CH720373A2 - Process for manufacturing a transparent covering component of a watch, a fashion item or an item of jewelry or jewelry - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a trim component (10) of a watch, a fashion item or an item of jewelry, comprising the following steps: – polishing of at minus a portion of an internal face (21) of a substrate (20) made of a transparent material so as to generate a polished part (211) of the internal face (21), – structuring of a portion of the part polished (211) of the internal face (21) by application, to said portion, of a laser beam adapted to alter its surface state so as to generate a structured part (210) of the internal face (21), – deposition a coating on all or part of the internal face (21) in order to form an internal decorative layer (30).

Description

Technical field of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to the field of watchmaking, fashion items, jewelry or jewelry, and relates more particularly to a method of manufacturing a component for dressing a watch, a fashion item, jewelry or jewelry.

[0002] In the present text, the notion of “fashion article” includes articles or accessories of clothing, such as belts, shoes, clothing, etc., and also includes articles of eyewear, articles of telephone, or any other decorative object.

[0003] Furthermore, in the present text, the terms “decoration component” designate, in a manner commonly accepted in the aforementioned fields, an element visible to a user, and having a particularly decorative function, that is to say say contributing to the visual appearance of an object.

Technology background

[0004] In the field of watchmaking in particular, the covering components for watches, in particular the dials, flange, bezels, crystals, backs, etc., may have decorations made from a coating deposited by hand. surface of a substrate.

[0005] Depending on the size and number of details of the decoration of the covering component, the latter can be relatively complex to produce. In particular, when the decoration is formed by a combination of structuring of the substrate and a coating, for example a thin layer or a stack of thin layers, deposited on the substrate, the alignment tolerances of the different visual representations , such as patterns, logos, numbers, etc. forming the decor are particularly complex to respect.

[0006] Generally speaking, we also find the aforementioned problems in the fields of fashion articles, jewelry or jewelry.

[0007] In this context, the present invention aims to improve the precision and quality of the decorations of a dressing component of a watch, a fashion item, jewelry or jewelry.

[0008] In particular, the invention solves the problem of respecting the alignment tolerances of the decorations on a covering component, in particular the alignment of several visual representations with each other.

Summary of the invention

[0009] The invention relates, to this end, to a method of manufacturing a component for dressing a watch, a fashion item or an item of jewelry, comprising the following steps: – polishing of at least a portion of an internal face of a substrate made of a transparent material so as to generate a polished part of the internal face, – structuring of a portion of the polished part of the internal face by application , on said portion, of a laser beam adapted to alter its surface state so as to generate a structured part of the internal face, – deposition of a coating on all or part of the internal face in order to form an internal decorative layer .

[0010] In particular embodiments, the invention may also include one or more of the following characteristics, taken individually or in all technically possible combinations.

[0011] In particular modes of implementation, the laser beam has a wavelength of between 100 nm and 3000 nm.

[0012] In particular modes of implementation, the laser beam has a wavelength of between 1000 nm and 1500 nm.

[0013] In particular modes of implementation, the laser beam is emitted in a pulse mode, the duration of each pulse being between 5 fs and 200 ps.

[0014] In particular modes of implementation, the repetition frequency of the pulses is between 1 kHz and 40 MHz.

[0015] In particular modes of implementation, the method comprises a step of localized ablation of the internal decorative layer, so as to retain part of the latter on a first portion of the internal face of the substrate, said ablation being produced so as to form at least one pocket opening onto a second portion of the internal face and so as not to impact the surface condition of said second portion.

[0016] In particular modes of implementation, the structuring step is carried out so that the structured part of the internal face has a surface condition whose roughness Ra in micrometers is between 5 and 15.

[0017] According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a watch exterior component formed by a dial, a flange, a bezel, a crystal or a back, and produced by implementing a method as described previously.

[0018] According to yet another aspect, the present invention relates to a fashion article comprising a covering component produced by implementing a method as described above.

Brief description of the figures

[0019] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following detailed description given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings in which: – Figure 1 shows schematically in sectional view, a covering component being produced by implementing a step of a manufacturing process according to the invention; – Figures 2 and 3 schematically represent in sectional view, a covering component obtained by implementing the manufacturing process according to the invention in different implementation examples; – Figure 4 represents a front view of a covering component obtained by implementing the manufacturing process according to the invention according to another example of implementation.

Note that the figures are not to scale.

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a covering component 10 comprising a decoration as shown in Figures 2 to 4 in different examples of implementation of said method.

[0022] The invention also relates to a trim component 10 obtained by implementing the manufacturing process, for example a trim component of a watch, such as a dial, a flange, a bezel, a ice or a background, a component of decoration of a fashion article, or of an article of jewelry or jewelry.

The manufacturing process comprises a first step of polishing at least a portion of an internal face 21 of a substrate 20 made of a transparent material, as shown in Figure 1. It should be noted that the term “transparent” designates in this text a capacity of a material to allow all or part of light radiation to pass through, in particular light visible to the naked eye. Such a transparent material can be sapphire, glass, etc.

The internal face 21 is intended to be oriented towards an interior environment, for example facing a watch movement, in the case in which the covering component 10 is a component of a watch. The internal face 21 is opposite an external face 22 of the substrate 20 intended to be oriented towards an external environment. The internal face 21 of the covering component 10 is therefore intended to be visible through the substrate 20, from the external face 22 as indicated schematically in Figure 2. In particular, the decoration is intended to extend over the internal face 21 of the substrate 20, the transparency of the substrate 20 therefore allows a user to be able to observe it through said substrate 20, as described in the rest of the text.

[0025] Once the internal face 21 has been polished, the method includes a step of structuring part of the polished portion of the internal face 21 of the substrate 20 by laser machining. The notion of “structuring” here defines a surface whose state, that is to say the topography, has been modified and this structuring can consist of satin finishing, texturing, engraving, etc. In particular, during this step, a part of the internal face 21 is structured by the application of a laser beam adapted to alter the surface condition of the internal face 21.

In summary, at the end of this structuring step, the internal face 21 comprises a structured part 210 and a polished part 211, as visible in Figures 1 to 4.

Preferably, carrying out the structuring step allows matting of the structured part of the internal face 21, for example in order to obtain a sandblasted or equivalent aesthetic rendering. The objective of this step is to obtain a surface condition presenting a roughness characteristic of this sandblasted rendering, for example a roughness Ra of between 5 µm and 100 µm in particular in order to modify the color perceived between the structured part 210 of the face internal 21 and the polished part 211 of the internal face 21, as visible in Figure 4.

More precisely, during the structuring step, the laser beam is configured so that it has a wavelength of between 100 nm and 3000 nm, or even between 1000 nm and 1500 nm. Furthermore, the laser beam is emitted in a pulse mode, the duration of each pulse being between 5 fs and 200 ps. The pulse repetition frequency can be between 1 kHz and 40 MHz, preferably between 5 kHz and 2 MHz.

[0029] The method then comprises a step of depositing a coating on all or part of the internal face 21 in order to form an internal decorative layer 30. The notion of “coating” extends in the present text to any decorative layer deposited on the internal face 21, such as a thin layer or a stack of thin layers, a lacquer, etc. This internal decorative layer 30, in combination with the structured part 210 of the internal face 21 and the polished portion of the internal face 21, forms the decoration. As shown in Figure 4, the internal decorative layer 30 has a different appearance, in this case a different color, when it is deposited on the structured part 210 of the internal face 21 or on the polished part 211 of the internal face 21 This characteristic therefore makes it possible to produce very precise decorations that systematically meet alignment tolerances.

When the internal decorative layer 30 is formed by a thin layer or by a stack of thin layers, its deposition can be carried out by physical vapor deposition method, chemical vapor deposition method, or by any other appropriate method deposit.

[0031] For example, the internal decorative layer 30 can be made of a metallic material, in particular Cr, Au, Ti, Zr, or of a dielectric material, alone or in an alloy.

[0032] The method according to the present invention can advantageously present a step of localized ablation of the internal decorative layer 30, so as to retain part of said internal decorative layer 30 on a first portion of the internal face 21 of the substrate 20, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The ablation is carried out so as to form at least one pocket 31 opening onto a second portion of the internal face 21 of the substrate 20 and so as not to impact the surface condition. of said second portion of the internal face 21 of the substrate 20. In other words, during the localized ablation step, part of the internal decorative layer 30 is eliminated so as to conform it to a predefined shape, without the face internal 21 of the substrate 20 is not impacted. In Figure 4, the internal decorative layer 30 is of annular shape. Such a localized ablation step can be implemented by photolithography, laser machining, etc.

[0033] Advantageously, the pocket 31 allows, thanks to the transparency of the substrate 20, to be able to see through the covering component 10.

More generally, it should be noted that the modes of implementation and embodiment considered above have been described by way of non-limiting examples, and that other variants are therefore possible.

Claims (9)

1. Method for manufacturing a trim component (10) of a watch, a fashion item or an item of jewelry, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: – polishing of at least a portion of an internal face (21) of a substrate (20) made of a transparent material so as to generate a polished part (211) of the internal face (21), – structuring of a portion of the polished part (211) of the internal face (21) by application, to said portion, of a laser beam adapted to alter its surface state so as to generate a structured part (210) of the internal face (21), – deposition of a coating on all or part of the internal face (21) in order to form an internal decorative layer (30). 2. Method according to claim 1, in which the laser beam has a wavelength of between 100 nm and 3000 nm. 3. Method according to claim 2, in which the laser beam has a wavelength of between 1000 nm and 1500 nm. 4. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the laser beam is emitted in a pulse mode, the duration of each pulse being between 5 fs and 200 ps. 5. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, in which the pulse repetition frequency is between 1 kHz and 40 MHz. 6. Method according to one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a step of localized ablation of the internal decorative layer (30), so as to retain part of the latter on a first portion of the internal face (21) of the substrate (20), said ablation being carried out so as to form at least one pocket (31) opening onto a second portion of the internal face (21) and so as not to impact the surface condition of said second portion. 7. Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, in which the structuring step is carried out so that the structured part (210) of the internal face (21) has a surface condition whose roughness Ra in micrometers is between 5 and 100. 8. Watch exterior component (10), characterized in that it is formed by a dial, a flange, a bezel, a crystal or a back and produced by implementing the method according to one of claims 1 at 7. 9. Fashion item characterized in that it comprises a covering component (10) produced by implementing the method according to one of claims 1 to 7.