Strike mode selector for a watch or timepiece

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10761485-B2
Application number	US-201816043785-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2018
Priority date	Jul 25, 2017
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

Striking mechanism for a watch including:
an hour snail driven by a movement, a strike wheel set including a detent ratchet and a repeating rack pinion, a pivoting hour-rack for reading this snail and driving this pinion, a click set in motion at each passing strike to drive this detent ratchet, with a mode selector mechanism for selection by the user of a particular strike mode, among distinct modes including a silent mode, defining the angular position of a cam having an external profile, wherein, in silent mode, the largest radius pushes back a beak of a silencing lever, to orient it into a position where its main arm moves this click away from this ratchet in order to disable every passing strike.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A striking mechanism for a watch or timepiece comprising a movement, said striking mechanism including at least one reference wheel set arranged to be driven by a said movement and wherein at least one said reference wheel set is an hour snail, at least one strike drive wheel set including a detent ratchet and a repeating rack pinion, said striking mechanism including at least one pivoting part, arranged to cooperate indirectly with an output of a said movement, including a feeler arm for reading a said reference wheel set and a rack for driving said repeating rack pinion, one of said pivoting parts being an hour-rack arranged to cooperate with said hour snail, said striking mechanism further including main click arranged to be set in motion at each passing strike and to drive said detent ratchet, and said striking mechanism being able to operate in at least two distinct strike modes including a silent mode, wherein said striking mechanism includes a mode selector mechanism, comprising a user-accessible selector which allows the user to choose which strike mode to use, and which controls the angular position of at least one cam, which has specific positions for different modes, said cam including a continuous, external, feeler arm support profile, arranged to cooperate with a beak comprised in a silencing lever, and which includes an area of larger radius corresponding to said silent mode, arranged to orient said silencing lever into a position wherein a main arm of said silencing lever moves said main click away from said detent ratchet, in order to disable every passing strike in silent mode, wherein said mode selector mechanism includes at least one said flat cam, which includes notched portions each corresponding to one of the selectable modes, and wherein said notched portions correspond to notches of variable size, requiring increasing force in one of the two directions of operation.

2. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said mode selector mechanism includes at least one said cam, which can have as many specific positions as there are designated modes of the striking mechanism, or which has positions specific to only certain of said modes.

3. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein one particular notch, at the centre or close to the centre, is larger than the end notches, so as to ensure safety by preventing the user from inadvertently changing from one strike mode to another.

4. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said mode selector mechanism includes at least one said cam arranged to differentiate between the different tunes played and/or the set of different gongs.

5. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said mode selector mechanism includes at least one said cam including multiple notches for differentiating between tunes and/or gongs assigned to each strike mode.

6. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said mode selector mechanism includes a plurality of cams which are superposed or juxtaposed in one plane.

7. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said mode selector mechanism is arranged to disable the striking mechanism in silent mode, by moving said main click away from said strike drive wheel set, and by preventing access by said hour-rack to said hour snail.

8. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said striking mechanism includes a minute repeater with a minute repeater control device including a repeater click, arranged to drive said detent ratchet once said hour-rack has performed a reading on said hour-snail, and wherein, in said silent mode, said main arm of said silencing lever allows said repeater click access to said detent ratchet, provided that the energy available is sufficient to complete a striking function.

9. The striking mechanism according to claim 8 , wherein said striking mechanism includes a stopping mechanism arranged to pivot a strike reversing lever when the energy available is insufficient to complete a striking function, and wherein said strike reversing lever controls the pivoting of a strike uncoupling lever arranged to prevent access by said repeater click to said detent ratchet when the available energy is insufficient to complete a striking function, and to move said main click away from said detent ratchet when the available energy is insufficient to complete a striking function.

10. The striking mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein said striking mechanism includes a grande sonnerie mode for the passing strike of each hour, and of each quarter hour, repeating the hour at the quarter hour, and a petite sonnerie mode for the passing strike of each hour and of each quarter hour without repeating the hour at the quarter hour, and wherein said striking mechanism includes a petite sonnerie lever arranged to cooperate in abutment with a cam pin comprised in said cam of said mode selector mechanism, in order, when the petite sonnerie mode is selected, to orient the petite sonnerie lever into a position in which the latter prevents said hour-rack moving towards said hour-snail, to prevent the hours being struck on the quarter hours.

11. The striking mechanism comprised in said striking mechanism according to claim 10 , wherein said striking mechanism includes, coaxial to a four-tooth star driven by said output and which is arranged to release passing strikes on the quarter hours, a tear-shaped hour cam, comprising a tip arranged to lift said petite sonnerie lever and to allow said hour-rack to move towards said hour-snail.

12. The striking mechanism according to claim 10 , wherein, when grande sonnerie mode is selected, said cam pin orients said petite sonnerie lever into a position in which the latter allows hour-rack 20 to move towards said hour-snail, to allow the hour to be struck on the quarter hours.

13. A watch comprising a movement including an output for releasing a passing strike function by the movement, said movement being arranged to drive at least one reference wheel set, and said watch including at least one said striking mechanism according to claim 1 .

14. A timepiece comprising a movement including an output for releasing a passing strike function by the movement, said movement being arranged to drive at least one reference wheel set, and said timepiece including at least one said striking mechanism according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Blancpain Sa

Inventors

• Denden Mehdi
• Peter Julien

Classifications

• G04B21/00 Primary

  Indicating the time by acoustic means (at preselected times G04B23/00; by electro-acoustic means G04C21/04; {indicating the time by means other than acoustically, or by combined means G04B25/00; indicating the time by visual means G04B19/00, G04C17/00; acoustic signalling arrangements G08B3/00}) · CPC title

• G04B9/02

  Devices controlled by such state, e.g. device affording protection means against overwinding (protecting means preventing overwinding arranged in or on the barrel G04B1/20; protecting means in connection with keys or the like G04B3/06; in connection with parts of the cases G04B3/10; in connection with automatic winding devices G04B5/24 {; electric winding up of mechanical clockworks G04C1/10}) · CPC title

• G04B23/026

  Hammer driving; hammers; devices with several hammers or sounding bodies; vibrators · CPC title

• G04B21/12

  Reiterating watches or clocks · CPC title

• G04B21/10

  Releasing or locking the regular stroke, e.g. for silence during the night · CPC title