Patent Grant
7547136
This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. 06022676.8 filed Oct. 31, 2006 of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention concerns an oscillating weight for a portable instrument whose movements in use set said oscillating weight in motion to drive, either an automatic winding device, for example that of a barrel spring of a timepiece movement, which will be taken by way of example below, or a generator able to recharge an electric energy source of any other portable instrument.
In mechanical watches, for a long time devices have been proposed that avoid manual winding of the barrel spring owing to the movements of the wearer. CH Patent No. 142 511, published in 1930, is very representative of the solutions that were already proposed at that time using an oscillating weight, with simple or dual action, whose pinion drives a reducer kinematic chain which will rewind the spring.
Numerous improvements have been made to this principle as regards the shape, the nature or placing of the weights, and their point of pivoting.
It was also very quickly realised that the efficiency of an oscillating weight for automatic winding depends on the extent of activity of the wearer, but also and perhaps more importantly, on the initial impulse that it was given, for the balance movement to be able to be maintained thereafter by the ordinary movements of the wearer.
In order to create this initial impulse, without imposing excessive agitation of the wearer, various solutions have already been proposed.
CH Patent No. 317 534 discloses a device wherein a semi-circular pendular element pivots between two plates of the main oscillating weight in order to create the initial impulse. In CH Patent No. 149 136, the initial impulse is provided by a moving load (mercury, steel ball, etc. . . . ) arranged in a housing formed inside the main oscillating weight.
These constructions are relatively complicated and cumbersome, and have never, to the knowledge of the Applicant, been integrated into a timepiece movement released on the market.
It is thus an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the aforecited prior art by providing an oscillating weight including a primary weight and a secondary weight for giving the initial impulse, of simple and economical structure and possibly adaptable with few alterations to an existing oscillating weight made in a single piece.
The invention therefore concerns an oscillating weight, devised for causing an initial impulse, subsequently maintained by the natural movements of the wearer, while being of relatively simple and economical structure. It includes a primary oscillating weight secured to an arbour driving a kinematic chain and at least one secondary weight mobile relative to the primary weight for giving the initial impulse to the primary weight by shocks. The invention is characterized in that the secondary weight forms a part assembled from the exterior to the primary weight while being able to have a travel that generates shocks on stop members arranged at the ends of guide means located at the periphery of said primary weight. The following detailed description will give, by way of example, various embodiments that all rely on the same inventive concept.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear in the following description of various embodiments, given by way of non-limiting illustration with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:
Referring first of all to
Primary weight 10 is formed of an armature in a single piece including a securing ring 11 on arbour 6, and two arms 13a, 13b whose ends are joined by a felloe 14. The central part of primary weight 10 includes a recess 8 in the form of an annular sector which will allow the displacement of secondary weight 20.
Referring also to
As can be seen more easily in
It can also be seen that bottom element 24 includes apertures 28 arranged by felloe 14, separated therefrom by full or solid zones 27, which reduces the friction surface with said felloe 14. These full zones 27 and the surfaces of felloe 14 could also have a deposition or coating for improving tribological properties, such as a film of oil or grease, a molybdenum sulphide, DLC (diamond like carbon) or suchlike.
This dovetail assembly could also be achieved by inverting the male and female parts, as shown in
Those skilled in the art could envisage other variants without departing from the scope of the present invention, already illustrated by several embodiments.
As a variant, primary weight 10 and secondary 20 have advantageously substantially the same weight.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06022676 | Oct 2006 | EP | regional |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2610462 | Huguenin | Sep 1952 | A |
| 3628326 | Polo | Dec 1971 | A |
| 6021098 | Rebeaud | Feb 2000 | A |
| 7217030 | Papi | May 2007 | B2 |
| 20040222637 | Bednyak | Nov 2004 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 142511 | Dec 1930 | CH |
| 149136 | Nov 1931 | CH |
| 317534 | Jan 1957 | CH |
| 704910 | Jan 1930 | FR |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080101163 A1 | May 2008 | US |
