Classifications

• • 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
  • G04B1/00—Driving mechanisms
  • G04B1/10—Driving mechanisms with mainspring
  • G04B1/14—Mainsprings; Bridles therefor
• • 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
  • G04B1/00—Driving mechanisms
  • G04B1/10—Driving mechanisms with mainspring
  • G04B1/16—Barrels; Arbors; Barrel axles
• • 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
  • G04B1/00—Driving mechanisms
  • G04B1/10—Driving mechanisms with mainspring
  • G04B1/18—Constructions for connecting the ends of the mainsprings with the barrel or the arbor

Definitions

• Barrel shaft for watch movement, barrel spring and barrel comprising such a spring and / or such a shaft.
• the invention relates to a watch movement barrel shaft or a watch movement barrel shaft. It also relates to a clock spring of a watch movement or a spring for a watch movement barrel. It also relates to a barrel comprising such a shaft and / or such a spring. Finally, it relates to a watch movement or a timepiece, in particular a wristwatch, comprising such a shaft and / or such a spring.
• the illustrated professional dictionary of horology describes a conventional construction of a barrel shaft for attaching a barrel spring.
• the shaft serves as a support for the drum and the barrel cover: the spans make it possible to wedge the drum and the cover in the axial direction, and the contacts between the shaft, the drum and the lid allow the drum to pivot around the drum. 'tree.
• the shaft further comprises a central cylindrical portion that is called “bung” and which is provided with a hook which is attached to the barrel spring through a rectangular opening (called "squab”) practiced near the end inside the spring.
• the watchmaking barrel must perform two apparently contradictory functions: on the one hand, to supply the energy necessary to drive the finishing gear and to maintain the oscillations of the sprung balance by disarming the spring, and on the other hand , allow at any time the arming of the same spring.
• the lid and the drum must be able to pivot on the shaft. Indeed, the shaft of the barrel is connected to a ratchet, and a rotation of the ratchet (driven by the winding chain and / or the chain of the module automatic) is used to arm the spring, which is secured to the shaft.
• the spring, disarming drives the drum and cover and thus the finishing gear that leads to the escapement and the oscillator.
• the drum and the lid must thus be able to pivot on the shaft, which must itself be able to pivot in an empierrage.
• This requirement is not trivial to put into practice, and is generally implemented by a stepped construction of the barrel shaft, with a succession of cylindrical surfaces of increasing diameters which define bearing surfaces, forming pivot surfaces with stones for the pivoting of the shaft, with the drum and the lid, and finally a diameter to secure the spring to the shaft.
• Document CH295135 is known from a similar construction.
• the bung diameter can not be decreased for construction reasons.
• the shaft must provide pivoting and axial retention of the drum and lid.
• a ratchet is mounted squarely on the shaft, usually by means of a screw, with a corresponding thread in the shaft.
• This conventional construction requires staging and therefore increasing the diameters on the barrel shaft, starting from the lower and upper ends of the shaft to the bung diameter.
• Document GB1 148042 discloses a fixing of the mainspring by inserting the inner end of the spring into an opening provided in a spring fixing structure formed in the wall of a tube acting as a barrel shaft.
• the inner end of the barrel spring is deformed to cooperate with the fastening structure.
• a shaft has a square conformation provided to cooperate with square bores provided in the barrel wheel and in the fastening structure.
• This solution induces a strong mechanical deformation of the barrel spring at its end, which is not optimal. It is known from document CH295135 frictional fixing of a barrel spring on a shaft, with an opening of particular shape at the end of the spring to allow a winding without increasing the thickness. The diameter of the hook is then approximately equivalent to the diameter of the tree, the extra thickness of a turn close. This type of hooked without mechanical link is a priori unreliable.
• Document CH566044 discloses a spring clip made by inserting the folded inner end of the spring into a longitudinal groove in the shaft. This solution also induces a strong mechanical deformation of the spring at its end, which is not optimal. Thus, no known solution makes it possible to secure a barrel spring to a cylinder shaft reliably, industrial, removable, without severe plastic deformation of the spring, while giving the opportunity to minimize the diameter of the plug without having to change the standard arrangement of the barrel, and in particular the pivoting of the drum and the lid on the shaft.
• this type of construction does not allow the user to arm the barrel during operation of the camera, which is a fundamental requirement for a watch cylinder.
• the object of the invention is to provide a barrel shaft or a barrel spring to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above and improve barrel shafts or barrel springs known from the prior art.
• the invention proposes a barrel shaft for achieving a reliable fastening, industrial, removable, without severe plastic deformation of the spring, while giving the possibility of minimizing the diameter of the plug without having to change the standard arrangement of the barrel .
• a spring according to the invention is defined by claim 1.
• Embodiments of the spring are defined by claims 2 to 5.
• a tree according to the invention is defined by claim 6.
• Embodiments of the shaft are defined by claims 7 to 15.
• a barrel according to the invention is defined by claim 16.
• FIG. 17 is a view of a first embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention.
• Figure 2 is a partial view of a first embodiment of a mainspring according to the invention.
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cylinder comprising a shaft according to the first embodiment and a spring according to the first embodiment.
• Figure 4 is a view of a second embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention.
• Figure 5 is a partial view of a second embodiment of a mainspring according to the invention.
• Figure 6 is a view of a third embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention.
• Figure 7 is a partial view of a third embodiment of a mainspring according to the invention.
• FIG. 8 is a view of a fourth embodiment of a cylinder shaft according to the invention.
• Figure 9 is a partial view of a fourth embodiment of a mainspring according to the invention.
• Figure 10 is a view of a fifth embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention.
• a first embodiment of a barrel 4 according to the invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
• the barrel mainly comprises a barrel shaft 1, a barrel spring 2, a barrel drum 3a and a barrel. barrel cover 3b (not shown in FIG. 3).
• the barrel drum has a toothing for driving the wheels of a clockwork mechanism, including a wristwatch mechanism.
• the barrel stores the mechanical energy necessary for the operation of the clock mechanism. This energy is stored as elastic potential energy, due to the deformation of the spring.
• the spring comprises a spring blade wound in the drum around the shaft, the spring being mechanically connected to the shaft at its inner end 5 and being mechanically connected to the drum at its outer end. When the spring is fully armed, it is wound on the shaft and tends to drive the drum in rotation relative to the shaft.
• the spring is shown unarmed in Figure 3, the spring being wound on itself at the inside of the diameter of the drum. In this configuration, the spring does not tend to drive the rotating drum. To arm the spring, simply rotate the shaft about its axis.
• a first embodiment of a barrel spring 2 is partially shown in FIG. 2. It comprises a first portion 50 (or active portion) of a first height H and a second portion 52 of a second height h less than the first height. It also includes at the level of the second portion, for example at the inner end, a first attachment element 51 adapted for attachment to the barrel shaft 1.
• the first attachment element has a maximum height h '.
• the second portion is intended to be inserted into a groove extending circumferentially and provided on the barrel shaft.
• circumferentially extending is meant that the groove extends at least a portion of the circumference of the shaft.
• the groove has a depth p.
• the first attachment element 51 is advantageously intended to cooperate with a second attachment element 1 3a provided on the shaft.
• the first attachment element may comprise a configuration 51a, 51b trapezoidal or substantially trapezoidal delimited by edges 51a, 51b.
• the two bases of the trapezoidal shape are oriented according to the height of the spring or substantially according to the height of the spring.
• the trapezoidal shape is symmetrical or substantially symmetrical.
• the second portion may be obtained by implementing a spring machining step at its inner end, for example by mechanical cutting, grinding, stamping, laser machining or water jet cutting.
• the spring advantageously has, prior to implementation of this step, an elastic band of constant height H.
• a first embodiment of a barrel shaft is described hereinafter with reference to FIG. It comprises a groove 1 3 extending over a circumference of the shaft and this groove is intended to receive the barrel spring 2.
• the tree is a solid tree. On either side of the groove, it preferably includes shoulders 1 2 and 14 and spans 1 1 and 1 5.
• the cylindrical portion 1 1 and the cylindrical portion 1 5 allow rotation on the barrel shaft of the drum and the barrel cover.
• the shoulder 1 2 makes it possible to stop the drum axially.
• the shoulder 14 makes it possible to stop the cover axially.
• the two shoulders make it possible to ensure that the casing of the barrel (lid and drum assembled) is framed with respect to the shaft.
• the groove advantageously has a height comparable to the second height h of the spring.
• the groove comprises at least a portion whose height is less than the height of the active portion of the mainspring and the second portion 52 of the spring can be wound on the shaft in the groove.
• the section of the shaft has a shape of revolution centered on the axis of the shaft.
• the section of the shaft may also have a spiral envelope shape whose pitch is equal to or substantially equal to the thickness of the spring.
• the length of the second portion may correspond to the length of a complete coil wound on the shaft.
• the groove has a depth at least locally greater than or equal to the thickness of the mainspring, or a depth greater than or equal to the thickness of the mainspring over the entire extent of the groove, or even a depth equal to or substantially equal to the thickness of the mainspring.
• the groove may extend only over a portion of the circumference of the shaft.
• the groove can extend over more than 180 ° around the axis of the barrel shaft.
• the groove may also extend preferably over the entire circumference of the barrel shaft.
• the groove bottom radius may be scalable, i.e., the groove bottom radius at a groove bottom point may have a value varying with the circumferential position of that groove. point.
• the shaft comprises, in the groove, in particular at the bottom of the groove, a second fastening element 1 13a of the mainspring spring, the second fastening element being intended to cooperate with the first fastening element 51 provided on the barrel spring.
• the second attachment element comprises in the case of Figures 1 to 3 a hollow configuration comprising edges 13b and 13c for cooperating with the configuration 51a, 51b trapezoidal spring. Indeed, the edges 13b and 13c come into contact with the edges 51a and 51b. Because of the trapezoidal shape and depending on the angle of the edges 13b and 13c, it can even occur a jamming of the end of the spring on the shaft.
• the trapezoidal shapes 13a and 51 are preferably circumferentially oriented.
• the second portion 52 of the spring is preferably a non-active part, that is to say a part which contributes little or nothing to the torque developed by the spring, that is to say an unsolicited part or not very mechanically stressed in bending.
• the groove thus preferably has, at its bottom, a diameter smaller than the outside diameter of the shoulder 12 making it possible to stop the drum of the barrel and / or less than the outside diameter of the shoulder 14 making it possible to stop the lid of the barrel .
• portions 1 6 and 17 are provided to receive the coiled turns of the first portion (50) of spring.
• the first and second hooking elements have been designed to minimize the bung diameter.
• This reduction is therefore achieved by practicing a groove or groove on the shaft which advantageously has a height comparable to the second height h of the spring, with a clearance of diameter less than that of the shoulders necessary to maintain the drum and lid.
• the inner end of the spring is cut with a lower belt height over a length roughly equivalent to that of the first turn, to increase the number of winding turns and therefore the power reserve.
• the groove or groove is machined inside the shaft and includes a hook part, including a clearance serving as a female part.
• the shape of the inner end of the spring must be adapted accordingly, by the cutting of a "leg" of lower height than the rest of the blade which allows the first turn to be inserted into the groove, with an end portion in the shape of a dovetail which acts as a male part.
• By hammering this inner end, or other suitable technique, is made a shell whose first turn has a smaller inner diameter than the groove machined inside the shaft. This makes it possible to promote the grip by a clamping action of the band on the shaft.
• the spring is shelled on a lathe, in the particular case represented on a height reduced to 0.9 mm with respect to the height of the first portion of 1.46 mm.
• This shell is pressed against the groove machined inside the shaft, provided with the clearance 13a for the attachment of the dovetail 51, 51 a, 51 b of the spring. By turning, it blocks the rotation of the spring on the shaft thanks to the clearance and its draft angle. After the first turn, the spring portion is active and its height increases to 1.46 mm.
• This solution firstly makes it possible to reduce the bung diameter considerably. Compared with a standard barrel shaft for a female caliber (movement diameter of approximately 20 mm), the bung diameter increases from 1.85 mm to 1.39 mm, a decrease of 25%.
• This reduction of the bung diameter makes it possible to increase the performance of the barrel, and in particular the autonomy or the power reserve. Indeed, for the same length of the spring, the smaller the bung diameter, the more the number of turns possible by winding the blade is high. The greater the number of turns that the spring forms on the shaft in the armed state is high for a given length, the longer the autonomy will be high. In fact, the effect of a decrease of the bung diameter on the increase of the number of turns is approximately of degree 2. Moreover, the manufacture of the tree is facilitated thanks to the suppression of the hook or the ergot and the passage of a bung with an evolutionary diameter to a groove of revolution machinable on a lathe.
• the machining of the clearance for the attachment of the end is done simply by passing a corner cutter (or dovetail cutter).
• the radial and longitudinal supports of the lid and the drum are as traditionally on the shaft and the assembly of the barrel within the watch movement remains traditional. More particularly, the longitudinal frustum of the drum and the cover is defined by the shoulders 12 and 14 of the shaft, while the longitudinal frustum of the barrel relative to the blanks is also effected by shoulders, in this case by the shoulders adjacent to the shoulders 12 and 14.
• the attachment elements also have undeniable advantages for assembling the spring on the barrel shaft.
• the radius of curvature of the inner coil of the spring before assembly is always less than the bung radius, so as to ensure a good plating and tightening of the spring on the shaft and an adequate fixation.
• the lower end of the spring must be opened a first time to cross the range and place the spring on the bung. It is then necessary a second manipulation of opening of the spring to move it away from the shaft and thus allow it to pass over the pin by sliding it downwards.
• the shell must be placed precisely opposite the lug to ensure good grip of the spring on the shaft.
• an attachment of the type of eagle tail or dovetail makes it possible to correctly position a shell spring without any other manipulation than to slightly open the coil or the internal winding of the spring formed to pass the range 12 or 14, then to rotate the shaft to snap the trapezoidal portion of the spring into the corresponding portion of the shaft.
• a second embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention and a second embodiment of a barrel spring according to the invention are described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
• identical elements, similar or having the same function as those of the first embodiment provide numerical references to which a hundred or so have been added.
• the shaft of the second embodiment and the spring of the second embodiment are referenced "101" and "102" while the shaft of the first embodiment and the spring of the first embodiment are referenced “ 1 and 2 ".
• the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in the embodiment of the first fastening element 151 and the second fastening element, the first fastening element and the second fastening element being intended to cooperate with one another. with the other.
• a lug or hook 1 13a is formed on the shaft at the bottom of the groove 1 13.
• the production of such a lug or hook is relatively complicated.
• the lug or the hook cooperates with a pigeon or an opening 151 made at the end 105 of the spring.
• the opening has for example a substantially rectangular shape.
• the lug or hook is shaped to be inserted into the squab.
• the tree pivots in a stone at its upper end.
• the drum 103a pivots on the shaft at the portion 1 1 1 1 and the range 1 12, while the lid 103b does the same on the portion 1 15 and the scope 1 14.
• a third embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention and a third embodiment of a barrel spring according to the invention are described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
• elements identical, similar or having the same function as those of the first embodiment have numerical references to which two hundred have been added.
• the shaft of the third embodiment and the spring of the third embodiment are referenced "201" and "202" while the shaft of the first embodiment and the spring of the first embodiment are referenced “1" and "2".
• the third embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in the embodiment of the first fastening element 251 and the second fastening element 213a, the first fastening element and the second fastening element being intended to cooperate with each other. one with the other.
• a cutout 213a such as a bore, is made in the shaft at the bottom of the groove 213.
• This cutout is for example made perpendicular to the axis of the shaft.
• the cut cooperates with a pin 251 fixed to the end 205 of the spring.
• the pin can in particular be riveted on the spring.
• a fourth embodiment of a barrel shaft according to the invention and a fourth embodiment of a barrel spring according to the invention are described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.
• elements identical, similar or having the same function as those of the first embodiment have numerical references to which three hundred have been added.
• the shaft of the fourth embodiment and the spring of the fourth embodiment are referenced “301" and "302" while the shaft of the first embodiment and the spring of the first embodiment are referenced “1" and "2".
• the fourth embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in the embodiment of the first fastening element 351 and the second fastening element 313a, the first fastening element and the second fastening element being intended to cooperate with each other. one with the other.
• a notch 313a such as a radial cut, is made in the shaft at the bottom of the groove 313.
• the notch cooperates with a bend 351 made at the end 305 of the spring.
• the second attachment element comprises a protrusion, for example a hook, or a particular conformation of the groove or a recess in the groove and the first attachment element comprises an opening or a conformation particular of the inner end of the spring or a pin, in particular a riveted pin.
• the inner end of the spring forms a winding, in particular a diameter, having dimensions such that the winding is deformed when it is mounted on the shaft.
• the spring can be fixed to the shaft by clipping, wedging, or in a traditional manner with a lug.
• the attachment is via a lug (male form) cut at the inner end of the leaf spring, which is retained by a corresponding female form machined inside the shaft.
• a lug male form
• Such a system therefore comprises an inversion of the male and female parts of the fastener with respect to the standard solution: the male part is moved from the shaft to the spring.
• the spring according to the invention may particularly be made of a high-strength material, such as an amorphous metal alloy described in WO2012010941. Nevertheless, traditional high performance metal alloys such as cobalt-based superalloys (Nivaflex or other) or alloys with a high nitrogen content (CrMnN alloys as described in document CH703796) can also be used.
• the dimensioning of the bung diameter must, however, take into account the plastic deformation characteristics specific to the state of each material considered. Thus, the gain achieved by the invention can be more or less limited depending on the material chosen (and its state of work hardening for polycrystalline materials).
• each spring winding intended to be housed in these grooves has a different height.
• the heights of the windings can be smaller and smaller as one approaches the inner end of the spring.
• the shaft may have a groove 413 for housing therein more than one complete winding (or turn) of the spring.
• the groove can be stepped.
• This case of stepped groove makes it possible to accommodate an extension of more than one winding of the spring in the groove without this spring extent exceeding a radial space defined by the diameter 16, 1 16, 216 or 316.
• the depth p of the groove is greater than the thickness of the spring.
• the barrel spring and / or the barrel shaft and / or barrel according to the invention is particularly adapted to take advantage of the exceptional mechanical properties of amorphous metal alloys.
• the barrel according to the invention allows a gain of two development turns with a metal amorphous alloy spring as described in the application WO2012010941.
• the combination of the barrel according to the invention and an amorphous metal alloy makes it possible to gain, in the example above, 40% of autonomy, with a bulk of the identical barrel.
• the springs were made with identical blade length and flange. However, other factors such as flange, shell shape and blade length are important and the system could be optimized by modifying parameters such as blade length or flange characteristics.
• the maximum height h 'of the first attachment element may advantageously be less than the height H of the first portion.
• the maximum height h 'of the first attachment element may also advantageously be less than the distance between the bearings 12 and 14 of the barrel shaft which define the part on which the first portion of the spring comes to support.
• the maximum height h 'of the first fastening element may advantageously be greater than the height h of the second portion of the spring, and advantageously greater than the height of the groove 13 of the barrel shaft.
• the height of the spring on the first turn, including the end, can also be advantageously less than the height of the spring on its outer part (in other words, max (h ', h) ⁇ H where max (a, b) denotes the maximum value of the two parameters a, b).
• the depth p of the groove is preferably equal to or substantially equal to the thickness of the spring.
• the depth of the groove may be greater than the thickness of the spring.
• the first attachment element comprises a trapezoidal or substantially trapezoidal portion.
• This trapezoidal portion may have a decreasing height as one moves away from the inner end of the spring. For example, in this direction, the trapezoidal portion may have a height moving from the maximum height h 'to the height h.
• the spring is such that it respects the following condition:
• the groove for receiving the spring has, as second attachment element, a housing or a conformation or recess complementary or substantially complementary to the first attachment element.
• the second height h can evolve along the second portion.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Springs (AREA)

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• 2013
  • 2013-04-04 US US14/390,699 patent/US9448533B2/en active Active
  • 2013-04-04 EP EP21206061.0A patent/EP3968093A1/fr active Pending
  • 2013-04-04 JP JP2015503873A patent/JP6219925B2/ja active Active
  • 2013-04-04 CN CN201380018501.6A patent/CN104204965B/zh active Active
  • 2013-04-04 CN CN201810147446.5A patent/CN108196438B/zh active Active
  • 2013-04-04 EP EP13713910.1A patent/EP2834712B1/fr active Active
  • 2013-04-04 WO PCT/EP2013/057064 patent/WO2013150086A1/fr not_active Ceased
• 2016
  • 2016-08-08 US US15/231,303 patent/US10401796B2/en active Active

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