Elastic Arm Stud Fixing for Hairspring Orientation in Timepieces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing regulator devices for timepieces face challenges in precisely adjusting the position of the stud and hairspring due to restricted access and small dimensions, particularly with brittle materials like silicon or diamond, where traditional methods like screw tightening can distort orientations and require tight manufacturing tolerances.
Innovation Solution
A regulator device with an elastic arm that can rotate relative to the balance bridge and stud holder, allowing for easy adjustment and immobilization of the stud without a screw, enabling precise angular positioning of the hairspring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional screw tightening is used to immobilize the eyebolt in the housing, then the eyebolt is securely fixed, but the orientation of the eyebolt is distorted and manufacturing tolerances must be very tight
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful effect of screw tightening on eyebolt orientation by removing the screw entirely. The elastic arm provides fixation without the distorting pressure that screws exert, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while ensuring reliable fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fixation mechanism from rigid screw pressure to elastic contact pressure. The elastic arm's material properties and contact geometry are designed to provide sufficient fixation force without distorting the eyebolt orientation, resolving the contradiction between secure fixation and precision.
2Device complexity
If the housing position is fixed rigidly on the balance bridge, then the structure is simple, but the angular position of the stud and hairspring cannot be adjusted
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the housing rotatable relative to the balance bridge, transforming a static structure into a dynamic one. This allows the stud and hairspring to be adjusted to the correct angular position while maintaining structural simplicity through a single rotational degree of freedom.
Solution Approach 2:
The hairspring is pre-adjusted to the correct angular position before final assembly. This preliminary positioning ensures that when the balance is assembled, the hairspring is already correctly oriented, eliminating the need for complex adjustment mechanisms during operation.
3Volume of moving object
If access is restricted and parts are very small, then the timepiece is compact, but adjusting the position of the eyebolt becomes difficult and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the small, difficult-to-manipulate screw from the adjustment mechanism. The elastic arm can be adjusted and engaged using simple lateral movement that is much easier to perform even in the confined space of a compact timepiece, eliminating the error-prone screw tightening operation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates easy fixation and adjustment of the stud and hairspring, ensuring precise perpendicularity and concentric development, even with brittle materials, by allowing rotation of the elastic arm and stud holder, thus improving chronometric accuracy and reducing manufacturing complexities.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic arm arranged to press laterally on the eyebolt so as to immobilize the eyebolt against a wall of the housing
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3B
AI summary
The regulating device comprises an inertial balance wheel (7) having a balance staff arranged to be pivotally mounted in the timepiece, a balance bridge (5) and a bearing (11) carried by the balance bridge and arranged to retain one end of the balance staff, a balance spring (1) having an inner end integral with the balance wheel and an outer end (1a) integral with a stud (3; 103), and a stud fixing mechanism (3; 103) having a housing (17) for receiving the stud and formed in a stud holder (5) pivoted on the balance bridge (9), the fixing mechanism further comprising an elastic arm (15; 115) arranged to pivot concentrically with the balance wheel axis between a first position where the elastic arm immobilizes the stud (3; 103) and a second position where the elastic arm is disengaged from the stud so as to allow the stud to be inserted or removed from the accommodation.