US2192505A - Silent alarm wrist watch - Google Patents

Description

Mmh 5, 1940. F, A RAYUCK 2,192,505

SILENT ALARM 'WRIST WATCH Filed )latch 10, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTR ATTORN EY March 5., 1940. F, A, RAYBUCK 2,192,505

SILENT ALARM WRIST WATCH Filed March 10, 1939 2 Shaecs-Sheefl 2 IlIllllllllllllllllllllll m-H- IIII ||||||||HIlllllllllllllll' INVENTOR F/PH/Y/(L @f7/377500( ATTORNEY mennen. s. 1940 UNITED sT'ATEsV PATENT OFFICE vMy invention 'relates to a silent aiarmwrist watch which is caiculatedto give a signal to the wearer at the predetermined time itis set ior without disturbing others and which at the same time can be made inexpensively and suiiiciently 4compact as not to interfere with the original uses of watches of this character.

Heretoi'ore relatively large valarm clocks have been used which give a rather loud, audible signal and which disturbed other people than the one intended to lie awakened or reminded, and

furthermore such alarm clocks have been of the standard type cr stationary, that is, not of the typevwhich can be conveniently carried about the person. .To overcome this diiliculty it `has been proposed to equip pocket watches with alarms which also give audible signals and which..

while not perhaps seriously inconveniencing others, nevertheless betray their presence, which in many instances is not desirable. Furthermore. a pocket watch having an audible alarm signal can. be overlooked unless such signal is violent enough to be objectionable. y

liloctorsI nurses, professional -men and in fact all people whosegoutine requires that they re-V member to do certain things at certain times need some sort of a convenient and yet effective alarm to serve as a reminder and to that end I Lio have conceived. the idea -of providing a novel wristwatch which includes a silent alarm which,

in addition to vibrating and thusconveying "an indirect sensory stimulus, also has. means for making direct physical contact with the back of the wrist'o! the hand. whereby a positive alarm is given to the wearer of the watch without in any way disturbing others or even betraying the presence of the alarm to persons in the immediate vicinity. I g

To the above ends my invention resides in the combination with a wrist watch of a secondary clock mechanism, a vibrating element having access through the back cover of the wrist watch .to the back of the wrist. said vibrating element being adapted to be actuated by said secondary together .with means for winding and setting or resetting said secondary clock mechanism in cooperative relation to the primary conventional clock mcchanismof the wrist My invention further relates to certain'features o! construction by means of which an alarm mechanism is strong enough to be effective andv yet' can be compactly and inexpensively pro duced.

' sho Y hand of the watch embodying my invention.

other features of construction and advan' tage will be more clearly understood from the following 'speciiloation and the accompanying drawings in which: v

Fig. 1\ represents a top plan View of a wrist watch embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 represents a diagrammatic top 'plan view certain details of lconstruction. Fig. 3 represents a diagrammatic bottom plan viewshowing other details. of construction.

Fig. 4 represents a diagrammatic view partly lo in section and partly in. elevation showing details of construction o! the watch clock mechanism and the alarm clock mechanism, certain parts being omitted.u

Fig. 5 represents a diagrammatic view partly in section and partly in elevation showing certain details of the alarm mechanism and the means for operating it.

Fig. 6 represents a top plan vievv4 of the setting m Fig. 'I represents a bottom plan view of the setting hand shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 represents a top plan view of the conventional hour hand of the Wrist watch as the vsame is modiiied for use in connection with my invention.

B'ig.'9 represents a side elevation of the hour hand shown in Fig. 8.

.Referring to the drawings in which like' reference characters indicate like parts, and more particularlyA to Fig. l, it willbe seen that my wrist watch embodies Aa conventional cuter casfing il which houses the silent alarm mecha--v nism of my invention as well as the conventional clockwork which operates the time piece proper. r.Phe easing viii is provided with the usual opening i2 through which the conventional dial I4 togetherwith the hour hand i6, the minute hand El and the alarm-setting hand 2E may be seen. Also, my novel wrist watch is provided with the conventional stem 22 for winding the watch and setting the hands i6 and il in the well known mannen'and with the auxiliary stem 24, for' windingthe clock mechanism for operating the alarm and for setting the alarm hand 20.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seenthat the stem 22 actuates the cog 2 which also turns the'cog 28 to wind the usual-spring (not shown) and which, througirintermediate conventional gearing (not shown) actuates the-shaft 30. The shaft Il vcarries the'usual cog lvl which carries the hour hand ii and the minute hand i8, and the special cog wheel 32 which carries the alarmv hand 2l. LThe cog 32 and the 'alarm hand 20 do not tum with 0I the shaft 3Q. In

litiga-2 and d it wllloe seen that to the upper this connection it will be understood that when the stem 22 is pulled out it is disconnectedfrom the cogs 2 and 28 and, throughconventional `gearing (not shown) it turns the shaft 33 to setv the hands I3 and I8y without aecting the cogs 26 and 28, which windthe spring of the watch.

The opposite stem 24 through the cogs 33 and 38, winds another spring (not shown) which spring serves for the purpose of actuating the alarm to be hereinafter described. Similarly. and by equally conventional means (not shown), when the. stem 24 is pnlled outwardly it 4ceases to affect the cogs 36 and 38 and the spring wound thereby, but acts only on the cog 40 which meshes with the cog 42 to turn the cog 32 carrying the alarm hand 20 to any desired position on the dial and thus set the alarm forany desired time.

The cog 32, which carries the alarm hand 20, is

provided with an opening 46 which is connected with a gradually tapering cam-like surface or groove 48 of a predetermined length. The cog 3| which carries the hand I6 underlies the cog wheel 32 -carrying 'the alarm hand 20, and is provided with the pin y52, so that, as the cog 3| turns around with the shaft 30, the pin 52 will enter the opening and, as the -cog 3| turns further, the pin 52 emerges from the opening 46 along the groove or cam surface 48. From this it will be seen that while the cog 32 rides on the pin 52 the cog 32 is spaced from the cog 3| and this condition continues until ,the pin 52 enters the opening 46 whereupon the cog 32 drops upon the cog 3| for a time predetermined by the relationship of the opening 46 and groove 8 to the pin 52.

It Willbe noted that all the clockwork mechanism, whether it be of the conventional type or whether it be that which is added to carry out my invention, is enclosed between the upper and lower supporting plates iid and 3i), and from plate to is secured at 32 the hat spring the center portion of which rests upon the cog Wheel so that the fiat spring @t is raised and lowered by the rise or fall ci? the cog' Wheel with to the cog Thus, when the cog wheel 3:2 is riding on the pin 52 the spring element Bt is pushed upwardly as viewed in Fig. Il and, when the cog wheel Sil temporarily drops upon the cog Wheel 3i, due to the entry of the pin 52 into the opening lli', the spring (iii is lowered accordingly. As best seen from the left hand portion of 4, the fiat spring 64 is deflected downwardly as at 66 and horizontally as at 68 to l-form a brake which engages the brake Wheel lil on the shaft 12E. While the fiat spring 64 is in its uppermost position as shown in Fig. fi, thelbrake 68 engaging as it does the brake wheel 10 prevents rotation of the latter as well as rotation of the shaft 12 and vice versa. The shaft 12, in addition to the brake Wheel 10, carries the cog 14 which meshes with the cog 16 ori-the shaft 18 which also carries the cog 80 which meshes with the cog 82 on vthe shaft 84. The cog 32 meshes with the cog 38 which is actuated by the usual spring (not shown). In this way the spring (not shown) is constantly tending to actuate the shaft 12, except for the constant braking action of the brakeshoe 6B of the flat spring 64. Thus, the shaft 12 is held stationary by the brake 58 as long as the cog 32 is riding upon the pin 52 and is spaced from the cog 3|. Whenthe pin 52 enters the opening 46 to allowthe cog 32 to; drop onto the cog 3| the brake 88 is released from the brake wheel 10 and this 'rallows the shaft 12 to turn under pressure of the spring (not shown).

To the under side of the plate 58 is secured as at Il one or more alarm elements 90 and 92 each of said alarm'elements being deiiected downwardly and horizontally to'terminate in the Vpins 94. The pins 94 are adapted to pass through the sleeves 96 formed in the bottom 98 of the outer casing .Il of the watch. By reference to Fig. 5 it will be .-se'en that the alarm elements 90 and 92 have a range of movement defined by the positions shown in dotted and solid lines in that gure so that, when the-alarm elements are in their lowermost position, the pins 94 extend slightly below the level of the outer casing 98, as shown in solid lines, and so that, when the alarms 9| and 92 are in their uppermost position the pins 94 remain Within the sleeves 96 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The shaft 84, which is actuated by the main spring under the cog 3 8 when the brake 68 is released, has its lower -end deflected as at |00 so as to engage the inclined portions of the alarms' and 92 in ad- 1 vance of their horizontal extensions so that, as

-duces a hammering or tapping action on the wrist of the wearer, which `constitutes a positive alarm which cannot be overlookedoperation is as follows:

Assuming the wearer of the watch desires to wake up at 7:00 oclocl: a. In., the alarm hand 2li is moved to the numeral i! by pulling out the winding stem 24, and oi' course this must be done some time after 'izlt oclocl; p. in. When thehour and minutes hands iii and it have moved around to indicate 7:00 oclocl; a. m., the cog 3i carrying the hand it has moved 'through the deaired are and the pin 52 enters the opening dil. This drops the cog 32 down into Contact with the cog 3i thus releasing the upward pressure against the spring 84 and permitting the latter to drop, thereby disengaging the brake 68 from the brake wheel 10. This releases the shaft 'i2 and permits it to turn under tension of the spring which is wound by the cogs 3i? and 3-, and, when the shaft 12 is free to turn, the cog 'lll turns the cog 18 and the cog 80, which in turn meshes with and actuates the cog 82 on the shaft Bil. This causes the shaft 84 and the deflected portion Mill thereof to spin about its axis and the bottom porsesV alarm elements 93 and 92 causes the latter to reciprocate vertically so that the pins 94 hammer the wrist of the wearer through the sleeves 96. This goes on until the spring is exhausted or until the wearer awakens and stops the alarm by pulling out the stem 24 and turning the cog 32. When this is done the bevelled top of the pin 52 gradually rides out of the opening 46 along the groove or cam surface `48, and, when the pin 52 has cleared the groove 48, the cog 32 is again riding on the pin 52 and is spaced from the cog 3l as shown in Fig. 4. In this position the cog 32 pushes the spring 54 upwardly (as viewed in 111g. 4) thuspressing the brake 68 against the wheel 1I and arresting the movement of the shaft 12 and hence of the shaft I4. Due to the gearing used, as well as to the size and disposition of the spring Il, and the fact that the brake Il acts on the periphery of the.wheel 10 instead of directly upon the shaft 12, very little force is required to retain the wheel III and the shaft 12.stationary against the'constant urge of the spring wound by the cols 36 and 38.

Assuming that a wrist watch of my invention is worn by a nurse who must take temperatures or give medicine at ten, fifteen, or thirty minute intervals, it will be seen that the nurse, provided with a positive alarm-that assures prompt attention to the specified duties at the specified critical periods, can carry on her work without disturbing the patient, and this also greatly relieves the tension which would be otherwise imposed upon the nurse if she had to keep strict wat-ch over the passage of time. Similarly, a housewife who must baste a roast every so often, or who is baking a cake that must be taken out in exactly twenty minutes, is very likely to overlook the passage oi' time due to preoccupation with other duties unless she is to drop everything and attend strictly to this one item, which is highly undesirable. These are but two4 illustrations of the many uses oi' my novel watch, but it is obvious that` everybody in every occupation will have occasion to remember certain things at certain times so that my novel watch has a universal applicability.

Especially important is the fact that my novel alarm is not only silent so as not to disturb others or even betray its presence to othersA but also that it aiiords a positive alarm, which cannot be overlooked, by producing a harmless but nevertheless eifective tapping or hammering on the sensitive skin of the wrist. While I have shown two alarm elements 9| and l2 it is obvious that only one of the elements can be used if desired. The sleeves 96 constitute a relatively tight fit around the pins M so as to prevent ingress of dirt and dust while at the same time permitting free movement of the pins 9|. Furthermore, the clockwork proper is all disposed above the plate 5l and the sleeves 96 through which the pins Il' project are provided in the bottom Il of the outer casing Iasbestseenin Fig. 5. f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

A silent alarm wrist watch comprising a primary clock mechanism for actuating the hands of said watch. a secondary clock mechanism for operating an alarm element, a brake element normally holding said secondary'mechanism inoperative, said brake element being adapted to vbe released at predetermined times by said primary mechanism, a vertically disposed-shaft adapted,

to be rotated by said secondary clock mechanism when said brake is released, the lower end of said shaft being deected to form an angular extension, and a spring alarm element comprising an inclined portion extending across and Vabove the plane of rotation of said angular extension and a vertical portion normally in contact with `the wrist of the wearer through an opening in the back of the wrist watch casing, said vertical portion being lifted from contact with the wrist of the wearer by the rotation of said shaft and the intermittent engagement of said angular extension with the underside ofthe inclined portion of said alarm element.

' r'nANmsN A. RAYBUcx.

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