Escapement system and measuring device comprising said escapement system

Abstract

The present invention relates to an escapement system that can be used, for example, in a measuring device such as in a timepiece. The escapement system comprises a drive axle and at least one escape wheel that has at least one impulse tooth. The at least one impulse tooth is connected to the drive axle via at least one spring element and has a starting position in which it is fixed such that the spring element has a preload torque.

Claims

1. An escapement system comprising: a drive axle; and at least one escape wheel that has multiple impulse teeth, wherein each tooth of the multiple impulse teeth is connected to the drive axle via at least one corresponding spring element, respectively, and has a starting position in which it is fixed such that the at least one corresponding spring element has a preload torque, wherein the starting position is a position in which at least one of the impulse tooth or the at least one corresponding spring element has a lowest tension in a cycle of the at least one escape wheel.

2. The escapement system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: at least one resting element that has at least one tensioning surface that moves the multiple impulse teeth from the starting position into a tensioning position on a rotation of the at least one escape wheel.

3. The escapement system in accordance with claim 2, wherein the multiple impulse teeth are e pressed against the at least one tensioning surface by rotating the at least one escape wheel such that they are moved out of the starting position into the tensioning position and the preload torque of the at least one corresponding spring element is increased in this process.

4. The escapement system in accordance with claim 2, wherein the at least one resting element is designed as at least one of: an anchor, a resting lever, or as part of a balance.

5. The escapement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one escape wheel has multiple abutments that fix the multiple impulse teeth in their starting position.

6. The escapement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the escapement system has one or more resting teeth.

7. The escapement system in accordance with one claim 1, wherein the at least one escape wheel is designed in two parts, and comprises as a first part an impulse wheel that has the multiple impulse teeth and as a second part a resting wheel, with the impulse wheel and the resting wheel being fixed in a fixed position with respect to one another and with a running off of a drive train at the resting wheel being controllable.

8. The escapement system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one escape wheel is designed in one part and in two planes, with one of the two planes having the multiple impulse teeth and with the running off of a drive train at a resting wheel being controllable.

9. A measuring device comprising an escapement system, the escapement system comprising: a drive axle; and at least one escape wheel that has multiple impulse teeth, wherein each tooth of the multiple impulse teeth is connected to the drive axle via at least one corresponding spring element, respectively, and has a starting position in which it is fixed such that the at least one corresponding spring element has a preload torque, wherein the starting position is a position in which at least one of the impulse tooth or the at least one corresponding spring element has a lowest tension in a cycle of the at least one escape wheel.

10. The measuring device in accordance with claim 9, further comprising: a power regulator.

11. The measuring device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the measuring device is a time measuring device.

12. The measuring device in accordance with claim 11, wherein the time measuring device is a timepiece.

13. An escapement system comprising: a drive axle; at least one escape wheel that includes multiple impulse teeth, wherein each tooth of the multiple impulse teeth is connected to the drive axle via at least one corresponding spring element, respectively, and has a starting position which is fixed such that the at least one corresponding spring element has a preload torque, and wherein the at least one escape wheel has multiple abutments that fix the multiple impulse teeth in their starting position; a resting element that includes at least one tensioning surface, that moves the multiple impulse teeth from the starting position to a tensioning position on a rotation of the at least one escape wheel, wherein the multiple impulse teeth can be pressed against the at least one tensioning surface by rotating the at least one escape wheel such that the multiple impulse teeth are moved out of the starting position into the tensioning position and the preload torque of the at least one corresponding spring element is increased by the rotation of the at least one escape wheel, and wherein the resting element is at least one of: an anchor a balance lever, or a part of a balance; and at least one balance tooth.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates an example of escapement system showing impulse teeth in different positions: one in a starting position with a preload torque and another in a tensioning position.

(3) FIG. 2a illustrates example components of an escape wheel before assembly.

(4) FIG. 2b illustrates an example of an assembled state of the impulse wheel and resting wheel, fixed in a position relative to each other.

(5) FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate examples of the escapement system from different perspectives at the moment when an impulse tooth is tensioned by a tensioning surface.

(6) FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate an example of a release and subsequent movement of an impulse tooth from the tensioning surface to impact a lifting surface.

(7) FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate an example of the escapement cycle in which another impulse tooth is preloaded by a tensioning surface from a low torque level to a high torque level.

(8) FIGS. 6a and 6b illustrate the release of a previously tensioned impulse tooth, impacting the lifting surface at the input side of the anchor, and the subsequent relaxation from a high preload level to a low level.

(9) FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an energy diagram of the escapement system.

(10) The function of the escapement system in accordance with the invention will be explained in the following with reference to the Figures by way of example in a constant energy escapement similar to the Swiss anchor escapement.

(11) A special embodiment of the escapement system in accordance with the invention is first shown in FIG. 1. The escapement system here comprises a drive axle 11 and an escape wheel that has a plurality of impulse teeth 1, 8, with the impulse teeth 1, 8 being connected to the drive axle 11 via spring elements. Each of the impulse teeth 1, 8 is here respectively connected to the drive axle 11 via a spring element. It is alternatively also possible, however, that one, more, or all of the impulse teeth are connected to the drive axle via one or more spring elements. As shown in FIG. 1, the impulse teeth have a starting position that they can adopt, as can be seen by way of example at the impulse tooth 8. The impulse tooth is fixed in this starting position such that the spring element via which the resting tooth is connected to the drive axle has a preload torque. The impulse teeth can, however, also adopt a tensioning position such as can be seen by way of example at the impulse tooth 1.

(12) The escape wheel shown in FIG. 1 is designed in two parts. It comprises as a first part an impulse wheel that has the impulse teeth 1, 8 and as a second part a resting wheel that has resting teeth 3, 9. Both parts are shown before the assembly of the escape wheel in FIG. 2a. The spring elements connected to the impulse teeth are here in a relaxed state. In FIG. 2b (as also in FIG. 1), the two parts are shown after the assembly and after a rotation of the hubs with respect to one another. The impulse wheel and the resting wheel are fixed to one another in a fixed position here. In addition, the impulse teeth are pressed against abutments 12, 13, located on the resting wheel so that the impulse teeth are fixed in the starting position in which they have a preload torque.

(13) In addition, the escape wheel shown in FIG. 1 has a resting element 5, with the latter being designed as an anchor. The resting element 5 has two tensioning surfaces 2, 7 that move the impulse teeth 1, 8 from the starting position into the tensioning position on a rotation of the escape wheel. In this process, the respective impulse tooth 1 is pressed against the tensioning surface 2 by a rotation of the escape wheel with a torque that is greater than the preload torque of the spring element in the starting position of the impulse tooth 1 such that it is moved out of the starting position into the tensioning position and the preload torque of the spring element is increased in so doing as is shown in FIG. 1 for the example of the impulse tooth 1.

(14) FIGS. 3a to 6a and 3b to 6b now show the function of the escapement system during the rotation of the escape wheel by the drive axle. Figures a and b of the same number here show the escapement system in each case at the same time from different perspectives, once from the front and once from the back.

(15) In FIGS. 3a and 3b, the impulse tooth 1 is tensioned by the tensioning surface 2 at the starting anchor side to a higher torque M.sub.H. At the same time, the drive axle 11 of the escape wheel is arrested by the contact between the resting tooth 3 and the resting surface 4. The difference between the drive torque M.sub.A and the preload torque M.sub.H is supported via this.

(16) If now the balance moves the anchor 5, there is initially a release of the impulse tooth 1 as soon as it no longer rests on the tensioning surface 2. After release of the impulse tooth 1, it impacts the lifting surface 6 and drives the anchor 5 as is shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b. In this process, the impulse tooth 1 relaxes from its high preload level M.sub.H to its low level M.sub.L. Toward the end or after the energy output, the tensioning surface 7 has been moved in front of the impulse tooth 8 by the anchor movement. The resting surface 4 now releases the escape wheel for the retensioning in that it releases the resting tooth 3.

(17) There is nowwhile the balance performs its complementary arca movement of the drive axle 11 until the resting tooth 9 is incident on the resting surface 10, as is shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b. During this process, the impulse tooth 8 is now preloaded by the tensioning surface 7 at the input side anchor side from the torque level M.sub.L to M.sub.H.

(18) If now the balance again moves the anchor 5, there is a release of the impulse tooth 8 as soon as it no longer rests on the tensioning surface 7. After release of the impulse tooth 8, it impacts the lifting surface at the input side of the anchor and drives the anchor 5 as is shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b. In this process, the impulse tooth 8 relaxes from its high preload level M.sub.H to its low level M.sub.L. The resting surface 10 now releases the resting tooth 9 of the resting wheel, which triggers the preloading of the next impulse tooth.

(19) From here onward, the routines repeat as soon as the balance performs a further passage of the resting position.

(20) It is necessary for a correct routine that the drive axle 11 of the escape wheel outputs a higher torque M.sub.A than is required to tension the impulse tooth 1, 8. The efficiency of the escapement increases decisively due to a low preload torque ML different from 0 Nm since more of the energy required for the tensioning (???M.sub.A) can be stored. This is also illustrated by FIG. 7 that shows the energy diagram of the escapement. It is shown there that due to the high preload level M.sub.L of the impulse teeth in the starting position, the amount of transmitted energy 14 is very high in comparison with the amount of lost energy 15. It can thus easily be seen from the diagram that a preload torque M.sub.L of the pulse teeth that is as high as possible in the starting position decisively contributes to the efficiency of the escapement system in accordance with the invention. Without a preload in the starting position, in contrast, a maximum of 50% of the available energy could be used.