Year: 1888

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by THE ANSONIA CLOCK COMPANY, of Ansonia, in the
State of Connecticut, United States of America, a Corporation organized under
and existing by virtue of the laws of said State.]
I PHILIP ARTHUR NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings, Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to watches of cheap and strong construction, which can be
produced by such machinery as is used in the manufacture of clocks. The object of
the invention is to provide for the use of a very long and strong main spring, and to
provide for such spring a cheap and strong stem-winding mechanism, with which is
combined a simple mechanism for setting the hands, and the improvement consists in
certain novel combinations hereinafter described and claimed, of the parts of a watch,
whereby these results are obtained.
The accompanying drawings represent as much of a watch movement as is necessary
to illustrate the invention, all parts not necessary for such illustration being omitted."
Fig. 1 is a front view, with the dial and hands omitted.
Fig. 2 represents a central section in the line of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a back view of the movement, with the cap of the main spring barrel
omitted.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken in a plane immediately below and parallel with the
front plate.
Fig. 5 represents a section taken in the line y y, Fig. 1, of the two movement
plates, and part of the stem winding mechanism.
Fig. 6 is a top view of part of one of the plates of the movement.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A designates the front plate, and B the back plate, held together by posts, a, and
screws, C is the dial. D is a centre spindle fitted to turn freely in bearings in the
centres of the plates, and having fast upon it the main wheels c c', which occupy
positions close together, directly in the centre of the watch, and near the back of the

page_text: front plate A, the wheel c being intended to drive the escapement train, and the whee c
being intended to drive the hands.
E is the main-spring-barrel, arranged outside of the back plate B, and centrally
thereto. This is represented in Figs. 2 and 3, of an internal diameter nearly equal to
two thirds the diameter of the movement plates.-The said barrel has provided around
it, close to the plate B, teeth d, which gear directly with the winding wheel e on the
stem spindle, as will be hereinafter more particularly described. The said barrel is
fitted loosely to the centre spindle, and is held in place close to the back plate B,
simply by means of a shoulder g' on the said spindle within the said plate, and a
collar 9: which is fastened to the said spindle within the barrel, and to which the inner
end of the main spring F is secured, the outer end of the latter being secured to the
inner periphery of the barrel E.
The wheel on the central main spindle D, gears with a wheel arranged between
the plates A B on a spindle i, which works in bearings in the plates A B, and which
carries, outside of the front plate A, the minute wheel j, and the minute wheel
pinion k. The cannon-pinion, which gears with the minute wheel, is loose on the
centre spindle D, and it has a hub n on which turns loosely the hour wheel m.-On
the hub n of the cannon pinion, is a projection n', to receive the minute hand, and
on the hour wheel is a projection m¹, as usual, to receive the hour hand.
C
The wheel for driving the escapement train, gears with a pinion o on a spindle P,
working in bearings in the plates A B, and this spindle carries a wheel which gears
with the escapement train, and as this train forms no part of the present invention,
it has not been thought necessary to represent or describe it.
It may be here remarked that a single wheel might be substituted for cand c', to
drive both the hands and the escapement train.
The winding pinion e, the periphery of which projects through an opening e¹ in
the back plate B, is fitted loosely to the stem spindle, and it is provided with a hub f
which projects on either side in such manner as to form two journals, which fit to
bearings in two plates, which stand perpendicular to the plates A and B, and are
secured firmly between the latter.-The said pinion e therefore constitutes the bearing
for the stem spindle, in which the said spinille may both turn freely and slide longi-
tudinally. The inner end of the hub of the winding pinion is notched to form
one member of a contrate ratchet clutch t, the other member of which is fast to the
winding spindle. A spiral spring t¹, oiled around the said spindle between the said
clutch and a fixed posts secured to the back plate B, serves to press the inner member
of the said clutch against the outer one, and thereby to keep the pinion in gear with
the spindle, when the spindle is not purposely pushed inward by outside pressure upon
its head.
The stem spindle carries also the hand setting pinion u, which is fast upon it, and
the periphery of which passes through an opening in the front plate A, the said
opening being wide enough to allow the said pinion to pass into gear with, and out of
gear from a toothed wheel v, which is arranged in a suitable position loosely on a fixed
stud el, fast on the front plate, and which is always in gear with the dial-work through
the minute wheel j, with which it directly engages. The tendency of the pressure of
the spring is to throw the setting pinion u out of gear from e, while it holds the
clutch of the winding pinion e in gear.
To wind the watch, the stem spindle is turned in the proper direction without being
pressed inwards, and the pinion e, being then in gear with the spindle by the contrate
ratchet clutch, operates on the teeth d of the barrel, and so turns the latter, and winds
up the main spring from the outer end, the winding being retained by a spring pawl G,
attached to the plate B, and engaging between the teeth d of the barrel.
To set the hands, the stem spindle is first pushed in to bring the pinion u into
gear with the wheel e, and bring the clutch and the winding pinion out of gear from
the said spindle.-The hands may then be turned in either direction by the said
spindle. To permit this, the wheel is fitted friction-tight to the spindle, so that the
said wheel may remain independent of the said spindle while the latter turns with the
wheel and pinion k.

page_text: A feature of some importance in the stem-winding mechanism, is the manner of
applying the plates which contain the bearings for the journals constituted by the
hub of the winding pinion.-These two plates are formed with square tongues 1 at
their four corners, two of the said tongues projecting upwards, and two downwards (as
shown best in Fig. 5), but all being flush with the faces of their respective plate. The
upper and lower portions of these plates, between their tongues, are parallel, and at a
distance apart equal to that of the plates A B, and the length of the tongues is about
equal to the thickness of the latter plates. A single opening e', the form of which is
shown best in Fig. 6, is provided in each of the plates A B to receive the two plates "",
and to allow the passage of the winding pinion e.-The said opening is of a length
equal to the whole length of the plates, but the middle or greater portion of it is
only as wide as the thickness of the body of the pinion e between the projections or
journals of its hub, while the end portions of its sides are widened to form recesses e*e*,
Fig. 6, to receive the tongues on the plates rr. The plates rr and the openings e¹ el
being thus constructed, and the pinion being so adapted to the plates, the said plates
serve to hold the pinion properly in place while the body of the pinion keeps the said
plates properly separated, so that their tongues 1 1 are prevented from moving out of
the recesses e*e*, and the plates are thus held in place by the pinion without any
rivetting, screwing, clinching, or other fastening.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me from my Foreign Correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a watch, the combination with the main spring and a barrel therefor having
teeth in its periphery for winding, and applied outside of the back-plate and concentric,
therewith, of a central spindle turning in a bearing in the centre of said plate, and
carrying the wheel for driving the movement, and having the inner end of the main
spring connected with it, substantially as herein described.
2. The combination with the spring-barrel and the stem-spindle of a watch and a
winding pinion gearing directly with teeth in the barrel, and in which the said spindle
is capable both of turning and moving longitudinally, of fixed bearings for said pinion
in which it may rotate, but by which it is always kept in gear with the teeth on the
barrel, a contrate clutch, one member of which is upon the said wheel and the other
fast upon said spindle, and a spring for keeping the said clutch in gear, substantially
as herein described.
3. The combination in a watch, of a stem-spindle and a pinion fast on said spindle
for setting the hands, of a winding pinion in which said spindle is free both to turn
and to move lengthwise, and which is itself free to turn, but incapable of moving in
an axial direction, a contrate ratchet-clutch, one member of which is fast on the
winding pinion, and the other fast on the spindle, in such position, that when it is in
gear with the first named member, the setting pinion is out of gear from the dial-work,
and vice versa, and a spring applied to said spindle to hold the clutch in gear, and hold
the setting pinion out of gear, all substantially as herein described.
4. The combination with the front and back plates of the watch, having openings e¹
with recesses e* e*, of the plates constituting journal bearings, and having
tongues to enter said recesses, and a winding pinion, the body of which occupies
the space between the said plates », and which has journals received in said bearings, all
substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
1
171
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11000