US2536237A - Clock - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 2, 1951 w. F. THOMPSON 2,536,237

CLOCK Filed April 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l In uentor William fe' Thompson Jan. 2, 1951 w. F. THOMPSON CLOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. April s, 1947 Wil/iam Thompson Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES aTENT OFFICE CLOCK` William Thompson,l Philadelphia, Pa. ppiia' plil 8, 1947, Serial N0. 740,047

1 Claim.

This inventicnrelates to new and useful improvements and". structuralrenements in clocks, more specifically, electric wall clocks, and the principal. object of the invention is to provide a deviceof the character herein described. wherein an indicator handv equipped at the opposite ends thereof with day and night indicating characters is movable with respect to a substantially semi- Ycircular time indicating dial, whereby the antemeridian and post-meridian hours of the day may be readily identified.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide a clock which is exceptionally novel and pleasing in appearance' since, in effect, it simulates a porthole of a ship and provides representations of scenery such as may be visible through said porthole.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clock which may `be automatically illuminated during the hours of darkness.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a clock which is simple in construction and which will readily lend itself to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects in view and such other objects as may become apparent as this specification` proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the construction and arrangement of parts as shown in the accompanying drawings in which: o y

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the inf vention, the same being shown partially broken away to rev'eal its construction;

Figure 2-is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane. of the line 2--2 inlFigurer 1.;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional' view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3 3 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a front perspective view of an oscillating center plateA used in the invention and of means for oscillating the same; d

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an electric switch and cam, and;

Figure 6`r is a ptempestiver view of an indicator hand used in the invention.

Like characters of reference are used-to designate like parts in the specification and throughout theseveral views. A

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a clock designated generally by the referencer character It, the saine embodying' in its construction a pair of half sections H, l2' coacting to forma disclike housing I`3" which is preferably adapted for mounting upon-a wall in any suitable manner.

The housing i3 simulates the appearance of a porthole of a ship, for the furtherance of which effort it may be provided with a suitable hinge Hand vwith a securing handle assembly l5. In effect, the hinge Hl and the handle assembly I5 2 may be employed for attaching the housing sections Il, l2 together in such manner that they may be opened when access to the interio'rof the housing is to be had.

The front surface of the housing section' l2 provides what may b'e called a face plate I8, this in turn, being formed with a circular opening lil'. The upper half of the plate IG is inscribedadjacent the edge of the opening il with suitable time mark-ing graduations as is indicated inY Fig-'- ure 1, the graduations constituting what may be referred to as a semi-circular dial I8. The a1"- rangement of thisrdial will be hereinafter more fully described.

Av suitable electric motor I3 is provided in' the housing i3, this motor being secured as indicated at 2li to amounting plate' 2l` which, in turn-,.- is rigidly secured to the housing section l las at 22.

The mountingplate 2l is equipped` with a center bolt 23l and the latter carries a stationary back plate 24 having asubstantially circular configuration. This plate is disposed behind the openingl il and is spaced with respect to the face plate I6, as is bestV shown in` Figure 2';

The aforementioned center bolt 23 carries a rotatable sleeve 25 having a substantially hexag'- onal cross-sectional configuration, which sleeve, in turn, is provided with a gear 26,-a-ca1`n 2T and with an indicatorv hand 28. K

In other words, rotation of the sleeve 25 will result in aI simultaneous rotation of the' parts 26, 2l,r 28. The indicator hand 2B is provided sub*n stantially at the center thereof with an enlarged boss 29 whereby the mounting of the hand upon the sleeve 25 is facilitated, while the end portions of the hand are angulated inwardly around thev marginal edges of the back plate 24, asindicated at 30; A day indicating character and a night indicating character are secured to the inwardly angulatedI end portions of the handE 25, these characters being represented by a sunshapedv ligure 3l and a moon-shaped 'gure 32 respectively.

A substantially s'emicircular', oscillating center plate 33 is positioned between the aforementioned plates |124, the plate 33' being supported and oscillated by an' arm 31% which'. is formed integrally withy the plate, as is best shown in Figures 2 and 4.. It widV be notedthat'the`v plate 33 and the arm 34 are mutually spaced and the free extremity of the arm isY freely pivoted on theY aforementioned center bolt 2S.

The arm 34 together with the plate 33 are oscillated by means of av cam 35 secured 'to a shaft 3S, the cam 35 being engaged by a cranklike follower arm if?v which, in turn, actuatesa further crank or arm 38. The latter is operY atively connected: toD the aforementioned arm Sli by means of a link- 3S, and it will beI found that rotation of thev cam 35 will produce an oscillating movement of the plate 33. A'suitable 3 spring 40, anchored at the extremities thereof to the plate 2| and to the arm 34, is employed for maintaining the follower 31 in engagement with thecam 35, as will be readily understood.

The shaft 36 is driven through the medium of suitable gearing (not shown) yby the motor I9 and l the shaft (36) also carries a gear 4| which meshes with the aforementioned gear 26. Accordingly, rotation of the motor I9 will not only produce an oscillating movement of the plate 33, but will also result in a rotating movement of the indicator hand 29.

The aforementioned cam 21 is engaged by a conductors 41 are, of course, in circuit with the f motor, more specically, with the conductors 49, whereby supply of current to the lamp 48 through the switch contacts 45, 46 is provided.

The front surface of the plate 33 is painted as shown in Figure 1 to represent the scenes such as would be visible through the porthole opening and to further enhance the realistic effect, the upper edge portion of the plate 33 may be provided With a projectionwhich, when painted, would represent a ship on the sea.

Furthermore, appropriate backgrounds for the ship are provided by the plate 24 which represent the sky.

Accordingly, when the invention is placed in use, the sky representation upon the plate 24 will, of course, remain stationary, while an oscillating movement of the sea and ship represented by `the plate 33 and projection 50 will be provided by the cam 35 in the manner already described.

' Therefore, when the invention is used as shownv in Figure 1, the rocking movement of the sea andvship will present unusual and novel visual effect, as will be readily appreciated. if'

Simultaneously, rotary motion will be imparted f to the indicator hand 29, whereby the sun 3| and the moon 32 will be brought selectively and exclusively into position adjacent the dial I8. That is to say, when the sun 3| is disposed adjacent the dial, the moon 32 will be hidden below vthe sea, more specifically, behind the plate 33;

A similar remark may, of course, be applied to the sun when the moon is disposed adjacent the dial. Accordingly, rotation of the hand 29 will create the appearance of a rising and setting sun and of a rising and setting moon, this being considered with respect to the horizon represented by the upper edge of the plate 33.

The aforementioned dial I8 includes a pair of diametrically opposed graduations 5| which represent corresponding ante-meridian and post-meridian hours of the day, preferably 6:00 A. VM. and 6:00 P. M., substantially as shown. The portion on the dial between the graduations is divided into intervals marking the successive hours (and minutes, if desired) of the day, the hour of 12:00 (noon or midnight) being disposed at the zenith of the dial.

A It may be assumed that the sun 3| rises on the left hand side of the clock and after emerging above the upper edge of the plate 33, the relative position of the sun will progressively indicate the time of the day with respect to the graduations on the dial |8. As shown in Figure 1, the hour of the day is approximately 1:15 P. M. In due course, the sun 3| will set on the right hand side of the dial and simultaneouly, the moon 32 will rise on the left hand side, in order to indicate the time at night.

It will be also noted that the configuration and position of the cam 2l is such that the points 45, 46 are in contact While the moon 32 is present adjacent the dial I8, whereby the clock will be illuminated automatically between the hours of 6:00 P. M. and 6 00 A. M., as will be understood.

It may be also explained that the hand knob 52 is employed for setting the indicator hand of the clock in the conventional manner.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparent fromz the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a clock, the combination of a, housing affording a face plate provided with a circular opening, a frame in said housing, a motor carried by said frame and having a drive shaft, a driven shaft rotatably journaled in the frame coaxially with said opening and operatively connected to said drive shaft, an indicator hand secured to the driven shaft, an oscillatory limb pivotally mounted on the driven shaft rearwardly of said hand and having a forwardly extending free end portion, a semi-circular panel secured at its arcuate edge to the free end portion of said limb and disposed between said hand and said face plate concentrically with said opening, a cam secured to said drive shaft, a double arm crank pivoted to said frame and having a first arm in operative engagement with said cam, a link pivoted to the second arm of said crank and to an intermediate portion of said limb whereby said panel may be oscillated by rotation of said drive shaft, and resilient means for urging the first arm of said crank in engagement with said cam.

WILLIAM F. THOMPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 391,271 Phelps Oct. 16, 1888 508,467 Clark Nov. 14, 1893 666,381 Gareau Jan. 22, 1901 723,489 Rosenbusch Mar. 24, 1903 1,216,556 Faiella Feb. 20, 1917 1,517,174 Schmidt Nov. 25, 1924 1,989,584 Biedenfeld Jan. 29, 1935 2,091,205 Johnson Aug. 24, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,465 Switzerland Feb. 7, 1893 40,797 Switzerland July 22, 1907 l 84,473 Switzerland July 17, 1919 743,618 France Jan. l0, 1933

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