Back Up Next

Maker, Warren Telechron, Inc., Ashland, Massachusetts, USA. Model Type E, c. early 1930's, serial no. 17.

Below are patent drawings. Fig. 1 is an overview of how the clock would be installed in a power house setting to control the systems generators.

Telechron E (47).jpg (499415 bytes)

This drawing depicts the master clock. This varies slightly from the production version.  Fig. 2 is a general outline. The electrical coil below the pendulum is replaced with a movable permanent magnet in the final version. In Fig. 3 the pilot dial and automatic frequency control system in this version is adjusted by one of Warren's motion reproducing motors. This was later replaced by the planetary gear system in the production model. This motor is depicted in the drawing with three coils at the bottom of the movement plate. The conventional motor above it, with one coil, supplies the continuos rotation to that same pilot dial and automatic frequency control system and is unchanged. Fig. 4 shows the commutator which is unchanged. Fig. 5 is a front elevation.

Telechron E (48).jpg (469464 bytes)

Fig. 6 shows how the motions of the commutator are translated into the rotations of Warren's motion reproducing motor. The third coil, according to Warren's patent nearly eliminates 'coasting' of the motor armature when violently moving back and forth to achieve a great degree of control. Today this would be done by a standard stepping motor, but whose design was unknown at the time.

Telechron E (46).jpg (467806 bytes)

Below is the portion of Henry Warren's patent that describes his automatic frequency control mechanism. This is the heart of Warren's ingenious design which allows his clock to be as or more accurate that other clocks designed for this purpose costing many times more. However, as previously discussed, there was a weakness in that this system contained many complicated, fast moving parts that may have made this clock unable to remain stable and reliable over a long period of time. He claims that his "apparatus is sufficiently sensitive to detect and correct for an error of 1/500th of a second in a two second interval." Or 1/250th of a second per second.

                                                                                                                                 Telechron E (48b).jpg (1169187 bytes)

Telechron E (48c).jpg (1165003 bytes)

Telechron E (48d).jpg (1240073 bytes)

Telechron E (48a).jpg (1149968 bytes)

Back Up Next