IMPROVE- MENTS IN WATCHES AND OTHER TIMEKEEPERS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WATCHES AND OTHER TIMEKEEPERS." -A communication from
abroad by Felix Benoni Bouscatié, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 12th December 1865, and dated the 16th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1865.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES AND OTHER TIMEKEEPERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates chiefly to watches and other timekeepers with the
balance visible in an opening formed in the dial plate. The improvements
consist, 1st, in placing the pinion of the scape wheel above instead of below,
as in the ordinary arrangement; 2nd, in a new kind of supporting disc of the
balance and of the escapement, allowing the escapement of the scape wheel
to advance or recede more or less, as required, for regulating the watch; .it
is on this supporting disc that the visible bridge is fixed on which the arbor of
the balance and of the escapement is pivoted; 3rd, in a new arrangement of
regulator;
this piece carries two pins, which serve to regulate the bair spring;
they traverse the bridge and the plate, which are pierced for the purpose
allow the pins to take the hair spring placed under the balance; a small
to

page_text: screw is placed at each side to act as a stop to the tail of the regulator, in
order to prevent the pins becoming deteriorated by striking against the bridge
of the escapement; 4th, in a new arrangement of the bridge carrying the
scape wheel, which allows of its being on a level with other bridges and
of the same strength; this arrangement adds more solidity to and gives
greater space for the working of the scape wheel.
The old bridge of the scape wheel was below and very thin, in order to
give passage to the pallets of the scape wheel, whereby it was much
weakened; thus, when the third wheel geared into the pinion of the scape
wheel the bridge sometimes formed a spring and prevented the regular move-
ment of the watch. By fitting, on the contrary, the pinion above, the watch-
maker is able to see if the gearing is good. The third wheel, according to
this Invention, is no longer a receptacle for dirt, which can fall into the watch
without being as before a cause of stoppage. In consequence of the arrange-
ment of the scape wheel with the pinion above, the balance traverses the plate,
and is lodged in a cavity below the level of the dial plate, so as to leave a
space which receives a glass independent of the outer glass: This independent
glass covers the cavity of the dial plate without interfering with the movement
of the hands, and prevents the entrance of dirt, which tends to get under the
ordinary glass of the watch case. The working of the balance may thus be
seen at the face of the watch. This change of the wheel and balance gives
more room in the interior of the watch for a remontoir to be fitted therein, if
required; the arrangement is also applicable where the dial plate is not
formed with an opening to expose the balance.
The improvements before recited will be fully understood by the annexed
Drawings. Figure 1 is a face view of a watch constructed according to these
improvements; Figure 2 is a back view; and Figure 3 a transverse section;
Figure 4 is a face view with the dial plate removed to show the supporting
disc and the manner of fixing the visible bridge of the balance to the plate of
the watch; Figure 5 is a section taken at the place of the bridge of the
escapement, to show the method of maintaining the supporting disc to the
plate of the watch and to the bridge; Figures 6 and 7 are front and side
views of the supporting disc; Figures 8 and 9 are front and side views of the
scape wheel with its pinion above; Figures 10 and 11 are face and side views
of the bridge of the scape wheel; Figure 12 shows an arrangement of the
second wheel with its pinion formed with a neck to allow passage to the
third wheel.
a is the bridge, on which is pivoted the scape wheel b, carrying its small
pinion c above instead of below, as in ordinary watches. The bridge a is on

page_text: a level with the other bridges and is of the same solidity. The pinion c is
actuated by the third wheel d, which is pivoted on the bridge e, and it com-
municates its movement to the escapement which traverses the plate f, and on
which the hair spring h, which actuates the balance i, is mounted. The
balance i and spring hare placed in a cavity j of the dial plate, and leave
sufficient room in the cavity for a glass k independent of the watch glass, and
which does not interfere with the hands, as it is flush with the dial plate. is:
the regulator; it carries two pins for regulating the quicker and slower
movement; n is the second wheel, carrying a pinion o, divided into two parts
by a neck p to give passage to the third wheel. The first wheel q gears only
into the upper part of the pinion o, as seen in Figure 12. r is the bridge of
the escapement, provided with its two screws 8, 8, which act as stops to the
regulator ; this bridge is fixed to the supporting disc t by means of a
screw u. The supporting disc t is also fixed to the plate by two screws v, v¹;
another screw maintains the visible bridge x of the balance to the
supporting disc t.
The improvements before described are also applicable to all timekeepers,
such as those with anchor escapements, spring escapements, duplex spring
escapements, remontoir escapements, and others..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, '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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,, an Juven-

page_text: tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATCHES AND OTHER TIMEKEEPERS," (communicated
to me from abroad by Felix Benoni Bouscatié, of Paris, France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,
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 immediatley after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman; 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
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention relates chiefly to watches and other timekeepers with the
balance visible in an opening formed in the dial plate. The improvements
consist, Ist, in placing the pinion of the scape wheel above instead of below,
as in the ordinary arrangement; 2nd, in a new kind of supporting disc of the
balance and of the escapement, allowing the escapement of the scape wheel
to advance or recede more or less, as required, for regulating the watch; it is
on this supporting disc that the visible bridge is fixed on which the arbor of
the balance and of the escapement is pivoted; 3rd, in a new arrangement of
regulator; this piece carries two pins, which serve to regulate the hair spring;
they traverse the bridge and the plate, which are pierced for the purpose to
allow the pins to take the hair spring placed under the balance; a small
screw is placed at each side to act as a stop to the tail of the regulator, in
order to prevent the pins becoming deteriorated by striking against the bridge
of the escapement; and, 4th, in a new arrangement of the bridge carrying the
scape wheel, which allows of its being on a level with the other bridges and
of the same strength; this arrangement adds more solidity to and gives greater
space for the working of the scape wheel.
The old bridge of the scape wheel was below and very thin, in order to give
passage to the pallets of the scape wheel, whereby it was much weakened ;.
thus, when the third wheel geared into the pinion of the scape wheel, the
bridge sometimes formed a spring and prevented the regular movement of the
watch. By fitting, on the contrary, the pinion above, the watchmaker is able
to see if the gearing is good. The third wheel, according to this Invention,
is no longer a receptacle for dirt, which can fall into the watch without being
as before a cause of stoppage. In consequence of the arrangement of the

page_text: scape wheel with the pinion above, the balance traverses the plate, and is
lodged in a cavity below the level of the dial plate, so as to leave a space
which receives a glass independent of the outer glass. This independent
glass covers the cavity of the dial plate without interfering with the move-
ment of the hands, and prevents the entrance of dirt, which tends to get under"
the ordinary glass of the watch case. The working of the balance may thus'
be seen at the face of the watch. This change of the wheel and balance gives
more room in the interior of the watch for a remontoir to be fitted therein, if
required; the arrangement is also applicable where the dial plate is not
formed with an opening to expose the balance.
The improvements before recited will be fully understood by the annexed
Drawings. Fig. 1 is a face view of a watch constructed according to these
improvements; Fig. 2 is a back view; and: Fig. 3. a transverse section;
Fig. 4 is a face view with the dial plate removed, to show the supporting
dise and the manner of fixing the visible bridge of the balance to the plate of
the watch; Fig. 5 is a section taken at the place of the bridge of the
escapement to show the method of maintaining the supporting disc to the
plate of the watch and to the bridge; Figs. 6 and 7 are front and side
views of the supporting disc; Figs. 8 and 9 are front and side views of the
scape wheel with its pinion above; Figs. 10 and 11 are face and side
views of the bridge of the scape wheel; Fig. 12 shows an arrangement of
the second wheel with its pinion formed with a neck to allow passage to the
third wheel; Fig. 13 is a view of the dial plate detached to show the
opening covered by a glass independent of the ordinary watch glass.
The
a is the bridge, on which is pivoted the scape wheel b, carrying its small
pinion c above instead of below, as in ordinary watches. The bridge a is on
a level with the other bridges and is of the same solidity. The pinion c is
actuated by the third wheel d, which is pivoted on the bridge e, and it com-
municates its movement to the escapement which traverses the plate f, and on
which the hair spring h, which actuates the balance i, is mounted.
balance i and spring h are placed in a cavity j of the dial plate, and leave
sufficient room in the cavity for a glass k independent of the watch glass, and
which does not interfere with the hands, as it is flush with the dial plate. lis
the regulator; it carries two pins for regulating the quicker and slower
movement. n is the second wheel, carrying a pinion o, divided into two parts
by a neck p, to give passage to the third wheel. The first wheel q gears only
into the upper part of the pinion o, as seen in Fig. 12. r is the bridge of
the escapement, provided with its two screws s, s, which act as stops to the
regulator ; this bridge is fixed to the supporting disc t by means of the

page_text: The supporting disc t is also fixed to the plate by two screws v, v;
another screw maintains the visible bridge a of the balance to the
supporting disc t.
The improvements before described are also applicable to all timekeepers,
such as those with anchor escapements, spring escapements, duplex spring
escapements, remontoir escapements, and others.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the several
improvements in watches and other timekeepers herein-before described, and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.