IMPROVE- MENTS IN WATCH KEYS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS FOR WINDING UP WATCHES AND OTHER TIMEKEEPERS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PREDDY, of Taunton, in the County of Somerset, Watch Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland,. bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of June
(One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine), in the Twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Preddy, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Preddy,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Preddy,
my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WATCH KEYS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS FOR WINDING UP WATCHES AND
OTHER TIMEKEEPERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said William Preddy, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her

page_text: Majesty's High Court of Chancery within"
calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Preddy, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say -
My Invention has for its object to prevent the interruption and not unfre-
quently permanent damage caused to the works of watches and other time-
keepers by the damp, dirt, and dust introduced into them by the keys and
other instruments used in winding them up; and this I accomplish by con-
structing the said keys and other winding-up instruments in such manner that
neither damp nor dirt nor dust shall attach to those parts of them which come
in contact with the winding squares of the watches and timekeepers. Six
several modes of construction having this object in view are represented in the
Drawings annexed..
,
In Figure 1, which a longitudinal section of a watch key throngh the
centre of it, A represents the bow or loop, which is connected by a hollow
neck a to the open body picce B. C is a rod, which commencing at the head
of the body piece B extends into the pipe P, and reaches to the end thereof,
where it terminates in a sliding square or piston D, which exactly fits the
aperture of the pipe; and E is a spiral spring, which is coiled round the back
end of the rod, and abuts against a stop F affixed to the middle of the piston
rod. As long as the key is out of the watch the spring E keeps the sliding
square or piston pressed out to the end of the pipe P, and thereby prevents
any lodgment therein of damp, dirt, or dust. While on the key being intro-
duced into the watch for the purpose of winding it up, the winding square
to which it is fitted presses the sliding square or piston back, to be again
restored to its place the moment, the key is withdrawn, the extreme end of the
piston rod receding into the neck a in proportion as the square or piston is
pressed back.
.
In Figure 2, which is a longitudinal section similar to the preceding of a
watch key on a different plan, the aperture of the pipe P is also kept closed
by a sliding square or piston; but the piston rod is directly attached to the
bow A, and the movement to and fro of the square or piston is effected by the
pulling up and pushing in of the rod by means of the bow. A side spring m
also is substituted for the coiled spring.

page_text: Figure 3 represents an external view of a watch key, differing only from
Figure 1 in the body part being not open, but made of box fashion, which
conceals the piston rod and coiled spring from view.
In Figure 4 the pipe P is protected by a sheath S, which is taken off when
the key is about to be used; and in Figure 5 the same effect is obtained by
inserting a solid stopper R into the pipe; but I do not recommend either of
these modifications, on account of the liability of the sheath and stopper to
become loose, and to be thereby mislaid or lost.
Figure 6 represents a key, which is more particularly applicable to the
winding up of clocks. P is the pipe, which is internally of a square form,
but externally round; D is a square piston, which fits the pipe; and C the
piston rod, having a thumb piece T, by which the piston is pulled up or pushed
out as required.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is the closing of the pipes of watch keys and other instruments for
winding up watches and other timekeepers, when out of use, by means of
sliding squares or pistons, sheaths, and stoppers, as before exemplified and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Preddy, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.