HK1004722B - Device for fastening a rotationally symmetrical piece, in particular a rotating ring, a back cover and/or a watch crystal to a watch case - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for attaching a rotationally symmetrical part, in particular a rotary ring, a case floor and/or a glass case to a clock case, as defined in the general concept of claim 1.

In the watchmaking industry, the case bottom or the watch glass is usually pressed on the case by notched fasteners. Also known, especially for waterproof watches, are screws between the case and the case bottom as well as the case and the glass. Rotating rings, especially used in diver watches, can also be pressed with a notched fastener on the case.

The opening of the above-mentioned clasps requires tools in all models. However, the use of a tool carries the risk that the opening or removal of a mounted part, such as a clock face, a case floor and/or a glass case, will cause damage or scratches to the case or one of the parts mentioned. This part will then have to be replaced. This disadvantage is very pronounced in watches with clock faces fixed to the case by one of the known types of mounting mentioned above. It is hardly possible to remove the clock face from the case without removing it and/or the case itself.

For rotary rings to be rotated in the mounted state, there must be a gap between the watch case to which they are attached and the rotary ring itself.

The present invention is intended to propose a method of attachment of rotor rings, case bottoms and/or watch glasses to watch cases, which would eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages.

According to the invention, this is achieved by a device for attaching a rotationally symmetrical part, in particular a rotary ring, a casing base and/or a glass case to a watch case, which has the characteristics disclosed in the descriptive part of claim 1.

The device of the invention may be fitted by inserting the protrusions of the part to be fixed to the watch case, such as the clock face, the case bottom and/or the glass, into the nuts arranged on the case, to fix the corresponding part in a precisely axial direction. It is not possible to press it in an oblique or angular manner. The mechanical dimensions of the parts fitted to each other, clock face to clock face, clock face to clock face or clock face to clock face, may be very finely matched, which makes it possible to prevent, in the normal state, undesirable splits between the watch case and the rotating ring fitted to it. This is done by means of a minimum of noise.

The assembly and dismantling of the parts mentioned above can be done by hand without the use of a tool, so that, in particular, when dismantling one of the parts attached, no damage occurs to the part itself or to other parts of the watch, nor is any of the parts mentioned deformed by any force.

Although claim 1 claims that the groove and groove-mounted accessory is mounted on the watch case and that the protrusions intended to be inserted into the grooves or groove are intended to be mounted on the part to be mounted, dual mountings of equal effect, as claimed by claim 12, are also possible and included in the invention. The accessory may be mounted on a part to be mounted and the protrusions may be mounted on the watch case accordingly. It is also conceivable that, for example, for mounting a combination ring of the groove and the groove-mounted accessory on the watch case and the protrusions are mounted on the mounted part, while the mounted parts are mounted on the protrusions and the protrusions are mounted on the mounted parts and the protrusions are not particularly suitable for mounting the two rotors and the protrusions.

The irregular angular distribution of the nuts and protrusions over the circumference gives a precise insertion position for the part to be fixed.

The grooves may be oriented in a precisely axial direction, but they may also be inclined in the perimeter direction.

If the restraint is arranged between the rotor and the housing in such a way that the rotor can only be rotated in one direction, which can be achieved, for example, with a saw-toothed gear and at least one spring-tongue in the area per nut, it is advantageous to arrange one spring-tongue in each case in the area per nut, with the springs in relation to the groove in a direction opposite to the pitch of the nut. This can be achieved so that the protrusions or nozzles of the rotor, once inserted into the groove through the sloping nuts, can no longer slide out of the groove through the nuts themselves.

Instead of a spring-loaded tongue, which is advantageously curved from a leaf spring, other spring-loaded elements can be provided. For example, so-called locking cones can be used. These can be balls that protrude under the pressure of a spring, either from a housing surface or from a surface of the part to be fixed and encased in a depression of the opposite part.

The surfaces on the watch body and on the parts or parts attached to it which are opposite each other and on which the restraint devices are placed may be either front or rear surfaces.

Seals can also be applied between the watch case and the part to be attached to it, such as the case floor or the glass, so that waterproof watches can also be produced with this device of the invention.

The present invention is described in more detail in relation to figures below, using some examples of embodiments. Fig. 1 a cross-section of a first example of a wristwatch with a rotor attached to the watch case with the device of the invention,Fig. 2 a view of the wristwatch as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the rotor is present in one half of the figure shown and not in the other half,Fig. 3A - 3C a perspective, disassembled representation of a part of the wristwatch as shown in Fig. 1, wherein Fig. 3A shows a sector of the rotor, Fig. 3B a sector of a spring and Fig. 3C a sector of the case,Fig. 4A, 4B - illustrations to explain the operation of the rotary ring according to the invention, wherein Fig. 4B shows in particular the situation when the rotary ring is removed,Fig. 5 - a second example of a wristwatch in which both the rotary ring and a base of the case are fixed to the device according to the invention,Fig. 6 - a third example of a wristwatch in which the rotary ring and base of the case are fixed in a manner analogous to that shown in Fig. 5 but with a different type of restraint, andFig. 7 - a quarter-section by means of a wristwatch, essentially according to Fig. 1, but with the restraint differently executed as in the first example.

Figures 1, 2 and 3A to 3C show a first example of a wristwatch with a rotating ring attached to the device of the invention. The cross-sectional drawing in Fig. 1 shows that the wristwatch essentially has a case 1, in particular a middle part of the case 1, in which a mechanism 31 is installed in a conventional way. The case 1 is closed at its bottom by a screwed-up case base 2 and has a glass case 3 at its top, which is also fixed in a conventional way.

The watch has a rotatable ring 4 as is known to divers in particular. On the ring 4 which encloses the watch face 3 on its peripheral perimeter, any markings may be affixed. To attach the ring 4 the watch case 1 has a forward-pointing circular aperture 5 in the axial direction, which in the example shown encloses the case surface of the watch face 3 like a crown. The aperture 5 has an outer circular aperture 6 and an inner circular aperture 7 on the case face 1 of the ring 5 is bounded by a front face 10 on the face side of the case 1 of the aperture 5.From this groove, as shown in Fig. 2, three notes 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 extend in an axial direction to the front face of the watch, as shown above. The ring 4 has radially inward-facing, wedge-shaped protrusions 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3. These protrusions have the same angular position relative to each other in relation to their distribution on the perimeter of an inner mantle of the ring 4 as do the notes on the outer mantle 6 of the watch case.

The notes 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 may be parallel to the longitudinal axis 38 of the watch or perpendicular to the circular groove 8 as indicated in Figure 3C by the dashed line 13.

However, it is preferable to have the notes 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 pointing in an oblique direction to groove 8. This is shown in Fig. 3C and is illustrated by the dashed line with reference 14.

In order to ensure that the rotor 4 can be set in only one angular position with respect to the clockwise axis 38, the crankshaft shaped protrusions 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 are oriented radially from the rotor to the clockwise axis and the notes 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 in the preceding Appendix 5 to the housing 1 are unevenly distributed with respect to the clockwise circumference.

To install the rotor, the 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 protrusions are placed over the open 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 protrusions of the 5th approach to the 10th face and are passed through the protrusions into groove 8. If the protrusions are vertically arranged, the insertion is done by simultaneously slightly turning the rotor in the direction of the inclination of the groove.

In the case of such rotors, it is usual that the direction of rotation can only be taken in one direction, preferably in the anti-clockwise direction. In this respect, a well-known embodiment of rotor 4 shows a lower front face, first restraint 18, on a surface facing the case 1 of the watch, in this case on a surface 16. On one of the said surfaces of rotor 4 facing the case 21 of the case 1, second restraints 23 are arranged, which interact with the first restraints 18. In the example shown in Figures 1 to 3C, the rotor 21 is a circular front face at the case 1, which is formed as a further rotor. In this case, a circular feather is formed on a circular base, which is distributed on a 4 inch diameter ring, the first rotor 18 is divided into four circular rings.

The spring-loaded elements of the 26 springs are used to intervene in the 25 gear when the rotor 4 is mounted. The gear is essentially shaped like a saw tooth, so that the spring 26s, which are raised from the leaf spring 23, are aligned on the mainly axial side of the gear, preventing the rotor from rotating in one direction. The other direction, usually in the opposite direction (Arrow 32, Fig. 2), allows the rotor to be rotated. The forward slanted sides of the 25 gear push the 26 springs downwards.

The spring 26 is also responsible for pushing the rotor upwards in the axial direction so that the 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 protrusions are at the upper groove surface 8 and thus allow rotation of the rotor 4 essentially without axial play.

A locking port 28 which is curved downwards axially from the leaf spring 23 as shown in Figure 3B and a bore 29 incorporated into the watch case 1 on the sounding side 21 of the further groove as shown in Figure 3C, prevent the leaf spring 23 from rotating about the longitudinal axis of the watch.

To facilitate adjustment of the rotor, a rim 33 may be provided on one of the outward facing sides, as shown in Figure 2.

The gears could be trapezoidal or rounded, for example, and the spring-loaded elements could be rounded and such that the rotor can be rotated in both directions. Many possible embodiments are conceivable. The leaf springs 23 would not necessarily have to be circular, but could have several segments separated from each other.

It would then be necessary to provide for a pre-defined angular position with respect to the clockwise axis for each segment; this could be done by means other than the barrier 28 and bore 29 shown in the example; it would also be conceivable to arrange groove 8 not in a circular manner but as separate grooves; only a 9 would then lead into each groove and a 11 wedge-shaped ledge would be provided for each groove on the 3rd ring.

Figures 4A and 4B show how the rotor 4 can be removed from a device according to the example given above.Figures 4A show that the grating of the first restraint 18, the spring 26 of the leaf spring 23, the 9 knots in the case 1 and the 11 wedge shaped protrusions of rotor 4 which slide along the groove 8 in the case 1 are aligned with each other.This is preferably so that the protrusions, if they are in the range of the knots assigned to them, overlap in the rotation in the minimum direction.The joint is then slightly curved upwards and the 11th is sliding upwards from the 9th. The interaction between the teeth, the springs, the protrusions and the nuts is such that, with a certain amount of force, the rotor 4 can be turned backwards as far as possible until the 11th is directly below the opening in the groove 8.However, a leaf spring 23 can be easily and cheaply replaced, unlike the watch case 1 or the clock ring 4.

Fig. 5 shows a second example of a watch in which the clock face 4 is essentially fixed as described above. Whereas previously the clock face 11 in clock face 4 was formed as for example punched hooks, these are here formed by pins 34 which are essentially inserted by radially directed holes in clock face 4. The mechanism of action of the clock face is the same, however. Furthermore, the second introduction shows that essentially not only a clock face 4 can be fixed with the device described above on the clock face, but that these devices are also useful in the same direction for waterproofing the clock face 2.

The third example in Fig. 6 shows, in contrast to Fig. 5, only an example of other restraints. Instead of the above-mentioned leaf springs with the curved springs and the gear, one or more axially oriented holes are fitted in the case 1 of the watch, in which the second restraints 24 are arranged. These comprise a pressure spring 35 on each side of the borehole and a ball 36 protruding partially from the borehole. The borehole is closed at its ends so that the balls 36 cannot fall out.On the front sides of the case 1 from which the balls 36 protrude, adjacent voice surfaces of both the ring 4 and the case 2 are formed as second resting means 19 with at least one depression 19 for each of the balls 36. After inserting the protrusions 11 into the circular groove 8 for the ring 4 and the protrusions 11 into the recirculating groove 8 for the case 2 these two parts can be rotated along the clockwise axis until the balls 36 are caught in a depression 19.It may be possible to arrange several depressions 19 over a perimeter in a specific grid.

It is of course possible in the design of Fig. 6 to screw the case bottom with the case 1 as shown in Figures 1 to 3C and to attach only the rotor ring 4 according to the invention. The hole in which the spring 35 is placed would then be open only on one side and not continuously.

Figure 7 shows a fourth example of a wristwatch. The case 2 is bolted to the case 1 as in the first example, the rotor 4 is fixed as described in the invention. The second restraint 24 and the first restraint 20 comprise a ball 36 with a spring 35 attached, which is bolted to a depth 20 as described above. The purpose of this example is to show that the restraint 20, 24 can also act on the adjacent sheath surfaces 17, 22 of the part to be fixed, the rotor 4, and the clock face 1.

Without being inventive, any professional can imagine that, although this is not shown in any figure, the glass 3 can also be fixed according to the device of the invention.

It is also possible to place the grooves and nuts on the part to be fixed, e.g. on the rotor or the bottom of the case, and to place the wedge-shaped protrusions on the case. Models in which, for example, the grooves and nuts are arranged to secure the rotor to the case, while the grooves and nuts are arranged on the bottom of the case to secure the case, or vice versa, are also conceivable. The grooves and nuts may also be placed on the inner surface of the housing of the mounted access and radially stretched to achieve a directed effect of the protrusion of the mounted part. The jointed access is intended to be achieved by means of a dual effect, although the resulting effect may be translated in any direction of the mount.

Claims (12)

1. Device for fastening a rotationally symmetrical part, in particular a rotatable ring (4), a back cover (2) and/or a watch-glass (3) to a watchcase (1) with at least one encircling, rotationally symmetrical shoulder (5) protruding in axial direction with respect to the watchcase, characterised in that for each part to be fastened (2, 3, 4) to the shoulder an encircling groove (8) is provided on the shoulder, which groove runs along an exterior (6) and/or interior generated surface (7), in that from the groove (8) at least two notches (9.1, 9.2, 9.3), distributed over the circumference of the groove, extend in essentially axial direction to the face (10) of the shoulder (5) which protrudes up to the watchcase, and in that on the part (2, 3, 4) to be fastened essentially peg-shaped projections (11.1, 11.2, 11.3) are provided corresponding to the number of notches (9.1, 9.2, 9.3), which projections can be inserted through the notches into the groove and can be turned along the groove at least in a limited area.
2. Device according to claim 1, characterised in that the notches (9.1, 9.2, 9.3) of the shoulder (5) and the projections (11.1, 11.2, 11.3) of the part (2, 3, 4) to be fastened are distributed irregularly over the circumference of the shoulder, respectively of the part, and contain a plurality of angles (12.1, 12.2, 12.3), unequal to each other, whereby the angles (12.1, 12.2, 12.3) contained between each two adjacent notches and projections are equal.
3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the notches (9.1, 9.2, 9.3) extend in axial direction at a right angle (13) to the associated groove (8).
4. Device according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the notches (9.1, 9.2, 9.3) extend diagonally (14) to the associated groove (8), the smaller angle (15) contained between each one of the notches and the groove being preferably 45°.
5. Device according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that disposed on one of the surfaces (16, 17), turned toward the watchcase, of the part to be fastened (2, 3, 4) are first engagement means (18, 19, 20), and provided on one of the surfaces (21, 22) of the watchcase (1) turned toward the part (2, 3, 4) to be fastened are second engagement means (23, 24), a continuing rotational movement being impeded or prevented by means of the two engagement means (18, 19, 20; 23, 24) after mutual engagement following a certain turning movement of the part (2, 3, 4) relative to the watchcase (1), while during the movement the projections (11.1, 11.2, 11.3) slide into the groove (8).
6. Device according to claim 5, characterised in that the said surfaces (16, 17; 21, 22) are in each case front surfaces (16, 21) or generated surfaces (17, 22).
7. Device according to claim 5, characterised in that the first engagement means (18) comprise a toothing (25) and the second engagement means (23) at least one spring-impinged element (26) engaging with the toothing.
8. Device according to claim 7, characterised in that the spring-impinged element is a flexible tongue (26) of an annular leaf spring (23), the flexible tongue and the toothing (25) being directed against each other in such a way that the part (4) fastened to the watchcase (1) is rotatable in only one direction (32).
9. Device according to claim 8, characterised in that the leaf spring (23) is insertable in an annular depression (21) on a face (27) of the watchcase, a blocking tab (28) of the leaf spring (23) engaging in a bore (29) of the watchcase (1) preventing a turning of the leaf spring relative to the watch-case (1), and in that provided in the area of each notch (9.1, 9.2, 9.3) of the groove (8) is a flexible tongue (11.1, 11.2, 11.3), which, with respect to the groove, is directed in a diagonal direction opposed to the course of the notch.
10. Device according to one of the claims 1 to 9, characterised in that provided between the watchcase (1) and the part (2, 3) to be fastened thereon is a gasket (30), sealing the case interior.
11. Device according to one of the claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the encircling groove (8) is interrupted at least twice, at least two partially encircling partial grooves being created and in that one notch per partial groove is provided.
12. Device according to one of the claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the shoulder (5), the grooves (8) with the notches (9.1, 9.2, 9.3), and the projections (11.1, 11.2, 11.3) are interchanged with respect to the watchcase (1) and the part (2, 3, 4) to be fastened thereto.