Patent Application
20230305497
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2022-046492, filed Mar. 23, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a timepiece component, a timepiece movement including the timepiece component, and a timepiece.
Timepiece components are formed by machining metal materials in the related art, however in recent years, a base material including silicon has been used as a material for timepiece components due to its light weight and machinability.
In addition, timepiece components such as components that are exposed to the outside of the timepiece as well as components that are incorporated inside the timepiece have been required to have decorativeness in recent years.
For example, JP-A-2021-15083 discloses a technique for enhancing decorativeness of a gear incorporated in a timepiece. Specifically, the gear has a base material including silicon as a main component, and a light reflecting layer formed on the base material and including a first silicon oxide layer, a silicon layer, and a second silicon oxide layer stacked in this order, the light reflecting layer includes a first region and a second region when the light reflecting layer is viewed in plan view, and colors of the two regions are set to be different by differing a thickness of the silicon layer in the first region from a thickness of the silicon layer in the second region. In other words, colors are adjusted by differing the thicknesses of only the silicon layer.
However, there is room for improving the technique of JP-A-2021-15083. Specifically, since colors are set to be different by using the thicknesses of the silicon layer alone, there is limit on the range of color that can be realized.
In other words, there is a demand for a timepiece component having a wide range of color expression and excellent decorativeness.
A timepiece component according to an aspect of the present application includes a base material including silicon as a main component, and a light reflecting layer formed on the base material and including a first silicon oxide layer, a silicon layer, and a second silicon oxide layer stacked in this order, wherein when the light reflecting layer is viewed in plan view, the light reflecting layer includes a first region and a second region, and at least one of the thicknesses of the first silicon oxide layer in the first region and in the second region or the thicknesses of the second silicon oxide layer in the first region and in the second region is different from each other.
A timepiece movement according to an aspect of the present application includes the timepiece component.
A timepiece according to an aspect of the present application has a see-through structure in which the timepiece component is visible.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A timepiece 200 according to a first embodiment is an analog watch including an hour hand 44A and a minute hand 44B as illustrated in
The timepiece 200 includes a cylindrical outer case 5, and a disk-shaped dial 3 is disposed on the inner circumference side of the outer case 5. The dial 3 includes a window 48A. The timepiece 200 is configured such that part of the movement 35 is visible through the window 48A.
Among two openings of the outer case 5, the opening on the front surface side is closed by a windshield, and the other opening on the back surface side has the back cover 8 (
The timepiece 200 includes the movement 35 housed in the outer case 5, an hour hand 44A and a minute hand 44B that display time information, a power reserve hand 44C that indicates the duration of a mainspring, and a small second hand 44D.
The hour hand 44A, the minute hand 44B, the power reserve hand 44C, and the small second hand 44D are attached to a pointer shaft of the movement 35 and are driven by the movement 35.
A crown 7 is provided on a side surface of the outer case 5. By operating the crown 7, an input corresponding to an operation can be performed.
In
The back cover 8 is constituted by a ring-shaped frame member 46 forming an outer circumference portion, and a window 48B formed of a transparent member fitted in the frame member 46 as illustrated in
The movement 35 includes a train wheel 45, a balance rest 43, a manual winding mechanism 60, an automatic winding mechanism 50, and the like.
The train wheel 45 includes a movement barrel complete 41, a second wheel and pinion, a third wheel and pinion, a fourth wheel and pinion 51, the escape wheel and pinion 101, the pallet fork 58, the balance wheel 47, and the like provided on the back cover 8 side of a main plate.
The manual winding mechanism 60 includes a winding stem, a winding pinion, a clutch wheel, a crown wheel 61, a ratchet transmission wheel 62, a ratchet wheel 63, and the like. In
The automatic winding mechanism 50 includes an oscillating weight, a bearing, an eccentric wheel, a pawl lever, a transmission wheel 52, and the like. In
In
Further, a timepiece component is not limited to the escape wheel gear 100, and may be any component visible in a see-through structure. For example, the movement barrel complete 41, the wheels and pinions including the fourth wheel 51, the pallet fork 58, the speed governor 70 as a balance with hairspring, and the like are also included in timepiece components. In addition, timepiece components also include the dial 3 and hands including the hour hand 44A and the minute hand 44B that are visible through the windshield. In other words, a timepiece component is at least one of the movement barrel complete 41, a wheel and pinion, the escape wheel gear 100, the pallet fork 58, or the balance with hairspring. In addition, a timepiece component is at least one of the dial 3 or the hands.
Further, with respect to the timepiece 200, an aspect of a constituent component of the movement 35 that is visible from the dial 3 side or the back cover 8 side is not limited to the aspect described above.
For example, a desired constituent component of the movement 35 may be made visible by appropriately changing the design, size, arrangement position of the windows 48A and 48B, number of windows, and the like.
Furthermore, the entire dial 3 may be formed of a transparent member so that the entire movement 35 is visible from the dial 3 side, or the entire back cover 8 may be formed of a transparent member so that the entire movement 35 is visible from the back cover 8 side.
Configuration of Escape Wheel and Pinion
The escape wheel gear 100 has an insertion part 110 through which the shaft member 102 (
The rim portion 111 is an annular portion at the outer edge of the escape wheel gear 100. The tooth portions 112 protrude outward from the outer circumference of the rim portion 111 and are formed in a special hook shape.
The escape wheel gear 100 has seven holding portions 115. The holding portions 115 are arranged at seven positions in the circumferential direction of the annular rim portion 111 at an equal pitch of 360°/7. Further, the number of the holding portions 115 may be in the range of three to seven, or seven or greater, and is not particularly limited.
Each holding portion 115 has a first holding portion 113 extending from the rim portion 111 and a second holding portion 114 branching from the first holding portion 113. The first holding portion 113, the second holding portion 114, and the rim portion 111 are integrally formed of the same material.
The first holding portion 113 extends in the direction from the rim portion 111 toward the central portion, and is formed such that the width dimension thereof decreases toward the central portion. The tip of the first holding portion 113 on the central portion side is a contact portion 113A coming in contact with the shaft member 102 (
The second holding portion 114 has first portions 114A and a second portion 114B. The second holding portion 114 has a function of fixing the shaft member 102 (
The first portions 114A are coupled to the first holding portion 113, are formed to branch from the first holding portion 113, and extend in a direction intersecting with the extending direction of the first holding portion 113. The second holding portion 114 has a plurality of first portions 114A. The plurality of first portions 114A are disposed substantially parallel to each other. The second portion 114B is coupled to the plurality of first portions 114A and extends in the direction toward the central portion. The second portion 114B has a substantially constant width, and the tip on the central portion side serves as a contact portion 114C coming in contact with the shaft member 102 (
Configuration of Light Reflecting Layer
Linear portions 10 which are decorative lines are provided at the extending portion of each tooth portion 112 protruding outward from the rim portion 111 as illustrated in
The base material 1 includes silicon as a main component. A type of silicon is not particularly limited, and an appropriate silicon can be selected from the viewpoint of machinability. Examples of silicon include single crystal silicon, polycrystalline silicon, and the like. These types of silicon may be used alone or in combination of two or more types. The weight of the escape wheel gear 100 is reduced when the base material 1 made of silicon is used, as compared to a case in which a base material made of metal is used. Furthermore, a complicated shape can be formed by using a photolithography technique and an etching technique.
The light reflecting layer 40 is formed on the base material 1 by stacking a first silicon oxide layer 81, a silicon layer 82, and a second silicon oxide layer 83 in this order. Further, a method of forming each layer will be described later.
Although a thickness t81 of the first silicon oxide layer 81 is adjusted according to the color to be developed, it is usually in the range of 100 nm or greater to 450 nm or less, and preferably in the range of 100 nm or greater to 400 nm or less. The thickness t81 of the first silicon oxide layer 81 is 100 nm or greater, it can be easily controlled. When the thickness t81 is 400 nm or less, the film formation time can be shortened, and thus productivity is improved.
The silicon layer 82 is provided on the first silicon oxide layer 81. Although the silicon layer 82 may be an amorphous layer or a polysilicon layer, it is preferably a polysilicon layer. Although a thickness t82 of the silicon layer 82 is adjusted according to the color to be developed, it is preferably in the range of 30 nm or greater to 150 nm or less. However, the thickness is not limited to this range.
The second silicon oxide layer 83 is provided on the silicon layer 82. Although a thickness t83 of the second silicon oxide layer 83 is adjusted according to the color to be developed, it is usually in the range of 5 nm or greater to 500 nm or less, and preferably in the range of 10 nm or greater to 500 nm or less.
The thickness of the light reflecting layer 40 in the linear portion 10 is different from the thickness of the surrounding portion as illustrated in
Formation Method of Light Reflecting Layer
Next, a method of forming the light reflecting layer 40 including the linear portions 10 will be described.
First, the first silicon oxide layer 81 is formed on the entire circumference of the base material 1 as shown in
Next, for example, a known resist is applied to the entire surface of the first silicon oxide layer 81 to form a resist layer 53 as shown in
Subsequently, the portion that will be the linear portion 10 is exposed to light through a mask 54 with an opening. Specifically, light is radiated to the resist layer 53 through the mask 54 to cause the resist layer to be exposed and transfer the pattern of the mask 54 as shown in
Next, the exposed resist layer 53 is developed and removed to form an opening 53a as shown in
Next, the resist layer 53 is used as a mask to etch the first silicon oxide layer 81 exposed through an opening 53a as shown in
Then, the resist layer 53 is removed as shown in
Next, the silicon layer 82 is formed on the entire surface of the first silicon oxide layer 81 as shown in
Next, the second silicon oxide layer 83 is formed on the entire surface of the silicon layer 82 as shown in
Through the steps described above, the light reflecting layer 40 with the linear portion 10 illustrated in
Light Reflecting Layer with Plurality of Regions
Although an example of the light reflecting layer 40 including one linear portion 10 as a second region has been described in
The light reflecting layer 40 illustrated in
The third region 20 and the fourth region 30 are, for example, decorative lines similar to the linear portion 10, and three lines in different colors are arranged in a stripe shape. Hereinafter, the same portions as those described in
In the layer thickness configuration of the third region 20, a thickness t22 of the silicon layer 82 is less than a thickness t82 of the surrounding silicon layer 82. On the other hand, a thickness t21 of the first silicon oxide layer 81 is the same as a thickness t81 of the surrounding first silicon oxide layer 81. Likewise, a thickness t23 of the second silicon oxide layer 83 is the same as a thickness t83 of the surrounding second silicon oxide layer 83. That is, only the thickness t22 of the silicon layer 82 in the third region 20 is thinner, compared to those of the surrounding light reflecting layer 40.
The third region 20 can be formed in the same steps as those of the linear portion 10. Specifically, after the silicon layer 82 is formed, only the thickness t22 of the silicon layer 82 can be thinned by performing the above-described (a) exposing step, (b) development step, and (c) etching step on the portion that will be the third region 20.
In the layer thickness configuration of the fourth region 30, a thickness t33 of the second silicon oxide layer 83 is less than the thickness t83 of the surrounding second silicon oxide layer 83. On the other hand, a thickness t31 of the first silicon oxide layer 81 is the same as the thickness t81 of the surrounding first silicon oxide layer 81. Likewise, a thickness t32 of the silicon layer 82 is the same as the thickness t82 of the surrounding silicon layer 82. That is, only the thickness t33 of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the fourth region 30 is thinner, compared to those of the surrounding light reflecting layer 40.
The fourth region 30 can be formed in the same steps as those of the linear portion 10. Specifically, after the second silicon oxide layer 83 is formed, only the thickness t33 of the second silicon oxide layer 83 can be thinned by performing the above-described (a) exposing step, (b) development step, and (c) etching step on the portion that will be the fourth region 30.
According to the light reflecting layer 40 of
Further, although the thickness of only one layer is changed in each region in the above description, the layer thicknesses of a plurality of layers may be changed in one region. According to this configuration, more various color expressions can be achieved.
In other words, the light reflecting layer 40 has the first region that is a base portion and the second region 10 when the light reflecting layer 40 is viewed in plan view. In addition, at least one of the thicknesses of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the first region and the second region 10 or the thicknesses of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the first region and the second region 10 is different from each other. Furthermore, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the first region may be different from the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the second region 10.
In addition, when the light reflecting layer 40 is viewed in plan view, the light reflecting layer 40 further includes the third region 20, at least one of the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the first region and the thicknesses of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the third region 20, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the first region and the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the third region 20, or the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the first region and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the third region 20 is different from each other, and at least one of the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the second region 10 and the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the third region 20, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the second region 10 and the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the third region 20, or the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the second region 10 and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the third region 20 is different from each other.
Regarding Hue
It has been described above that the color of the second region 10, the color of the third region 20, and the color of the fourth region 30 are different from each other. A “different color” means that there is a difference in at least one of hue or chroma defined in the CIELAB color space. Further, hue and chroma are represented by color coordinates a* and b* in the CIELAB color space.
A hue angle ∠h° defined in the CIELAB color space is a parameter representing a hue calculated with Expression (1) by using the color coordinates a* and b* of the L*a*b* color space, which is a color space having a perceptually almost uniform rate recommended by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) in 1976.
“Hue angle ∠h°=tan−1(b*/a*)” Expression (1)
In addition, the hue angle ∠h° is an amount of correlation (also refer to 03087 of JISZ8113) of the hue calculated with Expression (11) of “4.2 Quantity Related to Each of Lightness, Chroma, and Hue” in “3.6 CIELAB1976ab Hue Angle” of “Colorimetry—Part 4: CIE1976L*a*b* Color Space” of Japanese Industrial Standards JISZ8781-4:2013, and “CIE1976L*a*b*” and “CIELAB” are said to be interchangeable.
Relationship Between Film Thickness and Color of Each Layer
In
A method for obtaining gradations of R, G, and B is as follows. A reflection spectrum was obtained from optical calculation using a refractive index n and an extinction coefficient k of the silicon-made base material 1, the first silicon oxide layer 81, the silicon layer 82, and the second silicon oxide layer 83 at a wavelength from 400 nm to 800 nm. Next, a reflectance R(λ) and a color matching function were converted into tristimulus values XYZ by using a known method, and then converted into R, G, and B values of 256 gradations. Further, gamma (γ) correction was not performed and γ=1 was set.
As shown in
For example, since it is desirable to set B to 150 gradations or more and G and R to 100 gradations or less in order to develop blue, it can be seen from
In
In
As shown in
In
As shown in
For example, since it is desirable to set B to 150 gradations or more and G and R to 100 gradations or less in order to develop blue, it can be seen from
As described in
A thickness of each layer in a fifth region, a sixth region, and a seventh region having different layer thickness configurations was set to the thickness shown in the table of
In the fifth region, the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 was set to 150 nm, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 was set to 110 nm, and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 was set to 70 nm. The color of the fifth region at an observation angle of 0° was red.
In the sixth region, the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 was set to 220 nm, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 was set to 75 nm, and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 was set to 140 nm. The color of the sixth region at an observation angle of 0° was blue.
In the seventh region, the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 was set to 220 nm, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 was set to 65 nm, and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 was set to 140 nm. The color of the seventh region at an observation angle of 0° was purple.
For example, as shown in
Further, although the recesses of the decorative line portions are shown to be large because
According to the timepiece component and timepiece 200 of the present embodiment described above, the following advantages can be obtained.
The escape wheel gear 100 as a timepiece component has the base material 1 including silicon as a main component, and the light reflecting layer 40 formed on the base material 1 by stacking the first silicon oxide layer 81, the silicon layer 82, and the second silicon oxide layer 83 in this order, when the light reflecting layer 40 is viewed in plan view, the light reflecting layer 40 includes the first region as a base portion and the second region 10, and at least one of the thicknesses of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the first region and the second region 10 or the thicknesses of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the first region and the second region 10 is different from each other.
According to this configuration, when the second region 10 is the linear portion 10, for example, the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the linear portion 10 is smaller than the thickness of the surrounding first silicon oxide layer 81. As a result, it is possible to provide a decorative line by the linear portion 10 having a color different from that of the surroundings in the extending portion of the tooth portion 112. Furthermore, the color of the linear portion 10 can be adjusted by changing the layer thickness.
Thus, it is possible to provide a timepiece component having a wide color expression range and excellent decorativeness. Furthermore, since the base material 1 is made of lightweight silicon and the recesses generated due to the change in the layer thickness is extremely small, various decorations can be applied without impairing the strength of the timepiece component. Thus, it is possible to provide a lightweight timepiece component having excellent decorativeness.
Therefore, it is possible to provide the well-designed timepiece 200 having excellent decorativeness.
Furthermore, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the first region may be different from the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the second region 10.
According to this configuration, since the thickness of the silicon layer 82 is changed in addition to the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81, more various colors can be expressed.
In addition, when the light reflecting layer 40 is viewed in plan view, the light reflecting layer 40 further includes the third region 20, at least one of the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the first region and the thicknesses of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the third region 20, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the first region and the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the third region 20, or the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the first region and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the third region 20 is different from each other, and at least one of the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the second region 10 and the thickness of the first silicon oxide layer 81 in the third region 20, the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the second region 10 and the thickness of the silicon layer 82 in the third region 20, or the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the second region 10 and the thickness of the second silicon oxide layer 83 in the third region 20 is different from each other. In other words, the first region to the third region have different colors.
According to this configuration, since the third region 20 exhibits a color different from that of the second region 10, it is possible to express three colors including that of the first region, and more various colors can be expressed.
In addition, a timepiece component is at least one of the movement barrel complete 41, wheels and pinions, the escape wheel gear 100, the pallet fork 58, or the balance with hairspring.
According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a timepiece component having excellent decorativeness.
In addition, the timepiece component may be at least one of the dial 3 or the hands.
According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a timepiece component having excellent decorativeness.
In addition, the timepiece 200 includes the timepiece component described above, and has a see-through structure in which the timepiece component is visible.
According to this configuration, it is possible to provide the well-designed timepiece 200 with the see-through structure in which internal timepiece components are used as elements of design.
Although the linear portion 10 which is a decorative line is provided in the extending portion of the tooth portion 112 in the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure is not limited to this configuration, and any decorative aspect according to design may be employed. For example, in an escape wheel gear 100b of the present embodiment, an oblique stripe-shaped decorative line is applied to the entire gear. The same constituent portions as those in the above-described embodiment are given the same reference signs, and overlapping description thereof will be omitted.
In the escape wheel gear 100b, oblique stripe-shaped decorative lines are provided over the entire gear, and the decorative line has a pattern in which three types of lines including a first red line 65, a second blue line 66, and a third purple line 67 are repeated in this order.
The first line 65 has the layer thickness configuration of the fifth region of
As a result, the entire escape wheel gear 100b is vividly decorated with three-color oblique stripe lines formed by the first lines 65, the second lines 66, and the third lines 67.
In this manner, character information such as a mark or a logo can be vividly inserted in the timepiece component in a variety of colors. Further, although the decorative lines and the character information are described as being provided on the surface of the base material 1 in the above description, the lines and information are not limited to being provided on the surface, and may be provided on the back surface or a side surface of the base material 1 as long as the provision surface is any surface on which the light reflecting layer 40 is provided, for example. According to this configuration, more various decorations can be applied.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-046492 | Mar 2022 | JP | national |
