Light Alloy Watch Dial Feet Welding for Chemical Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Copper alloy feet used in dial manufacturing are unsuitable for light alloys like aluminum, as they dissolve during electrochemical conversion processes, making it costly and difficult to produce one-piece watch dials with matching feet, often requiring separate copper alloy feet addition or dials without feet.
Innovation Solution
A method to attach feet made of aluminum, titanium, or magnesium alloys directly to a bare dial flange of the same material, using welding or brazing techniques to create a one-piece assembly that exhibits the same chemical behavior, with specific joint configurations and micro-welding technologies to avoid deformation and facilitate chemical treatments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If copper alloy feet are used to attach to light alloy dials, then electrical contact and oxidation resistance are improved, but chemical stability during electrochemical conversion processes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by making both the dial and feet from the same light alloy material (aluminum, titanium, or magnesium alloy). This ensures uniform chemical behavior during electrochemical conversion processes, preventing the dissolution problem that occurs when copper alloy feet are used with light alloy dials. The feet and dial now exhibit identical corrosion resistance and electrochemical stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes composite materials by combining light alloy material with itself in different forms (dial body and feet). This self-composite approach allows the feet to maintain the chemical stability of light alloys while providing the necessary mechanical attachment function, resolving the contradiction between oxidation resistance and chemical stability.
2Reliability
If feet are machined as a single piece with the dial flange, then material uniformity and chemical stability are improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by separating the production of feet from the dial body. Instead of machining everything as one expensive single-piece component, the feet are manufactured separately and then attached to the dial flange. This reduces manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining material uniformity through the use of the same light alloy for both parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the feet and dial flange through welding or brazing after separate manufacturing. This combining approach achieves the benefits of single-piece material uniformity while allowing for more economical separate production of components, resolving the contradiction between chemical stability and manufacturing ease.
3Strength
If welding or brazing is used to attach feet to dial flange, then structural integrity and rigidity are improved, but risk of deformation and interference with chemical treatments increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical attachment methods (screws, rivets, adhesives) with welding or brazing to achieve superior structural integrity. The welding process creates a metallurgical bond that provides rigid attachment while maintaining compatibility with subsequent chemical treatments, as the weld zone becomes part of the uniform light alloy structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent controls welding parameters (energy pulse duration, temperature, localized heating) to minimize heat-affected zone and prevent deformation. By optimizing these parameters, the feet are securely attached through welding or brazing without causing distortion or interfering with the chemical conversion treatments that follow.
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
Enables the production of one-piece watch dials with feet that match the dial material, ensuring chemical stability and reducing production costs by integrating feet during the manufacturing process, allowing for uniform chemical treatments and improved durability.
Implementation Method 1
irreversibly assemble by welding or brazing at least one weldable foot (40) to the flange (2)
Implementation Method 2
irreversibly assemble by welding or brazing at least one weldable foot (40) to the flange (2)
Implementation Method 3
copper alloy feet dissolve during electrochemical conversion processes, such as anodizing, anodic oxidation, or similar processes, in baths or electrolytes containing sulfuric or sulfonitric acid
Implementation Method 4
anodizing, anodic oxidation
Implementation Method 5
anodizing, anodic oxidation
Data Source
Figure 1~10
AI summary
Method for producing a one-piece timepiece dial assembly (10) made from light alloy, comprising: - producing, in a first assembled state, a dial (1) comprising a flange (2) the material of which is a first light alloy, comprising, opposite the first side of a display area (3) visible to a user, at least one attachment foot (4) of the dial (1), this flange (2) comprising at least one receiving area (5) matching an end area (6) of at least one foot (4) which is a weldable foot (40) that can be welded or brazed with this flange (2) at the interface between the receiving area (5) and the end area (6), and the material of which is said first light alloy or even a second light alloy that can be welded or brazed with this first light alloy; and - irreversibly assembling, by welding or brazing, at least one weldable foot (40) with the flange (2).