Perforated Plate Watch Component with Elastic Notches
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Solution Overview
Problem
In watchmaking micromechanics, securing components made from materials with little or no plastic domain, such as glass or silicon, to a shaft without risking breakage is challenging due to geometric variations and torque transmission issues.
Innovation Solution
A horological component featuring a perforated plate with a connecting part and an elastic part having internal and external notches oriented radially, allowing for elastic deformation and absorption of geometric variations without significant center position shifts, ensuring secure attachment and torque transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If driving-in is used to secure a component made of fragile material (glass, quartz, silicon) to a shaft, then the component can be securely attached, but there is a great risk of breaking the component during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state of the material by introducing an elastic part that can deform reversibly. The elastic part is designed with specific geometric parameters (thickness, notch dimensions) that allow it to undergo elastic deformation during assembly, transforming the rigid fragile material into a component that can absorb assembly stresses without breaking.
Solution Approach 2:
The component is divided into distinct functional parts: a connecting part that maintains structural integrity and a separate elastic part that absorbs assembly stresses. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized for its specific function - the connecting part provides secure attachment while the elastic part prevents breakage during driving-in.
2Reliability
If clamping arms are used to hold the component elastically between shaft and component, then the component can be secured without breakage risk, but dimensional tolerances cannot be sufficiently controlled while ensuring maximum torque transmission before slipping
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating specific zones with different mechanical properties within the component. The elastic part has localized reduced thickness and notch features that concentrate flexibility in specific areas, while the connecting part maintains higher rigidity for precise dimensional control. This allows the component to simultaneously achieve both tolerance control and elastic deformation capability.
3Reliability
If the elastic part undergoes significant deformation during driving-in to absorb geometric variations, then attachment reliability improves, but the external shape of the perforated plate becomes significantly distorted
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the deformation function from the main structural body by creating a dedicated elastic part with specific geometric features (notches, reduced thickness). This elastic part is designed to undergo the necessary deformations while the connecting part and overall external shape remain relatively stable, effectively separating the deformation function from the structural integrity function.
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 component effectively absorbs geometric variations and maintains secure attachment to the shaft, preventing breakage and ensuring sufficient torque transmission without slipping, even in materials with limited plasticity.
Implementation Method 1
the second part, called the elastic part, having a plurality of internal notches cutting into its internal side, and a plurality of external notches cut into its external side... the presence of the inner notches and the outer notches has the effect of reducing in places the distance between the inner and outer edges of the elastic part. The latter thus comprises a succession of constricted places which are easier to deform elastically.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 5~6
AI summary
The watch component includes an element (225) in the form of an openwork plate which is made in one piece of a fragile material and which has an opening (211) intended for the insertion of an axle (210). The perforated plate-shaped element consists of at least one connecting part (213a, 213b) and at least one elastic part (215a, 215b), the connecting part being arranged to connect the perforated plate-shaped element (225) to the rest of the component, and the elastic part (215a, 215b) having a plurality of internal notches (217) and a plurality of external notches (219), the internal and external notches being arranged alternately, so that a section of the elastic part (215a, 215b) which is delimited on either side by two external notches (219) always contains an internal notch (217), and vice versa.