DE102022000301B4 - 8-week perpetual calendar: Continuous calendar as a mechanical complication for watches or autonomous with display of the days of the month and week corresponding to the eight consecutive weeks around the current date as well as, as a full calendar, the two calendar months involved, correction-free for about 4, more than 30 or 100 years, depending on the technical effort. - Google Patents

Abstract

Automatic display device for the current calendar date, which changes daily, and for all days of its 8-week period, which changes once per calendar month, which is provided with a circular ring consisting of two rotating circular ring sectors. In one circular ring sector, all days of a calendar month (28 to 31) are visible, and in the second, the first 25 to 28 days of the following month are visible, always a total of 56 days of the month, together with the display of the corresponding days of the week as weekday abbreviations of eight calendar weeks of a second, but stationary circular ring. Both circular rings are arranged concentrically around a common center, lying radially next to each other, and the current day of the week and day of the month are shown by a common rotating display element.

Description

Continuous calendar as a mechanical complication for watches or autonomous with display of the days of the month and week corresponding to the eight consecutive weeks around the current date as well as, as a full calendar, also the two calendar months involved, depending on the technical effort, correction-free for about 4, more than 30 or 100 years.

First, let's look at the background to this invention. This is in the field of technical mechanics and in the time measurement department, more specifically in watches with calendar functions. Timepieces that offer these additional features fall under the term watches with complications. The basis of this invention is a normal, ubiquitous watch with a mechanical time display, although the actual clockwork does not have to be of mechanical origin. This means that how the time is formed is irrelevant; this is only about calendar values that can be mechanically derived from the time display. "Autonomous" in the name of this invention refers only to an independent calendar display without a time, because a mechanical calendar with a date switch always requires a clock as a timekeeper.

The publication CH 717 502 A1 describes a calendar clock with a rotating weekday ring and a stationary monthday ring with 31 days. Both circular rings are arranged concentrically around a common center, lying radially next to each other and the current day of the week and month is shown by a common rotating display element. At the end of the month, the weekday ring and the display element jump forward by a predetermined sector.

The publication JP 2005- 134 265 A teaches how to apply the date numbers to two circular ring sectors, which can be decoupled and pushed over each other.

The publication US 2012 / 0 106 302 A1 describes a calendar clock, whereby a variant with a stationary weekday ring is provided.

There are many watches on the market with calendar information such as the day of the week, the day of the month and the month, but rarely with the calendar week or year. This information always refers to the current or displayed date, so these are watches with a daily calendar. The challenge here is to reproduce this date, which is the basis of the Gregorian calendar, over as long a period as possible without correction using mechanical means. The distribution of leap years with February 29th in particular demands a lot from the watch manufacturers in terms of technical implementation. The simplest calendar watches have to be reset at the end of every month with less than 31 days in length and the applicant is only aware of one mechanical watch model with a calendar that fully implements the rules of the Gregorian calendar, i.e. also masters the extreme temporal exception rule that occurs every four centuries.

On the other hand, there are calendar clocks that display each day of the month with its corresponding day of the week for the calendar month as a whole, whereby at the beginning of each month either at least one of these two values has to be adjusted manually to the current conditions or the calendar year, which can be taken from a rotating ring list in the calendar module, has to be compared monthly with the current calendar month in a stationary table on the dial, taking leap years into account. Complications of the latter type are also called perpetual calendars or multi-year calendars, but often incorrectly also "eternal" calendars, whereby the time frame of the stored years, at least in wristwatches, is only in the lower to middle 2-digit range and where only the replacement of calendar movement parts can remedy this shortcoming after the time frame has expired, but the further error remains that each month is shown as 31 days long. Our own and external research did not reveal any calendar clocks that display the corresponding days of the month and week at any time for a period of more than 7 weeks and where the transition to the following month takes place automatically with the adjustment of the days of the week.

Based on the findings from the last two paragraphs and the experience gained from monitoring appointments using 3-month calendars, the applicant of this invention had set himself the goal of displaying as large an area as possible around the current date, like the current date itself, with the calendar indications of the day of the week, day of the month and month, and of automatically updating this area at regular intervals over a longer period of time. Because the application should also be possible for wristwatches, it was clear early on that a 3-month period would be too large to fit on the dial of a wristwatch. Based on a few tests with shorter periods of time, the main feature of this invention presented below showed that eight weeks was exactly the right size if, at least for wristwatches, the days of the week and the days of the month were only labeled or numbered every other day and the values in between were only marked. In addition, eight weeks correspond optimally with the two months resulting from the main feature of this invention, since eight weeks (equal to 56 days) represents the largest integer number of weeks that can be covered by two consecutive months (greater than or equal to 59 and less than or equal to 62 days).

In order to better understand the main feature of this calendar, it is useful to look at applied mathematics, particularly geometry and, more precisely, topology. 1a shows a component in the form of a circular ring sector on the wide and narrow sides, which has a central angle of 270° and consists of the two identical but oppositely hatched arc pieces (1) and (2), which are connected to each other in an area of exactly 45°. At this point it should be emphasized that, for example, with 3D printing technology this component can also be manufactured as just one arc component with two arms offset in height, but in the following we will always talk about these two arc pieces. 1b shows an identical component rotated by 180° in the plane. If you now push both components together so that the centers coincide, you get the 2a The diameters of both sectors are slightly different in the following illustrations to make the overlap more visible. As you can see immediately, both components can now be rotated one after the other in and towards each other so that, for example, after several clockwise rotations of the 2b shown circular ring, although the hatching does not follow this component rotation.

This principle of twisting two circular ring sectors that overlap at the ends around the common center can also be applied to a number ring, as shown in 3 One sector represents the days of the even months in a clockwise direction, ie the months whose month numbers are divisible by 2 without a remainder, such as February and August, while the other circular sector is responsible for the odd months. To distinguish between the two month sectors, in these and the other figures the sector for the odd months is finely rasterized and the sector for the even months is coarser. The purpose of the different fonts in each section will be explained later. 3a shows the situation at the beginning of the year 2020 with the odd month of January comprising 31 days and its even following month of February, of which only the first 25 days are visible. In total, the days of the month of 56 consecutive calendar days equal to 8 calendar weeks are always shown, which was decisive for the title of this invention. One month later, the picture is shown in 3b Now February with its 29 days length (2020 was a leap year!) can be recognized as the main month and its following month March with the first 27 days of the month, so again exactly 8 calendar weeks of both months.

Each month initially appears as the following month with the first 25 to 28 days displayed, depending on the length of the previous month, in which all days are visible as the main month. At regular intervals, the incomplete following month must become the new main month and the previous month must become the fragment of the new following month. As the month displays advance clockwise, the sector with the main month rotates until the beginning of the sector has exposed the remaining 3 to 6 days of the following month and the end of the sector with the same number of days comes to rest under the resting sector with the following month on the opposite side of the circular ring. This process makes the following month the new main month and its new following month replaces the previous main month.

This functionality is achieved by the alternating progression of the two monthly sectors with the mutual overlap at their ends. It is precisely this overlap that requires each sector to be divided into two sections. All of the days of the first section are always visible, as it is above and in front of the second section. This first section can only cover the first 25 days of the month at most, because in the worst case scenario, with a main month with a length of 31 days, only these 25 days can be added to the total of 56 days as a display for the following month.

To ensure that the two monthly sectors do not get caught at their ends and to ensure that they function properly mechanically, the second arc section of each sector must be extended beyond the 31st day of the month, which always means that this arc section overlaps with the first arc section of the other sector. And both arc sections of each monthly sector must also be connected to one another. To ensure that the processes are mechanically error-free and that the center of gravity is exactly in the middle of the connecting area of both arc sections, they should be the same size.

If one assumes a 1-day arc section for the minimum extension arc and connection area, then with a maximum length of 25 days of the first arc section, there is thus as one extreme a minimum of 1-day extension arc and 18-day connection area between the 8th and 25th day of the month and as the other extreme 18-day extension and 1-day connection on the 25th day of the month. The minimum length of the first arc section ckes is 17 days of the month, because with a minimum required 1 day of extension beyond the 31st and the requirement of equally sized arc sections, the 16th and 17th days of the month remain for the connection area or vice versa 2 days of extension and 1 day of connection on the 17th day of the month.

When choosing the length of these arc pieces in the previously described area, a compromise must be made for the following reasons. On the one hand, both arc pieces should form a large arc as parts of the month sector so that a stable connection between them and sufficient overlap with the other sector is guaranteed. On the other hand, however, this arc should be as small as possible so that the moving mass of the month sector with its drive wheel remains small because, as with any complication, the power for moving this gear train is limited. Depending on which predominates, this is more a question of the dimensions of the components involved or the materials used.

For the reasons just mentioned, in all representations the first arc section of each sector includes the month days 1 to 21 and the second the remaining month days 22 to 31 with 5 days of extension beyond the 31st and a connecting area of both arc sections of 6 days between the month days 16 and 21, so that all arc sections are the same size. To better distinguish both arc sections in the constant interplay of both month sectors, the 3a to 4b the days of the month of the higher arch sections are in bold, those of the lower arch sections are in normal font and those of the connecting area are in grey bold font.

With the 4a and 4b is intended to make it clear, using a day of the month in the following month, that the advancement of the monthly sectors does not necessarily have to take place when the current date changes from the last day of the main month to the first day of the following month. Here, an idealized pointer arrow from the ring center points to the current day of the month. In the 4a the current date is the 12th of May (or July) of any year and the main month is still April (June) with its 30 days. Only when the current date changes to the 13th day of the calendar month does the sector switch take place, with the result that from this date onwards May (July) with its 31 days forms the main month ( 4b) On this day, you can look far ahead with this calendar, namely 43 days, but only 12 days back. The day before we only have 14 days of forward look, but 41 days of backward look. This is independent of the time of the sector activation, ie directly after a sector activation there is a maximum forward look or minimum backward look, and directly before it is the other way round.

Only the monthly sector with the main month is switched on, and this happens at the earliest when the display of the current day of the month moves on to the sector with the following month, or when it is above or changes over this sector, and at the latest when it passes the 25th day of the following month. The earliest switching point arises because if a sector switch were made beforehand, the display of the current day of the month would be lost, and the latest because further days, up to a maximum of three in cases where the main month has fewer than 31 days, would not be visible, thus disrupting the continuity of this permanent calendar. There are various approaches or variants to the question of when the following month should become a main month or trigger the advancement of the monthly sector.

The first method (variant 1) assumes a sector activation every 31 days, i.e. the value for the longest month length that occurs or the value for the month length of the simplest calendar clocks. With this time interval, it is always guaranteed that the subsequent activation occurs at least one month later, regardless of when the first sector activation is triggered. However, if this is set to the 1st day of any month, there is enough leeway for further activations, which, however, occur later and later from a calendar perspective due to the months with less than 31 days in length, until after about 4 years the 25th day of the following month is exceeded. The selected time of the first sector activation (year, month, but also time on the first of the month) determines the exact correction-free running time of this variant, which together with the 31 days before the first sector activation is between 3.65 and 4.24 years.

In addition to the relatively short correction-free period, there is another disadvantage to this variant, which becomes clear from the following example. If the 1st sector switch takes place, for example, during the transition to March 1, 2021, there will be 0 days of retrospective and 55 days of foresight immediately afterwards, which also applies to the 2nd sector switch 31 days later on April 1. But immediately after the 3rd switch on May 2, there is a change with 1 day of retrospective and 54 days of foresight. Two years after the 1st sector switch, the switch takes place during the transition to March 15, 2023 with 14 days of retrospective and 41 days of foresight. And after 4 years, this is March 28, 2025 with 27 or 28 days of retrospective/foresight, which is also the date of the last possible sector switch for this example, because the next switch will take place on April 28, 2025. would, but the calendar display is only continuous until April 25, 2025, 11:59 p.m. The conclusion is that in the correction-free course of the calendar information, the look-back days increase and the look-forward days decrease, which turns out to be disadvantageous, since it is usually always a look-forward and not a look-back that is of interest.

The second method (variant 2) is slightly more difficult mechanically, and assumes a sector switch every 30.5 days. 2 x 30.5 days = 61 days is the most common total value for the length of two consecutive months, which in our Gregorian calendar is between 59 and 62 days. Over 12 months = 1 calendar year, the 30.5 days switched each month add up to 366 days and thus the length of a leap year. Over 4 calendar years, this variant only adds 3 days more than our calendar system. Compared to variant 1, this method results in a correction-free period of 30.4 to 33.4 years, which is an order of magnitude longer, with the first sector switch having to take place at the beginning of any year, but not until midday on January 1st, because with the switch interval of 30.5 days, the next switch would otherwise take place in January with its 31 days. Here too, the selected time of the first sector switching together with the 30.5 days before it determines the exact correction-free running time of this variant.

Likewise, variant 2 has the disadvantage of increasing look-back and decreasing look-forward days over this time, although here the changes take place more slowly or sometimes even in the opposite way because the correction-free runtime is around 8 times longer, as the following example makes clear. If the 1st sector switch takes place on January 1st, 2020 at 12 noon, for example, there will be 0 days of look-back and 55 days of look-forward immediately afterwards, which also applies to the 2nd sector switch 30.5 days later on February 1st at midnight. From the 3rd sector switch on March 2nd at 12 noon to the 8th switch on August 2nd at midnight, there will be the 1st change with 1 day of look-back and 54 days of look-forward. And then the next sector switch on September 1st at 12 noon will again result in 0 or 55 days of look-back/look-forward. This game continues until the last possible switching on March 27th, 2053 at 12 noon with 26 days of retrospective and 29 days of forward looking as well as a continuous calendar display until April 25th, 2053 at 11:59 p.m.

When triggered using the third method (variant 3), there is no longer a constant time interval between the advances, but these always take place on the same day of every month at the same time. This is possible by using the important complication of the “perpetual” calendar, which is well-known in calendar watches (in this context, the applicant refers to the specialist book by B. Humbert “Modern Calendar and Date Clocks”, Antoine Simonin Publishing House, Neuchâtel Switzerland, 2007, ISBN 978-3-9810461-8-2 ). Strictly speaking, the "perpetual calendar" complication is a 100-year calendar. With this variant, which is the most technically complex of all three methods, it is possible to achieve freedom from corrections over these 100 years, as with the "perpetual" calendar, whereby a displayed date of February 29, 2100 would be the first non-existent date since this invention.

Since the sector switch always takes place on the same day of the month, this third variant of the 8-week perpetual calendar can be easily personalized for the first 25 days of the following month by choosing the sector switch day during the technical implementation so that it corresponds to the birthday or anniversary of the owner or recipient of a watch with this calendar variant. If, as an alternative, the sector switch always takes place at the earliest point in time when changing from the last day of the main month to the first day of the following month, the length of the current month can always be recognized because the following month then becomes the new main month representing all the days of the month and, with this alternative, this is always the current month.

The only two small disadvantages of variants 1 and 2 compared to variant 3 with its 100 years of continuous calendar indications are the shorter periods of correction-free time of around 4 years and more than 30 years respectively, and a steady decrease in the number of days of preview and increase in the number of days of review during this time. The latter disadvantage, which is a drawback because most people want a preview and not a review, can be mitigated. To do this, the owner must have his 8-week permanent calendar reset to a reasonable first day of the month or the beginning of the year by a watchmaker before this period has elapsed, to start a new correction-free period, and make (have) the further corrections up to the current date using the usual correctors on the calendar mechanism. This can be done, for example, as part of the overhaul or battery change of the watch with this calendar complication.

Only the small difference of 12 hours between the month length of variant 1 and variant 2 and even only 1.5 hours between that of variant 2 and variant 3 with its average month length of 30.4375 days cause these large differences in the correction-free or continuous running time. And an extension of the third variant to a “secular perpetual” calendar with 400 years The question of whether the calendar will be based on a permanent calendar with greater freedom from correction or on a truly perpetual calendar that fully complies with the rules of the Gregorian calendar is not so much a question of this 8-week permanent calendar, but rather is due to the complexity of the underlying normal daily calendar.

Independently of these three technically different variants in the correction-free running time, there are theoretically four different versions of this calendar in terms of the possible indications up to the full calendar (full calendar) according to the usual name for calendar clocks, which indicate both the day of the month and the day of the week as well as the calendar month for the current date. The basic version stands for the main feature of this calendar for the simultaneous display of 55 additional days of the month around the current day of the month accordingly. 4 , which has practically no significance. Even the addition of the display of the two calendar months involved does not change this fact. Then you then have additional information about the current month, but this invention is not needed for that, because other calendars also provide that. Only the basic version together with the indication of the day of the week corresponding to each of the 56 days of the month represents a practicable implementation of this invention (hereinafter referred to as the small version). In this case, of course, an expanded version also makes sense to display the main and following months. The result is then an 8-week permanent calendar with extensive calendar indications simultaneous to these eight weeks, corresponding to the full calendar (hereinafter referred to as the large version).

Before describing the mechanical construction of this calendar, it is useful to show examples of implementation, at least for the large version of the 8-week perpetual calendar. 5a and 5b , from which two designs can be seen, initially autonomous without a time indication. Both figures represent a full calendar, whereby this differs from the small version without month indication in only a few additional components, apart from the extended display, but otherwise the same mechanical structure.

The 5a shows Friday, September 3rd, and 5b Wednesday, November 17th, whereby the ring structure of all calendar sizes and the order of these sizes are the same. In the inner area (only in the large version) is the annual ring with its 12 calendar months, whereby in 5a only the main and subsequent months appear in a ring cutout of the dial and the rest of this dial area is semi-transparent because the months below do not contribute to the adequate 8 weeks. In contrast, in 5b A display organ (hereinafter referred to as the month indicator) is used, which frames the main month at the top and bottom, but only partially the following month, because its days are not fully declared. Next comes the 56-month ring with its two month sectors for the main month and the fragment of the following month. 5a all days of the month are numbered, but in 5b only every second one, with the intermediate values marked with dots to make the 8-week perpetual calendar applicable to wristwatches. The stationary 8-week ring with all its days of the week is arranged on the very outside, with the black and white coloring changing weekly to make the 8-week period easier to recognize and in 5b only every second value is labeled. This weekday ring is operated by the same display element (referred to as the day indicator) as the month day ring, whereby after one rotation this day indicator again points to the same weekday, but to a different day of the month or the month is no longer current because at least one month sector has been moved on.

The mechanical structure of the calendar mechanism of this invention is divided into three parts that merge into one another, whereby only the middle part depends on the variant used, while the other two parts are constructed in the same way in all cases. In the first part, the day indicator is controlled every day around midnight, as with any calendar mechanism, because of the 8 weeks, via a star wheel with 56 teeth. In the second part, the determining component is the 1-month wheel, which, depending on the variant, rotates every 31 days or 30.5 days or with the actual length of the month. This wheel normally has 31 teeth and is switched every day at a specific time, which does not just mean midnight. This means that the sector switching that takes place once a month can take place at normal daytime and, if you think about it, can also be observed. In the second variant, however, the 1-month wheel has 61 teeth, since a wheel with 30.5 teeth is pointless, and this wheel is switched twice a day, 12 hours apart. This means you have the chance to experience a sector switching twice a month, for example either at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m., with both times changing monthly. To safely switch a star wheel with as many as 56 or 61 teeth, the switching pin/finger must be positioned relatively close to the center of the switching wheel. The third and most relevant part of the mechanical structure controls the two month sectors with their days of the month and, in the large version, the month display. This third part is also presented and discussed graphically, while the first two parts are only described in text, as they correspond to the state of the art. The view of all components in the description and the figures is from the dial side.

The front part of the mechanism is quickly dealt with. As mentioned at the beginning, the starting point is a normal clock with a mechanical time display, initially with a 12-hour wheel that normally turns clockwise, although the actual clockwork does not have to be of mechanical origin. On the shaft of the 12-hour wheel of this clock sits a pinion which, like on any calendar clock with double reduction, drives a 24-hour wheel. On this 24-hour wheel there is a switching pin or finger which switches the drive wheel of the day indicator, the 56-tooth star wheel mentioned in the last section, one tooth or day clockwise every day. This switching process takes a few hours, but this is not normally a problem because the date changes at midnight. If you want the day indicator to switch suddenly at exactly midnight, there are well-known mechanisms for this, such as the push-button switch. B. as described on pages 26 to 28 of the book cited above.

The second or middle part of the mechanical structure begins in the first variant with a 1-day wheel, which is driven directly by the 24-hour wheel of the first part. In order to distinguish between these two wheels, each with a 24-hour orbit, the former is called the 24-hour wheel and the latter the 1-day wheel, with the only difference being the direction of rotation. On this 1-day wheel there is also a (suddenly switching) switching pin/finger, which drives a star wheel with 31 teeth or 31 days of orbit, the 1-month wheel of variant 1. In the second variant, such a promptly switching pin is either on the drive on the shaft of the 12-hour wheel, or there is also the 1-day wheel, which is then provided with two abruptly switching pins offset by 180°. As previously explained, the switching pins of this variant drive a star wheel with 61 teeth or 30.5 days of rotation, the 1-month wheel of variant 2.

The third variant is based on a "perpetual" daily calendar, the mechanism of which must have a 31-tooth wheel, the 1-month wheel of variant 3, which is driven by the date wheel associated with this perpetual calendar and which must rotate anti-clockwise in order to conform to the other variants and to create the same conditions for the subsequent construction. The "perpetual" mechanism is switched by the existing or by an additional pin on the 24-hour wheel, which is on the back, or by a switching device on an additional 24-hour wheel. The calendar mechanisms on pages 41 to 46 and 118 to 121 of the book cited above serve as examples of this, although in Fig. 103 on page 120 the 1-month wheel is shown in the wrong direction of rotation. The devices for the days of the week and phases of the moon, which are further mentioned in the figures and in the text, play no role in this invention. But what is also important here is the prompt switching process of this date wheel and its subsequent 1-month wheel, which can be ensured by the mechanism shown on pages 49 to 50 of the book.

In order to secure patent claims for all types of mechanical timekeeping, clocks in which the hour wheel rotates once every 6 or 24 hours must also be included. In the first case, a pinion sits on the shaft of the 6-hour wheel, which now drives the 24-hour wheel with its switching finger/pin for switching the 56-tooth star wheel with a four-fold reduction. That is all regarding the 1st and 3rd variants. For the 2nd variant with the 30.5 day interval between the sector switches, either the solution described above with the 1-day wheel and its two switching pins is used, or there is an additional 12-hour wheel with its switching element for the 61-tooth 1-month wheel, whereby the former is driven by the 24-hour wheel with a double transmission. In the second case with the original 24-hour wheel, it is even simpler. Here, this original 24-hour wheel takes on the role of the 1-day wheel and directly drives the now downstream 24-hour wheel with its switching pin for the 56-tooth star wheel.

What is still missing is the third, final and crucial part of the mechanical structure of this invention. With the 6a and 6b The functional principle and the interaction of the components involved are illustrated at two different points in time. These graphics represent the formation of the month displays and the processing of the even months as well as the control of their month sector. The functionally equivalent devices for the odd months are located on the back of the drive wheels involved or under the components for the even months and are not shown here for reasons of clarity. In these figures, other completely hidden components are dotted, partially hidden components are shown with dashed lines and normal gears are shown as usual only with their dash-dotted pitch circles. Horizontal and vertical lines, which do not appear anywhere else, provide a link between the components and their reference symbols.

The 6a shows the conditions two days before a sector switch or one day before a month change 5 of the program wheel, which will be explained later. The 6b reflects the conditions immediately after this sector trigger, where the sector with the even main month February (in leap year) and has thereby displayed the remaining 4 days of the 27-day fragment of its odd-numbered following month March on the other, resting sector, thus declaring March with all its days the new main month. The starting point is the 1-month wheel (12), which rotates once a calendar month in 31 days or 30.5 days or with the actual month length, depending on the variant. In the figures, this is a 31-tooth star wheel, whereby this wheel has 61 teeth in the 2nd variant, as explained above, and a normal gear wheel with 31 teeth is used in the 3rd variant.

This paragraph and the following three only concern the large version (full calendar) of the 8-week permanent calendar, which also includes the 7 is included in the consideration in order to make a detail with its reference symbols visible. On the side of the 1-month wheel (12) that only concerns this full calendar, there is an eccentric switching cam (16), hereinafter referred to as an eccentric cam. When this switching element rotates in the direction of increasing radii, the release pin (61), which is kept in constant contact with the cam edge by spring pressure on its lever arm of a rocker switch, falls abruptly to the lower part after reaching the highest point of the cam. This rocker switch is mounted on a work pin (60) and consists of the two lever arms (61') and (68'). When the release pin drops, a two-armed switching pawl mounted on a rotary axis (68) at the end of the second lever arm switches (see 7 ) via the switching arm (84) of the 12-month star wheel (48) for the month display of the main and subsequent month simultaneously with a sector switch by one tooth or month. The 7 shows the position of the switching pawl with its lever arm directly before and directly after the switching, whereby the components in the latter case are shown in grey to distinguish them from the former case and the 12-month wheel shows no visible change. The two lever arms of the rocker switch and the two identical arms of its switching pawl are only shown schematically in the figures as straight connections between their centers of rotation and their active ends.

The 12-month wheel (48) rotates as it advances according to the 6 and 7 clockwise, so that a hand sitting on its wheel shaft would also rotate in the same way, which would indicate the month after 5b is required. But with a monthly indication after 5a With a pointer-free window display, the ring with the month names rotates anti-clockwise, ie if this ring is to be attached to the shaft of the 12-month wheel (48), this wheel must rotate anti-clockwise. To do this, the eccentric cam (16) only needs to be moved by about 180° in its plane of rotation, the position of the rocker switch adjusted accordingly and the pawl with its spring (see next paragraph) pivoted to the inside of its lever arm (68'), so that an intermediate wheel that changes the direction of rotation is not required.

Before, during and after switching this rocker switch, the switching arm (84) of the switching pawl is pressed against the diamond-shaped end piece (68") of its lever arm (68') by light pressure from a spring attached to the rocker on the second arm of the pawl, the identical pressure arm (86), whereby the switching pawl with its spring can act alternatively on either side of its lever arm after a corresponding change in position, which represents a novel method for dealing with the two alternative directions of rotation of the 12-month wheel (48). When the switching rocker switch is returned by raising its release pin (61) via the increase in the radius of the eccentric cam (16), the 12-month star wheel (48) is not switched backwards because the switching arm (84) of the switching pawl slides over the tooth of this wheel without rotating this wheel because the force of the spring on the pressure arm (86), which presses the shift arm against the diamond (68") is less than the force of the locking cone which holds this 12-month wheel in position when not in drive.

This switching of a star wheel in only one direction via a pawl that partially rotates during the return and leaves the star wheel unaffected corresponds to the state of the art. To clarify this fact, reference is made to the 63 on page 41 and the 64 on page 42 of the cited book and the associated description at the end of the 1st column to the middle of the 2nd column on page 42, where such a device (shift rocker M, shift pawl C, pressure spring C', shift arm c, pin c', star wheel 31, locking lever or locking cone E) is used in a different context.

Let us now return to the 6 with the further description of the 8-week permanent calendar, regardless of the version. On the other side of the 1-month wheel (12) there is a switching finger/pin (13) which, one day before a sector switching, switches the 4-year star wheel (31) as the drive part of the program wheel (30) with its 48 teeth by one month or tooth. Since the 1-month wheel is switched promptly, this also applies to the 4-year star wheel which is switched monthly by its switching element. In the figures, at first glance it looks as if the 1-month star wheel and the 4-year star wheel are interlocked, but this is not the case because only the switching pin (13) is on the same level as the 4-year star wheel (31).

In the case of a 31-tooth 1-month wheel (12) as in the figures, the switching process is unproblematic because the number of teeth on this wheel that is switched suddenly is smaller than the number of teeth on the 4-year wheel (31) that is to be switched by its switching element. But if the switching 1-month wheel has 61 teeth, as in the second variant, and thus considerably more teeth than the 48-tooth wheel that is to be switched, the switching path is very short in order to be able to switch this wheel safely. Therefore, in this case, firstly, the switching pin (13) must be attached to the very outside of the 1-month wheel (12) or, better still, a switching finger must be used, the tip of which can protrude beyond the outer edge of this wheel, and secondly, the two inclined surfaces of the locking cone (not visible here), which holds the 4-year star wheel (31) in a stable position when not in drive, must support the switching process with different angles of inclination, as shown for another case on pages 22 to 23 of the book cited.

The 1-month wheel (12) itself (or via a drive) drives a normal gear wheel with double reduction, tooth by tooth, every day, which thus rotates in 62, 61 days or 2 months, depending on the variant. This 2-month wheel (21) has an identical eccentric cam on each side, with both arranged 180° apart. There is a release pin on each of these eccentric cams, which, when it falls off, alternately initiates the further rotation of one of the two monthly sectors via a rocker switch with three lever arms. The 6a and 6b show the eccentric cam (27) with its release pin (72) on the lever arm (72') only for the even months. Here, as before, all lever arms are shown only ideally as straight connecting lines between their common center of rotation on the work pin (70) and their respective acting ends.

How far the two month sectors rotate when they are alternately triggered is stored in the different depths of a program disc, the monthly scale, as part of the program wheel (30), which rotates once every 4 years due to the leap year. Since one sector represents the even months and the other the odd months, this program disc is also split in two. On one side of its drive wheel, the previously mentioned 48-tooth star wheel (31), are the 24 steps of the even months (37) and on the other side the 24 in the 6a and 6b not shown levels of the odd months.

This program wheel (30) with its two-part program disk is shown in detail in the 8 visible. For better understanding, the outer base circle (37") is also indicated, which corresponds to the step depth 0 or the position of the plunger pin (73) relative to the monthly scale directly before the release. Next, the 48-tooth star wheel (31), the 4-year wheel, can be seen as the drive wheel for the program disk. Then comes the actual program disk, the monthly scale, with the 24 steps of the even months on the front (37), double-lined, and the 24 steps of the odd months on the back (37'), dashed-lined, of the star wheel.

Each tooth of the star wheel corresponds to a certain step depth of the monthly scale, whereby in the 8 January of a leap year is at the top (dashed because it is an odd month) and the following months follow in an anti-clockwise direction, taking into account the direction of rotation shown. The step depth of a leap year January corresponds to 4 days, because this month, as the main month with 31 days in length, must rotate by 4 days when the sector is triggered so that the 25-day fragment of its following month becomes a full February of a leap year with its 29-day length. The situation is completely different in December of each year (double-lined because it is an even month), where the step depth corresponds to 6 days, because December must be moved forward by these 6 days so that its following month fragment becomes a full January with 31 days in length, the new main month. In this way, each month is assigned a step depth corresponding to the 3 to 6 missing days of the following month. In the 8 The steps are relatively deep and increase slightly quadratically with the number of missing days, but this depends on the type of advancement of the month sector and the tooth shape of its drive wheel.

In variant 3 of the 8-week perpetual calendar, this program wheel with the 2 x 24-step monthly scale is normally joined by the program wheel with the 48-step monthly scale for the "perpetual" calendar. Not only can both wheels be driven by the same switching pin (13) on the 1-month wheel (12), but this can also happen at the same time, which means that only one drive wheel is needed for both monthly scales. The monthly scale with the 48 steps for the "perpetual" calendar then rotates as an independent program disk without its own drive wheel on the same shaft as the program wheel (30) with its two-part 2 x 24-step monthly scale for the sector switch. This not only means a saving in components, but also a considerable gain in space, which is often a decisive criterion for this type of watch, especially with regard to the space available for wristwatch complications. One day before the sector switch, the date wheel of the “perpetual” calendar and thus also the 1-month wheel (12) for months with less than 31 days in length are turned in addition to the normal day switching is switched forward by the missing days using its cam disk according to the step depth of the 48-step program disk, whereby the switching pin (13) turns the common 48-tooth star wheel (31) by one tooth or month. With this switching, the program wheel is brought into the correct position for the sector release that takes place one day later and at the same time the program disk of the "perpetual" calendar is turned by one subdivision or month in order to prepare for the next month length correction (see also the pages from the book cited in the description of the third variant).

After this description of the program wheel, let us return to the 6 and now look at the interaction of the components connected to this wheel. If the release pin (72) on the release arm (72') of the 3-lever arm rocker switch falls off the eccentric cam (27) of the 2-month wheel (21), it does not land on the lower part of the cam, but stops beforehand because the drop pin (73) on the drop arm (73') of this rocker switch comes into contact with a step of the month scale (37). The drop depths of the pins are proportional to the step depth of this program disk, whereby even if the drop pin hits the lowest step of the month scale, the release pin does not sit on its eccentric cam.

A pivoting pawl (97) is mounted on an axle (79) at the end of the third lever arm of this 3-lever-arm rocker switch, the ratchet arm (79'), which is subject to the action of a spring (not shown here) also located on the rocker switch, which presses the pawl tip (95) constantly against its ratchet wheel (59) with its 56 teeth as the drive wheel of the month sector. Like the lever arms, this pawl is only shown schematically between its pivot point and its tip that contacts the ratchet wheel. Here, the pawl and ratchet wheel function as a ratchet mechanism (see the next paragraph) for the month sector with the even months. When the release pin (72) on the release arm (72') of the 3-lever arm rocker switch falls, the drop pin (73) on the drop arm (73') falls to a step of the monthly scale (37) and at the same time the pawl tip (95) of the switching pawl (97) of the pawl arm (79') turns the pawl or drive wheel (59) with its monthly sector by the 3 to 6 teeth or days corresponding to the step depth.

For this purpose, the spring force acting on the lever arm (72') to cause the release pin (72) to fall must be correctly dosed along its fall arc. On the one hand, it must be sufficiently strong to advance the ratchet wheel (59) with its monthly sector, for which this fall arc corresponding to the step depth must also be somewhat larger so that the switching pawl (97) can start moving almost a whole tooth before engaging the ratchet wheel to gain momentum (see 6a) . On the other hand, however, not too strongly, so that the plunger pin (73) does not strike the step of the program disk (37) with too much force and thus run the risk of bending or even breaking (see 6b) . This spring force must also be precisely coordinated with that of the catch that holds the ratchet wheel in its position when not in the drive state, so that it is switched on by the number of teeth that corresponds exactly to the step depth and not one tooth more or less. Instead of this spring, which is attached to the plate of the calendar mechanism and presses on the release arm (72') and is not shown here, an extended construction with a tension spring between a work pin and a fourth lever arm would also be possible, which would certainly allow the spring force to be dosed better, taking all the above requirements into account.

Ratchet mechanisms can be found in many disciplines of technical mechanics, but so far only in the form that the ratchet wheel is only switched one tooth further with each impact of the limited-rotation pawl. Here, however, we have the case that the pawl (97) has to turn up to 6 teeth at a time after it has hit the base of a tooth of the ratchet wheel (59) and as it moves forward, this wheel has to turn up to 11% of all 56 teeth of the ratchet wheel or its total circumference, and thus 9 percentage points more than in the normal case of a ratchet mechanism with this number of teeth. But there is nevertheless a real mechanical analogue to this, again in the mechanism of the "perpetual" calendar.

Let us take a look at Fig. 101 and 103 on page 119 and 120 of the book already cited several times. There, there is a pawl (m') that acts on an eccentric disk (31" or 31') which is firmly connected to a 31-tooth star wheel (31), the date wheel. For months with less than 31 days in length, at the end of the month, this pawl turns the date wheel via the eccentric disk by the maximum missing 4 days to the 1st day of the following month, which corresponds to 13% of all 31 teeth of the date wheel and is therefore somewhat more difficult than in the case of the extended ratchet mechanism of this invention. The eccentric disk can be understood as a ratchet wheel with only one tooth. There, the pawl cannot act directly on the date wheel, since this is switched forward by one tooth every day by another pawl (c).

Let us now return to 6a and 6b With what has just been said, the Expand or modify the mechanism of the ratchet switch of the 8-week permanent calendar so that the ratchet tip (95) travels a correspondingly longer distance around the circumference of the 56-tooth ratchet wheel (59), turning it by the required 3 to 6 teeth. The compression spring attached to the rocker switch ensures that the ratchet tip always remains in contact with the ratchet wheel. And when the rocker switch is returned to its starting position until the release pin (72) drops (see next paragraph), the ratchet tip (95) slowly slides back tooth by tooth over the teeth of the ratchet wheel (59) without switching this wheel, as is normal in a ratchet switch. A pawl on the ratchet wheel ensures, as there, that this wheel does not rotate backwards when the pawl is returned.

As the 1-month wheel (12) advances every day, the eccentric cam (27) on the 2-month wheel (21) also rotates a little further every day, so that its release pin (72) comes into contact with the drop pin (73) again one or two days up to about four weeks after it has dropped due to the increasing radii of the cam, depending on how far it has dropped. This begins the return of the three lever arms (72', 73', 79') and the switching pawl (97) to their starting positions by constantly raising the release pin before it drops again. This contact of the release pin with the cam edge must take place in good time before the next switching of the 4-year star wheel (31) by the switching pin (13) on the 1-month wheel (12) for the advancement of the other month sector, so that the engagement pin (73) is lifted over the edge of the program disk (37) when the release pin (72) is raised so that its star wheel (31) can move freely, which is ensured by the appropriate shape of the eccentric cam.

Just as with the 31-tooth date wheel of the "perpetual" calendar, where the advancement of up to four teeth is carried out via an eccentric disk, the two month sectors can also be managed without a complex calculation mechanism. The maximum switching angle of the 56-tooth ratchet wheel (59) is 38.6°, smaller than that of the 31-tooth date wheel (46.5°), and the minimum switching angle of the former is 19.3°, larger than that of the latter (11.6°), so that switching is always reliable. Pressure springs on the lever arms and switching pawls, as well as locking cones, pawls and catches to prevent the star or ratchet wheels from turning are not shown in any of the figures.

Some more information on the arrangement of the components, for example to arrange the concentric displays according to 5a and 5b The two ratchet wheels must be positioned one above the other to drive their coaxial monthly sectors with hollow shafts running into each other, whereby in the 6 only the ratchet wheel for the even months (59) is shown. The 56-tooth star wheel in the first part of the mechanism as the drive wheel for the day indicator and, in the large version (full calendar), the 12-month star wheel (48) for the month indicator must also be added to this coaxial arrangement. In addition, the two 3-lever-arm rocker switches that mediate between the eccentric cams, the program disc and the ratchet wheels rotate freely on a common movement pillar (70), but like them at different heights. And for the simultaneous triggering of the month indicator and the month sector, the eccentric cams (16, 27) with their trigger pins (61, 72) must be correctly positioned so that they fall off at the same time.

For reasons of uniformity in the displays, this calendar should be standardized for all watch models and/or manufacturers in terms of the date including the calendar year on which the month sectors and indicators assume predetermined positions for the day of the week, day of the month and, in the large version, also for the month. In the 5a and 5b the standardization is such that for Monday, 01/01/2001, the day indicator points to the first position to the right of 0° at the top and in the large version the month of January, depending on whether it is the main or subsequent month, is at the position ±15° or the month indicator includes January. This corresponds to the selected position of the display rings, whereby the week with Monday 00:00 and the month with 01/01/2001 00:00 fictitiously start exactly at 0° at the top, which at the same time brings with it a high degree of symmetry, since two weeks and three months each correspond exactly to a right angle at the same position. This symmetry is partly lost again when the indications of the calendar and clock are combined, but it has the other great advantage that the hour digits 1 to 12 can also be used for the month display, as in 9b can be seen what at least one manufacturer of calendar clocks known to the applicant is already doing. When designing in 9a A part of the minute track is left out to indicate the main and subsequent months, which is practically no obstacle to the readability of the minute display in this area. These figures correspond essentially to 5a and 5b , but now with additional time indication.

The only thing that is still missing from this time display with calendar and clock is a visibility/night indication (incorrectly often referred to as day/night indication), so that the time display is clear and you know which period of time the displayed 12 hours are, i.e. either daylight is 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (visibility) or 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. (night). The applicant refers to his DPMA utility model no. 20 2018 000 789, where various solutions to this question can be found.

The purpose of this 8-week perpetual calendar, whether with or without a clock, is to expand the calendar information for the current date to eight weeks. This makes it possible, for example, to find the right day of the week for a specific date in the vicinity of the current date or to determine which date is exactly three weeks before/after the current date. Such perpetual calendars have been available in paper or electronic form for a long time, but not yet as a mechanical machine and certainly not as a wristwatch with this mechanical calendar complication.

The absolutely new thing about this calendar is the constant display of the days of the month as a pair of months in circular ring sectors that overlap and alternately advance at the ends. In addition to the cadrature of the "perpetual" calendar with its 100 years of freedom from correction, there are two other absolute novelties that are mechanically simpler, namely the alternating, constant advancement of the two monthly sectors at a constant time interval of 30.5 or, even simpler, 31 days. The only two disadvantages here are the shorter periods of freedom from correction of at least 30 or around 4 years, respectively, and a constant increase in the number of days to look back or decrease in the number of days to look ahead during this time, although the latter disadvantage can be mitigated as described. In all three variants, however, despite the increasing technical effort, the 8 calendar weeks are always automatically adjusted to the current conditions in the same way once every calendar month up to the 100 years of freedom from correction or continuity.

The first two parts of the mechanical structure correspond to the state of the art, but this applies only to a small extent to the third section, because it uses both a new process and a modified and expanded device based on a ratchet mechanism for forming and advancing the months with their days of the month, which is probably only one of many constructive solutions. However, only with all three components does the 8-week perpetual calendar result as a mechanical complication for watches or autonomously with constant indication of the day of the week and day of the month for each day of the 8-week period surrounding the current date and, in the large version as a full calendar, also for both calendar months involved. Furthermore, the day indicator, the month indicator and the semi-transparent dial are to be seen as new design tools and new product designs, but this is not discussed here. The 5 and 9 The versions of this calendar shown with or without time indication are just a few of the many other possibilities, including the small version without month display.

Claims (16)

Automatic display device for the current calendar date, which changes daily, and for all days of its 8-week period, which changes once per calendar month, which is provided with a circular ring consisting of two rotating circular ring sectors. In one circular ring sector, all days of a calendar month (28 to 31) are visible, and in the second, the first 25 to 28 days of the following month are visible, always a total of 56 days of the month, together with the display of the corresponding days of the week as weekday abbreviations of eight calendar weeks of a second, but stationary circular ring. Both circular rings are arranged concentrically around a common center, lying radially next to each other, and the current day of the week and day of the month are shown by a common rotating display element. display device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the circular ring sector showing all days of a calendar month, referred to as the circular ring sector with the main month, rotates once per calendar month until its sector start, marked by the month day number 1, has exposed the remaining 3 to 6 month day numbers of the following month and its sector end with the same number of month day numbers comes to lie below the stationary circular ring sector with the following month, whereby the circular ring sector with the following month becomes the circular ring sector main month and the one with the previous main month becomes the circular ring sector with the new following month. Display device according to the claims 1 until 2 , characterized in that the advancement of the circular ring sector with the main month takes place at the earliest when the display of the current day of the month changes to the 1st day of the circular ring sector with the following month and at the latest when it passes its 25th day of the month. Display device according to the claims 1 until 3 , characterized in that both circular ring sectors overlap each other at their ends in order to avoid the main month and the monthly day numbers that are not permitted in the circular ring sector with the following month are to be hidden, since a total of 56 monthly days can always be displayed. display device according to claim 2 until 4 , characterized in that each circular ring sector consists of two sector arc pieces, both of which are arranged one behind the other except for an area where they are firmly connected axially one above the other. The upper sector arc piece has the day of the month numbers 1 to a maximum of 25 on its outside, equidistantly spaced, with the 1 attached to the free end. The lower sector arc piece has the remaining day of the month numbers up to 31 on its inside, starting with the next number after the last one on the upper sector arc piece. This is followed by an extension arc to ensure overlap with the upper sector arc piece of the other circular ring sector, so that an overlap is guaranteed even when the main month has 31 days. display device according to claim 5 , characterized in that the connecting area of the two sector arc pieces and the extension arc of the lower sector arc piece each have at least an arc size of one day of the entire circular ring of a total of 56 days. Display device according to the claims 5 until 6 , characterized in that alternatively the two sector arc pieces of a circular ring sector are manufactured from one piece. Display device according to one of the Claims 5 until 7 , characterized in that , as an alternative to the complete inscription of the two sector arc pieces with the day of the month numbers and the circular ring with the weekday abbreviations, only every second day of the month number and every second weekday abbreviation are applied with markings for the days in between, in particular in the case when this display device is also to be applicable to small watches. display device according to claim 1 characterized in that in the front part of its three-part drive device the rotation of the common display organ for the current day of the week and day of the month is effected via a 56-tooth star wheel, this wheel being switched daily around midnight starting from the hands of a clock and thus rotating once in 8 weeks. display device according to claim 9 , characterized in that in the middle part of its drive device, which is built on the front part, a wheel is regularly advanced, which rotates once per calendar month, referred to as a 1-month wheel. There are three variants for the design of this wheel, its advancement and its further switching, which, with increasing technical complexity, results in a correspondingly longer continuous operating time of the drive device. display device according to claim 10 , characterized in that the 1-month wheel is designed as a 31-tooth star wheel, which is advanced by one tooth once every day. This wheel advances the rear part of the drive train every 31 days, with the first shift taking place at any time on the 1st day of any calendar month and year. display device according to claim 10 , characterized in that the 1-month wheel is designed as a 61-tooth star wheel, which is advanced by one tooth once every 12 hours. This wheel advances the rear part of the drive train every 30.5 days, with the first shift taking place from noon on January 1st of any calendar year. display device according to claim 10 , characterized in that the 1-month wheel is designed as a normal gear wheel with 31 teeth, which in a watch with the complication "perpetual" calendar as a component between its date and program wheel is advanced daily by one tooth and at the end of the month additionally by the missing days or teeth in calendar months with fewer than 31 days. This wheel always advances the rear part of the drive train on the same day of the month at the same time. Display device according to one of the Claims 10 until 13 , characterized in that the rear part of its drive device has a program control which assigns the 3 to 6 missing days of the month to the circular ring sector with the following month so that this becomes the new main month by advancing the circular ring sector with the previous main month by the corresponding number of teeth on the 1-month wheel. For this purpose, the program control has a plurality of step and cam disks which, with the aid of lever mechanisms and gear, star and ratchet wheels, bring about the required programmed rotation of the ring sectors. display device according to claim 1 until 4 , characterized in that it is optionally provided with a circular ring on which the month names of all 12 consecutive calendar months of a calendar year are entered at equidistant locations, whereby this ring is arranged, in particular as the innermost ring, concentrically to the circular rings with the days of the week and the day of the month. The marking of the two calendar months which are part of the 8 calendar weeks and are located next to each other is done either by the rotation of this circular ring beneath a display window or, in the case of a fixed circular ring, by a rotating display element, whereby this rotation takes place at the same time as the circular ring sector with the main month, whereby this ring or this display element moves one position further via a 12-tooth star wheel and thus rotates once per calendar year. display device according to claim 15 , characterized in that it is optionally extended by a display device for indicating the current time, which is arranged in particular in the free area of the innermost circular ring.

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