EP2133759B1 - Timepiece incorporating a striking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Background of the invention

The present invention relates to a timepiece, in particular a watch, comprising a striking mechanism, a time display device, driven by a clockwork movement, and a time setting mechanism comprising in particular a time-setting wheel connected to the display device, a manual control rod and a sliding pinion rotated by said rod and capable of sliding thereon to engage with a first transmission of the gear wheel at the time to transmit the rotation of the sliding pinion to the time display device.

In the patent application EP 1429214 , which describes a timepiece of this kind, it is explained that a time setting operation while the buzzer is running can cause significant damage and should therefore be avoided. For this purpose, the proposed solution uses a locking mechanism which is controlled by said moving part of the striking mechanism and which blocks the conventional latch of the time setting mechanism, so that the sliding pinion controlled by this latch can not no longer move to get on the cogwheel.

Such blockage is effective, but leaves the risk of damage if the user, accustomed to feel resistance every time he pulls on the crown of the control rod, exerts too much traction. This could damage the time setting mechanism or locking mechanism, or the striking mechanism if the lock was overcome.

Summary of the invention

The present invention aims to avoid the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, by avoiding in a sure way that a user can damage the timepiece by untimely manipulation when the striking mechanism is no longer in the rest position. .

For this purpose, there is provided a timepiece of the type indicated in the preamble above, characterized by a disengagement device, interposed in the time-setting train and able to remove on command the transmission of the rotational movement. said first reference to the time display device, and by a disengagement command, actuated by a moving part of the striking mechanism to actuate the disengagement device during operation of the striking mechanism.

Thus, contrary to the principle laid down in the publication EP 1429214 , the time setting mechanism is not blocked when the ringing is triggered, but simply disengaged, so that the kinematic connection between the first return of the time-setting train and the display device is provisionally deleted. This clutch is operated regardless of the position of the control rod and / or the sliding pinion. In this situation, if the user pulls the control rod and tries to perform a time setting, he can rotate the crown with the rod and the sliding pinion without having any effect on the other elements, so without risk causing damage. In addition, not encountering resistance and noting that the display organs do not move, he becomes aware of the neutralization of the maneuver he has attempted.

In practice, the invention leads to the presence of two clutches in series between the manual control rod and the time display device, the first being formed by the traditional coupling of the pinion flowing with the first return of the time setting wheel. The solution according to the invention is simpler to make and more reliable than the solution envisaged in the patent document EP 1933212 stopping the sliding pinion in an intermediate position where it is not yet engaged with said first return during operation of the striking mechanism. This earlier solution had not yet been published on the priority date of this application.

Preferably, the disengaging device comprises, in the time setting train, a movable return moved by the disengagement control between an engaged position, where it is engaged with at least one of the elements of the setting wheel. at the time, and a disengaged position where it is disengaged from said element, the disengaging device further comprising an elastic member having the effect of maintaining the mobile return in its engaged position. This return can be movable either in its axial direction, or laterally, depending on the choice of the manufacturer.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear below in the description of various embodiments, presented as non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

• The figure 1 is a schematic plan view of part of the elements of a bell watch according to a first embodiment of the invention, where we see the time setting mechanism, the clockwork of the time display, means for disengaging the time setting and a portion of the striking mechanism in its rest position.
• The figure 2 is a view similar to the figure 1 in an operating position of the striking mechanism.
• The figure 3 is a schematic vertical sectional view along the line III-III of the figure 1 .
• The figure 4 is a view similar to some of the figure 3 but in the state illustrated by the figure 2 , and also shows the barrel shaft of the striking mechanism.
• The Figures 5 to 8 are transparent plan views showing a second embodiment of the disengaging device in a striking watch similar to the example of Figures 1 to 4 in four successive states of the striking mechanism, the rest position being that of the figure 5 .

Detailed description of various embodiments

The Figures 1 to 4 represent those elements of a ring watch, in this case a minute repeater wristwatch, which contribute to the understanding of the invention. As usual, the clockwork (not shown) frictionally drives the display device of the hour 2, which is shown here the roadway 3 provided with the minute hand and the clockwork 4 composed of a wheel 5, engaged with the roadway 3, and a pinion 6 engaged with the hour wheel (not shown).

The time setting mechanism 8 conventionally comprises a control rod 9, having a neutral position for reassembly of the movement and at least one drawn position for setting the time, and carrying at its outer end (no shown) a manual control ring. A sliding pinion 10 having a toothing 11 can slide on a square section 12 of the rod 9. By means of a pull rod 13 cooperating with the rod 9 and a rocker 14 cooperating with the sliding pinion 10, the zipper 13 and a return spring, the axial movement of the rod 9 controls the axial displacement of the sliding pinion between a winding position (not shown), where it cooperates with a conventional winding return 15, and a time setting position ( figures 1 and 2 ) in which its toothing 11 meshes with a first pinion 16 (usually called the sliding gear wheel) of the time-setting train 17. This wheel 17 also comprises a rotary wheel 18 comprising a timer gear 19 and an intermediate gear 20 which is engaged with the timer wheel 5. To enable disengagement according to the principle of the present invention, the reference 19, which is normally engaged with the sliding pinion 16, can be released in order to interrupt the kinematic connection performed by the time setting train. In the first embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 4 , the reference 19 is sliding on a non-circular section 22 ( Figures 3 and 4 ), for example square, of the axis of the intermediate gear 20 and can therefore move in the axial direction. For this purpose, it has a circular outer groove 23 in which is engaged the free end 24 of a flexible blade 25 slightly inclined, the base 26 is fixed and prestressed so that the elasticity of the blade tends to lower the 19 to keep it normally in its engaged position, as shown in figure 3 .

In the drawings, only part of the minute repeater mechanism 30 has been shown. Recall that such a mechanism rings on demand the time indicated visually by the display device of the hour, by blows indicating the hours, quarters and minutes elapsed in the quarter of an hour. In general, the user actuates a lever having the effect of arming the ring spring and put into operation the striking mechanism. This takes the hourly information on cams (also called snails) related to the display device 2, namely a quarter cam 31 and a minute cam 32 coupled to the roadway 3, and a cam of the hours 33 fixed to a star with twelve branches advancing one step at the end of each hour.

A person skilled in the art will recognize in Figures 1 to 4 various components of the minute repeater mechanism 30, in particular the rack 36, the hour piece 37 pivoted at 38 and provided with a feeler 39, the minute piece 40 pivoted at 41 and provided with a feeler 42, the quarter room 43 (deleted in the figure 2 in order to clarify the drawing), provided with a feeler 44 and a ratchet minute 45, and the shaft 46 of the ringer barrel, having a bung 47 ( figure 4 ) for fixing the ring spring. Conventionally, the shaft 46 has a square section 50 along which are in particular a hour ratchet 51, a rack pinion 52, a quarter drive finger 53 associated with a sprocket of the quarters 54, and a fixing nut 55.

In the present case, an isolator cam 56 is also mounted on the square section 50, so that it is rotatably connected to the shaft 46. The cam 56 has a peripheral profile 57, having a spiral shape on part of its periphery and in an arc on the rest of the periphery, against which an end 59 of an isolator lever 60 is supported by the action of a spring symbolized by the arrow R. The isolating lever 60 has a hub 61 mounted on a pivot 62, so that it can not oscillate vertically. Its other end 63 is provided with a curved stud 64 on which the elastic blade 25 is supported by its preload in downward vertical direction. The lower face of this blade has a depression 65 forming a notch for the pad 64 in the rest position of the insulator 60 and the blade 25, having the effect of maintaining the timer return 19 in the engaged position. Because of the inclination of the lower face 67 of the blade 25, this blade can be lifted by a displacement of the stud 64 in the direction of the arrow D of the figure 4 , that is, towards the timer return 19.

In the rest position of the striking mechanism 30, corresponding to the figures 1 and 3 the shaft 46 of the striking barrel is at the end of the stroke, so that the end 59 of the isolator lever 60 rests against the smaller radius portion of the cam 56. The isolator is therefore in the rest position , the blade 25 occupies its low position represented at figure 3 and maintains the timer gear 19 engaged with the sliding gear 16, so that the time setting train 17 is in the engaged state. When the user puts the control rod 9 in the pulled position for setting the time, as is the case in the figures 1 and 3 , the pinion The flow 10 engages the return 16 and a manual rotation of the rod 9 will be transmitted to the timer wheel 5 through the time-setting train 17 as in ordinary watches.

When the user pulls the traditional arming lever which will turn on the minute repeater mechanism 30, the rack 36 is pushed to pivot along arrow A and, via pinion 52, rotates shaft 46 into counter clockwise to arm the ring spring. This rotation also rotates the isolator cam 56, whose spiral profile rotates the isolator lever 60 in the direction of the arrow B. The stud 64 then moves as indicated by the arrow D in the figure 4 , raising the blade 25 and the timer return 19 sufficiently for it to disengage from the toothing of the reference 16. The kinematic connection in the time-setting train 17 is thus provisionally suppressed. If the user rotates the control rod 9 in the pulled position for setting the time, as is the case in the figures 2 and 4 , the rod 9, the sliding pinion 10 and the return 16 can rotate without resistance and without producing any effect.

When the bell is wired, the rotation of the shaft 46 and the cam 56 takes place on less than one revolution and stops when the hour sensor 39 stops against the hour cam 33, the workpiece hours 37 being pushed by an edge 68 of the rack 36. This rotation first comprises an initial angle, necessary for the feeler hours 39 to overcome the minimum difference E between its rest position and the range 66 of larger radius of the hour cam 33. As usual, the probes of the quarter 44 and minutes 42 come into play only later, so the course of the probe hours 39 during said initial angle of rotation of the The shaft is a kind of initial vacuum stroke E. It is therefore sufficient for said initial angle to cover at least the spiral portion of the profile of the isolator cam 56 to ensure that the timer train is fully disengaged before the first contact between one of the feelers and one of the cams 31, 32 and 33 related to the display device of hour 2. It is only from this first contact that a substantial rotation of the roadway 3, under the effect of an untimely setting, could have caused damage.

As soon as the ringing is triggered, the shaft 46 and the cam 56 turn clockwise (according to the views of the figures 1 and 2 ) under the action of the mainspring. The return movement of the isolator lever 60 under the action of the spring R begins only at the end of the ring, once the end 59 of this lever has traveled the circular part of the profile of the cam 56 and is located on the spiral part. The probes are then already out of contact with the cams 31, 32 and 33. Thus, the time setting wheel 17 can return to the engaged state at the end of operation of the ring.

Therefore, the arrangements described above exclude any risk of interference and damage in cases where the user would turn the crown of the control rod 9, even involuntarily, when the ring is put into action.

The Figures 5 to 8 represent a second embodiment of the disengagement device, whose movement is lateral instead of the axial movement of the reference 19 described above. The striking mechanism may be the same as that of the preceding example and is not shown, except the shaft 46 of the striking barrel, a square section 50 carries the isolator cam 56. There is no change either in the time display device, which we see in the figure 5 only the timer wheel 4 comprising the timer wheel 5. The time setting mechanism 8 is also similar to that of the preceding example, with the elements 9 to 17, except that the disengaging device is lateral displacement . It comprises for it a rotating intermediate wheel 70 carried by a timer rocker 71 and comprising a timer transmission 72 and an intermediate gear 73, which is in permanent engagement with the timer wheel 5. To allow a disengagement in accordance with the principle of the present invention, the timer return 72, which is normally engaged with the sliding pinion 16, can be released laterally by a pivoting of the latch 71 around its pivot 74, to interrupt the kinematic connection performed by the time setting train.

The disengagement control means comprise an isolator lever 76 mounted on a pivot 77 and provided with a spout 78, a spring 80 resiliently bearing against a stud 81 of the isolator lever, an intermediate rocker 82 mounted on a pivot 83, and a timer latch 84 formed by a lever mounted on a pivot 85. The spring 80 has the effect of maintaining the spout 78 bearing against the peripheral profile of the cam 56. A first arm of the intermediate latch 82 has a slot 86 in FIG. L in which a pin 87 of the insulator 76 is engaged and can flow. The other arm of the rocker 82 is provided with a pin 88 engaged in an oblong hole 89 of the rocker 71. A first arm of the lock 84 has an oblong hole 90 receiving an ankle 91 of the insulator 76. The other The latch arm 84 has a pin 92 which can circulate in an opening 93 of the latch 71. This opening has a large upper portion (in the orientation of the drawings) and a narrow lower portion 94 (see FIGS. figure 8 ) directed towards the pivot 74 of the rocker, so that the pin 92 prevents pivoting of the latch 71 when it is in this narrow part.

As in the previous example, in the rest position ( figure 5 ) of the striking mechanism, the shaft 46 of the striking barrel is at the end of the stroke, so that the spout 78 of the insulator 76 rests against the smaller radius portion of the cam 56. In this position of rest, the latches 82 and 71 occupy the positions represented in the figure 5 and keep the timer gear 72 in mesh with the idler gear 16, so the time setting train 17 is in the engaged state. When the user pulls the control rod 9 and rotates it to set the time, the sliding pinion 10 meshes with the return 16 and the rotation of the rod 9 is transmitted to the timer wheel 5 via the intermediate mobile 70.

The figure 6 represents the state during the arming of the ring. When the user pulls the arming lever that will turn on the striking mechanism, it turns the shaft 46 counterclockwise to arm the ring spring as explained in the previous example . This rotation also rotates the isolator cam 56, whose spiral profile portion 95 rotates the isolator lever 76 in the direction of the arrow B. The latch 84 then pivots as indicated by the arrow in the figure 6 , so that the pin 92 of the bolt exits the narrow portion 94 of the opening 93 to unlock the pivoting of the latch 71. This pivoting occurs in the disengaged state illustrated by the figure 7 : as soon as the pin 87 has passed the elbow of the slot 86, the pivoting of the latches 82 and 71 as indicated by the arrows laterally moves the timer return 72 so that it is disengaged from the toothing of the transmission 16. The kinematic connection in the time setting wheel 17 is thus provisionally suppressed. If the user rotates the control rod 9 in the pulled position for setting the time, the rod 9, the sliding pinion 10 and the return 16 rotate without resistance and without producing any effect. In this state, the tip 78 of the insulator remains pressed against the circular portion 96 of the profile of the cam 56 and the position of the device does not change while the shaft 46 rotates clockwise during the ring.

As we see in the figure 8 , the return movement of the isolator lever 76 under the action of the spring 80 begins only after the end of the ring, once the spout 78 of the insulator has finished to traverse the circular portion 96 of the cam 56 and descends along the spiral portion 95. Due to the displacement of the pin 87 in the slot 86, the flip-flops 82 and 71 are pivoted and the timer return 72 returns to mesh with the sliding pinion gear 16, then the movement lock 84 returns its peg 92 in the narrow portion 94 of the opening 93 to lock the latch 71 in the engaged position. It is again possible to put the watch on time by means of the control rod 9.

Of course, the clutch and disengagement function provided by the present invention can be performed by devices different from that shown in the drawings. For example, in the first embodiment, the mobile return 19 could be rotatable on a cylindrical section of the deflection axis 20 instead of the square section 22 and, by its axial displacement, engage positively or by friction on the return 20 being constantly in engagement with the reference 16. In the second embodiment, one could dispense with the latch 84 and the intermediate latch 82 could be replaced by another type of connection, for example a connecting rod.

Furthermore, although the exemplary embodiment described here relates to a minute repeater watch, the principle of the present invention is applicable without restriction to other types of striking timepieces, insofar as they have a clockwork train. For example, in a passing bell watch, it would not be possible to choose the shaft of the striking barrel as a moving part serving to actuate the disengaging device according to the invention, since the rotations of this shaft have variable amplitudes. It is therefore advisable to choose another part moving at the beginning of the operation of the striking mechanism, for example the part of the quarters (referenced 43 on the figure 1 ), in the case of a big-bell watch.

Claims (11)

1. A timepiece including a striking mechanism (30), a time display device (2), arranged to be driven by a timepiece movement, and a time-setting mechanism (8) including, in particular, a time-setting train (17) connected to the display device, a manual control stem (9) and a castle wheel (10) arranged to be driven in rotation by said stem and capable of sliding thereon to mesh with a first intermediate wheel (16) of the time-setting train so as to transmit the rotation of the castle wheel to the time display device, characterized by an uncoupling device (19, 25; 71, 72), which is inserted in the time-setting train (17) and arranged in such a way as to cut off, when actuated, the transmission of rotational movement from said first intermediate wheel (16) to the time display device (2), and by an uncoupling control device (56; 60; 56, 76, 82, 84), which is arranged to be set into action by a moving part (46) of the striking mechanism (30) so as to actuate the uncoupling device during operation of the striking mechanism.
2. The timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the uncoupling device includes, in the time-setting train (17), a mobile intermediate wheel (19, 72) moved by the uncoupling control device between a coupled position, where it is meshed with at least one (16) of the elements of the time-setting train, and an uncoupled position where it is released from said element (16), the uncoupling device further including an elastic element (25, 80) that has the effect of holding the mobile intermediate wheel (19) in its coupled position of said.
3. The timepiece according to claim 2, characterized in that the mobile intermediate wheel (19) is mobile in the axial direction.
4. The timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that the mobile intermediate wheel (19) is slidably mounted on a non-circular section (22) of the arbour of another element (20) of the time-setting train (17).
5. The timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that said elastic element (25) is a flexible strip with a fixed base (26), with one end (24) engaged in a groove (23) of the mobile intermediate wheel (19) and an inclined surface (67) between said base and said end.
6. The timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the uncoupling control device includes a cam (56) secured to said moving part (46) of the striking mechanism, and a lifting lever (60, 76) arranged to cooperate with said cam (56) and also with the uncoupling device.
7. The timepiece according to claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the lifting lever (60) includes a stud (64) against which the inclined surface (67) of said flexible strip (25) abuts permanently by prestressing.
8. The timepiece according to claims 2 and 6, characterized in that the mobile intermediate wheel (72) is mobile in a radial direction and is carried by a lever (71) connected to the lifting lever (76).
9. The timepiece according to claim 8, characterized in that said lever (71) is connected to the lifting lever (76) by a first element (82) that causes said lever to move, and by a bolt (84) capable of locking said lever in the coupled position of the mobile intermediate wheel (72).
10. The timepiece according to claim 6, characterized in that the striking mechanism (30) is a minute repeater mechanism and in that said mobile part, with which the cam (56) is integral, is the strike barrel arbour (46).
11. The timepiece according to claim 10, characterized in that the peripheral profile (57) of the cam (56), that cooperates with the lifting lever, includes a spiral-shaped part (95) followed by a circular part (96), and in that said spiral-shaped part extends over an smaller angle than an initial angle of rotation of said arbour (46), said initial angle being such that a first feeler-spindle (39) of the striking mechanism travels an initial idle course (E).

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