Annular fluidic system with compass function
AssigneeThe Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
InventorsFrançois Gueissaz, Michel Willemin, Matthias Imboden
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Abstract
An annular fluidic device includes a closed annular tube, wherein the tube includes at least one portion of transparent wall and contains a rigid torus bathed in a fluid filling the internal volume of the tube, in that the torus is arranged to be movable in the tube, and wherein at least one permanently polarised magnetic element integral with the torus allows it to undergo a moment of force causing it to be aligned in the direction of the external magnetic vector. A watch case can include this device.
Claims18
An annular fluidic device, comprising:
- an annular tube delimiting a closed internal volume,
- a fluid disposed in the closed internal volume,
- a floating system disposed in the closed internal volume and bathed in the fluid, said floating system being arranged to rotate freely around a central axis of the annular tube and relative to said annular tube, and said floating system having a marking with at least one of four cardinal points, wherein the floating system is a ring connecting a plurality of spheres, and
- at least one permanently polarized magnetic element integral with the floating system allowing said floating system to undergo a moment of force causing the floating system to be aligned in a direction of an external magnetic vector by rotating around the central axis, wherein
- said annular tube is transparent on a portion of a wall of the annular tube so as to visualize the marking of the floating system from outside of the annular tube, and
- the at least one permanently polarized magnetic element is disposed on the ring away from each of the plurality of spheres.
A wearable object comprising an annular fluidic device, said wearable object comprising:
- an annular tube delimiting a closed internal volume,
- a fluid disposed in the closed internal volume,
- a floating system disposed in the closed internal volume and bathed in the fluid, said floating system being arranged to rotate freely around a central axis of the annular tube and relative to said annular tube, and said floating system having a marking with at least one of four cardinal points, wherein the floating system is a ring connecting a plurality of spheres, and
- at least one permanently polarized magnetic element integral with the floating system allowing said floating system to undergo a moment of force causing it to be aligned in a direction of an external magnetic vector by rotating around the central axis, wherein
- said annular tube is transparent on a portion of a wall of the annular tube so as to visualize the marking of the floating system from outside of the annular tube, and
- the at least one permanently polarized magnetic element is disposed on the ring away from each of the plurality of spheres.
An annular fluidic device, comprising:
- an annular tube delimiting a closed internal volume,
- a fluid disposed in the closed internal volume,
- a floating system disposed in the closed internal volume and bathed in the fluid, said floating system being arranged to rotate freely around a central axis of the annular tube and relative to said annular tube, and said floating system having a marking with at least one of four cardinal points, and
- at least one permanently polarized magnetic element integral with the floating system allowing said floating system to undergo a moment of force causing the floating system to be aligned in a direction of an external magnetic vector by rotating around the central axis, wherein
- said annular tube is transparent on a portion of a wall of the annular tube so as to visualize the marking of the floating system from outside of the annular tube, and
- the device further comprises a capillary tube in fluid communication with the annular tube to add a function either of a barometer or of a thermometer to the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.