A
Young
Swiss
Inventor’s
Most
Marvelous
Achievement
[Illustration]
His
Wonderful
Time Clock
an
Eloquent
Solution
of
Motion
and
Perpetual
Force
[Illustration: FRIEDRICH BANGERTER
Inventor]
COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY
FRIEDRICH BANGERTER,
50 CHURCH STREET,
NEW YORK.
[Illustration: GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS AND DIPLOMAS
At the World Universal Expositions in Paris, 1900, and in Belgium, 1905,
for Bangerter’s Many Marvelous Inventions.]
BANGERTER’S
INVENTIONS
HIS
MARVELOUS
TIME CLOCK
EDITED BY KING
CONTENTS
Page
DREAM OF AGES REALIZED 9
Perpetual Force 9
A Practical Invention 10
A Truly Wonderful Invention 10
What Does Perpetual Motion Mean? 13
Napoleon’s Fatal Error 13
Flying Machines Everywhere 14
America! Land of Opportunities 17
Stimulus to Inventive Genius 17
Perpetual Motion, the Study of Ages 18
When Nature Is Ready 18
Other Natural Forces 21
Variation of Temperature 21
Nature’s Many Phenomena 22
Nature’s Great Planetary Clockwork 22
Heat the Source of All Power 25
Heat--Expansion and Contraction 25
SPECIFICATION 29
BANGERTER’S ANNIVERSARY SELF-WINDING REGULATOR 73
BANGERTER’S FIRE DETECTOR AND FIRE ALARM 77
BANGERTER’S FIRE ALARM AND WATER SPRINKLER 79
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF FRIEDRICH BANGERTER 81
BANGERTER’S AUTOMATIC WATCH CHAIN MACHINE 83
BANGERTER’S WRITING AND TALKING DOLL 87
BANGERTER’S AUTOMATIC JEWELER 91
BANGERTER’S AIRSHIP 93
BANGERTER’S POWDERLESS GUN 95
DREAM OF AGES REALIZED
The Twentieth Century is the century of successful accomplishment. The
zenith of human achievements appears to have been reached. Yet every day
brings its new surprises. There seems to be no limit to the output of
human genius and ingenuity. We have now the aeroplane skimming through
the air with bird-like ease and rapidity; the wireless telegraph and
wireless telephone; the leviathan steamship “Olympic,” which annihilates
distance between Europe and America and a sight of which would make our
ancestors gasp in amazement, as well as other modern marvels.
And these pages tell about one of the greatest inventions of all time--a
discovery of to-day that will add a crowning glory to successful
Twentieth Century endeavor.
Bangerter’s Perpetulium Time Clock is most concrete, tangible and
eloquent evidence that PERPETUAL FORCE--the greatest of all mechanical
problems--is solved at last.
PERPETUAL FORCE!
Bangerter’s latest and highly successful creation sounds like a fairy
story realized. The wizardry of true genius is thus marvellously
expressed. Volumes have been written by prominent authors and leading
scientific men illustrating the wasted efforts and picturing the despair
of many inventors in all ages who failed in their persistent efforts to
solve the problem of perpetual force--producing motion. Centuries of
unwearying studies and activities only met with failure. It was called
an impossible task, a phantom, a phantasy, a freak of the imagination
that never could be converted to a practical issue.
But the failure of those who attempted and failed in the past could not
keep back the energy and force of progress.
To-day the problem of perpetual force is really solved. It remained for
a young Swiss inventor--Mr. Friedrich Bangerter--to successfully
accomplish the heretofore impossible.
Bangerter’s Perpetual Time Clock is perfect in theory and practice. It
is operated by a principle that cannot fail. A glance at the machine
will convince the most skeptical.
From time to time we read of wonderful inventions that never get beyond
the stage where they are talked about. They are impractical and
impossible, because their inventors are fakirs, fanatics or
dreamers--inventors lacking the character, knowledge and brains to
understand whether or not their ideas are of any realizable value.
A PRACTICAL INVENTION
This is emphatically not the case with Mr. Bangerter. His is a most
practical mind. His record as an inventor is one of successes. He has
had twenty years’ experience as a practical and technical mechanical
engineer, with a great number of patents and inventions in operation all
over the world. His marvelous automatic machines--taking wrought casting
and bars of metal and automatically making gears, chains, spindles,
screws, pinions, etc., of the highest precision--is a striking example
of his great ability.
At two World’s Expositions--in Paris, 1900, and Belgium, 1905--the Jury
of International Selection of Mechanical Experts awarded him Silver and
Gold Medals and Diplomas for his inventions of the most marvelous
machines.
A TRULY WONDERFUL INVENTION
Bangerter’s Perpetual Time Clock is a truly wonderful mechanism and an
exact, reliable timepiece. It will do the work for which it is intended,
as long as the mechanical parts hold together--as long as the shafts and
spindles run in their bearings.
In other words, this clock will run for
[Illustration: BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL CLOCK.]
generations--yes, from 100 to 500 years--without winding. During this
unbelievably long period this clock will run, show the exact time,
strike the hours and play the marvelous Westminster melodies without the
slightest expenditure of time or effort in winding up with springs or
weights.
There is employed no electricity, chemicals, secret preparations or
fuel, to produce the power and energy to run Bangerter’s Perpetual Force
Clock. Yet there is a natural law behind it all--the secret of its
practical application was discovered and successfully applied by the
young Swiss inventor.
WHAT DOES PERPETUAL MOTION MEAN?
To avoid loss of time and to obviate dissension and discussion between
readers and critics herewith is given the technical understanding of the
title “PERPETUAL MOTION.” It is taken from “The International
Cyclopedia,” Vol. II, Page 522, and reads as follows:
“Perpetual Motion means an engine which, without any supply of power
from without, can not only maintain its own motion forever, or as long
as its material lasts, but can also be applied to drive machinery, and
therefore to do external work. In other words, it means a device for
creating power energy without corresponding expenditure. This is now
known to be absolutely impossible, no matter what physical forces be
employed.”
The Bangerter Clock is eloquent evidence that the theory just quoted
(and heretofore generally accepted as correct) is not, in fact, correct.
It will be necessary, in the face of this new discovery, to write a new
definition of Perpetual Motion.
Impossibilities of yesterday are the stern realities of to-day. We have
now arrived at such a stage of advancement as to be surprised at no
discovery or invention, no matter how improbable or wonderful.
NAPOLEON’S FATAL ERROR.
Napoleon was advised not to listen to Fulton’s plan of the steamboat--a
certain cause of his downfall, for had he accepted Fulton’s radical and
previously unheard of ideas he would presently have a fleet of
steamships. He would thus be Emperor of the Ocean, for with his fleet
of steamships he would surely have conquered Britain’s old-fashioned
sailing navy.
Ten years ago all the scientific men to whom Bangerter presented his
plans for an airship, gravely shook their heads. They said:--
“Your principle is right--it shows the most practical device we have yet
seen, and if there were such proposition as a ‘heavier-than-air’
possibility you would have the best chance of success.”
Very well, the “heavier-than-air” possibility has become a certainty.
To-day scientific men see the weight of a man’s body (increased by a
heavy framework and many mechanical contrivances) soar lightly and
majestically between the blue sky and the earth below. The dream of the
pitied and sneered at inventor of a decade ago is exemplified to-day all
over the civilized world!
All this the scientists a few years ago did not see.
The new born force--insignificant in size and appearance, but giant-like
in actual force--now known as the gasolene engine, did not then make an
appearance. But now hundreds of machines are flying all over the
world--propelled by the pygmy gasolene engine.
In other words, as the force of a man is mechanically figured to 1-7 of
one H. P., some gasolene engines of the weight and size of a man develop
700 times more power.
This enormous force may soon bring about a revolution in warfare by
displacing powder as a force to expel bullets from guns.
Tests made last year with a small model gun have demonstrated great
possibilities by shooting small 3-8 inch round ball-bearing at so
terrific a speed that they pierced a 1½-inch pine target at 60 feet
distance, and in such enormous quantities that inside of a few seconds
five targets were riddled to atoms.
FLYING MACHINES EVERYWHERE.
Aeroplanes are to-day counted by hundreds. Some carry ten or more men at
a time, and keeping it up for hours with a speed of nearly 100 miles per
hour.
How great is the number of the wonderful time-saving, effort-saving and
distance-annihilating inventions of the past fifty years!
[Illustration: BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL CLOCK.]
How wonderful is the transformation! How sudden and how amazingly great
is the progress that a single generation produces in this remarkable
century! Great men have lived before us. Intellectual giants were our
fathers and grandfathers. But the time had not come for the infinite
hand to touch the mainspring that would set all these fountains of
activity to pouring out their rich treasures of knowledge and invention.
But as soon as the time is reached, how supremely marvelous are the
undreamed-of achievements!
AMERICA! LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES.
The development of the greatest of all countries--the United States of
America--is a most prolific source and cause of inventions. After the
Civil War had proven that equality and freedom were not mere figures of
speech, but that they were real, substantial blessings to be enjoyed by
all American citizens, a great stimulus to inventive genius was given.
The brains responded to the call for improvement and development.
The winnings from mining, the rewards from manufacture, the profits to
be derived in the thousand and one forms of commerce and the handsome
payments to be derived from agriculture, lumbering, cattle raising,
fruit culture, etc., were the strongest possible incentives to the
exercise of brains and inventive ingenuity.
Manufacture and commerce were fostered and developed by rapid
transportation. Railroads and steamships soon ran wherever needed.
Prosperity and happiness were the natural results of this wholesale
national activity.
The machinery of warfare, such as marine fortifications, great guns and
war vessels, was installed and maintained at an enormous expense.
It is not too much to say that America’s prosperity has aroused the
greatest possible interest in European countries. They have made the
most strenuous exertions in order to compete in the world’s trade marts.
STIMULUS TO INVENTIVE GENIUS.
A long period of universal peace has made it possible to keep up
inventive investigation and experimenting with marvelously fruitful
results.
Up to the present time more than ONE MILLION PATENTS have been issued
for the United States alone. Truly a marvelous record!
PERPETUAL MOTION--THE STUDY OF AGES.
In every age inventors have dreamed of that problem of
problems--Perpetual Motion. It is a problem that has exhausted the mind,
purse and patience of thousands of inventors. Almost every one has heard
of some one else’s interest in this great subject. But history shows
that the study of perpetual motion has been tinctured with charlatanism.
Fakirs have from time to time shown contrivances which seemed to solve
the problem, but were delusions and humbugs pure and simple, as they
were gotten up to delude the public and deceive investors. The notorious
Keely Motor was but one case of many.
Notwithstanding the enormous amount of unsuccessful effort and study in
an endeavor to solve Perpetual Motion there are yet many enthusiastic
students earnestly laboring in the field.
There is one great Perpetual Motion. It is Nature’s own handiwork, and
the only successful human attempt is exemplified in Bangerter’s
marvelously combined clockwork in which the silent forces of Nature are
harnessed to carry out immutable laws. Similar attempts had already been
undertaken by scientific men, but without success, until Friedrich
Bangerter touched the true keynote.
WHEN NATURE IS READY.
The time and conditions were ripe and ready. So was the man! It seems to
be one of the great laws of Mother Nature to withhold her most precious
secrets until she sees fit to divulge them, and then she brings in happy
juxtaposition “The Time, The Place and The Man.”
This has proven true with most of the world’s most important inventions
and discoveries. Nature in her own good time gives up the priceless
secret--that little something that spells success and that was so long
sought after until the golden moment it was revealed.
[Illustration: BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL CLOCK.]
Had Lilienthal to-day’s gasolene engine--an engine developing 100 H. P.
to the weight of only 200 pounds, as the rotary Gnome Engine, he would
have been highly successful in his efforts to fly.
The development of the automobile meant the development of the gasolene
engine, which became so reduced in weight and so powerful in action that
all that was necessary was to attach it to some planes, revolve
propellers, and, presto! off went the flying machine with ease and
speed.
As time goes on and as the needs of men multiply other great inventions
will be perfected in obedience to the universal Law of Creation.
Every student of Perpetual Motion, yes, every intelligent observer of
the world’s progress, will be intensely interested in Bangerter’s
wonderful clock.
OTHER NATURAL FORCES.
There are many other natural sources that could be called in to develop
Perpetual Force for clocks, machinery, etc., just as waterfalls,
rainfalls, the blowing of winds, etc., but all these could not be
considered and compared with Bangerter’s inventions. They are at present
impractical on account of the extensive and expensive outside
connections required.
Streams are sometimes found only at great distances, and the entire
system of turbines, dynamos, electrical conducting wires and motors are
much too complicated to operate a simple system of your own.
VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE.
We cannot depend upon a wind or a rainfall, but we can always depend
upon a variation of temperature day after day and year after year. Some
days there may be a variation of only one or two degrees, other days
from 15 to 25 degrees, but no matter what the variation may be,
Bangerter’s machine collects the daily results and stores their
energies.
These results are produced day after day by the phenomena of expansion
and contraction of material, and is so combined as to always have
sufficient force stored to always keep the clock running.
In other words, Bangerter’s Perpetulium Time Clock will always run
without winding.
Even if there should be no variation of temperature for a period of
several days or weeks--which will never happen as long as the world
exists--sufficient force would be stored from past variations to keep it
running for a considerable period of time.
This clock will give perfect time in any room, in any house or building
and in any exterior or interior location. It is not affected by time or
locality. The mysterious forces of Nature operate it equally as well in
the jungles of Africa as in a New York or London mansion.
It is the one clock for all time, all localities and all conditions.
NATURE’S MANY PHENOMENA.
How marvelous and manifold are the workings of Nature! Her phenomena and
secrets are ever subjects of intense study by the world’s greatest
intellects.
Nature’s manifestations are mild, majestic, mighty, cold, calm,
bounteous, benign, beneficent, beautiful, terrific, tender,
temperate--in fact, every adjective in the English language could be
employed to describe her full gamut of moods.
Some of us have heard the furious roaring of a blizzard and observed the
enormous force and terrific speed of the tempest, leaving behind death
and destruction in its wake. Many towns, large and small, have been
swept out of existence by blizzards, tornadoes and cyclones.
And the silent, fructifying forces of Nature--how grand and beautiful
beyond expression do they accomplish their work! “Great oaks from little
acorns grow,” and from little, apparently insignificant seeds spring
monarch trees of the forest, their crowns majestically waving three and
four hundred feet in the air. The mysteries of life have yet been
revealed to no man, and the artist has not lived who has been able to
paint the picture, to catch the true color effects, that only Mother
Nature can depict on a world wide canvas.
NATURE’S GREAT PLANETARY CLOCKWORK.
Every atom of force in the universe performs a purpose and function.
Nature never makes a mistake.
[Illustration: BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL CLOCK.]
Each of the myriad forces under her control has the most logical cause
for existence, and all are under the guidance of the most perfect
system. The entire planetary system may be termed the Clockwork of the
Universe--the great Natural Clock, absolutely authoritative and perfect
in operation and giving us days, nights, seasons and variations of
temperature with a regularity that never fails.
These variations of temperature really mean the source of all life and
vegetation. In order that we human beings live the globe must revolve on
its axis, and as the year grows on apace we receive the heat rays from
another planet--the Sun--in different angles and positions and in the
variations of temperature ranging from extreme heat to extreme cold.
HEAT THE SOURCE OF ALL POWER.
From heat comes all power. When the latent forces of Nature were first
set aflame by primitive man he touched the spring of civilization. Since
that time fire has been working for human progress. It is one of the
most powerful agents in the development of civilization.
Our rude ancestors long ago discovered its great utility, and they
cudgeled their brains to aid the flame of fire and obtain a still
fiercer heat. The bellows was the result--the wind pointed the way to
this invention.
Then followed by slow degrees the acquirement of further knowledge
concerning fire and its uses. Our forefathers learned the processes of
melting and smelting--later were established various metallurgical
operations.
The path was thus prepared for Tubal Cain and other artificers in
metals. Man eventually became exceedingly skilled in applying heat
forces in his many requirements in articles of brass, tin, zinc, steel,
etc.
HEAT--EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION.
From an article by J. Gordon Ogden, Ph.D., in “Popular Mechanics,”
September, 1910, we quote:
“Expansion is one of the most remarkable of the phenomena to be reckoned
with in the natural world. Practically every bit of matter from the
Great Brooklyn Bridge to the tiny hairspring in one’s watch is under its
imperial domination. It is a tremendous force, and the world of
mechanics has to treat it with the deference and respect due to its
gigantic power. Unlike gravity, and other forces of nature, it is
whimsical and takes sudden fits and starts, now acting one way, now
another. It affects different bodies in different ways, and seems to be
at variance with the time-honored forces whose action can be predicted
under all circumstances. At least that is what it apparently does. In
our meagre knowledge of the great underlying laws that control the
universe it is possibly unwise to speak so unkindly of expansion, as
though it were a spoiled child in need of correction; its behavior,
however, is so contrary to what one might expect that one is at a loss
to say anything else.
“The walls of a building are sometimes rectified by the enormous force
exerted by the contraction of iron rods. Bars of iron are placed so as
to join the two walls where the bulging is most pronounced. These bars
terminate in screws furnished with nuts. The whole of their length is
heated and the nuts tightened. On cooling the bars will contract with
practically irresistible force, causing the walls to straighten up. This
operation is repeated until the rectification is completed. Boiler
plates are fastened with red-hot rivets. The contraction of the rivets
incident upon their cooling draws the plates tightly together, forming a
steam-proof joint.”
“Tyndall, in his work on heat, gives an excellent illustration of the
force of expansion and contraction. ‘The choir of Bristol Cathedral was
covered with sheet lead, the length of the covering being 60 feet and
its depth 19 feet 5 inches. It had been laid in the year 1851, and two
years afterward it had moved bodily down for a distance of 18 inches.
The descent had been continually going on from the time the lead had
been laid down, and an attempt to stop it by driving nails into the
rafters had failed, for the force with which the lead had descended was
sufficient to draw out the nails. The roof was not a steep one, and the
lead could have rested on it forever without sliding down by gravity.
What, then, was the cause of the descent? The lead was exposed to the
varying temperatures of day and night. During the day the heat imparted
to it caused it to expand. Had it lain upon a horizontal surface, it
would have expanded all around; but as it lay upon an inclined surface
it expanded more freely downward than upward. When, on the contrary, the
lead contracted at night its upper edge was drawn more easily downward
than its lower edge upward. Its motion was, therefore, exactly like that
of a common earthworm; it pushed its lower edge forward during the day
and drew its upper edge after it during the night, and thus by degrees
it crawled through a space of 18 inches in two years.’
“Mention has been made in a preceding article of the effect of unequal
expansion upon two different metals that have been bolted together. It
is by this principle that the action of the ordinary thermostat, so
familiar now as a controller and regulator of the temperature of high
buildings, is explained--a rod made up of two different metals whose
rates of expansion are different. When the temperature of the room in
which the thermostat is placed becomes too high the rod curls toward the
metal point S and touches it, completing an electrical contact which
causes a motor to shut off the draft. When the temperature of the room
falls below a certain point the rod curls in the opposite direction
toward the metal point T. This causes a motor to open the draft and thus
furnish a more abundant supply of hot air.
“Everybody in these days of cheap and reliable timepieces carries a
watch. And yet there are very few who appreciate the methods and devices
by means of which the troublesome expansion and contraction of metals
are corrected, in order that a watch may keep correct time. The balance
wheel of a watch corresponds to the pendulum of a clock, and any
variation in its dimensions will cause it to move faster or slower, as
the case may be. The hairspring is really a long strip of metal which
becomes weakened in its effect when expanded by an increase in
temperature and has its power augmented when contraction takes place.
“To correct both of these conditions the rim of the balance wheel is
made up of two different metals, the outer part brass, the inner part
iron. When the hairspring becomes weaker by expansion the brass of the
balance wheel also expands; but as it expands more than the iron to
which it is bonded, it curls in toward the center of the wheel, making
practically a wheel of smaller diameter, and causing the same effect as
is produced when a clock pendulum is shortened. Exactly the opposite
conditions obtain when the timepiece is exposed to extreme cold and the
balance wheel has its diameter increased, thus causing a slowing up to
counteract the increased strain produced by the contraction of the
hairspring. The same principle is applied in the construction of
first-class clocks. Any uncorrected variation in the length of a
pendulum is fatal to the timekeeping quality of a clock. A gridiron
pendulum made up of alternate rods of steel and brass serves to correct
the result of the expansive force.
“The central steel rod passes through holes in the lower horizontal
framework and supports the bob at the lower end. The steel rods are so
arranged that they will expand downward, while the brass rods expand
upward and the total length of each metal used is exactly sufficient to
counteract each other’s expansion, and the centre of the bob will remain
at a constant distance from the point of suspension.”
Scientific men and engineers are more or less familiar with the
phenomena of expansion. But no inventor produced a system capable of
utilizing this force to run a clock until Bangerter succeeded in
mastering the problem.
Bangerter’s clock is unquestionably a triumph of human ingenuity. It is
a mechanical masterpiece. Herewith follows the complete specification:
SPECIFICATION
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH BANGERTER, of the City of New York
(Borough of Richmond), County of Richmond and State of New York, have
invented certain new and useful improvements in
APPARATUS FOR THE EDUCTION, STORAGE
AND APPLICATION OF ENERGY FROM
EXPANSIBLE MATERIALS,
of which the following is a full, clear and exact specification, such as
will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and
use the same.
This invention relates to apparatus whereby energy may be educed from
expansible materials, due to the expansion and contraction thereof on
changes of temperature, and the said energy either applied direct or
stored and applied for the purpose of operating machines and devices of
various kinds.
I show and describe herein two forms of apparatus for obtaining such
expansion and contraction and the required energy therefrom, and I also
show two forms in which the energy so obtained is accumulated and
stored. In connection therewith, I show the application of my invention
to the running of clocks, but it will be understood that the invention
is not limited in its application to that particular class of machine,
and that it may be applied to any use of which it is susceptible.
It is well known that all metals are capable of some degree of expansion
and contraction, and some metals have this property in greater degree
than others. The amount of expansion for each degree rise in temperature
is quite regular, and is called the co-efficient of expansion. It is
also well known that zinc has this property in greater degree than any
other of the solid metals, its co-efficient of linear expansion being
appreciably higher. For this reason, as well as because of its
relatively low cost, I preferably make use of zinc in the construction
of the expansible parts of my apparatus.
One of the objects of my invention, therefore, is to provide an
expansion device of novel construction and arrangement, which will
generate energy and maintain motion during changes in temperature, to
such an appreciable and useful amount, as to constitute it in fact a
temperature motor.
A further object of my invention is to provide means for accumulating or
storing the energy thus generated.
A further object is to provide means for applying the energy thus
generated and stored.
Other objects, such as compactness, durability and comparatively low
cost of the apparatus, will appear in the following description, in
which reference is had to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:--
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, showing the application of my invention to
a clock provided, in this case, with a mainspring as usual;
Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same with a part removed;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detail showing how the strips forming
part of the expansion member or coil are connected up;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view, on lines 5--5 of Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail elevation, with parts removed;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail cross section of the central portion of the
apparatus, with part broken away;
Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the same with parts broken away;
Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail of the upper portion of the apparatus shown
in Fig. 4, with parts removed;
Fig. 9 is a perspective detail, partly broken away;
Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the ratchet mechanism
shown in the lower portion of Figs. 6 and 7;
Fig. 11 is an enlarged section of a flexible coupling shown in Fig. 7;
Fig. 12 is an elevation of a modification of the expansion coil;
Fig. 12ª is a perspective view showing how two of such modified
expansion coils may be connected;
[Illustration: _Fig. 1._
BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL TIME CLOCK]
Fig. 13 is a front elevation showing my invention applied to another
form of force storage mechanism;
Fig. 14 is a plan view of same, on lines 14--14 of Fig. 13;
Fig. 15 is a rear elevation on lines 15--15 of Fig. 14;
Fig. 16 is a vertical section on lines 16--16 of Fig. 14;
Fig. 17 is an enlarged detail of part of the apparatus shown in the
upper portion of Fig. 16;
Fig. 18 is an enlarged detail of the ball-discharging means shown in the
lower portion of Fig. 16;
Fig. 19 is an enlarged detail of the loading device shown in the
opposite part of the lower portion of Fig. 16; and
Fig. 20 is a plan view on lines 20--20 of Fig. 13.
Referring to the construction illustrated in Fig. 1 to 11, inclusive, B
represents the outer frame of the apparatus.
Mounted within the outer frame B is an inner frame comprising the
uprights C, C¹, which are rigidly secured by cross-bars D¹, D².
The outer frame B, as well as the inner frame uprights C, C¹ are
preferably formed of wood or other material capable of a low degree of
expansion.
Within the upper and lower ends of the inner frame are anti-friction
knife-bars E, E^¹{1}, the upper one of which, E, has each end within a
vertically disposed slot E² in the uprights C, C¹, within which said
knife-bar may be moved vertically, as hereinafter described.
Each end of the lower knife-bar E¹ lies immovable within a recess in a
plate E³ mounted on each of the uprights C, C¹.
These knife-bars, which are preferably formed of hardened steel, have
oppositely disposed relatively sharp edges E^{5}, which act as bearings
for a series of horizontally disposed anti-friction levers, F, F¹, which
I will term balance-levers, since they are intended to balance evenly
and freely on the thin edges of the knife-bars with little friction
somewhat in the nature of a scale-balance. These levers are pivotally
connected to a series of metallic expansion strips G, G¹, G², G³, etc.,
the construction and arrangement and manner of connecting up the same
being more clearly shown in Fig. 3.
It will be observed that the arrangement of the levers F and expansion
strips G, G¹, etc., is such as to form, in effect, a spiral, the short
strip G being connected to one end of one of the balance-levers F, and
the strip G being connected at its lower end to the opposite end of said
lever, the upper end of said strip G¹ being connected to one end of the
first one of the levers F¹. To the opposite end of said lever F¹ the
upper end of strip G² is connected, the lower end of said strip being
connected to the left-hand end of the second one of the levers F, and so
on to the final short strip G^{x}. The levers F, F¹ must be formed of a
metal capable of withstanding great strain without bending, and for this
purpose I prefer to use the metal known as macadamite.
For convenience of designation, I will refer to each of these groups of
balance-levers F, F¹, and expansion strips G, G¹, etc., as expansion
coils, and while I have herein shown but two sets of such expansion
coils, it is to be understood that there may be any number of such sets
desired, and any desired number of strips and levers composing such
coils, depending upon the character of the work to be performed.
Furthermore, I desire it to be understood that when I use the terms
“strips"--as characterizing the members connecting the
balance-levers--either in the specification or claims, I do not limit
myself to the form of connecting member or “strips” shown, but mean to
include in the use of the term “strips” any other form such as wires,
rods or bars of either square, round, hexagonal or other cross sectional
shape.
The ends of the short strips G, G^{x} are connected by wires H, H¹ with
the opposite ends of what I will term a coil lever I, which, as more
clearly shown in Fig. 5, is keyed to a shaft J, which latter has its end
journaled upon the cross-bars J¹, J² secured to the uprights C, C¹ of
the inner frame of the apparatus, and this shaft I will name a coil
shaft.
Keyed to the coil shaft J is a lever K, which it may be proper to
designate as a stress lever, since from it is suspended a weight K¹, the
function of which is to place a certain amount of stress upon the series
of expansion strips and balance-levers composing the expansion coil,
keeping the metal of the strips slightly stretched and preventing any
loss of motion at the different points of connection, and thereby
furthering a very important object, which is to make of each series of
expansion strips
[Illustration: _Fig. 2._
BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL TIME CLOCK]
and balance-levers a single spiral unit, throughout which the expansion
and contraction of the strips are transmitted.
Also keyed to the shaft J is a power transmisson lever L, and any rotary
motion imparted to said shaft is necessarily imparted to the lever L in
the form of reciprocating motion.
Referring now to the power storage device, one or a number of which may
be used in connection with my expansion coils.
Disposed approximately midway of the uprights C, C¹ and within casing M,
secured at its ends to said uprights, is rotatably mounted a power
transmission shaft M¹, keyed to which is a spur wheel M². Also mounted
on the shaft M¹ is a spur wheel M³, meshing with which at its upper and
lower sides are two spur wheels M^{4}, M^{5}, loosely mounted upon short
supporting shafts M^{6}, M^{7}, journaled in uprights M^{8}, M^{8}
secured to the casing M. To each of the spur wheels M^{4}, M^{5} is
secured the outer end of a coil spring M^{9}, M^{10}, respectively, the
inner ends of said springs being secured to the respective shafts M^{6},
M^{7}, the arrangement being such that when the springs are placed under
tension by the rotation of the shafts M^{6}, M^{7}, the force of the
springs rotates the spur wheels M^{4}, M^{5}, thereby rotating the spur
wheel M³, shaft M¹ and the spur wheel M².
Also mounted upon each of the respective short shafts M^{6}, M^{7}, and
keyed thereto, is a ratchet wheel M^{11}, M^{12}, and adjacent thereto
and loosely mounted upon each of said shafts M^{6}, M^{7} is a pawl
carrier plate M^{13}, M^{14}, each carrying a pawl indicated at M^{15},
M^{16}, which is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheels
M^{11}, M^{12}, being held in engagement therewith by springs, one of
which is shown at M^{17}, secured to said pawl carrier M^{13}. Suitably
mounted upon the casing M, and adapted to engage the teeth of the
ratchet wheels M^{11}, M^{12}, is a detent M^{19}, to prevent reverse
movement of said ratchet wheels.
The pawl carrier plate M^{13} is provided with a pin M^{21}, and secured
thereby loosely to said carrier is one end of a connecting rod M^{21ª},
the other end of said connecting rod being connected to one end of a
longitudinally flexible coupling M^{22}, the other end of said coupling
being secured by means of the connecting rod M^{23} to the power
transmission lever L. The function of the flexible coupling M^{22} will
be hereinafter referred to.
The pawl carrier M^{13} also carries, at its lower end, a pin N, and
loosely mounted thereon is one end of a connecting rod N¹, the other end
of said rod being connected to a pin N² secured to the pawl carrier
M^{14}, whereby, when motion is imparted to pawl carrier M^{13} and,
through the pawl M^{15} to the ratchet wheel M^{11}, motion is imparted
to the pawl carrier M^{14}, and through its pawl M^{16} to the ratchet
wheel M^{12}. From the pin N² is suspended a weight N³ to return the
pawl carriers to their lowermost positions when they complete their
upward travel.
The flexible coupling M^{22} comprises a tubular casing N^{4}, which is
provided at one end with an opening N^{5}, through which projects a rod
N^{6} having a head N^{7}, which is adapted to bear against a spiral
spring N^{8} mounted within said casing, the other end of said rod N^{6}
being connected to the rod M^{23}.
The operation of the apparatus, as thus far described, will be more
readily apparent from an inspection of Fig. 5.
Assuming that the expansion coil there shown has been subject to a
normal temperature of say 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and at that temperature
the lever L is in the position shown in full lines on a decrease in
temperature of say 10 degrees, the contraction of the coil, which will
operate upon its entire length, will exert a pressure at the ends
thereof in the direction of the arrows, the result of which will be to
rotate the shaft J and raise the lever L against the force of the
weighted lever K (carrying the latter therewith) to the position shown
in dotted lines, thereby actuating the ratchet wheels M^{11}, M^{12},
and winding up the springs M^{9}, M^{10}, of the power-storage device,
the force there stored being afterwards taken off, as required, through
the medium of the power transmission shaft M¹ and spur wheel M² and any
suitable gearing or power transmission means.
The function of the flexible coupling indicated at M^{22} will now be
quite clear. It will be seen that the coil spring N^{8} will be
sufficiently strong not to give under the pull of the lever L except
when the springs M^{9}, M^{10} are wound full. When that condition
exists, the coil spring N^{8} will give, under the force of the lever L,
and
[Illustration: _Fig. 3._
BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL TIME CLOCK]
no further power will be applied to the springs M^{9}, M^{10}. When,
however, those springs have become unwound to a sufficient extent the
spring N^{8} of the coupling M^{22} will be stronger than the springs of
the power-storage device and will transmit, from the expansion coil, the
force necessary to wind said springs as often as they become unwound; in
other cases the force will be expended in simply compressing the coil
spring N^{8} without effect upon the springs of the power-storage
device.
Referring now to what I will term the force-increasing devices, which
are more clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9.
Near each end of the upper knife-bar E, and contacting therewith at its
under surface, is a support O, in the form of a flat-headed bolt (Fig.
8), the shank of said bolt passing through one end of lever O¹, which is
fulcrumed at O² upon the upper surface of a cross-bar O³ securely
fastened to the rear portion of the uprights C, C¹. To the front of said
uprights is rigidly secured a second cross-bar O^{4}, and at the lower
portion of said uprights and rigidly secured thereto is a third
cross-bar O^{5}, against the under surface of which rests a lever O^{6}
(Fig. 9) having its fulcrum point at O^{7}.
As shown in Fig. 2, there are three sets of the levers O¹, at the upper
end of the expansion coils at the rear side thereof below the knife-bars
E, one lever at each end of said bar and one in the middle thereof. As
these levers act directly upon the under surface of the knife-bars E to
raise the same I will call them knife-bar lifting-levers. There are also
the same number of levers O^{6} at the lower end of the expansion coils
below the cross-bar O^{5} projecting through to the forward side of the
apparatus, as shown in Fig. 1.
Rigidly secured to the cross-bar O^{4} is one end of a relatively heavy
metallic expansion strip O^{8},--preferably formed of zinc--the lower
end being secured to one end of the lever O^{6}; to the opposite end of
the lever O^{6} is secured the lower end of a similar but longer zinc
strip O^{9}, the upper end of the strip O^{9} being secured to the rear
end of the lever O¹. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there are two of these
strips O^{8} at the front and two of the strips O^{9} at the rear of the
apparatus.
In addition to the heavy strips O^{8}, O^{9}, there is provided at the
front of the apparatus a heavy wide expansion sheet or strip O^{10},
which, at its upper end, is rigidly secured to the cross-bar O^{4}, and
at its lower end to the front end of the middle one of the levers O^{6}.
A similar heavy wide expansion sheet or strip O^{11} is secured, at its
lower end, to the rear end of the middle lever O^{6}, and, at its upper
end, to the middle one of the levers O¹.
These heavy strips O^{8}, O^{9} and sheets O^{10}, O^{11} are preferably
formed of zinc, and are not only capable of great expansion and
contraction, but will be capable by their contraction of lifting the
entire weight of the knife-bars E, with the carried balance-levers and
expansion strips of expansion coils, the operation thereof being as
follows:
The front strips O^{8} and rear strips O^{9} and the front sheets O^{10}
and the rear sheets O^{11} are connected to the levers O^{6}, so as to
form, in effect, single expansion strips and sheets of relatively great
length. They are fastened, however, at their front upper ends to the
cross-bars O^{4}, so that the expansion cannot extend beyond that point
and takes place in a direction towards the opposite end, and, of course,
the contraction takes place in the opposite direction. Assuming now that
at a temperature of say 75 degrees Fahr. these heavy strips and sheets
lie in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 9 (the heavy strips O^{8},
O^{9} being shown in Fig. 9, and the heavy wide sheets O^{10}, O^{11} in
Fig. 4), on a decrease in temperature of say five degrees Fahr., the
heavy strips O^{8}, O^{9} and sheets O^{11}, O^{12} will contract in the
direction of the arrows, depressing the rear ends of the levers O¹,
O^{6}, and thereby through the levers O¹ lifting the knife-bars E, and
the balance-levers suspended thereon, with the result that the force
normally exerted at the ends of each expansion coil is increased to the
extent of the lifting power of the contraction of the metal strips and
sheets.
I have found by experiment as well as observation that the average daily
change of temperature in residence and office buildings is about five
degrees. Sometimes the changes will be much greater, and sometimes less.
On even a low average of temperature change, my apparatus will be able
to generate force in larger amounts than required, and the surplus will
be stored in a power-storage device such as above described, or by means
hereinafter referred to, which surplus will
[Illustration:
_Fig. 4._
_Fig. 5._
BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL TIME CLOCK]
be drawn upon when it should happen that the average temperature is
approximately uniform.
For clearness of illustration, I have shown, as above stated, but two
sets of expansion coils, but there is no limit to the number that may be
used. Assuming that we have an apparatus with four expansion coils, each
knife-bar holding 50 balance levers, giving a total of 200 levers, with
expansion strips of the same number, in 5-foot lengths, we would have a
total of 1,000 linear feet of zinc strips, which entire length of strips
will, on the slightest change of temperature, get longer or shorter. The
expansion and contracting of this 1,000 feet of zinc strips for every
temperature change of 5 degrees Fahr. will be 1 inch. Now, assuming that
the knife-bars are pulled upward by heavy strips O^{8}, O^{9}, and
sheets O^{10}, O^{11} of five feet length (making ten feet for the front
and rear strips and sheets), on a decrease in temperature of 5 degrees
Fahr. the upward movement of those bars will be 10-1000 of one inch;
this contraction (10-1000) will now be multiplied as many times as there
are levers and strips in the expansion coils, viz., 200 times, which
would be 2 inches, and this, together with 1 inch from the contraction
of the expansion coils alone, will give a total movement of 3 inches. If
the strips are of a capacity to pull or lift 100 pounds, we obtain a
lift of 100 pounds 3 inches. As thirty-three per cent approximately must
be deducted for loss by stress (it being necessary to place the coils
under strain, as shown in the drawings and described above), the final
result will be a power to lift 100 pounds 2 inches, or 10 pounds 20
inches, and this force will be sufficient to run a large sized time
clock with powerful striking force.
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
[Illustration:
_Fig. 6._
_Fig. 7._
BANGERTER’S PERPETUAL TIME CLOCK]
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.