Nivarox-far S.a.

Montres Breguet S.a.

The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd

Omega Sa

Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogere Suisse

Marc Stranczl

Thierry Hessler

Jean-Luc Helfer

Pierre Cusin

Gianni Di Domenico

Davide Sarchi

Marco Verardo

Davy Cretenet

Raphael Garret

Polychronis Nakis Karapatis

Daniel Mallet

Pascal Winkler

Dominique Lechot

Emmanuel Graf

Benoit Legeret

Rene Piguet

Benoît Légeret

Jerome Favre

Jean-Jacques Born

Gregory Kissling

Alain Zaugg

Michel Willemin

Baptiste Hinaux

Jérôme Favre

Stephane Lauper

Andrés Cabezas Jurin

Andres Cabezas Jurin

Alexandre Fussinger

Jan Pittet

Patrice Golay

Olivier Matthey

Benoit Junod

Christophe Bifrare

Stéphane Lauper

Frédéric Vaucher

Ahmad Odeh

Igor-Emmanuel Uldry

Laurent Jeanneret

Xavier Berdat

Sébastien Hostettler

Gérard Surmely

Gilliane Burli

Marc Abt

Marc Jung

Stephane Kinkio

Lionel Matthey-de-l'endroit

René Piguet

Peter Hyde

Dominique Léchot

Benoît Junod

M Polychronis Nakis Karapatis

Benoît Legeret

Gilliane Bürli

Stéphane Kinkio

Raphaël Garret

Andres Cabezas-Jurin

A flexible guide assembly for a horological movement, in particular for a display device of the horological movement, the assembly including two flexible guides arranged in series in a substantially head-to-tail manner, the first flexible guide including a support and a first movable element that is capable of moving relative to the support, as well as a first elongate, flexible body connecting the support to the first movable element, such that the first movable element can move by bending the first elongate, flexible body in a circular motion, the second flexible guide including a second movable element capable of moving relative to the first movable element and to the support of the first flexible guide, a second elongate, flexible body connecting the second movable element to the first movable element.

Head-to-tail flexible guide assembly for a horological movement, in particular for a display device

A timepiece display device including a first display element and a second display element superimposed above a fixed part including a main bearing surface, this second display element is subjected to opposing forces exerted, on the one hand by lower return means which tend to bring the second display element closer to the first display element, and, on the other hand, by upper return mechanism which tends to move the second display element away from the first display element without contact between them or else by mechanical spacing device which includes a bearing surface providing a stop bearing function on a stop surface of the second display element, to limit the travel from the second display element to the first display element.

Timepiece display device on multiple levels

A micromechanical mechanism (), in particular for an horological movement (), the mechanism including a micromechanical device including a mobile element () needing to be moved mechanically to trigger its operation. Included is a system for actuating the device, the actuation system including a mobile striker () configured to go from a release position () to a percussion position () in which it transmits to the mobile element () a momentum necessary for the release of the device, the actuation system further including a magnet () configured to attract the mobile striker () in a percussion position (). Also a horological movement () including such a mechanism ().

Micromechanical mechanism provided with a percussion actuation system, in particular for horology

An impact striking mechanism (), in particular for a horological movement (), the mechanism () including at least one resonant element () enabling a sound to be emitted when it is struck, and a hammer () capable of moving between a rest position () and a strike position () in which it strikes the resonant element () in order to cause it to vibrate, characterised in that it comprises a system for actuating the hammer () including a movable impactor () configured to move from a release position () to an impact position (), in which it at least partially transmits the momentum thereof to the hammer () to move it from the rest position () thereof to the strike position () thereof in order to cause the resonant element () to vibrate.

Impact striking mechanism, in particular for timepieces

A timepiece including a rotating bezel, mounted on a middle with N stable angular positions, and a magnetic device () composed of a first set of Z1 magnets () carried by the rotating bezel and of a second set of Z2 magnets () carried by the middle. The first and second sets of magnets are each arranged circularly in such a way as to have between them a magnetic interaction engendering on the rotating bezel a resisting magnetic torque, over at least a part of an angular pitch, when this rotating bezel is driven in rotation from any one of the N stable angular positions. The numbers Z1 and Z2 are greater than one and less than N. The Z1 and Z2 magnets are distributed angularly so the resisting magnetic torque has a variation according to the stable angular position of the rotating bezel.

Timepiece comprising a rotating bezel

A horological movement including a mechanical resonator and a hybrid escapement including an escapement wheel and a pallet assembly with at least one magnetic pallet-stone formed of a magnet and associated with a mechanical banking, the escapement wheel including a periodic magnetised structure defining increasing gradients of magnetic potential energy for the magnetic pallet-stone, and protruding parts associated with the increasing gradients of magnetic potential energy. When the force torque is equal to a nominal force torque or has a value within at least an upper part of a given range of values, one of the protruding parts of the escapement wheel is subjected to at least one shock on the mechanical banking of the pallet assembly after the magnetic pallet-stone has climbed any one of the increasing gradients of magnetic potential energy, thus dissipating at least partially a kinetic energy of the escapement wheel.

Horological movement comprising an escapement provided with a magnetic system

A horological movement includes a resonator and an escapement wheel with flexible teeth, and an anchor formed of two mechanical pallets capable of abutting, when the anchor switches between its two rest positions, with any one of the flexible teeth depending on the angular position of the escapement wheel. Each flexible tooth is arranged to bend by undergoing an elastic deformation under a radial force that can be exerted by one of the two mechanical pallets abutting against this flexible tooth while the escapement wheel has an unfavourable angular position and the resonator is braked by the anchor. Each tooth has an elastic capacity to elastically absorb, in a radial direction, most of a maximum mechanical energy that the mechanical resonator may have during normal operation of the horological movement, to avoid breakage or deterioration of the escapement.

Horological movement comprising an escapement provided with a toothed wheel and a stopper

The horological movement includes a mechanical resonator and an escapement including an escapement wheel, which has a plurality of teeth, and an anchor formed by a stick and two arms having respectively two mechanical pallets likely to come into contact, when the anchor is subject to an alternative movement, with any of the teeth according to the angular position of the escapement wheel. To avoid damage to the escapement during rocking of the anchor while the escapement wheel is positioned in an unfavourable angular position, the anchor is arranged, during the rocking of this anchor, to be able to bend being subjected to an elastic deformation. The anchor has an elastic capacity between each of the two mechanical pallets and a fork of the anchor, enabling it to absorb elastically, during the elastic deformation, a maximum mechanical energy that the mechanical resonator can have during the normal functioning of the horological movement.

Mechanical horological movement provided with an escapement comprising an anchor

A horological movement includes an escapement with a magnetic system to generate magnetic force impulses, so as to sustain the oscillation of the mechanical resonator associated with the escapement. In order to make possible an effective self-starting of the assembly formed of the mechanical resonator and of the escapement during a winding of the barrel, after a stop of the horological movement due to the unwound barrel spring, the escape wheel includes teeth and the pallet assembly includes two mechanical pallet-stones arranged to receive, upon starting, at least one mechanical force impulse of the escape wheel via one of the teeth thereof, the mechanical force impulse generating a starting force torque on the pallet assembly that is transmitted to the balance of the mechanical resonator to begin an oscillation of the latter so that the assembly can operate normally after a starting phase.

Horological movement comprising an escapement equipped with a magnetic system

A variable timepiece display mechanism includes a resilient hand with a drive pipe integral with a single-piece flexible strip including flexible segments joined at tips, a first segment thereof extends between the first pipe and a first tip. The mechanism also includes a driver for driving the pivoting of the pipe, and a stressor for stressing the first flexible segment in order to vary the position of the first tip relative to the output axis, as a function of the forces applied to the flexible strip. The drier and/or the stressor includes a first shaped gear train and/or a second shaped gear train in order to accelerate, stabilize the speed of, or slow at least the pipe over a part of the angular travel thereof.

Variable-geometry timepiece display mechanism with resilient hand

A variable timepiece display mechanism includes a resilient hand with two drive pipes integral with a one-piece flexible strip includes a tip or an index, with a driver for driving the pivoting of the pipe, and a stressor for stressing the strip so as to vary the position of the tip relative to the axis of the pipes, which includes an accelerator or decelerator device arranged such that it accelerates, or stabilizes the speed of, or slows down the first pipe and/or the second pipe over at least part of the angular travel thereof, which includes a device with a first differential gear on the drive gear train of the first pipe and/or a second differential gear on the drive gear train of the second pipe, and at least one cam forming an input of a differential gear.

A horological display mechanism () with elastic hand (), including means for driving barrels () coaxial at the ends of a flexible blade (), including a differential mechanism with an input frame () including an input toothing (), free to rotate and carrying an intermediate wheel () and a satellite () meshing with each other, this satellite () including an eccentric finger () traveling the track () of a fixed cam (), and returned against it by the elasticity of the elastic hand (), the input frame () including a shaft () carrying, coaxially, a first cannon-pinion () including the first barrel () and a second cannon-pinion () including the second barrel (), the toothing () of one of which meshes with the toothing () of the intermediate wheel (), and the toothing () of the other one of which meshes with the toothing () of the satellite ().

Horological display mechanism with elastic hand

A timepiece resilient hand with drive pipes at the ends thereof, including a display index which is at a variable distance from the pipes, and including flexible segments between each pipe and the index each with a web having a substantially constant section, at least one flexible segment thereof includes discontinuous elements projecting from the web thereof in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the pipes and defining, along this web, an alternation of sections, the stiffnesses thereof per unit of length are different from one another, and/or at least one web includes a succession of areas of opposite concavities, projecting on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the pipes.

Timepiece display mechanism comprising at least one resilient hand

A timepiece movement includes a magnetic escapement formed of a magnetic escape wheel with an annular magnetized structure and a pallet fork whose shaft is formed by a ferromagnetic material. The pallet shaft exerts on the escape wheel a magnetic disturbance torque due to the fact that the annular magnetized structure exhibits an angular variation of at least one defining physical parameter thereof, such that the magnetic attraction varies as a function of the angular position of the escape wheel and has a tangential component. A magnetic compensation pin is incorporated in the timepiece movement, this magnetic compensation pin being arranged such that the second magnetic disturbance torque that it exerts on the escape wheel exhibits an angular phase shift relative to the first magnetic disturbance torque generated by the pallet shaft, so as to compensate largely for this first magnetic disturbance torque.

Timepiece movement comprising a rotating element provided with a magnetized structure having a periodic configuration

Timepiece striking mechanism, including a fixed structure supporting at least one gong or radiant element and a mobile hammer in a plane under the action of an activation mobile component controlling the pallet of the hammer () and the release thereof for the percussion of the gong, and including, for the suspension of the hammer, at least one planar flexible guide between the structure and the hammer () to allow movements of the hammer solely on the plane, forming the sole mechanical link between the structure and the hammer, and, more particularly, for the execution of a striking mechanism, the striking mechanism (drives the activation mobile component, and has same carry out a winding cycle during which it supplies constant quantity of energy to the flexible guide while driving the hammer before releasing same for the execution of the striking mechanism by percussion of the gong during letting down.

Suspended-hammer timepiece striking mechanism

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Nyon, Switzerland

Marc Stranczl