EP1792236B1 - Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation - Google Patents

Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1792236B1
EP1792236B1 EP05784183A EP05784183A EP1792236B1 EP 1792236 B1 EP1792236 B1 EP 1792236B1 EP 05784183 A EP05784183 A EP 05784183A EP 05784183 A EP05784183 A EP 05784183A EP 1792236 B1 EP1792236 B1 EP 1792236B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
wheel
time
pinion
longitude
true time
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EP05784183A
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German (de)
French (fr)
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EP1792236A2 (en
Inventor
Marco Rochat
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Frederic Piguet SA
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Frederic Piguet SA
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Priority to EP05784183A priority Critical patent/EP1792236B1/en
Publication of EP1792236A2 publication Critical patent/EP1792236A2/en
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
    • G04B19/00—Indicating the time by visual means
    • G04B19/22—Arrangements for indicating different local apparent times; Universal time pieces
    • G04B19/23—Arrangements for indicating different local apparent times; Universal time pieces by means of additional hands or additional pairs of hands
    • G04B19/235—Arrangements for indicating different local apparent times; Universal time pieces by means of additional hands or additional pairs of hands mechanisms for correcting the additional hand or hands

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a timepiece comprising a time equation mechanism with display. More particularly, the invention is directed to a walking time equation mechanism operating a true time minute hand that indicates the gap between true solar time and civil time.
  • certain timepieces include a mechanism said to equation of walking time, that is to say whose switch has two minute hands, one indicating the civil time and the other the true time, the minute hand of the true time being actuated by a weather equation cam whose profile is determined by the difference between the mean solar time and the true time at a given instant .
  • the cam is rotated at the rate of one revolution per year by a simple or perpetual calendar mechanism.
  • the simple date is a mechanism that can indicate the day of the week, the day of the month, the month of the year or the phases of the moon, but which does not take into account the variation of the number of days in the months (months of 28, 29 or 30 days).
  • the user of a watch comprising a simple date mechanism will have to make a manual correction every month ends that are less than 31 days. For example, February 28 or April 30 will require manual correction.
  • the perpetual calendar it allows, as a simple date mechanism, to indicate the day, the date, the month and the moon phases. But, unlike the simple calendar mechanism, the perpetual calendar mechanism automatically takes into account the length of the months (28, 29 or 30 days), and this without manual intervention. A perpetual calendar mechanism therefore automatically takes into account leap years.
  • the Greenwich meridian passing through London, is located in the middle of a time zone and carries longitude 000. Longitudes are counted from the Greenwich meridian from 0 to 180 ° eastward (E). example, the longitude of B Jardin (Switzerland) is 007E15 (7 degrees and 15 minutes east longitude) and that of Athens is 023E44 (23 degrees and 44 minutes east longitude)), and from 0 to 180 ° in the direction of from the west (W) (for example, the longitude of Portugal is 009W08 and that of Rio de Janeiro is 043W14) (see Figure 2B ). Relative to its center, a time zone thus extends between -7.5 ° and + 7.5 ° longitude.
  • the sun does not go to the zenith at the same time, depending on where you are.
  • the sun will be at the zenith earlier in Paris than in London, although these two cities belong to the same time zone.
  • the object of the present invention is to remedy this drawback as well as to others by providing a date timepiece comprising a walking time equation device which makes it possible to display the minute of the true time as a function of time. the longitude of where you are.
  • the present invention relates to a timepiece according to the first claim.
  • the present invention will be described in connection with a timepiece of the wristwatch type comprising a walking time equation mechanism actuated by an equation cam, itself driven in rotation at the rate of one revolution per year to from a date mechanism that can be indifferently simple or perpetual.
  • a timepiece of the wristwatch type comprising a walking time equation mechanism actuated by an equation cam, itself driven in rotation at the rate of one revolution per year to from a date mechanism that can be indifferently simple or perpetual.
  • the hour and minute hands of the real time can be reset by the user himself at the end of the months of the year with less than 31 days since the determination of the difference between the two hands of the minutes of the civil time and the true time is defined by the equation cam of the time driven by the date mechanism.
  • the time equation cam is automatically placed in its exact position for the given day.
  • the timepiece according to the invention comprises in particular a dial whose plan view is shown in FIG. figure 3 .
  • the dial provides the wearer with different information. He first indicates, in a first small dial 2, the month of the year. We see on the figure 3 that the indication of the month of the year is done by a needle 4. Of course, the needle 4 could be replaced by a disc which would bear the inscription of the months of the year and which would turn under the dial 1 leaving appear the name of the month by an opening in said dial 1 and called wicket.
  • a second hand 6 moving over another small dial 8 indicates the date (1 to 31) or date.
  • the timepiece comprises, in addition to a conventional switch whose role is to indicate the civil time and which includes a 10 hour hand and a minute hand 12, a second switch, concentric with the switch of the civil time and which comprises a second hour hand 14 and a second minute hand 16 which indicate the true time.
  • a conventional switch whose role is to indicate the civil time and which includes a 10 hour hand and a minute hand 12
  • a second switch concentric with the switch of the civil time and which comprises a second hour hand 14 and a second minute hand 16 which indicate the true time.
  • the latter can end, for example, by a representation of the astrological symbol of the sun 18.
  • the exact position of the hands 14, 16 of the true time for a given day is determined every day (once every 24 hours) around midnight, then the needles 10, 12 of the civil time and needles 14, 16 of true time move together, the gap between the hours of needles 10 and 14 and minutes 12, 16 remaining constant for the given day.
  • the watch according to the present invention also provides an indication of the difference between the civil time of the place where one is and the civil time in the center of the time zone to which one belongs by means of a needle 20 moving in relation to a time scale 22.
  • This time scale 22 is graduated hourly and extends between -4 and +4 hours, which corresponds to the maximum time difference that can be note between the civil time of a given place on the earth and the civil time in the center of the reference time zone to which this place belongs. The user thus instantly knows the value of the offset applied to the calendar time displayed by the watch relative to the civil time in the center of the spindle.
  • Our globe is divided into 24 time zones of 60 minutes each, each time zone corresponding to 15 ° of longitude (see Figure 4A ).
  • the meridian of Greenwich, passing through London, is located in the middle of a time zone and carries the longitude 000.
  • the longitudes are counted from the meridian of Greenwich from 0 to 180 ° in easterly direction (E) (for example, the longitude of Bienne (Switzerland) is 007E15 (7 degrees and 15 minutes east longitude) and that of Athens is 023E44 (23 degrees and 44 minutes east longitude) ), and from 0 to 180 ° in a westerly direction (W) (for example, the longitude of Portugal is 009W08 and that of Rio de Janeiro is 043W14) (see Figure 4B ).
  • E easterly direction
  • W westerly direction
  • the watch includes a dial 24 graduated between -7.5 ° and + 7.5 ° above which moves a needle 26 adapted to rotate in both directions.
  • the user can apply an offset of +/- 7.5 ° of longitude, a time shift of +/- 30 min at the time. true.
  • the user before applying this offset, the user must specify whether he is standing in longitude West (W) or East (E). For this, it has an additional dial 28 above which moves a needle 30 which points either west (W) or east (E).
  • the transition from the west longitudes system (W) to the longitudes system is (E) can only be done when the longitude management mechanism is at zero, in other words when the pointer 26 points to the zero of the dial 24.
  • a displacement in the direction of longitudes is (E) corresponds to a reverse displacement in the direction of longitudes west (W).
  • E a displacement in the direction of longitudes
  • W a reverse displacement in the direction of longitudes west
  • the dial shown in the figure 4 differs from that shown in figure 3 in that the display of the true time is eccentric.
  • the hours 14 and 16 minutes of the true time move over a dial 32 which may have a shape corresponding to the astrological representation of the sun to allow the user to immediately make the difference between the display of the civil time and the display of the true time.
  • the movement of the watch (not shown) drives a wheel 34 mounted on a roadway 36 at the free end of which is fixed the minute hand 12 of the civil time.
  • the pavement transmits the basic time information to a wheel hours 38 and a wheel of civil hours 40 via a mobile timer 42 comprising a wheel 44 and a pinion 46 which achieve a reduction of 1 / 12.
  • the calendar hour wheel 40 is fixed on a barrel 48 which carries, at its free end, the hour hand of the civil time.
  • the hour wheel 38 carries a jumper spring 50 which drives a star with twelve teeth 52 in steps of 1/12 (see figure 6 ).
  • the star 52 is driven on an intermediate wheel 54 which itself carries a jumper spring 56 which drives in steps of 1/12 a star with twelve teeth 58 driven on the barrel 48.
  • the operation of this mechanism will be described below .
  • the minute hand 16 of the true time is driven by a true time display gear comprising in particular a differential mechanism 60 which has for respective entries the roadway 36 on the one hand, and a rake 62 which cooperates with a cam equation of time 64 (see figure 7 ).
  • the differential mechanism 60 comprises a planet wheel 66 which is driven by the roadway 36 and which carries one and, preferably, two planet gears 68. These two satellites 68 are able to turn on themselves and to roll on an internal toothing 70 of an equation wheel of the time 72. The latter also has on its outer periphery a toothing 74 by which it cooperates with the rake 62 and the equation cam of time 64.
  • the differential mechanism 60 finally includes in its center an output mobile 76 formed of a pinion 78 carried by an axis 80 and which meshes with the planet gears 68.
  • a wheel 82 is driven on the pinion 78 and meshes with an equation pavement 84 mounted freely on a canon 86 minutes of the true time which carries at its free end the needle 16 minutes of the true time.
  • the equation pavement 84 drives in rotation, through a friction coupling 88, an additional roadway 90 fixed on the barrel 86 of the minutes of the true time and which constitutes one of the inputs of a second differential mechanism.
  • This additional roadway 90 carries one and, preferably, two planet gears 94 which are able to turn on themselves and to roll on an internal toothing 96 of a longitude management wheel 98.
  • This wheel for managing the longitude 98 also has on its outer periphery a toothing 100 by which it cooperates with a longitude correction mechanism 102 which will be described in detail below.
  • the differential mechanism 92 finally comprises at its center an output pinion 104 integral with the barrel 86 of the minutes of the true time and which meshes with the planet gears 94.
  • the structure and operation of this second differential mechanism 92 are similar to those of the differential mechanism 60 described above. Therefore, for more details, one can also refer to the European patent application in the name of the Applicant mentioned above.
  • An additional equation pavement 106 is attached to the barrel 86 of the minutes of true time.
  • This pavement 106 transmits the true time information to a mobile carrying the true hours hand 14 via a timer wheel 112 comprising a wheel 114 and a pinion 116 which achieve a reduction of 1/12. .
  • the mobile carrying the true hours hand 14 comprises an equation board 108 and a real hours wheel 110.
  • the real hours wheel 110 is fixed on a gun 118 of the hours of the true time which carries the real hours hand 14 at its free end.
  • the wheel of the true hours 110 carries on the other hand a spring jumper 120 which drives in steps of 1/12 a star with twelve teeth 122 driven on the barrel 118.
  • the wearer of the watch is in the center of a time zone, for example on the meridian of Greenwich. In this case, no correction is to be made, both from the point of view of the shift of the civil time and the management of the longitude.
  • the movement of the watch thus causes the wheel 34 mounted on the roadway 36 to provide an indication of the minute of the base time, ie the civil time in the center of the spindle.
  • the roadway 36 transmits, via the timer wheel 42 and the hour wheel 38, the basic time information to the calendar hour wheel 40 to provide an indication of the time of the civil time.
  • the movement of the watch causes the differential mechanism 60 to provide an indication of the minute of the true time or solar time.
  • the time equation cam 64 and the rake 62 are stationary.
  • the planet gears 68 are driven by the roadway 36, that is to say by the clockwork movement of the watch.
  • the pinions 68 therefore turn on themselves and roll on the internal toothing 70 of the equation wheel of the time 72, driving the output pinion 78 and the wheel 82 in rotation.
  • the equation pavement 84 in turn rotates, driving the additional roadway 90 via the friction clutch 88, allowing the minute hand of the true time 16 to rotate concomitantly with the minute hand of the time.
  • the gap between the needle 16 of the minutes of true time and the hand 12 of the minutes of the civil time therefore remains constant over a period of 24 hours.
  • the equation cam of time 64 pivots, driven by a calendar 124 which changes the calendar from one day to the next.
  • the rake 62 pivots in turn, driving the equation wheel 72 in rotation.
  • the planet gears 68 being, during this brief time interval, substantially immobile (they make a complete revolution in one hour), they rotate on themselves being driven in rotation by the equation wheel of time 72, and lead to turn the output pinion 78 so as to again adjust exactly the position of the minutes hand of the true time 16.
  • the true time information is transmitted to the true hours wheel 110 by the additional equation pavement 106 via the timer mobile 112.
  • the user is no longer on the Greenwich meridian but in Switzerland, where the civil time is one hour ahead of Greenwich in winter, and two hours in summer.
  • the user will have to shift the calendar time indicated by his watch of one hour (or two hours in summer) compared to the base time which is the civil time in the center of the time zone.
  • the user has a correction pinion 126 which can be rotated in both directions and which drives the wheel of the civil hours 40 forwards or backwards in steps of 1/12.
  • the wheel of civil hours 40 is driven on the barrel of civil hours 48 which is itself associated with the star with twelve teeth 58 indexed in position by the jumper spring 56.
  • This spring 56 has the general shape of a C and is provided at its two ends with a spout 128 which engages in a recess between two successive teeth of the star 58.
  • the corrector pinion 126 is driven the wheel of the civil hours 40 and hence the star 58 which advances in successive jumps of a twelfth of a turn each time. It is therefore possible to correct the calendar time displayed by the watch to account for the difference between the civil time of the place where one is and the base time in the center of the spindle without changing the true solar time.
  • Geneva Geneva
  • Geneva In addition to the time difference in Switzerland from the base time in the center of the Greenwich time zone, the difference in longitude between Geneva and Greenwich must also be taken into account. In this case, Geneva is located at 6 ° and 10 minutes east longitude compared to Greenwich, which means that the sun is 25 minutes ahead of Geneva time.
  • the watch On 23 December, when the difference between true solar time and civil time is zero and the Geneva time is one hour ahead of the Greenwich hour (winter time), the watch will indicate 12h 35min in Geneva during the passage of the sun to its zenith.
  • the user has a device for defining the longitude 130 which enables him to to indicate if it is in the system of longitudes is (E) or west (W).
  • the transition from the longitudes system is (E) to the west longitudes system (W) and conversely causes a change in the direction of rotation of the 16 minutes hand of true time as described below.
  • a displacement in the direction of longitudes is (E) corresponds to a reverse displacement in the direction of longitudes west (W).
  • the longitude defining device 130 comprises control means (not shown) by means of a pusher (column wheel and shuttle) or by a rod with two stable pulled positions. These control means act on an inverter which, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, comprises a latch 131 (see FIG. Figures 8A and 8B ) able to pass alternately from a first stable position in which it indicates the system of longitudes is (E) to a second stable position in which it indicates the system of longitudes west (W).
  • This rocker is pivotally mounted about an axis 132 of a return wheel 133 and carries a second return 134 as well as a wheel 136 which are in permanent engagement.
  • the flip-flop 131 carries the needle 30.
  • the flip-flop 131 has two indicator elements 135 such as red-colored pellets which are intended to appear through two corresponding windows in the dial of the watch and which indicate to the user. which of the two systems of longitude is (E) or west (W) he has selected.
  • the gear 133 meshes with the length management wheel 98 via the gear 134 and the wheels 136 and 138.
  • the wheel 138 is limited in rotation by a pin 140 so that the needle 26 can not rotate. more than 180 ° clockwise or counter-clockwise.
  • the user By rotating the reference 133 in the counterclockwise direction, the user causes a rotation in the same direction of the wheel 98 for managing the longitude, this rotation being limited to a maximum of 180 ° by the wheel 138.
  • the wheel 136 In the second stable position of the rocker illustrated in Figure 8B the wheel 136 is decoupled from the wheel 138, so that the return 133 meshes with the longitude management wheel 98 via the return 134 and the wheel 138 only.
  • the reference 133 counter-clockwise the user causes a rotation in the opposite direction of the wheel 98 for managing the longitude, this rotation being limited to a maximum of 180 ° by the wheel 138.
  • the reference 133 By turning the reference 133 always in the same direction, the user can rotate , forwards or backwards, the minute hand 16 of the true time according to whether it is in the system of longitudes is (E) or west (W).
  • the user can, by means of the longitude defining device 130, move the needle 30 so as to point it to the east (E), then display an offset of + 6 ° in longitude by means of the needle 26.
  • This needle 26 is carried by the wheel 138 which is driven, forwards or backwards, by a maximum value of +/- 30min corresponding to a variation of +/- 7.5 ° in longitude relative to the center of the spindle (see figure 9 ).
  • the wheel 138 is limited in its rotation by a pin 140 so that the needle 26 can not rotate more than 180 ° clockwise or counter-clockwise.
  • This wheel 138 meshes with the external toothing 100 of the longitude management wheel 98 which, by rotating, rotates the planet gears 94. The latter in turn drive the output pinion 104 integral with the barrel 86 of the minutes of true time.
  • the barrel 86 of the minutes of the true time rotates the additional roadway 90 which, by means of the friction coupling 88, slides on the equation pavement 84, which allows the momentary deindexing of the minute of the true time.
  • Each degree of displacement of the needle 26 which indicates the offset in longitude relative to the center of the spindle corresponds to four minutes of displacement of the needle 16 minutes of the true time.
  • the intermediate wheel 54 has a correction pinion 142 which simultaneously rotates in one hour increments the intermediate wheel 54 and the wheel of the true hours 110.
  • the star On the intermediate wheel 54 is driven the star with twelve teeth 52 whose position is indexed by the jumper spring 50 which is of the same type as the jumper spring 56 describes above.
  • the corrector pinion 142 By acting on the corrector pinion 142, the intermediate wheel 54 and thereby the star 52 are driven which advance in successive jumps of one twelfth of a turn each time.
  • the intermediate wheel 54 drives the star 58 driven on the barrel 48 of the civil hours via the spring 56.
  • the display of the civil time is corrected for the number of hours corresponding to the time difference between the place where the user and the reference time zone.
  • the true hour wheel 110 also advances in successive jumps of a twelfth of a revolution, its movement being indexed by the jumper spring 120 which is engaged with the star 122 driven on the barrel 118 of the hours of the true time.
  • the hour hand of the civil time and the hour hand of the true time therefore move concomitantly without the minute of the true time being changed.
  • the user is at 25 ° east longitude (E).
  • the multiple of 15 closest to 25 is 30 so the user will have to display -5 ° by means of the needle 26 of the longitude management mechanism.
  • the multiple of 15 closest to 32 being 30, the user will have to display a + 2 ° difference on the longitude management mechanism.
  • the date mechanism simple or perpetual, can be of any known type and will not be described in its entirety. It is sufficient, in fact, for a good understanding of the invention, to know that this date mechanism results in the time equation cam 64 at a rate of one complete revolution per year.
  • a date mobile 144 driving the needle 6 indicating the date (from 1 to 31).
  • This date mobile 144 rotates at a rate of one complete turn per month. It is actuated by the date mechanism via an intermediate date wheel 146 for reversing the direction of rotation, and a reduction wheel 148 which reduces the speed of rotation of a complete revolution per month to one revolution complete per year.

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Abstract

The timepiece has hour and minute hands (10, 12) indicating civil time, and hour and minute hands (14, 16) indicating true minute. The daily position of the hand (16) is determined by the position of an equation of time cam. A longitude correction mechanism permits to drive the hand (16) forward or backward for a maximum value of +- 30 minutes by temporarily uncoupling it from a clockwork movement.

Description

La présente invention a pour objet une pièce d'horlogerie comprenant un mécanisme d'équation du temps avec affichage. Plus particulièrement, l'invention vise un mécanisme d'équation du temps marchante actionnant une aiguille des minutes du temps vrai qui indique l'écart entre le temps solaire vrai et le temps civil.The present invention relates to a timepiece comprising a time equation mechanism with display. More particularly, the invention is directed to a walking time equation mechanism operating a true time minute hand that indicates the gap between true solar time and civil time.

Comme on le sait, il existe un écart entre le temps solaire vrai qui correspond à la durée qui s'écoule entre deux passages supérieurs consécutifs du Soleil au méridien d'un même lieu, et le temps solaire moyen ou temps civil qui est la moyenne, faite sur l'année, de la durée de tous les jours solaires vrais. Cette différence entre le temps civil et le temps vrai atteint +14 min 22 s le 11 février, et -16 min 23 s le 4 novembre comme représenté sur la figure 1 annexée à la présente demande de brevet. Ces valeurs varient peu d'année en année.As we know, there is a gap between the true solar time which corresponds to the duration that elapses between two consecutive upper passes of the Sun to the meridian of the same place, and the average solar time or civil time which is the average , made on the year, the duration of all solar days true. This difference between the civil time and the true time reaches +14 min 22 s on February 11, and -16 min 23 s on November 4 as represented on the figure 1 attached to this patent application. These values vary little from year to year.

Pour indiquer l'écart entre le temps civil et le temps vrai, certaines pièces d'horlogerie comportent un mécanisme dit à équation du temps marchante, c'est-à-dire dont l'aiguillage comporte deux aiguilles des minutes, l'une indiquant le temps civil et l'autre le temps vrai, l'aiguille des minutes du temps vrai étant actionnée par une came d'équation du temps dont le profil est déterminé par la différence entre le temps solaire moyen et le temps vrai à un instant donné.To indicate the difference between the civil time and the true time, certain timepieces include a mechanism said to equation of walking time, that is to say whose switch has two minute hands, one indicating the civil time and the other the true time, the minute hand of the true time being actuated by a weather equation cam whose profile is determined by the difference between the mean solar time and the true time at a given instant .

La came est entraînée en rotation à raison d'une révolution par an par un mécanisme de quantième simple ou perpétuel. Le quantième simple est un mécanisme susceptible d'indiquer le jour de la semaine, le quantième du mois, le mois de l'année ou encore les phases de la lune, mais qui ne tient pas compte de la variation du nombre de jours dans le mois (mois de 28, 29 ou 30 jours). En d'autres termes, l'utilisateur d'une montre comprenant un mécanisme de quantième simple devra procéder à une correction manuelle toutes les fins de mois qui comptent moins de 31 jours. Par exemple, le 28 février ou le 30 avril, il faudra procéder à une correction manuelle. En ce qui concerne le quantième perpétuel, il permet, comme un mécanisme de quantième simple, d'indiquer le jour, le quantième, le mois et les phases de lune. Mais, à la différence du mécanisme de quantième simple, le mécanisme de quantième perpétuel tient automatiquement compte de la longueur des mois (28, 29 ou 30 jours), et ceci sans intervention manuelle. Un mécanisme de quantième perpétuel tient donc automatiquement compte des années bissextiles.The cam is rotated at the rate of one revolution per year by a simple or perpetual calendar mechanism. The simple date is a mechanism that can indicate the day of the week, the day of the month, the month of the year or the phases of the moon, but which does not take into account the variation of the number of days in the months (months of 28, 29 or 30 days). In other words, the user of a watch comprising a simple date mechanism will have to make a manual correction every month ends that are less than 31 days. For example, February 28 or April 30 will require manual correction. With regard to the perpetual calendar, it allows, as a simple date mechanism, to indicate the day, the date, the month and the moon phases. But, unlike the simple calendar mechanism, the perpetual calendar mechanism automatically takes into account the length of the months (28, 29 or 30 days), and this without manual intervention. A perpetual calendar mechanism therefore automatically takes into account leap years.

Un exemple d'une pièce d'horlogerie comportant un mécanisme à équation du temps marchante du genre décrit ci-dessus est donné par la demande de brevet européen EP 1 286 233 au nom de la Demanderesse ou dans le document DE 19754465 . Un inconvénient du mécanisme de la demande européenne est qu'il ne fournit qu'une indication de l'écart entre la minute du temps vrai et la minute du temps civil au centre du fuseau horaire de référence. Cette indication est incomplète puisqu'il faudrait également pouvoir afficher la minute du temps vrai en fonction de la longitude de l'endroit où l'on se trouve. En effet, notre globe est divisé en 24 fuseaux horaires de 60 minutes chacun, chaque fuseau correspondant à 15° de longitude (voir figure 2A). Le méridien de Greenwich, passant par Londres, est situé au milieu d'un fuseau horaire et porte la longitude 000. Les longitudes sont comptées à partir du méridien de Greenwich de 0 à 180° en direction de l'est (E) (par exemple, la longitude de Bienne (Suisse) est de 007E15 (7 degrés et 15 minutes de longitude est) et celle d'Athènes est de 023E44 (23 degrés et 44 minutes de longitude est)), et de 0 à 180° en direction de l'ouest (W) (par exemple, la longitude de Lisbonne est de 009W08 et celle de Rio de Janeiro est de 043W14) (voir figure 2B). Par rapport à son centre, un fuseau horaire s'étend donc entre -7,5° et +7,5° de longitude. Bien que le graphique d'équation soit le même pour toute la planète, le soleil ne passe bien entendu pas au zénith au même moment selon l'endroit où l'on se trouve. Ainsi, par exemple, le soleil sera au zénith plus tôt à Paris qu'à Londres, bien que ces deux villes appartiennent au même fuseau horaire.An example of a timepiece comprising a walking time equation mechanism of the kind described above is given by the patent application. European EP 1 286 233 on behalf of the Applicant or in the document From 19754465 . A disadvantage of The mechanism of the European demand is that it provides only an indication of the difference between the minute of the true time and the minute of the civil time in the center of the reference time zone. This indication is incomplete since it would also be necessary to be able to display the minute of the true time as a function of the longitude of the place where one is. Indeed, our globe is divided into 24 time zones of 60 minutes each, each time corresponding to 15 ° of longitude (see Figure 2A ). The Greenwich meridian, passing through London, is located in the middle of a time zone and carries longitude 000. Longitudes are counted from the Greenwich meridian from 0 to 180 ° eastward (E). example, the longitude of Bienne (Switzerland) is 007E15 (7 degrees and 15 minutes east longitude) and that of Athens is 023E44 (23 degrees and 44 minutes east longitude)), and from 0 to 180 ° in the direction of from the west (W) (for example, the longitude of Lisbon is 009W08 and that of Rio de Janeiro is 043W14) (see Figure 2B ). Relative to its center, a time zone thus extends between -7.5 ° and + 7.5 ° longitude. Although the equation graph is the same for the whole planet, the sun does not go to the zenith at the same time, depending on where you are. Thus, for example, the sun will be at the zenith earlier in Paris than in London, although these two cities belong to the same time zone.

La présente invention a pour but de remédier à cet inconvénient ainsi qu'à d'autres encore en procurant une pièce d'horlogerie à quantième comprenant un dispositif d'équation du temps marchante qui permette d'afficher la minute du temps vrai en fonction de la longitude de l'endroit où l'on se trouve.The object of the present invention is to remedy this drawback as well as to others by providing a date timepiece comprising a walking time equation device which makes it possible to display the minute of the true time as a function of time. the longitude of where you are.

A cet effet, la présente invention concerne une pièce d'horlogerie selon la première revendication.For this purpose, the present invention relates to a timepiece according to the first claim.

D'autres caractéristiques et avantages de la présente invention ressortiront plus clairement de la description détaillée qui suit d'un mode de réalisation de la pièce d'horlogerie selon l'invention, cet exemple étant donné à titre purement illustratif et non limitatif seulement, en liaison avec le dessin annexé sur lequel :

  • la figure 1, déjà mentionnée, est une représentation du graphe de l'équation du temps pour l'année 2003 sur laquelle sont indiqués les quantièmes 1, 11 et 21 pour chacun des mois, les mois de l'année étant indiqués en chiffres romains et l'écart entre le temps civil et le temps solaire étant indiqué en minutes;
  • la figure 2A, déjà mentionnée, est une représentation schématique des fuseaux horaires;
  • la figure 2B, déjà mentionnée, est une représentation schématique des longitudes;
  • la figure 3 est une vue en plan du cadran d'une pièce d'horlogerie conforme à l'invention selon un premier mode de réalisation;
  • la figure 4 est une vue en plan du cadran selon un second mode de réalisation;
  • la figure 5A est une vue en coupe de la partie gauche du mobile de minuterie du temps civil et du mobile de minuterie du temps vrai:
  • la figure 5B est une vue en coupe de la partie droite du mobile de minuterie du temps civil et du mobile de minuterie du temps vrai:
  • la figure 6 est une vue en plan d'une roue dont la position est indexée par une étoile à douze dents et un ressort sautoir;
  • la figure 7 est une vue en plan d'une came d'équation du temps;
  • les figures 8A et 8B sont des vues en plan du mécanisme de gestion de la longitude;
  • la figure 9 est une vue en plan du mécanisme de définition de la longitude, et
  • la figure 10 est une vue en coupe du mécanisme de quantième.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the detailed description which follows of an embodiment of the timepiece according to the invention, this example being given purely by way of illustration and not only by way of limitation. connection with the appended drawing in which:
  • the figure 1 , already mentioned, is a representation of the graph of the equation of time for the year 2003 on which are indicated the dates 1, 11 and 21 for each month, the months of the year being indicated in Roman numerals and the the difference between the civil time and the solar time being indicated in minutes;
  • the Figure 2A , already mentioned, is a schematic representation of time zones;
  • the Figure 2B , already mentioned, is a schematic representation of longitudes;
  • the figure 3 is a plan view of the dial of a timepiece according to the invention according to a first embodiment;
  • the figure 4 is a plan view of the dial according to a second embodiment;
  • the Figure 5A is a sectional view of the left side of the real time timer mobile and the true time timer mobile:
  • the Figure 5B is a sectional view of the right-hand side of the civil time timer mobile and the true time timer mobile:
  • the figure 6 is a plan view of a wheel whose position is indexed by a star with twelve teeth and a jumper spring;
  • the figure 7 is a plan view of a time equation cam;
  • the Figures 8A and 8B are plan views of the longitude management mechanism;
  • the figure 9 is a plan view of the longitude definition mechanism, and
  • the figure 10 is a sectional view of the date mechanism.

La présente invention va être décrite en liaison avec une pièce d'horlogerie du type montre-bracelet comprenant un mécanisme à équation du temps marchante actionné par une came d'équation, elle-même entraînée en rotation à raison d'une révolution par an à partir d'un mécanisme de quantième qui peut être indifféremment simple ou perpétuel. Dans le cas d'un quantième simple, les aiguilles d'heure et de minute du temps vrai peuvent être remises à l'heure par l'utilisateur lui-même à la fin des mois de l'année comptant moins de 31 jours puisque la détermination de l'écart entre les deux aiguilles des minutes du temps civil et du temps vrai est définie par la came d'équation du temps entraînée par le mécanisme de quantième. Ainsi, lors d'une remise à l'heure du quantième, la came d'équation du temps est automatiquement placée dans sa position exacte pour le jour donné.The present invention will be described in connection with a timepiece of the wristwatch type comprising a walking time equation mechanism actuated by an equation cam, itself driven in rotation at the rate of one revolution per year to from a date mechanism that can be indifferently simple or perpetual. In the case of a single date, the hour and minute hands of the real time can be reset by the user himself at the end of the months of the year with less than 31 days since the determination of the difference between the two hands of the minutes of the civil time and the true time is defined by the equation cam of the time driven by the date mechanism. Thus, during a date reset, the time equation cam is automatically placed in its exact position for the given day.

Dans ce qui suit, on ne décrira pas le mouvement d'horlogerie dans sa totalité, mais seulement les mobiles de minuterie du temps civil et du temps vrai.In what follows, we will not describe the watch movement in its entirety, but only the mobile timers of civil time and true time.

La pièce d'horlogerie selon l'invention comporte notamment un cadran dont une vue en plan est représentée à la figure 3. Désigné dans son ensemble par la référence numérique générale 1, le cadran fournit au porteur de la montre différentes informations. Il indique tout d'abord, dans un premier petit cadran 2, le mois de l'année. On voit sur la figure 3 que l'indication du mois de l'année se fait par une aiguille 4. Bien entendu, l'aiguille 4 pourrait être remplacée par un disque qui porterait l'inscription des mois de l'année et qui tournerait sous le cadran 1 en laissant apparaître le nom du mois par une ouverture pratiquée dans ledit cadran 1 et appelée guichet. Une seconde aiguille 6 se déplaçant au-dessus d'un autre petit cadran 8 indique la date (de 1 à 31) ou quantième.The timepiece according to the invention comprises in particular a dial whose plan view is shown in FIG. figure 3 . Designated as a whole by the general numerical reference 1, the dial provides the wearer with different information. He first indicates, in a first small dial 2, the month of the year. We see on the figure 3 that the indication of the month of the year is done by a needle 4. Of course, the needle 4 could be replaced by a disc which would bear the inscription of the months of the year and which would turn under the dial 1 leaving appear the name of the month by an opening in said dial 1 and called wicket. A second hand 6 moving over another small dial 8 indicates the date (1 to 31) or date.

Comme on peut également le voir sur la figure 3, la pièce d'horlogerie comporte, outre un aiguillage classique dont le rôle est d'indiquer l'heure civile et qui comprend une aiguille des heures 10 et une aiguille des minutes 12, un second aiguillage, concentrique à l'aiguillage du temps civil, et qui comprend une seconde aiguille des heures 14 et une seconde aiguille des minutes 16 qui indiquent le temps vrai. Pour permettre au porteur de la montre de faire facilement la différence entre les aiguilles d'heures 10 et de minutes 12 du temps civil et les aiguilles d'heures 14 et de minutes 16 du temps vrai, ces dernières peuvent se terminer, par exemple, par une représentation du symbole astrologique du soleil 18. La position exacte des aiguilles 14, 16 du temps vrai pour un jour donné est déterminée tous les jours (une fois toutes les 24 heures) aux environs de minuit, puis les aiguilles 10, 12 du temps civil et les aiguilles 14, 16 du temps vrai se déplacent de concert, l'écart entre les aiguilles d'heures 10 et 14 et de minutes 12, 16 demeurant constant pour le jour donné.As can also be seen on the figure 3 , the timepiece comprises, in addition to a conventional switch whose role is to indicate the civil time and which includes a 10 hour hand and a minute hand 12, a second switch, concentric with the switch of the civil time and which comprises a second hour hand 14 and a second minute hand 16 which indicate the true time. To allow the wearer of the watch to easily differentiate between the hours of hours 10 and 12 minutes of the civil time and the hours of hours 14 and 16 minutes of the true time, the latter can end, for example, by a representation of the astrological symbol of the sun 18. The exact position of the hands 14, 16 of the true time for a given day is determined every day (once every 24 hours) around midnight, then the needles 10, 12 of the civil time and needles 14, 16 of true time move together, the gap between the hours of needles 10 and 14 and minutes 12, 16 remaining constant for the given day.

Outre les indications liées au quantième, la montre selon la présente invention fournit également une indication du décalage entre l'heure civile du lieu où l'on se trouve et l'heure civile au centre du fuseau horaire auquel on appartient au moyen d'une aiguille 20 se déplaçant en regard d'une échelle de temps 22. Cette échelle du temps 22 est graduée d'heure en heure et s'étend entre -4 et +4 heures, ce qui correspond au décalage horaire maximum que l'on peut constater entre l'heure civile d'un endroit donné du globe terrestre et l'heure civile au centre du fuseau horaire de référence auquel appartient cet endroit. L'utilisateur connaît ainsi instantanément la valeur du décalage appliqué à l'heure civile affichée par la montre par rapport à l'heure civile au centre du fuseau.In addition to the date-related indications, the watch according to the present invention also provides an indication of the difference between the civil time of the place where one is and the civil time in the center of the time zone to which one belongs by means of a needle 20 moving in relation to a time scale 22. This time scale 22 is graduated hourly and extends between -4 and +4 hours, which corresponds to the maximum time difference that can be note between the civil time of a given place on the earth and the civil time in the center of the reference time zone to which this place belongs. The user thus instantly knows the value of the offset applied to the calendar time displayed by the watch relative to the civil time in the center of the spindle.

Notre globe est divisé en 24 fuseaux horaires de 60 minutes chacun, chaque fuseau correspondant à 15° de longitude (voir figure 4A). Le méridien de Greenwich, passant par Londres, est situé au milieu d'un fuseau horaire et porte la longitude 000. Les longitudes sont comptées à partir du méridien de Greenwich de 0 à 180° en direction de l'est (E) (par exemple, la longitude de Bienne (Suisse) est de 007E15 (7 degrés et 15 minutes de longitude est) et celle d'Athènes est de 023E44 (23 degrés et 44 minutes de longitude est)), et de 0 à 180° en direction de l'ouest (W) (par exemple, la longitude de Lisbonne est de 009W08 et celle de Rio de Janeiro est de 043W14) (voir figure 4B).Our globe is divided into 24 time zones of 60 minutes each, each time zone corresponding to 15 ° of longitude (see Figure 4A ). The meridian of Greenwich, passing through London, is located in the middle of a time zone and carries the longitude 000. The longitudes are counted from the meridian of Greenwich from 0 to 180 ° in easterly direction (E) (for example, the longitude of Bienne (Switzerland) is 007E15 (7 degrees and 15 minutes east longitude) and that of Athens is 023E44 (23 degrees and 44 minutes east longitude) ), and from 0 to 180 ° in a westerly direction (W) (for example, the longitude of Lisbon is 009W08 and that of Rio de Janeiro is 043W14) (see Figure 4B ).

Par rapport à son centre, un fuseau horaire s'étend donc entre -7,5° et +7,5° de longitude. Bien que le graphique d'équation soit le même pour toute la planète, le soleil ne passe bien entendu pas au zénith au même moment selon l'endroit où l'on se trouve. Ainsi, par exemple, le soleil sera au zénith plus tôt à Paris qu'à Londres, bien que ces deux villes appartiennent au même fuseau horaire. Pour gérer cet écart dû à la position en longitude du porteur par rapport au centre du fuseau horaire dans lequel il se trouve, la montre comprend un cadran 24 gradué entre -7,5° et +7,5° au-dessus duquel se déplace une aiguille 26 apte à tourner dans les deux sens. Grâce à ce mécanisme de gestion de la longitude qui sera décrit en détail ci-dessous, l'utilisateur peut appliquer un décalage de +/- 7,5° de longitude, soit un décalage temporel de +/- 30 min à l'heure vraie. Toutefois, avant d'appliquer ce décalage, l'utilisateur doit préciser s'il se tient en longitude ouest (W) ou est (E). Pour cela, il dispose d'un cadran supplémentaire 28 au-dessus duquel se déplace une aiguille 30 qui pointe soit vers l'ouest (W), soit vers l'est (E). Le passage du système de longitudes ouest (W) au système de longitudes est (E) ne peut se faire que lorsque le mécanisme de gestion de la longitude est à zéro, autrement dit lorsque l'aiguille 26 pointe sur le zéro du cadran 24. Il faut en effet bien comprendre qu'un déplacement dans le sens des longitudes est (E) correspond à un déplacement inverse dans le sens des longitudes ouest (W). Par exemple, quelqu'un qui se déplace de +6°E à partir de Greenwich verra le soleil au zénith à 11 h 36min, alors que quelqu'un qui se déplace de +6°W toujours à partir de Greenwich verra le soleil au zénith à 12h 24min.Relative to its center, a time zone thus extends between -7.5 ° and + 7.5 ° longitude. Although the equation graph is the same for the whole planet, the sun does not go to the zenith at the same time, depending on where you are. Thus, for example, the sun will be at the zenith earlier in Paris than in London, although these two cities belong to the same time zone. To manage this difference due to the position in longitude of the wearer relative to the center of the time zone in which it is located, the watch includes a dial 24 graduated between -7.5 ° and + 7.5 ° above which moves a needle 26 adapted to rotate in both directions. Thanks to this mechanism of longitude management which will be described in detail below, the user can apply an offset of +/- 7.5 ° of longitude, a time shift of +/- 30 min at the time. true. However, before applying this offset, the user must specify whether he is standing in longitude West (W) or East (E). For this, it has an additional dial 28 above which moves a needle 30 which points either west (W) or east (E). The transition from the west longitudes system (W) to the longitudes system is (E) can only be done when the longitude management mechanism is at zero, in other words when the pointer 26 points to the zero of the dial 24. It must be understood that a displacement in the direction of longitudes is (E) corresponds to a reverse displacement in the direction of longitudes west (W). For example, someone who moves +6 ° E from Greenwich will see the sun at zenith at 11:36, while someone who moves + 6 ° W still from Greenwich will see the sun at zenith at 12h 24min.

Le cadran illustré à la figure 4 diffère de celui représenté à la figure 3 en ce que l'affichage du temps vrai est excentré. Les aiguilles d'heures 14 et de minutes 16 du temps vrai se déplacent au-dessus d'un cadran 32 qui peut avoir une forme correspondant à la représentation astrologique du soleil pour permettre à l'utilisateur de faire immédiatement la différence entre l'affichage du temps civil et l'affichage du temps vrai.The dial shown in the figure 4 differs from that shown in figure 3 in that the display of the true time is eccentric. The hours 14 and 16 minutes of the true time move over a dial 32 which may have a shape corresponding to the astrological representation of the sun to allow the user to immediately make the difference between the display of the civil time and the display of the true time.

On s'intéresse maintenant au mouvement d'horlogerie selon l'invention et, plus particulièrement, aux mobiles de minuterie du temps civil et du temps vrai en liaison avec les figures 5A et 5B annexées à la présente demande de brevet. Le mouvement de la montre (non représenté) entraîne une roue 34 montée sur une chaussée 36 à l'extrémité libre de laquelle est fixée l'aiguille des minutes 12 du temps civil. La chaussée transmet l'information de l'heure de base à une roue des heures 38 puis à une roue des heures civiles 40 par l'intermédiaire d'un mobile de minuterie 42 comprenant une roue 44 et un pignon 46 qui réalisent une démultiplication de 1/12. La roue des heures civiles 40 est fixée sur un canon 48 qui porte, à son extrémité libre, l'aiguille des heures 10 du temps civil.We are now interested in the watch movement according to the invention and, more particularly, in the civil time and true time timer mobiles in connection with the Figures 5A and 5B annexed to this patent application. The movement of the watch (not shown) drives a wheel 34 mounted on a roadway 36 at the free end of which is fixed the minute hand 12 of the civil time. The pavement transmits the basic time information to a wheel hours 38 and a wheel of civil hours 40 via a mobile timer 42 comprising a wheel 44 and a pinion 46 which achieve a reduction of 1 / 12. The calendar hour wheel 40 is fixed on a barrel 48 which carries, at its free end, the hour hand of the civil time.

La roue des heures 38 porte un ressort sautoir 50 qui entraîne une étoile à douze dents 52 par pas de 1/12 (voir figure 6). L'étoile 52 est chassée sur une roue intermédiaire 54 qui elle-même porte un ressort sautoir 56 qui entraîne par pas de 1/12 une étoile à douze dents 58 chassée sur le canon 48. Le fonctionnement de ce mécanisme sera décrit ci-après.The hour wheel 38 carries a jumper spring 50 which drives a star with twelve teeth 52 in steps of 1/12 (see figure 6 ). The star 52 is driven on an intermediate wheel 54 which itself carries a jumper spring 56 which drives in steps of 1/12 a star with twelve teeth 58 driven on the barrel 48. The operation of this mechanism will be described below .

L'aiguille des minutes 16 du temps vrai est entraînée par un rouage d'affichage du temps vrai comprenant notamment un mécanisme différentiel 60 qui a pour entrées respectives la chaussée 36 d'une part, et un râteau 62 qui coopère avec une came d'équation du temps 64 (voir figure 7). Plus précisément, le mécanisme différentiel 60 comprend une roue porte-satellites 66 qui est entraînée par la chaussée 36 et qui porte un et, préférentiellement, deux pignons satellites 68. Ces deux satellites 68 sont aptes à tourner sur eux-mêmes et à rouler sur une denture intérieure 70 d'une roue d'équation du temps 72. Cette dernière présente également sur son pourtour extérieur une denture 74 par laquelle elle coopère avec le râteau 62 et la came d'équation du temps 64. Le mécanisme différentiel 60 comprend enfin en son centre un mobile de sortie 76 formé d'un pignon 78 porté par un axe 80 et qui engrène avec les pignons satellites 68. Une roue 82 est chassée sur le pignon 78 et engrène avec une chaussée d'équation 84 montée libre sur un canon 86 des minutes du temps vrai qui porte à son extrémité libre l'aiguille 16 des minutes du temps vrai. Pour une description plus complète du mécanisme différentiel et de son fonctionnement on se reportera utilement à la demande de brevet européen EP 1 286 233 au nom de la Demanderesse qui est incluse ici à titre de référence.The minute hand 16 of the true time is driven by a true time display gear comprising in particular a differential mechanism 60 which has for respective entries the roadway 36 on the one hand, and a rake 62 which cooperates with a cam equation of time 64 (see figure 7 ). More specifically, the differential mechanism 60 comprises a planet wheel 66 which is driven by the roadway 36 and which carries one and, preferably, two planet gears 68. These two satellites 68 are able to turn on themselves and to roll on an internal toothing 70 of an equation wheel of the time 72. The latter also has on its outer periphery a toothing 74 by which it cooperates with the rake 62 and the equation cam of time 64. The differential mechanism 60 finally includes in its center an output mobile 76 formed of a pinion 78 carried by an axis 80 and which meshes with the planet gears 68. A wheel 82 is driven on the pinion 78 and meshes with an equation pavement 84 mounted freely on a canon 86 minutes of the true time which carries at its free end the needle 16 minutes of the true time. For a more complete description of the differential mechanism and its operation, reference will be made to the patent application European EP 1 286 233 on behalf of the Applicant which is included here for reference.

La chaussée d'équation 84 entraîne en rotation, par le biais d'un accouplement à friction 88, une chaussée supplémentaire 90 fixée sur le canon 86 des minutes du temps vrai et qui constitue l'une des entrées d'un second mécanisme différentiel 92. Cette chaussée supplémentaire 90 porte un et, préférentiellement, deux pignons satellites 94 qui sont aptes à tourner sur eux-mêmes et à rouler sur une denture intérieure 96 d'une roue de gestion de la longitude 98. Cette roue de gestion de la longitude 98 présente également sur son pourtour extérieur une denture 100 par laquelle elle coopère avec un mécanisme de correction de la longitude 102 qui sera décrit en détail ci-après. Le mécanisme différentiel 92 comprend enfin en son centre un pignon de sortie 104 solidaire du canon 86 des minutes du temps vrai et qui engrène avec les pignons satellites 94. La structure et le fonctionnement de ce second mécanisme différentiel 92 sont semblables à ceux du mécanisme différentiel 60 décrit ci-dessus. C'est pourquoi, pour plus de détails, on pourra également se reporter à la demande de brevet européen au nom de la Demanderesse citée plus haut.The equation pavement 84 drives in rotation, through a friction coupling 88, an additional roadway 90 fixed on the barrel 86 of the minutes of the true time and which constitutes one of the inputs of a second differential mechanism. This additional roadway 90 carries one and, preferably, two planet gears 94 which are able to turn on themselves and to roll on an internal toothing 96 of a longitude management wheel 98. This wheel for managing the longitude 98 also has on its outer periphery a toothing 100 by which it cooperates with a longitude correction mechanism 102 which will be described in detail below. The differential mechanism 92 finally comprises at its center an output pinion 104 integral with the barrel 86 of the minutes of the true time and which meshes with the planet gears 94. The structure and operation of this second differential mechanism 92 are similar to those of the differential mechanism 60 described above. Therefore, for more details, one can also refer to the European patent application in the name of the Applicant mentioned above.

Une chaussée d'équation supplémentaire 106 est fixée sur le canon 86 des minutes du temps vrai. Cette chaussée 106 transmet l'information de l'heure vraie à un mobile portant l'aiguille 14 des heures vraies par l'intermédiaire d'un mobile de minuterie 112 comprenant une roue 114 et un pignon 116 qui réalisent une démultiplication de 1/12. Le mobile portant l'aiguille 14 des heures vraies comprend une planche d'équation 108 et une roue des heures vraies 110. La roue des heures vraies 110 est fixée sur un canon 118 des heures du temps vrai qui porte l'aiguille des heures vraies 14 à son extrémité libre. La roue des heures vraies 110 porte d'autre part un ressort sautoir 120 qui entraîne par pas de 1/12 une étoile à douze dents 122 chassée sur le canon 118.An additional equation pavement 106 is attached to the barrel 86 of the minutes of true time. This pavement 106 transmits the true time information to a mobile carrying the true hours hand 14 via a timer wheel 112 comprising a wheel 114 and a pinion 116 which achieve a reduction of 1/12. . The mobile carrying the true hours hand 14 comprises an equation board 108 and a real hours wheel 110. The real hours wheel 110 is fixed on a gun 118 of the hours of the true time which carries the real hours hand 14 at its free end. The wheel of the true hours 110 carries on the other hand a spring jumper 120 which drives in steps of 1/12 a star with twelve teeth 122 driven on the barrel 118.

On s'intéresse maintenant au fonctionnement du mécanisme décrit ci-dessus.We are now interested in the operation of the mechanism described above.

Supposons tout d'abord que le porteur de la montre se trouve au centre d'un fuseau horaire, par exemple sur le méridien de Greenwich. Dans ce cas, aucune correction n'est à faire, tant du point de vue du décalage de l'heure civile que de la gestion de la longitude. Le mouvement de la montre entraîne ainsi la roue 34 montée sur la chaussée 36 pour fournir une indication de la minute du temps de base, autrement dit l'heure civile au centre du fuseau. A son tour, la chaussée 36 transmet, via le mobile de minuterie 42 et la roue des heures 38, l'information de l'heure de base à la roue des heures civiles 40 pour fournir une indication de l'heure du temps civil. Simultanément, le mouvement de la montre entraîne le mécanisme différentiel 60 pour fournir une indication de la minute du temps vrai ou temps solaire. En régime de fonctionnement normal de la montre, la came d'équation du temps 64 et le râteau 62 sont immobiles. Par contre, les pignons satellites 68 sont entraînés par la chaussée 36, c'est-à-dire par le mouvement d'horlogerie de la montre. Les pignons 68 tournent donc sur eux-mêmes et roulent sur la denture intérieure 70 de la roue d'équation du temps 72, entraînant le pignon de sortie 78 et la roue 82 en rotation. La chaussée d'équation 84 tourne à son tour, entraînant la chaussée supplémentaire 90 via l'accouplement à friction 88, ce qui permet à l'aiguille des minutes du temps vrai 16 de tourner de façon concomitante à l'aiguille des minutes du temps civil 12. L'écart entre l'aiguille 16 des minutes du temps vrai et l'aiguille 12 des minutes du temps civil reste donc constant sur une période de 24 heures. Une fois par jour, aux environs de minuit, la came d'équation du temps 64 pivote, entraînée par un mécanisme de quantième 124 qui fait passer le calendrier d'un jour au jour suivant. A ce moment précis, le râteau 62 pivote à son tour, entraînant la roue d'équation 72 en rotation. Les pignons satellites 68 étant, durant ce bref intervalle de temps, sensiblement immobiles (ils font un tour complet en une heure), ils tournent sur eux-mêmes en étant entraînés en rotation par la roue d'équation du temps 72, et entraînent à leur tour le pignon de sortie 78 de façon à ajuster à nouveau exactement la position de l'aiguille des minutes du temps vrai 16. L'information de l'heure vraie, quant à elle, est transmise à la roue des heures vraies 110 par la chaussée d'équation supplémentaire 106 via le mobile de minuterie 112.Suppose first that the wearer of the watch is in the center of a time zone, for example on the meridian of Greenwich. In this case, no correction is to be made, both from the point of view of the shift of the civil time and the management of the longitude. The movement of the watch thus causes the wheel 34 mounted on the roadway 36 to provide an indication of the minute of the base time, ie the civil time in the center of the spindle. In turn, the roadway 36 transmits, via the timer wheel 42 and the hour wheel 38, the basic time information to the calendar hour wheel 40 to provide an indication of the time of the civil time. Simultaneously, the movement of the watch causes the differential mechanism 60 to provide an indication of the minute of the true time or solar time. In normal operation of the watch, the time equation cam 64 and the rake 62 are stationary. On the other hand, the planet gears 68 are driven by the roadway 36, that is to say by the clockwork movement of the watch. The pinions 68 therefore turn on themselves and roll on the internal toothing 70 of the equation wheel of the time 72, driving the output pinion 78 and the wheel 82 in rotation. The equation pavement 84 in turn rotates, driving the additional roadway 90 via the friction clutch 88, allowing the minute hand of the true time 16 to rotate concomitantly with the minute hand of the time. Civil 12. The gap between the needle 16 of the minutes of true time and the hand 12 of the minutes of the civil time therefore remains constant over a period of 24 hours. Once a day, around midnight, the equation cam of time 64 pivots, driven by a calendar 124 which changes the calendar from one day to the next. At this precise moment, the rake 62 pivots in turn, driving the equation wheel 72 in rotation. The planet gears 68 being, during this brief time interval, substantially immobile (they make a complete revolution in one hour), they rotate on themselves being driven in rotation by the equation wheel of time 72, and lead to turn the output pinion 78 so as to again adjust exactly the position of the minutes hand of the true time 16. The true time information, in turn, is transmitted to the true hours wheel 110 by the additional equation pavement 106 via the timer mobile 112.

Supposons maintenant que l'utilisateur ne soit plus sur le méridien de Greenwich mais en Suisse, pays où l'heure civile est en avance d'une heure sur celle de Greenwich en hiver, et de deux heures en été. Pour connaître avec exactitude l'heure de passage du soleil à son zénith en fonction de l'heure civile du lieu où il se trouve, l'utilisateur va devoir décaler l'heure civile indiquée par sa montre d'une heure (ou de deux heures en été) par rapport à l'heure de base qui est l'heure civile au centre du fuseau. Pour cela, l'utilisateur dispose d'un pignon correcteur 126 qui peut être commandé en rotation dans les deux sens et qui entraîne la roue des heures civiles 40 en avant ou en arrière par pas de 1/12. En effet, la roue des heures civiles 40 est chassée sur le canon des heures civiles 48 qui est lui-même associé à l'étoile à douze dents 58 indexée en position par le ressort sautoir 56. Ce ressort 56 a la forme générale d'un C et est muni à ses deux extrémités d'un bec 128 qui vient en prise dans un creux entre deux dents successives de l'étoile 58. Ainsi, en agissant sur le pignon correcteur 126, on entraîne la roue des heures civiles 40 et par là même l'étoile 58 qui avance par sauts successifs d'un douzième de tour à chaque fois. Il est donc possible de corriger l'heure civile affichée par la montre pour tenir compte du décalage entre l'heure civile du lieu où l'on se trouve et l'heure de base au centre du fuseau sans modifier l'heure solaire vraie.Suppose now that the user is no longer on the Greenwich meridian but in Switzerland, where the civil time is one hour ahead of Greenwich in winter, and two hours in summer. To know exactly when the sun goes to its zenith according to the civil time of the place where it is, the user will have to shift the calendar time indicated by his watch of one hour (or two hours in summer) compared to the base time which is the civil time in the center of the time zone. For this, the user has a correction pinion 126 which can be rotated in both directions and which drives the wheel of the civil hours 40 forwards or backwards in steps of 1/12. Indeed, the wheel of civil hours 40 is driven on the barrel of civil hours 48 which is itself associated with the star with twelve teeth 58 indexed in position by the jumper spring 56. This spring 56 has the general shape of a C and is provided at its two ends with a spout 128 which engages in a recess between two successive teeth of the star 58. Thus, by acting on the corrector pinion 126, is driven the wheel of the civil hours 40 and hence the star 58 which advances in successive jumps of a twelfth of a turn each time. It is therefore possible to correct the calendar time displayed by the watch to account for the difference between the civil time of the place where one is and the base time in the center of the spindle without changing the true solar time.

Supposons maintenant que l'utilisateur se trouve à Genève (Suisse). En plus du décalage de l'heure civile en Suisse par rapport à l'heure de base au centre du fuseau horaire de Greenwich, il faut également tenir compte de l'écart en longitude entre Genève et Greenwich. Dans le cas présent, Genève est située à 6° et 10 minutes de longitude est par rapport à Greenwich, ce qui signifie que le soleil est en avance de 25 minutes sur l'heure de Genève. Un 23 décembre, date à laquelle la différence entre le temps solaire vrai et le temps civil est nulle et où l'heure civile de Genève est en avance d'une heure sur l'heure civile de Greenwich (horaire d'hiver), la montre indiquera donc 12h 35min à Genève lors du passage du soleil à son zénith.Suppose now that the user is in Geneva (Switzerland). In addition to the time difference in Switzerland from the base time in the center of the Greenwich time zone, the difference in longitude between Geneva and Greenwich must also be taken into account. In this case, Geneva is located at 6 ° and 10 minutes east longitude compared to Greenwich, which means that the sun is 25 minutes ahead of Geneva time. On 23 December, when the difference between true solar time and civil time is zero and the Geneva time is one hour ahead of the Greenwich hour (winter time), the watch will indicate 12h 35min in Geneva during the passage of the sun to its zenith.

Pour pouvoir tenir compte de l'écart en longitude entre l'endroit où se trouve l'utilisateur et le centre du fuseau horaire dans lequel se trouve cet endroit, l'utilisateur dispose d'un dispositif de définition de la longitude 130 qui lui permet d'indiquer s'il se trouve dans le système de longitudes est (E) ou ouest (W). Le fait de passer du système de longitudes est (E) au système de longitudes ouest (W) et inversement provoque un changement du sens de rotation de l'aiguille 16 des minutes du temps vrai comme décrit ci-dessous. Il faut en effet bien comprendre qu'un déplacement dans le sens des longitudes est (E) correspond à un déplacement inverse dans le sens des longitudes ouest (W). Par exemple, quelqu'un qui se déplace de +6°E à partir de Greenwich verra le soleil au zénith à 11 h 36min, alors qu'en se déplaçant de +6°W à partir de Greenwich on verra le soleil à son zénith à 12h 24min. Avant de changer de système de longitudes, il faut que l'aiguille 26 du mécanisme de gestion de la longitude soit à zéro.In order to take into account the difference in longitude between the user's location and the center of the time zone in which this location is located, the user has a device for defining the longitude 130 which enables him to to indicate if it is in the system of longitudes is (E) or west (W). The transition from the longitudes system is (E) to the west longitudes system (W) and conversely causes a change in the direction of rotation of the 16 minutes hand of true time as described below. It must be understood that a displacement in the direction of longitudes is (E) corresponds to a reverse displacement in the direction of longitudes west (W). For example, someone who moves +6 ° E from Greenwich will see the sun at the zenith at 11:36, while moving + 6 ° W from Greenwich will see the sun at its zenith at 12h 24min. Before changing the longitudes system, the needle 26 of the longitude management mechanism must be zero.

Le dispositif de définition de la longitude 130 comprend des moyens de commande (non représentés) par poussoir (roue à colonnes et navette) ou par tige à deux positions tirées stables. Ces moyens de commande agissent sur un inverseur qui, selon un mode préféré de réalisation de l'invention, comprend une bascule 131 (voir figures 8A et 8B) apte à passer alternativement d'une première position stable dans laquelle elle indique le système de longitudes est (E) à une seconde position stable dans laquelle elle indique le système de longitudes ouest (W). Cette bascule est montée pivotante autour d'un axe 132 d'une roue de renvoi 133 et porte un second renvoi 134 de même qu'une roue 136 qui sont en prise permanente. La bascule 131 porte l'aiguille 30. Selon une variante, la bascule 131 porte deux éléments indicateurs 135 tels que des pastilles de couleur rouge qui sont destinées à apparaître à travers deux guichets correspondants pratiqués dans le cadran de la montre et qui indiquent à l'utilisateur lequel des deux systèmes de longitudes est (E) ou ouest (W) il a sélectionné. Dans la première position stable de la bascule 131 illustrée à la figure 8A, le renvoi 133 engrène avec la roue 98 de gestion de la longitude par l'intermédiaire du renvoi 134 et des roues 136 et 138. La roue 138 est limitée dans sa rotation par une goupille 140 de façon que l'aiguille 26 ne puisse tourner de plus de 180° dans le sens horaire ou anti-horaire. En faisant tourner le renvoi 133 dans le sens anti-horaire, l'utilisateur provoque une rotation dans le même sens de la roue 98 de gestion de la longitude, cette rotation étant limitée à 180° au maximum par la roue 138. Dans la seconde position stable de la bascule illustrée à la figure 8B, la roue 136 est découplée de la roue 138, de sorte que le renvoi 133 engrène avec la roue 98 de gestion de la longitude via le renvoi 134 et la roue 138 seulement. En faisant tourner le renvoi 133 dans le sens anti-horaire, l'utilisateur provoque une rotation dans le sens inverse de la roue 98 de gestion de la longitude, cette rotation étant limitée à 180° au maximum par la roue 138. Ainsi, en tournant le renvoi 133 toujours dans le même sens, l'utilisateur peut faire tourner, en avant ou en arrière, l'aiguille 16 des minutes du temps vrai selon qu'il se trouve dans le système de longitudes est (E) ou ouest (W).The longitude defining device 130 comprises control means (not shown) by means of a pusher (column wheel and shuttle) or by a rod with two stable pulled positions. These control means act on an inverter which, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, comprises a latch 131 (see FIG. Figures 8A and 8B ) able to pass alternately from a first stable position in which it indicates the system of longitudes is (E) to a second stable position in which it indicates the system of longitudes west (W). This rocker is pivotally mounted about an axis 132 of a return wheel 133 and carries a second return 134 as well as a wheel 136 which are in permanent engagement. The flip-flop 131 carries the needle 30. According to one variant, the flip-flop 131 has two indicator elements 135 such as red-colored pellets which are intended to appear through two corresponding windows in the dial of the watch and which indicate to the user. which of the two systems of longitude is (E) or west (W) he has selected. In the first stable position of the latch 131 illustrated in FIG. figure 8A , the gear 133 meshes with the length management wheel 98 via the gear 134 and the wheels 136 and 138. The wheel 138 is limited in rotation by a pin 140 so that the needle 26 can not rotate. more than 180 ° clockwise or counter-clockwise. By rotating the reference 133 in the counterclockwise direction, the user causes a rotation in the same direction of the wheel 98 for managing the longitude, this rotation being limited to a maximum of 180 ° by the wheel 138. In the second stable position of the rocker illustrated in Figure 8B the wheel 136 is decoupled from the wheel 138, so that the return 133 meshes with the longitude management wheel 98 via the return 134 and the wheel 138 only. By turning the reference 133 counter-clockwise, the user causes a rotation in the opposite direction of the wheel 98 for managing the longitude, this rotation being limited to a maximum of 180 ° by the wheel 138. Thus, by turning the reference 133 always in the same direction, the user can rotate , forwards or backwards, the minute hand 16 of the true time according to whether it is in the system of longitudes is (E) or west (W).

Supposons donc que l'utilisateur soit à Genève, c'est-à-dire à +6° de longitude est (E) par rapport au méridien de Greenwich. Comme décrit ci-dessus, l'utilisateur peut, au moyen du dispositif de définition de la longitude 130, déplacer l'aiguille 30 de manière à la faire pointer vers l'est (E), puis afficher un décalage de +6° en longitude au moyen de l'aiguille 26. Cette aiguille 26 est portée par la roue 138 qui est entraînée, en avant ou en arrière, d'une valeur maximale de +/- 30min correspondant à un écart de +/- 7,5° en longitude par rapport au centre du fuseau (voir figure 9). La roue 138 est limitée dans sa rotation par une goupille 140 de façon que l'aiguille 26 ne puisse tourner de plus de 180° dans le sens horaire ou anti-horaire. Cette roue 138 engrène avec la denture extérieure 100 de la roue de gestion de la longitude 98 qui, en tournant, fait tourner sur eux-mêmes les pignons satellites 94. Ces derniers entraînent à leur tour le pignon de sortie 104 solidaire du canon 86 des minutes du temps vrai. En tournant, le canon 86 des minutes du temps vrai entraîne en rotation la chaussée supplémentaire 90 qui, par le biais de l'accouplement à friction 88, glisse sur la chaussée d'équation 84, ce qui permet la désindexation momentanée de la minute du temps vrai. Chaque degré de déplacement de l'aiguille 26 qui indique le décalage en longitude par rapport au centre du fuseau correspond à quatre minutes de déplacement de l'aiguille 16 des minutes du temps vrai.Suppose, then, that the user is in Geneva, that is, at +6 ° east longitude (E) with respect to the meridian of Greenwich. As described above, the user can, by means of the longitude defining device 130, move the needle 30 so as to point it to the east (E), then display an offset of + 6 ° in longitude by means of the needle 26. This needle 26 is carried by the wheel 138 which is driven, forwards or backwards, by a maximum value of +/- 30min corresponding to a variation of +/- 7.5 ° in longitude relative to the center of the spindle (see figure 9 ). The wheel 138 is limited in its rotation by a pin 140 so that the needle 26 can not rotate more than 180 ° clockwise or counter-clockwise. This wheel 138 meshes with the external toothing 100 of the longitude management wheel 98 which, by rotating, rotates the planet gears 94. The latter in turn drive the output pinion 104 integral with the barrel 86 of the minutes of true time. By turning, the barrel 86 of the minutes of the true time rotates the additional roadway 90 which, by means of the friction coupling 88, slides on the equation pavement 84, which allows the momentary deindexing of the minute of the true time. Each degree of displacement of the needle 26 which indicates the offset in longitude relative to the center of the spindle corresponds to four minutes of displacement of the needle 16 minutes of the true time.

Si l'utilisateur se trouve à +6° de longitude est (E) par rapport au méridien de Greenwich, l'affichage de ce décalage au moyen du mécanisme de gestion de la longitude entraîne une rotation de l'aiguille des minutes du temps vrai dans le sens anti-horaire de 24 minutes. Inversement, si l'utilisateur se trouve à +6° de longitude ouest (W) par rapport au méridien de Greenwich, l'affichage de ce décalage au moyen du mécanisme de gestion de la longitude entraînera une rotation de l'aiguille des minutes du temps vrai dans le sens horaire de 24 minutes.If the user is within + 6 ° east longitude (E) relative to the Greenwich meridian, the display of this offset using the longitude management mechanism causes the minute hand rotation of the true time counter-clockwise 24 minutes. Conversely, if the user is at + 6 ° west longitude (W) relative to the Greenwich meridian, displaying this offset using the longitude management mechanism will cause the minute hand to rotate. true time clockwise 24 minutes.

Supposons maintenant que l'utilisateur change de fuseau horaire. Il est intéressant pour lui de pouvoir indexer l'heure et la date de sa montre simplement et rapidement.Now suppose the user changes timezone. It is interesting for him to be able to index the time and date of his watch simply and quickly.

Pour cela, il dispose d'un pignon correcteur 142 qui entraîne simultanément en rotation par pas d'une heure la roue intermédiaire 54 et la roue des heures vraies 110. Sur la roue intermédiaire 54 est chassée l'étoile à douze dents 52 dont la position est indexée par le ressort sautoir 50 qui est du même type que le ressort sautoir 56 décrit ci-avant. Ainsi, en agissant sur le pignon correcteur 142, on entraîne la roue intermédiaire 54 et par là même l'étoile 52 qui avancent par sauts successifs d'un douzième de tour à chaque fois. En tournant, la roue intermédiaire 54 entraîne l'étoile 58 chassée sur le canon 48 des heures civiles via le ressort 56. L'affichage du temps civil est donc corrigé du nombre d'heures correspondant au décalage horaire entre le lieu où se trouve l'utilisateur et le fuseau horaire de référence. La roue des heures vraies 110 avance également par sauts successifs d'un douzième de tour, son déplacement étant indexé par le ressort sautoir 120 qui est en prise avec l'étoile 122 chassée sur le canon 118 des heures du temps vrai. L'aiguille des heures du temps civil et l'aiguille des heures du temps vrai se déplacent donc de manière concomitante sans que la minute du temps vrai ne soit modifiée.For this, it has a correction pinion 142 which simultaneously rotates in one hour increments the intermediate wheel 54 and the wheel of the true hours 110. On the intermediate wheel 54 is driven the star with twelve teeth 52 whose position is indexed by the jumper spring 50 which is of the same type as the jumper spring 56 describes above. Thus, by acting on the corrector pinion 142, the intermediate wheel 54 and thereby the star 52 are driven which advance in successive jumps of one twelfth of a turn each time. By turning, the intermediate wheel 54 drives the star 58 driven on the barrel 48 of the civil hours via the spring 56. The display of the civil time is corrected for the number of hours corresponding to the time difference between the place where the user and the reference time zone. The true hour wheel 110 also advances in successive jumps of a twelfth of a revolution, its movement being indexed by the jumper spring 120 which is engaged with the star 122 driven on the barrel 118 of the hours of the true time. The hour hand of the civil time and the hour hand of the true time therefore move concomitantly without the minute of the true time being changed.

Supposons que l'utilisateur se trouve à 25° de longitude est (E). Le multiple de 15 le plus proche de 25 est 30 donc l'utilisateur devra afficher -5° au moyen de l'aiguille 26 du mécanisme de gestion de la longitude. Si l'utilisateur se trouve à 32° de longitude est (E), le multiple de 15 le plus proche de 32 étant 30, l'utilisateur devra afficher un écart de +2° sur le mécanisme de gestion de la longitude.Suppose the user is at 25 ° east longitude (E). The multiple of 15 closest to 25 is 30 so the user will have to display -5 ° by means of the needle 26 of the longitude management mechanism. If the user is at 32 ° east longitude (E), the multiple of 15 closest to 32 being 30, the user will have to display a + 2 ° difference on the longitude management mechanism.

Le mécanisme de quantième, simple ou perpétuel, peut être de tout type connu et ne sera pas décrit dans sa totalité. Il suffit, en effet, pour la bonne compréhension de l'invention, de savoir que ce mécanisme de quantième entraîne la came d'équation du temps 64 à raison d'un tour complet par an. On a cependant représenté, à titre purement illustratif seulement (voir figure 10), un mobile de quantième 144 entraînant l'aiguille 6 indiquant la date (de 1 à 31). Ce mobile de quantième 144 tourne à raison d'un tour complet par mois. Il est actionné par le mécanisme de quantième via une roue de renvoi intermédiaire de quantième 146 permettant d'inverser le sens de rotation, et un mobile de réduction 148 qui permet de réduire la vitesse de rotation d'un tour complet par mois à un tour complet par an.The date mechanism, simple or perpetual, can be of any known type and will not be described in its entirety. It is sufficient, in fact, for a good understanding of the invention, to know that this date mechanism results in the time equation cam 64 at a rate of one complete revolution per year. However, we have shown, for illustrative purposes only (see figure 10 ), a date mobile 144 driving the needle 6 indicating the date (from 1 to 31). This date mobile 144 rotates at a rate of one complete turn per month. It is actuated by the date mechanism via an intermediate date wheel 146 for reversing the direction of rotation, and a reduction wheel 148 which reduces the speed of rotation of a complete revolution per month to one revolution complete per year.

Il va de soi que la présente invention n'est pas limitée au mode de réalisation qui vient d'être décrit et que diverses modifications et variantes simples peuvent être envisagées par l'homme du métier sans sortir du cadre de l'invention tel que défini par les revendications annexées.It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment which has just been described and that various modifications and simple variants can be envisaged by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (22)

  1. Timepiece including a timepiece movement and a date mechanism (124), said timepiece having a pair of hour and minute hands (10, 12), which indicate the civil time, and an additional minute hand (16) which indicates the true minute and which is driven by a true time display gear train, the daily position of the true time minute hand (16) being determined by the position of a time equation cam (64) driven in rotation at the rate of one revolution per year from the date mechanism (124), a longitude correction mechanism (102) driving the true time minute hand (16) forward or backwards by a maximum value of +/- 30 minutes, and momentarily uncoupling said hand from the timepiece movement, characterized in that the longitude correction mechanism (102) further includes a wheel (138) whose rotation is limited such that said wheel cannot rotate more than 180° in the clockwise or anticlockwise direction and which meshes with a differential gear mechanism (92).
  2. Timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the longitude correction mechanism (102) forms one of the inputs of the differential gear mechanism (92), the other input of the differential gear mechanism (92) being formed by the true time display gear train, while the output of said differential gear mechanism (92) is the true time minute hand (16) taking account of the longitude of the location of the timepiece.
  3. Timepiece according to any of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it includes a longitude definition device (130) which enables a user to indicate whether he is in the east (E) or west (W) longitude system and which cooperates with the longitude correction mechanism (102) so as to cause a change of rotational direction of the true time minute hand (16).
  4. Timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that the longitude definition device (130) includes a mechanical reverser device.
  5. Timepiece according to claim 4, characterized in that the longitude definition device (130) includes a lever (131) which can occupy two distinct stable positions respectively corresponding to the east (E) and west (W) longitude systems, said lever (131) including an intermediate wheel (134) and a wheel (136) that are permanently meshed, the intermediate wheel (134) meshing either directly, or via the wheel (136) with the longitude programme wheel (98) depending upon the position that said lever (136) is occupying.
  6. Timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the true time display gear train includes a cannon-pinion (90) which meshes with the differential gear mechanism (92) and which is kinematically connected to the true time minute hand (16).
  7. Timepiece according to claim 6, characterized in that the cannon-pinion (90) carries at least one planetary pinion (94) able to rotate about itself and to roll over an inner toothing (96) of a longitude programme wheel (98), said longitude programme wheel (98) also having an external toothing (100) via which it cooperates with the longitude correction mechanism (102).
  8. Timepiece according to claim 7, characterized in that the differential gear mechanism (92) includes at the centre thereof an output pinion (104) kinematically connected to the true time minute hand (16) and which meshes with the planetary pinion (94).
  9. Timepiece according to any of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the cannon-pinion (90) is driven in rotation via a friction coupling device (88) by an equation cannon-pinion (84) mounted freely on a true time minute pipe (86) at one end of which the true time minute hand (16) is secured.
  10. Timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the true time display gear train drives a wheel set carrying an additional hour hand (14) which indicates the true time.
  11. Timepiece according to claims 9 and 10, characterized in that the true time display gear train drives the wheel set carrying the true time hour hand (14) via an equation cannon-pinion (106) secured to the true time minute pipe (86).
  12. Timepiece according to claim 11, characterized in that the equation cannon-pinion (106) transmits the true time data to an equation plate (108) then to a true time hour wheel (110) via a motion work train (112) which performs a reduction of 1/12, the true hour wheel (110) being secured to a true time hour pipe (118) which carries at one free end thereof the true time hour hand (14).
  13. Timepiece according to claim 12, characterized in that the equation plate (108) carries a jumper spring (120) which drives by steps of 1/12 a star wheel with twelve teeth (122) driven onto the pipe (118).
  14. Timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the true time display gear train includes a differential gear mechanism (60) which has as inputs respectively a cannon-pinion (36) at one end of which the civil time minute hand (12) is secured and a rack (62) which cooperates with the time equation cam (64).
  15. Timepiece according to claim 14, characterized in that the differential gear mechanism (60) includes a wheel (66) that is driven by the cannon-pinion (36) and which carries at least one planetary pinion (68) able to rotate about itself and to roll over an inner toothing (70) of a time equation wheel (72), said time equation wheel (72) also having an external toothing (74) via which it cooperates with the rack (62).
  16. Timepiece according to claim 15, characterized in that the differential gear mechanism (60) includes at the centre thereof an output pinion (78) which meshes with the planetary pinion (68).
  17. Timepiece according to claim 16, characterized in that a wheel (82) is driven onto the pinion (78) and meshes with an equation cannon-pinion (84) freely mounted on the true time minute pipe (86).
  18. Timepiece according to claims 11 and 16, characterized in that a wheel (82) is driven onto the pinion (78) and meshes with an equation cannon-pinion (84) freely mounted on the true time minute pipe (86).
  19. Timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the movement transmits the civil time data to an hour wheel (38) then to a civil hour wheel (40) via a motion work wheel set (42) which performs a reduction of 1/12, the civil hour wheel (40) being driven onto a pipe (48) which carries at a free end thereof the civil hour hand (10).
  20. Timepiece according to claim 19, characterized in that the hour wheel (38) carries a jumper spring (50) that drives a star wheel with twelve teeth (52) by steps of 1/12, said star wheel (52) being driven onto an intermediate wheel (54) which itself carries a jumper spring (58) which drives by steps of 1/12 a star wheel with twelve teeth (58) driven onto the pipe (48).
  21. Timepiece according to any of claims 19 or 20, characterized in that it includes a corrector pinion (126) which may be controlled in rotation in both directions and which drives the civil hour wheel (40) forwards or backwards by steps of 1/12 without the solar time being altered.
  22. Timepiece according to any of claims 20 or 21, characterized in that it includes a corrector pinion (142) that simultaneously drives in rotation the intermediate wheel (54) and the true time hour wheel (110) forwards or backwards and by steps of one hour.
EP05784183A 2004-09-15 2005-09-01 Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation Active EP1792236B1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP05784183A EP1792236B1 (en) 2004-09-15 2005-09-01 Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04021904A EP1637942A1 (en) 2004-09-15 2004-09-15 Calender timepiece comprising an equation-of-time device
EP05784183A EP1792236B1 (en) 2004-09-15 2005-09-01 Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation
PCT/EP2005/009425 WO2006029722A2 (en) 2004-09-15 2005-09-01 Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1792236A2 EP1792236A2 (en) 2007-06-06
EP1792236B1 true EP1792236B1 (en) 2008-05-21

Family

ID=34926543

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04021904A Withdrawn EP1637942A1 (en) 2004-09-15 2004-09-15 Calender timepiece comprising an equation-of-time device
EP05784183A Active EP1792236B1 (en) 2004-09-15 2005-09-01 Timepiece displaying the day of the month comprising a device for a running time equation

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04021904A Withdrawn EP1637942A1 (en) 2004-09-15 2004-09-15 Calender timepiece comprising an equation-of-time device

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (2) EP1637942A1 (en)
AT (1) ATE396432T1 (en)
DE (1) DE602005007044D1 (en)
WO (1) WO2006029722A2 (en)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ATE467158T1 (en) 2005-06-30 2010-05-15 Piguet Frederic Sa CLOCK WITH CALENDAR DISPLAY
ATE530955T1 (en) 2008-11-12 2011-11-15 Louis Vuitton Malletier Sa CLOCK DISPLAY DEVICE
CH712289A1 (en) * 2016-03-23 2017-09-29 Officine Panerai Ag Quick adjustment spring for watch movement.
CH712518B1 (en) * 2016-06-01 2020-03-13 Complitime S A Display device for clock movement.
EP3640747A1 (en) * 2016-07-15 2020-04-22 Montres Breguet S.A. Running time equation mechanism controlled by a differential device
EP3410231B1 (en) * 2017-05-29 2021-06-30 Montres Breguet S.A. Clock mechanism

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1380492A (en) * 1971-02-05 1975-01-15 Suwa Seikosha Kk Timepiece movement
CH673747B5 (en) * 1988-11-15 1990-10-15 Longines Montres Comp D
DE4037750A1 (en) * 1990-11-28 1992-06-04 Scheidt Walter R Dipl Ing Fh Day and night duration display - takes account of time of year and geographic width of reference place for use on clocks or watches
CH681674B5 (en) * 1991-04-17 1993-11-15 Montres Breguet Sa clockwork perpetual calendar.
DE19754465C1 (en) * 1997-12-08 1998-12-10 Rudolf Fries Solar time correction clock with two numeral plates
EP1286233B1 (en) * 2001-08-07 2008-01-23 Piguet, Frédéric S.A. Calendar timepiece comprising an equation-of-time device
EP1343056A1 (en) * 2002-03-08 2003-09-10 The British Masters SA Wristwatch with solar time display

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1637942A1 (en) 2006-03-22
WO2006029722A3 (en) 2006-04-27
DE602005007044D1 (en) 2008-07-03
WO2006029722A2 (en) 2006-03-23
EP1792236A2 (en) 2007-06-06
ATE396432T1 (en) 2008-06-15

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