CH716864A2 - Tourbillon for watch movement. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a tourbillon (1) for a watch movement, comprising a balance mechanism (10), an escape mechanism (40) and a tourbillon support (30). The swirl support (30) has a fixed support (32) and a movable support (34) arranged to rotate around the fixed support (32). The balance mechanism (10) comprises a flywheel (12) and at least one elastic member (18, 20) connected, on the one hand, to one or more portions (12a, 12b) of the flywheel ( 12) and, on the other hand, to the movable support (34) of the vortex support (30). The exhaust mechanism (40) comprises an exhaust mobile (42, 44) integral with said mobile support (34) and a stop device arranged to cooperate with the exhaust mobile (42, 44). The flywheel (12) comprises an actuator (14) arranged to disengage the stop device (45) so as to release the exhaust mobile (42, 44) at each oscillation of the flywheel. (12) in order to allow the exhaust mobile (42, 44), on the one hand, to be driven in rotation according to the oscillations of the flywheel (12) and, on the other hand, to maintain the oscillations of the flywheel.

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a tourbillon for a watch movement as well as a watch movement and a timepiece comprising such a tourbillon.

State of the art

[0002] Traditionally, a tourbillon comprises a conventional sprung balance and an escapement which are mounted in a rotating cage. The cage functions as the second mobile. It is integral with the second gear and driven by the middle wheel. Inside the cage, the role of the exhaust is conventional. The force is transmitted from the escape pinion which meshes, like a satellite, with the fixed seconds wheel integral with the plate. The tourbillon causes the sprung balance to take all vertical positions to compensate for the rate differences in order to improve rate precision.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tourbillon for a watch movement, having an original visual appearance.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tourbillon for a watch movement, with a high running frequency capable of regulating the variations in the running of a watch in all the vertical positions of the watch within a very short time. Classes.

Brief summary of the invention

[0005] These goals are achieved by means of a tourbillon for a watch movement, comprising a balance mechanism, an escape mechanism and a tourbillon support. The swirl support has a fixed support and a movable support arranged to rotate around the fixed support. The balance mechanism comprises a flywheel and at least one elastic member connected, on the one hand, to one or more portions of the flywheel and, on the other hand, to the movable support of the tourbillon support. The escape mechanism comprises an escapement mobile integral with said mobile support and a stop device arranged to cooperate with the exhaust mobile. The flywheel comprises an actuator arranged to disengage the stop device so as to release the exhaust mobile on each oscillation of the flywheel in order to allow the exhaust mobile, on the one hand, to be rotated according to the oscillations of the flywheel and, on the other hand, to maintain the oscillations of the flywheel.

[0006] According to one embodiment, the actuating member is connected to a portion of the flywheel on one side of said at least one elastic member which is adjacent to the exhaust mobile.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the tourbillon support comprises a tenon arranged to be mounted integrally on a plate of a watch movement, said movable support being arranged to rotate around the tenon.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the movable support is in the form of a movable tube, the central axis of which is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the tenon.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the tourbillon support further comprises two bearings mounted inside the movable tube. Each bearing has an internal surface surrounding a cylindrical surface of the post and an external surface attached to the movable tube.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the vortex support further comprises a stop disposed at one end of the tenon in order to prevent axial movement of the movable tube along the tenon.

According to one embodiment, the flywheel is connected to the movable tube only by said at least one elastic member.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the stop device comprises an exhaust latch and a latch spring arranged to keep the exhaust latch engaged with the exhaust mobile.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the escapement mobile comprises an escape wheel arranged to cooperate with the actuating member of the flywheel and a drive wheel arranged to be in engagement with the gear train. of a watch movement.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the escape wheel and the drive wheel are superimposed.

According to one embodiment, the escape wheel and the drive wheel are in one piece.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a watch movement comprising the tourbillon described above. The drive wheel is engaged with the cog of the watch movement.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a timepiece comprising the aforementioned watch movement.

Brief description of the figures

Examples of implementation of the invention are indicated in the description illustrated by the appended figures in which: FIG. 1 represents a schematic sectional view of the tourbillon according to one embodiment with a tourbillon support integral with the plate of a watch movement; FIG. 2 represents a schematic view of the device for stopping the exhaust mobile according to one embodiment, and FIG. 3 represents a schematic view of the device for stopping the exhaust mobile according to another embodiment.

Examples of embodiment of the invention

According to one embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the tourbillon 1 comprises a balance mechanism 10 arranged to cooperate with an escape mechanism 40.

The balance mechanism 10 comprises a flywheel 12 of annular shape and at least one elastic member 18, 20 connected, on the one hand, to one or more portions 12a, 12b of the flywheel 12 and, on the other hand, to a tourbillon support 30. The elastic member may for example comprise a first and a second hairspring 18, 20 superimposed and arranged to connect the flywheel 12 to the tourbillon support 30. According to this example, the first and second hairspring 18, 20 are wound in the opposite direction relative to each other and can be connected to the tourbillon support 30 and to the flywheel 12 of the balance mechanism 10 by different fixing means.

It will be noted that the flywheel 12 has no arm and that it is only connected to the tourbillon support 30 by one or more elastic members, for example by the first and second hairspring 18, 20 mentioned above . Care will therefore be taken to reduce the diameter and the weight of the flywheel 12 so that the elastic member (s) have sufficient rigidity in Z to ensure oscillation of the flywheel 12 in a plane perpendicular to the 'tourbillon axis 1 without axial movement in Z. A balance is thus obtained whose oscillation frequency is much higher than traditional balance wheels whose frequency generally oscillates between 2.5 and 5 Hertz. The frequency of oscillation of the flywheel 12 of the vortex 1 is preferably greater than 10 Hertz, or even greater than 20 or 30 Hertz. This has the advantage of regulating the variations in the rate of a watch in all the vertical positions of the watch in a very short period of time.

The tourbillon support 30 comprises a tenon 32 arranged to be mounted integrally on a plate 50 of a watch movement and a movable support 34. The movable support 34 is preferably in the form of a tube mounted in rotation around the tenon 32, the longitudinal axis of which is coaxial with the central axis of the movable tube 34. One end of the first and of the second hairspring 18, 20 are integral with a portion of an outer surface of the movable tube 34. The mobile support 34 may however take different forms according to several variant embodiments. For example, the cross section of the movable support may resemble a square-shaped frame instead of a ring in the case of a movable tube.

The exhaust mechanism 40 comprises an exhaust mobile 42, 44 and a stop device 45 arranged to cooperate with the exhaust mobile 42, 44. The exhaust mobile comprises an escape wheel 42 and a drive wheel 44 mounted coaxially and in contact with each other. The escape wheel 42 is superimposed on the drive wheel 44, which is arranged to be in engagement with the cog of the watch movement. The escape wheel 42 and the drive wheel 44 may for example be in one piece to together form a single-piece escape wheel set.

The exhaust mobile 42, 44 may include at its center a through hole, preferably cylindrical, the diameter of which is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the mobile tube 34 of the balance support 40 so that the exhaust mobile 42 , 44 can be fixed on the mobile tube 34 below the balance mechanism 10. According to a variant, the mobile tube 34 and the exhaust mobile 42, 44 are in one piece, obtained for example by a method of additive manufacturing.

The swirl support 30 has two bearings 36 mounted inside the movable tube 34 at the respective ends of the tenon 32. Each bearing 36 has an internal surface surrounding a cylindrical surface of the tenon 32 and an external surface attached to a portion of the internal wall of the movable tube 34. The tourbillon support 30 further comprises a stop 38 disposed at one end of the tenon 32. The respective bearings 36 are further supported against respectively the plate 50 of the watch movement and a surface of the stop 38 in order to prevent axial movement of the movable tube 34 along the tenon 32. The shape of the bearings is determined in order to minimize the contact zones with the plate 50 and the lower surface of the stop 38, respectively, so to limit friction.

The drive wheel 44 has standard teeth to mesh with the cog of the watch movement. The escape wheel 42, for its part, can take on different types of profiled teeth in order to allow rotation of the escape wheel 42 in one direction. For example, the escape wheel 42 may have wolf tooth teeth as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

According to one embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the stop device 45 comprises an exhaust lever 46 engaged with the escape wheel 42 under the action of a rocker spring 48. The exhaust lever 46 cooperates with a leaf spring 49 arranged to be actuated by an actuator 14 which is integral with the flywheel. The actuation of the exhaust lever 46 by the actuator 14 of the flywheel 12 takes place on each oscillation of the flywheel 12, in other words once every two flywheel alternations.

The actuator 14 may for example be in the form of a projection extending from a portion of the lower side of the flywheel 12 along an axis parallel to the axis of the tourbillon 1 in order to be able to cooperate with the stopping device 45. The actuating member 14 may however take a different form integral with the flywheel 12 in order to adapt in particular to the diameter of the escape wheel 42. The member of actuation of the flywheel may for example have a bent shape extending from the internal edge of the flywheel in a radial direction then along an axis substantially parallel to the axis of the tourbillon 1 in the direction of the escape wheel 42.

According to Figure 2, when the actuator 14 of the flywheel moves in the clockwise direction and strikes the leaf spring 49, the latter bends in its path in a first direction and actuates the rocker exhaust 46 in the clockwise direction, which remains engaged with the escape wheel 42. When the actuator 14 of the flywheel moves in the anti-clockwise direction and strikes again the leaf spring 49, the latter bends on its passage in a second direction opposite to the first direction and actuates the escape lever 46 in the anti-clockwise direction, which disengages from the escape wheel 42. The latter is actuated in rotation by the cog of the watch movement until the rocker spring 48 brings the escape lever 46 to the engaged position with the escape wheel. At each oscillation of the flywheel 12 the escape wheel rotates through an angle of 360 ° / N where N is the number of teeth of the escape wheel 42.

The stop device may have different configuration, such as that illustrated in Figure 3. According to this example, when the actuator 14 of the flywheel moves in the clockwise direction, it slides on a portion of the exhaust lever 46 while when the actuator 14 of the flywheel moves counterclockwise it abuts against a portion of the exhaust lever 46 in order to disengage the lever from the wheel exhaust. The latter is actuated in rotation by the cog of the watch movement until the rocker spring 48 brings the escape lever 46 back to the engaged position with the escape wheel.

Unlike an escapement of the Swiss anchor type where the energy of the escape wheel is transmitted to the plate pin of the balance shaft via the fork of the anchor so as to maintain the oscillations of the balance, depending on the configuration of the tourbillon 1, the energy is transmitted to the point of attachment of the chosen elastic member, for example to the points of attachment of the first and second hairspring 18, 20 on the movable tube 34 which “Pulls” these attachment points according to the oscillation of the balance mechanism 10 in order to maintain the oscillations of the flywheel 12.

Although the balance mechanism 10, according to the embodiment which has just been described, comprises two superimposed hairsprings, the balance mechanism 10 may only comprise a hairspring according to an alternative embodiment. In this case, the dimensions of the hairspring must be calculated to provide the hairspring with the rigidity necessary to allow the flywheel 12 to oscillate in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tourbillon 1. Furthermore, the or each hairspring can be replaced by any other elastic member whose shape is adapted to provide the necessary Z-shaped rigidity to the elastic member so that the flywheel can oscillate in the plane perpendicular to the axis of the tourbillon 1.

Reference list

Tourbillon 1 Balance mechanism 10 Flywheel 12 Portion 12a, 12b Actuating member 14 Resilient member First hairspring 18 Second hairspring 20 Tourbillon support 30 Fixed tenon support 32 Mobile support 34 Movable tube Bearings 36 Stopper 38 D mechanism '' exhaust 40 Exhaust mobile Exhaust wheel 42 Drive wheel 44 Stop device 45 Exhaust lever 46 Rocker spring 48 Leaf spring 49 Plate 50

Claims (13)

1. Tourbillon (1) for a watch movement, comprising a balance mechanism (10), an escape mechanism (40) and a tourbillon support (30), the tourbillon support (30) comprising a fixed support (32) and a movable support (34) arranged to rotate around the fixed support (32), the balance mechanism (10) comprising a flywheel (12) and at least one resilient member (18, 20) connected, with a on the one hand, to one or more portions (12a, 12b) of the flywheel (12) and, on the other hand, to the movable support (34) of the tourbillon support (30), the escape mechanism (40) comprising an exhaust mobile (42, 44) integral with said mobile support (34) and a stop device (45) arranged to cooperate with the exhaust mobile (42, 44), the flywheel (12) comprising an actuator (14) arranged to disengage the stop device (45) so as to release the exhaust mobile (42, 44) at each oscillation of the flywheel (12) in order to allow the mobile to 'exhaust (42, 44), on the one hand, to be driven in rotation according to the oscillations of the flywheel (12) and, on the other hand, to maintain the oscillations of the flywheel. 2. Tourbillon (1) according to claim 1, wherein the actuating member (14) is connected to a portion of the flywheel (12) on one side of said at least one elastic member (18, 20). which is adjacent to the exhaust mobile (42, 44). 3. Tourbillon (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the tourbillon support (30) comprises a tenon (32) arranged to be integrally mounted on a plate (50) of a watch movement, said support. mobile (34) being arranged to rotate around the tenon (32). 4. Tourbillon (1) according to claim 3, wherein the movable support (34) is in the form of a movable tube whose central axis is coaxial with the axis of the tenon (32). 5. Tourbillon (1) according to claim 4, wherein the tourbillon support (30) further comprises two bearings (36) mounted inside the movable tube (34), each bearing (36) having an internal surface surrounding a cylindrical surface of the post (32) and an outer surface attached to the movable tube (34). 6. Tourbillon (1) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the tourbillon support (30) further comprises a stop (38) disposed at a tenon end (32) to prevent axial displacement of the movable tube ( 34) along the tenon (32). 7. Tourbillon (1) according to one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the flywheel (12) is connected to the movable tube (34) only by said at least one elastic member (18, 20). 8. Tourbillon (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the stopping device (45) comprises an exhaust lever (46) and a rocker spring (48) arranged to hold the exhaust lever ( 46) engaged with the exhaust mobile (42, 44). 9. Tourbillon (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the escapement mobile comprises an escape wheel (42) arranged to cooperate with the actuating member (14) of the flywheel (12). ) and a drive wheel (44) arranged to be engaged with the cog of a watch movement. 10. Tourbillon (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the escape wheel (42) is superimposed on the drive wheel (44) 11. Tourbillon (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the escape wheel (42) and the drive wheel (44) are integral. 12. Watch movement comprising the tourbillon (1) according to one of claims 9 to 11, the drive wheel (44) being in engagement with the train of the watch movement. 13. Timepiece comprising the horological movement according to claim 12.