Improvements in Watch-cases.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Watch-cases.
A communication from ROBERT JOHN QUIGLEY, manager of the American Watch
Case Company, of 57, Adelaide Street, West, in the City of Toronto, in the
County of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.M.E., 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 object of the invention is to make a non-compressible watch-case which can
be finished in a lathe after the pendant has been soldered in position, and in which
the movement-ring may be readily adjusted to suit watch-movements of various
makers; and it consists of a watch-case having a ring formed on its back or bezel, or
both, which ring is designed to screw or snap into the centre; the said centre being
made wider than the base of the pendant, and otherwise formed in relation to the
back and bezel that sufficient roon shall be left in the centre between the back and
bezel to permit the movement-ring to be adjusted.
Figure 1, is an enlarged section of a watch-case made in accordance with this
invention, and in which the back is snapped in, and the bezel and movement-ring
screwed into the centre.
Fig. 2 is an inside perspective view of the back.
Fig. 3 is an outside perspective view of the bezel and glass.
Fig. 4 is a perspective cross-section of the centre..
Fig. 5 is a perspective cross-section of the movement-ring.
Fig. 6 is a cross-section of a watch-case made in accordance with this invention,
and in which the back, bezel, and movement-ring are all screwed into the centre and
the movement-ring divided.
A, is the centre, made wider than the base of the pendant, B, as well as wider
than the movement-ring, C. D, is the bezel, and E, the back of the watch-case,
which latter may either be made solid with the centre, A, or secured thereto in the
same manner as the bezel, D. A projecting ring, a, is formed on the bezel, D, and
when the back, E, is made detachable, as indicated in the drawing, a similar ring, a,
is formed on it. This ring is designed to screw or snap into the centre, A. The
edge of the centre, A, butts against the flange, b, formed on the bezel and on the
back when detachably connected as shown. As a neat finish I prefer to form a
knurl on the said flange, b. It will be observed that the centre, A, is made wider.
than the movement-ring, and that sufficient space is left between the edges of the
movement-ring, B, and the ring, a, to permit the adjustment of the movement-ring
to suit watch-movements of various makers.
In figure 1, the bezel, D, is shown screwed into the centre, A, and the back, E,
snapped into the said centre; the screw being cut only partially through the centre.
In fig. 6, is shown the screw eut entirely through the centre, and the back,
bezel, and movement-ring screwed therein. A double or divided movement-ring is
also shown in this figure, which may be more readily adjusted than a solid movement-
ring.
A watch-case having joints made as described is not only dust-proof, but is also
much stronger, being braced by the screw or snap at the point where it is most
likely to dent, all extra stock required for the snaps or screws being located at that
part of the case where the principal wear falls.
The centre being wide permits the dome of the back to be greatly lessened,
thus making the case at this point much stronger. As the ring, a, on the bezel

page_text: or back screws or snaps into the centre, the joint thus formed cannot possibly
spread, as it does when the back or bezel screws or snaps over the edge of the
centre.
It will further be seen that by making the joint at the point shown, the back of the
case is so greatly strengthened at a point where the strain is directed that it is practi-
cally impossible to compress the back and injure the movement. This latter point is
of great importance, and is applicable to watches in which the snap or screw fits on
the outside of the centre, as it is by extending the centre above the movement-plate
that this strength is secured, the joint being located above the movement-plate so as
to form a strengthening ring on the shape of the case.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a watch-case, the combination of the following elements, a movement-
ring screwed on its periphery and screwed into the centre, a centre of greater
width than the movement-ring, and back and bezel engaging the centre, sufficient
space between the edges of the movement-ring being left to permit of its
adjustment.
2. A watch-case centre made wider than the base of its pendant, in combination
with a bezel or back having a ring formed on it designed to screw or snap into
the centre.
3. The combination, with a watch-caso centre, of a back or bezel having a ring, a,
formed on it to snap or screw into the centre, A, and a flange, b, to butt against the
edge of the centre.
4. A watch-case in which the centre extends above the movement-plate, so that
the joint-ring shall strengthen the shape of the case above the said movement-
plate.
5. A watch-case having an internally-screwed centre designed to receive a divided
movement-ring and the back and bezel.
Dated this 15th day of Tul 1880
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents.