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CN-122018272-A - Combined type watchcase middle frame of clock

CN122018272ACN 122018272 ACN122018272 ACN 122018272ACN-122018272-A

Abstract

The invention relates to a composite case middle (30) of a timepiece, wherein the case middle comprises a skeleton (10) forming a reinforcement structure of the case middle (30), said skeleton (10) comprising a through opening (11), said skeleton defining an internal cavity (12) and said skeleton forming at least one attachment means for a bottom cover and/or glass and/or bezel and/or control member and/or wristband, and the case middle comprises at least two inserts welded together through at least two through openings (11) in the skeleton (10) to form at least one continuous assembly, forming an interlocking structure comprising said at least two inserts (20) and said skeleton (10), at least one of said two inserts (20) forming at least part of the visible outer surface of the case middle (30).

Inventors

  • Florian Karam
  • Tibo theriot

Assignees

  • 劳力士有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20251106
Priority Date
20241112

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A case middle (30) of a timepiece, wherein the case middle (30) of the timepiece comprises a skeleton (10) forming a reinforcement structure of the case middle (30), the skeleton (10) comprising a through opening (11), the skeleton defining an interior chamber (12) and the skeleton forming at least one attachment means for a bottom cover and/or glass and/or bezel and/or control member and/or wristband, and wherein the case middle (30) of the timepiece comprises at least two inserts welded together through the at least two through openings (11) of the skeleton (10) to form at least one continuous assembly, forming an interlocking structure comprising the at least two inserts (20) and the skeleton (10), at least one of the two inserts (20) forming at least a portion of a visible outer surface of the case middle (30).
  2. 2. The case middle of a timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the armature (10) forms an integrally formed one-piece assembly.
  3. 3. The case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said skeleton (10) comprises a regular or irregular open-cell network, in particular of the grid, TPMS, cellular or division type.
  4. 4. The case middle of a timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the through openings (11) of the backbone (10) are positioned outside the case middle (30) and communicate with each other without being exposed to the inside of the case middle (30) at the interface with the inner chamber (12) in order to facilitate the sealing of the inner chamber (12).
  5. 5. The case middle of a timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the backbone (10) comprises stiffening portions (14), such as additional thickness, struts or grids, in order to maintain its integrity during compression moulding, the stiffening portions (14) being in particular arranged between corners and/or on the case middle sides.
  6. 6. The case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said skeleton (10) comprises an inner surface for receiving a timepiece movement, which defines said inner chamber (12) and is designed to allow the timepiece movement to be packaged or boxed.
  7. 7. The case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said skeleton (10) comprises at least one portion forming at least one attachment means (12 a, 13 b) for a bottom cover and/or glass and/or bezel and/or control member and/or wristband, and comprises, at the interface with a component such as glass (50), bottom cover (40) or timepiece case, a housing (12 b, 13 a) for placing a seal capable of sealing said internal chamber (12) after attachment of bottom cover (40) and glass (50).
  8. 8. The case middle of a timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the armature (10) forms a portion of an outer surface of the case middle (30), in particular at an edge or chamfer located on a side of the case middle, the corner and/or a flange.
  9. 9. The watch case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said skeleton (10) comprises or is based on or consists of a metal or metal alloy, in particular comprising or consists of steel, gold, platinum, silver, bronze, titanium, aluminum or magnesium, for example grade 5 titanium or titanium aluminide, or said skeleton (10) comprises or consists of a technical ceramic, in particular based on or consists of alumina or zirconia, or said skeleton (10) comprises or consists of an organic or inorganic compound.
  10. 10. The case middle according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said armature (10) comprises a through opening (11) filled with inserts (20), said inserts (20) being welded together entirely and optionally to said armature to form a continuous assembly, forming an inseparable interlocking structure comprising said inserts (20) and said armature (10).
  11. 11. The watch case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said insert (20) comprises or is based on or consists of a composite material, such as a polymer, such as a thermoplastic, in particular PEKK, optionally comprising short or long fibres, in particular glass, carbon, mineral or organic fibres, or technical ceramic powder, in particular technical ceramic powder based on alumina or zirconia, in particular fibres oriented in longitudinal direction with respect to the sides of the watch case middle.
  12. 12. The case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the material of the armature (10) has a greater yield strength and/or hardness and/or ductility and/or tensile strength and/or melting temperature than the material of the at least one insert (20).
  13. 13. The case middle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein it comprises at least one protective rim (11 a) on the visible outer edge of the insert (20).
  14. 14. A timepiece, wherein the timepiece comprises a case middle (30) according to any one of the preceding claims.
  15. 15. Timepiece according to claim 14, wherein the timepiece comprises a glass (50) fastened to the case frame (10) of the case middle (30), and/or a bottom cover (40) fastened to the case frame (10) of the case middle (30), and/or a bezel fastened to the case frame (10) of the case middle (30), and/or a control member such as a button or crown fastened to the case frame (10) of the case middle (30), and/or a watchband fastened to the case frame (10) of the case middle (30).

Description

Combined type watchcase middle frame of clock Technical Field The invention relates to a watch, in particular to a middle case of a wristwatch. The invention also relates to a timepiece comprising such a case middle. Background Timepiece components, more particularly external timepiece components such as the middle of a case, must have a number of mechanical properties, which are sometimes conflicting. These desirable properties include: Portable, which makes the timepiece comfortable to wear; Very attractive appearance, without drawbacks, compatible with the aesthetic requirements of a luxury timepiece; Robustness in order to withstand the external stresses to which the timepiece is subjected, so that the timepiece component maintains the same appearance for a long period of time, and more generally maintains all its mechanical properties for a long period of time. In fact, existing schemes reflect a tradeoff between these properties. Typically, timepiece components are made in solid form from a material that is both lightweight and rigid. However, these existing solutions have limitations and require the determination of new solutions that optimize the properties and/or the appearance of the timepiece component. Disclosure of Invention It is therefore an object of the present invention to propose a solution for obtaining a middle case of a watch case that is light and sturdy, which is an improvement with respect to the prior art. To this end, the invention is based on a timepiece case bezel comprising a skeleton forming a stiffening structure of the case bezel, said skeleton comprising a through opening, said skeleton defining an internal cavity and said skeleton forming at least one attachment means for a bottom cover and/or glass and/or bezel and/or control member and/or wristband, and comprising at least two inserts welded together through at least two through openings in the skeleton to form at least one continuous assembly, forming an interlocking structure comprising said at least two inserts and said skeleton, at least one of said two inserts forming at least part of the visible outer surface of the case bezel. The invention is more particularly defined by the claims. Drawings These subject matter, features, and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following non-limiting description of one particular embodiment, which is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 is a top view of the skeleton of the middle case of a watch according to one embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the case middle frame skeleton along the developed transverse vertical plane AA according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a top view of the skeleton of the middle case of the watch according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view of a preassembled assembly along an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a bottom view of a preassembled assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a top view of a preassembled assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a preassembled assembly along an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the unfolded transverse vertical plane AA of an apparatus for molding a pre-assembled component during a molding step according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 9 shows a change in temperature T in degrees celsius and a change in load C in kN during a molding step of a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the invention, respectively. Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the crude watchcase middle produced by the molding step according to an embodiment of the present invention along the unfolded transverse vertical plane AA. Figure 11 is a cross-sectional half view of a middle case according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 12 is a cross-sectional half view of a case including a case middle according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description The present invention relates to a case middle, which will also be more generally referred to as a timepiece part, in particular an external timepiece part, since it belongs to this family of parts. In particular, the middle of the case is positioned on or constitutes the periphery of the timepiece. Such a case middle therefore comprises a first portion oriented towards the inside of the timepiece, in particular towards a space comprising the timepiece movement, which will be referred to as a chamber, and a second portion oriented towards the outside, in particular intended to be visible from the outside of the timepiece. In the following, the adjectives "internal" and "external" will be used as defined above, even for the case midd