NL2023823B1

NL2023823B1 - Watch

Info

Publication number: NL2023823B1
Application number: NL2023823A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Lennard Weeke Sybren
Original assignee: Flexous Mech Ip B V
Priority date: 2019-09-12
Filing date: 2019-09-12
Publication date: 2021-05-17
Also published as: JP7612362B2; CH716594A2; CH716594B1; JP2021043202A

Abstract

A watch comprising a casing and in the casing a frame (2) supporting an organ (3) that governs an operation of the watch, said watch further comprising a lever (10) for control— ling the organ (3), wherein the casing is provided with a but— ton (A) to actuate the lever (10), and wherein the lever (10) connects by at least one intermediate flexure (12, 13) with the frame (2), wherein the at least one intermediate flexure (12, 13) arranges that the lever (10) has a preferential posi— tion to which it automatically returns after being deflected therefrom.

Description

Watch The invention relates to a watch comprising a frame supporting an organ, usually a (column) wheel, that governs an operation of the watch, said watch further comprising a lever for controlling the organ. The watch has a casing with a {push-) button, wherein depressing the button actuates the lever.

The organ can be any part of the watch that governs a particular operation of the watch, notably to start-stop/reset a stopwatch (chronograph watch), to correct the time for a specific time-zone, for date adjustment, to synchronize the watch based on a certain GPS location, etcetera.

An example of such a watch is for instance a chrono- graph watch, which is known for decades; a very detailed ex- planation of its construction is provided by In a conventional chronograph watch the column wheel is a multilayer wheel that dictates the position and motion of all remaining parts in the chronograph. It is actuated via a human push on a button. With this push, a ratchet latch is pulled downwards thereby rotating the column wheel. When ro- tating, a tooth on the column wheel comes into contact with a first lever which moves outwards (this first lever is a hori- zontal clutch, engaging the running seconds gear with the chronograph gear). At the same time, the rotation of column wheel causes a second lever to fall inwards (this second lever is a brake lever, which is released for the chronograph hand to start moving).

Finally, a spring with a hook is used to prevent the column wheel from moving further or back. Basically, this con- struction provides the column wheel with a stable position.

In order to stop the chronograph from running, again a push of the button is needed, causing the latch to move downwards, to rotate the column wheel further, disengaging the horizontal clutch and engaging the brake lever .

There are several drawbacks with the conventional chronograph watch, notably that the mechanism consists of many parts (>20) and requires assembly. Moreover, the column wheel is a multilayer part, which is difficult to manufacture. Last- ly, the system with the column wheel, the frame and the levers in assembled condition is non-planar and therefore results in a relatively high thickness of the chronograph watch.

Other operations that are possible with a watch and that are initiated or stopped with pushbuttons acting on a lever, such as the function to start-stop/reset a stopwatch (chronograph watch), to correct the time for a specific time- zone, the function of date adjustment, to synchronize the watch based on a certain GPS location, etcetera suffer from comparable problems.

The invention has as an objective to provide a watch in which these drawbacks are at least in part removed.

According to the invention a watch is proposed having the features of one or more of the appended claims.

In a first aspect the watch of the invention has the feature that the lever connects by at least one intermediate flexure with the frame, wherein the intermediate flexure ar- ranges that the lever has a preferential position to which it automatically returns after being deflected therefrom. This construction can easily be manufactured in one piece.

Preferably the lever connects with at least two in- termediate flexures with the frame. This provides a more stur- dy construction to resist shocks and vibrations. The at least two intermediate flexures can create a virtual pivot around which the lever can rotate.

Preferably the two intermediate flexures are provided in-plane.

Suitably the lever, the at least one flexure and the frame form a single-piece, which is advantageous from the per- spective of manufacturing and assembly of the watch.

In another aspect of the invention the organ is con- nected with the frame and provided with at least two stable positions with reference to the frame, wherein the organ is movable between said at least two stable positions by opera- tion of the lever. Such an organ may then perform the function of a conventional column wheel in a chronograph watch, which greatly simplifies its construction. The organ may for in- stance be used to move gears from the watch from an inopera- tive to an operative position.

In general it is advantageous that the organ is con- nected with the frame by at least two flexures, wherein said at least two flexures are arranged with a first position and a second position, which first position and second position cor- respond to the at least two stable positions of the organ.

In one suitable embodiment of the watch the at least two flexures are unbuckled when in the first position, and when in the second position the at least two flexures are buckled.

In another suitable embodiment of the watch of the invention the at least two flexures are buckled in a first di- rection when in the first position, and when in the second po- sition the at least two flexures are buckled in a second di- rection which is opposite to the first direction.

In another aspect of the invention at least one of the organ, the frame and the lever, or these elements together form a single piece. This makes construction of the watch less cumbersome and expensive. It also promotes the reliability and accuracy of the watch.

In a further aspect of the invention the organ, the frame and the lever are provided in-plane. This makes it pos- sible to assemble and provide a ultrathin watch.

A further preferable feature is that the organ is provided with slots that are arranged to cooperate with pro- trusions provided on resilient supporting beams that are con- nected to the frame. This can secure the respective stable po- sitions of the organ.

Another notable feature is that the lever drivingly connects to a beam which is longitudinally displaceable by op- eration of the lever, and which beam on operation of the lever engages a contacting surface of the organ to move said organ. This makes possible that operation of the lever causes the beam to move the organ from a first stable position to a sec- ond stable position, or vice versa.

Further preferable features are: -that the organ is a column wheel of a chronograph watch.

-that the organ operates during use as a horizontal clutch.

-that the organ operates during use as a brake lever.

-that the organ operates during use as a horizontal clutch and as a brake lever.

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to the drawing of exemplary embodiments of a chronograph watch according to the invention that is not lim- iting as to the appended claims. It is to be noted however that the specific examples of a chronograph watch as will be discussed hereinafter, do not limit the generality of the claims to only these examples. The claims apply to any watch having at least the features of one or more of the appended claims, and that address different functionalities, such as but not limited to the function to start-stop/reset a stop- watch (chronograph watch), to correct the time for a specific time-zone in a regular watch, the function of date adjustment in a regular watch, to synchronize the regular watch based on a certain GPS location, etcetera.

In the drawing: -figure 1 shows an image of a chronograph watch ac- cording to the invention; -figure 2.1 and figure 2.2 each show a top view of different embodiments with the wheel, the frame and the lever of the chronograph watch of the invention; -figure 3 shows a first embodiment of in particular the suspension of the wheel in the frame; -figure 4 shows a second embodiment of in particular the suspension of the wheel in the frame; and -figure 5 shows a system wherein the wheel incorpo- rates the function of a column wheel, a horizontal clutch and a brake together.

Whenever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

With reference to figure 1 and figures 2.1 and 2.2, the basic operation of the chronograph watch shown in figure 1 can be explained in as far as relevant for the instant inven- tion. All the remaining parts of the chronograph watch that are required for its operation are not shown in the figures, since they are or can be entirely consistent with the con- 5 struction of the (chronograph) watch of the prior art, so that they are not needed for understanding the instant invention.

Figure 1 shows that the watch has a casing with a push-button A for actuating the lever 10 which is shown in fig. 2.1 and 2.2.

The casing comprises the wheel 3, the frame 2 and the lever 10, which are completely made as a single-piece 1 as de- picted in figure 2.1 and 2.2. It is also possible to make only the wheel 3, only the frame 2, or only the lever 10 in one piece. It is also possible to make a combination of these ele- ments in one piece.

By depressing the top right hand button A in figure 1 the lever 10 (see figures 2.1 and 2.2) is pushed left down- wards, causing it to rotate counter-clockwise around an axis due to the single flexure 12 in figure 2.1 and the flexures 12, 13 in figure 2.2 connecting the lever 10 to the frame 2. This movement of the lever 10 pushes beam 11 longitudinally towards a contact surface of the wheel 3. As the beam 11 en- gages the wheel 3, the wheel 3 rotates counter-clockwise and snaps through from a first stable position -which figure 2 shows- to a second stable position -with the skilled person can imagine from the shown construction.

The stiffness of the flexures 12, 13 makes the lever 10 return to its original position provided that the top right hand button A is not depressed. When the top right hand button A is depressed again the sequence of events will be the same, only now the beam 11 by engaging the wheel 3, will make the wheel 3 to rotate clockwise and snap back from the second sta- ble position to the first stable position which is the posi- tion shown in figure 2.

Figure 3 shows an embodiment in which the wheel 3 is connected with the frame 2 by at least two flexures 4, 5, wherein said at least two flexures 4, 5 are arranged with a first position and a second position, which first position and second position correspond to the at least two stable posi-

tions of the wheel 3, such that in the first position the at least two flexures 4, 5 are unbuckled (see the left-hand fig- ure part), and in the second position the at least two flex- ures 4, 5 are buckled (see the right-hand figure part.

Figure 4 shows another embodiment in which the wheel 3 is connected with the frame 2 by in this case four flexures 14 - 17, wherein said four flexures 14 - 17 are arranged with a first position and a second position, which first position and second position correspond to the at least two stable po- sitions of the wheel 3, wherein in the first position the four flexures are buckled in a first direction (see the left-hand figure part), and in the second position the four flexures 14 — 17 are buckled in a second direction which is opposite to the first direction (see the right-hand figure part). Figure 5 shows another embodiment in which the wheel 3 does not only dictate the positions of a horizontal clutch 25 and a brake lever 24, but wherein these two levers are in- corporated in the wheel 3. The wheel 3 according this embodi- ment also has at least two stable positions, making it possi- ble to mesh the gear of a running gear train 21, 23 with an- other gear train 22 of the chronograph and to release the brake lever 24 on the chronograph hand 22. Turning back to figure 2 it is shown the wheel 3 is provided with slots 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b that are arranged to coop- erate with protrusions provided on resilient supporting beams 6, 7 that are connected to the frame 2. It shows that said protrusions on the supporting beams 6, 7 fit in the slots 8a and Sa to secure the first stable position of the wheel 3. When the wheel 3 has moved to the second stable position the protrusions on the supporting beams 6, 7 will fit in the slots 8b and 9b so as to secure the second stable position.

Although the invention has been discussed in the foregoing with reference to exemplary embodiments of the chronograph watch of the invention, the invention is not re- stricted to these particular embodiments which can be varied in many ways without departing from the invention.

The dis- cussed exemplary embodiments shall therefore not be used to construe the appended claims strictly in accordance therewith.

On the contrary the embodiments are merely intended to explain the wording of the appended claims without intent to limit the claims to these exemplary embodiments. The scope of protection of the invention shall therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims only, wherein a possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be resolved using these exem- plary embodiments. Aspects of the invention are itemized in the follow- ing section.

1. A watch comprising a casing and in the casing a frame (2) supporting an organ (3), such as a wheel, that governs an operation of the watch, said watch further comprising a lever (10) for controlling the organ (3), wherein the cas- ing is provided with a button (A) to actuate the lever (10), characterized in that the lever (10) connects by at least one intermediate flexure (12, 13) with the frame (2), wherein the at least one intermediate flexure (12, 13) arranges that the lever (10) has a preferential posi- tion to which it automatically returns after being de- flected therefrom.

2. The watch of claim 1, characterized in that the lever (10) connects with at least two intermediate flexures (12, 13) with the frame (2).

3. The watch of claim 2, characterized in that the two inter- mediate flexures (12, 13) are provided in-plane.

4, The watch of claim 2, characterized in that the lever (10), the at least one flexure (12, 13) and the frame (2) form a single-piece.

5. The watch of any one of claim 1 - 4, characterized in that the organ (3) is connected with the frame (2) and provided with at least two stable positions with reference to the frame (2), wherein the organ (3) is movable between said at least two stable positions by operation of the lever (10).

6. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 5, characterized in that at least one of the organ (3), the frame (2) and the lever (10) forms a single piece (1) or a permutation of these elements together form a single piece.

7. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the organ (3), the frame (2) and the lever (10) are provided in-plane.

8. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 7, characterized in that the organ (3) is provided with slots (8a, 8b, Sa, 9b) that are arranged to cooperate with protrusions provided on resilient supporting beams (6, 7) that are connected to the frame (2).

9. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 8, characterized in that the lever (10) drivingly connects to a beam (11) which is longitudinally displaceable by operation of the lever (10), and which beam (11) on operation of the lever (10) engages a contacting surface of the organ (3) to move sald wheel.

10. The watch of claim 9, characterized in that operation of the lever (10) causes the beam (11) to move the organ (3) from a first stable position to a second stable position, or vice versa.

11. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the organ (3) is a column wheel.

12. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the organ (3) operates during use as a horizontal clutch (25).

13. The watch of any one of claims 1 - 10, characterized in that the organ (3) operates during use as a brake lever (24).

Claims

CONCLUSIONS

A watch comprising a housing and in the housing a frame (2) which supports a member (3), such as a wheel, which controls an operation of the watch, the watch further comprising a lever (10) for controlling the movement of the watch. the member (3), the housing comprising a button (A) for actuating the lever (10), characterized in that the lever (10) passes through at least one intermediate bending element (12, 13) with the frame ( 2), wherein the at least one intermediate bending element (12, 13) causes the lever (10) to have a preferred position to which it automatically returns after being moved therefrom.

Watch according to Claim 1, characterized in that the lever (10) is connected to the frame (2) by at least two intermediate bending elements (12, 13).

Watch according to claim 2, characterized in that the two intermediate bending elements (12, 13) are arranged in the same plane.

Watch according to claim 2, characterized in that the lever {10), the at least one bending element (12, 13) and the frame (2) form a whole.

A watch according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the member (3) is connected to the frame (2) and is provided with at least two stable positions relative to the frame (2), whereby actuation of the lever (10) the member (3) is movable between said at least two stable positions.

Watch according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one of the member (3), the frame (2) and the lever (10) is a whole (1) or a permutation of these elements together form a whole.

Watch according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the member (3), the frame (2) and the lever (10) are arranged in the same plane.

Watch according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the member (3) is provided with slots (8a, 8b, 9a, Sb) adapted to cooperate with projections on resilient supporting beams (6 , 7) connected to the frame (2).

A watch according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that the lever (10) is drivably connected to a beam (11) which is longitudinally displaceable by actuation of the lever (10), and which beam (11) upon actuation of the lever (10) comes into contact with a contact surface of the member (3) to move said wheel.

A watch according to claim 9, characterized in that actuation of the lever (10) causes the beam (11) to move the member (3) from a first stable position to a second stable position, or vice versa.

Watch according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the member (3) is a column wheel.

Watch according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the member (3) acts as a horizontal coupling (25) during use.

Watch according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the member (3) acts as a brake lever (24) during use.