Watch Roller Display Mechanism With Pivoting Flaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Watch displays, particularly calendar displays, face challenges in readability due to thickness constraints and fragility, making existing roller and shutter mechanisms unsuitable for compact watch designs.
Innovation Solution
A clock display mechanism featuring a roller with pivoting flaps, where the roller and shutter axes are distinct, utilizing a control wheel with removed teeth to mesh with a roller drive pinion for reduction, allowing for efficient and compact display of timepiece indications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a roller display mechanism is used to show calendar indications, then the display can be made readable, but the required thickness increases due to the roller diameter
Solution Approach 1:
The roller is divided into multiple flaps that can pivot independently about a flap axis. Each flap carries a portion of the calendar indications (e.g., days of the month), allowing the total display circumference to be distributed across multiple smaller segments rather than requiring a single large roller.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a second axis of rotation (flap axis) perpendicular to the traditional roller axis. This creates a two-dimensional display surface on the roller circumference, where indications are arranged both around the roller and across multiple flap surfaces, effectively increasing display capacity without increasing roller diameter.
2Quantity of substance
If very small characters are used to fit more indications on the roller, then the display can be made compact, but magnifying glasses are required which harm aesthetics and remain difficult to read
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the display across multiple flaps that can pivot into position, each flap can carry a limited number of larger, more readable characters. The segmentation allows the display to show multiple sets of indications (e.g., current date, upcoming dates) simultaneously on different flap faces rather than cramming all indications onto a single circular surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The flaps are designed to pivot dynamically between different positions, allowing the display to switch between showing different calendar information. This dynamic capability enables the same physical space to display different sets of indications at different times, effectively increasing the quantity of information displayed without requiring smaller characters.
3Device complexity
If traditional shutter displays are used, then the mechanism can be simple, but they rely on gravity and are fragile unable to withstand shocks
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces static gravity-dependent shutters with dynamic flaps that pivot about a horizontal axis. The flaps are actively controlled by drive means (such as spring-loaded mechanisms or gear systems) that can reliably position them against gravity or hold them in position without gravitational dependence, making the mechanism suitable for wristwatch applications where orientation varies.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of a cylindrical roller with flaps mounted on its circumference creates a more robust structure compared to flat shutters. The curved geometry of the roller provides structural strength and allows the flaps to be positioned in a compact three-dimensional arrangement that better withstands mechanical shocks and vibrations.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a clockwork display mechanism, for a watch, comprising a roller (12, 13) pivoting about a main axis (D10) and having flaps each pivoting about a secondary axis parallel to the main axis (D10) and having two faces, first drive means (31) for pivoting the roller (12, 13) about the main axis (D10), and second drive means for pivoting a flap about its secondary axis, in a determined position of this secondary axis relative to the main axis (D10), and the first drive means (31) comprise a drive wheel (3120, 3130) of which certain teeth are removed, and which meshes with a roller drive pinion (312, 313), either directly or via a reduction couple, to obtain the desired reduction.