AN IMPROVED WATCH
Year: 1885

page_text: I, IGNAZ HERRMANN, 23 the Parade, Lordship Lane, Dulwich Surrey Watch and
Clockmaker do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED WATCH
to be as follows:-
A changed form of going barrel and barrel arbor, for a longer winding square,
without increasing its vertual length; provision for decrease of pressure on special
bearings of pinions; an escapement, with annular-shaped roller, for safty guard
action and diminished locking resistance; a regulating balance, for a balance spring
of constant length; a balance stud: clamping the cock with about a quarter
angular rotation; a pivoted driving can, and link-driving gear to keyless work, a
cannon-pinion of 14 leaves, minute wheel of 32 teeth, minute wheel nut of 12
leaves, and hour wheel of 63 teeth:
My Invention consists of a new form of watch movement, to be called the
"Herrmann Prize Watch."
This watch, which is of the kind known as "a going Barrel," has the circum-
ference of the barrel arbor spiral in form, to prevent any sharp curvature in the
mainspring and thereby encreasing its tendency to break. Also the barrel arbor
boss or core, is reduced in thickness, so that the boss of the barrel cover dips into
the barrel to the extent of nearly half the depth of the barrel space, the diameter
of this boss being as large as the freedom of the coils will permit.
The outside of the barrel cover has a recess turnd into this boss, with minimum
thickness of bottom & sides for stability, of barrel arbor bearing in this cover.
Also the top plate has a cup shaped piece fitted into the barrel hole of the top
plate, with a projection on the lower or inside of the plate, which dips into the
recess of the barrel cover, and carries the plate-bearing of the barrel arbor. This
piece is turnd out from the top aide to admit a key when required; its depth being
as deep as consideration for a sound bearing will permit, the square becomes longer,
without encreasing the hight of the barrel arbor above the movement.
The barrel is fitted with a brace, (detached from the spring,) one end of which
fittes into a rectangular nutch in the bottom of the barrel, and the other overlaps
the rim of the barrel to which it is attached with a screw. When a stopework is
employed, the fingerpiece is formed out of the arbor of the barrel, and the stope-
piece by a toothed circular spring, fitting friction tight into a recess turnd into the
bottom of the barrel excentric with the arbor.
The pillar plate bearing of the centre wheel, has a long raised boss on the dial
side. The cannon pinion has also a recess turned into the bottom so it overlaps
this boss, thus the pressure is distributed, & is less on the unit of area, the cappilier
action is encreased, and the oil retained and wear at this part diminished.
The top plate is of at least double the thickness of the ordinary plate, for the
object of obtaining a sound bearing for pivots with sufficient depth of oil sinks or

page_text: shamphirs, in order to encreas the cappilarity at the pivotes and prevent the oil
runing away.
The pillars are very large in circumference, and attached to the pillar plate by
means of screws, for the object of easy re-placement. in case of exident to a pillar
screws.
The escapement is of the kind known as the Lever Escapement, with the
exception of the roller action. The roller is of the form of an annulus, and a
passage is cutt into the rim, about parallel to a chord of about 100 degrees.
The guard pin is mounted on a side projection of the lever, so that when the
impulse pin and lever nutch are in the line of centres, the guardpin is in the
passage midway between the inside & outside circumference of the anular section
of the roller, and at such an angular position, that a radius drawn from the roller
centre to the centre of the guard pin, formes a right angle with one drawn from the
lever-centre to the same point-the right angle being at the guard pin centre; the
pin banking alternatively inside & outside when the escapement is in motion. The
balance is of such a formie that a section of the rim would form a rectangle, the
greater side being perpendicular to the plane of the balance. Screw holes are made
in the rim parallel to the plane, so that the mass of the balance can be encreased
or diminished by inserting or removing screws, such screw being allways inserted
from the inside, where the mass of the rim is greater then the mass of the screw
heads so as to obtain a maximum radius of gyration.
The balance spring stud is mounted on a wing of the cock, between the centre
of the balance-cock & centre wheel, whereby a greater vertical space is obtained
for the screw. A broad-headet screw, with a nutch, the bottom of which is
circular, or of the form of an arc, is screwd into the plane of the stud. The
wing of the cock has a rectangular nutch of the width of the tap of the screw.
The wing is clamped between the shoulder of the screw and the stud-a projection
of the stud vertical to its plane forming a steady pin, to prevent rotation in the
the act of clamping.
The keyless worke is on the rocking bar system. The cannon pinion has
14 leaves, the minute wheel 32 teeth; the minute wheel nut 12 leves and the
hour wheel 63 teeth.
The wheel that is concentric with the rocking bar is of the usual bevelld form,
but the toothed cone that drives it is pivoted into a stud and a bar attached to
the plate. The arbor of the cone projects beyond the bar, and is rectangular in
form, fitting into a coresponding recess of the pendant shaft, that carries the
keyless botton, by which the winding and setting of hand is effected by the usual
method.
Having now described my Invention, I would observe in conclusion, that what
I consider original, and claim as my Invention, is a watch, with a going barrel so
constructed that a longer winding square is obtained without encrease in the hight
of the movement; a motion work, that admits of a projecting bearing for the
centre wheel; a stope work with solid finger stop, a roller with perfect safty guard
action and minimum locking resistance, and a simple balance, having the facilitys
of a compensation balance, for regulating the length of balance spring, and lastly
a stud clamped to the cock, that a fraction of a rotation of the screw looses or
tightens it, as heretofor described.

page_text: I, IGNAZ HERRMANN Watch and Clockmaker, 23 the Parade Lordship Lane
Dulwich Surrey 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 consists of an improved watch, and is constructed as follows:-
The movement, which is a going barrel one, has a barrel arbor bass Fig. 1 the
circumference of which is spiral shaped and much thiner than is usual, so that its
bearing in the cover can be brought below the plane of the cover, Fig. 2; the cover
is sunk, and the bearing of the arbour in the top plate is also brought below the
plane of the cover, giving thus room for extra length of winding square.
A (Fig. 2) shows the section of barrel arbor, parallel to its axis as far as the
boss B, which is shown in plan in Fig. 1. C (Fig. 2) shows the section of the
barrel cover-bearing, coresponding to the section of barrel arbor, and D shows the
section of a cup shaped piece, which formes the bearing for the barrel arbor as
regards the top plate, section of which is shown in C (Fig. 2), and to which it is
fixed by three screws in the usual way. The barrel arbor boss B is made much
thiner than is usual, to admit of a deeper bearing in the barrel cover C. This
bearing is sunk from the outside, so the cup piece D may dip below the plane of
the barrel cover. Thus the bearing in the cup piece D is carried below the plane
of the top plate, and thus admits a longer winding square then any other watch of
same proportion.
The barrel is fitted with a brace, shown in side elevation in Fig. 3, together
with a section of barrel rim perpendicular to the plane of its teeth. The latter is
shown in B. a b is the elevation of the brace, the part a overlaps the barrel rim
to which it is attached by a screw. The part 6 passes between the first & second
coil of the mainspring & terminates in a bearing in the base or bottom of barrel.
Fig. 4 shows section of part of cannon pinion & centre wheel bearing in lower
plate of watch, vertical to the plane of the plate.
A is the cannon pinion sunk so as to overlap the bass, B, which forms the
bearing of the centre wheel in plate D D. The bearing is extendet to diminish the
pressure on the unit of area, and thus reduce the tendency to wear.
Fig. 5 shows the plan of the roller of the escapement, which is of the usual lever
construction with the exception of the roller guard action. The plane of the
roller has a sink, of rectangular section, so that the rim forms an annulus, shown
in A A. r represents the ruby or impulse pin, and g the guard pin. L is the centre
of motion of the lever.
The guard pin is mounted on a wing attached to the lever, and acts very nearly
tangentically to the outer and inner circumferences of the annuls A A. When the
ruby pin is in contact with the notch of the lever, the pin pass through a passage
cut in the rim of the roller and when the ruby pin r is to the right of the lever
the guard ping banks against the inside of the annulus or rim of roller, and when
the ruby pin, r is to the left of the lever, the guard g banks against the outside of
the rim. This arrangement provides for pallets with less locking resistance, both

page_text: by reason of inclination and penetration and less tendency to balance disturbance,
together with an absolute safe guard action.
The balance rim is of the form of an annuls as in ordinary compensation
balances, but with screw inserted from the insid for the object of increasing the
moment of inertia, without sensibly increasing the weight.
The balance spring stud is shown in plan and elevation in Fig. 6.
S is the stud, having a screw hole in a, and a rectangular projection, b. The
stud placed below the wing W Fig. 6a and the thread of screw coresponding to
the screw hole a Fig. 6, together with the projection b, fitt lightly in to the notch b
of wing W (Fig. 6a.) The stud is fixd by a screw inserted in the hole a of the
stud Fig. 6, that is the wing W Fig. 6a is clamped between the head of this
screw & the plane of the stud.
Fig. 7 shows part of the driving gearing when keyless motion is employed.
A A is a steel bar attached to the pillar plate, forming the bearing for the bevel-
toothed driver B. This driver is geared into the centrel-wheel of the usual rocking
bar system. S is a stud for the other bearing of the driver B. a a is the axis of
the driver, B having a rectangular notch, parallel to the axis. A coresponding
part of the driving shaft, attached to the keyless-botton, fitts into this notch, by
means of which the winding of the watch is effected.
Having how 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:
1st An improved barrel-bearing, permitting the formation of a longer winding-
square.
2nd An improved centre-wheel bearing, to diminish the tendency to wear.
8rd A tangentical guard action for the lever escapement, giving minimum
pressure by contact, with absolute safty of action.
4th A form of balance, giving a maximum moment of inertia with minimum
weight, having auxiliary screws for adjusting the radius of gyration, to admit of
the use of a balance-spring of uniform size & length for obtaining isochronal
adjustment with a plain balance.
5th A balance stud with a clamping action, which admits of being fixed with a
very small angular rotation of the screw.
6th A driving gear for keyless motion which is completley attached to the
watch movement.
Dated this 20th of February 1886