US1024709A - Electric automobile-clock. - Google Patents

Description

W. HJTHOM PSON. ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILE CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6; 1911.

I Patented Apr. 30, 1912 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' wane/coco W. H. THOMPSON. ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILE CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1911. 1,024,709.

Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

4 8HEETSSHEET 2 W. H. THOMPSON. ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILE CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1911. 1,024,709, Y I y y Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

i SHEETS*SHEIJT 3.

H. THOMPSON. ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILE CLOCK.

APPLICATICN FILED JUNE 6, 1911. 1,024,709.

4 8ZIEETS-SHBET 4.

Patented Apr. 30, 1912v UNITED SifiAfgifE i PATENT OFFIQE WILLIAM HENDERSON THOMPSQN, 'JF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, ACSI IGNOR TO TECH?" SON ELECTRIC CLOCK CQMEAIIY, 01F MEMPHIi, TENNESSEE, A CUEIOEAT'ION {3F TENNESSEE.

Appiieatim To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, K'VILLIAH H. ICE-roilesoiz, a citizen of ihe United States residing m; iiiemphis, COUD'i'f; oi Si'ieihy, State of Teiniessee, have invented oeziuiii new and useiui improven'ienhs in Eieeti-ie jii'iioinohow-Clocks, or much ihe .ioi rmg is s geeifioation.

lily invention has for its object (the pro-- vision of clock particularly ode i for 26 use on automohii ziiihougijh do' for use on, ioeomotives, vessels, and oi vehieie which viii he so COUSiYUCiQd that the per i thereof emini L Gj'usw inent thereof 1" hie to 'Viifi'il Ion to Led; a novel clock wound at. Hli'ei the (100% Wiii he Li which Wh ieh mis, but will @iieC! (Lil all times, thus insuin'zg mew-no in 1' ummg,

obviating; the W3 essiiy of winding by hand,

39 and 1'831(i(3l..l, it unnecessary io Lion no file dock miter ii. has once been gimbinled, i50 long PO'JUMiS of time.

i11 out this invention. I

wouihi, spun-gm ptiieiiier in en We 3min"; iogeiher once a dzipied of on; i'ui'yhe ew fzisiienii oeot ihose which connect iooeihei' i'he main 'oiiiile oi iilie-fruine which eai'i'ies (he Uiiifl 61- moveineut providing an interlock f; for sm 1 screw; as We on'pio eii, they are. pm from mo Li; iooi aeeozi oi H' I i: t) ,ilibi ripceifieation of Letcer Patent.

iie the -o1nitteii and ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILE-CLDCK.

mi. Liune 1911. Serial No 631,637.

- true at all times,

The inventionjs carried oiii further by the provision of ii novel retaining member for holding the entire movement in its case, thus obviating 2'3 ieoessity of employing screws for that purpose, which will not loose; and, further to associate this refinining-momber wiiii the bezel ii such iiioiinei" that the bezei. cannot unscrew in]; of any vibration 10 which i is i Preferably, the eioek having means for its at o of the automobile or to any o: of in such manner that be i-eiiioved by the (.L 1' ho The foregoing, vention are set fort recited in. the

i vCi claims. in the aooo-i'npzinymg diim'mg' Fimire l the front of tho ihe n 'viev ,Ii moved; 1 1 iiiimme, 21.5 (hfi'v'i meimnisn'i ive. deter rewind clock train;

mg and dii 3. echo iism. the o 3 being 1 ed; 311K. Fig, 12, a v: ViGWOf the driving and powepre ring meehaniom, power spring being the parts shown in de tooheol i'elotion,

The operative parts are carried by a front ring 1, a back or rear plate 2 and front Dime The li U 1 and front phite 3 are rown-sited and @GHEZLDQHHY connected by i veiie 01 the like L Rivet 3o to the from;

A late 3 and gflfii'fig the back plate 2 thereiongituilinai section through Lilo fr from, are pillars 5. All parts of the movement or train have their bearings, with the exception of the shaft or arbor for the power spring, in the plates 2 and 3. 5 Referring to Fig. 4, there are screwed into the pillars 5, the screws 6 which hold the plate 2 against said pillars. These screws are provided with apertures 7, preferably extending diametrically through their heads. Wound once or twice around the end screws 6 6 or, bent laterally in relation thereto, a: e the ends 8 of the locking wire 9 which, intermediate its ends, passes through the apertures 7 of all of the screws in such mannc-r that the screws tend to mutually screw up or tighten each other. However, assuming that all of the screws are right-hand screws, if the screw 6 tended to unscrew or loosen, the tension it would exert on the stretch 9 of the wire 9 would be to tighten the next screw. Simi] rly, it" the screws at the ends of the stretch a tended to back out or loosen, they would mutually tend to tighten each other with the remaining stretches of the wire 9. The arrangement of the wire is such that it passes from the end of an aperture 7 to screw to the opposite end of the aperture 7 of the next screw.

This wiring absolutely prevents any loosening of the screws, and as said screws are the only ones in the clock, it 1s impossible for the serews to become loose or any part of the movement to slip from its bearings. By this arrangement, I obviate the necessity of providing separate locking devices for the screws and, no matter how great the vibration of the automobile or other vehicle may be. the parts cannot become deranged thereby. The bridge 10 for the power-shaft is .o held by screws which are prevented from loosening by the wire 9.

.e movement is supported in a suitable l 11 by notches or apertures 12 in the 1 received by suitable pins or dowels 13 on the shell. and by the retaining ring: 1 shown in Fig. The ring ltis resilient constitutes the greater part of a circle. or ends 1 2 and being adapted toward each other to enable the ppcd into the raised rim 1?) The rim 15 is provided q or slots 16 which receive or lugs 17 on the ring 14., ring is securely retained and The dial 18 is overlapped 1 and held in position without requirin screws or other fastenings. said dial being provided with holes 19 for the reception ot' pins 20 on the ring 1 to prevent it from twisting. By holding the dial with the ring 14 and doing away with fastening screws for said dial, I overcome the chipping or breaking of the enamel of the dial which has heretofore occurred in clocks, rcgardless of the movement or train thereof,

spring 47, such as shown in Fig. 12.

due to the pressure of the screws at the different points, for it will be observed that the ring 14 bears evenly upon the dial and clamps it against the frame ring 1 for nearly its entire circumference. The retaining ring 14 is provided with spring fingers 21 at three points thereof and disposed substantially at the apices of an imaginary triangle.

The bezel 22 1 'and carries a glass 23 which is set therein when'the bezel is hot so that on cooling and consequent contraction, the bezel firmly holds the glass, and thus at this point there can be no loosening. The bezel is internally screw-threaded and screws on the externally screw-threaded rim .15, said bezel being provided with a circular channel 24 which receives the spring fingers 21, thereby confining them against lateral shifting, said fingers bearing frictionally against the bezel, and by outward pressure thereagainst, causing the screwthreads on the bezel and rim to be locked together so that the bezel is not liable to become loosened on account of any vibration to which the clock may be subjected.

The shell 11 may be of any preferred shape and construction and fastened in any desired manner to the dash 25 of the automobile, or secured in any manner to a simi-- lar object. I prefer, however, to provide a lip 26 on the backof the shell to receive the lower bifurcated end of a plate 27 which is fastened by screws 28 to the dash 25 and has at its upper end a screw socket 29 for thel reception of the screw-threaded end of a rotatable lug 30 which terminates at the front end in a polygonal part 31 projecting through the edge of the dial 18 so that the clock may be fastened by a key to the dash 25 and hence be incapable of removal by unauthorized persons.

The power-shaft 32 is journaled in the bridge 10 and the plated The entire clock train (Figs. 4. 7 and 5)), is shown at and the balance wheel. 34: having the usual regulater 3:), is driven from said shaft through the pinion 36 (Figs. 10, 11 and 12). Loose on the shaft 32 is the spring winding sleeve 37 which has an actuating wheel ormlisl; 38 provided with a pin 39 to which one end of a power-spring 40 (Fig. 10) is connected, said power-spring, encircling the sleeve 37 and having its other end 41 connected to a. pin, not shown, on the plate 3. The disk 38 is also provided with a contact pin 42, Screwed on the threaded part 43 of shaft is a driving disk 14 having a hu L5 on which is loosely mounted a ratchet wheel 46 which has a concavity containing a circular One end of the spring is hooked around a pin 48 on the driving disk 4A and the other end is connected at .49 to the ratchet wheel 16, in consequence of which it will be observed that the ratchet wheel may be turned in relation to theshaft 32 and in relation to the disk 44 carried thereby, in doing which the spring 4-7 is coiled or placed under tension.

the intervention of sprmg to the driving disk nvhosecoils are shown at This relative turning is, in practice, of no great distance, butit is sufficient to store in the spring l? enough power to drive, with regularity, the clock train when the spring 40 is being rewound, as Willpresently apear.

Pivoted to the actuating wheel or disk 38 is a pawl which is made to engage with the ratchet wheel 46 by the turning of the disk 38 by the spring a0, and thus, through 47, the motion imparted to the ratchet wheel 46 is imparted 44, which thereupon turns the driving shaft 32, and through the pinion 36, the clock train is operated.

Suitably secured to the plates 2 and 3 is a plate 51 (Fig. 8) to which is riveted the yoke 52 of the cores of an eleetro-magnet 53, Fig. 6. One of the terminals of said coils, is secured to the member 51. in any permanent'fashion at 54, the other terminal. beingshown at 55, and is adapted to lead toany suitable source of electrical. current. such as a battery.

Referring to Figs. 4, 9v and 10, 56 designates an armature for the elect-ro magnet, this armature being provided with a leaf spring 57 which. bears against one of the magnet cores or poles and serves the double purposeof preventing the armature from sticking to the poles by the residual magnetism thereof and for normally holding the armature away from said poles. The armature is connected-to an angular lever 58 which has a hub 59 pivoted on a pin 60 car ried by the plate 2. Mountedon insulated material 61 on the free end of the lever 58 is a contact member 62 which is connected to the terminal 63 also leading to the source of electrical generation, such as a battery. The contact member 82 is adapted to been gaged by the contact pin 42 on the turning of the disk 38, due to the unwinding of the spring 40.

If it be assumed that the power spring 40 has been wound, the contact pin 42 will then be in a position substantially that shown. by dotted lines 42 Fig. 10. The inn coiling tendency of spring 40, operating through disk 38, pawl 50, ratchet wheel 46, spring -17, and disk 44, causes the shaft 32 to be positively and regularly driven, and thus the train is operated. When the contact pin 42 engages the contact (32 on the lever 58, as shown by full. lines in Fig. 10, the circuit to the eleotro-magnet will be completed, whereupon it will immediately attract the armature 56,-in doing which the lever 58 will be turned on its pivot 60 with a snap action and the engagement of the lerewinding of ver with the contact pin 42 cause the disk 38 to be kicked backward so that the pin 42 will assume the dotted-line position 42, Fig. 10, thereby rewinding the spring 40, during which operation the pawl 50-will drag'idly on the ratchet wheel 46, but the ratchet Wheel will be prevented from back ward rotation by. a retaining ratchet 64, Fig. 4. During the rewinding of the spring by the operation just set forth, there would be a tendency toward cessation of the turning of the train of wheels. To compensate for thisand to enable the train to continuously operate, even during the almost in stantaneous kicking back of the disk 38, the spring 47 having been placed under tension, tends to uncoil and, therefore,,to continue the application of spring power to the shaft 32, resulting in a continuity of ,driving of the clock train and insuring the ing of correct time. The playof the armature 56 being limited, the lever 58 only moves a slight distance and consequently the electric contact between the members 42 and 62 is of exceedingly brief duration and the the spring and the breaking of the electrical circuit is alnicst instantaneous so that very little electrical. current is required to operate the clock, a few cells of dry battery being suiiicient to run itfoi an indefinite period. i

To prevent sparking between the coptacts 42 and 62 with its resultant tendency to corrode them, I provide a shunt 65, Fig. 8, of fine wire on the coils 53 of the electromagnet which prevents sparking at the contacts. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 2- I In a clock, the combination with the train, of a driving shaft-therefor, a driving disk secured to the shaft, a ratchet wheel having a loose relationship to the shaft and disk aforesaid, a spring interposed between the ratchet wheel. and the aforesaid disk and affording a connection therebetween, an tuating disk having a pawl engaged with the ratchet- Wheel aforesaid, a driving spring engaged with the actuating disk, a contact member carried by the actuating electro-magnet, an armature therefor, ver which carries said armature, and a contact carried by the lever whichis adapted to be engaged by the contact member store said on the unwinding of the driving spring,

said contacts being in the circuit of the elec- I tromagnet. a y

In testimony whereof, I hereunto atlix my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

WILLIAM HENDERSON THQMISGN. Witnesses:

A GOODMAN,

' PH GoonMAN.

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