JP7223080B2 - Devices for locking movements for timepieces - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to timepieces, such as wristwatches, in which the movement is held in a case by a shock absorbing device that serves to protect the movement when subjected to shocks.

French patent document FR2463437 discloses a timepiece whose movement is held by an annular, shock-absorbing, elastic support, which includes a seal inserted between the rod and the middle part of the winding mechanism. There is a radial addition that defines a sleeve for use. Although this sleeve appears to allow lateral movement of the rod with respect to the middle section upon impact, the stress on the rod and the wind and time setting mechanism remains high. Such stresses occur not only when subjected to an impact, but also when the user exerts lateral pressure on the crown.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to ameliorate all or part of the above-mentioned problems by providing a timepiece with a shock absorbing device for the movement, the assembly of which is simplified.

To this end, the invention relates to a timepiece comprising a case, a timepiece movement and a dial, said middle part being closed above said middle part by a bezel and below said middle part by a back part. Closed, the dial is fitted into the middle part using a casing circle. The timepiece further comprises a locking device that allows the assembly of the timepiece movement and casing circle to be pressed against the middle part when the timepiece case is closed.

Advantageously, according to the invention, the assembly of this timepiece has a minimum of parts and thus, inter alia, a chronograph, a date display, a mechanical movement, a light-transmissive back and a plastic The middle section can be used to easily accommodate manufacturing variations in the various parts while maintaining a high level of engineering.

The present invention has other preferred features as follows.
- said upper annular part and said lower annular part are made of an elastomeric material such as natural rubber or synthetic rubber;
- said upper annular part has positioning means for orienting said shock absorbing device with respect to said middle part;
- said upper annular part and said lower annular part have casing means adapted to cooperate with said faceplate and said casing circle;
- said upper and lower annular parts each have a partial conical surface adapted to cooperate with at least one shoulder of said middle part;
- the timepiece comprises a ring adapted to be placed between the back and the lower annular part so as to retain the whole of the timepiece after the timepiece is assembled; .
- said upper annular part and said lower annular part each have passages for the rods of the winding mechanism;
- said casing circle has a generally annular body formed by an upper part and a lower part, said upper part adapted to receive said dial and said lower part adapted to receive said movement; ing.
- said upper portion has at least one recess and a discontinuous peripheral rim for orienting said faceplate on said casing circle and holding said faceplate in position; The dial has a catch configured to rest against an edge in said recess.
- said timepiece movement is of the mechanical chronograph type;

Other features and advantages can be understood by reading the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a timepiece according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a middle portion of a timepiece according to the present invention; FIG. 3A and 3B are perspective views of the shock absorbing device of the timepiece according to the invention. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a shock absorbing device assembled in the movement of the timepiece according to the invention; Figure 4b is a cross-sectional view along line AA of Figure 4a. 1 is a perspective view of a timepiece according to the invention; FIG.

1 to 3, the timepiece according to the invention comprises a middle part 2 closed by a bezel 3 on the top side and by a back part 4 on the bottom side, a timepiece movement 5 and a casing circle 7. and a front plate 6 attached to the middle portion 2 using a front plate 6 .

A bed 6 is formed in the inner space of the middle part 2 in which a shock absorbing device for the timepiece movement is accommodated. Said shock absorbing device comprises an upper annular part 11 and a lower annular part 12 adapted to be assembled into the assembly formed by said movement, said dial and said casing circle.

The middle section 22 is made of metal or metal alloy, although other types of materials such as plastics and ceramics are also conceivable. The bezel 3 and back 4 are also made of metal or metal alloy, and at least the bezel has a windshield 30 .

The movement 25 is preferably mechanical, but a quartz movement is also conceivable.

The middle part 2 is intended to receive a timepiece movement 5 by means of at least one shoulder 10 formed on its inner wall. The movement 5 is mounted on the shoulder 10 of the middle part 2 with a shock absorbing device. This shock absorbing device surrounds the movement, dial and casing circle 7 . In fact, the shock absorbing device is intended to adapt the movement 5 against the inner wall of the middle part 2.

The casing circle 7 comprises a generally annular annulus formed by an upper portion 70 and a lower portion 71 . The upper portion 70 is configured to receive the dial and the lower portion 71 is configured to receive the movement 5 . As can be observed in FIG. 1, the upper portion 70 has a larger diameter than the lower portion 71 and thus forms a shoulder.

The upper portion 70 has at least one recess 18 and a discontinuous peripheral rim 19' that orients the faceplate 6 on the casing circle 7 and holds the faceplate 6 in place. . Also, the front plate 6 has a catch 60 that contacts the edge of the recess 18 . In the lower part 71 there is a groove 19 adapted to cooperate with the plate 50 of the movement 5 to hold the plate 50 in place.

According to the invention, the shock absorbing device comprises an upper annular part 11 and a lower annular part 12, each of which is adapted to cooperate with a shoulder of the middle part 10 or a shoulder of the back part 4. There are partial conical surfaces 15, 20 that are The upper annular component 11 and the lower annular component 12 are preferably made of an elastomeric material such as natural rubber or synthetic rubber to absorb/attenuate shocks.

As shown in FIG. 3a, the upper annular part 11 has, on its outer side, means for orientation with respect to the middle part 2. As shown in FIG. This orientation means is provided in the form of tabs 13 which form a rounded relief in the face of the rim of the upper annular part 11 . The tab 13 is configured to be associated with a complementary recessed portion 13' formed in the inner wall of the middle portion 2. As shown in FIG. It can therefore be seen that the upper annular part 11 is fitted against the middle part 2 and the partial conical surface 15 presses against the shoulder 10 of the middle part 2 .

The upper annular part 11 also has means for orientation with respect to the casing circle 7 and, implicitly, with respect to the movement 5 . This orientation means is provided in the form of at least one protruding element 14 formed on the inner flank of the annular part 11 , which at the level of the upper part 70 of the casing circle 7 is a blank 17 of complementary shape. It is configured to work with

As shown in FIG. 3b, the lower annular part 12 has at least one machined feature 22 on its outer side, which is associated with at least one protruding element 14 of the upper annular part 11 by means of a casing. It is configured to The lower annular part 12 also has an upper edge 21 which is adapted to rest against the upper part 70 of the casing circle 7 . 4a and 4b, it can be seen that the casing circle 7 and the faceplate 5 are clamped between the upper annular part 11 and the lower annular part 12 when the whole is assembled.

Advantageously, the upper annular part 11 and the lower annular part 12 each have passages for the rods 51 of the winding mechanism so that the rods 51 can be inserted during assembly. Naturally, other passages can be provided, for example the passage of the push-piece rod.

The timepiece comprises a ring 8 arranged between the back 4 and the lower annular part 12, which retains the shock absorbing device after the back of the watch has been assembled to the middle part. do.

In this way, when the timepiece receives an impact, the assembly formed by the lower and upper annular parts, the movement and the dial moves.

It is also conceivable that the base 23 is partially closed, ie the back or bezel is integral with the middle. Thus, in the first case, the middle part can be replaced by a case that is kept closed only by the bezel. Finally, in the second case, the middle part can be replaced by a case that is kept closed only by the back part.

1 Case 2 Middle Part 3 Bezel 4 Back 5, 25 Movement 6 Dial 7 Casing Circle 8 Ring 10 Shoulder 11 Upper Annular Part 12 Lower Annular Part 15, 20 Partial Conical Surfaces 16, 23 Passage 18 Cavity 19 Groove 19' peripheral rim 51 rod 60 catch 70 upper portion 71 lower portion 100 timer

Claims (9)

A timepiece (100) comprising a case (1), a timepiece movement (5) and a dial (6),
the middle part (2) is closed by a bezel (3) on the upper side of said middle part (2) and by a back part (4) on the lower side of said middle part (2),
said face plate (6) is fitted into said middle part (2) using a casing circle (7),
The timepiece (100) comprises a shock absorbing device for the timepiece movement,
Said shock absorbing device comprises an upper annular part (11) and a lower annular part (12) adapted to be assembled in the assembly formed by said movement, said dial (6) and said casing circle (7). ) and
Said upper annular part (11) and lower annular part (12) each have a partial conical surface (15, 20) adapted to cooperate with at least one shoulder (10) of said middle part (2). ) is
A clock characterized by: A timepiece (100) comprising a case (1), a timepiece movement (5) and a dial (6),
the middle part (2) is closed by a bezel (3) on the upper side of said middle part (2) and by a back part (4) on the lower side of said middle part (2),
said face plate (6) is fitted into said middle part (2) using a casing circle (7),
The timepiece (100) comprises a shock absorbing device for the timepiece movement,
Said shock absorbing device comprises an upper annular part (11) and a lower annular part (12) adapted to be assembled in the assembly formed by said movement, said dial (6) and said casing circle (7). ) and
A ring (8) adapted to be placed between the back (4) and the lower annular part (12) so as to hold the entire timepiece after the timepiece is assembled. )
A clock characterized by: A timepiece according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said upper annular part (11) and said lower annular part (12) are made from an elastomeric material of natural rubber or synthetic rubber. 4. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said upper annular part (11) has positioning means for orienting said shock absorbing device with respect to said middle part (2). timer (100). Said upper annular part (11) and said lower annular part (12) are characterized by casing means arranged to cooperate with said face plate (6) and said casing circle (7). Timepiece (100) according to any one of claims 1-4 . 6. Any one of claims 1 to 5 , characterized in that said upper annular part (11) and said lower annular part (12) each have a passage (16, 23) for a rod (51) of a winding mechanism. A timer (100) according to claim 1. said casing circle (7) has a generally annular annulus formed by an upper part (70) and a lower part (71),
said upper portion (70) is adapted to receive said face plate (6);
Timepiece (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said lower part (71) is adapted to receive said movement ( 5 ). Said upper part (70) has at least one recess (18) and a discontinuous peripheral rim (19'), which allow said top plate (6) to be positioned on said casing circle (7). orienting and holding said face plate (6) in position;
A timepiece (100) according to claim 7 , characterized in that said dial (6) has a catch (60) against an edge in said recess (18). Timepiece (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the timepiece movement ( 25 ) is of the mechanical chronograph type.

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