Mechanical component, mechanical component manufacturing method, movement, and timepiece

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9678477-B2
Application number	US-201514841973-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 1, 2015
Priority date	Sep 12, 2014
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

A mechanical component configured to rotate with a shaft member includes a component main body having a through-hole through which the shaft member is passed, and one or more shaft support portions formed on the inner surface of the through-hole to fix the shaft member to the component main body. The one or more shaft support portions protrude from the inner surface of the through-hole and are capable of retaining the shaft member due to an elastic force. The one or more shaft support portions are made of material having a larger elongation percentage than that of the material of the component main body thereby preventing breakage of the mechanical component due to stress created when the shaft member is forced through the through-hole in the component main body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mechanical component configured to rotate with a shaft member, comprising:
a component main body having a through-hole through which the shaft member is passed; and
one or more shaft support portions protruding inwardly from the inner surface of the through-hole and serving to fix the shaft member to the component main body; wherein
the one or more shaft support portions protrude into the through-hole from the inner surface of the through-hole and are capable of retaining the shaft member due to an elastic force;
the component main body has a retaining recess as an anchor structure fixing each shaft support portion by retaining a part of the shaft support portion;
each retaining recess extends outwardly from the through-hole and has a width dimension at a first position nearest to the through-hole that is smaller than the width dimension at a second position farther outward from the through-hole;
the component main body is made of a material different from that of the one or more shaft support portions; and
the elongation percentage of the material of the one or more shaft support portion is larger than the elongation percentage of the material of the component main body.

2. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more shaft support portions are formed of a material capable of plastic deformation and of retaining the shaft member by a bending elastic force.

3. The mechanical component according to claim 2 , wherein one end side and the other end side of each shaft support portion are connected together by an intermediate portion and are each fixed to the component main body, and the intermediate portion is formed in an arcuate configuration spaced away from the inner surface of the through-hole and is capable of retaining the shaft member by a bending elastic force.

4. The mechanical component according to claim 2 , wherein the inner surface of the through-hole has a displacement regulating protrusion which, when the shaft member is deviated from a predetermined normal position, abuts the shaft member to regulate its outward displacement.

5. The mechanical component according to claim 2 , wherein each shaft support portion has a pair of stationary portions one end side and the other end side of which are fixed in respective retaining recesses of the component main body, a proximal portion extending inwardly from each stationary portion into the through-hole, and an inner peripheral extension portion connecting ends of the proximal portions to each other, the inner peripheral extension portion extending in the peripheral direction of the component main body and capable of retaining the shaft member by a bending elastic force.

6. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein one end side and the other end side of each shaft support portion are connected together by an intermediate portion and are each fixed to the component main body, and the intermediate portion is formed in an arcuate configuration spaced away from the inner surface of the through-hole and is capable of retaining the shaft member by a bending elastic force.

7. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein the inner surface of the through-hole has a displacement regulating protrusion which, when the shaft member is deviated from a predetermined normal position, abuts the shaft member to regulate its outward displacement.

8. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein each shaft support portion has a pair of stationary portions one end side and the other end side of which are fixed in respective retaining recesses of the component main body, a proximal portion extending inwardly from each stationary portion into the through-hole, and an inner peripheral extension portion connecting ends of the proximal portions to each other, the inner peripheral extension portion extending in the peripheral direction of the component main body and capable of retaining the shaft member by a bending elastic force.

9. The mechanical component according to claim 8 , wherein the inner peripheral extension portion has an inwardly protruding retaining protrusion abutting the shaft member to retain the same, the retaining protrusion protruding inwards from an end portion of the inner peripheral extension portion.

10. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein each shaft support portion has an opening formed to extend in the peripheral direction of the component main body.

11. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein each shaft support portion has a displacement regulating structure regulating displacement in the thickness direction with respect to the component main body.

12. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein the component main body is formed of a brittle material; and each shaft support portion is formed of metal material.

13. The mechanical component according to claim 1 , wherein each shaft support portion forms a forcing-in portion into which the shaft member is forced to be thereby fixed to the shaft member.

14. A movement equipped with a mechanical component as claimed in claim 1 .

15. A timepiece equipped with a movement as claimed in claim 14 .

16. A method of manufacturing a mechanical component configured to rotate with a shaft member,
the mechanical component comprising:
a component main body having a through-hole through which the shaft member is passed; and
one or more shaft support portions protruding inwardly from the inner surface of the through-hole and serving to fix the shaft member to the component main body,
the component main body having a retaining recess as an anchor structure fixing each shaft support portion by retaining a part of the shaft support portion,
each retaining recess extending outwardly from the through-hole and having a width dimension at a first position nearest to the through-hole that is smaller than the width dimension at a second position farther outward from the through-hole,
the one or more shaft support portions protruding into the through-hole from the inner surface of the through-hole and being capable of retaining the shaft member due to an elastic force,
the component main body being made of a material different from that of the one or more shaft support portions, and
the elongation percentage of the material of the one or more shaft support portions being larger than the elongation percentage of the material of the component main body, the method comprising the steps of:
forming a mask having an inner configuration corresponding to the configuration of the one or more shaft support portions and an outer configuration corresponding to the outer configuration of the component main body on at least one surface of a base member constituting the component main body and forming a structure for retaining the one or more shaft support portions on the base member in conformity with the inner configuration of the mask;
forming the one or more shaft support portions through electroforming; and
removing unnecessary portions of the base member in conformity with the outer configuration of the mask.

Assignees

• Seiko Instr Inc

Inventors

• Tanabe Sachiko
• Niwa Takashi
• Nakajima Masahiro

Classifications

• F16C27/00

  Elastic or yielding bearings or bearing supports, for exclusively rotary movement (shock-damping bearings for watches or clocks G04B31/02) · CPC title

• G04B13/026

  Physics · mapped topic

• G04B13/021 Primary

  elastic fitting with a spindle, axis or shaft · CPC title

• G04B13/02 Primary

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

• F16B2/20

  Clips, i.e. with gripping action effected solely by the inherent resistance to deformation of the material of the fastening · CPC title