IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES AND CLOCKS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, GEDEON THOMMEN, of Waldenburg near Basel, Switzerland, do hereby declare
the nature of said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES AND CLOCKS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has for its object to provide for watches and clocks a convenient
and efficient mechanism whereby an intermittent motion is obtained of a kind
suitable for exposing at the requisite times figures which denote the time-such for
example as by the exhibition of numerals before openings in the dial of the time-
piece I will describe my Invention as applied to the obtainment of intermittent
motion for moving three figured discs so that one is moved once a minute to
indicate the units of minutes, the next once every ten minutes to indicate the tens
of minutes and the next once an hour to indicate the hours. According to my
Invention I obtain the initial movement of the figured discs, that is to say the
intermittent movement of the first figured disc by means of a spring wheel to
which a movement through the tenth of a revolution is given every minute from
a revolving wheel actuated by any usual or suitable watch or clock actuating
movement. This wheel bas upon it an escapement which may consist of an axis
with a notch in it which is brought (by the revolution of the wheel on the same
axis as aforesaid) once every minute into a position to allow one of a series of ten
teeth on the aforesaid spring wheel to pass one once a minute. The movement of
the spring wheel is obtained by means of a spring attached at one end to the
spring wheel and at the other end to the axis of a wheel rotated from the axis upon
which is the aforesaid escapement, so that as the said axis to which one end of the
spring is attached is rotated, the spring is wound up and when at each minute the
escapement releases a tooth of the spring-wheel the said wheel (under the action
of the wound up spring) moves suddenly through one tenth of a revolution, the
escapement being, by its continued revolution immediately after the one tooth has
passed, brought to a position to prevent further movement of the spring wheel
until the escapement at the end of the next minute is again brought into position
to allow another tooth to pass. From this movement motion is given to the axis
on which is the first figured disc for indicating the units of the minutes and, from
this axis motion is given to the axis of another or second figured disc for indicating
the tens of minutes and in turn the movement of the axis of this second figured
disc is given to a third figured disc for indicating the hours. It will be evident

page_text: .
that when thus arranged the first figured disc will be marked with the ten numerals
from 0 to 9 and will move under the action of the spring wheel once every minute;
that the second figured disc will be divided into six spaces, five marked with the
numerals from 1 to 5 and one being a blank space or being marked with a cypher
and that the said disc will be moved through one sixth of a revolution for each
complete revolution of the first figured disc and that the third figured disc will be
marked with the numerals from 1 to 12 and will be moved through one twelfth of
a revolution for each complete revolution of the second figured disc. The means
by which the motion of the figured discs is conveyed from one to the other
may be the following:-Fixed on the axis of the figured disc from which motion is
to be transmitted is a disc provided with one notch in its periphery and with a
pin on each side of this notch-On the axis of the figured disc to which motion is
to be transmitted are fixed two wheels one with inclined teeth acted upon by the
pins aforesaid to bring into position at each rotation of the axis of the first-named
figured disc a tooth on the other of the two wheels to be operated by the notch in
the disc on the axis of the first named figured disc Or in place of pins the
movement may be effected by two tongues provided on the periphery of the notched
disc on the axis of the first named figured disc and operated by a rocking lever
which causes one of the tongues to protrude as the other is moved inward so that
the protruding tongue takes against a tooth on a disc on the axis of the figured
disc to be operated and moves it through the requisite part of a revolution at each
revolution of the first named figured disc.
It will be evident that the proportions of the wheels may be varied and that
they may be marked in any desired way and be operated at any desired periods
in place of those specified which have been definitely stated for the sake of clearness
of description.

page_text: I, GEDEON THOMMEN of Waldenburg near Basel, Switzerland 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 has for its object to provide for watches and clocks a convenient
and efficient mechanism for transforming the regular relative movement of a watch
or clock into intermittent motions of a kind suitable for exposing at the requisite
times figures which denote the time such for example as by the exhibition of
numerals before openings in the dial of the time piece I will describe my invention
as applied to the obtainment of intermittent motions for moving three figured dics
so that one is moved once a minute to indicate the units of minutes the next once
every ten minutes to indicate the tens of minutes and the next once an hour to
indicate the hours.
My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Figures 1 and 2 represent two different mechanisms for transforming and
producing intermittent movement obtained as hereinafter stated to movements
taking place at the required different intervals of time.
Figures 3. 4. 5. 6. and 7 show in a watch case the arrangement of an inter-
mittent spring wheel for transforming the regularly rotating movement of the
watch wheel work into a sudden short or intermittent motion taking place once a
minute.
Figures 8 and 9 represent a watch emboding the said mechanisms in combination
with figured discs for denoting the time.
The regularly rotating movement of the wheel work of the watch or clock is
transformed into successively sudden short motions by the employment of an
intermittent spring wheel f which is concentrically arranged with and is situated
beneath the small centre wheel e but completely independent therefrom Bo that it
does not interfere with the arrangement and functions of the usual working parts
of the watch.
The lower pivot of the axis of the centre-wheel e instead of running in the
locking disk rotates in a central hole in the axis of the intermittent spring
wheelf the pivot f¹ of which is supported in the disc k. The said spring wheel f
is thus completely independent from the continually revolving centre wheel e
and receives its intermittent motion from the spring m which is attached at its
outer end to the spring wheel f and at its inner end to the axis of the centre
wheel & The teeth of the intermittent spring wheel fare stopped and released by
an escapement which consists of the barrel o of the Crown wheel h having therein
a notch p. In proportion as the axis of the centre wheel e is rotated by the wheel
work of the watch, the spring m is wound up and when the escapement'o. p
releases a tooth of the intermittent spring wheel of the latter, under the action of
the wound up spring m moves suddenly forward. The notch p is made concave so
as to permit each tooth of the wheel to enter the notch p first partially and then
to move with the former in proportion as the axis o of the crown wheel h'rotates

page_text: and at the moment when the said tooth is released from the concave notch p the
opposite edge of the latter occupies such a position that, in spite of the sudden
motion of the spring wheel f, the following tooth thereof must strike against the
axis o thus stopping the motion of the wheel f.
Figure 3 shews the spring wheel detained by the escapement o p and Figure 4
the same released by the said escapement.
As the crown wheel h performs a complete revolution once a minute it follows
that during a certain time the spring wheelf makes as many intermittent motions
as minutes have elapsed.
These motions are transmitted intermittently at the required intervals by means
of the pinions n g and r to a figured disc u to indicate the minutes and thence to
a series of figured discs v and w these discs being fixed upon the axes rl 8 and t
respectively. The latter discs are similarly intermittently moved once every ten
minutes and once every hour respectively-The discs are arranged at the back of
the locking disc k and are supported in the latter and the plate s figure 6 and 7.
In order to convey the said intermittent motion from the axis r¹ to the axis s
and hence to the axist at the required intervals there are arranged upon these axes
suitable mechanisms which I will describe separately with reference to the figures 1
and 2 which represent two different constructions of such mechanism.
The mechanism figure 1 consists of the disc B and the wheels a and a¹ the latter
two being rivetted together. The disc B which imparts motion to the said wheels
contains a notch b¹¹ in its periphery and two pins b and 6' equidistantly arranged
on either side of the said notch.
The inclined teeth of the wheel a¹ act in conjunction with the pins b and b' of
the disc B for the purpose of bringing the wheel a in such a position that a tooth
of the latter engages the notch 6 of the disc B. For this purpose one or other of
the said pins b, and b¹ according to the direction of rotation of the disc B strikes
against an inclined tooth of the wheel a¹ see figure 1* and moves the latter with
the wheel a until a tooth of the wheel a engaged with the said notch 6 which, in
its turn, pushes forward the wheels a and a till it leaves the said tooth.
complete revolution of the disc B performed by pushes at the determined intervals
of time as hereinbefore explained the same operation takes place on the wheels a
and a¹ and the said wheels are moved round another part of a revolution.
After a
In figure 2 the disc B¹ instead of having pins contains in a recess, two tongues o
and c¹ which are symmetrically arranged in respect to the notch 6. Any motion
of the one tongue imparts the reverse motion to the other tongue through the
rocking lever d. For instance when the disc B¹ turns in the direction of the arrow
figure 2* the tongue c is pressed inward by the tooth of the wheel A¹ and at the
same time through the action of the lever d the tongue c¹ is moved outwards so
that on reaching a tooth of the disc A¹ as shewn in figure 2b it bears thereon and
moves forward the disc A¹ till it leaves the tooth.
In applying these mechanisms to a watch the disc B figure 1.is fixed on the
axis figure 8 and the wheels a and a¹ or wheel A on the axis s figure 8 which
carries also the disc B' figure 2 and the wheel A¹ figure 2 is fixed on the axis t
figure 8 and above the said wheels there are placed the figured discs u, v and was
represented in figure 9.
In figure 8 the wheel A must have 6 teeth and the wheel A¹ 12 teeth, so that
when the axis with the disc B performing an intermittent motion once a minute
has performed successively ten such intermittent motions, it has completed an
entire revolution and the axis & turned forward one sixth of a revolution and when
the wheel A placed on the axis s has been intermittingly pushed forward six times
by the disc B the disc B¹ of the axis a will have pushed forward the wheel A¹ on
the axis t one twelfth of a revolution.
If the disc u figure 9 be marked with numerals from 0 to 9 and the disc v from 0
to 5 and the disc w from 1 to 12 these numerals which appear before three con-
veniently arranged openings in the dial plate will indicate the hour and minutes of
the time as shewn in Figure 9.

page_text: It will be evident that the proportions of the wheels may be varied and that
they may be marked in any desired way and be operated at any desired periods in
place of those specified which have been definitely stated for the sake of clearness
of description and as being most applicable to a watch and the Invention can be
applied to watches or clocks in which I include such like time keepers generally.
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
First. In and for time keepers the combination of the spring wheel fand an
escapement so operated from the mechanism of the time keeper that intermittent
partial rotations of the spring wheel fare obtained substantially as and for the
purpose hereinbefore described and as illustrated by Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the
accompanying drawings.
Second. The construction of the mechanism represented in figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawings consisting of the disc B provided with a notch 6" and two
pins or projections 6 and b¹ and of the two wheels a and a¹ or wheel provided with
double sets of projections substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
Third. The construction of the mechanism represented in figure 2 of the
accompanying drawings consisting of the disc B¹ provided with a notch b¹¹ and two
tongues c and c and of the wheel A¹ all arranged and operating substantially as
and for the purpose hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Fourth. In time keepers the combination of the spring wheel fand one or both
of the two mechanisms represented in figures 1 and 2 for the purpose hereinbefore
set forth.