EP2273325A1 - Method for mounting a part on a support - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves tightly arranging a malleable material plate (18) on a fixed support (10). A hard part (12) is arranged on the plate. A geometrical shut-off element is positioned on the hard part by a positioning unit. Degree of free movement in a plane is defined by the hart part. The plate is deformed, so that the shut-off element tightly cooperates with the plate. A clamping element is positioned and secured, so as to locate the plate and the hard part between the clamping element and the support, where the hard part is made of a material with hardness higher than 500 Vickers. The material is silicon, diamond, nickel, steel, ceramic or natural/artificial stone. An independent claim is also included for a method for indexing a hard part in relation to a fixed support.

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a method of assembling a part on a support. This assembly method can also be used as a method for providing a work positioning system with reference to the support, as well as a method of fine-tuning a function.

State of the art

In recent years, the materials used in watchmaking have evolved considerably. In particular, the growth and engraving techniques developed for other branches of microtechnology offer particularly interesting possibilities for horological applications. However, most of these new materials, such as silicon or diamond, have no plastic domain or only a small plastic domain, that is, they can not be deformed. plastic. The hunting methods usually used to assemble a part, such as a wheel, on an axis can not be used because they lead to breaking the part.

Several solutions have been proposed to assemble a wheel on an axis, as for example that described in the document EP1850193 , implementing an intermediate piece between the axis and the piece without a plastic field, to withstand the mechanical stresses associated with driving.

On the other hand, for assemblies of parts without plastics on a flat support, there is, to the knowledge of the applicant, no satisfactory technique adapted to the constraints arising from the use of parts without a plastic field. Indeed, it is difficult to screw directly such a piece in a support, because the risk of breakage are important. Such difficulties can, more generally, be encountered with hard parts, made of materials having a hardness typically greater than 500 Vickers. In addition to silicon and diamond, nickel, steel, ceramics and stones (natural and artificial) are also materials used in watchmaking that may present this type of problem.

In addition, the present invention also aims, besides providing an advantageous solution for fixing a hard part on a flat support, to also provide a means of precise adjustment of the position of the hard part with reference to the support. In another aspect, the invention may also be used to fine tune a function.

Disclosure of the invention

More specifically, the invention relates to various methods of assembly and adjustment, defined in the claims.

Brief description of the drawings

• la figure 1 montre les différentes éléments utilisés selon une première variante du procédé selon l'invention, en vue de dessus et en vue en coupe de côté,
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe d'un assemblage résultant de la mise en oeuvre de cette première variante,
• les figures 3a, 3b et 3c illustrent l'aspect de réglage de position de l'invention,
• les figures 4, 5 et 6 montrent des alternatives quant à la forme de la pièce dure,
• la figure 7 est une vue en coupe d'un assemblage résultant de la mise en oeuvre de l'alternative représentée à la figure 5,
• les figures 8, 9 et 10 sont respectivement des vues en coupe d'un assemblage selon une variante, des vues de dessus d'éléments utilisés pour cette variante,
• la figure 11 montre en vue de dessus les différents éléments utilisés selon une deuxième variante du procédé selon l'invention, et
• la figure 12 illustre l'assemblage qui en résulte,
• les figures 13 et 14 proposent des illustrations d'une pièce et de la mise en oeuvre de l'invention pour le réglage de la position linéaire d'une telle pièce, et
• les figures 15 et 16 proposent des illustrations d'une pièce et de la mise en oeuvre de l'invention pour le réglage de la position circulaire d'une telle pièce.

Other features of the present invention will emerge more clearly on reading the description which follows, made with reference to the appended drawing, in which:

• the figure 1 shows the different elements used according to a first variant of the method according to the invention, in view from above and in sectional side view,
• the figure 2 is a sectional view of an assembly resulting from the implementation of this first variant,
• the Figures 3a, 3b and 3c illustrate the position adjustment aspect of the invention,
• the Figures 4, 5 and 6 show alternatives as to the shape of the hard part,
• the figure 7 is a sectional view of an assembly resulting from the implementation of the alternative represented in FIG. figure 5 ,
• the Figures 8, 9 and 10 are respectively sectional views of a variant assembly, top views of elements used for this variant,
• the figure 11 shows in plan view the various elements used according to a second variant of the method according to the invention, and
• the figure 12 illustrates the resulting assembly,
• the Figures 13 and 14 propose illustrations of a part and the implementation of the invention for adjusting the linear position of such a part, and
• the Figures 15 and 16 provide illustrations of a part and the implementation of the invention for adjusting the circular position of such a part.

Mode (s) of realization of the invention

The elements shown in the figures and described below are proposed only as a general illustration of the principle as claimed. It goes without saying that the forms proposed are not limiting. Only the structural aspects useful for understanding the invention will therefore be described.

The figure 1 shows a support 10 on which is fixed a hard part 12. This support 10 may be any, including a frame member of a timepiece, such as a platinum or a bridge. The support 10 has a flange 14 which defines, with the surface of the support 10 itself, a housing of height h . As will be understood later, other elements used in the method can be secured to the support 10. According to the illustrated example, the support receives, in the bottom of the housing, two threads 16, oriented perpendicular to the bottom surface of housing.

According to an important aspect of the process according to the invention, a malleable plate 18 is provided. The latter may be metallic or synthetic and, optionally, have elastic properties. It is likely to be deformed by creep, cold or hot, by the application of a mechanical stress. A material in the pasty state, which can be deformed and then stiffened, for example by polymerization, can also be used. The application of a thermal stress is also possible, which may, if necessary, cause a melting of the malleable plate. It is possible, for example, to use a plate made of gold, tin, aluminum, rubber or polymer. The plate 18 is dimensioned so as to be positioned without play in the housing while defining deformation spaces 20, visible on the figure 3a between it and the rim 14. Otherwise said, the wafer can be inscribed in the housing. For example, in the case of a rectangular housing as shown in the figure 1 , the wafer 18 has a generally rectangular shape slightly smaller than that of the housing, but point bulges 22 extend the surface of the wafer so as to give it total dimensions equal to the internal dimensions of the housing. Thus, the bulges 22 allow to provide between the wafer 18 and the flange 14, free spaces, forming the deformation spaces 20, whose role will appear later. It will be noted that the wafer has a thickness e greater than h. Particularly to the example, the wafer still has two orifices 24 through, positioned opposite the threads of the bottom.

For the implementation of the method according to the invention, it is obviously necessary to have a hard part which is shown in the drawings only a fixing portion. The hard part is made of materials having a hardness typically greater than 500 Vickers, and may especially be silicon, diamond, nickel, steel, ceramic or stone (natural or artificial).

The hard part 12 is traversed by an oblong opening 26, arranged so that the orifices 24 of the wafer 18 are positioned opposite the opening. Positioning means are arranged in such a way as to position the part 12 with reference to the support 10 and to the plate 18, so as to leave a single degree of freedom for the hard part 12 with reference to the support 10. It will be possible, for example, to provide pins or guiding elements disposed on the support 10 or on a frame member which is secured to the support.

The hard part 12 further comprises a geometric stop member positioned so as to cooperate with said wafer. More specifically, the geometric stop member is positioned to be able to suppress the degree of freedom of the hard piece. In other words, the geometric stop member has at least a portion substantially orthogonal to the direction of freedom of the hard part. This geometric stop can be located on the lateral faces of the hard part 12 or on its face intended to be in contact with the malleable plate 18.

According to a particular embodiment and proposed in the figures, the geometric stop member is constituted by a series of identical elements arranged periodically around the perimeter of the hard part. In the example shown in the drawing, the largest lateral faces of the opening have a regular toothing. As will be understood below, such an embodiment allows a displacement of the hard part 12 according to its degree of freedom, this displacement being indexed according to the period of the elements. The skilled person may consider different variants to achieve periodic elements, especially with elements consisting of several dissimilar portions.

To maintain the various elements, there is further provided a support plate 30, intended to enclose, between it and the support 10, the malleable plate 18 and the hard part 12. Typically, the support plate 30 is substantially equal to that of the support 10 so as to be able to rest on the flange 14. The support plate 30 is provided with means contributing to ensure its rigid attachment to the support 10. According to the example, the support plate 30 is pierced by two openings 32, positioned opposite the threads 16 of the bottom of the support and the orifices 24 of the wafer 18. When the support 10, the malleable plate 18 and the support plate 30 are in place, the threads 16, the openings 24 and the openings 32 are aligned and allow to insert screws 34 to secure and hold the assembly, the screws 34 passing through the opening 26 that comprises the hard part 12. Note that the support plate 30 will have preferably a planar face on the d-side it is designed to serve as a support and to be oriented in the direction of the support 10. More generally, the screws, or foot-screws or other tightening members can directly clamp the hard part and thus clamp between them and the support 10, the malleable plate 18 and the hard part 12.

We will now describe how the various elements above are assembled. The malleable plate 18 is firstly arranged in the housing of the support 10. Next, the hard part 12 is arranged on the plate 18 and is positioned with the positioning means provided for this purpose. At this stage of the assembly, the hard part 12 is free to move, preferably in a single degree of freedom left by the means positioning. Then, the support plate 30 is placed on the hard part 12, the latter being sandwiched between the support plate 30 and the support 10, as shown in FIG. figure 2 . The support plate 30 and the support 10 are then pressed against each other until the abutment plate 30 abuts the rim 14. Thus, the hard part 12 exerts a constraint on the wafer malleable 18 to deform plastically so that the geometrical stop member of the hard part is embedded therein. More particularly, a permanent structure is thus created in the wafer 18, with which the geometric stop member cooperates without play. The wafer 18 may deform in the deformation spaces 20 in order to limit the stresses and pressures that it undergoes. Thanks to the final deformation of the plate 18, the degree of freedom of the hard part is removed, the latter is secured to the support 10. In the particular example of figures 1 and 2 , the pressure is exerted by screwing the support plate 30 to the support 10. This screwing ensures at the same time the exercise of a stress allowing the deformation of the malleable plate 18 and the attachment of the assembly thus formed.

In the particular embodiment, in which the geometric stop member is constituted by a series of identical elements 28, it is advantageous to use the system proposed above to adjust the position of the hard part 12 with reference to support 10, as shown by Figures 3a, 3b and 3c . To do this, it is necessary to loosen the support plate 30 to clear the hard part 12 of the permanent structure created in the malleable plate 18. The permanent structure has a periodicity identical to that of the geometric stop member , which makes it possible to move the hard part 12 with reference to the malleable plate 18 of an integer number of period P, the hard part 12 being able to be replaced in an offset manner in the malleable plate 18. It is then possible to tighten the plate again. support 30 to maintain this new position.

The Figures 4, 5 and 6 propose variants at the level of the identical elements arranged periodically. In the figure 4 the identical elements are of sinusoidal type and are arranged continuously to form a sinusoidal continuous coast. The Figures 5a and 5b represent a succession of spikes, in this case circular, aligned at regular intervals. In the figure 6 there are also sinusoidal elements but arranged at the periphery of the hard part 12. For illustrative purposes, the hard part of the figure 5 is implemented on the figure 7 .

Obviously, in the case of a non-periodic arrangement of the geometric stop member, the plate 18, once deformed, offers a particularly precise positioning system of the hard part 12, which can be dismantled and replaced. with precision by cooperating the geometrical stop member of the hard part 12 and the structure of the malleable plate 18.

The Figures 8, 9 and 10 represent an alternative to the embodiment proposed above. The support plate 30 is fixed to the support by screw feet 36. figure 9 shows an interesting solution for the structure of the hard part. The oblong opening 26 is traversed by two uprights 38 parallel to the opening 26 and which define a groove 40 for the passage of the screw feet 36, the walls of the groove being straight. This groove advantageously serves as positioning means for the hard part, leaving only one degree of freedom. The figure 10 shows a malleable plate 18 adapted to be implemented in this embodiment, with two holes 24 for the passage of the screw-feet 36. It will be noted that the screw-feet ensure the play-free maintenance of the malleable plate 18 and that the rim 14 is thus removed. The use of screw feet and the removal of the rim 14 can be implemented in the other embodiments.

The Figures 11 and 12 represent a variant of the invention, according to which the various elements are circular, the degree of freedom of the hard part 12 being defined by a circular curve. We find elements similar to those proposed above in the first variant, bearing the same references. Note that the geometric stop member is, in this example, disposed on the largest outer lateral faces of the hard part 12. The geometric stop member is also a regular toothing, to angularly reposition the hard piece 12 with reference to the support 10.

The elements described above may, particularly advantageously, be used in a fine tuning process. Indeed, in terms of watchmaking, some adjustments can be made only in real conditions, that is to say, it is necessary to assemble the parts to adjust, operate them to evaluate the setting to make, then dismount parts, retouch and reassemble them to repeat a test operation. Such an operation can sometimes be very tedious.

It is therefore possible to use an assembly as proposed above to index or fine-tune the position of a part, taking the place of the hard part 12 in the examples above. Particularly, there is a support 10, a malleable plate 18, the part to be adjusted with a geometric stop member, preferably non-periodic, and a support plate 30. These various elements are assembled as above, but without tightening the support plate 30. More specifically, the support plate 30 is assembled so as to exert a pressure resulting in frictional forces between the various elements of the assembly, but the force exerted is less than the plastic deformation limit of the malleable plate. In practice, the support plate makes it possible to hold the various elements by friction, but without, however, permanently deforming the malleable plate 18. The maintenance exerted is sufficient to test the function to be adjusted. If the test is inconclusive, simply loosen the support plate 30 slightly in order to reposition the part to be adjusted, tighten to obtain frictional hold of the elements and test the function again. When the test is conclusive, it can then completely tighten the support plate 30 so as to plastically deform the malleable plate 18. This operation is done without moving the workpiece to be adjusted and without losing the setting. It also makes it possible to simultaneously obtain, by deforming the malleable plate, a positioning index of the part, which is particularly reliable and precise.

The figures 13 and 15 show jumpers that can be used as part 12, whose position is to be adjusted. The Figures 14a and 14b , on the one hand, 16a and 16b on the other hand, show the jumper of the figure 13 and that of the figure 15 , in a setting position for the figures indexed a, and in the position definitive for the subscripted figures b. The Figures 13 and 14 refer to a jumper whose position is adjusted along a longitudinal axis. The jumper is guided by two pins 42 cooperating with oblongs, serving as positioning means. The Figures 15 and 16 refer to a jumper whose position is adjusted in a circular curve. The jumper is also guided by two pins 42, one defining the center of the circular curve, the other cooperating with a window positioned along the circular curve.

It is particularly noted that the geometric stop member of the workpiece 12 is hollow and is formed by an opening 44 that it comprises. The malleable plate 18 is not deformed in the figures a, while in the figures b, the part 18 has flowed inside the opening 44 forming the geometric stop member, but also possibly to the interior of the oblongs and the circular window. Note also that, in this case, the screw directly squeezes the workpiece, without support plate.

It will be noted that the creation of the permanent structure in the wafer 18 by deformation can be done independently of the assembly of the different elements. In particular for parts whose relative position is clearly defined and does not vary between two examples of a mechanism, the deformation of the malleable part by a tool making it possible to accurately produce the structure, will provide a particularly effective positioning means, simple and precise hard piece. It is thus possible to obtain parts positioned perfectly and quickly, even for large series. In such a case, deformation spaces are not essential.

It will also be noted that the deformation spaces, on the one hand, and the geometric stop member, on the other, may be situated on the upper and lower faces of the part to be positioned and not necessarily on the lateral faces. The deformation spaces may also result from the shape of the support 10, or even from the part to be positioned and not from the malleable plate 18.

It can also be provided that the malleable plate 18 is fixed on the support 10 in a step independent of the assembly. For example and depending on the material chosen for its production, the wafer 18 may be glued, welded, brazed, or even deposited directly galvanically on the support. The term wafer can then be interpreted in a non-limiting manner.

Claims (14)

A method of assembling a hard part (12) made of a material whose hardness is greater than 500 Vickers on a fixed support (10) consisting of: - Have a plate (18) malleable material arranged to be positioned without play on the support, - Have a hard part (12) further comprising a geometric stop member positioned so as to cooperate with said wafer, - to have a clamping member to clamp between him and the support, the plate and the hard part, said assembly method comprising the following steps: - arrange the plate without play on the support, arranging the hard part on the wafer and positioning it with positioning means leaving only one degree of freedom to the hard part, - deform the wafer so that it cooperates without play with the geometrical stop member of the hard part, - Position and fix the clamping member so as to grip the wafer and the hard part between said clamping member and the support. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the support, the malleable plate, the hard part and the clamping member are dimensioned so as to define deformation spaces for the malleable plate inside which it can be deformed. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that said support is provided with a flange (14) defining a housing of dimension L xlxh, and in that the plate (18) is dimensioned so as to be positioned without play in said housing . Process according to Claim 3, characterized in that the wafer is mechanically deformed and that the wafer has a thickness e> h. A method of assembling a hard part (12) made of a material whose hardness is greater than 500 Vickers on a fixed support (10), consisting of: - Have a plate (18) malleable material arranged to be positioned without play on the support, - Have a hard part (12) further comprising a geometric stop member positioned so as to cooperate with said wafer, - to have a clamping member to clamp between him and the support, the plate and the hard part, said assembly method comprising the following steps: - arrange the plate without play on the support, - Set the hard part on the wafer and position it with positioning means leaving only one degree of freedom to the hard part, the wafer having been previously shaped so as to cooperate with the geometrical stop of the workpiece tough, - Position and fix the clamping member so as to grip the wafer and the hard part between said clamping member and the support. Process according to Claim 5, characterized in that the wafer is mechanically deformed. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3 or according to claim 5, characterized in that the wafer is thermally deformed. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the geometric stop member is constituted by a series of identical elements arranged periodically in a period P on the periphery of the hard part, allowing a repositioning of the piece on the wafer after deformation. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the geometric member is arranged on at least one of the lateral faces of the hard part. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the different elements are oriented along a longitudinal axis AA right. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the different elements are oriented in a circular curve. A method of indexing a hard part made of a material having a hardness of greater than 500 Vickers, with reference to a support, comprising the steps of the method according to claim 7, characterized in that it further comprises less the following steps: - release the hard part, moving the hard part with reference to the support by a distance equal to a whole number of period P, - Fix the hard part again by means of the clamping member so as to grip the plate and the hard part between the clamping member and the support. A method according to claim 11, wherein the hard part (12) has at least one oblong through-opening (26), and wherein the clamping member is a support plate (30) attached to the support (10) by means of minus two screws passing through the through opening. Method for indexing a workpiece to be positioned with reference to a support (10), consisting of: - Have a plate (18) malleable material arranged to be positioned without play on the support, - Have a part to position, with positioning means to be positioned at least partially opposite said wafer, the hard part further comprising a geometric stop member positioned so as to cooperate with said wafer, - To have a clamping member to clamp between it and the support the plate and the part, said indexing method comprising the following steps: - arrange the plate without play on the support, arranging said piece on the wafer and positioning it with the positioning means, - deform the wafer so that it cooperates without play with the geometrical stop member of the hard part, positioning the clamping member so as to grip the wafer and said piece between said clamping member and the support, so as to exert a pressure resulting in frictional forces between the support, the wafer, said workpiece and the member; the force exerted being less than the limit of plastic deformation of the malleable plate, - test the positioning of said part, - if the test is negative, loosen the clamping member and reposition the said part to be adjusted, tighten to obtain the maintenance by friction of the elements and test again the positioning of said piece, - If the test is positive, fully tighten the clamping member to plastically deform the malleable plate (18).

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