CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOCKS AND TIMEKEEPERS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GUSTAVUS
MOENCK, of Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Doctor
of Laws, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the First day of December, in the eleventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant to me, the said Gustavus
Moenck, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial license, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Gustavus Moenck, and
such others as I, the said Gustavus Moenck, 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 of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and
Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Guernsey,
Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOCKS
AND TIMEKEEPERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Gustavus Moenck, to particularly describe the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and to

page_text: cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being had
thereto, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Gustavus Moenck, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, to be as the same is described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters of reference marked thercon respectively, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in an improved detached escapement for clocks and
timekeepers, which is dependent on and produced solely by the eternally
uniform and unerring law of gravity, and its being totally independent of the
wheelwork of the said machines.
In the Drawing hereunto annexed, Z, Z, marks a metal back plate. This plate
is shewn in the Drawing, to make my description more clear, but it is not
essential to the working of my Iuvention.
A, B, C, D, E, is a lever (which may be of any required form). The upper
bar or rod of the part A of this lever has a screw or thread formed thereon,
upon which is placed an adjustable weight or metallic ball a for producing the
above-mentioned uniform power of gravity. The lower end of the upper part
of the lever A, B, C, D, E, A is mounted upon a spindle e, and upon the other
end of the said spindle thus is fixed the upper end of the perpendicular part B
of the lever A, B, C, D, E, which is curved at to clear the spindle of the
wheel N. The lower part C of the lever A, B, C, D, E, has a pin 1 or other
contrivance attached thereto, so as to permit of it being taken hold of by the
catch on one end of the spring M, as shewn. D is an extended part of the
lever A, B, C, D, E, and the part E is furnished with a pin 2 or other contri-
vance similar to C; or it may be formed by itself, as to be brought back by
the teeth of the swing wheel N, behind the catch of the above-mentioned
spring M. In order to relieve the friction of the wheel N, I propose in some
cases to employ a wheel of the construction shewn at Figure 4, where it will
be seen that the swing wheel is formed with two sets of teeth on different faces,
those most projecting, marked B, being intended to be acted upon by the
detent G, and those marked A, which are foremost, being intended to be acted
upon by the pin 3, at Figure 4, when used; or, if deemed desirable, the pin 2
may act in conjunction with pin 3. H, I, and H, K, are two springs, which
may be of any desired form, or the same result arising therefrom may be pro-
duced by a wheel or other contrivance; but I prefer the springs here shewn.

page_text: These springs are firmly connected together at their upper ends H, and below by
a pin F, or similar contrivance, passing or going loosely through the first or front
spring H, I, and fixed to the spring IJ, K, so that when the extended part D
of the lever A, B, C, D, E, touches the front of F, it repels first the back
spring II, K, by the pressure of said pin F, till the part L of this pin F, which
is, for instance, a perpendicular pin passing through F, or a ring round F, not
allowing the spring H, K, to be further driven back alone, pushes equally back
the front spring H, I, and in consequence the pallet or detent (if I may so call it)
G, which is connected to the front spring H, I. O is a free hanging pendulum,
which, in swinging, releases the lever A, B, C, D, E, from its confinement, by
pushing up the grappling spring M, for which purpose the pendulum is formed
at its upper part with a tooth-like projecting piece of metal P. The same
moment which frees the lever in the manner just before described gives a new
impulse to the swinging of the pendulum by the part C of the lever pressing
against it, and pushes back the spring H, K, by pressure of F, which perform-
ance immediately will give full liberty to the vibration of the pendulum, as of
necessity the lever drives back first the latter spring II, K, by pressure of F,
before it releases the detent or pallet in the above-described munner. This very
moment of time will stop the motion of the lever A, B, C, D, E, so as to
prevent it from following the pendulum, whereby the detachment in all respects
becomes totally free, and with the assistance of L the front spring H, I, with its
detent G, immediately the swing wheel N is delivered from the said detent,
will allow the wheelwork to act upon the pin 2 in the lever and drive it back-
wards to the grappling spring M, and all this is effected in about one sixteenth
of a second.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be performed, and its practicable application to the works
of clocks and timekeepers, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not
claim the exclusive use of any of the separate parts above mentioned and
referred to, or the metals of which the same may be made, except in so far
as the same may be employed in combination and for the purposes of my said
Invention. But what I do claim is, the Invention, as herein-before described,
of a detached escapement produced by the uniform power of gravity, quite
independent of wheelworks or other power, and applicable to clocks and
timekeepers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gustavus Moenck, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
GUSTAV. (L.S.) MOENCK, J. U. Dª.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of December, in
the eleventh year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
Gustavus Moenck came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery,
and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.