IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATCHES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith Mitchell, of Cornhill, in the City
of London, and Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner, of Lower Ashby Street,
Northampton Square, in the County of Middlesex, Watchmakers, for
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith Mitchell
and Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 5th September 1856.
We, WILLIAM SMITH MITCHELL, of Cornhill, in the City of London, and
CHARLES MARTIN ERNEST GÄRTNER, of Lower Ashby Street, Northampton
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Watchmakers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
WATCHES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is, first, to permit of watches constructed with
a going fuzee being wound up at the pendant without the use of a key, and
also of the hands being set without opening the watch; and, second, to permit
of the nice adjustment of the regulators of watches.
It has been customary in French and Swiss watches, which have a going
barrel, to wind up by means of a pinion carried by an arbor at the pendant ;
but in watches constructed with a fuzee this mode of winding has not been
applicable, in consequence of the fuzee arbor turning while the watch is going,

page_text: whereas the arbor of the barrel in the French watches is stationary. In order
to apply this mode of winding to fuzee watches, I mount on a rock lever a
centre wheel with spur and face teeth, and on the same lever I likewise mount
two spur pinions, which gear into the spur teeth of the centre wheel. One of
these pinions drives a spur wheel carried by the fuzee arbor, and the other
gears into the minute wheel for the purpose of setting the hands of the watch.
The pinion that gears into the fuzee wheel is held by the friction of a spring
tight on its bearing, and it only turns when forced into contact (by the action
of winding) with the wheel which it is to drive. A pinion on the arbor of the
winder gears into the face teeth of the centre wheel, and communicates rotary
motion to that wheel. A plunger is employed for throwing into gear the
pinion which drives the minute wheel, and it is thrown out of gear by a spring
which rocks the lever on which that pinion is mounted. A second spring is
also employed for throwing out of action the pinion which gears into the
fuzee wheel, and thus when the winding apparatus is not in action it will be
out of connection with the watch movement. For adjusting the regulator, I
form on the under side of the ordinary regulator arm a knife edge, which
takes into a screw thread mounted on the balance cock. By simply turning
the screw the position of the regulator arm can be shifted with the greatest
nicety. The rough or approximate adjustment may be effected by turning the
regulator arm in the usual manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Smith Mitchell and Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
SMITH MITCHELL, of Cornhill, in the City of London, and CHARLES MARTIN
ERNEST GÄRTNER, of Lower Ashby Street, Northampton Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Watchmakers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, 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 us, the said William
Smith Mitchell and Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner, Her special license that
we, the said William Smith Mitchell and Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said

page_text: William Smith Mitchell and Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner, our executors,
administrators, and assigus, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATCHES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Smith Mitchell and
Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the saine 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 Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner, (on
behalf of myself and of the said William Smith Mitchell,) do hereby declaro
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of
Watches" is, first, to admit of watches constructed with a going fuzee being
wound up at the pendant without the use of a key, and also of the bands being
set without opening the watch; and, second, to admit of the nice adjustment
of the regulators of watches.
It has been customary in French and Swiss watches, which have a going
barrel, to wind up the watch by means of a pinion carried by an arbor at the
pendant; but in watches constructed with a fuzee this mode of winding has not
been applicable, in consequence of the fuzee arbor turning while the watch is
going, whereas the arbor of the barrel in the French watches is stationary.
In order to apply this mode of winding to fuzeo watches, a rocking lever is
mounted on a centre wheel provided with spur and face teeth, and on the same
lever are likewise mounted two spur pinions, which gear into the spur teeth of
the centre wheel. One of these pinions may be brought into gear with and
inade to drive a spur wheel carried by the fuzee arbor, and the other may,
when required, be thrown into gear with the minute wheel, for the purpose of
setting the hands of the watch. The pinion that gears into the fuzee wheel is
held by the friction of a spring tight on its bearing, and it only turns when
by the action of winding, it is forced into contact with the wheel which it is
to drive. A pinion on the arbor of the windler gears into the face teeth of

page_text: the centre wheel, and communicates rotary motion to that wheel. A plunger
or rod is employed for throwing into gear the pinion which drives the minute
wheel, and it is thrown out of gear by a spring which rocks the lever on which
that pinion is mounted. A second and weaker spring is also employed for
throwing out of action the piston which gears into the fuzee wheel, and thus
when the winding apparatus is not in action it will be out of connection with
the watch movement. For adjusting the regulator, a knife edge is formed on
the under side of the ordinary regular arm, and this knife edge is made to
take into a screw thread mounted on the balance cock. By simply turning
this screw the position of the regulator arm can be shifted with the greatest
nicety. The rough or approximate adjustment may be effected by turning the
regulator arm in the usual manner.
In order, however, that the nature of our Invention may be more clearly
understood, we have shewn in the accompanying Drawings various views of
our improvements, for the purpose of clearly explaining and indicating the
mode of adapting them to watches.
Fig. 1 is a face view of a watch, drawn upon an enlarged scale, part of the
dial plate being removed in order to shew the arrangement of the mechanism
beneath, which constitutes the main feature of our improvements; Fig. 2 is a
transverse sectional view, taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a
sectional edge view of the pillar plate, a recess being formed therein (as seen
in Figures 2, 3, 6, and 8) for the reception of the wheelwork, which we will
presently describe. In the several views only so much of a watch is shewn as
is necessary for the purpose of explaining our Invention. a, a, is the ordinary
pillar plate of a watch; b, the dial; c, the fuzee arbor; d, the chain; e, the
spring barrel; f, the minute wheel; and g, the cannon pinion. h (Figures 3
and 4) is a lever, that is mounted and oscillates on the boss or projection a¹
(Figures 2, 6, and 8,) of the pillar plate. Above or in front of this lever h is
placed a wheel i, that turns upon a button or flanged disc j (Figures 1, 2,
and 6,) which is screwed tightly to the pillar plate a. The wheel has teeth
formed upon its edge and side (see Figures 5 and 6); the teeth 3 of this wheel
work in a circular recess or groove h³ formed in the lever h (see Figures 4, 5,
and 6), and are acted upon by the pinion k, with which they are in gear (see
Figures 1, 2, and 3). When it is required to wind the watch up the shaft l
of the pinion k is turned; this shaft passes through the pendant of the watch,
and by means of the pinion k, gearing into the teeth of the wheel i, turns
that wheel in the direction of the arrow m (Fig. 1), and also gives motion at
the same time through the teeth on the periphery of the wheel i to the
wheel n. Now at the back of the wheel n, between it and the lever h (on

page_text: which the wheel n is mounted,) is placed a friction spring o (see Figures 7);
that acts as a kind of brake upon the wheel n when turned by the teeth of
the wheel i. The friction imparted to the wheel n by the brake spring o has
the effect of causing the lever h to turn a little upon the boss a' sufficiently so
as to bring the wheel n into gear. with the teeth of the wheel on the fuzee
arbor c (as shewn by red lines in Fig. 1), and thus by turning the fuzee the
watch will be wound up. When this has been effected, and the shaft is free
to turn, the spring p (Fig. 1) forces back the lever h with the wheel n into its
original position. A pin or stud of the pillar plate a projects into the slot h³
of the lever h, and limits the extent of motion of the said lever, and thus
prevents the teeth of the wheels n, c, and f, r, from engaging too deeply with
each other.
When the watch has gained or lost time, and it is required to set the hands
to the proper time, the pin q which projects from the lever (see Fig. 1)
must be pressed inwards, and by that means the wheel r is brought into gear
with the minute wheel f, which gears into and turns the cannon pinion 9.
The train of wheels i, r, f, and 9 being now put in motion by the pinion k
(but in the opposite direction to that for winding up, as above described), will
move the hands s and t round, and set them in any desired position correspond-
ing to the time of day or otherwise, as may be required. The hands having
thus been properly set, and the pressure taken from off the pin q, the lever h
will be caused to resume its former position by the spring u forcing it back
in an opposite direction to that of the spring p, before described.
At Fig. 9 we have shewn the arrangement for actuating the regulators of
watches so as to adjust and regulate their movements with the greatest nicety.
The balance is shewn at v, and w is the balance spring; x is the regulator,
that acts upon the balance spring in the usual way. A lever a¹ with a knife
edge is connected to one side of the regulator, and fits into the threads of the
finely-threaded screw y, so that by giving a slight turn to this screw very fine
and delicate adjustinents of the going of the watch may be effected. The
arm a', when required, may be made to slide over the screw so as to adjust
the watch roughly, as in the ordinary way.
Having now described the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in
the Construction of Watches," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent we claim,-
First, actuating the fuzee arbor wheel for winding up the watch, and also
the minute wheel for adjusting the hands, by means of gearing mounted on

page_text: a rocking lever, which will admit of the driving pinions being thrown in
or out of gear when required.
Secondly, adjusting the regulating arm of watches by means of a screw so
applied as to permit of the ordinary free movements of the arm for the purpose
of effecting a rough or approximate adjustment.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Martin Ernest Gärtner, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
CHARLES GÄRTNER. (L.S.)