IMPROVEMENTS IN CALENDARS FOR CLOCKS OR OTHER TIME- KEEPERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CALENDARS FOR CLOCKS OR OTHER TIME-
KEEPERS." A communication from abroad by Wait T. Huntington and
Henry Platt, of Ithaca, Tompkins County, in the State of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 14th August. 1860, and dated the 24th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th March 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CALENDARS FOR CLOCKS OR OTHER
TIMEKEEPERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in calendars for clocks or other timekeepers
rélates more particularly to the mechanism through which the clock or time-
keeper effects the variable movements of the index for the day of the month,
and the index for the name of the month of the calendar, which: variable
movements are rendered necessary by the variations in the length of the month
in a quadrennial period.
The principal features of novelty in the present Invention are the following,
namely, the employment in a clock calendar, in connection with its day of
the month index, of a wheel having thirty-one teeth, three of which are shorter
in various degrees than the other twenty-eight, such wheel being applied and

page_text: caused to operate in combination with a detent or its equivalent, that is so
controlled as to enter to different depths into the said wheel, according to the
number of days in the month.
The operation of the day of the month wheel is effected by means of a cam
which acts on a lever, which by means of a lifting rod actuates a detent lever
and click. The cam is arranged to make one rotation in twenty-four hours,
and by means of the lever and click the day of the month wheel will therefore
be set in motion at or near midnight every twenty-four hours, so as to bring
the index opposite a fresh number.
The days of the week are marked on one cylinder and the names of the
month on another cylinder, both being made to rotate on horizontal axes, so as
to bring the names opposite openings provided in the face of the calendar for
the purpose, the face shewing the days of the month being placed between the
two cylinders.
The operations of the month roller, and of the day of the week roller, or other
indices of the names of the months and days, are effected by a similar system
of mechanism to that above referred to, for actuating the day of the month
wheel, namely, by means of wheels provided with given numbers of teeth, and
actuated by clicks and levers, which are controlled by the clock movement.
Another improvement consists in providing for a variable upward movement
of the click over the teeth of the day of the month wheel, so that when the
click is raised at the commencement of a month it may pass one or more of
the said teeth as may be requisite for it to acquire the necessary retaining
power, to enable it to give the wheel the amount of movement necessary at the
end of the shorter months.
The operation of the detent, or its equivalent, which regulates the distance
of the movement of the day of the month wheel or its equivalent, is controlled
by means of wheels with projections and depressions of different elevation or
depth on their peripheries, according to the number of days in the month.
The object may be effected by fixing studs on the peripheries of discs, and
causing them to act on the other mechanism. Instead of having a circular
wheel a polygonal or twelve-sided wheel provided at the proper parts with
projecting studs corresponding to the difference in the length of the months
may be employed. To this disc is adapted a smaller disc in such a manner as
to project beyond the periphery of the larger disc. This small disc represents
the month of February, and is provided with four studs, one of which will come
in contact with a wiper every time the larger disc brings the small one round
to a given spot, which will be once a year, the small disc will therefore move,
round one quarter of a revolution every year, or one whole revolution every

page_text: four years, and by that means will bring round a certain portion of its periphery
at leap year, and will be thereby made to indicate 29 days in that month.
Another mode of arranging the apparatus to indicate the right number of
days in leap year, consists in arranging the whole of the months for four years
round one wheel or disc, and making projections and depressions on the peri-
phery of the wheel corresponding to the number of days in the several months,
or in fixing studs of different length in the periphery of the discs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office ou
the 24th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CALENDARS FOR CLOCKS OR OTHER TIMEKEEPERS,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument 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 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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):-

page_text: This Invention of "Improvements in Calendars for Clocks or other Time-
keepers, relates more particularly to the mechanism through which the clock
or timekeeper effects the variable movements of the index for the day of the
month and the index for the name of the month of the calendar, which variable
movements are rendered necessary by the variations in the length of the
months in a quadrennial period.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure I represents the face of a clock and
calendar; Figure 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the calendar me-
chanism; Figure 3 is a back view of the same; Figures 4 and 5 are vertical
sections taken at right angles to Figures 2 and 3, in planes, very near the
central arbor, which carries the day of the month index, one Figure showing
the mechanism on one side, and the other Figure the mechanism on the other
side of the said arbor; Figure 6 is a side view of the month wheel, and
Figure 7 is a view of the opposite end of the mouth roller to that which has
the month wheel attached; Figures 8, 9, and 10 exhibit modifications of por-
tions of the mechanism. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A (Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5) is a horizontal frame or base furnished with
posts A', A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A, to support the several moving parts of
the calendar, this frame being intended to be arranged below the movement
of the clock or timekeeper to which the calendar is attached. B is a horizontal
cylindrical roller, having the names of the days of the week inscribed upon its
periphery at equal distances apart in regular succession; and C is a hori-
zontal cylindrical roller, having the names of the months of a year inscribed
upon its periphery at equal distances apart in regular successions. These
rollers are arranged end to end, but at some distance apart, and parallel with
the face plate E of the calendar, which will generally be flush with the clock
dial; B is supported with centre screws a', a¹, screwing into the two posts
A', A', and C, between centre screws a², a², screwing into the two posts A³, A².
D is the arbor which carries the pointer or index b, which points to the num-
bers 1 to 31, marked at equal distances apart round a circle inscribed upon
the face plate or dial E, as shown in Figure 1. The arbor D is arranged
between the rollers B and C, with its axis at right angles to their axes, and is
supported partly by a set screw a³ in the post A³, and partly in a bearing in
the post A, and having screwed to it the wheel F, best shown in the back
view Figure 3, which may be termed the "day of the month wheel;" this
wheel has its circumference divided into thirty-one (31) teeth, of which twenty-
eight (28) are of uniform depth or projection, the twenty-ninth projects not
so much, the thirtieth still less, and the thirty-first least of all, as shown in the

page_text: last-mentioned Figure. The arbor D is also furnished with a snail cam D
and with a ratchet wheel D of thirty-one teeth, the cam D' serving to actuate
the mechanism by which the movement of the roller C is effected, and the
ratchet wheel D* having applied to it a pawl c (shown in Figures 3 and 4) for
preventing the day of the month wheel F and pointer 6 from turning the wrong
way, the pawl being attached to the post A5. G is a toothed wheel, which
may be termed the "twenty-four hour wheel," and is intended to be geared
with the clock movement, in such a manner as to be caused to rotate once in
twenty-four hours; the arbor G¹ to which the wheel G is secured being sup-
ported in bearings in the top of the post Aº, and carrying a cam G2, from which
all the working parts of the calendar derive motion. This cam once during
each of its diurnal revolutions with the wheel G raises slowly and lets fall
quickly a lever H, which works on a fixed fulcrum f in the post A7, and it is
by the quick descent of this lever that the necessary movements of the day of
the month index or pointer b and the day of the week index or roller Bare
effected quickly at the termination or commencement of each day, and the
necessary movement of the name of the month index or roller C is effected at
the termination or commencement of each month, the cam G2 being so arranged
as to produce the movements at or very near midnight. The names of the day
and month on the rollers B and C are exposed one at a time in proper succes-
sion through openings in the dial or face plate E.
The day of the month wheel F derives a motion from a click I (see
Figure 3), which is suspended by a ping from a short lever I', that is fitted to
oscillate freely upon the arbor D. The click I when it is moved upward with
the lever I', passes freely over the teeth of the wheel F, but when it is moved
downward it drops between the teeth and turns the wheel. The lever H,
before mentioned, is made to actuate this lever l' by means of a rod a, which
is connected with the latter lever, but which passes up through a hole in the
former one, and is furnished with a knob a above. The lever H in its upward
movement coming into contact with the knob a*, raises the rod a and with it
the lever I and its click I, and in its downward movement it allows the lever
and click and the rod a to drop by their own weight, which is sufficient to
make the click I turn the wheel F as far as is permitted by a detent J, which
is attached to the post A³. The detent J is raised from between the teeth of
the wheel F, to permit the necessary movements thereof by a projection on
the lever I' coming into contact with it as the lever rises, and being allowed
to drop again with the lever as the latter descends. The click I only moves
the wheel F more than one tooth, or a thirty-first portion of a revolution at a
time, at the termination of the months of less than thirty-one days, when the

page_text: wheel has to be moved two, three, or four teeth, according as the month has
thirty, twenty-nine, or twenty-eight days, and such further movement is
governed by the action of a wheel K, which may be termed the month
wheel, and a wheel L, which may be termed the February wheel, upon
an arm J, rigidly attached to the detent in combination with the three
shorter teeth of the wheel F. The month wheel K is made of a thin plate
of brass, or other metal, and is secured to one end of the month roller C,
the wheel being divided circumferentially into twelve equal parts representing
the months, as shown in Figure 6, and the divisions representing the seven
months of thirty-one days being made to present themselves less prominently
in its circumference than those representing the shorter months, but all of the
latter divisions being equally prominent, and all of the former divisions being
equally prominent. This wheel K rotating with the month roller C, makes
one-twelfth part of a revolution at the termination or commencement of every
month, and therefore completes its revolution once in a year. The February
wheel, which is best shown in Figure 5, has four teeth arranged at equal dis-
tances apart, viz., i, i, i, of equal length and a fourth *, which is shorter. It
is arranged above the axis of and close to the side of the month wheel K, on a
fixed stud j, secured in one of the posts A³, and has secured to it a spur wheel
which gears with a spur wheel k, that is secured to the month wheel; the
wheel having four times the number of teeth that k has, so that the February
wheel L makes precisely one revolution, while the month wheel K makes four,
and hence takes four years to complete its revolution. The arrangement of
the gearing is also such, that when the division of the month wheel K repre-
senting the month of February come to the top, one of the teeth i, i, i, i*, of
the February wheel L comes to the top also, the short tooth coming to the
top only in leap years, and the other three in the intervening years. The
extremity of the arm J¹ of the detent J is turned downward, and is situated
directly over the month wheel, and February wheel is provided with a step-
formed edge m, n, (see Figure 2,) the part n of which is situated over the
wheel K, and the part m over the wheel L. These wheels constitute stops to
the arm J', and thereby regulate the depth to which the detent enters between
the teeth of the day of the month wheel F, when it falls to arrest the move-
ment of that wheel produced by the click I. When one of the less prominent
divisions of the month wheel representing a month of thirty-one days is pre-
sented upward, the detent is allowed to drop down as low as the bottoms of the
teeth of the wheel F, and hence it will prevent the wheel moving more than
one tooth at a time, and thirty-one days will be indicated by the pointer b.
When, however, one of the more prominent divisions representing a month of

page_text: thirty days is presented, the arm J¹ every time the detent drops is stopped by
the wheel K in a higher position than when one of the less prominent ones is
presented, and the detent is prevented dropping so deeply into the wheel as to
stop the shortest tooth (marked 31 in Figure 3) which represents the thirty-
first days of the months having that number of days, and hence, though the
twenty-ninth and thirtieth teeth are stopped, after the movements which take
place at the end of the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth days, the thirty-first
tooth is allowed to pass the detent at the end of the thirtieth day, and the
wheel goes on till the first tooth (marked 1 in Figure 3) arrives at the detent
and the pointer b arrives at the number 1 on the dial or face plate E. During
the month of February in other years than leap year, one of the longer teeth i
of the February wheel L is presented under the arm J¹, and this arm is
stopped by the tooth in such a position that the detent enters the wheel F to
so little a depth that it will stop none but its teeth of full length, and hence
in the movement of the wheel F which takes place at the end of the twenty--
eighth or commencement of the twenty-ninth day, all three of the shorter
teeth pass by, and the wheel is not stopped till the first tooth (marked 1 in
Figure 3) arrives at the detent; but in February of leap year, when the
shorter tooth of the wheel L is presented to the arm J¹, the detent is
allowed to fall so much deeper into the wheel, that though it will not stop the
thirtieth tooth, it will stop the twenty-ninth. In this way it will be understood
that the pointer b will always arrive at the number 1 on the dial or face plate
on or just before the first day of every month, whatever be the number of days
of the preceding month. When the lever I is raised to prepare for the move-
ment to be given to the wheel F at the end of the first or commencement of
the second day of the month, the click passes over one, two, three, or four
teeth, according to the distance of the proceeding movement of the wheel,
the variation in the movement of the click lever I being provided for by the
rod a sliding through the hole in the lever H, and in this way the click always
acquires a retaining power sufficient to serve for the necessary movement of the
wheel F at the ends of the short months. The month roller C and the wheel
K, which it will be recollected is attached to that roller, derive the necessary
motion to the extent of one-twelfth of a revolution at the end or commence-
ment of every month from the snail cam D¹, before mentioned, on the arbor D
through the agency of a lever M (shown in Figures, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7), a
rod p (shown in Figures 2, 3, and 7), and a lever N, click P, and wheel Q
(shown best in Figure 7). This wheel Q has twelve teeth, and is secured to
the cylinder. The lever N is fitted to work on the shaft q of the roller close
to the wheel, and has the click P suspended from it by a pin s in such a

page_text: manner that as the click rises with the lever it will slide over the teeth of the
wheel Q, but as it 'descends with the lever it will engage itself between the
teeth of and move the wheel, and with it the roller C. The lever M works on
a fulcrum in one of the posts A¹³, and is furnished with a rigidly downward
projecting leg M¹, which rests upon the cam D', and it is connected by the.
rod p with the click lever N. The cam by its revolution during each month
raises the lever M, and with it the click lever N and the click P, and when
the abrupt step of the cam passes the end of the leg M', which occurs at the
termination or commencement of the months, the levers both drop, and the
click actuated by the weight of the levers moves the wheels Q suddenly. The
roller C is prevented moving too far by a detent R (see Figure 7) attached to
the post A³, which detent is raised to permit the necessary movement of the
wheel by a projection on the lever N, and is let fall again between the
teeth as the lever descends. The wheel is prevented from being turned back-
ward by a pawl S, which is raised by the action of the teeth themselves in
turning the right way."
The day of the week roller B is operated by a lever N' and click P¹ (see
Figure 4) applied substantially like N and P to operate on a toothed wheel Q¹
secured to the shaft q¹. The lever N₁ is actuated by a rod t, which is operated
upon every day by the lever H, in the same manner as the rod a, before
described. The wheel Q has a detent R¹ and a pawl S¹, like R and S
applied to it to prevent its moving too far at a time or turning back. The
detent R¹ is raised when the wheel is to be turned by the action of the lever N¹
upon it. This pawl and detent are attached to the post A'. The wheel Q¹ is
represented with fourteen (14) teeth, and the roller B has the days of two
weeks inscribed upon it, and hence this wheel completes its revolution once in
two weeks. The reason of this is, that with a wheel of seven (7) teeth which
would be necessary, if the roller only had the days of one week upon it, the
click P¹ could not be made to operate with the same degree of ease and
certainty. It will be seen that the clicks and pawls and their appendages for
working the days of the week roller B and the month roller C, are substantially
like those employed for working the day of the month wheel F.
Figure 8 represents the month roller of dodecahedral instead of cylindrical
form, and represents as a simple substitute for the month wheel K, a stud u
in each of those four sides of the roller which are to be presented to the
arm J¹ of the detent J during the four months of thirty days. In this case
the seven sides of the roller which are without pins, serve as resting places
or stops for the detent during the months of thirty-one days, and the studs u, u,
serve the same purpose during the months of thirty days. The same figure

page_text: also represents the February wheel L' attached to the month roller by a pin v;
upon which the wheel is fitted to rotate. The February wheel L' consists
simply of a circular disk with a segment cut off at w.
This wheel is arranged
at such distances from that side of the roller which remains opposite to the
arm J of the detent during the month of February, that when the flattened
side w of the disk is nearest the perimeter of the roller, the arm J' of the
detent resting upon it, will hold the detent rather higher than if it rested on
one of the studs u, u, or, in other words, the side w will perform the same duty.
as the short tooth of the wheel L before described. This being the case,
if any other side of the wheel L' is presented in the same condition, it will
stop the arm still higher, and serve the purpose of the longer teeth i, i, i.
The wheel L' is caused to derive a quarter of a revolution on the pin v once
during every yearly revolution of the roller C, by one of four studs x, x, x, x;
projecting from its outer face coming in contact with a stationary wiper T
attached to the frame A. The side w is of course always caused to be pre-
sented nearest the perimeter of the month roller before the end of February
of every leap year. The wheel is prevented from being turned more than a
quarter revolution during each revolution of the roller C by its having a square
hub as shown in dotted outline, upon which hub bears a spring 2, which is
attached to the end of the roller.
The February wheel L.may be dispensed with by using a month roller;
which rotates only once in four years, but which has inscribed upon its peri-
phery at equal distances apart the months of four years in regular succession.
This roller may have attached to one end a wheel or disk U, such as is
represented in Figure 9, consisting of a plate whose general form is circular,
but which has extending all round its periphery a series of elevations and
depressions, the number of which corresponds with the numbers of months in
a quadrennial period; viz., forty-eight such elevations and depressions consti-
tuting equal divisions of the circumference of the wheel or disk, the months
of thirty-one days being represented by the lowest depressions, two of which
are united in one as shewn in the Figure, to represent two months of that
length coming together, the month of February of twenty-eight days being
represented by the highest elevations, and the months of thirty days, and the
month of February of leap year being represented by elevations proportion-
ately lower as will be understood by the reference to the Drawing in which the
names of the months represented by the several elevations and depressions are
marked. These elevations and depressions by acting upon the arm J¹ of the
detent J, will govern the depth to which the detent enters the wheel F in the
same manner as it is governed by the wheels K and L. Instead of the wheel

page_text: or disk, there may be inserted in the periphery of the aforesaid roller repre-
senting the months of a quadrennial period, a series of studs d, d, of different
lengths, three being longer than all the rest, to represent the months of
February of twenty-eight days, one a little shorter to represent the month
of February of leap year, and others still shorter representing the months
of thirty days, such studs serving to stop the detent. J or its equivalent, and
regulate the depth to which it enters the wheel F during the months of
different lengths less than thirty-one days.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
1st, the employment in a clock calendar in connection with its day of the
month index, of a wheel having thirty-one teeth, three of which are shorter
in various degrees than the other twenty-eight, such wheel being applied and
caused to operate in combination with a detent or its equivalent, that is so
controlled as to enter to different depths into the said wheel for the purpose
herein specified.
2nd, I claim the mode herein set forth of effecting the operation of the day
of the month wheel, also effecting the operation of the month roller and day
of the week roller, or other indices of the names of the months and days, by
a similar system of mechanism as herein specified.
3rd, I claim providing for a variable upward movement of the click I
over the teeth of the wheel F, so that when it is raised at the commencement
of a month, it may pass one or more of the teeth as may be requisite for it to
acquire the necessary retaining power, to enable it to give the wheel the
amount of movement necessary at the end of the shorter months, as herein-
before explained.
4th, I claim controlling the operation of the detent J or its equivalent,
which regulates the distance of the movement of the day of the month wheel F
or its equivalent, by the means herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
year
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)