AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FUZEE WATCHES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Daniel Johnson, of Wilmington Square, in
the County of Middlesex, Watchmaker, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FUZEE WATCHES."
Sealed the 23rd April 1858, and dated the 17th November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Daniel Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th November 1857.
I, EDWARD DANIEL JOHNSON, of Wilmington Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Watchmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FUZEE WATCHES," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to wind and set the hands of watches, con-
structed on the going fuzee principle, without the aid of a key, and at the
same time to prevent the possibility of the watch being overwound. The
motion I obtain as usual in keyless watches, viz., by a spindle, which passes
through the pendant and carries a milled knob on its outer end, to permit of
its being rotated by the finger and thumb, and a pinion on its inner end. This
pinion gears into and drives a toothed wheel keyed to a stout axle, which
passes through both the plates of the watch; keyed to this axle are two spur
wheels, one of which is for driving (through an intermediate wheel) a spur
wheel mounted on the ordinary fuzee square, and furnished with a ratchet and
click to prevent action one way. The other spur wheel is for driving (also
through an intermediate wheel) the minute wheel. These intermediate wheels
are mounted on rocking bars secured in position at opposite sides of the watch

page_text: by fulcrum pins, and pressed against by springs, which throw the intermediato
wheels out of gear when not in immediate use. A stud attached to the head
of each rocking bar and projecting through the rim of the watch case affords
the means of pressing either intermediate wheel into gear, as required, and
thus communicating the motion of the driving spindle (that passes through
the pendant) either to the minute wheel for adjusting the hands or the wheel
on the fuzee square for winding up the watch. Between the cap of the fuzce
and the intermediate wheel, which transmits the winding-up motion, a small
roller is arranged for pushing the intermediato wheel out of gear when the
watch is sufficiently wound. This roller is mounted in a spring bar or lever,
and is notched to enable a tooth on the cap of the fuzee, while the winding
action is going on, to gear into it and turn it round without moving the bar
which carries it; when, however, the fuzee cap has made the requisite number
of turns, the tooth will meet a shallow notch in the roller, and not being able
to pass round will press the roller and the lover which carries it forward,
driving the latter against the bar that carries the intermediate wheel, &
thereby throwing that wheel out of gear and suspending the winding action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Daniel Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
DANIEL JOHNSON, of Wilmington Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Watchmaker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, and in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Daniel Johnson, Her special license that I, the said Edward
Daniel Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said Edward Daniel Johnson, 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
IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FUZEE WATCHES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Daniel Johnson, by an instrument

page_text: 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 Soal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Daniel Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to wind up and to set the hands of watches
constructed on the going fuzee principle without the aid of a key.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews a front view of a watch on a
magnified scale with my Invention applied thereto, part of the face of the
watch being broken away to shew the arrangement of the gearing for setting
the hands; Fig. 2 is a back view of the watch a portion of the case being
broken away to shew the arrangement of gearing for turning the fuzee square;
and Fig. 3 is an edge view of the watch, a part of the case being removed to
shew the connection of the two systems of gearing. The motion for winding
up or setting the watch I obtain as usual in keyless watches from a spindle a,
which passes through the pendant 6, and carries a milled knob c on its outer
end to permit of its being rotated by the finger and thumb. At its inner end
this spindle carries a bevilled pinion d, which gears into and drives a bevilled
wheel e, keyed to a stout axle f that passes through both the plates of the
watch; upon this axle are also mounted two spur wheels g and h, the former
of which is intended to effect the winding up of tho watch, and the latter the
setting of the hands. The motion of the wheel g is communicated to the
fuzee square by an intermediato wheel i, which gears into a spur wheel k
mounted loosely on the ordinary fuzee square 7. This wheel k may be made
to transmit the necessary axial motion to the fuzee square by means of a
ratchet and click. The wheel k carries two clicks, which take into a ratchet
on the fuzee square, and this ratchet forms the centre of the wheel k. The
pinion i is mounted on a rocking arm m (see the detached views, Figures 4),
which has for its fulcrum the axle f; a spring n affixed to the plate o of the
watch bears against the underside of this arm, and keeps it in its raised or
normal position. In contact with the upper side of the arm is a stud p, which
is, when the pinion i is out of gear with the wheel k, mounted in and projects
through the frame of the case; by pressing the finger on this stud the spring
n will yield and permit the pinion i to gear into the wheel k, and impart

page_text: thereto the axial motion which it may receive from the wheel g. The other
spur wheel h gears into an intermediate wheel or pinion 7, and theroby com-
municates motion to the minute wheel r. This pinion g like the pinion i is
mounted on a rocking arm m', which has tho axle f for its fulcrum, and is
pressed upon by a spring n' to keep the pinion 7 out of gear, and in an
opposite direction and by a stud p¹ when it is desired to put it into gear.
It will now be understood that whether it be required either to set tho
watch or to wind it, it is only necessary with the finger of one hand to press
in the stud p or p₁ (according to the operation to be performed), and by
applying the finger and thumb of the other hand to the milled head or button
c to turn the spindle a, rotary motion will then be imparted to the minute
wheel or the fuzee square (as the case may be), and the desired operation of
winding or setting tho watch will be readily effected. On removing the
pressure of the finger from the depressed stud, the arm on which it acted will
be allowed to rise to its normal position, and the pinion mounted thereon will
bo thrown out of gear with the works of the watch; it will thus be understood
that the whole of the winding and setting mechanism when not in use is
perfectly detached from the works of the watch.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improvement in
the Construction of Fuzee Watches," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, I claim the arrangement of parts hercin described for
throwing the intermediate pinions into action as required, and thereby com-
municating the axial motion of the pendant spindle either to the minuto
wheel for adjusting the hands, or the wheel on the fuzeo square for winding
up the watch.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Daniel Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
C. J. WINTERSGILL.
E. D. JOHNSON. (L.B.)