US2707370A - Temporarily effective alarm stopping mechanism for alarm clocks and the like - Google Patents

Description

y 1955 H JUNGHANS ETAL 2,707,370

TEMPORARILY EFFECTIVE ALARM STOPPING MECHANISM FOR ALARM CLOCKS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 24, 1951 Twas/viva: A/ELMUT flue/Ian's Ann-aw 6C9):

ire drama TEMPQRARlLY EFFEQTEVE ALARM S'FGPPENG MECHANISM FGR (JLQBCKF, AND LIKE Application ()ctoher 24, 13 51 Serial No. 252,332

2. Claims. (Cl. 58 m) The present invention relates to chronometers provided with a release-gear, and more particularly relates to alarm clocks.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a mechanism enabling the release gear to be set to any point of time at any hour. The usual types of alarm clocks do not permit setting the clock e. g. to 6 at six ocloclt in the evening and winding it up immediately, for the socalled alarm fusee or cam resets the click spring to the locking position only after 1 to 1 /2 hours.

The present invention solves this problem by the provision of a. member hereinafter designated as a bridging member and having the purpose of bringing about a premature locking condition, as far as the control members themselves have not restored this condition; the bridging member which is subjected to a retractive force is operatively connected with the control members only for the time of bridging. it has been found to be advantageous to cause the bridging member to cooperate itself with the release gear. Nevertheless the bridging member can also cooperate with one of the control members for the release gear. in a preferred embodiment of the invention for alarm clocks, the bridging member is shaped as a lever rockably mounted on a fixed member and subjected to the influence of a retracting spring, said lever having a deflecting face in order to move the click spring into the locking position, and being provided with a notch for the purpose of engaging with the click spring in the locking position, the click spring to this effect being provided with a nose; the notch has only such depth as to cause the nose to disengage from it for releasing the bridging member, when the controlling means have again been positioned to assume the locking function.

According to a further characteristic of the present invention, the conventional stop mechanism for the alarm may serve to operate the bridging member. This is of advantage in so far as in winding up the alarm at the moment of ringing or shortly afterwards, i. e. at a moment when the alarm fusee or cam has not yet returned the alarm click spring to the locking position, the alarm may be wound up without being sounded merely by previously pressing down the stop. in this way the ridging member will be operated, returning the click spring of the alarm to the locking position and engaging with it. After the click spring has engaged the lever to hold the latter, the step may be immediately released; in the event of a conventional type of stop engaging with a member of the alarm mechanism, it will be automatically released after having been actuated by winding up the alarm, returning to its inoperative position.

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention result from the following description of a preferred embodiment as well as from the accompanying drawing illustrating an embodiment of the invention, omitting for the sake of clarity the conventional mechanism existing in all types of alarm clocks, as far as it is not necessary for the explanation of the invention atet ice

in the drawing:

' l and 2 show a side view and a front view of mechanism for setting, releasing and stopping the a position where the normal controlling means have returned the release gear to the locking position;

Figures 3 4 show in a manner similar to Figures 1 and 2 the position where immediately after the release of the alarm the release spring is locked by the bridging member according to the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 2 and on an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the front plate of the alarm mechanism bearing the adjusting rod or spindle 2 of the alarm; 3 indicates the alarm wheel or gear having a bushing or hub 3a which is rotatable and axially movable on the rod or spindle 2. An alarm fusee or cam #5 is fixed on the gear or wheel 3 and engages an alarm pin :3 projecting from the rod 2. The illustrated structure also includes an alarm click spring 6 having a lateral projection st, which prevents movement of the alarm hammer when the spring 6 is moved toward the front plate 1. The spring 6 is disposed between plate ii and alarm gear 3 and is yieldably urged in the direction toward the latter.

Furthermore, the alarm clock contains a stop mechanism of the kind disclosed in United States Letters Patent in. 2,235,586, issued March 18, 1941 to Helmut Junghans, and which comprises a stop button 7 having a stud 8 eugageable from above with a stop lever 9, pivoted at 9n, and a stop ari ii secured to the shaft 10 carrying the usual hammer ltiu. Stop arm 11 is provided with a latch lla engagesble with the stop lever 9, as shown in Fig. As in the device disclosed in the above identified patent, a pallet lever 13 is secured to shaft 10 and engages escapement wheel 41 which is suitably driven by an alarm spring 15 (Fig. 4), and an unwinding lock 16 preferably extends from stop arm 11 and projects into the path of unwinding of the convolutions of spring 15 so that, when the alarm spring is unwound to a predetermined exteut, it engages loci: i6 and thereby prevents further rocking of shaft 10 to stop the operation of hammer In addition to these parts that are necessary for a normal operation of the alarm, a bridglever 12 is re ably mounted outside the front plate 1 for swinging about the pivot 17. The bridging member is under tne influence of a torsion spring 18 (Fig. 2) tending to lift it upwards i. e. in the direction of the stop button. The bridging lever is provided with a tongue 12a bent at a right angle, to be engaged from above by the stop lever 9 so that it will be moved when the stop lever is pressed down. The forward end 12b of the bridging lever is within reach of the upper bend of the alarm click spring 6 and the latter provided with a nose 6!), the lever end 12b having an inclined face and a notch 12d (Fig. 5). The inclined face at the lever end 121) is intended to engage the nose 6!) for moving the click spring in the direction toward the front plate when the bridging lever is pressed down, and the notch 12d is operative to receive the nose oh, so that the spring 6 prevents upward movement of the lever 12 so long as the nose 6!: is engaged in the notch 12d. The bridging lever 12 is closely adjacent to the front face of the front plate It so as to move the nose 6a of the click spring 6 into the locking position, i. e. into the same position into which the cam cooperating with the pin 5 moves the click spring when the cam is disposed so that the pin 5 rides on the straight portion of the earn; as is known, the nose 6a in the loclting position is beneath (occasionally above) the stop arm 11 at the hammer rod 10 (see Figures 1 and 2).

The mechanism operates as follows:

(1) Control by the alarm cam This function being known, it may only be mentioned that when the clock is running down the alarm wheel 3 is turned. When the alarm wheel or gear 3 has been turned to position the recessed part of the cam surface for reception of the pin 5, the gear and spring 6 move away from plate 1 to release the alarm. The release having taken place (Figure 3), it will still take 1 to 1 /2 hours until the alarm wheel 3 and the alarm cam have been turned to such a degree that the pin advances along the inclined face 4a until arriving on the fiat portion (Figure 1) for again disposing the spring 6 in its locking position. Only in this relative position of the alarm pin and the alarm cam will the click spring 6 be moved by the bushing 3a of the alarm gear towards the front plate 1 so that the nose 6a can lock the stop arm 11.

(2) Bridging In order to stop the alarm at the moment of release or shortly thereafter (Figure 3), i. e. at a time when the regular controlling means 4, 5 are still unable to effect stopping, the bridging lever 12 is pressed down by means of the button 7, 8, through the stop lever 9. By reason of such downward movement of lever 12, the inclined face 12c engages the click spring 6, at the nose 6b of the latter, and advances the click spring nose 6a inwards in the direction of the front plate 1. The bridging lever 12 being further pressed down, the nose 6!) enters the notch 12d and both parts 6, 12 now resiliently engage each other to resist upward movement of the bridging lever. in this position the nose 6a of the alarm click spring 6 is in its normal stopping position, i. e. it stands in the path of the stop arm 11 on the hammer rod 10. The stop button 7 can be immediately released and the alarm wound up, so that the stop lever 9 disengages the pawl lie at the hammer rod 10 and is free from the spring and moves upwards.

As is apparent from Figures 1 and 3, the engagement of the bridging lever 12 and the alarm click spring 6 is maintained only as long as the alarm cam 4 has not reached a position in which the pin 5 rides on a flat portion of the cam. As soon as this has taken place, the alarm click spring 6 will be advanced towards the front plate by the alarm gear 3, i. e. the cam 4 is able to disengage the nose 6]) from the notch 12d (Figure 1), with the result that at the end of the bridging period of about 1 to 1 /2 hours the engagement of the nose 6b in the notch 12d ceases and the bridging lever 12 is returned to its initial position (not shown) by its associated retracting spring. From this moment on the regular controlling means of the alarm (the cam 4, pin 5 and associated elements) effect the stopping and releasing operation.

What we claim is:

1. In an alarm clock having an alarm hammer shaft carrying a pallet lever for cooperative engagement with a spring driven escapement wheel to produce oscillation of the alarm hammer shaft; the combination of permanent shut-cit means including a latch on the alarm hammer shaft, an alarm stopping lever rockable between operative and inoperative positions and resiliently l urged toward said inoperative position, and alarm stopping means for displacing said stopping lever to its operative position in which the latter is engageable with said latch to resist oscillation of the alarm hammer shaft, said latch being disengageable from said stopping lever in its operative position during winding-up of the spring driving the escapement wheel; alarm timing means including a stop arm extending from the alarm hammer shaft, a click spring having a portion engageable with said stop arm to prevent oscillation of the alarm hammer she", said click spring being resiliently urged to a position freeing said portion from the stop arm, an axially shiftable gear wheel for rotation by the clock mechanism, a hub rotatable with said gear wheel and having a trip shoulder and a cam portion thereon, an angularly adjustable, time-setting trip finger alternately engageable with said shoulder and cam portion to axially urge said gear wheel in the direction displacing said click spring into engagement with said stop arm when said linger engages the trip shoulder and to free said gear wheel for axial movement by said click spring to a position freeing the latter for disengagement from said stop arm when said finger engages said cam portion; and temporary shut-off means including a rockably mounted bridging lever movable between an operative position in which it etfects interlocking engagement with said click spring and displaces the latter into engagement with said stop arm and an inoperative position in which it is spaced from said click spring, and

means on said bridging lever engageable by said stopping lcver during rocking of the latter to its operative position to effect displacement of said bridging lever to its operative position in interlocking engagement with said click spring,

said bridging lever being released from said click spring when the latter is displaced by axial movement of the gear wheel as a result of engagement of said finger with said trip shoulder.

2. In an alarm clock; the combination according to claim 1, further including means for resiliently urging said bridging lever to said inoperative position of the latter, and wherein said click spring has a nose projection thereon and said bridging lever is formed with an inclined surface engageable with said nose projection during initial contact of said bridging lever with the click spring to displace the latter into engagement with said stop arm, and a notch adjacent said inclined surface to receive said nose projection during further movement of said bridging lever to its operative position so that said nose projection then holds said bridging lever in its operative position.

Relierences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 919,892 Lapham Apr. 27, 1909 1,088,381 Treganza Feb. 24, 1914 1,181,180 Stephenson May 2, 1916 1,199,858 Bailey Oct. 3, 1916 2,235,580 lunghans Mar. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 104,970 Germany Aug. 17, 1899

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