Watch with Recessed Rotatable Bezel and Guard Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing watch designs with rotatable bezels suffer from increased size during operation and low impact resistance due to the contrivances used to prevent erroneous rotation, which can lead to damage upon accidental drops.
Innovation Solution
A watch design featuring a case band with a circular protrusion and surrounding wall forming an arrangement groove, a bezel rotatably supported in the protrusion with manual holding asperities, and a guard that can be manually moved between a use position to prevent rotation and a retreated position to allow rotation, while being retained by a positioning means to maintain compactness and enhance impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a bezel cover member is rotatably mounted to prevent erroneous rotation, then the bezel can be retained at the set position, but the watch figure enlarges and impact resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The guard member is designed to be movable between a closed position (covering the open portion to prevent erroneous rotation) and an open position (allowing bezel operation). This dynamic positioning allows the watch to maintain compact figures during normal wear while enabling bezel rotation when needed, resolving the contradiction between retention reliability and compact shape.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective function is separated into a distinct guard member that can independently move relative to the bezel cover member. This segmentation allows the guard to provide protection during wear without requiring the entire bezel cover assembly to be large or bulky, thus maintaining compact watch figures while ensuring reliability.
2Ease of operation
If a bezel cover member is opened for bezel rotation, then the bezel can be rotated, but the watch becomes vulnerable to impact damage
Solution Approach 1:
The guard member dynamically transitions between covering and uncovering the open portion. During normal wear, it covers the opening to protect against impact. When bezel rotation is needed, the guard is moved to the open position to facilitate operation. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and protection from harmful factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The guard member acts as an intermediary protective element between the external environment and the vulnerable open portion. It selectively blocks impact forces from reaching the internal components while allowing controlled access during operation, thus mediating between operational requirements and protection needs.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the guard is positioned to close open portions for protection, then impact resistance improves, but bezel operation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The guard member is designed with movable positioning capability, allowing it to transition between a protective closed position and an operational open position. This dynamic adjustment enables the system to optimize for impact resistance during wear while facilitating easy bezel operation when required, resolving the contradiction between protection and ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A wristwatch is equipped with a case band, a bezel, and a guard. The case band has a circular upwardly directed protrusion to which a transparent dial cover is mounted, a surrounding wall portion forming between itself and the upwardly directed protrusion an arrangement groove extending along this protrusion, and open portions for bezel operation. The bezel having manual holding asperities facing the open portions is rotatably supported in the outer periphery of the upwardly directed protrusion, and arranged in the arrangement groove while forming between itself and the surrounding wall portion a gap extending along the surrounding wall portion. There is arranged in the gap the guard, which is engaged with a detachment preventing portion of the surrounding wall portion and moved in the peripheral direction of the bezel; the guard is movable between a use position where it closes the open portions and obstructs manual holding of the manual holding asperities and a retreated position where it opens the open portions to enable manual holding of the manual holding asperities. The guard is retained at the use position by a positioning means.