US322297A - James lamont - Google Patents

Description

' (No Model.)

J. LAMONT.

WATCH KEY ANDfPENDANT.

Patented July 14, 1885.

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JAMES LAMONT, CF SAG HARBOR, NEl/V YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE FAIIYS \VATCH CASE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

WATCH KEY AND PENDANT.

bPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,297, dated July 1 1835.

Application filed November 24, 1884.

To all whom it may con/own:

Be it known that I, Janus LAMONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sag Harbor, New York, have invented certain new 5 and useful Improvements in Combined Watch Keys and Cases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates, broadly, to that class of watches which employ a key for winding,

IO in contradistinetion to stem-winding watches,

and, specifically, to a convenient and economical mode of combining the key with the case in such a manner that the said key may be easily attached to and removed from the case,

and also, in the instance of a hunting-case, be utilized as a push-pin, as will be described.

To these ends my invention consists of a key constructed at one end to simulate a stemwinding watch, and at the other end made in the form of an ordinary watch-key having upon the periphery of the shank and intermediate between these two portions a screwthread, which is adapted to turn in a corresponding screw situate in the interior of the 2 5 hollow watch-pendant. In the case of an openface watch the threaded portion is placed immediately beneath the head of the key, so that when said key is inserted in the hollow pendant, and after being turned so that the threaded o portions engage and the key assumes its normal position, the cap of the key will fit over the pendant and form a closure and terminus for the same. This arrangement, besides affording a harbor for the key and relieving the 3 5 wearer from the necessity of constantly cleaning it, and disposing also of the danger of losing or inislaying it, improves the general appearance of the watch. I11 the instance of a huntingcase the threaded portion of the shank is somewhat removed from the upper end or cap of the key, the intervening space servingas a sliding portion when the key is used as a pushpiece to open the front of the watch-case.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

4 5 Figure 1 represents a section through a watchcase, the improved key being shown in its normal position in an open-face watch. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a hunting-case through the plane of the case-spring, illustrating the position and omce of the key as a push-piece.

A represents an ordinary watohcase pro- (IIo model.)

vided with a pendant, B, having conical or beveled head or portion G. This pendant is hollow, as shown at I). The bow C terminates in the sockets Din the customary enlarged 5 portion of the pendant. Within the hollow pendant B, I form a threaded portion, as shown at the upper terminus of said pendant,

so that when the key is inserted therein the connection between the key and pendant will be immediately established.

In the instance of an open-face watch the key is constructed as follows: The main stem or shank H,which constitutes the key proper, is provided with an enlarged portion, L,which rests and turns in the corresponding enlarged portion of the hollow pendant B b. The outer end of the key H L is furnished with a cap,

M, as shown in Fig. l, and immediately underneath this cap is a screw-thread, N. It will be seen, therefore, that when the key is inserted in the pendant and turned sufficiently so that the threaded portions may engage, it can be screwed down so as to completely 0ocupy the hollow portions Z) of the pendant, the cap M fitting over the conical or beveled head and covering the opening of the said pendant B. This represents the improved watch-key in its normal position within the watch-case pendant. Vhen it is desired to wind the watch, the operation above described is reversed and the key removed, to be returned again at the end of the winding process.

Referring now to Fig. 2, I show a modification of the above, and illustrate its application to a hunting-case watch. In this form the shank H is made somewhat longer to fulfill the conditions of a push-piece, as shown, and the screw-threaded portion N is somewhat 9 removed from the cap, so that after the key is inserted and turned sufficiently for the thread I to pass beyond the corresponding thread on the interior of the hollow pendant it will be capable of a limited longitudinal movement sufficient to enable the key being pushed in far enough to establish a contact with an ordinary case-spring, I. In this way the front of my hunting-case watch may be opened in a manner similar to a stem-winding Ioo watch.

The normal position of my improved key when applied to a hunting-case watch is shown in Fig. 2. In this instance the smooth neck R of the shank, situated between the screwthreadN and the cap M, lies contiguous to the threaded portion of the pendant, which construction permits of the longitudinal movement before referred to, and at the same time the relative position of the threads prevents the key from accidental removal from the aforesaid pendant and watch-ease.

The construction I have shown and de scribed forms a neat and efficacious means of combining a key with the case itself, and is therefore of considerable value, for the reasons hereinbefore adduced. I am aware, however, that broadly it is not new to effect a combination of these parts, as various methods have been shown and claimed in previous patents. I am aware also that it is not new to screw the detachable key into a nut, the latter being adapted to slide longitudinally in a hollow pendant for opening the front ofa watclrcase. Such a device is old, as, also, are

its modifications,whieh employ a key with an interior threaded portion acting in conjune tion with a pendant having an exterior screw These forms are so bulky that they thread.

are unmarketable and practically valueless. The bayonet groove and stud have also been employed in this connection without success, inasmuch as the easy and accidental detachment of the parts rendered them useless.

My invention seeks to dispense with all the fatal objections adhered to in former patents, and to produce a combined watch case and key which shall at once be commercially available and at the same time be free from the danger of being lost by accidental removal.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of a pendant having a conical or beveled head and an opening threaded on the interior at the outer end, a removable key having an enlarged portion formed integral therewith provided with aserew-threzul to engage the pendant-thrcad, a cap to seat on the head and close the opening, and an intermediate sliding portion.

JAMES LAMONT.

Vi tnesses:

Tnos. F. Bisooon, Bnnnixnno LYON.

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