Pinion shaft, watch mechanism, watch or measurement device without a magnetic signature

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12565711-B2
Application number	US-201716075889-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2017
Priority date	Feb 19, 2016
Publication date	Mar 3, 2026
Grant date	Mar 3, 2026

Abstract

A mechanical watch or measurement instrument including metallic parts, wherein each part of the mechanical watch mechanism has a relative magnetic permeability of less than 1.01.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A mechanical watch mechanism comprising:
metallic parts, wherein each part of the mechanical watch mechanism has a relative magnetic permeability of less than 1.01, and wherein one of the parts is a shaft composed of metal, wherein the shaft is made of beryllium copper and coated with an amagnetic coating which is applied to the beryllium copper to increase a hardness of the beryllium copper, wherein the shaft is mounted on gemstones, wherein the coating is a nickel layer having a phosphorus fraction, wherein nickel layer is an amorphous nickel layer, wherein the nickel layer is a chemical nickel layer, and wherein the shaft is a balance wheel shaft for rotatable mounting of the balance wheel, an escapement piece shaft for rotatable mounting of the escapement piece, a drive shaft for rotatable mounting of a drive mechanism, or a winding shaft for rotatable mounting of a winding mechanism.

2 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the beryllium copper of the shaft has at least 0.2% lead.

3 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the phosphorus fraction of the nickel layer is greater than 10%.

4 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one part, as a spring, an escapement wheel, an escapement piece, a bridge, a stud and/or a tourbillon, is produced from an alloy which, as main constituents, includes cobalt, chromium, iron, and nickel.

5 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the alloy is composed of the following elements:
between 39 and 41 percent cobalt, between 19 and 21 percent chromium, between 15 and 18 percent nickel, between 6.5 and 7.5 percent molybdenum, between 1.5 and 2.5 percent manganese, less than 3 percent other materials, and a residual content of iron.

6 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one part of the watch mechanism is a multiplicity of screws composed of a titanium alloy.

7 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one part of the watch mechanism is a spiral spring of a balance wheel, an escapement wheel, and/or an escapement piece, and is produced from silicon.

8 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one part of the watch mechanism composed of an amagnetic high-grade steel which has more than 10% chromium.

9 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 8 , the at least one part composed of the amagnetic high-grade steel is a shaft and/or a crown.

10 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the watch mechanism satisfies the NIHS 91-10 standard.

11 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the coating is the outermost layer of the shaft.

12 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the coating has a thickness of 3 μm and a hardness of 900 HV.

13 . The mechanical watch mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein
the beryllium copper shaft is composed of the following elements:
1.8 to 2 percent beryllium,
0.2 to 0.6 percent lead,
less than 1.1 percent other materials, and
a reminder of copper.

14 . A method for producing a mechanical watch mechanism, comprising:
producing individual parts of the mechanical watch mechanism, wherein the individual parts are at least partially composed of metal and each individual part has a relative magnetic permeability of less than 1.01, and wherein one of the individual parts is a shaft composed of metal, the shaft is made of beryllium copper and coated with an amagnetic coating which is applied to the beryllium copper to increase a hardness of the beryllium copper, wherein the coating is a nickel layer having a phosphorus fraction, wherein the nickel layer is an amorphous nickel layer, wherein the nickel layer is a chemical nickel layer, and wherein the shaft is a balance wheel shaft for rotatable mounting of the balance wheel, an escapement piece shaft for rotatable mounting of the escapement piece, a drive shaft for rotatable mounting of a drive mechanism, or a winding shaft for rotatable mounting of a winding mechanism; and assembling the individual parts to form a mechanical watch mechanism, the assembling including mounting the shaft on gemstones.

Assignees

• Omega Sa

Inventors

• Gaugey Guillaume

Classifications

• G04B13/02

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

• G04B17/285

  Tourbillons or carrousels · CPC title

• C22C38/001

  containing N · CPC title

• C22C38/18

  containing chromium · CPC title

• C25D7/00

  Electroplating characterised by the article coated · CPC title