Horology: time measuring systems or devices – Mechanical time base – Mainspring
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-29
2002-11-26
Miska, Vit (Department: 2841)
Horology: time measuring systems or devices
Mechanical time base
Mainspring
C368S208000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06485172
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a self-winding watch structured to wind up a spiral spring in a barrel complete due to rotation of an oscillating weight and, more particularly, to a self-winding watch having a self-winding mechanism constituted by components including a pawl lever arranged on a main plate side of a bridge member thereof.
2. Background Information
Referring to
FIG. 5
, in a conventional self-winding watch a movement
500
of the self-winding watch is provided with a main plate
102
, a train wheel bridge
104
and a center wheel bridge
106
.
The “movement” herein refers to a watch mechanical part, and a “glass side” signifies a side on which a glass
110
is present when a movement is assembled in a case. Meanwhile, a “back lid side” shows a side where a back lid
112
exists when a movement is assembled in a case. Accordingly, the train wheel bridge
104
and the center wheel bridge
106
are assembled on a back lid side of the main plate
102
.
A date indicator maintaining plate
116
is assembled on a glass side of the main plate
102
. A dial
118
is assembled on a glass side of the date indicator maintaining plate
116
.
A barrel complete
120
, a minute wheel
122
, a second wheel
124
and a hour wheel
126
are rotatably assembled in the movement
500
. A glass
110
protects the movement
500
.
A ratchet wheel
150
is assembled on a back lid side of the train wheel bridge
104
. The ratchet wheel
150
has a square hole
150
a
assembled on a corner part
120
b
of a barrel complete stem
120
a
of a barrel complete
120
. A ratchet wheel screw
152
fixes the ratchet wheel
150
on the barrel complete stem
120
a.
An-oscillating weight
160
includes a ball bearing part
162
, an oscillating weight body
164
and a weight
166
. The ball bearing part
162
includes an inner ring
168
, a ball stopper ring
170
and an outer ring
172
to assemble a plurality of balls
174
in between the inner ring
168
, the ball stopper ring
170
and the outer ring
172
. An oscillation weight pinion
176
is provided on an outer periphery of the outer ring
172
.
A first transmission wheel
180
is rotatably assembled on the train wheel bridge
104
and main plate
102
. The first transmission wheel
180
has a first transmission gear
180
a
, an upper guide shaft part
180
b
and a lower guide shaft part
180
c
. The first transmission gear
180
a
is structured to mesh with the oscillating weight pinion
176
through a first transmission intermediate wheel
178
. An eccentric shaft part
180
d
is provided between the first transmission gear
180
a
and the upper guide shaft part
180
b
on the first transmission wheel
180
. The upper guide shaft part
180
b
is rotatably supported on the train wheel bridge
104
. The lower guide shaft part
180
c
is rotatably supported on the main plate
102
.
A pawl lever
182
is assembled in between the first transmission gear
180
a
and the train wheel bridge
104
. Consequently, the pawl lever
182
is arranged on a back lid side of the train wheel bridge
104
as a bridge member. The pawl lever
182
has a push pawl (not shown) and a draw pawl
182
c
. The pawl lever
182
at its guide hole
182
a
is rotatably assembled over the eccentric shaft part
180
d
of the first transmission wheel
180
. A transmission holder
183
is attached to the first transmission wheel
180
in a closer position than the eccentric shaft part
180
d
to the lower guide shaft part
180
c.
A second reduction wheel
184
is assembled on a back lid side of the train wheel bridge
104
and rotatably attached by a second reduction screw
185
. The second reduction wheel
184
has a second reduction gear
184
a
and a second reduction pinion
184
b
. The second reduction gear
184
a
is structured in a ratchet gear form. The push pawl and draw pawl
182
c
of the pawl lever
182
engage this ratchet gear
184
a
. The second reduction pinion
184
b
is in mesh with the ratchet wheel
150
.
When the oscillating weight
160
rotates, the rotation of oscillating weight pinion
176
causes rotation in the first transmission wheel
180
. The pawl lever
182
is reciprocally moved based on eccentric motion of the eccentric shaft part
180
d
by the rotation of first transmission wheel
180
, causing the second reduction wheel
184
to rotate in a given direction through the push pawl and draw pawl
182
c
. The rotation of second reduction wheel
184
rotates the ratchet wheel
150
, thus winding up the spiral spring
120
c
in the barrel complete
120
.
However, the conventional self-winding watch using a pawl lever has the following problems.
(1) Because the pawl lever is arranged between the bridge member supporting oscillating weight and the oscillating weight body, a space is required to arrange a lever on a back lid side of this bridge member. This accordingly increases an outer dimension of the watch movement (mechanical assembly) and also a thickness of the movement.
(2) Because the pawl lever can be seen directly at the back lid, the oil supplied to a rotational part of the pawl lever and to the pawl is seen at the back lid. It is accordingly difficult to improve appearance on the movement of a watch made with a back-lid skeleton.
(3) Because the pawl lever is arranged between the closest bridge member to the back lid and the oscillating weight body, the structure supporting the pawl lever is complicated.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide, in order to solve the foregoing problems in the conventional art, a self-winding watch having a reduced size and thickness by arranging a pawl lever on a main plate side of a bridge member.
Another object of the invention is to provide a self-winding watch which has a good aesthetic appearance from a back lid side of a movement.
Furthermore, another object of the invention is to provide a self-winding watch which can support a pawl lever by a simple structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to-solve the above problem, the present invention is structured such that, in a self-winding watch structure to wind up a spiral spring in a barrel complete through a self-winding mechanism due to rotation of an oscillating weight, the self-winding watch comprises: a main plate structuring a base plate of a self-winding watch; a bridge member rotatably supporting at least one shaft part of a wheel train constituting the self-winding mechanism; at least one first transmission wheel to be rotated by rotation of the oscillating weight; a pawl lever to be elastically moved by rotation of the first transmission wheel; a second reduction wheel to be rotated by eccentric motion of the pawl lever; and a barrel complete including a spiral spring to be wound up by rotation of the second reduction wheel; wherein the lever at least one part thereof is arranged on a side of the main plate with respect to the bridge member. This bridge member is structured, for example, by a third wheel bridge rotatably supporting a third wheel. This bridge member may be a part constituting a self-winding wheel train, a transmission wheel bridge rotatably supporting the oscillating weight or a train wheel bridge rotatably supporting a wheel train including the barrel complete. It is preferred that the first transmission wheel is structured by a first transmission wheel and the second reduction wheel is by a second reduction wheel.
Meanwhile, in the self-winding watch of the invention, the bridge member is preferably structured to rotatably receive at least one of a wheel train, constituting a self-winding mechanism.
This structure can reduce the size and thickness of self-winding mechanism and support the pawl lever by a simple structure.
Furthermore, the present invention is structured such that, in a self-winding watch structure to wind up a spiral spring in a barrel complete due to rotation of an oscillating weight, a main plate and at least one bridge member are provided. The oscillation weight is rotatably supported by the bridge member. This self-winding
Takahashi Masaaki
Tokoro Takeshi
Adams & Wilks
Goodwin Jeanne-Marguerite
Miska Vit
Seiko Instruments Inc.
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