock the winding arbor is on the
front, and said rack and planet wheel are so arranged on both the strike and
time side of the clock that the power of the main spring is not suspended during
the winding operation.
In the act of winding, the winding arbor carries the winding wheel 44 and the
ratchet 23 while the pawl 25 prevents a backward movement of said arbor. The
winding wheel drives the pinion 46 and its shaft 45 thereby moving the pinion 47
which engages with and drives the gear 48 and attached spring barrel, winding the
main spring from its outer end, said spring barrel then rotating on the main spring
hub c and consequently there is no reverse or backward movement of the planet
wheel. The main spring constantly acts to revolve the hub c and planet wheel 18
thereby driving the pinion 22 and rigidly connected wheel 24, while the spring
barrel remains stationary, and also while it is being wound..
I have shown and described what I believe to be the best mode of applying my
invention in all of its parts but it will of course be evident that the parts or com-
binations pointed cut in any one of the several claims are not necessarily dependent
upon the specific construction of those parts which are not particularly pointed out
in the same claim.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1. A clock having an internal rack and planet wheel and the pointer carrying
center shaft mounted eccentrically to said rack, substantially as described and for
the purpose specified.
2. The combination with an internal rack and planet wheel with the shaft 21
concentric with said rack, the pinion 22 driven by said planet wheel and made fast
on said shaft 21, the wheel 24 also made fast on said shaft 21 and the rest of the
train driven by said wheel 24, substantially as described and for the purpose
specified.
3. The combination of a main spring, the spring hub having the inner end of
said main spring secured thereto, the planet wheel also carried by said hub, the
internal rack, the pinion 22 concentric with said rack, the spring barrel mounted
to rotate on said hub and having the outer end of said main spring secured to it,
and means for turning said spring barrel to wind up the main spring, whereby the
power transmitted through said planet wheel is not withdrawn during the winding
operation as specified.
4. The combination of the main spring hub having a hollow tenon at one end for
its pivotal bearing, a spring barrel fitted to rotate on said hub and having a hollow
hub for the pivotal bearing of one side of said barrel and that end of said main
spring hub which is opposite said hollow tenon, an internal rack, a planet wheel
mounted on said hub, a main shaft journaled in the hollow tenon of said hub, a
pinion on said shaft engaging said planet wheel and the remainder of a train
driven by said main shaft, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
5. A clock having an internal rack and planet wheel with their driving
mechanism, a driven train on the front side of said wheel leading therefrom to the
last wheel of said train and the pawl and ratchet of its winding devices on the
opposite or back side of said planet wheel, substantially as described and for
the purpose specified.
6. A clock having an internal rack, planet wheel, main spring arbor and main
spring at the rear, a winding arbor at the front separate from said main spring
arbor and connecting devices between said winding and main spring arbors,
substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
7. A clock having an internal rack, planet wheel, main spring and winding wheel
at the rear; a winding arbor and wheel mounted in the front plate and a pinion

page_text: shaft and, pinions connecting said front and rear winding wheels, substantially as
described and for the purpose specified.
8. A clock having the attachable and detachable bridge 14 secured to the rear
of its rear movement plate, the main spring hub, planet wheel, and main spring
mounted between said bridge and plate, the pinion 22 with one end of its shaft
mounted in said hub and the remainder of the train mounted in front of said rear
plate, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 31st January 1893.
ALMERON MARK LANE.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicant.