US2761274A - Winding indicator for a self-winding watch - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 4, 1956 A. MAIRE WINDING INDICATOR FOR A SELF-WINDING WATCH Filed Dec. 10, 1953 United States Patent WINDING INDICATOR FOR A SELF-WINDING WATCH Aurele Maire, Bienne, Switzerland, assignor to Gruen Watch Mfg. Co. S. A., Bienne, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Application December 10, 1953, Serial No. 397,386

1 Claim. (Cl. 58-85) The object of the present invention is a watch of any type, but preferably a self-winding wristlet watch.

It is characterized by a scale and an indicator visible from the outside, one of which is driven by the barrel arbor and the other of which is driven by the barrel so that the relative position of these two elements indicates the degree to which the barrel spring is wound.

An embodiment of the invention is represented in the attached drawing by way of example.

Fig. l is a section of that part of the movement necessary for the understanding of the invention; Fig. 2 is a view of the scale and indicator and of the means by which they are driven; Fig. 3 is a view of the watch dial drawn to a smaller scale.

The barrel being shown at 1 in Fig. l and its arbor at 2, the first one turns as the barrel spring unwinds and the second one on the other hand when the said spring is being wound. Each of these two members drives a toothed wheel, that is to say, the pinion 3 for the barrel and the pinion 4 for the barrel arbor. In their turn, finally, these two wheels drive an indicator and a scale which appear on the watch dial. The pinion 3 drives the toothed wheel 5 which makes the disc 6 revolve. The pinion 4 drives the toothed crown 7, which surrounds the disc 6, concentrically and revolves about the said disc. The drive is effected by means of the gearing 8 of the said crown.

The reduction ratio between the pinions 3 and 4 and the gearings 6 and 8 respectively is identical. This is achieved in the example illustrated by utilizing both similar pinions and similar gearings. This ratio is such that, to the total number of revolutions corresponding to the winding up of the barrel spring or to its unwinding, there corresponds slightly less than one revolution of the rotating disc 6 and crown 7.

As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the disc 6 carries an index or pointer 9 which cooperates with a circular scale having graduations reading from five to forty. The portion of the scale existing between the graduation labeled 5 and the graduation labeled 40 and designated at 7 represents an area of main spring run-down, while the graduation labeled 40 represents a condition of maximum main spring wind.

From the above description it will be clear that if, when the spring is partially or fully unwound and the index 9 is within the rundown range 7' of the scale of the crown 7, any winding carried out with the barrel motionless will result in making the crown wheel 7 and its scale move relative to the motionless disc 6 and its motionless index. The rotation of the barrel arbor 2 provokes a rotation of the pinion 4, thus causing the gearing 8 of the crown 7 to rotate. The winding being effected in the direction of the arrow 10 in Fig. 2, the graduations of the scale of the crown 7 will pass in ascending order in front of the index. It is to be presumed that they correspond to the number of running hours in reserve, or to a total of forty with the spring fully wound. If, on the contrary, the barrel arbor remains motionless, with the spring partially H 2,761,274 Fatented Sept. 4, 1956 ice or fully wound, and if the barrel turns while actuating the movement, it is clear that it will be thedisc 6, bearing the index 9, that will pass in front of the motionless graduations, for then only the pinion 3 which is integral with the barrel, will turn, setting in motion the gearwheel 5 which, in its turn, is integral with the disc 6.

The direction of winding is the same as previously (arrow 10), so that the index 9 will describe the decreasing values of the scale opposite which it is moving. These decreasing values will correspond to the diminution of the watchs running reserve.

The scale of the crown 7 and the index 9 of the disc 6 thus form a clear differential, of which the relative position of the two members opposite one another will be a constant indication of the running reserve stored by the barrel spring.

In the example shown in Fig. 3, this reserve is twenty eight hours and in the example shown in Fig. 2 it is the maximum, that is to say, forty hours.

In this latter case, which permits overwinding of the barrel spring, it is necessary to provide means which will allow the barrel arbor to continue its rotating movement once the spring is fully wound, without the result being an indication that the running reserve exceeds the maximum.

These means consist, according to the embodiment about to be described, in causing the disc 6 to be driven by the crown 7, as soon as winding is completed, or, in other words, in coupling together in this case the two elements of the ditferential.

This result is achieved by arrangement that the gearwheel 5 drives the disc 6 by means of a Breguet gearing 11, the meshing of which is ensured by a foil 12, by providing said disc with a pin 13 and by adding to the crown 7 a collar 14 bearing a stop 15. The whole is arranged angularly in such a way that at the moment when the index 9 indicates the maximum running reserve, the stop pin 15 engages one side 16 of the pin 13, this side being in alignment radially with the maximum reading of the scale on the crown 7 and limits further relative movement between the crown 7 and disc 6. If further winding is attempted, thus causing rotation of the crown 7, the stop 15 will push the pin 13 before it and the disc 6 will carry out the same angular movements as the crown wheel, the index remaining opposite the maximum on the said crown wheels scale. There is no longer any relative movement, the differential eifect is momentarily eliminated.

As regards the rotation of the disc 6 independently of its driving gear-wheel 5, said rotation is made possible by the Breguet gearing 11, said rotation being in fact in the same direction as the said drive.

It is, finally evident that the scale indicating the extent of the running reserve could be arranged on the inner disc and the index on the outer disc.

The disc 6 with the single index 9 thereon could also consist of a single pointer.

What I claim is:

In a self-winding watch of the character described, a barrel, a winding spring disposed within said barrel and operatively connected thereto and movable between unwound and fully wound positions, a winding arbor concentric with the barrel and operatively connected to the spring for winding the latter, and means for rendering a visual indication of the extent to which the spring is wound, said means comprising an indicating ring having a circular scale thereon extending through substantially 360 in circumferential extent and provided with a comparatively wide run-down indication and an adjacent sharp maximum wind indication, a disc disposed within said ring and having a pointer thereon designed for cooperation with the scale, said ring and disc being mounted for relative rotation about a common axis, a first gear train operatively connecting the arbor and ring in driving relationship, a second gear train operatively connecting the disc and barrel in driving relationship, a one-way slip clutch interposed in one of said gear trains and permitting said disc to continue to rotate after the spring has been fully wound on said arbor, means on said ring providing an inwardly projecting finger underlying the peripheral regions of said disc, and a pin projecting from said disc and positioned in the path of movement of said finger during relative movement between the disc and ring in either direction, said pin being in radial alignment with said pointer, one side of said finger being substantially in radial alignment with the maximum wind indication and the other side of said finger being in radial alignment with said run-down indication of the scalev References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 752,937 Waltz Feb. 23, 1904 992,118 Ebelhare May 9, 1911 FOREIGN PATENTS 271,693 Switzerland Feb. 1, 1951 499,635 Belgium Mar. 16, 1951

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