Patent Application
20200393795
The disclosure relates to a timepiece movement, more particularly to a timepiece movement with a day adjustment mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,526,272 B2 discloses a conventional day clock which has day, hour, and minute hands revolving continuously around a common center. The conventional day clock has a time adjustment knob and a day adjustment knob. When the day adjustment knob is pulled out, a set of gears are disengaged, allowing the day hand to be adjusted with that knob without affecting the other hands. Then, when the set of gears are reengaged, the time adjustment knob can be utilized to set the time of day. In order to set the day and time accurately, the user may first set the time to midnight with the time adjustment knob, pull out the day adjustment knob, set the day to a clock face line between days with that knob, push that knob back in, and then set the time to the correct time with the time adjustment knob.
An object of the disclosure is to provide a novel timepiece movement. With the provision of the timepiece movement in a timepiece, an indicated day of the timepiece can be adjusted without pulling out of a day adjustment knob or an actuating shaft of a day adjustment mechanism.
According to the disclosure, a timepiece movement includes a movement case, a drive mechanism, a time mechanism, a day mechanism, and a day adjustment mechanism. The drive mechanism is mounted inside the movement case. The time mechanism is mounted to the movement case, and is configured to be driven by and engaged with the drive mechanism. The time mechanism includes an hour mechanism which includes a tubular hour shaft and an hour gear. The tubular hour shaft extends along a central axis in a front-to-rear direction to terminate at a front end segment and a rear end segment. The hour gear is mounted on the rear end segment of the tubular hour shaft, and is coupled to be driven by the drive mechanism so as to permit the tubular hour shaft to turn with the hour gear about the central axis. The day mechanism is mounted to the movement case, and includes a transmission gear, a day gear, and a day gear set. The transmission gear is sleeved on the rear end segment of the tubular hour shaft to be displaced from the hour gear, and includes an outer ring segment and an inner ring segment. The transmission gear is convertible between a co-rotation state, where the transmission gear co-rotates with the tubular hour shaft through a frictional engagement between the inner ring segment and the tubular hour shaft, and a relative rotation state, where the transmission gear rotates relative to the tubular hour shaft. The day gear is mounted inside the movement case to be rotatable relative to the tubular hour shaft about the central axis. The day gear set is disposed to couple the outer ring segment with the day gear so as to permit the day gear to be driven by the transmission gear to turn about the central axis. The day adjustment mechanism is mounted to the movement case, and includes a first actuating shaft which extends to terminate at a first operating end and a first coupling end. The first coupling end is configured to transmit a first force exerted on the first operating end to the transmission gear through the day gear set such that when the exerted first force is sufficient to generate a torque overcoming the frictional engagement between the inner ring segment and the tubular hour shaft to thereby convert the transmission gear to the relative rotation state, the day gear is driven by the day gear set to turn about the central axis.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment(s) with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
To aid in describing the disclosure, directional terms may be used in the specification and claims to describe portions of the present disclosure (e.g., front, rear, left, right, top, bottom, etc.). These directional definitions are intended to merely assist in describing and claiming the disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure in any way.
Referring to
In an embodiment shown in
The front case part 21 has a front wall 201 and a front surrounding wall 203 extending rearwardly from a periphery of the front wall 201.
The rear case part 22 has a rear wall 202 which is opposite to the front wall 201 in a front-to-rear direction (X), and a rear surrounding wall 204 which extends forwardly from a periphery of the rear wall 202, and which is configured to be detachably mounted to the front surrounding wall 203 such that the front and rear case parts 21, 22 define therebetween an accommodation space 23.
The front and rear partition walls 24, 25 are disposed in the accommodation space 23 in proximity to the front and rear walls 201, 202, respectively.
The drive mechanism 3 is mounted inside the movement case 2. In an embodiment shown in
The time mechanism 4 is mounted to the movement case 2, and is configured to be driven by and engaged with the drive mechanism 3. The time mechanism 4 includes an hour mechanism 43 which includes a tubular hour shaft 432 and an hour gear 431. In an embodiment shown in
The tubular hour shaft 432 extends along a central axis 45 in the front-to-rear direction (X) to terminate at a front end segment 4321 and a rear end segment 4322. The tubular hour shaft 432 has a middle segment 4323 between the front and rear end segments 4321, 4322. In an embodiment shown in
The hour gear 431 is mounted on the rear end segment of the tubular hour shaft 432, and is coupled to be driven by the drive mechanism 3 so as to permit the tubular hour shaft 432 to turn with the hour gear 431 about the central axis 45.
In an embodiment shown in
The day mechanism 51 is mounted to the movement case 2, and includes a transmission gear 53, a day gear 54, and a day gear set 571. In an embodiment shown in
The transmission gear 53 is sleeved on the rear end segment 4322 of the tubular hour shaft 432 to be displaced from the hour gear 431, and includes an outer ring segment 531 and an inner ring segment 532. The transmission gear 53 is convertible between a co-rotation state and a relative rotation state. In the co-rotation state, the transmission gear 53 co-rotates with the tubular hour shaft 432 through a frictional engagement between the inner ring segment 532 and the tubular hour shaft 432 (see
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
The day gear 54 is mounted inside the movement case 2 to be rotatable relative to the tubular hour shaft 432 about the central axis 45.
The day gear set 571 is disposed to couple the outer ring segment 531 with the day gear 54 so as to permit the day gear 54 to be driven by the transmission gear 53 to turn about the central axis 45.
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
The tubular day shaft 55 is sleeved on the middle segment 4323 of the tubular hour shaft 432, and has a front end segment 551 and a rear end segment 552, which are disposed forwardly and rearwardly of the front wall 201, respectively. The day gear 54 is mounted on the rear end segment 552 so as to permit the tubular day shaft 55 to turn with the day gear 54 about the central axis 45.
The day hand 56 is mounted on the front end segment 551 to turn with the tubular day shaft 55 such that when the transmission gear 53 is in the co-rotation state, the day hand 56 is permitted to be driven by the transmission gear 53 through the day gear set 571 to indicate the day of a week.
The day adjustment mechanism 52 is mounted to the movement case 2, and includes a first actuating shaft 522 extending to terminate at a first operating end 5221 and a first coupling end 5222 which are disposed rearwardly and forwardly of the rear wall 202, respectively. The first coupling end 5222 is configured to transmit a first force exerted on the first operating end 5221 to the transmission gear 53 through the day gear set 571 such that when the exerted first force is sufficient to generate a torque overcoming the frictional engagement between the inner ring segment 532 and the tubular hour shaft 432 to thereby convert the transmission gear 53 to the relative rotation state, the day gear 54 is driven by the day gear set 571 to turn about the central axis 45. In addition, when the transmission gear 53 is converted to the relative rotation state, the day hand 56 is driven by the first actuating shaft 52 through the day gear set 571 to indicate a selected one day of the week. Therefore, when adjusting the day of the week, it is only necessary to turn the first actuating shaft 522, without pulling out the first actuating shaft 522.
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
The tubular minute shaft 422 extends along the central axis 45 through the tubular hour shaft 432 to terminate at a front end segment 4221 and a rear end segment 4222, which are disposed forwardly and rearwardly of the front wall 201, respectively.
The minute hand 423 is mounted on the front end segment 4221 to turn with the tubular minute shaft 422 so as to permit the minute hand 423 to indicate a minute of the hour.
The minute gear unit 421 is mounted on the rear end segment 4222 to permit the tubular minute shaft 422 to turn therewith, and includes a third wheel 4211 which is coupled to be driven by the drive mechanism 3 to turn about the central axis 45, and a third pinion 4212 which co-axially rotates with the third wheel 4211.
The minute gear set 424 includes a fourth wheel 4241 which is configured to mesh with the third pinion 4212, and a fourth pinion 4242 which co-axially rotates with the fourth wheel 4241, and which is configured to mesh with the hour gear 431 so as to permit the hour gear 431 to be driven by the drive mechanism 3 through the minute gear unit 421 and the minute gear set 424.
In an embodiment shown in
The elongated second pin 416 extends along the central axis 45 through the tubular minute shaft 422 to terminate at a front end segment 4161 and a rear end segment 4162, which are disposed forwardly and rearwardly of the front wall 201, respectively.
The second hand 417 is mounted on the front end segment 4161 to turn with the elongated second pin 416 so as to permit the second hand 417 to indicate a second of the minute.
The second gear unit 415 is mounted on the rear end segment 4162 to permit the elongated second pin 416 to turn therewith, and includes a fifth wheel 4151 which is coupled to be driven by the drive mechanism 3 to turn about the central axis 45, and a fifth pinion 4152 which co-axially rotates with the fifth wheel 4151.
The second gear set 418 includes a sixth wheel 4181 which is configured to mesh with the fifth pinion 4152, and a sixth pinion 4182 which co-axially rotates with the sixth wheel 4181. The sixth pinion 4182 is configured to mesh with the third wheel 4211 so as to permit the minute gear unit 421 to be driven by the drive mechanism 3 through the second gear unit 415 and the second gear set 418.
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment shown in
In sum, when adjusting the day of the week, it is only necessary to turn the day adjustment knob 521 together with the first actuating shaft 522, without pulling out of the first actuating shaft 522 or the day adjustment knob 521.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is (are) considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
