Arbor of a pivoting movable timepiece component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9915923-B2
Application number	US-201414779773-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 17, 2014
Priority date	Mar 26, 2013
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

A one-piece arbor of a pivoting movable timepiece component, the one-piece arbor being made of one or more aligned parts. The one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A one-piece arbor or staff of a pivoting movable timepiece component, the one-piece arbor comprising:
one or more aligned parts that the one-piece arbor is made in,
wherein the one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous after being magnetized from an external magnetic field source, and has intrinsic magnetic properties, which are: permeability, saturation field, coercive field, Curie temperature, and dependent hysteresis curve, which are not uniform throughout a volume of the one-piece arbor, and
wherein a core of the one-piece arbor and a body of the one-piece arbor other than the core cause the one-piece arbor to be magnetically inhomogeneous and to have the intrinsic magnetic properties be not uniform throughout the volume of the one-piece arbor.

2. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous, with a variation in the intrinsic magnetic properties of the one-piece arbor either in an axial direction of a pivot axis of the one-piece arbor, or radially with respect to the pivot axis, or both in the axial direction of the pivot axis of the one-piece arbor and radially with rotational symmetry with respect to the pivot axis.

3. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous with a variation in the intrinsic magnetic properties of the one-piece arbor radially with respect to a pivot axis of the one-piece arbor.

4. The one-piece arbor according to claim 3 , wherein the one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous with a variation in the intrinsic magnetic properties of the one-piece arbor radially with rotational symmetry with respect to the pivot axis.

5. The one-piece arbor according to claim 3 , wherein only material located at the core of the one-piece arbor, in a central area in proximity to the pivot axis of the one-piece arbor made of steel, has a high saturation field having a value greater than 1 T, a maximum magnetic permeability greater than 50, and a coercive field higher than 3 kA/m, whereas a material in a peripheral area of the one-piece arbor is weakly paramagnetic.

6. The one-piece arbor according to claim 3 , wherein only a material located at the core of the one-piece arbor, in a central area in proximity to the pivot axis of the one-piece arbor made of steel, has a high saturation field having a value greater than 1 T, a maximum magnetic permeability greater than 50, and a coercive field higher than 3 kA/m, whereas material in a peripheral area of the one-piece arbor is ferromagnetic with a low saturation field having a value of less than 0.5 T, a low maximum magnetic permeability of less than 10, and a low coercive field.

7. The one-piece arbor according to claim 6 , wherein a highly ferromagnetic region of the central area at the core of the one-piece arbor is contained in a cylinder having a radius less than 100 micrometers and centered on the pivot axis of the one-piece arbor.

8. The one-piece arbor according to claim 3 , wherein a material in a peripheral area of the one-piece arbor is weakly paramagnetic, with a low saturation field having a value of less than 0.5 T, a low maximum magnetic permeability of less than 10, and a low coercive field.

9. The one-piece arbor according to claim 3 , wherein a material in a peripheral area of the one-piece arbor is ferromagnetic, with a low saturation field having a value of less than 0.5 T, a low maximum magnetic permeability of less than 10, and a low coercive field.

10. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous with a variation in the intrinsic magnetic properties of the one-piece arbor in an axial direction of a pivot axis of the one-piece arbor.

11. The one-piece arbor according to claim 10 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes, in a direction of the pivot axis, a median portion surrounded on either side by two end areas, and only the end areas, made of steel, have a high saturation field having a value greater than 1 T, a maximum magnetic permeability greater than 50, and a coercive field higher than 3 kA/m, whereas material in the median portion of the one-piece arbor is weakly paramagnetic.

12. The one-piece arbor according to claim 10 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes, in a direction of the pivot axis, a median portion surrounded on either side by two end areas, and wherein only the end areas, made of steel, have a high saturation field having a value greater than 1 T, a maximum magnetic permeability greater than 50, and a coercive field higher than 3 kA/m, whereas material in the median portion of the one-piece arbor is ferromagnetic with a low saturation field having a value of less than 0.5 T, a low maximum magnetic permeability of less than 10, and a low coercive field.

13. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous with a variation in the intrinsic magnetic properties of the one-piece arbor both in an axial direction of a pivot axis of the one-piece arbor and radially with rotational symmetry with respect to the pivot axis.

14. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least either a paramagnetic portion with a magnetic permeability between 1.01 and 2, or a ferromagnetic portion.

15. The one-piece arbor according to claim 14 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least one paramagnetic portion with a magnetic permeability between 1.01 and 2.

16. The one-piece arbor according to claim 15 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least one median paramagnetic portion with a magnetic permeability between 1.01 and 2.

17. The one-piece arbor according to claim 14 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least one weakly ferromagnetic portion, with saturation field Bs<0.5 T at temperature T=23° C., coercive field Hc<1,000 kA/m at temperature T=23° C., maximum magnetic permeability μ R <10 at temperature T=23° C., and Curie temperature Tc>60° C.

18. The one-piece arbor according to claim 14 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least one paramagnetic portion, with a maximum magnetic permeability between 1.01 and 2 and at least one weakly ferromagnetic portion, with saturation field Bs<0.5 T at temperature T=23° C., coercive field Hc<1,000 kA/m at temperature T=23° C., maximum magnetic permeability μ R <10 at temperature T=23° C., and Curie temperature Tc>60° C.

19. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least one portion made of CoCr20Ni16Mo7.

20. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor includes at least one portion made of NiP.

21. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is an at least bimaterial arbor and includes at least one portion made of highly ferromagnetic material and at least one portion made of weakly ferromagnetic material.

22. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is an at least bimaterial arbor and includes at least one portion made of highly ferromagnetic material and at least one portion made of weakly paramagnetic material with a magnetic permeability between 1.01 and 2.

23. The one-piece arbor according to claim 1 , wherein the one-piece arbor is an at least bimaterial arbor and includes one portion made of paramagnetic material whose mass is lower than that of another portion made of ferromagnetic material.

24. The one-pi

Assignees

• Montres Breguet Sa

Inventors

• Zaugg Alain
• Sarchi Davide
• Karapatis Nakis

Classifications

• G04B1/16

  Barrels; Arbors; Barrel axles (arrangements facilitating the removal of the mainspring G04B33/14) · CPC title

• G04B17/32 Primary

  Component parts or constructional details, e.g. collet, stud {, virole or piton} · CPC title

• G04B15/14

  Component parts or constructional details, e.g. construction of the lever or the escape wheel {(assembly and manufacture of the spring G04B1/145; assembly and manufacture of components, e.g. pinions, spindles G04B13/02; lubrication of clockwork bearings G04B31/008; oils for clockwork bearings in general G04B31/08)} · CPC title

• G04C3/042

  using mechanical coupling · CPC title

• G04C5/00

  Electric or magnetic means for converting oscillatory to rotary motion in time-pieces, i.e. electric or magnetic escapements (regulators G04C3/00) · CPC title