Jefferson Electric Patents and Trademarks

Jefferson Electric Patents and Trademarks

By Roger Russell

Copyright 1996-2004 by Roger Russell
All rights reserved
No portion of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part
without written permission of the author.

2,642,713

This patent number is seen on the Jefferson Golden Minute, Golden View, Golden Helm, Golden Secret, Exciting Hour and Golden Hour (except for early and late ones). The patent was not issued to Jefferson. The clock described in the patent was not made by Jefferson.

Application number 645,998 was filed on February 7, 1946 but it was abandoned. Application for a new patent, serial number 101,510, was made in France on September 10, 1948 and in the United States on June 27, 1949. On June 23, 1953 the patent was issued to Leendert Prins.

The patent describes the clock in great detail with 3 pages of illustrations. The round dial, glass and hand assembly is mounted on a wooden base. The motor is mounted vertically and protrudes from the rear of the clock. It has advantages over the earlier Prins patent.

It incorporates a single transparent disc with a minute hand frictionally attached to it that drives the hour hand by gears and a weight. It is improved over the two-disc clock for ease of setting the hours and minutes independently. The patent further describes: "....the single disk itself may be omitted and the minute hand connected to the rotating gear which is mounted in the clock frame and masked from view thereby.....and yet the illusion of a mysterious drive is retained or even heightened...." The inventor's address is Bilthoven, Netherlands.

The name plate on the bottom of the clock says Etalage-Reclame corporation, 48 East 28th Street, New York City. This is the same company that made clocks from earlier Prinz patents. This clock could be thought of as an improved version of earlier designs and a link to the first Jefferson clock.

It is 9-7/8" high, 9-1/2" wide and 2-1/4" deep. Weight is 2 lbs. The lacquered solid walnut base is 7-1/2" wide, 2-1/4" high and 1-3/4" deep. The front and back of the wood is angled in at about 15 degrees. The sides are angled at 60 degrees. There are four 1/4" diameter brown felt pads on the bottom in the corners. The outer ring appears to be gold plated. It has rounded depressions about 1/16" deep and 1/4" in diameter to indicate the hours of 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock. The remaining hours have rounded depressions about 1/32" deep and 1/8" in diameter. A retaining ring holds the glass disk in the frame. Three small lugs are equally spaced around the rear of the frame. The retaining ring may be resiliently snapped into position to hold the disk.

The minute hand is located in front of the glass and is attached to it by friction so that it can be easily turned to set to the desired minutes. The hour hand and gear assembly is located behind the glass. A shaft attached to the center of the glass has a gear on it that's in the counterweight gear assembly. The counterweight always stays in a vertical location from gravity. It provides a fixed position needed to drive other gears that advance the hour hand as the glass turns.

The picture shows the rear of the hands and the pear shaped counterweight assembly. There's also a counterweight at the end of the hour hand and can be seen near the top left of the picture. It serves to hold the hour hand in proper position relative to the minute hand. The hour and minute hands are about 3/16" wide. They have a slot about .038" wide for most of their length. The wide portion is gold colored and the thinner portion is light beige. The back of the hands is also light beige.

The clock is powered by a synchronous motor made by Haydon Mfg. Co, Torrington, Conn. It's rated at 110V--60C and 2.3W. The output gear is 1 RPM. A 60:1 reduction results in the clock face turning at the required 1/60 rpm, or one revolution per hour. The motor is mounted in a metal housing 2-1/2" wide and 2-1/4" high that extends into the wooden base. The assembly is painted dark brown. The numbers 8/48 on the motor indicate that the motor was made in August of 1948 and the clock may have also been made in 1948.

Jefferson made the first Golden Hour clock on December 2, 1949 after patent rights were purchased from Leendert Prins. The Jefferson Golden Hour and their later similar clocks are a redesign using the Prins patent. The original Prins design does tend to be a little tipsy as most of the weight is at the top and the base is not deep enough. In comparison, the Golden Hour is very stable and has no tendency to tip over.

Please see my Etalage page
for more information about Leendert Prins and other clocks made from his patents.

This includes the companies and the names of Etalage, Sonic Industries Inc., Monitor Equipment Corp. MagiClock, Boots Boy and Rex Cole

Jefferson Trademarks

This stylized logo was filed at the US Patent & Trademark Office on February 17, 1950 and registered on January 15, 1952. The serial number is 71-592636. The owner is Jefferson Electric Company, 25th Avenue and Madison Street, Bellwood, Illinois. The date of first use is December 2, 1949. 2nd renewal is on January 22, 1992. Last listed owner is MagneTek, Inc., 11150 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90025.

The Golden Hour stylized logo was filed at the US Patent & Trademark Office on December 19, 1949 and registered on November 20, 1951. The serial number is 71-589579. The owner is Jefferson Electric Company, 25th Avenue and Madison Street, Bellwood, Illinois. The date of first use is December 2, 1949. 2nd renewal is on April 8, 1992. Last listed owner is MagneTek, Inc., 11150 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90025. A disclaimer is made for what could be considered as representing the plug and wire apart from the picture as shown.

GOLDEN HOUR The name was filed at the US Patent & Trademark Office on June 26, 1970 and registered on June 15, 1971. The serial number is 72-363758. The owner is Litton Precision Products, Inc., 360 N. Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, California. The first date of use is December 2, 1949. 1st renewal is February 27, 1991. Last listed owner is MagneTek, Inc., 11150 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90025.

"500" This word mark was filed at the US Patent & Trademark Office on September 9, 1958 and registered on June 9, 1959. The owner is Jefferson Electric Company, Bellwood, Illinois. The first date of use is July 18, 1958. 1st renewal is on June 9, 1979.

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		Created by Roger Russell All contents are copyright 1998-2004 by Roger Russell. All rights reserved