HK1092883B - Instrument for measuring intervals of time comprising a ringing mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Instrument for measuring time intervals comprising a ringing mechanism

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a meter for measuring time intervals comprising a ringing mechanism. The invention concerns in particular a timepiece comprising a chronograph mechanism. This type of timepiece may be a pocket watch, a wrist watch, or a sports or industrial counter, which has the property of not displaying the current time and is not used only for measuring time intervals.

Background

A chronograph is an additional mechanism added to the movement of a watch, which can be used to measure the time elapsed in a sporting event, an industrial operation, a laboratory test or any other application requiring the timing of operations. Pressure is applied to the button to start and stop the hands of the timer. Additional pressure on the other button resets the pointer to zero. Depending on the complexity of the chronograph mechanism, it is also conceivable to restart the mechanism after a short interruption or even to use a fly-back hand.

The disadvantage of the chronograph mechanisms currently available on the market is that they do not have any sound when they are activated. This is very disadvantageous for e.g. sports coaches, who need to divert his gaze towards the player to make sure that the timer mechanism is indeed activated, which reaction may lead to measurement errors. The same problem exists for the measurement of any industrial physical or laboratory phenomenon. The person performing the measurement instinctively wants to look at the timer to determine that the timer is working and thus stops looking at the phenomenon he or she should observe.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this and other drawbacks by providing a chronograph mechanism that enables a user to know whether the chronograph mechanism has been properly activated without looking away from an event whose duration needs to be measured.

The invention thus relates to a meter for measuring time intervals, comprising a chronograph mechanism which is at least able to be started, stopped and reset to zero, characterized in that it further comprises a ringing mechanism which emits an acoustic signal at least when the chronograph mechanism is started.

In accordance with these features, the present invention provides a time interval measuring meter that informs its user that a timer mechanism has been activated by sounding a ring. The user is thus audibly informed that the chronograph mechanism has been properly activated and is thus able to look on the event he wishes to count the duration of time at all times.

The ring tone sounds at least when the timer mechanism is started. However, it is preferably contemplated that the chime will also sound when the user depresses a control element to stop the timer mechanism and/or reset the timer mechanism.

To achieve this object, and in accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the chronograph mechanism comprises a column wheel device (column wheel) which interacts with a control element having a number of teeth equal to or twice the number of columns of the column wheel device and which triggers the ringing mechanism at least when the chronograph mechanism is started.

When the number of teeth of the control element is equal to the number of uprights of the fifth wheel device, a ringing sound is only produced when the chronograph mechanism is started, whereas if the number of teeth is equal to twice the number of uprights, a ringing sound is produced both when the chronograph mechanism is started and when it is stopped.

Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be more clearly seen from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of a meter for measuring time intervals according to the invention, given as a non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a watch case housing a chronograph mechanism and a ringing mechanism;

fig. 2 is a larger scale view of the area enclosed by the circumference in fig. 1, showing the longitudinal wheel arrangement of the chronograph mechanism and the ringing mechanism interacting with the chronograph mechanism;

figure 3 is a front view of the chronograph mechanism and the ringing mechanism;

figure 4 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the fifth wheel device and of the control element interacting therewith;

figure 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the fifth wheel device and of the control element interacting therewith; and

figure 6 is a schematic plan view of a second embodiment of the chronograph mechanism and of the ringing mechanism interacting therewith.

Detailed Description

The invention proceeds from the general inventive idea of interacting a conventional chronograph mechanism with a ringing mechanism which emits an acoustic signal at least when the chronograph mechanism is started, preferably also when said chronograph mechanism is stopped. The user who starts or stops the chronograph mechanism thus benefits from an audible confirmation that he is able to confirm that the chronograph mechanism is working properly without having to leave his eyes for a moment from the sport, industry or other event that he needs to time. So that the accuracy of the measurement is greatly improved.

The invention will be explained below with respect to a wristwatch. Of course, the invention is applicable to any type of timepiece, such as in particular pocket watches. More broadly, the invention may be applied to any meter which includes a time base but which is not intended to display the current time but is used only to measure elapsed time, such as a sports or industrial counter.

The chronograph mechanism interacting with the ringing mechanism according to the invention is not described in detail here. In fact, chronograph mechanisms of conventional type with a longitudinal wheel device are well known to those skilled in the art. For the purposes of the present invention, it will be readily apparent that this type of chronograph mechanism essentially comprises a longitudinal wheel device made in a single piece and consisting of a ratchet toothing and a column perpendicular to the toothing. When the chronograph mechanism is started, an operating lever hook rotates the ratchet wheel of the longitudinal wheel device by one step. At the same time, the beak tip of an engagement lever falls into the space between the two uprights, causing the engagement wheel driven by the motion work to engage with the chronograph wheel set. When the chronograph mechanism stops, the lever hook again rotates the ratchet wheel of the longitudinal wheel device another step. A brake lever falls via its beak into the gap of the column wheel arrangement and presses against the chronograph wheel set to stop it. At the same time, the engaging wheel is removed from the chronograph wheel set. Finally, when the chronograph mechanism is reset, a hammer strikes a central piece fixedly mounted on the chronograph wheel set so as to return the chronograph hand. For a complete description of the chronograph mechanism, reference may be made to the collective work entitled "Th orie d' horlogerie" published in 1988 on the conditions de la F d ration des Ecoles technologies (Switzerland), which is incorporated herein by reference.

Fig. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of a watch according to the invention. A wristwatch, generally designated by the general reference numeral 1, comprises a case 2 housing a chronograph mechanism 4 and a ringing mechanism 6.

The chronograph mechanism 4 mainly includes a longitudinal wheel device 10 pivoted on a board 12. The fifth wheel device 10 is made as an integral part and consists of one toothed rim 14, called ratchet wheel, and a column 16 made perpendicular to the toothed rim 14. Each time the chronograph mechanism is operated (start; stop; reset), an operating lever hook 18 rotates the ratchet 14 of the longitudinal wheel device 10 clockwise by one step.

The ringing mechanism 6 is mounted on the clamping plate 20 and essentially comprises a striking hammer 22 which is pivoted on the clamping plate 20 and can strike the bell cup 24 via its head 26. Two pins 28a and 28b fixed to hammer 22 cooperate with an actuating spring 30 and a return spring 32, respectively, the function of which will be explained below.

Chronograph mechanism 4 is kinematically connected to ringing mechanism 6 via a release lever 34 pivoted between clamping plate 20 and machine plate 12 and having two diametrically opposed radial arms 36a and 36 b. The position of the release lever 34 is indicated by a positioning lever spring 38 which abuts via its beak free end 40 against an extension 42 of said release lever 34. More specifically, the extension 42 has a flat portion 44 that is parallel to a flat plate portion 46 of the beak tip 40 of jumper spring 38.

A control element 48 interacts with the longitudinal wheel assembly 10. According to a first variant, illustrated in fig. 4, the control element 48 comprises a number of teeth 50 equal to the number of uprights 16 of the column-wheel assembly 10. The teeth 50 located above the upright 16 may be made in one piece with the upright 16. The control element 48 may also be formed as a separate ring with evenly spaced teeth 50 standing on the surface of the ring, which may be secured to the top of the post 16 by any suitable means.

According to a second variant, shown in fig. 5, the control element 48 comprises a number of teeth 50 which is twice the number of uprights 16. As can be seen in fig. 5, the control element 48 is formed as a ring 52 having uniformly spaced teeth 50 upstanding from the surface thereof. The ring 52 may be secured to the top of the column 16 by any suitable means such that one of the two teeth is located above the column 16 and the next tooth is located above the space between two consecutive columns 16.

The operation of the mechanism described hereinbefore is as follows. When the chronograph mechanism 4 is started, the lever hook 18 rotates the ratchet 14 of the longitudinal wheel device 10 clockwise by one step. At the same time, the control element 48 pivots the release lever 34 anticlockwise, with a tooth 50 at the top of the upright 16 abutting against the arm 36a of said lever 34 and moving the lever 34 away from its rest position against the return force of the jumper spring 38. Likewise, release lever 34 drives pin 28a via its arm 36b against the restoring force of actuating spring 30, so that rapping hammer 22 leaves its equilibrium position. As the release lever is progressively pivoted, its arm 36a slides along the tooth 50 with which the arm 36a engages until the moment at which the arm 36a disengages from said tooth 50. At this point, the actuation spring 30 is suddenly released and drives the slap hammer 22 via pin 28a to slap the bell cup 24. The bell sounds at the precise moment the lever hook 18 moves from one tooth of the ratchet 14 to the next, thereby activating the chronograph mechanism 4. After hammer 22 strikes bell cup 24, it is returned to the rest position by return spring 32 acting on pin 28b, and release lever 34 is also returned to the rest position by the action of jumper spring 38.

When chronograph mechanism 4 stops, lever hook 18 causes ratchet 14 to move forward by another step. At this point, the arm 36a of the release lever 34 is located in the space between two consecutive uprights 16. In the case where the number of teeth 50 is equal to the number of posts 16, the bell will not ring when chronograph mechanism 4 is stopped. Conversely, if the number of teeth 50 is twice the number of posts 16, one of the teeth integral with ring 52 will be located in the space between the two posts 16 and ringing mechanism 6 will be released when chronograph mechanism 4 is stopped in the manner described above.

Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of a ringing mechanism 6 according to the invention. In this embodiment, ringing mechanism 6 includes a strip spring 54 that is moved away from its rest position by elastic deformation during the passage of teeth 50. After a tooth 50 passes the end of the strip spring 54, the strip spring is suddenly released and produces a ringing sound, and then returns to its equilibrium position until the next tooth 50 passes.

The invention is of course not limited to the embodiments described, but a number of simple modifications and variants can be envisaged by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. In particular, it is envisaged that the teeth are provided in a position along the height of the upright rather than at the top of the upright.

Claims (9)

1. A meter for measuring time intervals, the meter comprising a timer mechanism (4) which can be at least started, stopped and reset to zero, said meter (1) being characterized by further comprising a ringing mechanism (6) which emits an acoustic signal at least when the timer mechanism (4) is started; the chronograph mechanism comprises a longitudinal wheel device (10) interacting with a control element (48) having a number of teeth (50) equal to or twice the number of uprights (16) of the longitudinal wheel device (10) and actuating the ringing mechanism (6) at least when the chronograph mechanism (4) is activated, the teeth (50) being made in one piece with the uprights (16).

2. A meter for measuring time intervals, the meter comprising a timer mechanism (4) which can be at least started, stopped and reset to zero, said meter (1) being characterized by further comprising a ringing mechanism (6) which emits an acoustic signal at least when the timer mechanism (4) is started; the chronograph mechanism comprises a longitudinal wheel device (10) interacting with a control element (48) having a number of teeth (50) equal to or twice the number of uprights (16) of the longitudinal wheel device (10) and actuating the ringing mechanism (6) at least when the chronograph mechanism (4) is activated, the control element (48) comprising a ring on the surface of which the teeth (50) stand and which is fixed to the uprights (16).

3. Meter according to claim 1 or 2, ch aracte rized in that the control element (48) acts on the ringing mechanism (6) via a release lever (34) which is pivotable and has two diametrically opposite radial first (36a) and second (36b) arms.

4. Meter according to claim 3, characterised in that the control element (48) controls the pivoting of the release lever (34) by acting on a first arm (36a) of said release lever (34) with a tooth (50) of the control element, said release lever (34) moving the tapping hammer (22) from its rest position by a second arm (36b) of the release lever against the return force of an actuating spring (30).

5. Meter according to claim 4, characterized in that as the releasing lever (34) is progressively pivoted, its first arm (36a) slides along the tooth (50) with which it is engaged until the moment when the first arm (36a) disengages from said tooth (50), then the actuating spring (30) is released and drives the tapping hammer (22) to tap a bell cup (24).

6. Meter according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the release lever (34) drives a pin (28a) fixed to the tapping hammer (22).

7. A meter according to claim 3, wherein the position of the release lever (34) is indicated by a spring (38).

8. Meter according to claim 4, characterized in that a return spring (32) acting on a pin (28b) fixed to the tapping hammer (22) returns said tapping hammer to its equilibrium position.

9. A meter according to claim 1, wherein the ringing mechanism (6) comprises a strip spring (54) which leaves its equilibrium position when a tooth (50) passes and is then released to strike the bell cup (24), and which then returns to its equilibrium position until the next tooth (50) passes.