EP2490084A1 - Calendar mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

The mechanism has a day program wheel (13) that is driven by clock movement. The program wheel actuates a day wheel (16), units wheel (17) and a tens wheel (18) for displaying days of a month. The program wheel comprises a day indexing gear (13') that is advanced by one step at each day by the clock movement, and retractable teeth (129, 130) driven by the clock movement. The teeth are respectively mounted to pivot between an active position in which the teeth are driven by the clock movement, and an inactive position in which the teeth are not driven by the clock movement.

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a calendar mechanism, and more particularly to a perpetual calendar mechanism.

State of the art

We have known for a long time mechanisms of annual calendar, that is to say, to automatically perform the incrementation of the display of the date taking into account the months of less than 31 days without requiring manual intervention for correction , as well as perpetual calendar mechanism, that is to say taking into account also leap years for the incrementation of the date on the last day of February.

The usual perpetual calendar mechanisms use cams of 12 or 48, depending on whether the latter performs one revolution respectively every year or every 4 years, with notches of different depths for months having less than 31 days. In the case of a cam of 12, the February notch also contains a Maltese cross indexed every year and which determines a lower depth for leap years. On the cams used in these date display mechanisms acts the beak of a lever, recalled by a spring, to determine the advance of the date indicator at the end of the month depending on the depth in which the latter is engaged. This results on the one hand in a relatively complex construction with a large number of parts, and does not present elsewhere by a very safe operation, for example in case of shocks. Moreover, this cam system only makes it possible to synchronize a date wheel and the basic movement in a given direction, such as so that the date values can only be incremented and not decremented during a time setting operation.

In order to overcome these disadvantages, the solution disclosed in the document CH680630 proposes for example a perpetual calendar mechanism comprising a program wheel driven by protruding teeth of a 24-hour wheel, and on which is arranged a gear train so that it is always driven by the number of steps corresponding to differential between the number of days of the month and 31. This mechanism is devoid of any lever, rocker and spring with the exception of a jumper for indexing the date wheel; however, the gear system is very complex with many satellite wheels, provided with long teeth for catching indexing, and arranged eccentrically on the program wheel, and each dedicated to a particular correction. As a result, not only is there a large overall height requirement on the plate, but also very high production costs due to the very precise positioning required for the axes in order to guarantee a reliable gearing with the 24-hour wheel.

The document EP1351104 offers an alternative to the previous solution, aimed at reducing the number of components on the program wheel. The disclosed calendar mechanism proposes for this purpose a program wheel provided with movable elements with retractable teeth, sliding between active and inactive positions. This device effectively reduces the overall thickness of the program wheel; however, the sliding movable elements have very particular shapes and must be placed precisely between abutments and shoulders of complex geometric shapes. Moreover, the control device still comprises many satellite wheels with teeth of unequal length acting as cam surfaces on the sliding elements. Thus both the reliability of the gear is questioned and the wear of the various parts of the control device is accentuated because of the many guide surfaces for the sliding elements.

There is therefore a need for calendar mechanisms, and in particular perpetual calendars, free of these limitations of the prior art.

Brief summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an alternative solution, of simplified construction, to the usual calendar mechanisms, the time adjustment and date can be synchronized in both directions.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a solution that minimizes the energy losses during the various indexing operations, and in particular the catch-up indexing at the end of the months of less than 31 days.

These goals are achieved in particular by means of a calendar mechanism comprising a calendar program wheel 13 driven by a clockwork movement and actuating a gear train for the date display (16-24), the program wheel 13 comprising a moving wheel. daily indexing 13 'advanced one step each day by said watch movement, and at least one retractable tooth (128, 129, 130) capable of being driven by the watch movement, characterized in that the retractable tooth (128, 129 130) is pivotally mounted between an active position (128A, 129A, 130A) in which it is driven by said watch movement, and an inactive position (128l, 129l, 130l), in which it is not driven by the movement watchmaker.

An advantage of the proposed solution is to require only a reduced number of elements for the program wheel and simple geometric pieces for retractable teeth.

Another advantage of the proposed solution is to guarantee a better gear safety thanks to a reliable positioning of the retractable teeth, deep and each conditioned by a single degree of freedom in rotation.

An additional advantage of the proposed solution is improved durability due to limited wear for each retractable tooth during respective indexing operations.

Another advantage of the proposed solution is to be able to change each retrofit, for the automatic indexing of the date in months of less than 31 days, in a modular way, gear plane by gear plane.

Brief description of the figures

• Les figures 1A et 1B illustrent respectivement une vue en coupe et de dessus d'un mécanisme de commande pour l'affichage des 24 heures et du jour de la semaine associé au mécanisme de calendrier selon une variante préférentielle de l'invention;
• Les figures 2A et 2B illustrent respectivement la vue en coupe et de la figure 1A et une vue de dessus dans un autre plan d'engrenage du mécanisme de commande et d'affichage du jour de semaine;
• La figure 3A illustre une vue en coupe partielle du mécanisme de calendrier selon une variante préférentielle de l'invention;
• La figure 3B illustre une vue de dessus partielle du mécanisme de calendrier selon la variante préférentielle de l'invention illustrée à la figure 3A, avec notamment la roue de programme et les dents escamotables;
• La figure 3C illustre une vue de dessus dispositif d'affichage du mécanisme de calendrier selon la variante préférentielle de l'invention illustrée aux figures 3A & 3B;
• La figure 4A illustre une autre vue en coupe du mécanisme de calendrier selon une variante préférentielle de l'invention, montrant notamment le mécanisme de commande de la roue de programme, d'affichage des mois et des années bissextiles;
• La figure 4B illustre la vue de dessus partielle du mécanisme de calendrier selon la variante préférentielle de l'invention illustrée à la figure 4A;
• La figure 5 illustre une vue en perspective du mécanisme de calendrier selon une variante préférentielle de l'invention reprenant les modes de réalisation préférentiels des différents modules illustrés aux figures précédentes;
• Les figures 6A et 6B illustrent les différentes séquences d'indexation, respectivement pour les dents escamotables pivotantes et le mobile d'indexation journalière, sur leurs plans d'engrenage respectifs pour un mécanisme de calendrier perpétuel selon un mode de réalisation préférentiel illustré à la figure 5 lors d'un 28 février d'une année non bissextile.

Examples of implementation of the invention are indicated in the description and illustrated by the appended figures in which:

• The Figures 1A and 1B respectively illustrate a sectional view and a top view of a control mechanism for displaying the 24 hours and the day of the week associated with the calendar mechanism according to a preferred variant of the invention;
• The Figures 2A and 2B illustrate respectively the sectional view and the Figure 1A and a view from above in another gear plane of the weekday control and display mechanism;
• The figure 3A illustrates a partial sectional view of the calendar mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
• The figure 3B illustrates a partial top view of the calendar mechanism according to the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. figure 3A , including the program wheel and retractable teeth;
• The figure 3C illustrates a top view display device of the calendar mechanism according to the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. Figures 3A & 3B ;
• The Figure 4A illustrates another sectional view of the calendar mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, showing in particular the control mechanism of the program wheel, display months and leap years;
• The Figure 4B illustrates the partial top view of the calendar mechanism according to the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. Figure 4A ;
• The figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of the calendar mechanism according to a preferred variant of the invention showing the preferred embodiments of the various modules illustrated in the preceding figures;
• The Figures 6A and 6B illustrate the different indexing sequences, respectively for the pivoting retractable teeth and the daily indexing mobile, on their respective gear planes for a gear mechanism. perpetual calendar according to a preferred embodiment illustrated at figure 5 on February 28 of a non-leap year.

Example (s) of Embodiments of the Invention

• Les figures 1A et 1B représentent le mécanisme d'affichage de 24 heures et du jour de la semaine d'un mécanisme de calendrier selon une variante préférentielle de l'invention, respectivement en coupe et de dessus. Les figures 1A et 1 B sont encerclées par le boîtier 0, afin d'indiquer la position du rouage à l'intérieur de la montre. Le boîtier 0 contient des poussoirs 10, 26, et 48 pour la correction respectivement des jours de semaine, des valeurs de quantième et des mois; ces mécanismes de correction seront expliqués plus loin à l'aide des figures suivantes 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C et 4A, 4B. On peut distinguer sur la figure 1A le canon des heures, sur lequel est agencée une roue des heures 1, comportant de préférence 35 dents. La roue des heures 1 engrène avec une roue de 24 heures 2, qui comprend un nombre de dents deux fois supérieur, et par conséquent de préférence 70 dents. La roue de 24 heures 2, qui effectue une rotation complète par jour, est montée solidaire en rotation d'une roue de transmission 3 qui engrène avec un mobile d'affichage des 24 heures 4, comprenant un nombre identique de 46 dents selon le mode de réalisation préférentiel illustré ici. Le mobile d'affichage des 24 heures 4 est monté coaxial à une étoile des jours de semaine 7, à 7 branches, et qui est entraînée à raison d'une fois par jour par un doigt d'engrenage 6 coaxial à la roue de 24 heures 2 dans un plan d'engrenage illustré plus loin à la figure 2B. Le montage coaxial du mobile d'affichage des 24 heures 4 par rapport à l'étoile des jours de semaine 7 permet une meilleure lisibilité de ces paramètres d'affichage, par exemple par le biais d'anneaux concentriques.
• La figure 2A est identique à la figure 1A mis à part la pièce additionnelle, référencée 8, qui illustre l'élément élastique d'indexation de l'étoile des jours de semaine 7. La figure 2B montre une vue de dessus du rouage d'indexation de l'étoile des jours de semaine 7, dans un plan d'engrenage inférieur à celui de la roue de transmission 3 au mobile d'affichage des 24 heures 4. La goupille 5, solidaire de la roue de 24 heures, entraîne en rotation le doigt d'engrenage 6 qui engrène avec l'étoile des jours de semaine 7, et l'amène à effectuer un septième de tour chaque jour. L'engrenage a lieu sur un secteur situé entre environ 10 et 11 heures de la roue de 24 heures 4 sur la figure 2B, ce qui signifie que l'indexation journalière du jour de semaine a lieu, dans cette configuration, entre environ 2 heures et 4 heures du matin. L'indexation de l'étoile des jours de semaine 7 d'un septième de tour exactement est garantie par l'élément élastique d'indexation 8 qui se positionne entre deux dents de l'étoile des jours de semaine 7, de telle sorte que chaque pas d'indexation correspond exactement à un septième de tour.

The calendar mechanism according to the invention is preferably a perpetual calendar mechanism with display of weekdays, 24 hours, months and leap years. Those skilled in the art will understand, however, that different modules that make up this calendar mechanism may also be used independently of each other for other types of calendar mechanisms, and that the program wheel may also be adapted to simpler mechanisms. such as 30-day annual or monthly calendar mechanisms, adjusting the number of pivoting teeth and the number of gear planes.

• The Figures 1A and 1B represent the mechanism of 24 hours display and the day of the week of a calendar mechanism according to a preferred variant of the invention, respectively in section and from above. The Figures 1A and 1B are encircled by the housing 0, to indicate the position of the gear inside the watch. The housing 0 contains push-buttons 10, 26, and 48 for the correction respectively of the weekdays, the date values and the months; these correction mechanisms will be explained later using the following figures 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C and 4A, 4B. We can distinguish on the Figure 1A the hours gun, on which is arranged a wheel hours 1, preferably having 35 teeth. The hour wheel 1 meshes with a 24 hour wheel 2, which comprises a number of teeth twice as large, and therefore preferably 70 teeth. The 24-hour wheel 2, which performs a complete rotation per day, is mounted to rotate with a transmission wheel 3 which meshes with a 24-hour display mobile 4, comprising an identical number of 46 teeth depending on the mode. preferred embodiment illustrated here. The mobile display 24 hours 4 is mounted coaxial with a star weekdays 7, 7 branches, and is driven at a rate of once a day by a gear pin 6 coaxial to the wheel of 24 hours 2 in a gear plane shown further to the Figure 2B . The coaxial mounting of the display mobile 24 hours 4 with respect to the star of weekdays 7 allows a better readability of these display parameters, for example through concentric rings.
• The Figure 2A is identical to the Figure 1A apart from the additional piece, referenced 8, which illustrates the elastic element indexing the star of the days of week 7. The Figure 2B shows a top view of the indexing train of the star of the weekdays 7, in a gear plane lower than that of the transmission wheel 3 to the display mobile 24 hours 4. The pin 5, secured of the 24-hour wheel, rotates the gear pin 6 which meshes with the star of the weekdays 7, and causes it to perform a seventh turn every day. The gearing takes place on an area between about 10 and 11 o'clock of the 24-hour wheel 4 on the Figure 2B This means that daily indexing of the weekday takes place in this configuration between around 2 am and 4 am The indexing of the star of the weekdays 7 exactly one seventh of a turn is guaranteed by the elastic indexing element 8 which is positioned between two teeth of the star of the weekdays 7, so that each indexing step is exactly one seventh of a turn.

The gearing finger of the 24-hour wheel 6 is preferably arranged as an element coaxial with the 24-hour wheel 2 but not integrally rotatably connected to this 24-hour wheel 2, so that the adjustment of the day of the week can be done independently of the calendar mechanism and the time of the day. Indeed, the arrangement of this gear pin 6 on a gear wheel gives a degree of freedom in rotation between a first stop 6 ', against which the pin of the wheel 24 hours 5 is placed when the wheel 24 hours turns counter-clockwise (that is to say when the hour wheel 1 rotates clockwise during normal operation of the watch), and a second stop 6 ", against which would be placed the pin of the 24-hour wheel 5 if the 24-hour wheel turned in the opposite direction.The magnitude of this degree of freedom, preferably corresponding to an angular sector of 20 to 30 degrees, is determined in such a way that it is possible to rotate the star of the weekdays 7, for example clockwise for the embodiment illustrated by the Figure 2B without disturbing the normal operation of the hour wheel 1 even if the gear pin of the 24 hour wheel 6 is in a geared position with teeth of the star of the weekdays 7, for example in the sector located between about 10 and 11 o'clock of the 24-hour wheel indicated previously on the Figure 2B for the preferred embodiment described. In the case where the gear pin of the 24-hour wheel 6 is positioned between two consecutive teeth of the star of the weekdays 7 at the time of adjustment, it will then simply be turned counterclockwise without opposing resistance to the star of weekdays 7 until reaching the second stop 6 ", nor influence the running of the wheel 24 hours 2. The walk normal hours wheel 1 is completely preserved during the setting operation, regardless of the time at which it is performed. If this operation is performed while the gear pin of the 24-hour wheel 6 is between two teeth of the star of the weekdays 7, the usual gear will then no longer take place, since the finger of 24 hour wheel gear 6 will then be out of the usual gear sector located between 10 and 11 o'clock and the first stop 6 'will be caught by the pin 5 only later, outside this sector.

The setting of the day of the week is effected by means of a manual actuator 10 arranged on the housing 0. According to the preferred embodiment described in FIGS. Figures 2A and 2B , the manual actuator for the adjustment of the weekdays 10 is a pusher on which one acts by successive pressures, at most 6 to reach the desired day. The adjustment mechanism 9, which makes it possible to transmit the pulses of the pusher to the star of the weekdays 7, has not been represented on the Figure 2B for questions of readability; such mechanisms are, however, known to those skilled in the art. According to the preferred embodiment shown, it is thus possible only to set the day of the week in one direction; alternatively, a rod could be used instead of a pusher as a manual actuator 10, in which case the rotation of the rod could cause the star of weekdays 7 to rotate in both directions with a adjustment mechanism of the days of week 9 appropriate. However, this alternative has the disadvantage of not guaranteeing that the adjustment is possible in the opposite direction when the gear pin of the 24-hour wheel 6 is engaged with the teeth of the star of the weekdays 7, since 'at that time it would be brought against the first stop 6' and make any correction impossible without damaging the rod and / or movement. The preferred solution described using the Figures 2A and 2B avoids such a disadvantage.

The fact that the setting of the day of the week never has an impact on the movement of the 24-hour wheel 2 not only guarantees the independence of this setting from the display of hours and minutes, but also relative to the values of the months and the date, determined by the calendar mechanism according to the invention. Indeed, the latter is driven by the movement by a gear segment integral with the 24-hour wheel 2 - as explained later in the light of the following figures - which is never influenced by the setting of the day of the week . So the correction of the day of the week is not correlated with the date and month values displayed by the preferred embodiment of the calendar mechanism described according to the invention.

The Figures 3A and 3B respectively show a sectional view from above of the drive train for displaying the date from the movement. The figure 3B shows in particular the position of this wheel relative to the housing 0, and the manual correction actuators 10, 26 and 48, respectively for the day of the week, as explained above in view of the Figures 2A and 2B , the date, and the month. The figure 3B will explain in particular the operation of the mechanism for setting the date values.

In what follows, reference is made alternatively to Figures 3A and 3B which can be consulted together for a better understanding of the drive mechanism of the calendar mechanism according to the preferred embodiment illustrated. The hour wheel of the movement 1 meshes with a wheel 24 hours 2, comprising a number of teeth twice higher. On this 24 hour wheel 2 is arranged a daily gear segment 11, which here comprises 7 teeth spaced 15 degrees, so that the passage from one tooth to the other takes place every hour. This daily gear segment of the 24-hour wheel 11 meshes with a first plane A, indicated on the figure 3A and better visible on the figure 3B , with a calendar daily indexing wheel 12, which comprises 8 teeth in this gear plane. Thus, every day, the 24-hour wheel causes the calendar daily indexing wheel 12 to turn one full circle during the gearing with the 7 teeth of the gear segment 11, that is to say in the first gear. 8 hours. When the calendar daily indexing wheel 12 does not mesh with the toothed gear segment 11, it is otherwise in abutment against a toothless segment of the 24-hour wheel, referenced 11 'on the figure 3B , and thus maintained in position. The gear segment of the 24-hour wheel 11 and the daily calendar indexing wheel 12 are thus preferably arranged so that the latter performs a complete rotation between 18 hours and 2 hours in the morning each day, the indexing with the program wheel of the dates 13 occurring between 20 hours and midnight.

As can be seen on the figure 3A , the daily calendar indexing wheel 12 has a plurality of teeth 28, 29, 30, 31 distributed over different gear planes B, C, D, E. These teeth are also consecutive and therefore potentially mesh every hour with the calendar wheel of the calendar 13. The figure 3B shows the gear plane D of tooth 31, the third from the top on the figure 3A , which is performed with the daily indexing mobile 13 'of the calendar program wheel 13. The tooth 31 is preferably arranged to mesh between 23h and midnight with a corresponding tooth 131 of the daily indexing mobile 13'. Unlike the tooth 31 of the calendar daily indexing wheel 12, this tooth is never the same each day and corresponds each time to another tooth of the teeth of the daily indexing mobile 13 ', having an external toothing homogeneous of 31 teeth (that is to say the height of each tooth and the spacing between each of them is identical) since it is defined only relative to the tooth 31 of the daily indexing wheel of calendar 12. The daily indexing mobile 13 'advances by a tooth pitch through the elastic indexing element of the program wheel 14, which is inserted between two consecutive teeth after each jump.

The other teeth 28, 29, 30 of the calendar daily indexing wheel 12 are intended to make up for the months of less than 31 days in collaboration with corresponding pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 arranged on the program wheel. The first indexing tooth 29 of the calendar daily indexing wheel 12 thus meshes with a first pivotable pivotable tooth 129, whose axis of rotation is integral with the daily indexing wheel 13 ', in a first plane of rotation. gear B, located just below the gear plane A on the figure 3A For indexing the ^29th to the ^30th day in every month of February. The gearing takes place only when the pivoting tooth is in the so-called "active" position, that is to say that it is capable of being driven by the corresponding indexing tooth of the daily indexing wheel. 12. These "active" positions 128A, 129A, 130A of each of the pivotable retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 are illustrated by the various sequences of the figure 6 , described later; in this case, each of the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 are preferably superimposed on the external toothing of the daily indexing wheel 13 'in their respective gear planes B, C, E. On the figure 3B , these pivoting teeth 128, 129, 130 are shown in inactive position, respectively 1281, 129l, 130l, during the month of March, which requires no catch-up since it contains 31 days.

The second indexing tooth 30 of the calendar daily indexing wheel 12 may similarly mesh with a second retractable tooth 130 pivot whose axis of rotation is integral with daily indexing mobile 13 ', when the latter is in active position 130A, for indexing the 30 ^th to 31 ^th day ^of the months of less than 31 days. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, the gearing takes place in a second gear plane C, located just below the previous gear plane B on the figure 3A .

Finally, a third indexing tooth 28 of the calendar daily indexing wheel 12 meshes with a third pivoting pivotable tooth 128, whose axis of rotation is also integral with the daily indexing mobile 13 'when the latter is in position. active position 128A for indexing the ^28th to the ^29th day in February for leap years. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, this gearing takes place in a third gear plane E, situated just below the gear plane D previously described.

As can be seen from the figure 3A the first, second, third and fourth gear planes are arranged in the order (B, C, D, E) from said gear plane A of said calendar daily indexing wheel 12 with said gear segment. Such an arrangement is advantageous because of the overlapping of the camming surfaces of the program wheel of the months 43 in the planes B and C, which makes it easy to facilitate the correct assembly of each of the parts.

On the figure 3B , it may be noted that neither the daily indexing wheel 12 nor the daily indexing mobile 13 'have long teeth, which facilitates their machining. Furthermore, the projection of the indexing teeth 29, 30, 31, 28 in their respective gear planes B, C, D, E are superimposed on the toothing of the daily indexing wheel 12 in the gear plane. With the gear segment 11: they therefore form a continuous and homogeneous toothed sector in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the calendar daily indexing wheel 12, with a depth allowing a good gear safety. , the angular difference between each tooth guaranteeing meanwhile the unit incrementation of the calendar program wheel 13.

On the figure 3B it is possible to distinguish a cam of the months 44 whose control surfaces determine the active or inactive position of the pivoting retractable tooth 130 in the gear plane C. This cam of the months 44 defines a camming surface for the months of less than 31 days 441, at which it will perform the indexing of the 30 ^th to 31 ^th calendar, preferably between 22 and 23h according to the preferred embodiment illustrated. This month cam 44 preferably also comprises a cam surface for February 442, at which it will perform the indexing of the 29 ^th to 30 ^th calendar, preferably between 21 and 22h according to the preferred embodiment illustrated. The camming surface of February controls the active or inactive position of the pivoting retractable tooth 129 in the gear plane B. The cam surfaces 441, 442 of the cam of the months 44 are divided into twelve sectors, visible on the figure 3B but referenced in detail only on the Figures 6A and 6B described below. Each of the sectors of the cam surfaces corresponds to one month of the calendar year, and the cam of the months 44 is arranged in solidarity with a program mobile of the months 43, indexed at the end of each month of a twelfth of a revolution, c that is, to change the value of the month. The control wheel for this indexing is described later using the Figures 4A and 4B .

At the bottom of the figure 3A a gear plane F corresponding to that of an intermediate control wheel of the months 42 with the program mobile of the months 43 can be observed, as well as the presence of a fixed indexing finger for the leap years 47, conventionally arranged on a fixed wheel 47 ', visible for example on Figures 6A and 6B . This indexing finger of the leap years 47 allows a Maltese cross 46 ', better visible on the figure 6 , to perform a quarter turn in each year, during which the motive of program of the months 43 of which it is solidary carries out a complete rotation. The Maltese cross 46 ', which meshes with an additional gear plane not referenced in the figures with the indexing finger of the leap years 47 is integral with a cam of the leap years 46, whose cam surface 461 (visible only on the figure 6 ) is similar in the gear plane E to the cam surface 442 for the month of February. This cam thus makes it possible to advance the value of the date from 28 to 29 for non-leap years during the evening of February 28, preferably between 8 pm and 9 pm according to the preferred embodiment illustrated.

At the level of the gear plan D, we can see on the Figures 3A and 3B that the daily indexing mobile 13 'meshes, by means of an intermediate wheel of the dates 15 arranged coaxially but free in rotation with respect to the intermediate control wheel of the months 42, with a date wheel 16 also provided with 31 teeth, such as the daily indexing mobile 13 '. The intermediate date wheel 15 is only a reference for all the indexing movements on the calendar program wheel 13, which are integrally replicated on the date wheel 16; conversely, all the rotational movements of the date wheel 16, during adjustment with the aid of the manual actuator 26 described below, are integrally replicated to the daily indexing mobile 13 ', which forms the frame of the wheel of date program 13, and on which are still mounted the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130, which each respectively comprise a pin 1281, 1291, 1301 whose function will be explained later with the help of Figures 6A and 6B . Thus, no elastic indexing element is necessary to index the date wheel 16. In the case where the height space is sufficient in the housing 0, the program wheels of the dates and dates 16 and the calendars 16 can be arranged coaxially. , even confused. According to the preferred embodiment described, the dissociation of the program wheels 13 and the calendars 16 makes it possible to functionally isolate the block formed by the calendar program wheel 13, dedicated to the gearing with the movement for the automatic correction of the calendars. for the months of less than 31 days, that formed by the date wheels 16, units 17 and tens 18, mutually coaxial and integral in rotation, which are dedicated to the gearing with the display mobiles, as per example those illustrated in Figure 1C.

The unit wheel 17 is divided into 31 equal angular sectors on which are placed 30 teeth and a toothless sector. The unit wheel 17 drives a mobile operating a display disk units 19 every day of the month, except one. The display units disc 20, integral with the actuation of the mobile display units disc 19 is indexed every day from a unit, except when switching on the ^31st of the month to the first of the following month where only the tens display disc 23 is incremented. The actuating wheel of the display disk of the units 19 comprises 10 teeth and is indexed in steps of one-tenth of a revolution thanks to the elastic indexing element of the disk of the units 24, which is inserted between two consecutive teeth. .

Similarly, the tens display disk 23 is secured to an actuating wheel, that is to say the operating wheel of the display disk of the tens 22, which has the shape of a cross at 4 branches and is indexed a quarter turn during passage of the ^9th to the ^10th calendar of 19 ^th to 20 ^th calendar, the ^29th 30 ^e calendar, and 31 to ¹ calendar. The jump of a quarter turn is guaranteed by the elastic indexing element of the display disc tens 24, which is inserted between two adjacent arms of the cross; and the indexing during these date values is guaranteed by long teeth arranged on the tens wheel 18, which is also divided into 31 sectors but comprises only 4 long teeth, 3 of which are arranged at 9 sectors of intervals and the 4 ^th consecutive to ³ for the passage of ^e calendar 31 to the first of the following month.

The gear train for displaying the date, composed of the elements referenced 16 to 24 from the date wheel 16 to the display discs of the units 20 and tens 23, is visible partially on each of the FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C : the figure 3A shows the entirety of the gear train except the indexing elastic indexing elements 21, and 24 of each actuating wheel 19 and 22 respectively associated with the display disk of the units and the tens 20 and 23, the figure 3B shows a gear plane located below these display disks units 20 and tens 23, which are therefore only visible on the figure 3C .

The date is set by means of the manual actuator 26 arranged on the housing 0. According to the preferred embodiment described in FIGS. Figures 3A and 3B , the manual actuator 26 for setting the date is a pusher on which one acts by successive pressures, at most 30 to reach the desired day. The adjustment mechanism 25, which makes it possible to transmit the pulses of the pusher to the mobile of the dates 16, has not been represented on the figure 3B for questions of readability; such mechanisms are, however, known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, a rod could be used instead of a pusher as a manual actuator 26, in which case the rotation of the rod could cause the mobile of the calendars 16 to rotate in both directions with an adjusting mechanism. appropriate week days 26. According to the preferred embodiment shown, as well as for the alternative solution proposed, it is however not possible to perform such a date adjustment while the teeth 28, 29, 30 or 31 of the daily indexing wheel 12 are engaged with the calendar program wheel 13, that is, between 20 and 24 hours. Indeed, the direct engagement of the daily indexing wheel 12 with the daily gear segment of the 24-hour wheel 11 would then tend to reflect these indexings on the wheel hours 1, which is not possible without damaging the normal march of the movement.

The Figures 4A and 4B illustrate sectional and respectively top views of the calendar mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein the control wheels are described for positioning the program wheel of the months 43 in order to position the pivoting retractable teeth adequately, and than the workings to display months and leap years. As in the previous figures 2A, 2B and 3A, B, C, there are the manual actuators 10, 26 and 48 arranged on the housing 0; we will see later how the setting of the months is done through the manual actuator 48.

In the central part of the Figure 4A , we discern a mobile on which is arranged a monthly indexing tooth 32, visible on the Figure 4B . This monthly indexing tooth 32 meshes with a monthly indexing mobile 33 of 8 teeth, integral in rotation with a month control wheel 41 of 32 teeth, which meshes in a gear plane F with the intermediate wheel of control of the months 42, coaxial but not integral in rotation with the intermediate wheel of the dates 15, and which in turn meshes with the program mobile months 43 of 48 teeth, integral in rotation with the cam of the months 44 visible on the Figure 4B . The monthly indexing wheel 33 performs exactly 1/8 of a turn each month thanks to the indexing elastic element 34 which is inserted between two of its consecutive teeth; the gear ratio between the number of the monthly indexing mobile 33 and the program mobile of the months 43 allows to index it by exactly 1/12 turn every month.

The monthly indexing wheel 33 also meshes with a monthly indexing intermediate wheel 35 of 23 teeth, which in turn meshes with an actuating wheel for displaying the months 36 of 12 teeth. The gear ratio of 8/12 between the monthly indexing wheel 33 and the operating wheel for displaying the months 36 ensures that the latter performs exactly one twelfth of a turn at the end of each month. The actuating wheel months 36 is integral in rotation with an annual indexing tooth 37, which is placed on a mobile performing a complete rotation each year. This annual indexing tooth 37 meshes with a leap year actuating wheel 38, provided with 8 teeth, which is moved by 2 teeth, ie 90 degrees during each gearing with the annual indexing tooth 37. The actuation of the leap years 38 is integral in rotation with an intermediate wheel of the leap years 39, provided with 39 teeth and which meshes with a display wheel leap years 40, also comprising 39 teeth, mounted coaxial with the actuating mobile months 36 of such that the months and leap years indicators, typically needles pointing on concentric rings arranged on the dial of a watch, can be arranged rotating around the same barrel to improve the reading comfort of the user. Those skilled in the art will understand that the numbers of teeth indicated for the elements constituting the workings described in the Figures 4A and 4B for the display of the months (elements 33-36), the display of the leap years (elements 37-40) and the control of the position of the program mobile of the months 43 (elements 33, 41, 42,43) are given by way of example in the context of the preferred embodiment illustrated, with gearing efficiency adequate for the implementation of the invention, but should not be considered as limiting.

The program mobile of the months 43 is integral with the cam of the months 44 which includes a first cam surface for the months of less than 31 days 441, visible on the Figure 4B and corresponding to the gear plane C, visible on the Figure 4A . This cam surface makes it possible to index the value of the date from 30 to 31. The cam of the months 44 also includes a cam surface 442 in the gear plane B for the correction of the months February, that is to say making it possible to pass the date from 29 to 30. Finally, the so-called leap year cam 46, mounted in solidarity with the program mobile of the months 43 and visible on the Figure 4A , allows to spend the date of 28 to 29 when the year is not leap by acting on the pivoting retractable tooth in the gear plane E, located just above the gear plane F. The program mobile of month 43 is therefore intended to determine the active position 128A, 129A, 130A or inactive 128l, 129l, 130l of each of the retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 when a retrofit is necessary, that is to say during month of 30 days and months of February. For this purpose, the cam surfaces on each gear plane B, C, E must be arranged in such a way that each pivoting retractable tooth situated in this plane is in the active position for the catch-up for which they are respectively provided. that is to say 29 to 30 in the plane B, 30 to 31 in the plane C, and 28 to 29 in the plane E, and in the inactive position otherwise. According to the preferred embodiment described, the cam surfaces are divided into twelve sectors each corresponding to one month of the year. Thus, the program wheel of the months 43, integral in rotation with the cam of the months 44 acting on the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 in the different gear planes B, C, E, must be synchronized to the values of months displayed and indexed each time the date goes from 31 to 01 and vice versa; this is the reason why the drive train, formed according to the preferred embodiment illustrated by the elements 15, 16, 32, 33, 41, and 42 allows feedback from the mobile indexing daily 13 'to the program wheel months. The daily indexing mobile 13 'performs at least 1/31 ^th of a turn each day (ie 1/31 ^th for normal days, whereas for the last days of month less than 31 days, it performs the additional catch-up required one or more 1/31 ^of a turn for the months of 30 days and February) to index-month program of the mobile 43 of a twelfth round at the end of each month in at the same time as the months display actuating wheel 36 is also indexed by 1/12 ^th of a turn.

According to the preferred embodiment of calendar mechanism described, the control wheel of the program wheel months, formed elements referenced 15, 16, 32, 33, 41, 42 consists of a first kinematic chain from the mobile d daily indexing 13 'to the date mobile 16, which forms the first element of the date display gear train (16-24), via the intermediate date wheel 15, while a second kinematic chain starts from the date mobile. 16 and the monthly indexing tooth 32 to return to the program mobile of months 43, arranged coaxial but independent in rotation of the daily indexing mobile 13 ', via the monthly indexing mobile 33 and the wheel control of the months 41, integral in rotation, and the intermediate control wheel of the months 42. The intermediate mobiles 15 and 42, that is to say the intermediate wheel of the dates 15 and the intermediate wheel control area of the months 42 are arranged as a single intermediate wheel comprising two coaxial mobiles and independent in rotation, to save the maximum space on the plate, for example for other timepieces. The intermediate month control wheel 42 meshes in the plane F with the program wheel of the months 43, while the intermediate date wheel 15 meshes in the plane D with the daily indexing mobile 13 '. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, the intermediate wheels (intermediate wheel dates and intermediate control wheel months 42) rotate in a reverse direction of rotation relative to each other because the intermediate wheel dates 15 meshes directly with the date wheel 16 and therefore turns in a direction opposite to the latter, while the intermediate wheel months control 42 is driven by the monthly index finger 32 integral with the date wheel 16, by the intermediate mobile formed references 33, 41 and therefore rotates in the same direction as the date wheel 16.

The months are adjusted by means of the manual actuator 48 arranged on the housing 0. According to the preferred embodiment described in FIGS. Figures 4A and 4B , the manual actuator for the adjustment of the days of week 48 is a pusher on which one acts by successive pressures, at most 11 to reach the desired month. The adjustment mechanism 45, which makes it possible to transmit the pulses of the pusher to the program mobile of the months 43, has not been represented on the Figure 4B for questions of readability; such mechanisms are, however, known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, a rod could be used instead of a pusher as a manual actuator 48, in which case the rotation of the rod could cause the program wheel of the months 43 to rotate in both directions with a mechanism setting of the appropriate months. According to the preferred embodiment represented, as well as for the alternative solution proposed, it is however not possible to perform such adjustment of the months while the monthly indexing tooth 32 meshes with the monthly indexing wheel 33, that is to say, on the night of the passage of the last calendar of the current month to the ^1st of the following month. Indeed, the gearing of the indexing tooth 32 would rotate the mobile dates of the date 16, which would result in an identical movement of the calendar program wheel 13 whose gear with the teeth 28, 29, 30 31 of the indexing mobile 12, between 20h and 24h, would cause the daily gear segment of the wheel 24 hours 11 in rotation. This would tend to reflect these indexings on the wheel hours 1, which is not possible without damaging the normal movement of the movement, as previously if the date setting is between 20h and 24h.

The figure 5 shows a perspective view of the calendar mechanism according to the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated by the various previous figures. From the hour wheel 1 in the middle of the figure, it is possible to discern the wheel train bringing the calendar wheel 13, through the 24 hour wheel 2 and the daily gear segment 11 of 7 teeth, which meshes with the indexing mobile 12. The various teeth 28, 29, 30, 31 of the daily indexing wheel mesh in the respective planes E, B, C, D illustrated on the figures 3 and 4 with the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 of the calendar program wheel 13 and the tooth 131 of the daily daily indexing wheel, in the plane D. In this figure, it is only possible to distinguish the pivoting retractable teeth. 129 and 130, the tooth referenced 128 is hidden. On the left of this figure, the transmission wheel of the 24-hour wheel 3, integral in rotation with the wheel 24 hours 2, meshes with the 24-hour display mobile 4, rotating around the same barrel as the star of weekdays 7, arranged in a lower plane. The gear pin of the 24-hour wheel 6, which rotates the star of the weekdays 7, and the elastic indexing element of the star of the weekdays 8 are, however, also hidden on this Fig.

During each gearing of the calendar program wheel 13 with one of the teeth of the daily indexing wheel 12 of the calendar, the daily indexing mobile 13 ', on which are pivotally mounted the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129 and 130, performs 1/31 ^of a turn. The date mobile 16 is rotated at the same angle by means of the intermediate wheel of the dates 15. Above the date wheel 16 there is the wheel of the units 17 and the wheel of the tens 18, which can be clearly seen. 4 long teeth arranged at the 9 ^th, 19 ^th, 29 ^th and 31 ^th tooth of the tens wheel 18, the tooth 31 ^e of the units wheel 17 being recessed. The date display mechanism has not been shown for readability issues; it may however be noted that no elastic indexing element is useful at the periphery of the date wheel 16, since the movement of this wheel is always synchronous with that of the daily indexing mobile 13 ', itself indexed by the indexing elastic element 14 of the program wheel (hidden on the figure 5 ).

The gear train for the date display is not represented in its entirety on the figure 5 , since the respective display disks and the indexing elements (references 20-24, visible on the figure 3C ), and the monthly indexing tooth 32, coaxial and integral in rotation with the date wheel 16, is hidden below. However, we can distinguish the monthly indexing mobile 33, which allows on the one hand to the control wheel months 41, with which it is integral in rotation, to actuate the rotation of the program wheel months 43, whose Toothing is barely visible under that of the daily indexing mobile 13 ', via the intermediate control wheel months 42, and which meshes with the gear wheel for the display of months. The months program wheel 43 is rotationally integral with a cam of the months 44, which includes cam surfaces distributed on different gear planes. Mention may in particular distinguish the bumps 5 in the gear plane C, the first cam surface 441 for correcting the 30 ^th to 31 ^th calendar, and a bump in the gear plane B of the second cam surface 442 for correcting the 29 ^th to 30 ^th calendar during of the month of February. In order to facilitate the machining of the cam of the months 44 either in a single piece or in two concentric pieces mounted one on the other, it may be noted that the preferred embodiment of the invention uses cam surfaces. identical in the gear planes B and C for the month of February: indeed the first cam surface 441 in the angular sector 4402 (visible in detail on the Figures 6A and 6B ) in the gear plane C is totally hidden by the second cam surface 442 in the gear plane B.

At the top of the figure 5 it is possible to distinguish the intermediate indexing wheel 35, which meshes with an actuating wheel for displaying the months 36, hidden beneath the monthly indexing tooth 37 with which it is coaxial and integral in rotation. The monthly indexing tooth 37 performs a complete revolution in one year and meshes with the operating mobile of the display of the leap years 38, coaxial and fixed in rotation with an intermediate wheel leap years 39, which meshes with the wheel displaying leap years 40 of equal number of teeth. The display wheel leap years 40 is arranged coaxial with the mobile operation of the display months to allow better readability to the user of the watch.

The Figure 6A illustrates the different indexing sequences for the pivotable retractable teeth 128, 129, and 130 with the respective teeth 28, 29, 30 of the daily indexing wheel 12, on their respective gear planes for a perpetual calendar mechanism according to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the figures during a February 28 of a non-leap year. For such a day, the calendar mechanism must catch up to 3 date values, which it does by means of each of the 3 pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 in their respective gear plane E, B and C with the indexing teeth 28, 29, and 30 of the daily indexing wheel 12.

The upper figure shows the daily indexing segment 11 and the position of the different indexing teeth 28, 29, 30, 31 February 28 at 20 hours. At this time, the tooth 28 of the daily indexing wheel 12 meshes with the pivoting retractable tooth 128, pivotally mounted about an axis of rotation 128 'integral with the daily indexing mobile 13'. According to the mode illustrated preferred embodiment, the axis of rotation 128 'of the pivoting retractable tooth 128 is located slightly behind the ^25th indexing mobile tooth daily 13 ', referenced 25'. The pivoting retractable tooth 128 is brought into active position 128A from the passage of the 27 ^th to 28 ^th calendar of this month by the cam leap years 46, integral with the Maltese cross 46 ', indexed once a year via the fixed indexing finger of the leap years 47, itself secured to a fixed wheel 47. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, the fixed wheel 47 is coaxial with the program wheel of the months 43 and the program wheel of the dates 13 '.

The tooth 28 of the daily indexing wheel 12 and the pivoting retractable tooth 128 meshes with the gear plane E, so that the date program wheel 13 is driven by a 31 ^th of a turn in the direction of rotation. rotation S1, identical to that of the wheel 24 hours 2 and opposite to that of the hour wheel 1, here for example according to this view of the Figure 6A Clockwise clockwise. We can notice that the meaning of the view of the Figure 6A - and also Figure 6B hereinafter-is opposed to that of the figure 3B for example, that the hour wheel 1 rotates clockwise and drives the 24 hour wheel 2 and the gear segment 11 counterclockwise.

The elastic indexing element of the calendar program wheel 14 makes it possible to index the rotation of the daily indexing device 13 ', which then meshes with the date display gear (see references 15 to 24 illustrated on FIG. the other figures), in steps of exactly 1/31 ^e of turn in the direction S1, while a first elastic repositioning element 1282, which cooperates with a first pin 1281 affixed to the pivoting retractable tooth 128 allows to replace this tooth after indexing and keep it in the lowered position at rest.

The cam of the months 44 is divided into twelve equal angular sectors, each corresponding to one month, and referenced respectively from 4401 for the month of January to 4412 for the month of December. As can be seen from this first part of the Figure 6A the cam surface of the leap years 461 of the leap years cam 46 is identical, in the gear plane E, to the cam surface of the months of less than 31 days 441 in the plane C, visible in FIG. next low, and the cam surface of the months of February 442, visible in the figure of the next middle. Thus for the month of February, corresponding to the angular sector referenced 4402, it is according to a top view of the cam 44 months from the plane B, all cam surfaces raised 441, 442 and 461 are superimposed. This arrangement facilitates both the machining and assembly of the constituent parts of the program wheel months 43, since it is sufficient to check the alignment of these different cam surfaces to ensure the proper operation of the actuation of each pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129 and 130.

By following down arrow S, indicating the direction of the sequence of indexing sequences for the end of February from the top of the Figure 6A a second illustration showing a sectional view of the program wheels of the dates 13 and the months 43 in another gear plane, B, in which the tooth 29 of the daily indexing wheel 12 meshes with the tooth retractable pivoting 129 of the date program wheel 13, pivotally mounted about its axis of rotation 129 ', integral with the daily indexing mobile 13'. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, the axis of rotation 129 'of the pivoting retractable tooth 129 is located slightly away from the movable tooth 26 ^th daily indexing 13' is referenced 26 '. This sequence takes place at 21 hours, while the 24 hour wheel 2 shifted the daily gear segment of the 24 hour wheel 11 of a tooth and caused the rotation of the daily indexing wheel 12 of a eighth of a turn for engaging on the tooth 29, following the tooth 28. While the pivoting retractable tooth 128 is returned to its inactive position 128L, the pivoting retractable tooth 129 is brought into active position 129A from the passage of the 28 ^th to 29 ^th month of this month, the indexing done the previous hour, thanks to the cam surface of the months of February 442 of the cam of the months 44; however, for a February leap, the active position 129A of the pivoting retractable tooth 129 would be effective upon the passage of the 28 ^th to 29 ^th of the month at midnight by regular gear in Plan D (see Figure 6B below). Similar to the previous illustration from the top of the Figure 6A in the gear plane E, it can be seen that the cam surface 442 of the month cam 44 for the month of February, that is to say for indexing catch 29 ^th to 30 ^th calendar during of this month, is identical to the cam surface 441 of the months cam for the same month of February. The elastic indexing the calendars 14 program wheel member for indexing the rotation of the mobile daily indexing 13 'again at exactly 1/31 ^of a turn in the direction S1.

As for the first pivotable retractable tooth 128, a second elastic repositioning element 1292, which cooperates with a second lug 1291 affixed to the pivoting retractable tooth 129, allows to replace the tooth after indexing and keep it in the lowered position at rest.

By still following the S arrow down, indicating the direction of the sequence of indexing sequences for the end of February, we come to a third illustration at the bottom of the Figure 6A showing a cross-sectional view of the calendar wheels 13 and months 43 according to a third gear plane, C, located just below the plane B according to the preferred variant illustrated in particular on the figures 3 and 4 and in which the tooth 30 of the daily indexing wheel 12 meshes with the pivoting retractable tooth 130 of the calendar program wheel 13, pivotally mounted about the axis of rotation 130 'of the pivoting retractable tooth 130, secured to the daily indexing mobile 13 '. According to the preferred embodiment illustrated, the axis of rotation 130 is located slightly away from the 2 ^nd mobile tooth daily indexing 13 ', referenced 2'. This sequence takes place at 22 o'clock, while the 24-hour wheel 2 again shifted the daily gear segment of the 24-hour wheel 11 of a tooth and caused the rotation of the daily indexing wheel 12. an eighth of a turn for engaging on the tooth 30, following the tooth 29 on the day indicator wheel 12. again, while the pivoting retractable tooth 129 is returned to its inactive position 129L from the passage of the 29 ^th to 30 ^e calendar of this month, the indexing done the previous time, the pivoting retractable tooth 130 has been brought into active position 130A, with the cam surface of the months of less than 31 months 441 of the month cam 44; however, for a 30-day month Usually the active position 130A of the pivoting retractable tooth 130 would be effective upon the passage of the 29 ^th to 30 ^th of the month at midnight after regular daily gear in Plan D (see Figure 6B below). Similar to the previous illustrations of the Figure 6A in the gear planes B and E, it can be seen that the cam surfaces 441 and 442 of the cam of the months 44 are identical for the same month of February, that is to say in the angular sector referenced 4402; in this gear plane C, however, 4 other identical bosses can be noted in the respective angular sectors 4404, corresponding to the month of April, 4406, corresponding to the month of June, 4409, corresponding to the month of September and 4411 corresponding to the November, to make it up the 30 ^th to 31 ^th calendar from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. for the last days of this month. It may also be noted that, like the pivoting retractable teeth 128 and 129, a third resilient repositioning element 1302, which cooperates with a third pin 1301 affixed to the pivotable retractable tooth 130, allows to replace the tooth after indexing and keep it in the lowered position at rest.

The elastic indexing element of the calendar program wheel 14 makes it possible to index the rotation of the daily indexing device 13 'again in steps of exactly 1/31 ^e of revolution in the direction of rotation S1 for this last catch-up indexation.

As can be seen in particular on the various illustrations of the Figure 6A , all the pivotable retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 preferably have an identical geometric shape, which considerably simplifies the manufacture of the calendar program wheel 13, on the one hand, and the manufacture of spare parts for retractable teeth , which do not require the machining of dedicated elements for each type of date adjustment. The simple and homogeneous geometrical shape for each of the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 allows the use of equally homogeneous cam surfaces, as already discussed previously, in each catch indexing plane (B, C, E) of such that these teeth are superimposed on the external toothing of the daily indexing mobile 13 'in the active position 128A, 129A, 130A. Thus the complexity of the whole proposed timing mechanism is greatly reduced compared to the usual mechanisms.

On the Figures 6A and 6B Only the ^1st and ^2nd mobile teeth daily indexing 13 'and the 25 ^th and 30 ^th, respectively referenced 1', 2 ', 25', 26 ', 27', 28 ', 29' 30 'are referenced among the 31 teeth of the daily indexing mobile and more of the tooth 131 cooperates with the tooth 31 of the indexing wheel 12 daily or for indexing the ^31st calendar the first of the following month in the example described the transition from February 28 to March ¹ for a non-leap year. When the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129 and 130 are in the active position respectively 128A in the first illustration from the top of the Figure 6A , 129A on the ^2nd illustration middle of Figure 6A And 130A of the ^3rd illustration of the bottom of the Figure 6A they respectively hide the teeth 28 ', then 29' and 30 'of the daily indexing mobile according to the preferred embodiment described; these are however visible in the illustration at the bottom of the Figure 6B described below.

The Figure 6B , illustrates the last indexing sequence of the month, which follows the three catch-up indexations of the Figure 6A previous for February 28 of a non-leap year, but which also occurs every other day of the year from 11 pm to midnight. There is the same S arrow down, indicating the direction of the sequence of indexing, as in the previous figure for the last indexing of the month. The pins 1281, 1291 and 1301 as well as the elastic elements 1282, 1292 and 1302 are also shown in this figure, unlike the figure 5 previous, where they have not been illustrated for readability, and at the figure 3B where only the lugs are represented.

The first illustration at the top of the Figure 6B shows a sectional view of the program wheels of the dates 13 and months 43 according to a fourth gear plane, D, located just below the plane C according to the preferred variant illustrated in particular on the figures 3 and 4 and in which the tooth 31 of the daily indexing wheel 12 meshes with a tooth 131 of the daily indexing mobile 13 '. This sequence takes place at 23 o'clock, while the 24-hour wheel 2 has further shifted the daily gear segment of the 24-hour wheel 11 from a tooth compared to the bottom illustration of the Figure 6A previous, and caused the rotation of the daily indexing wheel 12 one eighth of a turn to mesh on the tooth 31, consecutive to the tooth 30 on the daily indexing wheel 12.

The illustration at the bottom of the Figure 6B shows a top view of the program wheel 13 and the cam 44 months, with the view of the elements located between the first gear plane A between the daily gear segment 11 and the daily indexing wheel 12 until 'to the fixed wheel 47' and the indexing finger of the leap years 47 below the gear plane E. It can now be seen the inactive position 128l, 19l, 130l of the various pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, and 130 around their respective axes 128 ', 129', 130 'in their respective gear plane E, B and C, once the date has been indexed on the first of March at midnight, while the daily indexing wheel 12 has made an eighth of an additional revolution, so that the tooth 31 no longer meshes with the daily indexing mobile 13 '. The elastic elements 1282, 1292 and 1302 cooperating with respectively with the pins 1281, 1291, 1301 pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129 and 130 maintain the latter in the inactive position. Even though the daily indexing wheel 12 contains 8 teeth in the gear plane A with the daily gear segment 11, it contains only 4 teeth in the planes. gearbox B, C, D, E with the calendar program mobile 13, and more exactly one in each respective plane B, C, D, E so that the drive of the daily indexing wheel 12 by the last tooth of the gear segment 11 during the following hour will have no influence on the movement of the calendar program wheel 13. The daily indexing mobile 13 'will therefore no longer be operated in rotation past that time; however, the control gear (references 15, 16, 32, 33, 41, 42) previously described, in particular using the Figure 4B , Yet will index the month moving part 43 secured to the month cam 44, a twelfth of a revolution in the direction S2 opposite to the direction S1 during each passage 31 ^e to ¹ calendar of the next month. In order not to draw too much energy on the movement at each change of month, it would be possible in an alternative embodiment to dissociate the types of monthly indexing teeth associated with the display of the months and the feedback on the According to the proposed embodiment, these monthly indexing teeth are combined because the indexing tooth referenced month 32 causes both the indexing of the operating wheel of the display of the months 36. and the months program mobile. In an alternative embodiment, it could be imagined that a second indexing tooth meshes in the plane F with a month control wheel 41 which is not integral in rotation with the monthly indexing wheel 33, so that this tooth can be shifted angularly by a few calendars values, for example between the 10 ^th and 20 ^th calendar of the month, and thus indexing month program of the mobile does not take place simultaneously with that of the displaying the current month so as not to require a very large torque for simultaneous indexing at the end of the month while ensuring the proper positioning of the schedule mobile 43 when the retractable teeth must be placed in the active position, that is to say say long enough before the last calendar of the month. On the other hand, the daily indexing wheel 12, which will have performed a complete revolution after gearing with the 7 teeth of the toothed gear segment 11, will be held in position until the next gear of this same toothed sector by the surface of the sector. not toothed 11 ', visible on all the illustrations of Figures 6A and 6B , which blocks it in rotation.

The reliability of the gear proposed by the calendar mechanism according to the invention is improved over mechanisms using complex cam surfaces and / or motions with several components in translation for retractable teeth due to the fact that the position of the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, and 130 is determined only by their degree of freedom in rotation that each has its respective axis of rotation 128 ', 129', and 130 '. The cam surfaces for the different catching indexings to be made thus do not need to be sophisticated to move the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 into their active positions 128A, 129A, 130A, the difference in height between the different angular sectors 4401-4412 of the cam of the months 44 simply determining their angular travel during their change of state, ie from the inactive position to the inactive position and vice versa. This height is chosen such that each of the pivoting retractable teeth are superimposed, in their respective gear plane, the teeth of the daily indexing mobile 13 'when in the active position 128A, 129A, 130A. Although on the Figure 6B the axes of rotation of the pivoting retractable teeth 128 ', 129', 130 'are not all located on the same circle, that is to say at equal distance from the center of rotation of the daily indexing mobile 13', this provision may be advantageous if the cam surfaces for months of less than 31 days 441, the month of February 442 and the leap years 461 are identical in the various gear plans E, B, C for the month of February in order to to obtain the superposition of the pivoting retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 relative to the ^28th, 29th, and ^30th tooth, respectively referenced 28 ', 29, and 30', of the day indicator wheel.

As can be seen from the Figures 6A and 6B , the catch of missing dates at the end of the month less than 31 days is performed by the calendar mechanism according to the invention in a range of 4 hours at most, namely from 20 to 24 hours, sequentially every hour. first in each of the three catch-up gear planes E, B, C and finally in the normal daily indexing plane D while the daily indexing wheel 12 is driven by the gear sector of the wheel 24 11 hours. All pivoting retractable teeth are driven by the same clockwork wheel, and more exactly the same piece (ie the daily indexing wheel 12), so that there is no need for a gear train dedicated for each correction, which simplifies the construction of the proposed timing mechanism compared to conventional mechanisms. The number of teeth of the daily indexing wheel 12, set at 8 according to the preferred embodiment chosen, has been chosen to make a rotation of an angle sufficient to index the date program wheel 13, comprising the wheel of daily indexing 13 'and pivotable retractable teeth 128, 129, 130 on which they are mounted, of a 31 ^st turn, with an adequate gear depth. Moreover, the fact that the daily indexing wheel 12 makes exactly one complete revolution each day makes it possible to repeat a similar movement starting from the same position in daily cycles. Disassociating the gear planes B, C, E for all catch-ups at the end of the month and that of the daily indexing D allows a modular replacement, preferably a gear plane by gear plane, for each of the pieces of gear. the calendar program wheel 13 and the daily indexing wheel 12. This possibility offered by the calendar mechanism according to the invention is very advantageous because the gear plane D will be used for example every day, while the plan B only once a year, plan C 5 times a year, and plan E once a year, three years out of four in non-leap years.

The calendar mechanism makes it possible to always synchronize the display of the date with respect to the movement, and this in both directions, so that a time adjustment, conventionally by actuation in rotation of a ring arranged on the housing 0, will be transmitted to the hour wheel 1 and therefore to the calendar mechanism. This can be advantageous when traveling to a destination where the time zone is later than the region of origin, for example the west coast of the United States, at -9 hours from Europe. The user of a watch equipped with a calendar mechanism according to the invention will simply need to set the time of his watch at -9h so that the date is automatically adjusted in the opposite direction, for example from March 1 ^st to 28 or 29 February, without requiring any manipulation of dedicated date setting. The use of the watch is only made more convenient compared to the watches provided with a usual calendar mechanism, for which no synchronization is provided with the movement during a setting in the opposite direction of the march .

Claims (15)

Calendar mechanism comprising a calendar program wheel (13) driven by a watch movement and actuating a gear train for the date display (16-24), said calendar program wheel (13) comprising a daily indexing wheel (13 ') advanced one step each day by said watch movement, and at least one retractable tooth (128, 129, 130) capable of being driven by said watch movement, characterized in that said retractable tooth (128, 129 130) is pivotally mounted between an active position (128A, 129A, 130A) in which it is driven by said watch movement, and an inactive position (128l, 129l, 130l), in which it is not driven by said movement watchmaker. Calendar mechanism according to claim 1, said daily indexing mobile (13 ') having a homogeneous outer toothing of 31 teeth, and being indexed by one day a step by a drive train (1, 2, 11, 12 ) actuated by said watch movement, characterized in that said retractable teeth (128, 129, 130) are integral with said daily indexing mobile (13 ') and are driven in the active position (128A, 129A, 130A) by the same wheel driving (1, 2, 11, 12) actuated by said watch movement. Calendar mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said active position (128A, 129A, 130A) or inactive (128l, 129l, 130l) of said retractable tooth (128, 129, 130) is controlled by the position of a month program wheel (43), indexed every month by a twelfth of a turn by a control wheel (15, 16, 32, 33, 41, 42) driven by said daily indexing wheel (13 ') . Calendar mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that said control wheel (15, 16, 32, 33, 41, 42) comprises an intermediate wheel comprising two coaxial independent rotational mobiles (15, 42), the first mobile being an intermediate date wheel (15) driven by the daily indexing wheel (13 ') and meshing with a date wheel (16) actuating said wheel for the date display (16-24), and the second wheel being an intermediate wheel for controlling the months (42), driven by the date wheel (16) and meshing with the months program wheel (43). Calendar mechanism according to Claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the month program wheel (43) comprises discrete cam surfaces (441, 442) distributed over at least one first gear plane (B) and a second gear plane (B). a gear plane (C) of said date program wheel (13), said cam surfaces (441, 442) being divided into twelve sectors (4401, 4402, 4403, 4404, 4405, 4406, 4407, 4408, 4409 , 4410, 4411, 4412) each corresponding to one month of the year and determining the position of at least two retractable teeth (129, 130). Calendar mechanism according to one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that said cam surfaces (441, 442) in said first and said second gear plane (B, C) are identical for the month of February. Calendar mechanism according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising a day of the week display mechanism (5-8) driven by the watch movement, characterized in that said day of the week display mechanism ( 5-8) can be set independently of said calendar mechanism, at any time of the day. Calendar mechanism according to one of the preceding claims, said calendar mechanism being perpetual and characterized in that said calendar program wheel (13) comprises a first pivotable retractable tooth (129) meshing in a first gear plane ( B) for the indexation of the 29 ^th to 30 ^th day during the month of February, a second retractable tooth (130) pivotally, meshing with a second gear plane (C), for indexing the 30 ^th to 31 ^th day for the months of less than 31 days and a third retractable tooth (128) pivotally, meshing with a third gear plane (e), for indexing the ^28th to ^29th day in the month of February to leap years, the daily indexing mobile (13 ') meshing in a fourth gear plane (D). Perpetual calendar mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises a cam of the leap years (46) integral with a Maltese cross (46 ') pivotally mounted on said mobile program of the month (43), said leap years cam (46) acting in said third gear plane (E) of said calendar program wheel (13), the profile of the cam surface (461) of said cam of the years leapers (46) in said third gear plane (E) being identical to said cam surfaces (441, 442) in said first and said second gear plane (B, C) for the month of February. Perpetual calendar mechanism according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the month program wheel (43) is coaxial with the calendar program wheel (13) and meshes each month in a fifth gear plane (F). with an intermediate month control wheel (42) forming part of a control wheel (15, 16, 32, 33, 41, 42) driven by said daily indexing wheel (13 '). Perpetual calendar mechanism according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the watch movement comprises a 24-hour wheel (2) provided with a daily gear segment (11) provided with a plurality of teeth meshing with a calendar daily indexing wheel (12) in a sixth gear plane (A), said calendar daily indexing wheel (12) performing at most one full rotation for 24 hours, said daily indexing wheel the calendar (12) further comprising indexing teeth (29, 30, 31, 28), at least one of which is arranged respectively in the first gear plane (B), the second gear plane (C), the third gear plane (E) and the fourth gear plane (D). Perpetual calendar mechanism according to claim 11, characterized in that a first indexing tooth (29) of the calendar daily indexing wheel (12) meshes with a first pivotable retractable tooth (129) in the active position (129A ) in a first gear plane (B), for indexing the ^29th to the ^30th day in February, a second indexing tooth (30) of the daily schedule of indexing wheel ( 12) meshes with a second retractable tooth (130) pivotally in the active position (130A) in a second gear plane (C), for indexing the 30 ^th to 31 ^th day to the months of less than 31 days, and a third indexing tooth (28) of the calendar daily indexing wheel (12) meshes with a third pivotable retractable tooth (128) in the active position (128A) in a third plane gear (E), for indexing the ^28th to the ^29th day in February for leap years, and a fourth indexing tooth (31) meshes with a tooth (131) of the mobile daily indexing (13 ') in a fourth gear plane (D), said first, second, third and fourth gear planes being arranged in the order (B, C, D, E) from said sixth plane of a gear (A) of said calendar daily indexing wheel (12) with said daily gear segment (11). Perpetual calendar mechanism according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that said projection of said indexing teeth (29, 30, 31, 28) in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said calendar daily indexing wheel (12) forms a continuous and homogeneous toothed sector. Perpetual calendar mechanism according to one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that it furthermore comprises a mechanism for displaying the months (33-36) driven by a date wheel (16) for displaying the date (16-24), and a leap year display mechanism (37-40), driven by said month display mechanism (33-36), and including a leap year indicator wheel (40), coaxial with a mobile indicator of the months. Perpetual calendar mechanism according to one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that said indexing teeth (29, 30, 31, 28) of said daily indexing wheel (12) are arranged to sequentially mesh at one hour interval with the calendar program wheel (13) in said first, second, third and fourth gear planes (B, C, D, E) while the daily gear segment (11) of the gear wheel (13) 24 hours (2) meshes with said daily indexing wheel (12).

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