US2594820A - Process for manufacturing timepiece dials - Google Patents

Process for manufacturing timepiece dials Download PDF

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Publication number
US2594820A
US2594820A US18249A US1824948A US2594820A US 2594820 A US2594820 A US 2594820A US 18249 A US18249 A US 18249A US 1824948 A US1824948 A US 1824948A US 2594820 A US2594820 A US 2594820A
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Prior art keywords
indicia members
plate
electro
oxide coating
dials
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US18249A
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Stern Charles
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
    • G04B19/00—Indicating the time by visual means
    • G04B19/06—Dials
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04D—APPARATUS OR TOOLS SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR MAKING OR MAINTAINING CLOCKS OR WATCHES
    • G04D3/00—Watchmakers' or watch-repairers' machines or tools for working materials
    • G04D3/0069—Watchmakers' or watch-repairers' machines or tools for working materials for working with non-mechanical means, e.g. chemical, electrochemical, metallising, vapourising; with electron beams, laser beams
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
    • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
    • Y10T428/12389—All metal or with adjacent metals having variation in thickness
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
    • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
    • Y10T428/12389—All metal or with adjacent metals having variation in thickness
    • Y10T428/12396—Discontinuous surface component
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
    • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
    • Y10T428/12493—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.]
    • Y10T428/12535—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.] with additional, spatially distinct nonmetal component
    • Y10T428/12583—Component contains compound of adjacent metal
    • Y10T428/1259—Oxide

Definitions

  • This invention relates to time-piece dials and has particular reference to a process of manufacturing time-piece dials having indicia members stamped in relief therefrom.
  • indicia members are stamped in relief from a plate of light metal or alloy such as, for instance, aluminium or magnesium or their alloys and the whole plate is subjected to an oxidizing treatment, preferably to anodic oxidation, the prominent indicia members are then polished to remove the oxide coating from their upper surface and make it electro-conductive and then electroplated whereas the remainder of the dial plate is insulated by the oxide coating.
  • Fig. l is a plan view of a watch dial embodying the invention.
  • FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views taken on line A--A of Fig. 1 showing a portion of the dial after various steps of the manufacturing process.
  • I stamp indicia members in relief for instance hour characters as 2 from a plate i made of light metal or alloy such as aluminium, magnesium, aluminium alloy or magnesium alloy; 1 then submit the plate to an oxidizing treatment, either chemically or electro-chemically, preferably to anodic oxidation, whereby the whole upper surface of the plate I including the faces of the indicia members 2 is provided with a coating 3 0f aluminium or magnesium oxide, as shown in Fig. 3.
  • the next step is to polish or burnish the upper surface of the indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom while taking care not to deteriorate the oxide layer covering the remainder of the plate.
  • the polished indicia members are thus made electro-conduotive whereas the remainder of the plate is kept insulated by the oxide coating.
  • the dials are then subjected to electroplating in the usual conditions in order to cover only the prominent indicia members with the desired gal- Vanic coating 4 such as nickel, gold, silver or the like, whereas the background of the dial remains preserved by the insulating oxide layer 3.
  • a dial is thus obtained which comprises a background of oxidized light metal with gilt, silvered or nickeleri prominent indicia members standing out in relief on this background.
  • the light metal dial can be dyed during or after the anodic oxidation, in a single bath or in two successive baths.
  • the background of oxidized light metal can be dyed after polishing and electroplating of the prominent indicia members.
  • a dial is thus obtained which comprises nickeled, gilt or silvered indicia members standing out in relief on a coloured background.
  • a process for manufacturing time-piece dials comprising the steps of stamping indicia members in relief on a plate of light metal of the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium and alloys consisting predominantly of said metals, anodizing the plate to produce a nonconducting oxide coating thereon, abrading the upper surface of the prominent indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom and thereby make only the surface of said indicia members electro-conductive, and electro-plating said electro-conductive indicia members while the background of the plate is preserved by the oxide coating.
  • a process for manufacturing time-piece dials comprising the steps of stamping indicia members in relief on a plate of light metal of the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium and alloys consisting predominantly of said metals, anodizing the plate to produce a nonconducting oxide coating thereon, abrading the upper surface of the prominent indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom and thereby make only the surface of said indicia members electro-conductive, electro-plating said electroconductive indicia members while the background of the plate is preserved by the oxide coating, and dyeing said dial subsequent to the formation of said oxide coating.
  • a process for manufacturing time-piece dials comprising the steps of stamping indicia members in relief on a plate of light metal of the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium and alloys consisting predominantly of said metals, anodizing the plate to produce a nonconducting oxide coating thereon and simultaneously dyeing said dial, abrading the upper surface of the prominent indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom and thereby make only the surface of said indicia members electro-conductive, and electro-plating said electro-conductive indicia members while the background of the plate is preserved by the oxide coating.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
  • Electroplating Methods And Accessories (AREA)

Description

April 1952 c. STERN 2,594,820
PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING TIMEPIECE nms Filed March 51, 1948 FIGS FIGS 1 E Patented Apr. 29, 1952 PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING TIMEPIECE DIALS Charles Stern, Geneva, Switzerland Application March 31, 1948, Serial No. 18,249 In Switzerland April 10, 1947 3 Claims. 1
This invention relates to time-piece dials and has particular reference to a process of manufacturing time-piece dials having indicia members stamped in relief therefrom.
It is an object of the invention to provide time-piece dials of base metals or alloys having indicia members stamped in relief therefrom and electro-plated so as to appear in a colour and brightness different from that of the dialplate itself.
According to a chief feature of the invention, indicia members are stamped in relief from a plate of light metal or alloy such as, for instance, aluminium or magnesium or their alloys and the whole plate is subjected to an oxidizing treatment, preferably to anodic oxidation, the prominent indicia members are then polished to remove the oxide coating from their upper surface and make it electro-conductive and then electroplated whereas the remainder of the dial plate is insulated by the oxide coating.
The accompanying drawing illustrates the various steps of the invention.
Fig. l is a plan view of a watch dial embodying the invention.
The Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views taken on line A--A of Fig. 1 showing a portion of the dial after various steps of the manufacturing process.
In carrying out the process, I stamp indicia members in relief, for instance hour characters as 2 from a plate i made of light metal or alloy such as aluminium, magnesium, aluminium alloy or magnesium alloy; 1 then submit the plate to an oxidizing treatment, either chemically or electro-chemically, preferably to anodic oxidation, whereby the whole upper surface of the plate I including the faces of the indicia members 2 is provided with a coating 3 0f aluminium or magnesium oxide, as shown in Fig. 3. The next step is to polish or burnish the upper surface of the indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom while taking care not to deteriorate the oxide layer covering the remainder of the plate. The polished indicia members are thus made electro-conduotive whereas the remainder of the plate is kept insulated by the oxide coating. The dials are then subjected to electroplating in the usual conditions in order to cover only the prominent indicia members with the desired gal- Vanic coating 4 such as nickel, gold, silver or the like, whereas the background of the dial remains preserved by the insulating oxide layer 3. A dial is thus obtained which comprises a background of oxidized light metal with gilt, silvered or nickeleri prominent indicia members standing out in relief on this background.
As an optional modification, the light metal dial can be dyed during or after the anodic oxidation, in a single bath or in two successive baths. Optionally the background of oxidized light metal can be dyed after polishing and electroplating of the prominent indicia members. A dial is thus obtained which comprises nickeled, gilt or silvered indicia members standing out in relief on a coloured background.
What I claim is:
l. A process for manufacturing time-piece dials, comprising the steps of stamping indicia members in relief on a plate of light metal of the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium and alloys consisting predominantly of said metals, anodizing the plate to produce a nonconducting oxide coating thereon, abrading the upper surface of the prominent indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom and thereby make only the surface of said indicia members electro-conductive, and electro-plating said electro-conductive indicia members while the background of the plate is preserved by the oxide coating.
2. A process for manufacturing time-piece dials, comprising the steps of stamping indicia members in relief on a plate of light metal of the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium and alloys consisting predominantly of said metals, anodizing the plate to produce a nonconducting oxide coating thereon, abrading the upper surface of the prominent indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom and thereby make only the surface of said indicia members electro-conductive, electro-plating said electroconductive indicia members while the background of the plate is preserved by the oxide coating, and dyeing said dial subsequent to the formation of said oxide coating.
3. A process for manufacturing time-piece dials, comprising the steps of stamping indicia members in relief on a plate of light metal of the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium and alloys consisting predominantly of said metals, anodizing the plate to produce a nonconducting oxide coating thereon and simultaneously dyeing said dial, abrading the upper surface of the prominent indicia members to remove the oxide coating therefrom and thereby make only the surface of said indicia members electro-conductive, and electro-plating said electro-conductive indicia members while the background of the plate is preserved by the oxide coating.
CHARLES STERN.
(References on following. page) REFERENCES CITED Number The following references are of record in the 233331) file of this patent: 2,237,433 2,324,106 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,430,468 Number Name Date 7 864,467 Ingraham" Aug. 27, 1907 1,373,430 Humphrey 5 192 Number ,7 ,778 Wheeler July 30, 1929: 5,167 2, 5,988 McNally ,,Ju1 .s, 1937 10;. 13, 96
Name Date Frasch Mar. 4, 1941 Graenacher et al. Apr. 8, 1941 Pettit July 13, 1943 Julich Nov. 11, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS? Country Date Switzerland Mar. 4, 1913 Switzerland Feb. 16, 1926
US18249A 1947-04-10 1948-03-31 Process for manufacturing timepiece dials Expired - Lifetime US2594820A (en)

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Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3089235A (en) * 1963-05-14 Methods of making thin reinforced diaphragms and in
US3189420A (en) * 1962-10-01 1965-06-15 Paul R Gould Electrically conductive element
US3235961A (en) * 1961-06-12 1966-02-22 British Aluminium Co Ltd Method of producing coated aluminium base alloys
US3309291A (en) * 1961-07-07 1967-03-14 Lab Dalic Method of electroplating selected portions of an electrically conductive object
US3989603A (en) * 1973-11-29 1976-11-02 Denis Montavon Method of manufacturing watch dials and watch dials produced by this method
US4238250A (en) * 1978-05-04 1980-12-09 Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. Process for dyeing zinc and zinc alloys
EP1071000A1 (en) * 1999-07-23 2001-01-24 Damian Rickenbach Method for shaping surfaces of parts of watch
CN102341877A (en) * 2009-03-06 2012-02-01 Abb技术股份公司 Method for producing components for electrical contacts, and components themselves
USD794489S1 (en) * 2015-03-05 2017-08-15 Harry Winston Sa Dial
US10301732B2 (en) * 2016-07-06 2019-05-28 The Swatch Group Research And Development Ltd Method for fabrication of a timepiece provided with a multi-level exterior element

Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US864467A (en) * 1907-03-12 1907-08-27 Henry C Ingraham Dial.
CH65167A (en) * 1913-03-04 1914-05-16 Victor Miche Manufacturing process of a metal dial for timepieces
US1373430A (en) * 1918-12-31 1921-04-05 Alfred H Humphrey Method of finishing metal surfaces
CH113396A (en) * 1925-01-27 1926-02-16 Fils Rene Et Maurice Beaud Dial and method of manufacturing the same.
US1722778A (en) * 1925-07-23 1929-07-30 Fedco Number Plate Corp Process for making identification plates
US2085988A (en) * 1933-07-27 1937-07-06 Edwin M Mcnally Method of and apparatus for coloring articles
US2233410A (en) * 1936-07-02 1941-03-04 Produits Chim Terres Rares Soc Process for direct nickel-plating of aluminum and its alloys
US2237483A (en) * 1938-01-15 1941-04-08 Soc Of Chemical Ind Colored oxide film on metals consisting of the class of aluminum and alloys thereof and process of producing same
US2324106A (en) * 1939-03-02 1943-07-13 Aluminum Co Of America Process of ornamentation
US2430468A (en) * 1943-11-08 1947-11-11 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Electroplating silver on aluminum and its alloys

Patent Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US864467A (en) * 1907-03-12 1907-08-27 Henry C Ingraham Dial.
CH65167A (en) * 1913-03-04 1914-05-16 Victor Miche Manufacturing process of a metal dial for timepieces
US1373430A (en) * 1918-12-31 1921-04-05 Alfred H Humphrey Method of finishing metal surfaces
CH113396A (en) * 1925-01-27 1926-02-16 Fils Rene Et Maurice Beaud Dial and method of manufacturing the same.
US1722778A (en) * 1925-07-23 1929-07-30 Fedco Number Plate Corp Process for making identification plates
US2085988A (en) * 1933-07-27 1937-07-06 Edwin M Mcnally Method of and apparatus for coloring articles
US2233410A (en) * 1936-07-02 1941-03-04 Produits Chim Terres Rares Soc Process for direct nickel-plating of aluminum and its alloys
US2237483A (en) * 1938-01-15 1941-04-08 Soc Of Chemical Ind Colored oxide film on metals consisting of the class of aluminum and alloys thereof and process of producing same
US2324106A (en) * 1939-03-02 1943-07-13 Aluminum Co Of America Process of ornamentation
US2430468A (en) * 1943-11-08 1947-11-11 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Electroplating silver on aluminum and its alloys

Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3089235A (en) * 1963-05-14 Methods of making thin reinforced diaphragms and in
US3235961A (en) * 1961-06-12 1966-02-22 British Aluminium Co Ltd Method of producing coated aluminium base alloys
US3309291A (en) * 1961-07-07 1967-03-14 Lab Dalic Method of electroplating selected portions of an electrically conductive object
US3189420A (en) * 1962-10-01 1965-06-15 Paul R Gould Electrically conductive element
US3989603A (en) * 1973-11-29 1976-11-02 Denis Montavon Method of manufacturing watch dials and watch dials produced by this method
US4238250A (en) * 1978-05-04 1980-12-09 Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. Process for dyeing zinc and zinc alloys
US4314859A (en) * 1978-05-04 1982-02-09 Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. Process for dyeing zinc and zinc alloys
EP1071000A1 (en) * 1999-07-23 2001-01-24 Damian Rickenbach Method for shaping surfaces of parts of watch
EP1070999A1 (en) * 1999-07-23 2001-01-24 Damian Rickenbach Method for shaping the surface of clockwork pieces
CN102341877A (en) * 2009-03-06 2012-02-01 Abb技术股份公司 Method for producing components for electrical contacts, and components themselves
USD794489S1 (en) * 2015-03-05 2017-08-15 Harry Winston Sa Dial
US10301732B2 (en) * 2016-07-06 2019-05-28 The Swatch Group Research And Development Ltd Method for fabrication of a timepiece provided with a multi-level exterior element

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