IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Conod, of Lausaune, Switzerland, now
of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Watch and Clock
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Conod at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th June 1875.
I, AUGUSTE CONOD, of Lausaune, Switzerland, now of No. 8, South-
ampton Buildings, London, Watch and Clock Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC
CLOCK APPARATUS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO ORDINARY CLOCKS," to be
as follows:
-
The objects of my improvements in electric clockwork is to render
its employment at all times practicable, by means of machinery so
constructed as not to be liable to be in any way impeded in its working
by either atmospheric or by electric storms.

page_text: By means of these improvements in this class of clockwork move.
ments I am able to make large turret clocks, so as to work perfectly in
their clock motion and as well as in, their gear for striking the hours,
These improvements, relate,―
Firstly. To the regulator of the clockwork.
Secondly. To the clock itself.
Thirdly. To the hour striking parts.
By a weight arranged as a regulator acting for this purpose, I in
every minute send a current to the clock work constituting the receiving
apparatus, the regular working of which is intimately dependent upon
that of the regulator. It is therefore requisite to its efficient working
that the "contacts" shall have a positive touch of their surfaces at the
moment of the emission of the current.
In order that the motive power of the regulator may not be impaired,
and its working be thereby in any way hindered by reason of this
touching of the contact surfaces, the necessity of cleaning the points
of contact it is necessary that the friction of their surfaces shall be
effected in a circular direction, so that by means of their friction they
shall in effect constantly clean themselves.
To obtain these necessary conditions by means of my regulator, I
place upon the escapement wheel, which makes one revolution in each
minute, a tooth of platinum which acts against a pallet, also of the same
metal, which is insulated upon the anchor. This pallet is attached to a
serre-fil which is insulated upon the clock case by means of a fine
copper wire twisted spirally in order not to diminish the force of the
movement. Thus the battery circuit is once in every minute closed for
a second, and made to pass through the clockwork constituting the
receiving apparatus. This is a perfect sort of "contact" inasmuch as
it is a mathematical touch.
The weight of the regulator furnishes sufficient pressure against the
pallet, similar to that of the teeth of the escapement which in effect it
replaces.
The first essential requisite for any kind of clock is that the efficiency
of its working shall not be in any way impeded by storms, especially
with large clocks where the dial hands are of such dimensions that the
wind can get a hold of them. .

page_text: All electric clocks heretofore made have been subject to derangement
by storms or by high winds. This defect I successfully overcome by
means of the system of construction of my improved apparatus:
To make large clocks work properly it is necessary to combine certain
levers in such a manner as to utilise the utmost calculative motive force
of my electro-magnet. This result I obtain by means of a compound
lever, comprising a second parallel arm having a subordinate oscillation,
and thereby I approach the armature of the electro-magnet. This exact
point of distance must be arrived at because, as is well known, the
motive force of an electro-magnet increases as the square of the distance
diminishes.
In the construction of my said clocks the combination of parts is such
that instead of their action being impeded it is on the contrary rather
assisted by storms. This result is obtained by two wheels, one fast,
the other loose, placed upon one axis; the fast or fixed wheel is gear
toothed, the lower wheel is cut as a ratchet, and it also has a pawl to
prevent return motion.
The loose wheel is acted upon by an arm jointed to the double arm of
the electro-magnet lever. These wheels are connected by a rod fixed
in the gear toothed wheel and passing loosely through the ratchet
wheel. A steel blade which may be bent at will as a means of regu-
lation presses on the extremity of the said rod. Into the said toothed
wheel is geared a wheel in such a manner as to restrict the movement
to one single minute, in order that the dial bands having once acquired
their movement can not go beyond that which they might do with only
a simple ratchet wheel. This count wheel is controlled by a lever arm
furnished with a stop which enters between the count wheel cogs. Upon
the same central shaft is placed a dial indicating the hour shown by the
exterior hands. Upon transmitting the current it at first produces the
O magnetisation of the first armature, which by mutual attraction charges
a spiral spring placed at the extremity of the arm of the said lever.
This spring furnishes the principal moving force; the arm which rests
upon the ratchet wheel is caused by this movement to take into a tooth,
whereupon by means of a contact placed upon the first lever arm the
3 current is made to pass into a second electro-magnet, which causes the
count wheel to be disengaged and thus to allow one minute to pass.
In each minute the hands are worked by a steel blade, which is then by

page_text: the said spring restored to its bent shape. By this means the apparatus
becomes independent of external influences, and thus is not subject to
any derangement thereby. This portion of the apparatus is also
applicable to ordinary clocks. Upon the wheel of the pipe of the minute
action as well as upon that of the escapement are two ratchet wheels
with their pawls which prevent any return motion. Without these two
wheels the storm at a given moment might have an influence upon the
apparatus, by preventing the escapement from acting. All these pieces
are solidly constructed, suitable for large clock machinery; the requisite
force is obtained from the great electro-motive force which my electro-
magnets possess.
In ordinary clocks the driving weights press constantly upon the
bearing points of support, and eventually flatten these as well as
produce a rapid wasting in the cog bearing faces. There is very little
wear of my apparatus, as the movement of the lever arms is very slight,
and it is only during the space of a second in each minute that the
apparatus works, and moreover the force which is employed is simply
sufficient for putting the hands in motion.
In order to work my striking apparatus I use the same system of
double levers as for the minute works as well as a similar electro-magnet.
At the extremity of the great lever arm is a semicircular piece of steel
which rests against a vertical arm, which gives a rotary movement to a
rod fixed upon pivots, which rod carries the hammer. The current
passing by the regulator, which is also arranged by contacts to transmit
at the hours the corresponding number of strokes, magnetises the lever
and thereby produces the movement of the hammer upon the bell. The
force of this striking apparatus proceeds from the rapid spring given to
the hammer as well as the extent of its swing.
Elements with ammoniacal salts are those which are the best suited
for composing the batteries for my apparatus, which can then be worked
during several months without any other addition than ammoniacal
water to replace that taken away by evaporation or decomposition.
:
'

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Auguste Conod in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
CONOD, of Lausaune, Switzerland, now of 8, Southampton Buildings,
London, Watch and Clock Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Auguste Conod, Her special licence,
that I, the said Auguste Conod, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste Conod, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter 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 ELECTRIC CLOCK APPARATUS, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO ORDINARY
CLOCKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Auguste
Conod, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 calender months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Auguste Conod, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying.
Drawings forming a part of this Specification.
The object of my Invention is the construction of electric clockwork,
whose employment will be practicable and advantageous, and which will
not be liable to derangement or interruption in its working by atmo-
spheric or electric disturbances of the atmosphere,

page_text: By my improvements I have succeeded in causing large turret clocks
with or without striking mechanism to work in the most satisfactory
manner.

page_text: Figure 14 is an elevation of the striking apparatus or an electrical
clock.
Figure 15 shews a device for preventing the displacement of the hands
of a clock by the force of the wind.
Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating the connections of the various
parts of this apparatus.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
The said regulator may be any ordinary pendulum clock of suitable
size provided with my improved devices for transmitting the electrical
impulses at regular intervals to the clock or clocks to be operated by my
apparatus. This regulator is included in a circuit which also includes
the electric clock and striker, as shewn in Figure 16, but the circuit
is only closed at certain regular intervals by the aforesaid transmitting
devices.
These devices for transmitting the electrical impulses are as follows:-
On the escapement wheel a of the clock I fix a tooth 6, and on the
anchor c of the escapement I also fix a tooth d, so arranged that once'
in every revolution of the said escapement wheel the teeth b and d
touch cach other for an instant of time. From the battery a wire. 1
extends to the post f, and from the post e a wire 2 extends to the clock
apparatus. The tooth d on the escapement anchor is insulated from
the said anchor by a piece of horn or other suitable material at r,
and is connected by a wire to the post e, to which the wire 2 is also
connected. The escapement wheel a is usually arranged to make one
revolution in a minute, and I prefer in all cases to use an escapement
wheel so timed. While the said wheel is turning the circuit is broken
or open, except at the moment of contact of the tooth 6 with the tooth
d, at which moment the contact is closed and an impulse is transmitted
to the apparatus, shewn in Figure 5, which I will now proceed to
describe.
The dial has two hands, which indicate the time in the ordinary
manner, being rotated in the proper direction through the medium of
suitable cog wheels by the wheels h, i, to which the electric impulses
are communicated by the mechanism shewn. This mechanism is con-
structed and operates as follows:-The apparatus has a strong plate or
frame upon which all of its parts are supported. ; is an electro-

page_text: magnets, to which is connected the wire 2 from the post e of the
regulator; is a lever vibrating on the fulcrum /', and connected by a
link with the armature lever 1, whose fulcrum is at . The lever k
works between adjustable stops k³, and has a pawl k*, which drops into
the teeth of the ratchet wheel i, the said lever being drawn toward the
said wheel or away from the electro-magnet j by the spring m, which
is attached to the adjusting stud or pin m'. The end of the lever
works against a stop P.
On the opposite side of the dial I arrange the electro-magnet 12 whose
armature lever o has its fulcrum at o', while its upper end works
against a stop o³. This armature lever o is connected by the short link o²
with the two-armed lever p whose fulcrum is at p¹, and which is drawn
up by a spring p² secured to an adjusting stud p³. The long arm of the
lever engages with the double ratchet wheel q which is supported to
turn freely in bearings in the frame of the apparatus and the bracket q',
and which is operated as herein-after described. The magnet n is
included in the electric circuit by means of the wires 6, 7, spring 8,
and levers k, l, as herein-after described.
When the electric impulses are caused to pass through the circuit by the
action of the regulator or clock, Figures 1 and 2, the electro-magnet j,j,
attracts the armature lever 1, which draws with it the lever / and pawl k^,
and brings the upper extremity of the lever / into contact with the
spring 8. By this contact the current is caused to pass through the
magnet ; the latter attracts the armature lever o, which operates the
wheel q, and the levers are pulled back by the springs turning the wheels
one tooth. The result of this compound action of the apparatus is to cause
the hands of the dial to advance one minute, and the successive impulses
being transmitted with perfect regularity through the circuit, the
electric clock or clocks will keep time accurately with the regulator.
But to obtain this intermittent but regular action without the possibility
of the failing of the said mechanism, the same has to be constructed in a
very peculiar manner which I will now more fully explain. The
wheel is fast on the shaft or axle ', which is supported to turn freely
in its bearings in the frame and plate h². The ratchet wheel i is loose
on the said shaft or axle, and is connected with the wheel only by the
pins which are fixed in the wheel h, and project through slots in the
wheel i, as shown. On the boss of the latter wheel I secure a spring
or springs, whose outer extremities bear upon the pins h³, and which

page_text: by their action upon the said pins tend to turn the wheel in the direc-
tion of the arrow. The wheel is geared with the disengaging wheel q
by a pinion at the back of the latter. Each action of the lever / and
pawl impels the wheel i forward one tooth, but the wheel / remains"
stationary at this moment being held by the lever p, but instantaneously
by the sending of the current through the magnet n, as above described,
the lever P releases the wheel q, which then allows the wheel / to yield
to the pressure of the springs i, and turn a distance equal to one tooth,
while the said levers return to the position of rest where they remain
till the next impulse is sent through the circuit, when the same opera.
tions are repeated at intervals of one minute, as above described.
The various positions of the lever p and wheel 9 during the above
described movements are clearly indicated in Figures 11, 12, and 13.
At the moment the wheel i is pushed forward by the pawl k* the
point or tooth p* enters one of the notches of the ratchet q² of the disen-
gaging wheel q, as shewn in Figure 11. Then the said disengaging.
wheel and lever assume the position shewn in Figure 12, when the
point p of the lever holds the wheel 7 by one of its teeth or pins q', and
then the parts pass from this position through the position shewn in
Figure 13 to the first position.
The backward movement of the wheel i is prevented by the spring
pawl, and another pawl q* acting on the ratchet wheel q³ prevents the
back movement of the disengaging wheel q. The springs are provided
with set screws or other devices whereby the tension is regulated.
The various insulated parts of the said apparatus are indicated by r.
The points of contact or points where the circuit is alternately closed
and opened is indicated by s.
-
The striking mechanism of the electric clock or clocks connected with
and governed by the said regulator is also actuated by electrical impulses
sent through the circuit by the said regulator. For this purpose the
latter is provided with the usual striking gear of which the vertical
shaft t forms a part. This shaft carries the hammer t, and has also
fast on it an arm to. The insulated post v is the connection for the wire 4,
leading to the striker. On the post is fixed the spring v', and when
the arm is in contact with the said spring the circuit is closed. This
contact is closed and opened at every stroke of the hammer 1, and an
impulse is thereby transmitted through the circuit to the clectric

page_text: sounding or striking mechanism. This mechanism comprises an electro-
magnet w, whose two holes are connected with the wires 4 and 5, and the
armature lever wo³, whose fulcrum is at w³, and which is connected
to the lever w³ by the link to. The lever w³ is arranged in combination
with the hammer shaft x which is fitted to turn freely in suitable
bearings on the plate or frame of the apparatus, and has an arm x¹
arranged in connection with the extremity of the lever to³. The move-
ment of the lovers by the attraction of the electro-magnets w when the
current passes through the same, causes the hammer to strike the bell.
and the return of the said hammer is caused by the spring x³ con-
nected to a stud or finger ³ on the shaft and to the adjusting stud x*
in the plate.
In Figure 15 I have shown improved means for preventing the de-
rangement of the hands of the dial by gusts of wind or other atmospheric
disturbances. y is the sleeve or hollow axis, which carries the minute
hand; y is the axis or spindle of the hour hand; y², y³, y*, y³, are the
gear wheels, which connect the two hands, and move them in the proper
relation to each other. In addition to these ordinary parts I provido
this mechanism with a ratchet wheel z and pawl. The wheel is
fixed on the axis y', and the pawl permits the same to turn only in a
forward direction; therefore the hands cannot be turned backward by the
wind or otherwise; and this device in connection with the ratchets and
pawls in the electric clock mechanism will prevent any possibility of the
displacement of the hands or their connections. This part of my Inven-
tion is applicable to ordinary clocks or dials placed in exposed situations.
The diagram, Figure 16, clearly shows the connections of the various
parts of my apparatus. A is the battery; B, the regulator; C, the
electric clock; and D, the sounder. The wire 1 extends from the battery
to the post of the regulator. Wire 2 extends from the insulated post e
to the electric clock; wire 3 connects the insulated post j' of the regu-
lator with the battery; wire 4 connects the regulator with the sounder;
wire 5 connects the sounder with the insulated post j', and through the
wire 3 with the battery.
There is very little wear of the parts of my apparatus, as the move-
ment of the aforesaid levers and other parts is very slight, and it is only
during the space of one second in each minute that there is any move-
ment of the apparatus, and the force employed is only what is required
for moving the hands and the striker.

page_text: 3)
Seventh. The electric clock apparatus shown in Figures 5 to 13, con-
sisting of the above described devices and combinations of parts, and
operating as herein set forth, to indicate the time by impulses sent
through an electric circuit from a regulating clock or timekeeper.
Eighth. The striking apparatus consisting of the hammer and its 5
actuating shaft connected with the armature lever of an electro-magnet
enclosed in an electric circuit, and operating by impulses sent by the
regulator through the said circuit, as herein set forth.
Ninth. The device consisting of the ratchet and pawl in combination
with the clock hands and their axles and wheel, whereby the turning ]
backward of the said hands is prevented, as herein set forth.
Tenth. The apparatus comprising a battery, a regulator, and the olectric.
clock or clocks, with or without the sounding mechanism placed in an
electric circuit, and operating as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Conod, have hereunto 1
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
AUGTE CONOD. (L.S.)
Horloger Électricien.