Horology: time measuring systems or devices – Cases – With protection means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-16
2001-11-13
Roskoski, Bernard (Department: 2859)
Horology: time measuring systems or devices
Cases
With protection means
C368S288000, C368S320000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315443
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns a chronograph watch case having a middle part-bezel made of precious metal including a recess in which are arranged in various locations segments of base material for the functional purpose of allowing other constituent parts of said chronograph watch to be assembled and assuring the sealing or water resistance of the winding stem passages.
When a middle part or middle part-bezel is made of precious metal, such as gold or platinum, it is economically advantageous to have the thinnest possible covering, which has, however, the disadvantageous of being easily deformed under the effect of a shock or pressure. “Covering” is used in the present invention to mean a structure which is sufficiently rigid to be handled and not simply a metal plating of several tens of microns on a support structure of base material already constituting the middle part or middle part-bezel. Within the meaning of the present invention, such a “covering” is for example obtained in a known manner by the electroforming technique which allows complex shapes of thickness which may vary from several tens of microns to several hundreds of microns to be obtained.
When the thickness of the covering is too small, for example of the order of 150 to 200 &mgr;m, reinforcement means have to be provided, arranged in the entire recess to protect the outer wall against shocks or pressure.
In the Swiss Patent No. CH-A-79203, such reinforcement is obtained by means of several segments having the same profile as the inner wall of the middle part, said segments being applied when assembled against said wall by means of a truncated casing ring. In the more recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,350, four segments covering at least 85% of the periphery of the recess are held in place, either by elastic means arranged in a groove over the entire periphery or at various locations, either by flanges screwed in the vicinity of the passage of the winding stem. In either case, these segments, which are made of base metal or a alloy such as brass, have practically no mechanical function other than reinforcement and above all increase the weight of the timepiece, which has the drawback of making it appear to be made of precious metal, or solid platinum.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,023, the reinforcement of a wall of 150 &mgr;m is obtained by stiffening elements which are integral with the wall and have a local thickness of 650 &mgr;m, thus giving the recess an alveolar structure. Such as structure, which is also called a “honeycomb” structure, is also described in European Patent No. EP 0 762 240. This structure has the drawback of unnecessarily using a large quantity of precious metal, while giving the timepiece an apparent lightness which could lead one to doubt that it is made of precious metal.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,708, it will be observed that the three inserts secured by bonding or welding in the recess of the middle part in the shape of an arch no longer have a reinforcing function, but an assembly function consisting in axially positioning the other constituent parts of the watch. It appears however that assembly by bonding or welding is not totally satisfactory, in particular for timepieces which merit a hallmark.
It will be observed finally that all the timepieces to which reference is made in the aforecited documents are watches whose middle part has only one opening or hole for the passage of the winding stem.
The present invention however concerns a chronograph watch made of precious metal, i.e. a timepiece including not only a stem but also at least two push buttons and whose hollowed middle part-bezel is of sufficient thickness to resist external pressure or shocks, but insufficient thickness to allow mechanical assembly of all the components necessary for the construction of said chronograph watch. The object of the invention is thus to provide an arrangement allowing such an assembly to be made economically with a reduced number of parts.
The invention therefore concerns a chronograph watch made of precious metal including a case, closed by a crystal and a back cover resting on a rigid middle part-bezel having a opened recess opening towards the centre of the case and wherein are provided through passages for a time-setting stem and for guide sleeves for at least two push buttons, and a chronograph movement with its display device positioned in said case by a casing ring arranged between said movement and said middle part-bezel. This chronograph watch is characterised in that the guide sleeves include a tube threaded on the outside and which ends in a collar and in that at least two out-of-joint segments shaped substantially like the recess and pierced with a threaded hole are arranged facing the push button sleeves to allow, by screwing from the exterior, both said segments to be firmly positioned and said sleeves to be sealed by crushing a metal ring of the middle part-bezel around the through passages.
These segments held in place by the sleeves also have other functional aspects in particular as regards the positioning and securing of the casing ring in which a pre-assembled movement, which also includes the dial and the hands, will be introduced from the back cover side.
One of these segments, in its top portion, on the crystal side, is provided with a pin, whose head projects from the face oriented towards the centre of the case to co-operate with a notch made in the top portion of the casing ring to allow the position of said casing ring to be indexed, i.e. to align its through passages perfectly with those provided in the middle part and in the segments for the passage respectively of the time-setting stem and the segments. In order not to weaken the segment concerned, this pin is preferably arranged beside the threaded hole for the push buttons sleeve and not above the latter. Likewise, the pin could be replaced by a stud integral with the segment.
Moreover each segment includes, in the bottom portion of its face oriented towards the centre and in a zone not located in proximity to the threaded hole, a groove parallel to the back cover, wherein is engaged by unscrewing, the head of a screw with an off-centre head previously screwed in a recess of the wall of the casing ring which thus becomes secured to the segments and the middle part-bezel.
As indicated at the beginning, the number of these multi-functional separated segments depends on the number of push buttons. According to a preferred embodiment, the chronograph watch includes four push buttons arranged at 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock and thus four segments which will occupy 50 to 60% of the recess of the middle part-bezel, or even less.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4408901 (1983-10-01), Gagnebin
patent: 5257247 (1993-10-01), Miche et al.
patent: 5363350 (1994-11-01), Marr-Andréet al.
patent: 5493544 (1996-02-01), Marthe
patent: 0 716 360 (1996-06-01), None
patent: 1 374 708 (1974-11-01), None
Meyrat Clement
Silvant Olivier
Griffin & Szipl, P.C.
Roskoski Bernard
The Swatch Group Management Services AG
LandOfFree
Precious metal chronograph watch with a hollowed middle... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Precious metal chronograph watch with a hollowed middle..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Precious metal chronograph watch with a hollowed middle... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2595863