Mystery-drive mechanical or electromechanical timepiece

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11454935-B2
Application number	US-201916513972-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2019
Priority date	Sep 5, 2018
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

A mechanical or electromechanical timepiece including a watch case delimiting an internal volume, the watch case including a back delimiting the watch case at the bottom; a crystal closing the watch case at the top, the crystal defining a useful display aperture; a middle part connecting the back and the crystal to one another; a horological movement housed in the internal volume of the watch case; at least one hand for displaying information visible via a useful display aperture and rotated with respect to the watch case by the horological movement with at least one driving belt extending at least partially in the useful display aperture, the timepiece includes the internal volume of the watch case filled with a fluid wherein at least one driving belt is submerged, and wherein the driving belt is made of a material wherein the optical refractive index is equal or substantially equal to that of the fluid.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A mechanical or electromechanical timepiece comprising a watch case delimiting an internal volume, said watch case comprising:
a back delimiting the watch case at a bottom;
a crystal closing the watch case at a top, said crystal defining a useful display aperture;
a middle part connecting the back and the crystal to one another;
a horological movement housed in the internal volume of the watch case;
a first hand for displaying information fastened onto a first pipe, said first hand being visible via the useful display aperture and being rotated with respect to the watch case by the horological movement with a first driving belt extending at least partially in the useful display aperture; and
a second hand for displaying information fastened to a second pipe is arranged in the useful display aperture and is rotated with respect to the watch case by the horological movement with a second driving belt extending at least partially in the useful display aperture,
wherein the timepiece comprises the internal volume of the watch case filled with a fluid wherein the first and second driving belts are submerged, and wherein the first and second driving belts are made of a material whose optical refractive index is equal or substantially equal to that of the fluid,
wherein a first end portion connecting each of the first hand and the second hand to the first pipe and second pipe respectively, is made of a material wherein the optical refractive index of the portion is the same as or similar to the optical refractive index of the fluid such that only a second end portion of each of the first hand and second hand is visible.

2. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the ratio between the optical refractive index of the fluid and that of the material of the first and second driving belts is between 0.9 and 1.1.

3. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid is transparent.

4. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid and the first and second driving belts have a colour and filter a part of the visible spectrum so as to highlight a coloured appearance.

5. The timepiece according to claim 4 , wherein the fluid includes suspended opaque particles.

6. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid is a liquid or an oil bath.

7. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the material used to produce the first and second driving belts is charged with a fluorescent or phosphorescent pigment.

8. The timepiece according to claim 7 , wherein the material with which the first and second driving belts are made is charged with a percentage of fluorescent or phosphorescent pigment between 1% and 10%.

9. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second driving belts made of silicone.

10. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein first and second driving belts are notched and engage with a toothing for each of the first pipe and the second pipe respectively whereon the first hand and second hand are respectively fixedly mounted.

11. The timepiece according to claim 10 , wherein the toothing is transparent and has an optical refractive index substantially equal to that of the at first and second notched driving belt.

12. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the horological movement is arranged outside the useful display aperture.

13. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the back is transparent.

14. The timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the internal volume of the watch case is devoid of gas pockets.

15. A mechanical or electromechanical timepiece comprising a watch case delimiting an internal volume, said watch case comprising:
a back delimiting the watch case at a bottom;
a crystal closing the watch case at a top, said crystal defining a useful display aperture;
a middle part connecting the back and the crystal to one another;
a horological movement housed in the internal volume of the watch case;
a first hand for displaying information fastened onto a first pipe, said first hand being visible via the useful display aperture and being rotated with respect to the watch case by the horological movement with a first driving belt extending at least partially in the useful display aperture; and
a second hand for displaying information fastened to a second pipe is arranged in the useful display aperture and is rotated with respect to the watch case by the horological movement with a second driving belt extending at least partially in the useful display aperture,
wherein the timepiece comprises the internal volume of the watch case filled with a fluid wherein the first and second driving belts are submerged, and wherein the first and second driving belts are made of a material whose optical refractive index is equal or substantially equal to that of the fluid,
wherein the second hand is fastened to a second pipe and is arranged in the useful display aperture, and
wherein the first pipe and the second pipe have an optical refractive index equal or substantially equal to that of the fluid.

Assignees

• Swatch Group Res & Dev Ltd

Inventors

• Tortora Pierpasquale

Classifications

• G04B19/02

  Back-gearing arrangements between gear train and hands {(transmissions in general G04B13/00)} · CPC title

• G04B45/046 Primary

  the driving mechanism of the hands being invisible because of special shielding (construction of the hands G04B19/042) · CPC title

• G04B45/0069 Primary

  Cases and fixed parts with a special shape (movable parts with a special shape G04B45/0061; decoration in general, and methods of manufacture thereof G04B45/0076; cases in general G04B37/00; combination with genuine utensils or mounting therein G04B47/00) · CPC title

• G04B5/182

  Guide arrangement of the moving weight in a straight course · CPC title

• G04B1/12

  with several mainsprings {(installations with a mainspring and an auxiliary spring G04B1/225; winding-up several mainsprings simultaneously G04B3/008)} · CPC title