Lunar phase display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10520892-B2
Application number	US-201815888204-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 5, 2018
Priority date	Mar 20, 2017
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

A lunar phase display device including an annular cover including four ring portions, two successive ring portions being separated by a convex lobe projecting radially towards the inside of the annular cover; a moon indicator disc, a drive device arranged to move the moon indicator disc so that the disc makes a cycloidal trajectory between two successive lobes, the moon indicator disc being at least partially occulted by each of the two lobes during one portion of the cycloidal trajectory so as to reproduce the phases of the moon during a lunar month.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A lunar phase display device comprising:
an annular cover comprising four ring portions, two successive ring portions being separated by a convex lobe projecting radially towards the inside of the annular cover;
a moon indicator disc,
drive means arranged to move the moon indicator disc so that said disc makes a cycloidal trajectory between two successive lobes of the convex lobes, the moon indicator disc being at least partially occulted by each of the two successive lobes during one portion of the cycloidal trajectory so as to reproduce the phases of the moon during a lunar month.

2. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the annular cover comprises a centre, the drive means comprising an arm including:
a first end arranged to be rotatably movable about a first axis of rotation passing through the centre of the annular cover;
and a second end, the moon indicator disc being arranged to make a rotational motion about a second axis of rotation passing through the second end of the arm.

3. The display device according to claim 2 , wherein the drive means further comprise:
an annular crown provided with an inner toothing;
a pinion provided with an outer toothing that meshes with the inner toothing of the annular crown, the second end of the arm being connected to the pinion such that the pinion is rotatably movable about the second axis of rotation, the moon indicator disc being fixed at an off-centre point of the pinion.

4. The display device according to claim 2 , further including transmission means arranged to drive the arm in rotation about the first axis of rotation.

5. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein the transmission means are configured such that the arm makes one complete revolution about the first axis of rotation in four lunar months.

6. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the lobes has a round shape of equal diameter to that of the moon indicator disc.

7. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the cover and the moon indicator disc are sized such that there is a position between the two successive lobes in which the moon indicator disc is simultaneously tangent to the two successive lobes.

8. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the ring portions has the shape of an arc of a circle.

9. A timepiece including a display device according to claim 1 .

10. The timepiece according to claim 9 , wherein the annular cover is a dial of the timepiece.

11. The timepiece according to claim 10 , comprising hands, the dial being disposed between the hands and the moon indicator disc.

Assignees

• Blancpain Sa

Inventors

• Robin Martin

Classifications

• G04B19/268 Primary

  with indicators for the phases of the moon · CPC title

• G04B19/046

  Indicating by means of a disc with a mark or window (for simultaneous indicating G04B19/048) · CPC title

• G04B19/26 Primary

  Clocks or watches with indicators for tides, for the phases of the moon, or the like {(planetaria G09B27/00 - G09B27/06; arrangements for table reference, e.g. menstrual tables G06C3/00)} · CPC title

• G04B13/02

  Wheels; Pinions; Spindles; Pivots (bearings G04B31/00 {; chain wheels, spindles for chain wheels, also chains and driving weights G04B1/08}) · CPC title