US3439493A - Day-date calendar timepiece - Google Patents

Description

April 22, 1969 w, w, MUTTER ET AL 3,439,493, DAY-DATE CALENDAR TIMEPIECE Filed Jan. 10 mar Sheet or s l v INVIZNTORJ.

exam/5x 7 Aprii 22, 1969 w, w, MUT ER ET AL 3,439,493

DAY-DATE CALENDAR'TIMEPIECE I Filed Jan. 10, 1967 Sheet 2 of a United States Patent 3,439,493 DAY-DATE CALENDAR TIMEPIECE William W. Mutter, Paramus, N.J., and George P. Gruner, Floral Park, N.Y., assignors to Bulova Watch Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 608,333 Int. Cl. G04b 19/24 US. Cl. 58-58 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A time piece for indicating the day of the week and the date of the month as well as the time, the timepiece including concentrically disposed date and day rings each having an inner toothing. Automatic and concurrent daily actuation of these rings is eifected by a mechanism including a trip arm which, when triggered, engages a tooth on the date ring and a tooth on the day ring to index these rings.

This invention relates generally to calendar timepieces having day and date indicators, and more particularly to an automatic mechanism for instantaneously indexing the date indicator and the day indicator simultaneously once a day, the mechanism including a manually-operated setting device to advance the date indicator relative to the day indicator without disturbing the time indications of the timepiece.

In a conventional calendar watch or clock, it is known to include a rotatable date indicator ring having numbers 1 to 31 imprinted thereon in a circular path, one date at a time being visible through a window in the dial face. This ring is driven from an actuating mechanism operated through the hour wheel of the timepiece and adapted to cause the ring to jump one date per twenty-four hour interval.

Since some months of the year have less than thirtyone days it is necessary at the end of such months to advance the ring in order to skip over the excess number or numbers, thereby presenting number 1 on the first day of the next month. Normally this correction is effected manually by means of the setting crown which is first pulled out to engage a setting wheel for the time-indicating hands. The crown is then turned to actuate the date advancing mechanism.

Procedures for accomplishing date indication correction may vary, depending on the particular design of the calendar mechanism system. However, conventional systems usually upset the time-of-day indication to change the date indication. Consequently, after the calendar correction is made, it then becomes necessary to reset the time-indicating hands.

In the copending application of Bennett et al., Ser. No. 538,840, filed Mar. 30, 1966, there is disclosed an actuating mechanism for a date indicator in a calendar timepiece, which mechanism not only acts automatically to advance the indicator one date' per twenty-four hours, but is also capable of being manually corrected without disturbing the settings of the time-indicating hands. The timepiece includes a manually-operated setting device which is operatively coupled to the setting crown, correction being eifected without the need to pull out the crown or otherwise shift the axial position of the setting stem. To advance the date manually, the setting crown, while in its normal or in position, is turned in the clockwise direction until the proper date is indicated.

While a timepiece with a date indicator displays in numerical form the date of the month, it does not name the day of the week. The addition of a day indicator is therefore desirable, but this cannot be accomplished simply by gearing a day indicator to the date indicator. The

days and dates, from month to month, in a calendar are not consistent, for though every week has seven days, the number of days in a month varies in the course of a year. Thus, in 1967, the first day of January falls on a Sunday, whereas the first day in February is a Wednesday. Hence, it is necessary that the manually-operated setting device be capable of correcting the date indicator relative to the day indicator so that at the first of each month, the day position is appropriate thereto.

Accordingly, it is the main object of this invention to provide a day-date calendar for a timepiece in conjunction with a manually-operated setting device adapted to advance the date indicator relative to the day indicator without upsetting the position of the time-indicating hands, and an actuating mechanism for automatically and concurrently advancing the day and date indicators one step each day at midnight.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a timepiece having concentrically disposed date and day rings each having an inner toothing, automatic and concurrent daily actuation of these rings being effected by a mechanism including a trip arm which, when triggered, engages a tooth on the date ring and a tooth on the day ring to index these rings.

Also an object of the invention is to provide a daydate calendar timepiece which operates reliably and efiiciently and is of simple and rugged design, the actuating mechanism entailing relatively few components and being triggered each day at approximately midnight instantaneously to advance the date ring one number and the day ring one day.

Briefly stated, these objects are accomplished by a timepiece having a date-indicating ring having an inner toothing and a day-indicating ring also have an inner toothing, the day ring being disposed concentrically above the date ring. Manual setting of the date ring relative to the day ring is efiected by a corrector finger projecting from the axially-shiftable crown stem of the timepiece such that when the crown is at its in or running position and is manually turned, the finger engages the inner toothing on the date ring to cause this ring to advance one date for each revolution of the crown, without, however, afiecting the position of the day ring, and without disturbing the time-indicating hands which are adjustable only when the stem is at an out position.

Automatic daily actuation of the day and date rings is eifected by a spring-biased trip arm having a depressed pilot formed as part of the arm and received within a slot in the pillar plate of the timepiece, whereby the arm is slidable in a path determined by the confines of the slot from a cocked or charged position to a discharged position. The trip arm includes a nose projecting laterally therefrom and a trip pin projecting upwardly therefrom, such that when the trip arm is fired and travels from the cocked to the discharged position its nose is adapted to engage a tooth on the date ring and its trip pin is adapted to engage a tooth on the day ring, thereby indexing both rings simultaneously.

Disposed within a contoured opening in the trip arm is a trip finger which is mounted on a trip wheel intermeshing with the hour-wheel of the timepiece, causing the trip finger to undergo a full cycle per day, the finger acting during its rotary cycle to cause the trip arm to move from its discharged position toward its cocked position, in the course of which movement the nose is retracted from the toothing of the date ring while the trip pin is retracted from the toothing of the day ring. At midnight of each day, the trip finger releases the spring-biased trip arm, whereby the fixed arm is abruptly urged toward the discharged position and the nose and trip pin thereon make contact with their associated rings to advance same one step.

For a better understanding of the invention, as well as other objects and further features thereof, reference is made to the following detailed description to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein like elements in the several views are identified by like reference numerals:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the essential components of a day-date calendar timepiece in accordance with the invention, and the manual setting and automatic actuating mechanisms therefor;

FIG. 2 is plan view showing the cocked position of the trigger device of the actuating mechanism at about 11:59 p.n1., with respect to the date ring, when it is ready to trip;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the trigger device at midnight shortly after it has tripped, the trigger device being in its discharged position;

FIG. 4 shows in plan view the position of the trigger device at about 3:00 p.m.;

FIG. 5 shows in plan view the position of the trigger device at about 7:00 p.m.;

FIG. 6 shows in plan view the position of the trigger device at about 11:00 p.m.;

FIG. 7 illustrates in plan view the action of the trip pin on the day ring;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the assembled day-date structure; and

FIG. 9 illustrates the face of a watch having a daydate display as produced by the invention.

Structure of day-date calendar mechanism The actuating mechanism for a calendar timepiece in accordance with the invention is constituted by a trigger arrangement which automatically indexes a date ring and a day ring once every twenty-four hours, and a manual setting device which operates independently of the trigger to advance only the date ring upon turning of the setting crown of the timepiece when the crown is in its running or in position.

The watchworks are contained in a casing 10', the timesetting mechanism therefor including a stern assembly having a stem 11 whose upper end extends through an opening in casing 10 and terminates in a crown 12. The timesetting mechanism forms no part of the present invention; however, some of the parts thereof appear in the environment of the present invention, and these parts will therefore be described.

Mounted on a square section of the round stem 11 is clutch wheel 13, which is free to slide but not to rotate there'onJWheel 13 is caused by clutch lever 14, which extends through an annular groove in the clutch wheel, to engage a setting wheel when the stem is fully retracted by its crown to the pull-out or time-setting position. The setting wheel (no shown) intermeshes with the minute wheel (not shown) of the timepiece such that when the crown is rotated with the stem retracted to the time-setting position, the minute wheel turns, thereby setting the minute and hour hands in the usual manner. The hour wheel 15 makes one revolution per twelve-hour period. Hour wheel 15 drives the automatic trigger device for actuating the calendar.

The date indicator is constituted by a flat ring 16 whose inner periphery has a series of thirty-one teeth 17 formed thereon, each tooth being associated with a date imprinted or inscribed on the face of the ring. Ring 16 is mounted for rotary motion on a pillar plate PP within the casing below the dial plate. The dial plate D, as shown in FIG. 9, has a window W therein to expose a single date number at a time and a window W to expose a single day at a time. Thus as the date ring is advanced, the number 1 to 31 appear in sequence and as the day ring is advanced the days Monday to Sunday appear in sequence.

The manual setting device for the date ring 16 is constituted by a collar 18 freely mounted on stem 11 and provided with a projecting finger 19 which is adapted to engage th teeth 17 on he ring to effect correc ion of its position. Collar 18 is provided with ratchet teeth 1 8a adapted to engage mating teeth 18b on the clutch wheel 13, the toothed elements engaging each other only in the in position of the stern, and the ratchet teeth being so disposed that collar 18 is turned when stem 11 is rotated in the clockwise direction. The arrangement is such that should finger 19 happen to be in the path of a tooth 17 on the ring when automatic date advance takes place, in the manner to be described hereinafter, the finger will be kicked out of the way.

Turning the crown in the clockwise direction when the stem is in the in position causes the corrector finger 19 to engage one tooth 17 for each full rotation of the stem, thereby advancing the ring one date at a time, the detented position of the date ring being maintained by a pivoted detent 20 which engages the teeth 17 of the ring and is urged thereagainst by a spring 21. When the crown is pulled out, the clutch elements 18a and 18b are disengaged, since clutch wheel 18 is then caused to slide along stem 11 to engage the setting wheel. Hence rotation of the stem for purposes of setting the time-indicating hands cannot cause the manual setting device to advance the date indicator.

To resist free turning of the crown for a portion of each revolution, thereby preventing accidental advance of the date indication, a flat spring detent 22 is provided, the tip of this member engaging the corrector finger 19 and acting to prevent rotation of the stem until the spring force of this detent is overcome by the finger. Thus before finger 19 is permitted to engage a tooth on the calendar ring, it must first snap the detent spring 22. This introduces a hard turn portion in the stem revolution. In practice, when setting the date, one stops turning the crown after reaching the proper date indication and before reaching the hard-turn portion of a revolution.

The automatic trigger arrangement for the calendar rings includes a trip wheel 23 which intermeshes with the hour wheel 15 of the timepiece and makes one full revolution per twenty-four hours. Mounted on top of trip wheel 23 and rotating therewith about a common axis is a trip finger 24 which forms in the counterclockwise direction within an opening 25 formed within a trip arm 26.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 to 6, the opening 25 has a generally semi-circular configuration, the contours of the opening relative to that of trip finger 24 therein being such that the finger never engages the semi-circular wall portion 25a in the course of rotation, but does make contact with a somewhat convex wall portion 25b and a shoulder-forming projection 250, a notch 25d being situated at the junction of the projection and the convex portion.

The lower portion of trip arm 26 is provided with a depressed pilot 31 which is received within a slot 27 formed in pillar plate PP, such that the trip arm is shiftable back and forthwithin the limits of the slot and is rotatable about pilot 31. A bay portion 27A is provided at the upper limit of slot 27 which is not sufficiently wide to permit passage of pilot 31, but which affords clearance for the inclined connecting portion 26A between the body of the trip arm and the pilot. A nose 28 projects laterally from one side of the trip arm, which nose when the arm is fired engages a tooth of date ring 16 to advance same.

A bumper 29 is secured to pillar plate PP and makes contact with a cam portion 32 on the upper edge of the trip arm when the arm is in its discharged position. Projecting from the lower edge of trip arm 26 is a leg 33 engaged by a trip spring 30 which is tensioned to urge the arm toward bumper 29, the position of the arm being caused to vary as trip finger 24 rotates.

Received within date ring 16 above the inner teeth thereof is a circular bridge member 34 which is secured to the pillar plate PP by screws 35 and 36. The bridge includes a central opening 37 to admit the shaft 38 of hour wheel 15 which carries the hour hand on the dial of the watch. Surrounding central opening 37 on the bridge is a raised hub 39, the hub having a recess 40 to provide a chamber for elements associated with a dayring 41 which rotates about the hub.

Day-ring 41 is provided with inner toothing 42, fourteen teeth being provided, corresponding to two seven day series, so that Monday through Sunday appear twice on the surface of the ring in a circumferential arrangement about the teeth. The day ring is actuated by means of a trip pin 43 attached to the trip arm 26 at a position thereon adjacent notch 25d and projecting upwardly therefrom through an opening 44 in the bridge to engage the teeth on the day ring. Associated with the teeth on the day ring is a detent 45 which is biased against the teeth by a spring 46, these elements being positioned within recess 40.

As will be explained in greater detail in the section to follow, the position of the rotating trip finger 24, shortly before midnight, is such as to place the spring-biased trip arm 26 in its cocked or armed position. A moment thereafter, the trip arm 26 is released by the finger and fires. Nose 28 is thereby caused to engage and push a tooth on date ring 16 to advance the ring one date, and at the same time trip pin 43 is caused to engage and push a tooth on day ring 41 to advance same one day, after which the trip arm, which now abuts bumper 29, occupies its discharged position. Trip finger then proceeds, after midnight, to undergo its next cycle of operation.

Operation of calendar date actuating mechanism Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown the position of trip finger 24 in a position wherein the trip arm 26 is armed and is just about to be triggered. This occurs shortly before midnight, say at 11:59 p.m., just before the date is to be changed. In this position, the tip of finger 24 is at the peak of projection 25C and is about to leave notch 25d.

The finger in notch 25d acts against the force of spring 30 to push trip arm 26 to its cocked position in which the pilot 31 on the trip arm is adjacent the lower limit of slot 27 in the pillar plate. Also in this position the arm is at its maximum displacement from bumper 29. It will be noted that the nose 28 of the trip arm 26 lies in the space between the ring teeth 17A and 17B, the nose being close to tooth 17A. I

When trip finger 24 rotates further in the counterclockwise direction, it exits from notch 25d, as a consequence of which trip arm 26 is suddenly released to fire, and the arm, under the action of spring 30, slides abruptly toward bumper 29. In doing so, nose 28 is caused to engage tooth 17B on the ring to advance the date ring one date number. The action of the pin 43 will be discussed later.

When trip arm 26 is triggered, the force of nose 28 on I the particular date ring tooth engaged thereby may be so great as to cause the next tooth in the advancing ring to strike the rear of the nose. Bumper 29 not only limits the displacement of the trip arm but it also functions to prevent a rotation thereof when the trip arm is triggered and a tooth on the calendar ring strikes the rear of nose 28. Bumper 29 also serves another purpose, for when rotating finger 24 presses against the convex wall portion 25b of the opening and the cam portion 32 of the trip arm abuts the bumper, as will be described in greater detail in connection with FIG. 4, this causes the trip arm to slide against the action of spring 30 as well as to swing about pilot 31, whereby these sliding and rotating motions of the arm are concurrent.

The discharged condition of the trigger mechanism is shown in FIG. 3, where it will be seen that the cam portion 32 of the trip arm now lies against bumper 29, pilot 31 now being adjacent the upper limit of slot 27, the projection 250 in opening 25 being banked against the side of trip finger 24. This is the posture assumed by the elements at twelve midnight.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown the relative position of the various elements at about 3:00 pm. The trip finger 24 has in the period running from 12 midnight to 3 :00 p.m., traversed the semi-circular path adjacent the portion 25a of the opening, during which time trip arm 26 remains at its discharged position against bumper 29 until the convex portion 25b is engaged or until the manual connector is used. As the trip finger pushes against this convex portion, it causes trip arm 26 to withdraw nose 28 from between the teeth on the ring. In this action, cam portion 32 of the arm riding against the bumper, causes the arm to slide aaginst spring 30 while the arm at the same time is caused by the finger to swing about pilot 31, thereby retracting the nose.

When the tip 24a of trip finger 24 enters notch 25d at 7:00 p.m., as shown in FIG. 5, it pushes against projection 25c and causes trip arm 26 to slide away from the bumper, the sliding movement being guided by slot 27. This continues until about 11:00 p.m., as shown in FIG. 6, wherein the trip arm now has reached its maximum displacement from the bumper and is cooked. Between 11:00 p.m. and 11:59 pm, as shown in FIG. 6, the trip finger proceeds to move out of notch 25a, during which time the cooked position of the trip arm remains unchanged, until suddenly when the finger is free from the shoulder, the trip arm is abruptly released to advance the calendar ring in the manner described previously.

Operation of day actuating mechanism As indicated by the arrows in FIG. 7, pin 43 projecting upwardly from trip arm 26 is caused to travel a generally triangular path in the course of an operating cycle. The path is correlated with the movement of stop arm 26, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 6.

Thus when trip arm 26 is cocked or armed, as shown in FIG. 2, pin 43 lies within the gap between adjacent teeth 42A and 42B and occupies a corner X in the triangle. When trip arm 26 is fired, nose 28 advances the date ring, while pin 43 abruptly shifts from corner X to corner Y in the triangle simultaneously to advance day ring 41 one step. The extent of advance corresponds to the effective length of slot 27 in the pillar plate, for it will be seen that pilot 31 is positioned adjacent the lower limit of slot 27 (FIG. 2) in the armed condition, and after discharge (FIG. 3), it lies adjacent the upper limit, with cam surface 32 of the trip arm abutting bumper 29. This firing action takes place a moment before midnight.

As a new cycle of operation is undertaken (FIGS. 4, 5 and 6), trip arm 26 is caused by finger 24 to swing about pilot 31 and to slide away from bumper 29, thus causing withdrawal of nose 28, the pin 43 being then caused to occupy a fully retracted position at corner Z, after which the nose proceeds to enter the next tooth position on the date ring, pin 43 concurrently assuming its next cocked position at corner X within the teeth of the day ring.

There are certain kinematic and mechanical advantages obtained by the present invention as compared to the trip arm arrangement described in the above-identified copending application Ser. No. 538,840, which merit further consideration.

In the copending application, the trip arm swings and slides with reference to a fixed guide pin mounted on the pillar plate, the pin being received within a slot formed in the trip arm. In contradistinction, in the present invention, a slot 27 is formed in the pillar plate, and the trip arm 26 is provided with a depressed pilot 31 which is received within this slot whereby the trip arm is capable of shifting or rotating within the limits imposed by the slot.

Because in the previous arrangement, the guide pin represents a fixed pivot point on the pillar plate, there is 7 considerable sliding action between the trip spring and the trip arm during the arming portion of the cycle. This slide gives rise to a frictional force normal to that applied by the force of the spring which is directed toward the trip arm, thereby acting at some moment arm from the pivot point. This results in a counterclockwise moment which tends to reduce the clockwise moment necessary to provide reliable action by keeping the trip arm and trip finger in intimate contact in the course of arming.

Moreover, the more the trip arm in the previous arrangement is displaced during arming, the greater the moment arm and the greater the undesirable counterclockwise movement. Hence, it becomes necessary in this arrangement to provide a clockwise moment sufficient to more than overcome the unwanted moment due to the sliding action between the trip spring and the trip arm. This clockwise moment significantly increases the friction between the trip arm and trip finger during the firing portion of the cycle, thus cutting down the energy available for advancing the date mechanism.

In the present arrangement, as best seen in FIG. 8, the unwanted counterclockwise moment during arming is minimized by placing trip spring 30 as well as its point of contact at leg 33 with trip arm 26, and the trip arm pivot point which is pilot 31, all approximately in line in the armed portion in which pilot 31 occupies the lower level of slot 27. In this figure, trip arm 26 is at the critical part of the arming cycle when finger 24 is most likely to slip out of notch 25d in trip arm 26 should the resultant of all forces involved not provide a-clockwise movement.

This arrangement obviates the need for an increased compensating moment which necessarily would be present during the entire cycle, thereby rendering the present arrangement more efficient than the previous fixed guide pin arrangement. As a consequence, the operation of both the day and date indicators is more reliable without unduly loading the timepiece.

When the date and day rings lie within the watch casing under the dial D, the selected days and dates are visible to the wearer through an elongated rectangular window W (FIG. 9), aligned with the day ring 41 and with the date ring 16.

What we claim is:

1. In a calendar timepiece having hour and minute hands and a rotatable stem assembly adapted in an out position to engage a setting mechanism so that said hands may be set manually, said stem having an in position in which said hands are disengaged from said setting mechanism, said timepiece including a wheel making a single revolution each twenty-four hour period, the combination comprising:

(A) a rotatable date ring having a series of inner teeth thereon, one tooth for each of the thirty-one numbers appearing on the face of the date ring,

(B) a rotatable day ring having a series of inner teeth thereon, one for each day appearing on the face of the day ring, said day ring being disposed in a plane parallel to the date ring,

(C) a mechanical setting device for said date ring manually to correct the setting thereof at the end of those months having less than thirty-one days without changing the position of the day ring or the indication of the timepiece hands, said device including:

(a) a finger adapted to engage the teeth of said date ring, and

-(b) means intercoupling said finger and said stem only at the in position thereof whereby rotation of the stem causes said finger to turn said date ring, and

(D) an automatic trigger mechanism to advance said date and day rings one tooth per twenty-four hour period, said trigger mechanism including:

(a) a spring-biased trip arm having means thereon to engage the teeth on the date ring and means to engage the teeth of the day ring, and

(b) a trip finger operatively coupled to said wheel to shift said arm to cock same against said spring and to release same shortly before midnight to cause said nose and said pin to advance their associated rings one step.

2. In a calendar timepiece as set forth in claim 1, wherein said day ring has fourteen teeth, and has two series of days corresponding to said teeth.

3. In a calendar timepiece as set forth in claim 1, wherein said trip arm includes a depressed pilot which is received with a slot formed in the pillar plate whereby said arm is slidable within the limit of the slot and is swingahle about the pilot.

4. In a calendar timepiece having a wheel which makes one revolution each twenty-four hour period, a day-date assembly comprising:

(A) a date ring rotatable on a pillar plate and having a series of inner teeth,

(B) a day ring disposed concentrically with respect to the date ring in a plane parallel thereto and having a series of inner teeth,

(C) an automatic trigger mechanism to advance both rings one tooth per twenty-four hour period, said mechanism comprising:

(a) a spring-biased trip arm having a nose projecting laterally therefrom to engage the teeth on the date ring and a pin projecting upwardly therefrom to engage the teeth on the day ring, and

(b) a trip finger operatively coupled to said wheel and rotatable in a contoured opening therein to shift said arm to cock same against said spring and to release same shortly before midnight to cause said nose and said pin to ad vance their associated rings one step.

5. A day-date assembly as set forth in claim 4, wherein said trip arm includes a depressed pilot received within a slot formed in said pillar plate whereby said arm is slidable within the limits of the slot and is swingahle abou said pilot. a

6. A day-date assembly as set forth in claim 5, further including a bumper secured relative to said pillar plate to engage a cam surface on said trip arm at the upper limit of said slot.

7. A day-date assembly as set forth in claim 5, further including a spring-biased detent engaging the teeth of said date ring.

8. A day-date assembly as set forth in claim 5, further including a spring-biased detent engaging the teeth of said day ring.

9. A day-date assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein said contoured opening defines a shoulder adapted to receive the tip of said trip finger.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,985,388 12/1934 Stephens 58-127 2,591,819 4/ 1952 Hugenin 5 8-58 3,082,594 3/1963 Stamm et al. 58-58 ROBERT S. WARD, JR., Primary Examiner.

L. HAMBLEN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 58-128

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