| Frederick
(Fred) Frick |
Inventor
of the Electric Program Clock. He lived in Waynesborough,
Pennsylvania. He was awarded two patents for his
invention. |
| Class
A or Class B |
There
were two grades of Frick Program Clocks - Grade 1 and
Grade 2. Grade 1 had two types, a Class A and a Class B.
Grade 2 clocks were the economy version. Find out more in
the Classes and Clocks article. |
| coach
watch |
A
portable timekeeper or clock (90-140 millimeters in
diameters) placed inside early land coaches, often with a
swivel ring attached for hanging. Most had an alarm
feature so travelers would not oversleep. |
| design
patent |
A
patent granted based on the unique and new look of an
item. |
| Greenwich |
Greenwich
England is where East meets West at the Greenwich Meridian
(0¡ Longitude); World Time is set to Greenwich Mean Time. |
| horology |
The
science or art of measuring time. It's a science that
started back in the days of the Babylonians, who came up
with the idea for the 60 second minutes and 60 minute
hours we use now. Now scientists measure time in
billionths of a second with atomic clocks. The first time
keeping device was probably a stick in the ground, and
someone noticed that the stick's shadow moved as the sun
moved. From that came the present sundial. Other devices
were the water clock, in which a bowl was either filled or
emptied within a certain period of time, marked candles,
oil lamps that would burn a measured amount of oil, or a
stick of incense that burned at a measured rate, and would
drop a thread-suspended metal ball on a bell. Sound
interesting? Find out more about horology at the What
is Horology? page or see Horology
-The Index. |
| invention |
A
new idea or item created by someone using their original
ideas and imagination. |
| patent |
There
are 3 types of patents: utility, design and plant. |
| programs |
A
pattern of pins set up on the Frick Clock's program disk
which would ring bells according to the schedule needed by
the users of the clock. |
| program
disk |
A
circular 12" diameter piece of the Frick clock. The
front face looked like a clock dial with figures from 1 to
12. A series of groves around the circular piece held the
metal pins which determined when the bells would be rung.
See Figure 2 for more detail. |
| utility
patent |
A
patent granted for the process or the way an item is used
and works. |
| United
States Patent Office |
The
U.S. Government Agency in charge of researching and
issuing patents to inventors in our country. Learn more by
visiting the U.S. Patent
web site. |
