Improvements in Electric Clock-winders.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Oct., 1891-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Clock-winders.
We, JAMES WILLIAM DULANEY, and CHARLES FRANKLYN DULANEY, of
Canton, in the County of Stark, and State of Ohio, one of the United States of
America. Clock Makers, do hereby declare the nature of our invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC CLOCK-WINDERS," 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 devices for automatically winding up clocks by means
of electricity; and it consists in the novel construction and combination of the
parts as hereinafter fully described and claimed.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a front view of the clock with the front part of the case removed.
Fi igure 2 is a side view of the clock.
";
Figure 3 is a side view of the escapement wheel and pallet, and shows a
modification in the arrangement of the insulating material.
A is the frame of the clock. A¹ is the barrel shaft, and a is a pinion on the
barrel shaft. B is the train of driving wheels of which the said pinion forms a
part.
C is the escapement wheel, and c is the escapement wheel shaft.
D is the pallet which engages with the escapement wheel, and d is the pallet
shaft journaled in the insulating bushes d' supported by the frame A. A toothed
pinion is secured on the escapement wheel shaft and forms a part of the train of
wheels B. All the abovementioned parts, and the remaining parts of the clock
which are not shown and described, may be of any approved form and construction.
E is a contact tooth secured to the escapement wheel and arranged out of line
with the teeth of the said wheel. This tooth E corresponds in form with the teeth
of the escapement wheel, and takes the place of a tooth with which the wheel
would be provided at that part of its periphery if the tooth E were not used.
A plate of insulating material e is secured to one end of the pallet D, and is
adapted to come in contact with all the teeth of the wheel including the
tooth E.
A second plate of insulating material el is secured to the opposite end of the
pallet D. This plate e' is narrower than the plate e, and is adapted to permit the
tor th E to come in contact with the uninsulated portion of the pallet. It is not
material to which end of the pallet the narrow plate is secured.
F is a battery, and G is an electro magnet. F¹ is a wire which connects the
battery with the pallet shaft d; and f' is a wire which connects the battery with
the electro magnet. A wire connects the electro magnet with the clock frame so
that the escapement wheel and the contact tooth E are always in the circuit. The
pallet D is also always included in the circuit, but there is no electrical connection
between the pallet and the escapement wheel except, once in each revolution of the
said escapement wheel, when the tooth E comes in contact with the uninsulated
portion of one end of the pallet.
The winding mechanism is constructed as follows: H is the armature of the
electro magnet, secured to one end of the bell-crank lever h which is pivoted on the
shaft . I is a ratchet wheel secured on the barrel shaft A', and i is a radius link
pivoted on the said shaft. J.is a gravity pawl pivoted on the pin i¹ projecting
from the radius link. K is a check pawl. A link k is pivoted to the radius link
and to the end j of the bell-crank lever h by the pins, and the said pawl J
engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. Whenever the contact tooth E
n

page_text: touches that portion of the end of the pallet not covered by the insulating plate e¹,
it completes the electric circuit. The battery excites the electro magnet and
causes the armature to be attracted. This motion of the armature operates
the winding mechanism and winds up the main spring on the barrel shaft for the
amount it had run down since the electric circuit was last completed by the
tooth E, and thereby keeps the clock main spring at a substantially uniform
tension.
The contact tooth E may be duplicated if desired to wind up the clock oftener
than once for each revolution of the escapement wheel.
In the modification shown in Figure 3, the pallet D is provided with the
insulating plate e at one end, but the insulating plate e' at the other end is omitted.
The escapement wheel C is insulated from its shaft c and from the contact tooth E
by the flanged bush m. The pallet D and tooth E are always in circuit the same
as in the arrangement shown in Figure 2, and the circuit is completed once in each
revolution of the escapement wheel, when the tooth E touches the uninsulated end
of the pallet. The bush m prevents the making of the circuit through the
escapément wheel and pallet except through the tooth E.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The combination, with an insulated escapement pallet, of an escapement wheel
provided with a contact tooth arranged out of line with the rest of its teeth and
included in the circuit with the said pallet, the remaining teeth of the escapement
wheel being insulated from the pallet so that the circuit can only be completed
through the said contact tooth, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination, with an insulated escapement pallet, of an escapement wheel
provided with a contact tooth arranged out of line with the rest of its teeth, and
insulating material interposed between all the escapement wheel teeth and the
pallet, and permitting the said contact tooth to make the connection periodically
with one end of the pallet, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The combination, with the winding-barrel shaft, and the ratchet wheel secured
thereon, of the radius link, the pawl pivoted to the radius link, the check pawl, the
electro magnet, the armature carried by a pivoted lever, the link pivoted to the
said lever and to the said radius link, a battery, and a circuit making and breaking
device attached to the escapement and operating periodically, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 20th day of October 1891.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
Agents for Applicants.