Flexible Escapement Teeth Absorb Mechanical Energy
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Solution Overview
Problem
The risk of terminal collisions between the anchor and the escape wheel is significantly increased in hybrid magnetic and mechanical escapements, particularly when the escape wheel stops in an unfavorable angular position while the mechanical resonator still possesses nominal mechanical energy, leading to potential damage.
Innovation Solution
The escapement incorporates flexible protruding parts with specific elasticity coefficients that absorb mechanical energy during normal operation and rigid parts to prevent recoil, ensuring the escape wheel stops in a controlled manner, thereby preventing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hybrid magnetic and mechanical escapement is used to maintain constant torque on the escape wheel, then the mechanical energy of the resonator is maintained at nominal levels throughout operation, but the risk of terminal collision between the anchor and escape wheel increases significantly when the escape wheel stops in an unfavorable angular position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by providing protruding parts on the escape wheel that are capable of elastic deformation. These protruding parts are designed to absorb the mechanical energy of the resonator through elastic deformation before a terminal collision can occur, thereby cushioning the impact and preventing damage to the anchor or resonator when the escape wheel stops in an unfavorable position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and mechanical properties of the protruding parts by designing them with specific elasticity coefficients. These parameter changes allow the protruding parts to exhibit elastic behavior under certain conditions (absorbing energy through deformation) while maintaining structural integrity, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining constant torque and preventing terminal collisions.
2Strength
If the escape wheel is designed with rigid teeth for durability, then the structural strength is improved, but the ability to absorb mechanical energy during unfavorable stops is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by designing only the protruding parts of the escape wheel with elastic properties rather than making the entire escape wheel structure elastic. The protruding parts have specific elasticity coefficients that allow energy absorption, while the rest of the escape wheel maintains rigid structural strength. This localized approach resolves the contradiction between strength and energy absorption capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent effectively uses composite structural properties by combining rigid materials for the main escape wheel body with elastic materials or elastic-shaped protruding parts. This composite approach allows different regions of the escape wheel to have different mechanical properties - rigid for strength and elastic for energy absorption - thereby resolving the contradiction between structural strength and energy absorption capacity.
3Reliability
If the protruding parts are made highly elastic to absorb maximum mechanical energy, then the protection against terminal collision is improved, but the precision and rigidity of the escape wheel teeth are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by restricting the elastic properties to only the protruding parts that contact the anchor during normal operation and potential terminal collisions. The precise tooth geometry and positioning are maintained in the rigid portions of the escape wheel, while only the protruding portions exhibit elastic deformation. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction between collision protection and manufacturing precision.
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
The solution effectively absorbs and dissipates mechanical energy, preventing damage to the escapement and resonator components during unfavorable stops, ensuring smooth operation and self-starting of the watch movement.
Implementation Method 1
each protruding part being flexible and each being arranged so as to be able to flex, in a general plane perpendicular to an axis of rotation of the stop, undergoing a radial elastic deformation under the action of said radial force
Implementation Method 2
an escapement equipped with a magnetic coupling system between the anchor and the escape wheel, with magnetic potential energy ramps that allow the accumulation of magnetic potential energy in the escapement at each step of the escape wheel's rotation
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 1D~2B
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
The watch movement comprises a mechanical resonator (2) and an escapement (12) including an escape wheel (16), which has a plurality of flexible teeth (42), and an anchor (14) formed of two mechanical pallets (28, 29) which are capable of abutting, when the anchor swings between its two rest positions, any of the flexible teeth depending on the angular position of the escape wheel. Each flexible tooth is arranged so as to be able to flex by undergoing elastic deformation under the action of a radial force that can be exerted by one of the two mechanical pallets abutting that flexible tooth when the escape wheel is in an unfavorable angular position and the mechanical resonator is braked by the anchor.Each tooth has an elastic capacity that allows it to elastically absorb, in a radial direction, most of the maximum mechanical energy that the mechanical resonator can have during the normal operation of the watch movement, so as to avoid breakage or deterioration of the escapement.