Patent Application
20220121155
This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 20202347.9, filed on Oct. 16, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a device for locking a timepiece movement and more specifically, to a device of this type for immobilising a quartz or self-winding mechanical movement.
In order to fixedly mount a mechanical horological movement, screws and/or clamps are known to be used to immobilise said movement relative to the middle of the timepiece. This solution can be unsatisfactory if looking to reduce the overall dimensions or manufacture a timepiece at a reasonable cost.
The purpose of the present invention is to overcome all or part of the aforementioned drawbacks by proposing a timepiece including a locking device which has no screws and/or clamps and which allows the timepiece to be assembled in a simplified manner.
For this purpose, the invention relates to a timepiece including a case comprising a middle, the top part whereof is closed by a bezel and the bottom part whereof is closed by a back, a horological movement mounted against the middle by means of a casing ring, characterised in that the casing ring comprises at least two clippable parts which hold the horological movement, the two parts being inseparable once mounted against the middle when closing the case of the timepiece.
Advantageously according to the invention, the timepiece assembly includes a minimal number of parts and can thus be more easily adapted to manufacturing variations in the various components, while remaining high-tech, with, in particular, a chronograph, a date, a mechanical movement, a transparent back and a plastic middle.
According to other advantageous features of the invention:
Other specific features and advantages will be clearly observed in the following description, which is given as a rough guide and in no way as a limited guide, with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein:
Preferably, the middle 22, the bezel and the back are made of a metal or metal alloy, however any other type of material can be considered such as, for example, a plastic material, a ceramic or a composite material.
The horological movement 25 is preferably of the mechanical type, however use of a quartz movement is also possible and not problematic.
As seen in
Advantageously, the casing ring 5 comprises at least two parts 50, 51 which can be clipped together and which hold the horological movement 4. The two parts 50, 51 are inseparable once they are assembled and mounted against the middle 1 when the case 10 is closed.
As shown in
Each of the two parts 50, 51 comprises at least one male element 54 and one female element arranged such that they are clipped inside one another, the male part comprising a body and a head arranged so as to engage, by interlocking, with a recess in the female part. As shown in the figures, each end of one of the parts 50 comprises a male element, and each end of the other part 51 comprises a female element. Each part 50, 51 can also be provided with one male and one female element, the position of the male and female elements being the reverse of one another.
As can be seen in the figures, the male element 54 has a body 540 having a rectangular cross-section and a head 541 that is trapezoidal in shape, the head being located in the continuation of the body. The female element comprises an orifice 53 disposed on the edge of the part 51, the orifice being complementary in shape to the head 541 of the male element such that the male element can be inserted into the orifice. The female element further comprises an opening 55 disposed on the top of the part 51 and opening out into the orifice 53, the opening 55 being arranged to engage with the head 541 of the male element 54 and thereby enable assembly via clipping.
The present invention describes a casing ring 5 comprising two parts 50, 51 that can be clipped together, however a person skilled in the art would have no difficulty in producing a three- or four-part encasing ring for example. The number of parts should ideally be kept to a minimum, this being two parts in the present case of the invention, so as to ensure good rigidity of the assembly and a better hold. More specifically, the two-part ring reduces the amount of play in the assembly and the number of parts that can break.
As shown in
Advantageously, one of the parts 50 comprises a positioning lug 6 arranged to engage with a correspondingly shaped notch 7 made in the horological movement 4 to guarantee the orientation of the movement relative to the encasing ring, and implicitly relative to the middle of the watch case.
As shown, the clippable parts 50, 51 comprise an upper portion 57, a middle portion 58 and a lower portion 59. The upper portion 58 receives the groove 56 on the inner face and has an outer diameter that is greater than the diameter of the middle and lower portions so as to form a shoulder intended to be in contact with the middle. This contact allows the height of the casing ring 5, and thus of the movement 4, to be adjusted relative to the middle. Moreover, one of the clippable parts 50, 51 has, at the middle portion 58 thereof, a through-hole 9 to allow for the passage of a winding stem 8.
The lower portion 59 of the casing ring 5 includes an inner diameter that is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the upper and middle portions so as to encase the horological movement 5 and limit the motion thereof in the event of impacts for example.
The description hereinbelow describes the assembly of the casing ring on a movement and the assembly of the whole inside a watch case.
In a first step, the movement 25 is prepared and the two parts 50, 51 are arranged on either side thereof so as to align the plate 40 with the groove 56, and align the positioning lug 6 with the notch 7 in the movement.
Advantageously, the guidance of the parts 50, 51 is improved by the interaction of the positioning lug present on the casing ring 5.
In a second step 7, the parts 50 and 51 are pressed against the horological movement 5 such that the plate 40 rests inside the groove 56 and such that the male elements clip into the female elements. The operator knows that the assembly is complete when he/she hears the characteristic sound made by clippable assemblies, which in this case is reproduced by the passage of the head 540 into the opening 55.
Then, the assembly as a whole is placed inside the middle and the winding stem 8 is mounted on the movement 4 by successively passing through a hole in the middle, then through the passage 9 of the casing ring 5.
Finally, the crystal, the bezel and the back are mounted on the middle, thus completing the assembly of the timepiece.
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the example shown but that various alternatives and modifications that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art can be made thereto while remaining within the scope of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20202347.9 | Oct 2020 | EP | regional |
