EP2345940A1

EP2345940A1 - Device for winding watches, in particular self-winding watches

Info

Publication number: EP2345940A1
Application number: EP10425004A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alberto Moroni; Mario Moroni; Fabrizio Cerealo
Original assignee: MCM Milano Srl
Current assignee: MCM Milano Srl
Priority date: 2010-01-13
Filing date: 2010-01-13
Publication date: 2011-07-20
Also published as: EP2345940A8; CN102135753A

Abstract

A device for winding watches, particularly self-winding watches, comprising a supporting structure (2) provided with a seat (3) for accommodating the watch to be wound. The seat (3) is connected to transmission means (4) operated by a motor (5) and is inclined with respect to an axis (41) that is jointly connected to the supporting structure (2). The seat (3) can oscillate in a substantially conical manner about the axis (41) jointly connected to the supporting structure.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for winding mechanical watches, particularly self-winding watches, both wrist-watches and pocket watches.
The term "self-winding watches" designates the type of watches, usually wrist-watches, that has the characteristic of being wound by taking advantage of the arm movement of its owner, making it unnecessary for the user to manually wind the crown.
Self-winding is possible by means of a winding mass, known as rotor, which rotates about a pivot as a consequence of user arm movements. The rotor is connected to the winding mechanism inside the watch, which comprises a spring. The rotation of the rotor winds the spring, which by releasing itself releases the energy necessary to move the hands and thus operate the watch.
The winding mechanism inside the watch is operated by varying the orientation of the rotor with respect to an axis that is perpendicular to the earth surface and is substantially directed along the direction of the force of gravity.
In order to wind the internal mechanism that comprises the spring, it is necessary to rotate the rotor about an axis that generally coincides with the normal to the plane on which the watch rotor lies.
When the watch is not worn by the user, the rotor that winds the winding spring does not undergo any variation in orientation and thus the self-winding watch runs down and ceases to operate correctly.
For this reason, devices have being developed for winding self-winding watches when they are not worn by the user.
Such devices generate a rotation or inclination of the watch, with respect to an axis which is oblique, usually perpendicular, to the direction of the force of gravity, so as to vary the orientation of the rotor and thus wind the watch.
Several devices for winding self-winding watches are known in the background art.
In particular, US 2,863,345 discloses a device in which the watch is housed in a seat that rotates about an axis inclined with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotor and inclined, not at right angles, with respect to the force of gravity. The seat can rotate about its own axis clockwise or counterclockwise or alternately in both directions.
In another device, disclosed in US 6,543,929 , the seat that houses the watch rotates about an axis which is parallel to the rotation axis of the watch rotor and perpendicular to the direction of the force of gravity.
US Patent Application 2007/097,797 discloses a system in which the center of the watch housing seat lies on the rotation axis of the rotor.
In US 6,254,270 , on the other hand, there is an element around which the watch is wrapped and which rotates about an axis that is inclined with respect to the force of gravity.
Another device disclosed in US 7,530,733 is characterized in that the watch is wound by way of a circular oscillation, which is obtained by means of the inclination, with respect to two axes, of the watch seat by means of two pairs of fixed pivots and a motor. The oscillations of the seat use four constrained pivots and trace a circular oscillating motion.
Known devices suffer the drawback that they rotate the watch without simulating perfectly the movement of the human wrist and for this reason are scarcely efficient in terms of time and energy used.
Moreover, reading the watch face when it is placed in known winding devices is particularly difficult, because the watch rotates, even through 360°, with respect to the rotor axis and this compromises even simply looking at the watch itself.
Moreover, known devices are bulky and have a considerable energy consumption. In particular, the energy consumption is correlated to the reduction applied to the motor because, in order to obtain a slow oscillation motion, or even a rotating motion, is necessary to gear down the motor significantly.
Moreover, in the case of oscillation movements of the watch along two axes, the degree of oscillation that can be obtained while ensuring a fluid motion is limited and this might affect the efficiency of the winding of some watches.
Moreover, known devices do not allow easy programming and control of the number of rotations and oscillations that the device must perform in order to wind the watch fully.
The aim of the invention is to solve the cited problems, by eliminating the drawbacks of the cited known art.
Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device for winding watches having a reduced weight and volume.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for winding watches that is simple and easy to use.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device that adapts easily and efficiently to winding watches of different types.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for winding watches in which the movement of the watch, during winding, simulates the movement of the human wrist.
Still an object of the present invention is to provide a device for winding watches that makes it possible to view and read the watch face during its winding.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device for winding watches, particularly self-winding watches, which is highly reliable, relatively easy to provide and has competitive costs.
This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a device for winding watches, particularly self-winding watches, which comprises a supporting structure provided with a seat that is suitable to house a self-winding watch, the seat being connected to transmission means operated by a motor and being inclined with respect to an axis that is jointly connected to the supporting structure, characterized in that the seat can oscillate in a substantially conical manner about said axis jointly connected to the supporting structure.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the device for winding watches according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device for winding watches according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device for winding watches according to the invention;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device for winding watches according to the invention, wherein, in order to show the internal layout, the supporting structure and the seat for housing the watch are not shown.

With reference to the figures, the device for winding watches, particularly self-winding watches, according to the invention, is generally designated by the reference numeral 1 and comprises a supporting structure 2 provided with a seat 3 suitable to house the case of the watch to be wound.
Preferably, the supporting structure 2 has the shape of a parallelepiped, on the upper face of which the seat 3 is provided.
The supporting structure 2 can, in any case, have different shapes and dimensions depending on the requirements of the application. Moreover, the supporting structure 2 can be contained, in turn, inside containers such as, for example, boxes and furnishing accessories.
On the upper face of the supporting structure 2 there is a circular hole inside which the housing seat 3 of the watch to be wound is inserted.
The seat 3 has a shape that is suitable to stably house the watch to be wound and advantageously can comprise structures for locking the watch thereon.
The seat 3 can comprise a central tray 30 with edges that are extended into a first portion 31, which expands radially from the edges and ends with a second portion 32 that is inclined and curved inwardly toward the central tray 30 and toward the bottom of the supporting structure 2.
Advantageously, the seat 3 can be lined with a soft material, a padding and/or can contain a cushion for avoiding any scratches and surface damage of the watch case.
In the device 1, the seat 3 is connected by transmission means 4 to an actuation motor 5.
The transmission means 4 are the elements, interposed between the actuation motor 5 and the seat 3, that are suitable to transfer and convert the rotation of the motor 5 into a movement of the seat 3.
The transmission means 4 can be for example chains, belts, pulleys, gears, wheels and universal joints, even of mutually different sizes, which rotate and move with the lowest possible friction. Moreover, in order to reduce contact friction among the transmission means 4 it is possible to use suitable lubricants.
The transmission means 4 comprise at least one rotating element 40 that is suitable to move the seat 3 in which the longitudinal axis 10 that is normal to the plane of arrangement of the seat 3 is inclined with respect to the rotation axis 41 of the rotating element 40, which in the case shown in the figures has the same direction as the force of gravity 52.
Advantageously, the rotating element 40 can be a gearwheel on which supports 43 are fixed which protrude from the upper face of the wheel so as to support the seat 3. At least two supports 43 have mutually different heights and provide the seat 3 with resting points suitable to keep the seat 3 inclined and in sliding contact with the supports 43.
Preferably, three supports 43a, 43b and 43c are provided, which are equidistant along the circumference formed by the gearwheel 40. The supports 43a and 43b have the same height and are lower than the third support 43c.
As an alternative to the supports 43, it is possible to use a cam surface that is jointly connected to the rotating element and is adapted to form an inclined supporting and sliding surface for the seat 3.
Reverting to the embodiment shown in the drawings, the seat 3 preferably has a groove 34 by means of which the seat rests on the upper ends of the supports 43, so as to define a sliding path of the supports 43 with respect to the seat 3. In this manner, the supports 43 can slide with respect to the seat 3 during the rotation of the gearwheel 40.
With the rotation of the gearwheel, the supports 43 that are jointly connected thereto trace a circumferential path.
In turn, the circumferential motion of the supports 43 produces a conical motion of the seat 3 with respect to an axis that is jointly connected to the supporting structure and is represented by the rotation axis 41: in particular, the higher support 43c lifts and tilts the seat 3 by an angle 50.
Optionally, the supports 43 can be adjustable in height, so as to modify the breadth of the angle of inclination 50 defined between the longitudinal axis 10 of the seat 3 and the rotation axis 41. This makes the device 1 easily adaptable for winding self-winding watches that need mutually different inclination angles.
Advantageously, in order to reduce sliding friction between the supports 43 and the seat 3, the supports 43 can be made of materials with a low sliding friction coefficient or can be provided with bearings. In this last case, in order to provide supports with a different heights, it is possible to fix the bearings at various heights or it is possible to use roller bearings or ball bearings of different diameters.
Moreover, the device 1 can comprise a joint 6 in order to connect the seat 3 to the supporting structure 2. The joint 6 is fixed between the bottom of the tray 30 and the upper surface of the base 23 of the supporting structure 2, at the intersection between the longitudinal axis 10 and the rotation axis 41, and can be rotated with two degrees of freedom, thus allowing a constrained inclination of the seat 3 with respect to the supporting structure 2 and preventing relative rotation between the seat 3 and the supporting structure 2 during the operation of the device 1.
The joint 6 can be an elastic element, such as for example a metallic spring, or a rigid element that prevents the rotation of the seat 3 about the rotation axis 41 but allows its conical oscillation.
In the preferred embodiment shown in the figures, the rotation axis 41 coincides with the direction 52 of the force of gravity. Accordingly, during the operation of the device, the seat 3 moves and retains an inclination of a constant angle 50 with respect to the direction 52 of the force of gravity. In particular, the axis 10 that is perpendicular to the seat and passes through the joint 6 rotates, tracing a cone around the direction 52 of the force of gravity.
As a consequence of the conical oscillation movement of the seat 3 thus obtained, no point of the seat 3 remains neutral and motionless and the movement of the watch being wound that is housed therein is very similar to that of a wrist in motion.
Moreover, said conical oscillating movement does not prevent in any way, but instead allows, easy reading of the watch face, because the conical movement of the seat 3 does not rotate the watch face through 360° about itself.
A control switch 8 can be arranged on the outer walls of the supporting structure 2 and connected electrically to the actuation motor 5 of the device by means of a suitable programmable electronic controller (not shown). The programmable electronic controller is connected between the actuation motor 5 and the switch 8, for controlling the movement of the seat 3 by means of the motor 5. The electronic controller can be programmed further to implement other functions, as described hereinafter.
Advantageously, the supporting structure 2 accommodates in its interior the components cited above, in particular the motor 5, the transmission means 4 and the electronic controller. Moreover, said components are arranged inside the supporting structure 2 so as to optimize their mutual arrangement and thus be able to reduce the overall bulk of the supporting structure 2.
A particularly optimized arrangement is the one in which the motor comprises a shaft (not shown) that can turn about its own axis 55, which is eccentric with respect to the rotation axis 41. In particular, with reference to Figure 3, a pinion 45, which belongs to the transmission means 4 and is coaxial with the shaft of the actuation motor 5, is rigidly fixed to the shaft of the actuation motor 5.
The pinion 45 transfers its motion to the rotating element 40, whose rotation axis 41 is parallel to the axis of the motor 55.
The motor 5 is provided with power supply means, for example batteries and/or solar cells. Such power supply means can be accommodated inside the supporting structure 2 or can be placed outside the structure 2 and be connected to the motor 5 by wiring and/or inductive coupling.
In order to prevent foreign objects, such as for example dust particles, from entering the supporting structure 2, damaging the inner components of the device 1, a protective disk 25 can be interposed between the seat 3 and the supporting structure 2. The disk 25 can be associated with the rotating element 40 and thus rotate inside the structure 2, or it can be fixed to the bottom of said structure.
Advantageously, the device 1 can comprise means (not shown) for counting the number of rotations performed by the rotating element 40, which are preferably functionally connected to the electronic controller cited above. More particularly, said counting means comprise a magnet, which is jointly connected to the rotating element 4, and a magnetically sensitive sensor, which is fixed to the supporting structure 2 and is electrically connected to the electronic controller or to a separate counting circuit. Processing of the signal generated by the sensor, which detects the magnetic field produced by the magnet when it passes in its proximity, allows counting of the rotations performed by the rotating element 40 and the possible assessment of the angular position of the latter according to the intensity of the signal generated by the sensor.
The electronic controller connected to the sensor can be optionally programmed in order to determine, by counting the rotations of the rotating element 40, the number of winding oscillations of the rotor inside the watch and consequently detect the winding level of the watch.
Moreover, the device 1 can comprise means for identifying a preferred inclined position of the seat 3 and means for locking the seat 3 in said preferred inclined position.
Under the assumption that the position of the user with respect to the device 1 is known, the electronic controller can be programmed appropriately to identify a preferred inclined position of the seat 3 and send to the motor 5 signals that are suitable to lock the seat 3 in said preferred position at the end of the winding of the watch or when inactive.
For example, a preferred inclined position of the seat 3 is the one in which the highest support 43c of the rotating element 40 is in a position diametrically opposite the user, so that the seat 3 and therefore the watch are inclined toward him/her.
In practice it has been found that the device according to the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects, since the oscillating movement of the seat reproduces on the watch being wound a movement that is very similar to the movement of the human wrist.
In particular, the rotating element makes it possible to lift the housing seat of the watch so as to trace a conical motion in which no point of the seat is neutral and motionless.
Moreover, said oscillating motion of the seat makes the watch face more visible and therefore easier to read.
The fact that the supporting structure houses inside it the motor, the transmission means and the electronic controller, optimizing their mutual arrangement, makes it possible to reduce the total space occupation of the supporting structure.
Moreover, the means for counting the rotations of the rotating element make it possible to control the winding level of the watch.
The fact that the device is provided with means for identifying a preferred inclined position of the seat during its movement and with means for locking the seat in such preferred inclined position makes it possible to facilitate and optimize the reading of the watch face by the user when the device is in the inactive step.
The device thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept; all the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

A device for winding watches, particularly self-winding watches, comprising a supporting structure provided with a seat that is adapted to house a self-winding watch, said seat being connected to transmission means operated by a motor and being inclined with respect to an axis that is jointly connected to the supporting structure, characterized in that said seat can oscillate in a substantially conical manner about said axis jointly connected to the supporting structure.
The device according to claim 1, wherein said transmission means comprise an element that rotates about a rotation axis, said rotation axis being said axis jointly connected to the supporting structure.
The device according to claim 2, wherein said rotating element comprises a gearwheel provided with at least one support adapted to provide the seat with at least with one resting contact point for keeping the seat inclined and in sliding contact with said at least one support.
The device according to claim 3, characterized in that said at least one support consists of a plurality of supports having mutually different heights, which are adapted to provide the seat with respective resting contact points for keeping the seat inclined and in sliding contact with said plurality of supports.
The device according to claims 3 or 4, wherein the seat comprises a circular peripheral groove by means of which the seat rests against the upper end of said at least one support, so as to define a sliding path of said at least one support with respect to the seat.
The device according to claims 3 or 4, characterized in that said at least one support is adjustable in height, for varying the inclination of said seat with respect to said axis jointly connected to the supporting structure.
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said seat is connected to said supporting structure by means of a joint that can rotate with two degrees of freedom, said joint being fixed to said supporting structure at said axis jointly connected to the supporting structure.
The device according to one or more of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that said motor comprises a shaft that can rotate about its own axis, said axis of the shaft being eccentric with respect to the rotation axis of the rotating element.
The device according to claims 3 and 8, characterized in that a pinion is rigidly and coaxially fixed to said motor shaft, said pinion being meshed with said gearwheel.
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that comprises an electronic controller for controlling the motion of said seat, said controller being functionally connected to said motor.
The device according to claim 10, characterized in that said supporting structure houses in its interior said motor, said transmission means and said electronic controller.
The device according to one or more of claims 2 to 11, characterized in that it comprises means for counting the number of rotations performed by said rotating element.
The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that comprises means for determining a preferred inclined position of the seat and means for locking the seat in said preferred inclined position.
The device according to claims 10 and 13, characterized in that said electronic controller is programmed to identify said preferred inclined position of the seat and send to the motor signals that are adapted to lock the seat 3 in said preferred inclined position.
A method for winding watches, particularly self-winding watches, by means of a device according to one or more of the preceding claims.