The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2022-121345, filed Jul. 29, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a timepiece.
JP-A-2001-108764 discloses a configuration of an electronically controlled mechanical timepiece including magnetic shield plates capable of shielding against a magnetic field from the outside. Specifically, the magnetic shield plates are disposed on a case back side of a movement and on an outer peripheral side of the movement.
However, in the technique described in JP-A-2001-108764, because the magnetic shield plates are disposed on the case back side and the outer peripheral side of the movement, the timepiece is thick and an outer diameter dimension of the timepiece is large. That is, there is a demand for a timepiece that can be reduced in thickness and reduced in diameter while maintaining a magnetic shield performance.
A timepiece includes a case and a movement disposed in the case, the movement including a main plate, a train wheel disposed at the main plate and including a plurality of toothed gears, a train wheel bridge holding the train wheel, and a first magnetic shield component disposed between the main plate and the train wheel bridge in a side view as viewed from a direction parallel to a surface of the main plate. The first magnetic shield component, in plan view as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the surface of the main plate, has an annular shape and is disposed inwardly of an outer periphery of the main plate and, in the side view, is disposed within a range in which the wheel train is disposed. At least a portion of the train wheel is disposed on an inner side of the first magnetic shield component in the plan view.
The following description is given with reference to the drawings including an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis that are three axes orthogonal to each other. A direction along the X axis is referred to as “X direction”, a direction along the Y axis is referred to as “Y direction”, and a direction along the Z axis is referred to as “Z direction”. A direction indicated by an arrow is a + direction, and a direction opposite to the + direction is a − direction. Note that, a +Z direction may be also referred to as “up” or an “upper side”, and a −Z direction may be also referred to as “down” or a “lower side”. Furthermore, the view in the +Z direction or the −Z direction is referred to as plan view or plane view. Furthermore, the description is given assuming that a surface on the + side in the Z direction is an upper surface, and a surface on the opposite side, that is, on the − side in the Z direction is a lower side.
First, a configuration of a timepiece 1 will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The timepiece 1 includes a movement 10 (refer to
A crown 7 attached to a winding stem 12 (refer to
When the crown 7 is pulled to the first-step position and rotated, the date indicator 6 can be moved to set the date. When the crown 7 is pulled to the second-step position, the seconds hand 4C stops, and when the crown 7 is rotated in the second-step position, the hour hand 4A and the minute hand 4B can be moved to set the time.
As illustrated in
Next, a configuration of the movement 10 as viewed from the dial 3 side will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The dial-side magnetic shield component 30 is made of, for example, pure iron or permalloy.
Next, a configuration of the movement 10 as viewed from the case back 9 side will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The movement 10 includes the main plate 11, a second bridge 27 (refer to
As illustrated in
When the rotor 40 rotates by the torque of the mainspring, the generator 28 can generate induced power by the coil block 24, output electrical energy, and supply the electrical energy to the IC or the like. Further, a brake can be applied to the rotor 40 by short-circuiting the coil 24a, and the rotation period of the rotor 40, that is, the rotation period of the display train wheel 50, can be adjusted to a constant speed by controlling the braking force by the control by the IC.
As described above, the timepiece 1 according to the exemplary embodiment is configured as an electronically controlled mechanical timepiece that uses the rotation of the rotor 40 of the generator 28 that generates induced power, outputs electrical energy, and is utilized as a speed governor mechanism.
The barrel accommodates the mainspring and includes the movement barrel complete 26 and a barrel stem. A ratchet wheel 29 that rotates integrally with the barrel stem is attached to the barrel stem.
The automatic winding mechanism includes the oscillating weight 15 illustrated in
Next, the display train wheel 50 for driving the hour hand 4A, the minute hand 4B, and the seconds hand 4C by the mechanical energy from the mainspring will be described. As illustrated in
Note that the barrel, the eccentric wheel 57, the pawl lever, and the transmission wheel 58 of the automatic winding mechanism, and the display train wheel 50 may be collectively referred to as the train wheel.
As illustrated in
Further, the first magnetic shield component 31 is formed in an annular shape in plan view as viewed from the Z-axis direction perpendicular to a surface of the main plate 11, in other words, in plan view as viewed from the −Z direction. At least a portion of the train wheel is disposed on an inner side of the first magnetic shield component 31 in plan view. Specifically, at least the fourth wheel and pinion 54, the eccentric wheel 57, and the transmission wheel 58 are disposed on the inner side of the first magnetic shield component 31. In other words, the first magnetic shield component 31 having an annular shape is disposed so as to stay clear of a portion of the train wheel at a central portion of the movement 10.
Further, as illustrated in
Note that “same height” in this exemplary embodiment is not limited to a state in which the heights of some components such as the center wheel and pinion 52, the third wheel and pinion 53, the fourth wheel and pinion 54, the transmission wheel 58, the pawl lever, and the eccentric wheel 57 constituting the train wheel are flush with the height of the first magnetic shield component 31. For example, “same height” also includes, in a side view, a state in which the first magnetic shield component 31 overlaps some of the components, and a state in which the first magnetic shield component 31 is disposed at a position closer to the main plate than the component disposed closest to the case back among the components constituting the wheel train. In this exemplary embodiment, the first magnetic shield component 31 is disposed closer to the main plate than the eccentric wheel 57. That is, the first magnetic shield component 31 is disposed at a height within a range in the Z direction of the components constituting the train wheel in a side view, making it possible to reduce a thickness of the timepiece 1 compared to a case in which the magnetic shield component is disposed closer to the case back 9 than the movement 10 as in the related art.
As illustrated in
Note that the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32 are made of, for example, pure iron or permalloy, similar to the dial-side magnetic shield component 30.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in the
Specifically, the first main body portion 32a and the second main body portion 32b are disposed at the same height. The first contact portion 32c is provided at a position lower than that of the first body portion 32a with a step portion 32a1 interposed therebetween. The second contact portion 32d is provided at a position lower than that of the second main body portion 32b with a step portion 32b1 interposed therebetween. The fixing portion 32e is provided at a position lower than those of the first main body portion 32a and the second main body portion 32b with the step portions 32a2, 32b2 interposed therebetween.
That is, the first magnetic shield component 31 includes a step, the step being the step portion 31a1 in this exemplary embodiment, in an axial direction of the case 2, that is, the Z direction. The ratchet wheel 29, which is a portion of the train wheel, is disposed in the step formed by the step portion 31a1. In this way, a portion of the train wheel is disposed in the step of the first magnetic shield component 31, in other words, the first magnetic shield component 31 is contained within the range of the height of the train wheel, making it possible to dispose the first magnetic shield component 31 in the movement 10 while making the timepiece 1 thinner. Further, by providing the step, it is possible to form the first magnetic shield component 31 into a continuous annular shape without providing a notch for staying clear of the ratchet wheel 29 in the first magnetic shield component 31. Accordingly, as will be described below, it is possible to suppress the influence of a magnetic field from the outside on the stator 24b.
As illustrated in
Further, the fixing portion 32e of the second magnetic shield component 32 is fixed to the main plate 11 without the first magnetic shield component 31 being interposed therebetween. Note that the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32 are not limited to being in contact with each other at two locations, and may be in contact with each other at three or more locations. Further, the contact is not limited to the contact at the first contact portions 31c, 32c and the second contact portions 31d, 32d, and may be at other portions.
With the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32 thus disposed and being in contact with each other, it is possible to form a magnetic path without an air layer interposed between the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32, and enhance a magnetic shield performance. Further, with the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32 incorporated in the movement 10, the timepiece 1 can be made more compact than when the magnetic shield components are disposed between the movement 10 and the case 2.
Further, as illustrated in
Next, an extent of influence that magnetic flux density has on, for example, the stator 24b constituting the coil block 24, with the first magnetic shield component 31 being disposed will be described with reference to
The magnetic shield components used in the magnetic field analysis had five shapes: a ring shape (that is, annular shape), a C-ring shape in which a portion of the ring is missing, a rectangle having a narrow width, a rectangle 1 having a wide width, and a rectangle 2 having a wide width. Note that as an analysis condition, because the magnetic shield performance depends on the volume of the magnetic shield component, the magnetic shield components were formed into a plate shape having a uniform thickness across the entire shape. Then, all shapes excluding the rectangle 2 having a wide width were given the same volume, and only the rectangle 2 having a wide width was given a volume smaller than that of the other shapes due to the length thereof being shorter than that of the rectangle 1 having a wide width. The magnetic shield components were then each arranged overlapping the stator of the coil block.
As shown in
As described above, the timepiece 1 according to the exemplary embodiment includes the case 2 and the movement 10 disposed in the case 2, the movement 10 including the main plate 11, the train wheel disposed at the main plate 11 and including the plurality of toothed gears, the train wheel bridge 25 holding the train wheel, and the first magnetic shield component 31 disposed between the main plate 11 and the train wheel bridge 25 in a side view as viewed from the direction parallel to the surface of the main plate 11. The first magnetic shield component 31, in plan view as viewed from the direction perpendicular to the surface of the main plate 11, has an annular shape and is disposed inwardly of the outer periphery of the main plate 11 and, in the side view, is disposed within a range in which the wheel train is disposed. At least a portion of the train wheel is disposed on an inner side of the first magnetic shield component 31 in the plan view.
According to this configuration, the first magnetic shield component 31 is disposed inwardly of the outer periphery of the main plate 11 in plan view and is disposed within the range in which the train wheel is disposed in a side view, making it possible to reduce the outer diameter dimension (reduce the diameter) of the timepiece 1 and reduce the thickness of the timepiece 1 while maintaining the magnetic shield performance.
Further, in the timepiece 1 according to the exemplary embodiment, the movement 10 may include the mainspring and the generator 28 driven by the mainspring to generate electrical energy, and the first magnetic shield component 31 may cover a portion on the case back 9 side of the generator 28. According to this configuration, in the timepiece 1 including the mechanical energy source and the generator 28, the first magnetic shield component 31 covers a portion of the generator 28, making it possible to suppress the influence of a magnetic field from the outside on the generator 28 and maintain the magnetic shield performance. In addition, the timepiece 1 can be reduced in size.
Further, in the timepiece 1 according to the exemplary embodiment, the movement 10 may include the second magnetic shield component 32 that covers a portion of a side surface of the generator 28, and the second magnetic shield component 32 covers the portion of the side surface of the generator 28, is disposed inwardly of the outer periphery of the main plate 11 in the plan view, and is in contact with a portion of the first magnetic shield component 31. According to this configuration, the second magnetic shield component 32 disposed inwardly of the outer periphery of the main plate 11 is in contact with a portion of the first magnetic shield component 31, making it possible to form a magnetic path without an air layer between the second magnetic shield component 32 and the first magnetic shield component 31. This makes it possible to increase the magnetic shield performance while reducing the size of the timepiece 1.
Further, in the timepiece 1 according to the exemplary embodiment, the first magnetic shield component 31 may include the step in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the main plate 11, and a portion of the train wheel may be disposed in the step. According to this configuration, a portion of the train wheel is disposed in the step of the first magnetic shield component 31, in other words, the first magnetic shield component 31 is contained within the range of the height of the train wheel, making it possible to dispose the first magnetic shield component 31 in the movement 10 while making the timepiece 1 thinner.
Modifications of the exemplary embodiment described above will be described below.
In the exemplary embodiment described above, as the structure in which the magnetic path is formed without an air layer interposed between the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32, a structure in which the first magnetic shield component 31 and the second magnetic shield component 32 are in contact with each other and fixed by the first lockscrew 13a and the second lockscrew 13b has been described, but the structure is not limited thereto. For example, the structure may be configured as illustrated in
In the exemplary embodiment described above, the timepiece 1 is described as an electronically controlled mechanical timepiece including the mainspring, the generator 28 driven by the mainspring to generate electrical energy, and the IC that controls the rotation speed of the display train wheel 50, but the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, the present disclosure may be applied to a timepiece that does not include the generator 28 but includes a mechanical energy source including the mainspring, the oscillating weight 15, an automatic winding train wheel that winds the mainspring based on the rotation of the oscillating weight 15, and a speed governor such as a balance with a hairspring.
According to this configuration, in a mechanical timepiece, it is possible to achieve both maintenance of the magnetic shield performance and miniaturization of the timepiece.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2022-121345 | Jul 2022 | JP | national |