US3015526A

US3015526A - Bearing arrangement

Info

Publication number: US3015526A
Application number: US777740A
Authority: US
Inventors: Dubois George
Original assignee: A Schild SA
Current assignee: A Schild SA
Priority date: 1957-12-02
Filing date: 1958-12-02
Publication date: 1962-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 1979-01-02

Description

Jan. 2, 1962 DUBOls 3,015,526

BEARING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 2, 1958 :puemf: K. GEORGES 74(5015.

F" 3,015,526 1 Patented Jan. 2, 1962 3,015,526 BEARING ARRAWGEMENT Georges Dubois, Grenehen, Switzerland, assignor to A.

Schild S.A., Grenchen, Switzerland, a joint-stock coman P y Filed Dec. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 777,740 Clm'ms priority, application Switzerland Dec. 2, 1957 6 Claims. (Cl. 308-135) This invention relates to bearing arrangements, in particular to a bearing arrangement for a movable element rotatably mounted on a part of a frame.

Movable elements mounted on a tubular or in a cylindrical projection of a frame part or of an element mounted on said frame part for rotary motion coaxial to said projection are well known in the art in particular in watches, wherein said movable elements are set on fixed pins and have one face in abutting engagement with said frame part.

These known bearing arrangements have, however, the drawback that the movable elements are subjected to a great frictional drag.

7 it is now an object of this invention to reduce the friction of said movable elements by providing jewels between said elements and the frame parts carrying them, said jewels serving as axial abutting means for said movable elements. I

7 Further objects of the invention will still appear in the course of the following description.

Three embodiments of the bearing arrangement according to the invention are represented diagrammatically and by way of example in the drawings annexed to this specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plane view of the first embodiment,

FIG. 2 is a crosssection thereof on a larger scale,

FIG. 3 is a cross-section similar to that of FIG. 2 of the second embodiment, and

FIG. 4 is a similar cross-section of the third embodiment.

The three embodiments represented in the drawings refer to watches with calendar. The first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2) comprises an annular rotatable member 1 constituting a date indicator. For this purpose the member 1 carries date indications 1a appearing successively in a cutout of the watch dial (not shown).

As in the usual watches with calendar a mechanism (not shown) actuated by the watch movement acts on an inner toothing 2 of member 1 for driving the latter one step forward every twenty-four hours.

This member 1 is rotatably mounted around a cylindrical part 3 of the watch movement frame 4. As shown in PEG. 1 the inner ends of teeth 2 have been given the form of the cylindrical part 3 so that the member 1 can freely rotate around part 3 of the movement frame without too great a play in a direction perpendicular to the movement axis.

In axial direction the member 1 bears on a set of jewels 5 set with force fit into holes 6 of the frame part 4. The jewels 5 have the form of cap jewels well known in pivot bearings. The upper faces 7 of these jewels are domeshaped and they project beyond the frame surface portion in which they are set so that the member 1 comes in contact simultaneously with each jewel 5 only in one point thereof.

To prevent the member 1 from falling when the watch movement 4 is turned with its frame part 3 downwards, a plate 8 is removably fixed to the watch movement 4 above the part 3 thereof, so as to form a peripheral annular rim extending partly above the toothing 2 of member 1.

- The friction of the date indicator provided with the bearing arrangement described above is of course smaller than the friction of the date indicators known in the art, which bear directly on a metallic part of the base plate of the watch movement.

Instead of holding member 1 around a fixed axis by means of a fixed frame part 3, one could obviously also hold it around the tubular projection of the hour wheel (no-t shown). Furthermore member 1 need not be guided by an element extending therewithin, it could just as well be guided by an outer cylindrical surface portion, for instance by the inward face of the annular rim 3a of frame 4.

The part of frame 4 represented in the drawings can be either a part of the base plate of the watch movement or a part of a frame element fixed on to said base plate.

The same bearing arrangement can of course be applied in the same manner to every member rotatably mounted on a framework either around or within a cylindrical part projecting therefrom. In a watch for instance the arrangement in question cannot only be applied to a date indicator, but also to the movable elements driving this indicator. Most of these movable elements are indeed set on pins secured to the base plate of the watch movement and they are usually held in place in axial direction on said pins either by the watch dial or by a central plate like plate 8. A bearing arrangement of the type described above could also be applied to the minute wheel of a usual watch or even to some rotatable elements of the winding mechanism or" selfwinding Watches, such as for instance the oscillating winding weight.

Instead of jewels constituted by cap jewels, elements of another shape, for instance spherical or cylindrical elements, could of course also be used. Moreover, it is not necessary that said elements are fixed to the framework. The second embodiment (FIG. 3) shows spherical jewels 10 retained in an annular groove 11 of the frame part 4a by an annular plate 12 fixed to part 4a, this plate 12 being provided with circular cutouts 13 having a diameter smaller than that of the ball members 10. The sizes of groove 11 and of cutouts 13 are of course chosen so that the balls it? may freely rotate within their own lodgings, around an own axis.

Instead of spherical jewels as shown in FIG. 3, cylindrical jewels could of course also be used just in the same manner. Furthermore, instead of balls 10 located in a groove of the frame part 4a, one could also use balls located each in an own cylindrical lodging of frame part 4a, said balls being retained in their lodgings by bending the upper edges of these lodgings inward. The same method could also be used for mounting cylindrical jewels on said frame part.

Eventually, instead of mounting the jewels on or fixing them to the framework, one could also mount these jewels on or fix them to the movable element itself, as shown in the third embodiment (FIG. 4), wherein cap jewels 14 are set with force fit into blind holes 15 provided in the lower face 1b of the date indicator In so that the dome-shaped faces 16 jewels 14 extend beyond face 1b, which is adjacent to the frame part 411 of the watch movement.

With a movable element thinner than the date indicator 1a shown in FIG. 4, for instance. with a minute wheel, the jewels ensuring the abutting engagement in axial direction of the movable element would be set rather into bores provided throughout said movable element than into blind holes thereof.

Various changes in the shape, sizes and arrangement of parts could be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. In a bearing arrangement, in combination, a frame;

a movable element rotatably mounted on a part of a frame; holding means carried by said-frame and provided with a cylindrical bearing surface portion arranged for enabling rotaryvmotions of said element coaxial to said bearing surface; two adjacent surface portions I provided one-onsaid frame partand'the other one on said movable element, said surface portions extending in parallel to one another for holding said movable element by abutting engagementin a determined axial position with respect to' said cylindrical surface portion; and a set of jewels mounted in one of said adjacent surface portions in fixed relationship thereto. and spaced from each other so that each jewel has a part projecting beyond said one surface portion, said projecting jewel parts being arranged so as to come simultaneously in contact with said other adjacent surface portion.

2. The bearing arrangement of claim 1, in which said jewels aremoun-ted onsaid frame part.

3. In the bearing arrangement of claim 2, said jewels having each .the form of a circular cap jewel for pivot bearings with a dome-shaped face, cylindrical holes being provided in said framepart, and said jewels being set with'force fit in said holes'so that said dome-shaped faces of said jewels project from said frame part. i 4. In the bearing arrangement of claim 2, jewel lodgings being provided in said frame part and said jewels beingmounted in said lodgings for free rotation therein while'being maintained at fixed distances from eachother.

-5.. In "the bearing arrangement of claim 1, said jewels being fixed'to "said movable element so that each jewel has apartprojecting from said element, on one side thereof.

6. In a bearing arrangement for a Watch movement or the like, in combination, a stationary member being formed with a cylindrical bearing surface; a movable member having a cylindrical guide surface concentric with and closely adjacent said cylindrical bearing surface so as to be guided for rotary motion about the axis of said cylindrical surfaces, one of said members having an abutment surface substantially normal to said axis and the other of said members having a mounting surface facing and closely spaced from said abutment surfaceand being formed with a plurality of cavities arranged spaced from each other along a circle concentric with said cylindrical surfaces and extending, respectively, from said mounting surface into said other member; and a plurality of jewels carried by the other of said members in said cavities, respectively, and at fixed distances from each other, said jewels having eacha spherical surface protruding beyond said mount ng surface of said other member and in contact with saidabutment surface of said one member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 856,245 Gamon June 11, 1907 977,983 Tipton Dec. 6, 1910 1,362,747 Segal Dec. 21, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS 377,741 Germany June 26, 1923 514,295 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1939 279,358 Switzerland Nov. 30, 1951 288,975 Switzerland June 1, 1953 1,101,377 France Apr. 20, 1955