Richemont International S.a.

Alexis Heraud

Olivier Karlen

Valentin Molina

Béatrice Wenk

Luca Ribetto

Nelly Socquet

Susana Del Carmen Tobenas Borron

Jonathan ZÜRCHER

A method for manufacturing a plurality of mechanical resonators () in a manufacturing wafer (), the resonators being intended to be fitted to an adjusting member of a timepiece, the method comprising the following steps: (a) manufacturing a plurality of resonators in at least one reference wafer according to reference specifications, such manufacture comprising at least one lithography step to form patterns of the resonators on or above the reference wafer and a step of machining in the reference plate using the patterns; (b) for the at least one reference plate, establishing a map indicative of the dispersion of stiffnesses of the resonators relative to an average stiffness value; (c) dividing the map into fields and determining a correction to be made to the dimensions of the resonators for at least one of the fields in order to reduce the dispersion; (d) modifying the reference specifications for the lithography step so as to make the corrections to the dimensions for the at least one field in the lithography step; (e) manufacturing resonators in a manufacturing wafer using the modified specifications.

Method for manufacturing a plurality of resonators in a wafer

A timepiece escapement comprising: an escapement wheel pivotably mounted about a first axis of rotation and intended to be driven by a power source; a lever pivotably mounted about a second axis of rotation, said lever comprising an entry pallet and an exit pallet, each pallet comprising a rest face arranged to alternately and sequentially lock the escapement wheel, the lever being suitable for transmitting pulses received from the escapement wheel to a regulating member arranged to oscillate, and for releasing the escapement wheel periodically under the control of said regulating member, wherein the rest face of the entry pallet is arranged such that, when it locks a tooth of the escapement wheel, a draw force is generated by the interaction between the rest face and the tooth to apply a torque that tends to retain the lever in the rest position. According to the invention, the rest face is shaped in such a way that the draw angle (&#x3a5;) at the contact point (C) of said face with a tooth of the escapement wheel is constant or decreases along the release stroke of the entry pallet.

Timepiece escapement with optimized draw

An escapement for a timepiece, comprising: &#x2014;an escapement wheel pivotally mounted around a corresponding axis of rotation and intended to be driven by a drive source, said escapement wheel comprising a plurality of teeth; &#x2014;a pallet fork pivotably mounted around a corresponding axis of rotation, said pallet fork comprising an entry pallet and an exit pallet, each pallet comprising a rest face arranged to block the escapement wheel, as well as a pulse face arranged to interact with the escapement wheel in order to transmit the pulses received from the latter to a regulating member arranged to perform oscillations, said pallet fork being arranged to free the escapement wheel periodically under the control of the regulating member, characterized in that at least one of the pulse faces is shaped in such a way that, on at least one portion of the pulse face, and considered at each point of contact (C') between the escapement wheel and the pulse face, the tangent of the pulse face intersects the center-to-center distance between the escapement wheel and the pallet fork according to an angle (&#x3b1;orientation) that observes a particular relation.

Escapement for a timepiece with optimized torque transmission

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Pontarlier, France

Alexis Heraud