CH700624B1 - Radial clamping system for a watch component. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a watch component having an opening for receiving a support member and comprising a clamping system for exerting a radial stress enabling said watch component to be secured to said support member. According to the invention, the clamping system comprises a radial clamping device comprising a ring intended to exert said radial stress and a concentric blind recess spaced from said opening intended to allow the clearance of said ring. In addition, the clamping system further comprises a deflection device for providing more degrees of freedom to said ring relative to said support member. The invention relates to the field of timepieces.

Description

Description

Field of the invention [0001] The invention relates to a radial clamping system for a watch component and, more particularly, to such a system for securing said component to a support element such as, for example, a pivoting axis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] It is known to secure watchmobiles by driving their central hole through a pivoting axis between a bridge and the plate. This configuration is widespread with metallic materials, however, it is not applicable for brittle materials whose plastic deformation zone is substantially non-existent. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0003] The object of the present invention is to overcome all or part of the aforementioned drawbacks by proposing a watch component whose radial clamping system uses only the zone of elastic deformation of the material to become solid with its element. of support.

For this purpose, the invention relates to a watch component comprising an opening for receiving a support member and comprising a clamping system intended to exert a radial stress enabling said watch component to be secured to said support member. characterized in that the clamping system comprises a radial clamping device comprising a ring gear for exerting said radial stress and a concentric blind recess spaced from said opening for allowing clearance of said ring and in that the clamping system comprising in addition to a second concentric blind recess located on a face opposite to said first recess allowing a greater amplitude of movement of said ring during its deformation with respect to said support member.

According to other advantageous features of the invention: - said ring is crenellated to form a plurality of independent blades around said opening; - The inner section of the ring is frustoconical in order to locally increase said radial stress; said section is weaker at the free end of the crown in order to exert maximum radial stress at the free end of each blade against said support member; the second concentric blind recess is spaced from said first recess; the two recesses comprise identical widths and / or identical depths and / or their bottom are located substantially in the same plane; - The watch component is of generally discoidal shape and has a circumferential toothing to form a mobile.

The invention also relates to a timepiece characterized in that it comprises at least one watch component according to one of the preceding variants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0007] Other features and advantages will become apparent from the description which is given below, by way of indication and in no way limitative, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective representation of a clock component mounted on a support member according to the invention; fig. 2 is a section of a watch component according to the invention; fig. 3 is an enlarged representation of part of FIG. 2; fig. 4 is a top view of a watch component according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0008] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the invention relates to a generally annotated watch component 1 intended to cooperate with a support element 3. In the example used below, the watch component 1 is a substantially discoidal mobile and the support element 3, a cylindrical axis with a circular section, however, they can not be limited thereto.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, there can be seen a watchmaking component 1 mounted on a support element 3. Preferably, the support element 3 comprises an axis 2 integrally formed with a pinion 4. The watch component 1 comprises a hub 5 having an opening 7, four arms 9 and a toothed serge 11. Advantageously according to the invention, the watch component 1 is mounted on the support member 3 by means of a clamping system 13 located around the opening 7 passing through said component.

The clamping system 13 is intended to exert a radial stress on the axis 2 to secure the watch component 1 with the support member 3. The clamping system 13 is an alternative to hunting that is not always possible for materials such as crystallized silicon, silicon carbide, crystallized silica or crystallized alumina.

The clamping system 13 preferably comprises a radial clamping device 15 and a deflection device 17. The clamping device 15 mainly comprises a ring 6 and a recess 8. The ring 6 is intended to clamp the outer surface of the 2. It is preferably crenellated and comprises a plurality of blades 12 whose inner section 14 forms the edge of the opening 7 to better locally manage the deflection of the crown 6. Thus, advantageously according to the invention, each blade 12 is independent and moves elastically according to the own constraint that is submitted to it.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inner section 14 is frustoconical at an angle α in order to locally increase the pinch stress. In the example illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the upper section of the opening 7 is thus smaller than the lower section. According to the invention, the angle a may be between substantially 0 and 5 degrees. It is therefore understood that the clamping stress of the ring 6 of the clamping device 15 will be maximum at its free end, that is to say at the end of the blades 12.

The recess 8 is intended to allow a clearance of the ring 6. According to the invention, the recess 8 is preferably blind and communicates between each blade 12 with the opening 7. Each blade 12 can thus tack independent between the recess 8 and the opening 7.

The deflection device 17 is intended to provide more degrees of freedom to the ring 6 relative to the axis 2. Thus, it allows not only a greater amplitude of movement of the blades 12 but it also allows to change more generally the direction of the inner section 14. The deflection device 17 thus comprises a second recess 10.

Preferably, the second recess 10 is blind, concentrically spaced from the first recess 8 and located on the opposite face of the watch component 1 relative to the first recess 8 as visible in FIGS. 2 and 3. In these examples, the depth and width of the recesses 8 and 10 are substantially equivalent. In addition, the bottom of each recess 8, 10 are located in the same plane.

According to the invention, depending on the application of the watch component, the recesses may have a depth of between 5 and 85% of the thickness of the watch component.

Preferably, the watch component 1 is made of micro-machinable material so as to obtain a precision less than one micron. Such materials may be, for example, but not exclusively silicon carbide, crystallized silicon, crystallized alumina or crystalline silica. Indeed, such materials can be etched according to the required accuracy, in particular by means of a process of the deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) type.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example but is susceptible to various variations and modifications that will occur to those skilled in the art. In particular, depending on the intended applications and / or the material used, the depths and widths of the recesses 8 and 10 may differ as their spacing relative to the opening 7 or the membership of their bottom to the same plane.

Claims (10)

claims Watchmaking component (1) comprising an opening (7) intended to receive a support element (3) and comprising a clamping system (13) intended to exert a radial stress enabling said watch component to be secured to said support element. , characterized in that the clamping system (13) comprises a radial clamping device (15) comprising a ring gear (6) for exerting said radial stress and a first concentric blind recess (8) spaced from said opening for allowing the deflection of said ring and in that the clamping system (13) further comprises a deflection device (17) comprising a second concentric blind recess (10) situated on a face opposite to said first recess allowing a greater range of displacement of said ring during its deformation with respect to said support member. 2. Watchmaking component (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said ring (6) is crenellated to form a plurality of blades (12) independent around said opening. 3. Horological component (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the inner section (14) of the ring (6) is frustoconical in order to locally increase said radial stress. 4. Watchmaking component (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said section (14) is lower at the free end of the ring (6) in order to exert a maximum radial stress at the level of the free end of each blade (12) against said support member. 5. Watchmaking component (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second recess (10) concentric blind is spaced from said first blind recess. 6. Watchmaking component (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the two recesses (8, 10) have identical widths. 7. Horological component (1) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the two recesses (8, 10) have identical depths. 8. Horological component (1) according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the funds of the two recesses (8, 10) are located substantially in the same plane. 9. Horological component (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is of generally discoidal shape and has a circumferential toothing to form a mobile. 10. Timepiece characterized in that it comprises at least one watch component (1) according to one of the preceding claims.