TECHNICAL FIELD
Present disclosure generally relates to a field of horology. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to an analog time piece equipped with an oscillating hand. Further embodiments of the disclosure disclose a mechanism to oscillate the hand in the analog timepiece.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

With the evolution of mankind, various methods and devices have been explored or adapted to determine time. Some of the initially developed time determining devices such as sun dials, hour glass and the like, determines the time without an unit. However, such time determining devices require regular maintenance and frequent calibration. With the advancement, various time indication devices have been evolved, and such indication devices are referred as such as timepieces or watches, which typically indicate time with an unit such as second, minute and hour i.e. in form of human understanding. However, initially evolved mechanical timepieces demands for frequent calibration at regular intervals to display time precisely and accurately. Further, mechanical timepiece involves complex linkages, which makes the timepiece bulky.

With the advent of modern technology, modern timepieces have been evolved with robust design to display time accurately and precisely. The modern timepieces may adapt a movement such as quartz movement or digital movement for its operation. The movement may be powered by a power source such as a battery. The modern timepieces do not demand for frequent calibration. Additionally, with modernization and affinity towards timepieces, especially wrist watches, the manufactures are producing the wrist watches with different shapes and configuration to make the timepiece more attractive, eye appealing and compact. Some modifications may include reducing the thickness i.e. slim timepieces, eliminating the second hand, providing ornamental decorations, providing oscillatory motion to the hand and the like to meet the requirement of the customers.

One such modification, which is popularly employed in the analog timepieces such as wrist watches may include configuration of second indication hand as pendulum. This configuration provides oscillatory motion to the second indication hand unlike the conventional 360 degree rotatory movement of the second indication hand. This configuration improves aesthetic appeal of the analog watch. Conventionally, several mechanisms have been adapted to attain oscillatory movement of the hand in a time piece such as wrist watch. In one such art, a mechanism includes an elastic member, which expands and retracts simultaneously to achieve oscillatory movement of the hand between the pre-determined boundary on the dial. The elastic member is configured such that one end may be coupled to drive gear of the movement, and the other end may be coupled to the hand using a link. When the drive gear rotates, the elastic member may expand and retract to produce oscillatory movement of the hand. However, the existing mechanisms involve more number of components to be accommodated in the watch mechanism to produce oscillatory movement. Thus, the overall system would be complex, and thickness of the watch or timepiece may have to be increased. Also, the elastic member may loose the stiffness during prolonged usage which demands for frequent service or replacement.

The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitations associated with the prior arts.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of conventional mechanisms are overcome and additional advantages are provided through the provision of mechanism as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a mechanism for oscillating a hand of an analog timepiece is disclosed. The mechanism comprises a driving unit, accommodated on a base plate of the analog timepiece, wherein the driving unit is adapted to facilitate a bi-directional movement of a hand. Further, the mechanism comprises a gear train, coupled to the driving unit and is adapted to operate the hand. Additionally, the mechanism comprises a pair of stoppers positioned at pre-defined locations in the analog timepiece, which defines a boundary for an oscillatory motion of the hand and the driving unit is configured to change a direction of rotation when the hand strikes at least one of the pair of stoppers.
In an embodiment, the hand is a second indication hand of the analog timepiece and each oscillation of the oscillatory motion of the hand corresponds to one second.

In an embodiment, the driving unit is a Lavet stepper motor comprising a stator defining a provision, a rotor accommodated in the provision and a coil coupled to the stator to supply power to the stator to generate magnetic flux for operating the rotor. Further, the provision in the stator is configured without notches to facilitate low torque movement of the rotor.

In an embodiment, at least one gear wheel of the plurality of gear wheels is coupled to each of a rotor and the hand to transmit a movement generated by the rotor to the hand.

In an embodiment, the gear train facilitates a gear reduction ratio of 1:90.
In an embodiment, the mechanism comprises an Electrical Control Board configured to supply a power to the driving unit from the a power source of the analog timepiece.

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

Figure. 1 illustrates a schematic front view of an analog time piece equipped with an oscillating hand, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure. 2A and 2B illustrates an exploded view of the mechanism for oscillating a hand of the analog time piece, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a stator of the driving unit, in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process of energizing a stator to initiate movement of a rotor in the driving unit, in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the embodiments in the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.

It is to be noted that a person skilled in the art would be motivated from the present disclosure and modify various constructions of the mechanism for oscillating a hand in a timepiece. However, such modifications should be construed within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings show only those specific details that are pertinent to understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the disclosure, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a device, system, assembly that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such system, or assembly, or device. In other words, one or more elements in a system or device proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a mechanism for oscillating a hand of a timepiece. In an embodiment, the timepiece is an analog wrist watch. In some of the analog timepieces like wrist watches, the hand depicting the second feature may be configured as a pendulum, which acts as an aesthetic feature. The second indication hand in such timepieces may oscillate within the prescribed boundary on the dial plate, and each oscillation may correspond to one second. Unlike the existing arts, the present disclosure achieves oscillatory motion of the hand with minimum number of moving parts and without much modification in the existing mechanism of the watch movement, thus making the mechanism simpler to achieve oscillatory motion of the hand and, thus making the timepiece attractive, eye appealing and unique from the existing timepieces i.e. wrist watches.

Accordingly, the mechanism for oscillating the hand of the timepiece comprises a driving unit, which is adapted to generate a bi-directional rotation. In an embodiment, the driving unit may a Lavet stepper motor. The driving unit may include a stator, rotor and a coil, and may be connected to an input supply i.e. battery. The battery supplies power of certain volts to an Electrical control board [ECB]. The ECB is configured to primarily receive the power from the battery and is fed into the oscillator through an Integrated circuit [IC], which converts power of certain volts from the battery into signals of certain frequency. Further, the frequency of the signals generated by the oscillator is reduced or minimized by the integrated circuit (IC) to desired operating frequency. In an embodiment, the desired operating frequency may be 32 Hz. The output from the IC is again fed back into the ECB, which directs the signals (32Hz) in alternative wave form to a coil of the driving unit. The coil energises the stator to generate magnetic flux. Due to the magnetic flux generated in the stator, the rotor rotates in any of the direction i.e. clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. This rotational motion of the rotor is used to initiate the movement of the hand.
The hand configured on the dial plate of the timepiece is connected to the rotor of the timepiece through a gear train, which comprises of plurality of gear wheels of different gear ratios. As an example, the rotor may be connected to an intermediate wheel, the intermediate wheel is connected to a second wheel, which in turn is connected to an end of the hand. Here, the intermediate wheel and the second wheel constitutes a gear train extending between the rotor and the hand. In an embodiment, the gear train facilitates in achieving a gear ratio of about 1:90.

During rotation of the rotor, the hand coupled to the rotor also moves or displaces identically. The movement of the hand on the dial plate may be confined by stoppers positioned on the dial plate. The hand strikes one of a pair of stoppers positioned at predefined locations on the dial plate. The impact force may be generated when the hand strikes the stopper, and such force may cause the rotor to change its direction of rotation. The change in direction of rotation of the rotor results in change in direction of movement of the hand. Since, the direction of rotation of the rotor changes at regular intervals, when the hand strikes either one of the stopper, results in change in direction of movement of the hand continuously at regular intervals and thus, achieving oscillatory motion of the hand. In an embodiment, since the oscillatory motion of the hand depicts a feature of a pendulum, the aesthetic appearance of the oscillating hand i.e. the second hand is configured to depict a shape of the pendulum. Further, in an embodiment, a swing or an oscillation of the hand between the two stoppers on the dial plate may correspond to one second.

The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to Figures. 1 to 5. In the figures, the same element or elements which have similar functions are indicated by the same reference signs.
Figure. 1 is an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a top view of an analog time piece (100), in which a hand (103) is configured to oscillate between prescribed boundary on the dial plate (104). In an embodiment, the timepiece (100) may be a wrist watch, and the oscillating hand (103) depicts a second indication hand of the analog timepiece. The hand (103) to be oscillated is second indication hand, which may be positioned on the dial plate (104) with one of its end coupled to an extending portion of the gear train (G) at the centre of the dial plate (104), while the other end is set free to oscillate within the prescribed boundary. The hand (103) may be configured to oscillate in a boundary or path, defined by a pair of stoppers (101, 102) positioned on the dial plate (104). In an embodiment, the pair of stoppers (101, 102) may be placed at any angle on either sides of the dial plate (104) from the home or zero position of the second indication hand. As an example, the pair of stoppers (101, 102) may be placed at an angle of 60 degrees from the home or zero position. In an embodiment, the stoppers (101, 102) may be integrally formed on the dial plate (104) or may be externally fixed to the surface of the dial plate (104) using suitable adhesives, but not limiting to glue. The pair of stoppers (101, 102) on the dial (104), facilitates in changing the direction of movement of the hand (103), when the hand (103) strikes at least one of the pair of stoppers (101, 102). This continuous change in direction at regular intervals, assists in achieving continuous oscillatory motion of the hand (103).

Referring now to Figure. 2A and 2B, which illustrates an exploded view of the mechanism for oscillating a hand (103) of the analog time piece (100). The mechanism comprises a driving unit (300), which may be accommodated on a base plate (111) of the analog timepiece (100). In an embodiment, the driving unit (300) may be a Lavet stepper motor, which comprises of a stator (107), a rotor (108) and a coil (109). The driving unit (300) is adapted to facilitate bi-directional movement of the hand (103). The stator (107) [best seen in figure. 3] in the driving unit (300) comprises a stator plate of predetermined shape. As an example, the stator plate may be of a substantially “L” shaped configuration. The stator plate may be defined with a provision (110) to accommodate a rotor (108). The provision (110) in the stator (107) may be configured without notches to facilitate low torque movement of the rotor (108). In an embodiment, the provision (110) in the stator (107) may be in the form of a through hole with uniform inner surface. In an embodiment, the stator (107) may be made of lmphy or vacoperm material. The rotor (108) of the driving unit (300) may be disposed in the provision of the stator (107), such that the rotor (108) rotates when the stator (107) is energized. The rotor (108) may be a permanent magnet which when excited rotates about an axis. The driving unit (300) further includes a coil (109) positioned on the stator (107). The coil (109) may have windings to energize the stator (107) for operating the rotor (108). The coil (109) may be disposed in connection with a power source in the timepiece (100).

Now referring to Figure. 4, which is a block diagram, illustrating a process of energizing the stator (107) to initiate rotation of the rotor (108). An input supply of certain volts from the power source (200) such as battery is primarily received by an Electrical control board (ECB) (201). The output from the ECB (201) is fed into the oscillator (204) via an integrated circuit (IC) (203). The oscillator (204) converts the input supply of certain volts into signals certain frequency. As an example, a 1.5V supply from the power source (200) is converted into signals of about 32,768 Hz frequency by the oscillator (204). The signals from the oscillator (204) are again fed back into the integrated circuit (203) to reduce the frequency of signals from 32,768 Hz to desired operating frequency of about 32 Hz. The circuit controls all the functions of the timepiece (100) based on the 32 Hz signals generated by the integrated circuit (203). The signals of 32 Hz may be fed to the coil (109) of the driving unit (300) to energize the stator (107). The coil (109) energizes the stator (107) to generate magnetic flux for operating the rotor (108). In an embodiment, when the stator (107) is energized, the rotor (108) being a permanent magnet, rotates to align itself to the opposite pole of the stator (107). For instance, the rotor (108) aligns its south pole with the north pole of the stator (107) and its north pole with the south pole of the stator (107). Due to the absence of notches in the provision (110) of the stator (107), the rotor (108) rotates in any direction i.e. either in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction with low torque value to align with the poles of the stator (107). When the excitation (current flowing through the coil) is reversed, the polarity of the stator (107) reversed and the rotor (108) continues to rotate in the same direction to align its poles with corresponding poles of the stator (107). This way the stator (107) may be energized in a sequence to rotate the rotor (108) of the driving unit (300).

Now, again referring to Figure. 2A and 2B, the mechanism further comprises of a gear train (G), which comprises of a plurality of gear wheels extending between the rotor (108) and the hand (103). From the plurality of gear wheels, at least one of the gear wheel is coupled to each of the rotor (108) and the hand (103) to transmit a movement generated by the rotor (108) to the hand (103) positioned on the dial plate (104) of the timepiece (100). As an example, the gear train (G) may include an intermediate wheel (105) and a second wheel (106). The rotor (108) is connected to the intermediate wheel (105), which in turn is connected to the second wheel (106), to which an end of the hand (103) is connected or coupled. In an embodiment, the gear train (G) assists in gear reduction ratio of 1:90. This gear ratio assists in achieving a displacement of the hand (103) by about 4 degree for every 180 degree rotation of the rotor (108).

During operation, the rotation of the rotor (108) in the driving unit (300) may be transferred for movement of the hand (103) through the gear train (G). During movement of the hand (103), the hand (103) strikes one of the pair of stoppers (101, 102) positioned on the dial plate (104). The impact force generated when the hand (103) strikes one of the stoppers (101, 102), results in change in direction of rotation of the rotor (108), which in turn changes the direction of movement of the hand (103). As an example, the clockwise rotation of the rotor (108), simultaneously cause the hand (103) to move in clock-wise direction. During movement of the hand (103) in clockwise direction, the hand (103) strikes the stopper (101) positioned at left hand side of the dial plate (104). This impact of the hand (103) with the stopper (101) causes the rotor (108) to change the direction of the rotation i.e. from clock-wise rotation to anti-clockwise rotation, which results in change in direction of the movement of the hand (103). During movement of the hand (103) in anti-clockwise direction , the hand (103) striker the stopper (102) positioned at right hand side of the dial plate (104). Further, this impact causes the rotor (108) to change its direction of rotation form anti-clockwise to clockwise direction, which in turn causes the hand (103) to change its direction of movement. Hence, continuous change in direction of rotation of the rotor (108) upon striking to the stoppers (101, 102) on either sides of the dial plate (104), results in achieving continuous oscillatory movement of the hand (103) between the stoppers (101, 102). In an embodiment, the stoppers (101, 102) may be cylindrical projection or members which define a boundary for oscillatory motion of the hand (103) on the dial plate (104) of the timepiece (100). In an embodiment, each oscillation of the hand (103) between the stoppers (101, 102) corresponds to one second.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the mechanism is simple in construction, and easy to assemble, without modifying the movement of the timepiece and without increase in thickness of the timepiece.

It is to be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art would develop a mechanism of similar configuration for other types of timepieces such as wall clocks, table clocks and the like without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Such modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure covers such modifications and variations provided they come within the ambit of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Equivalents:

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral Numerals:

Referral numeral Description
100 Timepiece
101, 102 Stoppers
103 Hand
104 Dial plate
105 Intermediate wheel
106 Second wheel
107 Stator
108 Rotor
109 Coil
110 Provision
111 Base plate
200 Power source
201 Electrical control unit
203 Integrated circuit
204 Oscillator
300 Driving unit
G Gear train
, Description:We claim:

1. A mechanism for oscillating a hand (103) of an analog timepiece (100), the mechanism comprising:
a driving unit (300) accommodated on a base plate (111) of the analog timepiece (100), wherein the driving unit (300) is adapted to facilitate a bi-directional movement of the hand (103);
a gear train (G) comprising a plurality of gear wheels, the gear train (G) is coupled to the driving unit (300), and is adapted to operate the hand (103); and
a pair of stoppers (101, 102) positioned at pre-defined locations in the analog timepiece (100), the pair of stoppers (101, 102) defines a boundary for an oscillatory motion of the hand (103) in the analog timepiece (100),
wherein, the driving unit (300) is configured to change a direction of rotation when the hand (103) strikes at least one of the pair of stoppers (101, 102).

2. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hand (103) is a second indication hand of the analog timepiece (100).

3. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein each oscillation of the oscillatory motion of the hand (103) corresponds to one second.

4. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving unit (300) is a motor, comprising:
a stator (107) defining a provision (110);
a rotor (108) accommodated in the provision (110); and
a coil (109) coupled to the stator (107), wherein the coil (109) supplies power to the stator (107) to generate a magnetic flux for operating the rotor (108).

5. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the motor is a Lavet stepper motor.

6. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the provision (110) in the stator (107) is configured without notches to facilitate low torque movement of the rotor (108).

7. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one gear wheel of the plurality of gear wheels is coupled to each of a rotor (108) and the hand (103) to transmit a movement generated by the rotor (108) to the hand (103).

8. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gear train (G) facilitates a gear reduction ratio of 1:90.

9. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, comprises an Electrical Control Board (201) configured to supply a power to the driving unit (300) from a power source (200) of the analog timepiece (100).
10. An analog timepiece (100) comprising a mechanism for oscillating a hand (103) as claimed in claim 1.