CH715980A1 - Jumping mechanism for watch movement. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a jumping watch mechanism (1) comprising a watch mobile (20) having a first toothing (22) and capable of occupying a predefined number of different positions, an actuator (30), movable between a position rest and a loaded position, arranged to act on the first toothing (22) to rotate the watch mobile (20), a latch (40) arranged to lock the actuator (30) in its loaded position, a mobile trigger (4) arranged to trigger a neutralization of the lock (40), the mobile trigger (4) being arranged to cooperate with the mobile clock (20) to make it leave its position, and the mobile clock (20) being arranged to neutralize the latch (40) by leaving its position to release the actuator (30) so that it can pass into its rest position by causing the watch mobile (20) to pivot to a new position distinct from said first position.

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a jumping mechanism for a watch movement comprising a watch mobile having a first toothing and intended to advance in successive steps to occupy a predefined number of different positions, an actuator, movable between a rest position and a loaded position, arranged to act on the first toothing, passing from its loaded position to its rest position, to rotate the watch mobile, a load mobile intended to be set in motion by a mobile part of the watch movement in order to move the actuating member from its rest position to its loaded position, a lock designed to lock the actuator in its loaded position, a mobile trigger arranged to trigger a neutralization of the lock.

[0002] The present invention also relates to a watch movement provided with such a jumping mechanism as well as a timepiece comprising such a watch movement.

State of the art

[0003] Jumping mechanisms of this type have already been presented in the prior art.

[0004] By way of illustration, patent application CH 712012 A1 describes and illustrates a watch movement comprising a jumping mechanism for displaying the date. This mechanism comprises a mobile for displaying the date or for driving a mobile for displaying the date having the shape of a seven-pointed star and intended to be actuated by a rocker movable between a rest position and a position. loaded. The lever is moved to its loaded position by a cam carried by a twenty-four hour wheel, a position in which it is held by a lock. A control unit, having a period shorter than that of the twenty-four hour wheel, is provided to neutralize the lock and allow the star's change of position to be controlled with greater precision than if the lock were neutralized. by the twenty-four hour wheel itself. Thus, the instant at which a jump in the date indication occurs can be controlled with great precision.

Such a construction is difficult to develop due to the diversity of shapes and modes of movement of the different components involved as well as their proximity.

Disclosure of the invention

A main object of the present invention is to provide an alternative construction of a jumping mechanism for a watch movement, of the type described above, having improved flexibility in the arrangement of its components with reference to previous constructions, while at the same time maintaining a high level of reliability.

[0007] To this end, the present invention relates more particularly to a jumping mechanism as mentioned above, characterized by the fact that the mobile trigger is arranged to cooperate directly with the mobile watchmaker to cause it to leave any first position among the different positions, and by the fact that the watch mobile is arranged to neutralize the lock by leaving the first position, in such a way that the lock releases the actuating member so that it can pass into its rest position by causing a pivoting of the watch mobile until a new position, among the different positions, distinct from the first position.

[0008] Thanks to these characteristics, the mobile trigger can be placed anywhere around the mobile watch without necessarily being in the immediate vicinity of the lock. In addition, an existing standard jumping mechanism can easily be modified to meet the characteristics according to the present invention, especially in the case where a high mass jumping watch mobile should be put in place, for example when replacing a mobile of display carrying a needle through a disc. In this case, the standard actuator mobile becomes the trigger mobile according to the invention, that is to say it always acts on the jumping watch mobile, but only to make it leave its position insofar as a Another slow-charge actuator then takes over to cause the watch mobile to continue its pivoting, thus limiting the disturbances that could otherwise be suffered by the finishing gear of the corresponding watch movement.

[0009] Preferably, the mobile trigger can be arranged to cooperate with the first toothing of the mobile watchmaker to make it leave the first position.

In general, one can provide that the mobile watchmaker has a second toothing arranged to cooperate with the lock to neutralize it.

[0011] Furthermore, one can provide that the mechanism comprises a jumper arranged to cooperate with the watch mobile and ensure its positioning in each of its different positions, and that the jumper and the watch mobile are arranged in such a way that, when the trigger mobile cooperates with the watch mobile to make it leave its first position, the jumper exerts a force on the watch mobile tending to keep it in the first position at least until the lock is released.

[0012] Advantageously, one can then provide that the jumper cooperates with the second toothing of the watch mobile to ensure the positioning of the latter in its different positions.

In addition, it is preferably possible to provide that the second toothing comprises a plurality of teeth each of which has at least one positioning surface arranged to cooperate with the jumper, to ensure the positioning of the watch mobile, the positioning surface of each of the teeth extending at an angle equal to or greater than an unlocking angle extending between the first position of the watch mobile and an intermediate position associated with the neutralization of the lock.

In general, one can provide the mobile load is intended to be driven by a mobile of the watch movement via the mobile trigger.

[0015] According to a preferred embodiment, provision can be made for the watch mobile to include a crown and for the first toothing to be internal toothing formed in the crown.

In addition, it is possible to provide, when the mobile watchmaker comprises a second toothing, that the second toothing is also an internal toothing formed in the crown, at a height level different from that of the first toothing according to the thickness of the crown.

[0017] In this case, one can advantageously provide that the actuating member has the form of a first lever arranged inside the crown, the first lever comprising an actuating beak arranged to cooperate with the first toothing to cause the pivoting of the watch mobile towards its new position, and that the lock has the form of a second lever also arranged inside the crown and comprising a locking surface, capable of cooperating with a locking stop of the first lever to ensure the locking of the actuating member in its loaded position, as well as a stop arranged to cooperate with the second toothing when the watch mobile leaves its first position.

In this case, the first rocker can advantageously have a load stopper arranged to cooperate with the load mobile to ensure a drive of the first rocker from a rest position to a loaded position.

[0019] We can also preferably provide whether the crown is a display unit for the months of the year or is integral with a display unit for the months of the year, and that the trigger mobile is intended to be set in motion by a mobile of the watch movement to make one complete revolution per month and carries a trigger finger arranged to cooperate with the first toothing once a month.

[0020] In addition, the trigger mobile can advantageously drive a date display mobile integral with the load mobile, the latter having the shape of a load finger driven to make one complete revolution per month and arranged to cooperate with the load stop of the first scale.

In a preferred embodiment, according to which the jumping mechanism makes it possible to display an annual calendar, the crown has a third toothing, provided at the same height level as the first toothing, and the teeth of which are distributed in such a way that each of them is associated with a month of less than thirty-one days and is positioned on the crown to act on the trigger finger at the end of the corresponding month and turn the trigger mobile the number of steps necessary to take advance the date display mobile to the value “1” of the following month.

[0022] The invention also relates to a watch movement comprising a jumping mechanism according to the characteristics which have just been stated, as well as a timepiece comprising such a watch movement.

Brief description of the drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly on reading the detailed description of a preferred embodiment which follows, made with reference to the appended drawings given by way of non-limiting examples and in which : <tb> <SEP> - Figures 1 to 9 show the same simplified front view of a jumping mechanism for a watch movement, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, in nine different configurations making it possible to illustrate the chronology of the watch movement. operation of this mechanism.

Mode (s) for carrying out the invention

Figures 1 to 9 show the same simplified front view, dial side, of a jumping mechanism for a watch movement, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. More precisely, the jumping mechanism 1 illustrated is intended to display the months of the year in connection with an annual calendar display mechanism. The corresponding watch movement will not be described in detail given that its construction and its operation have no direct impact on the implementation of the jumping mechanism of the present invention.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the nature of the jumping watch mobile as shown and described in the present description, here a month display mobile. Those skilled in the art will not encounter any particular difficulty in adapting the present teaching and implementing other types of jumping mechanisms corresponding to the characteristics of the invention. By way of non-limiting examples, the jumping mechanism according to the invention could be implemented to display the date or a jumping hour, possibly in connection with a chronograph or countdown mechanism. The jumping mechanism according to the invention could also be implemented to produce a display of the phases of the moon, or any other display of significant dimensions.

Figures 1 to 9 correspond to nine different successive configurations illustrating the chronology of the operation of the jumping mechanism according to the invention.

Only one element of the basic watch movement has been shown schematically in the figures, namely a mobile intended to ensure the training of the jumping mechanism according to the invention, or here a twenty-four hour mobile 2. The mobile of twenty-four hours 2 may have any form suitable for providing the required training and those skilled in the art will not encounter any particular difficulty in carrying out it according to their own needs without departing from the scope of the invention.

The twenty-four hour mobile 2 is advantageously driven by a cog of the watch movement to make a turn on itself in twenty-four hours and cause a mobile trigger 4 of the jumping mechanism once a day, by the intermediary of a retractable finger 6.

The mobile trigger 4 cooperates with the finger 6 by a first toothing 8, sawtooth.

The trigger mobile 4 has a second set of teeth 10 arranged in engagement with a date mobile 12 disposed substantially at the center of the mechanism and carrying an indicator hand 14 of the date facing a corresponding scale 16, the indicator hand and the graduations having been shown by way of non-limiting illustration.

Thus, each time the twenty-four hour mobile 2 advances the trigger mobile 4 by one step, the latter advances the date mobile 12 by one step.

Finally, the trigger mobile 4 comprises a trigger finger 18 intended to cooperate with a 20 months disk each time the trigger mobile 4 makes a full turn, to trigger a change in position of the 20 months disk.

For this purpose, the month disc 20 has a first toothing 22, asymmetrical, of twelve teeth.

The month disc 20 has a second toothing 24 comprising twelve double teeth intended in particular to cooperate with a jumper 26 to ensure the angular positioning of the month disc 20 between two jumps, in any one of its twelve different stable positions .

Finally, the month disc 20 comprises a third set of teeth 28 with five teeth oriented in the opposite direction with reference to the teeth of the first set of teeth 22, the function of which will be presented below.

A specific training device for the month disc 20 is advantageously provided, in order to avoid disturbing the chronometry of the watch movement as could happen if the mobile trigger 4 were to directly ensure the change of position of the month disc 20 to himself.

The drive device comprises an actuating member here having the form of an actuating lever 30 rotatably mounted on a frame (either of an additional module or directly on the base of the basic watch movement) at the by means of a screw 32.

The actuating lever 30 carries an actuating spout 34, retractable in a conventional manner, intended to cooperate with the first toothing 22 of the month disc 20 once a month to change its position.

To this end, the actuating lever 30 is arranged to be able to move between a rest position (illustrated in Figure 1) and a loaded position (illustrated in particular in Figure 4), by the action of a mobile load, here in the form of a load finger 36 carried by the date mobile 12, on a load stop 38 of the actuating lever 30.

The actuating lever 30 tends to be positioned in its rest position under the effect of the action of a load spring, not shown, which is precisely the spring intended to store the energy transmitted by the date mobile 12.

Thanks to these characteristics, the energy necessary to ensure the change of position of the disc of the months 20 is stored in several days, here in about seven days by way of non-limiting illustration, FIG. 1 illustrating a configuration of the jumping mechanism 1 corresponding to the start of the charging of the actuating lever 30. The charging finger 36 is shown in FIG. 1 when it has just come into contact with the charging stop 38 of the actuating lever 30, while that Figures 2 and 3 show the display mechanism during charging of the actuator lever 30.

The load finger 36 is shown when it is about to release the load stop 38 in Figure 3.

It is then seen, passing to Figure 4, that the drive device further comprises a latch 40 arranged to retain the actuating lever 30 in its loaded position when the load finger 36 leaves the load stop 38.

The lock 40 is rotatably mounted by a screw 42 on the frame and is positioned in a rest position illustrated in Figure 1 under the effect of the action of a spring, not shown. When the actuating lever 30 drops onto the latch 40, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the latter pivots slightly clockwise to ensure that the actuating lever 30 is properly maintained in its loaded position.

It appears from Figure 4 that the lock 40 carries a stop 43 intended to cooperate with the second toothing 24 of the month disc 20 to ensure the angular positioning of the lock 40 in this configuration.

Figures 4 and 5 show the configuration of the display mechanism on the following days, the actuating lever 30 being held in the loaded position by the latch 40, while the load finger 36 is set out for a new turn.

FIG. 6 represents the configuration of the display mechanism on the last day of the month, here February 29 (assuming it is a leap year).

The trigger finger 18 of the trigger mobile 4 comes into contact with a tooth 22f of the first toothing 22 of the month disc 20 to trigger a change in position of the latter, as illustrated in Figure 7, under the effect of the action of the twenty-four hour mobile 2. At the same time, the date mobile 12 begins to switch from the display of 29 to the display of 30.

It emerges from the configuration of Figure 7 that by rotating the month disc 20 in the counterclockwise direction, so that it leaves one of its stable positions, the mobile trigger 4 pushes the second toothing 24 of the month disc 20 to act on the stop 43 of the latch 40 to rotate the latter in the anti-clockwise direction, until the actuating lever 30 is released.

Once released, the actuating lever 30 can fall, under the effect of the action of its load spring, by turning in the anti-clockwise direction of rotation. During this movement, its actuating beak 34 comes into contact with a tooth of the first toothing 22 of the month disc 20, as visible in FIG. 8. A window 44 is shown diagrammatically in the figures to illustrate the change in position of the 20 months disc, which changes here from the February display to the March display.

In the meantime, the mobile trigger 4 has finished its step after having triggered the change of position of the disk of the months 20 and is found immobile under the effect of the action of an appropriate jumper 46.

The rotation of the month disc 20 has the effect of positioning its third toothing 28 so that it can in turn actuate the trigger finger 18 of the trigger mobile 4. Indeed, the month disc 20 is substantially at halfway in the configuration of FIG. 8 when a tooth of the third set of teeth 28 comes into contact with the trigger finger 18. Consequently, by finishing its stroke, it causes the trigger mobile 4 to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction, which has the effect of rotating the date mobile 12 clockwise.

In the illustrated case, with regard to the end of February, a tooth 28f actuates the mobile trigger 4 to rotate it by two steps so that the date display can go directly from 30 to 31 then from 31 to 1 of March.

[0054] In a different manner, the other teeth of the third set of teeth 28 must not turn the mobile trigger 4 by a single step to change the date display from the 31st to the 1st of the following month.

Figure 9 shows the configuration at the end of correction of short months, when the actuating lever 30 has resumed its rest position as well as the latch 40. The mobile trigger 4 must almost make a full turn before come into contact with the next tooth of the first toothing 22 of the month disc 20 to trigger the next change of position of the latter, at the end of March.

In general, the teeth of the first set of teeth 22 are distributed according to the month they relate to, depending on whether it has 29, 30 or 31 days. As mentioned above, the teeth of the third set of teeth 28 are positioned for their part to be active during the short end of the month. It emerges from the figures that tooth 22f, associated with the change of date between the end of February and the beginning of March, is positioned on the trajectory of the trigger finger 18 of the trigger mobile 4 earlier in the month than the other teeth of the first set of teeth 22 in the months correspondents. Thus, the correction operation is initiated earlier in February than during the other months, and the duration of overlap of the respective trajectories of the trigger finger 18 and of the tooth 28f is appreciably doubled compared to the other months, which allows to the tooth 28f to drive the trigger mobile 4 in rotation in such a way that it takes two steps at the end of February rather than one as is the case in other months.

It will be noted that a manual correction of the date is required during the end of February counting twenty-eight days, the display of the date passing from the twenty-eight to the twenty-nine instead of going to March 1, as in any annual calendar.

It is also seen in Figure 9 that the actuating lever 30 has a stop surface 48 arranged in the passage of the second toothing 24 of the month disc 20 when it is in its rest position, of so as to ensure that the position of the month disc 20 is maintained, by reinforcing the action of the jumper 26, for example in the event of an impact.

In addition, an examination of Figures 6 and 7 shows the fact that each tooth of the second set of teeth 24 comprises in particular a positioning surface 50 cooperating with the jumper 26 to position the month disc 20 in one of its stable positions. It can be seen that if the slope that this positioning surface 50 presents with reference to the month disc 20 is relatively low, in order to limit the withdrawal of energy necessary to free the month disc 20 from any of its positions, this surface position 50 extends at an angle, measured at the center of rotation of the 20 month disc, (at least equal to or) greater than an unlocking angle traveled by the 20 month disc to neutralize the lock 40 after leaving the one of its stable positions. Thus, the jumper 26 always exerts an action on the month disc 20, tending to push it back to the position it has just left, when the latch 40 is neutralized and therefore when the actuating lever 30 falls towards its position of. rest by actuating the first toothing 22 of the 20 months disc, offering a high level of safety.

Thanks to the characteristics which have just been described, it is possible to produce a construction of a jumping mechanism for displaying the months, in connection with a display of the annual calendar, simple to produce and to assemble and exhibiting reliability. increased operation with reference to existing constructions. Not only is the coding of the months performed directly on the mobile or month disc, including the months from February to 29 days, but the month disc also includes an additional toothing making it possible to relocate almost anywhere in the mechanism. display a command intended to release its drive device. In the present case, this command can thus take the form of the trigger mobile which by itself fulfills several distribution functions.

The foregoing description attempts to describe a particular embodiment by way of nonlimiting illustration and the invention is not limited to the implementation of certain particular characteristics which have just been described, such as for example the nature of the jumping watch mobile which has been described and illustrated, that is to say here a month display disc. In fact, the jumping mechanism according to the invention could be implemented in relation to other watchmaking mobiles without departing from the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, it will be noted that the load mobile can be driven by the watch movement without necessarily being linked to the trigger mobile. On the basis of the application described and illustrated, it would be possible to implement, as an alternative, a display mechanism for a simple date, that is to say one not taking into account the different lengths of months. In this case, the month disc could have only one toothing (internal or external) which would cooperate with the trip unit, with the lock and with the jumper. Generally speaking, these components can be positioned in almost any location around the month disc, providing great design flexibility.

A person skilled in the art will not encounter any particular difficulty in adapting the content of the present disclosure to his own needs and implementing a jumping mechanism meeting the characteristics of the invention, in particular comprising a mobile capable of successively occupying a plurality of positions, and arranged to move from one position to another by jump, as well as a trigger mobile arranged to act on the watch mobile and cause it to leave the position it occupies at a given moment, thus triggering the neutralization of a lock retaining an actuator of the watch mobile, loaded over an extended period, so that it can act on the watch mobile to rotate it to its next position.

Claims (15)

1. Jumping mechanism (1) for a watch movement comprising a watch mobile (20) having a first set of teeth (22) and intended to advance in successive steps to occupy a predefined number of different positions, an actuating member (30), movable between a rest position and a loaded position, arranged to act on said first toothing (22), passing from its loaded position to its rest position, in order to rotate said watch mobile ( 20), a load mobile (36) intended to be set in motion by a mobile (2) of the watch movement to move said actuator (30) from its rest position to its loaded position, a lock (40) arranged to lock said actuator (30) in its loaded position, a trigger mobile (4) arranged to trigger a neutralization of said lock (40), characterized in that said mobile trigger (4) is arranged to cooperate with said mobile clock (20) to cause it to leave any first position among said different positions, and in that said watch mobile (20) is arranged to neutralize said latch (40) on leaving said first position, such that said latch (40) releases said actuator (30) so that it can pass into its rest position by causing said mobile clock (20) to pivot to a new position, among said different positions, distinct from said first position. 2. Mechanism (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said mobile trigger (4) is arranged to cooperate with said first toothing (22) of said mobile clock (20) to cause it to leave said first position. 3. Mechanism (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said mobile timepiece (20) comprises a second toothing (24) arranged to cooperate with said latch (40) to neutralize it. 4. Mechanism (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a jumper (26) arranged to cooperate with said mobile watchmaker (20) and ensure its positioning in each of its different positions, and in that said jumper (26) and said watch mobile (20) are arranged in such a way that, when said trigger mobile (4) cooperates with said watch mobile (20) to make it leave its first position, said jumper (26) exerts a force on said watch mobile (20) tending to keep it in said first position at least until said lock (40) is neutralized. 5. Mechanism (1) according to claims 3 and 4, characterized in that said jumper (26) cooperates with said second toothing (24) of said mobile clockwork (20) to ensure the positioning of the latter in its different positions, and in that said second set of teeth (24) comprises a plurality of teeth each of which has at least one positioning surface (50) arranged to cooperate with said jumper (26), to ensure the positioning of said watch mobile (20), said surface of positioning (50) of each of said teeth extending at an angle equal to or greater than an unlocking angle extending between said first position of said watch mobile (20) and an intermediate position associated with the neutralization of said lock (40). 6. Mechanism (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said mobile load (36) is intended to be driven by a mobile (2) of the watch movement via said mobile trigger (4). 7. Mechanism (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said mobile watchmaker (20) comprises a crown and in that said first toothing (22) is an internal toothing formed in said crown. 8. Mechanism (1) according to claim 7, when said mobile watchmaker (20) comprises a second toothing (24), characterized in that said second toothing (24) is also an internal toothing formed in said crown, at a level of height different from that of said first toothing (22) depending on the thickness of said crown. 9. Mechanism (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that said actuating member (30) has the form of a first lever arranged inside said ring gear, said first lever comprising an actuating beak (34) arranged to cooperate with said first toothing (22) to cause the pivoting of said watch mobile (20) to its new position, and in that said lock (40) has the form of a second lever also arranged inside said ring and comprising a locking surface capable of cooperating with a locking stop of said first lever to ensure the locking of said member actuation (30) in its loaded position, as well as a stop (43) arranged to cooperate with said second toothing (24) when said watch mobile (20) leaves its first position. 10. Mechanism (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that said first rocker has a load stop (38) arranged to cooperate with said load mobile (36) to ensure a drive of said first rocker from a rest position. to a loaded position. 11. Mechanism (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that said crown is a display member of the months of the year or is integral with a display member of the months of the year, and in that said mobile trigger (4) is intended to be set in motion by a mobile (2) of the watch movement to make one complete revolution per month and carries a trigger finger (18) arranged to cooperate with said first toothing (22) once a month. 12. Mechanism (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that said mobile trigger (4) drives a mobile (12) for displaying the date integral with said mobile load (36), the latter having the shape of a finger. load driven to make one complete revolution per month and arranged to cooperate with said load stop (38) of said first rocker. 13. Mechanism (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that said crown has a third toothing (28), provided at the same height level as said first toothing (22), and whose teeth are distributed in such a way that each it is associated with a month of less than thirty-one days and is positioned on said crown to act on said trigger finger (18) at the end of the corresponding month and rotate said trigger mobile (4) by the number of not necessary to advance said date display mobile (12) to the value “1” of the following month. 14. Watch movement comprising a jumping mechanism (1) according to one of the preceding claims. 15. Timepiece comprising a horological movement according to claim 14.