Patents
US 8764280 B2: Two-phase detached escapement mechanism for oscillators and related systems
- Granted
- 2014-07-01
- Filed
- 2011-05-09 application 13103779
- Type
- Utility · 16 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
An enhanced escapement mechanism provides improved isolation of energy and torque for an oscillation system, e.g. a pendulum. In an exemplary embodiment, during a first phase, a pendulum releases an impulse arm that is decoupled from a main wheel, which falls and impulses the pendulum, such as at or near the middle of the pendulum swing. In a second phase, the impulse arm continues to fall, becoming totally detached from the pendulum, wherein the falling impulse arm releases the main wheel, which restores the impulse arm to its initial position. The main wheel continues to rotate until it is no longer in contact with the impulse arm, and is captured, such that the process may be repeated. While the enhanced escapement mechanism typically provides an impulse to an oscillation system during each period, alternate embodiments provide an impulse for each of a plurality of periods, e.g. once every ten periods.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg140701.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Long Now Foundation 3 patents | US company or organization | San Francisco, CA | LONG NOW FOUNDATION State business registration FUZZY medium confidence: same name (legal endings aside) and state LONG NOW FOUNDATION Nonprofit FUZZY medium confidence: same name (governing-board words and legal endings aside) and state | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W. Daniel Hillis | Calabasas, CA | 217 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Luke W. Khanlian | San Fernando, CA | 9 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| G04B | Mechanically-driven clocks or watches; mechanical parts of clocks or watches in general; time pieces using the position of the sun, moon or stars | G04B15/06 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-06-30 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | KHANLIAN, LUKE WALTER signed 2011-05-25 HILLIS, W. DANIEL signed 2011-05-31 | THE LONG NOW FOUNDATION SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 26532/363 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.