JPS6226714B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an alarm mechanism for a timepiece.

In conventional normal alarm mechanisms, a cam is formed integrally with one of the alarm wheel and the hour hand wheel (constant speed wheel), and a hole is formed in the other, and when the cam and the hole are aligned as the hour wheel rotates. The alarm switch is activated when the cam falls into the hole. And in order to improve alarm accuracy, the cam has a vertical surface on one end, and a sloped surface on the cam that allows the cam to escape from the hole when the alarm wheel or hour hand wheel rotates in the forward direction. It is located at the other end. However, according to this conventional alarm mechanism, if the alarm wheel or the hour hand wheel is turned in the opposite direction, the cam and the hole will collide with each other, making rotation impossible, and if you try to force it to turn, the cam will be damaged. It will also happen. For this reason, in such conventional devices, the hour hand wheel and alarm wheel can only be turned in the forward direction via a ratchet mechanism or the like.

Therefore, there is a drawback that it is troublesome to adjust the time indicated by the clock or the alarm set time. Several techniques have been proposed in the past to overcome this drawback, but all of them have resulted in drawbacks such as reduced alarm accuracy and complicated configurations. In addition, conventional alarm mechanisms had separate alarm switches and silence switches, making the structure of the alarm mechanism complex and requiring many parts.
The drawback was that it took time to assemble, leading to an increase in costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel clock alarm mechanism that allows forward and reverse rotation of the alarm wheel and hour hand wheel without reducing alarm accuracy, and that is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture. be. The basic feature of the present invention is that a cam for performing a falling operation is formed to protrude integrally with an alarm cam body separated from a constant speed wheel (hour hand wheel), and this cam penetrates a through hole in the constant speed wheel to generate an alarm. The alarm switch is configured to slide on the top surface of the vehicle, and the alarm switch is opened and closed via a switch lever for stopping the sound, which swings in conjunction with the axial displacement of the alarm cam body. Since the cam of the alarm cam body passes through the through hole of the constant speed vehicle, the alarm body rotates following the constant speed vehicle. Further, the alarm switch is opened and closed by the rocking displacement of the switch lever for stopping the sound, which is linked to the axial displacement of the alarm cam body when the alarm is set.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an alarm wheel 2 is rotatably held on a lower plate (lower capsule) 1 of a watch mechanical body. The cylindrical part 3 is attached to the lower plate 1.
It protrudes through. The alarm wheel 2 can be turned manually via a guide pinion (not shown), thereby setting the alarm time. A ring-shaped leaf spring 4 is interposed between the lower plate 1 and the alarm wheel 2, and the free rotation of the alarm wheel 2 is restricted by the frictional force generated by the leaf spring 4. An hour hand wheel 5 is located above the alarm wheel 2, and its cylindrical portion 6 is connected to the cylindrical portion 3 of the alarm wheel 2.
It is rotatably fitted into and protrudes from. The hour hand wheel 5, which is an example of a constant speed car, is driven to rotate at a constant speed via a clock wheel train (not shown), but when setting the time, it can also be rotated manually via a hand turning pinion (not shown), etc. can move. An alarm cam body 7 is fitted into the hour wheel 5 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and this alarm cam body 7 has a plurality of cams 8 (not clearly shown in the drawings, but three in this embodiment) on its lower surface.
have. The cam 8 is always fitted into the through hole 9 of the hour hand wheel 5, and its lower end is in contact with the upper surface of the alarm wheel 2. Further, the cam 8 falls into the hole 10 of the alarm wheel 2 when the alarm setting time arrives. The relationship between the cam 8, the through hole 9, and the hole portion 10 will be explained in detail later.

A ring stop switch lever 11 is provided above the alarm cam body 7. switch lever 1
1 has a circular window hole 12 formed in its center, and a diagonal shaft and a second hand shaft (not shown) pass through this window hole and are rotatably inserted into the cylindrical portion 6 of the hour wheel 5. Further, the switch lever 11 has a pair of shaft portions 13 at one end thereof, and these shaft portions are swingably supported in a bearing recess 14 formed in the lower plate 1. Note that the shaft portion 13 is a part of the upper plate 2 that is placed on the lower plate 1.
1 (see FIG. 3) or a presser post (not shown) that hangs down from the middle plate (not shown) provided between the lower plate 1 and the upper plate 21. is maintained. A pair of hemispherical small projections 15 are formed on the lower surface of the switch lever 11, and these small projections 15 are in contact with the upper surface of the alarm cam body 7. At the other end of the switch lever 11, an operating piece 16 for opening and closing the switch is formed to protrude upward, and is engaged with a cantilevered switch leaf spring 17 that acts as a biasing spring to normally push it upward. It's pushing up. For this reason, the switch lever 11 is subjected to a clockwise rotational force in FIG. 2 about the shaft portion 13 by the spring force of the switch leaf spring 17. When the alarm body 7 falls to the chain line position,
Interlocking with this, the switch lever 11 is oscillated to the chain line position, whereby the regulation of the switch leaf spring 17 by the actuation piece 16 is released, and the two-pronged contact piece 18 at the tip of the switch leaf spring 17 is released. is rotating board 1
9 (not shown) and the switch is closed. Furthermore, an engaging protrusion 20 is formed on the side of the switch lever 11 to protrude upward. The engaging protrusion 20 is used to stop the alarm from sounding, and its upper end protrudes outward from the elongated hole 22 of the upper plate 21.

A stop lever 23 is slidably supported on the back surface of the upper plate 21 via a holding column 24, and the stop lever 23 has a click piece 25 and a pressing piece 2 at its lower part.
It is equipped with 6. The anti-squeal lever 23 is given a click action when the click piece 25 engages with the protrusion 27 of the upper plate 21, and when the anti-squeal lever 23 is pushed down, the pressing piece 26 engages the engagement protrusion 20. As a result, the switch lever 11, which is in the operating state shown by the chain line in FIG. 2, is returned to its original state shown by the solid line, and the alarm is stopped. In FIG. 3, 28 is a knob for turning the needle and setting an alarm. In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the handling of parts and simplify assembly, the circuit board 19 is used as a fixed side contact piece on which the switch plate spring 17 as a movable side contact piece comes into contact with and separates from the circuit board 19 to change the contact relationship of the alarm switch. are all formed on the circuit board 19.

Now, with reference to FIG. 4, the cam 8 of the alarm cam body 7, the through hole 9 of the hour wheel 5, and the hole 10 of the alarm wheel 2 will be described in detail.

A novel feature of the alarm mechanism of the present invention, which has not been seen before, is that the cam 8 for causing the falling operation is separated from the hour wheel 5. That is, the cam 8 is formed on an alarm cam body 7, and this alarm cam body 7 is fitted coaxially and slidably in the axial direction to the hour hand wheel 5. The interlocking rotation of the hour wheel 5 and the alarm cam body 7 is ensured by the engagement of the cam 8 and the through hole 9. The cam 8 has one end formed as a vertical surface 8a and the other end formed as an inclined surface 8b. In this embodiment, one end of the through hole 9 into which the cam 8 is always fitted is formed as a vertical surface 9a, and the other end is formed as an inclined surface 9b. In this embodiment, the hole 10 of the alarm wheel 2 also has one end formed in a vertical surface 10a and the other end formed in an inclined surface 10b.

Next, the operation will be explained. In FIG. 4, the hour hand wheel 5 moves to the right as time passes. At this time, the vertical surface 9a of the hole 9 of the hour wheel 5 pushes the vertical surface 8a of the cam 8, so the alarm cam body 7 moves together with the hour wheel 5. cam 8
When the vertical surface 8a reaches the vertical surface 10a of the hole 10, the cam 8 instantly falls into the hole 10, since the alarm cam body 7 is pressed downward by the switch lever 11 shown in the second figure. The alarm cam body 7 falls and is displaced as shown in FIG. As a result, the switch lever 11 shown in FIG. 2 swings to the chain line position, and the contact piece 18 of the switch leaf spring 17 comes into contact with the circuit board 19, thereby closing the alarm switch. After that, the hour hand wheel 5 continues to move to the right in FIG.
The cam 8 moves to the right in the hole 10 for a while (about 10 minutes). When the inclined surface 8b of the cam 8 reaches the inclined surface 10b of the hole 10, the cam 8 moves upward due to the cooperation of the inclined surface 8b and the inclined surface 10b of the hole 10, and finally the cam 8 triggers the alarm. car 2
This causes the switch lever 11 in FIG. 2 to be raised to the solid line position, opening the alarm switch.

In addition, when the alarm switch is closed (FIG. 5 or the chain line state in FIG. 2), when the stop lever 23 in FIG. 3 is manually pushed down, the pressing piece 2
6 pushes down the protruding end of the engagement protrusion 20. As a result, the switch lever 11 is returned to the solid line position in FIG. 2, and the alarm switch is held open.

Next, when the alarm wheel 2 is rotated to the left from the state shown in FIG. 5 in order to correct the alarm set time, the cam 8 is pushed upward by the inclined surfaces 8b and 10b, and finally The cam 8 rides on the upper surface of the alarm wheel 2 (FIG. 6). Also, if you move the alarm car 2 to the right (reverse rotation),
The vertical surface 10a of the hole 10 pushes the vertical surface 8a of the cam 8, and a rightward movement force is applied to the claw 8. At this time, the inclined surface 8b of the claw portion 8 slides along the inclined surface 9b of the through hole 9 of the hour hand wheel 5, and the cam 8 moves upward (FIG. 7). When the cam 8 escapes from the hole 10, the alarm car 2 can move to the right without any hindrance. That is, the alarm wheel 2 can be rotated in either forward or reverse directions to set the alarm time.

When the hour hand wheel 5 is rotated in the forward direction when correcting the time indicated by the clock, it is the same as the movement of the hands of a normal clock and can be carried out without any problems. When moving the hour wheel 5 to the left (in the opposite direction) from the state shown in FIG.
However, the cam 8 (alarm cam body 7) is moved upward by the inclined surface 9b of the through hole 9 of the hour hand wheel 5 and the inclined surface 8b of the cam 8. Figure 8). When the cam 8 escapes from the hole 10, the hour wheel 5 can move to the left without any hindrance. That is, the hour hand wheel 5 can also be rotated in either forward or reverse directions to correct the indicated time.

In the above embodiment, the inclined surface 9b of the through hole 9 and the inclined surface 10b of the hole 10 are provided to make the escape operation of the cam 8 smoother. The cam 8 can escape from the hole 10 in the same manner as described above even if the vertical surface 9b' or 10b' is used as shown in FIG. Further, when the through hole 9 is provided with an inclined surface 9b, the cam 8 may have a vertical surface 8c formed at its base with a length equal to or less than the thickness of the constant speed wheel 5, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, each of the inclined surfaces 8b, 9b, and 10b may be a curved inclined surface.

As described above, according to the alarm mechanism according to the present invention, the cam 8 for performing the falling operation is separated from the constant speed vehicle 5 and is integrally formed with the alarm cam body 7, so that, for example, as shown in FIG. When the car 2 is reversely rotated, the cam 8 can move and its inclined surface 8b easily rides over the end 8b or 8'b of the constant speed car 5, and the cam 8 escapes from the hole 10 and reaches its upper surface. You can climb on it. When the constant speed vehicle 5 is rotated in reverse, the cam 8 can similarly escape from the hole 10. As a result, the alarm car 2 or the constant speed car 5 can be rotated in forward and reverse directions, and the commanded time and alarm set time can be easily and quickly corrected without compromising alarm accuracy at all. Furthermore, since the structure is simple, assembly is easy and manufacturing is possible at low cost. The switch lever 11, which is swingably provided, is connected to the alarm cam body 7.
Since the alarm switch can be opened and closed by the switch leaf spring that is linked to the oscillating displacement of the switch lever 11, it is possible to operate both the stop switch and the alarm switch with one switch. The number of parts can be reduced, and the structure of the alarm mechanism can be made simpler, making assembly easier and reducing costs. Since all the contacts of the alarm mechanism can be formed on the circuit board 19, handling of parts during assembly becomes easier, and assembly becomes even simpler.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an enlarged plan view of the alarm mechanism according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a developed cross-sectional view taken from Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a rear view of the watch mechanical body in which this alarm mechanism is incorporated, Fig. 4 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part showing the relationship between the cam of the alarm cam body, the through hole of the constant speed wheel, and the hole of the alarm wheel; FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part showing the dropping operation of the same main part; 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation, and FIGS. 9 to 11 are enlarged cross-sectional views of a main part showing other embodiments. 1...Lower plate of the clock machine body, 2...Alarm car,
5... constant speed vehicle, 7... alarm cam body, 8... cam, 8a... vertical surface, 8b... inclined surface, 9... through hole, 10... hole, 11... switch lever, 1
7... Switch plate spring, 20... Engaging protrusion, 21
...The upper plate of the clock mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An alarm wheel rotatably provided manually to set the alarm time, and an alarm wheel disposed above the alarm wheel coaxially and opposite to the alarm wheel, and driven to rotate by a clock wheel train. a constant speed vehicle, an alarm cam body provided above the constant speed vehicle so as to be rotatable coaxially therewith and slidable in the axial direction; a cam which passes through a plurality of through holes formed in the constant speed vehicle and slides into contact with the upper surface of the alarm vehicle, and has both sides formed with a vertical surface and an inclined surface; A hole is provided in the alarm wheel so that the cam can fall, and a hole is provided above the alarm cam body so that when the cam falls into the hole, the alarm cam body A switch lever is provided to be able to swing and displace following the displacement in the axial direction, and engages with the switch lever to bias the switch lever toward the alarm cam body and to push the switch lever through the switch lever toward the alarm cam body. and a switch plate spring provided to bias the alarm cam body toward the alarm vehicle and open/close the alarm switch in conjunction with the rocking displacement of the switch lever. Clock alarm mechanism. 2. The alarm for a timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the switch lever is provided with an engaging protrusion for stopping a ringing, which is formed integrally with the switch lever and protrudes outward from the top plate of the timepiece. mechanism.