Mechanical timepiece and method for assembling mechanical timepiece

Abstract

To provide a mechanical timepiece with a long duration time, and a method for assembling the mechanical timepiece.SOLUTION: A mechanical timepiece 1 is driven by a spring 30 including a case 21 and a substantially circular movement 12 in the case. The spring 30 is contained in a barrel 15 having a protruding part 16 with a part protruding from a substantially circular outer circumference of the movement 12. The case 21 has a body part 23 and a bottom part 26. In the inner peripheral part 24 of the body part 23, there is a missing part 25 containing the protruding part 16.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a mechanical watch and a method for assembling a mechanical watch.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a mechanical watch that drives the hands using the mechanical energy of a mainspring. Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanical watch that includes a hand-winding mechanism and winds up the mainspring stored in a barrel.

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 trying to use a barrel with a large number of windings of the mainspring and a large diameter in order to increase the duration, the barrel protrudes from the outer periphery of the circular movement. Therefore, in order to prevent the barrel from protruding from the outer periphery of the circular movement, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the movement, resulting in a problem that the inner diameter and the outer diameter of the case for housing the movement become large.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] A mechanical watch is a mechanical watch that uses a mainspring incorporated in a case with a substantially circular movement as a power source. The barrel for storing the mainspring has a protruding portion where a part thereof protrudes from the substantially circular outer periphery of the movement. The case has a body portion and a bottom portion, and a missing portion for housing the protruding portion is provided on the inner peripheral portion of the body portion.

[0006] The method for assembling a mechanical watch is a method for assembling a mechanical watch that uses a spring as a power source and incorporates a substantially circular movement into a case. The method includes the steps of preparing the movement having a protruding portion where a part of the outer periphery of the spring box storing the spring protrudes from the outer periphery of the substantially circular movement, preparing the case provided with a missing portion for storing the protruding portion on the inner peripheral portion of the body portion of the case, and an incorporating step of incorporating the movement into the body portion of the case from the side opposite to the bottom portion to which the lid portion is attached. In the incorporating step, the protruding portion is incorporated so as to be stored in the missing portion.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] First, a wristwatch is taken as an example of the mechanical watch 1 according to the present embodiment, and it will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The mechanical watch 1 of this embodiment is a watch that uses a mainspring 30 stored in a spring box 15 shown in FIG. 3 as a power source. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it includes a cylindrical outer case 2, a cover glass 31, and a back cover 9 as a lid portion. Inside the inner peripheral side of the outer case 2, a disk-shaped dial 3 and a substantially circular movement 12 are arranged. Of the two openings of the outer case 2, the opening on the front surface side is blocked by the cover glass 31, and the opening on the back surface side is blocked by the back cover 9.

[0009] The outer case 2 is configured by fitting a bezel 22 formed of ceramic or metal to a cylindrical case 21 formed of metal. A disk-shaped dial 3 is arranged on the inner peripheral side of this bezel 22 via an annular dial ring 32 formed of metal. On the side surface of the outer case 2, a crown 7 is provided at the 3 o'clock position in the watch display.

[0010] The crown 7 can be pulled down two steps from the 0-step position, which is the normal position pushed toward the center of the mechanical watch 1. When the crown 7 is rotated at the 0-step position, the mainspring 30 stored in the spring box 15 can be wound up. In conjunction with the winding up of the mainspring 30, a power reserve hand 5 provided on the dial 3 moves. When the crown 7 is pulled to the 1-step position and rotated, the date wheel 6 can be moved to adjust the date. When the crown 7 is pulled to the 2-step position, the second hand 4C stops, and when the crown 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] Inside the space surrounded by the outer case 2, the back cover 9, and the cover glass 31, an annular dial ring 32, a time display unit 10 including a dial 3, a power reserve hand 5 indicating the duration by the mainspring 30, and a movement 12 are housed.

[0012] The dial ring 32 has a flat plate portion whose outer peripheral end is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the bezel 22 and one surface of which is parallel to the cover glass 31, and an inclined portion inclined toward the dial 3 side. The dial ring 32 is annular in plan view and has a mortar shape in cross-sectional view.

[0013] The time display unit 10 is driven by the movement 12 to display time, and includes an hour hand 4A, a minute hand 4B, and a second hand 4C which are pointers between the dial 3 and the cover glass 31, and is disposed inside the dial ring 32. Further, a calendar window 3A is provided in the dial 3, and the date wheel 6 is visible through the calendar window 3A.

[0014] The movement 12 is disposed between the dial 3 and the back cover 9, and drives the hour hand 4A, the minute hand 4B, and the second hand 4C shown in FIG. 1 via a stepping motor and a wheel train. Note that the hour hand 4A, the minute hand 4B, and the second hand 4C are attached to a pointer shaft 11 provided at the center of the plane of the dial 3, a winding stem 8 is attached to the movement 12, and a fuse 7 is attached to the end of the winding stem 8.

[0015] Next, the structure of the base plate 13 of the movement 12, the fuse box 15, and the case 21 that houses the movement 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8. Note that FIGS. 3, 5, and 7 are views seen from the back cover side, and FIGS. 4, 6, and 8 are views seen from the dial side.

[0016] The movement 12 including the base plate 13 and the fuse box 15 has a substantially circular shape having a diameter D1 indicated by an imaginary line D as shown in FIG. 3.

[0017] The fuse box 15 which is fixed to the base plate 13 and houses the mainspring 30 is circular, and as shown in FIG. 3, a protruding portion 16 where a part thereof protrudes from the substantially circular outer periphery of the movement 12. Specifically, the fuse box 15 has a protruding portion 16 that protrudes from an imaginary line D indicating the substantially circular outer periphery of the movement 12.

[0018] The floor 13 fixes the fragrance box 15 and has a floor protruding portion 14 that protrudes from a virtual line D showing a substantially circular outer periphery of the movement 12 similar to the protruding portion 16 of the fragrance box 15, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Since the floor protruding portion 14 of the floor 13 has the same shape as the protruding portion 16 of the fragrance box 15, the protruding portion 16 of the fragrance box 15 can be protected during assembly or the like.

[0019] The case 21 has a body portion 23 and a bottom portion 26, and a missing portion 25 for accommodating the protruding portion 16 of the fragrance box 15 is provided on the inner peripheral portion 24 of the body portion 23, as shown in FIG. 6. Therefore, without increasing the outer peripheral size of the case 21, a fragrance box 15 with a large number of turns of the mainspring 30 and a large diameter can be accommodated in the body portion 23 of the case 21 in order to increase the duration. Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 8, the missing portion 25 also accommodates the floor protruding portion 14 of the floor 13.

[0020] The missing portion 25 is provided between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock centered on 12 o'clock in the clockwise direction perpendicular to the width direction, or between 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock centered on 6 o'clock in the clockwise direction. Since the wall thickness of the body portion 23 is thicker at this position than at other positions, providing the missing portion 25 can prevent the strength of the case 21 from decreasing.

[0021] The bottom portion 26 of the case 21 has an opening 27 to which the circular back cover 9 is attached, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, and the diameter D2 of the opening 27 is smaller than the diameter D1 of the substantially circular movement 12. Therefore, during assembly, the movement 12 is assembled by being inserted into the body portion 23 of the case 21 from the dial 3 side.

[0022] As described above, in the mechanical watch 1 according to the present embodiment, since the missing portion 25 for accommodating the protruding portion 16 of the fragrance box 15 is provided on the inner peripheral portion 24 of the body portion 23 of the case 21, without increasing the outer peripheral size of the case 21, a fragrance box 15 with a large number of turns of the mainspring 30 and a large diameter can be accommodated in the body portion 23 of the case 21 in order to increase the duration. Therefore, a mechanical watch 1 with a long duration can be obtained.

[0023] Next, a method for assembling the mechanical watch 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The assembling method of the present embodiment is a method for assembling the mechanical watch 1 using the mainspring 30 with the barrel 15 storing the mainspring 30 incorporated into the case 21, and includes a movement preparation step, a case preparation step, and an incorporation step.

[0024] 1. Movement preparation step In the movement preparation step, a movement 12 having a protruding portion 16 where a part of the outer periphery of the barrel 15 storing the mainspring 30 protrudes from the outer periphery of the substantially circular movement 12 is prepared.

[0025] 2. Case preparation step In the case preparation step, a case 21 provided with a missing portion 25 for storing the protruding portion 16 is prepared on the inner peripheral portion 24 of the body portion 23 of the case 21.

[0026] 3. Incorporation step In the incorporation step, since the diameter D2 of the opening 27 to which the back cover 9 as a lid provided on the bottom 26 of the case 21 is attached is smaller than the diameter D1 of the substantially circular movement 12, the movement 12 is incorporated into the body portion 23 of the case 21 from the side opposite to the bottom 26 to which the back cover 9 is attached. That is, the side opposite to the back cover 9 is the front side where the dial 3 is located, and the diameter of the dial 3 is usually larger than the diameter of the movement 12, so it can be easily incorporated by inserting from the front side. Note that, from the viewpoint of waterproofness, the area of the back cover 9 cannot be made larger than a certain value. Therefore, the opening 27 at the bottom 26 of the case 21 cannot be made larger either. As a result, since the movement 12 cannot be inserted from the opening on the back cover 9 side, the structure is such that it is inserted from the side of the dial 3 with a large opening. Also, in the incorporation step, the protruding portion 16 is incorporated so as to be stored in the missing portion 25.

[0027] Through the above steps, a mechanical watch 1 in which the protruding portion 16 of the barrel 15 is stored in the missing portion 25 provided on the inner peripheral portion 24 of the body portion 23 of the case 21 is assembled.

[0028] As described above, in the assembly method of the present embodiment, the movement 12 is incorporated into the body portion 23 of the case 21 from the side opposite to the bottom portion 26 to which the back cover 9 is attached, so that the protruding portion 16 of the incense box 15 can be accommodated in the missing portion 25 of the case 21. Therefore, without increasing the outer peripheral size of the case 21, an incense box 15 with a large number of turns of the mainspring 30 and a large diameter can be accommodated in the body portion 23 of the case 21 in order to increase the duration, and a mechanical watch 1 with a long duration can be assembled.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0029] 1... Mechanical watch, 2... Outer case, 3... Dial, 3A... Calendar window, 4A... Hour hand, 4B... Minute hand, 4C... Second hand, 5... Power reserve indicator, 6... Date wheel, 7... Jewel, 8... Winding stem, 9... Back cover as a lid, 10... Time display portion, 11... Pointer shaft, 12... Movement, 13... Main plate, 14... Main plate protruding portion, 15... Incense box, 16... Protruding portion, 21... Case, 22... Bezel, 23... Body portion, 24... Inner peripheral portion, 25... Missing portion, 26... Bottom portion, 27... Opening, 30... Mainspring, 31... Cover glass, 32... Dial ring, D... Virtual line, D1, D2... Diameter.

Claims

1. A mechanical timepiece powered by a spring with a slightly oval-shaped movement incorporated into a case, wherein the barrel for storing the spring has a protruding portion that partially protrudes from the outer periphery of the slightly oval-shaped movement, the case has a body portion and a bottom portion, and a recess for accommodating the protruding portion is provided on the inner peripheral portion of the body portion. Mechanical timepiece.

2. The bottom portion of the case has an opening to which a circular lid is attached, and the diameter of the opening is smaller than the diameter of the slightly oval-shaped movement. The mechanical timepiece according to Claim 1.

3. The base plate for fixing the barrel has a base plate protruding portion similar to the protruding portion of the barrel. The mechanical timepiece according to Claim 1 or Claim 2.

4. The recess is provided between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock centered on 12 o'clock in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the width direction of the time display, or between 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock centered on 6 o'clock in the time display. The mechanical timepiece according to Claim 1 or Claim 2.

5. A method for assembling a mechanical timepiece powered by a spring with a slightly oval-shaped movement incorporated into a case, comprising: preparing a movement having a protruding portion where a part of the outer periphery of the barrel for storing the spring protrudes from the outer periphery of the slightly oval-shaped movement; preparing a case having a recess for accommodating the protruding portion provided on the inner peripheral portion of the body portion of the case; and an incorporating step of incorporating the movement into the body portion of the case from the side opposite to the bottom portion to which the lid is attached, wherein, in the incorporating step, the protruding portion is incorporated so as to be accommodated in the recess. Method for assembling a mechanical timepiece.

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