Method for manufacturing a micromechanical timepiece part and said micromechanical timepiece part

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11378918-B2
Application number	US-201615234147-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 11, 2016
Priority date	Sep 8, 2015
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a micromechanical timepiece part starting from a silicon-based substrate, including, providing a silicon-based substrate, forming pores on the surface of at least one part of a surface of the silicon-based substrate of a depth of at least 10 μm, preferably of at least 50 μm, and more preferably of at least 100 μm, the pores being designed in order to open out at the external surface of the micromechanical timepiece part. A micromechanical timepiece part including a silicon-based substrate which has, on the surface of at least one part of a surface of the silicon-based substrate, pores of a depth of at least 10 μm, preferably of at least 50 μm, and more preferably of at least 100 μm, the pores being designed in order to open out at the external surface of the micromechanical timepiece part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a micromechanical timepiece part, comprising, in order:
providing a silicon-based substrate;
forming pores along a given direction on at least one part of a surface of said silicon-based substrate of a depth of at least 10 μm, said pores being closed at one end thereof and open at another end thereof located at the surface, said pores separated by one or more flexible pillars; and
after the forming of the pores, filling said pores entirely with a first material and depositing the first material over said pores filled with said first material and over said pillars to form a surface layer of said first material,
wherein the silicon-based substrate includes at least one hydrophobic zone and at least another zone, the at least one hydrophobic zone including the pores, the at least another zone not comprising the pores, a tribological agent applied on the at least one hydrophobic zone, and
wherein the tribological agent is said first material.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the depth of the pores is at least 50 μm.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the depth of the pores is at least 100 μm.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pores are formed over a zone of the silicon-based substrate corresponding to a decorative surface.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the method comprises, after the forming, depositing at least one coating over the decorative surface.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the coating comprises a metallisation layer.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the coating comprises a transparent oxide layer chosen from the group comprising SiO 2 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , and VO 2 .

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pores are designed in order to form, between the pores, silicon-based fibres which have an aspect factor (depth:diameter ratio) between 5 and 100.

9. The method according to claim 8 , comprising, after the providing, depositing at least one polymer brush on walls of the silicon-based fibres,
wherein said at least one polymer brush is configured to be impregnated with said first material.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the tribological agent is a perfluorocarbonated polymer.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the forming is achieved by a method chosen from the group comprising a method by electrochemical etching, a Stain-etch method and a MAC-Etch method.

12. The method according to claim 11 , in which the forming is achieved by the MAC-Etch method.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pores have an aspect factor (depth:diameter ratio) between 1 and 200.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pores have a depth greater than 200 μm.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the pores have a depth greater than 300 μm.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the silicon-based substrate is a silicon wafer or an SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator) wafer.

17. A micromechanical timepiece part obtained by the method according to claim 1 .

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pores extend in a parallel manner.

19. A micromechanical timepiece part comprising:
a silicon-based substrate including, on at least one part of a surface of said silicon-based substrate, pores of a depth of at least 10 μm, said pores being closed at one end thereof and open at another end thereof located at the surface, said pores formed along a given direction and separated by one or more flexible pillars, said pores entirely filled with a first material,
wherein the first material is deposited over said pores filled with said first material and over said pillars to form a surface layer of said first material,
wherein the silicon-based substrate includes at least one hydrophobic zone and at least another zone, the at least one hydrophobic zone including the pores, the at least another zone not comprising the pores, a tribological agent applied on the at least one hydrophobic zone, and
wherein the tribological agent is said second material.

20. The micromechanical timepiece part according to claim 19 , wherein the depth of the pores is at least 50 μm.

21. The micromechanical timepiece part according to claim 20 , wherein the depth of the pores is at least 100 μm.

22. The micromechanical timepiece part according to claim 19 , wherein the pores are designed in order to form a decorative surface, and wherein said decorative surface is covered with a coating comprising a metallisation layer and/or a transparent oxide layer chosen from the group comprising SiO 2 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , and VO 2 .

23. The micromechanical timepiece part according to claim 19 , wherein the pores comprise a tribological agent.

24. The micromechanical timepiece part according to claim 23 , comprising, between the pores, silicon-based fibres, the silicon-based fibres comprising walls covered by at least one polymer brush, the silicon-based fibres and the polymer brush being impregnated with the tribological agent.

25. The micromechanical timepiece part according to claim 19 , wherein the pores extend in a parallel manner.

26. A micromechanical timepiece part comprising:
a silicon-based substrate,
a hydrophobic zone formed on at least a first part of a surface of said silicon-based substrate and having pores of a depth of at least 10 μm, said pores being closed at one end thereof and open at another end thereof located at the surface, said pores formed along a given direction and separated by one or more pillars having a circular cross section, said pores containing a first material,
another zone not including the pores formed on at least a second part of a surface of said silicon-based substrate,
the first material deposited over said pores containing said first material and over said pillars to fill the pores and to form a surface layer of the first material, and
the first material comprising a tribological agent.

Assignees

• Nivarox Far Sa

Inventors

• Dubois Philippe

Classifications

• B81B3/007

  For controlling stiffness, e.g. ribs · CPC title

• G04B19/12

  Selection of materials for dials or graduations {markings} · CPC title

• G04D3/0082

  for gear wheels or gears · CPC title

• G04B31/08 Primary

  Lubrication {(self-lubricated plastic bearings G04B31/016; lubrication of the escape wheel G04B15/14; lubrication of synchronous clockworks G04C15/009; lubrication devices and lubricant containers G04D5/00)} · CPC title

• C23C14/22

  characterised by the process of coating · CPC title