Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Process for producing a balance wheel for a timepiece
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Application No.: US17669476Application Date: 2022-02-11
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Publication No.: US11640140B2Publication Date: 2023-05-02
- Inventor: Alexandre Haemmerli , Francois Gueissaz , Jean-Claude Martin , Lionel Paratte , Yves Winkler , Gianni Di Domenico , Pascal Winkler , Jean-Luc Helfer , Lionel Tombez , Baptiste Hinaux , Donald William Corson , Michel Willemin
- Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
- Applicant Address: CH Marin
- Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
- Current Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
- Current Assignee Address: CH Marin
- Agency: Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P.
- Priority: EP17210299 20171222
- Main IPC: G04B17/22
- IPC: G04B17/22 ; G04B18/00 ; G04B17/06 ; B22C9/00 ; B22D15/00 ; B22D25/02 ; B22D27/04 ; C22C14/00 ; C22C16/00 ; C22C21/00 ; C22C38/08 ; G04C3/04

Abstract:
A process for producing a metal alloy balance wheel by molding includes a) making a mold in the negative shape of the balance wheel; b) obtaining a metal alloy that has a thermal expansion coefficient of less than 25 ppm/° C. and is able to be in an at least partly amorphous state when it is heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature; c) putting the metal alloy into the mold, the metal alloy being heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature so as to be hot-molded and to form a balance wheel; d) cooling the metal alloy to obtain a balance wheel made of the metal alloy; and e) releasing the balance wheel obtained in step d) from its mold. The process also includes a step for over-molding flexible centering components in the hub.
Public/Granted literature
- US20220163923A1 PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A BALANCE WHEEL FOR A TIMEPIECE Public/Granted day:2022-05-26
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