Mechanical timepiece

Abstract

To provide a mechanical timepiece in which a silicon escape wheel is less easily broken.SOLUTION: A mechanical timepiece 1 has an escapement 80 including a silicon escape wheel 110 and is configured so that three hands, i.e., an hour hand 4A, a minute hand 4B, and a second hand 4C are gathered to one place. An ganging pin 120 of an escape wheel and pinion 100 including the escape wheel 110 and a fourth winding pinion 243 of a fourth wheel and pinion 24 to which the second hand 4C is attached are engaged with each other. A shaft 241 of the fourth wheel and pinion 24 is provided with a biasing force to an axial direction extending to the side where the second hand 4C is attached, by an elastic member 244.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a mechanical watch.

Background Art

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanical watch having an escapement including silicon gang wheels and having a configuration in which the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand are gathered at one place.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the mechanical watch of Patent Document 1, when an impact such as a drop is applied, the impact force is transmitted to the gang wheel, and the impact force is transmitted to the second hand in the rotation direction at a timing different from normal, and the tooth tip of the silicon gang wheel collides with the anchor claw, resulting in the tooth tip of the gang wheel being damaged.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In a mechanical watch having an escapement including silicon gang wheels and having a configuration in which the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand are gathered at one place, the gang tooth of the gang wheel including the gang wheel meshes with the fourth gear of the fourth wheel to which the second hand is attached, and the shaft of the fourth wheel is biased in the axial direction toward the side where the second hand is attached by an elastic member.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0007] 1. First Embodiment First, as the mechanical watch 1 according to the first embodiment, a watch having an escapement 80 including a silicon gang gear 110 and configured to gather the hour hand 4A, the minute hand 4B, and the second hand 4C at one place will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. In the following figures, in order to make each member recognizable in size, each member may be shown at a scale different from the actual one.

[0008] As shown in FIG. 1, the mechanical watch 1 of the present embodiment includes a cylindrical outer case 2, and a disk-shaped dial 3 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the outer case 2. Of the two openings of the outer case 2, the opening on the front surface side is closed with a cover glass, and the opening on the back surface side is closed with a back cover.

[0009] Further, the mechanical watch 1 includes a watch movement 10 housed in the outer case 2, an hour hand 4A, a minute hand 4B, and a second hand 4C for displaying time information, and a power reserve hand 5 for indicating the duration by the mainspring. Hands such as the hour hand 4A, the minute hand 4B, the second hand 4C, and the power reserve hand 5 are attached to the hand shafts of the movement 10 and are driven by the movement 10. A calendar window 3A is provided in the dial 3, and the date wheel 6 is visible through the calendar window 3A.

[0010] On the side of the outer case 2, a dragon head 7 is provided. The dragon head 7 can be pulled two steps from the 0-step position, which is the normal position pushed toward the center of the mechanical watch 1. When the dragon head 7 is rotated at the 0-step position, the mainspring can be wound up as will be described later. In conjunction with the winding up of the mainspring, the power reserve hand 5 moves. The mechanical watch 1 of the present embodiment can ensure a duration of about 40 hours when the mainspring is fully wound up. When the dragon head 7 is pulled to the 1-step position and rotated, the date wheel 6 can be moved to adjust the date. When the dragon head 7 is pulled to the 2-step position, the second hand 4C stops, and when the dragon head 7 is rotated at the 2-step position, the hour hand 4A and the minute hand 4B can be moved to adjust the time.

[0011] 1.1 Movement FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the movement 10 of the mechanical watch 1. In FIG. 2, the front side of the paper surface, that is, the back cover side of the floor board 11, is referred to as the front side, and the back side, that is, the cover glass side of the floor board 11, is referred to as the back side. The movement 10 includes a floor board 11, a first wheel support 12, and a balance support 13. On the back side of the floor board 11, the dial 3 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged. The wheel train incorporated on the front side of the movement 10 is referred to as the front wheel train, and the wheel train incorporated on the back side of the movement 10 is referred to as the back wheel train. Between the floor board 11 and the first wheel support 12, there are arranged a barrel wheel 21 which is the first wheel for storing the mainspring, a second wheel 22 shown in FIG. 5, a third wheel 23, a fourth wheel 24, and a pallet wheel 100 which is the fifth wheel. Also, between the floor board 11 and the balance support 13, there are arranged an anchor 140, a balance spring 27, etc. The anchor 140 and the pallet wheel 100 constitute the escapement 80, and the balance spring 27 constitutes the speed regulator 70.

[0012] 1.2 Hand-winding mechanism The hand-winding mechanism 30 includes a winding reel 31 rotatably supported on the first receiver 12, a bobbin wheel 32, a ratchet wheel 33, a round-hole wheel 40, a first intermediate wheel 51, and a second intermediate wheel 52. It transmits the rotation caused by the rotation operation of the faucet 7 to the square-hole wheel 60, rotates the square-hole wheel 60 and a spring reel (not shown) to wind up the spring. The round-hole wheel 40 is composed of a first round-hole wheel 41 meshing with the ratchet wheel 33 and a second round-hole wheel 42 rotating integrally with the first round-hole wheel 41 and meshing with the first intermediate wheel 51.

[0013] 1.3 Governor The governor 70 makes the wheel of the pendulum 27 repeat a regular reciprocating rotational motion by the expansion and contraction of an isochronous hairspring or the like.

[0014] 1.4 Escapement As shown in FIG. 3, the escapement 80 is composed of an anchor 140 and a pinion 100 that constitutes the drive mechanism of the mechanical watch 1. It continuously applies a force for reciprocating motion to the pendulum 27 and controls the wheel train with the regular vibrations from the pendulum 27. A plurality of tooth portions 112 of the pinion 100 are adapted to contact the pawls 144A, 144B of the anchor 140.

[0015] The anchor 140 includes an anchor body 141 and an anchor shaft 142 which is a shaft. The anchor body 141 is formed in a T shape by three anchor beams 143, namely, anchor arms 143A, 143B and an anchor rod 143C, and is configured to be rotatable by the anchor shaft 142. The anchor shaft 142 is rotatably supported at both ends by the floor 11 and an anchor receiver (not shown), respectively.

[0016] Of the three angle beams 143, claw stones 144A and 144B are provided at the tips of the angle arms 143A and 143B which are two of the angle beams 143, and a sword tip 145 is attached to the tip of the angle pole 143C which is the remaining one angle beam 143. Also, the tip of the angle pole 143C is formed in a substantially U shape in plan view, and the inner space thereof is an angle box 146. The claw stones 144A and 144B are rubies formed in a quadrangular prism shape and are adhesively fixed to the angle beam 143 with an adhesive or the like.

[0017] When the angle 140 configured as described above rotates about the angle true 142, the claw stone 144A or the claw stone 144B comes into contact with the contact surface 112A of the tooth portion 112 of the gang wheel 100. Also, at this time, the angle pole 143C contacts an embankment pin (not shown), and thereby the angle 140 is prevented from rotating further in the same direction. As a result, the rotation of the gang wheel 100 also temporarily stops.

[0018] The gang wheel 100 has an insertion hole through which the gang chisel 120 is inserted in the central portion. The gang chisel 120 is inserted into this insertion hole and clamped by the seat 130, and thus is fixed to the gang chisel 120. The gang gear 110 is rotatably held together with the gang chisel 120 about the upper and lower tenons of the gang chisel 120.

[0019] The gang wheel 100 is composed of a gang gear 110 having a rim portion 111 with a plurality of tooth portions 112 and a holding portion 115 for holding the gang chisel 120. The rim portion 111 is an annular portion at the outer edge of the gang wheel 100. The tooth portion 112 projects outward from the outer periphery of the rim portion 111 and is formed in a special hook shape. As shown in Figure 3, the claw stones 144A and 144B of the angle 140 come into contact with the contact surfaces 112A of the plurality of tooth portions 112.

[0020] The cancer gear 110 is disc-shaped with a uniform thickness throughout and is made of silicon. Note that being made of silicon means that silicon is the main component. The type of silicon is not particularly limited, and an appropriate one can be selected from the perspective of workability. Examples of silicon include single-crystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. The silicon-made cancer gear 110 can be manufactured by, for example, photolithography technology or etching technology, and can be made to have excellent processing accuracy.

[0021] Next, the configuration of the escapement 80 and the fourth wheel 24 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the fourth wheel 24 is composed of a shaft 241, a weight 242, and a fourth gear 243. The cancer weight 120 of the cancer gear 100 meshes with the fourth gear 243 of the fourth wheel 24 to which the second hand 4C is attached. Therefore, when an impact such as a drop occurs, the impact force is transmitted to the cancer gear 100 via the fourth wheel 24, and the impact force is transmitted to the second hand 4C at a timing different from normal, and the tooth portion 112 of the silicon-made cancer gear 110 may collide with the pawls 144A and 144B of the anchor 140, resulting in the tip of the tooth portion 112 of the cancer gear 110 being damaged. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent the tip of the tooth portion 112 of the cancer gear 110 from being damaged by the impact force, an elastic member 244 is laid on the fourth gear 243 of the fourth wheel 24.

[0022] Next, the arrangement relationship between the fourth wheel 24 and the elastic member 244 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In the mechanical watch 1 of the present embodiment having a configuration in which the hour hand 4A, the minute hand 4B, and the second hand 4C are gathered at one place, as shown in FIG. 5, a barrel kana 221 to which the minute hand 4B is attached is arranged inside a barrel wheel 211 to which the hour hand 4A is attached, and the second hand 4C is attached inside the barrel kana 221 and the fourth wheel 24 is arranged. Further, the fourth gear 243 and the elastic member 244 are arranged between the first support 12 and the second support 14, and the second wheel 22 is arranged between the second support 14 and the base plate 11.

[0023] The elastic member 244 is a needle seat and is laid on a step 246 provided in the middle of the shaft 241 of the fourth wheel 24. When the first receptacle 12 is fixed to the floor board 11, the elastic member 244 deforms to generate a spring force, and an axial biasing force can be applied to the side of the fourth wheel 24 where the second hand 4C is attached through the step 246. Therefore, by applying the axial biasing force, a frictional load is generated between the elastic member 244 and the fourth wheel 24, or between the first receptacle 12 and the elastic member 244, and the hole stone 25 installed between the fourth wheel 24 and the second receptacle 14. Thus, even when an impact force is applied, the shaft 241 of the fourth wheel 24 is less likely to move in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the impact force from being directly transmitted to the escape wheel 100.

[0024] As described above, in the mechanical watch 1 according to the present embodiment, since the elastic member 244 is attached to the shaft 241 of the fourth wheel 24, the elastic member 244 applies an axial biasing force to the side of the shaft 241 of the fourth wheel 24 where the second hand 4C is attached. Therefore, even when an impact such as a drop occurs, the shaft 241 of the fourth wheel 24 that meshes with the escape wheel 100 is less likely to move in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the impact force from being directly transmitted to the escape wheel 100 and to prevent the tip of the tooth portion 112 of the escape gear 110 from being damaged by the impact force.

[0025] 2. Second Embodiment Next, the mechanical watch 1a according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0026] The mechanical watch 1a of the present embodiment is the same as the mechanical watch 1 of the first embodiment except that the structure and the arrangement position of the elastic member 244a are different. The description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment described above, and the same matters will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 6, in the mechanical watch 1a, the elastic member 244a is laid on the surface of the first receptacle 12 on the side opposite to the side where the fourth gear 243 is arranged. The elastic member 244a is a flat plate. One end of the elastic member 244a is laid at the end opposite to the axial direction where the second hand 4C of the shaft 241 of the fourth wheel 24 is attached, and is fixed to the first receptacle 12 by a fixing portion 248 provided at the other end of the elastic member 244a. Note that the fixing method is by means such as screwing or fitting into a convex portion.

[0028] By adopting such a configuration, an effect equivalent to the effect obtained in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0029] 3. Third Embodiment Next, the mechanical watch 1b according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

[0030] The mechanical watch 1b of this embodiment is the same as the mechanical watch 1 of the first embodiment, except that the configuration of the anchor 140b is different. Note that the description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment described above, and the same matters will be denoted by the same reference numerals and their description will be omitted.

[0031] In the mechanical watch 1b, the anchor 140b that mates with the escape wheel 100 is formed of silicon. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the anchor body 141b and the pallet stones 148a, 148b are integrally formed of silicon. Therefore, in the process of assembling the anchor 140 in the first embodiment, the process of adhesively fixing the pallet stones 144A, 144B to the anchor body 141 can be omitted.

[0032] By adopting such a configuration, an effect equivalent to the effect obtained in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0033] 1, 1a, 1b... mechanical clock, 2... outer case, 3... dial, 3A... calendar window, 4A... hour hand, 4B... minute hand, 4C... second hand, 5... power reserve hand, 6... date wheel, 7... crown, 10... movement, 24... fourth wheel, 30... hand-winding mechanism, 70... speed regulator, 80... escapement, 100... cannon pinion, 110... cannon gear, 112... tooth part, 120... cannon lever, 130... seat, 140... anchor, 141... anchor body, 144A, 144B... pallet stones, 241... shaft, 242... lever, 243... fourth gear, 244... elastic member, 246... step.

Claims

1. In a mechanical clock having a stopwatch mechanism including a cancer gear made of silicon and having a configuration in which the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand are gathered at one location, the cancer tooth of the cancer wheel including the cancer gear meshes with the fourth gear of the fourth wheel to which the second hand is attached, and the shaft of the fourth wheel is biased in the axial direction toward the side where the second hand is attached by an elastic member. Mechanical clock.

2. The elastic member is a needle seat and is laid on a step in the middle of the shaft of the fourth wheel. The mechanical clock according to Claim 1.

3. The elastic member is a flat plate and is laid on an end portion of the shaft of the fourth wheel on the side opposite to the axial direction where the second hand is attached. The mechanical clock according to Claim 1.

4. The anchor paired with the cancer wheel is formed of silicon. The mechanical clock according to Claim 2 or Claim 3.

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