CLOCK WITH PUSH BUTTONS WITH A MECHANISM FOR THE DELOKALISIERTEN MANIPULATION OF THE CONTROL MEMBERS ONE DRIVE MECHANICALISM

This is a National Phase Application in the United States of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2004/014518 filed Dec. 21, 2004, which claims priority on European Patent Application No. 04000326.1, filed Jan. 9, 2004 The entire disclosures of the above patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a watch according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 1. In the example shown, watch 1 includes a case 2 enclosing a watch movement 4 (FIGS. 2 and 3) fitted with a chronograph mechanism, time display means 6, including in this case hands and a dial graduated over 12 hours and chronograph indicators for displaying a period of time, in this case a first small hand m for counting the minutes and a second small hand h for counting the hours. Movement 4 may be a manually or automatically wound mechanical movement or an electronic movement, for example quartz, powered by a battery. Case 2 includes, in a conventional manner, a middle part 8, a crystal and a back cover (not shown) and a casing ring 10 inserted between the middle part and the movement and via which movement 4 is mounted in the case.

Watch 1 is fitted with a crown 12 arranged at 9 o'clock and two push-buttons 14 and 16, respectively at 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock, accessible from outside case 2, crown 12 and the two push-buttons 14 and 16 being conventionally arranged in proximity to the movement. Crown 12 is able to act on a time-setting stem 18 also arranged at 9 o'clock, whereas push-buttons 14 and 16 are able to act respectively on first and second control members 20, 22, respectively arranged at 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock. Depending upon the type of movement used, the first and second control members 20 and 22 may either be simple fixed or mobile electric contact strips, or an operation start mechanism, for example a lever. The first control member 20, which is controlled by push-button 14, starts and stops the chronograph mechanism, the second control member 22, which is controlled by push-button 16, resets the chronograph display to zero, and time-setting stem 18, which is controlled by crown 12 rewinds and/or resets the movement. The first and second control members 20 and 22 are thus arranged on either side of time-setting stem 18 and each have an angular shift α of less than 90° with said stem in relation to the centre of the movement, typically an angular shift of the order of 30°. This angular shift α is the standard angular shift of commercially available watch movements, such as those sold for example by ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse under the name cal. 251. It should thus be noted that time-setting stem 18 and the first and second control members 20 and 22 are arranged in a first peripheral area of the movement, whereas push-buttons 14 and 16 are arranged in a second peripheral area of the movement, such that each of push-buttons 14 and 16 and stem 18 have between them, in relation to the centre of the movement, an angular shift greater than 90°, typically of the order of 150°. Time-setting stem 18 and first and second control members 20, 22, are located on one side of the 12 o'clock -6 o'clock axis and push-buttons 14 and 16 are on the other side.

According to the invention, push-buttons 14 and 16 form part of a device for actuating first and second control members 20 and 22, which is independent of the watch movement. This actuation device further includes a movement transmission mechanism 24 which extends between push-button 14 and first control member 20, on the one hand, and between push-button 16 and second control member 22, on the other hand. In the example shown, transmission mechanism 24 is a hinged mechanism carried by casing ring 10. It goes without saying that according to an alternative embodiment mechanism 24 could be directly mounted inside middle part 8.

The transmission mechanism 24 visible in FIGS. 2 and 3 includes a first lever 26 pivoting about a first pin 28 arranged in the area of time-setting stem 18 between the movement and an inner wall of middle part 8. In this example, the first pin 28 is mounted on the lower surface of casing ring 10, for example driven therein. It will be noted in this regard that lever 26 extends into an area located below stem 18, in relation to the watch dial, to avoid interfering with the operation of the stem. The first lever 26 includes a first arm 26a and a second arm 26b which extend respectively on either side of its pivoting pin 28. It will also be noted that lever 26 has a first bent median zone which substantially matches the external shape of the movement. Arms 26a and 26b are each provided with a protruding portion 30a, 30b, the latter being respectively oriented in the direction of control members 22, 20 of the movement, in this case in the direction of the centre of movement 4. The free end of first arm 26a is hinged to one end of a stem 32, the other end of which is hinged to a second lever 3. Lever 34 pivots about a second pin 36 arranged in the area of push-buttons 14 and 16 between the movement and an inner wall of middle part 8. Lever 34 is also mounted on casing ring 10 in an identical manner to first lever 26. Lever 34 includes a first arm 34a and a second arm 34b which extend respectively on either side of second pin 36. Lever 34 includes a first arm 34a and a second arm 34b which extend respectively on either side of its pivoting pin 36. lever 34 also has a bent median zone which substantially matches the external shape of the movement. Arms 34a and 34b are each provided with a support surface 38a, 38b, the latter being respectively oriented in the direction of stems 14a and 16a of push-buttons 14 and 16. Transmission mechanism 24 further includes a second pin 40 hinged on the free end of second arm 26b of first lever 26 and on the free end of second arm 34b of second lever 34. It will be noted in this regard that stems 32 and 40 each have in a median zone, a bent profile substantially matching the peripheral contour of the movement, which limits the size of the transmission mechanism inside the case.

The two levers 26 and 34 and the two hinged pins 32 and 40 thus together form a parallelogram that can be deformed via the action of push-buttons 14 and 16 and which activates control members 20 and 22 located in an opposite layout to the push-buttons for controlling said members. Thus, when for example, push-button 16 is pressed, its stem 16a acts on support surface 38b of lever 34 which then tips around its pin 36 in the direction of arrow F₁ (FIG. 3). In doing this, arm 34 pushes stem 40 in the direction of arrow F₂ which in turn tips lever 26 around its pin 28 in the direction of arrow F₃ thus actuating control member 22 via protruding portion 30a. The same principle applies when push-button 14 is pressed in order to activate control member 20, levers 26 and 43 respectively tipping in opposite directions to arrows F₁ and F₃.

The invention thus typically enables a conventional watch movement to be used, for example a chronograph movement, wherein all of the function control members are in the same peripheral area of the movement, to make a watch wherein part of the actuators associated with the control members are arranged in a first area of the watchcase and another part of the actuators associated with said members are arranged in a second area of the case, far from the first area.

It will be noted finally that the transmission mechanism further includes means 42a and 42b for returning levers 26 and 34 to their rest position shown in FIG. 2 and wherein the control members 20 and 22 are not actuated. In the example illustrated, return means 42a act on arm 26a of lever 26, whereas return means 42b act on arm 26b of said lever. Return means 42a and 42b are typically each formed of a helical spring extending between the middle part and the arm of the lever with which it is associated. It will be noted that return means 42a and 42b are each arranged at an equal distance from the pivoting pin 28 in order to ensure a position of equilibrium in the absence of any external stress on push-buttons 14 or 16.

The invention is of course not limited to the embodiment described hereinbefore and it will be understood that various alterations and/or improvements evident to those skilled in the art could be made without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the annexed claims. In particular, the crown could be arranged conventionally at 3 o'clock and the push-buttons controlling the chronograph functions could be arranged respectively at 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock. This geometrical configuration would have the advantage of maintaining the conventional orientation of the movement in the case while providing a watch with an original aesthetic appeal. One could also envisage a variant that omits one of stems 32 or 40 without affecting the operation of transmission mechanism 24 as it is shown in the Figures. In another variant, lever 34 could be omitted and push-buttons 14 and 16 could directly act respectively on stems 32 and 40, which would preferably be guided in translation by appropriate means. In yet another variant, stems 32 and 40 could be omitted provided that stems 14a and 16a of push-buttons 14 and 16 are sized and shaped to act respectively directly on arms 26a and 26b. Although the invention has been described in conjunction with the use of a chronograph movement, it is, however, clear that it can be used with any other movement including at least two control members implanted in a peripheral area of the movement.