IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES OR TIMEKEEPERS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for tho
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES OR TIMEKEEPERS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Henri Du Pasquier, of Rue St. Sebastien,
of Tenn
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th September 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES OR TIMEKEEPERS," to bo
as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in watches or timekeepers relates to. that
description of watch which is wound up without a key, and by merely turning the
pendant, and it relates more particularly to that part of the gearing whereby
the hands of the watch are moved over the face to set them at the right time..
The movement of the hands has been heretofore effected by means of wheels
acting directly on the minute wheels. The present Invention consists in the
use of an intermediate wheel for actuating the hands or their spindles.. This
wheel, and also that which actuates the barrel, are mounted on a rocking
frame, so that either of them may be thrown in out of gear with their
respective parts, the normal position of the parts being that the winding-up

page_text: wheel is always kept in gear with the barrel. When it is required to set the
watch by altering the hands, the winding-up wheel is thrown out of gear, and
the same action will throw the other wheel in gear, and thus the watch can
be set by turning the pendant, and thereby actuating the bands by means of
the intermediate wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by tho said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by IIer Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth 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 William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 WATCHES OR TIMEKEEPERS," being a communication from
Henri Du Pasquier, of Rue St. Sebastien, Paris, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention of "Improvements in Watches or Timekeepers" relates to

page_text: that description of watch which is wound up without a key, and by merely
turning the pendant, and it relates more particularly to that part of the gearing
whereby the hands of the watch are moved over the face to set them to the
right time, and which gearing is usually made to act directly upon the hand
wheels. This is attended with two disadvantages; in the first place these
wheels, which are very delicate, run the risk of being damaged by the some-
what abrupt movement which is experienced when the hand-setting apparatus
is brought into action; on the other hand, in order to obviate this defect as
much as possible, it is found necessary to diminish the friction by which the
hands are actuated, and thus to reduce the power to be communicated to the
hand wheel for the purpose of setting the hands. Now, should the hand wheel
or shaft be injured by the operation of setting the hands, the result will be
that as those two wheels form part of the watch movement and are continually
in action, should their teeth from any cause become worn or bent, the watch
would no longer perform with regularity. If, on the contrary, the friction on
the shafts which carry the hands be a little too much diminished, the slightest
obstacle which they encounter during their movement will stop them, they will
consequently no longer follow the movement of the watch. This is a serious
defect, and which is met with even in the best watches which wind from the
pendant.
Now the object of this Invention is to remedy these defects by the
interposition of an intermediate wheel (made either of steel or other metal)
mounted upon a rocking frame, which is brought into action when the hands
are required to be set. This wheel being entirely independent of the watch
movement, even should there be any defect in its teeth, it would be of no
consequence, as it would in no way interfere with the action of the watch.
As, therefore, the intermediate wheel forms no part of the movement, it may
be removed and replaced with the greatest facility without interfering with the
movement. In consequence of the independent action of this wheel, it may
also have a power given to it in proportion to that of the winding apparatus,
and it may be firmly fixed upon the frame, there is therefore no reason to fear
the effort necessary for setting the hands will derange the working parts,
and the hands may morcover be fixed as solidly as in ordinary watches, thero
being no occasion to fear any stoppage accidental and independent of the
movement.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents, in front view, and drawn
o a scale of double the real size, a watch, which is wound up from the
endant by means of an intermediate wheel applied according to this Invention,
ho dial being shewn as removed, the better to shew the internal mechanism.

page_text: It should be first observed that the mechanism is composed of a rocking
frame, upon which are mounted the three wheels A, B, and C, the wheel B
being worked by the gearing of the winder D. In the ordinary position the
wheel A always takes into the barrel wheel E. The shaft of the barrel is
more securely mounted than usual, and the point of oscillation of the rocking
frame is also upon a special bearing F. A prolongation of the rocking frame
carries the wheel X, which is intermediate between the wheel C and the
hand wheel G, upon the shaft of which one of the hands is mounted; it is
this wheel which is specially intended for setting the hands, and by which
the defects above mentioned are obviated. The spring R. serves to keep the
winding apparatus always in gear with the barrel wheel, as represented in
Fig. 1, and when it is required to set the hands of the watch it is only
necessary to press upon a thumb-piece H (which may be of any convenient
construction) in order to throw the mechanism out of gear with the barrel,
and bring the intermediate wheel X into gear with the hand wheel, as
represented at Fig. 2. The wheel of the second hand wheel shaft is only
shewn by a red line, as there is nothing peculiar in that portion of tho
mechanism.
Having now described this Invention of "Improvements in Watches or
Timekeepers," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I desire it to be
understood that what I desire to claim as new, and to secure under the above
in part recited Letters Patent, is, the application and addition to all watches
which are wound up by means of the pendant of an intermediate wheel, the
office of which has been above described, and which has for its object to do
away with the shocks by which the watches might be injured, and also to
obviate the defects above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)