[001] The present invention relates to the field of watches. More particularly, the present invention relates to a machine for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] The arrangement of watch hands into the fixture is done manually by skilled labor. Care must be taken to ensure that the hands can freely move around the dial as intended, as well as to prevent accidental damage to the hands when installing them. However the manual process requires a lot of skilled labor, time and thus has low productivity. There is a need for automation of installation of watch hands into the fixture so that the process is completed precisely, accurately and quickly so as to improve the production.
[003] Patent No. US4362455 relates to a bowl having a spiral track on its own inner circumference is fixed fast on a vibrating plate. To this vibrating plate is given the obliquely rotational vibration composed of the horizontal rotation and the up-and-down motion, and the elliptical vibration as well, with the use of a driving mechanism driven by a motor jointly with an up-and-down mechanism. These vibrations may be made now linear now non-linear depending on the form of the cam attached to the shaft of the motor.
[004] Patent No. US4350243 relates to a material dispensing apparatus including drive structure for driving a feeder bowl is disclosed. A control circuit for controlling the drive includes a hall effect amplitude sensing transducer for monitoring the magnitude of bowl vibrations and a braking circuit for controlling the damping of vibratory motion after the requisite amount of material has been fed from the feeder bowl.
[005] Publication No. US2014238818 relates to a centrifugal bowl parts feeder system with segmented tooling sections, the feeder system having segmented

sections for a common centrifugal feeder bowl. The sections can be quickly and less expensively changed between various part sizes and configurations. With this system one can add and remove tooling segments (outside the bowl); securely and precisely locate the tooling segment with solid pins; maintain and use a tool R.FID address to track specific parts and ranges of parts with a PLC Control as the bowl is modified; and harmonize the tooling segments and parts with RF\D Tags tied to the PLC and the Tooling segments.
[006] Patent No. US4793918 relates to a gravity separator with an improved suspension system which allows side tilt and end raise adjustments to be made during operation of the separator from a remote location, as well as to an improved feed mechanism. The suspension system can be used with any type of vibrating deck separator, preferably with a gravity separator using a perforate deck and an upwardly directed air flow through the deck.
[007] Patent No. US6519853 relates to a pair of parallel rectangular windows punched out in a thin sheet base material having the same thickness as that of a short hand part including a weight part of a second hand so as to form a hand forming part between the pair of windows and a part in the hand forming part forming a long hand part and a mounting part of a hand is pressed so as to form a thin wall part. Then, the second hand in a final shape is punched out from the base material so that a long hand part and a mounting part are formed with the thin wall part of the hand forming part and the short hand part is formed with an original thickness part. Consequently, the second hand for an analog electronic timepiece in which the weight part is provided on the short hand part can be easily and securely manufactured only by a press working.
[008] Patent No. US4371429 relates to a method of manufacturing very thin and small timepiece hands, by an electro-forming process, whereby the completed hand is in the form of an open shell of hard nickel electro-forming which is extremely strong and light in weight, and whereby bending distortion of the

completed hand is completely eliminated, even when the hand is made of very thin shape. A timepiece hand produced by the manufacturing method according to the present invention as described above will provide a high degree of attachment to the hand shaft of a timepiece when the hand is press-fitted thereon, even when the hand is extremely thin, and no problems such as bending distortion of the hand will occur.
[009] Publication No. EP1659460 relates to an hand which has an hour wheel with slots which are open on an end opposite to the hand and extend on a part of its length so that the wheel elastically deforms for being fixed around a motor stem. The wheel has an inner channel with a portion having a diameter less than that of a portion situated at a side of the hand, where the diameter difference is between 0.01 and 0.04 millimeter. An independent claim is also included for a method for manufacturing a slot of an hour wheel of a watch hand.
[010] Publication No. JPS5552980 relates to stably and readily manufacture a hand for a watch by the steps of dieing out press a shaft hole on a band material, then finishing the surface of the band material by a diamond cut or honing or the like, masking it, and then punching the hand from the band material by dieing out press. Brass or copper band material is continuously pressed to form shaft holes and pilot holes, to which holes the shaft of an movement is inserted. Then, the surface of the band material is finished as designated by a diamond cut or honing process. Then, a masking is coated on the surface of the band material so as not to scratch it nor adhere dusts thereon by coating or the like. Then, the band material is pressed to punch the hand therefrom. Finally, the masking on the hand is removed, and the hand is finished by plating, coating or the like on the surface thereof.
[011] Publication No. JPH1045194 relates to decreasing manufacturing cost by folding a flat sheet material box main body site to form a box main body with a sheet material storing part for storing a carrying sheet material and folding a lid

body site to form a lid body connected with the box main body in a sheet material carrying box formed of a flat sheet material with folds. A sheet material carrying box in relation to a liq. crystal module as a carrying sheet material is constituted of a box main body and a lid body connected with another end part of this box main body. The box main body has a rectangular bottom part by a plane view and side wall parts are respectively formed on both end sides in the short direction of this bottom part and end wall parts are respectively formed on both end sides in the long direction. A plurality of sheet material storing parts are formed on the side wall parts in the long direction at a specified interval and a liq. crystal module is stored by inserting both side end parts into hole parts of the sheet material storing part. On the other hand, a rectangular ceiling part, side wall parts on both end side in the short direction of the ceiling part and an end wall part on one end side in the long direction are formed on the lid body.
[012] Publication No. JPH0996680 relates to a hand for clock, and a manufacturing method thereof, in which the thickness of painting is made uniform and paint is prevented from intruding into the skirt. Solution: The hand for clock is made of a band material having surface coated with a paint, i.e., a resin coating. Since a skirt is formed after application of resin coating 4, the paint does not intrude at all into the skirt. When a hand body is punched from a band material, the side face of the hand body is exposed, and therefor, a metal plate coating is applied there.
[013] Publication No. JP2001124869 relates to a hand for clock is made of an amorphous Mg alloy represented by a general formula: MgaZnbXcLnd (X means one or more kinds of elements selected from among Ni and Cu, Ln means one or more kinds of elements selected from among Y, La, Ce, Nd, Sm or a mischmetal Mm as an aggregate of rare earth elements, while a, b, c, d mean atomic percentages: 60<=a<=90, 3<=b<=30, 0<=c<=30, 4<=d<=20). The hand for a clock has a shaft hole and a surface finished layer arranged in one side end, and is manufactured thereby.

[014] Publication No. CN103676602 relates to a pointer characterized by including a pointer body made of a material sheet formed by a plurality of fiber sheets having carbon fibers arranged in one direction being laminated together 5 with arrangement directions of the carbon fibers being varied.
[015] Publication No. JP2001194469 relates to a hand for clock is made of an Mg
alloy containing 0.15-2.0 wt.% Mn. The method
of manufacturing the hand includes a step of manufacturing an Mg-alloy sheet,
10 having a thickness of 100-300 [mu]m by hot rolling the Mg alloy in the temperature range of 200-450 deg.C, a step of making pilot holes through the Mg-alloy sheet, and a step of blanking and push-back blanking the sheet into a hand¬like shape. The method also includes a step of patterning the surface of the push-back blanked hand, a step of blanking through the push-back blanked hand form
15 the sheet, and a step of performing surface finishing, such as plating, coating, printing, etc., on the hand for the clock.
[016] Publication No. CN 107436554 relates to a display hand intended to equip a timepiece, including a body and a pipe, providing an arbor hole arranged for 20 fitting the display hand onto a drive arbor. The body is made of a composite material, the pipe includes, over all or part of the outer periphery, a surface for connection to the hand body to ensure the adhesion of the composite material to

-6-
S» the P'Pe-
Q.
25 [017] To overcome the limitations of the above cited prior arts, present invention aims to provide a machine for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture.
CD
CN
E o
LL
^ CO O ^, ^-
o
o>
o
CN
CN CN O
o o>
CN _, ^ ^ r^gr 1 84 T ^ 1 - 1 ^1 - •> ril Q., 1-S : 2-3
CO

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[018] The principal object of the present invention is to provide a machine for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture.
5 [019] Another object of the present invention is to provide automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture.
[020] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an easy and quick method for arrangement of hands. 10
[021] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a machine which will do the work with precision what was previously done by hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
15 [022] Present invention relates to a machine for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture. The machine is constructed as a rectangular base which acts as the main supporting frame, on which two vibrating units are mounted. The base is box shaped and houses all the electrical control for both vibrators. The machine has three main units vibrating bowl feeder, linear vibrating feeder and a control
20 unit. Vibrating bowl Feeder is used to feed individual watch hands to the linear
vibrator. Batch by batch watch hands are placed on the vibrating bowl, due to
vibration the hands gets oriented in a particular direction and travel upwards
gj through the helical path. Height of Vibrating bowl Feeder assembly can be
adjusted by tightening and loosing of screw which is located on the left side of the
25 bowl. Linear vibrating feeders are used to accumulate and convey oriented parts
from a feeder bowl into parallel guides. The watch hand from the bowl feeder
_ feeds the hands to the linear vibrating feeder. The hands get arranged one by one
g between the parallel guides mounted on the linear vibrator where the gaps
^,
o
co
Q.
CN*
E o
between the parallel guides are pre-set. The control unit has speed control and 30 Power switch, power indicator. The frequency of the Vibrating bowl Feeder and
o
CN
CN CN O
o
-7-
CD
± ton njsj^HX. -^w —~~ --=•-*-«--.■" ■■—----
o —-~ - -~ - - - ■
o
CO

linear vibrating feeder can be adjusted by rotating the potentiometer. This helps in reducing or increasing the hands feeding speed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
5 [023] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
[024] Figure 1 shows a machine for automatic arrangement of watch hands into 10 the fixture according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTIONS
[025] Accordingly, the present invention relates to a machine for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture. 15
[026] Referring to the figure 1, the machine (10) is constructed as a rectangular
base (11) which acts as the main supporting frame, on which two vibrating units
are mounted. The base (11) is box shaped and houses all the electrical control for
both vibrators. The machine has three main units- Vibrating bowl Feeder (12),
20 Linear vibrating feeder (13) and a Control unit (14). Vibrating bowl Feeder (12)
is used to feed individual watch hands to the linear vibrator (13). Batch by batch
watch hands are placed on the vibrating bowl, due to vibration the hands gets
^ oriented in a particular direction and travel upwards through the helical path.
Height of Vibrating bowl Feeder assembly (12) is adjusted by tightening and 25 loosing of screw (15) which is located on the left side of the bowl. Linear
Q.
CD

o has speed control and Power switch, power indicator. The frequency of the [001]

CN CN O
o

-8-

*• *** O- ft

ne» *-*T._ 3.JL ■-..j.4T--.~-~—^~^-' -~™-- -■■-= -

CO

[027] Vibrating bowl Feeder (12) and linear vibrating feeder (13) can be adjusted by rotating the potentiometer. This reduces or increases the hands feeding speed.
[028] For the setting up of machine, the machine has to be adjusted to the hands 5 thickness and collar height each time. At first the setting has to be done on the Vibrating bowl Feeder to feed one hands at time in specified orientation to the Linear vibrating feeder and then to the parallel guide. If the hands get fed in wrong direction the hands will fall down to a separate feeding track and joins back into the feeding bowl. This adjustment is done loosening the screw and adjusting
10 the spacer plate (17) located at the tip of the bowl, for this the collar height has to be measured and that measures value is the gap that has to set on the spacer plate. Linear vibrating feederhas a parallel guide mounted on to it; the gap of the parallel should be same as the thickness the hand, for this hands thickness has to be measured. The gap is adjusted by rotating the screw clockwise or anticlockwise
15 provided at each end below the parallel guide.
[029] The working principle of the machine as follows-
[030] Connect the power plug to the current source and switch on the machine.
Place the hands on the bowl batch by batch, due to vibration the hands gets
CD
o
Q.
E o
LL
g from the machine using an aluminum arranging fixture, which is later used for
o different application. The aluminum arranging fixture is a two rectangle piece of
o> 30 aluminum held together by screws and nuts at either end. For removing the
o
JN arranged hands from the machine the nuts are loosen and the fixture is placed
CN CN O
o
20 oriented in a particular direction and travel upwards through the helical path and feeds individual watch hands to the linear vibrator. All hands are arranging in a same direction. The hands get orientated in the bowl before exiting bowl with the help of the spacer plate where the collar height is adjusted. A hand exiting the bowl gets passed through the parallel guide and gets aligned one by one. Once the
25 parallel guide gets filled, switch off the machine.
-9-
[031] For the removal of hands from machine, the arranged hands are removed

o
(N
o O
CO

=£' ^ f
vertically on the parallel guides mounted on the Linear vibrating feeder. Arranged hands should be between two pieces of aluminum fixture and tighten the nut so that the hands get clamped between the arranging fixtures.
[032] Accordingly the vibrating plate should be able to handle small components like watch hands. Arranging machine spiral track and inner circumference is coated with Teflon to avoid scratches. All arranged watch hands should be in same direction, so it easy for the next operation and arranging time should is reduced. The arranged hands should be able to directly fixed on to the arranging fixture
[033] Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

WE CLAIM:

A machine (10) for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture comprising a rectangular base (11) acting as the main supporting frame, Vibrating bowl Feeder (12), Linear vibrating feeder (13) and a Control unit (14), a screw (15) located on the left side of the bowl for adjusting the height of Vibrating bowl Feeder assembly (12) by tightening and loosing of screw, parallel guides (16) mounted on the linear vibrator characterised in that the Vibrating bowl Feeder (12) feeds individual watch hands to the linear vibrating feeder (13), Linear vibrating feeders (13) accumulate and convey oriented parts from a feeder bowl (12) into parallel guides (16), the hands get arranged one by one between the parallel guides (16) where the gaps between the parallel guides (16) are pre-set.
The machine (10) for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture as claimed in claim J wherein the control unit (14) has a speed control and Power switch, power indicator.
The machine (10) for automatic arrangement of watch hands into the fixture as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frequency of the Vibrating bowl Feeder (12) and linear vibrating feeder (13) is adjusted by rotating the potentiometer which reduces or increases the hands feeding speed.