JPS6212865B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a time telling mechanism for a timepiece, and particularly to a highly accurate time telling mechanism for an analog display timepiece.

Desired announcement time, e.g. on the hour (minute hand points to 0 minute position) and half hour (minute hand points to 30 minute position)
The time-telling mechanism of a clock that strikes or chimes at the same time is well known, allows the time to be known without visually checking the time indicator hand, and is widely used in wall clocks and table clocks.

In recent analog display watches, as the clock mechanism has become electronic, the alarm mechanism is also equipped with an electrical alarm device, and this alarm device is usually driven by a drive motor to produce a mechanical time strike or chime sound. is being carried out. The operation of the above-mentioned alarm device is controlled by a contact device, and in order to control the opening and closing of this contact device, a time cam wheel is provided which rotates in synchronization with the clock train and operates the contact device at a predetermined alarm time. . Normally, the hour cam wheel is interlocked with a minute wheel, etc., which rotates once every hour, and activates an electric alarm device at a predetermined alarm time.

As mentioned above, in the conventional reporting mechanism,
Since the telling time was controlled by a cam wheel when the rotation speed was relatively slow, it was not possible to obtain a highly accurate telling action, and the telling action was performed only after the time display hand had passed the telling time. The drawback was that a so-called after-hit phenomenon often occurred. In particular, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for improved time-telling accuracy in high-precision analog display watches using crystal oscillators.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide an improved timepiece that can obtain highly accurate timekeeping and that does not cause load loss to the timepiece wheel train. The goal is to provide a mechanism.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electrical alarm device, a contact device having a pair of movable contact plates for electrically controlling the operation of the alarm device, and a contact device that rotates in synchronization with a clock train. a cam wheel; a cam wheel that contacts the hour cam wheel and controls the contact device to a state in which it can be closed at a predetermined time; and a cam wheel that rotates in synchronization with a clock train to close the contact device every minute. The hour cam wheel and the one minute cam wheel include a one minute cam wheel that controls the hour cam wheel and a one minute cam wheel that controls the hour cam wheel to be in a state where it can operate, and a one minute control lever that transmits the contact control force of the one minute cam wheel to the movable contact plate of the contact device. The contact device is closed only when both of the above enable the contact device to close, and the electric warning device is activated, and the 1-minute control lever has a 1-minute cam wheel and a 1-minute cam wheel at one end thereof. It includes an engageable element that can be engaged and an actuator that can engage with one movable contact plate at the other end, and the engaging element is elastically biased so as to be retracted out of the rotation area of the 1-minute cam wheel. The minute control lever is driven by the age cam just before the age cam falls into the hour cam wheel, and enters the movement area of one movable contact plate;
At the time of falling, the movable contact plate is locked to the 1-minute control lever, and the actuator of the 1-minute control lever is pressed to cause the engager of the 1-minute control lever to enter the rotation area with the 1-minute cam wheel. The control lever is characterized in that the control lever is retracted outside the rotation range of the 1-minute cam wheel, and the 1-minute cam wheel idles except when the time is announced.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the movement of the one-minute control lever to the rotation range of the one-minute cam wheel is controlled by the hour cam wheel directly or through an intermediate control member such as a pinwheel.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the alarm mechanism according to the present invention, and its perspective views seen from different directions are shown in FIGS.
This is shown in Figure 5.

Although not shown, the electrical alarm device in the embodiment is a well-known mechanical timing device driven by a motor, and a contact device 10 is provided to electrically control the motor operation. are provided with movable contact plates 10a and 10b.
In order to control the opening/closing operation of the contact device 10, an hour cam wheel 12 that rotates in synchronization with the clock wheel train is provided, and the contact driving force of the hour cam wheel 12 is transmitted to the contact device 10 via a pinwheel 14. . hour cam car 1
2 is integrally molded with a minute wheel (not shown), and rotates once per hour together with the minute wheel. On the hour cam wheel 12, cam protrusions 16 corresponding to the hour and cam protrusions 18 corresponding to the half o'clock are formed at intervals of about 180 degrees, allowing the start of the hour and half o'clock alarm operations, respectively. Tips 16a, 18 of both cam projections 16, 18
The positions a are set to correspond to about 10 seconds before the hour and about 10 seconds before half-hour, respectively, so that a time alarm setting operation, which will be described later, is carried out.

The age cam 14 is swingably supported on a shaft 20 fixed to a watch plate, and a protrusion 22 formed at one end is in contact with the cam peripheral surface of the hour cam wheel 12, and the other end is in contact with the cam peripheral surface of the hour cam wheel 12. The formed pins 24 and 26 are respectively engaged with a counting hook 28 of a counting mechanism to be described later and the movable contact plate 10b. This age cam 14 is always elastically biased in the direction of arrow A, and its protrusion 22 is controlled to swing following the cam peripheral surface of the hour cam wheel 12, so that the cam protrusions 16, 18 of the hour cam wheel 12 and the protrusion 22 are When engaged, each pin 24, 26
is configured to press and move the counter hook 28 and the contact plate 10b.

As described above, the opening/closing operation of the contact device 10 is controlled at a predetermined alarm time in synchronization with the rotation of the clock train, and in order to obtain an alarm action corresponding to the current alarm time, The mechanism is provided with a counting mechanism. In the illustrated embodiment, the alarm action is performed by controlling the number of rotations of the motor so that the number of strikes is set in accordance with the alarm time. The counter hook 28 is swingably supported on a shaft 30 fixed to a watch plate, and a protrusion 32 formed at one end is connected to a lever 34.
It extends so as to be able to engage with the rack teeth 34a as appropriate. This counter hook 28 is always elastically biased in the direction of arrow B by a spring 35, and is provided with an arcuate pressing portion 36 that can engage with the movable contact plate 10a.

The comb 34 is swingably supported by a shaft 38 fixed to a watch plate, and is always elastically biased in the direction of arrow C by a spring 35. The rotational speed of the motor, that is, the number of strokes per hour, is selected by the swinging position of the rack teeth 34a of the comb bar 34, and this swinging position is controlled by a counter cam 40.

The counting hook 40 is integrally molded with the hour hand wheel 41 shown in FIG.
Twelve stages of cam surfaces 40a are formed corresponding to each hour of the time display. The above-mentioned comb 34 is formed with a contact surface 34b that appropriately engages with the cam surface 40a of the counter hook 40.

A feed cam 44 is fixed to a rotating shaft 42 of a drive motor (not shown), and a feed pin 46 fixed to the feed cam 44 meshes with the rack teeth 34a of the comb 34, so that each rotation of the motor causes the counter 28 to move forward. The projection 32 and the rack teeth 34a of the comb bar 34 are disengaged from each other, and the rack teeth 34a are driven one tooth at a time.

As described above, the hour cam wheel 12 enables the contact device 10 to close at the predetermined alarm time, and the alarm operation is performed for the number of hour strokes selected by the counting mechanism. The hour cam wheel 12 rotates once per hour, and its rotational speed is slow, making it impossible to obtain a highly accurate time-telling action. It is characterized in that the closing operation of 10 is controlled by a 1-minute cam wheel provided separately from the hour cam wheel 12.

In order to rotate in synchronization with the clock train, the one-minute cam wheel 48 is integrally formed with the third wheel & pinion 49, as shown in FIG. 4, and eight one-minute cams 50 are formed on its outer periphery. The one-minute cam 50 is configured to rotate one pitch in one minute.

In the illustrated embodiment, the cam driving force of the 1-minute cam wheel 48 is transmitted to the contact device 10 via the 1-minute control lever 52, and the 1-minute control lever 52 is pivotable on a pin 54 fixed to the watch plate. An engaging element 56 provided at one end of the cam 50
The actuator 58 provided at the other end is provided so as to be able to engage with the movable contact plate 10b of the contact device 10 as appropriate. The one-minute control lever 52 has a pin 60 installed on the lever 52.
and the fixed pin 62.
4, it is always elastically biased in the direction of arrow D, and is elastically held in a position where it engages with a pin 66 fixed to the watch plate.

As is clear from FIG. 1, when the one-minute control lever 52 engages the pin 66, its engager
6 is outside the range of rotation of the one-minute cam wheel 48. The one-minute control lever 52 is provided with a protruding arm 68, and an extension arm 70 of the swallowtail hook 14 is provided to be engageable with the protruding arm 68.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises the above configuration,
Below are Fig. 1 and Fig. 6, which shows each operation change mode.
The operation will be explained with reference to Figures 7 and 8.

FIG. 1 shows the operating state at the end of the hour warning action on the hour, which corresponds to, for example, a time of about 2:05. In this state, the tooth hook 14 has its protrusion 22 facing the valley surface of the hour cam wheel 12, and the counter hook 28 engages the comb 34 at a position where the protrusion 32 abuts one end surface of the rack tooth 34a as shown in the figure. It has stopped. In this state, both contact plates 10a and 10b are positioned and held by the pressing portion 36 of the counter hook 28 and the pin 26 of the folding hook 14, respectively, and the contact device 10 is in an open state. The alarm device is therefore kept inactive.

In FIG. 1, as described above, the one-minute control lever 52 is urged by the spring 64 to a position where it contacts the pin 66, so that the engager 56
has retreated from the rotation area of the 1-minute cam wheel 48,
As a result, during normal times other than the notification time, the 1-minute cam wheel 48 simply idles, and the 1-minute control lever 5
2, no load loss is caused to the clock train.

FIG. 6 shows the state in which the first stage of the alarm operation is completed on the hour, and the time is approximately 1:59:30. In this state, the cam projection 16 of the hour cam wheel 12 is
As a result, the counter hook 28 is rotated counterclockwise and the protrusion 32 is moved to a position where it is separated from the lever 34.
As a result, the comb 34 rotates clockwise to a position where its abutting surface 34b abuts the cam surface 40a of the counter cam 40 corresponding to 2 o'clock. At this time, both contact plates 10a and 10b of the contact device 10 are the pressing part 36 of the counter hook 28 and the pin 2 of the swing hook 14, respectively.
6, the contact device 10 is pressed and moved to the illustrated position, and the contact device 10 is still kept in the open state.

The Agekama 14 further presses and rotates the protruding arm 68 of the 1-minute control lever 52 with its extension arm 70, and as a result, the 1-minute control lever 52 rotates counterclockwise against the spring 64, and its engager 56 enters the rotation range of the one-minute cam wheel 48. Of course, the movement of the actuator 58 at this time is due to the movement of the movable contact plate 10.
The structure of each part is set so as not to conflict with b.

FIG. 7 shows the completion of setting the second stage of the time warning action on the hour, which corresponds to the time of about 1:59:50. In this state, the age cam 14 is rotated by the rotation of the hour cam wheel 12 so that the tip end 1 of the cam protrusion 16
6a and rotate counterclockwise. As a result, the pressing of the counter hook 28 by the pin 24 is released, the counter hook 28 rotates clockwise, and its protrusion 32 meshes with the tooth corresponding to 2 o'clock of the rack teeth 34a of the comb 34. At the same time, the pressing and holding of both contact plates 10a and 10b by the pressing part 36 of the counter hook 28 and the pin 26 of the folding hook 14 is released.
Therefore, the contact plate 10a rotates clockwise from FIG. 6, but the tip of the contact plate 10b engages with the actuator 58 of the one-minute control lever 52 and is held in the position shown in the figure. Therefore, also in FIG. 7, the contact device 1
A zero closing action is never performed.

During the above operation, the engagement between the extension arm 70 and the protruding arm 68 is also released due to the counterclockwise rotation of the age hook 14, and a clockwise rotational force by the spring 64 acts on the one-minute control lever 52. Since the rotational force of the movable contact plate 10b is set to be balanced with the rotational force of the movable contact plate 10b, the one-minute control lever 52 is held in the position shown in FIG. 7 by the movable contact plate 10b.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the time-telling action is started on the hour, and shows the time corresponding to 2:00:00. In this state, the 1-minute cam 50 of the 1-minute cam wheel 48, which is set in synchronization with the control position of the second hand, comes into contact with the engager 56 of the 1-minute control lever 52, causing the lever 5
2 clockwise, and as a result, the lever 52
The actuator 58 is detached from the contact plate 10b, and the contact plate 10b is rotated back to the position where it contacts the contact plate 10a due to its elastic action, so that the contact device 10 can be closed.

When the contact device 10 is closed, the drive motor of the electric alarm device rotates to perform a timing operation, and at this time, the feed cam 44 interlocked with the motor rotates to
The lock teeth 34a of the comb bar 34 are fed and driven every time the driving operation is performed. Therefore, after completing the two time striking actions,
The protrusion 32 of the counter hook 28 separates from the lever 34 and returns to the state shown in FIG. 1, and both contact plates 10a, 1
Open 0b. Therefore, at each notification time, the timing action is performed a predetermined number of times depending on the position of the counting cam 40 corresponding to the designated time.

As described above, according to the present invention, the 1-minute cam wheel 4
Since the contact device 10 is controlled to be able to close by 8, an extremely high-precision time-telling action can be obtained, and the time-telling action can be performed within a range of at least 10 seconds from the minute of the second hand. becomes possible.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the setting of the second stage of the alarm function at half o'clock is completed, and shows a time corresponding to about 0:29:30. FIG. 9 is almost the same as the hourly state shown in FIG. 6, but the cam protrusion 1 of the hour cam wheel 12 is
8 has a lower cam height than the cam protrusion 16 at the hour, and as a result, it is understood that the amount of movement of the counter hook 28 rotated by the age hook 14 is small. That is, at half o'clock, the projection 32 of the counter hook 28 does not completely release the comb 34, but releases the comb 34 to the position where the projection 32 meshes with the tooth at the lower end of the lock tooth 34a. Therefore, regardless of the indicated time, one hour striking action is always obtained, and a half-hour striking action is performed.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an extremely accurate time-telling effect,
Further, the one-minute control lever engages the one-minute cam wheel only for a short period of time immediately before the announced time, and has the advantage that it does not cause any load loss to the clock train at other normal times. I can do it.

In the embodiment, the one-minute control lever is controlled by the age cam wheel, but it can also be controlled directly by the hour cam wheel or via another intermediate member. Further, in the present invention, it is possible to obtain any alarm sound such as an electronic sound.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the main part showing a preferred embodiment of the alarm mechanism according to the present invention, Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the main part taken in different directions from Fig. 1, and Figs. 1, and FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are plan views showing each operating state of FIG. 1, respectively. 10...Contact device, 10b...Movable contact plate, 1
2...Time cam car, 14...Agekama, 48...1
Minute cam wheel, 50... 1 minute hook, 52... 1 minute control lever, 56... Engagement element, 58... Operator, 68
...Protruding arm, 70...Extension arm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electrical alarm device, a contact device having a pair of movable contact plates for electrically controlling the operation of the alarm device, an hour cam wheel that rotates in synchronization with the clock train, and an hour cam wheel that is in contact with the hour cam wheel. a cam that controls the contact device to be ready for closing at a predetermined alarm time; and a 1-minute cam that rotates in synchronization with the clock train and controls the contact device to be ready for closing every minute. a one-minute control lever for transmitting the contact control force of the one-minute cam wheel to a movable contact plate of the contact device;
Only when both of the minute cam wheels enable the contact device to close, the contact device is closed and the electric alarm device is activated, and the 1-minute control lever is placed at one end of the 1-minute control lever. It includes an engager that can engage with the cam wheel and an actuator that can engage with one movable contact plate at the other end, and the engager is elastically biased so as to retreat out of the rotation area of the 1-minute cam wheel. Also, the 1-minute control lever is driven by the Agekama and enters the movement area of one of the movable contact plates just before the Agekama falls into the hour cam wheel, and the movable contact plate engages with the 1-minute control lever at the time of the fall. At the same time, the actuator of the 1-minute control lever is pressed to cause the engager of the 1-minute control lever to enter the rotation area with the 1-minute cam wheel. A time-telling mechanism for a watch characterized in that a one-minute cam wheel is retracted out of the rotation range and idles.