Dynamic chronometric testing

A device for the dynamic chronometric testing of a watch movement or watch, said device comprising at least one receptacle arranged to hold, up to a given acceleration threshold, at least one movement or a watch, and including handling means arranged to handle each said receptacle spatially, arranged to apply to each said receptacle at least one predefined or random cycle in respect of the path thereof and the dynamic evolution thereof along this path under the fine control of control means including a clock or connected to an external time base, said cycle including the passage via standardised static chronometric testing positions, wherein said handling means are arranged for the continuous spatial handling of each said receptacle, and wherein said device includes rate sensor means for the continuous and dynamic recording of the rate parameters of each movement placed in said receptacle during a movement or/and an acceleration, correlated with environment sensor means for the continuous recording, relative to said recording of the rate parameters, of the physical conditions of the environment wherein said chronometric testing takes place, and said device includes fine control means and analysis means interfaced with said control means, said rate sensor means, and said environment sensor means, and arranged to evaluate the behaviour upon wearing of each said movement or respectively of each said watch, to issue a testing certificate in the case where all the values measured comply with predefined tolerances, or to resume an iterative rate setting correction and testing process otherwise, for both said standardised static positions and dynamic positions where the acceleration and velocity are different to zero and which correspond to additional dynamic chronometry criteria, defined in order to qualify the rate during continuous motion applied to said movement or respectively to said watch, wherein said fine control means are arranged to control said multi-axis handling means so as to simulate the movements of the arm or/and forearm or/and hand of a right-handed or left-handed user, with angular amplitudes limited to the natural angular amplitudes at the level respectively of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and further comprising said fine control means include means for generating random numbers arranged to trigger the switching, at random times, of said predefined cycle, to apply to said movement or respectively to the watch a path according to a random velocity or/and according to a random acceleration or/and according to random modulus or/and direction or/and random direction movement vectors, along travels limited to a predefined envelope volume.

A method for the dynamic chronometric testing of a watch movement, or of a watch, wherein movements are applied to said movement, or respectively to said watch, including at least one predefined or random cycle in respect of the path thereof and the dynamic evolution thereof along this path under the fine control of control means including a clock or connected to an external time base, said cycle including the passage via standardised chronometric testing positions, in that the rate parameters of said movement or respectively of said watch are measured in said standardised positions and in further programmed or/and random intermediate positions, and wherein the continuous chronometric testing of said movement or respectively of said watch is carried out, in that the rate parameters of said movement or respectively of said watch are recorded continuously and dynamically, that said rate parameters are compared with set-point values, in that a testing certificate is issued if all the values measured comply with predefined tolerances, or in that an iterative rate setting correction and testing process is resumed otherwise, and in that the acceleration applied to said movement or respectively to said watch is measured, to distinguish static positions where the acceleration and the velocity are zero and among which are said standardised chronometric testing positions, and dynamic positions where the acceleration and the velocity are different to zero and which correspond to additional dynamic chronometry criteria, defined to qualify the rate during a continuous movement applied to said movement or respectively to said watch, and wherein random movements of said movement or respectively of said watch are generated in order to apply thereto said dynamic positions wherein additional dynamic chronometry testing is performed.