The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd

Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogere Suisse

Omega Sa

Baptiste Hinaux

Gianni Di Domenico

Dominique Lechot

Pascal Winkler

Jerome Favre

Jean-Luc Helfer

Jean-Jacques Born

Olivier Matthey

Laurent Klinger

Jean-Claude Martin

Jérôme Favre

Pierre Cusin

Michel Willemin

Yves Winkler

Alex Gandelhman

Lionel Tombez

Lionel Paratte

Francois Gueissaz

Alexandre Haemmerli

Donald William Corson

Patrick Ragot

Jean-Bernard Peters

Laurent Nagy

Fanel Piccini

Marc Stranczl

Gregory Kissling

Pierpasquale Tortora

Cedric Nicolas

Cédric Nicolas

François Gueissaz

Mohammad Hussein Kahrobaiyan

Gilles Derriey

Ahmad Odeh

Nicolas Lazzari

Cédric Kaltenrieder-Ellis

Jérôme Viprey

Dominique Léchot

Dominique LÉCHOT

A regulating member () for a horological movement including a balance, a balance spring including a flexible strip () coiled on itself in several turns, the strip () having a predefined rigidity to enable the balance to perform a rotary oscillatory movement, the strip including an outer end (). The regulating member () includes a resilient device for compensating the direction of gravity with respect to the regulating member (), the resilient device adapting its stiffness according to gravity to compensate for the effect of gravity on the regulating member, the resilient device including a resilient element () connecting the outer end () to a first non-movable support () with respect to the horological movement, as well as prestressing means () for applying a variable force or torque on the resilient element () according to the direction of gravity with respect to the regulating member ().

Timepiece regulating member with a balance spring provided with means for gravity compensation

The water-resistant watch case includes at least one crystal mounted on an upper side of a middle, a fastening gasket positioned between an upper annular inner wall of the middle and an upper annular outer wall of the crystal. The crystal includes an annular peripheral surface below the upper annular outer wall inclined at an angle smaller than 90° in relation to an axis perpendicular to a plane of the watch case. The peripheral surface comes into contact against an annular inner surface of the middle inclined at an angle similar to the inclination of the annular peripheral surface and below the upper annular inner wall of the middle. The annular peripheral surface and/or the annular inner surface of the middle includes a domed contact portion for a contact on an annular contact line between the two surfaces.

Water-resistant watch case

A timepiece resonator mechanism (), including a structure () carrying, by a flexible suspension (), an anchoring block () from which is suspended an inertial element () oscillating about a pivot axis (D) extending in a first direction Z, according to a first rotational degree of freedom RZ, under the action of return forces of a flexible pivot () including elastic longitudinal strips () each fixed to said inertial element () and to said anchoring block (), the resonator mechanism including a viscous substance () arranged at least partly around the flexible suspension (), the viscous substance () being configured to at least partly dissipate the energy due to a shock.

Shock-resistant protection provided with a viscous substance for a resonator mechanism with rotary flexible guide

A timepiece resonator including an inertial element moveable in relation to a fixed structure, and suspended to a flexible guide including flexible strips crossed in projection on a plane XY at a single crossing zone ZC, each one deformable in a plane parallel to the plane XY each one extending in a ribbon on either side of a neutral surface perpendicular to the plane XY and joining the first recess with the structure and the second recess with the inertial element, and including at least one rib asymmetrical in relation to its neutral surface, and, at the crossing zone ZC, either each flexible strip does not include any rib, or each rib is asymmetrical in relation to its neutral surface.

Timepiece resonator including at least one flexible guide

A balance for timepieces includes a rim, a hub, and at least one arm connecting the hub to the rim. At least one portion of the balance is made of an at least partially amorphous metal alloy. The at least partially amorphous metal alloy is based on an element chosen from the group consisting of platinum, zirconium and titanium, and has a coefficient of thermal expansion comprised between 7 ppm/&#xb0; C. and 12 ppm/&#xb0; C. The balance can be manufactured by moulding. A resonator can include such a balance and a monocrystalline quartz balance spring.

Balance for timepieces and method for manufacturing the same

A device () for the winding and time-setting of a watch () with an oscillating resonator (), which includes: an automatic winding mechanism () for a mechanical or automatic watch, which includes at least one watch reception support (), a viewing system (), a stoppage monitor () to observe the stoppage of a resonator (), and a controller () arranged to identify the stoppage time displayed by the watch () in the stoppage position thereof, to compute the time remaining until a synchronization between the actual time indicated by the clock () and the stoppage time, and, when the remaining time has elapsed, to activate the automatic winding mechanism () for rewinding the power storage device of the watch ().

Watch winding and time-setting device

A universal device is for preparation of a watch with a gain/loss correction crown and an oscillating resonator. The device includes winding and a gain/loss corrector with a robotic manipulator for manoeuvring the crown. It also includes an adjustment device with a gain/loss correction device including a gain/loss-corrector oscillator generating an oscillation to subject the watch to an oscillation at a correction frequency NC and/or to a modulated movement. The gain/loss correction device includes a gain/loss controller that controls the oscillation of the gain/loss-corrector oscillator, interfaced with a device to measure the gain/loss of the watch. The gain/loss correction device also includes an automatic winder with a watch-holder stand subjected to the oscillations or movements generated by the gain/loss-corrector oscillator.

Universal device for the preparation of a watch

A universal device for the winding and time-setting of a watch with oscillating resonator, including a rewinding and state corrector, including an automatic winding mechanism, state measurer relative to a reference, stoppage monitor to observe the stoppage of the resonator, running monitor of the resonator, controller to identify the stoppage time displayed, compute the time remaining until a synchronisation between the actual time indicated by the reference and the stoppage time, and, when this remaining time has elapsed, activate the winding mechanism to rewind the storage device of the watch, and, following activation of the winding mechanism, await the determination of the stabilisation of the nominal running of the resonator by these monitors before allowing adjustment of the state of the watch.

Universal watch winding and time-setting device

Inertia mobile component () for a horological resonator (), oscillating about an axis of oscillation (D), and including at least one magnetic area (), the total resultant magnetic moment of all of the magnetic areas (), included in the inertia mobile component (), is aligned in the direction of the axis of oscillation (D), this inertia mobile component () bearing at least one magnetic compensating element (), the magnetisation component thereof in a direction perpendicular to the axis of oscillation (D) can be adjusted in order to obtain a total resultant magnetic moment that is aligned in the direction of the axis of oscillation (D).

Inertia mobile component for horological resonator with magnetic interaction device insensitive to the external magnetic field

A process for producing a metal alloy balance wheel by molding includes a) making a mold in the negative shape of the balance wheel; b) obtaining a metal alloy that has a thermal expansion coefficient of less than 25 ppm/&#xb0; C. and is able to be in an at least partly amorphous state when it is heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature; c) putting the metal alloy into the mold, the metal alloy being heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature so as to be hot-molded and to form a balance wheel; d) cooling the metal alloy to obtain a balance wheel made of the metal alloy; and e) releasing the balance wheel obtained in step d) from its mold. The process also includes a step for over-molding flexible centering components in the hub.

Process for producing a balance wheel for a timepiece

Horological resonator () including an inertia mobile component () oscillating about an axis of oscillation (D) and including at least one magnetic area (), the total resultant magnetic moment of all of the magnetic areas (), included in the inertia mobile component (), is aligned in the direction of the axis of oscillation (D), this inertia mobile component () bearing at least one balancing magnet (), the direction of the magnetic moment thereof crosses the axis of oscillation (D) to obtain magnetic balancing of the inertia mobile component ().

An oscillator includes a resonator, which has an inertial mass returned by an elastic return and carries entry and exit pallets cooperating with teeth of an escape wheel each provided with a magnet. Each pallet includes a magnetic arrangement, with an annular sector, centred on the axis of oscillation of the resonator, defining a first magnetic barrier area extending above and/or below a mechanical pallet-stone of the entry pallet or exit pallet, over the entire length of this mechanical pallet-stone acting as support for the teeth during the supplementary arc, in order to form a magnetic cylinder escapement mechanism.

Optimised magneto-mechanical timepiece escapement mechanism

There is disclosed a timepiece resonator having an inertia element suspended from a flexible strip deformable in a plane XY parallel to a longitudinal direction Y, and whose transverse extension along a transverse axis X, in projection onto the plane XY, is variable and of positive value on at least one side of the neutral axis (FN) of said strip, which includes, at a distance from its embedments, at least one rib extending along an axis Z perpendicular to the plane XY, each having at least one generatrix which is farther from the neutral axis (FN) than the external surfaces of the sections of the strip located outside the ribs, and the longitudinal extension (LN) of each rib of the strip, along the longitudinal axis Y, is less than one fifth of the length L of the strip between its embedments.

Timepiece resonator comprising at least one flexure bearing

A timepiece resonator including an inertia element suspended from a flexible strip deformable in a plane XY parallel to a longitudinal direction Y, and whose transverse extension along a transverse axis X, in projection onto the plane XY, is variable and of positive value on at least one side of the neutral axis (FN) of the strip, which includes, at a distance from its embedments, at least one rib extending substantially along an axis Z perpendicular to the plane XY, each having at least one generatrix which is farther from the neutral axis (FN) than the external surfaces of the sections of the strip located outside the ribs, and the longitudinal extension (LN) of each rib of the strip, along the longitudinal axis Y, is less than one fifth of the length L of the strip between its embedments.

A method for making a flexure bearing for an oscillator with an inertial element oscillating in a plane supported by flexible strips fixed to a stationary support returning it to a rest position includes: forming the bearing with basic strips in superposed levels, each having an aspect ratio of less than 10; breaking down the number of basic levels into a plurality of sub-units, each including one or two strips joining a basic support and a basic inertial element, which are made by etching substrates; assembling the sub-units by joining their basic inertial elements; and fixing the basic supports to the support, directly or via translational tables along one or two in-plane translational degrees of freedom, of lower translational stiffness than that of the sub-unit.

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Lausanne, Switzerland

Baptiste Hinaux