AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EXHIBITING THE TIME ON THE DIAL-PLATES OF CLOCKS AND WATCHES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Barlow, of New Street, Vincent Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EXHIBITING THE TIME ON THE DIAL-PLATES OF
CLOCKS AND WATCHES:"
Sealed the 19th October 1866, and dated the 23rd June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Barlow at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd June 1866.
I, PETER BARLOW, of New Street, Vincent Square, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EXHIBITING THE TIME ON THE DIAL-
PLATES OF CLOCKS AND WATCHES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention has for its object to exhibit the time on the dial plates
of clocks, watches, and other timekeepers in a more simple form, for which
purpose I cause such numerical figures or signs only to be displayed at a time
on such dial plates for the hours, and the minutes, as are necessary to denote
the particular hour and minutes past such particular hour (if any), at which
the said figures or signs are so displayed, for instance, for half past three, the

page_text: time would be exhibited as in the sketch a, and in like manner for every hour
and minute.
By this Invention I dispense with the use of the hour and minute hands
as well as the stationary figures by which they are encircled, so rendering it
unnecessary to mark with the eye the number to which each of such hands
may point before being able to ascertain the time.
By this Invention I gain additional space on such dial plates for the
exhibition of seconds, as also for any other particulars relating to the
passage of time, such as the days of the month, et cetera, either accord-
ing to my plan herein described for the hours and minutes or in the
ordinary way.
In order to carry out this my Invention I furthermore dispense with the
wheels and pinions used in the motion work of clocks and watches, for the
movements of the hands, instead of which I substitute a thin circular plate of
metal or other material enamelled or otherwise prepared for figures to be
depicted thereon, and which I fix upon an arbor or axis, causing the same to
turn on pivots over or nearly over where the arbor of the centre wheel acts,
the prepared side of such circular plate being placed in the direction that the
dial plate of a clock or watch commonly is. Around this circular plate I
place two narrow circular bands, which by a contrivance I cause to turn upon
the arbor of the said circular plate, such circular bands being of metal or
other material, and having their surfaces prepared in a similar way to that
of the circular plate. I cause the circular plate and the two circular bands to
rotate by means of suitable pinions attached to the end and under sides of such
circular plate and bands respectively, the surfaces of the circular plate and those
of the two bands being kept even, and connecting such circular plate
and bands to the ordinary going train of the clock or watch
supplementary wheels and springs. Now on the prepared or enamelled side of
the outer circular band I depict the figures for the 12 hours, and on the
prepared surfaces of the inner circular band and circular plate the figures for

page_text: the minutes, the figures for the minutes being placed in two rows. By this
contrivance the number for each of the 59 minutes will be displayed in turn,
by the movements of the said inner band and circular plate, the numbers
being changed within and by the termination of the last second in each
minute, the numbers on the outer band for the hours being also exhibited
and changed, such changes being effected within and by the end of the last
second in each hour. Over the circular plate and bands I place a thin shade
of metal or other material having a finished or ornamented side, and two small
open panels cut through it through which open panels such only of the
figures depicted on the circular plate and circular bands can be seen at
a time as are necessary to denote the time at which such figures become
displayed..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
BARLOW, of New Street, Vincent Square, in the County of Middlesex, Piano-
forte Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Barlow, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Barlow, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter
Barlow, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF EXHIBITING THE TIME ON THE DIAL-PLATES OF CLOCKS AND WATCHES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Barlow, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Barlow, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and
forming part of this my Specification, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon.
My Invention has for its object to exhibit the time on the dial plates of clocks,
watches, and other timekeepers in a more simple form, for which purpose
I cause such figures or signs only to be displayed at a time on such dial plates,
for the hours and the minutes, as serve to denote the particular hour, and
minutes past such particular hour, if any, at which the said figures or signs
are so displayed, for instance, for half past three, the time would be exhibited
as in the sketch a, and in like manner for every hour and minute.
By this Invention I dispense with the use of the hour and minute hands
as well as the stationery figures by which they are encircled, so rendering it
unnecessary to mark with the eye the number to which each of such hands
may point before being able to ascertain the time.
By this Invention I gain additional space on such dial plates for the exhi-
bition of seconds, as well as for any other particulars, relating to time either
according to the plan herein described for the hours and minutes or in the
ordinary way.
In order to carry out this my Invention I furthermore dispense with the
wheels and pinions made use of for the carrying round of the hands, instead of
which I sustitute a thin circular plate of metal or other material suitably
prepared for figures to be depicted thereon, which I fix upon an arbor or axis
causing the same to turn on pivots near to where the arbor of the centre
wheel acts, the prepared side being placed in the direction that the dial plate
of a clock or watch commonly is. Around this circular plate or dial I place
two circular bands or dials of metal or other material, the surfaces of which
having been in like manner prepared for figures. I cause these three dial plates

page_text: to rotate by means of suitable pinions attached to them, such pinions being
connected with the going train of the clock or watch by supplementary wheels.
Now on the prepared surface of the outer dial I depict the figures for the 12
hours, and on the prepared surfaces of the other two dials the figures for the
minutes. Over these three dial plates I place a thin shade of metal or other
material, having a finished or ornamented side, and two small open panels,
through which open panels such only of the figures depicted on the three dials
can be seen at a time as serve to denote the time at which such figures
become displayed, I cause the centre wheel to act on a third wheel hollow
pinion, such third wheel revolving once in every five minutes.
Fig. I. The supplementary third wheel A, as seen in the accompanying
Drawing Fig, I., is centred upon and carried round once also in every five
minutes, by the arbor of the ordinary third wheel which is extended through
the plate for the purpose, and is furnished with a set square at its opposite
extremity to set the dial plates to the time. This supplementary wheel has
60 teeth and is furnished with one extra tooth on the underneath side of it
which will be seen in the side view Fig. 3. The wheel B, Fig. I. is furnished
with one tooth only, and revolves once in an hour. Beneath this wheel there are
two others which will be better seen in the side view, Fig. 4. The undermost of
these wheels D is fitted on a socket, as is each of the two that are above it,
such socket turning on a pin fixed in the plate for the purpose. The under-
most wheel D has six teeth, and a pinion fixed on the top side of it of 12 leaves,
by which the extra tooth of the wheel A carries the wheel D round once in an
hour, and with it in the same space of time, the uppermost wheel B, both
being fitted on one and the same socket, but with this difference, viz., that
the undermost wheel D is fixed to it, while the uppermost wheel B is placed
on it so that it may be taken off and on when necessary. The middle
wheel C is furnished with one single tooth like the wheel B, but is left free
enough to turn on the socket, it has a pinion of twelve leaves fixed on the
top side of it by which it is carried round by the teeth of the supplementary
wheel A once every minute; x is the point at which the dial plates are
centred.
Fig. 2 represents in like manner the pillar plate of a watch, the wheels
and pinions made use of for the driving of the hands being dispensed with, as
also so much of the centre wheel arbor as extends above the plate for such
purpose, E, F, and G, represent the three dial plates pitched so much to the
right of the centre of the plate as to cause the figures on the hour dial, and
those on the dials for the minutes to be equidistant from it. Each of the
figures for the hours is changed for the next in order, by the turning of the

page_text: dial E within, and by the termination of the last second of every hour. By
the turning of the minute dial which takes place within, and by the termina-
tion of the last second of every minute, one of the figures described thereon
beginning with the cipher is placed opposite to the blank space h of the
minutes dial G. At the end of ten minutes the cipher will have reached the
spot at which it first stood, simultaneously with which the ten minutes dial G
will have shifted the blank h for the figure 1, and so on for the rest of the
figures on the said dial, by which contrivance the figures for each of the 59
minutes will one after the other be exhibited, each of the three dial plates
turning in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2.
Fig. 3 is a side view of the wheel A, Fig. I. on a large scale; A represents
the wheel of sixty teeth; y, the extra tooth.
Fig. 4, side view of the wheels B, C, D, as seen at Fig. I., shewing on
a large scale the way in which they are fitted on the socket z.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the arbors of the dial plates, the dial E seen
at Fig. 2 has a pinion of twelve fixed to the underneath side of it, and is
fitted so as to turn steadily on the outside of the fixed socket m; within the
socket m is placed a hollow arbor p, pl, of the right size to work steadily in
it, upon the lower end of which pl I fix a pinion of ten leaves, and on the
upper end p I fit the dial F seen at Fig. 2 being for the minutes, in such
manner as to admit of being taken off and on when required. Within this.
hollow arbor is placed a solid arbor R, R1, in like manner of the right size
to work steadily, and which I pitch at the point a; on the lower end of this
arbor R1 I fix a pinion of six, and on the upper end RI fit the ten minutes
dial G, so that it may in like manner be taken off and on when required, the s
dials E and F being recessed on the top side in such manner as to allow
the surfaces of the three dials to be placed even with each other.
Fig. 6 represents on a large scale, the top side of the wheel D seen at
Fig. I., g, being the pinion of twelve fixed to its upper side.
Fig. 7 represents the wheel C, Fig. 1. on a large scale; C being the top
side of the wheel, and j the pinion of twelve fixed to it.
Now the wheel B; Fig. I., revolving once in every hour, the single tooth
with which it is furnished will, by acting upon the pinion of the hour dial E,
shift one figure for the next in order during the last second of each and every
hour. In like manner the single tooth of the wheel C, Fig. I., acting upon 8
the pinion of the dial F will change one figure for the next ensuing during
the last second of each minute, and the wheel D, Figure I., will by acting upon
the pinion of the dial G, change the figure within the last second of cach
succeeding ten minutes in like manner. Furthermore, in order to prevent

page_text: the dials from shifting during the intervals of time at which they should be at
rest, I place light springs in such a position as to bear lightly against the
pinions attached to such dials. The foregoing details apply equally to
clocks and other timekeepers requiring only to be made proportionably
large.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly understood that
I do not by any means confine myself to the precise details herein-before
described as the same may be varied in a number of ways without departing
from the general principle of this my said Invention, but that which I do
claim as new and of my Invention is, to exhibit the time on the dial plates
of clocks, watches, and other timekeepers by means of displaying such figures
or signs only at one and the same time for the hours and the minutes as
serve to denote the time at which such figures or signs become so displayed, so
dispensing with the use of the hour and the minute hands as well as the
stationery figures by which they are encircled.
In witness whereof I, the said Peter Barlow, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
PETER BARLOW. (L.S.)