Watches with quarter and hour repeaters

Abstract

The invention relates to a timepiece with a quarter repeater and an hour repeater, comprising a manually windable spring, the release of which allows the axis (2) to be driven in rotation from a winding position to a rest position. The timepiece according to the invention also comprises an hour rack (6) which can be driven in rotation by the axis (2) about a rack axis (7) parallel to the axis (2) by a spring in order to activate the hour hammering mechanism and which can be moved from the hour rest position to the hour winding position until it abuts against the hour snail (13). The timepiece according to the invention further comprises a quarter rack (22) which can also be driven in rotation about the rack axis in order to activate the quarter hammering mechanism and which can be moved from the quarter rest position to the quarter winding position until it abuts against the quarter snail (24) after the hour rack (6) abuts against the hour snail (13). A first end of the spring arm (39, 39') is disposed on the hour rack (6), and a second end of the spring arm (39, 39') is disposed on the quarter rack (22). The spring arms (39, 39') are released at the hour rest position of the hour rack (6) and the quarter rest position of the quarter rack (22), and can be wound up from the hour rest position to the hour winding position by moving the hour rack (6).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The invention relates to a timepiece comprising a quarter repeater and an hour repeater, comprising a manually windable spring, the release of which allows the shaft to be driven in rotation from a winding position to a rest position, an hour rack which can be driven in rotation by the spring about a rack axis parallel to said axis in order to activate the hour hammering mechanism and which can be moved from the hour rest position to the hour winding position until it abuts against the hour snail, and a quarter rack which can also be driven in rotation about the rack axis in order to activate the quarter hammering mechanism and which can be moved from the quarter rest position to the quarter winding position until it abuts against the quarter snail, after which the hour rack abuts against the hour snail. [Background technology]

[0002] In such watches, it is known to provide, for each of the quarter racks as well as for the hour rack, a fixed spring arranged to move the hour rack for driving the hour striking mechanism and a fixed spring arranged to move the quarter rack for driving the quarter striking mechanism, which is a complex construction. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE The object of the invention is therefore to provide a timepiece of the type mentioned at the outset which has a simple construction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] To achieve this object, the timepiece of the present invention is characterized in that a first end of the spring arm is arranged on an hour rack, a second end of the spring arm is arranged on a quarter rack, the spring arm is released in an hour rest position of the hour rack and in a quarter rest position of the quarter rack, and the timepiece can be wound from the hour rest position to the hour winding position by moving the hour rack.

[0005] With this arrangement, the spring arm is automatically wound up by the hour rack as the hour rack moves and the spring that drives it winds up. The actuation of the quarter rack utilizes the energy of the spring arm, which causes the quarter rack to follow from behind until it abuts against the quarter snail. When the hour rack is then moved by the spring to its hour rest position, no additional energy is required for the spring arm. The spring arm is at least approximately released (relaxed) in the quarter-hour rest position, and no additional force is required to wind up (tension) the spring arm and move it against the quarter snail for the next strike sequence of the quarter hammering mechanism.

[0006] In order to easily save space and generate sufficient force, the manually windable spring can be a spring in a spring housing, on whose axis a drive gear that engages with the toothing of the hour rack is arranged non-rotatably relative to it, the toothing extending in the direction of the movement path of the hour rack.

[0007] The quarter rack can be blocked by a blocking device at its quarter rest position, and the blocking device can be unblocked when the hour rack reaches the hour winding position, so that when winding a manually windable spring, the spring arm can also be easily wound up.

[0008] For this purpose, in a simple configuration, the blocking device can have a stop in the movement path of the quarter rack which can be pivoted to abut against a counter stop of the quarter rack, the stop being movable out of the movement path of the quarter rack by a claw arranged on the hour rack when the hour rack reaches the hour winding position.

[0009] In order to block and unblock simply and with few parts and little space, the hour rack has an hour finger for radially abutting against the hour nail, which, by abutting against the hour nail, can be moved around the loose part in the direction of the hour rest position of the hour rack against a spring force, so that the hour finger allows a first lever of the claw configured as a two-arm lever to be pivoted around the claw axis from a blocking position to an unblocking position, whereby the second lever of the claw allows the pivoting lever of the blocking device to be moved out of the movement path of the quarter rack.

[0010] In this case, preferably the stopper of the blocking device is arranged at one free end of the pivot lever, the pivot lever being pivotable about the other end, the pivot lever being pivotable between a blocking position in which the quarter rack is blocked at the quarter position, and an unblocking position in which the quarter rack is unblocked.

[0011] To ensure that the pivot lever can return to its blocking position, the pivot lever is preferably loaded into its blocking position by a spring force.

[0012] To activate the hour hammering mechanism, a tooth row with 12 radially projecting hour teeth can extend on the hour rack in its direction of movement, by which the hour tumbler of the hour hammering mechanism can be swivelled.

[0013] After the final hour hammering of the hour hammering mechanism has occurred, the hour rack can be simply coupled with the quarter rack when moving from the hour winding position to the hour rest position, and the quarter rack can be brought to the quarter position by the hour rack under the operation of the quarter hammering mechanism.

[0014] In this case, in order to easily save space, four tooth spaces corresponding to the four stages of the quarter snail can be arranged sequentially on the hour rack in the direction of movement, and the hooks of the entrainment claws, which are arranged on the quarter rack so as to be rotatable around an entrainment axis parallel to the rack axis, can engage with each tooth space corresponding to the position read by the quarter snail.

[0015] For this purpose, the engaging claw can be configured as a two-arm lever, on a first lever of which a hook is arranged and on a second lever of which a pin parallel to the engaging axis is arranged, the pin being held in a link by a second spring, the link extending parallel to the movement path of the hour rack and having a slope approaching the rack axis at the lever further away from the finger lever, the engaging claw being held so as to pivot into the disengaged position by the pin abutting against the link and pivoting into the engaged position by sliding along the slope.

[0016] To activate the quarter rack, in a simple construction, a tooth row with three radially projecting quarter teeth can extend on the quarter rack in its direction of movement, by which two quarter tumblers of the quarter hammering mechanism can be swivelled.

[0017] The double strike by the quarter rack is produced by arranging three quarter teeth in each of two radially projecting groups on the quarter rack, spaced apart in the direction of movement of the quarter rack, so that the first group of quarter teeth, which are closer to the counter stop, can swivel and drive a first quarter tumbler of the quarter hammering mechanism, and the second group of quarter teeth, which are further away from the counter stop, can swivel and drive a second quarter tumbler of the quarter hammering mechanism.

[0018] In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a watch having a quarter repeater with a quarter rack in the quarter rest position and an hour repeater with an hour rack in the hour rest position. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the watch of FIG. 1 with the hour rack in contact with the hour snail and in the hour winding position at 12 o'clock, and the quarter rack in the quarter rest position. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a watch with an hour repeater having an hour rack in the hour winding position and a quarter repeater contacting the quarter snail and having a quarter rack in the three-quarter position. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the hour rack of the clock in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the timepiece of FIG. 1 with the hour rack in the hour winding position. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the timepiece of FIG. 1 with the hour rack in the hour winding position. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a further spring arm of the timepiece in FIG. 1; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] The timepiece shown comprises a spring housing 1, in which a spring configured as a mainspring is arranged on an axle 2. A drive gear 3 is arranged on the axle 2 so that it cannot rotate relative to the axle.

[0021] A winding lever 4 and a gear train (not shown) allow the spring in the spring housing 1 to be manually wound.

[0022] The drive gear 3 engages with a tooth row 5 of the hour rack 6 which runs in an arcuate shape on the side facing the hour rack 6 around a rack axis 7 which is parallel to the axis 2 and on which the hour rack 6 is rotatably mounted. On the side remote from the rack axis 7 runs a tooth row with twelve hour teeth 8, by means of which an hour tumbler 9 of an hour hammering mechanism (not shown) can be driven in a pivoting manner about a tumbler axis 44. Furthermore, a first quarter tumbler 27 is arranged on the tumbler axis 44 so that it can be driven in a pivoting manner about the tumbler axis 44 by the quarter teeth 26 of the quarter rack 22.

[0023] One end of the finger lever 10 is arranged on the hour rack 6 so as to be pivotable about a finger lever axis 11 parallel to the rack axis 7, around the loose part. At a second end, the finger lever 10 has an hour finger 12, the free end of which is oriented radially relative to the hour snail 13 and which can abut on one of twelve steps on the hour snail 13, each corresponding to the current hour.

[0024] The hour nail 13 can be driven to rotate once every 12 hours by the movement of the watch (not shown).

[0025] In its end region remote from its free end, the hour finger 12 has a bolt (not shown) which extends relative to the finger lever axis 11 and projects into an oblong hole 14 which forms a loose portion in the hour nail 13.

[0026] A stopper 15 is disposed at the end of the bolt protruding from the long hole 14 .

[0027] A first lever 16 of a claw 17 configured as a two-arm lever is located on the path of movement of the stopper 15 along the width of the long hole 14, and the claw 17 is arranged on the hour rack 6 so as to be freely rotatable around a claw axis 18 parallel to the rack axis 7.

[0028] By means of a second lever 19 of the pawl 17 a pivot lever 20 of the blocking device can be loaded to pivot against the force of a biasing spring 21 from a blocking position to an unblocking position.

[0029] When the spring in the spring housing 1 is manually wound (tensioned) by the winding lever 4, the drive gear 3 is also rotated, which drives the hour rack 6 in a counterclockwise direction until the free end of the hour finger 12 abuts the hour nail 13.

[0030] The bolt, which is guided in the slot 14, is initially against the end of the hour finger 12 which is closer to the free end, due to the action of a spring 21.

[0031] After the hour finger 12 abuts against the hour nail 13, further pivoting movement of the hour rack 6 occurs, in which case the finger lever 10 pivots so that the bolt in the long hole 14 moves from the free end of the hour finger 12 towards the end further away.

[0032] In this case, the stopper 15 loads the first lever 16 of the pawl 17 to pivot the pawl 17 against the force of the spring 21 of the pivot lever 20, whereby the second lever 19 of the pawl 17 moves the pivot lever 20 from the blocking position to the unlocked position.

[0033] Furthermore, an arc-shaped quarter rack 22 is attached to the rack shaft 7 so as to be freely rotatable between a quarter rest position (see FIG. 1) and a quarter winding position (see FIG. 3).

[0034] The quarter rack 22 has a quarter finger 23 whose free end is oriented radially relative to a quarter snail 24, which, in the quarter winding position, abuts against four steps in the quarter rack 24 corresponding to the current quarter hour, and the quarter rack 24 can be driven to rotate once per hour by the movement of the watch.

[0035] The quarter rack 22 further comprises a counter stop 25 which, at each quarter position of the quarter rack 22, abuts the pivot lever 20 in its blocking position and blocks the quarter rack 22 in its rest position.

[0036] In the direction of movement of the arcuate quarter rack 22 on the side farther from the rack shaft 7, three quarter teeth 26 are arranged in each of two groups 28, 29 that are spaced apart from each other and protrude radially outward.

[0037] In this case, a first quarter tumbler 27 of the quarter hammering mechanism can be swivelled by a first group 28 of the quarter teeth 26, which are closer to the counter stop 25, and a second group 29 of the quarter teeth 26, which are further away from the counter stop 25, can swivelled by a second quarter tumbler 27' of the quarter hammering mechanism (not shown), so that a double strike is produced.

[0038] The quarter rack 22 has four teeth 30 on the side closer to the rack axis 7, and a driving claw 31 having a hook 33 can engage with these teeth 30. The driving claw 31 is mounted on the hour rack 6 so as to be rotatable about a driving axis 32 parallel to the rack axis 7.

[0039] The entraining claw 31 is configured as a two-arm lever, and a hook 33 is disposed at the free end of a first lever arm 34. A pin 36 parallel to the entraining shaft 32 is disposed at the free end of a second lever arm 35, and this pin 36 protrudes beyond the hour rack 6 and slides on a fixed link 37 extending substantially parallel to the movement path of the hour rack when the hour rack 6 moves. A second spring 42 applies a force to the second lever arm 35 to keep the pin 36 in contact with the link 37.

[0040] At its end further away from the finger lever 10 , the link 37 has a slope 38 which approaches the rack shaft 7 .

[0041] A first end of the arcuate spring arm 39 is fixed to the quarter rack 22 and a second end of the spring arm 39 is fixed to the hour rack 6 .

[0042] As described above, the spring in the spring housing 1 is manually wound up and the hour rack 6 is driven in the counterclockwise direction until it abuts against the hour nail 13. In this case, the quarter rack 22 is first prevented from pivoting together with the hour rack 6 by the pivot lever 20 in the blocking position and is held in the hour rest position, and the winding up of the spring arm 39 occurs.

[0043] As described above, when the pivot lever 20 is subsequently moved from its blocked position to its unblocked position, the quarter rack 22 is pivoted by the force of the spring arm 39 from the quarter rest position to the quarter hoist position in which the quarter finger 23 abuts the quarter snail 24.

[0044] When the manual loading of the winding lever 4 is terminated, the spring in the spring housing 1 is released (relaxed) and the hour rack 6 is driven in a clockwise direction, in which the hour tooth 8 engages with the hour tumbler 9 according to the hour read at the hour snail 13 by the hour finger 12, which in turn activates the hammering mechanism with the corresponding number of blows according to the hour read.

[0045] The quarter rack 22 remains in its quarter rest position.

[0046] During the return movement of the hour rack 6, the pin 36 slides along the link 37, thereby keeping the hook 33 out of engagement with the tooth gap 30, until the final actuation of the hour tumbler 9 is reached.

[0047] After the last actuation of the hour tumbler 9, the pin 36 reaches the inclined surface 38, so that the pin 36 can slide along the inclined surface 38 by the force of the second spring 42, which allows the entraining claw 31 to pivot and the hook 33 to engage one of the interdental spaces. This causes the quarter rack 22 to be coupled to the hour rack 6 and to move to the quarter rest position by the spring force of the spring housing 1, together with further movement to the hour rest position.

[0048] Each tooth gap 30 with which the hook 33 engages corresponds to a quarter winding position read by the quarter finger 23 on the quarter snail 24.

[0049] Figure 7 shows a second embodiment of a spring arm 39', which in this case has two spiral portions 43 in the middle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1 Spring housing 2-axis 3 Drive gear 4 Winding lever 5. Dentition 6 Hour Luck 7 Rack Axis 8 Hour Tooth 9 Hour Tumbler 10 Finger Lever 11 Finger lever shaft 12 Hourfinger 13 Our Snail 14 long hole 15 Stopper 16 First Lever 17 Claws 18 Claw axis 19 Second Lever 20 Swivel lever 21 Spring 22 Quarter Rack 23 Quarter Finger 24 Quarter Snail 25 Counter stopper 26 Quarter Tooth 27 1st Quarter Tumbler 27` 2nd Quarter Tumbler 28 Group 1 29 Group 2 30 Interdental 31 Entrainment Claw 32 Trailing Axle 33 Hook 34 First Lever Arm 35 Second lever arm 36 pin 37 Links 38 Slope 39 Spring Arm 39` Spring Arm 40 First end 41 Second end 42 Second Spring 43 Spiral part 44 Tumbler shaft

Claims

1. A watch having a quarter repeater and an hour repeater, a manually windable spring, the release of which allows the shaft (2) to be driven in rotation from a winding position to a rest position; an hour rack (6) rotatably driven by said spring, by said shaft (2), about a rack axis (7) parallel to said shaft (2), for actuating the hour hammering mechanism, and movable from an hour rest position to an hour winding position until it abuts against the hour snail (13); a quarter rack (22) also rotatably drivable about said rack axis for actuating the quarter hammering mechanism and movable after the hour rack (6) has abutted against the hour snail (13) from a quarter rest position to a quarter hoisting position until it abuts against the quarter snail (24); In a watch comprising: A timepiece, characterized in that a first end of a spring arm (39, 39') is arranged on said hour rack (6) and a second end of said spring arm (39, 39') is arranged on said quarter rack (22), said spring arms (39, 39') are released in said hour rest position of said hour rack (6) and in said quarter rest position of said quarter rack (22), and said timepiece can be wound from said hour rest position to said hour winding position by movement of said hour rack (6).

2. 2. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the manually windable spring is a spring in a spring housing (1) and that on the shaft (2) a drive gear (3) is arranged non-rotatably, which engages with a toothing (5) of the hour rack (6), the toothing (5) extending in the direction of the movement path of the hour rack (6).

3. 3. A timepiece according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the quarter rack (22) can be blocked in its quarter rest position by a blocking device, which can be unblocked when the hour rack (6) reaches the hour winding position.

4. 4. A timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that the blocking device has a stopper (15) in the path of movement of the quarter rack (22) which can be pivoted to abut against a counter stopper 25 of the quarter rack (22), and which can be moved out of the path of movement of the quarter rack (22) by a pawl (17) arranged on the hour rack (6) when the hour rack (6) reaches the hour winding position.

5. 5. A timepiece according to claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the hour rack (6) has an hour finger (12) for radially abutting against an hour snail (13), which, by abutting against the hour snail (13), is movable about the loose part in the direction of the hour rest position of the hour rack (6), against a spring force, so that by means of the hour finger (12), a first lever (16) of a pawl (17) configured as a two-arm lever can be pivoted about a pawl axis (18) from a blocking position to an unblocking position, whereby by means of a second lever (19) of the pawl (17), a pivot lever (20) of the blocking device can be moved out of the path of movement of the quarter rack (22).

6. A timepiece according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the stopper (15) of the blocking device is arranged at one free end of the pivot lever (20) which is pivotable about the other end, the pivot lever (20) being pivotable between a blocking position in which the quarter rack (22) is blocked in the quarter position and an unblocking position in which the quarter rack (22) is unblocked.

7. Timepiece according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterised in that the swiveling lever (20) is loaded in its blocking position by a spring force.

8. A timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the hour rack (6) extends, in its direction of movement, a tooth row with twelve radially projecting hour teeth (8) by means of which an hour tumbler (9) of the hour hammering mechanism can be swivelled.

9. A timepiece according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, after the last hour strike of the hour striking mechanism has occurred, the hour rack (6) can be engaged with the quarter rack (22) when it moves from the hour winding position to the hour rest position, and the quarter rack (22) can be brought to the quarter position by the hour rack (6) under the operation of the quarter hammering mechanism.

10. 10. A timepiece according to claim 9, characterized in that on the hour rack (6), four tooth gaps (30) corresponding to four steps of the quarter snail (24) are arranged in sequence in the direction of movement thereof, and the quarter rack (22) is capable of engaging with each of the tooth gaps (30) corresponding to the position read by the quarter snail (24) by a hook (33) of a driving pawl (31) arranged on the quarter rack (22) so as to be rotatable about a driving axis (32) parallel to the rack axis (7).

11. 10. The watch according to claim 9, characterized in that the entraining claw (31) is configured as a two-arm lever, a hook (33) is arranged on a first lever (34) of the two-arm lever, a pin (36) parallel to the entraining axis (32) is arranged on a second lever (35) of the two-arm lever, the pin (36) is held to a link (37) by a second spring (42), the link (37) extends parallel to the movement path of the hour rack (6) and has a slope (38) approaching the rack axis (7) on the lever farther from the finger lever (10), the entraining claw (31) is held so as to be pivoted to a non-engaged position by the pin (36) abutting against the link (37), and pivots to an engaged position by sliding along the slope (38).

12. A timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the quarter rack (22) extends, in its direction of movement, a tooth row with three radially projecting quarter teeth (26) by means of which two quarter tumblers (27) of the quarter hammering mechanism can be swivelled.

13. 13. A timepiece according to claim 12, characterized in that on the quarter rack (22) three quarter teeth (26) are arranged in each of two radially projecting groups spaced apart from one another in the direction of movement of the quarter rack (22), such that a first group of quarter teeth (26) closer to the counter stop (25) is capable of swiveling a first quarter tumbler (27) of the quarter hammering mechanism, and a second group (29) of quarter teeth (26) further away from the counter stop (25) is capable of swiveling a second quarter tumbler (27') of the quarter hammering mechanism.

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