AN IMPROVED PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR MARKING TIME
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Constant Hoyau, of Paris, but temporary of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Watch Maker, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR MARKING TIME."
Sealed the 6th March 1863, and dated the 11th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Constant Hoyau
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th September 1862..
I, LOUIS CONSTANT HOYAU, of Paris, but temporary of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Watch Maker, do hereby declare the nature of my Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR MARKING TIME," to be as
follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the construction of a portable apparatus by which
any particular time or dates may be marked for subsequent reference.
The apparatus may be made of any required form, of gold or silver, or of a
common metal plated over, and of small dimensions, so as to be suspended to
a watch chain or placed in the pocket. It consists of six wheels or rotating
circular dials, on the lateral circumference of each of which are respectively
marked the indications to be read off, viz., on one side on one of the dials the
names of the days, on a second dial the dates of the month, on a third the
names of the mouths, on a fourth those of the years, and on the other side, on
a fifth dial, the figures to denote the hours, and on a sixth those denoting the

page_text: minutes composing an hour; the edges of the said dials are serrated, so as to
be moved by the pressure of the nail. These dials are supported by axes carried
by a plate between two other plates, the plates being held together by screws;
on one of the latter plates four openings are made to correspond with the indi-
cations of the four dials carrying the dates, and on the other one large opening
is made for exhibiting the hours and minutes indicated; these openings are
covered with magnifying glasses to render the reading. more easy. On the said
axes, which are perforated to allow the passage of pins for keeping the dials in
their places, are fixed the hands, before which the required indications aro
brought by turning the dials round. The form of the plates and number and
arrangement of the dials may be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Constant Hoyau, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Louis
CONSTANT HOYAU, of Paris, but temporary of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, Watch Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Louis Constant Hoyau, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Constant Hoyan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Louis Constant Hoyau, 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 PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR MARKING TIME,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Constant Hoyau,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Constant Hoyau, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
My Invention consists in the construction of a portable apparatus or jewel,
which I denominate more particularly under the name of indicating marker or
memento bijou; its object is to assist in remembering the date, the day, the
month, or year, and also, if necessary, the exact hour and minute of an appoint-
ment, and in short, under all circumstances where these dates may be found
useful. It consists of six wheels or rotating circular dials, on the lateral
circumference of each of which are respectively marked the indications to be
read off. The apparatus can be made of any form and of all sizes; I prefer,
however, to make it of the size shewn in the annexed Drawing. In varying tho
form, which may be circular instead of elliptic, it can be made to represent a
scal, with or without engravings, a brellock, or a medallion, on which can be
placed a portrait or any other object in the free space in the openings through
which the figures or indications are seen; it can be made of metal and covered
with magnifying glasses, by which the indications can be more easily
distinguished.
Fig. 1 is an exterior view of the side, shewing the days and dates; Fig. 2
is a view also exterior of the side opposite to Fig. 1, that is to say, the side
shewing the hours and minutes; Fig. 3 is an interior view, supposing the
plate of Fig. 1 to be raised; and Fig. 4 is also an interior view, supposing the
plate of Fig. 2 raised.
In Fig. 2 four dials or discs a, b, c, d, are seen; on a are marked the days,
on 6 the months; c has 31 numbers, equivalent to the greatest number of days
comprised in a month; and d has a certain number of years, proportionate to
the diameter of the object. The opposite side, Fig. 4, only carries two dials
or discs; one e, divided in twelve divisions for hours; and one f, divided into
sixty parts for the minutes.
It will thus be understood that with this apparatus I obtain, first, the days
of the week; secondly, the day of the month; thirdly, the months; fourthly,
the years; fifthly, the hours; and, sixthly, the minutes. In order to put the
indicator which is required in front of the opening corresponding to it, I can
place teeth on the circumference of the dials, so that they extend a little beyond
the interior circumference of the object in such a manner that it is only
necessary to press with the nail on the circumference of the dials or discs to
cause them to move; but I prefer employing the arrangement shewn in

page_text: Figures 3 and 4, which cousists in dividing the discs in a number of teeth
equal to the number of divisions required, and to dispose of the knobs g and of
the springs h in such a manner that when the knobs are made to move, the
discs will be made to advance one tooth. This arrangement is preferable.
because more friction is required to draw along the dials than in the preceding
example, however well the retaining clicks may be placed.
In Figure 4, I take a single knob g to make the two dials act; it commands
the minute wheel f, which carries a little pink, and which at every revolution
of the wheel causes the one e to move one division or tooth, each of which is
equal to an hour. By this arrangement the dials can be regulated to the
precise minute, a retaining click i holding the wheel e.
It will be understood that tho various methods of moving the dials carrying
the figures are only given here as examples, for I can vary to infinity the
necessary arrangements for obtaining the same result.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, what I claim and wish to be secured by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the construction of a portable apparatus or jewel, medallion, trinket,
seal, or other analogous objects, which can be made of any suitable material,
in which are arranged orifices, where may be made to appear at will figures
marked on small dials placed in the interior, the said figures representing the
minutes, hours, days of the week, days of the months, the months of the year,
and the years; these figures should be arranged so that they can be covered
in all or in part with magnifying glasses, in order to facilitate the reading.
Secondly, I reserve the right of varying the form, dimensions, and arrange-
ment of this apparatus or jewel, and also of the metal or material of which it
is manufactured.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Constant Hoyau, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixth day of Murch, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
C. L. HOYAU. (L.S.)