An Improvement in Click and Ratchet Work in Watches.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Click and Ratchet Work in Watches.
MATTHEW WILCOX 48 Spon End, Coventry Watch Jeweller do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object improvements in the click and ratchet work in
watches, and is for the purpose of producing greater safety, and to be able to take
the barrel out of watches without taking the dial off. I purpose securing the ratchet
in by a cover.
The cover is secured by 2 screws which will secure the ratchet and prevent it from
coming out of action, and coming foul of any other object without pinning the ratchet
on the barrel arbor. I purpose putting a circular spring to the click, and the click I
secure so that the end of the spring keeps it from coming out of action.
Dated this 15th day of March. 1897
MATTHEW WILCOX.
I, MATTHEW WILCOX of 48 Spon End, Coventry, Warwickshire, Watch Jeweller,
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 :-
My invention relates to the click and ratchet work in watches, and has for its
objects to produce greater safety and to enable the barrel to be removed from the
watch without taking off the dial.
To attain my objects I secure the ratchet in place by a cover, which together with
the recess in which the ratchet lies. constitutes a box which I term a safety ratchet
box. The cover is held in place by screws and prevents the said ratchet from coming
out of action and from coming foul of any other object, without pinning the ratchet
to the barrel arbor. I provide the click with a circular spring, and I mount the click
and spring so that the end of the spring keeps the click from coming out of action.
And in order that my invention may be properly understood and readily carried
into effect I will further describe the same with the aid of the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure I is a plan of part of a watch fitted with my improved click and ratchet
work the barrel being removed for clearness.
Figure II is an inverted plan of the said part of the watch.
Figure III is a section on the line a-a in Figs. I and II the barrel and plate being
in position.

page_text: Figures IV and V are an inverted plan and an elevation respectively, of the barrel
separate from the other parts.
Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the drawings.
The ratchet 2 is secured in the recess 4 by the cover 5 which is held in place by
two or preferably three screws 6. The ratchet is exposed at one part 7 to be operated
on by the winding gear and at a nearly opposite part to receive the long arm of the bell-
crank click 8. The click is pressed into action against the ratchet by the free
end 10 of the circular spring 9 bearing on the short arin of the click. The spring 9
is held in place by the screw 11 and its fixed end preferably has a shoulder 12
bearing against the wall of the recess in which the said spring is located. The square or
other suitable noncircular part 13 of the barrel arbor 14 engages in the square or
otherwise correspondingly formed hole 3 in the ratchet 2 no pinning being
necessary; the circular collar 15 on the said arbor rotates in the circular hole 16 in
the cover 5.
By these means greater safety is secured and the barrel may be readily removed
without taking off the dial. To control the letting down of the main spring when
the watch requires attention and the said spring is wound, I provide the stud screw 17.
This stud screw carries a partial collar or its equivalent 18 adapted to bear on the
short arm of the click, so that by merely giving part of a turn to the said stud
screw, the long arm of the click is lifted out of engagement with the ratchet, thus
leaving the main spring free to run down, but in such a manner that by simple
pressure on the barrel or otherwise the letting down can be easily controlled.
I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as
equivalents may be substituted and modifications made without exceeding, or
departing from, my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is,―
1. In a watch, mounting the ratchet in a recess and securing it therein by a cover,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a watch, securing the ratchet in a box and providing the said ratchet with a
non-circular hole whereby it is engaged by a corresponding noncircular part of the
barrel arbor, substantially as set forth.
3. In a watch, the combination with a ratchet constructed and arranged as herein
described of a click provided with a circular spring the free end of which spring
bears on the said click so as to keep the same in action, substantially as set
forth.
4. In a watch, the combination with a ratchet, click and spring constructed and
arranged as herein described, of, a stud screw adapted when partly rotated to throw
the said click out action substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. The new or improved construction and arrangement of parts in a watch, whereby
greater safety is secured and the barrel is enabled to be removed from the watch
without taking off the dial, substantially as herein described and as illustrated by the
accompanying drawings.
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