TODAY’S PATENT – BALANCE WHEEL

This invention “Balance wheel” was invented by Wilhelm Tilse and assigned to Timex Group USA Inc, was granted patent on 4^th May, 1976 by the USPTO bearing patent grant number USRE28794E to the patentee. The present invention pertains to a balance wheel carrying a body mounted thereon. The body is mounted asymmetrically with respect to the balance wheel’s axis of rotation, which means that the centre of the body is displaced a predetermined distance from a reference plane via the balance wheel axis. Variations in body weight or wheel design cause rotation about the balance wheel’s axis.

The balance wheel comprises a substantially annular rim portion having a gap within which part of coil is mounted to the tapered faces and of the rim by means of a suitable adhesive compound. The coil’s opposite side is nested between the yoke’s arms and held in place with adhesive. The yoke is one end of a spoke that extends inward from the balance wheel’s rim. The rim also includes a slightly enlarged portion that extends on both sides of the spoke and an enlarged counterweight portion with a predetermined inner curved surface. The balance wheel is designed so that an unbalanced axially supported wheel will rotate a predetermined amount with respect to a fixed tool, such as a punch or drill, depending upon variations in coil weight and wheel design. The tool is presented with a section of the counterweight when the balance wheel moves.