Safety attachment for stop watches

Application filed May 18,

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Harry E. Von Kersburg, citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York 5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Attachments for Stop Watches, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to stop 10 watches and consists in the combinations and arrangements of elements hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the accompanying claims.

The purpose of the invention is to pro15 vide a safety attachment for a stop, watch which will effectively prevent the accidental zeroizing or resetting thereof, and which in applied position will in no way hinder the normal working of the time piece, nor. in 20 any manner interfere with the handling thereof by the time-keeper.

In the game of football a record must be kept of the actual time that the ball is in play, and this is done by a stop watch. When ²⁵ the ball is out of play the watch is stopped, and when play is resumed the watch is started, and the length of time the game has progressed is thereby indicated. Both the minute and the second bands of the watch 30 are restored to zero by pressing down the stem-winder.

It is frequently necessary for a field judge, in order to closely watch the different plays, to be in the center of a “mix-up”. He 35 holds the stop watch in the palm of his hand ready to stop and start it as plays are ceased and resumed. In doing this he is often jostled and it frequently.happens that the stem-winder of the watch is struck with 40 sufficient force to set both the second and minute hands to zero, thereby losing all record of the duration of the game. This has happened so often that it has been proposed by certain well known football author45 ities to appoint an additional man, to stand outside the playing field with a stop watch and keep time and check the watch of the field judge.

To avoid these difficulties the present in50 vention contemplates the employment of a safety device to be attached to a stop watch which will prevent the accidental resetting of the second and minute hands, but } FOR STOP WATCHES.

1953. Serial No. 639,931.

adapted to be released for the purpose of resetting these hands in the usual way. 55 The invention as disclosed herein is proposed as an improvement over the construction of device adapted for the same purpose above described and forming the subjectmatter of my U. S. Patent No. 1,373,467, 60 dated April 6, 1921, and pending application for U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,459,006, dated June 19, 1923.

The present invention is disclosed by way of illustration in the accompanying draw- 65 ings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view⁷ of a watch, adapted to be fitted with the device, but with the trigger member removed.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view showing ⁷⁰the safety device per se, and

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a detail showing the stem and locking device.

Referring to the construction in further ⁷⁵detail and wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the different views shown, 4 indicates a stop watch having the usual second and minute hands, and 5 represents the ordinary starting and ⁸⁰stopping device therefor; the winding and resetting stem 6 has a knurled head 7 and 8 indicates the ordinary chain attaching link.

The safety device per se consists of a trigger like member pivotally mounted on 85 the stem casing 11 and having a projecting and pointed end portion 13 adapted to be engaged within an aperture 14 formed in the winding stem 6 for the purpose of holding the latter in fixed position, as will. 90 be understood. The thumb portion 15 of the member 12 is slightly notched for convenient engagement bv the thumb as shown.

In operation the device is moved to the position shown in Fig. 3 when it is desired 95 to prevent the accidental resetting of the second and minute hands of the watch, i. e., during the time that the foot ball is in play, and for the purpose of resetting the watch the device is moved to the position indicated 100 in Fig. 2, which permits this to be done in the usual way.

The illustration shows a particular embodiment of the invention, though it is understood, of course, that the invention may 105 be carried out in other ways, and that therea

1,521,208 fore the present disclosure is to be considered in an illustrative sense only and not as a limiting one.