An Automatic Perpetual Calendar.
Year: 1894

page_text: An Automatic Perpetual Calendar.
I FREDERICK WILLIAM GOLBY of 36 Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention as
communicated to me by Joseph Ferdinand Dupont of Betheniville, Marne, France,
Watchmaker, to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a perpetual calendar which can be applied to all kinds
of clocks so as to automatically indicate the days of the week, the dates of the
months and the months of the year progressively.
The invention comprises three drums, one with seven faces indicating the days
of the week, the second with thirty-one divisions bearing the numbers 1 to 31
inclusive, indicating the dates of the months, and the third with twelve faces
indicating the months of the year. The second and third drums are actuated by a
spring or springs which run for a definite period and the first drum is actuated by
inechanism from the second.
The drum carrying the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 &c. is provided with 31 teeth or
projections of which the three last diminish in size progressively in order to corre-
spond with the months having 29, 30 and 31 days. An escapement actuated by a
cam groove in a dise on the months of the year drum, engages with one of the
last four teeth of the wheel according to whether the month has 28, 29, 30 or 31 days.
For leap years an eccentric block carried by a toothed wheel gearing with a pinion
on the spindle of the months of the year drum and having a ratio of 4 to 1, is so
placed that every fourth year the eccentric block is brought into the cam groove
aforesaid and raises it corresponding to the difference in size of the 28th and
29th tooth, so that in every fourth year the escapement will in February catch in
the 29th instead of the 28th tooth of the dates of the month drum.
The connection of the invention with an ordinary clock is made by means of a
double lever which engages a pin fixed on the counting wheel of the bell striker or
on the wheel regulating the hour hand. This pin acts on the double lever as
follows: At mid-day the pin presses the lever to one side and at mid-night it
presses it further over whereby it is caused to fall and change the date of the
calendar after which it returns to its initial position.
Dated this 18th day of May 1894.
F. W. GOLBY,
36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.
An Automatic Perpetual Calendar.
as
I FREDERICK WILLIAM GOLBY of 36 Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
communicated to me by Joseph Ferdinand Dupont of Betheniville, Marne, France,
Watchmaker, 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 a perpetual calendar which can be applied to all kinds of

page_text: clocks so as to automatically indicate the days of the week, the dates of the months,
and the months of the year progressively.
In the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 3 are side elevations, Figure 2 is
a front elevation and Figure 5 is a plan of the calendar with part of the outer
case removed, Figures 4 and 6 shew details of construction which will be fully
explained hereinafter.
'
The invention comprises three drums, one marked N in the drawings with seven
faces on each of which is the name of one of the days of the week the names being
arranged in proper order round the drum, the second marked Q with thirty-one
divisions bearing the numbers 1 to 31 inclusive, indicating the dates of the months,
and the third marked S with twelve faces on each of which is the name of one of
the months of the year the names being arranged in proper order round the drum.
The drums.Q and S are actuated by the spring barrels H and I respectively which
can be wound up by the lever arms K and L, the springs being so made as only to
require winding once in say ten years. The drum N is actuated by an escapement
lever A to which is secured a chain a the other end of which is attached to a
lever T which is operated once every 24 hours by the mechanism shewn in Figure 6.
Pivotted to the lever T is a crank lever U which lies in the path of a pin on the
hour wheel R of an ordinary clock. The normal position of the crank lever U
is shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 6. At mid-day the pin on the wheel R turns
the lever U over into the position shewn by the full lines so that the longer arm
is then vertical and in the path of the pin. At mid-night the pin on the wheel R
gives a second impulse to the lever U and turns it over and with it the lever T
which jerks the chain & upwards thereby causing the escapement lever A to rotate
the drum N through th of a revolution by means of the pins thereon as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, thus causing the succeeding face of the drum to be exposed to
view behind the aperture made in the outer case through which the name of the
day can be read off. After the pin on the wheel R has passed the longer arm of
the lever U, the lever T falls by gravitation and in doing so jerks the lever U back
again to its initial position.
The concordance of the dates on the drumQwith the months of varying duration
marked on the drum S is effected by the following arrangement: The drum Q is
furnished with 31 teeth or projections of which the three last diminish in size
progressively in order to correspond with the months having 29, 30, or 31 days.
The escapement BC which is always in gear with the first 28 teeth or projections
on the drum Q is operated from the lever A once every 24 hours by the arms a',
a², and a³ shewn in Figure 4. The arm B of the said escapement BC engages
with one or more of the last three teeth on-the drum Q according to its height
which is regulated in the following manner:-The arm B is secured to a vertical
rod O which is free to slide but not to rotate on the pillar M which latter carries the
arm C and is rotatably mounted in the brackets m' & m² (see Figs. 1, 2 & 4). The
rod is connected to or rests upon one arm of a bent lever D whose other arm D'
travels over the irregularities of a cam F secured on the spindle of or to the side
of the drum S. The cam is made to conform to the successive months and varies
from 28 to 30 or 31 as the case may be. For the leap years an eccentric block E
is provided, said block being carried by the Maltese cross wheel G which gears
with the one toothed wheel P fixed on the spindle of the drum S; or the wheels G
and P may be otherwise made, but so that their teeth are in a ratio of 4 to 1.
Consequently at every fourth revolution of the drum S, that is to say every fourth
vear, the eccentric block E is brought into or alongside the cam groove of the
February month and, by means of the lever D and rod O, causes the arm B of the
escapement B C to be shifted so as to gear with the 29th tooth on the drum Q;
It will be understood that the drum Q makes one complete revolution every month
by 28, 29, 30 or 31 steps and the drum S makes one complete revolution every
year by 12 steps.
Every time the drum Q makes a complete revolution it depresses one end of the
bell crank J preferably by means of the inclined blocks q, thereby releasing the

page_text: other end from engagement with a pint on one of the wheels v of a train connected
to the spring barrel I carrying the drum S (see Figure 3). The train of wheels
is so arranged that the wheel is to the wheel on the drum I in the ratio of 1 to 12
so that when the bell crank J is released from the pin t, the wheel v makes a
co.nplete revolution before it is again checked, and the drum S makes one twelfth
of a revolution. V is a fly wheel to regulate the motion of the train of wheels
connected to the drum S; K and L are levers for winding up the spring barrels H
and I respectively; a, e andare levers for rotating the drums N, Q, and S
respectively, when the mechanism requires to be set to the correct date before
attachment to the clockwork.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
A perpetual calendar comprising a drum with seven faces operated once every
24 hours by mechanism connected with the bour wheel of an ordinary clock, a
second drum carrying 31 numbers and having 31 teeth of which the three last
diminish progressively in size, said drum being actuated by a spring barrel and held
in check by an escapement adjustable so as to act diversely on these teeth, and
operated once every day by a system of levers connected with the seven faced
drum, a third drum with twelve faces also actuated by a spring barrel and checked
by an escapement from the second drum which is operated once every mouth by
the complete revolution of said second drum, the third drum carrying a cam disc
whose irregularities correspond with the difference in duration of succeeding months
and which adjusts the escapement on the second drum by lever mechanism according
to the duration of the months progressively, and a wheel carrying an eccentric.
block and making one revolution every four years, all the parts being arranged and
combined so as to operate substantially in the manner described and for the
purpose stated.
Dated this 14th day of February 1895
F. W. GOLBY,
36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.