CH712852A2 - Optimized time-expiry diver's watch. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application includes a positioning mechanism to accurately measure the elapsed dive time. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a diver's wristwatch cladding apparatus to enable the accurate positioning of the second hand relative to the time of a dive and the reading of the count-down time remaining until the necessary slip-up moment is reached.

Description

description

Description of Previous Techniques The Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) was used by the French Ministry of Defense to train combat divers until 1952. Since the initiative of Captain Robert Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud, the Swiss watchmaker Blancpain has been involved since 1953 in the development of a suitable dive watch.

To ensure the safety of divers during a dive, an outer and rotating bezel was used so that a sign at 12:00 with the minute hand the remaining oxygen in the SCUBA tank indicated. The result was the invention of the Fifty Fathom model. The bezel used for this was and is the original model with which every diver's watch, any company, is equipped to this day. This bezel is the original model of every diver's watch.

[0003] This original model introduced a method to mark the beginning of a dive by indicating the beginning of the dive. However, in this application it becomes clear that the original model does not indicate the exact time to protect the diver from the danger of too little oxygen and therefore necessitates the fail-safe use of precious oxygen reserves.

Summary of the Present Invention The present invention overcomes the obvious drawbacks of the original model, which uses a small sign on a rotating bezel to mark only the time of dive start. It may be that in the original model the bezel is decoupled, i. the dive time is falsified. Also, the bezel can be lost because of impact in the water, which can also lead to the loss of the luminous sign which marks the beginning time of the dive. More importantly, however, the present invention corrects that the diver has no indication of remaining dive time remaining, but is solely dependent on his memory. With the present invention, the minute hand moves throughout the dive and measures the loss of oxygen in the SCUBA tank. In contrast, the original model is unable to indicate the critical time of appearance.

The present invention overcomes both of the above drawbacks by providing a housing for a high-precision chronometer which, in turn, measures and indexes the minutes of a dive start to the exact emergence time in a waterproof enclosure (11).

The invention consists of a pair of two turned metallic housing with a movable inner cylinder (9, 10) which surrounds the watch capsule (11), and by a gear lock mechanism (19) secures against accidental rotation. This mechanism, between two containers, must be actuated by deliberate downward axial pressure on a specially designed bezel (10). The bezel surrounds the waterproof watch capsule which is kept inside. Otherwise, it is not possible to decouple the clock capsule to either set or change the dive time under or over water.

However, the large marks on the marked sapphire bezel (1) of the outer housing (2, 3, 4, 5) are, unlike the original model, immovable. Moreover, due to the depression of the bezel (10) of the watch capsule configured, the entire diver's watch can be rotated 360 degrees in both directions: after it has been decoupled from the gear mounting system (19). This is activated to align the minute hand with the glowing minute markings on the outer rigid housing at the beginning of a dive.

It is important that in the present invention, in contrast to the original model, the elapsed dive time is numerically visible and readable - in minutes elapsed. The dive always ends exactly at 12:00, directly in the field of view of the diver. Just as a dive compass, called a lubber line, indicates the direction of the diver's target from 12:00 position north to 6:00 position south on the wrist, so does the present invention draw the diver's attention to the exact and ultimate time goal on the 12:00 position: on the time track.

An aspect of the invention is that the diverse outer parts of the housing allow a quick and correct disassembly and reassembly of the inner housing. By removing the base plate (5) Fig. 3C, for the removal of the tortuous base from the clock capsule, residual corrosion of seawater, silt or sand can be removed from the housing.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the fact that the center, or the band ring (3) of the outer housing can be easily removed during cleaning, without tools, thus it is possible to strip it after a dive and with a new To replace the band ring, as this firmly connects the bracelet with the diver's watch. This makes it possible for the diver to choose whether he wants to work with a long bracelet from a wet suit-suitable material or whether he wants to keep the bracelet short for everyday use.

Brief description of the pictures [0011]

Fig. 1 shows a cross section of the ensemble in the direction 12:00 to 6:00. This main section is marked 1A and 1B. The angled Rehaut (14) results in the reduction of the minute and hour hands. See Fig. 5 for the steep rehab and Fig. 8 for the relative relationship to the dial.

Figures 2A, 2B, 2C 2D show the four components of the outer housing. The numbering follows from the outside inwards in relation to the position and composition.

Figs. 3A, 3B, 3C show the three components of the watch capsule in vertical motion in relation to the outer housing Fig. 2. The fixed inner base plate (18) holds the watch in the innermost capsule.

Fig. 4 shows the profile of the relative position of the watch capsule, including the profile of the crown (12) which lies within the innermost edge of the two outer housing and is protected from damage to the edge of the socket.

Fig. 5 is a section showing first the steep reverber, which allows a larger diameter of the dial and also allows an extended minute and hour hand. Second, this section shows the relative positioning of the watch-band-ring (3) in relation to the outer profile of the housing.

Fig. 6 shows a representation of the original Blancpain Fifty Fathoms watch made in 1953 for the French navy (extract from Blancpain archive drawings). Since the original model represents the current state of the art, it was chosen as the canonical example at the same time also exemplifying the lack of this model, - and at the same time represents the trigger of the present invention. In the present Blancpain example, the minute hand for a dive is set to 13 minutes past the full hour (marked every minute) by 36 minutes to duration. However, poor visibility, mud in the water, or other distractions may cause the end of a dive to be missed as it occurs at 11 minutes.

Fig. 7 shows the elevation of the invention. The minute hand of the rotated watch is displayed.

Capsule set to 44 minutes counterclockwise from 12:00. The minute markings, as shown, allow the diver to read the elapsed time more accurately, and more importantly: read the last 15 minutes of emergence with exact ending at 12:00 of the outer mark (without the need to put in the reserve oxygen).

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the invention showing the rotated outer opening notch of the specially prepared bezel at rest at 12:00 allowing the diver to read the exact position by keys to reset the watch to reset the watch to normal after a dive to be able to read. The remaining notches at 6:00, 10:00 and 11:00 illustrate three of the eleven turned notches facing inward toward the dial, and by fingertip pressure pushing down the watch pod from the gear mount.

Non-axial pressure will never release the watch capsule from its current position: a failsafe mechanism.

In addition, the effect of the two Rehaut angles between the surface of the dial and the underside of the sapphire crystal are shown: At 10:00 a short minute hand and a very short hour hand illustrate the effects of a 65 ° Rehaut angle (starting from the horizontal as along the periphery of the dial can be seen Fig. 1). The benefits of a steeper 85 ° Rehaut Angle are longer glowing minutes - as well as hour hands Fig. 5 at 6:00.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As the drawings illustrate, particularly Fig. 1A, the timepiece housing is in the uppermost possible position when in use. All components are shown, including the crown, the watch capsule in cross section showing the movement (20) (30mm x 5mm) and the sapphire crystal watch (13). In Fig. 1B, the watch case is shown in a lowered position, Phynox spring (8) in m compressed position, the upper gear is released from the lower gear, which allows the free movement of the holder and the clock capsule. As a lock, the Bais plate of the capsule (18) is the inner of the base plate (5) of the outer housing touching. To be shown

Claims (2)

also the drainage openings for water. In this position, the clock can be rotated 360 ° to align the minute hand with the outer bezel of the housing as shown in FIG. A decrease in pressure on the watch capsule allows the Phynox spring (8) (compressed in Fig. 1B) to push up. Thus, the gear locks again Fig. 1A and prevents unwanted change in the dive time. Once engaged, the gears do not decouple. This allows a reliability which is not present in the original model of the diver's watch as its outer bezel can rotate unintentionally. This often causes the early emergence of the diver so u.a. the coordination with other divers disturbs. In rare cases where the original model of the diver's watch loses the outer bezel, the diver is forced to reappear immediately. With the present invention, the loss of the outer bezel is an impossibility, - even if the metal or sapphire insert should be lost, - as the numbers are engraved in the metal of the bezel as a safeguard and the emergence time is always 12:00. As shown in the drawings of Figures 1, 2 and 3, the threads and screw connections are shown as heavy lines along the vertical surface of their common planes. Further, Fig. 6 shows how the present invention, unlike the original model, is equipped with an outer rotating bezel which progresses from the 12:00 clockwise position (ascending numbers): 15 is at 3:00 and 30 is at 6:00. The invention reverses, but the order of numbering (descending), where the 45 minute bezel marker is at 3:00 and the 15 minute marker is at 9:00. This allows direct readability of the remaining dive time from the fixed outer bezel for whatever short or long dive time may be (within a 60 minute period). Fig. 2A (2) and Fig. 2C (4) and Fig. 2D (5) show the connection of the threads which secure the bracelet ring 2B (3) from accidental slipping. The ensemble of the outer housing consists of the fixed upper Bezel (2), the middle part (4) and the band ring, closed by the base plate (5) together. Fig. 2A also shows the upper gear of the paired lock. The lower gear is visible in (20). The space between Fig. 2A and Fig. 2C generates the space occupied by the flat wound stainless steel Phynox spring (8). Fig. 2D illustrates the bottom, which can be tightened by hand along the twisted edge, or closed with a simple bowl provided with the watch. Fingertips or the same key also fit into the watch-capsule socket (18), as illustrated in Fig. 3C, to remove the watch from the capsule to set the time. Although this invention has been described in the preferred embodiment, it should be understood that changes, modifications or additions made by one skilled in the art are possible without departing from the spirit and scope defined in claims 1 and 2. The embodiment of the invention, for which an exclusive copyright claim is claimed, is defined as follows: The claims which form the basis of this patent application are: Claims 1. An ensemble of the three basic elements 1 A diving watch consisting of an outer housing with a fixed measuring ring, and a central mechanism that holds the watch capsule, which is rotatable and fixable. 2. In relation to the diver's watch in claim 1: a non-disengaging and disengageable gear mechanism, manually activated by applied downward pressure on a central mechanism which compresses a spring, thereby enabling the rotation of the watch capsule to set the dive time safely ,