Alarm arrangement for a timepiece

• US 5,003,519 A
• Filed: 05/25/1989
• Issued: 03/26/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Eta SA Fabriques dEbauches (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Eta SA Fabriques dEbauches (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Noirjean, Pierre-Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): Miska, Vit W.
• Application Number:
  US07/356,867
• Time in Patent Office: 670 Days
• Field of Search: 368/72-74, 368/109, 368/250, 368/252, 368/253, 368/243, 368/244
• US Class Current: 368/73
• CPC Class Codes: G04C 21/20 by closing a contact to ring an electromechanical alarm

Abstract

The alarm arrangement is among those in which an alarm is released by the coincidence of a first contact point coupled to the going train of the timepiece with a second contact point coupled to an index the position of which may be regulated by a manual control element. In this arrangement the second contact point (68) is coupled to a member (60) fixed to a rotating shaft (58) on which are pivoted wheel sets (76, 92) of the going train which bear time indicating hands (82, 100). In a very simple case the member fixed to the rotating shaft is adjacent the timepiece hour wheel (80) and the contact points (68, 90) are borne by these two elements on their faces and facing one another. On the other hand the manual control element may be advantageously formed by the glass (16) of the timepiece which is then coupled to one of the ends of the rotating shaft and a rotatable bezel (22) to which the glass is fastened.

Claims

1. An alarm timepiece comprising:

support means;

a dial borne by said support means;

a shaft rotatably mounted on said support means;

a going train operatively mounted on said support means and comprising a plurality of wheels including an hour wheel and a minute wheel, said hour wheel and said minute wheel being rotatably mounted around said shaft;

an hours hand and a minutes hand coupled to said hour wheel and said minute wheel, respectively, so as to cooperate with said dial to display time;

a first contact point rigid with one of said wheels of said going train;

a member fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith;

a second contact point coupled to said member;

manual control means operatively coupled to said member for setting the position of said member and said second contact point, said position being representative of the alarm time at which an alarm must be triggered;

an index coupled to said manual control means for displaying said alarm time; and

,

alarm-producing means for producing an alarm when the positions of said first and second contact points coincide with one another by virtue of rotational movement of said one of said wheels with respect to said member.

2. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 1 wherein said member and said hour wheel are adjacent one another and have faces facing one another, and wherein said first and second contact points are borne by said member and said hour wheel on said faces.

3. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 2 wherein said member and said hour wheel are formed of insulating material;

and two conductive plates fixed to said faces, said contact points comprising projections from said plates.

4. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 3 wherein said projections comprise elastic tongues struck out from said plates.

5. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 1 wherein said manual control means comprises a rotatable bezel mounted on said support means, on the side of said dial, and a glass fixed to said bezel and coupled to one end of said shaft.

6. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 5 wherein said glass and said end of said shaft are coupled by means of an annular collar formed on the inside of said glass, said end of said shaft being inserted into and retained by said annular collar.

7. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 5 wherein said index comprises a mark borne by said glass.

8. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 5 wherein said index is borne by said bezel.

9. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a case provided behind said dial, and wherein said support means comprises a disc rigidly fixed to said case and bearing said dial, and about which said bezel is rotatably mounted.

10. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 9 wherein said bezel has an internal lip and said case has a front edge, and wherein said bezel is maintained in place axially by said disc which bears on said lip of said bezel and said front edge against which said bezel bears in turn.

11. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 10 wherein said internal lip engages in a rabbet formed on the periphery of said disc and on the side opposite and dial so as to be guided in rotation by said disc.

12. An alarm timepiece as set forth in claim 11 wherein said disc bears on said internal lip by means of a plurality of pads which penetrate into said rabbet and which are located on the ends of elastic tongues accommodated in notches in the disc and regularly distributed around the periphery thereof.

13. An alarm timepiece as set forth in claim 1 wherein said going train comprises an hour cannon wheel directly mounted around said shaft and comprising a first pipe which bears said hour wheel and at one end of which is fastened said hours hand, and a cannon pinion mounted around said first pipe and comprising a second pipe which bears said minute wheel and at one end of which is fastened said minutes hand which is then closer to said dial than said hours hand.

14. An alarm timepiece comprising:

a support means;

a shaft rotatably supported on said support means;

a going train operatively mounted on said support means and comprising a plurality of wheels including an hour wheel and a minute wheel rotatably mounted around said shaft;

a first contact point on one of said wheels of said going train;

a member fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith;

a second contact point on said member;

alarm-producing means for producing an alarm when said first and second contacts touch; and

,

a manual control means for setting an alarm time, said manual control means comprising rotatable bezel mounted on said support means and a glass fixed to said bezel and coupled to one end of said shaft whereby rotation of said bezel sets the position of said second contact, said position representing the time at which the alarm-producing means produces the alarm.

15. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 14 and further comprising:

a dial supported by said support means; and

,

an hours hand and a minutes hand coupled to said hour wheel and said minute wheel, respectively, and cooperating with said dial to display time.

16. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 14 and further comprising index means borne by said manual control means.

17. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 14 and further comprising:

a case; and

,

a disc fixed to said case,

said bezel being rotatably mounted about said disc.

18. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 17 and further comprising an internal lip on said bezel, said disc being maintained axially by said disc which bears on said internal lip at a front edge of said case, said bezel also bearing on said front edge of said case.

19. An alarm timepiece comprising:

a support means;

a shaft rotatably supported on said support means;

a going train operatively mounted on said support means and comprising a plurality of wheels including an hour cannon wheel and a minute cannon wheel;

said hour cannon wheel being rotatably mounted about said shaft and having a pipe, said minute cannon wheel being rotatably mounted about said pipe;

a first contact point on one of said wheels of said going train;

a member fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith;

manual control means for setting said member to a position representative of an alarm time;

a second contact point on said member; and

,

alarm-producing means for producing an alarm when said first and second contacts touch.

20. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 19 and further comprising a dial borne by said support means, and index means coupled to said manual control means, and index means cooperating with said dial to indicate said alarm time.

21. An alarm timepiece as claimed in claim 19 wherein said minute cannon wheel includes a pipe, said alarm timepiece further comprising:

a dial;

an hours hand attached to the end of the pipe of said hours cannon wheel and a minutes hand attached to the end of the pipe of said minutes cannon wheel, said hours hand and said minutes hand cooperating with said dial to indicate time.