US1485739A - Automatic winder for timepieces - Google Patents

Description

March 4 1924. 1,485,739

E. L. THOMAS AUTOMATIC WINDER FOR TIMEPIECES Filed June 12, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Iva/671707 J7 7-71) rn y- March 4 1924. 1,485,739

E. L. THOMAS AUTOMATIC WINDER FOR TIMEPIECES Filed June 12, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

EDWIN L. THOMAS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

. AUTOMATIC WINDER FOR TIEMEPIECES;

Application filed June 12, 1922. Serial No. 567,566.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN L. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of Xew iork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Winders for Timepieces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanical winding device for automatically rewinding a time piece, such as a clock, by power derived from a constantly rotating element, as for instance the main driving shaft of a speedometer operatively connected with the driving mechanism of an automobile.

it is now a common practice to incorporate a clock in the same casing which contains the mechanism of a speedometer, roadonicter, etc, forming part of the equip ment of such vehicles, but as these clocks have been only provided with the conventional hand winding device, they are often neglected and this renders them useless for the purpose intended.

The object of this invention is to pro vide simple, efficient and reliable means whereby a clock will be automatically rewound when the same has run down to a predetermined extent by power derived from the speedometer driving shaft or other available source and thus relieve the attendant of this duty and ensure maintenance of correct time.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a speedometer equipped with my invention. Figure 2. is a rear elevation of the same. Figure 3 is a side elevation thereof, partly in section. Figure 1 is a sectional rear elevation, on an enlarged scale, showing the parts of my improvements in position for rewinding the main-spring by power. Figure 5 is a similar view. showing the parts in the position which they occupy when rewinding of the main sprin has been completed. Figure 6 is a vertical section taken on line 66, Fig. 5. Figures 7 and 8 are horizontal sections taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 5. Figure 9 is a horizontal section taken on line 99, Fig. 6.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings my invention is shown in connection with a speedometer as an example of one way in which the same may be installed but it is to be understood that the same mayv be operated either directly or indirectly from anyavailable shaft or moving part of other kinds of vehicles or apparatus, such for instance as the revolvingshaft of an automobile, motor cycle, locomotive, aeroplane or motor boat. I

In the drawings, the main frame or casin of the speedometer is generally, represented by the numeral 10 upon which the various working parts of the speedometer and clock are mounted. 11 represents the registering. mechanism of the speedometer which may be of any suitable construction and isdriven from any suitable moving part of theantomobile by a driving shaft 12 which rotates constantly so long as-the automobile is running. 13 represents themain spring of the clock which is of the usual spiral form and connected at its inner end with a winding shaft lt having a squareend 15 for thereception of a key while its outer end isconnected with a cylindrical casing 16 having.

a gear rim 17 whereby. thepower of this spring is transmitted to the mechanismof the clock which is'to be driven, .18 represents a ratchet wheel secured to the winding shaft and 19 a detent pawl engaging with the teeth of the ratchet wheel'for the purpose of permitting-the same to only turn forwardly in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7, but preventing" the same'from turning backwardly. This detentpawl turns on a pin 20 and is yieldingl held with its, tooth in engagement with t e ratchet; Wheel awl with by a spring 21 connecting the rdina'rily,

the pivot pin on-which it turns:

this detent pawl is mounted on a stationary partof the clock, such'as the frame, butin the present case the same is mounted'on a" tension lever 22 which turns loosely'at its inner end on the winding shaft and is 'con nected with a shifting spring 23 which tends to turn the tension lever in a direction opposite to that which the same tends to turn under the action of themain-spring. The power of thisshifting spring may be exerted on the tension lever in any suitable} manner, for instance, as shownin the 'draw' ings, by connecting one endof this spring to a shifting rod 24 which is *pivot'allyeon nected with thetension lever while th'e'other end of the shifting spring is connected with the enclosing casing orfrarne'.

25 represents'an"intermediate gear when" which meshes with the ratchet wheel and is secured to an intermediate shaft 26 j ournaled on the main frame. 27 represents a countershaft arranged at right angles to the intermediate shaftand operatively connected therewith by intermeshing bevel gear wheels 28, 529, secured respectively to one end of the countershaft and the adjacent part of the intermediate shaft, as best shown in Fig. 6. This countershaft may be journaled in a bearing 30 on the main frame or any other approved manner.

32 represents an intermittently driven gear wheel arranged axially in line with the countershaft and preferably journaled by engaging a trunnion 31 on one end of its hub with cylindrical bearing 33 on that end of the countershaft opposite to its gear wheel 28, and a trunnion 3% on the opposite end of said hub and turning in a bearing 35 on the main frame. This driven gear wheel is engaged on one side by a mutilated dri'ving gear pinion 36 which is secured to the continuously turning driving shaft of the speedometer, which pinion has a section of its teeth removed for about one-quarter of its periphery, so that during each rotation of the mutilated pinion the same will produce a partial turn of the driven intermittent gear wheel and then permitthe latter to remain at rest for a short perio the ratio of said pinion and gear wheel being preferably one turn of the pinion to four of the ear wheel.

The intermittent gear wheel and countershaft are adapted to be coupled and uncoupled by a clutch which may be of any suitable construction, but preferably by the clutch which is shown in the drawings and which comprises a longitudinally-movable clutch sleeve 37 connected by a spline 38 with the countershaft so as to be compelled to turn therewith but free to slide lengthwise thereon and provided at one end with clutch jaws or lugs 39 which are adapted to engage and disengage with corresponding clutch jaws or lugs 40 on the adjacent end of the hub of the intermittent gear wheel. This clutch sleeve is moved lengthwise by a clutch lever 50, preferably of forked construction, pivoted at one end on the main frame and connected at its opposite end by the shifting rod 2% with the tension lever, while its intermediate part is provided with shoes or lugs 41 engaging with opposite sides of the periphery 42 of the clutch sleeve between collars 43, e arranged at opposite ends of the clutch sleeve and spaced apart a greater distance than the length of said shoes.

The clutch sleeve is frictionally held in the position in which the same is disengaged from the intermittent gear wheel by means which yieldingly restrain its movement toward this gear wheel until a predetermined pressure has been applied to overcome the same and cause the same to move suddenly into engagement with this gear wheel. The preferred means for this purpose shown in the drawings comprise a restraining recess 45 arranged in the periphery of the countershaft, a restraining pawl 46 having the form of a. ball adapted to engage said recess, a pocket l? arranged on one end of said sleeve and receiving said ball, and a spring a8 arranged in the pocket between its bottom and said ball and operating to hold the latter yieldingly in engagement with said restraining recess.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows:

lVhen the main clock spring is wound up fully, or nearly so, the tension of the main spring 13 is so much greater than the shifting spring that the latter is overcome for the time being and yields to the preponderating strength or pull of the main spring, whereby the tension lever 22 is raised by the inner end of the main spring through the medium of the winding shaft, ratchet wheel, and detent pawl, the clutch lever is raised until the shoes 41 engage the upper shoulder 43 of the clutch sleeve and raise the same until it engages its upper end with the stop 49 on the main frame, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, thereby uncoupling the clutch sleeve from the intermittent gear wheel 32 and arresting the further transmission of motion from the latter to the countershaft. In this position of the parts, the intermittent gear wheel is turned step by step during the rotation of the mutilated pinion 36 without affecting the clock mechanism. At this time, the restraining pawl i6 is also held firmly in engagement with the restraining recess 45 so that the clutch sleeve is additionally held by friction away from the intermittent gear wheel 32.

As the main spring 13 gradually unwinds or runs down the same lJQ-OIUQS weaker and predominates decreasingn: over the power of the shifting spring 23. After he pull of the main spring been reduced so as to practically balance the pull of the tension spring, the tension lever and clutch lever will still be held in their retracted positions indicated in Fig. 5, owing to the frictional locking engagement of the restraining pawl 46 with the restraining recess if). The main spring therefore continues to weaker during the continued operation of the clock until the shifting spring not only preponderates in pulling power over the main spring but also overcomes the frictional locl-r be tween the clutch and the countershaft and when this occurs this frictional lock lets go suddenly and permits the shifting spring to quickly depress the tension lever and clutch lever and cause the shoes of the latter to strike the lower collar 44 of the lutch sleeve and force the jaws of the same into engagement with those of the intermittent gear wheel, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Motion is now transmitted from the driving shaft 12 through the train of ears36, 32,

28, 29, 25 and 18 to the inner en of the main spring, so that the latter is wound up. This winding up action is however not continuous but intermittent and only increases the tension on the main spring one step at a time, this being due to the mutilated pinion 36 and the detent pawl 19 in the following manner:

When the teeth of the mutilated pinion mesh with the teeth of the intermittent gear wheel, the latter and the ratchet wheel 18 are turned forwardly so as to produce a winding effect on the inner end of the main spring, during which time the ratchet wheel trips forwardly past the detent pawl a number of teeth and moves the tension and clutch levers upwardly or backwardly one step without however at this time disturbing the clutch sleeve because the shoes of the clutch lever are moving away from the lower collar 44. and have not reached the upper collar 43 of the same. When the blank or toothless part of the mutilated pinion passes the teeth of the intermittent gear wheel, a slight backlash in the tram of gears occurs due to the action of the main spring which however is only equal to part of a tooth of the ratchet wheel inasmuch as the detent pawl is immediately engaged with the ratchet wheel by the spring 21, so as to prevent any retrograde movement of the latter relatively to the detent pawl, thereby retaining the winding up effect which has been put into the main spring and increasing the upward pull of the same on the tension spring 23. This operation is repeated during every rotation of the mutilated gear pinion so that by alternately turning the ratchet wheel forwardly past the detent pawl and then cutting off the winding up power derived from the mutilated gear pinion and letting the increased tension on the main spring exert itself against the tension lever through the detent pawl 19, a gradual building up of the power of the main spring is effected. As the main spring increases in strength, the upward or backward pull of the same on the shifting spring 28 gradually increases until this pull is sufficiently strong to raise the clutch lever and the clutch sleeve up far enough to disengage the latter from the intermittent gear wheel. \Vhen this occurs, the main sprmg has been wound up enough to properly operate the clock mechanism and thereafter the intermittent gear wheel and mutilated gear pinion continue to rotate idly until the main spring has again run down sufficlently to require rewinding when the operation of accomplishing this automatically is resumed in the manner previously described.

This invention can be embodied in any time piece and is particularly suited for use in connection with distance or speed measuring devices and can be operated from any available source of power or prime mover outside of the mechanism of the time piece.

I claim as my invention:

1. A time piece having a main spring, a prime mover which normally moves constantly, and means for intermittently coupling Said prime mover with said main spring for rewinding the latter and constructed to permit a back lash after each winding step.

2. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with the main spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tension lever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing said main spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft which normally turns constantly, and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection and disconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to the preponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring.

3. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with the main spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tension lever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing said main spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft, and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection and disconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to the preponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring and comprising a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, an intermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, and means for coupling and uncoupling the driving connection between said intermittent gear wheel and said ratchet wheel.

4. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with the main spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tension lever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing said main spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft, and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection and disconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to the preponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring and comprising a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, an intermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, a countershaft, gearing connecting said countershaft and ratchet wheel, and a clutch for connecting and disconnecting said countershaft and intermittent gear wheel.

5. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with the main spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tension lever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing said main spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft, and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection and disconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to the preponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring and comprisin a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, an intermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, a countershait, gearing connecting said countershaft and ratchet wheel, a clutch sleeve splined on said countershaft and adapted to be coupled with and uncoupled from said intermittent gear wheel, and a clutch lever connected with said tension lever and operatively connected with said clutch sleeve.

6. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with the main spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tension lever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing said main spring and operatively connected with said lever, a dr ving shaft, and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection and disconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to the preponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring and comprising a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, an intermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, a countershaft, gearing connecting said countershaft and ratchet wheel, a clutch sleeve splined on said countershaft and adapted to be coupled with and uncoupled from said intermittent gear wheel and provided with spaced collars, and a clutch lever connected with said tension lever and having a part adapted to engage either with one or the other of said collars.

7. A time piece having a main spring, a winding shaft connected with the inner end of said main spring, a power transmittin member connected with the outer end 0 said main spring, atension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tension lever and adapted to engage said ratchet wheel, an intermediate gear wheel meshing with said ratchet wheel, a countershaft, intermeshing bevel gear wheels connected respectively with said countershaft and intermediate gear wheel, a clutch sleeve splined on said countershaft and having collars at its 0pposite ends and clutch jaws at one end, a clutch lever connected with the tension lever and having shoes moving between the collars of said sleeve, an intermittent gear wheel having clutch jaws, a shifting spring opposing said main spring and operating to turn said levers in the direction for engaging the jaws of the clutch sleeve with the intermit' tent gear Wheel, and a rotatable mutilated gear pinion meshing with said intermittent gear wheel.

EDWIN L. THOMAS.

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