IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ESCAPEMENT OF CHRONOMETERS AND WATCHES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to August Guye, of Clerkenwell, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ESCAPEMENT OF
CHRONOMETERS AND WATCHES."
Sealed the 8th February 1859, and dated the 4th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said August Guye at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1858.
I, AUGUST GUYE, of Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ESCAPEMENT
OF CHRONOMETERS AND WATCHES," to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention, which has reference to improvements in that part of marine
and other chronometers and watches of all descriptions known as the escape-
ment, by which any disturbance to the chronometer or watch is prevented
from being communicated to the action as at present, and also greater
uniformity and freedom in the movement of the balance obtained, consists in
the detent being provided with ruby locking pallets formed with angular
shaped sides so as to form a step movement for releasing consecutively the
teeth of the escapement wheel in connection with a suitable arrangement of
two hair springs, by which the unlocking of the said wheel is effected, and a
dead beat of the seconds obtained. In lever watches I also employ two hair
springs in connection with the lever for steadying the action, when shaken or
otherwise, as above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said August Guye in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUST
GUYE, of Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said August Guye, Her special license that I, the said August Guye,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
August Guye, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE ESCAPEMENT OF CHRONOMETERS AND WATCHES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said August Guye, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said August Guye, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say:-
My Invention has reference to improvements in that part of marine and
other chronometers and watches of all descriptions known as the escapement,
by which any disturbance to the chronometer or watch is prevented from being
communicated to the action, as at present, and also greater uniformity and
freedom in the movement of the balance are obtained. It consists in the
detent being provided with ruby locking pallets formed with angular shaped
sides, so as to form a step movement for releasing consecutively the teeth of
the escapement wheel, in connection with a suitable arrangement of two hair
springs by which the unlocking of the said wheel is effected, and a dead beat
of the seconds obtained. In lever watches I also employ two hair springs in

page_text: connection with the lever for steadying the action, when shaken or otherwise,
as above mentioned.
The various Figures in the accompanying Drawing represent several
different arrangements which I propose to employ for carrying out my Inven-
tion. In all these Figures the escapement is shewn detached from the body of
the watch or chronometer in order to avoid complexity.
In the arrangement represented at Fig. 1 the escapement is composed of
three distinct moving parts, viz., first, an escapement wheel W, provided (in
this instance) with fifteen teeth, and to which is transmitted, as in other
watches, by a suitable arrangement of wheels and pinions, the motive force of
a spring which communicates rotary motion to it in the direction of the arrow;
this wheel has its centre of motion at c. Second, a lever L, turning freely
upon its axis L', and carrying two ruby locking pallets 7, 1, of suitable form,
for locking the teeth of the escapement wheel, which come in contact with
these pallets alternately. These pallets are in the case of Fig. 1 set in a piece
of steel L", firmly attached to the lever L. h, h, and h¹, h¹, are two fine and
very flexible springs (shewn by dotted lines) made of gold or other suitable
material attached underneath the lever L by means of screws 8, 8¹, and bearing
respectively outwards against studs or pins p and p³ set in the upper extremity
of the lever L. These springs will therefore act freely inside these studs. Two
other studs or pins p¹, p³, set in the pallet plate determine the extent of the
course of the lever L, and consequently the "take" of the teeth of the escape
wheel with the pallets 1, . y is a ruby pin intended, as will be hereafter
explained, to maintain the pallets in repose while the wheel is giving the
impulse. Thirdly, the escapement consists of a balance wheel, which is not
represented in Fig. 1, in order to avoid complexity. This balance wheel is
besides precisely similar to those ordinarily employed; its centre of motion is
represented at u. R is a plate mounted upon the balance wheel shaft; a ruby
pallet i set on this plate receives the impulse of the escape wheel W. u' is a
ruby unlocking pallet (shewn in dots) mounted underneath the plate R, and
serving to unlock the lever L when this
means of the fine springs fixed upon the
in contact with the unlocking pallet u³.
tooth t¹ of the escape wheel is in contact with the ruby pallet ', the spring h, h,
being in a line with the centre of the balance, and in contact with the
unlocking pallet u¹, as it is as near as possible to the centre of the balance.
Suppose the balance wheel to turn in the direction of the arrow, the pallet u
in contact with and bearing against the spring h, h, will move the entire lever L
in consequence of the spring bearing and acting against its pin p³, the tooth t
latter is at rest; this is effected by
lever L, and which alternately come
In the position shewn at Fig. 1 the

page_text: will be disengaged from the pallet 7, and will first come against the small
inclined plane at the extremity of the pallet t', and will thereby push that end
of the lever L against the pin p'; the tooth t¹ will then escape, and the tooth t
will drop against the pallet ; the spring h', h', will then be in contact with
the unlocking pallet ul. Suppose, now, that from any cause the balance
should continue its movement, and the pallet u should a second time pass
opposite the springs, it will come in contact with the spring h', this latter only
bearing on one side against the pin p, will yield and allow the pallet u¹ to pass
freely, the lever L will remain stationary, and consequently a second impulse
during the same vibration will be avoided.
When the direction of motion of the balance has become changed by the
tension of its spring the impulse pallet u¹ in repassing in front of the spring h¹
will again cause the lever L to move, the tooth t will be unlocked, one of the
teeth of the escape wheel W will act against the balance plate, and give fresh
impulse to the balance, and the tooth which precedes t¹ will come into contact
with the pallet. It is to be observed that while the wheel W gives impulse
to the balance the lever L is held in a state of repose by the pin p² on one
side, and by the ruby pin y and by the tooth t on the other. The small
inclined plane at the extremity of the pallet , besides rendering the action of
the spring more certain, as it may be made longer, avoids the balance being
"set" or stopped in its movement by a sudden shock or other cause, as by
communicating a greater extent of movement to the lever L the pallet u¹ is
larger, and consequently the action of the balance spring is greater at its
moment of repose, if it be considered that in the initial position of the balance
the middle of the tooth of the pallet u should be precisely in a line with the
centres u and L' of the balance and lever; the tension of the balance is
therefore represented by the number of degrees measured by the half of this
tooth, the set or useless vibration of the balance is therefore neutralized
when the wheel W is stopped by the locking pallet l, and almost amounts to
nothing when it is stopped by the other pallet l, or at any rate much less than
in ordinary chronometers. The inclined plane of the pallet must not be too
large, as this would cause the set of the balance to take place on the tooth
escaping from this locking pallet ; in fact, this inclined plane might be
entirely done away with, only in that case a little more "set" of the balance
would take place.
I would here observe that the ruby pin y may be placed in different
positions upon the lever L, or it may even be upon the piece L". The
principle of the escapement would also be the same if, instead of the wheel W
communicating directly with the plate R, in order to give the impulse to the

page_text: balance, this were effected by the lever L, only in this case the impulse
pallets u would be done away with, and a single one u (Fig. III.), employed,
in order to unlock the lever L, and receive the impulse therefrom. The
wheel W would then act directly upon the lever L by the ruby pin y, called a
safety pin, in the case of Fig. I., and which would then be of a different
form; it might be placed either upon the lever L or the piece L", and might
be set close to or even form part of the pallet l, in which case it would serve
both as a locking and impulse pallet, as is the case in the lever escapement.
The impulse would be given every two vibrations of the balance,, which, when
once the impulse was given, would bring back the lever by means of one of
the hair springs to its normal position, as in the above-described escapement,
and the repeat is obtained by means of the hair springs.
Fig. II. represents an arrangement of dead beat seconds escapement, which
differs from that shewn at Fig. I. in the escape wheel W being in this case
provided, as in the case of the ordinary duplex movement, with two sets of
teeth, viz., six upright teeth of impulse t*, and twelve teeth of repose t, set
together in pairs, as seen in the Figure, the tooth of repose t³ being shewn
resting upon the locking pallet l. Suppose the balance to move in the
direction of the arrow, the unlocking pallet u will unlock the lever L; the
tooth will escape, the tooth t will fall upon the pallet l, and by a second
oscillation of the balance, in the contrary direction, the tooth t will be dis-
engaged, the tooth t will drop on to the stop l', and the tooth t¹ upon l, and at
the fourth vibration of the balance the tooth t will escape in its turn, and the
wheel will then give impulse to the balance by one of its impulse teeth t*
acting upon the pallet i of the balance plate. In this escapement, as in the
former one, there will be no repeat, but there will be more "set" or useless
vibration. If the number of teeth of the wheels and pinions which precede
the escape wheel have been calculated in such manner that the balance shall
make fourteen thousand four hundred vibrations in an hour, the seconds hand
mounted upon the wheel next to the escape wheel (making a revolution every
minute) will shew dead beat seconds.
Fig. III. shews another arrangement, which differs from the chronometer
escapement constructed with a detent upon pivots, inasmuch as, instead of a
spiral spring upon the axis of the lever or a spring serving to bring back the
lever when it has been unlocked by the balance, the lever of this escapement
is provided upon its axis with arms y, y', firmly fixed to it by a screw st. y is
a ruby pin, of suitable form, which penetrating within the circumference of the
wheel when the balance unlocks the lever, has been driven back by the
tooth t¹ into the position shewn in the Figure (and consequently has brought

page_text: back the lever into its position of repose), whilst the wheel gave the impulse
to the balance, as seen in the Figure; there is sufficient space between the
hinder part of the tooth and the ruby pin y to prevent the pallet y from
striking against the tooth t¹ when the lever L is again unlocked.
I have given a description of this escapement merely to give a clear idea of
the arrangement of pallets y, y', which serve to bring back the detent, and
which will be employed in the escapements represented in Figures 5 and 6,
and which will be hereafter described. It will be easily understood that with
this arrangement the detent and arms y, y¹, may be made in a single piece
and of different forms, and the centre L may be made to occupy different
positions.
The escapement represented at Fig. IV. is constructed upon precisely the
same principle as the ordinary lever escapement, only instead of the small steel
fork at the extremity of the lever L, and into which takes the unlocking and
impulsion pallet u, two hair springs h, h, h', h', are employed, which bear upon
the pins p², ps, and are fixed upon the lever by screws. These springs are free
to move inside these pins, and carry with them the lever L when they are
driven in the direction of their pins. These springs perform the same
functions as those described with reference to Fig. 1; they allow the balance
to make several consecutive revolutions in the same direction without altering
the regularity of the motion of the watch; they moreover allow of the safety
pin placed in the ordinary lever at the end of the fork near the balance plate
being dispensed with, and perform the same functions as that fork, that is,
they give the impulse, &c.
The escapement represented in Fig. V. consists (as in Fig. III.) of a
wheel W, a lever L, and a balance, which I have not represented, but which
has its centre of motion at u. This arrangement differs, however, from that
seen at Fig. III. in the lever L, which is entirely different. In the former
arrangement the pallets or arms y, y³, were employed to bring back the lever
or detent when it has been unlocked, but instead of the arrangement y, y', a
spiral spring might be adapted to the detent L; one end of this spring being
attached to its axis, and the other to the pallet plate or frame; or a spring
detent might be constructed.
This mode of bringing back the lever or detent is not, however, the principal
change in the escapement; it consists in the adoption of two stops 1, l', upon
the same ruby pallet, and two hair springs h, h, h', h', the extremities of which
bear respectively against the forked arms at the extremity of the lever L, the
spring h, h, at e', and the spring h¹, h', at e. Although the spring h', h', might
be placed upon the lever L as well as the spring h, h, it is fixed by a screws

page_text: upon a steel plate P screwed to the frame. The spring h¹, h', is always opposite
the centre of the balance. The springs are set at different heights, and two
unlocking pallets u, u', are set upon the shaft of the balance, and correspond
to these springs. The pallet u serves to unlock the lever L by the spring h, h,
and u¹ by the spring h', h'; therefore as they are at different heights, they can
only take on to their respective springs. The tooth t being now upon the
stop 1, suppose the balance to turn in the direction of the arrow, the pallet u¹
will move the lever L, the tooth t will be disengaged from the stop 7, and as
soon as it arrives at the inclined plane of that stop it will itself move the
lever L, and again rest upon the stop l'; the extremity e¹ of the lever will then
be opposite the centre of the balance. The spring h, h, which was before out
of contact with the pallet u, will be in contact, whilst the spring h', h¹, will be
out of contact with the corresponding pallet u, or at least this latter acting upon
the spring h¹ will no longer move the lever L, the extremity e of this latter being
out of contact and too far from the centre of the balance. As soon as the
balance shall have changed the direction of its movement, the pallet u will again
unlock the lever L, the tooth t will escape, the impulse will then be given to
the balance, and the lever L will be brought back to its normal position by
the preceding tooth t¹ acting upon the ruby pallet y. In this escapement, as
in that described with reference to Fig. 1, it will be easily seen that the defect
called the repeat will be also avoided if it be considered that the balance
cannot unlock the lever L from its position of rest until it changes the
direction of its movement. In fact, if it were to make several revolutions in
a direction contrary to that shewn by the arrow, the pallet u¹ coming in
contact with the spring h³, h¹, this latter will yield freely without moving the
lever L, as this spring bears against the point e. The springs h and h¹ may in
this escapement be placed on the same plane, that is to say, at the same
height, and consequently a single unlocking pallet u having two teeth would
serve to unlock it. In this case the beating of the watch would change at
each half revolution which the balance would make, more or less, without,
however, altering the duration of the oscillation; there would be also in this
case more friction of the hair springs.
Fig. VI. represents another arrangement of escapement constructed upon
the same principle as the preceding one; its lever L carries two stops I, l', and
two springs h, h, h¹, h¹; but the extremities e, e¹, of the lever are on the same
side of the centre of the balance, the lever L being brought back by the same
arrangement of stops y, y¹. The escape wheel W carries two rows of six teeth
each, but a single row of teeth might be employed. The shaft of the balance
R only carries one pallet u, which takes alternately into the springs h, h, and

page_text: h¹, h¹, which are set at the same height. As the extremities of the lever L are
on the same side of the centre, it follows that the balance will only unlock the
escape wheel from one of the stops 1, 1, at every two vibrations; the impulse
will therefore only be given every four vibrations, and, as in the escapement
described with reference to Fig. II., if the balance makes fourteen thousand
four hundred vibrations per hour, this escapement will give dead beat seconds.
This escapement is subject to "repeat," and can only be employed with
advantage for marine chronometers, the friction and shocks to the balance
being less than in any other escapement, as it receives the impulse every four
vibrations, and the stop or pallet is much weaker than the ordinary ones.
In this arrangement, as in the preceding, the lever might be brought back by
a spiral or other spring.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means
with which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein shewn and
described, as they may doubtless be varied without departing from the nature
and object of my Invention; but I desire it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the general arrangement and
construction of parts herein shewn and described, or any mere modification
thereof, whereby a more steady and uniform action is ensured, and the watch
or chronometer is prevented from being stopped, or its movements affected by
any sudden shock or other disturbance.
In witness whereof, I, the said August Guye, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN.
Hanover Street, Islington.
AUGUST GUYE. (L.S.)