US3383983A - Methods and apparatus for examining mechanisms for the existence of play therein - Google Patents

Description

METHODS A AP ATU'S FO May 21, 1968 P MAMIE; 3,383,983

OF P

AMINING MEC ISMS FO HE X STENCE LAY THEREI Filed March 18, 1966 beets-Sheet l F/Gfl- T0 sucnou wmmmm I -2 May 21, 1968 p, AM 3,383,983

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MINING MECHANISMS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF PLAY THEREIN Filed March 18, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet. i;

.OPTICAL ENLARGING SYSTEM May 21, 1968 FOR THE EXISTENCE OF PLAY THEREIN Filed March 18, 1966 P. AMIE METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EXAMINING MECHANISMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,383,983 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EXAMINING MECHANISMS FOR THE EXISTEN CE OF PLAY THEREIN Philippe Mamie, Le Sentier, Switzerland, assignor to SA. de la Fabrique dHoriogerie le Coultre et Cie, Le Sentier, Switzerland Filed Mar. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 535,389 Claims priority, application Switzerland, May 31, 1965, 7,641/ 65 11 Claims. (CI. 88-44) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and device for examining a watch mechanism for play by applying suction and pressure in suc cession to a gear shaft of the movement to cause the shaft to undergo displacement in the bearings of its support to the extent of its play and projecting an enlarged image of the mechanism on a screen to observe the play.

It is known to effect the control of the position of elements of a mechanism by projecting an image of said elements on an enlarged scale on a screen.

The present invention employs such a concept in a novel arrangement for determining the existence of any play in a mechanism for the purpose of correcting such mechanism to eliminate the play.

More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for examining a mechanism to determine the existence of any play therein. The invention contemplates the providing of an enlarged projection of at least one portion of said mechanism to furnish an enlarged view of said mechanism, said methods and apparatus being operative to pneumatically induce at the time of observation displacement in the mechanism within the limits of its play.

The apparatus according to the invention comprises an optical enlarging system capable of projecting an image of at least a portion of the mechanism on a screen and a movable support adjacent the objective of the enlarging apparatus and arranged so as to be capable of connecting the part of the mechanism to be displaced to means which is adapted for applying pressure or suction force to said mechanism.

Thus, the present invention employs pneumatic means to apply suction and pressure forces alternately to induce displacement of the part of the mechanism whose play is being examined. This and further features of the invention will be described hereinafter in conjunction with the attached drawing which shows an embodiment of the invention given by way of example.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view on a greatly enlarged scale of a portion of an embodiment of the invention intended to facilitate an understanding of the invention;

FIGURE 1a shows a modification of the arrangement in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of a portion of the device;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the portion of the device shown in FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 is a front view of a detail of the support of the mechanism to be examined; and

FIGURE 5 is a side view in section thereof.

Referring now to the diagrammatic view of FIG. 1, the left portion shows a part of the support means and the mechanism to be examined as it appears on an enlarged scale on the screen defined by the dashdot line 1. The right portion of FIG. 1 shows on the same scale the remainder of the support means for the mechanism. In reality, the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 is, for example, 10 to 20 times smaller than that shown, depending on the enlarging ratio selected.

For explanation of the present invention, it is assumed that the mechanism being examined is part of a watch or clock movement, although the invention is not limited to this field.

The mechanism comprises a mounting plate 2, a bridge 3 and a gear train 4 mounted for pivotal movement be tween plate 2 and bridge 3.

As will be seen from the drawing, said gear train is mounted with axial play between the jewel bearings 5 and 6 in the plate 2 and bridge 3 respectively. The gear train is able to move axially between the end position 4 (shown in solid line), and the end position 4' (shown in dashdot lines). This displacement represents the play which must be determined, possibly measured, and then corrected.

During the testing, the mounting plate 2 is held on a support 7, by air suction through the holes 8, as indicated by the arrows.

Opposite the bearing 5, the support 7 has a hole 9 which can be connected to a pneumatic means which makes it possible to exert either a pressure or a suction, as indicated by the arrow pointing in two directions.

By this means, and without any other intervention, it is possible to cause the gear train 4 to be displaced axially within the limits of its play and to observe the latter on the screen 1 without the support means and the mechanism being subjected to any other displacement, which would make the testing of the axial play less precise.

A portion of the screen has a network of parallel lines 10 which may, of course, extend over the entire surface of the screen and which is utilized to obtain an accurate measurement of the play encountered. The elimination of the play in the mechanism is effected by a workman based on the observed movement on the screen.

The pneumatic holding of the mounting plate 2 on the support 7 has the advantage of making it possible readily to place the plate 2 on the support, to remove the plate, and to replace it again to check the action taken if the observed play is corrected as the observation proceeds. The hole 9 is shown coaxial with the bearings 5 and 6 and the shaft of the gear train. It is also possible to act on the gear wheel itself of the gear mechanism as shown in the alternate arrangement in FIG. 1a. Therein it is seen that the position of plate 2 and bridge 3 have been reversed and that bridge 3 is supported against support 7 while suction or pressure is applied to the gear wheel W of the mechanism via hole 9'.

The front view in FIG. 2 shows the screen 1 carried by a base 11 on a work table 12. In FIG. 2 there can be seen an objective 13 pointing downwardly toward the mechanism to be examined (not shown).

The side view of FIG. 3 shows that the unit resembles a bracket, the case of the screen being designated by 1' and housing an optical enlarging system between the objective 13 and the screen 1. Such optical enlarging system is known per se, and it is therefore not described in detail.

Mounted on the work table 12 below the objective 13 is a base 14 (FIGS. 4 and 5) which telescopically supports a ring or sleeve 15, in which a cylindrical body 16 is rotatably mounted.

An interchangeable and replaceable support 17 is threadably attached on the end of said cylindrical body adjacent the objective 13. Said interchangeable support corresponds to support 7 in FIG. 1, but is adapted for the testing of a different type of mechanism. It is to be understood in this respect that each support is adapted, in each particular case, to the type of mechanism to be examined.

In the arrangement in FIGS. 4 and 5, the mechanism 18 has three gear trains to be tested, which are shown diagrammatically by the three axles 19.

The support 17 is adapted for the testing of said mechanism and is provided with three appropriately positioned holes 19.

A conduit 2% communicates through the interior of the body 16 with an opening 30 in support 17 to exert a suction force suitable for maintaining the mechanism to be tested against the support 17. A second conduit 21 opens into bore 31 and permits the application of a pressure or a suction to the holes 19 leading to the gear trains indicated by their axles 19.

For this purpose there is employed a two-way valve .0, located on the work table 12 close to the operator. The valve 46 is connected to suction and pressure sources and includes a spring loaded button 41 by which suction or pressure can be applied to the conduit 21 and thereby to the mechanism being tested.

It is obvious that in an arrangement such as the one just described, where several parts of the mechanism must be tested, it is not possible to position all of said parts with respect to the objective 13 at the same time. Each part must be examined separately. For this reason the cylindrical body 16 is rotatably carried by the ring 15. By causing said body 16 to rotate together with the sup port 17 and the mechanism 18, it becomes possible to bring each axle 19 successively into proper position under the objective 13. Moreover, it is possible to provide proper focusing by enabling the ring 15 to be raised or lowered on the base 14.

The above movements may be controlled by levers, cams and the like, as is well known in the art.

It is also obvious that the position of the mechanism 18 on the support 17 must be precise and cannot be chosen at random, not only because of the operation of the abovementioned focusing adjustments, but also because of the necessary coincidence between the holes 19' and the axles 19. Such clearly defined position can be obtained by any adequate means of cooperation between the mechanism 18 and the support 17, such as studs or pegs 22.

The illumination of the articles tested can be effected from below, in the direction of the objective, as for example, by lamp L or else by direct reflection, or even by combining these two arrangements.

From the above it will be apparent that herein has been disclosed methods and apparatus for examining a mechanism to determine the existence of any play therein by supporting such mechanism in a fixed position by the application of suction force thereon, and including the displacement of the part of the mechanism whose play is being examined by the application of alternate suction and pressure force on the said part, all while Projecting an enlarged image of said part on a screen to facilitate observing the play induced therein.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art modifications and variations of the disclosed invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the attached claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of examining a watch mechanism to determine the existence of play of the movement thereof in a support for said movement, said method comprising holding the support of the watch mechanism in a fixed position while the movement is displaceable on said support to the extent of any axial play, applying suction and pressure in succession to the movement to cause the movement to undergo axial displacement to the extent of its play in the watch mechanism, and projecting an enlarged image of the mechanism to observe the play induced in the movement thereof.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support is held in fixed position by applying suction force to said support to maintain the support against a fixed member.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said movement has a shaft and said support has a bearing in which the shaft is received, said suction and pressure being applied to the movement by exerting the suction and pressure to the shaft through the bearing.

4. A device for examining a watch mechanism having a movement mounted in a support to determine the existence of any axial play of the movement in the support, said device comprising means for supporting a mechanism which is to be examined such that the support of the mechanism is held stationary and the movement of the mechanism is free of axial displacement to the extent of any axial play thereof in said support, and means for applying suction and pressure force in succession to the movement of the mechanism such that the movement undergoes axial displacement in said support to the extent of its play therein.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said movement has a gear shaft and said support is provided with a hole containing a bearing which receives the gear shaft, said means for applying the suction and pressure force being in communication with the hole in the support for applying the suction and pressure force directly on the gear shaft to displace the same in said bearing.

6. A device as claimed in claim 4, comprising means for projecting an enlarged image of the mechanism when the latter is supported on said first means to facilitate observance of any play induced in the movement of said mechanism.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said first means comprises a support member for directly receiving said support of said mechanism, and a displaceable body for interchangeably supporting said support member.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said means for projecting an enlarged image comprises an objective, said displaceable body being adjacent said objective and movable with respect thereto.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein said displaceable body is supported for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis of said objective so that as said displaceable body is rotated, dilferent portions of the mechanism are operatively positioned adjacent the objective.

10. A device as claimed in claim 9, comprising a base supporting said displaceable body for movement towards and away from the objective.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10, comprising means for illuminating said mechanism from a side thereof opposite said objective.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,321,838 5/1967 Albertson 33174 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,202,491 7/ 1959 France.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE M. HOFFMAN, Assistant Examiner.

Images