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US 4,696,577 AGranted
Integral watch case middle and movement plate and method of making same
AssigneeETA SA Fabriques d'Ebauches
InventorsJacques Muller, Andre Triponez
Life of this patent
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AssigneeETA SA Fabriques d'Ebauches
InventorsJacques Muller, Andre Triponez
Estimating the term…
A watch middle cum plate is described that comprises an annular middle-forming portion and a plate-forming portion which is surrounded by the middle-forming portion and which is formed with recesses for receiving components of the watch movement. The middle cum plate is provided with a protective coating of which a first part essentially covers the plate-forming portion and of which a second, thicker, more resistant part covers at least the visible surfaces of the middle-forming portion. Such middles cum plates may be made from flat brass blanks by machining recesses in their central portion for receiving components of a watch movement, by applying to the blanks a layer of material that is chemically more inert than brass to form the first part of the above coating, stacking and assembling the blanks such that at least the above central portions of the blanks with the recesses are masked, and applying to the visible regions of the stacked and assembled blanks the above second part of the coating.
An integral watch case middle and movement plate made of brass comprising top and bottom faces with at least one formed with recesses for receiving components of a watch movement, and side faces, and provided with a coating made of a material that is chemically more inert than brass, said coating including a first part that protects the brass in the regions of said middle and said plate that are formed with said recesses and a second part that protects the brass at least over said side faces and which is thicker and more resistant to chemical and physical attack than the first part.
A method of making integral watch case middles and movement plates from flat brass blanks, each having top, bottom and side faces, which comprises forming recesses in the central portion of at least one of said top and bottom faces of each blank for receiving components of a watch movement, applying to the blanks a layer of material that is chemically more inert than brass to form a first part of a protective coating, stacking and assembling the blanks such that at least the central portions with the recesses are masked, and applying to the visible regions of the blanks a protective layer for said side faces forming a second part of said coating that is thicker and more resistant to chemical and physical attack than the first part.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.