Method of producing a decorated element for a timepiece or piece of jewellery, and element made by the method
AssigneeThe Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
InventorsAlban Dubach, Pierry Vuille, Yves Winkler, Stewes Bourban, Jean-Claude Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The method makes it possible to produce a decorated element for a timepiece or piece of jewelry. This decorated element may be, for example, a watch dial. The method includes the steps of taking a base substrate, and micromachining on said base substrate a mold or decorative partitions in a programmed pattern, and filling the mold or the decorative partitions with at least one filler material to obtain the decorated element. The filler material may be an epoxy resin and the mold or the partitions are obtained by melting and solidifying a solder paste or powder.
Claims13
A method for producing a decorated element for a timepiece or piece of jewellery, wherein the method comprises:
- taking a base substrate,
- depositing a layer of positive or negative photosensitive resin on the base substrate,
- placing a contour mask of the pattern to be created on the photosensitive resin,
- illuminating the resin through the mask,
- removing the illuminated portions of the resin, when the photosensitive resin is of the positive type, or removing the non-illuminated portions of the resin, when the photosensitive resin is of the negative type,
- filling the removed portions of the resin with at least one solder paste or powder to produce partitions or a mould,
- heating the assembly formed of the base substrate, the resin and the solder paste or powder to melt the solder paste or powder prior to solidification of the solder,
- removing all the resin, and
- filling the mould or decorative partitions with at least one filler material to obtain the decorated element.
A method for producing a decorated element for a timepiece or piece of jewellery, wherein the method comprises:
- taking a base substrate,
- depositing a layer of positive or negative photosensitive resin on the base substrate,
- placing a contour mask of the pattern to be created on the photosensitive resin,
- illuminating the resin through the mask,
- removing the illuminated portions of the resin, when the photosensitive resin is of the positive type, or removing the non-illuminated portions of the resin, when the photosensitive resin is of the negative type,
- depositing in the removed portions of the resin, one or more metal layers by physical vapour deposition or chemical vapour deposition,
- removing all the resin,
- depositing at least one solder paste or powder on the metal layer or layers,
- melting the solder paste or powder to obtain a solder liquid, which only wets the metal layer or layers, and solidifying the liquid solder to form partitions or a mould in the desired pattern, and
- filling the mould or decorative partitions with at least one filler material to obtain the decorated element.
A method for producing a decorated element for a timepiece or piece of jewellery, wherein the method comprises:
- taking a base substrate,
- depositing a layer of positive or negative photosensitive resin on the base substrate,
- placing a contour mask of the pattern to be created on the photosensitive resin,
- illuminating the resin through the mask,
- removing the illuminated portions of the resin, when the photosensitive resin is of the positive type, or removing the non-illuminated portions of the resin, when the photosensitive resin is of the negative type,
- depositing in the removed portions of the resin, one or more non-conductive layers by physical vapour deposition or chemical vapour deposition to define a complementary pattern for the creation of partitions or a mould,
- removing all the resin,
- depositing at least one solder paste or powder in the removed portions of the non-conductive layer or layers,
- melting and solidifying the solder paste or powder to form the partitions or the mould, and
- filling the mould or decorative partitions with at least one filler material to obtain the decorated element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.