US2056089A - Horological instrument and related devices - Google Patents

Description

p 1936- s. w. BOGGS 2,056,089

HOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENT AND RELATED DEVICES Filed Feb. 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR.

WW BY A TTORNE Y.

Sept. 29, 1936. 5 BOGGS 2,@5,@8

HOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENT AND RELATED DEVICES Filed Feb. 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENT AND RELATED DEVICES 7 Claims.

The principal object of my invention is to make it feasible to ascertain, very easily and quickly and without computation, both the time of day and the day of the week, at any place whatever on the earth's surface, when it is a given time and day at any particular place.

An advantage in having a clock which clearly indicates the time of day and the day of the week in all parts of the world simultaneously is that such a clock may be carried on board ship or on any other moving conveyance, even entirely around the earth, without the necessity of changing the time or the day in order to take account of changes in longitude. By simply moving the stationary hand which is provided for such a purpose, or even by pasting on to the face of the clock a paper sticker, to indicate the approximate longitude of the place in which the clock is operating at a given time, the local time may be easily read without computation, and the time of day and the day of the week of distant cities and countries may be simultaneously observed. Such an instrumentality is of obvious practical value on board ships at sea, in shipping oflices, in telephone, telegraph and cable oflices, to radio enthusiasts, to schools, and in many other ways.

The embodiment which is illustrated in Figs. 1 to inclusive is applicable to any clock, with the elimination of the ordinary hour hand and the addition of the parts illustrated herein. No parts other than those of an ordinary clock and those illustrated and described herein are required.

Some of the novel features and combinations described herein are applicable alike to clocks and watches, to educational devices intended to a simulate the essential movements of a clock, and

to geographical globes.

With the foregoing and related objects in view, my invention consists in the parts, elements, features of construction, and combinations herein set forth and claimed.

At any moment of the day there are twentyfour hours simultaneously in progress in the twenty-four standard time zones around the earth, and there are always parts of two days of the week in progress at any moment. The time of day and the day of the week at any place, in relation to the time and day at any other place, depend upon the relative location of the two places on the surface of the earth. The invention herein described is made to depict, in the simplest possible manner, the apparent revolution of the time zones (which follow the sun) around an apparently stationary earth.

The best method of representing the surface of (Cl. 5H3) the earth upon a plane surface is by means of a map. properly drawn and oriented. The usual orientation of a map is to place north at the top, west at the left, east at the right, etc., and to dispose the lettering on the map in such manner 5 that it may be read easily when the map is in that stationary position. It is feasible to represent the rotation of'the time zones around the earth, however, only when a circular map of the earth is used, with one of the poles of rotation at the center. In such a map, if the North Pole be at the center the direction north will be toward the center of the map from all parts of the map. North, therefore, can not be at the top. Nevertheless, in order to represent an apparently stationary earth by means of a map, so that type matter may be easily read at all times, the map should be kept stationary and should be logically oriented to facilitate the reading thereof. The most useful arrangement in a. map with the North Pole at the center is to place the conventional Western Hemisphere in the left half and the conventional Eastern Hemisphere in the right half. This possesses the obvious advantage of having the west at the left and east" at the right, which is somewhat analogous to the usual map practice, and in addition it has the advantage of placing the internationaldate line (from which each new day begins to be reckoned) at the top (where 12 is located on an ordinary clock) from which point people are accustomed to read not only time on a clock, but the angles on socalled pie-diagrams, etc. By placing the North Pole in the center, instead of the South Pole, there is also the advantage that the rotation of the time zones around the circular map will be in the familiar clockwise direction instead of the reverse.

The invention herein described possesses unique advantages in representing in the simplest and most practicable manner the fact that a given day of the week extends from the international date line (at 180 longitude measured from Greenwich) westwardly around the earth to the nearer side of the standard time zone in which 45 the hour from 11:00 p. m. to midnight is in progress, and that the preceding day of the week extends around the rest of the circumference of the earth.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, I have shown preferred embodiments of my invention for the purpose oi affording an understanding thereof, but it is to be understood that the same is for the pin-pose of afiording an understanding only, and not for limitation of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a face view of the device, which illustrates the stationary face of the clock and movable parts which may be seen through transparent parts of the face.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. l, which represents all the essential parts of a complete embodiment of the parts herein described, operated either by clock-work, by motor, or by hand.

Fig. 3 illustrates the clock movement which advances the hour disk once every hour.

Fig. 4 illustrates the parts which advance the days-of-the-week disk once every twenty-four hours.

Fig. 5 shows the days-of-the-week disk and the cogwheel which actuates it.

Fig. 6 is a face view of the device in its simplest form, comprising only members la and 2a, with a slight modification of member i, and constituting an educational and practical instrumentality adapted to many uses.

Fig. 7 represents a geographical globe with lines and marks adapted to the use of the dial illustrated in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 represents a dial for-use on a geographical globe, to indicate both the hour and the day of the week in all parts of the earth.

On Fig. 1, member I is a stationary disk which takes the place of the face of a clock, and which comprises the full diameter of the illustration. The central part is opaque and contains a map. The perimeter of the disk face is transparent except the small portion at the top comprising the ends of the arrows marked 1, and the numerals and marks representing the sixty minutes of the hour are shown in the annular band 3, at the outer edge of the disk. Through the transparent portions of the disk face there are visible:--an annular portion 2' of the hour disk 2 which revolves once every twenty-four hours and which bears the circular arrow, 8; member 6, the minute hand which revolves once every hour; member 5, the adjustable stationary hand which bears an arrow to indicate more clearly the hour at the longitude in which the clock is operating; and a portion of member 6, the small disk showing the two days of the week which are simultaneously in progress around the world.

The map shown on member I is a map of the Northern Hemisphere, and for economy of space in the illustration it bears in the margins, at the proper positions, the names of the land bodies in the Southern Hemisphere. It is to be understood that the land areas in the Southern Hemisphere may be shown instead by an extension of the map beyond the equator. It would be feasible, also, to have the map show the Southern Hemisphere instead of the Northern Hemisphere, with the South Pole at the center, and with an extension to include the Northern Hemisphere, but it would require an inversion of the numbers on the hour disk, member 2, and a reverse normal motion of rotation in that member.

0n the map the boundaries of the twenty-four standard time zones are clearly indicated. This is the most convenient and practical arrange! ment because clocks and watches in most parts of the civilized world are set in accordance with standard time based on Greenwich meridian time, rather than by local sun time. The standard time zones, in each of which the time is an exact number of hours diiferent from Greenwich time,

may be alternately colored, for example pink and acsaoso yellow, as represented by the cross hatching of land areas in alternate zones in Figure 1. Areas in which the time is based on a local meridian, or which otherwise differ from the standard time for the zone, may be printed in a distinctive color, for example orange as represented by the double cross hatching of the India area in Figure 1; in such areas the number of minutes by which the time differs from the time shown on the hour disk, member 2, are indicated, with an appropriate plus or minus sign. Areas in which there is no standard time, in which only local sun time may be said to be observed, may be left uncolored. As on an ordinary map, the oceans and seas may appropriately be colored blue.

To cooperate with the standard time zones on the map, the lines between the hour zones are clearly marked on the revolving hour disk 2, and the rotation of the disk is not continuous in the usual manner of a clock hour-hand, but the disk advances an exact hour once every hour. The continuously moving minute hand tells the number of minutes past the hour in all twentyfour standard time zones. For example, when it is 14 minutes past the hour (say 10:14 p. m. in Egypt, as in Fig. 1) it is 14 minutes past the hour in all twenty-four standard time zones (for example, 3:14 p. m. in New York, as in Fig. 1)

The novel feature by means of which the extent of the zones throughout which each of the two days simultaneously in progress may be readily ascertained is best explained with reference to Fig. 1. On the hour disk 2 there is a. circular arrow 8, which extends all the way around the disk, the ends of which meet at midnight-that is, at the end of the 11 p. m. zone, because that zone is used for the whole hour from 11:00 p. m. to midnight. The two stationary arrow ends 1, which are printed on the clock face i, and which meet at the international date line on the map, are immediately in front of, that is superposed upon, the single complete. revolving circular arrow 8, and give the appearance of constituting two separate and independent curved arrows. The arrow on the right, beginning at the top, indicates that it is one day of the week (Monday, in Fig. 1) from theinternational date line westwardly, (i. e., in a clockwise direction) around through the standard time zone marked 12 midnight. The arrow on the left, beginning at the top, indicates that it is the preceding day of the week (Sunday, in Fig. 1) from the international date line eastwardly (i. e., in a counter-clockwise direction) around through the standard time zone marked 11 p. m. Fig. 1 illustrates, for example, that when it is 2:14 p. m. Sunday in Chicago it is 5:14 a. m. Monday in Japan.

The actual operation of the clock may now be explained by reference to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, as follows: the shaft of the minute hand, which may be actuated by any ordinary clock movement (at 11, Fig. 2) rotates the minute hand. once every hour, in the-usual continuous clockwise motion. The eccentric cam 9 (Figs. 2 and 3) attached to the minute hand operates to release the lever 10 once every hour, when the minute hand is in the vertical position, the lever 10 'being pulled by the spring ii to rotate the cog- .wheel I 2 in a clockwise direction and thus to advance the hour disk 2 (Figs. 1 and 2) exactly one hour on the even hour. The lever 10 extends beyond the periphery of disc 2 and is pivoted at Illa. to a stationary part of the clock frame (see Fig. 3), and the free end of spring Ii is also anchored to a stationary part 01' the clock irame. On the back oi the hour disk 2 is the eccentric cam II, by means of which, when it is exactly midnight on the international date line, lever M (Fig. 4) is pulled by the spring II to rotate the Wheel II and thus to advance the days-oi-the-week disk (Figs. 5 and 1) one position. These constitute the essential movements of a clock which indicates the time in the twenty-four standard time zones of the world, and the day or the week, around the entire circumierence oi the earth. The same apparatus may be operated rapidly either by motor or by hand instead 01 by an ordinary clock movement, as an educational device and for other purposes.

In order to show better how the days-oi-theweek disk 0 operates it will serve to give the following ilustration. when it is 11:59 a. m. Greenwich time it is, of course, 11:59 p. m. on the 180 meridian, at the vertical position on the map disk, member I. At that moment 11 p. m. on the hour disk 2 is at the vertical position, and the minute hand 4 will point to 59 minutes, nearly vertical. It will be seen that it is Sunday in the left or west longitude" half of the 180 time zone, and Monday all of the rest of the way around the world. At exactly one minute later, namely midnight, the minute hand will pass the vertical position, which will cause the hour disk 2 to advance one hour, which in turn will cause the days-of-the-week disk 6 to advance from Sun.:Mon." to Mon.:Tues." It will be indicated, therefore, in-the "12 midnight" zone, during the whole hour from midnight to 1:00 a. m., that it is Tuesday in the right-hand half of the 180 zone (constituting 1/48 of the circumference of the earth) and Monday around the rest of the earth.

Fig. 6 illustrates a simple embodiment which is to be operated by hand. It consists of only two members, la and 2a. The short stationary ends of the arrows to indicate the days of the week, Ia, which remain at the 180 meridian, are shown here on an extension of the map disk, In, and a hole may be made in the handle-like extension by which to hang the device and thus keep the map oriented in the desired position in which the lettering on the map will always be most readily legible. Such a device may be used to answer any of the questions which may be answered by means of the clockwork-driven device previously described, but it requires, of course, that the hour disk be set at the proper hour for a given place on the earths surface each time the device is used. On the other hand it is more useful than a clockwork-driven device in answering questions relating to past or future time.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate an application to a geographical globe of the features herein set forth and claimed by means of which the days of the week may be ascertained, as well as the hour of the day, in relation to all parts of the earth. In this embodiment the map becomes a globe, l, (partly illustrated in Fig. 7) on which the limits of the standard time zones are indicated. In this case the stationary arrow lb, the ends of which meet at the international date line, completely encircle the earth instead of consisting only of two short ends as on the clock embodiment. The standard time zone dial, shown in Fig. 8, may best be concave toward the globe, and may be manufactured either of transparent or opaque material. On this dial the standard time zones 21; are shown, and on an extension or projection the ends of two arrows 8b are shown, meeting at the line which separates the 11 p. m." and the 12 midnight zones. These arrow ends are made on the same radius, measured from the North Pole, as the continuous circular arrow lb which is imprinted on the globe, so that it always gives the appearance of two separate and distinct arrows in the manner described above in relation to Figs. 1 and 6. This apparent pair of arrows, in association with the names of the two days of the week imprinted on the globe at 8b, makes it feasible to ascertain the day of the week as well as the hour of the day in any part of the world when it is a given day and hour in any other part.

I claim:

1. A device for indicating the standard time in all parts of the world comprising in combination a disk bearing a map of the world showing standard time zones, stationary arrow ends thereon meeting on the 180th meridian, the names of two successive days of the week shown in association with the stationary arrow ends in proper relation to the two days of the week prevailing on opposite sides of the international date line, and a second disk rotatable concentrically in relation to the first disk bearing the numbers of the twenty-four hours of the day and bearing a circular arrow the ends of which meet at the point which represents midnight.

2. In a horological device a circular member which bears the numbers of the twenty-four hours of the day and having formed thereon a continuous arrow with ends meeting at the point indicating midnight, and a separate member bearing portions of two circular arrows of the same radius and operating concentrically with said continuous arrow and being so placed that the ends of the portions of the two arrows meet at the 180th meridian, so as to give the appearance of two separate arrows, one from the 180th meridian measured clockwise around to the midnight point, and the other from the midnight point measured clockwise around to the 180th meridian.

3. In a geographical device, a globe bearing a series of lines thereon indicating the limits of the twenty-four standard time zones and a circular arrow encircling the earth at a convenient parallel of latitude with the two ends thereof meeting at the international date line, the names of two days simultaneously in progress on opposite sides of the international date line shown in close relation to the two aforesaid arrow ends, and in association therewith a dial member bearing the numbers of the twenty-four hours of the day, limits of the zones thereof, and the ends of circular arrows meeting at the midnight point in registry with the circular arrow on said globe.

4. A device for indicating the days in progress around the world comprising in combination, a disk bearing a map of one hemisphere of the world having the pole at the center of the disk, said map having the standard time zones indicated thereon as distinctive sector areas, and a second disk rotatably associated with said first disk and having indicia thereon for indicating the hour in each time zone corresponding to the hour in any particular time zone, said second disk having formed thereon a double-ended circular arrow with opposing heads located at the midnight line, said first disk having an opaque extension along the international date line and extending over said circular arrow on said sec-'- ond disk, said extension having formed thereon opposing arrow heads on said date line in registry with said circular arrow on said second disk, whereby said circular arrow appears to be divided into two arcuate arrows for indicating the different portions of the world in which two different days are in progress.

5. A clock comprising in combination, a stationary disk bearing a map of the world with one pole at the center of the disk, said map having the standard time zones indicated thereon as distinctive sector areas, a second disk relativeiy rotatable with respect to said first disk bearing indicia for indicating the hour in each time zone corresponding to the hour in any particular time zone, a third disk associated with said first diskfor'indicating the two days or the week which are simultaneously in progress at any time, a stationary dial bearing minute divisions'corresponding to one hour, a clock driving mechanism, a minute hand driven by said mechanism and associated with said stationary dial, and means for rotating said second disk by said clock driving mechanism in step-by-step movement, said means being operable to advance said second disk one time zone for each revolution of said minute hand, and means for driving said third disk in step-by-step movement from said second disk, said means being operable to advance said third disk one step for each revolution of said second disk.

6. A device for indicating standard time in all parts of the world comprising in combination, a stationary disk bearing a map of the world with one pole at the center of the disk and the international date line arranged in a vertical position, said map having the standard time zones indicated thereon as distinctive sector areas, a second disk rotatable with respect to said first disk bearing indicia for indicating the hour aosaosa in each time zone corresponding tothe hour in any particular time zone, indicia arranged on said rotatable disk and cooperating with said date line for indicating the standard time zones in which different days are in progress at any given time, and a clock mechanism for-shifting the second disk in step-by-step relation with respect to the stationary disk one complete time zone for each hour and for each step.

7. A clock-comprising in combination, a stationary disk bearing a map of the world with one pole at the center of the disk and the international date line arranged in a vertical position, said map having the standard time zones indi cated thereon as distinctive sector areas, a sec-- ond disk rotatable with respect to said first disk bearing indicia for indicating the hour in each time zone corresponding to the hour in any particular time zone, means on said second disk and cooperating with said international date line for indicating time zones in which different days are in progress at any given time, an adjustable in dicator arranged adjacent the periphery of the stationary disk for indicating the time zone corresponding to any particular locality, a third disk associated with said first disk for indicating the two days of the week which are simultaneously in progress at any time, a stationary dial bearing minute divisions corresponding to one hour, a clock driving mechanism, a minute hand driven by said mechanism and associated with said stationary dial, and means for rotating said second disk by said lock driving mechanism in step-bystep movement, said means being operable to advance said second disk one time zone for each revolution of said minute hand, and means for driving said third disk in step-by-step movement from said second disk, said means being operable to advance said third disk one step for each revolution of said second disk.

SAMUEL WHITTEMORE BOGGS.

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