EP0029576B1 - Setting device for a signalling clock, especially an alarm clock - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an actuating device for a signal clock, in particular an alarm clock according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

In watches of this type, it is customary to have a setting element, in particular one that can be preset manually, scanned for its setting position by a time-dependent movable element. If an identical setting position of both elements has been reached, signal tracking is triggered.

So it is e.g. In mechanical and also in electrical alarm clocks, it is customary to design the presettable setting element and the time-dependent movable element as coaxially arranged disks which carry out a mutual scanning in the axial direction. Here, the adjustable element is designed as the so-called alarm dial and the time-dependent movable element is designed as the so-called hour wheel of the clockwork. For this purpose, the hour wheel has one or more cams on the side, which can turn into one or more gaps in the so-called alarm clock wheel when the hour wheel is rotated once every 12 hours. In order to ensure accurate triggering of the signal tracking, the cams of the hour wheel have an increase in the direction of rotation, which is limited by a vertical edge. Such a configuration of the cams of the hour wheel enables a practically instantaneous incidence of the latter in the axial direction in the gaps of the alarm setting wheel when the signal tracking is triggered. The hour wheel is usually acted upon by the so-called release spring.

In accordance with a kinematic reversal, the cams can also be assigned to the alarm dial and the former receiving gaps to the hour wheel.

Which type of assignment is made depends on the expediency of the respective design.

The signal can now be triggered in that, depending on the axial displacement of one of the elements of the signal triggering device, either a signal drive serving for signal tracking is mechanically released, or else in that a contact arrangement for closing a signal circuit is closed. Both measures can e.g. in the case of an alarm clock, by means of the trigger spring acting on the alarm clock setting wheel or the hour wheel, which changes its position locally in the event of an axial displacement of one of the elements of the signal triggering device, whereby e.g. The transducer of a signal drive can either be released or a contact arrangement can be closed via a corresponding molding.

Due to the necessary form of the formation of the cams of the student wheel or the alarm clock setting wheel, the latter can now be moved in one direction only by the actuator assigned to it, since when the opposite direction of rotation is turned, the edges of the engagement cams, which are then in the gaps that accommodate them Stop, stop further rotation of the alarm dial and thus of the actuator. If used improperly, the movement may be destroyed or damaged.

Similar problems also arise with signal triggering devices which operate not mechanically but purely electrically. For example, Arrangements are known in which the setting element and the time-dependent movable element each carry a contact, both of which, when these elements are in the same position, bring about contact and thus a current short, whereby signal tracking is initiated.

The movable elements are usually in electrical connection with the circuit to be controlled via sliding contacts.

Even with such directly contacting elements of a signal triggering device, there may be a need to adjust the adjusting element only in one direction of rotation, since otherwise either the contact or signal triggering device or the clock mechanism would be destroyed.

These problems have been known for a long time. For their solution e.g. already proposed the use of a directional lock on the actuator, which is usually designed as an actuating shaft, so that the actuating shaft could only be adjusted in the permissible direction of rotation. However, such an arrangement requires a certain effort; in addition, damage is still by no means entirely excluded if handled improperly.

Another solution to the problem addressed shows e.g. DE-U-1 692 300. There, the use of a swing-out gear wheel, which depending on the direction of rotation of the actuating shaft with the toothing of the alarm setting wheel can either be coupled or uncoupled from this, enables an adjustment of the alarm setting wheel in the permissible direction of rotation in which opposite direction of rotation, however, completely prevented. In this case, damage to the pointer mechanism by turning the actuator in the wrong direction is reliably prevented.

However, this known device is complex. It requires several additional parts, which are also difficult to assemble. Automatic assembly is almost impossible. In addition, the space requirement of an alarm clock mechanism with the device according to DE-U is significantly increased.

In addition, the decoupling with each actuation of the control shaft in opposite set direction of rotation occurs, even if damage to the movement due to the existing relative position of the alarm dial and hour wheel would not be feared. The stop of the cams of one element in the gaps of the other element of the signal triggering device only occurs at one point in the 360 ° adjustment range, otherwise not.

From the document US-A-3 905 189 an actuator for an alarm clock with a manually operable actuator is known, which is drivingly connected to the setting element of the alarm signal triggering device via an automatically releasable clutch when the counterforce increases. The increase in the counterforce can also occur in the subject of this document when the actuator is actuated, which would result in a clockwise rotation of the adjusting element. In this case, the clutch, which can be released automatically when the counterforce occurs, is formed by a friction arrangement. For this purpose, a spring washer is arranged between the actuator and an actuator wheel which is, in and of itself, freely rotatable, which causes the corresponding friction effect between these two parts. When the counterforce increases, a relative adjustment of the adjusting wheel with respect to the actuator is possible, so that only a harmless force torque corresponding to the frictional moment can be transmitted to the clockwork.

The adjusting element is not directly coupled to the adjusting element, but is connected to it via an intermediate wheel.

However, the assignment of the idler gear and the friction means an additional effort in terms of individual parts and assembly time for the alarm clock according to US-A-3 905 189.

DE-U-1 627 950 also relates to an actuating device for an alarm clock, in particular a wristwatch, in which a type of freewheel is provided between the actual actuating element and the alarm setting wheel, which is formed by a gear element that can be displaced locally along a backdrop. Depending on which direction of rotation is turned on the actuating element of the actuator, the actuating movement is transmitted to the adjusting element or not. The actuation or the activation of the overrunning clutch is determined here as such by the direction of rotation of the actuating element, but not by the action of an opposing force that occurs. The adjustment of the adjusting element is thus only possible in one direction of rotation, which has disadvantages, which means that unnecessarily large adjustment movements may have to be carried out on the adjusting element, which could also be taken into account by a slight reverse rotation of the alarm setting wheel without an associated one-way clutch.

To transmit the actuating movement of the actuating element to the adjusting element, three intermediate elements are required, the last of which must be arranged so that it can be moved.

However, this means a considerable amount of individual parts and assembly time for the alarm clock in question.

The French Document FR-A-2 030 073 discloses an alarm clockwork, in which, as shown in particular in FIG. 2, the manually operable actuator for setting the wake-up time is designed as an actuating shaft 22, with a manual actuating element designed as an adjusting button 24 and a coupling part designed as an actuating pinion 22b . Control shaft 22, control button 24 and control pinion 22b form a structural unit in the fully assembled state of the alarm agitator. The actuating shaft 22 is pressed against a main circuit board 11 with the actuating pinion 22b under the action of a helical spring 23 attached to it. In this position of the setting shaft 22, the setting pinion 22b is in engagement with the alarm setting wheel 20, i.e. In this axial position of the actuating shaft 22, the setting of the wake-up or signal time is possible by actuating the adjusting knob 24.

By pulling the adjusting knob 24 out of the clockwork there is an axial displacement of the adjusting shaft 22, so that the adjusting pinion 22b comes into engagement with the change gear 21 for the duration of the adjustment after the engagement with the alarm dial 20 has been released. In this position of the actuating shaft 22, the movement of the pointer mechanism is possible.

In this setting device, however, no measures are provided to prevent damage to the clockwork would be avoided if the setting button 24 was actuated in the impermissible direction of rotation.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing an actuating device for a signal clock, in particular an alarm clock, which prevents damage to the clockwork without any particular additional expense and nevertheless allows adjustment of the alarm clock wheel in both directions in at least some areas.

The invention solves this problem by the features of the characterizing part of patent claim 1. A number of expedient developments and refinements of the subject matter of patent claim 1 are contained in the subordinate claims.

The advantages of the object according to the invention are that practically no additional parts can be used to prevent damage to the signal clock, in particular an alarm clock. In addition, the arrangement according to the invention is only effective when there is a risk of damaging the movement. Adjustment measures are thus possible in both directions of the actuator. In many cases, there is no annoying twisting over almost a whole 12-hour range on the setting hand, because then the signal tracking can be set later, for example by one hour, by turning the opposite directions of rotation on the actuator, for which purpose only a small actuating path would then have to be measured.

In the known devices, a setting path of 12 minus 1 hour would be 11 hours with the setting pointer on the dial.

But also by the special shape of the gear wheel formation on the actuator and by the type of design of the friction on this, significant advantages are achieved by the invention.

The proposed design of the friction of the actuator thus enables a jerk-free adjustment of the setting element, in particular an alarm setting wheel.

The arrangement according to the invention is characterized in particular by a simple structure, which is preferred and suitable for the automatic assembly of the clockwork of the signal clock, in particular an alarm clock.

The subject matter of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and explained in detail in the description below.

• Figur 1 eine Vorderansicht der Stelleinrichtung für eine Signaluhr, insbesondere Weckeruhr, nach der Erfindung;
• Figur 2 eine Seitenansicht der Anordnung nach Figur 1;
• Figur 3 eine Draufsicht au die Anordnung nach Figur 1;
• Figur 4 eine weitere Seitenansicht der Anordnung nach Figur 1;
• Figur 5 ein Detail der Stelleinrichtung für eine Signaluhr, insbesondere Weckeruhr nach der Erfindung;
• Figur 6 das Detail der Stelleinrichtung nach Figur 5 in einer anderen Ansicht;
• Figur 7 eine Einzel heit des Details der Stelleneinrichtung nach Fig. 5;
• Figur 8 ein der Signalauslösung dienendes Detail der Signaluhr, insbesondere Weckeruhr, mit der Stelleinrichtung nach der Erfindung.

It shows:

• 1 shows a front view of the setting device for a signal clock, in particular an alarm clock, according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a side view of the arrangement of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is a plan view of the arrangement of Figure 1;
• FIG. 4 shows a further side view of the arrangement according to FIG. 1;
• FIG. 5 shows a detail of the setting device for a signal clock, in particular an alarm clock according to the invention;
• FIG. 6 shows the detail of the adjusting device according to FIG. 5 in another view;
• FIG. 7 shows a detail of the detail of the position device according to FIG. 5;
• Figure 8 is a signal triggering detail of the signal clock, in particular alarm clock, with the adjusting device according to the invention.

FIGS. 1-4 show an embodiment according to the invention in the form of an electrical, quartz-controlled alarm clock.

The clockwork 2, the wake-up signal triggering device 3 and the electronic quartz circuit 4 are arranged on a base plate 1.

The clockwork consists of the front plate 5, the rear plate 6 and pillars 7 for switching the distance between the two plates and pillars 8 for attaching the clockwork to the base plate 1. The movement 2 surrounds the pulse-expandable electro-magnetic stepper motor and the subordinate transmission elements that however, for the sake of clarity, are not shown.

The quartz circuit 4 consists of the frequency divider circuit 10, the quartz crystal 11 and further circuit elements, such as a trimmer and a capacitor, which are not shown.

In addition to the switching elements of the quartz circuit 4, an electrical buzzer 12 for administering the wake-up signal and a transistor 13 are arranged on the base plate 1, which serves to amplify the frequency signal derived from the frequency divider circuit 10 to excite this buzzer 12.

The wake-up signal triggering device 3 consists of the setting element 15 designed as an alarm setting wheel with the toothing 16 and the attachment 17 (not shown setting pointer) which is arranged so as to be movable relative to the time control element 18 designed as an hour wheel. The setting element 15 is freely movable on the tube 19, which forms a unit with the time control element 18.

In FIG. 8, the two parts 15, 18 that are movable relative to one another are shown pulled apart for explanation. On the part 15, a cam 20 can be seen laterally, which carries out a relative scanning of the timing control element 18 when the setting element 15 is loaded by the release spring 21.

In this exemplary embodiment according to the invention, the cams 20 are thus assigned to the setting element 15 designed as an alarm setting wheel, while the timing control element 18 designed as an hour wheel has gaps into which the cams 20 can fall.

This choice of assignment has the advantage that the clockwork 2, together with the time control element 18 designed as an hour wheel, can also be used as an independent clockwork unit for clocks other than alarm clocks. The fact that there are gaps in the hour wheel does not bother and they are irrelevant for the production, since these can be molded in both the stamping and plastic injection molding processes.

The cams 20 slide laterally on the gearwheel 25 of the timing control element 18. The gearwheel 25 has, in a known manner, one or more gaps into which one or more cams 20 can fall in a certain relative position of the parts 15, 18 to one another. This takes place under the action of the release spring 21 and results in an axial displacement of the setting element 15 in the direction of the time control element 18.

As a rule, several cams 20 are provided in order to ensure a balanced load on the timing control element 18.

The trigger spring 21 is hooked into an slots in the base plate 1 by means of an angled molding 22 and is thereby held. It also has a bend 23, which comes into contact with the base plate 25 when the cams 20 fall into state 25. The side la of the base plate 1 is occupied in a known manner to which the components of the electronic quartz circuit 4, the buzzer 12 and the trigger spring 21, the latter via their angled molding 22, are connected.

The trigger spring 21 has an annular configuration 26 which engages around the shoulder 17 of the adjusting element 15 and slides with beads 27 on the side face of the adjusting element 15. A further set molding 28 of the trigger spring 21 is used for switching off the wake-up signal by a manually operable slide part arranged on the alarm clock housing in a known manner, which is not shown for reasons of clarity.

The tube 19 of the time control element 18 designed as an hour wheel is supported on the minute shaft 30 in which the second shaft 29 is guided. The parts 17, 19 and 30 each carry lugs 17a, 19a and 30a, on which the alarm clock hand, the hour hand and the minute hand are applied. These hands and the second hand are not shown for the sake of clarity.

The clockwork 2 carries an actuator 31 which projects through the base plate 1 and is designed as an actuating shaft and is in meshing engagement with its toothing 16 of the adjusting element 15 with its coupling part 32 designed as an adjusting pinion. The actuator 31 is provided with a manually graspable actuating element 33 designed as an adjusting knob.

5, 6 and 7, the actuator 31 is shown in detail.

The lateral action of the setting element 15 by the release spring 21, namely by means of the beads 27 in the annular configuration 26, has a certain friction effect for the setting element 15 of the wake-up signal triggering device 3. However, this friction is not sufficient to ensure that the setting of the setting element 15 is stabilized. It is therefore known to assign a further friction to the actuator 31, as is the case e.g. emerges from DE-U-1 692 300.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a very inexpensive, space-saving and simple embodiment of a friction for the actuator 31 is proposed. This friction ensures the stable setting of the setting element 15 by means of its setting pointer even in the event of impacts and bumps which should be exerted on the alarm clock if it is handled improperly.

Figure 5 shows a sectional view of the arrangement of the actuator 31 designed as an actuating shaft. It can be seen that the actuator 31 consists of a tubular part 34, a shoulder part 35 and the coupling part 32 designed as an adjusting pinion with the toothing 36. The extension part 35 carries the manually graspable actuating element 33, which is preferably pressed onto the former. The actuator 31 is mounted with its attachment part 35 in the rear plate 6 and with its tube part 34 in the front plate 5 of the clockwork 2, while the coupling part 32 with its toothing 36 projects through the base plate 1 into an opening 37 and there in toothing engagement with the toothing 16 of the adjusting element 15.

The tube part 34 of the actuator 31 is so thin-walled or made of such a material that it can be guided with friction in a polygonal bearing 38 of the base plate 1. The polygonal bearing 38 is designed as a square hole bearing and its dimensions are selected so that the circle tangent to its inner surfaces is smaller in diameter than the outer diameter of the preferably cylindrical tubular part 34. The circular profile of the tubular part 34 is to a certain extent by the guidance in the polygonal bearing Grade squeezed and in this way a very simple, jerk-free friction achieved by a flexing process of the actuator 31 in the front plate 5.

Analogously, the tube part 34 could also extend beyond the rear plate 6 into the actuating element 33, so that a polygonal bearing 37 could also be provided in the rear plate 6 for the formation of friction.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 5, however, only the tubular part 34 is supported in the polygonal bearing 38 of the front plate 5, since such is sufficient for the intended purpose. The tubular part 34 or the actuator 31 are expediently produced from a plastic which is suitable with regard to its elastic properties in the plastic injection molding process.

The actuator 31 now forms, via its coupling part 32 with the adjusting element 15, a mechanical coupling that can be released in the event of a build-up of force or torque that could occur when the actuating element 33 is operated. As can be seen from FIG. 8, this force build-up can occur when the actuator 31 is actuated in a direction in which the cams 20 of the adjusting part 15 strike with their edge 20a in the gaps of the gearwheel 25, which are not shown.

Due to the accumulation of force or torque, the actuator 31 now bends the pipe part 34 via the abutting toothings 36 and 16 of the parts 32 and 15, whereby the coupling part 32 with its toothing 36 stands out relatively from the toothing 16, so that the Coupling part 32 comes out of engagement and allows the actuator 32 to spin or snap through without causing damage to the wake-up signal triggering device 3 or the clockwork 2.

Here, the coupling part 32 of the actuator 31 — latching on the teeth of the toothing 16 — moves in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. the deflection of the tube part 34 by a suitable arrangement of the multi-hole bearing. 38 in the front plate 5 can still be favored. For this purpose, it is shown in FIG. 7, for example, that the square hole 38 is provided in an upright position.

The deflection of the tube part 34 of the actuator 31 in the relevant area between the coupling part 32 and the front plate 5 can also be favored by a corresponding design of the tube inner diameter or the wall thickness.

In order to promote the decoupling process between the coupling part 32 and the toothing 16 of the adjusting element 15, as can be seen from FIG. 6, a flat toothing 36 is selected in the coupling part 32, which is expediently achieved by a positive profile shift if one assumes that Advantageously, involute teeth - preferably so-called AEG high teeth - are used for teeth 16 and 32.

In the uncoupled state, the toothing 36 of the actuator 31 engages when it is actuated on the teeth of the toothing 16 of the adjusting element 15, without transmitting an essential moment of force that could damage the clockwork mechanism 2.

It is known that the cams 20 of the setting element 15 always come to a stop in the incidence of the gear wheel 25 and cause a blockage when the setting element 15 or the setting pointer connected to it is presented, i.e. to be set to a time later signaling.

Since the stop of the setting element 15 on the time control element 18 can occur only once in the 12-hour scale of an alarm clock, thus it can be possible to advance the setting pointer or the setting element 15 over a wide range of the 12-hour scale, without this a meeting of the cams 20 of the setting element 15 and the gaps of the timing control element 18, the arrangement according to the invention offers advantages in that a pre-adjustment of the setting pointer or the setting element 15 need not be prevented in principle. The operator of such an alarm clock is therefore not required to set the pointer, e.g. Adjust back for almost 12 hours just because it is not possible to advance by half an hour or an entire hour, as is the case if the actuator can only be moved in one direction, i.e. the permissible direction of rotation (e.g. when Subject of DE-U-1 692 300).

For example the case is assumed that the alarm clock is set to 6 o'clock wake-up time and that in the evening at 20 o'clock the wake-up time should be set to 7 o'clock. In the arrangement according to the invention, an idea of the setting pointer and thus of the setting element 15 is easily possible via the actuator 31. In an arrangement according to the state of the art, in which the pre-adjustment of the actuator is fundamentally prevented, the adjustment pointer would be reset via 11! Hours to effectively advance from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.

According to this example, the arrangement according to the invention would allow a pre-adjustment of almost 2 hours, that is to say almost 8 o'clock. Only when the wake-up time is advanced by more than 2 hours must the setting pointer or the setting element 15 be reset for less than 10 hours.

If this advance adjustment of the setting pointer is carried out later than 8 p.m., the conditions are even more favorable since the setting pointer can then also be advanced by an amount that exceeds the 2 hours of the previous example.

Particular advantages result from the simple construction of the adjusting device according to the invention for automatic assembly of the clockwork, in particular alarm clockwork, on an assembly line to be created for this purpose. For this purpose, the diameters of the individual elements 32, 34, 35 of the actuator 31 are graded in one direction, since this makes the automatic feeding of this part considerably easier during the automatic assembly process. For this reason, the individual diameter gradations of the actuator 31 are also provided with conical projections 32a, 34a, 35a. This automatically favors the automatic feeding of this part.

The timing control element 18, which is designed as an hour wheel in the exemplary embodiment according to the invention, is driven by the change gear 9 of the clockwork 2, the change drive 9a projecting into the region of the toothing of the gear wheel 25. For this purpose, the opening 37 in the base plate 1 is shaped accordingly in the region of the change drive 9a.

The change wheel 9 with the change drive 9a is shown in FIG. 1. In FIGS. 2 and 3, on the other hand, for the sake of clarity, only the change drive 9a with its end remote from the change wheel 9 is indicated; the change wheel 9 as such is not shown.

In FIG. 6, arrows B and C show the direction of rotation of the actuator 31 or of the setting element 15, in which a build-up of force or torque cannot occur.

Claims (10)

1. Setting device for a signalling clock, more particularly an alarm clock, having a setting member (31) which can be operated manually and which is connected via a coupling-which automatically disengages when the opposing force increases-to a setting element (15) so as to drive the said setting element, the setting position of which can be detected by means of a time- controlled displaceable element (18), the coupling being engaged when the permissible direction of rotation has been adopted in the case of manual actuation of the setting element (31), but being disengaged when the non-permissible direction of rotation has been adopted when there is an increase in the opposing force, the setting member (31), which can be manually operated, being formed as a setting shaft (34, 35), having a control element (33) which can be gripped manually, and a coupling part (32), which is in direct disengageable meshing engagement with the setting element (15), the toothing elements (16, 32) of the said engagement being disengageable by means of a relative displacement with respect to each other brought about by increasing the opposing force, and the setting element being formed as the alarm setting wheel (15, 16) of the alarm clock and the coupling part as the setting pinion (32), which is in meshing engagement with the setting wheel, characterised in that at least one of the two toothing elements (16, 32), which are in disengageable meshing engagement with each other, is provided with a shallow toothing (36) which reduces the depth of the engagement.

2. Setting device according to claim 1, characterised in that the shallow toothing (36) is associated with the coupling part (32).

3. Setting device according to claim 2, characterised in that an involute-tooth system is used and the shallow toothing (36) of the coupling part is formed by a corresponding profile offset.

4. Setting device according to claim 1, characterised in that the setting member (31) is manufactured from a resilient material and the disengagement of the meshing engagement (16, 36) occurs as a result of a deformation of the setting member (31) brought about by the effect of the opposing force.

5. Setting device according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that a friction element (5, 34, 38) is associated with the setting member (31).

6. Setting device according to claim 5, characterised in that the setting member (31) is formed as a tube-shaped part (34), which is guided in at least one bearing (38) with a polygonal profile (38).

7. Setting device according to claim 6, characterised in that the diameter of the outer circumference of the tube-shaped part (34) is larger than the diameter of the tangential inner circumference of the polygonal profile (38), and the tube-shaped part (34) is formed so as to be deformable in its cross-section.

8. Setting device according to claim 7, characterised in that the tube-shaped part (34) of the setting member (31) is formed as a cylindrical tube.

9. Setting device according to any one of the claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the tube-shaped part (34) is manufactured from a plastics material.

10. Setting device according to any one of the claims 6 to 9, characterised in that the diameters of the individual elements (32, 34, 35) of the setting member (31) are stepped in the direction in which the said member is assembled, and these diameter steps are conical in shape (32a, 34a, 35a).

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