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EP-4741949-A1 - COMPOSITE MIDDLE FOR A TIMEPIECE

EP4741949A1EP 4741949 A1EP4741949 A1EP 4741949A1EP-4741949-A1

Abstract

Case (30) of a watch part, characterized in that it comprises a skeleton (10) forming a reinforcement structure of the case (30), said skeleton (10) comprising through openings (11), said skeleton delimiting an internal enclosure (12) and said skeleton forming at least one fixing device for a case back and/or a crystal and/or a bezel and/or a control element and/or a bracelet and in that it comprises at least two inserts welded together to form at least one continuous assembly through at least two through openings (11) of the skeleton (10), to form 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 a part of the visible outer surface of the case (30).

Inventors

  • Calame, Florian
  • RIOTTE, THIBAUT

Assignees

  • ROLEX SA

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241112

Claims (15)

  1. Case (30) of a watch part, characterized in that it comprises a skeleton (10) forming a reinforcement structure of the case (30), said skeleton (10) comprising through openings (11), said skeleton delimiting an internal enclosure (12) and said skeleton forming at least one fixing device for a case back and/or a crystal and/or a bezel and/or a control organ and/or a bracelet and in that it comprises at least two inserts welded together to form at least one continuous assembly through at least two through openings (11) of the skeleton (10), to form 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 a part of the visible external surface of the case (30).
  2. Watch case according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the skeleton (10) forms a single-piece assembly.
  3. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) comprises a regular or irregular openwork network, in particular of the lattice, TPMS, alveolar, cellular, or trabecular type.
  4. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the through openings (11) of the skeleton (10) are positioned on the outside of the case (30) and are communicating, without opening on the inside of the case (30) at the interface with the internal enclosure (12) in order to participate in the sealing of the internal enclosure (12).
  5. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) includes reinforcing portions (14), such as overthicknesses, pillars, or lattices, in order to preserve its integrity during compression molding, in particular arranged at the lugs and/or at the case sides.
  6. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) comprises an internal surface for receiving a watch movement, delimiting the internal enclosure (12) and designed so as to allow a cage or casing of a watch movement.
  7. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) includes at least one portion forming at least one fixing device (12a, 13a, 13b) for a case back and/or a crystal and/or a bezel and/or a control element and/or a strap and includes housings (12b, 13a) for positioning sealing gaskets at the interfaces with components such as a crystal (50), a case back (40), or a watch case, suitable for ensuring the sealing of the internal enclosure (12) after fixing a case back (40) and a crystal (50).
  8. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) forms part of the outer surface of the case (30), in particular located at the level of edges or chamfers arranged at the level of the sides of the case, the lugs, and/or a flange.
  9. A watch case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) comprises, or is based on, or is made of a metal or a metal alloy, in particular comprising steel, gold, platinum, silver, bronze, titanium, such as grade 5 titanium or titanium aluminide, aluminum, or magnesium, or comprises, or is based on, or is made of technical ceramics, in particular based on alumina or zirconia, or comprises, or is based on, or is made of organic or mineral compounds.
  10. Watch case according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton (10) comprises through openings (11) which are filled by inserts (20), said inserts (20) being all welded together and optionally to the skeleton, to form a continuous assembly, to form an inseparable interlocking structure comprising said inserts (20) and said skeleton (10).
  11. Watch case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said inserts (20) comprise, or are based on, or are made of a composite material, such as a polymer such as a thermoplastic, in particular a PEKK, optionally comprising short or long fibers incorporated in a resin matrix, in particular glass, carbon, mineral or organic fibers or technical ceramic powders, in particular based on alumina or zirconia, in particular fibers oriented in a longitudinal direction relative to the sides of the case.
  12. Watch case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the skeleton material (10) has a yield strength and/or hardness and/or ductility and/or tensile strength and/or melting temperature greater than that of the material of at least one insert (20).
  13. A watch case according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one edge of protection (1 1a) positioned at the level of a visible outer edge of an insert (20).
  14. A timepiece, characterized in that it comprises a case (30) according to one of the preceding claims.
  15. A watch part according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises a crystal (50) fixed to the skeleton (10) of the case (30) and/or a case back (40) fixed to the skeleton (10) of the case (30) and/or a bezel fixed to the skeleton (10) of the case (30) and/or a control element, such as a pusher or a crown, fixed to the skeleton (10) of the case (30), and/or a bracelet fixed to the skeleton (10) of the case (30).

Description

The present invention relates to a case for a timepiece, in particular a wristwatch. It also relates to a timepiece comprising such a case. A watch component, and more specifically a case component, must achieve numerous mechanical properties, sometimes conflicting. Among these desired properties, we can mention: Lightness, which makes wearing a timepiece comfortable; A very attractive appearance, free from defects, compatible with the aesthetic requirements of luxury watchmaking; Robustness, to withstand the external stresses experienced by a watch part, so that the watch component retains the same appearance in a lasting way, and more generally all of its mechanical properties in a lasting way. In practice, existing solutions represent compromises between these properties. Generally, watch components are mass-produced from a material that can be both lightweight and hard. However, these existing solutions have limitations, and there is a need to identify new solutions that optimize the properties and/or appearance of watch components. An object of the present invention is therefore to propose a solution for obtaining a lightweight and robust build in an improved manner compared to the state of the art. To this end, the invention is based on a watch case, characterized in that it comprises a skeleton forming a reinforcement structure for the case, said skeleton comprising through openings, said skeleton delimiting an internal enclosure and said skeleton forming at least one fixing device for a case back and/or a crystal and/or a bezel and/or a control organ and/or a bracelet and in that it comprises at least two inserts welded together to form at least one continuous assembly through at least two through openings of the skeleton, to form an interlocking structure comprising said at least two inserts and said skeleton, at least one of said two inserts forming at least a part of the visible external surface of the case. The invention is more precisely defined by the claims. These objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following description of a particular embodiment, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying figures, among which: There figure 1 represents a bottom view of a skeleton of a build according to an embodiment of the invention. There figure 2 represents a cross-sectional view through an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA of the skeleton of the frame according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 3 represents a top view of the skeleton of the frame according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 4 represents an exploded view in cross-section by an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA of a pre-assembled assembly according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 5 represents a bottom view of the pre-assembled assembly according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 6 represents a top view of the pre-assembled assembly according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 7 represents a cross-sectional view through an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA of the pre-assembled assembly according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 8 represents a cross-sectional view through an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA of a molding device of the pre-assembled assembly during a molding step according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 9 represents the evolution respectively of the temperature T in °C and of the load C in kN during the molding stage of the manufacturing process according to the embodiment of the invention. There Figure 10 represents a cross-sectional view through an unfolded transverse vertical plane AA of a blank case resulting from the molding step according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 11 represents a half-section view of the case according to the embodiment of the invention. There figure 12 represents a half-section view of a watch case comprising the case middle according to the embodiment of the invention. The invention relates to a case, which will also be more generally referred to as a watch component, specifically a case component, since it belongs to this family of components. In particular, a case is positioned around the perimeter of a timepiece or constitutes the perimeter of a timepiece. Such a case comprises a first part oriented towards the interior of the timepiece, specifically towards the volume containing the watch movement, which we will call the housing, and a second part oriented towards the exterior, specifically intended to be visible from the outside of the timepiece. We will subsequently use the adjectives "interior" and "exterior" as defined above, even for a case considered independently of a timepiece, in reference to its intended positioning within a timepiece. Furthermore, we will conventionally use the adjective "horizontal" for any direction positioned in a horizontal plane, co