EP0973076B1 - Watch with tourbillon - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tourbillon watch comprising a regulator member engaged with an exhaust, itself engaged with a pinion meshing with a fixed wheel, the regulating member, the exhaust and the pinion being mounted on a plate secured to a tube pivoted in a plate, this tube being located in the center of the watch and rotated by a motor member.

A tourbillon watch meeting the generic definition given above is described in the patent CH 33 368 . This document shows a watch movement whose regulating member and the exhaust are carried by a pivoted plate in the center of this movement. The plate is secured to a central tube terminated by a pinion that a barrel spring drives via a mobile composed of a wheel and a pinion, so that the plate is animated, with the tube which serves as a pivot axis, a continuous rotational movement.

The tube is engaged on a shaft carrying the minute hand, this shaft being terminated by a pinion meshing with a wheel fitted frictionally on a barrel cover. A roadway is chased on the tree and follows the tube. The pavement drives a gun wheel that carries the hour hand through a timer. In addition, the timer is covered by a dial. It follows from what has just been explained that the plateau is not entirely visible through the ice because it is surmounted by a timer itself hidden by a dial.

It will be further observed that the escape pinion is located above the plate, so that the fixed wheel with which it is in engagement is also above the plate. This fixed wheel is secured to a bridge carried by four narrow arms, this bridge being placed on the plate. As a result, the plateau is partially hidden from view, not only by the timer and the dial, but also by the central bridge and the arms connecting it to the stage of the movement.

Another similar example is represented by the patent CH34 980 .

In conclusion, the tourbillon mechanism described in the aforementioned patent reveals only very few elements that make it up, in fact only the pendulum that turns on itself and around the dial. On the contrary, the present invention provides a rotating plate fully visible from its center to its periphery, thus allowing to see the entire tourbillon mechanism.

This object is achieved by a watch according to claim 1.

For this purpose, this invention is remarkable in that the fixed wheel and the gear meshing with it are located below the plate. This eliminates the space above the tray of any fixed element and any support for carrying such an element.

In a preferred embodiment, the tube carrying the tray surrounds a carriageway carrying a minute hand, which roadway itself surrounds a shaft carrying an hour hand, the tree and the roadway being connected to each other. by a timer located below the tray.

In another embodiment that has no pavement, a minute hand or index finger is mounted on the tray, while the tube surrounds a shaft carrying an hour hand, the shaft and the tube being connected to one another. to the other by a timer located below the tray.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe schématique d'un premier mode d'exécution de l'invention,
• la figure 2 est un agrandissement de la partie gauche de la coupe de la figure 1,
• la figure 3 est un agrandissement de la partie droite de la coupe de la figure 1,
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective de la partie tourbillon de la figure 1,
• la figure 5 est une vue en plan de la cinématique de remontage de la montre montrée en figure 1,
• la figure 6 est une vue en plan de la cinématique de mise à l'heure de la montre montrée en figure 1,
• la figure 7 est une vue en coupe schématique d'un second mode d'exécution de l'invention,
• la figure 8 est une vue en perspective déchirée partiellement de l'ensemble de la montre de l'invention, présentée sans boîtier.

The invention will be explained in detail below by two embodiments given by way of example, these embodiments being illustrated by the appended drawings in which:

• the figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a first embodiment of the invention,
• the figure 2 is an enlargement of the left part of the cup of the figure 1 ,
• the figure 3 is an enlargement of the right side of the cup of the figure 1 ,
• the figure 4 is a perspective view of the whirlpool part of the figure 1 ,
• the figure 5 is a plan view of the winding kinematics of the watch shown in figure 1 ,
• the figure 6 is a plan view of the kinematics of time setting of the watch shown in figure 1 ,
• the figure 7 is a schematic sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention,
• the figure 8 is a partially torn perspective view of the entire watch of the invention, presented without a case.

The tourbillon watch is presented here in two exemplary embodiments. The first form is shown in section at figure 1 . This is the preferred form. The second form is shown in section at figure 7 . A perspective view that can house both forms of execution is shown in figure 8 .

As we see on the figures 1 and 7 , the movement of the watch comprises a regulating member 2 in engagement with an escapement 3, the latter being engaged with a gear 4 meshing with a fixed wheel 5. The regulating member 2, the escapement 3 and the gear 4 are mounted on a plate 6 integral with a tube 7 pivoted in a plate 8. The tube 7 is located in the center of the watch and animated by a continuous rotational movement driven by a motor member 9.

The watch finds its originality in two particular characteristics that allow a total vision of the board and the elements mounted on it, from its center to its periphery. The figures 1 and 7 show first that the fixed wheel 5 is located below the plate 6. They then show that the tube 7 is rotatably engaged on a roadway 11 carrying a minute hand 12, this road being in turn engaged so rotating on a shaft 13 carrying an hour hand 14. The lower ends of the shaft 13 and the roadway 11 are connected by a timer 15 located lower than the plate 6. The fixed wheel 5 and the timer 15 are thus located under the plateau 6, nothing comes to be superimposed on the plateau which remains completely uncovered under the ice that will overcome it. This is of course not the case of the construction proposed in the document cited above, where the tray is surmounted by a bridge supporting the fixed wheel and the timer.

It will be observed here that since the shaft 13 carrying the hour hand 14 is housed inside the roadway 11 carrying the minute hand 12, the hour hand 14 overcomes the minute hand 12, which which is contrary to the usual situation usually found in timepieces, where the hour-wheel with the hour hand surrounds the carriageway carrying the minute hand. This anomaly represents, in a way, the price to be paid for rejecting the timer under the plateau, a low price, however, if one thinks that it is only a question of contravening a habit generally imposed by current construction.

The figures 1 and 3 show that the driving member 9 comprises a barrel 16 which contains a spring not shown and whose shaft 17 carries a first ratchet 18. This ratchet 18 meshes with a pinion 19 which is integral with the tube 7 to which the plate 6 is fixed. Fixing the plate 6 on the tube 7 can be achieved in different ways. Here we chose to use a wrench 40 which is rotated by means of the screw head 41 of this key to lock the plate on the tube.

The same figures show that the shaft 17 of the barrel carries a second ratchet 21 coaxial with the first ratchet 18 and located beneath the latter. The second ratchet 21 meshes with a wheel 22 frictionally mounted on the roadway 11. The wheel 42 of the timer 15 is engaged with the pinion 43 of the roadway 11. Similarly, the hour wheel 44 of the shaft 13 is engaged with the pinion 45 of the wheel 42 of the timer 15.

If a single barrel is considered insufficient to ensure the mechanism a satisfactory autonomy, we can add other barrels that will increase the running time of the watch. This is the case shown in figures 1 and 2 , where the first barrel 16 is preceded by a second spring barrel 23 engaged with the first by the teeth 24 and 25 of their respective drums. In addition, the figure 2 shows that the second barrel 23 is engaged with a third spring barrel 26 by the teeth of their respective ratchets 27 and 28. The drive member 9 thus comprises three barrels in series.

It should be noted that the three barrels 16, 23 and 26 arranged in the same plane occupy only about three quarters of the available space in this plane around the central tube 7. In the fourth quarter, it is possible to install an automatic winding mechanism attacking the motor member 9, in this case its third barrel 26.

A ring-shaped dial 47 provided with marks 48 (see figure 8 ) surrounds the plate 6. The ring 47 is held in a fixed ring 58 by means of dial feet 59.

It has been mentioned above that the tube 7 carrying the plate 6 is pivoted in a plate 8. In fact this plate is secured to a barrel bridge 46 in which the tube 7 is also pivotally mounted, so that this tube is held in place radially and axially by the plate 8 and the barrel bridge 46 (see figure 3 ).

The two ratchets 18 and 21 fitted to the barrel 16 may be of the same diameter or of different diameters. If they have the same diameters, it will be understood that the pinion 19 and the wheel 22 will have the same diameters and that consequently the roadway 11 and the associated minute hand 12 will rotate at the same speed as the tube 7 and the plateau 6 which is linked to it, that is to say one turn per hour. In the example shown in figure 3 , the diameter of the ratchet 18 is greater than the diameter of the ratchet 21, as a result of which the plate 6 will rotate faster than the minute hand 12.

In the case where it is accepted that the plate 6 rotates at the same speed as the minute hand 12, we could do without the second ratchet 21 provided that the tube 7 is frictionally engaged on the roadway 11. We would have and alternatively a motor member having a barrel whose shaft carries a ratchet meshing with a pinion integral with the tube 7, this tube being engaged frictionally on the roadway 11. This variant also has a lot of analogy with the second mode execution which will be explained later with reference to the figure 7 .

This variant can be further modified as follows. Since in this case the plate makes one turn per hour, it can itself carry the indicator element minutes, which allows to remove the floor 11. For example, we can mount on the plate 6 a minute hand or a analogous pointer facing the annular dial 47, in a fixed position relative to the location of the regulator 2 and the gear 4, so as to offer an attractive appearance, and arrange a friction coupling between the plate and its shaft to allow time setting by action on the periphery of the plateau. Otherwise, a minute index may be provided on a ring frictionally mounted on the periphery of the plate 6 and attacked by a pinion of the winding stem for setting the time.

We will now examine in more detail the plateau 6 and the elements which surmount it, in the construction illustrated by the Figures 1 to 6 and 8 . In this case, the plate 6 is secured to the tube 7 which is traversed by the roadway 11 and the shaft 13 respectively carrying the minute hands 12 and 14 hours.

On the board 6, as we can see in figure 2 , there is the regulator 2, the exhaust 3 and the gear 4. The tourbillon described in the document CH 33 368 includes the same elements except the wheel 4, because the exhaust pinion then meshes directly with the fixed wheel.

The regulator 2 comprises in the usual way a balance 49 and a spiral spring 50. The escapement comprises the escape wheel 51 and its pinion 52, the anchor 53, the fork rod 54, the large plate 55 and the shaft 56 of pendulum. The balance shaft is pivoted between the plate 6 and a balance bridge 57 fixed to the plate 6 by means of pillars 68 (see FIG. figure 4 ). The gear 4 comprises a plurality of mobiles providing a gear connection between the escape pinion 52 and the fixed wheel 5. These are three mobiles 29, 30 and 31 each having a wheel (respectively 60, 61 and 62). ) and a pinion (respectively 63, 64 and 65). These mobiles are pivoted between the plate 6 and a gear wheel 66. The gear wheel is fixed on the plate 6 by means of pillars 67 (see FIG. figure 4 ).

The number of mobiles (here the mobiles 29, 30 and 31) making up the wheel 4 and the gear ratios existing between these mobiles will depend on the frequency of the balance and the number of revolutions per unit of time chosen for the rotation of the plate. 6. This cog in fact is interposed between the exhaust 4 (more precisely the exhaust pinion 52) and the fixed wheel 5. Its characteristics and features therefore impose a number of turns determined per unit time tray.

An example of a preferred choice will be given here. The balance 49 oscillates at a rate of 21,600 vibrations per hour. If the escape wheel 51 is provided with 20 teeth, this wheel and the gear 52 which is bound to it will be 540 revolutions per hour. The wheel 4 comprises the three mobiles 29, 30 and 31 whose gear ratio between the exhaust pinion 52 and the fixed wheel is 270. As a result, the plate 6 is two revolutions per hour. It will be understood that other ratios may be chosen to obtain other speeds of the plate 6, when the second embodiment of the invention will be discussed below. Note however that the preferred speed of two revolutions per hour seems appropriate since it makes it possible to obtain at least every five minutes another image of the position of the plate.

We can take advantage of the presence of the turntable 6 to equip the watch with a small second needle 32. For this purpose, the figure 3 shows that the plate 6 carries a mobile 35 which meshes with the fixed wheel 5, this mobile driving in turn a pinion 34 fixed on a shaft 33, shaft on which is fitted the small seconds needle 32. The shaft 33 and the mobile 35 are pivoted between the plate 6 and the trolley bridge 66. As can be seen in figure 4 , the seconds hand 32 overcomes the gear deck 66 on which are affixed divisions of seconds 69.

The figure 4 is a perspective view of the turntable 6 forming the base of the vortex. The tube 7 drives the plate 6 in continuous rotation in the direction of the arrow A. Below the plate is the fixed wheel 5 in engagement with the pinion 65. By turning, the plate 6 drives the pinion 65 in a movement of rotation combined with a revolution movement in the manner of a satellite, these movements being regulated by the gear 4, the exhaust 3 and the regulator 2. The figure 4 shows very clearly the main interest of the present invention, namely a total vision on the entire plateau and the elements that surmount it. Everything is visible from the tube 7 at the periphery of the plate 6 and no stationary part, such as for example the fixed wheel or the timer or the dial, does not obstruct the vision of the moving parts. Only the hour and minute hands emerging from the tube 7 (not shown in FIG. figure 4 ) overcome the plateau. However, as they are thin and essentially mobile, they can not hide anything.

The figure 4 also shows that the tray can be arranged to present certain aesthetic effects. Here, for example, the gear wheel 66 terminated by the seconds dial 69 and the pendulum bridge 57 terminated by the balance 49 are not without recalling the configuration of comets. And as these bridges are placed in head-to-tail, the comets they are supposed to represent seem to continue mutually.

Some explanations will be given on the winding and setting mechanisms of the watch, as an example.

The winding mechanism is shown in plan at figure 5 . The driving member 9, in this case its third barrel 26 ( figure 2 ), is engaged by the toothing 70 of the cylinder with a wheel 71 secured to an intermediate gear 72. This pinion meshes with a first return 73 which in turn meshes with a second return 74. When the rod of winding 80 is in the depressed position, the fixed return 74 meshes with a seesaw 75 which in turn meshes with the horizontal toothing 76 of a 90 ° reference bearing reference 77. The vertical toothing 78 of the return at 90 ° is taken with a sliding pinion 79 of the rod 80. A system consisting of a rocker 81 on which a spring 82 acts and a pull rod 83, on which a spring 84 has two notches, couples the return of flip-flop 75 at the second return 74. The barrel 26 is raised by rotation of the rod 80 and it raises itself the following barrels 23 and 16.

The time setting mechanism is shown in plan at the figure 6 . When the rod 80 is disposed in the pulled-out position, the rocker 81 rotates counterclockwise about its axis of rotation located at the center of the reference 77. At this moment, the rocker wheel 75 is decoupled from the second gear 74 ( figure 5 ) and meshes with a reference 85. This reference 85 is engaged with the wheel 42 of the timer 15, this wheel 42 meshing with the pinion 43 of the roadway 11 (see also figure 3 ). Likewise, the hour wheel 44 is engaged with the pinion 45 of the timer 15. Under these conditions, when the rod 80 is rotated, the minute and hour hands are set. It will be noted here that setting the time causes no movement of the tube 7 and therefore of the plate 6, since there is friction between the roadway 11 and the wheel 22 meshing with the ratchet 21 (see figure 3 ).

The second embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the figure 7 . This second embodiment has many analogies with the first. There is a regulating member 2 engaged with an exhaust 3 itself engaged with a gear 4 meshing with a fixed wheel 5, the regulating member 2, the exhaust 3 and the gear 4 being mounted on a plateau 6. The plate 6 is secured to a tube 7 pivoted in a plate 8 and a barrel bridge 46, this tube being located in the center of the watch and animated by a continuous rotational movement driven by a motor member 9. The figure 7 also shows, on the one hand, that the fixed wheel 5 is located below the plate 6 and, on the other hand, that the tube 7 is engaged in rotation on a roadway 11 carrying a minute hand 12, this road being in turn rotatably engaged on a shaft 13 carrying an hour hand 14. The shaft 13 and the roadway 11 are connected by a timer 15 located below the plate 6.

If the first embodiment comprises a drive member 9 whose output member is the ratchet 18 of a cylinder 16 eccentric with respect to the center of the watch, the second embodiment comprises a driving member 9 comprising a barrel spring 36 (see figure 7 ) located in the center of the watch, the shaft 37 of the cylinder being rotatably connected to the tube 7 carrying the plate 6 of the vortex. Preferably, the shaft 37 is itself the tube 7. In this second embodiment, it saves a ratchet and a pinion engaged with it. The shaft 37 of the barrel 36 is then frictionally engaged on the roadway 11, while the hour-tree 13 is freely rotatable in the roadway 11. This approach necessarily entails a constraint: that of driving the platform 6 to the same speed as the minute hand, that is one lap per hour. Depending on the space available, we can choose either a single central cylinder large diameter, a second cylinder placed in series with the central barrel. The variants mentioned above, where the plate makes one turn per hour, are also applicable to this second embodiment.

Finally, we will consider again the figure 8 which is a perspective view, partially torn, of the whole of the watch presented outside its case. The plate 6 is recognized from which the driver tube 7, secured respectively by the carriageway 11 and the hour tree 13, is secured. The hour and minute hands 12 and 14 intersect the annular dial 47. The dial shows inscriptions 48 and rests on the ring 58 which can be part of the middle part of the watch. The plate 6 is driven in continuous rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow A. On the plate rest the bridge 57 in which is pivoted the rocker 49 and the bridge 66 in which is rotated the wheel 4 and the exhaust 3. This figure shows, even better than all others, that the tray 6 and the elements that are part of it are fully visible from the outside of the watch, this visibility being due to the fact that the timer and the fixed wheel are relegated under the tray 6, as explained above. It will be observed that the product presented in figure 8 is a model without a small second.

Claims (12)

1. Watch provided with a tourbillon including a regulating device (2) engaging with an escapement (3) which itself at least indirectly engages with a pinion (65) meshing with a fixed wheel (5), the regulating device (2), the escapement (3) and the pinion (65) being mounted on a plate (6) fixed to a pipe (7) rotatably mounted in a support plate (8, 46), said pipe being situated at the center of the watch and driven in rotation by a driving device (9), the regulating device (2) and the escapement (3) being situated over the plate (6), characterized in that the fixed wheel (5) and the pinion (65) meshing therewith are situated underneath the plate (6), and in that at least an axis (13) carrying the hours hand (14) is arranged to turn inside the pipe (7).
2. Watch according to claim 1, characterized in that the pipe (7) surrounds a cannon pinion (11) carrying a minutes hand (12), said cannon pinion itself surrounding a shaft (13) carrying an hours hand (14), the shaft (13) and the cannon pinion (11) being connected to each other by a motion work (15) situated underneath the plate (6).
3. Watch according to claim 1, characterized in that the driving device (9) includes a spring barrel (16) whose shaft (17) carries a first ratchet (18) engaging with a pinion (19) fixed to the pipe (7).
4. Watch according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the shaft (17) of the spring barrel carries a second ratchet (21) which is coaxial to the first and situated under the latter, said second ratchet engaging with a wheel (22) friction-tight fitted onto the cannon pinion (11).
5. Watch according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the pipe (7) is friction-tight fitted onto the cannon pinion (11).
6. Watch according to claim 3, characterized in that said spring barrel (16) is preceded by a second spring barrel (23) meshed with said spring barrel (16) by toothings (24, 25) of their respective drums, and by a third spring barrel (26) meshed with said second spring barrel (23) by toothings of their respective ratchets (27, 28).
7. Watch according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a gear train (4) is inserted between the escapement (3) and said pinion (65) meshing with the fixed wheel (5), said gear train including a plurality of wheel and pinion sets (29, 30 and 31) engaging one after the other, the number of said wheel and pinion sets and their gear ratios being selected so as to cause the plate (6) to rotate according to a determined number of revolutions per unit of time.
8. Watch according to claim 7, characterized in that the gear train (4) includes three wheel and pinion sets (29, 30, 31) whose gear ratios are arranged so as to cause the plate (6) to rotate at a rate of two revolutions per hour.
9. Watch according to claim 3, characterized in that a minutes hand or index is mounted on the plate (6), which makes one revolution per hour, and in that the pipe (7) surrounds a shaft (13) carrying an hours hand (14), the shaft and the pipe being connected to each other by a motion work (15) situated underneath the plate (6).
10. Watch according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a small seconds hand (32) fixed to a pinion (34) meshed with a wheel and pinion set (35) engaged with the fixed wheel (5) is mounted on the plate (6).
11. Watch according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the driving device (9) includes a central spring barrel (36) situated at the center of the watch, a shaft (37) of said spring barrel being connected to the pipe (7) carrying the plate (6).
12. Watch according to claim 11, characterized in that the pipe (7) is formed by the shaft (37) of the central spring barrel (36).

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