US3461665A - Animated novelty clock - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 19, 1969 a. F. CIELASZYK 3,461,665 a ANIMATED NOVELTY 'CLOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed March 15. 1966 p IA/ VIA/T072.

Jar t, 1 2

ATTGFNEY.

Aug. 19, 1969 5F. CIELASZYK 3 ,6

. ANIMATED Novsmv CLOCK Filed March 15, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,461,665 ANIMATED NOVELTY CLOCK Edward F. tlielaszyk, Ogle sby, 11L, assignor to General Time Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 534,388 lint. Cl. G04b 3/02 U.S. Cl. 58-29 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spring wound novelty clock having a decorative design and being equipped with a characterized object which is animated for a predetermined period immediately following each time the clock is wound. The clock mechanism is adapted to automatically terminate the animated movement of the object at the end of the predetermined period while permitting clock to continue to keep accurate time for more than a full day.

The invention relates generally to spring operated clocks, and concerns more particularly an animated spring wound novelty clock.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel clock that is adapted to keep accurate time as well as being especially entertaining to children, and therefore, well suited for nursery purposes.

Another object is to provide a novelty clock that is decorative in design and is equipped with at least one movable object which is adapted to be set in motion for a predetermined period of time during the operation of the clock.

It is also an object to provide a novelty clock that is adapted to animate a characterized object immediately following each time the clock is wound and to automatically terminate such motion at the end of a predetermined period while allowing the clock to continue to keep accurate time for more than a full day.

A further object is to provide a novelty clock as characterized above that employs a conventional inexpensive spring wound alarm clock movement, and therefore, is economical to manufacture. More specifically, it is an object to provide a novelty clock that employs a standard spring wound movement with the alarm portion of the mechanism modified to provide the power and control for the novelty animation.

Still another object is to provide a novelty clock of the above kind that is adapted to produce an unusually loud tick-took sound during the period the animated object is in motion.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of an illustrative novelty clock embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the clock shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the back side of the clock mechanism with the rear cover removed;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the alarm train taken approximately through the plane of line 44 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section of the stopping mecha nism taken in the plane of line 5--5 in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary portion of the FIG. 3 elevation.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative onstructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be under- Patented Aug. 19, 1969 stood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents following Within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Referring more specifically to FIG. 1, there is shown a clock 10 having a decorative housing 11 exemplifying one illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The clock housing 11 shown is in the form of a stylized barn having a large clock face 12 on the upper portion of the barn and an open barn door 14 in the lower portion of the housing through which protrudes an appropriate ob ject for animation, which in this case is the head 15 of a cow. Clock hands 16 are appropriately disposed on the clock face. The housing 11, as well as the hands 16 and cow head 15, are preferably molded from plastic so as to provide an inexpensive lightweight casing which may be easily formed to the desired decorative design. The clock housing 11, in the illustrated construction, defines a shallow box-like structure which is closed by a back plate 18 secured to the housing 11 by screws 20 advanced into threaded holes provided in the housing.

In operation, the hands 16 keep time conventionally by rotating at proper rates over the clock face 12 and, each time the clock 10 is wound, the cow head 15 swings vigorously from side to side of the open barn door and a loud tick-tock sound is generated. To add interest, the head 15 includes movable eye parts which roll incident to oscillation of the head. After a short period of time, on the order of five minutes, the loud tick-tock noise and oscillation of the head 15 ceases, and the clock 10 continues to keep time silently.

Pursuant to the invention, the clock 10 is driven by a conventional inexpensive spring wound mechanism 22 of the kind employed in spring wound alarm clocks. The mechanism 22 is mounted within the housing 11 behind the clock face 12 by a plurality of screws 24 which pass through the clock face into threaded engagement with the mechanism 22.

The source of power for the mechanism 22 is a spirally wound mainspring 25 (see FIG. 4) which is contained within a barrel member 26 with the outer end of the spring being anchored to the member 26. The barrel member 26 is rigidly secured to a winding shaft 28 through a hub 29. The inner end of the mainspring is secured by a hook 30 to a sleeve 31 which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 28. The shaft 28, which is journalled in front and back frame plates 32 and 33, respectively, of the timing mechanism, has an extending portion 34 of such shape as to be easily gripped by a winding key and which is in alinement with a hole 35 (see FIG. 1) in the face 12 of the clock so as to be easily accessible by such a key when the clock 10 is hung on a wall.

To drive the clock hands 16, a gear wheel 36, secured to the rotatable sleeve 31, transmits power from the mainspring to a conventional time keeping gear train, shown generally at 37, which causes the hands of the clock to keep time. As will be clear to those familiar with the art, unwinding or relaxing of the mainspring 25 rotates the sleeve 31 and the gear wheel 36, and the gear wheel 36, through appropriate rate proportioning gears, drives a minute shaft and an hour shaft 46 which carry the clock hands 16. The rate at which the gear train is permitted to rotate, and thus the rate at which the hands 16 move, is controlled by a conventional escapement mechanism 38 as is also well known in the art.

In accordance with the present invention, the alarm drive portion of clock mechanism 22 is adapted so that each time the clock is wound, the animated object, in this case the cow head 15, is actuated for a predetermined short period of time to an accompanying loud tick-took noise and, at the expiration of that time, the animation is automatically stopped although the clock continues to keep accurate time. The alarm drive portion of the mechanism 22 includes a gear wheel, formed by teeth 39 on the peripheral edge of the back side of the barrel member 26, which is meshed with a pinion 40 carried on a shaft 41 that is rotatably journalled between the frame plates 32 and 33. The shaft 41 also carries a toothed escapement wheel 42 formed with a plurality of triangular shaped teeth 44 about its periphery. As used in a conventional alarm clock, the teeth 44 would drive an alarm bell striker upon release or tripping of the alarm drive.

In carrying out the invention, the escapement wheel 42 is coupled to the animated head 15 by a relatively massive pendulum defined by a pivoted metal plate 50 having pallet portions 51 and 52 adapted to alternately engage the teeth 44. The upper portion of the pendulum plate 50 includes a lug 56, on which the pallet portions 51, 52 are formed, and which extends down between the frame plates 32, 33 of the mechanism. A shaft 55 is journalled in the frame plates 32, 33 and fixed in the lug 56 so as to serve as the pivot axis for the plate 50.

The lug 56 is defined by an opening 54 in the plate 50 into which the mechanism 22 fits so that the plate can be oscillated without contacting the mechanism. In the illusrrated form, an L-shaped member 58 is secured to the lower end of the pendulum plate 50 and the cow head 15 is directly fixed on the end of the L-shaped member that extends through the barn door 14.

The escapernent wheel 42 and the pendulum plate 50 operate as a conventional escapement mechanism. The pallet portions 51, 52 are at approximately equal distances from the axis of the pivot shaft 55. When the barrel member 26 is driven by the unwinding mainspring 25, the escapement wheel 42 is rotated so that the teeth 44 drive the pallet portions 51, 52 alternately, causing oscillatory movement of the plate 50 and the cow head 15. The relatively large mass of the plate 50 limits the rate of oscillation of the head 15 to approximately what is normally expected of a clock pendulum. This rate of oscillation, slow with respect to the rate at which an alarm striker is driven, permits the development of a clock-like tick-tock sound.

A rather loud tick-took noise is generated by rigidly mounting the mechanism 22 to the box-like, substantially hollow housing 11, and by using a large pendulum plate 50. The vibration caused by the impact of the teeth 44 striking the pallet portions 51, 52 is amplified by being transmitted to the plate 50 and the housing 11, resulting in a loud tick-tock sound for each swing of the head 15.

As is conventional, the pallet portions 51, 52 are angled so that there is drive only in the spring unwinding direction of rotation of the barrel member 26. The portions 51, 52 jam the wheel 42 against rotation in the opposite direction. Thus, in order to permit the mainspring 25 to be wound, the pinion 40 is disengaged from the barrel gear teeth 39 during rotation of the shaft 28, and the barrel member 26, in the spring winding direction. For this purpose, the back frame plate 33 carries the shaft 41 in a slot 60, the shaft being normally biased against the barrel gear side of the slot by means of a spring wire 61 which engages the shaft 41 and is anchored on the plate 33. When the clock is wound, the pinion 40' is not rotated because of the jammed wheel 42 to which it is connected, but rather the pinion shaft 41 is pushed to the opposite side of the slot as the barrel gear teeth 39 cam over the teeth of the pinion 49. When winding of the clock is complete, the spring 61 causes the pinion 40 to remain meshed with the barrel gear teeth 39.

To limit the animation and lend tick-took sound to a short, predetermined period, advantage is taken of the alarm stopping device in the mechanism 22 which is normally intended to prevent an unattended alarm clock becoming completely unwound by failure to silence the alarm that is driven by the mainspring of the clock. In

the illustrated construction, the mechanism 22 includes a stopping mechanism 64 which embodies a gear wheel 65 that is meshed with a gear 70 rigidly carried on the winding shaft 28. The gear wheel 65 is rotatably carried on a stub shaft 66 that is anchored to the front frame plate 32 and is formed with a cap 68. A stop plate 71 is also journalled on the stub shaft 66 and is frictionally held against the gear wheel 65 for rotation therewith by the force of a helical spring compressed between the cap 68 and the plate member 71. The plate 71 is formed with both a radially extending lug 73, adapted to jam against the gear 70 and arrest mainspring unwinding rotation of the shaft 28, and an upturned lug 72 adapted to strike the periphery of a disc 76 mounted loosely on the shaft 28 adjacent the gear 70.

When the clock 19 is wound by turning the shaft 28 counterclockwise as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, the gear 70 causes the gear wheel 65 to be rotated clockwise. The plate 71, biased against the gear wheel 65 by the spring 75, is frictionally carried also in a clockwise direction. When continued winding of the clock causes the gear Wheel 65 and the plate 71 to make approximately one revolution, the upturned lug 72 engages the disc 76, as shown in FIG. 5, and clockwise rotation of the plate 71 is stopped. Continued winding of the shaft 28 simply causes the gear wheel 65 to slip relative to the arrested stop plate 71. With the lug 72 engaging the disc 76, the lug 73 is held clear of the gear 70.

When winding of the clock is completed and the shaft 28 released, the shaft 28 and barrel member 26 are free to unwind clockwise, again as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, under the force of the mainspring 25. As the barrel member unwinds, the pinion 40 and escape wheel 42 are rotated, causing the pendulum plate 50 and the cow head 15 to oscillate as described above. At the same time, the gear wheel 65 is rotated counterclockwise and the plate 71 is frictionally carried counterclockwise along with the gear wheel. When the gear wheel 65 and the plate 71 have completed approximately one revolution, the lug 73 comes into contact with the teeth of the gear 70, arresting rotation of the gear 70 and preventing further unwinding of the shaft 28 and the barrel member 26, thereby stopping the oscillatory movement of the plate 50 and the cow head 15. In this way, the animated movement of the head 15 is stopped automatically after the period of time it takes for the plate 71 to rotate approximately one revolution, although the mainspring 25 will continue to turn the timing gear 36 and cause the hands 16 of the clock to keep time. It is apparent that the time that it takes for the gear wheel 65 and the plate 71 to complete one revolution may be varied by the size of gear wheel employed so that any desired period of animation can be obtained.

It should be appreciated that the animation feature is activated each time the clock is wound, whether the clock is wound after running completely to a stop or after it had been recently wound. Since the winding necessary to turn the plate 71 and the gear wheel 65 one revolution is a small proportion of that required to fully wind the mainspring the clock may be wound at any desired time to animate the head 15. Furthermore, it is not necessary that the animation last for a full revolution of the stop plate 71. If a shorter period of animation is desired, the clock need only be wound so that the stop plate is revolved a portion of one revolution. As described above, the counterclockwise rotation of the plate 71 will begin when the shaft 28 is released, and will last until the lug 73 again engages the gear 70.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to a clock in the form of a barn, it will be appreciated that other housing configurations and movable caricatures can be readily employed. Furthermore, the animated object need not be connected rigidly to the pendulum plate but may be set into motion through a linkage activated by the oscillation of the pendulum plate.

As can be seen from the foregoing detailed description, the novelty clock employs a conventional spring wound alarm clock mechanism, which is quite economical to manufacture. The mechanism is effective to animate an object for a predetermined period of time whenever the clock is wound, and during such period of animation the clock makes a loud tick-took noise. After the short period of animation, the clock automatically terminates such motion and the tick-tock noise, but continues to keep accurate time in a normal quiet manner.

I claim as my invention:

1. An animated novelty clock comprising, in combination, a housing, a clock face formed on said housing, a relatively light object mounted for animated movement relative to said housing, a clock mechanism mounted in said housing and having an hour shaft, a minute shaft and a toothed escapement wheel, a pair of clock hands positioned adjacent said clock face and being operatively coupled to said hour and minute shafts for operation at timekeeping rates, a relatively massive pendulum plate pivoted in said housing and having a pair of escapement pallet portions positioned to alternatively engage said toothed escapement wheel, means coupling said pendulum plate and said object so that the escapement wheel of said mechanism animates said object by oscillating said pendulum plate at a rate limited by the mass of the pendulum, said pendulum pallet portions and escapement wheel generating a loud tick-tock sound as the escapement wheel teeth strike said pallet portions to oscillate said pendulum, and means for automatically and simultaneously terminating the oscillation of said pendulum, animation of said object, and the loud tick-took sound after a predetermined time period on the order of five minutes while permitting said clock mechanism to continue to operate said minute and hour hands at timekeeping rates for a substantially longer period after said animation is terminated.

2. An animated novelty clock comprising, in combination, a housing having a boxlike structure, a clock face formed on said housing, an object mounted for animated movement relative to said housing, a clock mechanism mounted in said housing and having an hour shaft, a minute shaft and a toothed escapement wheel, a pair of clock hands positioned adjacent said clock face and being operatively coupled to said hour and minute shaft for operation at timekeeping rates, a relatively massive fiat metal pendulum plate pivoted in said housing and having a pair of escapement pallet portions positioned to alternatively engage said toothed escapement wheel, said pendulum pallet portions and escapement wheel generating a loud tick-tuck sound as the escapement wheel teeth strike said pallet portions, means coupling said pendulum plate and said object so that the escapement wheel of said mechanism animates said object by oscillating said pendulum plate at a rate limited by the mass of the pendulum and means for automatically terminating the oscillation of said pendulum and animation of said object after a predetermined time period while permitting said clock mechanism to continue to operate said minute and hour hands at timekeeping rates after said animation is terminated.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said mechanism is powered by a windable mainspring having one end driving said hour and minute shafts and the other end driving said escapement wheel, a winding shaft coupled to said other end of said mainspring and being adapted for manual rotation and winding of the mainspring, and said motion limiting means includes a stop plate pivoted in said mechanism and having a geared connection with said winding shaft, said stop plate having a lug adapted to jam said geared connection and prevent rotation of said winding shaft, and said escapement wheel, under power of said mainspring, said lu-g being driven from ammed engagement with said connection upon rotation of said winding shaft in a winding direction so that, after each winding, said mainspring drives the winding shaft and the escapement wheel until the lug again engages the geared connection.

4. An animated novelty clock comprising, in combination, a decorative housing having a clock face, clock hands mounted for movement over said face, a relatively light object mounted for animated movement relative to said housing, a spring wound clock mechanism mounted in said housing and including a mainspring, said hands being coupled to said mechanism so that said mainspring drives the hands at timekeeping rates, means including a relatively massive metal pendulum plate coupling said object to said mechanism so that said mainspr ng drives said object in animated movement by oscillating said pendulum plate at a rate limited by the mass of the pendulum and generates a loud tick-took noise incident to driving said object, and said mechanism including means for automatically and simultaneously terminating the animated movement of said object and loud tick-took noise after a predetermined period on the order of five minutes following each winding of said mechanism while permitting said clock hands to continue to be driven at timekeeping rates for a substantially longer period after said animated movement is terminated.

5. An animated novelty clock comprising, in combination, a housing, a clock face formed on said housing, an object mounted for animated movement relative to said housing, a clock mechanism mounted in said housing having front and rear frame plates and including an hour shaft, a minute shaft and a toothed escapement Wheel, a pair of clock hands positioned adjacent said clock face and being operatively coupled to said hour and minute shafts, a relatively massive pendulum in the form of a flat plate pivoted in said housing between the upper portions of said frame plates, said pallet plate having a pair of escapement pallet portions positioned between the upper portions of said frame plates to alternatively engage said toothed escapement wheel, means coupling said pendulum plate and said object so that the escapement wheel of said mechanism animates said object by oscillating said pendulum, and said pendulum plate having an opening receiving said mechanism and providing sufficient clearance to permit said oscillation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,868,941 4/1930 Herschede et al. 58-129 2,185,805 1/1940 Feiner 58-129 2,627,614 2/1953 Pruett 58129 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner E. C. SIMMONS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 58-129, 152

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