Stepped Face Support for Timepiece Striking Gongs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing timepieces with multiple striking gongs face challenges in maintaining parallelism and ensuring efficient sound transmission due to the complexity of multiple attachment points, leading to acoustic losses and potential gong collisions.
Innovation Solution
A support with a stepped face allows for the connection of multiple gongs to a fixed part of a timepiece, ensuring parallel alignment and a rigid connection, reducing acoustic losses by using a single support for multiple gongs and employing specialized screws for secure fixation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate heels or stubs are used to attach multiple gongs, then each gong can be individually attached, but the number of fixing zones increases leading to acoustic losses and complex structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate heels or stubs into a single integrated support structure with a stepped face. This single support structure provides multiple attachment points for multiple gongs, reducing the number of fixing zones from multiple separate connections to a unified structure, thereby minimizing acoustic losses while maintaining reliable sound transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The single support structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides attachment points for multiple gongs, maintains parallelism among them, and ensures rigid connection to the fixed part. The stepped face design allows this universal structure to accommodate different numbers and configurations of gongs.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate heels are used to attach multiple gongs, then each gong can be individually fixed, but the structure becomes complex and radial space increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a radial arrangement of multiple separate heels to a stepped face structure that utilizes the axial dimension. By stacking attachment surfaces vertically on the stepped face, multiple gongs can be attached in an axial sequence rather than spreading radially, significantly reducing the radial footprint while maintaining adaptability to attach various numbers of gongs.
3Ease of operation
If multiple separate stubs are used for gong attachment, then flexibility in positioning is achieved, but parallelism control becomes difficult and acoustic losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The stepped face provides localized bearing surfaces at different heights, each optimized for specific gong positions. The varying step heights correspond to different gong lengths and attachment requirements, providing both positioning flexibility and precise parallelism control through the structured geometry of the steps.
4Reliability
If a single rigid support structure is used to connect multiple gongs, then sound transmission is improved, but the structure must accommodate varying gong positions and lengths
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into multiple steps on its face, each step providing a dedicated attachment surface for a specific gong position. This segmentation allows the single rigid structure to accommodate varying gong lengths and positions while maintaining overall structural integrity for efficient sound transmission.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The support (6) has a stepped face (7) defining steps (8) on which end parts of striking gongs (3) are fixed by removable connection units such as screws (11), respectively, where the support is fixed on a fixed part (1) of a timepiece. A recess (13) defines feet (14) supported against the fixed part of the timepiece. Each screw successively comprises a threaded cylindrical part, a conical part and a polygonal sectioned head. An independent claim is also included for a timepiece comprising a dampening element between two gongs.