Odd Clock Movement

[Ken M.]

Hello all you clock gurus.
I picked up a clock movement at chapter 190’s Mini Mart last Sunday that is different from anything that I have ever seen. It combines a balance wheel with a strip pallet recoil escapement. There is no markings on the movement other than; “Patented, Oct 5 1852.”
If you look at the photo with the plate removed, you can see what would normally be the crutch arm, is connected to the balance wheel by way of a hole. The balance wheel acts as a pendulum and is driven by the escape wheel/strip pallet in much the same way as a normal pendulum clock. The crutch is flattened at the pallet attachment. This keeps it stiff in the driven axis but flexible in the other axis to accommodate the slight arc of the balance wheel. The sector gear above the balance wheel probably came through the dial for adjusting the rate.
I took it apart, cleaned the movement and polished the pivots. It has been running for the last two days. Have any of you ever seen an escapement like this? One person suggested that it may be an early attempt to make an inexpensive boat clock. Because of the balance wheel, it is most likely from some kind of portable clock.
???? Ken McWilliams

[senhalls]

I have found for you the patent info for the escapement. By S.B. Terry on Nov. 29, 1853 Patent number 10277. You can see this on Google patent search. What a great find! Can't be many of those about.

[Veritas]

Nice find ken, first one i have seen.Now you need to start looking for a case.that is the fun part.:)

[shutterbug]

Very strange that they'd use that kind of configuration! If they had a balance wheel, why the "normal" escapement? Maybe it was intended as a novelty. Perhaps the pendulum circled a globe or some other object? Very unusual and a cool find!

[Ken M.]

Senhalls,

Thank you very much for finding the patent info. I down loaded a PDF of the patent, and it looks like what I have.

Terry said in the patent application that it was intended as a "Marine Clock."

How did you manage to find it?

Ken

[Jeremy Woodoff]

This is similar to the movement that was used in Terry's (Terryville Manufacturing Co.) candlestand clocks. Somewhere I've seen a clock with the rate adjuster similar to yours, but I can't remember where or what the clock looked like.

These clocks are remarkably accurate. I think the use of "marine" doesn't imply that it was intended for use on a boat, just that it is not controlled by a pendulum. At least the candlestand version is much too delicate for shipboard use.

[Jeremy Woodoff]

Here is another, similar Terry movement, but using a torsion pendulum instead of the balance wheel and hairspring. You can see that the rate adjuster on this model is different. This movement was used in a number of shelf clock styles, including cast iron with mother-of-pearl inlay and rosewood cottage, as well as this hanging version, which I guess could have been for use on boats or trains.

The images are all from antiqueclockspriceguide.com

[Ken M.]

Jeremy,

This version was patented a year before mine. (patent #9310, Oct 5, 1852) Mine was patent #10277, Nov 1853. While this patent described my movement exactly, I was puzzled because the plate was stamped Oct 5, 1852. So I looked that one up and it describes the torsion version.

It appears that Silas Terry used the same movement to make the 1853 balance version.

Silas seemed determined to come up with a non-pendulum clock.

Ken

[Heritage-Clocks]

Wow what an interesting movement.I myself have never seen anything like this befour.As TIME will tell I have time to learn more.

Thank You
H/C