US1409622A - Automatic synchronizing mechanism for chime clocks - Google Patents

Description

J. THEGANZA.. AUTOMATIC SNCHRONIZ|NG MECHANISM FOR CHIME CLOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV I, 19!!)- Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

Jilin-n03 fa/fin? the half hour, a triple series at the three UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD J. TREGANZA, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNQR T0 ANSONIA CLOCK 00., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A COBPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

AUTOMATIC SYNGHBONIZING MECHANISM FOR CRIME CLOCKS.

Application filed November To all 10 item it may concern Be it known that I, Hmvnno J. 'lsneimza a citizen of the United States, and residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kin s, city and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Automatic Synchronizing Mechanism for Chime Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to clocks in which a harmonic chime is rung at each quarter of the hour, and-has for its object to provide means whereby the time, strike, and chime mechanisms will be automatically put in unison should any relative disarrangement of said mechanisms occur.

A further object is to provide such a construction which will not necessitate a reconstruction of the ordinary chime clock mechanism, and which will be simple in character cheap to manufacture and install,

and which will be positive in operation.

These and further objects will more fully appear in the following specification and .accompanying drawings considered together or separately.

I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which like parts in all of the several figures are designated by similar characters of reference, and in which- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a striking and chime clock movement embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same partly in section.

Fig. 3'is a detail view of a portion of the chiming mechanism in position to chime the three quarter.

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the parts in position to chime the hour.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the chime synchronizing and locking discs.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the synchronizing disc, and

Fig. 7 is a similar view of the chime looking disc.

My invention is shown as applied to an ordinary chime clock movement in which a single series of four notes is chimed at the quarter hour, a double series is chimed at quarters, and a quadruple series at the hour. Immediately after the hour chime has finished the clock strikes the hour. It is obvious that in such a movement when stark Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1 1, 1922.

1, 1919. Serial No. 335,178.

ing the (lock the chime and the time must be put in unison, that is the chime mechanism must be chimed around until its quarter half, etc, chimes occur at quarter past, half past, etc, when the minute hand points to those parts of the dial.

in carrying out my invention 1 provide a clock movement having the usual time, striking and chiming, mechanisms which are wound at 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The striking mechanism is locked by the engagement of a pin 1 on a wheel 5 of the strike gear chain with a pallet 6 carried by a lever 7 pivoted to the front plate 8 of the movement. The pallet 6 extends through aslot 9 in the front plate.

Secured to the minutehand arbor 10 which is surrounded. by the tubular hour hand arbor 11, as is common, is a disc having four pins, 18, 14, 15 and 16 projecting therefrom. The pins are arranged 90 apart. T as pins 13, l t-and 15 are at the same radial distance from. the center of the disc, while the pin 16 is a greater distance from the center of the disc. 5

Pivoted to the plate 8 and directly above the disc 12 is a bell crank lever 17 one arm of which lies in the path of the pins as the disc rotates with the minute hand of the clock. The other arm of the bell crank is adapted to engage a lever 18 pivoted to the frame 8. The lever 17 will be oscillated once every fifteen minutes as the disc is rotated with the .minute hand. When the depending arm of the bell crank is engaged by the pin 16, it, the bell crank, will be moved a greater distance than before, because of the position of the pin 16 relatively to the center of the disc 12, and consequently the lever 18 will be moved a greater distance than before.

One arbor 19 of the chime train extends through the plate 8 and carries a synchronizing disc 20. The disc 20 has a segmental notch 21 in its periphery. A segment 22 is loosely mounted on the arbor19 and carries a pin 23 which projects through a slot 24 in the disc 20. A spring 25 bears against the pin and normally retains the segment in position to partially close the notch 21. The disc 20 carries an axially projecting pin 26 on the face opposite to that with which the segment 22 engages.

A pin 27 is carried by one arm of a bell crank lei?? 28 pivoted to the front plate 8.

The same arm carries a pin 29 which projects through a slot 30 in the plate 8 and is adapted to be engaged by a pin 31 on a Wheel 32 of the chime train. A second arm of the bell crank 28 lies in the path of a pin 33 carried on an extension of the lever 18.

The lever 18 is provided with an up wardly extending arm carrying two pallets 34 and 35 which extend through a slot in the plate 8. The pallet 34 supports an arm 36 carried by a rock shaft 37 journaled in the plate 8 and the back plate 38 of the movement.

The rock shaft 37 carries an arm 39 having a finger 40 adapted to engage any one of a series of notches in a locking disc 41 carried by the shaft 19. The rock shaft also carries an arm 41 having a finger adapted to engage a single notch in a disc 42 on the shaft carrying the wheel 32.

The arbor 19 extends through the back plate 38 and carries a spur wheel 43 which meshes with a pinion 44 on the shaft carrying the usual toothed drum or series of toothed discs 45 for raising the hammers 46 of the chime. The striking hammer 47 has an arm 48 adapted to be operated by means of a lever 49 pivoted at 50 on the back plate and operated by the striking train as is common.

The pin 26 on the disc 20 is adapted, once in each revolution of the disc, to engage the end of an arm 51 of the lever 7 to tilt the latter and remove the pallet 6 from the path of the pin 4 and permit the striking mechanism to operate. The movement of the arm 51 moves a pin 52 carried by the lever 7 from beneath the striker segment. 53, and permits the latter to drop. The drop of the segment will be arrested by the engagement of an arm 54 with a snail (not shown) whereby the hammer 47 will strike the hour. The snail is rotated in unison with the hour hand of the clock. The snail and other elements of the striking mechanism are common and well known and need not be here described in detail.

The operation is as follows When the minute hand reaches the quarter hour the pin 13 will throw the bell crank lever 17 to raise the lever 18, and through the pallet 34 and arm 36, rock the shaft 37.

. The movement of the rock shaft will raise the arms 39 and 4.1 from the notches in the discs 41 and 42 respectively and the chime train will be released. As the lever v18 is raised the pallet 35 is brought into the path of a pin 55 on a wheel 56 of the chime train and stops the train. The continued movement of the. lever 18 releases the pin at the instant the quarter is reached. The disc 41 will rotate in the clockwise direction until the finger of the arm 39 falls into the next notch in the disc 41. Thismovement will cause a partial rotation of the chime drum to the extent of four teeth or in other words each of the chime hammers will be caused to strike its gong once. \Vhile the disc 41. is moving the distance between the two closest notches therein the disc 42 will make a complete revolution and the linger on the arm 4-1 will drop back into the notch in the disc 42 and lock the chime mechanism.

The same operation will occur when the minute hand reaches 'the hall hour except that as the distance between the second and third notches in the disc 41 is double that between the first and second, the finger of the arm 39 will ride on the periphery of the disc 41 and hold the arm 41" from engagement with the notch in the disc 42 while the latter makes two revolutions, and the chime drum will rotate to operate each hammer twice and two series of four notes each will he struck.

The operation will be the same at the three quarters except that the disc 42 will rotate three times and three series of four notes each will be chimed. As the chiming of the three quarters approaches its end, the pin 27 will drop into the notch 21 in the disc 20 and as the disc will continue to rotate until the finger 40 drops into its proper notch in the locking disc 41 the segment 22 will be moved against the tension of the spring 25 and the notch will be widened.

As the minute hand approaches the hour the above described operations will be repeated except that the pin 16 of the disc 12 will engage the bell crank 17 and move it further than before. This will raise the lever 18 higher and the pin 33 carried by the extension thereof will engage the lower arm of the lever 28 and raise the pin 27 from the notch 21. The first part of the movement of the lever 28 will bring the pin 29 into the path of the pin 31 of the wheel 32 of the chime train when the latter is almost in position to strikethe hour chime. The continued movement of the lever 18 will remove the pin 29 from the path of the pin 31 and chime will sound four series of four notes each.

As the pin 27 is moved out of the notch 21, the spring 25 will move the segment back to its normal position whereby when the lever 18 falls by reason of the pin 16 passing from under the bell crank 17 the said pin 27 will engage the peripherv of the disc 20.

lVhile the hour chime is being pealed the pin 26 on the disc 20 will engage below the end of the long arm extension 51 of the lever 7 and raise the same. This movement will move the pallet 6 from engagement with the pin 4, the striking train will be released and the hour will be struck immediately after the hour chime is finished. The striking mechanism is old and well known and forms .no part of the present invention,

Should the clock run fast or slow and it becomes necessary to set it, and in setting the hands are moved rapidly the time and chime mechanisms are extremely liable to get out of step. In such a we will assume that when the minute hand indicates the quarter hour the chime will peal the half hour signal of two series of four notes each. In such a situation the chime will sound three series of four notes each when the minute hand. reaches the half hour.

/Vhile the chime is sounding the three series at the half hour the pin 27 will drop into the notch 21 of the disc 20, and when the minute hand reaches the figure TX on the dial the pin 15 will engage the bell crank 17 and raise the lever 18 but the lever will not be raisedsufiiciently to engage the lever 28 and release the pin 27 from the notch 21, and consequently the pin 29 will remain in engagement with the pin on the chime wheel 30, the chime train will be prevented from operating, and the next or four series chime will not be sounded at the three quarter hour.

I mien the minute hand reaches the hour the pin 16 willengage the bell crank and raise the lever 18 sufficiently to release the pin 2'? from the notch 21, and remove the pin 29 from the path of the pin in the wheel 30, the four series chime will peal. and the hour will be struck. The chime, time and striking will now be synchronized and remain so.

If the three quarter chime is sounded at the quarter there will be no chime at the half and three quarter, but as the minute hand reaches XII the hour chime will be pealed. The device is entirely automatic, the proper chime is always sounded at the hour and the proper hour is always struck w ien the hour hand points to that hour.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statues I have described the principle of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown merely illustrative, and that the invention may be carried out in other ways.

.Having now described my invention what I claim. as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows l. A device of the character described, comprising time, striking and chiming mechanisms, means for locking the striking mechanism, means for locking the chiming mechanism, means for releasing the chiming mechanism independently of the striking mechanism, automatically adjustable means for locking the chiming mechanism in dependently of the first mentioned chime locking means.

2. A device of the character described, comprising time, striking and chiming mechanisms, each including a gear train, means for locking the striking and chiming -mechanisms, a rotating element geared to but outside of th chiming train, adjustable means for locking said element against rotation, and means carried by the time mechanism for r leasing the element.

3. A device of the character described, comprising time, striking and chiming mechanisms, means for locking the striking and chiming mechanisms, 3 frame for the mechanisms, a disc carried by the frame and rotatable with the chime mechanism, there being an adjustable peripheral notch in the disc, a lever pivoted to the frame, said lever engaging the notch to prevent movement of the chime mechanism, a second lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the first mentioned lever, and means operated by the time mechanism for engaging the levers and releasing the second lever from the notch.

4:. A device of the character described, comprising time, striking and chiming mechanisms each including a gear train, means for locking the striking and chiming mecha nisms, a frame for the mechanisms, a lever pivoted to the frame and engaging a wheel in the strike mechanism train, a disc rotatably mounted in the frame, said disc being geared to but outside of the chime train, there being a notch in the disc, means for varying the width of the notch, a lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the notch whereby the disc and chime train are locked, a releasing lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the chime locking lever, a member carried on the minute hand arbor for moving the releasing lever to disengage the notch engaging lever to release the chime train, and means carried by the disc for engaging the strike train locking lever to release the strike train.

5. A device of the character described, comprising time, striking and chiming mech anisms, means for locking the striking and chiming mechanisms, a frame for the mechanisms, a lever pivoted to the frame and engaging a wheel in the strike mechanism train, a disc carried by and rotatable with the chime train, there being a notch in the disc, a lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the notch whereby the disc and chime train are locked, a releasing lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the chime locking lever, a member carried on the minute hand arbor for moving the releasing lever to disengage the notch engaging lever to release the chime train, and means carried by anisms, means for locking the striking and chiming mechanisms, a frame for the mech anisms, a lever pivoted to the frame and engaging a wheel in the strike mechanism train, a disc carried by and rotatable with the chime train, there being. a notch in the disc, a lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the notch whereby the disc and chime locking lever to release the strike train, and

pivoted means carried by the disc to prevent the disc locking lever from engaging the notch.

7. A device of the character described, comprisingtime, striking and chiming mechanisms, means for locking the striking and chiming mechanisms, a frame for the mechahisms, a lever pivoted to the frame and engaging a wheel in the strike mechanism train, a disc carried by and rotatable with the chime train, there being 'a notch in the disc, a lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the notch whereby the disc and chime train are looked, a releasing lever pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage the chime locking lever, a member carried on the minute hand arbor for moving the releasing lever to disengage the notch engaging lever to release the chime train, and means carried by the disc for engaging the strike train locking lever to release the strike train, and spring actuated pivoted means carried by the disc to prevent the disc locking lever from engaging the notch.

This specification signed and witnessed this 24th day of October, 1919.

HOWARD J. TREGANZA. WVitnesses:

' JACQUES S. Lor'r,

J OHN Bonowr.

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