Harwoods

[cdjswiss]

I have a particular, somewhat private, association with Douglas Isle of Man (hence my second initial, D). And being born and bred a Lancastrian the story of John Harwood of Bolton, Lancs, and his watches has always facinated me. For those who do not follow me read:

http://www.harwood-watches.com/en/history/index.html

I have collected three fine Harwoods, from left to right rolled-gold, silver and a 9 Ct gold cased versions with a selection of dial designs.

The gold model has this very fine pearled movement.

 

I had also a spare non-working movement, But after a bath in Bergeon One Dip within a small glass jar, immersed in my ultra sonic tank, it came to life and now keeps good time. See below. The keen-eyed observer will note that in the cleaned movement the balance wheel is oscillating.

 

 

If there is any interest I could do a complete clean and oil with all stages in pictures.

Edited April 20, 2015 by cdjswiss

[bobm12]

Hi colin,

 

Please do, thank you for the offer, I'm not familiar with this movement and it would be very instructive! That's a very interesting collection and good taste!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[cdjswiss]

Hi colin,

 

Please do, thank you for the offer, I'm not familiar with this movement and it would be very instructive! That's a very interesting collection and good taste!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

Wilco, Bob, but I shall have to take it slowly with 'before' pics at each stage. The tricky bit is the slipping clutch that prevents over-winding. The hand setting mechanism via the bezel (the toothed wheel at the top of the last four pics) is just like the normal stem with the addition of a back-wind stage to disconnect and raise the red flag!

 

Thanks for your interest,

Colin.

[Geo]

Hi Colin, these are a wonderful set of historic watches you have there, I absolutely love the look of them, both inside and out. Many thanks for posting the link giving the history behind it, I've saved the link and will have a good read of it later.

It would be good if you could take the time to produce a walk through when servicing.

Geo!

[bobm12]

Colin, it is getting better and better! I'm now sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the follow up! Thanks for the offer and don't mind we are anxiously waiting and take your time, I know it is going to be good!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[cdjswiss]

There is a copy of John Harwood's patent on the web but it has been produced by a character recognition program and has lots of errors. Here is my attempt to correct these errors. Everyone is welcome to add corrections that I missed,

 

March 9 1926.

J. HARWOOD WRIST WATCH AND OTHER WATCH Filed Oct. 8, 1923 patented Mar. 1926.

JOHN HARWOOD, 0F BALDRINE, LONON, ISLE OF MAN.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I JOHN HARWOOD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of Baldrine, Lonon, Isle of Man, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Wrist Watches and Other Watches, of which the following is a specification. This invention relate to wristlet and other watches, its object being to provide a watch with a self-winding movement whereby the need for any protruding parts through the case such as the usual winding stem is eliminated, the case being thus rendered practically dust and waterproof. Overwinding of the watch is also prevented, the likelihood of the main springs being. broken being thus reduced, and by-reason of the fact that the spring a under ordinary conditions would only run down say 9 to 12 hours, a more even torque is given to the train. As the setting of the hands in ordinary watches is effected from the usual winding stem which protrudes through the case and which in this invention is eliminated, means are provided in the present invention for setting the hands otherwise than by means of such stem.

According to this invention, the winding of the main spring is effected by an oscillating weight pivoted within the watch, the oscillation of this weights when the watch is being worn turning a plate or member acts by means of a spring controlled click or pawl to wind the main spring, the frictional drag between the weight and the plate being ineffective to move the plate, and consequently further to wind up the main spring, when the winding force becomes greater than the frictional grip on the plate and in this way overwinding is prevented. The hands are set by turning the bezel in one or other direction, crown teeth on the underside of the bezel engaging and rotating a plnion, a pin on the stem of which engages a cam face on a crown gear.No ports or apertures are in the wall of the case.

In the accompanying necessary drawings which illustrate the invention by way of example, Fig. 1 is a rear view showing the oscillating weight and friction plate for winding the watch, Fig. 2 is a front view under the dial showing the means for setting the hands and the front axis of the weight, Fig. 3 being a fragmentary detailed view of the crown ring teeth in the bezel, and Fig. 4 is a detail of the crown gear showing the cam face and friction spring for holding the crown gear. Fig. 5 is a radial section through the oscillating weight, friction plate and control spring, the parts being separated in order to show them clearly.

The watch is fitted with a weight A of any suitable form but preferably more or less semi-circular, pivoted at the rear on an extension of the set hands arbor or centre pinion pivot B, spring buffers A' being fitted at each end of the weight to prevent knocking or shock to the watch movement during the oscillatory movement of the weight which movement is limited by two stops. A plate D pivoting about the same axis as the weight is frictionally connected to the weight A by means of a control spring E which is secured to the weight by two screws, one of which, F, serves to adjust the pressure of the control spring on the friction plate D and in this waythe frictional drag between the weight A and plate D may be adjusted. The friction plate D carries on its underside a pawl or click G which engages a ratchet wheeI, the spring H keeping the pawl G in engagement with the ratchet.

Rotating with the ratchet is a pinion U which engages and drives the first toothed wheel of the winding train. It will be seen, therefore, that if the movement be held on edge and turned clockwise looking from the back as in Fig. 1, the weight A being at the bottom and at its left extremity, an anticlockwise movement will be given to the ratchet wheel I and its pinion U, the wheel I being held from returnig after movement by a second pawl or click J pivoted on the pinion K. In this manner the whole winding train is turned each time the wearer drops his hand and raises it again in the case of a wristlet watch.

Overwinding is prevented by the action of the friction plate D which carries the pawl G, inasmuch as when the main spring is wound and its resistance to further winding thus increases, the friction plate D will be driven clockwise until ultimately it meets the cock C and as the fully wound spring offers resistance in the other direction, the friction plate will not return under the drag of the spring E but will remain stationary, although the weight may continue to oscillate under the movement of the wearer, the spring E riding idly to and fro over the friction plate D.

The weight is carried at the back by a radial arm A and at the front by an arm A, Fig. 5, screwed to the weight. The front axis about which the weight pivots is shown in Fig. 2, an eye A in the arm A engaging a bush A on a plate X which bridges the hand motion works. In this way as the watch is being worn the weight oscillates to and fro about its pivots and by the frictional drag of the spring E on the plate D the pawl G is moved to and fro round the ratchet wheel I and so-winds up the main spring until such time as the further resistance of the main spring to winding permits the weight to oscillate idly, the spring E then merely riding frictionally over the stationary plate D. No protruding winding stem is thus required and the watch movement is thus completely enclosed.

As, however, the winding stem has been eliminated someting other than the usual means must be provided for setting the the hands. This is effected by making the usual bezel rotate and turning it angularly forwards or backwards. Normally the set hands gear is out of mesh in the position shown in Fig. 2. On the inside face of the bezel, as shown in Fig. 3, is a gear ring formed of crown teeth J When the bezel is in position on the case these teeth J engage a pinion K mounted on a stem L and, loose on the stem L, is a crown gear M which is capable of longitudinal sliding movement on the stem L as well as rotary movement thereon. On the upper edge of the crown gear is a slope or cam face M engaged by a pin P in the stem L and from the higher portion of the cam face M a stop Q, projects. Resiliently gripping a groove in the crown gear M is a mug spring R, the radial end B of which is inserted into a hole in a a return lever S pivoted at S and pressed out by a spring T. The action of this return spring is normally to hold the crown gear out of engagement with the intermediate wheel 0 which engages and drives the motion wheels for setting the hands. When it is desired, therefore, to set the hands the bezel is rotated in one or other direction the gear which rotates the motion wheels to set the hands. After setting the hands, in order that the crown gear M may disengage from the intermediate wheel 0, the bezel is backwardly rotated through an angular distance corresponding to five minutes on the dial, this movement being sufiicient to bring the pin P back to the lowest point of the cam face M and permit the spring T to return the lever S taking with it the crown gear M by means of the spring R which engages the lever S.

Considerable advantages accrue from such a construction of watches, for instance, owing to the fact that no parts protrude through open ports in the case the latter remains dust and waterproof. The watch shall be kept wound up. Overwinding cannot take place by reason of the merely frictional. connection between the weight and the plate D, and, therefore, all usual breakages caused through overwinding such as pulling out of barrel hooks, main spring breakages, breakages of keyless wheel teeth and barrel teeth are avoided.

The prominent weakness in present day watch construction namely the need for bevel or crown winding gear is eliminated, while by eliminating any necessity for apertures in the watch case, at least 50 per cent of the stoppages usual in watches will be avoided, such stoppages in most instances being entirely due to the presence of dust, grit, or to overwinding. I claim:
1. A self winding watch comprising, an oscillating weight, a pawl carrying plate frictionally connected to the weight, and a pawl on said plate adapted to be moved by the oscillations of the weight to turn the winding train.
2. A self winding watch comprising, an oscillating weight, a pawl carrying plate frictionally connected to the weight, said weight and plate being pivoted about the same axis, spring buffers on the weight engaging stops at each end of its travel, the bezel then positively turns the crown, and the plate being pivoted about the same axis is normally sufficient to wind the main pawl on said plate.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature JOHN HARWOOD.

 

 

[Geo]

The hand setting really is a weird one. I would like to see that close up in the metal to fully understand how all these parts work together, the diagram is not rally detailed enough.

Many thanks for posting this Colin.

[cdjswiss]

The hand setting really is a weird one. I would like to see that close up in the metal to fully understand how all these parts work together, the diagram is not rally detailed enough.

Many thanks for posting this Colin.

This photo is part of my strip-down set. It shows the stem in position with the large toothed wheel that engages with the teeth around the inside of the bezel.

 

 

setting gear not engaged

 

When the bezel is turned the stem turns and the setting gear train is engaged by a sliding cam (shown in photo). This is driven into position by a minute pin on the stem. The red flag (see my previous photos) moves out of the small round window in the dial. Then by turning the bezel a little in the opposite direction the sliding cam disengages the gear train and the red flag  moves into the OK position, visible through the window in the dial. I shall try to set up a demo of this later during the strip down and re-assembly.

[Geo]

Excellent Colin, it wasn't at all clear from the patent drawing. I look forward to seeing and hearing more about these unique pieces.

[bobm12]

Great picture and explanation, Colin! Thanks, very interesting movement!

[cdjswiss]

An interesting anecdote: my second Harwood was bought on eBay as non-working and the price reflected this description. But, on receiving the watch I noticed that the red flag was not visible in the dial window. After a little back turn on the bezel the red flag popped up and the watch ran perfectly. The seller had not known about the back-wind step.  I gave him/her very good feedback.

[clockboy]

Colin this is a very interesting post indeed. As Geo highlights the hand setting is completely different to anything I have encountered.

[dmmlemur]

I'm  a new member here, and am not familiar with the Harwood watches, but I think I can help with the patents.  

 

John Harwood's British, French, Swiss, and US patents are available on the "Espacenet" European patent database:  

 

http://worldwide.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?locale=en_EP

 

The British, French, and Swiss patents were all joint with Harry Cutts, of Cheshire. The US patent was in his name only. His British patent is No. 218,487 of 1923, Application Date July 7, 1923, Complete Specification accepted July 10, 1924 (Erratum 1929).  The French version is No. 580,247 of 1924.  The Swiss version is No. 106583 of 1923.  To save you the trouble of searching the Espacenet database (which can be tricky), I've put copies of the PDFs of these three patents in temporary space in my own webspace, in a directory at:

 

http://www.galleyrack.com/temp/harwood/

 

(Please copy these PDFs to your own computer (if you want them), as this is not a permanent location for them. If for any reason you have problems accessing these, please let me know.)

 

The US version of his patent is the one that cdjswiss transcribed above.  I would guess that the OCR version of this came via google's patent search, and indeed their OCR usually has errors.  Short of finding an actual printed copy, the best available digital source is the version you can get via the US Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) or via Espacenet in Europe.  It's a set of images (not OCR), but unfortunately they're not high-resolution.  The USPTO site can also be difficult to navigate. It's easier - if you know the patent number (1576120) - to use the www.pat2pdf.org free service to get a PDF.  But I've also put a copy of this PDF of the US patent in the same temporary location in my own webspace noted above.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

David M.

[cdjswiss]

Many thanks David M. I have now downloaded all four pdf files from your web URL. They have much better sets of figures than my example.

 

This really does illustrate the value of WRT. How fortunate that you came along just at this moment with your first post!

 

It is useful to have the filing and acceptance dates for Harwood and Cutts patents. Was Cutts just the translator - I must check.

 

The movement that I am now assembling after a clean and oil is particular in that it does not have any patent number stamped on the winding bridge. All the others that I have seen have either the UK or Swiss patent number. So it must be a very early model - its condition also suggests an early birth.

[Geo]

Welcome to the forum David M. and many thanks for participating from the start, it's greatly appreciated. I look forward to more input in the future.:)

[bobm12]

Welcome David and nice post!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[cdjswiss]

I have now posted 'Harwood First Automatic Wristwatch Assembly Walkthrough'

 

in the 'Watch Servicing and Walkthroughs' section of the forum.