CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOCKS OR MACHINES FOR KEEPING TIME
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Guillaume Perreaux, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
CLOCKS OR MACHINES FOR KEEPING TIME."
aled the 31st October 1862, and dated the 5th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Guillaume Perreaux
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th May 1862.
I, LOUIS GUILLAUME PERREAUX, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOCKS OR MACHINES FOR KEEPING TIME," to be as follows:-
The clock is peculiar by its having two improvements of great importance.
The first of these improvements consists in the application of a new motive
power; the latter is made up of very fine sand, and substitutes to great advantage
the encumbering springs and chains in clocks. The second improvement is,
perhaps, without parallel as to mechanism; it consists simply of three wheels,
one for the striking part and two to work the hands. Each apparatus is
divided into three distinct parts; the first two for in the extremities, and
contain the sand, while the space between them is adapted to receive the
movement of the clock. Unlike all clockwork now used, the mechanism
requires no escapement, nor any impulsion to cause its movement.
suffices that the opening for the sand be large enough to allow it to pass
thro' and act with precision on the hands. The wheels of the movement have
It
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page_text: no connexion with each other; they are cut like a rochet, and are worked
by means of horizontal clicks, one of them belonging to the large hand and
the other to the striking part. These clicks or levers are to the movement what
a hydraulic wheel is to an engine. They bear at one end a pallet or hollow
part adapted to receive the sand, and at the other a counterweight; when the
sand falls into the pallet its continuous efflux breaks the equilibrium, and so
loing causes to its axis a movement that moves the clicks, and turns the
hand wheels. It then empties into the reservoir beneath, and the counter-
weight causes it to return to its original position to continue the same move-
ment until the complete absorption of the sand. In order that the top
reservoir may be of longer duration by a slower fall of sand, the pallet
belonging to the bands is so desposed as to close the drain opening at the
moment it falls again. The latter has a peculiar shape so as to empty as
slowly as possible, and thus greatly reduce the quantity of sand passing thro',
and by this ingenious mode it doubles the duration of the motive power.
This exceptional mode has also the advantage of reducing the size and weight
of each apparatus by one-half.
The large clocks have several remarkable improvements; they consist in
the mobility of two reservoirs or magazines, both diametrically opposed, placed
one under the other, and move in such a manner as to effect a semicircle on
a same vertical line, so as to occupy alternately the upper part, and thus
begin again. The system for winding up these clocks, large or small, is on
the same principle as that of the hour glass, merely by turning the reservoir
round, and bringing the full one where the empty one was, and thus avoiding
the necessity of taking the sand out of one reservoir, and putting it into
another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Guillaume Perreaux in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
GUILLAUME PERREAUX, of Paris, in the Empire of France; Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said

page_text: Louis Guillaume Perreaux, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Guillaume Perreaux, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Louis Guillaume Perreaux, 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 of
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CLOCKS OR MACHINES FOR KEEPING TIME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Guillaume Perreaux,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Louis Guillaume Perreaux, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereto annexed, and to the figures & letters marked thereon, that is to
say:-
My Invention consists, first, in the employment of the weight of falling
sand as a motive power instead of the weights and springs of ordinary.clocks;
secondly, in the mechanism or apparatus for regulating the flow of sand so as
to give the necessary movements to the hands on an ordinary dial for indi-
cating the time. Each apparatus is formed of three distinct parts; the first
two form reservoirs, one for containing and the other for receiving alternately
the sand; the third is the space between then, which is adapted to.receive
the movement of the clock. The opening for the flow of the sand from the
upper reservoir should be large enough to allow it to pass through so as to act
in an uniform manner on the bands. Three ratchet wheels are employed
which have no connexion with each other; they are worked by means of
clicks, or pawls, two of which belong to the hands, and the other to the striking
part, and are moved by levers. These levers are provided at one end with a'
trough adapted to receive the sand, and at the other end with a counterweight.
When the sand falls into the trough, its continuous flow destroys the equi-
librium, and in falling imparts to the rod forming the fuleruin of the lever
the necessary movement for pusbing forward the clicks or pawls, and turns
the wheels of the hands. The trough then empties into the reservoir beneath

page_text: and the counterweight causes it to return to its original position to continue
the same movement until all the sand has run through.
It will be understood that the working of this clock so as to accurately
measure the time is due to the regular flow of the sand which falls from the
upper reservoir into the trough of the balance lever; the time for its passage
from one reservoir to the other being regulated and limited, it follows that the
motive power is constant, and that the quantity of grains of sand passed
through in a given time is always the same; hence the equilibrium of the
counterweight is overcome every minute by the same quantity of sand which
represents the same duration of time, and thus indicates the time with the
greatest precision. The trough of the balance lever is so disposed as to close
the outlet opening of the upper reservoir at the moment when the former
falls; this trough has a peculiar shape, so as to empty as slowly as possible,
& thus greatly reduce the quantity of sand passing through, & thus increases
the duration of the motive power. This arrangement has also the advantage
of reducing the size & weight of each apparatus.
The reservoirs of the large clocks are placed on axes one under the other.
In winding up or starting this clock it is simply necessary to turn it over,
similarly to the hour glass, in order to bring the full reservoir in the place of
the empty one.
In order that my Invention may be better understood, I will now describe
the same in reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 shews
the position of each reservoir; Fig. 2 shews the clock in action; Fig. 3, the
front elevation of a clock, which may vary according to the arrangement of
the mechanism; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the whole of the mechanism;
Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9, detailed elevations of parts of the mechanism; Fig. 10
shows the arrangement for large clocks, in which the reservoirs are turned
by a winch handle; & Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the same.
Fig. 1, A &.A' are the sand reservoirs; Fig. 2, Z is the place reserved
for the mechanism; s & s¹ are two membranes which, by their suppleness, turn
in and out under the weight of the sand, and form a funnel for its egress and
entrance. Fig. 2, a, b, c, d, indicate the mechanism; it is suspended at the
points c & b, and pivots upon a rod or stem f fixed by a screw nut to the
framework; a counterweight a, placed under the framework of the movement,
keeps, the mechanism in the same vertical position, which causes the suspension
of the movement upon the axis f to be always vertical, and permits of
effecting the winding up, that is to say, 'the turning over of the whole appa-
ratus without displacing or turning round the dial. I can also, by fixing the
movement to the framework, cause the two reservoirs to work on a pivot,

page_text: which makes the timing less difficult, and more precise the movement, which
by this means has to undergo no change of place. Fig. 3, 4, & 41, are two
handles for turning the apparatus with greater facility. Fig. 4, B represents
the wheel of the striking part, divided into 90 teeth; this wheel is moved by
the trough F, and its counterweight P. The angle g¹ carries the pawl T, and
causes it to move over the hours indicated by the hands. Pins K are fixed
two by two at the required distances, the small spaces representing the half
hours, and the large ones the hours. A piece S, forming part of its mechanism,
is jointed at the point i; this piece is intended to stop the wheel when the
trough F is loaded. Every half hour one of the balls R & R' jointed to
the axis U rises progressively, then falls in the direction of the piece S, and
in sliding over its prolongation raises it, after which the trough F falls and:
empties directly, and its counterweight P strikes the bell, & brings it back.
to a state of rest, and continues this action at the following hours & half,
hours. The reservoir X placed above shows the distribution of sand to the
troughs; E is the sand trough which imparts movement to the two hand
wheels C&D, which movement is given to it by the sand running out of
the upper reservoir X; the equilibrium of the counterweight P' is then over-
come when it falls, and in its motion it draws down the pawl or click T fixed.
to the axle g, and thus works the hands according to the number of teeth of
the wheels, whether it be th for the large hand, and 5 for the small
hand. As before stated, the trough E has the form of a cone, and its
extremity is terminated by an orifice of the same diameter as that of the
reservoir X, so that it takes the same time to empty as to fill.. Fig. 5 shews
the wheel D of the small hand moved by a curved rod carrying a pawl or
click m, which falls into the teeth of this wheel; this rod V is jointed to the
framework, and is guided by four pins of the wheels C; these pins push for-
ward one after the other the pièce V, and force it to approach the centre by
the curve which is given to it for that purpose. By this movement, the
catch m causes the wheel to advance th of the dial, from which it follows
that the small hand only travels th of this last, whilst the large one effects
its entire revolution. Fig. 5 shews the form and position of the wheels C
& D, and of the clicks or pawls T & m; it also shows the conical
trough E, terminated by a point forming the end of the cone before referred
to. A small reservoir I', only two or three times the size of the trough, is
fixed to the framework of the movement directly underneath the large reser-
voir. It serves to continue the flow of sand in order to keep up the regular
movement of the hands during the turning over of the apparatus. Fig. 6
shows the position which the trough E of the balance lever takes when it

page_text: empties, and Fig. 7 (in dotted lines) shows it at rest, and its counterweight P,
as having just struck the bell o. These two Figures shew the form and
position of the valves o. & o, each of which consists of a rod r serving as a
lever for displacing them, and of a counterweight for closing the outlet orifice,
and forcing at the same time the valve, to fall whilst the trough rapidly dis-
charges its contents. Figs. 8 & 9 show the conical trough of the hands at
rest, and its position when it empties.] Figs. 10 & 11 shew the arrange-
ment for large clocks, and the position of the different parts forming the whole
of the mechanism.
H & H' represent two moveable reservoirs; J shows a cast-iron frame
for supporting the two reservoirs, which turn on pivots N & N¹; u & u²
are funnels for the entrance of the sand, and t & t' two small valves
serving to close the orifices during the winding up. L is the large axis of the
cast-iron frame J; it carries at one of its extremities a wheel K, gearing with
a pinion M to effect the winding up, that is to say, the turning over of the
reservoirs.
Fig. 10 shews the position of the works of the dial G, and of the hands;
Fig. 11 shows the whole of the large mechanism, and the position of the
reservoirs and conical troughs of the hands.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion,
that. I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein-before
described; but what I claim as new, and wish to be secured by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the arrangement & construction of an apparatus for measuring or
keeping time, in which sand is the motive power, as herein-before described
and represented in the Figures of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the construction of the mechanism of the said clock of three
wheels for working the hands and striking part, as herein-before described
and represented in the Figures of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Guillaume Perreaux, have hereto
set my hand & seal, this Fourth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred & sixty-two.
L. G. PERREAUX. (L.S.)