AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF CHRONOMETERS, CLOCKS, WATCHES, AND OTHER TIME KEEPERS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Webster, of Dalby Terrace, City Road,
Watch Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF CHRONOMETERS, CLOCKS, WATCHES, AND OTHER TIME KEEPERS."
Scaled the 4th March 1856, and dated the 8th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
September 1855.
1, HENRY WEBSTER, of Dalby Terrace, City Road, Watch Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHRONOMETERS, CLOCKS, WATCHES, AND OTHER TIME PIECES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to give a means of readily detaching the
escapement " from the train of wheel-work in time keepers, by which plan
time and trouble are saved in repairing clock mechanism, and additional
facilities for its manufacture are given. On that portion of the "pillar plate`
to which the escapement is usually fitted, I place another moveable plate, and
attach it by screws to the other part of the watch or other time keeper, and on
this upper plate 1 place the "escapement." When secured by screws it is in
the same position as the ordinary escapement movement, and when detached,
it may be repaired without involving the necessity of taking to pieces the whole

page_text: of the wheel-work, as is the common practice. I reserve to myself a right
to vary the above mode of detaching the escapement, as I may effect the
same object by making the pillar plate in two or more pieces, without the
additional plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WEBSTER, of Dalby Terrace, City Road, Watch Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Webster, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Webster, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Webster, 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 CON-
STRUCTION OF CHRONOMETERS, CLOCKS, WATCHES, AND OTHER TIME KEEPERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Webster, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, his, 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 Henry Webster, 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
The object of my Invention of an improvement in the construction of
chronometers, clocks, watches, and other time keepers, is to afford the means
of readily detaching the escapement from the train of wheel-work forming the
other portion of the time keeper. In the manufacture of watches many hands
are ordinarily employed, and as the escapement movement is usually made
before the wheel-work, cases, &c., it sometimes happens that a number of

page_text: workmen are kept waiting for the completion of the escapement, for they
cannot proceed with their work until they have the "plates" on which the
escapement is fixed. Now, by my Invention, the escapement movement may
be readily detached from the plates, and therefore the workmen may be
going on with the rest of the works of the watch, while the escapement is yet
in the hands of the maker; and this will economise time and labour; and in
the event of an accident occurring to any part of the escapement of a watch
fitted with my improvement, that portion may be detached and sent to work-
men, who devote themselves exclusively to the construction and repair of that
portion of the mechanism of time keepers; and this will be found a convenience
of no little importance to many engaged in the trade, particularly to watch
makers resident in country places, where perhaps there are no journeymen
watch makers, or none able to do the work well, and consequently it is neces-
sary to send a watch or other time piece to London or other manufacturing
town to get the work done. By detaching the escapement, which is commonly
the part which requires repair, there is a saving of time, trouble, and postage.
And, lastly, this mode of detaching the escapement will permit of the change
of escapement movements, either for purposes of trial, experiment, or for the
improvement of the watch.
My improvement also affords manufacturers additional facilities in the con-
struction of watches and other time keepers. It consists in attaching to that
part of the plate on which the escapement is usually fitted a supplementary
plate, which is secured to the plate by screws or other means.
In the Drawing accompanying this Specification, Fig. 1 represents a plan of
a plate, with my improvement applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan of a plate, with
the portion on which the escapement is fitted removed from the plate; Fig. 3
is an elevation of the same; and Fig. 4 is a plan of the detached portion. A
is the plate, a portion of which, forming about one-third of its area, is made so
as to be easily removed from the plate when required. The manner in which
the plate is made, so that the part shown by Fig. 4 may be readily detached,
is shown by Figs. 2 and 3. A represents the plane of the plate upon which
the train of wheel-work is usually fixed; it will be observed that the plane of
the
part B is lower than the other portion of the plate; in this lower part two
holes c, c, are made, and a small stud d is fitted against the elevated part of
the plate. The detached part E of the plate Fig. 4 consists of a plate of metal
corresponding in shape and thickness to the lower part B of the plate A.; in
this plate E two holes f, f, are made opposite to and corresponding with the
holes c, c, in the part B of the plate A. Upon this moveable plate E is fitted
the most important part of the watch or clock movement, videlicet, the escape-

page_text: ment, so that this part of time keepers, which is that usually requiring the
greatest amount of skill and attention in its construction and repair, may be
readily disconnected from the other part of the train of wheel-work. When
the plate E is placed on the lower part B of the plate A, the stud d fits into
the notch d', cut in the side of the plate E, and the plate is secured by screws
9, 9, (Fig. 1,) which are screwed into the holes f.f. Although in the fore-
going description I have described a plate with only a single supplementary or
moveable plate fitted thereto, I wish it to be understood that the plate may be
made with two or more moveable parts or escapements of different construc-
tions, if found desirable; and I do not confine myself to the use of a single
detached part E, as shewn in the Drawing.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into practical effect, I claim under the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, the application of one or more moveable plate or plates to
the pillar or potance plates of chronometers, clocks, watches, and other time
keepers, and the mode of detaching the escapement from the train of wheel-
work therein, as herein-before described and shewn by the Drawing annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CHARLES BARLOW,
of the Office for Patents,
89, Chancery Lane.
HENRY WEBSTER. (L.S.)

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Webster, of Dalby Terrace, City Road,
Watch Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CON-
Sealed the 4th March 1856, and dated the 8th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
September 1855.
I, HENRY WEBSTER, of Dalby Terrace, City Road, Watch Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHRONOMETERS, CLOCKS, WATCHES, AND OTHER TIME PIECES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to give a means of readily detaching the
'escapement" from the train of wheel-work in time keepers, by which plan
time and trouble are saved in repairing clock mechanism, and additional
facilities for its manufacture are given. On that portion of the "pillar plate"
to which the escapement is usually fitted, I place another moveable plate, and
attach it by screws to the other part of the watch or other time keeper, and on
this upper plate I place the "escapement." When secured by screws it is in
the same position as the ordinary escapement movement, and when detached,
may be repaired without involving the necessity of taking to pieces the whole
it

page_text: of the wheel-work, as is the common practice. I reserve to myself a right
to vary the above mode of detaching the escapement, as I may effect the
same object by making the pillar plate in two or more pieces, without the
additional plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WEBSTER, of Dalby Terrace, City Road, Watch Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Webster, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Webster, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Webster, 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 CON-
STRUCTION OF CHRONOMETERS, CLOCKS, WATCHES, AND OTHER TIME KEEPERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Webster, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, his, 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 Henry Webster, 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:
The object of my Invention of an improvement in the construction of
chronometers, clocks, watches, and other time keepers, is to afford the means
of readily detaching the escapement from the train of wheel-work forming the
other portion of the time keeper. In the manufacture of watches many hands
are ordinarily employed, and as the escapement movement is usually made
before the wheel-work, cases, &c., it sometimes happens that a number of

page_text: workmen are kept waiting for the completion of the escapement, for they
cannot proceed with their work until they have the "plates" on which the
escapement is fixed. Now, by my Invention, the escapement movement may
be readily detached from the plates, and therefore the workmen may be
going on with the rest of the works of the watch, while the escapement is yet
in the hands of the maker; and this will economise time and labour; and in
the event of an accident occurring to any part of the escapement of a watch
fitted with my improvement, that portion may be detached and sent to work-
men, who devote themselves exclusively to the construction and repair of that
portion of the mechanism of time keepers; and this will be found a convenience
of no little importance to many engaged in the trade, particularly to watch
makers resident in country places, where perhaps there are no journeymen
watch makers, or none able to do the work well, and consequently it is neces-
sary to send a watch or other time piece to London or other manufacturing
town to get the work done. By detaching the escapement, which is commonly.
the part which requires repair, there is a saving of time, trouble, and postage.
And, lastly, this mode of detaching the escapement will permit of the change
escapement movements, either for purposes of trial, experiment, or for the
improvement of the watch.
of
My improvement also affords manufacturers additional facilities in the con-
struction of watches and other time keepers. It consists in attaching to that
part of the plate on which the escapement is usually fitted a supplementary
plate, which is secured to the plate by screws or other means.
In the Drawing accompanying this Specification, Fig. 1 represents a plan of
a plate, with my improvement applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan of a plate, with
the portion on which the escapement is fitted removed from the plate; Fig. 3
is an elevation of the same; and Fig. 4 is a plan of the detached portion. A
is the plate, a portion of which, forming about one-third of its area, is made so
as to be easily removed from the plate when required. The manner in which
the plate is made, so that the part shown by Fig. 4 may be readily detached,
is shown by Figs. 2 and 3. A represents the plane of the plate upon which
the train of wheel-work is usually fixed; it will be observed that the plane of
the part B is lower than the other portion of the plate; in this lower part two
holes c, c, are made, and a small stud d is fitted against the elevated part of
the plate. The detached part E of the plate Fig. 4 consists of a plate of metal
corresponding in shape and thickness to the lower part B of the plate A.; in
this plate E two holes f, f, are made opposite to and corresponding with the
holes c, c, in the part B of the plate A. Upon this moveable plate E is fitted
the most important part of the watch or clock movement, videlicet, the escape-

page_text: ment; so that this part of time keepers, which is that usually requiring the
greatest amount of skill and attention in its construction and repair, may be
readily disconnected from. the other part of the train of wheel-work. When
the plate E is placed on the lower part: B of the plate. A, the stud d fits into
the notch d, cut in the side of the plate E, and the plate is secured by screws
g, g, (Fig. 1,) which are screwed into the holes f,f. Although in the fore-
going description I have described a plate with only a single supplementary.or
moveable plate fitted thereto, I wish it to be understood that the plate:may.be
made with two or more moveable parts or escapements of different construc-
tions, if found desirable and I do not confine myself to the use of a single
detached párt E, as shewn in the Drawing.
. Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into practical effect, I claim under the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, the application of one or more moveable plate or plates to
the pillar or potance plates of chronometers, clocks, watches, and other time
keepers, and the mode of..detaching the escapement from the train of wheel-
work therein, as herein-before described and shewn by the Drawing annexed...
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
::
Witness,
CHARLES BARLOW,
of the Office for Patents,
89, Chancery Lane.
HENRY WEBSTER. (L.S.)