US333792A - Stop watch - Google Patents

Description

z sheets-sheet 1. J. TIXIER.

STOP WATCH.

(No Model.)

No. 333,792. Patented Jan. 5, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

'J. T'IXIEB.

v. 7 STOP WATCH. N0. 333,792. Patented Jan. 5, 1886 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

JOHN TIXIER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

STOP-WATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,792, dated January 5,1886.

Application filed July 7, 1885. Serial No. 170,911.

To all whom it may concern.-

' Be it known that I, JOHN TIXIER, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in ments in stop-watches; and it consists of a mechanism by which an independent hand may be started or stopped at any point in its circuit and returned to the original startingpoint, this mechanism being so constructed hands in place.

" and arranged that I am enabled to dispense with a number of the wheels and springs which are ordinarily used in this class of mech anism. Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invention, Figure 1 is an enlarged'plan View showing the mechanism from the rear. Fig. 2 is a plan View showing the winding mechanism from the back with the dial removed and the Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section showing mechanism of the portion with the hand at 60. Fig. 4shows a vertical transverse section of these parts when the roller 0 and has a spiral-coiled spring -e within it.

running. Fig. 5 is a similar section showing positions of parts when the hand is stopped.

5 view of the stop mechanism.

i watch and the independent hand, which is I Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the parts sepa- I which fits the roller 0, and which is forced into rated which are shown in section in Fig. 3. Figs. 7 and 8 are enlarged views of the heart and end of bar'N. Fig. 9 is aperspeetive Fig. 10 is a sectional View showing the parts illustrated in Figi 6 in position on the central staff, a.

In the construction of stop-watches the mechanism between the going parts of the used as a timer, usually consists of a train of gearing with a device by which it may be thrown into or out of action at will. The friction caused by the running of this extra i mechanism interferes with the regular running of the watch, (to which the stop mechanism is ordinarily connected and the object of my invention is to so reduce the parts as to simplify the construction and reduce the friction to a minimum. In order to do this I employ a central staff which has the timing-hand I (No model.)

fixed to it, also a heart-shaped cam by which i the hand may be returned to its ordinary position of starting whenever desired.

The driving mechanism by which the staff and hand are moved is loosely mounted upon the staff, and in connection with it I employ a mechanism by which it is caused to drive the staff or be thrown out of action at will. This mechanism I will now proceed to describe.

A and B are the two plates of the watchheld together by pillars and screws 0, D, and E. The barrel F gears with the pinion G, and this again with wheels, and pinion H drives the escape-wheel J.

K is the anchor, and L the balance-wheel,

[these parts not differing materially from those 9 is a wheel and pinion turninglooselyaround the staff and held in place by the roller h.

' 0 is a sleeve or roller turning loosely upon the staff a, one end being close to the heart I),

and the other end is close to the pinion g.

d is a-small barrel,which fits loosely around f is adisk,or what I term a barrel-cover,

contact with the end of the pinion g by the action of the spring 6. It will be seen that if the spring 6 is removed, or compressed endwise so that it will not act upon the barrel d and the disk f,all the parts 0, d, f, and g upon I the staff awill turn freely, the heart I) and the roller h being the only parts beside the secondhand which are fixed to the staff. Under these conditions the wheel and pinion 9 may revolve freely about the staff a without moving it or the hand which is attached to it. If, however, the spring 0 be allowed to expand lengthwise, it presses the end of the barrel (1 against the heart 6, and also presses the disk or cover f against the end of the pinion g, thus producing a sufficient friction by tightening these parts together, so that the wheel and pinion will act to drive the staff and the timing hand.

W and X are two levers, the inner ends. of which areforked so that the fork of the lever W rests upon the top of the flange shown on barrel d, and the fork of the lever X extends 5 below the disk or barrel-cover f. These two levers are pressed apart by a curved spring, Z, 'so that when not otherwise actuated they do not press the spring 6 together, but allow it to act upon the barrel d and disk f,.as be-.

1o fore described, pressing them against the heart and the end of the pinion g,and causing suffi-- T is a spring which presses upon the pawlor click and the lever B.

U is a spring that acts upon a ratchet-wheel. 5, The outer end of the lever-arms W and X extend above and below the teeth P, so that when this wheel revolves these teeth. pass between the outer ends of these two levers, as plainly shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The upperlever, W,has a lug or projection, 0,, extending downward from it. The lower lever,X,has a lugm, which is wider than the lug 0, and theteeth P are beveled, as shown in Figs. 3,4, and 5, so that they are longer upon the bottom. than upon the top.

N is a lever having one end pivoted nearthe toothed wheel P, and the opposite endis formed with three. points or teeth which press against the edge of the heart I), this lever being pressed against the heart by a spring, 0-. This lever N has a lug or projection which exver R, and the click or pawl Q and ratchet,

a tooth of the wheel P will press upon the.

projection on the lever N and force it outward, so that it will rest upon the top of a tooth, thus moving the opposite end of the lever away from the heart, leaving the heart and stall free to rotate. The action of this device will then be as follows: Starting with the parts in such a position that the spring 0 is expanded so that all the parts on the staff a are caused to rotate together by frictional pressure, the centersecondshand will indicate divisions of time to one-fifth of asecond. If the pusher S be now pushed inward it acts through the lever B and pawl Q to turn the ratchet-wheel P forward one tooth. This causes the bottom of one of the teeth Pto press the lever X so that its forked end will press' on the lower part of the spring e by means of the disk or barrel-coverf, so that the latter is out of contact with the pinion g.

acting upon the lever forces its toothed end ;Fig. 4.. By this action the forked ends of the levers are separated so as not to press on either of the parts d or f, and the spring 6 will press these parts outward against the heart b and the pinion 9, so as tounite all parts onthe fstalf and. cause them to act as one.

and center secondshand will immediately commence moving and will continue to runv until the movement of the pusher, which was first described and shown in Fig. 5. By this improve- ,ment I do without a number of wheels with small teethand also springs, which arenecessary to stopthe movement or play between theteeth ofthe gears andin the pivot-holes. I ob tain more. precision in the hand which shows 2 the seconds, and. less cause for stopping in. the

movement. formed-.inthree points, asbefore described,the tends between the teeth of the wheel P when spring ecould press.

This allows the\pinion to turn loosely upon the'stafl'," and the latter immediately stops, as shown in Fig. 5. When the pusher'S is pressed the second time,the projection n of the forked 7o lever X'willslide along on the toothed wheel P without changing the position of its lever;

but the projection o' of. the fork W will be brought on top of the toothed wheel P, so that the opposite or forked end of the leverW will press the barrel d toward the cover or disk f,

a and the stafi a will then be entirely free. At .7 this moment the lug on thelever n will fall between two of the teeth P, and the spring 8C against the heart I), thus turning it around so as to bring the hand back to 60 or the startingforks of the levers W and X will fall between two of the teeth of the wheel P, as shown-in The staff 5 The end of the lever N being middle one corresponds with the central pivot 1 of the staff, which carries the heart andpresses upon the heart, guiding it, while turning .around-,-asshown-in Fig. 8. Whenthe heart has reached the point which brings the hand to its starting-point or 60, the two outside teeth press upon each side of the head, thus holding it very steady, while the middle tooth I I 5 i is opposite the depression in the head of the heart and does not touch it, as shown. in

Fig. 7.

In some cases it may be found advisable to omit the loose roller 0 upon the staff a, as it isnot indispensable, and the small barrel d and cover f might be replaced by one or two springs or devices against which the The forks W and X might also be replaced by springs and levers which work on the side of the toothed wheel Pin the same manner as thelever N; but these changes are simply mechanical and will be well understood by any one conversant with the art, as they do not essentially alterthe action of my apparatus.

Having .thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a stop-watch, the independent staff having the seconds-hand and the returningheart secured to it, the driving-pinion turning loosely upon it, a longitudinally-expanding spring with collars upon each side which are pressed against the heart,and the drivingpinion so as to set the staff and hand in motion, substantially as herein described.

2. In a stop-watch, the central staff having the seconds-hand and the returning-heart secured to it, the driving-pinion turning loosely about it, a spring acting longitudinally between collars so as to force them in contact respectively with the driving-pinion and the cam, in combination with levers fnlcrumed so that their ends press upon the outer faces of the collars and force them together against the tension of the spring and out of contact with the pinion and heart, substantially as herein described.

3. In astop-watch, the staff-carrying the independent seconds-hand and returning-heart having the driving-pinion turning loosely upon it, the longitudinally-expanding spring, and the collars between which it acts, in combination with levers fulcrumed so that at one end they extend outside of the collars and at the opposite end they are moved to or from each other, substantially as herein described.

4. In a stop-watch, the staff carrying the second-hand and returning-heart having the driving-pinion turning loosely upon it, the

longitudinally-expanding spring, collars and operating levers W and X,having lugs or projections 0 and n, as shown, in combination with the wheel having the teeth 1?, beveled or inclined so as to pass between the lugs, substantially as herein described.

5. In a stop-watch, the staff carrying the seconds-hand, roller, and returning-heait having the driving-pinion turning loosely upon it, the longitudinally-expanding spring, and the friction-collars, the levers, and toothed wheel by which these collars are compressed or allowed to expand, as shown, in combination with the lever R,disk, and ratchet-wheel, substantially as herein described.

6. In a stop-watch, andin combination with the independent seconds-hand, staff, and the heart-shaped returning cam, the lever N,having the end which presses upon the cam formed with points and curves to fit the curves of the heart, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN 'IIXIER.

Witnesses:

HENRY TIXIER, J. H. BLooD.

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