JP2013167532A - Collet, balance, and timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a collet that can prevent a body part from cracking when externally fitted and pressed to a balance staff, balance provided with this collet, and a timepiece.SOLUTION: A collet 50 for fixing an inner peripheral side end part 43 of a hairspring 40 to a balance staff 30 comprises: a body part 51 having an opening 53 capable of being externally fitted to the balance staff 30 coaxially; and a support part 55 formed by protruding outside the body part 51 in a radial direction to support the hairspring 40. A side surface of the support part 55 in the radial direction is formed with a welding surface 57 where an inner peripheral side end part 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded. At least one end surface 56a of both end surfaces of the support part 55 in an axis direction of the body part 51 is formed with a recess 60.

Description

  The present invention relates to a beard ball, a balance with a beard ball and a timepiece.

  It is known that a mechanical timepiece includes an escapement and speed control mechanism for controlling the rotation of a barrel wheel, second wheel, third wheel and fourth wheel constituting a front train wheel. A typical escapement and speed control mechanism includes an escape wheel and a balance. The balance with hairspring is formed by a balance wheel, a balance spring serving as a center of rotation of the balance wheel, a hairspring that rotates the balance wheel by expansion and contraction, and a hair ball that fixes the hairspring to the balance. A whisker ball is generally a member having a substantially annular shape, and a main body part that is truly fitted out of the balance, and a welding surface to which an inner peripheral side end of the mainspring is welded on a radially outer side of the main body part. I have.

  For example, a collet described in Patent Document 1 (corresponding to “beardball” in claims of the present application) is formed from a metal band (corresponding to “main body” in claims of the present application), The collet is formed with an opening for incorporation into the balance staff (corresponding to “Tenshin” in the claims of the present application). In addition, an action point (corresponding to the “welding surface” in the claims) between the collet and the balance spring (corresponding to the “spring balance” in the claims) is located on the outer contour. It is arranged at the end of the arm where the distance R from O is larger than the other points of the outer contour.

  The balance spring is fixed to the collet by welding the end of the inner curve of the balance spring (corresponding to the “inner peripheral side end” in the claims of the present application) to the collet operating point. Further, the collet to which the balance spring is fixed is attached to the balance staff by press-fitting the opening of the band into the balance staff. That is, the balance spring is attached to the balance staff via the collet.

JP-A-2005-300532

However, the prior art whiskers have the following problems.
When welding the inner peripheral side end of the hairspring to the welding surface of the whiskers, heat at the time of welding is transferred from the welding surface of the whiskers to the main body of the whiskers.
At this time, in the main body portion of the whisker ball, the radially outer portion close to the weld surface becomes particularly high temperature and is annealed to lower the hardness. On the other hand, the radial inner part far from the welding surface in the main body of the whisker ball is not annealed, so the hardness does not change, but the hardness is relatively higher than the annealed radial outer part. Therefore, the body part of the hair ball after welding the hairspring has a relatively hard part (that is, the part that has not been annealed) compared to the body part of the hair ball before welding the hair spring. Thinner in the direction. As a result, when the bead ball opening is truly fitted and press-fitted, cracks may occur in the thin, high-hardness portion of the beard ball main body, which may result in manufacturing defects.

  In recent years, in order to form specially shaped whispers at low cost, a method of manufacturing using electroforming has been adopted. Generally, when forming a whisker ball using electroforming, nickel and a nickel alloy are employed as the whisker ball material. Here, since the melting point of nickel and a nickel alloy is higher than that of a metal such as iron, the welding temperature when welding the hairspring to the whisker is high. Thereby, the radial direction outer side part close | similar to a welding surface becomes easy to anneal among the main-body parts of a beard ball. Therefore, the relatively hard part on the radially inner side of the body part of the whisker ball is extremely thin in the radial direction, so the above problem becomes particularly significant.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a beard ball that can prevent cracking of the main body portion when the outer fitting is truly fitted, and a balance with the beard ball and a timepiece.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the whisker ball of the present invention is a whisker ball for fixing the inner peripheral side end of the balance spring truly, and has an opening that can be fitted coaxially with the balance spring. A main body part, and a support part that protrudes radially outward of the main body part and supports the hairspring, and a side surface of the support part in the radial direction has an inner peripheral side of the hairspring. A welding surface to which the end portion is welded is formed, and at least one end surface of the both end surfaces of the support portion in the axial direction of the main body portion is formed with a recess.

According to the present invention, since the concave portion is formed in the support portion, the cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path through which heat is transferred during welding can be made smaller than when the concave portion is not formed. Thereby, the heat transfer rate of a support part can be made low from a welding surface to a main-body part. Moreover, the heat at the time of welding is transferred from the welding surface to the main body portion through the recess. Thereby, since the heat transfer path from the welding surface to the main body becomes longer than when no recess is formed, the heat transfer coefficient of the support portion can be lowered. Furthermore, since the support portion has a surface area larger than that in the case where the concave portion is not formed by forming the concave portion, the heat can be radiated well.
As described above, since heat during welding is hardly transmitted from the weld surface to the main body, the range to be annealed can be limited from the weld surface to the vicinity of the recess. Therefore, it is possible to secure a relatively high hardness portion of the body portion of the whisker ball that is not annealed, and it is possible to prevent the relatively hard part from being thinned. It is possible to prevent the main body from cracking.

  Moreover, the whisker of the present invention is characterized in that the concave portion is a stepped portion in which the end surface of the support portion is recessed in the axial direction from the main body portion side to the welding surface.

  According to the present invention, the concave portion can be easily formed by electroforming, machining, or the like by using the concave portion as a stepped portion.

  Moreover, the whisker of the present invention is characterized in that the recess is a groove extending along a circumferential direction of the main body.

  According to the present invention, the recess can be easily formed by electroforming, machining, or the like by forming the recess as a groove.

  Further, the whisker of the present invention is characterized in that the concave portion is a through hole that communicates the both end faces of the support portion.

According to the present invention, since the through hole is formed in the support portion, the cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path through which heat during welding is transferred can be further reduced, and the heat transfer coefficient of the support portion can be further reduced. Moreover, the heat at the time of welding is transferred from the welding surface to the main body portion through the through hole. Thereby, the linear heat transfer path which connects a welding surface and a main-body part when the heat at the time of welding is transmitted to a main-body part from a welding surface is interrupted by a through-hole. That is, the heat at the time of welding wraps around the outside in the radial direction of the through hole and is transmitted from the welding surface to the main body portion, so that the heat transfer coefficient of the support portion can be further reduced. Therefore, since it is possible to further suppress the thinning of the relatively hard portion of the main body of the whiskerball, it is possible to reliably prevent the main body from cracking when the whiskerball is externally fitted.
Moreover, since a through-hole can be formed simultaneously with the main-body part and support part of a whistle ball by electroforming by making a recessed part into a through-hole, a recessed part can be formed easily and at low cost.

  Further, in the whisker of the present invention, when the stepped portion has a shortest distance between the side wall surface of the stepped portion and the opening as L1, and a shortest distance between the side wall surface of the stepped portion and the welding surface becomes L2. , L1> L2 is satisfied.

  According to the present invention, the shortest distance L1 between the side wall surface of the stepped portion and the opening is ensured to be larger than the shortest distance L2 between the side wall surface of the stepped portion and the welding surface, and therefore, annealing is performed by heat during welding. The range can be limited to a short distance from the weld surface to the vicinity of the side wall surface. In addition, since the heat transfer rate can be lowered by ensuring a long heat transfer path from the side wall surface to the opening of the main body part, the heat that could not be dissipated from the side wall surface of the step part is transferred from the side wall surface of the step part to the main body part. It becomes difficult to do. Therefore, it is possible to secure a thicker part of the main body of the whisker ball that is not annealed, and to prevent the thinner part of the harder part from being thinned. It is possible to reliably prevent the main body from cracking when press-fitted.

  The whisker of the present invention is formed so that the concave portion satisfies L3> L4 when the shortest distance between the concave portion and the opening is L3 and the shortest distance between the concave portion and the welding surface is L4. It is characterized by being.

  According to the present invention, the shortest distance L3 between the concave portion and the opening is ensured to be larger than the shortest distance L4 between the concave portion and the welding surface, so that the range to be annealed by the heat during welding extends from the welding surface to the vicinity of the concave portion. Can be limited to short distances. Further, since the heat transfer rate can be lowered by securing a long heat transfer path from the recess to the opening of the main body, heat that cannot be radiated from the recess is less likely to be transferred from the recess to the main body. Therefore, it is possible to secure a thicker part of the main body of the whisker ball that is not annealed, and to prevent the thinner part of the harder part from being thinned. It is possible to reliably prevent the main body from cracking when press-fitted.

  Further, the whisker ball of the present invention includes a plurality of the support portions in which the weld surface and the recess are formed, and the plurality of support portions are formed at an equal pitch in a circumferential direction of the main body portion. It is a feature.

According to the present invention, the center of gravity of the whisker can be arranged at the center of rotation of the whisker by forming the plurality of support portions at equal pitches in the circumferential direction. Thereby, when the whistle ball rotates, it can rotate stably without vibrating. Therefore, when a balance and a timepiece are formed using the whisker ball of the present invention as a component, it is possible to ensure good performance with little rotational cycle error.
In addition, since it has a plurality of support portions formed with weld surfaces, when welding the balance spring to the ball, any one of the weld surfaces of the plurality of support portions and the inner peripheral side of the balance spring The end portions may be aligned and welded. Thereby, positioning with the welding surface of a whistle ball and the inner peripheral side edge part of a hairspring can be performed quickly rather than the case where the welding surface of a support part is one place. Furthermore, since the plurality of support portions are each formed with a recess, even if the inner peripheral end of the balance spring is welded to the weld surface of any of the support portions, the portion close to the weld surface of the main body portion is annealed. Can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the working efficiency when welding the hairspring to the ball, and it is possible to prevent the main body from cracking when the hairball is truly fitted and press-fitted.

  The whisker ball of the present invention is characterized by being formed by electroforming.

  When forming a whisker ball by electroforming, nickel and a nickel alloy are often adopted as the material. Here, since the melting point of nickel and nickel alloy is generally higher than that of metal such as iron, the welding temperature when welding the hairspring to the whisker is high. However, according to the present invention, since the concave portion is provided in the support portion, the heat transfer coefficient of the support portion can be lowered and heat can be radiated from the support portion satisfactorily. Thereby, even if welding temperature is high temperature, it can suppress that a main-body part is annealed. Therefore, a specially shaped whisker can be formed at a low cost, and cracking of the main body when a whisker is truly fitted and press fitted can be prevented. Thus, the present invention is particularly suitable for a whisker ball formed by electroforming.

The balance with hairspring of the present invention is characterized by comprising the above-described whiskers.
The timepiece of the present invention is characterized by including the balance with the balance.

  According to the present invention, since the main body portion can be prevented from cracking when the balance ball is truly fitted and press-fitted, it is possible to form a balance with a manufacturing defect and a timepiece.

According to the present invention, since the concave portion is formed in the support portion, the cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path through which heat is transferred during welding can be made smaller than when the concave portion is not formed. Thereby, the heat transfer rate of a support part can be made low from a welding surface to a main-body part. Moreover, the heat at the time of welding is transferred from the welding surface to the main body portion through the recess. Thereby, since the heat transfer path from the welding surface to the main body becomes longer than when no recess is formed, the heat transfer coefficient of the support portion can be lowered. Furthermore, since the support portion has a surface area larger than that in the case where the concave portion is not formed by forming the concave portion, the heat can be radiated well.
As described above, since heat during welding is hardly transmitted from the weld surface to the main body, the range to be annealed can be limited from the weld surface to the vicinity of the recess. Therefore, it is possible to secure a relatively high hardness portion of the body portion of the whisker ball that is not annealed, and it is possible to prevent the relatively hard part from being thinned. It is possible to prevent the main body from cracking.

It is a top view of the complete back side. It is a top view of the movement front side. It is a top view when the balance with hairspring is viewed in the axial direction. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of a hairspring. It is a top view of the whistle ball of the first embodiment. It is sectional drawing along the BB line of FIG. It is explanatory drawing when welding a hairspring to a whisker ball. It is sectional drawing of the beard ball which concerns on the 1st modification of 1st embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the beard ball which concerns on the 2nd modification of 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart of the manufacturing process of a beard ball. It is a figure which shows the state which immersed the electroforming mold in the electroforming liquid. It is a figure which shows the state which electroformed and performed the metal body in the hole for external shape formation. It is a top view of the whisker ball of the second embodiment. It is sectional drawing along CC line of FIG. It is a top view of the whistle ball of 3rd embodiment. It is sectional drawing along the DD line | wire of FIG.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Below, after explaining a timepiece and a balance with hairspring first, the manufacturing method of the beard ball and the beard ball of the first embodiment will be described.

(clock)
In general, a machine body including a driving part of a timepiece is referred to as a “movement”. A state in which a dial and hands are attached to the movement and put into a watch case to make a finished product is called “complete” of the watch. Of the two sides of the base plate constituting the watch substrate, the glass case side of the watch case, that is, the dial plate side is called the “back side” or “glass side” or “dial side” of the movement. . Of the two sides of the main plate, the side with the back cover of the watch case, that is, the side opposite to the dial is referred to as the “front side” or “back side” of the movement.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the complete back side.
As shown in FIG. 1, the complete 1a of the timepiece 1 includes a dial 2 having a scale 3 or the like indicating information relating to time. Further, a hand 4 including an hour hand 4a for indicating the hour, a minute hand 4b for indicating the minute, and a second hand 4c for indicating the second is provided.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the movement front side. In FIG. 2, in order to make the drawing easier to see, some of the timepiece components constituting the movement 100 are not shown.
A movement 100 of a mechanical timepiece has a main plate 102 constituting a substrate. A winding stem 110 is rotatably incorporated in the winding stem guide hole 102 a of the main plate 102. The winding stem 110 is positioned in the axial direction by a switching device including a setting lever 190, a yoke 192, a yoke spring 194 and a back presser 196.
Then, when the winding stem 110 is rotated, the hour wheel 112 is rotated through the rotation of the clutch wheel (not shown). The round hole wheel 114 and the square hole wheel 116 are sequentially rotated by the rotation of the hour wheel 112, and the mainspring (not shown) accommodated in the barrel complete 120 is wound up.

The barrel complete 120 is rotatably supported between the main plate 102 and the barrel holder 160. The second wheel 124, the third wheel 126, the fourth wheel 128, and the escape wheel 130 are supported rotatably between the main plate 102 and the train wheel bridge 162.
When the barrel wheel 120 is rotated by the restoring force of the mainspring, the second wheel 124, the third wheel 126, the fourth wheel 128, and the escape wheel 130 are sequentially rotated by the rotation of the barrel wheel 120. The barrel wheel 120, the second wheel 124, the third wheel 126, and the fourth wheel 128 constitute a front wheel train.

When the center wheel & pinion 124 is rotated, a cylindrical pinion (not shown) is simultaneously rotated based on the rotation, and a minute hand 4b (see FIG. 1) attached to the cylindrical pinion displays "minute". .
Further, the hour wheel (not shown) is rotated through the rotation of the minute wheel (not shown) based on the rotation of the hour pinion, and the hour hand 4a (see FIG. 1) attached to the hour wheel is “hour”. Is displayed.

The escapement and speed control device for controlling the rotation of the front train wheel is composed of an escape wheel 130, ankle 142 and balance 10.
Teeth 130 a are formed on the outer periphery of the escape wheel & pinion 130. The ankle 142 is rotatably supported between the main plate 102 and the ankle receiver 164, and includes a pair of pallets 142a and 142b. The escape wheel 130 is temporarily stopped in a state where one pallet 142a of the ankle 142 is engaged with the teeth 130a of the escape wheel 130.
The balance with hairspring 10 is reciprocally rotated at a constant period to alternately engage and release one claw stone 142 a and the other claw stone 142 b of the ankle 142 with the teeth 130 a of the escape wheel 130. Thereby, the escape wheel & pinion 130 is escaped at a constant speed.
Below, the structure of the balance with hairspring 10 is demonstrated in detail.

(Tempo)
FIG. 3 is a plan view when the balance 10 is viewed in the axial direction from the back side of the movement 100 (see FIG. 2). In FIG. 3, the whisker 106 is illustrated by a two-dot chain line.
4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. In FIG. 4, the upper side of the paper surface with the base plate 102 interposed therebetween is the back side of the movement 100 (see FIG. 2), and the lower side of the paper surface with the base plate 102 interposed therebetween is the front side of the movement 100. In addition, the main plate 102, the balance holder 104 and the whiskers 106 are illustrated by two-dot chain lines.
As shown in FIG. 3, the balance with hairspring 10 includes a main balance wheel 20, a balance stem 30, a hairspring 40, and a hairball 50.

(Wheel)
The balance wheel 20 is formed of a metal such as brass, for example, and includes a balance wheel main body portion 21 formed in a substantially annular shape. The central axis of the balance wheel main body 21 coincides with the central axis O which is the center of rotation of the balance 10.
Four arm portions 23 (23a to 23d) extend from the inner peripheral surface 21a of the balance wheel main body portion 21 along the radial direction toward the central axis O. The four arm portions 23 a to 23 d are formed at substantially equal intervals so as to have a 90 ° pitch in the circumferential direction of the balance wheel main body portion 21. The four arm portions 23 a to 23 d are formed so that the width gradually increases from the inner peripheral surface 21 a of the balance wheel main body portion 21 toward the central axis O, and are connected in the vicinity of the central axis O.
As shown in FIG. 4, a fitting hole 25a coaxial with the central axis O is formed in the connecting portion 25 of the four arm portions 23a to 23d. The fitting hole 25 a of the connecting portion 25 is press fitted into the balance stem 30.

(Tenshin)
The balance with hairspring 10 is provided with a balance stem 30 coaxially with the central axis O. The balance stem 30 is a rod-shaped member made of metal such as brass.
The balance stem 30 includes tenons 31 (31a, 31b) that are tapered at both ends in the axial direction. The balance stem 30 has a central axis O when one tenon 31a is pivotally supported by the balance 104 via a bearing (not shown) and the other tenon 31b is pivotally supported by the main plate 102 via a bearing (not shown). It can be rotated around.
A fitting hole 25 a of the connecting portion 25 of the balance wheel 20 is press-fitted into the balance stem 30 at substantially the center in the axial direction. Thereby, the balance wheel 20 and the balance stem 30 are integrated.

  The balance stem 30 includes a swing seat 35 having a substantially cylindrical shape on the main plate 102 side (lower side in FIG. 4) with respect to the balance wheel 20 in the axial direction. The swing seat 35 is formed with a flange portion 36 projecting in the radial direction. On the radially outer side of the flange portion 36, a rock stone (not shown) is provided at a predetermined position. The granite rocks up the one pallet 142a and the other pallet 142b of the ankle 142 alternately in synchronism with the period of the reciprocating rotation of the balance 10. Thereby, one pallet 142a and the other pallet 142b of the ankle 142 are engaged with and released from the teeth 130a of the escape wheel 130.

(Beard spring)
As shown in FIG. 4, the balance with hairspring 10 is provided with a hairspring 40 on the balance receiver 104 side (upper side in FIG. 4) with respect to the balance wheel 20.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the hairspring 40. In FIG. 5, the hairspring 40 is illustrated in polar coordinates. Further, the Archimedes curve X, the balance stem 30, and the whisker ball 50 described later are shown by two-dot chain lines.

As shown in FIG. 5, the hairspring 40 is a thin plate spring made of a metal such as iron or nickel, for example, and has a spiral hairspring main body 41 having a plurality of turns and an outer peripheral side of the hairspring main body 41. And an arc portion 42.

The hairspring main body 41 is formed along a so-called Archimedes curve X.
The Archimedean curve X is
r = aθ (a is a constant) (1)
It is a curve obtained by.
By forming the mainspring main body 41 along the Archimedes curve X, the mainspring main body 41 is arranged in a spiral shape and adjacent to each other at substantially equal intervals in the radial direction when viewed from the axial direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral side of the hairspring main body 41 is an arc portion 42 having a radius of curvature larger than that of the hairspring main body 41. An outer peripheral side end portion 42a of the arc portion 42 is fixed to a beard 106 that is erected from a balance holder 104 (see FIG. 4) via a not-shown beard retainer. Also, the inner peripheral side end 43 of the hairspring 40 is fixed to the hairball 50.

(Beard ball of the first embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the whisker ball 50 of the first embodiment when viewed from the axial direction. In FIG. 6, the front side of the paper surface is the balance 104 (see FIG. 4) side, and the back side of the paper surface is the base plate 102 (see FIG. 4) side. Further, in FIG. 6, the balance stem 30 and the hairspring 40 are illustrated by a two-dot chain line.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. In FIG. 7, the left side of the paper surface is the balance 104 (see FIG. 4) side, and the right side of the paper surface is the base plate 102 (see FIG. 4) side. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the boundary between the main body 51 and the support portion 55 is indicated by an alternate long and short dash line.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the whistle ball 50 is an annular member formed of, for example, nickel, a nickel alloy, or the like, and has a main body 51 that is externally fitted to the balance stem 30, and a radially outer side of the main body 51. And a projecting support portion 55. As shown in FIG. 7, the axial thickness of the main body 51 of the hair ball 50 is formed sufficiently thicker than the axial thickness of the hairspring 40 (that is, the width of the hairspring 40).

(Main body)
As shown in FIG. 6, the main body 51 has a substantially elliptical outer shape, has a major axis direction in a first direction F (the left-right direction in FIG. 6) along the radial direction, and the first direction F And a minor axis direction in a second direction S (vertical direction in FIG. 6) perpendicular to the axis.
The main body 51 has a predetermined thickness in the radial direction, and an opening 53 is formed at the center. The opening 53 is formed in a substantially elliptic shape having a major axis direction in the first direction F and a minor axis direction in the second direction S corresponding to the outer shape of the main body 51. With the opening 53, the main body 51 is formed so that it can be externally fitted to the balance 30.

  Of the main body 51, the portion corresponding to the first direction F is a pair of bulging portions 51a and 51a with both sides bulging radially outward. Moreover, the part corresponding to the 2nd direction S among the main-body parts 51 becomes a pair of external fitting fixing | fixed part 51b, 51b in which the diameter of the internal peripheral surface was formed smaller than the outer diameter of the balance 30. By providing the bulging portions 51a and 51a, a space is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the spring 30 and the bulging portions 51a and 51a when the opening 53 is externally fitted to the balance 30. Thus, when the main body 51 is press-fitted into the balance 30, the bulging portions 51 a and 51 a can be easily elastically deformed. Therefore, the external fitting fixing portions 51b and 51b of the whistle ball 50 are prevented from being damaged when the external fitting is press-fitted by the elastic force of the bulging portions 51a and 51a, and can secure an appropriate holding force for the balance stem 30. .

(Support part)
A pair of support portions 55, 55 are formed on the outer side in the radial direction of the outer fitting fixing portions 51 b, 51 b of the main body portion 51. The support portion 55 is formed so as to protrude radially outward from the outer fitting fixing portion 51 b of the main body portion 51. The support portion 55 is formed in a tapered shape in which the width in the direction along the first direction F gradually decreases from the radially inner side to the radially outer side.
The pair of support portions 55, 55 are formed on both sides in the radial direction across the central axis O, and are formed at an equal pitch (180 ° pitch in the present embodiment) in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 51. Further, the pair of support portions 55 and 55 are formed with step portions 61 to be described later. The effect when the step portions 61 are respectively formed on the pair of support portions 55 and 55 will be described later.

A welding surface 57 is formed on each of the radially outer side surfaces of the pair of support portions 55 and 55. Of the hairspring main body 41 of the hairspring 40, the inner circumferential surface 43a of the inner circumferential side end 43 is welded to the welding surface 57 by, for example, laser welding. The weld nugget 71 formed when laser welding is performed is formed on the end surface in the axial direction of the support portion 55 and the hairspring 40 so as to straddle the weld surface 57.
For example, the welding surface 57 is formed in a curved surface having a curvature corresponding to the Archimedes curve X (see FIG. 5) along the inner peripheral surface 43 a of the inner peripheral side end 43 of the hairspring 40.

  A pair of welding surfaces 57 are formed on both sides in the radial direction with the central axis O interposed therebetween, corresponding to the pair of support portions 55, 55. Therefore, when welding the hairspring 40 to the hairball 50, the welding surface 57 of one of the support portions 55 and the inner peripheral side end portion 43 of the hairspring 40 of the pair of support portions 55, 55 are connected. Just align and weld. Therefore, the positioning of the welding surface 57 of the whistle ball 50 and the inner peripheral side end portion 43 of the hairspring 40 can be performed more quickly than in the case where the welding surface 57 of the support part 55 is provided at one place. Thereby, the work efficiency at the time of welding the hairspring 40 to the ball 50 can be improved. In addition, the welding of the hair ball 50 and the hairspring 40 will be described later.

By the way, the error in the rotation period of the balance with hairspring 10 depends on the accuracy of the position where the hairspring 40 is fixed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, when viewed from the axial direction, the central axis of the Archimedes curve X corresponding to the balance spring main body 41 and the central axis O of the balance with hairspring 10 are designed to coincide with each other. Therefore, the smaller the positional deviation between the two (hereinafter referred to as “lateral runout”), the smaller the error of the balance of the balance 10.
Further, the balance with the balance between the center axis of the Archimedes curve X corresponding to the hairspring main body 41 and the center axis O of the balance 10 when viewed from the outside in the radial direction is smaller. The error of 10 rotation cycles is small.

  Here, since the welding surface 57 is formed into a curved surface having a curvature corresponding to the Archimedes curve X, when the inner peripheral side end 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded to the welding surface 57, the welding surface of the support portion 55. 57 and the inner peripheral surface 43a of the hairspring 40 can be brought into surface contact. Thereby, the position shift of the welding surface 57 and the hairspring 40 is suppressed, and the balance 10 can be stably welded in a state where the lateral vibration and the vertical vibration of the hairspring 40 are small. Therefore, the balance with less rotation period error can be formed.

(Step part)
As shown in FIG. 7, a stepped portion 61 is formed as a recess 60 on one end surface 56 a on the base plate 102 side (see FIG. 4, right side in FIG. 7) of both end surfaces 56 a and 56 b of the support portion 55 in the axial direction. Is formed. The step portion 61 is formed by denting the one end surface 56a of the support portion 55 from the main body portion 51 side to the welding surface 57 in the axial direction. As a result, the support portion 55 is formed with a side wall surface 62 facing radially outward.

The depth in the axial direction of the stepped portion 61 is formed to be about half of the axial thickness of the main body 51, for example. By forming the stepped portion 61, the stepped portion forming region 55 a radially outside the side wall surface 62 of the support portion 55 is more axially disposed than the stepped portion non-forming region 55 b radially inside the side wall surface 62. Formed thin.
In addition, the axial thickness of the stepped portion forming region 55a (that is, the axial width of the welding surface 57) is desirably thicker than the axial thickness of the hairspring 40 (that is, the width of the hairspring 40). Thereby, the inner peripheral surface 43a of the hairspring 40 can be welded in surface contact without protruding from the welding surface 57 in the axial direction. Therefore, it is possible to weld firmly while suppressing the displacement between the welding surface 57 and the hairspring 40. It is more desirable that the axial width of the welding surface 57 is less than 1.2 times the width of the hairspring 40.

Here, in the stepped portion 61, the shortest distance between the side wall surface 62 of the stepped portion 61 and the inner peripheral surface 53a of the opening 53 is L1, and the shortest distance between the side wall surface 62 of the stepped portion 61 and the welding surface 57 is L2. When
L1> L2 (2)
It is formed to satisfy.
That is, by forming the step portion 61 so as to satisfy the expression (2), the shortest distance L1 between the side wall surface 62 of the step portion 61 and the opening 53 is set to be the shortest distance between the side wall surface 62 of the step portion 61 and the welding surface 57. It is secured larger than the distance L2. Thus, as will be described later, when the inner peripheral side end portion 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded to the welding surface 57 of the hair ball 50, the range to be annealed by the heat at the time of welding extends from the welding surface 57 to the vicinity of the side wall surface 62. Can be limited to short distances.
Further, since the heat transfer rate can be lowered by ensuring a long heat transfer path from the side wall surface 62 to the main body 51, the heat that could not be dissipated from the side wall surface 62 of the stepped portion 61 flows from the side wall surface 62 of the stepped portion 61. It becomes difficult to transmit to the main body 51. Therefore, the relatively hard part of the main body 51 of the whisker ball 50 that is not annealed can be secured thicker, and the relatively hard part can be further prevented from being thinned. It is possible to reliably prevent the main body 51 from cracking when 50 is externally fitted.

Further, the stepped portion 61 is formed in the same shape on a pair of support portions 55 and 55 formed at an equal pitch in the circumferential direction. Thereby, since the weight of a pair of support parts 55 and 55 becomes substantially the same, the gravity center of the beard ball 50 can be arrange | positioned in the rotation center (namely, central axis O) of the beard ball 50. FIG. Therefore, when the whistle ball 50 is rotated, it can be stably rotated without vibration. Therefore, the balance 10 (see FIG. 3) and the timepiece 1 (see FIG. 1) are made using the whistle ball 50 of this embodiment as a component. When formed, good performance is ensured with little rotational cycle error.
Further, since the pair of support portions 55, 55 are each formed with a stepped portion 61, the main body portion can be obtained even if the inner peripheral side end portion 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded to the welding surface 57 of any support portion 55. It can suppress that the part close | similar to the welding surface 57 of 51 is annealed. Therefore, the working efficiency when welding the hairspring 40 to the ball 50 can be improved, and the main body can be prevented from cracking when the hairball 50 is externally fitted into the balance 30.

(Welding the beard ball and the hairspring)
FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory diagram when the hairspring 40 is welded to the hairball 50.
As shown in FIG. 8, the inner peripheral side end 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded to the welding surface 57 of the hair ball 50 described above by, for example, laser welding. As a specific welding method, first, the other end surface 56b in the axial direction of the support portion 55 and the other end surface 41b in the axial direction of the hairspring main body 41 are brought into contact with the flat plate-shaped position regulating jig 86, thereby supporting the support portion. The other end face 56b of 55 and the other end face 41b of the hairspring main body 41 are aligned to a substantially flush position.
Subsequently, using a laser welding machine 85 having a predetermined laser output and irradiation range, a laser 88 having a predetermined output is provided near the welding surface 57 of the whistle ball 50 from the one end surface 56a side where the stepped portion 61 is formed. Irradiate and perform laser welding. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, a weld nugget 71 is formed on one end surface 56 a of the support portion 55 and one end surface 41 a of the hairspring main body 41 so as to straddle the welding surface 57, and the hairspring 40 is formed on the hair ball 50. Welded.

  Here, by forming the step portion 61 in the support portion 55 between the welding surface 57 and the main body portion 51, the step portion forming region 55a of the support portion 55 is thinner in the axial direction than the step portion non-forming region 55b. Is formed. For this reason, the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the second direction S, that is, the cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path through which heat is transferred during welding, is smaller than when the stepped portion 61 is not formed, and the heat transfer coefficient is low. It has become. Furthermore, since the support part 55 has a surface area larger than that in the case where the step part 61 is not formed because the step part 61 is formed, heat during welding is radiated well. As described above, since the step portion 61 suppresses transmission of heat during welding to the main body portion 51, the annealing range is limited from the weld surface 57 to the vicinity of the step portion 61. Therefore, it is possible to secure a relatively high hardness portion of the main body 51 of the whistle ball 50 without being annealed, and to suppress a relatively high hardness portion from being thinned.

  Further, at this time, as shown in FIG. 6, it is desirable that the diameter of the weld nugget 71 formed by laser welding is substantially the same as the width in the direction along the circumferential direction of the weld surface 57. Thereby, since the outer edge of the weld nugget 71 is formed so as to be in contact with both ends in the circumferential direction of the welding surface 57 when viewed from the axial direction, the hairspring 40 is spread over the entire direction along the circumferential direction of the welding surface 57. It can be welded to the inner peripheral surface 43a. Therefore, the hairspring 40 can be firmly welded to the welding surface 57 of the support portion 55. Further, by making the width of the welding surface 57 along the circumferential direction substantially the same as the diameter of the welding nugget 71, it is possible to prevent the welding range between the welding surface 57 and the hairspring 40 from varying. Thereby, since the dispersion | variation in the length of the balance spring 40 which can be expanded / contracted can be suppressed, the balance with few errors of a rotation period can be formed.

(Each variation of the first embodiment)
Then, the beard ball 50 which concerns on each modification of 1st embodiment is demonstrated.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a whisker ball 50 according to a first modification of the present embodiment.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the whisker ball 50 of the second modified example of the present embodiment.
In the beard ball 50 of the first embodiment, the stepped portion 61 is formed only on the one end face 56a in the axial direction of the beard ball 50 (see FIG. 7). On the other hand, the whisker ball 50 of the first modified example is different from the first embodiment in that the stepped portion 61 is formed only on the other end surface 56b of the whistle ball 50 in the axial direction. Further, the whisker ball 50 of the second modified example is different from the first embodiment in that stepped portions 61a and 61b are formed on both end surfaces 56a and 56b in the axial direction of the whistle ball 50. Detailed description of the same configuration as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the first modification, the stepped portion 61 is formed on the other end face 56 b of the whisker ball 50. Specifically, it is formed by denting the other end surface 56b of the support portion 55 from the main body portion 51 side to the welding surface 57 in the axial direction.
As shown in FIG. 10, in the second modified example, the step portions 61 a and 61 b are formed on the one end surface 56 a and the other end surface 56 b of the whistle ball 50. Specifically, the first stepped portion 61 a is formed by denting one end surface 56 a of the support portion 55 from the main body portion 51 side to the welding surface 57 in the axial direction. The second stepped portion 61 b is formed by denting the other end surface 56 b of the support portion 55 from the main body portion 51 side to the welding surface 57 in the axial direction.

(effect)
According to the present embodiment and the modification of the present embodiment, since the step portion 61 is formed as the recess portion 60 in the support portion 55, heat at the time of welding is transmitted as compared with the case where the step portion 61 is not formed. The cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path can be reduced. Thereby, the heat transfer rate of the support part 55 can be lowered from the welding surface 57 to the main body part 51. In addition, heat at the time of welding is transferred from the welding surface 57 to the main body 51 through the step portion 61. Thereby, since the heat transfer path from the welding surface 57 to the main body 51 becomes longer than when the stepped portion 61 is not formed, the heat transfer rate of the support portion 55 can be lowered.
As described above, since heat during welding is hardly transmitted from the welding surface 57 to the main body 51, the range to be annealed can be limited from the welding surface 57 to the vicinity of the stepped portion 61. Accordingly, the body portion 51 of the whisker ball 50 is not annealed and a relatively hard part can be secured thick, and the relatively hard part can be prevented from being thinned. It is possible to prevent the main body 51 from cracking when externally fitted.
Further, by forming the recessed portion 60 as the stepped portion 61, the recessed portion 60 can be easily formed by electroforming, machining, or the like.

(Beard ball manufacturing process)
Then, the manufacturing process of the beard ball 50 (refer FIG. 6) of 1st embodiment mentioned above is demonstrated with reference to drawings.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the manufacturing process of the beard ball 50.
FIG. 12 is a view showing a state in which the electroforming mold 94 is immersed in the electroforming liquid W.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which the metal body 99 is grown in the outer shape forming hole 95 by performing electroforming.
As shown in FIG. 11, the manufacturing process of the whisker ball 50 of this embodiment includes an electroforming process S10, a thickness adjusting process S20, and a removing process S30. Below, each process is demonstrated.

(Electroforming process S10)
First, an electroforming process S10 for forming the outer shape of the whisker ball 50 (see FIG. 6) is performed.
As shown in FIG. 12, in the electroforming step S <b> 10, the external shape of the whisker ball 50 is formed using the electroforming mold 94 formed as follows.
The electroforming mold 94 is formed using a photolithography technique.
Specifically, first, after preparing the silicon substrate 90, a conductive film 91 mainly composed of gold, silver, copper, nickel, or the like is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 90. Subsequently, a first photosensitive material 94 a is applied on the conductive film 91. The first photosensitive material 94a may be either a positive resist or a negative resist, but in this embodiment, a negative resist is used. Subsequently, the first photosensitive material 94a is exposed using a photoresist mask (not shown) that is patterned into the outer shape of the whisker ball 50 and that has other regions opened. Then, since the first photosensitive material 94a is a negative resist, the exposed portion is cured. Subsequently, the first photosensitive material 94a is developed using a developer (not shown). Then, since the first photosensitive material 94a is a negative resist, the unexposed area is dissolved. Subsequently, in order to form the outer shape of the stepped portion 61 (see FIG. 6), the second photosensitive material 94b is applied so as to overlap the first photosensitive material 94a. Then, similarly to the above, the second photosensitive material 94b is exposed and developed. Thereby, the outer shape forming hole 95 is formed in the first photosensitive material 94a and the second photosensitive material 94b following the outer shape of the whisker ball 50 having the stepped portion 61, and the conductive film 91 is exposed. Thus, the electroforming mold 94 capable of forming the whisker ball 50 is formed.

  In the electroforming step S <b> 10, first, the entire silicon substrate 90 is immersed in the electroforming liquid W stored in the treatment tank 96. In addition, when performing this electroforming process S10, the electroforming liquid W is selected according to the metal material which should be electroformed. For example, when nickel electroforming is performed, a sulfamic acid bath, a watt bath, a sulfuric acid bath, or the like is used.

  If nickel electroforming is performed using a sulfamic acid bath, a sulfamic acid bath mainly composed of nickel sulfamate hydrate is placed in the treatment tank 96. Further, an anode electrode 97 made of a metal material to be electroformed (in this embodiment, nickel) is immersed in a sulfamic acid bath. As the anode electrode 97, for example, a plurality of balls made of a metal material to be electroformed are prepared, and the metal balls are placed in a metal cage made of titanium or the like.

  Then, after the silicon substrate 90 is immersed in the sulfamic acid bath, the conductive film 91 formed on the silicon substrate 90 is connected to the cathode of the power source 98 and the anode electrode 97 is connected to the anode of the power source 98 to perform electroforming. Start. Then, the metal constituting the anode electrode 97 is ionized and moves in the sulfamic acid bath, and is deposited as a metal on the conductive film 91 exposed in the outer shape forming hole 95, and this metal gradually grows. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, the metal is grown until at least the metal body 99 that completely closes the outer shape forming hole 95 is obtained. At this time, since the outer shape forming hole 95 follows the outer shape of the whisker ball 50 (see FIG. 6) having the stepped portion 61 as described above, the whisker ball having the stepped portion 61 also on the grown metal body 99. It is in a state of following 50 external shapes. When the outer shape of the whisker ball 50 is formed, the electroforming step S10 is completed.

(Thickness adjustment step S20)
Next, a thickness adjustment step S20 is performed in which the thickness of the metal body 99 is adjusted to be the thickness of the whistle ball 50 (see FIG. 6).
In the thickness adjusting step S20, the silicon substrate 90 is pulled up from the processing tank 96 and cleaned with pure water or the like. Thereafter, the metal body 99 overflowing from the outer shape forming hole 95 is removed, and the thickness of the remaining metal body 99 is adjusted so as to be the thickness of the whisker ball 50 (see FIG. 6). This method may be performed by polishing such as CMP (chemical mechanical polishing).

(Removal step S30)
Finally, a removal step S30 for removing the first photosensitive material 94a, the second photosensitive material 94b, the conductive film 91, and the silicon substrate 90 is performed.
In the removal step S30, the first photosensitive material 94a and the second photosensitive material 94b are removed by an ashing process, a peeling solution method, or the like, and the silicon substrate 90 and the conductive film 91 are removed by a CMP method or the like. Thereby, the whisker ball 50 can be produced by electroforming.
When the silicon substrate 90 and the conductive film 91 are removed, the removal step S30 is completed and all the manufacturing steps of the whistle ball 50 are completed.

(effect)
When forming the ball 50 by electroforming, nickel and a nickel alloy are often used as the material. Here, since the melting point of nickel and nickel alloy is generally higher than that of metal such as iron, the welding temperature when welding the hairspring 40 to the whistle ball 50 is high. However, according to this embodiment, since the step portion 61 is provided in the support portion 55, the heat transfer coefficient of the support portion 55 can be lowered and heat can be radiated from the support portion 55 satisfactorily. Thereby, even if welding temperature is high temperature, it can suppress that the main-body part 51 is annealed. Therefore, the specially shaped whisker ball 50 can be formed at low cost, and the main body 51 can be prevented from cracking when the whistle ball 50 is press-fitted into the balance 30. Thus, the invention of this embodiment is particularly suitable for the whisker ball 50 formed by electroforming.

(Second embodiment)
Next, the whistle ball 50 of the second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the whisker ball 50 of the second embodiment. FIG. 14 illustrates a state viewed from the one end face 56 a of the whistle ball 50.
FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.
In the beard ball 50 of the first embodiment, the step portion 61 is formed as the recess 60 on the one end surface 56a of the beard ball 50 (see FIG. 7). On the other hand, in the whisker ball 50 of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the first embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a groove 64 is formed in the one end surface 56 a of the whistle ball 50 as a recess 60. Is different. Detailed description of the same configuration as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

  The groove 64 is formed on the one end surface 56 a of the whistle ball 50 so as to extend along the circumferential direction of the main body 51. The inner wall surface 64 a on the inner side in the circumferential direction of the groove 64 is formed along the main body 51 so as to be separated from the opening 53 of the main body 51 by a predetermined distance on the outer side in the radial direction from the main body 51. An outer wall surface 64b on the outer side in the circumferential direction of the groove 64 is formed to be separated from the welding surface 57 of the support portion 55 by a predetermined distance. The depth of the groove 64 in the axial direction is formed to be about half of the thickness of the main body 51 in the axial direction, for example. By forming the groove 64, the groove forming region 55a in which the groove 64 is formed in the support portion 55 is formed thinner in the axial direction than the groove non-forming region 55b on the radially outer side and radially inner side than the groove 64. Is done.

In the second embodiment, the weld nugget 71 may be formed on the other end face 56b (see FIG. 15) side. The reason is as follows.
In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the stepped portion 61 is formed by notching the corner portion between the one end surface 56 a and the welding surface 57. For this reason, at the time of welding the hairspring 40 and the hairball 50, the position regulating jig 86 is brought into contact with the flat other end surface 56 b so as to be aligned with the other end surface 41 b of the hairspring main body 41, and on the one end surface 56 a side. It was necessary to weld from.
On the other hand, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, the groove 64 is formed by notching the radially inner side from the corner portion of the one end face 56 a and the welding surface 57. The radially outer and radially inner surfaces are substantially flush. Therefore, at the time of welding the hairspring 40 and the hairball 50, the position regulating jig 86 is brought into contact with the other end face 56 b without distinguishing the one end face 56 a and the other end face 56 b, and is positioned at the position of the other end face 41 b of the hairspring main body 41. Can be combined. Therefore, since the surface to be welded is not limited to the one end surface 56a side, the alignment process time during welding can be shortened.

  In the first embodiment, the welding surface 57 is formed in the step portion forming region 55a (see FIG. 7), but in the present embodiment, the welding surface 57 is formed in the groove non-forming region 55b. Therefore, it is desirable that the axial thickness of the groove non-formation region 55b (that is, the axial width of the welding surface 57) is larger than the axial thickness of the hairspring 40 (that is, the width of the hairspring 40).

Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the groove 64 has a shortest distance between the inner wall surface 64a of the groove 64 and the inner peripheral surface 53a of the opening 53, that is, the shortest distance between the recess 60 and the opening 53, and When the shortest distance between the wall surface 64b and the welding surface 57, that is, the shortest distance between the recess 60 and the welding surface 57 is L4,
L3> L4 (3)
It is formed to satisfy.

(Effect of the second embodiment)
According to the second embodiment, the shortest distance L3 between the inner wall surface 64a of the groove 64 and the opening 53 is secured larger than the shortest distance L4 between the outer wall surface 64b of the groove 64 and the welding surface 57. Thereby, when the inner peripheral side end portion 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded to the welding surface 57 of the whistle ball 50, the range to be annealed by the heat at the time of welding is extended from the welding surface 57 to the vicinity of the outer wall surface 64b of the groove 64. Can be limited to short distances. Further, since the heat transfer rate can be lowered by ensuring a long heat transfer path from the inner wall surface 64a of the groove 64 to the main body 51, the heat that could not be radiated from the groove 64 is difficult to transfer from the groove 64 to the main body 51. Become.
Further, since the support portion 55 has a surface area larger than that in the case where the groove 64 is not formed by forming the groove 64, the heat can be radiated well.
Therefore, the relatively hard part of the main body 51 of the whisker ball 50 that is not annealed can be secured thicker, and the relatively hard part can be further prevented from being thinned. It is possible to reliably prevent the main body 51 from cracking when 50 is externally fitted.

  Further, by forming the recess 60 as the groove 64, the recess 60 can be easily formed by electroforming, machining, or the like.

(Third embodiment)
Then, the whisker ball 50 of 3rd embodiment is demonstrated.
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the whistle ball 50 of the third embodiment. FIG. 16 illustrates a state viewed from the one end face 56 a of the whistle ball 50.
17 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.
In the whisker ball 50 of the first embodiment, the stepped part 61 is formed as the recess 60 on one end surface 56a of the axially opposite end faces 56a, 56b of the whistle ball 50 (see FIG. 7). On the other hand, in the whisker ball 50 of the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, a through hole 66 is formed as the recess 60 that communicates the axial end faces 56 a and 56 b of the whistle ball 50. This is different from the first embodiment. Detailed description of the same configuration as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the through hole 66 is formed by communicating one end surface 56 a and the other end surface 56 b of the whisker ball 50. The inner peripheral surface 66 a of the through hole 66 is formed so as to follow the outer shape of the support portion 55 and the main body portion 51 on the radially outer side of the main body portion 51. An inner peripheral surface 66 a of the through hole 66 is formed to be separated from the welding surface 57 of the support portion 55 and the opening 53 of the main body portion 51 by a predetermined distance. In the third embodiment, a weld nugget 71 may be formed on the other end face 56b (see FIG. 17) side for the same reason as in the second embodiment. Thereby, also in 3rd embodiment, since the surface to weld is not limited to the one end surface 56a side, the alignment process time at the time of welding can be shortened.

  In the first embodiment, the welding surface 57 is formed in the step portion forming region 55a (see FIG. 7), but in the present embodiment, the welding surface 57 is formed in the hole non-forming region 55b. Therefore, it is desirable that the axial thickness of the hole non-formation region 55b (that is, the axial width of the welding surface 57) is larger than the axial thickness of the hairspring 40 (that is, the width of the hairspring 40).

The through hole 66 has a shortest distance between the inner peripheral surface 66a of the through hole 66 and the inner peripheral surface 53a of the opening 53, that is, the shortest distance between the recess 60 and the opening 53, and is welded to the inner peripheral surface 66a of the through hole 66. When the shortest distance from the surface 57, that is, the shortest distance between the recess 60 and the welding surface 57 is L4, as in the second embodiment,
L3> L4 (3)
It is formed to satisfy.

  The formation of the through hole 66 is preferably performed by electroforming. As described above, the electroforming mold 94 (see FIG. 12) is formed using a photolithography technique. Here, when the first photosensitive material 94a (see FIG. 12) is exposed, a photoresist mask (not shown) having an opening in a region corresponding to the through hole 66 is used to form the first photosensitive material 94a. To expose. Then, since the first photosensitive material 94a is a negative resist, the portion corresponding to the exposed through hole 66 is cured. Then, when the first photosensitive material 94a is developed using a developer (not shown), the unexposed area is dissolved and a portion corresponding to the exposed through-hole 66 (see FIG. 16) is formed. Remains. Thereby, the electroforming mold 94 which can form the whistle ball 50 (refer FIG. 16) which has the through-hole 66 is formed. In the present embodiment, since the through-hole 66 can be formed only by the first photosensitive material 94a, the second photosensitive material 94b (see FIG. 12) for forming the stepped portion 61 (see FIG. 6) is used. There is no need to use it. Therefore, by using the electroforming mold 94 formed in this way, the specially shaped whisker ball 50 having the through hole 66 can be formed at low cost.

(Effect of the third embodiment)
According to the third embodiment, when the expression (3) is satisfied, when the inner peripheral side end 43 of the hairspring 40 is welded to the welding surface 57 of the whistle ball 50, as in the second embodiment, when welding is performed. The range to be annealed by this heat can be limited to a short distance from the weld surface 57 to the vicinity of the through hole 66. Further, since the heat transfer rate can be lowered by ensuring a long heat transfer path from the through hole 66 to the main body 51, the heat that cannot be radiated from the through hole 66 becomes difficult to be transmitted from the through hole 66 to the main body 51. . Therefore, the relatively hard part of the main body 51 of the whisker ball 50 that is not annealed can be secured thicker, and the relatively hard part can be further prevented from being thinned. It is possible to reliably prevent the main body 51 from cracking when 50 is externally fitted.

Moreover, since the through-hole 66 is formed in the support part 55, the cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path which transfers the heat at the time of welding can be further reduced, and the heat transfer coefficient of the support part 55 can be further reduced. Further, heat at the time of welding is transmitted from the welding surface 57 to the main body 51 through the through hole 66. Thereby, the linear heat transfer path connecting the welding surface 57 and the main body 51 when the heat at the time of welding is transferred from the welding surface 57 to the main body 51 is cut off by the through hole 66. That is, the heat at the time of welding wraps around the outer side in the radial direction of the through hole 66 and is transmitted from the welding surface 57 to the main body 51, so that the heat transfer coefficient of the support 55 can be further reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to further suppress the thinning of the relatively hard part of the main body 51 of the whistle ball 50, so that the main body 51 can be reliably cracked when the whistle ball 50 is press-fitted into the balance 30. Can be prevented.
Furthermore, since the through hole 66 can be formed simultaneously with the main body part 51 and the support part 55 of the ball 50 by using electroforming by forming the concave part 60 as the through hole 66, the concave part 60 can be formed easily and at low cost. it can.

  The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  The external shape of the whisker ball 50 is not limited to each embodiment. For example, the outer shape of the main body 51 of the whistle ball 50 of each embodiment is formed in a substantially elliptical ring shape. On the other hand, the main body 51 of the whistle ball 50 may have an outer shape that is substantially circular. However, the bulging portions 51a and 51a bulging in the first direction F are formed in the main body 51 of the whistle ball 50, and the main body 51 is damaged due to the elastic force of the bulging portions 51a and 51a. In addition, the whisker ball 50 of each embodiment is superior in that an appropriate holding force can be secured for the balance stem 30.

The shape of the recess 60 formed in the whisker ball 50 is not limited to each embodiment. For example, the groove 64 of the second embodiment is formed only on the one end surface 56a of the support portion 55, but may be formed on both end surfaces of the one end surface 56a and the other end surface 56b of the support portion 55.
Moreover, in each embodiment, although the one recessed part 60 was formed in the support part 55, the number of the recessed parts 60 formed in the whistle ball 50 is not restricted to each embodiment. For example, one groove 64 in the second embodiment is formed for one support portion 55, but a plurality of grooves 64 may be formed in one support portion 55.

  In each embodiment, the pair of support portions 55, 55 are formed at a 180 ° pitch in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 51. However, the pitch angle and the number of the support portions 55 in the circumferential direction are limited to each embodiment. Never happen. For example, one support portion 55 may be formed. However, each embodiment has an advantage in that the center of gravity of the whistle ball 50 can be arranged at the rotation center of the whistle ball 50 (that is, the central axis O), and the whisker ball 50 can rotate stably without vibration. Further, the three support portions 55 may be formed at a 120 ° pitch in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 51.

  In the first embodiment, laser welding has been described as an example of a method for welding the hairspring 40 to the ball 50, but the welding method is not limited to laser welding. For example, the hairspring 40 may be welded to the hair ball 50 by arc welding, resistance welding, friction stir welding, or the like. By providing the support portion 55 with the recess 60, the effects of the present invention can be obtained in any welding method.

  In the first embodiment, the recess 60 is formed by electroforming. However, the method of forming the recess 60 is not limited to this, and the recess 60 may be formed by machining, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Clock 10 ... Balance 30 ... Balance 40 ... Beard spring 43 ... Inner peripheral side end 50 ... Beard ball 51 ... Main body 53 ... Opening 55 .... Supporting part 56 (56a, 56b) ... End face 57 ... Welding face 60 ... Recess 61 ... Step part 62 ... Side wall face 64 ... Groove 66 ... Through hole

Claims (10)

A whisker for fixing the inner peripheral side end of the balance spring truly,
A main body having an opening that can be fitted coaxially and coaxially;
A support portion that is formed to protrude outward in the radial direction of the main body portion and supports the hairspring;
With
A side surface of the support portion in the radial direction is formed with a welding surface to which the inner peripheral side end of the hairspring is welded,
A whisker is characterized in that a concave portion is formed on at least one of the both end faces of the support part in the axial direction of the main body part. The beard ball according to claim 1,
The concave portion is a whisker that is a stepped portion in which the end surface of the support portion is recessed in the axial direction from the main body portion side to the welding surface. The beard ball according to claim 1,
The whisker is characterized in that the recess is a groove extending along the circumferential direction of the main body. The beard ball according to claim 1,
The whisker is characterized in that the recess is a through-hole communicating with the both end faces of the support part. The beard ball according to claim 2,
The step portion is
L1 is the shortest distance between the side wall surface of the step and the opening,
When the shortest distance between the side wall surface of the stepped portion and the welding surface is L2,
L1> L2
The beard ball characterized by being formed so that it may satisfy | fill. The beard ball according to claim 3 or 4,
The recess is
The shortest distance between the recess and the opening is L3,
When the shortest distance between the recess and the welding surface is L4,
L3> L4
The beard ball characterized by being formed so that it may satisfy | fill. The whistle ball according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A plurality of the support portions formed with the weld surface and the recesses;
The whisker is characterized in that the plurality of support parts are formed at an equal pitch in a circumferential direction of the main body part.   The whisker ball according to claim 1, wherein the whistle ball is formed by electroforming.   A balance with the beard ball according to claim 1.   A timepiece comprising the balance according to claim 9.

Images