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EP-4740070-A1 - TIMEPIECE MECHANISM FOR THE SUCCESSIVE DISPLAY OF A SEQUENCE OF TIME INFORMATION

EP4740070A1EP 4740070 A1EP4740070 A1EP 4740070A1EP-4740070-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a timepiece mechanism (10) with instantaneous jump for the successive display of a sequence of time information. The mechanism comprises a wheel (12) connected directly or indirectly to a display comprising said sequence of information, a jumper (14) engaged with the wheel (12), a cam (40) arranged to rotate 360° during a determined period, a lever (20) comprising a cam follower (28) as well as a constraint member (30) arranged to force the cam follower (28) against the cam (40). The profile of the cam (40) is determined so as to pivot the lever (20) in a first direction of pivoting and then cause the lever (20) to jump instantaneously in an opposite direction of pivoting. The lever (20) further comprises a pinion (24) mounted so as to be free to rotate and configured to be, at least temporarily, engaged with the wheel (12) and engaged with a pawl (26) allowing the pinion (24) to rotate in only one direction. The rotation of the pinion (24) at the periphery of the wheel (12) is caused by the pivoting of the lever (20) in the first direction of pivoting while the wheel (12) is driven through a predefined angular pitch increment via the pinion (24) locked by the pawl (26) during the instantaneous jump of the lever (20) in the opposite direction of pivoting.

Inventors

  • CALAME, Laurent

Assignees

  • Manufacture d'Horlogerie Audemars Piguet SA

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240628

Claims (14)

  1. 1. Instantaneous jump clock mechanism (10) for the successive display of a sequence of time information, comprising a wheel (12) directly or indirectly connected to a display comprising said sequence of information, a jumper (14) engaged with the wheel (12), a cam (40) arranged to rotate 360° during a determined period, a lever (20) comprising a cam follower (28) and a constraint member (30) arranged to constrain the cam follower (28) against the cam (40), the profile of the cam (40) being determined to pivot the lever (20) in a first pivoting direction and then cause an instantaneous jump of the lever (20) in an opposite pivoting direction, characterized in that the lever (20) further comprises a pinion (24) mounted free to rotate and configured to be, at least temporarily, engaged with the wheel (12) and engaged with a pawl (26) allowing the rotation of the pinion (24) in only one direction, the rotation of the pinion (24) at the periphery of the wheel (12) being caused by the pivoting of the rocker (20) in the first pivoting direction while the driving of the wheel (12) by a predefined angular step being carried out by means of the pinion (24) blocked by the pawl (26) during the instantaneous jump of the rocker (20) in the opposite pivoting direction.
  2. 2. Clock mechanism (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the pinion (24) is configured to permanently mesh with the wheel (12).
  3. 3. Clock mechanism (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pinion (24) is configured to be permanently engaged with the pawl (26).
  4. 4. Clock mechanism (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wheel (12) is a toothed wheel, said predefined angular pitch corresponding to the angular pitch of the toothed wheel or to a multiple of the angular pitch of the toothed wheel.
  5. 5. Clock mechanism (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lever (20) comprises a beak (22) arranged to lock the wheel (12) after the instantaneous jump of the lever.
  6. 6. Clock mechanism (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it further comprises a corrector (50) operable in movement and comprising a correction member (53) arranged to actuate the wheel (12) in rotation, the corrector (50) further comprising an actuating part (52) intended to act on an actuable part (29) of the lever (20) to disengage the beak (22) of the lever from the wheel (12) before the wheel (12) is actuated in rotation by the correction member (53).
  7. 7. Clock mechanism (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the correction member (53) comprises a beak (54) arranged to actuate the wheel (12), a flexible blade (58) and a rigid portion (56) connecting the flexible blade (58) to the beak (54), the flexible blade (58) and the beak (54) bearing against respectively a first and a second bearing portion (59a, 59b) of the corrector (50).
  8. 8. Clock mechanism (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the correction member (53) is pivotally mounted on the corrector (50) so that the beak (54) can follow the angular movement of a tooth of the wheel (12), under the action of the force exerted by the wheel (12) and by the bending of the flexible blade (58).
  9. 9. Clock mechanism (10) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the correction member (53) is in one piece.
  10. 10. Clock mechanism (10) according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the corrector (50) is actuable in translation.
  11. 11. Calendar system comprising the clockwork mechanism (10) according to one of the preceding claims for displaying the date, the wheel (12) comprising 31 teeth, the cam (40) being arranged to perform a 360° rotation every 24 hours.
  12. 12. Date system according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the display comprises a first and a second indicator respectively comprising the units and the tens of the date.
  13. 13. Clock movement (10) comprising the clock mechanism (10), according to one of claims 1 to 10, or the date system according to claim 11 or 12.
  14. 14. Timepiece comprising the watch movement according to the preceding claim.

Description

Clock mechanism for the successive display of a sequence of time information Technical field [0001] The present invention relates to the field of watchmaking and more particularly to an instantaneous jump mechanism for the successive display of a sequence of time information as well as to a corrector intended to correct the time information displayed at all times. The instantaneous jump mechanism and the corrector are particularly well suited for the display and correction of a date comprising a first and a second indicator on which are affixed numbers indicating respectively the units and the tens of the date. State of the art [0002] So-called large date mechanisms are well known. The first and second indicators indicating respectively the units and tens of the date are driven by a programming wheel set. This wheel set is arranged to drive the first indicator by one step at the end of every day except at the end of the thirty-first day when it is not driven, and the second indicator by one step at the end of the ninth, nineteenth, twenty-ninth and thirty-first days of the month. [0003] This programming wheel carries a wheel of thirty-one teeth, called the date wheel, which is known to be driven by the beak of a lever controlled in turn either by the watch movement or by a pusher manually operated by a user to correct the date. In both cases, the date change occurs when the beak of the lever enters between two teeth of the date wheel and advances the latter by one step. [0004] A disadvantage of this type of mechanism lies in the risk of one of the indicators running away, particularly during the correction of the date by means of a pusher whose force exerted manually on it is not always constant. The date wheel and the programming wheel can thus drive either the tens indicator or the units indicator beyond the desired rotation angle by a single step in the case of excessive force applied to the pusher, resulting in a progression of two units instead of just one. [0005] EP1960844 discloses a mechanism for driving a date display intended to overcome this drawback. This mechanism comprises for this purpose two indicators on which are affixed numbers indicating respectively the units and the tens of the date, a programming wheel arranged to drive the two indicators as well as a lever comprising a beak. The programming wheel is integral with a date wheel provided with thirty-one teeth which is arranged to be driven by the beak of the beak to advance the date wheel by one step during a date change. The beak of the beak is engaged between first and second teeth of the date wheel. At the time of the date change, the beak is first disengaged from the first and second teeth to then fall between second and third teeth of the date wheel and thus advance the latter by a single step. [0006] An aim of the present invention is to propose a timepiece mechanism, according to an alternative solution, for the successive display of a sequence of time information, and configured to drive a wheel connected directly or indirectly to a display comprising said sequence of information. [0007] Another object of the present invention is to propose an instantaneous jump clock mechanism for the successive display of a sequence of time information configured to allow, at any time, the correction of the time information displayed. Brief summary of the invention [0008] At least some of these aims are achieved by an instantaneous jump timepiece mechanism for the successive display of a sequence of time information. The mechanism comprises a wheel directly or indirectly connected to a display comprising said sequence of information, a jumper engaged with the wheel, a cam arranged to perform a 360° rotation during a determined period, a lever comprising a cam follower and a constraint member arranged to constrain the cam follower against the cam. The profile of the cam is determined to pivot the lever in a first pivoting direction and then cause an instantaneous jump of the lever in an opposite pivoting direction. The lever further comprises a pinion mounted free to rotate and configured to be, at least temporarily, engaged with the wheel and engaged with a pawl allowing the pinion to rotate in only one direction. The rotation of the pinion at the periphery of the wheel is caused by the pivoting of the rocker in the first pivoting direction while the driving of the wheel by a predefined angular step is achieved by means of the pinion locked by the pawl during the instantaneous jump of the rocker in the opposite pivoting direction. [0009] According to one embodiment, the pinion is configured to permanently mesh with the wheel. [0010] According to one embodiment, the pinion is configured to be permanently engaged with the ratchet. [0011] According to one embodiment, the wheel is a toothed wheel. The predefined angular pitch corresponds to the angular pitch of the toothed wheel or to a multiple of the angular pitch of the toothed wheel, namely