US3779001A

US3779001A - Date-indicating device for a calendar timepiece

Info

Publication number: US3779001A
Application number: US00328122A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Kocher; P Schmidt
Original assignee: SSIH Management Services SA
Current assignee: SSIH Management Services SA
Priority date: 1972-02-09
Filing date: 1973-01-30
Publication date: 1973-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 1990-12-18
Also published as: JPS4889765A; JPS5249982B2; CH182972A4; CH566041A

Abstract

Date-indicating device for a calendar timepiece comprising two concentric rings, the inner ring containing tens digits and the outer ring containing units digits, both rings driven in a rotary movement only or a rotary and translatory movement by driving elements on a linkage once each 24 hours.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Kocher et al.

[ Dec. 18, 1973 DATE-INDICATING DEVICE FOR A CALENDAR TIMEPIECE Inventors: Hans Kocher, Buren a/Aare; Peter Schmid, Diessbach, both of Switzerland Societe Suisse pour llndustries Horlogere Management Services SA, Bienne, Switzerland Filed: Jan. 30, 1973 Appl. No.: 328,122

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb 9, i972 Switzerland 1829/72 US. Cl. .l 58/58 Int. Cl. G04b 19/24 [58] Field of Search 58/4, 5,58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,976,672 3/l96l Ducommun 58/58 Primary Examiner-George H. Miller, Jr. ArtorneyRichard K. Stevens et al.

[ 57] ABSTRACT Date-indicating device for a calendar timepiece comprising two concentric rings, the inner ring containing tens digits and the outer ring containing units digits, both rings driven in a rotary movement only or a rotary and translatory movement by driving elements on a linkage once each 24 hours. i

12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DATE-INDICATING DEVICE FOR A CALENDAR TIMEPIECE The present invention relates to a date-indicating device for a calendar timepiece comprising two concentric indicator-rings the one bearing the units of the date, the other the tens.

As is known, the indication of the date is produced in a large number of calendar-watches by a ring coaxial to the movement, mounted on the plate, and bearing on 4 its upper face the dates from 1 to 3 l These indications appear one by one in a window of the dial. However, this means of indicating is generally suitable only for relatively large-size wrist-watches. As a matter of fact, the date-ring must have a certain diameter in order for the size of the figures to be large enough and to ensure easy reading. The result is that in these known watches, the window is situated at the periphery of the dial, where it takes the place of one of the hour markers. Also there are great difficulties in producing small-size calendar-watches, especially those for ladies.

Calendar-watches are already known where it has been sought to remedy this shortcoming by placing the date indication on two concentric rings, one of them bearing the units and the other the tens. This arrangement makes it possible to leave theperiphery of the movement free and, consequently, to place the datereading window between the center of the movement and the hour-circle. It also makes it possible to produce ladies calendar-watches where the size of the figures shown is large enough to ensure easy reading.

These known timepieces contain a mechanism which selectively actuates one or the other of the rings, or both rings simultaneously, as the case may be. For instance, when the outer ring bears the units from to 9, and the inner ring bears the series of figures 0, l, 2, 3, 3, 0, l, 2, 3, 3, the inner ring must be actuated by one step every time the outer ring has gone through a complete revolution. Moreover, when the FIG. 3 of the inner ring appears in the window, the two rings are ac tuated simultaneously. The result is that the mechanism which actuates these rings is relatively complicated and bulky. What is more, a correction is necessary at the end of each month.

Because of the complexity of. these known mechanisms, they are rarely to be found on the market, so that up to now, it has not been feasible to make use of the advantages offered by a date-indication utilizing two concentric rings.

The object of the present invention is to remedy that short-coming and to propose an indicating device of the type mentioned at the beginning which is simple enough in its construction to be incorporated in any watch at all.

For that purpose, the device according to the invention is characterized in that it includes a four-joint link system comprising a first link rotated around a fixed axis at the rate of one revolution every 24 hours, and further comprising a driving plate which constitutes the second link and which is actuated by the first link, said second link having two driving noses each cooperating with one of the rings while describing a closed curve when the first link turns around its axis.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, an embodiment of the mechanism according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan-view from above,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the fourjoint link system which constitutes the essential part of the date-changing mechanism, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line III-III of FIG. 1.

The drawing shows a wrist-watch movement of which the plate 1 can be seen. Mounted on this plate is an assembly composed of two concentric rings 2, 3 the first provided with ten teeth 4a, 4b, etc., distributed along its outer rim, and the second provided with eight

teeth

5a, 5b, etc., distributed along its inner rim. These two rings are fitted one inside the other so as to be able to rotate with respect to one another. They lie at the bottom of a recess 6 contrived in the upper face of the plate, around its center. As can be seen in FIG. 1, this recess has a sort of curved flattened portion 6a which forms a banking, as will be noted later on. There is a crescent-shaped aperture 7 in the bottom of recess 6 in the vicinity of banking 6a. Indicator-rings 2 and 3 are continuously driven by two

jumpers

8 and 9. Jumper 8 is mounted on the plate outside ring 2. It has a triangular notch 11 at the end of it and is acted upon by ajumper spring 10 in such a way that notch 11 engages one of the teeth 4a, 4b, etc. Owing to this jumper and to jumper 9, the notch 12 of which engages one of the teeth 5 and which is acted upon by spring 13, the assembly of the two rings is constantly maintained in a position where one of the teeth 4 is resting against banking 6a.

Ring 2 bears on its upper face the units 14 of the date, from 0 to 9, each between two teeth 4, while the inner ring bears on its upper face eight tens figures 15, these being in the

order

0, 0, I, l, 2, 2, 3, 3. Each of these figures is situated approximately opposite one of the teeth 5.

Before going on to the date-changing mechanism, it should also be mentioned that plate 1 has an arcshaped rib l6 inside recess 6. This rib is so placed as to be within toothing 5, on the same diameter as the one which passes through the center of banking 6a. This rib likewise forms a banking facing in the same direction as banking 6a.

The date-changing mechanism of the device de--' scribed firstly includes a 24-hour wheel 17 (FIG. 3), mounted on a fixed stud l8 projecting from the plate. This stud is the tangible counterpart of the point M in FIG. 1. Wheel 17 lies on an annular rib 19. It is rotated by means not shown in the drawing, in such a way as to complete one revolution every 24 hours. It bears an eccentric projection 20 which is the tangible counterpart of the point A in FIG. I and constitutes a joint between wheel 17 and a second link 21. Projection 20 therefore engages in a corresponding opening of second link 21.

Second link 21 constitutes the sole member of the date-changing mechanism described here. It is a metal plate, cut out and bent, which extends over plate 1. Its arm 22 passes under rings 2 and 3 so as to end in a flange in aperture 7. This flange extends upward so as to be able to enter the annular space through which the points of teeth 4 travel. Plate 21 includes a widened part having a profiled opening which, in turn, has a slit 24 of uniform width extending in an arc and a widened portion 25 through which the members bearing the hands are intended to pass.

In the central portion of plate 21, near one of the ends of slit 24 opposite widened portion 25, there is the circular opening for the engagement of second link 21 with projection 20. Just about opposite arm 22, plate 21 also has a nose 26, folded back, which extends above banking 16. Second link 21 is connected to the rest of the movement by, on the one hand, the linkage with wheel 17 and, on the other hand, the engagement ofa fixed stud 27 (point M in FIG. 1), integral with the plate, in slit 24. Above second link 21, as can be seen in FIG. 3, this stud 27' has an annular shoulder, from which there extends a pivot which links jumper 9.-Thus this jumper extends above second link 21.

It will be noted that the assembly is covered by a dial 28 in which there is a window 29. This window, situated toward 3 oclock, is within the hour-circle and always allows a portion of each of the two rings 2 and 3 to appear or to be exact, a tens figure of ring 3 and a units figure 14 of ring 2.

To complete the description of the device and understand its operation, it is important to note as well that of the 10 teeth 4a, 4b, etc., eight are of the same length and will hereafter be called long teeth, whereas two others are shorter. The short teeth are distributed one on each side of one of the long teeth. They are the teeth situated between the figures 6 and 7, on the one hand, and 8 and 9, on the other hand. As for the teeth 5 of inner ring 3, six are short teeth, and the other two, next to one another, with one placed near one of the 0s and the other placed near one of the 1's, are long teeth. The length of the long teeth is the same for both rings, and the same applies to the short teeth.

To understand the operation of the device described, it must be realized that as will be seen from FIG. 2, second link 21 constitutes a moving element ofa plane system of links with four joints, diagrammatically represented in FIG. 2. This system includes, besides second link 21, a first link 30, which rotates around a fixed axis M,,, and a third link 31, pivoting around fixed point M and linked to second link 21 at point B. When first link M,,A rotates around its axis M third link 31 oscillates, and the second link goes through a complex translatory and rotatory movement, so that its two points E and F describe the curves e and fshown in FIG. 2. It will be noted that if the first link turns clockwise, curve e is travelled by point E in the same direction, while curvefis travelled by point F in a counterclockwise direction.

It is easy to see that the diagrammatical representation of FIG. 2 is equivalent to the structure shown in FIG. 1, although third link 31 is omitted and replaced by joint 27 and slit 24. Indeed, inasmuch as point M is fixed with respect to the plate, it is obvious that the whole ofthe points of second link 21 which may be situated above point M,, at any given moment when first link 30 is rotating around its axis are themselves situated on an are drawn on second link 21 and having point B as its center. Thus the embodiment described is indeed equivalent to the diagrammatical representation of FIG. 2.

Now to understand how the date-changing mechanism operates, we shall start from the position shown in the drawing where the date 3" appears in window 29. One of the long teeth 4a of toothing 4 is oriented along the axis defined by bankings 6a and 16, so that the assembly ofthe two rings is maintained in a concentric position at the point Ol. As a matter of fact, long tooth 4a rests on banking 6a and maintains the rings in a position away from the bankings. By contrast, tooth 5a opposite banking 16 is a short tooth, so that there is a space between that tooth and the banking. During the course of the rotation of the first link, the trajectory ftravelled by point F will therefore pass within toothing 5 without moving ring 3. The trajectory of nose 23, on the other hand, and more particularly of its point E, is such that this nose hooks into tooth 4a, so that the rotation of the first link turns ring 2 counterclockwise and brings the figure 4 up to window 29, while ring 3 remains stationary. Long tooth 4b comes to rest on banking 6a and maintains the common center of the rings at point 01.

The operations go on in this fashion until long tooth 4fassumes the position occupied by tooth 4a in FIG. 1. At that moment, the figure 8 will be visible in the window, and the movement of nose 23 will again change the outer ring so as to make the figure 9 appear in the window. At that moment, however, short tooth 4g will come opposite banking 6a, so that under the influence of the springs mentioned earlier, both rings will move together, with their center coming to point 02. Tooth 5a and short tooth 4g will then be si-.

multaneously in contact with their respective bankings.

This movement is a mixed one and can be broken down into a translatory movement and a rotatory movement. These portions of rings 2 and 3 which are situated on the longitudinal axis defined by bankings 6a and 16 mainly go through a translation, the amplitude of which is equal to the distance 01-02, but the position and the dimensions ofjumper 8 are so chosen that the movement undergone by the portions of rings 2 and 3 which appear in window 29 is solely a rotation. Hence the movement of the date indication within the window is practically unnoticeable.

As will be seen later on, the device described makes it possible to provide a relatively large space for the date indication, so that the window in the dial can be larger than the figures on the indicating rings. This circumstance also contributes toward making the movement unnoticeable when the date 08" changes to the date 09. Incidentally, this movement also recurs upon the change of other dates, as will be seen below. When the first link has completed another revolution around its axis, the two

noses

23 and 26 will therefore each hook into a tooth of one of the rings, so that the two rings will rotate by one step counterclockwise, and 10 will appear in the window. At the same time, long tooth 4h will arrive opposite banking 6a, while short tooth 5b will be opposite banking 16. The two rings together will move to resume the center position 01.

When the next change takes place, it will therefore be short tooth 41' which will come opposite banking 6a, so that the two rings will then advance simultaneously by one step, and the second figure l of ring 3 will replace the first one in the window. After another 24 hours, tooth 4j will arrive opposite banking 6a, and the rings will once more be in the center position 01 Tooth 50 will then be opposite banking 16. It will be seen that in this manner, all the dates appear successively up to 29." At that moment, the position is the same as for the date 9," i.e., the two rings each have a short tooth opposite their respective bankings, and the center of the rings is at point 02. After 24 hours, the two rings move by one step, and the figure 30 appears in the window. However, when tooth 4h comes opposite banking 6a and brings the two rings back into an 01 center position, it is long tooth 5g which is opposite .ure

banking 16. After another 24 hours, the two

noses

23 and 26 each hook into the corresponding ring. The date 31 then appears in the window, this date being formed by the second figure 3 of ring 3 and the figl of ring 2. Short tooth 4i is opposite banking 6a, but contrary to what usually happens in that case, the two rings do not move together because long tooth 5h has assumed the position opposite banking 16. Thus there remains a space between banking 6a and the apex of tooth 4i, and after 24 hours, nose 26 will hook into tooth 5h, while nose 23 will pass in front of tooth 4i. Hence the units digit 1 will remain visible in the window, whereas the tens digit will change from 3 to 60.,

Thus the mechanism automatically changes from the 3 [st to the lst. The first short tooth 5a once more comes opposite banking 16, which entails a translation of the center of the rings to 02, and 24 hours later, the two rings move, causing the date 02 to appear, formed by the second figure 0 of ring 3 and the figure 2 of ring 2. From then on, the succession of dates will once more appear up to the 31 st.

Summing up, it is seen that the correct date sequence is obtained owing to the fact that the combination of the long and short teeth facing the bankings can have the different values indicated in the table below.

In the left-hand column are indicated the teeth opposite each of the bankings, and in the right-hand column the rings which are driven:

Action of the 2nd link Both rings driven Inner ring driven Outer ring driven Both rings drivcn Thus it can be seen that by using the properties of a system of links, it has been possible to produce a mechanism for moving the two rings forming the dateindicating device by means ofa single moving member represented by second link 21 which is linked, on the one hand, to driving wheel 17 which constitutes the first link of the system and, on the other hand, owing to an arc-shaped slit, to a fixed stud, this slit and stud simulating a third link revolving around fixed point M We claim:

1. Date-indicating device for a calendar timepiece comprising a support, a pair of concentric rings mounted for translatory and rotatory movement on said support, figures corresponding to the units of the date on one of said rings, figures corresponding to the tens of the date on the other ring, a plane system of links comprising a first link rotatably mounted on said support and a second link jointed to said first link and arranged to effect a translating and rotating movement when said first link rotates around its rotating center, and a pair of driving elements integral with said second link, said first link being driven by said timepiece at a rate of one revolution every 24 hours, and each of said elements being arranged to cooperate with one of said rings.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first link constitutes a portion of a wheel which is driven by the movement of said timepiece at a rate of one revolution every 24 hours.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second link is provided with a slit having the shape of an arc of a circle, and said slit engages a fixed stud, said slit and said stud forming a sliding joint which simulates a third link.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said stud,

projects from said support, extends through said slit, and comprises a pivot at its free end, a jumper being pivotally mounted about said pivot.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner ring is provided with the figures O, 0, l, l, 2, 2, 3, 3, in that order.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said inner ring toothing comprises six short teeth and two long teeth, said teeth being regularly distributed around the inner periphery of said ring, and the long teeth being situated to correspond to the consecutive figures 0i.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the outer ring comprises ten teeth regularly distributed along its outer periphery, said teeth comprising a first long tooth arranged between the figures 7 and 8, one short tooth on each side of said first long tooth, and seven other long teeth.

8. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rings are supported in the same plane, the outer one of said rings has an outwardly projecting toothing, said inner one of said rings has an inwardly projecting toothing, and each of said driving elements cooperates with one of said toothings.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a pair of spring-loaded jumpers to hold each of said rings.

10. A device as claimed in claim 8, further comprising bankings to limit the translating displacements of said rings at a first and at a second end position, each of said toothings comprising at least one long and one short tooth, and said teeth being arranged in such a manner that when the rings are in the first end position,'

only the large teeth extend into the path of the driving ing elements each engage a short tooth.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10, wherein said bankings project from said support and are situated on the same diameter with respect to said rings, one of said bankings projecting inwardly of the ring assembly and the other projecting outwardly thereof, the teeth and the bankings being arranged in such a manner that said ring assembly is in a first end position when a large tooth belonging to any one of the rings is directed toward the corresponding banking and abuts same, whereas said assembly is in the other one of said end positions when each ring has a short tooth directed toward the corresponding banking and said teeth contact the corresponding bankings.

12. A device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a resilient member permanently urging said assembly against said bankings.

Claims

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said stud projects from said support, extends through said slit, and comprises a pivot at its free end, a jumper being pivotally mounted about said pivot.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner ring is provided with the figures 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, in that order.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said inner ring toothing comprises six short teeth and two long teeth, said teeth being regularly distributed around the inner periphery of said ring, and the long teeth being situated to correspond to the consecutive figures 01.

10. A device as claimed in claim 8, further comprising bankings to limit the translating displacements of said rings at a first and at a second end position, each of said toothings comprising at least one long and one short tooth, and said teeth being arranged in such a manner that when the rings are in the first end position, only the large teeth extend into the path of the driving elements, whereas in the second end position said driving elements each engage a short tooth.