US396645A - Electric time-meter - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

G. P. CARD.

ELECTRIC TIME METER.

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Patented Jan. 22, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GEORGE F. CARD, OF COVINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO TIIE GEORGE F. CARD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ELECTRIC TIME-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,645, dated January 22, 1889. Application filed September 12, 1888- Serial No. 285,219. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: i may be used with or without pendulum. The Be it known that I, GEORGE F. CARD, a citione shown is an ordinary spring-movement zen of the United States, residing in Covingwithout pendulum. ton, in the county of Kenton and State of Ois the escapement-wheel and I) the escape- Kentucky, have invented a certain new and ment.

5S useful Improvement in Electric Time-Meters, 011 the spindle E, which revolves once 11] of whlch the following is a full, clear, and twelve (12) hours, and carries the hand u exact description. which indicates the hour, is a linger or lug. c.

My invention relates to an improvement in Pinioned on the frame-work ot the clock in electric time-meters, and is designed to be atany convenient manner is a plate or dial, F, 60 tached to an electric circuit supplying a currevolving 011 the pivotf. This plate F is prorent of electricity for mechanical or other vided with any convenient number of teeth, purposessuch, forinstance, as electric lights, 9, and on the plate opposite the teeth are motors, and so forthto measure and record printed numbers to correspond with the num- I 5 the number of hours or amount of time that ber of teeth, beginning at 1. In the drawings 6' the electric current is in use. teeth are shown numbered consecutively It consists in a clock mechanism, in combifrom I. This plate F is so located that as the nation with an electro-magnet attached to the finger c revolves it will catch one of the teeth electric circuit and so arranged that the elecg and revolve the plate F a distance equal to trie current will control the movements of the the space occupied by one tooth, leaving the 70 clock, so as to record the time the current is next tooth in position to be caught upon the in use. It maybe arranged so that when the next revolution of the hand a and finger 6. current of electricity is flowing the clock will H is a spring engaging with the teeth on stop, a dial being connected with the clock the plate F, and has sut'ticient tension to hold which records the time during which the clock the plate in positiombut not to prevent its is going; or the electro-magnet may be so armovement by the linger The hand and ranged that the clock will go only when the finger e revolve once in twelve hours. current is on. If the plate F is set at any selected point- In my drawings I have illustrated the say at 1-its position at any time will indicate 3o formerarrangement as being in some respects the number of revolutions the hand a has 80 more desirable to users of the meter; but I made, thus recording the number of periods do not limit myself to the particular arrangeof twelve hours each that the clock has been ment, as it is apparent that either may be running, while the hand a will indicate the used, as circumstances suggest. fractions of such period.

The details of my invention will be more K is an electro-magnet properly insulated 8- fully hereinafter described, reference being and secured to the frame-work or support of had to the accompanying drawings, forming the device. part of this specification. k k are the wires leading to and from the Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the electro-magnet, bringing the electro-magnet 4 clock-face, electro-magnet, and attachment. within the electric circuit attached to the 0 Fig. 2 is a front elevation with the cloclz-face motor, electric-light plant, or whatever eloc removed. Fig. 3 is across-section of the spintric appliance may be used.

dle carrying the hand of the clock and finger L is a bent arm pivoted at I and weighted, for rotating the registering-plate. as at 'i, so as to occupy in its normal condi- Like letters of reference indicate identition the position shown in lri l. iittached 9 5 cal parts in all the figures. to this arm L is a piece of soft iron, Z, or any A is an ordinary clock-face provided with substance possessing the proper magnetic an hour-hand, a, on the spindle E. qualities to form an armature. This arma- B B are the wheels of an ordinary cloekture is so located with reference to the elec- 5 o movement. Of course any desired movement tro-magnet that it will be readily acted upon IOO by the electro-magnet, so that when the electric current is turned on, the arm L is attracted, and the parts Z and Z brought in contact, bringing the arm L to the position shown in Fig. 2. lVhen the current is turned off, the attraction ceases, and the arm falls back into its normal position, as in Fig. l.-

i is a stop to prevent the arm falling too far from the electro-magnet.

To the opposite end of the arm L is a link, M, connecting the arm L to the weighted lever N. This lever is fulcrumed at 0. As the opposite end of it is lowered, it rests upon one arm of the escapement D, holding it in engagement with the escapement-wheel C and stopping the clock. lhe moment the lever N is raised and the escapem cut-wheel released the cloek will go again. \Vhere apendulum is used instead of a spring mechanism, the pendulum is held by the escapement suspended on one side, so that when the escapement is released the pendulum swings back and starts the clock. turning on of the electric current and passing it through the electro-magnet the clock is stopped, and by turning off the current the clock is at once started. The clock mechanism being arranged to run for any fixed period-say thirty days, or for sixty revolutionsby deducting the number of hours registered 011 the plate F-that is, the number of hours the clock has been running-from the number that have elapsed since the clock was started we have the number of hours the clock was not running or the number of hours Thus by the simple shape of the arm L or the operation of the lever N the clock may be stopped only when the current is off and run only when the current is on, so that whichever arrangement is found most convenient for reckoning the time measured may be used. For instance, if the arm L is bent in the opposite direction and the lever N attached to it, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the clock will run only when the electric current is flowing and be stopped when the current stops.

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

1. In an electric meter, a clock mechanism the arbor of the hand-wheel of which is provided with a finger, e, a toothed and numbered dial, F, arranged to be engaged by the finger e and have imparted to it an intermittent rotary motion upon the rotation of said finger, combined with an electro-magnet and devices intermediate of the electro-magnet and clock mechanism for starting or stopping the operation of the clock upon the action of the electro-magnet, substantially as set forth.

2'. In an electric meter, a clock mechanism the arbor of the hand-wheel of which is provided with a finger, e, a toothed and numbered dial, F, and a spring, H, engaging said wheel to hold it from accidental rotation, the said wheel being arranged to be engaged by the finger e and have imparted to it an intermittent rotary motion upon the rotation of said finger, combined with an electro-magnet and devices intermediate of the electro-magnet and clock mechanism for starting or stopping the operation of the clock upon the action of the clectro-magnet, substantially as set forth.

GEORGE F. CARD.

Witnesses:

HENRY BIEDENHAM, ALFRED M. ALLEN.

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