Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
  • G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
  • G04B17/04—Oscillators acting by spring tension
  • G04B17/045—Oscillators acting by spring tension with oscillating blade springs
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
  • G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
  • G04B17/04—Oscillators acting by spring tension
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
  • G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
  • G04B17/20—Compensation of mechanisms for stabilising frequency
  • G04B17/28—Compensation of mechanisms for stabilising frequency for the effect of imbalance of the weights, e.g. tourbillon

Definitions

• the invention relates to a clock resonator comprising at least one oscillating mass with respect to a connecting element which it comprises and which is arranged to be fixed directly or indirectly to a structure of a clockwork movement, said at least one a mass being suspended from said connecting element by crossed blades which are elastic blades which extend at a distance from each other in two parallel planes, and whose projections of directions on one of said parallel planes intersect at level of a virtual pivot axis of said mass, and together define a first angle which is the apex angle, from said virtual pivot axis, to which extends the portion of said connecting member which is located between the fasteners said crossed blades on said connecting element.
• the invention also relates to a watch movement comprising such a resonator.
• the invention also relates to a timepiece, including a watch, including such a movement, and / or such a resonator.
• the invention relates to the field of time bases for mechanical clockwork mechanisms, in particular for watches.
• a crossed-leaf rocker is a resonator that can be used as a timebase in a mechanical watch, instead of a balance-spring.
• the elastic return torque is non-linear, which makes the anisochronous system, that is to say that the frequency of the resonator depends on the amplitude of the oscillation; the center of mass of the pendulum undergoes a residual movement which is due to the parasitic movement of the instantaneous axis of rotation.
• the frequency of the resonator depends on the orientation of the watch in the gravitational field; this is called the effect of positions.
• the document EP 2 91 1 012 A1 in the name of CSEM describes a virtual rotary clock oscillator with a pendulum which is connected by a plurality of flexible blades to a support, in particular in a monolithic embodiment. At least two flexible blades extend in planes perpendicular to the plane of the oscillator, and intersecting each other along a line defining the oscillation geometric axis of the oscillator, this axis intersecting the two blades to seven eighths of their respective length.
• the number of blades and their arrangement is defined by a compromise between the congestion granted to the system, particularly from an aesthetic point of view, and the stability of the system. Excluding the rule of seven eighths already known, there is no explicit mention in EP 2 91 1 012 A1 of particular geometric parameters to be preferred for the best isochronism.
• the inventors having found, on the one hand, that the effect of the positions very slightly depends on the angle between the two crossed blades and, on the other hand, that the anisochronism produced by the non-linearity of the elastic return force strongly depends on At this angle, they have demonstrated by numerical simulation that it is possible to find an angular value that simultaneously optimizes the effect of positions and isochronism.
• the invention therefore proposes to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art by proposing an optimized geometry of the blades of the balance which cancels the effect of the positions as well as the anisochronism produced by the non-linearity of the elastic restoring force.
• the invention relates to a clock resonator comprising at least one oscillating mass with respect to a connecting element that it comprises and which is arranged to be fixed directly or indirectly to a structure of a clockwork movement.
• said at least one mass being suspended from said connecting element by crossed blades which are elastic blades which extend at a distance from each other in two parallel planes and whose projections of the directions on one of said planes parallel intersect at a virtual pivot axis of said mass, and together define a first angle which is the apex angle from said virtual pivot axis, to which extends the portion of said connecting member which is located between the fasteners of said crossed blades on said connecting element, characterized in that said first angle is between 68 ° and 76 °.
• the invention also relates to a watch movement comprising such a resonator.
• the invention also relates to a timepiece, including a watch, including such a movement, and / or such a resonator.
• FIG. 1 shows schematically and in plan, a cross-beam resonator crossed, in a position of rest in solid lines, and in an instantaneous position (in broken lines crossed blades) where the balance is removed from its rest position;
• 1 represents a general case where the embedding of crossed blades is oblique in the connecting element which carries them, which is fixed to the structure of a clockwork movement.
• FIG. 1A represents a preferred configuration where this embedding is made at a surface that is orthogonal to the end of each blade at its embedment in this connecting element;
• FIG. 2 is a representative graph of the prior art, in which the crossed blades are perpendicular in the rest position of the resonator, illustrating the variation of the elastic return constant k in the ordinate, as a function of the current angle ⁇ makes the pendulum with its position of rest on the abscissa;
• FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are graphs that are also representative of the same prior art, and illustrate the variation of the center of mass coordinates, respectively according to X, ⁇ , in FIG. 3, and according to Y, ⁇ , in FIG. according to the current angle ⁇ that the balance with its rest position on the abscissa.
• These variations of the coordinates ⁇ and ⁇ are normalized with respect to the length of the blades L so that the graphs are without units;
• FIG. 5 is a representative graph of the invention, in which the crossed blades make a first angle ⁇ close to 72 ° in the rest position of the resonator, illustrating the variation of the elastic return constant k in the ordinate, in function of the current angle ⁇ that the pendulum makes with its position of rest on the abscissa;
• FIG. 7 are graphs which are also representative of the invention, in which the crossed blades make a first angle ⁇ close to 72 ° in the rest position of the resonator, and illustrate the variation of the coordinates of the center of the mass, respectively according to X, ⁇ , in Figure 6, and according to Y, ⁇ , in Figure 7 as a function of the current angle ⁇ that the balance with its rest position on the abscissa.
• These variations of the coordinates ⁇ and ⁇ are normalized with respect to the length of the blades L so that the graphs are without units;
• FIG. 8 illustrates a variant where the cross-slide resonator is a tuning fork resonator
• FIG. 9 is a detail showing, in broken lines, the depth of the zone of influence of a bending of a monolithic elastic blade with a connecting element made of micro-machinable material in the case of FIG. Figure 9A is the equivalent for Figure 1A;
• FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a timepiece or a watch comprising a movement including itself such a resonator.
• Anisochronism, measured in seconds per day (s / d), is the difference in the path observed for two different amplitudes (the chosen values of 12 ° and 8 ° are representative of the operating range of the considered system).
• center of mass used here can also be understood as the “center of inertia”.
• the invention relates to a clock resonator 100 having at least one mass 1 oscillating relative to a connecting element 2 that includes this resonator.
• This connecting element 2 is arranged to be fixed directly or indirectly to a structure of a clockwork movement 200.
• This at least one mass 1 is suspended from the connecting element 2 by crossed blades 3, 4, which are elastic blades which extend at a distance from each other. on the other in two parallel planes, the projections of the directions on one of these parallel planes intersect at a virtual pivot axis O of the mass 1, and together define a first angle a which is the angle at the top, from this virtual pivot axis O, to which extends the part of the connecting element 2 which is situated between the fasteners of the crossed blades 3, 4, on the connecting element 2.
• this first angle a is between 68 ° and 76 °.
• the mass 1 is a beam, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 1A, which illustrate, in solid lines, the geometry of a resonator 100 with a cross-leaf balance, in its position of rest.
• a rocker 1 is held fixed to a connecting element 2 by two crossed blades 3 and 4.
• These crossed blades 3 and 4 are elastic blades which extend at a distance from one another in two parallel planes, and of which the projections of the directions on one of these parallel planes intersect at a virtual pivot axis O of this pendulum 1.
• These crossed blades allow the rotation of this balance 1, and substantially prevent the translation of the balance 1 in the three directions XYZ, and provide good resistance to small shocks.
• Figure 1 shows a general case where the embedding of crossed blades 3, 4 is oblique in the connecting element 2 which carries them.
• FIG. 1A represents a preferred configuration where this embedding is made at a surface that is orthogonal to the end of each blade 3, 4, at its embedment.
• the origin of the coordinates O is placed at the intersection of the blades 3 and 4 when the resonator 100 is in its rest position.
• the instantaneous center of rotation and the center of mass of the balance are also located at the origin O when the balance is in its rest position.
• the bisector of the first angle defines a direction X with which the projections of the two blades 3 and 4 in one of said parallel planes make an angle ⁇ which is half of the first angle a.
• the resonator 100 is symmetrical with respect to the axis OX.
• the first angle has a value of 90 °.
• the inner radius ri is the distance between the point O and the embedding of the blades 3 and 4 in the connecting element 2.
• the outer radius re is the distance between the point O and the embedding of the blades 3 and 4 in the pendulum 1. Note that roles ri and re can be exchanged according to whether one is placed in the repository of the link element or in that of the pendulum. All the formulas that follow remain valid since it is the relative rotational movement that counts.
• the first angle ⁇ is the angle between the two blades 3 and 4 when the resonator 100 to balance is in its rest position.
• This first angle ⁇ is the apex angle (in O) which defines the opening of the blades 3 and 4 with respect to the connecting element 2, and in front of which extends the part of this connecting element 2 which is located between the fasteners of the crossed blades 3 and 4 on the latter.
• FIGS. 1 and 1A show an instantaneous value 0i of the current angle ⁇ , corresponding to the deflection of a point M towards its instantaneous position Mi, corresponding to the bent positions 3i and 4i of the blades 3 and 4, represented as lines interrupted in Figures 1 and 1 A.
• the invention seeks to determine a geometry for which such a resonator can be both isochronous and position-independent.
• the prior art is very far from the optimum of isochronism, and the present invention consists in using the appropriate angle value to reach the optimum of isochronism.
• this optimal geometrical configuration may vary very slightly, depending on the width of the blades 3 and 4, and the amplitude of the oscillation of the balance, as well as production tolerances.
• the resonator 100 is monolithic.
• the resonator 100 is made of micro-machinable material that can be produced by "MEMS” or “LISA” technologies, or in silicon or in silicon oxide, or in at least partially amorphous metal, or in metallic glass, or in quartz, or in DLC.
• the first angle ⁇ is between 70 ° and 76 °.
• the first angle ⁇ is between 70 ° and 74 °. Even more particularly, the first angle ⁇ is equal to 71.2 °.
• the invention also relates to a watch movement 200 comprising at least one such resonator 100.
• the invention also relates to a timepiece 300, in particular a watch, comprising such a movement 200, or / and such a resonator 100.
• the invention thus makes it possible to make a cross-beam resonator simultaneously isochronous and independent of the positions.
• the invention is applicable to other configurations of cross-blade resonators, in particular in a tuning fork type structure, as can be seen in FIG. 8.
• the use of several oscillating masses is advantageous since it makes it possible to minimize losses at embedding. Indeed, a single beam causes a reaction force to the embedding therefore losses. It is possible to cancel these losses by combining several oscillating masses so that the sum of their reactions to the embedding is zero.
• the resonator 100 may comprise at least two oscillating masses, in particular two such as visible in this figure, whose opposite movements cause compensating recess reactions.
• two rockers 1 are each held fixed to a connecting element 2 common by two crossed blades 3 and 4 arranged according to the characteristics described above.
• the resonator 100 is advantageously entirely symmetrical with respect to the Y axis. Other embodiments are naturally possible.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Piezo-Electric Or Mechanical Vibrators, Or Delay Or Filter Circuits (AREA)
• Electric Clocks (AREA)
• Micromachines (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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• 2014
  • 2014-12-18 EP EP14199039.0A patent/EP3035126B1/de active Active
  • 2014-12-18 CH CH01979/14A patent/CH710524A2/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
• 2015
  • 2015-12-14 EP EP15808400.4A patent/EP3234699B1/de active Active
  • 2015-12-14 US US15/114,336 patent/US9836024B2/en active Active
  • 2015-12-14 WO PCT/EP2015/079515 patent/WO2016096677A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2015-12-14 CN CN201580003174.6A patent/CN105980938B/zh active Active
  • 2015-12-14 JP JP2016535688A patent/JP6231686B2/ja active Active
• 2017
  • 2017-08-16 JP JP2017157045A patent/JP6449951B2/ja active Active
  • 2017-08-16 JP JP2017157043A patent/JP6401354B2/ja active Active

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