FR3023935A1 - RELIEF WATCH HAVING A MOBILE ROTATING TRAY FOR HOURS AND A MOBILE PLATE SYSTEM AT HEIGHT FOR MINUTES - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a watch having a relief reading system comprising: - a dial (1); - a fixed reference (11) in relief relative to the dial (1) whose position indicates a reference time position; an hour indicator comprising a movable plate (12) rotated relative to the dial (1), said movable plate (12) being provided with raised indicators (121, 122, 123) making it possible to determine the angular position of the movable platen (12) relative to the fixed landmark (11); a minute indicator comprising a mobile system in relief; characterized in that the minute indicator has a segmented ring in a predetermined number of plates (13), and that the plates (13) are movable in height relative to the dial (1) so as to indicate the minutes in an hour during the flow.

Description

Embossed watch featuring a rotatable turntable for the hours and a movable plate system in height for the minutes. The field of the invention is that of the design and manufacture of relief watches. More specifically, the invention relates to the design of a watch having a time system readable visually and tactilely. In general, watches are made of a case and a system of time representation. Watches are typically made of needles indicating hours, minutes and sometimes seconds elapsed. Watches take many forms depending on the use intended for them. For a particular user, the 15 hour representation system may need to be adapted. Indeed, in the case of a blind or visually impaired user, conventional timekeeping systems do not allow the reading of time or do not allow it in a suitable manner. A problem therefore lies in the adaptation of the time reading systems for people with blindness. To overcome this problem, it has been proposed various solutions by the prior art. For blind users looking for autonomy, the ability to get the time without having to ask someone is essential. Thus, it is described in the prior art watches whose window covering the hands of the time representation mechanism can be raised, thus allowing the blind user to touch the needles directly. Inseparably, the watches of the prior art having a glass that can be lifted to access the needles generally have a low resistance and are considered by the blind users as not robust.

There are also described watches for obtaining the time by means of a sound device stating the time or emitting a particular sound signal. These watches according to the prior art are not discrete and little adapted to life in society. Such watches can also denote a person's disability, which they may not want. We still know the relief system with raised elements. These elements can be ordered in an extremely personalized manner and can only be decrypted by a user who is familiar with the mode of representation. These elements can also be ordered in a more conventional way in the manner of the Braille alphabet and present elements reproducing this alphabet. The prior art does not always offer watches with a system of hours representation that can be perceived by a sighted person as well as by a blind person. This defect relating to the perception of time is also found in watches requiring knowledge of the system used to allow decryption of the time represented. The object of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. More specifically, the invention aims to provide a watch with a reading system for use by a sighted person or by a blind person. The invention also aims to provide a watch that can be relatively compact, and proposed in a version with a discreet aesthetics. The invention also aims to provide a robust watch and suitable for daily use by blind people or having only low visual acuity. These objectives as well as others which will appear later are achieved thanks to the invention which relates to a watch having a relief reading system comprising: a dial; a fixed landmark in relief with respect to the dial whose position indicates a reference time position; an hour indicator comprising a plate movable in rotation with respect to the dial, said movable plate being provided with raised indicators for determining the angular position of the movable plate relative to the fixed marker; - A minute indicator comprising a mobile system in relief, characterized in that the minute indicator has a ring segmented into a predetermined number of plates, and in that the plates are movable in height relative to the dial so as to indicate the minutes in an hour during the flow.

By "movable height" relative to the dial means a mobility of the plates along an axis orthogonal to the plane of the dial. Thus, according to the invention, the reading of the time can be performed by a light as it can be done by a blind and this without prior learning of a particular mode of representation of the hour. Indeed, the reading can be achieved by means of the touch by feeling the angular position of the plate relative to the fixed reference mark by the raised indicators to determine the elapsed time and by feeling which plate is raised from the fixed reference to determine the 25 minutes past. The reading can also be performed by means of the view by observing the angular position of the plate and the raised plate. This system of time representation is widely used by watchmakers and is found on the majority of known needle clocks. In addition, the watch according to the invention has a time representation system which is adapted to a relief reading.

Indeed, the hours indicator and the movable plates are systems able to withstand multiple readings of the hour by means of the sense of touch. In a complementary manner, a watch according to the invention retains the overall shape and the discretion of a common watch and does not have the same handicap connotation that a talking watch could have. Finally, according to the invention, the watch can be made according to different aesthetic and practical variations. Thus a watch according to the invention can make it possible to vary the color, the shape, the texture and the dimensions of its constituent elements. The colors of the elements of the watch can, for example, be chosen to provide a significant contrast suitable for people with low visual acuity. The materials used to make the various elements may have a particular texture to the touch, for example a rough texture. Thus provided with such a texture, an element of the watch is more easily perceptible and differentiable by the sense of touch. The fixed reference in relief relative to the dial preferably indicates the reference time position corresponding to 20 noon / midnight. The marker thus positioned makes it possible to keep the notion of universality for the visual and tactile readings of the watch. According to a particular embodiment, the raised indicators of the moving plate rotating relative to the dial are four in number and are distributed on the plate in a ninety-degree distribution around the center of the plate. An indicator in particular takes the general shape of a hollow cylinder or arrow and is oriented towards the hour during flow. A second indicator located opposite the center of the plateau takes the general shape of a rectangle. A third and a fourth indicator are located on either side of the axis formed by the first and second indicators. These third and fourth indicators take a general round form. These shapes make it possible to determine the orientation of the plate and thus its degree of rotation relative to the fixed reference. The raised indicators of the movable platen may take other forms capable of performing the same function as that presented. According to an advantageous embodiment, the ring is segmented into twelve equal plates, a plate representing a period of five minutes. By limiting the number of plates, it is possible to simplify the dial by avoiding overloading and complicating the reading for sighted or blind people. A large number of plates, for example a number of sixty plates, would reduce their respective widths and could mislead the user on the determination of the time. By increasing the precision of the minute indicator, the margin of error of perception is increased by the direction of the user's touch. According to a particular embodiment, the watch comprises a satellite ring carrying a pin, said satellite ring being underlying and coaxial with the segmented ring and being rotatable relative to the dial, the pin being intended to cause the mobility of the plates from a low position to a high position. According to this principle of the invention, the plates rise successively one by one to represent the flow of minutes. A plate is lifted up when the pin passes under the plate. When the pawn is no longer under the plate, it drops back down. With plates representing 25 minutes of five minutes, there is the principle of a reading that does not require a particular learning and can be achieved using the sense of touch or the sense of sight. Indeed, relative to the fixed mark corresponding to midday / midnight, the plate raised to indicate the minutes elapsed is instead that would occupy a hand indicating the minutes on a conventional watch. According to a solution of the invention, the plates comprise a return mechanism able to keep a plate in the low position when the plate is not stressed and able to return a plate from a high position to a low position after it has been solicited. According to a more particular embodiment, the pin has a bevelled surface on a rear portion of the pin so as to allow a progressive transition of the movable plates from the high position to the low position. According to another particular embodiment, the movable plates have a bevelled surface on the part intended to come into contact with the pin so as to allow a progressive transition of the plates from the low position to the high position. These beveled surfaces allow smooth transitions of the plates from a low position to a high position, and vice versa. According to a preferred embodiment, the watch is driven by a meshing system with three stages: the first stage comprising a first pinion actuated by a motor and driving the satellite crown, the second stage comprising a second pinion integral with rotating the first pinion and driving a first wheel, the third stage comprising a third pinion integral in rotation with the first wheel and driving a second wheel integral in rotation with the hour indicator. This meshing system makes it possible to reduce the rotational speed of a watch motor and thus to provide the power and the angular speed required for the hours and minutes indicators. In particular, this system provides the power and the angular velocity necessary for the rotation of the movable plate and the mechanism for changing the height of the movable plates. According to an advantageous solution, the fixed landmark is located between the hour indicator and the minute indicator. The reading of the elapsed hours and the elapsed minutes based on the fixed reference, the intermediate position of the fixed marker between the moving rotating plate and the mobile system in relief offers ergonomics for the relief reading of the watch. Indeed, the gesture to be made for reading hours does not require a finger pass over the minute system if the fixed marker had for example been positioned at the outer periphery of the dial. According to another embodiment, the peripheral zone of the dial in contact with the plates comprises a smooth edge of the height of a plate in the high position. In this way, the smooth rim avoids the attachment of fabrics in the raised parts of the watch. The smooth edge also allows to contain the elements necessary for reading by the sense of touch. Indeed, a blind person can know what the limits of the dial by means of this smooth and high edge. Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of illustrative and nonlimiting example, and the appended drawings among which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dial of the watch according to the invention; Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic representations of the lifting mechanism of the plates according to the invention; - Figure 6, 7 and 8 are perspective views of the dial of the watch according to the invention; FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are diagrammatic representations of the meshing system of the watch according to the invention, according to a profile view, a bottom view and a top view, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, a watch according to the invention comprises a dial 1. The dial 1 being composed of a fixed marker 11, a mobile plate 12 relative to the dial and a mobile system presenting a ring segmented into plates 13. 302 3 93 5 8 The fixed marker 11 is raised relative to the dial and allows to indicate a reference time position. According to a particular embodiment and as shown in FIG. 1, the fixed marker 11 is located between the hour indicator and the minute indicator. The movable plate 12 is a disc supporting four raised indicators 121, 122 and 123. The indicators are distributed every ninety degrees around the center of the plate. The raised indicators 121, 122 and 123 enable the relief reading of the time by allowing the touch determination of the angular position of the movable platen 12 relative to the fixed landmark 11. A raised indicator 121 indicates the time In progress. It has a distinctive shape and may, for example, take the form of a hollow cylinder or tip. A second raised indicator 122 located opposite the raised indicator 121 from the center of the tray takes the general shape of a rectangle. Two relief indicators 123 are located on either side of the axis formed by the first raised indicator 121 and the second raised indicator 122. The raised indicators 123 take a generally round shape.

For example, a ninety-degree rotation angle of the movable platen relative to the fixed landmark 11 clockwise indicates that it is three (or fifteen) hours. The degree of rotation of the movable plate 12 is indicated by the relief indicators 121, 122 and 123, in the example the relief indicator in the form of a hollow cylinder is directed at three (or fifteen) hours. As it appears in FIG. 1, the time indicated on the dial is at midnight / noon, in fact the movable plate 12 points by means of the raised indicator 121 in the form of a hollow cylinder in the direction of the fixed marker 11.

The ring segmented according to the example of Figure 1 comprises twelve plates 13.

According to the present embodiment, the plates represent a period of five minutes. The plates 13 of the segmented ring are movable in height relative to the dial 1. The plates 13 can move from a low position to a high position.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, all the plates of the minute indicator are in the low position with the exception of the fourth plate from the fixed indicator 11. In this example, the range of minutes is fifteen to twenty minutes in the current time. Thus according to the example of Figure 1, the indicated time is between 10 noon / midnight and fifteen minutes and noon / midnight and twenty minutes. As shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, the plate lifting mechanism comprises a pin 14 which raises the plates 13 passing underneath. The plates 13 are provided with a bevelled surface 130 on the part intended to come into contact with the pin 14, in this way the rise of the plates 13 from a low position to a high position is progressive. Similarly, the pin 14 is provided with a bevelled surface 140 on its rear portion so as to progressively lower a plate from a high position to a low position. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the peripheral zone of the dial has a smooth rim 17 of the height of a raised plate. With reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the direction of movement of the pin 14 allows the successive elevation and descent of the plates 13. By means of the bevelled surfaces 130, 140, the time interval can be perceived. corresponding to the moment when two plates are raised at an intermediate height. Indeed, perceiving that the plate indicating five to ten minutes and the plate indicating ten to fifteen minutes are raised, it can be deduced that the minutes of the hour during the flow are more or less to ten minutes. As shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, the plates 13 form a segmented ring and have bevelled surfaces 302 on the side where the pin 14 comes into contact. The pin 14, seen from above, rotates in a clockwise direction. As shown in FIG. 7, a satellite ring 15 carries the pin 14. The satellite ring 15 is coaxial with the segmented ring 5 and is rotatable relative to the dial 1. As illustrated in FIG. , the mechanism of the watch is housed in a housing 16 which receives the hours and minutes indicating elements and the fixed marker. With reference to FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, the watch is animated by a meshing system 17. This meshing system 17 comprises three stages. The first stage 171 of the meshing system 17 comprises a first pinion 1711 actuated by a motor. This first pinion drives the satellite crown 15.

The second stage 172 of the meshing system 17 comprises a second pinion 1721 integral in rotation with the first pinion 1711. This second pinion drives a first wheel 1722. The third stage 173 of the meshing system 17 comprises a third pinion 1731 integral in rotation of the first wheel 1722.

This third pinion drives a second wheel 1732 integral in rotation with the hour indicator. The meshing system 17 makes it possible to multiply the angular velocity of an engine and to provide sufficient power to actuate the hour indicator and the minute indicator.

The minute indication system according to the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 11 allows an accuracy of the order of five minutes. Indeed, each of the twelve plates 13 represent periods of five minutes. However, a watch according to the invention may also include a system specifying the current minute in a minute range. This system specifying the minute can take different forms. It may in particular be achieved by a second mechanism for moving the plates 13 in height or by a choice of transparent type materials making it possible to see the pin 14 through the plate coupled to a raised subsystem on the plate itself. Thus, these types of systems allow an indication of the minutes while retaining the advantages of the invention, including the advantages of universality, discretion and robustness.

Claims (9)

REVENDICATIONS1. Watch having a relief reading system comprising: - a dial (1); - a fixed reference (11) in relief relative to the dial (1) whose position indicates a reference time position; an hour indicator comprising a movable platen (12) rotated relative to the dial (1), said movable platen (12) being provided with raised indicators (121), (122), (123) making it possible to determine the angular position of the movable platen (12) relative to the fixed reference (11); a minute indicator comprising a mobile system in relief; characterized in that the minute indicator has a segmented ring in a predetermined number of plates (13), and that the plates (13) are movable in height relative to the dial (1) so as to indicate the minutes in an hour during the flow. 2. Watch according to claim 1, characterized in that the ring is segmented into twelve equal plates (13). 3. Watch according to claim 2, characterized in that a plate represents a period of five minutes. 4. Watch according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a satellite ring (15) carrying a pin (14), said satellite ring (15) being subjacent and coaxial with the segmented ring and being mobile in rotation relative to the dial (1), and the pin (14) being intended to cause the mobility of the plates (13) from a low position to a high position. 5. Watch according to claim 4, characterized in that the pin (14) has a bevelled surface (140) on a rear portion of the pin so as to allow a progressive transition of the movable plates from the high position to the low position. 6. Watch according to claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the plates (13) have a bevelled surface (130) on the portion intended to come into contact with the pin (14) so as to allow a progressive transition of the plates from the low position to the high position. 7. Watch according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the watch is driven by a meshing system (17) with three stages: the first stage (171) comprising a first pinion (1711) actuated by a motor and driving the satellite ring (15), the second stage (172) comprising a second pinion (1721) rotationally fixed to the first pinion (1711) and driving a first wheel (1722), the third stage (173) comprising a third pinion (1731) integral in rotation with the first wheel (1722) and driving a second wheel (1732) integral in rotation with the hour indicator. 8. Watch according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fixed reference (11) in relief is located between the hour indicator and the minute indicator. 9. Watch according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the peripheral zone of the dial in contact with the plates comprises a smooth rim (17) of the height of a plate (13) in the high position.