US484236A - Wilson e - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

W. E. PORTER.

ALARM CLOCK.

Patented Oct. 11,189Zr 111: may: Penna cc, moTo-m'mx, mummwu, n, c, I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON E. PORTER, OF NE? HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEV HAVEN CLOCK COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ALARM-CLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,236, dated October 1 1, 1892.

Application filed May 31, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILSON E. PORTER, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Inn 5 provement in Alarm-Clocks; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

to and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure l, a view in front elevation of the time mechanism of an eight-day clock containing my invention; Fig. 2, a view thereof [5 in vertical section on the line a b of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a similar view of the time mechanism of a tWenty-four-hour clock containing my invention; Fig. et, a detached view, in front elevation, of the cone of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a detached view, in side elevation, to show the elevated position of the inner end of the lever M just after the cone has been jumped forward consequent upon being released by the presentation of the drop of the cam-sleeve F to the pin E which is driven by the movement; Fig. 6, a similar view showing the depressed position of the inner end of the said lever when the cone is pushed back by the action of the said pin 0 upon the cam-sleeve.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of alarm-clocks in which the alarm mechanism is organized independently of the time mechanism which releases it through the 3 5 medium of a wire or cord, forming their only connection,the object being to produce a device simple and durable in construction, adapted to be set not only with case, but also so as to go off on the minute instead of somewhere about a predetermined time, which is an objection to many of the alarnrclocks now in use.

With these ends in view my invention consists in an alarm-clock having certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the hand A, by which the alarm is set, is se- Serial No. 434,857. (No model.)

cured to the outer end of a sleeve C, frictionally mounted within the central opening of the dial B and made sufficiently large to clear the socket D of the hour-wheel D of the time mechanism. As shown in the said figures of the drawings, the dial is provided with a concentric alarm-dial B, graduated in some approved manner that will readily e11- able the hand A to be set as desired. I have shown the said dial B, graduated from 1 to 12 and from l to 12 again; but this graduation may give way to any other found to be more convenient; or, if preferred, the hand A may be made long enough to be set in conjunction with the regular graduations of the dial. As shown in the said figures of the drawings, the inner end of the sleeve C is furnished with a pinion E, which meshes into a wheel E, having a sleeve E carrying a radially-arranged pin E The said hand, pinion, wheel, sleeve, and pin are normally at rest, being moved only when the hand is manually adjusted. In this respect the hand A, by which the alarm is set, is different from the alarm-dial extensively employed heretofore for setting alarm mechanisms and mounted upon the socket of the hour-wheel, and therefore rotating therewith. The said pin E co-operates with the camedge of a sleeve-cam F, which is combined with a wheel G and a cone H, the said wheel G being rotated once in every twenty-four hours, and thereto meshing into a pinion I of half its number of teeth, mounted on the socket D of the hour'wheel D, before mentioned. The combined sleeve-cam, wheel, and cone are mounted upon a stud J, having bearing in the front plate K of the movement, and also supporting the wheel E. A spiral spring L, interposed between the outer face of the said plate and the cone H, exerts a constant effort to move the described combined part laterally on the stud J and force the edge of the cam-sleeve F into contact with the pin The said cone H is engaged by the inner end of the lifting-leverM, which is pivoted to the said movement-plate by a pivot M and connected by a wire N, attached to its outer end, with the alarm mechanism, which may be of any approved construction, but which isnot shown herein.

By employing a cone to co-operate with the lifting-lever it will be apparent that the character of their engagement is made entirely independent of the position of the cam-sleeve and pin. In this respect my invention is to be distinguished from prior alarm mechanisms in which the lifting-lever has been engaged with the edge of a snail-cam, which as it is rotated presents an irregular edge to the said lifting-lever.

In operating my improved alarm mechanism as above constructed the hand A is set by means of the inner or outer circle of graduations on the dial, whereby the pin E is changed in position with relation to the edge of the cam-sleeve F,driven by the time mechanism. W'hen now the said time mechanism brings the drop of the cam-sleeve under the pin, the spring L will throw the combined part forward and permitthe inner end of the lifting-lever to rise, whereby its outer end falls and releases the alarm mechanism.

The foregoing description applies to the application of my invention to that class of alarm-clocks which with one winding sound the alarm for a plurality of days, and which therefore require that the alarm be released only once in twenty-four hours, wherefore the cone must be located to one side of the center arbor of the clock. To this class of clocks belong, for instance, eight-day alarmst'. 12., clocks that alarm eight successive days without rewinding. On the other hand,inadapting my invention to one-day alarms-that is, alarms that only go off once for onewindingand whether applied to clocks that run one, eight, or any other number of days, the cone is mounted on the center arbor and is rotated once in twelve hours. In the class of clocks last mentioned that is no objection, as the alarm runsdown in one sounding, so that the tripping of the alarm after it has once gone off is of no effect unless it has been wound. In these clocks care must of course be used in setting and winding the alarm, so that it will not go off too soon and in the early-evening instead of the early-morning hours. A clock of this class is shown by Figs. 3 and l of the drawings. The alarm is set by alarge hand 0, secured to the outer end of a camsleeve 0', frictionally mounted in the central opening of the dial and made large enough to clear the socketPof the hour-wheel, which is not shown, the inner end of the said sleeve being cammed. The cone Q, which is mounted on the center arbor with a capacity for lateral movement thereon, has an annular recess Q formed in its outer face, as shown by Fig. at of the drawings, to receive the inner end of the said cam-sleeve, a pin (1 being lo cated within the said recess to cooperate with the said end of the sleeve. AcollarR, mounted on the socketPof the hour-wheel and having bearing against the outer face of the front movement-plate S, is furnished with a forwardly-projeoting pin R, which enters an opening 0", formed in the cone, whereby the cone and collar are coupled together for the rotation of the former with the said socket. A spring T, interposed between the collar and cone, moves the same laterally 011 the socket and keeps its pin Q in engagement with the cammed edge of the sleeve 0. This construction also calls for a lifting-lever correspondin g to the lever shown in Fig. 1, but not shown in this figure. As the operation of this modified construction is the same in principle as the operation already described, it will not be detailed.

A11 alarm mechanism having a hand is very much more readily set than an alarm mechanism employing a dial-wheel, which must be grasped by the tips of the fingers, and is so tightly frictioned upon the socket of the hourwheel that itturns with difficulty. Moreover, a much closer setting of the mechanism may be secured by means of a hand than by means of a wheel which it is difficult to turn so as to bring any figure upon it into exact alignment with any graduation upon the face of the dial.

In the construction shown by Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the pin is connected with the alarm setting hand, while the sleeve cam, which co-operates with the pin, is driven by the time mechanism. It will be observed, on the other hand, thatin the construction shown by Figs. 3 and 4; of the drawings the pin is driven by the time mechanism and the sleevecam connected with the hand. It will thus be seen that a reversal of those parts in position does not affect my invention. I would therefore have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown and described, but hold myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a time mechanism and a dial, of a hand frictionally mounted in the central opening of the latter, a cone driven by the said mechanism and movable on its shaft, a pivotal lifting-lever engaging with the said cone, a sleeve-cam, a pin to cooperate therewith, one being connected with the said cone and the other with the said hand, and a spring for moving the cone in one direction on its shaft, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a time mechanism and a dial, of ahand frictionally mounted in the central opening of the latter, a pinion connected with the said hand, a wheel. meshing into the said pinion and constructed with a sleeve carrying a radially-arranged pin, a

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 1o ing witnesses.

VILSON E. PORTER.

Vitnesses:

FRED C. EARLE, GEORGE D. SEYMOUR.

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