Improvements in Striking Mechanism for Clocks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 4th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 9th Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Striking Mechanism for Clocks.
We, ALFREDO ANGELI, of 20, Chepstow Villas, Bayswater, in the County of
London, Commission Agent, and EPIMACO OLIVIERI CACCIALUPI, of San
Severino, Marche, in the Kingdom of Italy, Watch and Clock Maker, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to striking mechanism for clocks.
Hitherto the striking mechanism of a clock has generally been substantially
distinct from the other parts thereof and operated by a separate spring and train
of wheels.
The object of this invention is to provide striking mechanism which can be
worked from the wheels of the clock direct without the intervention of a special
spring.
The improved striking mechanism may be adapted to strike both the hours and
the quarters upon different bells or gongs and may also be caused to repeat at will,
or may be thrown out of action.
In carrying out our invention we advantageously employ a special spindle for
carrying the striking wheel, such spindle being geared to some wheel of the clock
so that it will run at the required speed. The striking wheel is not fixed to the
spindle but is loose thereon and provided with a spring-pawl adapted to engage
with and be disengaged from a ratchet wheel fixed upon the said spindle in such a
manner that, when the pawl is in engagement with the ratchet wheel, the striking
wheel will rotate with the spindle whilst, when the pawl is out of engagement with
the said ratchet wheel, the striking wheel will remain stationary.
Upon the striking wheel are fixed on one side a series of twelve graduated pins
designed to act upon a lever for operating the hammer for striking the hour bell or
gong; and, if the clock is to strike the quarters also, we fix upon the other side of
the said striking wheel four pins corresponding to the quarters or three pins only if
it is not desired to strike the quarters at the hour. These quarter-hour pins act
upon a lever for operating a hammer for striking a bell or gong which has
preferably a different tone from the hour bell or gong to enable the hour and
quarter bells or gongs to be readily distinguished.
In order that the lever of the hour-hammer shall be shifted from time to time so
that it will be engaged by one, two, three or more of the graduated pins according
to the hour to be struck we employ a graduated cam preferably mounted upon
the spindle carrying the hands and driven by means of a gear-wheel so that it
makes one revolution in twelve hours, the said cam acting upon a bar secured to
the spindle carrying the lever against which the said graduated pins operate.
The lever for operating in conjunction with the pins for striking the quarters is
also operated by a graduated cam secured to the minute spindle.
In order that the pawl through the medium of which motion is imparted to the
striking wheel shall be held out of engagement with its ratchet wheel except at
such times as the clock is striking we fix to the said pawl a pin designed normally
to rest in a notch in a lug formed upon a counterweighted lever, the counterweight
serving normally to retain the pawl out of engagement, and to cause the disengage-
ment of this pin upon the pawl from the notch in the lug we provide for lifting the
counterweight to release the said pin thereby allowing the pawl to engage with its
ratchet wheel. This movement of the counterweighted lever is effected auto-
matically by the clock as follows:-
To the framing of the clock we pivot a lever (hereinafter referred to as the
disengaging lever) carrying a pin bearing against the counterweighted lever and a

page_text: second lever acted upon by a spring and hereinafter referred to as the spring-lever.
To the spring-lever we pivot a third lever carrying at one end a weight and herein-
after referred to as the lifting lever, the said lifting lever carrying a pin which,
when the striking mechanism is silent, rests in a notch in the disengaging lever and
holds the latter in the required position to retain the counterweighted lever so that its
notched lug is out of engagement with the pin of the pawl upon the striking wheel.
Upon the spindle carrying the minute wheel we arrange a disc having upon it
four pins placed at equal distances apart; one of which pins prior to the striking at
each quarter of an hour commences to act upon the lifting lever to lift the pin
thereon upwards in the notch in the disengaging lever, and at the same time to act
upon an arm of the spring-lever to move the same backwards against the pressure
of its spring, thereby at the same time moving the lifting lever so that the pin
carried thereby is drawn out of the notch in the disengaging lever. By the time
that the striking is to take place the pin upon the disc has moved so far as to
become disengaged from the arm upon the spring-lever, whereby the said spring-
lever is free to move forward again under the impulse of its spring at the same
time pushing forward the lifting lever so that the pin thereon strikes against the
side of the disengaging lever to oscillate the same and move the counter-lifting lever
to cause the notched lug carried thereby to disengage from the pawl, when the
pawl under the action of its spring thereupon causes the rotation of the striking
wheel by engaging with the ratchet wheel. The impulse which the spring imparts
to the spring-lever and to the lifting lever is sufficient to cause the pin upon the
said lifting lever to jump into the notch of the disengaging lever after the latter
has been moved, thereby retaining the disengaging lever in the position to allow
the striking mechanism to be silent.
In order that after the striking is completed the pin upon the pawl of the said
striking wheel shall properly enter the notch in the lug upon the counterweighted
lever, we form upon the front of the said counterweighted lever a curved projection
designed to be acted upon by the quarter-striking pins in such a manner that the
counterweighted lever is depressed to allow the pin to pass to a position immediately
over the notched-lug and then to release it so that the lug can rise to engage with
the pin.
To cause the clock to repeat at any time when desired we provide a hand-lever
adapted to operate against the disengaging lever so as to move the latter inde-
pendently of the spring and lifting levers; and for permanently silencing the
striking mechanism we arrange the same hand-lever to act upon the lifting lever so
that the latter pushes back the spring-lever against the pressure of its spring so
far that the arm thereon will not come into contact with the pins of the disc.
If it is desired that the striking mechanism shall strike the half hours and hours
only we place only two pins upon the disc, and if the hours only are to be struck
we use only one pin.
In cases where the striking mechanism is only required for repeating we can
secure the striking wheel to its spindle so that it always rotates therewith, and
simply provide a lever for normally holding the hammers out of contact with the
bells, in which case all the automatic releasing mechanism hereinbefore described
is dispensed with. Also in this case we can dispense with the special striking
wheel hereinbefore described and place the striking pins upon one of the ordinary
wheels of the clock.
Dated this 5th day of Noventa 100ɔ
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Striking Mechanism for Clocks.
We, ALFREDO ANGELI, of 20, Chepstow Villas, Bayswater, in the County of
London, Commission Agent, and EPIMACO OLIVIERI CACCIALUPI, of San Severino,
Marche, in the Kingdom of Italy, Watch and Clock Maker, 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:-
This invention relates to striking mechanism for clocks.
Hitherto the striking mechanism of a clock has generally been substantially
distinct from the other parts thereof and operated by a separate spring or weight
and train of wheels.
The object of this invention is to provide striking. mechanism which can be
worked from the wheels of the clock direct without the intervention of a special
spring or weight and for this purpose a graduated series of pins is fixed to a special
wheel driven by the clock mechanism or to one of the wheels of the clock mechanism
itself, the said pins being designed to act upon a suitable striking lever which is
moved in order to place it in the path of one or more of the graduated series of
pins, according to the hour to be struck, by means of a cam.
In cases where the striking mechanism is to strike the quarters as well as the
hours a second set of graduated pins is employed designed to operate upon a separate
striking lever which is also moved to place it in the path of one or more of the said
pins by means of a cam.
To enable the said invention to be fully understood it shall be described by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of ordinary spring clock mechanism having the
improved striking mechanism applied thereto; aud,
Figure 2 is a sectional plan:
Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 Figure 2:
Figures 4 to 9 are views illustrating the construction of details:
Figure 10 is a view of part of the striking mechanism; and,
Figure 11 is a side view of the same, the said view also shewing in section the
plate carrying the several parts:
Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 10 illustrating the operation of the striking
mechanism:
Figures 13 and 14 are an elevation and a sectional plan of a clock mechanism
having a slightly modified form of striking mechanism applied thereto.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
a, a are the front and back plates carrying the mechanism, and b is the spring
barrel, the first motion arbor carrying the minute hand, and the sleeve mounted
c is the second motion arbor driven
upon the arbor and carrying the hour hand.
by the wheel c upon the arbor b' and carrying the wheel c which transmits motion
to the third motion arbor d.
e is the special arbor carrying the striking wheel f, the said arbor being geared
to the wheel cupon the second motion arbor of the clock.
The striking wheel f is not fixed to the arbor e but is loose thereon and provided
with a pawl acted upon by a spring f² and adapted to engage with and be
disengaged from a ratchet wheel e¹ fixed upon the said arbor e (as shewn in
Figures 4 and 5 which are an elevation and section of the said striking and ratchet
wheels) in such a manner that, when the pawl is in engagement with the ratchet
wheel, the striking wheel will rotate with the arbor, whilst, when the pawl is out of
engagement with the said ratchet wheel, the striking wheel will remain stationary,
the arbor and ratchet wheel only rotating.
Upon the striking wheel is fixed on one side a graduated series of twelve
pins g, g, as shewn in Figures 4 and 5 and in Figure 6 which is a development of
the said wheel, the said pins being designed to act upon a lever g' connected with

page_text: the hammer for striking the hour bell or gong and pivotally mounted on an
arborg, Figure 7, which figure represents a partial side view of the clock. If the
clock is to strike the quarters (except at the hour) also, three pins h, corresponding
to the three quarters are fixed upon the other side of the said striking wheel, but if
it is also desired to strike the quarter at the hour four pins are employed. These
quarter hour pins act upon a lever ¹ for operating a haminer striking a bell or
gong which has preferably a different tone from the hour bell or gong to enable the
hour and quarter bells or gongs to be readily distinguished, the said lever and
hammer being pivotally mounted upon the arbor h³, Figure 7.
The lever g' of the hour-hammer is shifted from time to time, so that it will
be engaged by one, two, three or more of the graduated series of pins g, g according
to the hour to be struck, by a graduated or stepped cam i, mounted upon the
sleeve b³ carrying the hour-hand and preferably driven therewith so that it makes
one revolution in twelve hours. The said cam, which acts upon a bar secured to
the arbor carrying the lever and hammer ',' against which lever the graduated
pins, operate, is provided with a series of twelve steps as shewn in Figure 8
which is a development of the said cam, the said steps corresponding respectively
to the twelve pins g, g.
The lever operated by the pins h, for striking the quarters is moved to
engage the said pins by a graduated cam j, secured to the minute arbor b', through
the medium of a bar 1, the said cam which is shewn developed in Figure 9 having
three steps corresponding to the three pins h, h; the bars i, j are caused to bear
against their respective cams by springs, mounted respectively on the
arbors g³, 13.
With the described arrangement it will be understood that, assuming it to be
one o'clock and the cam i to be so fixed upon the sleeve of the hour-hand that
the arm is upon the lowest step of the said cam, the lever g' of the hammer g²
will be so far away from the wheel that only the longest pin g will strike the
said lever and thereby chime the hour during the rotation of the wheel f. At two
o'clock the arm will rest upon the next step of the cam i so that two of the
pins g will strike the lever g' and so on until when twelve o'clock is reached the
highest step of the cam i will be against the arm i so that all of the twelve pins g,g
will act upon the lever g' to move the hammer and strike the bell. The operation
of the cam jis similar to that of the cam i except that when the arm j is upon the
lowest step of the said cam ; none of the pins h, h strike the arm A, this being the
position when the minute hand indicates the hour. When the said cam has
moved so that the arm j is upon the second step, one pin strikes the lever hand
thereby chimes the first quarter, when upon the third step two pins strike and when
upon the fourth step the three pins strike.
If the quarters are to be struck at the hours, it is obvious that four pins are
used, the longest striking when the arm j¹ is upon the lowest step of the cam j.
In order that the pawl f¹ through the medium of which motion is imparted to
the striking wheel f shall be held out of engagement with its ratchet wheel e
except at such times as the clock is to strike, a pin k is fixed to the said pawl,
which pin is designed normally to rest in a notch in a lug kª formed upon a
weighted lever pivotted at , as shewn clearly in Figures 10 and 11, the said
weighted lever serving normally to retain the pawl out of engagement with the
ratchet wheel e¹. To cause the disengagement of this pin upon the pawl from the
notch in the lug the weighted lever is arranged to be moved to release the said
pink, thereby allowing the pawl to engage with its ratchet wheel. This movement
of the said weighted lever is effected automatically by the clock by the following
means
To the front plate a of the framing of the clock a lever (termed the disengaging
lever) is pivotted at l', the said lever carrying a pin bearing against the underside
of the weighted lever k³. A second lever m acted upon by a spring m¹ and termed
the spring-lever is also pivotted to the plate a at m. To the spring-lever is
pivotted a third lever n carrying at one end a weight n' and termed the lifting

page_text: lever. The lifting lever » carries a pin n² which, when the striking mechanism is
silent, rests in a notch n in the disengaging lever 1, the latter being in such a
position as to allow the weighted lever to have its notched lug in engagement
with the pink of the pawlf of the striking wheel so that the said pawl is held
out of engagement with the ratchet wheel e'.
Upon the arbor & carrying the minute wheel is arranged a disco having upon it
four pins o, o placed at equal distances apart; one of which pins, prior to the
striking at each quarter of an hour, commences to act upon the lifting lever n to
lift the pin n thereon upwards in the notch ³ in the disengaging lever 1, then to
act upon the end of an arm p of the spring-lever m to move the same backwards
against the pressure of its spring m¹ thereby at the same time moving the lifting
lever n so that the pin n² carried thereby is drawn out of the notch ³ in the
disengaging lever and then to lower the lever n. By the time that the striking is
to take place, the operating pin o¹ upon the disc o has moved so far as to become
disengaged from the arm p upon the spring-lever m, whereby the said spring-lever
is free to move forward again under the impulse of its spring at the same time
pushing forward the lifting lever n so that the pin n' strikes against the side of the
disengaging lever just below the notch ³, as shewn in Figure 12 (which is a view
similar to Figure 10 but shewing the parts in different positions), thereby oscillating
the said lever and moving the weighted lever by means of the pin to cause the
notched lug carried thereby to disengage from the pink upon the pawl f', when
the said pawl under the action of its spring engages with the ratchet wheel and
thereby causes the rotation of the striking wheel f
As the rotation of the disc o continues the next following pin o' thereon to that
which previously lifted the lever n impinges against the underside of the said lever
and lifts it to allow the lever under the action of the weighted lever k³ to move
from the position shewn in full lines in Figure 12 to that shewn in dotted lines, the
said weighted lever being thereby allowed to move into position to allow the
pink of the pawl f¹ to engage in the notch k¹ and be thereby lifted to disengage
the said pawl from the ratchet wheel e¹.
In order that after the striking is completed the pink shall properly enter the
notch k', a curved plate or projection 7 is formed or fixed upon the front of the
weighted lever k³, which plate or projection is designed to be acted upon by
the longest quarter striking pin and be depressed so as to move the weighted
lever to allow the pink to pass to a position immediately over the notched lug k³
when it is then released so that the said lug can rise to engage with and lift
the pin.
To cause the clock to "repeat" at any time when desired a hand-lever r is
provided, which lever is adapted when moved to the position indicated by the dotted
lines in Figure 10 to operate against a pin on the disengaging lever / so as to
move the latter independently of the spring and lifting levers and cause the weighted
lever to disengage the notched lug from the pin k; and for entirely silencing
the striking mechanism the said hand-lever is arranged to act (when moved to the
position indicated by the dotted lines, Figure 10) upon a pin on the lifting
lever n so that the latter pushes back the lever m against the pressure of its
spring m¹ so far that the pin n thereon is out of the notch n³ and the arm p thereon
out of the path of the pins o' of the disc o, the said lever n also locking the lever /
in its normal position by bearing against the under edge of a plate 1* formed on
the top of the lever l.
If it is desired that the striking mechanism shall strike the half hours and hours
only, only two pins o' are placed upon the disc o, and if the hours only are to be
struck, only one pin o¹ is used.
In cases where the striking mechanism is only required for "repeating," the
striking wheel can be secured to its arbor so that it always rotates therewith, a
lever being simply provided for normally holding the hammers out of contact with
the bells or gongs, in which case all the automatic releasing mechanism hereinbefore
described is dispensed with. Also in this case the special striking wheel

page_text: hereinbefore described can be dispensed with and the striking pins placed upon one
of the ordinary wheels of the clock.
This latter arrangement is shewn in Figures 13 and 14 wherein the pins g, g
and h, are represented as being fixed to a gear-wheels (forming one of the
wheels of the ordinary train of the clock) upon the third motion arbor d hereinbefore
referred to. In this modification the wheels is always rotating; in order therefore
to hold the lever-arms g', ' out of contact with the pins g, h except when the
clock is required to strike, a levert having a bar t' is mounted upon the framing of
the clock. The said levert when moved into the position indicated by the dotted
lines in Figure 13 moves the rods of the hammers g', by its bar t¹ so that the
lever-arms g', h¹ will be held out of the path of the pins g, h: when, however, the
said lever is in the position shewn in full lines the lever-arms g', h¹ will be in
the path of the said pins so that the clock will strike.
u, u are wire gongs upon which the hammers g³, h³ respectively strike. These
gongs as herein before stated are preferably of different tones and, as shewn in the
drawings, are of a somewhat oral form so that the hammers shall strike the gongs
properly, notwithstanding the fact that the hammers are moved by the cams i¹, j'.
It is obvious that instead of the gongs shewn ordinary circular gongs or bells may
be used. In this case, however, it is preferable to arrange the hammers so that
their position relatively to the bells do not alter, the rods g, being adapted to
slide through sockets on the hammer-rods and the levers g¹, h¹ fixed to the rods g³, h³
so as to move therewith under the action of the cams.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, it is declared that what is
claimed is:
1. The combination with a clock, of striking mechanism operated by the main
spring or weight of the clock and comprising a graduated series of pins fixed to a
special wheel driven by the clock mechanism or to one of the wheels of the clock
itself, a lever designed to be struck by one or more of the said pins and a cam
driven by the clock mechanism and adapted to shift the said lever so that it will be
in the path of one or more of the said pins, substantially as described.
2. In striking mechanism for clocks, a striking wheel mounted upon an arbor
driven by the clock mechanism and adapted to be connected with the said wheel by
means of a pawl engaging with a ratchet wheel fixed to the said arbor, the said
pawl being moved to disengage it from the ratchet wheel by means of a weighted
lever, substantially as described.
3. In a striking mechanism for clocks the combination of a striking wheel having
a graduated series of pins on one side for striking the hours and a second graduated
series of pins on the other side for striking the quarters, levers in connection with
the gong-hammers adapted to be operated by the said pins, and two cams, one fixed
upon the sleeve carrying the hour-hand of the clock and the other upon the arbor
to which the minute hand is attached the said cams being designed to move the said
levers so that they will be struck by one or more of the pins, substantially as, and
for the purpose, described.
4. In a striking mechanism having a striking wheel driven by the clock spring
or weight and adapted to be connected with and disconnected from the clock, the
combination with the weighted lever through the medium of which a pawl upon the
striking wheel is disengaged from a ratchet wheel on the arbor carrying the said
striking wheel, of a series of levers such as l, m, n operated by a disc carrying pins,
substantially as described.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.