US798884A - Watch-winding indicator. - Google Patents

Description

No. 798,884. PATENTBD SEPT. 5, 1905. c. E. DE LoNG.

WATCH WINDING INDICATOR.

APPLIGATION FILED :u1u: 15,1804.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

ASSIGNOR TO FRED MCINTYRE, OF

TERRITORY.

SOUTH MCALESTER, INDIAN WATCH-WINDING INDICATOR.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1905.

Application iiled June 15,1904. Serial No. 212,724.

To all roh/0711,' t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. DE LONG, a citizen oi' the United States, residing at South McAlester, Indian Territory, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wvinding-Indicators for Watches, ot' which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of the indicatortrain and the ratchet of a time-train which cooperates therewith. Eig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the ratchet and the arm carrying the gear for imparting reverse motion to the indicator-train. Eig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the indicator-train, part of the ratchet being broken away to indicate the manner in which the actuating-arm is attached thereto. Eig. A is a fragmentary view of one of the intermediate gears and the hollow arbor surrounding the seconds-hand arbor. Eig. 5 is avertical longitudinal sectional view through the mechanism about the seconds-hand arbor. Eig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View through theindicator-train,the arbors beingillustrated in elevation; and Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of a watch constructed in accordance with my invention.

This invention relates to an improvement in timepieces; and itis particularly applicable to use in connection with watches.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an attachment which will constantly indicate the extent to which the mainspring of the timepiece is wound, so that an observer may know not only when the spring is fully wound or when it is run down, but also the extent to which it is wound at any particular moment, the number of hours which have elapsed since rewinding, and when it will require rewinding.

It is the particular -purpose oi' this invention to adapt the improvement to watches as they are now generally constructed.

It is also the purpose of this invention to provide an indicating means which may be operated by a very slight expenditure of power on the part of the usual train or movement to adapt it for application without changing the movement in other respects and to avoid interference thereby with the usual action of the other parts. To this end I provide the indicator element, which is actuated by suitable means cooperating with the winding device, so that the act of winding the mainspring causes the indicator element to be actuated in such a manner that it indicates the extent to which the windingis carried. I preferably arrange the indicator element to cooperate with a graduated scale, so that the winding of the mainspring will cause the indicator clement to move over or pass a graduated scale. As the mainspring runs down the indicator element will receive motion through suitable intermediate gearingfrom the barrel, so that it will gradually be moved backward over the scale toward its original position, indicating the progress of the unwinding action. As certain gearing necessary to transmit motion from the ratchet to the indicator-train is unnecessary Yfor transmitting the reverse motion from the barrel to the indicator, provision is made for throwing such needless gearing automatically out of action as soon as the act of winding ceases or to such a point as would indicate that the watch has been rewound. In fact, provision is made for automatically releasing the motion-transmitting gearing from the ratchet as soon as the winding ceases. This automatic disconnection is best secured by permitting a slight retrograde of the ratchet at the end of the winding action through the medium of the principle of a yielding pawl, which has been in use for many years on iine watches to prevent straining the mainspring, the retrograde motion having the effect ot' automatically carrying the actuating-gear out of engagement with the gear or gears otl the indicator-train.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals oi' reference, the numeral l designates the usual barrel, and 2 designates the arbor therefor. Carried by the arbor and illustrated as being secured on the head 3 thereof is a ratchet 4C, having an undercut hub 5, surrounding which is a yielding split collar 6, terminally secured or formed on one end of a swinging arm 7. The collar is so constructed that under normal conditions its binding tendency will be sufficient to cause it to frictionally engage the undercut hub, so that a movement of the ratchet will impart a movement to the arm. Any resistance to the arm, however, sufficient to arrest its movement will IOO permit the ratchet to rotate irrespective thereof, as will be explained hereinafter.

Carried by the arm 7 is a compound gearwheel 8, having two sets of teeth, (designated as 9 and 10, respectively.) The smaller number ot' teeth actas pinion-teeth and mesh with the peripheral teeth on the ratchet. These teeth 9 are at all times in engagement with those on the ratchet, while the larger number of teeth (designated as 10) are only periodically in engagement with the teeth on one of the wheels of the indicator-train. The compound gear 11 is iixed on an arbor 12 and rotates therewith. This arbor has a bearing at 13 in the top plate ot' the timepiece and a bearing 14 in the bottom plate. Interposed between the top and bottom plates of the timepiece and frictionally sleeved upon the arbor 12 is a slippinion 15. This pinion is provided with depending yielding walls the ends of which are capable or' engaging the grooved portion 16 of the arbor 12, so that under normal conditions said pinion will move with the arbor; but under abnormal conditions the arbor is capable of moving' independently of any movement of the pinion. This slip-pinion is in mesh with the teeth of the barrel-gear and is so disposed that the rotation ot the barrel will impart movement to the pinion, causing the arbor to rotate, carrying with it the compound gear 11. The gear 11 is provided with two sets ot' teeth, (designated by the numerals 17 and 18, respectively.) Those designated by the ret'- erence-numeral 17 are designed to mesh with the teeth 19 on an intermediate gear 20, which is carried by an arbor 21 in the bottom plate of the watch. This arbor 21 has a reduced portion 22, on which is tixedly secured a pinion 23, while the gear 2O is only it'rictionally held to said arbor. As indicated in Fig. 6, the gear 2O rests upon the flange 24; of the arbor 21, and interposed between the gear 2O and the pinion 23 is a tension plate or disk 25, the resiliency of which is suilicient to hold the gear 20 in frictional engagement with the arbor 21 under normal conditions. However, when subjected to undue strain the gear 2O may rotate irrespective of the arbor or its pinion. The indicator-wheel 26 is in mesh with the pinion 23 and is provided with a hub 27, revolubly mounted upon a hollow arbor 28, carried by a plate 29, fixed to the bottom plate of the timepiece. This hollow arbor 28 is concentric with and surrounds the secondshand arbor, (designated by the reference-numeral 30,) on which the seconds hand 31 is secured. The hub 27 of the indicatorwheel 26 is beneath the seconds-hand and carries an indicating element, illustrated as a pointer 32, which is disposed in a depression or recess 33 in the dial 34. Above the depression is a graduated scale indicating the seconds, while in the loor thereof the graduated scale is arranged to cooperate with the indicating-hand, so as to designate the winding condition of the mainspring or, in other words, to clearly show the number of hours elapsing since the timepiece had been wound and the number of hours which it yet had to run. By providing the indicating' element in axial alinement with the arbor oi' the secondshand the indicator can be readily observed and the indicating-wheel may be conveniently positioned within the watehcase without interfering with the remainder of the works.

n Fig. 3 I have illustrated two positions ot' the swinging arm 7. The normal position is shown in full lines, while the dotted lines indicate the abnormal position, or the position which the arm assumes temporarily while the indicator is being returned or, in other words, while the watch is being wound. As heretofore stated, the arm is frietionally secured to the hub of the ratchet, so that the initial movement of the ratchet in winding the watch will carry the arm toward the indicator-train until the arm assumes the position indicated in dotted lines. The terminal projection 35 on the arm is designed to abut against the shoulder 36 in the plate when the initial winding movement of the ratchet takes place, so that the teeth of the meshing gears will be permitted to come into operative engagement, but their intermeshing contact will only be such as to permit one to rotate the other, the teeth ol the respective gears being spaced by this projection so that they will loosely engage, and any tendency to bind will be avoided. Then the operator begins to wind the timepiece, the arm and the compound gear carried thereby will be caused to assume the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and inasmuch as the smaller set of teeth on the gear 8 is continuously in mesh with the teeth ol the ratchet the initial rotative movement of the ratchet will impart a rotative movement to the gear 8, and as soon as the arm has moved over to the position indicated in dotted lines the teeth 1() on the gear 8 will mesh with the teeth 18 on the gear 11 to cause its rotation. The teeth 18 on the gear 11 being constantly in mesh with the teeth 19 on the gear 20, a rotary movement to this gear will be imparted, the friction of the tension device being such that a rotary movement will be imparted to the arbor 21 and to the pinion 22, carried thereby. As a result the teeth on the pinion 23 being in mesh with the teeth on the indicatorwheel a retrograde movement will be imparted to the indicator-wheel, so that the indicator will be moved toward Zero or toward the starting-point. As soon as the operator ceases to wind the timepiece it is necessary that the operating-gear 8 be thrown out of engagement with the indicator-train. This is permitted and accomplished by means or' the spring-pressed pawl 37 which is provided with an elongated slot 38, through which the pin 39 projects. The elongated slot in the pawl permits the retrograde movement of IOO the ratchet for at least a distance equal to the length of the slot, so that at each relaxation of the winding of the mainspring the gear 8 is automatically thrown out of engagement with the indicator-train. After the timepiece has been wound and the indicator moved to the starting-point a movement will be imparted to the indicator-wheel to move the indicator a distance commensurate with the amount of travel ofthe barrel d ue to the running down of the mainspring. rIhis movement will be imparted through the medium of the gear on the barrel, which meshes with the slip-pinion l5 on the arbor l2. The teeth l0 on the gear S are in excess of theteeth 18 on the gear l1. rIhe reason for this is to insure the return of the indicator-hand to Zero when the mainspring is wound. Otherwise the engagement and disengagement of the actuating-wheel with the complementary gear of the train might not cause the hand to be returned to zero. As the arbor is rotated the gear 11 will have a movement imparted thereto in a direction reverse to that imparted during the winding movement, which movement will be communicated to the indicator-wheel through the medium of the train heretofore described. The gear 26 is constructed with a sufcient number of teeth to cause the indicator to travel to Zero,.or its starting-point, but not move beyond the same. The passing of the indicator beyond the starting-point is prevented by leaving a portion of the wheel toothless,` as indicated at 40. For example, suppose the indicator has reached the Zeropoint and the mainspring has not yet been completely wound. The toothless porton 40 in the wheel will cause the pinion 23 to remain stationary, while the rest of the indicatortrain will be permitted to rotate with the ratchet, as explained below, until the complete winding has been effected. As soon as the winding has been completed and the actuating gear-wheel 8 has been released from the train the forward movement of the indicatorwheel will commence.

The only radical departure from the ordinary watch is that the ratchet is somewhat larger in proportion to the time-train than the ratchet usually employed. In order that the ratchet may readily be applied to and detached from the rectangular portion of its arbor, the crown-wheel4l of the winding-train is lowered in the plate so that its periphery will pass beneath the ratchet and so that each element may readily operate without interfering with the other. Of course it is to be understood that I prefer to utilize an indicator pointer or hand in connection with this indicator-wheel; but I also reserve the right to place suitable characters on the wheel, and by providing an opening in the dial, so that these characters will be exposed to View, I may dispense with the hand. I also reserve the right to make such other changes or alterations in this invention such as relate to form, proportion, and minor details of construction and without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. Attention is also directed to the fact that I prefer to employ line teeth on the gears 8 and 11. These teeth besides being tine are pointed, this beingl a distinct departure from the coarse spur-gears used in previous constructions of watches, and the advantage of so arranging these teeth is that the teeth on the opposing gears will automatically engage and disengage in amore efficientmanner than would gears having broad tlat teeth.

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

1. In a winding-indicator for watches, the combination with a barrel-arbor, a ratchetwheel 4 arranged thereon of a swinging arm frictionally mounted on said barrel-arbor, a compound gear mounted on said arm, and in constant mesh with said ratchet-wheel 4, a winding-indicator train including a slip-pinion which is in constant mesh with the timetrain, whereby the down movement is communicated from the time-train to the winding-indicator train, and means whereby when the watch is wound the compound gear engages the winding-indicator train and moves the same on its up movement, the slip-pinion in said winding-indicator train permitting such reverse drive; substantially as described.

2. In a winding-indicator for watches, the combination with a spring-barrel, of a ratchetwheel 4 in the form of a gear, an arbor for said spring-barrel and u pon which said ratchetwheel is arranged, an arm mounted on said arbor and carrying a compound gear at its end, one portion of which is in constant mesh with the ratchet-wheel 4, and the other portion of which is provided with tine teeth, a time-train driven by the spring-barrel, a windingindicator train normally driven by the time-train for driving' an indicator-hand operating over the face of a winding-indicator dial, a compound gear in the winding-indicator train, one portion of which is in constant mesh with said train and the other portion of which is provided with fine teeth adapted to mesh with the line-toothed portion of the firstmentioned compound gear, a slip-pinion in the winding-indicator train, and means whereby when the watch is wound the fine-toothed portions of said compound gears are thrown into mesh so that the indicator mechanism is actuated in a direction opposite to that in lwhich it is driven when receiving motion from the time-train; substantially as described.

3. In a winding-indicator forwatches, the combination with a spring-barrel and its ratchet in the form of a gear, an arbor for said spring-barrel, an arm carrying a compound gear at its end, one portion of which is IOO IIO

in constant mesh with the ratchet-gear of the spring-barrel and the other portion ot' which is provided with line teeth, a time-train driven by the spring-barrel, a winding-indicator train normally driven by the time-train for driving an indicator-hand operating over the face o't' a winding-indicator dial, means for arresting the winding-indicator hand at Zero position, said means permitting the winding-indicator train to receive further motion, in the act of winding the watch, without disturbing the position of said indicator-hand` a compound gear in the winding-indicator train, one portion of which is in constant mesh with said train and the other portion of which is provided with line teeth adapted to mesh with the tine-toothed portion ot' the first-mentioned compound gear, a slip-pinion in the windingindicator train, and means whereby when the Watch is wound the line-toothed portions of said compound gears are thrown into mesh so that the indicator mechanism is actuated in a direction opposite to thatin which it is driven When receiving motion from the time-train; substantially as described.

4f. A winding-indicator for watches having a slip-pinion trictionally engaging its arbor and in mesh with the barrel-teeth of the watch, whereby the pinion may rotate indeliendcntly of the arbor, and an intermediate pinion for the train fixed on the arbor, said arbor 'frictionally engaging the slip-pinion; substantially as described.

5. A winding-indicator for watches including a slip-pinion in engagement with the teeth of the barrel of the watch, an arbor on which the slip-pinion is frictionally mounted, a pinion on one end of the arbor, a second arbor, a pinion on the second arbor in direct mesh with the indicator-wheel, and a wheel in lirictional engagement with the pinion and in constant engagement with the remainder ot' the indicator-train; substantially as described.

In testimony whereotl 1 hereunto aHiX my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 20th day of May, 1904:.

CHARLES E. DE LONG. lVitnesses:

B. F. FUNK, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

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