EP1429214B1 - Timepiece provided with alarm mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

The clock has a locking lever (44) connecting hourly setting lever (47) to a moving part (37) of a ringing mechanism. The locking lever blocks the hourly setting lever as soon as the moving part is isolated from its home position. The hourly setting lever includes a stem of winder (40) over which a pull knob (39) is placed, and a pinion (41) is assembled sliding to come in contact with a wheel of the hourly setting lever.

Description

The present invention relates to a timepiece equipped with a striking mechanism for hours, quarters with repetition of minutes, including a piece of ring mechanism that can be moved between a determined rest position and an operating position, means for triggering the ring, means for for periodically bringing said moving part into said operating position when triggering the ring, a time-setting mechanism comprising a stem of time setting on which a sliding pinion is slidably mounted to come into gear with a gear wheel the hour, a pull tab taken on the one hand with said rod of winding and secondly with a time-setting rocker engaged with said sliding pinion.

Document CH14979 describes a striking mechanism with reassembly and isolator to prevent the operation of the ringing during the time setting.

If a time setting is made during operation ringing, in a timepiece of this type, the mechanism suffers significant damage due to interference of time setting with the control cams of the ringing which are kinematically solidarity of the gear indicator of the timepiece. Therefore, the feelers quarter and minute rings, which are engaged with these bell control cams serving to determine the numbers of minutes and quarters to sound, are found, at the time of ringing, in the trajectories of these cams. If, at the same time, these turn under the action of the wheel indicator driven by the time setting wheel to which is transmitted the manual force exerted on the winding stem, the damage resulting from it are important.

Damage repair requires near disassembly complete the timepiece and the replacement of many damaged parts. Now, timepieces this type include several hundred pieces and their assembly and tuning requires hundreds of hours work done by highly specialized watchmakers.

The object of the present invention is to remedy this potential risk by preventing the operation of the time setting during the ring, whether it is the hour, the quarters or minutes and that this ringtone is the one that is triggered automatically, every quarter of an hour, by the ring control mechanism, or whether it is the minute repetition triggered manually by the user.

For this purpose, the subject of the present invention is a device time setting for a timepiece equipped with a clock mechanism of hours, shifts with repetition minutes, as defined by claim 1.

The advantage of this invention is to solve, by simple and reliable means, the problem of neutralization setting the time every time the ringtone works, even when this operation is not noticeable. In indeed, although this type of timepiece is sold with a manual indicating that the time setting does not should not be used during ringing, it may happen that nobody perfectly aware of this warning think the ringing is over while that is not the case. This is due to the fact that the different ringtones are separated by intervals of a few seconds which can mislead and make believe that the bell is finished.

La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une partie du mécanisme de sonnerie relative à la sonnerie des quarts selon la première forme d'exécution;

la figure 2 est une vue en perspective d'une partie du mécanisme de sonnerie relative à la sonnerie des minutes et au mécanisme de mise à l'heure en position d'arrêt de la sonnerie et de remontage;

la figure 3 est une vue en perspective d'une partie du mécanisme de sonnerie relative à la sonnerie des minutes et au mécanisme de mise à l'heure en position d'arrêt de la sonnerie et de mise à l'heure;

la figure 4 est une vue en perspective d'une partie du mécanisme de sonnerie relative à la sonnerie des minutes et au mécanisme de mise à l'heure en position de fonctionnement de la sonnerie;

la figure 5 est une vue en perspective d'une partie du mécanisme de sonnerie, relative à la sonnerie des heures;

la figure 6 est une vue en perspective d'une partie du mécanisme de sonnerie, relative au déclenchement de la sonnerie;

la figure 7 est une vue en perspective éclatée du mobile de fusée de sonnerie;

la figure 8 est une vue en perspective du train d'engrenage multiplicateur de sonnerie en position d'arrêt de la sonnerie;

la figure 9 est une vue en plan d'une seconde forme d'exécution illustrée en position de mise à l'heure;

la figure 10 est une vue semblable à la figure 9 illustrant le mécanisme de mise à l'heure en position de verrouillage de la mise à l'heure.

The attached drawing illustrates, schematically and by way of example, two embodiments of the timepiece provided with a mechanism for striking hours, quarters with repetition of minutes, object of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the striking mechanism relative to the quarter ring according to the first embodiment;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the striking mechanism relating to the minute ring and the time setting mechanism in the position of stopping the ringing and reassembly;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the striking mechanism relating to the minute ring and the time setting mechanism in the off position of the ring and setting the time;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the striking mechanism relating to the minute ringer and the time setting mechanism in the operating position of the ringer;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a part of the striking mechanism, relating to the ringing hours;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the striking mechanism, relating to the triggering of the ring;

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the ringing flare mobile;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the ring multiplier gear train in the ring off position;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a second embodiment illustrated in the time setting position;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 illustrating the time setting mechanism in the time setting lock position.

In the following description, the striking mechanism which is of known type in the field of watchmaking, will only be described to the extent necessary for understanding of the present invention for those skilled in the art.

The operation of this mechanism is carried out by three mounted on three axes. On the first axis, we find the cams of quarter 1 and minutes 2 also called snails because of their shape and which are fixed on the floor 3 usual gear indicator time of the piece watchmaking, which is at the center of the movement of the timepiece. These cams of quarters 1 and 2 are therefore a turn per hour. A third cam (not shown) and called the surprise is mounted on this roadway axis 3 and is used to prevent the minute ringing during the quarters.

The second axis is that of the ringtone rocket 4 illustrated on almost all the figures and who is illustrated in detail in the exploded view of Figure 7. ring rocket 4 has a wheel 5 with a pinion 5a which form part of a multiplier gear train 6 of ringing driven by a barrel of ringing 7 (Figure 8).

In addition to the wheel 5 and the pinion 5a, the rocket 4 comprises (Figure 7) a trigger ratchet 8 provided with a trigger pin 8a. This trigger ratchet 8 is mounted on a cylindrical portion 9a of the shaft 9 of the rocket 4. It is fixed by two bearing screws 10 to a drive plate 11 provided with a tube 11a whose opening is of square section and which fits on a square portion 9b of the tree of the rocket 4. Since the spans of the screws 10 cross oblong openings 8b of the trigger ratchet 8, a certain angle of freedom exists between the trigger ratchet 8 and the training tray 11.

The drive plate carries a ratchet 12 and a spring 13. Three toothed bodies, a ratchet of training 14, a toothed sector 15, provided with twelve ratchet teeth for the hour ring and a rack of hours 16 are integral with a tubular element 17 mounted on the tube 11a of the training plate 11. A toothed sector 18, intended to come into engagement with the quarter piece (of which we will talk about it later), is free to turn around the tubular element 17, while a driving finger 19 is crossed by a square opening that adjusts to a portion square 17a of the tubular element 17. The driving finger 19 is intended to drive the toothed sector 18 by via a pin 18a which protrudes from the surface of the toothed sector 18. The whole thing is retained on the tree of rocket 9 by a nut 20. Once these elements assembled, the pawl 12 enters the teeth of the ratchet training 14 and the trigger pin 8a passes through an opening 11b of the training tray 11 to find himself adjacent to the inclined face 12a of the pawl 12, so that when the trigger ratchet 8 turns in the opposite direction at that of the hands of the watch in relation to the plateau 11, the detent pin 8a raises the ratchet 12 and thus releases the training ratchet 14.

The third axis of the striking mechanism is the one carries a star gear with twelve teeth, known as 21 hours star, which is integral with a cam hours 22, also called snail, which has twelve sectors gradually decreasing radii of the presenting sector the largest radius and corresponding to 1 hour, the one of which the radius is the smallest and corresponding to 12 hours. The star of hours 21 is positioned by a jumper 23 associated with a spring 24.

A room with a sector gear and called rack 25 hours is rotated about an axis 25a. The area dented of this rack of hours 25 is engaged with the rack pinion 16. A rack-and-pinion 16 is constantly trying to turn the housewarming 25 hours in the opposite direction to that of the hands of the shows, to bring a cam follower 25b solidary of this rack in contact with the hour cam 22. On sees that in the illustrated position, corresponding to 1 hour, the hour cam 22 positions a single ratchet tooth of the toothed sector 15 for the hour ringing right a drive lever 27 of a striking hammer 28, so that hammer 28 will hit only once against a ringing resonant body 29 hours.

Figure 1 shows the room for the quarter-bell of hours, said quarter piece 30, rotated about an axis 31 and subjected to the force of a spring 36 which tends to make it turn around its axis 31 in the direction of the needles of the watch. This quarter part 30 comprises a probe 30a intended to come to lean against the cam of quarters 1 and a toothed sector 30b engaged with the toothed sector 18 of the mobile of rocket 4, so that the angular position of this sector toothed 18 on the axis of the rocket 4 is a function of the position angular of the quarter cam 1 around the axis of the floor 3. The quarter room 30 carries several series ratchet teeth 30c for cooperating with actuating levers ring hammers in the same way as for the hour bell explained previously, but with different stamps. Actuation of striking hammers is known and is not necessary for understanding of the present invention, so that it will not be described.

The quarter room 30 still carries a retaining pawl 32 of the minute document (which will be discussed below), articulated around a screw at range 33. This ratchet of retainer 32 is integral with an arm 34 whose inner edge is a cam engaged with a fixed pin 35 which is intended to rotate the retaining pawl 32 around the screw 33 following the position of the quarter piece 30 around of its pivot axis 31.

Figure 2 shows the ratchet 32 of the quarter piece 30, engaged with a ratchet gear 37c formed on a outer edge of a room for the minute ring, so-called minute piece 37. The number of teeth of this toothing to ratchet 37c is 14, corresponding to the 14 angular positions possible relationships between the minute room 37 and the room of the quarters 30, corresponding themselves to the 14 minutes which can be heard between two quarters of an hour. This minute piece is rotated around the same axis 31 that the quarter part 30 and urged by a spring 38 which tends to turn it in the direction of the needles of a shows, to bring a probe 37a into engagement with the cam of minutes 2 when the bell sounds. This minute piece 37 still has a toothed sector 37b equipped with 14 ratchet teeth for operating a lever (not shown) hammer striking minutes (no represent).

The time setting mechanism shown in this figure 2 is a conventional pull-up mechanism 39, provided with a pin 39a engaged with a groove of a rod winding and setting time 40 can be moved between two axial positions. The illustrated position in Figure 2 corresponds to the winding position, that illustrated in Figure 3 corresponds to the position of time. A sliding pinion 41 is slidably mounted on a square section segment of the winding stem 40, for allow its teeth to engage with the first gear 42 (only shown) a time-setting gear all in fact classic. A second stud 39b of the pull tab 39 is engaged with a jumper spring 43 which serves to position the pull tab 39 in one or the other of its two positions, time setting or winding. In the setting position by the hour, this zipper 39 meets the end of a rocker 47 is rotated around a fixed axis 48 and subjected to the force of a return spring 49. This rocker set 47 is engaged in a pinion groove flowing 41 to move it along the winding stem 40.

This time-setting mechanism is linked to the mechanism ringing and more particularly to the minute room 37 by a latch 44 pivoted around a fixed axis 45 and biased by a spring 46 which tends constantly to rotate this lock latch 44 in the opposite direction to that of the hands of the watch around the axis 45. At one end, this latch 44 presents a probe 44a which is constantly in contact with the probe arm 37a of the minute room 37 by the spring 46. At the other end, this rocker 44 has a notch 44b which is intended to be placed on the trajectory described by a pin 47a which protrudes perpendicular to the plane of the time switch 47.

When the minute room 37 is in the position represented by Figure 2, corresponding to the position of rest of the striking mechanism, the notch 44b of the rocker lock 44 is out of the described path by the pin 47a of the time-setting latch 47, so that the time setting can work normally, since the pin 47a of the time-setting latch 47 does not meet the notch 44b of the latch 44, allowing him to freely move into the position of setting the time shown in Figure 3 by sliding along 44c of this flip-flop 44, adjacent to the notch 44b. It can therefore be seen that the slightest displacement of the minute piece 37 in a clockwise direction around the pivot axis 31 in the direction of the cam minutes 2 causes a corresponding displacement of the lock latch 44 in the opposite direction to that clockwise around the pivot axis 45, thus bringing the notch 44b of this rocker into the trajectory of the pin 47a of the time-setting latch 47, which prevents to bring it to the position of setting time, as long as the minute play 37 did not return to the position illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 6 illustrates the trigger mechanisms Automatic and manual ringer mechanism. This mechanism trigger includes a release nut 50 integral of the floor 3 and which has four fins 50a arranged at 90 ° from each other to trigger automatic every quarter of an hour. A lifting trigger 51 is applied against this trigger nut 50 by a pivoted trigger rocker 52 around an axis 53 and biased by a spring 54 which tends to turn this trigger rocker 52 into the clockwise. This trigger rocker still carries a ratchet 55 articulated around a screw of 56-point attachment to an arm of the trigger rocker 52 and pressed by a spring (not shown) in the trigger ratchet teeth 8. A second trigger rocker 57 provided with a pawl 58 is intended to control manually trigger the ringtone.

Figure 6 shows the position of the trigger lift 51 just after she left a fin 50a of the trip nut 50 and that it is pushed into the clockwise, by the trigger rocker automatic 52 against the fin 50a below under the spring pressure 54. During this angular displacement clockwise the trigger rocker 52, the ratchet 55 engaged with the trigger ratchet 8 rotates the latter by a corresponding angle, driving with him the trigger pin 8a which raises the catch 12, thus releasing the training ratchet 14, so that the pinion 16 of the rack 25 hours and the toothed sector 18 engaged with the sector toothed 30b of the quarter piece 30 are released.

Given the inertia opposed to the spring force of the barrel of ringing 7 by the gearing multiplier 6 of bell, the release of the pinion 16 and the toothed sector 18 first leaves, on the one hand, the quarter room 30 and the room of minutes 37 linked to the quarter piece 30 by the ratchet 32, on the other hand the rack of hours 25, to the action of their respective springs 36, 38, 26, which rotate the quarter parts 30 and minute 37 clockwise of a watch and the rack of the hours 25 in the sense inverse, bringing the probes 30a, 37a and 25a respectively against the cams of quarters 1, minutes 2 and hours 22. This phase corresponds to taking information and positioning angular parts of quarters 30 and minutes 37 and the rack of the 25 hours according to the number shifts, minutes and hours to ring. Simultaneously, these displacements cause corresponding angular displacements ratchet hour 15 and toothed sector 18 and its pin 18a.

At the automatic trigger that occurs each quarter of an hour, the minute room 37 only goes down until the outer surface of the minute cam 2 or the surprise (who was not represented, given that she is not useful for understanding the invention, as it was already said). When the quarter room 30 is driven by the barrel of ringing 7 in the opposite direction to that of clockwise, immediately after the setting phase aforementioned information, its ratchet 32 hangs the minute piece 37, as shown in Figure 2, being given that there is no minute to ring. This rotation of parts of quarters 30 and minutes 37 in the opposite direction clockwise produces the ringing quarters and hours when it's a trigger automatic, the minutes are only sounded during a trigger manual between two quarters of hours.

A stop rocker 59 (FIG. 8), pivoted around a screw at range 60 and biased by a return spring 61, is provided with a locking pin 59a located in the trajectory of the toothed sector 37b of the minute 37 room. encounter of the toothed sector 37b of the minute room 37 with the locking pin 59a causes the rotation of the rocker stop 59 against the pressure of the spring of recall 61, bringing the curved end 59b of this rocker stopping in the teeth of a centrifugal wheel 62 of the ring multiplier 6 gear, stopping the buzzer.

The quarters of quarter 30 and minutes 37 are found then in the position illustrated in Figure 3, in which the notch 44b of the latch 44 of time setting latch 47 is no longer on the trajectory of the ankle 47a of this rocker time, then allowing normal operation again the time setting mechanism.

When manually triggering the ringer using the flip-flop 57, the operation is identical, except that during the information-taking phase immediately following triggering the striking mechanism and preceding the bell itself, the ratchet 32 of the rocker quarters 30 will come in one of the fourteen teeth of the sector toothed 37c of the minute piece 37 corresponding to the number minutes to ring, defined by the minute cam 2 allowing to the minute room to move from an angle corresponding to the number of minutes that have elapsed since the last quarter of an hour. In this case, however, the lock latch 44 will not follow the minute room 37 since it is stopped by its notch 44b which abuts against the pin 47a of the rocker 47, as shown in Figure 4.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the locking device of the time setting is particularly simple and reliable. We can mention subject that the force exerted by the peg 47a of the rocker time 47 passes substantially through the center of pivoting 45 of the latch latch, so that the pressure exerted on this latch does not interfere not with the operation of the striking mechanism.

Figures 8 and 9 show a relative embodiment to a timepiece with a bell, said to be repeated minutes, that is to say that this ringing tone only sounds request and has no automatic ring every quarter of time as the previous form of execution.

Such a ring does not include a ringing barrel, but a spring (not shown) which is directly on the ringer rocket 65. This spring is armed only on demand, since the ring does not work at the request, by an arm 66a of a rack 66 in engagement with a pinion (not visible) integral with the tree of the ringer rocket wheel 65. In FIG. 9, this arm 66a is shown in the rest position.

In this position of rest of the ring, one can note that a drive finger 67 of the rocket wheel ring 65 is in contact with an elastic arm 68a a locking member 68 of the time setting mechanism, pressed against the drive finger 67 by a spring 70. The free end of this locking member 68 comprises a lock notch 68b intended to come lock a pull pin 71a 71, engaged with a jump spring 75 which determines the two positions of the This zipper is engaged, on the one hand with a time setting flip-flop 76, engaged in the throat of a sliding pinion 77 and secondly, using another peg (not visible), with a groove 72a of a winding stem 72. As can be seen from this figure 9, in the rest position of the ring, the notch lock 68b is moved away from the trajectory of the anchor pin 71a 71, thereby allowing the passage of the winding position to the illustrated time setting by this figure 9.

On the other hand, when the arm 66a of the rack 66 is moved manually in the clockwise direction of the shows, its toothed sector 66b engaged with the pinion of the mobile of 65 rocket rocket makes this rocket mobile in the opposite direction to that of the hands of the watch, to arm the ring spring (not shown) and trigger the ring as soon as the free end 73 of a rocker 73 releases the part of the quarters 74. From that the training finger 67 left the free end of the elastic arm 68a of the locking member 68, the latter pivots under the force of the spring 70, so that its notch lock 68b engages with the ankle 71a of the pull tab 71, thus preventing its movement in position setting time.

Claims (2)

1. Timepiece equipped with an alarm mechanism for sounding the hours, the quarters and repetition of the minutes, comprising a moving part (37, 67) of the alarm mechanism able to be moved between a determined position of rest and an operating position, means of triggering the alarm (55, 58, 66a) means (36, 38, 66b) for periodically bringing the said moving part (37, 67) into the said operating position when the alarm is being triggered, a setting mechanism comprising a winding and setting stem (40, 72) on which a clutch pinion (41, 77) is slideably mounted to engage with a setting geartrain (42), a pull-out piece (39, 71) engaged on the one hand with the said winding stem (40, 72) and, on the other hand, with a setting lever (47, 76) engaged with the said clutch pinion (41, 77), characterized in that it comprises locking means (44, 68) for locking the said setting lever (47, 76) connecting the latter to the said moving part (37, 67) of the alarm mechanism in such a way that said locking means (44, 68) block the said setting lever (47, 76) as soon as the said moving part (37, 67) of the alarm mechanism is separated from its position of rest.
2. Setting device according to Claim 1, in which the said moving part (37) of the alarm mechanism able to be moved between a determined position of rest and an operating position consist of a part for sounding the minutes, subject to the pressure of a spring (38) tending constantly to move the said part for sounding the minutes (37) from its position of rest, as soon as the said alarm mechanism has been triggered by the said means of triggering this alarm (55, 58, 66a).

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