Continuous cam clock
United States Patent n91 Gulko 1 CONTINUOUS CAM CLOCK [76] Inventor: Arnold G. Gulko, 1835 Arcola Ave.  
 Silver Spring. Mo. 20906 [22] Filed: Aug. 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 498,977  
 [52] US. Cl 58/2; 58/125 C; 58/127 R [51] Int. Cl ..G04b 45/00; G04b 19/02; G04b 19/06 [58] Field of Search 58/2, 125 R, 125 C, 127 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3.593.515 7/1971 Schockner 58/2 1 Apr. 8, 1975 Primary Examiner-Edith Simmons Jackmon [57] ABSTRACT A continuous cam clock is provided in which a cylindrical tube is vertically supported on a base and rotated once an hour to display time in minutes. and a cylinder is positioned within the tube to rise slowly to display the hour as the tube rotates by the interaction between a continuous cam on the inside of the tube, and a pivotally mounted elongated follower carried by the cylinder.  
 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures if H; El  
 Si-iiET 1 BF 2 PATENIEDAPR 81975 PATENIEDAPR 81975 &#39;3. 875.736 saw 2 {If 2 1 CONTINUOUS CAM CLOCK The present invention relates to a clock having a different appearance and action and which is adapted to be displayed on a desk or mantle. or. in a larger size, to be displayed on the floor.  
  More particularly, in this invention a vertical tube rotates once an hour with an indicator in front of it to identify the minute of the hour. At the same time. a cylinder rises upwardly from within the tube. and this is used to identify the passage of time, hour by hour.  
  The foregoing is accomplished in this invention by having a cylindrical tube supported on a base with the axis ofthe tube perpendicular to the base, means being provided to rotate the tube once each hour. A cylinder is positioned within the tube. this cylinder being free for vertical movement. and means are mounted in the base to prevent the cylinder from rotating as it moves up and down within the cylinder. A continuous cam is carried on the interior of the tube and a follower is carried at the lower end of the cylinder to cause the cylinder to rise slowly as the follower rides up the cam.  
  The follower is elongated and mounted for pivotal movement so that it will not enter the vertical portion of the continuous cam until it reached the top of the cam. As a result. when the tube is rotated, the cylinder is forced to rise slowly until. at the end of a predetermined number of hours (normally l2 the follower will reach the top of the cam where it will drop down to lower the cylinder. whereupon the action will repeat itself.  
  The invention will be more fully understood from the accompanying drawing in which:  
  FIG. 1 is a front elevation showing an illustrative clock in accordance with this invention;  
  FIG. 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale. and partly in section;  
  FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing a portion of the continuous cam and illustrating the manner in which the follower moves from the top of cam (where it ends one cycle) to the bottom of the cam (where it starts another cycle); and  
  FIG. 4 is a partial diagrammatic view further showing the construction of the continuous cam and illustrating the manner in which the pivotal follower bridges. the vertical portion of the continuous cam.  
  Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral identifies a base which may be constructed of wood and a pointer 11 is mounted thereon. the pointer 11 being desirably constituted by a curved piece of sheet metal which has an additional function to be pointed out hereafter.  
  Mounted freely on base 10 is a tube 12 which is vertically positioned as shown. and the minutes of an hour are imprinted in one form or another to extend around the circumference of the tube. The numeral 13 identifies a cylinder which is mounted for vertical movement around tube 12. The minute identification on the tube 12 is identified at 14 and the hour identification on the cylinder 13 is identified at 15.  
  Referring more particularly to FIG. 2 which pictures the structural coaction within the clock. it will be seen that the tube 12 sits on the base 10 and a spur gear is fitted onto the lower end of the tube 12 to enable the tube to be rotated.  
  Rotation is accomplished by a motor 21 which drives a worm gear 22, which slowly moves the spur gear 20 to rotate the tube 12 once per hour. Spur gear 20 is held in place against worm gear 22 by means of the metal sheet 11 which serves as the pointer to identify the minute of the hour in the manner pictured in FIG. I.  
  As can be seen in FIG. 2, the cylinder 13 is formed with a rectangular slot 23 extending axally therethrough and a rectangular bar 24, mounted on base 10 as shown at 25 extends upwardly through slot 23 to present rotation of cylinder 13.  
  It will be understood that numerable variations in structure inside in 13 will be apparent to those skilled in the art.  
  Near the lower end of tube 13, is mounted a pin 26 which pivotaly carries a follower 27. This follower is enlongated so that it can negotiate the intricasies of the cam as will be described more fully hereafter.  
  Portions of the continuous cam identified generically by numeral 30 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The continuous cam is constituted by a helix having 12 turns. the follower 27 riding up the helix as the tube rotates. thus elevating cylinder 13 one flight per hour. The continuous cam thus has an upper end 31 and a lower end 32.  
  The upper and lower ends 31 and 32 of the cam 30 are arranged at opposite ends of a vertical portion of the continuous cam identified at 33. This vertical portion 33 cuts across the various flights of the continuous cam 30.  
  The operation of the cam 30 will be seen with particular clarity in FIG. 3, where the follower 27 will be seen in two positions, first at the top whereby it is about to fall off the upper end 31 of the cam 30 into the vertical portion 33. An arrow A is shown bearing against the pin 26 to identify the weight of cylinder 13.  
  As the follower moves through the vertical portion 33 driven by the weight of cylinder 13, the cylinder 13 falls to the bottom of the cylindrical housing provided by the interior of tube 12, and a spring or pad 34 is provided at the bottom around the bar 24 to cushion the fall. This places the follower 27 in the lowermost position shown in FIG. 3, where rotation of cam 30 will cause the lower end 32 of the cam 33 to bear against the follower 27 and start it on its way up the first flight of the helical cam 30. The rotating movement of cam 30 is shown by arrows B.  
  The details of the continuous cam 30 will be further evident from FIG. 4 where the horizontal portion 35 of the cam 30 is slightly smaller in width than the width of the vertical portion 33. The greater width of vertical portion 33 cases the descent of follower 27 therethrough. Also, the distance from pin 26 to the remote end of the follower 27 is preferably larger than the width of the vertical portion 33 so that the follower 27 will traverse the vertical portion 33 to move across it until the follower reaches the upper end 31 of the cam as pictured in FIG. 3.  
  The operation is quite simple. The tube 12 is rotated by motor 21 which drives spur gear 20 via worm gear 22 and thus caused to rotate once an hour, the minute being displayed at 14 and the hour being displayed at 15.  
  The follower 27 is moved upwardly by the flights of the continuous cam 30 to elevate cylinder 13 and progressively reveal the hours displayed thereon at 15.  
  When the follower 27 reaches the upper end of cam 31 it falls into the vertical portion 33 of the continuous cam 30 to allow cylinder 13 to drop, whereupon the cycle begins again (twice each day in the embodiment illustrated).  
 The invention is defined in the claims which follow.  
 I claim:  
  1. A clock comprising a base, a cylindrical tube supported on said base with the axis of said tube being perpendicular to the base, means to rotate said tube, once an hour, a cylinder positioned within said tube and free for vertical movement therein, means mounted in said base for preventing rotation of said cylinder, a continuous cam on the interior of said tube and an elongated follower pivotally carried by said cylinder. said follower extending into said continuous cam whereby, upon rotation of said tube. said cylinder will rise one unit per hour so that the vertical position of the cylinder will identify the hour, and the rotational position of the tube will identify the minute of the hour.  
  2. A clock as recited in claim 1 in which said cylinder is formed with an axial rectangular slot and a bar is mounted on said base to extend through said slot to prevent rotation of said cylinder.  
  3. A clock as recited in claim 1 in which said continuous cam is formed as a helix with twelve horizontal flights which are crossed by a vertical portion through which said follower falls to permit said cylinder to descend.  
  4. A clock as recited in claim 1 in which a pointer serves to identify the minute of the hour and also to hold said tube in place as it rotates.