FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a chronometer. In particular, a chronometer according to the present invention may be used as a wrist watch, pocket-sized, incorporated in other devices or for other applications.

BACKGROUND ART

Modifying and/or adding gearings on a mechanical movement in order to obtain additional indications, such as moon phases, the succession of the months in the year, equation of time, the date of Easter and so on from the wheel train is known in the technical field. Such a practice is one of the most widespread practices in the watch industry. In principle, it includes research, design, and engineering steps which are not short, entrusted to highly specialized technicians and economically challenging. The next step in the production entails further access barriers, represented by the equipment needed to process and/or pick the parts to be modified/created, by the drafting of the machine language programs and, possibly, by the manufacture of the required tools. Finally, all interventions made to date provides for a modification of the parts forming the clock mechanism, which modification is not reversible and viable only in specialized production facilities operating in the field of micro-mechanical clockmaking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a system for obtaining an additional indication from the wheel train of an existing movement, in particular a hand capable of returning on the dial the sequence of the twenty-four hours. More in detail, such a system is required to be applicable to existing movements without the need for machining and subsequent finishing operations or protective treatments. In particular, such a modification is required to be reversible so as to reset, if necessary, the mechanism to the initial state.

Such an object is achieved by a chronometer comprising a mechanism actuated by a source of mechanical energy. Such a mechanism comprises at least one hand to indicate the time on a dial. The mechanism comprises a pin connectable to a further hand for providing an indication of a time span of twenty-four hours or of the day/night type.

The invention solves the technical problem in that, including a pin connected to a date display driving wheel, for example, it allows to provide the required indication without the need to redesign the movement of the chronometer.

According to a first embodiment, the mechanism further comprises:

- a driving fitting pinion;

- a free fitting pinion;

- a wheel of the small parts;

- a date display intermediate wheel;

- an hour wheel;

- a date display driving wheel;

In particular, the date display driving wheel makes a round in twenty-four hours. In such an embodiment, the pin is connected to the date display driving wheel. According to a second embodiment, the mechanism comprises

- a intermediate wheel;

- a driving fitting pinion;

- a wheel of the small parts;

- an hour wheel;

- a date control plate;

- a date display driving wheel.

The pin is arranged on the date display driving wheel.

LIST OF DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the indicative, and therefore non-limiting, description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a panel for a noise barrier, as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a chronometer according to the present invention according to a first embodiment;

- Figures 2a and 2b show a detail of the chronometer in Figure 1 according to a top view and a side view, respectively; - Figure 3 shows a top view of the chronometer in Figure 1 ;

- Figure 4 shows an exploded perspective view of a chronometer according to the present invention according to a second embodiment;

- Figures 5a and 5b show a detail of the chronometer in Figure 4 according to a top view and a side view, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to Figures 1 -3, numeral 1 indicates a chronometer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the part of the mechanism of chronometer 1 which directly carries out the driving function of the date will be described in detail; first, the reference numeral and the name of the interested parts are provided below.

Chronometer 1 comprises a support element 2, on which the gears which will be described below are installed. On such a support element a central axis "C" is defined. Chronometer 1 further comprises at least one pair of hands rotatable with respect to the central axis "C". Such hands are intended to indicate the hours and the minutes on the dial of chronometer 1 .

Chronometer 1 comprises a driving fitting pinion 49.

Chronometer 1 comprises a free fitting pinion 50.

Chronometer 1 comprises a wheel of the small parts 51 .

Chronometer 1 comprises a date display intermediate wheel 52.

Chronometer 1 comprises an hour wheel 53.

Chronometer 1 comprises a date display driving wheel 55.

Chronometer 1 further comprises a wheel train, i.e. the overall parts which provide the energy needed for the operation by means of a mainspring in the mechanical movement. The wheel train comprises an exhaust device, which carries out the function of dividing time into equal portions, obtaining a regularity in the rotation of the gears.

The wheel train further comprises a plurality of demultiplying gears which allow to extract the indications of hours, minutes and seconds. The wheel train is not shown in the accompanying drawings, and is housed in the lower part of support 2.

With reference to Figure 1 , the end part of the demultiplying operations is instead represented starting from wheel 49, the driving pinion.

The driving pinion 49, moved by the other time wheels, transmits the motion to the wheel of the small parts 51 consisting of two superimposed gears of different diameter. The lower gear of wheel 51 meshes with the free fitting pinion 50. The upper gear of wheel 51 meshes with the hour wheel 53. The wheels 50, 53 are positioned in the centre of the movement.

In particular, the free fitting pinion 50 comprises a pin 50a on which the minute hand 4 is fixed. Such a pin 50a is a through pin inside the hour wheel 53 and is coaxial thereto and to the central axis "C". Therefore, the wheels 50, 53 hold the hour and minute hands normally visible on the clock dial.

Due to the demultiplying ratio ensured by the different diameters of the gears, the hour wheel 53 performs one round in 12 hours. The hour wheel 53 further transmits the motion to the date display intermediate wheel 52. Such a date display intermediate wheel 52 has the double function of halving the rotation and transmitting it to the date display driving wheel 55. Such a date display driving wheel 55 performs a complete rotation in twenty-four hours, thus allowing the date to be triggered at each round.

In more detail, the further date display driving wheel 55 comprises a pin 55a connectable to a further hand 5 for providing an indication of a time span of twenty- four hours or of the day/night type. Pin 55a is arranged coaxially with respect to wheel 55, and has a profile having a recess 55b. The outer diameter of pin 55a is of 0.3 mm. The inner diameter of pin 55a, namely the diameter at recess 55b, is of 0.186 mm.

Advantageously, such a modification with respect to the further date and day display driving wheel 55 uses this rotation in twenty-four hours in order to provide an additional indication on the clock dial, namely that of the twenty-four hours or the day/night indication, without needing to give up the original date display triggering function.

As shown in Figure 2a, the further date and day display driving wheel 55 comprises a cam 55c configured to trigger the date indicator (not shown).

In the accompanying figures 4, 5a and 5b, a further embodiment of chronometer 1 is shown. In particular, chronometer 1 comprises the already mentioned support element 2, on which the gears which will be described below are installed.

Chronometer 1 comprises a median (middle) wheel (not shown).

Chronometer 1 comprises a driving fitting pinion 33.

Chronometer 1 comprises a wheel of the small parts 34.

Chronometer 1 comprises an hour wheel 37.

Chronometer 1 comprises a date control plate 41 .

Chronometer 1 comprises a date display driving wheel 38.

The wheel train, i.e. the overall parts which in the mechanical movement provide the energy needed for the operation (by means of a mainspring), the division of time into portions as equal as possible and the consequent regularity in the rotation of the gears (exhaust) and the demultiplying operations needed, up to the customary indications of hours, minutes and seconds (gearings), are not shown in Figure 1 , being housed in the lower part of the automatic movement.

Figure 4 shows the end part of the demultiplying operations starting from the median (middle) wheel. The median (middle) wheel, moved by the other time wheels, (not shown), transmits the motion to the driving fitting pinion 33. It is worth noting that, in this embodiment, the minute hand 4 is fixed to the driving fitting pinion 33, which thus has its own rotation axis arranged along the central axis "C" of chronometer 1 . The driving fitting pinion 33 further meshes with the wheel of the small parts 34. Such a wheel of the small parts 34 meshes on the hour wheel 37, so as to demultiply the motion for the hour wheel 37, which holds the hour hand 3 of chronometer 1 . The hour wheel 37, together with the driving fitting pinion 33, is also arranged coaxially with respect to the central axis "C". In particular, the driving fitting pinion 33 has a through pin 33a inside a similar pin 37a of the hour wheel 37.

Due to the demultiplying ratio ensured by the different diameters of the gears, the hour wheel 37 performs one round in 12 hours. Such a hour wheel 37 further transmits the motion to the date control plate (date-scattering control plate) 41 . In particular, the date control plate comprises a receiving wheel 41 a, which meshes (engages) with the hour wheel 37. The receiving wheel 41 a has the function of halving the rotation, performing one round in 24 hours, and transmitting it to the date display driving wheel 38. The date display driving wheel 38, similarly to the receiving wheel 41 a, also performs a complete rotation in twenty-four hours, and thus provides for the date to be triggered at each round.

In more detail, the date display driving wheel 38 comprises a pin 38a connectable to the already mentioned further hand 5 for providing an indication of a time span of twenty-four hours or of the day/night type. Pin 38a is arranged coaxially with respect to the date display driving wheel 38, and has a profile having a recess 38b. The outer diameter of pin 38a is of 0.3 mm. The inner diameter of pin 38a, namely the diameter at recess 38b, is of 0.186 mm.

As shown in Figure 5a, the date display driving wheel 38 comprises a cam 38c configured to trigger the date indicator (not shown).