Radio clock mechanism having drowse feature

Claim 2

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of the latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm secured thereto, said selector arm and shaft being biased into a central ''''on'''' position and manually rockable in opposite directions into ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' positions, ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' detents for holding the arm in such respective positions, the detents being releasable by axial movement of the arm, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its central ''''on'''' position, said arm being so constructed that when manually set to the ''''auto'''' position the arm is interposed in the path of endwise movement of the hour wheel so that upon movement of the hour wheel occurring at the pre-set time the arm is crowded endwise to free the ''''auto'''' detent for return of the selector shaft to its central ''''on'''' position under the force of bias to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a disengaged position, said drowse arm having an ''''off'''' stop for engaging the selector arm spaced so that when the drowse arm is pressed (a) the selector arm is engaged for movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn the radio off and (b) the pawl overlappingly engages the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the freed position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, said drowse arm having an ''''on'''' stop facing in the opposite direction so as to engage the selector arm as the pawl is freed from the minute wheel thereby to forceably overcome the ''''off'''' detent so that the selector arm is restored to ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio.

Claim 3

The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the selector arm and drowse arm are rockable on pivots remote from one another and in which the drowse arm occupies a normal position in which the ''''off'''' and ''''on'''' stops are spaced laterally from a line interconnecting the pivots thereby permitting movement of the selector arm between its settable positions free of interference with the ''''off'''' and ''''on'''' stops.

Claim 4

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of the latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm secured thereto, said selector arm and shaft being biased into a central ''''on'''' position and manually rockable in opposite directions into ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' positions, means including ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' detents for holding the arm in such respective positions, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its central ''''on'''' position, the selector arm being of thin axially flexible construction and so arranged that when manually set to the ''''auto'''' position the arm is interposed in the path of endwise movement of the hour wheel so that upon relative movement of the hour wheel at the pre-set time the arm is flexed thereby to free the ''''auto'''' detent for return of the selector shaft to its central ''''on'''' position under the force of bias to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a disengaged position, said drowse arm having a connection with the selector arm defined by two spaced stops so that when the drowse arm is depressed (a) the selector arm is engaged by one of the stops for movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn off the radio and (b) the pawl overlappingly engages the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the disengaged position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, the other of the spaced stops being so positioned as to engage the selector arm as the pawl is freed, thereby to forceably overcome the ''''off'''' detent so that the selector arm is restored to ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio.

Claim 5

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of the latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm secured thereto, said selector arm and shaft being biased into a central ''''on'''' position and manually rockable in opposite directions into ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' positions, means including ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' detents for holding the arm in such respective positions, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its central ''''on'''' position, the selector arm being of thin axially flexible construction and so arranged that when manually set to the ''''auto'''' position the arm is interposed in the path of endwise movement of the hour wheel so that upon relative movement of the hour wheel at the pre-set time the arm is flexed thereby to free the ''''auto'''' detent for return of the selector shaft to its central ''''on'''' position under the force of bias to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a disengaged position, said drowse arm having a connection with the selector arm defined by two spaced stops so that when the drowse arm is depressed (a) the selector arm is engaged by one of the stops for movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn off the radio and (b) the pawl overlappingly engages the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the disengaged position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, the other of the spaced stops being so positioned as to engage the selector arm as the pawl is freed, thereby to forceably overcome the ''''off'''' detent so that the selector arm is restored to ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio.

Claim 6

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of The latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm integral therewith, said selector arm having a spring for biasing the same into a central ''''on'''' position and mounted for manual rocking in opposite directions into ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' positions, means including a pair of detents and a detent striker for holding in the respective positions, said selector arm being so constructed and arranged as to release the engaged detent upon movement of the arm in the axial direction, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its central ''''on'''' position, means on the selector arm positioned in the path of endwise movement of the hour wheel so that movement of the hour wheel occurring at the pre-set time causes the arm to be axially moved thereby to free the arm from the ''''auto'''' detent for return of the selector shaft to its ''''on'''' position thereby to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pivot at one end and formed of ''''L'''' shape providing a pawl portion at the other end presenting a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a freed position, said pawl portion being formed of flexible material to permit idle clicking of the pawl over the gear teeth incident to engagement, said drowse arm providing a first stop so that when the drowse bar is pressed (a) the selector arm is engaged for forceable movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn off the radio and (b) the pawl is overlappingly engaged with the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the freed position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, said drowse arm having a second stop thereon spaced from the first stop for engaging the selector arm as the pawl is freed from the minute wheel thereby to forceably overcome the ''''off'''' detent permitting the selector arm to resume its central ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio, the second stop being resiliently mounted on the pawl portion of the drowse arm.

Claim 7

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of The latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm integral therewith, said selector arm having a spring for biasing the same into a central ''''on'''' position and mounted for manual rocking in opposite directions into ''''off'''' and ''''auto'''' positions, means including a pair of detents and a detent striker for holding in the respective positions, said selector arm being so constructed and arranged as to release the engaged detent upon movement of the arm in the axial direction, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its central ''''on'''' position, means on the selector arm positioned in the path of endwise movement of the hour wheel so that movement of the hour wheel occurring at the pre-set time causes the arm to be axially moved thereby to free the arm from the ''''auto'''' detent for return of the selector shaft to its ''''on'''' position thereby to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pivot at one end and formed of ''''L'''' shape providing a pawl portion at the other end presenting a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a freed position, said pawl portion being formed of flexible material to permit idle clicking of the pawl over the gear teeth incident to engagement, said drowse arm providing a first stop so that when the drowse bar is pressed (a) the selector arm is engaged for forceable movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn off the radio and (b) the pawl is overlappingly engaged with the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the freed position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, said drowse arm having a second stop thereon spaced from the first stop for engaging the selector arm as the pawl is freed from the minute wheel thereby to forceably overcome the ''''off'''' detent permitting the selector arm to resume its central ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio, the second stop being resiliently mounted on the pawl portion of the drowse arm.

Claim 8

The combination as claimed in claim 4 in which the selector arm and drowse arm have mutually remote pivots, in which the second stop on the drowse arm has a maximum radius which is less than that of the first stop and in which the drowse arm occupies a normal position spaced to one side of a line connecting the pivots so as to permit unimpeded rocking of the selector arm when the drowse arm is in its normal position while producing interference between the second stop and the selector arm following manual pressing of the drowse arm into active position.

Claim 9

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of the latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm secured thereto and movable into ''''on'''', ''''off'''', and ''''auto'''' positions, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its ''''on'''' position, means positioned in the path of relative endwise movement of the hour wheel and coupled to the selector arm so that movement of the hour wheel occurring at the pre-set time causes the selector arm to move from the ''''auto'''' position to its ''''on'''' position thereby to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pivot at one end and a pawl portion at the other end presenting a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a freed position, said pawl portion being formed of flexible material to permit idle clicking of the pawl over the gear teeth incident to engagement, said drowse arm providing a first stop so that when the drowse bar is pressed (a) the selector arm is engaged for forceable movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn off the radio and (b) the pawl is overlappingly engaged with the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the freed position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, said drowse arm having a second stop thereon spaced from the first stop for engaging the selector arm as the pawl is freed from the minute wheel thereby to restore the selector arm to its ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio.

Claim 10

In an alarm clock mechanism for turning on a radio at a predetermined time and for turning off the radio temporarily during a ''''drowse'''' interval, the combination comprising a frame, a motor, a timing train including a minute wheel and an hour wheel coupled to a set of hands, an alarm set wheel having cam surfaces cooperating with the hour wheel to produce relative endwise movement of the latter upon achieving a pre-set time, a selector shaft having a selector arm secured thereto and movable into ''''on'''', ''''off'''', and ''''auto'''' positions, a switch coupled to the selector shaft for making contact when the shaft is in its ''''on'''' position, means positioned in the path of relative endwise movement of the hour wheel and coupled to the selector arm so that movement of the hour wheel occurring at the pre-set time causes the selector arm to move from the ''''auto'''' position to its ''''on'''' position thereby to turn on the radio, said clock mechanism including a drowse arm having a pivot at one end and a pawl portion at the other end presenting a pawl overlappingly engageable with the teeth of the minute wheel and biased toward a freed position, said pawl portion being formed of flexible material to permit idle clicking of the pawl over the gear teeth incident to engagement, said drowse arm providing a first stop so that when the drowse bar is pressed (a) the selector arm is engaged for forceable movement of the selector arm into the ''''off'''' position to turn off the radio and (b) the pawl is overlappingly engaged with the teeth of the minute wheel for subsequent gradual restoration to the freed position as the minute wheel rotates to define a drowse time interval, said drowse arm having a second stop thereon spaced from the first stop for engaging the selector arm as the pawl is freed from the minute wheel thereby to restore the selector arm to its ''''on'''' position to turn on the radio.