Part 3

As illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, the power applied by the springs M^{9}, M^{10} to the power transmission shaft M¹ is taken, through the spur wheel M² by means of any suitable gearing, to run a clock or any other machine adapted to the purpose. As there illustrated, I show the spur wheel M² meshing with a pinion P, through which is driven the spur wheel P¹, which latter meshes with a pinion P², through which is driven a sprocket wheel P³ carried by the bracket P^{4}, which latter, as well as the shafts carrying said spur wheels and pinions, are supported by an upright P^{5} mounted upon the casing M. The sprocket wheel P³ carries a sprocket chain P^{6}, which, through any suitable gearing, is adapted to wind the main spring of a clock indicated at Q, carried by suitable supports on the cross-bar Q¹ secured to the uprights C, C¹. As this clock may be of any well known form, it will not be necessary to describe the same in detail, except to state that as soon as the main spring of the clock becomes weaker than the springs of the power-storage device illustrated in Fig. 7, the latter will wind the clock main spring, and as in this manner it is wound frequently, it is always kept at a uniform high tension, which is desirable and results in good time-keeping.

In Fig. 12 I show a modification of my invention, wherein, instead of having the balance-levers F, F¹ arranged side by side, they are superposed one above the other, in this case a plurality of knife-bars E, E¹ also being superposed one above the other, the expansion strips G, G¹, etc. (in this case shown as formed of wires or rods), and balance-levers being arranged in the same plane, somewhat in the nature of a coiled spring, the coil shaft being indicated at J and the coil lever at I, to which are connected the end expansion strips G, G^{x}, and the weight K¹ for placing the coil under tension. By this arrangement of balance-levers and expansion strips, in the same plane, much economy of space is effected, and when desired, a great number of such coils may be suspended upon the series of knife-bars.

In Fig. 12ª I show two such coils connected in series, the terminal expansion strip G^{x} of the front coil being connected to one end of the lever I, and the opposite terminal G of that coil being connected to the shortest one of the rear set of levers F^{1ª}, the terminal G^{y} of the rear set being connected to the other end of the lever I. Thus two or more such coils may be connected, and the force of expansion and contraction of the combined coils transmitted to the lever I. When a number of such combined coils are suspended from the knife-bars E, E¹, the levers connecting their respective terminals may be themselves connected by a system of compound levers such, for example, as shown in Fig. 13, to be hereinafter referred to.

Referring now to Figs. 13 to 20 inclusive. These figures illustrate another form of the invention whereby not only the power-storage device of the preceding

figures may be dispensed with, but also the main spring of the clock there shown, both of these elements being supplanted by apparatus effecting the raising and lowering of weights (in this instance shown in the form of balls), the force of expansion and contraction of the coils being utilized to operate a rotary member which elevates a series of weights and discharges the same into a storage receiver, the clock (or other machine) being operated through the energy so stored and given up by the falling of said weights.

As illustrated in said figures, this feature of the invention consists of a frame, indicated in whole at 10, located about midway the length of the expansion coils shown in Fig. 1, and it may be supported by securing it to the uprights C, C¹, or in any other suitable manner.

Said frame comprises two horizontally disposed longitudinal framing members, 10ª, 10^{b}, which are connected at each end by cross-bars (not shown).

Mounted on the supports 10ª, 10^{b}, are four uprights, 12ª, 12^{b}, 13ª, 13^{b}. The uprights 12ª 12^{b} are connected at their upper ends by a longitudinal framing member 14ª, and the uprights 13ª 13^{b} are connected by longitudinal framing member 14^{b}, said framing members 14ª 14^{b} being also in turn connected at their ends by transverse bars (not shown), said members constituting an open frame for the working parts of the apparatus.

Mounted respectively upon the longitudinal framing members 10ª 10^{b}, approximately midway thereof, are two standards, 16ª 16^{b}, which are rigidly secured together by a cross-bar 17, said standards and cross-bar constituting a rigid support for the gearing now to be described.

Rotatably mounted upon the standards 16ª, 16^{b} is a driving shaft 18, one end of which is journaled in the standard 16ª, and the other end in a bearing-bolt 19 passing through the standard 16^{b}, which, being threaded, is capable of fine adjustment.

Mounted upon and keyed to the shaft 18 is a wheel 19, the spokes 20 of which support a rim 21, within which are set a series of pockets 22, the inner surfaces of which are so shaped as to permit their receiving successively, at the bottom of the wheel, a series of balls 23 and holding the same during a travel of 180 degrees, or one-half revolution of the wheel, when they are discharged as hereinafter described. This wheel I will term an energy-storing wheel, since it acts through the force taken from the expansion coils to raise the balls, the lowering of which is to drive the wheel now to be described.

Loosely mounted on the shaft 18 is a wheel 24, smaller in diameter than the wheel 19, the spokes 25 of which, secured to the hub 26, support a rim 27, within which are set a series of pockets 28, which are adapted to receive successively, at the top of the wheel, the balls 23, and discharge the same when they have been lowered through 180 degrees or, in other words, at the bottom of the wheel. The inner wall of the pockets 28 is formed, for the most part, with a pronounced rounded groove (indicated at 28ª), as shown above the ball in Fig. 18, which groove lies under the ball when the pocket is in its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 17, said groove becoming less pronounced at one edge towards the opposite portion of the pocket, at which point it has an approximately level surface at one side, as shown in Fig. 18, and indicated at 28^{b}; the subject of this arrangement being that the ball may be readily discharged in this position, and securely held within the pocket when the ball and pocket are in other positions. The wheel 24--which I will designate as the power-transmission wheel--is supported upon ball bearings indicated at 28^{c}, 28^{d}, which are held in position by collars 28^{e}, 28^{f}, both keyed to shaft 18.

Mounted upon a collar 29, which is keyed to the driving shaft 18, is a ratchet wheel 30, engaging the teeth of which are two pawls 31, 32, secured to one arm of a double-arm pawl-carrier 33, the other arm of which is connected by a rod 34 to a lever 35, one end of which lever is pivotally connected to a standard 36, secured to the frame, and the other end of which is provided with a weight 36ª.

Near the inner end of the lever 35 connection is made by means of the connecting rods 37 and 38, link 39 and rods 40, 41, with two levers indicated at L, L, which are adapted to take power from the expansion coils heretofore described, through the coil shafts J, J, to which shafts are also connected the coil levers I, I, the ends of the latter being connected to the strips G, G^{x} of the expansion coil by the wires H, H¹, as already set forth and clearly illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

As illustrated in Fig. 13, upon contraction of the

expansion coils, the wires H, H¹ will be pulled in the direction indicated by the arrows, the ends of the long arms of the levers L, L--through the movement of the shafts J, J--will rise, thereby, through the rods 40, 41, link 39 and rods 38, 37, raising the lever 35, and through the rod 34 actuating the pawl carrier 33, and through the pawls 31, 32, imparting rotary motion to the ratchet wheel 30, and, through it, to the shaft 18 and the power-storing wheel 19, said pawl carrier being returned to its normal position by the weight 36ª. Motion of said wheel and shaft in the reverse direction is prevented by means of a ratchet wheel 42, keyed to the collar 29, engaging the teeth of which wheel is a detent 43, carried by a plate 44, secured to the supports 45, affixed to the standard 16ª.

The hub member 26 of the power transmission wheel 24 is provided with a sprocket wheel 46, which is adapted to engage and drive a sprocket chain 47, and thereby drive the great wheel of a clock mechanism or gearing of any other machine adapted to the purpose.

Having shown the mechanism for driving the energy-storing wheel 19, which, as already stated, is keyed to the shaft 18, I will now describe the mechanism for driving the power transmission wheel 24, which runs loose on the shaft 18.

It will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 16 that the wheel 19 is of greater diameter than the wheel 24.

Suitably mounted between said wheels, on cross-bars 48, 49, I provide a series of ball-storage runways designated in whole at 50 (see Fig. 14), and, as shown in Fig. 16, these runways are laterally inclined downwardly from the wheel 19 to the wheel 24.

Similar ball runways designated in whole at 51 are provided at the lower portion of said wheels and between the same (Fig. 20), being mounted upon cross-bars 52, 53, but the last named runways are laterally inclined in the reverse direction to that of the runways 50.

The ball-storage runways 50 comprise inclined floor members 54, 54ª, 54^{b}, each having longitudinally a slight downward inclination in the direction of the arrows. These runways also comprise longitudinally extending walls 55, 56, 57, 58, one end of the wall 55 being curved to meet one end of the wall 57, leaving a passageway 59 between it and one end of the wall 56. One end of the wall 58 is similarly curved to meet one end of the wall 56, leaving a passageway 60 between it and one end of the wall 57. Thus are provided parallel runways 61, 62 and 63, with passageways from one to the other, whereby a ball deposited in runway 61 will move continuously from that end of the series of runways to the other end. The runway 61 is provided with an end wall 61ª, and adjacent thereto the longitudinal wall 55 is provided with an opening 61^{b} to permit the passage therethrough successively of balls from the energy-storing wheel 19 to the runway 61.

Projecting through the standard 16^{b} is a threaded bolt 63ª, the end of the shank of which is beveled, as clearly shown in Figs. 14 and 16, the function of which is to eject from the uppermost pocket 22 of the wheel 19, as the same revolves, the balls 23, and thrust them successively into the runway 61.

At the lower end of the runway 63 is provided a laterally movable receptacle 64, which has a receiving capacity of one ball only. Said receptacle comprises a base 65 and perpendicular stop 66. The base 65 is connected to the floor member 54^{b} of the runway 63 by a horizontally disposed hinge 67, and to it is also affixed a plate 68, carrying a downwardly extending lever arm 69, which is formed at its lower extremity with an outwardly curving portion 70, which is adapted to engage with the spokes 25 of the wheel 24 and be thereby pressed inwardly, the result of which is to depress the outer end of the base 65 of the ball receptacle 64, inclining the same in such position that the ball therein will fall into the adjacent pocket of the wheel 24, the ball being prevented from falling therefrom on the opposite side by the stop 71 secured to the standard 16ª. The center of gravity of the lever arm 69 is such that when the curved lower portion is in its normal forwardly extended position the rear side of the base 65 of the receptacle 64 will be depressed and the forward side elevated, so that the forward side will normally project above the floor level of the runway 63 and serve as a stop to prevent more than one ball occupying any of the space within said receptacle at one time.

The ball-storage runways 51 comprise inclined floor members 72, 72ª, 72^{b}, each having a slight downward inclination longitudinally in the direction of the arrows. They also comprise longitudinally extending walls 73,

74, 75 and 76, one end of the wall 73 being curved to meet one end of the wall 75, leaving a passageway 77 between it and one end of the wall 74. One end of the wall 76 is similarly curved to meet one end of the wall 74, leaving a passageway 78 between it and the other end of the wall 75. There are thus formed parallel runways 79, 80 and 81, with passageways from one to the other, whereby a ball deposited at the other end of the runway 79 will move continuously from that end of the series of runways to the other end. The runway 79 is provided with an end wall 82, and adjacent thereto the longitudinal wall 76 is provided with an opening 76ª to permit the passage therethrough, at intervals, of balls from the power-transmission wheel 24 to the runway 79. Adjacent the wall 82 is perpendicularly disposed pin 82ª whereby the balls, as they pass through the opening in the wall 76 are deflected to pass through the runway 79 in the direction of the arrow.

At the lower end of the runway 81 is provided a laterally movable receptacle 83, which has a receiving capacity for one ball only. Said receptacle comprises a base 84 and end stop 85. Said receptacle is horizontally hinged at 86 to the floor member 72 of the runway 81, and is provided with an outward extension 87, which is adapted to be engaged by a shoulder 88 on the ball pockets 22, and thereby depress the outer edge of the base of the receptacle in such a way as to eject the ball therefrom, and place the same in the pocket of the wheel 19.

It will be seen that the hinge 86 (Fig. 19) is off center and when the base 84 of the receptacle 83 is depressed at the rear the upper end of a pin 89, projecting upwardly from the base 84 contacts with the upper portion of the wall 74, thereby preventing the rear portion of the base being depressed too low. When a ball is in said receptacle, the forward end will be elevated so that a portion of the side edge of the base will be projected above the floor member of the runway 81, serving as a stop to prevent more than one ball occupying any of the space within said receptacle. When one ball moves into a pocket 22, another ball quickly moves into the receptacle, taking its position at the rear thereof. This operation takes place when the base 84 is level with the floor member of the runway 81, the outer end of the base rising as soon as the pocket and its ball have passed by the projection 87.

It will be seen that the energy-storing wheel 19, which takes its motive power through the shaft 18 from the expansion coils, acts to raise the balls or weights from the lower ball runways 51 to the ball storage runways 50. The wheel 19 may act at more or less irregular intervals, while the power transmission wheel 24 acts--and must act--continuously and regularly. This wheel takes and transmits power from the lowering of the balls, which are delivered to it when the pockets are in the position of the one shown uppermost in Fig. 15, and are discharged from the pockets when in the position of the one shown lowermost in said figure, in which position of the wheel the approximately flat surface of the pocket (Fig. 18) is lowermost, or under the ball, permitting ready discharge of same. From the delivery side of the power transmission wheel 24 the balls are discharged into the runway 79, being deflected into proper direction by the pin 83ª, thence passing through the passageway 78 through the runway 80 in the direction of the arrow, thence through the opening 77 into the runway 81, thence into receptacle 83, and when the shoulder 88 of the energy-storing wheel 19 reaches a point opposite said receptacle the base of the latter is depressed, which results in passing a ball into the wheel pocket; as the wheel turns and the next pocket arrives in position another ball is taken on, and so on, as long as there are any balls in the lower runway. When a ball on the wheel 19 reaches the uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 16, it contacts with the ejector 63ª and is thereby passed into the runway 61 and thence to the lower end of that series of runways, and in the same way the balls following will take position in the upper series of runways.

It will be understood that when my invention is applied to the operation of a clock the power taken from the power transmission wheel 24 will be given up gradually, being controlled by the pendulum or balance wheel governed escapement in the usual way.

In the application of my invention as last above described the apparatus will be designed and built to furnish energy sufficient not only to run the clock, but provide a surplus for storage. On some days the variation in temperature may be but two or three degrees, and on

other days it may be as high as twenty degrees. If the clock requires for its operation the lowering of three balls each day the apparatus will be so arranged that with an average daily temperature variation of, say, six degrees, four balls will be raised, of which three will operate the power transmission wheel and one will be held in storage. With a variation of twelve degrees, eight balls will be raised, of which five balls will be left in storage. If the ball storage runways each have a holding capacity for one hundred balls, and the variation in temperature is greater than required, the balls will soon be lifted from the lower to the upper runways. Assuming that on certain days there will be no variation in temperature, and as a result the energy-storing wheel should not revolve, the running of the clock will not be interrupted, for the power transmission wheel will continue revolving, taking its power from the balls in storage.

I wish it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction and arrangement of parts as herein set forth and described or to the materials specified, as modification and variation may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

BANGERTER’S NON-ELECTRIC REGULATOR

TIME CLOCK

ANNIVERSARY SELF-WINDING

The Bangerter Anniversary Self-Winding Regulator deserves this title because its construction embodies all the principles essential to a Regulator to be the very best time-keeper. “Graham dead-beat escapement” and a pendulum provided with means for keeping its gravity always the same length, overcoming the variation which change in temperature invariably brings about.

Another great improvement is the daily Self-Winding System, winding a weight which is the only means of maintaining an even pull to the delicate works of the clock. Wound by a force which requires attention one minute a year only.

This invention relates to clocks, and particularly that class wherein a pendulum escapement is employed and wherein the clock-train is weight driven.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that the most accurate and reliable clocks are those which are driven by a weight. Most of such clocks are provided with a plurality of weights, one being used to supply the energy necessary to strike the time, and the other the energy for operating the clock-train, and in clocks of such construction they have to be wound frequently, usually either daily or weekly.

Many attempts have been made to produce clocks which will run for a relatively long time without requiring the attention of an attendant to wind the same. In such clocks (other than electrical clocks) powerful springs have been employed, one of such springs being used for time-striking and the other for actuating the clock-train. Clocks of this class designed to run for an extended length of time, such, for example, as period of, say, a year or more, have been indifferent time-keepers, due to the fact that the power of the springs becomes materially lessened during the latter part of the cycle of operations. Therefore, spring-operated clocks, calculated to be run for any great length of time, have been more or less unsatisfactory, and have not gone into very extensive use.

The object of my invention is to provide a clock which will not require the attention of an attendant but once in a long period of time, and which will also be an accurate time-keeper.

A further object is to provide a clock operated by a uniformly pulling weight, the pull of which is not varied by the lifting of said weight.

A further object is to provide a power-storage device and power transmission mechanism and automatic devices connected thereto, whereby the power of said power-storage mechanism is utilized to wind up the clock--that is to say, to lift the clock-train operating weight at certain definitely recurring intervals of time.

A further object of my invention is to provide, in connection with such power-storage mechanism, time-striking means operated by said power-storage device, which being independent of the clock-train operating means does not interfere therewith.

A further object of my invention is to provide a single power-storage mechanism which will afford the power to strike the time and effect the winding of the clock, doing away with two sets of mechanism (one for each purpose), as heretofore used.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a power-storage device that with one winding of the same the clock may be kept running, and also striking the time, for a year or more in duration.

A further object of my invention is to provide means in connection with said power-storage device whereby the winding of the clock-train does not interfere with continuous running and perfect time-keeping of the clock, and does not require any supplemental propelling mechanism for the clock-train during the winding operation.