CH713437A2 - Jumping display mechanism. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a display mechanism jumping a unit of time for a timepiece comprising a star (1) positioned angularly by a jumper (2) so as to occupy predefined angular positions. The mechanism also comprises: - a limaçon (3) having a progressive ascending profile and an abrupt descending profile and intended to be kinematically linked to the workings of a watch movement, a control lever (5) comprising a finger (6) intended to follow the profile of the snail, - an armature rocker (14) comprising a unidirectional drive system arranged to drive the star (1) in rotation, - an intermediate gear kinematically connecting the control rocker (5) and the rocker armoring (14), - an elastic return means (20) tending to keep the finger (6) in contact with the snail (3). A rotation of the snail (3) during one unit of time causes a progressive upward movement and an abrupt downward movement of the two flip-flops (5, 14) and the intermediate gear, the driving of the star (1) by the flip-flop. arming occurring during the abrupt downward movement by causing the star to rotate between two adjacent predefined angular positions.

Description

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to the field of watchmaking. It relates more particularly to a jumping display mechanism.

STATE OF THE ART [0002] Many watch mechanisms are known for displaying a time indication jumping rather than continuously. The date is the most common of these mechanisms but other units of time can be displayed in this way, such as hours or minutes.

The application EP 2 595 006 describes such a display mechanism. A disk of hours, a portion carrying the current time appears in a window, is rotated discontinuously by a jumping mechanism. In the vicinity of the passage of time, the disc rotates 30 ° to display the next hour digit.

However, this type of display has some disadvantages: the passage of one hour is not instantaneous so that it is not possible to know the precise moment of the passage of time observing the evolution of the display. Conversely, not knowing, in the vicinity of the passage of one hour, if the display of the time has already evolved or not, there may be a doubt about reading the time. This problem is thus summarized in the application EP 2 595 006: "There is no simple way for the user to instantly determine if the jump has already been made or is in progress." To solve this problem, it is proposed an additional display in the form of an indicator of the passing time of the jumping time. However, this solution is not completely satisfactory because it is complex to implement and does not solve the problem of the accuracy of the display at the passage of time.

The present invention aims to provide a jumping display mechanism that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and is easily adaptable to an existing movement.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION [0006] More precisely, and according to a first aspect, the invention relates to a display mechanism jumping a unit of time for a timepiece comprising a star angularly positioned by a jumper. to occupy predefined angular positions. The mechanism also comprises: - a snubber comprising a progressive upward profile and an abrupt descending profile and intended to be kinematically linked to the workings of a clockwork movement, - a control lever comprising a finger intended to follow the profile of the snail, an armature rocker comprising a unidirectional drive system arranged to drive the star in rotation, an intermediate gear connecting kinematically the control rocker and the armature rocker, an elastic return means tending to hold the finger; in contact with the snail.

[0007] A rotation of the snail during a unit of time causes a progressive upward movement and an abrupt downward movement of the two flip-flops and the intermediate wheel, the entrainment of the star by the armature rocker acting during the abrupt downward movement in causing the star to rotate between two adjacent predefined angular positions.

This arrangement allows the jumping display mechanism of the invention to instantly change the displayed value of the unit of time at the precise moment when this change takes place.

According to a first variant of the invention, the unidirectional drive system comprises a retractable pusher, movable with reference to the armature rocker.

According to another advantageous variant of the invention, the armature rocker comprises an anti-jump device cooperating with the toothing of the star.

This particular provision prevents a double jump of the star and reduces the energy consumed by limiting the braking torque of the jumper.

According to another advantageous variant of the invention, the intermediate gear comprises a toothed wheel secured to a retrograde needle displaying a fraction of the time unit.

This particular arrangement avoids reading errors in the vicinity of the passage of the unit of time. According to another advantageous variant of the invention, the star and the retrograde needle are coaxial.

According to another advantageous variant of the invention, the finger is pivoted on the control rocker which allows not to damage the mechanism if we try to delay the setting of the time indication.

According to another particular variant of the invention, the unit of time is the hour.

The invention also relates to a timepiece or a timepiece movement comprising a jumping display mechanism as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0018] Other details of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, made with reference to the appended drawings in which: FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 represent different successive positions of the mechanism during a one-hour cycle, FIGS. 2 and 6 show the mechanism in view from below, respectively in the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, FIGS. 11 and 12 represent the mechanism and the minute hand during a recoil action.

Embodiment of the Invention [0019] FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively represent top and bottom views of a jumping hour display mechanism according to the invention, at the beginning of a cycle just after the passage of one hour. This mechanism is intended to be mounted on a watch movement or integrated in such a movement to produce a timepiece such as a wristwatch with a jumping hour poster. In the appended figures, neither the watch movement to which the inventive mechanism relates nor the display means with which the mechanism of the invention is intended to cooperate are represented for the sake of clarity of representation. The said display means may especially consist essentially of a disk of hours around its perimeter the registration of the hour digits numbered from one to twelve and a dial with a window showing one of the inscriptions of the disc corresponding to the current time.

The mechanism of the invention comprises in the first place a star 1, pivotally mounted about an axis A1 with reference to the movement. This star 1 cooperates in practice directly with the aforementioned display means, and in particular door for example the hours disk so as to pivot it vis-à-vis a window of the dial. Star 1 has twelve teeth in the shape of wolf teeth whose utility will appear later. The star 1 is angularly positioned by means of a jumper 2 bearing between two adjacent teeth of the star 1 by defining for the star 1, predefined angular positions corresponding to twelve steady equilibrium positions regularly spaced thirty degrees.

The input of the mechanism consists of a spiral-shaped snail 3 having a progressive ascending profile and a steep descending profile. The snail 3 is pivotally mounted about an axis A2 in reference to the movement and is kinematically connected to the work train of the movement. To make the snail 3 is integral with a pinion 4 meshing with the gear train of the movement and sized so that the snail 3 performs exactly one rotation of a turn in one hour.

A control rocker 5 is also rotated with reference to the movement about an axis A3. The control lever 5 comprises a finger 6 pivotally mounted on the control lever 5 around an axis A4 and whose function is to follow the spiral cam profile of the snail 3. The finger 6 is positioned with reference to the rocker 5 by means of a stop 7 and a leaf spring 8. The control rocker 5 further comprises a rack 9.

An intermediate gear 10 is composed of a small pinion 11 engaged with the rack 9, a large pinion 12, secured to the small pinion 11 and a gear 13 meshing with the large pinion 12. The wheel toothed 13 is positioned coaxially with the star 1, the toothed wheel 13 and the star 1, however, not integral in rotation or coupled to one another.

An armature rocker 14 is pivoted on the plate or on a bridge of the movement about an axis A5. The armature rocker 14 comprises a toothed sector 15 in engagement with the toothed wheel 13. The armature rocker 14 further comprises a retractable pusher 16 pivoted on the rocker 14 about an axis A6 and tending to return and remain under the action of an elastic blade 17, in a thrust position, fixed with reference to the armature rocker 14 and defined angularly by a thrust stopper 18. The armature rocker 14 also comprises an anti-winding device. jump 19 whose operation will be explained later. An elastic return means 20 having the shape of a spring blade, opposes the rotation of the rocker arm 14 in the counterclockwise direction with reference to FIG. 1.

The control lever 5 and the armature rocker 14 are kinematically linked by the intermediate gear 10 so that the elastic return means 20 tends to hold the finger 6 in contact with the snail 3 by opposing the rise of the finger 6 on the snail cam.

The rotation of the snail 3 during a unit of time causes a progressive upward movement and an abrupt downward movement of the two flip-flops 5, 14 and the intermediate gear 10.

The snail 3 is driven continuously by the movement and rotates clockwise with reference to FIG. 1, at an angular speed of one revolution per hour. Fig. 3 represents the mechanism about fifteen minutes after the passage of one hour, at the beginning of the retraction of the pusher 16. The snail 3 began to gradually raise the finger 6 against the action of the elastic return means 20 which caused a clockwise rotation of the control rocker 5, the rotation of the pinions 11, 12 and the toothed wheel 13 and the rotation in the counterclockwise direction of the rocking lever 14. The pusher 16 is still in its position of pushing with reference to the armature rocker 14, bearing against its abutment 18. Under the effect of the rotation of the armature rocker 14, the side of the tip of the pusher 16 comes into contact and begins to slide against the flank of a tooth of star 1.

Fig. 4 shows the mechanism at the end of the retraction of the pusher 16, about fifty minutes after the passage of time. In this position, the rockers 5, 14 have continued to pivot and the pusher 16 is about to jump a tooth of the star 1 and to resume its thrust position bearing on the abutment 18.

Figs. 5 and 6 represent the mechanism at the end of the upward progressive movement, just before the abrupt descending movement corresponding to the passage of the hour and the falling of the finger 6 from the high level to the low level of the snail 3. The mechanism has accumulated the energy due to the elastic deformation of the elastic return means 20 during the upward movement of the finger 6 and is ready to release it suddenly.

Figs. 7 to 10 represent different moments of the abrupt downward movement corresponding to the fall of the finger 6 which occurs at the passage of time. Once the finger 6 has left the upper part of the snail profile, the two flip-flops 5, 14 and the intermediate wheel 10 accelerate suddenly under the effect of the elastic return means 20. The tip of the pusher 16 hits a tooth of the star 1 and rotates it counterclockwise with reference to FIG. 7. The action of the pusher continues at least until the position shown in fig. 8 where a tooth of the star 1 exceeds the jumper 2. The finger 6 reaches the abutment on the low level of the track of the snail 3 and the star slightly continues its rotation under the action of the jumper 2 to reach a new stable equilibrium position adjacent to the one she has just left. At the display level, the change in the number of hours in the window is almost instantaneous. The display mechanism according to the invention thus makes it possible to know the precise moment of the passage of time.

The retractable pusher 16 is a ratchet type unidirectional drive system, which does not change the position of the star 1 during the progressive upward movement of the armature rocker 14 and which drives the star 1 in rotation counterclockwise with reference to FIG. 1, to an adjacent predefined angular position, during the abrupt downward movement. The wolf-tooth profile of the toothing of the star 1 makes it possible to facilitate the retraction of the pusher during the progressive upward movement and offers a radial bearing surface perpendicular to the thrust force of the pusher and a reinforced resistance. in shear.

During the impulse given to the star by the pusher, there is a risk that the jumper 2 lets two teeth pass instead of one which would cause an advance of one hour in the display. This phenomenon can appear and amplify over time because of the wear of the toothing and the relaxation of the elastic stresses in the jumper 2. It can also result from exceptional circumstances related to the wearing of the watch. Indeed, the armature 14 and control 5 rockers are not balanced on their axis of rotation, they are sensitive to the movements of the watch. If the watch undergoes a strong acceleration at the precise moment of the passage of time, it is possible that the pulse transmitted by the pusher 16 to the star 1 is substantially stronger than that resulting from the only release of the elastic return means 20 It is therefore advantageous to provide an additional anti-jump device 19 which secures the advance of the star by preventing a double jump. The anti-jump device 19 consists of a cylindrical portion having an axis of revolution substantially coinciding with the axis of rotation of the armature rocker 14. During the fall of the finger 6 and the drive of the star by the pusher 16, the anti-jump device 19 is placed between two teeth of the star 1, tangentially to the side of a tooth of the star 1 as can be seen in FIG. 7 to 10. If the braking torque of the jumper 2 is insufficient to stop the star 1 after the passage of a tooth, a tooth of the star 1 comes to butter perpendicular to the cylindrical surface against the anti-jump device 19 which stops the rotation of the star 1 and allows the star 1 to return to the equilibrium position that it should not have exceeded.

In the absence of anti-jump device, there would be no other solution than to increase the strength of the jumper 2 and the elastic return means 20 to secure the advance of the star 1. The anti-jump device 19 therefore also makes it possible to improve the performance of the jumping display mechanism by making it possible to reduce the braking torque of the jumper 2 and the force of the elastic return means 20, and thus to reduce the energy consumption. .

In one embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the jumping hour display mechanism of the invention is associated with a mechanism for displaying the minutes by retrograde hand 21, integral with the intermediate gear 10 by the gear wheel 13. The gear wheel 13 carries the barrel of the minute hand 21 and is coaxial with the star 1, the axis of the needle passing through a recess in the center of the star 1. The minute hand 21, mounted on the toothed wheel 13, pivots regularly clockwise during the progressive upward movement and then suddenly returns to zero concomitantly with the change of the display of the time during the abrupt downward movement corresponding to the fall of the finger 6.

In such an embodiment, a difficulty may arise to the user when the latter wishes to perform a correction time setting in the counterclockwise direction. Indeed, the jumping time display mechanism of the invention does not allow a return to the hours display but only an incremental setting of the hours, by skipping the hours one after the other until reach the correct time of setting. Such a setting constraint may be particularly tedious when the adjustment to be made is to go back in the current time, in particular to identify where the last time of jump time.

Claims (10)

To overcome this problem, the latch 5 is advantageously configured so as to include a boss-shaped protrusion 22 located substantially to the right of the finger 6. After a time jump, the rocker 5 falls abruptly and the finger 6 then falls into a "dead" zone of the snail 3, in which it loses contact with said snail. The minute hand 21 is then in position "0" at its starting point as shown in FIG. 11. If it is desired to adjust the time in the counterclockwise direction the user actuates the winding movement so that the tip of the snail 3, which is in kinematic connection with the finishing gear of the movement, is moves counterclockwise until it presses against the boss 22, which causes a lifting of the rocker 5, inducing a rise of the needle 21, as shown in FIG. 12. This raising of the needle 21 constitutes the marker for the user of the last passage in the hour counterclockwise. Continuing the rotation of the snail 3 in the counterclockwise direction causes the retraction of the finger 6 which is pivotally mounted on the control lever 5 and is held in position by the leaf spring 8 via the abutment 7 resting on it. spring 8. [0039] The needle 21 does not continue its recovery but instead returns to its "0" position as the retraction of the finger 6 since the snail 3 is configured to transmit the time information said needle 21 only in its movement in the clockwise direction, which dictates the jump jumping hours via the rocker 5 and the intermediate wheel 10. The user knows that the snail 3 travels in reverse the previous 60 minutes without to be able to visualize directly in which position the snail 3 is located. In order to be able to precisely adjust the needle 21 it is then sufficient for it to continue the rotation in the opposite direction until the next lifting of the needle. 21, which tells him then the end of the course in the opposite direction and thus the achievement of the "0" of the previous hour. It then suffices to resume normal rotation of the snail clockwise to reach from this position "0" the desired setting of minutes. Advantageously, the display mechanism according to the invention allows a modular construction and can easily be adapted to existing movements. Simply connect the snail 3 to the minute wheel of the movement. The invention also relates to a timepiece movement comprising a jumping display mechanism and a timepiece comprising such a mechanism. The skilled person will achieve multiple variations from the embodiments presented without departing from the scope of the claims. In particular, the unit of time may be different from the hour and the profile of the snail may have several jumps on a turn. claims 1. Display mechanism jumping a unit of time for a timepiece comprising a star (1) positioned angularly by a jumper (2) so as to occupy predefined angular positions characterized in that the mechanism further comprises - a snail (3) having a progressive ascending profile and a steep descending profile and intended to be kinematically linked to the workings of a clockwork movement, - a control lever (5) comprising a finger (6) intended to follow the profile of the snail (3), - an armature rocker (14) comprising a unidirectional drive system arranged to drive the star (1) in rotation, - an intermediate gear (10) kinematically connecting the control rocker ( 5) and the rocking lever (14), - an elastic return means (20) tending to keep the finger (6) in contact with the snail (3), in that a rotation of the snail (3) during a unit of time causes a movement as progressive and steep descending movement of the two flip-flops (5, 14) and the intermediate gear (10) and in that the driving of the star (1) by the flip-flop (14) occurs during the downward movement abrupt and causes the star (1) to rotate between two adjacent predefined angular positions. 2. Mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the unidirectional drive system comprises a retractable pusher (16) movable with reference to the armature rocker (14). 3. Mechanism according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the armature rocker (14) comprises an anti-jump device (19) cooperating with the toothing of the star (1). 4. Mechanism according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the intermediate gear (10) comprises a toothed wheel (13) integral with a retrograde needle (21) displaying a fraction of the time unit. 5. Mechanism according to the preceding claim characterized in that the star (1) and the retrograde needle (21) are coaxial. 6. Mechanism according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the finger (6) is pivoted on the control rocker (5). 7. Mechanism according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the control rocker (5) comprises a bearing surface (22) arranged to cooperate with the snail (3) during a displacement in a counterclockwise of said snail (3) so as to induce a lifting of the control rocker (5) and a displacement of the needle (21) intended to indicate to a user a time change in the opposite direction. 8. Mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that the bearing surface is a boss (22) forming a cam surface such that the control rocker (5) pivots clockwise during a support snail (3) on said boss (22) moving counterclockwise. 9. Timepiece comprising a jumping display mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 10. Timepiece movement comprising a jumping display mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7.