Year: 1895

page_text: EDWARD MOLONEY 26 Hill Street Dublin Builder do hereby declare the natur
of this invention to be as follows:-
A revolving plate is attached to the seconds movement of a watch or clock by
means of hair springs, the distal ends of springs being attached to the revolving
plate, so as to produce continuous motion by means of the interrupted movement of
the watch. Concentric circles are made on the revolving plate, each circle being
divided into a number of equal parts; these parts or points in passing giving the
different rates of movement per minute e.g. one circle will be divided into 96 parts,
another 84 & so on.
Dated this Third day of Anvil 1895
EDWARD MOLONEY,
26 Hill Street, Dublin.
I, EDWARD MOLONEY 26 Hill Street Dublin Builder 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 :-
The use of concentric circles on the face of a watch or clock movement, each
circle or semicircle to be divided into a different number of equal parts. The hand
in passing each mark will indicate the beats. The number of the concentric circles
will depend on the size of the face of the machine, and on the requirements of the
person using it.
I omit portion giving mechanism of movement as that is not perhaps essential to
the Patent.
CONSTRUCTION OF METRONOME.
A "centre-seconds" watch is taken, and stripped of its face and hands and
wheels which lie outside of watch, as in Fig. 1. The internal works of the watch
are not interfered with. We therefore have the movement of the centre pinion (P)
as a basis. This pinion is arranged to revolve once in thirty seconds, instead of, as
usual, in sixty seconds. But this is no novelty, and particulars are not given.
On this centre pinion (P, Figs. 1, 2, & 3) is placed a collette (C) to which is
attached a hairspring (H, Figs. 1, 2, 3 & 4).
The distal end of bairspring (H, Figs. 3 & 4) is attached to a stud fixed in hand
(S, Figs. 3 & 4).
The hand (Figs. 5, 6, 7) consists of three essential parts.
(a) The band itcalf with two armshie 5)

page_text: The upper end of the pinion (P Figs. 1 2 & 3) supports the hand by coming in
contact with the lower surface of the endstone (E Fig. 7) so that the hand turns
freely on the end of pinion (P Figs. 123), the endstone reducing friction to a
minimum.
To the hand is attached a stud (S Fig. 6) which stud is fixed by its other
extremity to the distal end of hairspring (S Figs. 3 & 4). (The hand (Figs. 5
and 6) supersedes the revolving plate in the Provisional Specification.)
The face of the metronome (Sheet 2) has described on it a number of concentric
circles. The circles are then divided into semicircles by dividing the face into two
parts. Each semicircle is divided into a different number of equal parts.
The action and use of the hairspring (H Figs. 1 2 3 & 4).
The centre pinion (P Figs. 1, 2 & 3) revolves in a jerky interrupted manner (as
in all watches); that is, it gives a quick movement, then stops, & so on alternately.
It carries the proximal end of spring around in a similar interrupted motion. The
distal end of spring being held back by the weight of the hand to which it is
attached by means of the stud (S, Figs. 3 & 4) remains at rest until the elasticity
of the spring moves it.
Having set the hand in motion the momentum acquired will tend to keep the
hand in uniform motion, the flexibility and elasticity of the spring materially
assisting it. The weight of the hand must be proportioned to the strength of the
spring, a strong hairspring requiring a heavy hand.
To find the rate of the movement required. If 96 be the rate of movement
required, notice the semicircle marked 96. As the hand passes over each mark
count one; that represents a "beat."
The semicircle marked 96 is divided into
metronome =
24 equal parts, giving 48 equal parts to a revolution of the hand. Put as the hand
revolves twice in a minute we have given us 96 equal parts of minute that is
96. The hand will pass over that semicircle in 15 seconds; if
further demonstration be required, the eye should glance back to the commence-
ment of the semicircle where the other arm of the hand has arrived, and keep on
counting.
A quarter of a minute is, as a rule, sufficient to indicate the rate of movement;
in other words, watching the hand pass over a semicircle once will be enough to
give the "tempo."
Semicircles are preferred to circles to economise space.
To aid the eye in differentiating the semicircles, two or more colours will be
used in drawing the semicircles.
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. The use of concentric circles, or parts of concentric circles, in the construction
of a metronome is a novelty.
2. That the simultaneous indication of different rates of movement in a metronome
is a novelty.
3. That the use of a hairspring to convert the interrupted movement of a watch
into the continuous motion of this metronome is a novelty, the novelty consisting in
its position on the centre pinion, and its use in changing the nature of the
movement.
Dated this Fourth day of January 1896.