Movement comprising a chronograph mechanism with a countdown function and a striking mechanism

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a mechanical watch movement comprising a chronograph mechanism arranged to be able to carry out at least one countdown of a predetermined time interval, comprising display means arranged to display at least the time remaining until the end of the countdown of said time interval, at least one member for controlling the start of the countdown, and a striking mechanism.

[0002] Such a movement is for example described in patent CH 704 705. It provides a countdown mechanism with a strike allowing the countdown of a predetermined time duration and adjustable up to 11:55 in five-minute jumps. A control actuated by a push-button is used to start the countdown. The end of the countdown is indicated by a mechanical strike. The remaining time is given by two discs indicating the hours and minutes.

[0003] Document US1153466A describes a countdown mechanism capable of bringing a bell into the vibration zone of a hammer to sound an alarm towards the expiration of a predetermined period of time. The present invention aims to provide an improved mechanical clock movement compared to known striking countdown mechanisms.

[0004] To this end, the present invention relates to a mechanical watch movement comprising a chronograph mechanism arranged to be able to carry out at least one countdown of a predetermined time interval, comprising display means arranged to display at least the time remaining until the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, at least one member for controlling the start of the countdown, and a striking mechanism.

[0005] According to the invention, said striking mechanism is arranged to start striking at a determined duration before the end of the countdown and to finish striking with the end of said countdown at said predetermined time interval.

[0006] Thus, the invention makes it possible to trigger a ringing mechanism before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval in order to warn a user that the current countdown of the predetermined time interval is about to end. Thus, the present invention makes it possible to have a countdown of a predetermined time interval having a pre-alarm using a mechanical ringing, and to be able to synchronize the end of the ringing with the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0007] Advantageously, the chronograph mechanism comprises at least one chronograph drive wheel set arranged to be able to carry out a countdown, and in particular the countdown of the predetermined time interval and the striking mechanism comprises at least one first cam kinematically linked to said chronograph drive wheel set and on which said determined duration is programmed before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, said first cam being arranged to make a revolution over a duration greater than the determined duration before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, a striking train,a first striking lever comprising a first striking feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with said first cam and said striking gear train to trigger the striking at the start of the determined duration before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval and a striking end mechanism arranged to be able to cooperate with said first striking lever to control the stopping of the striking at the end of said determined duration at the same time as the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.,

[0008] Preferably, the display means of the chronograph mechanism may comprise a first display member associated with the first cam to display a countdown obtained via the chronograph drive mobile.

[0009] According to a first embodiment of the invention, the first display member is arranged to display a countdown of units of minutes.

[0010] According to a second particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the first display member is arranged to display a countdown of seconds.

[0011] According to the second embodiment, the display means of the chronograph mechanism may comprise a second minute unit display member arranged to display the countdown of the minute units of said predetermined time interval and the striking mechanism comprises a second minute unit cam associated with said second minute unit display member, and a third minute unit feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with said second minute unit cam, said second minute unit cam being programmed to indicate to the third minute unit feeler lever the end of the minute unit countdown, said third minute unit feeler lever being arranged to cooperate with the first striking feeler lever so that said first striking feeler lever comes to cooperate with the first cam at the end of the minute unit countdown.

[0012] According to the second embodiment, the display means of the chronograph mechanism may comprise a third tens-of-minute display member arranged to display the tens-of-minute countdown of said predetermined time interval and the striking mechanism comprises a third tens-of-minute cam associated with said third tens-of-minute display member, and a fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with said third tens-of-minute cam, said third tens-of-minute cam being programmed to indicate to the fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever the end of the tens-of-minute countdown,said fourth tens of minutes feeler lever being arranged to cooperate with the third units of minutes feeler lever so that said third units of minutes feeler lever cooperates with said second units of minutes cam at the end of the tens of minutes count.,

[0013] According to the first embodiment, the display means of the chronograph mechanism may comprise a third tens-of-minute display member arranged to display the tens-of-minute countdown of said predetermined time interval and the striking mechanism comprises a third tens-of-minute cam associated with said third tens-of-minute display member, and a fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with said third tens-of-minute cam, said third tens-of-minute cam being programmed to indicate to the fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever the end of the tens-of-minute countdown, said fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever being arranged to cooperate with the first striking feeler lever so that said first striking feeler lever comes to cooperate with said first cam at the end of the tens-of-minute countdown.

[0014] Regardless of the embodiment, the display means of the chronograph mechanism may comprise a fourth hour display member arranged to display the countdown of the hours of said predetermined time interval and the striking mechanism comprises a fourth hour cam associated with said fourth hour display member, and a fifth hour feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with said fourth hour cam, said fourth hour cam being programmed to indicate to the fifth hour feeler lever the end of the hour countdown, said fifth hour feeler lever being arranged to cooperate with the fourth tens of minute feeler lever so that said fourth tens of minute feeler lever cooperates with said third tens of minute cam at the end of the hour countdown.

[0015] Advantageously, the third minute unit feeler lever, the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever and the fifth hours feeler lever can form a single lever, possibly also with the first striking feeler lever.

[0016] According to the invention as claimed in the appended set of claims, the chronograph mechanism is configured to be kinematically connectable to a base movement by a lateral or vertical clutch device.

[0017] Advantageously, according to one embodiment, the end-of-strike mechanism comprises an end-of-strike lever comprising a second end-of-strike feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with the first cam to control disengagement of the clutch device and stopping of the strike, at the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0018] According to this embodiment, the chronograph mechanism, and in particular the chronograph second hand, stops automatically with the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval.

[0019] According to another embodiment, the end-of-strike mechanism comprises an end-of-strike lever arranged to cooperate with the first strike lever and a strike stop cam kinematically linked to said chronograph drive wheel and arranged to control the end-of-strike lever in order to stop the strike at the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval without disengaging the clutch device.

[0020] According to this embodiment, the chronograph mechanism, and more particularly its chronograph drive wheel set, remains activated after the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval. Thus, the first display organ, and more particularly the chronograph second hand, continues to rotate without triggering a chime. A manual stop by a user will be necessary to stop the chronograph mechanism.

[0021] Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the following detailed description of different embodiments of the invention, given as non-limiting examples, and made with reference to the appended drawings in which: there figure 1 is a schematic view of a first variant embodiment of a movement according to the invention, the chronograph mechanism being in the STOP position; the figures 2 à 9 are schematic views of the movement of the figure 1 in different positions between a countdown start and a countdown end, the control device being ready to operate; the figure 10 is a schematic view of a second variant embodiment of a movement according to the invention; the figure 11 is a schematic view of the display organs for hours, tens of minutes, and units of minutes; the figure 12 is a schematic view of another variant embodiment of a movement according to the invention, the chronograph mechanism being in the STOP position before the start of a countdown of a predetermined time interval; the figures 13 à 20 are schematic views of the movement of the figure 12 in different positions between a countdown to one minute from the end and the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval, and the figure 21 is a view of the movement of the figure in the STOP position during ringing.

[0022] In reference to the figure 1 , the present invention relates to a mechanical watch movement comprising a chronograph mechanism arranged to be able to carry out at least one countdown of a predetermined time interval. In the present description, the term "chronograph mechanism" should be considered in the broad sense of the term, that is to say as comprising all the necessary elements or components arranged to produce at least one countdown of time and fraction of time to carry out at least one countdown.

[0023] The chronograph mechanism is represented here schematically by a chronograph drive wheel set 1, a drive wheel 2 making here one revolution per minute, corresponding to a chronograph seconds wheel, said drive wheel 2 being arranged to cooperate with the other components of the chronograph to be able to carry out a countdown, and in particular a countdown of a predetermined time interval. The chronograph mechanism, and more particularly the chronograph drive wheel set 1, is arranged to be able to be kinematically connected to the seconds wheel 4 of a basic watch movement indicating the current time by a vertical clutch device 6.Said vertical clutch device 6 comprises a clutch control clamp 8 and a clutch clamp 10 arranged to move apart when the chronograph is activated to start a countdown, so as to engage the second wheel 4 and the chronograph drive wheel set 1 allowing energy from the basic movement to be transmitted to the chronograph mechanism for its operation.

[0024] It is obvious that the clutch device could be lateral, the construction of the movement being adapted by the person skilled in the art to this type of clutch.

[0025] The chronograph mechanism also comprises a control member 11 for starting the countdown arranged to control at least the triggering of the chronograph mechanism, and in particular the opening of the clamps 8 and 10, by means of a control device 12 comprising a column wheel 14. This control member 11 is for example a pusher. It can be arranged to also control the stopping of the chronograph mechanism, and in particular the closing of the clamps 8 and 10, during the countdown if necessary.

[0026] In the first embodiment of the invention according to the figures 1 à 9 , the chronograph mechanism is arranged to be stopped automatically at the same time as the striking mechanism.

[0027] For this purpose, the control device 12 advantageously comprises a main control 13 actuable by the control member 11, and a secondary control 15 pivotally mounted on the main control 13 and to which it is connected by an elastic member (not shown). The main 13 and secondary 15 controls are respectively terminated by a hook 13a, 15a. The column wheel 14 comprises a first drive wheel 14a secured to the columns 14b and arranged to be actuated by the hook 15a of the secondary control 15, and a second drive wheel 14c arranged to be actuated by the hook 13a of the main control 13.The control device 12 also comprises a mechanism for locking the secondary control 15 in rotation on the main control 13, arranged to be able to be controlled manually by the control member 11 as well as internally, automatically, by an internal control member, here the hook 56 of the end-of-ring lever 50 as will be described below.

[0028] The locking mechanism and the secondary control 15 are arranged to occupy a locked state in which the elastic member connecting the main control 13 and secondary control 15 is armed and the secondary control 15 is rotationally integral with the main control 13 allowing, when the main control 13 is actuated via the actuating member 11, to actuate the column wheel 14 simultaneously by the main control 13 and secondary control 15, and to be able to pass, in the event of actuation of the locking mechanism by the hook 56, into an unlocked state in which said secondary control 15 is detached from the main control 13 and actuates, alone, the column wheel 14, the elastic member being disarmed, and to pass through a locking position, by actuation of the main control 13, in which only the main control 13 actuates the column wheel 14,said main control 13 being arranged to rearm the elastic member and cooperate with the locking mechanism of the secondary control 15 to return to the locked state.

[0029] The second drive wheel 14c is connected to the first drive wheel 14a by an elastic coupling element (not shown) arranged to connect the second drive wheel 14c to the first drive wheel 14a in rotation when only the second drive wheel 14c is actuated by the hook 13a of the main control 13 if the secondary control 15 has moved to the unlocked state and then only the main control 13 is actuated during the next manual actuation via the control member 11, and to detach the second drive wheel 14c from the first drive wheel 14a when only the first drive wheel 14a is actuated, thanks to the energy supplied by the elastic member which is disarmed, by the secondary control 15, after having been detached from the main control 13.

[0030] More particularly, the locking mechanism comprises a control rocker 19 arranged to be controlled by the hook 56 to move to the unlocked state and to be able to cooperate with a pin 21 provided on the main control 13 to move into the locking position and then to the locked state. The locking mechanism also comprises a locking hook 22 carried by the main control 15 and arranged to be controlled by said control rocker 19 via a pin 23 to move to the unlocked state and to be able to cooperate with a hook 15b provided on the secondary control 15 to move into the locking position and then to the locked state.

[0031] This device for controlling the chronograph mechanism can be operated by a user, but also by an internal control linked to the striking mechanism, so as to have an automatic control, in addition to a manual control of said chronograph mechanism, to stop the chronograph mechanism at the same time as the striking mechanism.

[0032] Such a control device is described in more detail in the applicant's European application No. EP20171993.

[0033] Any other suitable control device known to those skilled in the art may also be used.

[0034] In particular, it is possible to use a standard column wheel control device, controlled by a pusher, to manually and conventionally carry out the start / stop control of the chronograph mechanism, as will be described below in relation to another embodiment of the invention.

[0035] Regardless of the embodiments of the invention, the chronograph mechanism also comprises display means arranged to display at least the time remaining until the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval. In the variant shown in the figure 1 , these display means comprise a first display member for displaying a countdown of seconds, and in particular the countdown of seconds of the predetermined time interval, a second display member for displaying the countdown of units of minutes of the predetermined time interval, a third display member for displaying the countdown of tens of minutes of the predetermined time interval and a fourth display member for displaying the countdown of hours of the predetermined time interval.

[0036] These display means may be discs, hands, rollers or any other display member suitable for displaying the count of hours, tens and units of minutes, as well as seconds.

[0037] Preferably, the first seconds display member is a hand (not shown) corresponding to the second hand.

[0038] There figure 11 represents a preferred embodiment of the display members for displaying the countdown of hours, tens and units of minutes of the predetermined time interval, used in the present invention in the form of discs, the first display member for the seconds being a hand (not shown), corresponding to the second hand. More specifically, the second display member for counting the units of minutes of the predetermined time interval is a disc 16 bearing the numbers 0 to 9 regularly distributed around its periphery, said disc 16 being arranged to make one revolution in ten minutes. The third display member for counting the tens of minutes of the predetermined time interval is a disc 18 arranged tangentially to the disc of the units of minutes 16.The tens of minutes disc 18 bears two consecutive series of numbers 0 to 5 regularly distributed around its periphery, said disc 18 being arranged to make one revolution in two hours. The fourth display member for counting the hours of the predetermined time interval is a disc 20, arranged concentrically inside the tens of minutes disc 18. The hours disc 20 bears a series of numbers 0 to 6 regularly distributed around its periphery, said disc 20 being arranged to make one revolution in seven hours. The centers of the three discs 16, 18 and 20 are aligned allowing a display of the countdown of the hours, tens of minutes and units of minutes of the predetermined time interval in juxtaposed windows for easy reading of the countdown.

[0039] It is obvious that the display organs for the hours, tens and units of minutes of the predetermined time interval can be arranged differently, the striking mechanism being adapted accordingly, as will be described below.

[0040] The various display members can be arranged to drive one after the other from the second to the hour, starting for example from the drive wheel 2. In another variant, the first display member for displaying the countdown of the seconds can be kinematically linked to the drive wheel 2 and an auxiliary energy source can be provided to supply energy to the display member for counting the units of minutes, which drives the display member for counting the tens of minutes, itself driving the display member for counting the hours, for example by means of actuating fingers and stars cooperating to make the display member jump corresponding to each change of tens of minutes or hours.

[0041] An adjustment mechanism (not shown) is provided for positioning, before the start of the countdown of the predetermined time interval, the various display members for counting down the hours 20, the tens of minutes 18 and the units of minutes 16 so as to display the predetermined time interval to be counted down, said time interval to be counted down being adjustable for example up to 6H59.

[0042] Thus, when the countdown of the predetermined time interval is triggered, the various display elements are arranged to display the remaining time which decreases as the countdown progresses, from the value of the predetermined time interval to 0h00min00s, in a very precise manner, to the nearest second.

[0043] Such a construction of a countdown chronograph mechanism cooperating with a base movement via a clutch device is known to those skilled in the art and does not require further description.

[0044] The mechanical movement according to the invention also comprises a striking mechanism made up of mechanical components, and comprising in particular a striking train, represented here by an element 30 of the striking train carrying a stop star 32 of the striking train. These components of a striking mechanism are known to those skilled in the art and do not require a detailed description.

[0045] According to the invention, the striking mechanism is arranged so that the striking mechanism begins to sound at a determined duration before the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval, and ends to sound with the end of the countdown, that is to say at the same time as the countdown of said predetermined time interval reaches 0h00min00s.

[0046] For this purpose, the striking mechanism comprises at least a first cam 34 kinematically linked to the chronograph drive wheel set 1 and on which is programmed said determined duration before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, said first cam 34 being arranged to make one revolution over a duration greater than the determined duration before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval. The first cam 34 is associated with the first display member to display at least the countdown of said predetermined time interval obtained via the chronograph drive wheel set 1. In the present example, the first cam 34 is the seconds cam, associated with the first display member (i.e. the second hand) to display a countdown of the seconds. The first cam 34 therefore makes one revolution per minute here.

[0047] More particularly, the first cam 34 has an essentially circular profile and comprises a notch 36 whose circular length corresponds to the determined duration of the strike before the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval, the start 36a of the notch 36 corresponding to the triggering of the strike, and the end 36b of the notch 36 corresponding to the stopping of the strike, at the same time as the stopping of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, as will be described in detail below. For example, the length of the notch 36, between the start 36a and the end 36b of said notch 36, may correspond to a duration of 20 seconds before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0048] The striking mechanism also comprises a first striking lever comprising a first striking feeler lever 38 arranged to be able to cooperate with the first cam 34 and the striking train to trigger the striking at the start of the determined duration before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0049] The striking mechanism also comprises a striking end mechanism arranged to be able to cooperate with said first striking lever to control the stopping of the striking at the end of said determined duration at the same time as the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0050] In the first embodiment of the invention according to the figures 1 à 9 , in which the chronograph mechanism is arranged to be stopped automatically at the same time as the striking mechanism, the first second cam 34 is carried by the drive wheel 2 which meshes with the chronograph drive wheel set 1.

[0051] The first strike feeler lever 38 constitutes the first arm of a strike lever 41 pivotally mounted at A. The first strike feeler lever 38 has a beak 38a arranged to be able to come into contact with the first second cam 34 and then engage in its notch 36 at the time of striking, as will be described in more detail below.

[0052] Said striking lever 41 comprises a second arm 42 arranged to control a striking stop lever 44 pivotally mounted in D, a pin 43 secured to the second arm 42 ensuring the connection with said lever 44 via an oblong opening 45, said striking stop lever 44 itself being arranged to be able to cooperate with the stop star 32 of the striking train. The striking lever 41 comprises a third arm 46 comprising a heel 46a arranged to be able to cooperate with a pin 48 carried by the clutch clamp 10.

[0053] The operation of the various elements of the ring rocker 41 will be described below.

[0054] The end-of-strike mechanism comprises an end-of-strike lever 50 pivotally mounted at B and provided with a second end-of-strike feeler lever 40 arranged to be able to cooperate with the first cam 34 to control the stopping of the strike at the end of said determined duration at the same time as the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval. Thus, in this embodiment of the invention, the first cam 34 provided with its notch 36 is also part of the end-of-strike mechanism and constitutes both a start-of-strike cam and a stop-of-strike cam.

[0055] The second end-of-strike feeler lever 40 constitutes the first arm of the end-of-strike lever 50.

[0056] More specifically, the second end-of-strike feeler lever 40 has a beak 40a arranged to be able to come into contact with the first second cam 34 when the first strike feeler lever 38 falls into the notch 36 of said first cam 34 to trigger the strike, and to engage in said notch 36 at the end of the countdown and the strike, as will be described in more detail below.

[0057] The end-of-strike lever 50 comprises a second arm 54 carrying at its free end a hook 56 pivotally mounted at C and held in position by a pin 58 carried by the end of said second arm 54. The pivoting hook 56 is arranged to cooperate with the control device 12, as will be described below. In particular, the second end-of-strike feeler lever 40 is arranged to control, by means of said hook 56, a disengagement of the clutch device 6 and the stopping of the strike when said second end-of-strike feeler lever 40 falls into the notch 36 at the end of the countdown.

[0058] The end-of-strike lever 50 also comprises a third arm 60, in the extension of the second end-of-strike feeler lever 40. Said third arm 60 comprises a first beak 60a arranged to be able to cooperate with the foot 46b of the third arm 46 of the strike lever 41 and a second beak 60b arranged to be able to cooperate with the pin 48 of the clutch clamp 10.

[0059] The operation of the various elements of the end-of-ring switch 50 will be described below.

[0060] In the variant shown here, the striking mechanism comprises a second minute unit cam 62 associated with the second minute unit display member 16 to make, for example, one revolution in ten minutes, and a third minute unit feeler lever 64 arranged to be able to cooperate with said minute unit cam 62, said minute unit cam 62 being programmed to indicate to the third minute unit feeler lever 64 the end of the minute unit count. For this purpose, the minute unit cam 62 has an essentially circular profile and includes a notch 66, said third minute unit feeler lever 64 being arranged to be positioned in said notch 66 when the hour, tens of minutes and minute unit display members all display 0, that is to say from the moment when there is less than one minute left to count down.

[0061] In addition, the third minute unit feeler lever 64 is arranged to cooperate with the first strike feeler lever 38 so that said first strike feeler lever 38 comes into contact with the first second cam 34 at the end of the minute unit count, when the hour, tens of minutes and minute unit display members all display 0.

[0062] More particularly, the third feeler lever of the minute units 64 is a first arm of a detection lever 68 pivotally mounted at A, like the striking lever 41. The detection lever 68 and the striking lever 41 are arranged to be able to cooperate with each other. For this purpose, the detection lever 68 comprises, on said third minute unit feeler lever 64, a pin 70 arranged to be in contact with the striking lever 41, and for example with its third arm 46, so that a pivoting at A of one of the detection levers 68 and striking levers 41 causes a pivoting at A of the other of the detection levers 68 and striking levers 41. In particular, a pivoting at A of the detection lever 68 in the counterclockwise direction moves the pin 70 away from the striking lever 41 so that said striking lever 41, released, can pivot in turn in the counterclockwise direction.

[0063] The striking mechanism also comprises a third tens-of-minute cam 72 associated with the third tens-of-minute display member 18, and a fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever 74 arranged to be able to cooperate with said third tens-of-minute cam 72, said third tens-of-minute cam 72 being programmed to indicate to the fourth tens-of-minute feeler lever 74 the end of the tens-of-minute countdown. For this purpose, the tens-of-minute cam 72 has an essentially circular profile and may comprise, for example, two opposite notches 76, when the third tens-of-minute display member 18 is arranged to make one revolution, with the tens-of-minute cam 72, in two hours. The tens-of-minute cam 72 may comprise a single notch 76 if the third tens-of-minute display member is arranged to make one revolution per hour.The fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 is arranged to be positioned in one of the notches 76 when the hour 20 and tens of minutes 18 display members both display 0, that is to say from the moment when there are less than ten minutes remaining to count down.

[0064] In addition, the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 is arranged to cooperate with the third units of minutes feeler lever 64 so that said third units of minutes feeler lever 64 cooperates with the second units of minutes cam 62 at the end of the tens of minutes count, when the hour 20 and tens of minutes 18 display members both display 0.

[0065] More particularly, the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 is a second arm of the detection lever 68 opposite the third units of minutes feeler lever 64 with respect to A, so that a pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74, falling into one of the notches 76 of the tens of minutes cam 72, causes a pivoting at A, in the counterclockwise direction, of the third units of minutes feeler lever 64 to come into contact with the units of minutes cam 62.

[0066] The striking mechanism also comprises a fourth hour cam 78 associated with the fourth hour display member 20, superimposed on the third tens of minutes cam 72, and a fifth hour feeler lever 80, superimposed on the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74, and arranged to be able to cooperate with said fourth hour cam 78, said fourth hour cam 78 being programmed to indicate to the fifth hour feeler lever 80 the end of the hour count. For this purpose, the fourth hour cam 78 has an essentially circular profile and includes a notch 82 (cf. figures 4 et 5 ), the fifth hour feeler lever 80 being arranged to position itself in the notch 82 when the hour display member 20 displays 0, that is to say from the moment when there is less than one hour left to count down.

[0067] The fourth hour display member 20 may be arranged to rotate with the fourth hour cam 78, so as to allow a countdown of six hours per revolution. The number of hours counted may be different depending on the arrangement of the hour display member 20.

[0068] In addition, the fifth hour feeler lever 80 is arranged to cooperate with the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 so that said fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 cooperates with the third tens of minutes cam 72 at the end of the hour count, when the hour display member 20 displays 0.

[0069] More particularly, the fifth feeler lever of the hours 80 is a third arm of the detection lever 68, so that a pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the fifth feeler lever of the hours 80, falling into the notch 82 of the cam of the hours 78, causes a pivoting at A, in the counterclockwise direction, of the fourth feeler lever of the tens of minutes 74 to come into contact with the cam of the tens of minutes 72.

[0070] This means that in this particularly preferred variant of the invention, the third minute unit feeler lever 64, the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 and the fifth hours feeler lever 80 form a single lever, namely the detection lever 68. IlIt is obvious that other arrangements of these levers are possible, chosen so that said levers pivot in the same direction. In particular, the different feeler levers can be separated, while being arranged so that when one pivots in one direction, the others pivot in the same direction.

[0071] All elements such as rockers, levers, controls, clamps, hooks of the various mechanisms described above are subject to their own return springs not shown.

[0072] The movement works as follows: the starting STOP position is shown on the figure 1 , in which the control device 12 is ready to operate. The secondary control 15 and the locking mechanism are in the locked state, the locking hook 22 being coupled to the hook 15b of the secondary control 15. The secondary control 15 is therefore locked in rotation with the main control 13, the elastic member connecting them being armed. In this STOP position, the countdown chronograph mechanism and the striking mechanism are inactive. It is considered that the various display members for the hours 20, tens of minutes 18, units of minutes 16 and seconds have been positioned to display the predetermined time interval for the countdown. Only the second wheel 4 of the basic watch movement rotates.

[0073] In reference to the figure 2 , the control member 11 of the control device 12 is pushed by a user to trigger the START so that the column wheel 14 rotates so as to open the clutch control clamp 8 and the clutch clamp 10 in order to engage the seconds wheel 4 and the chronograph drive wheel set 1. The opening of the clutch clamp 10 releases the striking lever 41 and the end-of-striking lever 50, their respective arms 46 and 60 no longer being retained by the pin 48 of the clutch clamp 10.The striking lever 41 pivots about A in the counterclockwise direction, allowing the detection lever 68 to pivot in the counterclockwise direction, so that the first striking feeler lever 38, the third minute units feeler lever 64, and the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74, which were moved away from their respective cams 34, 62, 72 to allow the display members 16, 18 for the countdown to be adjusted, pivot in the counterclockwise direction and move slightly closer to their respective cams 34, 62, 72. The fifth hour feeler lever 80, which was also moved away from its hour cam 78 to allow the hour display member 20 for the countdown to be adjusted, pivots in the counterclockwise direction until it comes into contact with its hour cam 78.

[0074] Similarly, the released end-of-strike lever 50 pivots around B in the counterclockwise direction so that the second end-of-strike feeler lever 40 also moves slightly closer to the second cam 34. The end-of-strike lever 50 is held in position by the foot 46b of the third arm 46 of the strike lever 41 pressing on the first beak 60a of its third arm 60.

[0075] The chronograph drive wheel 1, engaged with the second wheel 4, drives the drive wheel 2 and the first second cam 34 in a counterclockwise direction. The display organs for the hours 20, the tens of minutes 18 and the units of minutes 16 are also driven with the hour cam 78, the tens of minutes cam 72 and the units of minutes cam 62 respectively, each time the second hand carried by the drive wheel 2 passes through 0.

[0076] In reference to the figure 3 , the START phase ends with the return of the control member 11 to its initial position under the action of its return spring (not shown). The countdown is in progress. The drive wheel 2 and the second cam 34 rotate counterclockwise so that the display members for the hours 20, the tens of minutes 18 and the units of minutes 16 with their respective cams 62, 72, 78 are released and can rotate according to the countdown to be displayed, each time the second hand passes 0, as in a standard countdown. The fifth feeler lever for the hours 80 is in contact with its cam for the hours 78, the other feeler levers 38, 40, 64 and 74 remaining at a distance from their cams 34, 62, 72.

[0077] In reference to the figure 4 , when there is less than one hour left to count down, the hour display member 20 is positioned to display 0 so that the hour feeler lever 80, being in contact with the hour cam 78, engages in the notch 82 of said hour cam 78 by pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction. The pivoting of the hour feeler lever 80 signifies the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the detection lever 68, and therefore of the tens of minutes feeler lever 74 which comes into contact with the tens of minutes cam 72 and the units of minutes feeler lever 64 which approaches its cam 62, as well as the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the striking lever 41 and therefore of the striking feeler lever 38 which approaches the seconds cam 34. The countdown continues via the drive wheel 2 driven by the chronograph drive wheel set 1.

[0078] In reference to the figure 5 , when there are less than ten minutes left to count down, the hour display member 20 still displaying 0, the tens of minutes display member 18 is positioned to display 0 so that the tens of minutes feeler lever 74, being in contact with the tens of minutes cam 72, engages in the notch 76 of said tens of minutes cam 72 by pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction. The pivoting of the tens of minutes feeler lever 74 signifies the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the detection lever 68 and therefore of the feeler lever of the units of minutes 64 which comes into contact with the cam of the units of minutes 62, as well as the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the striking lever 41, and therefore of the striking feeler lever 38 which approaches the seconds cam 34. The hour display member 20 having remained in the 0 display position, the hour feeler lever 80 remains engaged in the notch 82 of the hour cam 78.The countdown continues via drive wheel 2 driven by chronograph drive wheel 1.

[0079] In reference to the figure 6 , when there is less than one minute left to count down, the hour display members 20 and tens of minutes 18 still displaying 0, the minute unit display member 16 is positioned to display 0 so that the minute unit feeler lever 64, being in contact with the minute unit cam 62, engages in the notch 66 of said minute unit cam 62 by pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction. The pivoting of the minute unit feeler lever 64 signifies the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the detection lever 68 and therefore the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the striking lever 41, and therefore of the striking feeler lever 38 which comes into contact with the second cam 34 linked to the drive wheel 2.The display members for the hours 20 and the tens of minutes 18 having remained in the 0 display position, the feeler lever for the hours 80 remains engaged in the notch 82 of the hour cam 78, and the feeler lever for the tens of minutes 74 remains engaged in the notch 76 of the tens of minutes cam 72. With the pivoting of the striking lever 41 and its arm 42, the striking stop lever 44 is arranged to begin to disengage from the stop star 32 by pivoting clockwise around its pivot D, and the foot 46b of the third arm 46 of the striking lever 41 is practically disengaged from the first beak 60a of the third arm 60 of the end-of-striking lever 50. The countdown continues via the drive wheel 2 driven by the chronograph drive wheel set 1 so that the display member for the hours 20 and tens of minutes 18 remain ... foot 46b of the third arm 46 of the striking lever 41 is practically disengaged from the first beak 60a of the third arm 60 of the end-of-striking lever 50. seconds continues to rotate counterclockwise with the 34 second cam.

[0080] In reference to the figure 7 , the display members for the hours 20, the tens of minutes 18 and the units of minutes 16 always displaying 0, when the display member for the seconds displays the duration determined before the end of the countdown, for example 20 seconds, the second cam 34 is positioned so that the beak 38a of the striking feeler lever 38, being in contact with the second cam 34, engages in the start 36a of the notch 36 of said second cam 34 by pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction. The pivoting of the striking feeler lever 38 signifies the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the striking lever 41 and in particular of its arm 42 so that the striking stop lever 44 disengages from the stop star 32 by pivoting in the clockwise direction around its pivot D, and releases it. With element 30 of the striking gear train released, the strike begins to sound at the set time before the end of the countdown.

[0081] Thus, the counterclockwise pivoting of the hour feeler lever 80, then of the tens of minutes feeler lever 74, then of the units of minutes feeler lever 64, when it engages in the notch of its respective cam signifies the pivoting at A of the assembly of the detection levers 68 and striking lever 41 in the counterclockwise direction, so that said feeler levers gradually approach their respective cam until they come into contact with their respective cam to be able to engage in the associated notch when their respective display member displays zero, and so that the striking feeler lever 38 also gradually approaches the second cam 34 until it comes into contact with said second cam 34 to be able to fall into the notch 36 when the countdown reaches the determined duration before the end of the countdown in order to trigger the striking.

[0082] In parallel, the third arm 46 of the striking lever 41 has also pivoted at A so that its foot 46b is completely disengaged from the first beak 60a of the third arm 60 of the end-of-striking lever 50. The end-of-striking lever 50 is then released and pivots counterclockwise around B so that the beak 40a of the end-of-striking feeler lever 40 comes into contact with the second cam 34.

[0083] The display members for the hours 20, the tens of minutes 18 and the units of minutes 16 having remained in the 0 display position, the feeler lever for the hours 80 remains engaged in the notch 82 of the hours cam 78, the feeler lever for the tens of minutes 74 remains engaged in the notch 76 of the tens of minutes cam 72, and the feeler lever for the units of minutes 64 remains engaged in the notch 66 of the units of minutes cam 62. The countdown continues via the drive wheel 2 driven by the chronograph drive wheel set 1 so that the seconds display member continues to rotate counterclockwise with the seconds cam 34.

[0084] In reference to the figure 8 , when the countdown ends and reaches zero, the display members for the hours 20, the tens of minutes 18 and the units of minutes 16 still displaying 0, the display member for the seconds is positioned with the second cam 34 to display 0, the striking still being in progress. The circular length of the notch 36 of the second cam 34 is such that when 0 is displayed at the end of the countdown, the beak 40a of the end-of-striking feeler lever 40, being in contact with the second cam 34, engages in the beginning 36a of the notch 36 of said second cam 34 by pivoting at B in the counterclockwise direction. The beak 38a of the striking feeler lever 38 has reached the end 36b of the notch 36.

[0085] The pivoting of the end-of-strike feeler lever 40, dropped into the notch 36 of the second cam 34 at the end of the countdown, signifies the pivoting at B in the counterclockwise direction of the end-of-strike lever 50, and in particular of its arm 54, so that the hook 56 carried by the arm 54 releases the control lever 19 in order to act on the control device 12 to control a rotation of the column wheel 14 in order to disengage the clutch device 6.

[0086] In reference to the figure 9 , the control lever 19, released, pivots sufficiently so that its pin 23 comes, in its travel, to cooperate with the locking hook 22 so as to pivot it in the counterclockwise direction. The locking hook 22 having separated from the hook 15b of the secondary control 15 then passes to the unlocked state. The secondary control 15 is then also in the unlocked state, detached from the main control 13, so that, thanks to the energy supplied by the elastic member which disarms, said secondary control 15, released, pivots alone in the clockwise direction by actuating, by its hook 15a, the first drive wheel 14a of the column wheel 14 in the counterclockwise direction.This corresponds to an automatic STOP, during which the column wheel 14 is actuated automatically only by the secondary control 15, the main control 13 and the second drive wheel 14c having remained stationary, and the elastic coupling element between the two drive wheels 14a, 14c having unlatched.

[0087] The rotation of the column wheel 14 controls the closing of the clutch clamps 8 and 10, so as to disengage the second wheel 4 and the chronograph drive wheel set 1, which causes the drive wheel 2 and the second cam 34 to stop. When the clutch clamp 10 is closed, the pin 48 of said clutch clamp 10 returns to its initial position by pressing on the heel 46a of the arm 46 of the striking lever 41 and on the beak 60b of the arm 60 of the end-of-striking lever 50, so that said striking lever 41 and end-of-striking lever 50, and more particularly the striking feeler lever 38 and the end-of-striking feeler lever 40, pivot respectively at A and B in the clockwise direction and are released from the second cam 34.With this pivoting of the striking lever 41, and therefore of its arm 42, at the same time as the disengagement of the chronograph mechanism, the striking stop lever 44 pivots counterclockwise around its pivot D to once again cooperate with the stop star 32 and stop the element 30 of the striking train. Thus, the striking is stopped at the same time as the end of the countdown.

[0088] For a next countdown, the display members 16, 18, 20 will be positioned again according to the predetermined time interval for the countdown and the control device 12 is arranged to be positioned in a ready-to-operate position at the time of the next START. More particularly here, the automatic function of the secondary control 15 is made operational again for the next use of the chronograph, thanks to the locking mechanism moving into its locked position when the next START is triggered following a new pressure from the user on the control member 11, before returning to the locked state.Indeed, when a user triggers a new START, the secondary control 15 being in its unlocked state, only the main control 13 switches to actuate the column wheel 14, its hook 13a actuating the second drive wheel 14c, itself driving the first drive wheel 14a, and therefore the columns 14b, via the coupling produced by the elastic coupling element, as described above, in order to command a new opening of the clamps 8 and 10.

[0089] In parallel, the main control 13, by tilting, allows the rearming of the elastic member connecting it to the secondary control 15. On the other hand, during the tilting of the main control 13, its pin 21 comes, in its travel, to cooperate with the control rocker 19, so as to pivot it into the locking position, retracting the hook 56. During its pivoting, the control rocker 19 is rearmed. At the same time, the locking hook 22, embedded on the main control 13, comes into contact with the hook 15b of the secondary control 15, causing it to disengage in the counterclockwise direction to move into the locking position. At the end of the tilting of the main control 13, the locking hook 22 returns to engage in the hook 15b of the secondary control 15 to return to the locked state. The elastic member between the main control 13 and the secondary control 15 is completely rearmed.

[0090] It is of course possible to do a STOP & START during the countdown.

[0091] A similar mechanism could be provided by removing the hour display and the elements related to the hour countdown if only minutes and seconds are to be counted.

[0092] It is also possible, according to another embodiment, not to count down the seconds and to have a first display member arranged to display a countdown of the units of minutes, the first cam 34 linked to the first display member then being arranged to make one revolution in ten minutes and the circular length of its notch being able to be chosen to trigger the chime a few minutes before the end of the countdown.

[0093] In this case, it is considered that the first and second display members are merged, that the first and second cams are merged and that a third display member for the tens of minutes is provided, arranged to display the countdown of the tens of minutes as described above.The striking mechanism then comprises a third tens-minute cam associated with said third tens-minute display member, and a fourth tens-minute feeler lever arranged to be able to cooperate with said third tens-minute cam, said third tens-minute cam being programmed to indicate to the fourth tens-minute feeler lever the end of the tens-minute countdown, said fourth tens-minute feeler lever being arranged to cooperate directly with the first striking feeler lever, merged with the minute unit feeler lever, so that said first striking feeler lever comes to cooperate with said first cam at the end of the tens-minute countdown. The remainder of the mechanism is identical to that described above.

[0094] It is represented on the figure 10 a variant of the movement according to the invention, in which the first strike feeler lever 38, the third minute unit feeler lever 64, the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever 74 and the fifth hours feeler lever 80 form a single lever.

[0095] The first strike feeler lever 38 is also secured to two other arms, not shown, corresponding to arms 42 and 46 of the first example, so that the entire assembly can form a single rocker.

[0096] Elements of identical function to the elements of the movement of the figure 1 are represented with the same references.

[0097] In the variant shown in the figure 10 , the second cam 34 is provided, linked to the seconds display member and to the drive wheel 2. The second cam 34 includes the notch 36 defining the determined duration of the strike before the end of the countdown. Also provided are the minute units display member 16 associated with the minute units cam 62 including its notch 66, the tens of minutes display member 18 associated with the tens of minutes cam 72 including its two notches 76, and the hours display member 20 associated with the hours cam 78 including its notch 82.

[0098] The hour feeler lever 80 is arranged to be able to cooperate with the hour cam 78 and fall into the notch 82 when the hour display member 20 displays zero. Said hour feeler lever 80 carries on its arm, the tens of minutes feeler lever 74, arranged substantially perpendicular to the hour feeler lever 80. The tens of minutes feeler lever 74 carries at its end a pin 75 arranged to come into substantially tangential contact with the tens of minutes cam 72 and fall into one of the notches 76 when the tens of minutes display member 18 displays zero. The minute units feeler lever 64 is arranged to be able to cooperate with the minute units cam 62 and fall into the notch 66 when the minute units display member 16 displays zero.The striking feeler lever 38 is arranged to be able to cooperate with the second cam 34 and fall into the notch 36 when the countdown reaches the determined duration before the end of the countdown to trigger the striking.

[0099] The strike feeler lever 38, the minute unit feeler lever 64 and the hour feeler lever 80 are secured to each other by their end opposite their feeler so as to form the different arms of a single and unique lever pivotally mounted at A.Thus, as described above, the counterclockwise pivoting of the hour feeler lever 80, then of the tens of minutes feeler lever 74, then of the units of minutes feeler lever 64, when it engages in the notch of its respective cam means the pivoting of the entire lever in the counterclockwise direction, so that said feeler levers gradually approach their respective cam until they come into contact with their respective cam to be able to engage in the associated notch when their respective display member displays zero, and so that the striking feeler lever 38 also gradually approaches the second cam 34 until it comes into contact with said second cam 34 to be able to fall into the notch 36 when the countdown reaches the determined duration before the end of the countdown in order to trigger the striking.

[0100] The end-of-ring flip-flop (not shown) is identical to flip-flop 50 in the first example.

[0101] In another embodiment of the invention according to the figures 12 à 21 , the chronograph mechanism is arranged so that the first seconds display organ, i.e. the chronograph second hand, continues to rotate after the chime has automatically stopped and after the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval.

[0102] The common elements in the method of realization of the figures 1 à 9 are taken with the same references.

[0103] Said chronograph drive wheel 1 is arranged to be able to be kinematically connected to the second wheel 4 of the basic watch movement indicating the current time by the vertical clutch device 6. Said vertical clutch device 6 comprises a clutch control clamp 8 and a clutch clamp 10 arranged to move apart when the chronograph is activated to start a countdown, so as to engage the second wheel 4 and the chronograph drive wheel 1. The opening of the clamps 8 and 10 is controlled in a conventional manner by a standard column wheel control device 14, actuated for example by a pusher of the pusher type 11, to manually and conventionally carry out the start / stop control of the chronograph mechanism.

[0104] The display means arranged to display the hour, tens and units of minutes remaining until the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval are similar to those described previously.

[0105] Only the minute units cam 62 with its notch 66, associated with the minute units display member, the minute units feeler lever 64 pivotally mounted at G, the tens of minutes cam 72 with its notches 76, associated with the tens of minutes display member, the tens of minutes feeler lever 74, the hours cam 78 with its notch 82, associated with the hours display member, superimposed on the tens of minutes cam 72, and the hours feeler lever 80, superimposed on the tens of minutes feeler lever 74 are shown.

[0106] The tens of minutes feeler lever 74 and the hours feeler lever 80 form the arms of a detection lever 90 pivotally mounted in H, like the detection lever 68 of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the detection lever 90 comprises a third arm 92 opposite the tens of minutes feeler lever 74 with respect to H, so that a clockwise H-shaped pivoting of the tens of minutes feeler lever 74, falling into one of the notches 76 of the tens of minutes cam 72, causes a clockwise H-shaped pivoting of the third arm 92 of the detection lever 90. At the end of the third arm 92 of the detection lever 90 is provided a pin 94 arranged to cooperate with a beak 96 of the minutes units feeler lever 64.Thus, a clockwise pivot in H of the detection lever 90 and its arm 92 causes a counterclockwise pivot in G of the third feeler lever of the minute units 64 to come into contact with the cam of the minute units 62.

[0107] As in the first embodiment above, the minute unit feeler lever 64 is arranged to position itself in the notch 66 of the minute unit cam 62 when the hour, tens of minutes and minute unit display members all display 0, i.e. from the moment when there is less than one minute left to count down.

[0108] The striking mechanism comprises the first second cam 34. In this embodiment, the construction of the mechanism is carried out so that the first second cam 34 and the first display member for displaying a countdown of the seconds, i.e. the chronograph second hand, are carried directly by the axis of the chronograph drive wheel set 1.

[0109] In reference to the figure 12 , the second cam 34 comprises the notch 36 whose circular length corresponds to the determined duration of the strike before the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval, the start of the notch 36 corresponding to the triggering of the strike, and the end of the notch 36 corresponding to the stopping of the strike. For example, the length of the notch 36 may correspond to a duration of 20 seconds before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0110] The striking mechanism also comprises a first striking lever 100 pivotally mounted at A and comprising a first arm constituted by the first striking feeler lever 38 arranged to be able to cooperate with the first cam 34 and the striking gear train to trigger the striking at the start of the determined duration before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0111] More specifically, the first striking feeler lever 38 has a beak 38a arranged to be able to come into contact with the first second cam 34 and then engage in its notch 36 at the time of striking. The striking lever 100 is subject to its spring 101.

[0112] As in the first embodiment, said striking lever 100 comprises a second arm 42 arranged to control the striking stop lever 44 pivotally mounted at D, a pin 43 secured to the second arm 42 ensuring the connection with said lever 44 via an oblong opening 45, said striking stop lever 44 itself being arranged to be able to cooperate with the stop star 32 of the striking train.

[0113] The ring lever 100 comprises a third arm 102 carrying a pin 104 arranged to be able to cooperate with the clutch control clamp 8. More specifically, the clutch control clamp 8 presses on the pin 104 when it is in the closed position.

[0114] In addition, the third minute unit feeler lever 64 is arranged to cooperate with the first strike feeler lever 38, via the third arm 102 of the strike lever 100, so that the beak 38a of the first strike feeler lever 38 comes into contact with the first second cam 34 at the end of the minute unit count, when the hour, tens of minutes and minute unit display members all display 0.

[0115] More particularly, the minute unit feeler lever 64 comprises a foot 64a arranged to press on a beak 106 of the third arm 102 of the striking lever 100 so as to hold the first striking feeler lever 38 away from the second cam 34 until the end of the minute unit count.

[0116] The ringing lever 100 comprises a fourth arm 108 arranged to be able to cooperate with the end-of-ring mechanism to control the automatic stopping of the ringing at the end of said determined duration at the same time as the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

[0117] For this purpose, the end-of-strike mechanism comprises an end-of-strike lever 110 pivotally mounted at E, and arranged to cooperate with the first strike lever 100. More specifically, the end-of-strike lever 110 comprises a first arm 111 terminated by a beak 112 and carrying a pin 113 arranged to cooperate with the hook-shaped end 114 of the fourth arm 108 of the first strike lever 100. The end-of-strike lever 110 comprises a second arm 115 arranged to cooperate with a pin 116 carried by the clutch clamp 10. The end-of-strike lever 110 is subject to its spring 118.

[0118] The end-of-strike mechanism also comprises a strike stop cam 120 kinematically linked to said chronograph drive wheel set 1 and arranged to control the end-of-strike lever 110, and therefore the first strike lever 100, in order to automatically stop the strike at the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, and this without disengaging the clutch device 6.

[0119] Advantageously, the striking stop cam 120 is coaxial with the second cam 34 and rotationally integral with the latter. It comprises a beak 120a.

[0120] In order to be able to control the end-of-strike lever 110 via the strike stop cam 120 to automatically stop the strike, the end-of-strike mechanism comprises a lever hook 122 pivotally mounted at F, its pivot axis passing through the strike lever 100 by means of an opening provided for this purpose. Said rocker hook 122 comprises a first arm 124 arranged to be able to cooperate with the beak 120a of the striking stop cam 120 and a pin 126 arranged to cooperate with the fourth arm 108 of the first striking lever 100 in order to pivot at F the rocker hook 122 so as to position its arm 124 in the radius of gyration of the beak 120a of the striking stop cam 120 when the first striking lever 100 pivots at A in the counterclockwise direction to bring the beak 38a of the first striking feeler lever 38 into contact with the first second cam 34.

[0121] The rocker hook 122 comprises a second hook-shaped arm 128 arranged to cooperate with the beak 112 of the end-of-strike rocker 110 in order to lock said end-of-strike rocker 110 and to be able to release it when said rocker hook 122 is actuated by the strike stop cam 120.

[0122] The rocking hook 122 is subject to its spring 130.

[0123] The operation of the mechanism according to this embodiment is as follows: the starting STOP position is shown on the figure 12 , in which the countdown chronograph mechanism and the striking mechanism are inactive. The various display organs for hours, tens of minutes, units of minutes and seconds are considered to have been positioned to display the predetermined time interval for the countdown. Only the second wheel 4 of the basic watch movement turns.

[0124] The control member of the control device is pushed by a user to trigger the START so that the column wheel 14 rotates so as to open the clutch control clamp 8 and the clutch clamp 10 in order to engage the seconds wheel 4 and the chronograph drive wheel set 1.

[0125] When the clutch clamp 10 is opened, its pin 116 resting on the second arm 115 of the end-of-strike lever 110 causes said end-of-strike lever 110 to return to its initial position so that it is locked in position by the lever hook 122.

[0126] Opening the clutch control clamp 8 releases the striker lever 100, its third arm 102 no longer being retained by the clamp 8 previously resting on the pin 104.

[0127] As in the first embodiment, the striking lever 100 pivots about A in the counterclockwise direction, so that the first striking feeler lever 38, as well as the minute units feeler lever 64, and the other tens of minutes and hours feeler levers, which were moved away from their respective cam to allow the display members for the countdown to be adjusted, pivot to move slightly closer to their respective cam. However, said striking lever 100 is kept away from the seconds cam 34 by the foot 64a of the minute units feeler lever 64 resting on the beak 106 of the third arm 102 of the striking lever 100.

[0128] The countdown is carried out in the same way as described above for the first embodiment, the chronograph drive wheel set 1, engaged with the second wheel 4, carrying the first second cam 34 and the strike stop cam 120 to rotate them counterclockwise. The display members for the hours, tens of minutes and units of minutes are also driven with their respective cams each time the second hand carried by the chronograph drive wheel set 1 passes through 0. The clockwise H-shaped pivoting of the detection lever 90 and its arm 92 causes a counterclockwise G-shaped pivoting of the minute units feeler lever 64 which gradually approaches the minute units cam 62 until it comes into contact with the latter when there are less than ten minutes left to countdown.

[0129] In reference to the figure 13 , when one minute remains to be counted, the hour and tens of minutes display members display 0, and the minute units display member does not yet display 0 so that the minute units feeler lever 64, in contact with the minute units cam 62, is not yet engaged in the notch 66 of said minute units cam 62. In this position, the striking feeler lever 38 is still not in contact with the second cam 34, the beak 106 of the third arm 102 of the striking lever 100 still being retained by the foot 64a of the minute units feeler lever 64. In this position, the striking lever 100, by its second arm 42, keeps the striking train stopped, the striking stop lever 44 being engaged in the stop star 32.

[0130] Furthermore, the rocking hook 122 is distant from the ringing stop cam 120.

[0131] In reference to the figure 14 , when there is less than one minute left to count down, the hour and tens of minutes display members still displaying 0, the minute units display member is positioned to display 0 so that the minute units feeler lever 64, being in contact with the minute units cam 62, engages in the notch 66 of said minute units cam 62 by pivoting in G in the counterclockwise direction.

[0132] By pivoting, the foot 64a of the minute unit feeler lever 64 releases the third arm 102 and therefore the striking lever 100 so that said striking lever 100, under the action of its spring 101, pivots at A in the counterclockwise direction, the beak 38a of the striking lever 38 then coming into contact with the maximum radius of the second cam 34 carried by the chronograph drive wheel set 1.

[0133] When the striking lever 100 and therefore its second arm 42 pivot, the striking stop lever 44 is arranged to begin to disengage from the stop star 32 by pivoting clockwise around its pivot D. The countdown continues via the chronograph drive wheel set 1 so that the seconds display member continues to rotate counterclockwise with the seconds cam 34.

[0134] In reference to the figure 15 , the display members for the hours, tens of minutes and units of minutes always displaying 0, when the display member for the seconds displays the determined duration before the end of the countdown, for example 20 seconds, the second cam 34 is positioned so that the beak 38a of the striking feeler lever 38, being in contact with the second cam 34, engages in the notch 36 of said second cam 34. By falling into the notch 36, the striking feeler lever 38 pivots again at A in the counterclockwise direction. The pivoting at A of the striking feeler lever 38 signifies the pivoting at A in the counterclockwise direction of the striking lever 100 and in particular of its second arm 42 so that the striking stop lever 44 disengages from the stop star 32 by pivoting in the clockwise direction around its pivot D, and releases it. With the striking gear released, the chime begins to ring at the set time before the end of the countdown.

[0135] In parallel, the fourth arm 108 of the striking lever 100 has also pivoted counterclockwise so that it causes the tilting of the lever hook 122, via its pin 126, in the clockwise direction around its pivot F so that its arm 124 enters the radius of gyration of the beak 120a of the striking stop cam 120 carried by the chronograph drive wheel set 1.

[0136] By pivoting at F in the clockwise direction, the arm 128 of the rocker hook 122 has slightly disengaged from the beak 112 of the end-of-strike rocker 110.

[0137] In reference to the figure 16 , when the countdown ends and reaches practically zero, for example 5 seconds before the end of the countdown, the seconds display member is positioned with the seconds cam 34 and the strike stop cam 120 to display for example 5, the strike still being in progress. The positioning of the beak 120a of the stop cam 120 is such that said beak 120a comes into contact with the arm 124 of the rocking hook 122 to be able to drive it in rotation at F in the clockwise direction.

[0138] The beak 38a of the ring feeler lever 38 has reached the end of the notch 36.

[0139] In reference to the figure 17 , when the countdown ends and reaches zero, the hour, tens of minutes and units of minutes display organs still displaying 0, the seconds display organ is positioned with the seconds cam 34 and the strike stop cam 120 to display 0.

[0140] The rocker hook 122 and the beak 120a of the strike stop cam 120 are configured so that, when the 0 is displayed at the end of the countdown, the rocker hook 122 controlled by the strike stop cam 120 has tilted to F clockwise enough for its arm 128 to release the beak 112 of the strike stop rocker 110.

[0141] The end-of-ring lever 110 is then released and pivots at E in the counterclockwise direction, under the action of its spring 118.

[0142] The pivoting of the end-of-strike lever 110 at the end of the countdown means the counterclockwise pivoting of its first arm 111, so that the pin 113 carried by said arm 111 drives the hook-shaped end 114 of the fourth arm 108 of the strike lever 100 to pivot said strike lever 100 at A in the clockwise direction. This pivoting of the striking lever 100 at A in the clockwise direction allows the striking feeler lever 38 to be released from the second cam 34. In parallel, during this pivoting at A of the striking lever 100 in the clockwise direction, and therefore of its arm 42, at the same time as the end of the countdown, the striking stop lever 44 is driven by the arm 42 to pivot in the counterclockwise direction around its pivot D to come back to cooperate with the stop star 32 and stop the striking train. Thus, the striking is stopped at the same time as the end of the countdown.

[0143] In reference to the figure 18 , once the striking has stopped, the seconds display member, i.e. the chronograph second hand, continues its travel with the seconds cam 34 and the striking stop cam 120 in the counterclockwise direction so that the beak 120a of said striking stop cam 120 passes the arm 124 of the rocker hook 122 and releases it. Once released, the rocker hook 122 pivots in F in the counterclockwise direction, under the action of its spring 130, until its second hook-shaped arm 128 comes to bear on the arm 111 of the end-of-striking rocker 110. Thus the rocker hook 122 leaves the radius of gyration of the striking stop cam 120, which makes it possible to avoid any unnecessary consumption of energy when the second hand continues its travel while waiting for a manual stop of the chronograph mechanism.

[0144] In reference to the figures 19 And 20, when the user manually stops the chronograph mechanism to stop the second hand, he presses the control member of the chronograph mechanism to trigger the STOP, so that the column wheel 14 rotates so as to close the clutch control clamp 8 and the clutch clamp 10 in order to disengage the clutch device 6 to disengage the second wheel 4 and the chronograph drive wheel set 1. As shown in the figure 19 , when the clutch clamp 10, which was in the open position, closes, it pivots clockwise so that its pin 116 drives the second arm 115 of the end-of-strike lever 110 so as to pivot said end-of-strike lever 110 at E in the clockwise direction, and also the lever hook 122 resting on said end-of-strike lever 110.

[0145] When the clamps 8, 10 are closed as shown in the figure 20 , the end-of-strike lever 110, having completed its travel, remains held by the pin 116 of the clutch clamp 10. The end-of-strike lever 110 will be locked by the arm 128 of the lever hook 122 returning to its initial position by pivoting at F in the counterclockwise direction under the action of its spring 130 when the strike lever 100, released by the opening of the clutch control clamp 8 at the next start of the countdown, will pivot at A in the counterclockwise direction under the action of its spring 101.

[0146] It is of course possible to make a STOP for example during the countdown and the ringing, the mechanism then being in a configuration similar to that of the figure 15 Or 16. In this configuration, the clutch control clamp 8 is not in contact with the striking lever 100, since it is in the open position and does not press on the pin 104 of the third arm 102 of the striking lever 100. With reference to the figure 21, when the user stops the countdown, the clamps 8 and 10 close, controlled by the column wheel 14. The clutch control clamp 8 pivots counterclockwise to press on the pin 104 of the third arm 102 of the striking lever 100 so that said striking lever 100 pivots at A in the clockwise direction. This pivoting of the striking lever 100 at A in the clockwise direction allows the striking feeler lever 38 to be released from the second cam 34. In parallel, during this pivoting at A of the striking lever 100 in the clockwise direction, and therefore of its arm 42, the striking stop lever 44 is driven by said arm 42 to pivot counterclockwise around its pivot D to again cooperate with the stop star 32 and stop the striking train. Thus, the striking is stopped.When the countdown next starts without prior adjustment of the display devices to display a countdown, the various parts will return to their position before the next STOP.

[0147] The present invention makes it possible to have a countdown chronograph mechanism provided with a striking mechanism that is triggered before the end of the countdown from a predetermined time interval to a predefined duration before the end of the countdown, in order to warn a user that the current countdown of said predetermined time interval is about to end. Thus, the present invention makes it possible to have a countdown timer having a pre-alarm using a mechanical striking mechanism, the end of the striking mechanism being synchronized with the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval. According to the variants, the chronograph mechanism can stop at the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval or remain activated so that the chronograph second hand continues to run without triggering a striking mechanism.

Claims

1. A mechanical timepiece movement comprising a chronograph mechanism arranged to be capable of carrying out at least one countdown of a predetermined time interval, comprising display means arranged to display at least the time remaining until the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, at least one member for controlling (11) the start of the countdown, and a striking-mechanism, said striking-mechanism being arranged to start striking at a specified time before the end of the countdown and to stop striking at the end of said countdown of said predetermined time interval, characterized in that the chronograph mechanism is configured to be capable of being kinematically connected to a base movement by a lateral or vertical clutch device (6).

2. The movement according to Claim 1, characterized in that the chronograph mechanism comprises at least one chronograph drive wheel and pinion (1) arranged to be capable of performing a countdown, and in that the striking-mechanism comprises at least one first cam (34) kinematically linked to said chronograph drive wheel and pinion (1) and on which said specified time before the end of the countdown of the predetermined time interval is programmed, said first cam (34) being arranged to make one revolution over a time greater than the specified time before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval, a striking geartrain, a first striking lever (41; 100) comprising a first striking feeler lever (38) arranged to be capable of cooperating with said first cam (34) and said striking geartrain in order to trigger the striking at the start of the specified time before the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval and an end of striking mechanism arranged to be capable of cooperating with said first striking lever (41; 100) in order to control the stopping of the striking at the end of said specified time at the same time as the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

3. The movement according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the display means of the chronograph mechanism comprise a first display member associated with the first cam (34) for displaying a countdown obtained via the chronograph drive wheel and pinion (1).

4. The movement according to any one of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the first display member is arranged to display a minute unit countdown.

5. The movement according to any one of Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the first display member is arranged to display a second countdown.

6. The movement according to Claim 5, characterized in that the display means of the chronograph mechanism comprise a second minute unit display member (16) arranged to display the minute unit countdown of said predetermined time interval and in that the striking-mechanism comprises a second minute unit cam (62) associated with said second minute unit display member (16), and a third minute unit feeler lever (64) arranged to be capable of cooperating with said second minute unit cam (62), said second minute unit cam (62) being programmed to indicate the end of the minute unit countdown to the third minute unit feeler lever (64), said third minute unit feeler lever (64) being arranged to cooperate with the first striking feeler lever (38) such that said first striking feeler lever (38) comes to cooperate with the first cam (34) at the end of the minute unit countdown.

7. The movement according to Claim 6, characterized in that the display means of the chronograph mechanism comprise a third tens of minutes display member (18) arranged to display the tens of minutes countdown of said predetermined time interval and in that the striking-mechanism comprises a third tens of minutes cam (72) associated with said third tens of minutes display member (18), and a fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) arranged to be capable of cooperating with said third tens of minutes cam (72), said third tens of minutes cam (72) being programmed to indicate the end of the tens of minutes countdown to the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74), said fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) being arranged to cooperate with the third minute unit feeler lever (64) such that said third minute unit feeler lever (64) comes to cooperate with said second minute unit cam (62) at the end of the tens of minutes countdown.

8. The movement according to Claim 4, characterized in that the display means of the chronograph mechanism comprise a third tens of minutes display member arranged to display the tens of minutes countdown of said predetermined time interval and in that the striking-mechanism comprises a third tens of minutes cam (72) associated with said third tens of minutes display member, and a fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) arranged to be capable of cooperating with said third tens of minutes cam (72), said third tens of minutes cam (72) being programmed to indicate the end of the tens of minutes countdown to the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74), said fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) being arranged to cooperate with the first striking feeler lever (38) such that said first striking feeler lever (38) comes to cooperate with said first cam (34) at the end of the tens of minutes countdown.

9. The movement according to any one of Claims 7 and 8, characterized in that the display means of the chronograph mechanism comprise a fourth hour display member (20) arranged to display the hour countdown of said predetermined time interval and in that the striking-mechanism comprises a fourth hour cam (78) associated with said fourth hour display member (20), and a fifth hour feeler lever (80) arranged to be capable of cooperating with said fourth hour cam (78), said fourth hour cam (78) being programmed to indicate the end of the hour countdown to the fifth hour feeler lever (80), said fifth hour feeler lever (80) being arranged to cooperate with the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) such that said fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) comes to cooperate with said third tens of minutes cam (72) at the end of the hour countdown.

10. The movement according to Claim 9, characterized in that the third minute unit feeler lever (64), the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) and the fifth hour feeler lever (80) form a single lever.

11. The movement according to Claim 10, characterized in that the first striking feeler lever (38), the third minute unit feeler lever (64), the fourth tens of minutes feeler lever (74) and the fifth hour feeler lever (80) form a single lever.

12. The movement according to any one of Claims 2 to 11, characterized in that the end of striking mechanism comprises an end of striking lever (50) comprising a second end of striking feeler lever (40) arranged to be capable of cooperating with the first cam (34) in order to control a disconnection of the clutch device (6) and the stopping of the striking at the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval.

13. The movement according to any one of Claims 2 to 11, characterized in that the end of striking mechanism comprises an end of striking lever (110) arranged to cooperate with the first striking lever (100) and a stopping of striking cam (120) kinematically linked to the chronograph drive wheel and pinion (1) and arranged to control said end of striking lever (110) in order to stop the striking at the end of the countdown of said predetermined time interval without disconnecting the clutch device (6).