Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • 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
  • G04B19/00—Indicating the time by visual means
  • G04B19/24—Clocks or watches with date or week-day indicators, i.e. calendar clocks or watches; Clockwork calendars
  • G04B19/243—Clocks or watches with date or week-day indicators, i.e. calendar clocks or watches; Clockwork calendars characterised by the shape of the date indicator
  • G04B19/247—Clocks or watches with date or week-day indicators, i.e. calendar clocks or watches; Clockwork calendars characterised by the shape of the date indicator disc-shaped
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • 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
  • G04B11/00—Click devices; Stop clicks; Clutches
  • G04B11/006—Clutch mechanism between two rotating members with transfer of movement in only one direction (free running devices)
  • G04B11/008—Clutch mechanism between two rotating members with transfer of movement in only one direction (free running devices) with friction members, e.g. click springs or jumper
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T74/00—Machine element or mechanism
  • Y10T74/19—Gearing
  • Y10T74/1987—Rotary bodies
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T74/00—Machine element or mechanism
  • Y10T74/19—Gearing
  • Y10T74/1987—Rotary bodies
  • Y10T74/19874—Mutilated
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T74/00—Machine element or mechanism
  • Y10T74/19—Gearing
  • Y10T74/1987—Rotary bodies
  • Y10T74/19884—Irregular teeth and bodies

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a gear for watch movement, in particular a gear used in a date display mechanism for watch movement, in particular a large date display mechanism.
• gear denotes any system making it possible to transmit a movement or a force between two toothed members.
• the teeth of the drive member, or driving member penetrate between the teeth of the driven member, or driven member to transmit their movement to them.
• the gear members can be constituted by rotary members, for example wheels, pinions, ratchets, stars, rings with internal, external or axial teeth, etc., or by racks for transmitting rectilinear movements.
• the relative angular position of the drive member and the driven member matters little; we are therefore not concerned with knowing which tooth of the drive member actuates each tooth of the driven member.
• the two members are therefore mounted on their respective axes so that their teeth interpenetrate each other, but without controlling their angular position.
• the angular position of the two gear members can also sometimes be changed. In the event of an impact, it happens that a tooth of the drive member is driven with sufficient energy to jump over a tooth of the driven organ without moving it. In addition, it sometimes happens that the angular displacement of one step of the drive member causes a greater indentation of the driven member; this circumstance occurs in particular when the linear pitch of the two gears is not identical, for example when the teeth of the driven member are not all separated from each other by the linear pitch of the drive member, and that the drive member is actuated with significant energy.
• This risk can also be reduced by providing a jumper to absorb and limit the energy of rotation of the driven member.
• a jumper thus reduces the risk that the driven member will be driven beyond the desired indentation position.
• this risk has not been entirely eliminated.
• the relative angular position of the two members remains constant. For example, in the case of a large date display, it is frequent that the date units are displayed by a first mobile while the tens are displayed by a second mobile driven by the first. When the mobile of the tens displays 0, the mobile of the units goes through the sequence from 1 to 9. When the mobile of the tens displays 1 or 2, the mobile of the units must go through the session from 0 to 9. Finally, when the mobile of the tens display 3, the unit mobile must display the sequence 0 to 1 to display the 30 and 31 calendar days of the month.
• the relative angular position of the two mobiles is changed, for example following a shock or an overly energetic time setting, the correspondence between tens and unit sequences may be corrupted.
• the date display could display combinations of tens and nonexistent units, for example dates 32, 33, 34, etc. or skip valid number combinations.
• a relative angular position of the two mobiles can only be restored by dismantling the movement and by moving one of the two gear members to manually restore the relative angular position of the two mobiles.
• An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art mentioned above.
• Another object is to provide a gear in which each tooth of the drive member always drives the same tooth of the driven member.
• Another object is to provide a gear in which each tooth of the driven member is always driven by the same tooth of the driving member.
• Another object is to propose a gear in which, whatever the shocks undergone, certain teeth of the driving member never mesh with certain teeth of the driven member.
• Another object is to propose a gear in which the relative angular position of the two members can be restored, if possible automatically, after a shock or an acceleration resulting in a modification of this relationship.
• Another object is to propose a date display mechanism for a watch movement in which at least certain dates are displayed using two mobiles, and in which the relative angular position of the two mobiles is automatically corrected after accidental modifications.
• Another object is to prevent such accidental changes in the relative angular position.
• a gear for watch movement comprising a drive member provided with z1 first teeth and z2 second teeth.
• the height of the second teeth is less than the height of the first teeth.
• the driven member of the gear is provided with z3 third teeth and z4 fourth teeth.
• the height of the third teeth is greater than the height of the fourth teeth.
• the heights and the shapes of teeth are planned so that the first z1 teeth can entrain the z3 third teeth as well as the z4 fourth teeth, while the z2 second teeth allow only to train the z3 third teeth but not the z4 fourth teeth.
• the z4 short teeth are always driven by one of the z1 long teeth of the driving organ. It is thus guaranteed that, after a certain number of indexing steps, the two members of the gear are found in one of the predefined possible relative angular positions.
• the driving member comprises a single long tooth
• the driven member comprises a single short tooth
• Figure 1 a gear diagram according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 a simplified view of the mechanism for driving the dates in a timepiece movement comprising a gear according to the invention.
• Figure 3a shows a top view of the tens ring in a variant of the invention.
• Figure 3b shows a top view of the ring of units in a variant of the invention.
• Figure 4 shows a partial section along axis IV-IV of the drive mechanism according to the invention
• Figure 5 shows a partial section along the V-V axis of the drive mechanism according to the invention
• FIG. 6 illustrates the gear of the invention used in the date drive mechanism of the invention.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a gear comprising a driving toothed wheel, or driving wheel, 12 with a pitch radius r1, and a driven gear wheel, or driven wheel, 50, with a pitch radius r2.
• the shape of the first teeth 120 and of the second 121 is different.
• the height of the long teeth 120 is illustrated by the reference h1 while that of the short teeth 121 has the reference h2.
• the pitch and the linear pitch between the teeth are irregular; in this example, it seems to be missing a tooth.
• the invention is however not limited to these particular values of z1, z2, z3 and z4; in particular, it is possible to provide several adjacent or non-adjacent long teeth on the member 12, and several adjacent or non-adjacent short teeth on the member 50.
• the teeth of the member 50 of the gear have the same pitch; the invention is also particularly useful in the case of gears with driven members comprising an irregular pitch and an linear pitch.
• the height and / or the shape of the long tooth 120 of the wheel 12 makes it possible to drive both the long teeth z3 as well as the short tooth 503.
• the height and / or the shape of the short teeth z2 makes it possible to drive only long teeth z3 but not shorter tooth 503.
• the long tooth 120 is about to mesh with the short tooth 503.
• the drive wheel 12 should jump a tooth, that is to say if tooth 120 were to be found beyond tooth 503 without the latter having been driven, the short driven tooth 503 would find itself facing z2 teeth too short to mesh with it. In this case, the drive wheel 12 would make a complete revolution before a long tooth 120 can actuate the tooth 503. The relative angular position of the two wheels 12 and 50 is thus automatically restored after z2 no indexing.
• the driven member 50 could be actuated by this tooth 120 with sufficient energy to be indented by two steps.
• a jumper on the member 50 would limit, but not eliminate this risk.
• the relative phase position of the two organs would be changed; the driven member 50 would be one tooth ahead.
• the short tooth 503 would be found opposite a tooth 121 instead of being opposite the only long tooth 120 capable of actuating it.
• the member 50 should then allow the drive member to rotate by one step before the tooth 503 can be actuated; the relative position of the two organs is thus also restored after z2 no indexing.
• the gear of the invention can be used whenever, in a watch movement, the relative angular position (or phase) of the drive member and the driven member must remain constant, or when this position cannot take arbitrary values.
• the date display mechanism described uses two separate mobiles 1 and 2, superimposed on FIG. 2 and illustrated separately in FIGS. 3a and 3b.
• the mobile 1 in FIG. 3b mainly displays the units while the mobile 2 illustrated in FIG. 3a mainly comprises the tens of the dates; however, certain dates (in this example, dates 20, 30 and 31) can be displayed by a single mobile.
• a mechanical or electromechanical control system makes it possible to display the correct ten-unit combination every day through one or more counters 60 in the dial 6 ( Figures 4 and 5).
• the first mobile 1, or ring of units, visible in FIG. 3b, carries a sequence of numbers 10 ⁇ 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0, 1,2,3,4 , 5,6,7,8,9,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 ⁇ .
• the figures are regularly spaced apart from a larger interval between the second 9 and the third 1, then a double interval between the last 9 and the first 1, the width of the intervals being sufficient to display a date at two digits, as we will see later.
• the dates are intended to be displayed at twelve o'clock on the dial; the unit numbers are therefore arranged almost radially, so as to appear vertical when viewed through a vertical window 60 just to the right of the twelve o'clock position. Other positions of the date display window (s) are possible within the scope of this invention.
• the second mobile, or tens ring consists of a second ring 2 rotating concentrically over the ring of the units 1, as seen in particular in Figures 4 and 5. Note that in these figures the watch dial 6 is located at the bottom. As we see in particular in FIG. 3a, the second ring 2 carries in this example the sequence ⁇ 0,1,20,2,30,31,0,1,20,2,30,31 ⁇ . A vertical window 21 is stamped through the tens ring 2 to the right of the numbers 0, 1 and 2, making it possible to see the figures (reference 10) carried by the ring of the units 1.
• the date 3 displayed through the window (s) 60 in the dial therefore generally corresponds to the combination of a dozen displayed by the mobile 2 and a unit printed on the mobile 1 and seen through a window 21.
• the display mechanism of the invention is therefore a combination between a large date display mechanism, with two digits worn by two separate mobiles, and a conventional date display mechanism for other dates, for which the single digit or the two digits of the calendar are carried by the same mobile. This avoids, at least for certain dates, the disadvantages of the display by two separate mobiles, without having to give up the display of large dates.
• the two mobiles are driven by the same electromechanical or mechanical motor (not shown) and set to the hour by the same crown; however, it would also be possible to drive and / or adjust the two mobiles by two independent motors, or by a single motor but through two separate kinematic chains.
• the ring 1 is therefore indexed every day by 360/31 degrees in order to perform one revolution per month of 31 days. Other steps of indexing are possible for example in the case of a perpetual display.
• a jumper 110 retains the internal toothing 11.
• the ring of the units 1 comprises teeth, formed in this example by drive stops 120, 121 formed by protruding portions of the ring 1, here portions folded by stamping. Several close teeth can be formed by the same folded portion. These stops make it possible to index a gear element 50, in this example a star with six unequal teeth, or branches, indexed by 60 ° at each contact with the stops 120, 121.
• the stops 120, 121 are arranged radially on the ring 1 so that a stop actuates the star 50 each time a rotation of the tens ring 2 is desired.
• the ring of the units 1 has 6 stops 120, 121 irregularly spaced to move the ring dozens 6 times a month:
• the linear pitch of the teeth 120,121 on the ring of the units is therefore irregular and different from the linear pitch of the teeth of the star 50; in this example, teeth are missing on the drive member.
• the star 50 drives at each rotation a wheel 52 mounted on the same axis, which in turn actuates a wheel 53.
• the wheel 53 is mounted on the axis of a wheel 54 meshing with the internal toothing 22 of the ring tens 2.
• the gear ratio between the wheels 50 and 53 is chosen so that the indexing angle of the tens 2 ring caused by a displacement of the star 50 corresponds to the angular distance between two tens digits.
• the star 50 is retained by a jumper 51 pressed against the gap 502 between two teeth 501 of the star 50 by a spring 510.
• the jumper makes it possible to prevent the star 50 from turning freely, in particular when it is driven by a tooth 120, 121.
• the construction and operation of the jumper are described in more detail below in connection with FIG. 6.
• the first mobile 1 slides directly on the upper bridge 9 of the watch movement, and is retained by a first plate 8 mounted over this bridge.
• the second mobile 2 slides on an annular path over this first plate 8 and is retained by a second plate 7.
• the dial 6 is fixed over the second plate and provided with a window 60 for displaying the dates carried by the first and / or second mobile.
• the relative angular position of the ring of tens 2 is offset from that of the ring of units 1. Consequently, the sequences of units traversed no longer correspond to the tens displayed opposite; the movement begins, for example, to run through dates 31, 32, 33, 34 etc, or to jump directly from the 1st to the 11th of the month. If no correction mechanism was provided, it would be necessary to remedy this unfortunate situation to dismantle the movement and manually replace the star 50 in the desired angular position.
• the teeth 120, 121 of the mobile unit have heights h1, h2, and possibly different shapes or positions, as can be seen more particularly in Figure 6.
• the first tooth (or stop) 120 of the unit ring is higher than the other teeth 121.
• the size of the pins 120 and 121 is possibly identical, but their distance from the center of the ring is different.
• the height h1, h2 of the teeth 120, 121 therefore depends on the top of their projection on a plane parallel to the plate of the movement; a tooth 120 is considered high because it passes closer to the center of the star 50 than the teeth 121.
• the teeth of the star 50 have heights h3 and h4 and variable shapes, the teeth 501 being higher than the tooth 503.
• the pins 120, 121 are placed in the example illustrated at irregular distances in order to mesh the star 50 only on the days when an indentation of the tens ring is necessary.
• the linear pitch between the existing pins 120, 121 is also preferably variable in order to obtain an optimal contact angle between any combination of teeth 120 or 121 and the portions 5012, 5013 of the teeth 501, 503.
• the pins 120, 121 are therefore not placed at angular positions separated by multiples of the gear pitch.
• the height h2 of the short teeth 121 does not allow them to mesh with the single short tooth 503 of the star 50. In this way, when the star 50 and the ring of the tens 2 are accidentally incremented by one of the lugs 121 of two steps instead of one, the short tooth 503 finds itself facing a short lug 121. In this position not shown, the star 50 is no longer driven.
• the tens 2 ring can only be actuated when, after a sufficient number of increments of the unit ring, a high driving tooth 120 is found opposite the driven tooth 503. This arrangement thus ensures that the short tooth 503 will always be driven by the long tooth 120 rather than by any other tooth 121. It is thus possible to restore the relative angular position of the two members 1 and 50, simply by allowing the ring of the units 1 to rotate sufficiently for a long time or by turning it manually using the date correction rod.
• FIG. 6 also illustrates a preferred variant of the jumper 51 which pivots about an axis 512 and presses by means of a spring element 510 on the star 50.
• the shape of the jumper allows it to rest in the rest position on the rear face 5010 of a tooth of the star 50 and on the front face 5011 of a non-adjacent tooth; in order to limit friction, contact with the intermediate tooth 501 is zero or in any case limited to a small area.
• Pressing on the rear face 5010 makes it possible to prevent the star from rotating in the opposite direction to the desired direction; pressing on the front face 5011 makes it possible to raise the jumper 51 when the star is driven in rotation by the disc of the units 1.
• the jumper rests on three adjacent teeth, or possibly on two non-adjacent teeth even when one or more teeth facing the jumper have a shorter height.
• the jumper 51 is about to be lifted by the front portion 5011 of the last tooth in contact with the jumper.
• the latter tooth is a short tooth 503; in this case the shape of the front face 5031 of this tooth does not allow it to raise the jumper 51, which is then raised by the front face 5014 of the intermediate tooth pressing on the portion 513 of the jumper.
• a pin 511 perpendicular to the plane of the jumper and of the movement plate moves in a slide 500 (shown in Figures 2, 5 and 6) machined in the wheel 52, whose shape prevents the pin 511 from jumping directly from a gap 502 to a gap not adjacent between two teeth of the star 50.
• the slide 500 therefore approximates the contours of the star 50 in order to force the pin 511, and therefore the jumper 51, to move to the bottom of the gap 502 between two teeth. This limits the risk that the star 50 is incremented by two notches when it is actuated by the teeth 120, 121 of the ring of the units 1.
• gears with driven and driving members each having two distinct tooth heights; the invention is not however limited to this example, and the person skilled in the art will understand the advantages which can be obtained with gear members comprising more than two heights of teeth. For example, three tine heights could be used on each wheel with different mutual engagement possibilities.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Electromechanical Clocks (AREA)
• Gears, Cams (AREA)
• General Electrical Machinery Utilizing Piezoelectricity, Electrostriction Or Magnetostriction (AREA)
• Infusion, Injection, And Reservoir Apparatuses (AREA)
• Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
• Valve Device For Special Equipments (AREA)

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• 2003
  • 2003-06-23 CH CH01094/03A patent/CH700720B1/fr not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2004
  • 2004-06-07 JP JP2006516138A patent/JP4603539B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2004-06-07 EP EP04766040A patent/EP1636656B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-06-07 AT AT04766040T patent/ATE396433T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2004-06-07 WO PCT/EP2004/051053 patent/WO2004114027A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2004-06-07 CN CNB2004800049258A patent/CN100480900C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2004-06-07 ES ES04766040T patent/ES2305828T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-06-07 DE DE602004013968T patent/DE602004013968D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2005
  • 2005-12-22 US US11/315,798 patent/US7366058B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

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