AN IMPROVED ELECTRIC CLOCK
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Forfar Osman, of 33, Essex Street, Strand,
London, County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED ELECTRIC CLOCK."-A communication..
Sealed the 17th February. 1857, and dated the 19th August.1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Forfar Osman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
19th August 1856.
I, HENRY. FORFAR OSMAN, of 33, Essex Street, Strand, London, County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby, declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED ELECTRIC CLOCK," being a communication from a foreigner
residing abroad, to be as follows:-
The armature of an electro-magnet is made to give in a direct manner the
necessary movement to a suitably, contrived. lever and catch, so that each time
the electric current is closed; and the armature is attracted by the temporary
magnet, the said catch acts upon the circumference of a wheel of sixty. teeth,
and causes it to advance one of its divisions (i. e., a second.) The rest of the
wheels or works are thus made to be governed by the seconds wheel. A lower
arm-is added to the before-mentioned lever, to the end of which is suspended

page_text: a compensating weight in connection with the pendulum. By the oscillations
of the pendulum two platina pins are alternately seperated and brought in
contact, and by that means the electro-current is broken and closed as
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Forfar Osman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE-PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FORFAR OSMAN, of 33, Essex Street, Strand, London, County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Forfar Osman, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Forfar Osman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Forfar Osman, 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 "AN IMPROVED ELECTRIC
CLOCK," a communication, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Forfar Osman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Forfar Osman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:―
The Invention relates to an arrangement of mechanism by which the wheel
marking the seconds of a clock worked by means of electricity is made directly

page_text: and indirectly to drive and govern the other wheels thereof, the object being
simplicity of construction, accuracy of movement, and cheapness.
And in order that this Invention may be fully and clearly understood, I
shall now proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a front elevation of the said clock entire and of real
size, the case and part of the dial removed; Figure 2 is a vertical section of
Figure 1, with one of the coils. and all before it removed, shewing the mode
of driving the seconds wheel; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the entire
mechanism of the clock; Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the relative
position and gearing of the wheels; Figure 5 is a particular front view, to
shew the hour wheel, its jumper and lever, better than can be seen in
Figure 1.
a, a, denote the position of the electro-magnet, formed by encircling sepa-
rately two rods of iron with copper wire, surrounded with silk, and connected
together by a cross plate of iron a³, which is secured to a support fixed on the
bed plate a'; b is the armature, supported on a lever d, having its centre
movement a little below its axis, and so affording to it a free oscillating motion,
as is seen at d. The upper arm d', d", of this lever is extended as far as the
circumference of a wheel of 60 teeth (the seconds wheel), and there has
loosely attached to it a wheel catch or click for gearing in said wheel, as
shewn in Figure 2. This same lever has a lower arm d³, which, after passing
below the bed plate a, forms a right-angled elbow. From the extremity of
this arm is suspended a small weight (h), for the purpose of restoring to the
pendulum the force or strength lost after every two oscillations, by being
received on the head of screw (9), which is fixed in an extended arm from the
pendulum, and so forms a lever. f, f, is the pendulum, suspended by a flexible
spring o from a fixed support e, and is furnished with a platinum pin or peg,
which comes in contact with another small pin or peg, also made of platinum,
at a certain degree of amplitude from its arc, which may be regulated at
pleasure. This platinum pin f¹ rests upon an isolated piece of wood e, and
communicates directly with one of the poles of the battery, whilst that
born by the pendulum is in communication with the electro-current of the
support of the pendulum; thus, when in operation,. if. the pendulum be
withdrawn from its vertical position to the right, the small pin or peg of
platinum with which it is furnished will come in contact with the other
platinum peg or pin, as aforesaid, and close the electric current; the electro-
magnet being then charged, draws the armature towards it, by which the two

page_text: arms of the lever d', d", d³, are acted upon, as before mentioned, the upper
one being made by means of the wheel catch or click attached to it to drive
the seconds wheel ?, and the other to lower the compensating weight, for the
purpose before described.
At this point of action, the screw 2, inserted into the lever over the arma-
ture to regulate, its point of contact, touches a small spring q' fixed on the
buffer.q.; the elastic progressive power of that spring being due to the
attractive power of the electricity, serves to regulate the course. of the arma-
ture,, and secures to the seconds hand, a uniform progress, without any rough
or jerking movement. On the other hand, a small spiral spring r, one end of
,which is fixed to the. outside of the lever d, and the other. to an opposite fixed
point, to engage the return of the armature and its supporting lever to the
other buffer when the electro-current is broken by the oscillation of the
.pendulum. As to the wheelwork, but little requires to be said, as the con-
struction varies but slightly from that commonly in. use.
The compteur or seconds wheel is a wheel of 60 teeth, and is driven, as
before described, by.n
7. means of, a catch a³ attached to the end of the lever
d, dd, which, by bearing the armature, partakes of its motion, so that each
time that the armature is drawn to the electro-magnet.the said compteur or
seconds wheel is advanced one of its divisions. (i. e., a second); a small jumper
prevents it ;returning upon itself after each advance. This compteur-or
seconds wheel works the,seconds hand, and: regulates the movement: of the
minute wheel by an intermediate pinion and wheel A..
The minute wheel is antifrictionally mounted in its socket, and is kept in its
place by a small nail; it is furnished with a small pin, which, every hour, or
at each revolution, lifts, a lever with two arms t,.t, serving the purpose of a
wheel click; the lower arm; drawn by the pin, brings the, upper arm in contact
with a star wheel of 12. teeth, which is placed concentrically. above. the minute
wheel, and causes. it to move one division each hour; this hour wheel is a
a simple slur wheel, and by reason of the before-mentioned contrivance with
the catch, and a spring t,t,, the hour hand remains stationary.until nearly the
completion of the hour, when it moves rapidly over the hour scale. .In Figure 3,
indicates the dial, and v, v, vl, the hands.
The battery employed: to, produce, the electric current is what is generally
known under the name of Daniel's battery, and as its construction is well
understood a description of it here is unnecessary...
:
I claim, as the said..Invention, the combination of the several parts of the
mechanism herein-before-described for rendering the wheel, marking the

page_text: seconds, the driving and regulating medium of the other wheels of the said
clock; for forming and breaking the electric current; for driving the said
seconds wheel by means of electricity; and for restoring to the pendulum the
power or strength lost in its oscillations. But I do not claim any of the parts
separately.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Forfar Osman, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
HENRY FORFAR OSMAN. (L.S.)