HK1068691B - Timepiece with flyback function and corresponding flyback mechanism - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a watch, in particular a wristwatch, with an analogue time display which has at least one minute and one hour hand and a clockwise mechanism which has at least one minute clockwise and/or hourly clockwise hand arranged coaxially with the hands of the normal time display.

Such a clock is intended to enable both the normal time display and the measurement of time differences or the reading of time durations of different events in an efficient and simple manner.

In this case, the timepiece is usually used to temporarily stop the stop indicator during the stop operation while the measuring process continues, and then to allow it to jump to the total time measured. This is the case, for example, to allow the safe reading of intervals while the measurement of the end time continues for the time being. Most of the time, such watches either omit the normal time indicator and are a pure stop watch or the stop function is implemented in a separate stop indicator. In many applications, the desired information must sometimes be derived from the normal time indicator and the absolute time, which is usually not possible to calculate directly.

There are therefore also clocks with a normal analogue time display, which have additional hands that can be moved to a desired position at a certain time and thus directly display the correlation and the time difference to the current time.

For example, US 1790 359 describes a device by which a watch with a conventional time display can be equipped with minute and hour hands with additional minute and hour hands to indicate the time difference between the moment of the beginning of an event and the current time. The adjustment of the additional minute and hour hands is in this case done manually, so that the position of the additional minute and hour hands is always stationary as long as they are not moved manually.

The US patent 5 255 248 describes a watch for the same purpose, that is to say a watch which allows both the normal time display and the measurement of a time difference, which is neither a stopwatch nor a completely normal watch but integrates both functions in a display.

The watch proposed in this patent has, on the one hand, an additional minute hand, coaxialized to the hands of the normal time-dial, which can be moved from a stationary normal position to the current position of the normal minute hand by pressing a push-button, where it remains stationary to mark the beginning of an event.

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While this watch thus allows both the normal time display and the measurement of a time difference, a rattrapante mechanism for moving the additional minute hand is proposed, the reading of the corresponding displays is not optimal in that the additional minute hand, as mentioned, has only stationary positions and therefore, if its timekeeping or marking function is not used, the reading of the normal time display is quite negatively affected.

The purpose of the present invention is to create a clock for both normal time display and effective and simple measurement of time differences or reading of time durations of various events, avoiding the aforementioned disadvantages of current systems, and to create a suitable time-trapping mechanism for this purpose.

The present invention is therefore concerned with a watch, in particular a wristwatch, bearing the marks of claim 1 and a rattrant mechanism suitable for realising such a watch bearing the marks of the claims.

A watch in accordance with the invention is characterised in particular by the fact that the rattrapante hand (s) in a normal mode of the watch can be moved in synchronous motion with and in relation to the hands of the normal time-dial, and that they can be stopped in a stop mode to mark any time and then brought back into synchronous motion with the hands of the normal time-dial after any interval of time.

This means that the solution allows the additional hands to be placed in the normal mode of the watch, for example, under the hands of the normal time-dial, i.e. not visible from above, and to have them move in synchronous motion, whereas in the above-mentioned familiar watches, in contrast, the additional hands remain in a stationary position in the normal mode.

In the proposed watch, the extra hand (s) are brought back from their stopping position to their normal (non-stationary) position by the clockwork mechanism in overlapping position with the hands of the normal timepiece; in contrast, the clockwork mechanism in the aforementioned document US 5 255 248 is used in a reverse manner, so to speak, in that the extra minute hand is brought from its normal (stationary) position to its stopping position by the clockwork mechanism.

In a watch according to the invention, the stopping and resetting operation of the additional hands may be triggered by an operating element such as a push-button or a swivel.

In addition, a status display, whether through the above-mentioned switch, an explicit display window or the like, may be provided to inform the user of the current mode of operation.

It is also possible to equip such a clock with an inner or outer ring fitted with a scale, for example to indicate the desired total duration of an event.

Further advantages are derived from the features mentioned in the dependent claims and the detailed description of the invention below, illustrated by the figures.

The accompanying illustrations are schematic and illustrative of several embodiments of a watch according to the present invention.

Figures 1a to 1d illustrate schematically the principle and operation of a first version of such a watch.

Figures 2a to 2b show schematic views of a second embodiment of such a watch.

Figure 3 shows another embodiment of a watch of the invention, in which a swivel was chosen as the control element of the clock's clock face.

Figure 4 shows an example of such a clock, which has a status display window and a scale ring.

Figure 5 shows an overview of a minute-rattrapante mechanism of the invention.

Figures 6a and 6b show drawing controls on the minute-rattrapante mechanism of Figure 5 when the clamp is open, i.e. in the functional mode to move the minute double-hand, with or without the minute hand and its associated minute hand.

Figures 7a and 7b show drawing controls on the minute-ramp mechanism of Figure 5 with the clamp closed, i.e. in the functional mode to stop the minute double-decker, again with or without the minute hand and associated minute hand.

Figures 8a and 8b respectively show the interaction of the centre wheel or the centre wheel of the restraint with the pointer, Figure 8c represents the extreme relative positions of the components of the force-coupled restraint and Figure 8d shows a variant of this coupling.

Figures 9a and 9b are sections through the mechanism in Figure 5, showing the restraint and the pointer on the one hand and the locking device, the gear and the pointer on the other.

Figure 10 shows an overview of a minute-rattrapante mechanism of the invention and its hands.

Figure 11 shows an overview of an hour-rattrapante mechanism of the invention and its hands.

Figure 12 is a section through the mechanism in Figure 10, showing the locking device, the gear, the hand lever and the back-up device.

Figures 13a and 13b show drawing controls on two embodiments of a minute and hour-winding mechanism of the invention, together with the corresponding hands.

The following is a detailed description of the invention using the above illustrations.

As can be seen from Figure 1a, the present invention is a watch 1, in particular a wristwatch, with an analogue time display which has at least one minute and a second hand, and may also have a second hand.

It should also be noted that this watch has a minute and hour clock mechanism or only a minute clock mechanism or only an hour clock mechanism, depending on the intended use of the watch, which may affect different orders of magnitude of measurable durations and therefore influence the choice above.

The clockwise mechanism has at least one clockwise hand coaxially placed with the hands 2.3 of the normal timepiece, usually a minute clockwise hand 5 or an hour clockwise hand 6, but may also have several clockwise hands, for example in addition to the minute clockwise hand 5 an hour clockwise hand 6 also coaxially placed or even a second clockwise hand.

Unlike most known cases where a time-lapse mechanism is usually integrated into chronographs, this mechanism is inserted into a normal watch, for example a wristwatch, so that the normal time display and the measurement of a time difference using the time-lapse mechanism can be done simultaneously in a single display.

The minute or hour-clock mechanism could be technically identical to known versions of a clock mechanism for chronograph double hands; for example, such a clock mechanism is described in detail in patent application EP 0 562 155 so that it is not necessary to repeat a description of it here.

In the case of a minute and hour clock mechanism or even a mechanism which takes into account the seconds, generally in the case of more than one clock hand, the mechanism is preferably implemented by one of the embodiments of such a mechanism described below, since these both reduce the working height and thus the height of the clock and improve the accessibility of the individual components of the clock mechanism, for example in the case of maintenance or repair.

The above advantages are particularly apparent in the use of a mechanism with more than one rattrapante hand, for a more comprehensible presentation and in so far as the rattrapante mechanism according to the present invention can be used in the case of a single rattrapante hand and in applications other than the present watch, such as other types of watches such as in a chronograph, the mechanism according to the invention should be described first in the case of a minute rattrapante, then in the case of an hour rattrapante and finally in the case of a minute and hour rattrapante.

The mechanism of a rattrapante mechanism according to the invention (minute) is generally similar to that of known rattrapante mechanisms. However, the present mechanism is characterized by a different composition and arrangement of the parts or components of the mechanism. The coupling of a rattrapante mechanism according to the invention is not located in the center of the pointer, as in known rattrapante mechanisms, but outside the pointer. This design, as explained below, reduces the overall height of the value and facilitates access to the bearings through increased modularity.

The minute-range mechanism consists essentially of three components, namely a locking device 20 (Fig. 5) with a slide 21, a spring 22 and a pincer 23, a restraint device 30 including a heart wheel 31 (Fig. 8a) and a restraint lever wheel 33 (Fig. 8b) with clutch and a hand lever 50 (Fig. 5, 9a, 9b and 12) housing parts or associated wheels of the mechanism.

As can be seen from Figure 5 for a detailed description of the locking device 20, a stop-rod 55 at the pointing device 50 is controlled twice by means of a lever 21 which is in contact with an operating element 7 on the housing, as shown in Figure 5 for a detailed description of the locking device 20 and by means of two expandable centers 24a,b or, alternatively, two fixed pins mounted on the workpiece 15 to the right and left of the lever 21.The movement of the slide 21 (Figures 6a and 7a) opens and closes the slide 23 by attaching a point 21c to the narrowing inner surfaces of 23e of the shorter pins 23c and 23d of the pin 23 by means of a point 21c fixed at the inner end of the slide 21 pointing into the housing.To allow contact on the inner side surfaces 23e along the entire length, a spring 22 is placed by means of screw 25 and/or other fasteners so that its outward-pointing ends are pressed by means of pins 22a,b on the outer sides of the shorter pins 23c and 23d, thereby exerting a force to open the longer pins 23a,b of the pins 23.b not only the direction of the slide 21 can be adjusted, but the position or concentration of the joints of the longer pliers 23a and 23b of the plier 23 can also be adjusted relative to the stop rod 55 in the centre of the pointing device, provided that the whole locking device 20 with slide 21, spring 22 and plier 23 can be rotated radially around the casing 26.

In the pressed position 21b of the slide 21, the closing of the pin 23 thus blocks the stop rod 55 from turning, while in the pulled position 21a of the slide 21 it can turn freely.

In addition to other simpler alternatives to this locking device, a slightly different design of the slide would be conceivable, which has a gear at its end pointing into the inner housing and which, in its pressed position, i.e. simply after a longitudinal displacement, locks the stop rod 55 on its edge, against its twist, in a definite way.

As shown in Figures 8a to 8d and 9a, the non-coaxial force-coupled coupling, which is located on the axis 58 of the fixture 50, consists of a back-up device 30. It has two support groups and, as will be explained later, works with another support group suitable for this purpose or with corresponding parts of the catapult mechanism located on the fixture 50.

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The 50 handpiece in the centre of the movement is approximately the same basic structure as a classical world clock, as shown in Figure 9a, but it contains additional parts for the Rattrapante mechanism.

The lower level has a minute handpiece 51 with a minute handpiece 52 attached to it, the minute handpiece 51 bearing the minute handpiece 2. The middle level houses the parts of the rattrapante mechanism which carry the rattrapante handpiece 5.6 or 5,6 and which interact with the force clutch. These are a minute handpiece 53 bearing the minute handpiece 5 and a minute handpiece 54 also called the indicator wheel, the latter bearing a stop wheel 55 which is fixed on the top, which is located at the height of the above-mentioned tangent 23 for three hours, insofar as the tangent 23 refers to the stop wheel 55 which encircles the two. A level below the 56 serves as a stop wheel 57 which is fixed on a bridge for 17 hours and which is for example located on a 17th floor of the bridge.

For the purpose of describing the operation of the minute-reset device 30 in conjunction with the pointer and the locking device, reference is made in particular to Figures 9a and 9b, which clearly illustrate the interconnection of the individual components.

The clasps 23 and 23b, respectively, are mounted at a height which encompasses the stop rod 55 on two sides and holds the minute hand wheel 54 connected to it, which has a larger diameter, in suspension. The minute hand wheel 54 is therefore on the longer clasps 23a and 23b, without touching the hour hand 56 fixed on the bridge 17 on its lower side on the upper side and without supporting itself on the top of the minute hand 51 on the lower side.In the case of an upward axial thrust, the minute hand wheel 54 will hit the hour hand 57; in the case of a downward axial thrust, the two pins 23f can be supported on the workpiece 15 by the longer pins 23a and 23b. If the pins 23a and 23b have been shaped as springs, they will push the minute hand wheel 54 back to its original position after a possible thrust. In the case of a radial thrust, the pins 23a and 23b will give way, in the exceptional case they will be held at the level of the connection to the inner end of the 52a of the pipe fitted with a minute hand on its upper side, and so on.The spring 22 described above pushes the clamp 23 back to its starting position in this case by means of the pins 22a and 22b attached to the shorter clamp 23c and 23d. The clock wheel 57 is on bridge 17 and thus has no effect on the lower wheels in the handpiece.

To arrive at the actual operation of the gear traction mechanism, it is clearly shown from Figure 9a and Figures 8a and 8b that the heart wheel 31 is engaged in the minute-pipe wheel 52 on the one hand and the lever lever 33 in the minute-pipe wheel 54 on the other. This is possible by the non-coaxial arrangement of the lever 30 relative to the lever 50 in which the axes 38 of the lever and 58 of the lever are not identical.This creates a relative distortion between the heart wheel 31 and the blocked lever 33 so that, as shown in Figures 8c and 8d, the lateral surface of the heart 32 rotates against the recoil force of the lever 34 on the re-inserted lever 36 or the lever 37 for 35 minutes, thus, when the slider of the stop block 55 is lifted by running the operator, we release the recoil force of the lever 37 or the lever 37 on the corresponding base of the lever 34 in the position of the re-inserted lever 32 and thereby bring the slider back to the position of the lever 34 and the re-inserted lever 37 for 35 minutes.

The hour-rattrapant mechanism works in an analogous way to the minute-rattrapant mechanism described above.

The locking device 20 remains unchanged; in so far as the non-coaxial arrangement of the 30/40 restraint relative to the 50/60 handpiece permits this, for reasons which will be shown later, the restraint 40 for the hour hand 6 was placed on the opposite side of the 60 handpiece, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, in comparison with the restraint 40 for the minute hand 5 described above, which is the same in relation to the one shown above.

In the section shown in Figure 12 the structure of the handpiece 60 is shown in the centre of the watch in the case of a clock-clock-clock mechanism. Here again the wheels are separated by a safety distance so that the torques, e.g. those of the hour hand 64 or the date dial 66, do not affect the neighbouring wheels.

The hour hand 60 can be explained in layers. On the bottom level is the minute hand 61, which, as in the previous case, carries the minute hand 2 and is driven by the shift wheel 69. This also drives the hour hand 62 which carries the hour hand 3 and is placed on a middle level. The free rotation of the hour hand 62 over the minute hand 61 which has no minute hand is ensured by the suspension of the hour hand 64 on the handle 23 which is located on the plane above it. This hour hand is attached to the hour hand 63, which carries the hour hand 6 and rotates by means of a rotating hole in the bridge of the 17th hole.The height of the clock face 64 is bounded below by the two longer pins 23a and 23b and above by the lower part of the tube 67 which is broken in bridge 17 as shown in Figure 12. The date face 66 which is in the upper plane and also driven by the gear 69 is part of the date mechanism. It is shown in Figure 12 to illustrate its separation from the clock face 64. The date face 66 is on bridge 17 and rotates concentrically with a slight change of direction around the broken tube 67.

As in the case described above, the movement of the hands is staggered around a central bearing tube, coaxially attached to the axis 58 or 68 respectively, and all wheels outside the movement 50/60 or outside the centre of the watch are conveniently placed on bearings as indicated in the sections.

The mechanisms of the minute-rattraper and the hour-rattraper are analogous, as shown in Figures 10 and 11 and 9a, b and 12 respectively. In the latter case, the heart wheel 41 is engaged with the hour wheel 62 and the reserve lever wheel 43 with the hour hand wheel 64 respectively, in order to move or stop the hour hand 6 in an overlapping position relative to the hour hand 3.

The advantages of the rattrapante mechanism, as illustrated above by two examples, are now particularly apparent in the realization of a minute and hour rattrapante mechanism, which can be realized in two different ways, as shown in Figures 13a and 13b. The cuts made by these mechanisms are not shown because of the analogy with the mechanisms already described.

The minute and hour-rattrapante mechanism of Figure 13a is obtained by combining the minute and hour-rattrapante mechanism of Figure 10 with the hour-rattrapante mechanism of Figure 11. Due to the advantageous arrangement of the restraint devices on radially opposite sides of the pointer, this combination of the two minute and hour-rattrapante mechanisms of the invention described above is an easy task. At the same time, this constellation illustrates the advantages of a mechanism of the present invention, since the saving in working height is very clear.

In order to ensure the separation of the two towing hands for the 54 minutes and for the 64 hours, in this case, a further bridge is built around the combined 50/60 handpiece. The order of the hands or the levels described above in the handpiece can be changed anyway, for example to reverse the order of the normal hand and the associated towing hands, which is common for the professional.In the third level the newly inserted bridge and the clock wheel 62, in the fourth level the hour hand tube 63 with the hour hand wheel 64 and the associated stop wheel 65, and in the fifth level the bridge 17, the date hand 66 and the stop wheel 16. Other variants are of course also conceivable. The clamp 23 is designed and placed in such a way that it acts simultaneously on both stop wheels 55 and 65 at the corresponding levels. The two rear-end devices 30 and 40 are engaged, as described above, with the corresponding wheels of the hand axle 50/60 and are therefore in their radial position around the hand axle,The height of the head is the same as the height of the head.

The operation of this minute and hour-rattrapping mechanism is also in this variant in complete analogy to that explained above, so that in the present case both the minute hand 2 and the hour hand 3 have an associated double or towed hand 5 or 6, respectively, which are either moved or stopped in overlapping positions with the hands of the normal relative time indicator.

In this variant the working height is slightly higher than in the case of a rattrapante function only, but this is compensated by the non-coaxial arrangement (as shown in Figure 13a) of the restraint devices 30 and 40, which would otherwise be in the pointer and increase the working height accordingly, which makes the advantage of a mechanism according to the invention particularly evident.

Figure 13b shows a variant of the minute and hour-rattrapante mechanism in which the hour-rattrapante device 40 controls both the hour-hand wheel 64 and, via the gear 59a, the minute-hand wheel 54 simultaneously. This gear 59a, like the hour-rattrapante device, takes an advantageous position radially outside the clock's centre-positioned handpiece and operates in reverse with respect to the force flow compared to the traditional gear 59. The hour-rattrapante device 40 here initially controls, as described above, the hour-rattrapante wheel 64, and interferes with the momentum of the hour-rattrapante wheel 59a for the hour-rattrapante wheel 5 and 5 respectively. This gear 59a is in a position to interfere with the force flow of the hour-rattrapante wheel 5 or 6 and is therefore in sync with the speed of the hour-rattrapante wheel 54 and the speed of the hour-rattrapante wheel 5 or 5 minutes.

The advantage of this variant is that it saves an entire spare gear, but requires the additional gear 59a to replace it and the sum of the corresponding gears in the handpiece creates a relatively large turn of the minute handpiece 5.

As regards the speed, the translations of a mechanism of the invention do not change as compared with a traditional handpiece. Other

Minutenrohr	Z1 = 30 Zähne
Wechselrad	Z2 = 45 Zähne (Rad), Z3 = 10 Flügel (Stundentrieb)
Stundenrad	Z4 = 80 Zähne

Other It follows that for the hour hand, the latter will make 1 x 30/45 x 10/80 = 1/12 of the turn of the minute hand as expected.

The calculation for the wheel arrangement, in particular with regard to the hourly gear trapping mechanism, as shown in Figure 13a, is as follows: Other

Minutenrohr	Z1 = 30 Zähne
Rückstellvorrichtung	Z6 = Z6' = 70 Zähne (2 Räder übereinander)
Wechselrad	Z5 = 14 Zähne (Stundentrieb)
Stundenrad	Z4' = 72 Zähne

Other This in turn results in a rotation of the minute hand for 1 x 30/70 x 14/72 = 1/12 of the hour hand.

Finally, the calculation for the variant of the mechanism shown in Figure 13b is: Other

Minutenrohr	Z1 = 30 Zähne
Wechselrad (für Stunden)	Z2 = 45 Zähne (Rad) und Z3 = 10 Flügel (Trieb)
Stundenrad	Z4 = 80 Zähne
Herzrad	Z6"= 80 Zähne
Rückstellhebelrad	Z6'" = 80 Zähne
Stundenschleppzeigerrad	Z4" = 80 Zähne
Wechselrad (für Minuten)	Z2' = 45 Zähne (Rad) und Z3' = 10 Flügel (Trieb)
Minutenschleppzeigerrad	Z1'= 30 Zähne

Other It follows that for the minute hand display, it will also perform 1 x 30/45 x 10/80 x 80/80 x 80/10 x 45/30 = 1 turn for one turn of the minute hand display, as expected.

It is clear from the foregoing that the principle of operation of a rattrapante mechanism of the invention is generally similar to that of known rattrapante mechanisms. However, the present mechanism has several advantages compared with the state of the art, due to the different composition and arrangement of the parts or assemblies of the mechanism, in particular the force-coupled external rather than coaxial to the pointer mechanism. This design reduces the overall height of the mechanism, particularly if a minute-hour rattrapante mechanism is integrated at the same time. In principle, the radial mounting of the central pointing device or the interchangeable positioning of the rear mounting devices also provides a significant additional sectional rotation in the rattrapante mechanism, which makes it possible to improve the repair or access to the above described modularity.

The integration of such a mechanism into a clock with an analogue time-dial allows the clock's clock face 5,6 to be moved in a normal clock mode in synchrony with and relative to the clock face 2,3 of the normal clock face, and to be stopped in a stop mode to mark any time and to be brought back into synchronous running with the clock face 2,3 of the normal clock face after any time interval.

The watch 1 has a control unit 7, such as a pusher 7a, which is located independently of the watch crown 8 at the edge of the watch case to control the clock's clock-clock mechanism 5,6 and the clock-clock-clock-clock hand respectively. The clock-clock mechanism 7 is operated by the clock-clock control unit 7 and the clock-clock-clock hand respectively in a conventional way. A first action on the clock-clock 7 causes the clock-clock 5,6 to stop at its current position, a further action on the clock-clock 7 at any time brings the clock back to normal latitude and time, and the clock-clock 5,6 is re-synchronized with the clock 2.3 minutes/second.

As can be seen from the accompanying figures 1a to 1d, the operation of measuring time differences or reading time durations of different events by means of the clock 1 which in this example has a minute and hour clock mechanism is as follows.

In Figure 1a, the minute and hour handles 5,6 are preferably located, not visible from above, under the minute and hour hands 2,3 of the analogue time-dials, which are symbolically marked with a rectangle, and rotate in sync with them. Of course, the minute and hour handles 5,6 could also be placed above the minute and hour hands 2,3 of the analogue time-dials, insofar as the overlapping relative position of the hands 2,3 and 5,6 and their synchronous movement is primarily important.

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Figure 1c shows the same constellation as Figure 1b after several hours. It is clearly visible that the minute and hour handles 5.6 set the time of the beginning of an event in relation to the current time shown by the minute and hour handles 2.3 of the normal time display.

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Figures 2a and 2b show a watch with the same functions as described above, but in an embodiment with only a minute-clockwise mechanism, i.e. without hour-clockwise hands.

It should also be noted that the minute and hour hands 5.6 always rotate in the same direction and in sync with the minute and hour hands 2.3 of the standard time display when the watch 1 of the invention is not stopped.

In the stationary state, the minute and hour handles 5,6 do not rotate when the hands 2,3 are adjusted.

Extensions or variants of such a clock are shown in Figures 3 and 4.

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The working mode of the watch 1 can also be indicated by means of a window 9 visible on the dial of the watch 1 as shown in Figure 4 to the disc 10, which has the same function as the dial 7b in Figure 3. In this case, by pressing the press 7a or dial 7b, the disc 10 is rotated so that a sector corresponding to the current working mode of the disc 10 is visible through the window 9. The disc 10 is designed accordingly, depending on the angle of rotation of the operating element, which can be selected differently, and the good readability of this display.

The functional mode display is useful in that, for example, a status display is recommended for certain applications of the watch 1 such as diving for safety reasons.

The watch 1 shown in Figure 4 also has a rotatable ring 11 arranged coaxially on the axis of the analogue timepiece's hands, which can be configured as either an inner or an outer ring. In the case of an outer ring, this can be rotated manually, in the former case an inner ring, the watch 1 has a conventional device which can be integrated, for example, in the control element 7 or in the crown 8 to perform the rotation of the ring. The ring 11 has a scale which preferably shows divisions into zones of 10, 5 and 1 minute with corresponding inscriptions that can be arranged in different ways, and can also indicate a marking, for example in the form of a 111 point fluid arrow or a marker, indicating the starting point. The purpose of this ring is to indicate the time of an event, for example, by directly describing the time of the event and the time of the starting point.

The applications of such a watch are varied and in particular in everyday use.

A clock 1 with a minute and hour clock mechanism according to the present invention is suitable for the simple reading of the time elapsed since the beginning of a given event, because by means of an operating element 7 such as a pusher 7a or a lever 7b on the case, the time indicated by minute and hour clock hands 5,6 stops at the moment of the beginning of an event, while the minute and hour hands 2,3 of the normal time displays continue to rotate.

This will remind the wearer when, for example, a device has been switched on, when work has started, when a journey has started, or when a break is needed, etc.

In particular, such a watch 1 can be used as an alternative to a conventional chronograph for similar purposes or during dives, for example during a decompression phase.

The advantages of such a watch 1 with a clock-clock function include providing an alternative to the classical chronograph with its side-dials, its ease of operation, its good predictability and readability of the duration of an operation, and its wide range of applications.

The minute and/or hour hands of the rattrapante mechanism move in the normal mode of the clock in an overlapping position relative to the hands of the normal time display and can be positioned and synchronized with these hands, i.e. forming a kind of double-handed hands with the latter, while in stop-and-go mode they remain in their position to indicate the time of the beginning of an event. The control of the start and return of the rattrapante mechanism is carried out by means of a rattrapante indicator. The mechanism can be operated by means of a rotary dial or a rotary dial and can be controlled by means of a rotary dial or a reversing mechanism.

Thus, the primary objective of the present invention is to allow the normal time display and the measurement of a time difference simultaneously, in direct relation to each other, and in an effective and simple manner, without the normal time display being adversely affected by their presence when the additional hands are not used.

The advantageous use of the rattrapante mechanism is that it has a non-coaxial backrest relative to the axis of the movement, which reduces the working height and increases the modularity of the watch.

Claims (15)

1. Watch (1), in particular a wristwatch, with an analog time display which has at least a minute hand (2) and an hour hand (3), and with a fly back hand mechanism which has at least a minute fly back hand (5) and/or an hour fly back hand (6) located coaxially to the hands (2, 3) of the normal time display, characterized in that the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) in a normal mode of the watch are moved synchronously with the hands (2, 3) of the normal time display and relative to them in an overlapping position, and that they (5, 6) are adapted to be stopped in a timer mode for marking of any instant of time and to be moved, after expiry of any time interval, again into the overlapping position relative to the hands (2, 3) of the normal time display (2, 3), for again synchronously running with the latter.
2. Watch (1) according to the previous claim, characterized in that the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) of the watch (1) are located underneath the hands (2, 3) of the normal time display.
3. Watch (1) according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that the control of the fly back mechanism of the watch (1) takes place via a control element (7) located on the edge of the case of the watch (1), initial actuation of the control element (7) causing the stopping of the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) for marking of some instant in time, while further actuation, after expiry of any time interval, causes the shifting of the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) again into the overlapping position relative to the minute and/or hour hand (2, 3) of the normal time display for again synchronously running with them.
4. Watch (1) according to the previous claim, characterized in that the control element (7) is implemented by a push-piece (7a).
5. Watch (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the control element (7) is implemented by a rocking commutator (7b) with two adjustment positions, the respective adustment position displaying the current operating mode of the watch (1), i.e. the normal or the timer mode.
6. Watch (1) according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises a disk (10) which is visible through a window (9) in the dial of the watch (1) for display of the operating mode of the watch (1), a sector of the disk (10) corresponding to the current operation mode of the watch (1) being visible through the window at a time.
7. Watch (1) according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that it has a rotary ring (11) which is arranged coaxially to the axis of the hands (2, 3) of the analog time display and which is provided with a scale which preferably has divisions into ranges of 10, 5 and 1 minute/s with the corresponding inscriptions, and/or a marking.
8. Fly back hand mechanism for integration into a watch (1) with hands (2, 3, 4) for an analog display, which has at least one fly back hand (5, 6) which is arranged coaxially to the axis (58/68) of the motion work (50/60) of the watch (1), characterized in that the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) in a normal mode of the watch is/are moved synchronously with the hands (2, 3) of the analog display and relative to them in an overlapping position, in that they (5, 6) can be stopped in a timer mode for marking of any instant as well as in that they can be moved, after expiry of any time interval, again into overlapping position relative to the hands (2, 3) of the analog display for again synchronously running with these (2, 3), and in that at least one actuated coupling of the fly back hand mechanism is located non-coaxially to the axis of its fly back hand or hands (5, 6).
9. Fly back hand mechanism according to the previous claim, characterized in that the actuated coupling which is located non-coaxially to the axis (58/68) of the motion work (50/60) of the watch (1) is implemented by a reset device (30/40) which is located radially around the motion work (50/60).
10. Fly back hand mechanism according to the previous claim, characterized in that the reset device (30/40) has a heart wheel (31/41) with a heart (32/42) which is mounted on it and a reset lever (33/43) mounted coaxially to it with a lever spring (34/44), a lever (35/45) and a roller (36/46) or a sliding block (37/47).
11. Fly back hand mechanism according to one of previous claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the parts of the fly back hand mechanism which bear the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) and cooperate with the actuated coupling are arranged coaxially to the axis (58/68) of the motion work (50/60) of the watch (1).
12. Fly back hand mechanism according to the previous claim, characterized in that the parts of the fly back hand mechanism which bear the fly back hand or hands (5, 6) and which cooperate with the actuated coupling comprise at least one fly back hand pipe (53/63) which bears the corresponding fly back hand (5, 6) with a fly back hand wheel (54/64) which is mounted on it and to which a stop wheel (55/65) which can be stopped by means of a blocking device (20) is attached.
13. Fly back hand mechanism according to claims 10 and 12, characterized in that at least one reset lever wheel (33/43) is engaged to an associate fly back hand wheel (54/64) and a heart wheel (31/41) is engaged to a corresponding wheel (52/62) of the motion work (50/60), the pipe (51/62) of the latter bearing the hand (2, 3) of the analog display which corresponds to the fly back hand (5, 6) on the fly back hand pipe (53/63) of the fly back hand wheel (54/64).
14. Fly back hand mechanism according to one of previous claims 9 to 13, characterized in that it has two fly back hands (5, 6) which are controlled by two corresponding reset devices (30/40) located radially around the motion work (50/60).
15. Fly back hand mechanism according to one of previous claims 9 to 13, characterized in that it has two fly back hands (5, 6) which are controlled by one reset device (40) which is located radially around the motion work (50/60) and a minute wheel (59a) which is likewise mounted around the motion work (50/60) and which ensures transmission of the number of revolutions between the gear trains of the two fly back hands (5, 6).