Improved Means for Attaching Dials to Clocks.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 14th Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Attaching Dials to Clocks.
I, HEINRICH THIEL, of Ruhla, Hauptstrasse, Manufacturer and Clockmaker, 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 method heretofore employed for attaching dials to clocks has the great
disadvantage that the means of attachment (screws, wedges and the like) become
very easily detached or broken, in which case the connection between the dial
and the movement or front plate of the clock is destroyed. Furthermore such
ineans of attachment have been very inaccessible. Now this invention has for
object to provide for the attachment of the dial in an automatic manner by
means of notched pins or projections provided on the dial, and springs mounted
on the movement plate. Examples of this mode of attachment are illustrated by
the accompanying drawings wherein
Fig. 1 is a rear elevation showing one arrangement for attaching a dial to the
movement or front plate of a clock.
Fig. 2 shows the same arrangement as seen when looking from the face or
dial side.
Fig. 3 is a cross section through the dial and the movement plate adjacent
thereto.
side with pins or
the movement-
and are provided
For the purpose
Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the attachment shown in Figs. 1 2 and 3.
Fig. 6 shows a modified construction of the attaching means.
According to this invention the dial a is provided on its rear
projections which extend through corresponding apertures c in
plate d. The pins are pointed or rounded at their free ends
with one or more notches e behind their points or rounded ends.
of holding the feet b and consequently also the dial a, springs fare employed
which in their simplest form are fastened in any convenient way to the movement
plate d, it may be for instance by means of studs, and which will bear with a
certain amount of pressure against the pins b when the same are in place, the
arrangement being such that when the pins b are inserted through the holes c in
the movement plate d, the said springs will be forced apart or to one side, and,
when the dial has been pressed quite home, will take automatically into the
notches e in the pins b (Figs. 3, 5, 6) and so hold the same and attached dial firmly
in position. As the springs are fixed to the movement plate d, they cannot become
lost. In order to prevent bending of the pins b, the latter may be provided with
notches e on two opposite sides, as shown in Fig. 5, and then a spring f¹ bent
approximately into U shape (Fig. 4) that is to say a double spring, can be employed
which takes into the notches e on both sides of each pin bas shown in Figs. 1, 2
and 3. The spring f shown in Fig. 6, is made single and engages with a single
recess in the end of the corresponding pin b.
The springs ff1 constructed as shown in Fig. 6 or in Fig. 4, may be made with
outwardly bent ends arranged to bear against studs g on the movement plate d so
that they will not change their position when the dial is removed. The springs
can also be prevented from changing their position by bending their free ends into
a slot in the movement plate or by any other suitable means. By pulling the
dial a with sufficient force away from the movement plate d, the outward spreading
of the ends of the springs can be caused to take place automatically, so as to

page_text: permit of the ready removal of the dial if the sides of the notches e in the pins b be
suitably rounded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. For attaching a dial to a clock providing the rear surface of the dial with
pins or projections having pointed or rounded free ends; and one or more lateral
notches and providing on the movement or front plate of the clock springs that are
adapted to automatically engage in the notches in the pins when the latter are
forced through holes in the said plate substantially as described.
2. The improved means herein before described with reference to and shown in
Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive of the drawings annexed, or modified according to Fig. 6 for
attaching a dial to a clock.
Dated this 30th day of September 1896.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.