Mainspring device and a winding protection structure

A mainspring device that drives a primary wheel train by mechanical energy of a mainspring, comprising:

• a winding-up portion that accumulates energy in said mainspring;
• an addition-and-subtraction wheel train driven by addition and subtraction of accumulated energy corresponding to an amount by which the mainspring is wound up and unwound, respectively;
• an addition-and-subtraction wheel, disposed in said addition-and-subtraction wheel train, that rotates in correspondence with an amount by which said mainspring is wound up and unwound;
• a lock mechanism actuated in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel to limit winding up and unwinding of said mainspring to a selected range of windings, and to thereby prevent transmission of torque having a value outside a set range from said mainspring to said primary wheel train;
• a winding-up wheel train that transmits torque to said addition-and-subtraction wheel train during winding-up operations of said mainspring, and wherein said lock mechanism comprises a winding-up lock mechanism portion that locks one of said winding-up wheel train and said winding-up portion in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel indicating that said mainspring is wound up to a number of windings equal to or greater than a first predetermined number of windings;
• an unwinding wheel train that transmits torque to said addition-and-subtraction wheel train during unwinding operations of said mainspring, and wherein said lock mechanism comprises an unwinding lock mechanism portion that locks one of said unwinding wheel train and said primary wheel train in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel indicating that said mainspring is unwound to a number of windings equal to or less than a second predetermined number of windings;
• a winding-up lock lever disposed in said winding-up lock mechanism portion for engaging at least one winding-up torque transmitting component, said winding-up lock lever including a stopper portion that engages at least one gear in one of said winding-up wheel train and said winding-up portion;
• and
• an unwinding lock lever disposed in said unwinding lock mechanism for engaging at least one unwinding torque transmitting component, said unwinding lock lever including a stopper portion that engages at least one gear in one of said unwinding wheel train and said primary wheel train;
• wherein said winding-up lock lever comprises a rotational center disposed between said addition-and-subtraction wheel and said gear engaged by the winding-up lock lever.

A mainspring device that drives a primary wheel train by mechanical energy of a mainspring, comprising:

• a winding-up portion that accumulates energy in said mainspring;
• an addition-and-subtraction wheel train driven by addition and subtraction of accumulated energy corresponding to an amount by which the mainspring is wound up and unwound, respectively;
• an addition-and-subtraction wheel, disposed in said addition-and-subtraction wheel train, that rotates in correspondence with an amount by which said mainspring is wound up and unwound;
• a lock mechanism actuated in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel to limit winding up and unwinding of said mainspring to a selected range of windings, and to thereby prevent transmission of torque having a value outside a set range from said mainspring to said primary wheel train;
• a winding-up wheel train that transmits torque to said addition-and-subtraction wheel train during winding-up operations of said mainspring, and wherein said lock mechanism comprises a winding-up lock mechanism portion that locks one of said winding-up wheel train and said winding-up portion in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel indicating that said mainspring is wound up to a number of windings equal to or greater than a first predetermined number of windings;
• an unwinding wheel train that transmits torque to said addition-and-subtraction wheel train during unwinding operations of said mainspring, and wherein said lock mechanism comprises an unwinding lock mechanism portion that locks one of said unwinding wheel train and said primary wheel train in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel indicating that said mainspring is unwound to a number of windings equal to or less than a second predetermined number of windings;
• a winding-up lock lever disposed in said winding-up lock mechanism portion for engaging at least one winding-up torque transmitting component, said winding-up lock lever including a stopper portion that engages at least one gear in one of said winding-up wheel train and said winding-up portion;
• and
• an unwinding lock lever disposed in said unwinding lock mechanism for engaging at least one unwinding torque transmitting component, said unwinding lock lever including a stopper portion that engages at least one gear in one of said unwinding wheel train and said primary wheel train;
• wherein said unwinding lock lever comprises a rotational center disposed between addition-and-subtraction wheel and the gear engaged by said unwinding lock lever.

A mainspring device that drives a primary wheel train by mechanical energy of a mainspring, comprising:

• a winding-up portion that accumulates energy in said mainspring;
• an addition-and-subtraction wheel train driven by addition and subtraction of accumulated energy corresponding to an amount by which the mainspring is wound up and unwound, respectively;
• an addition-and-subtraction wheel, disposed in said addition-and-subtraction wheel train, that rotates in correspondence with an amount by which said mainspring is wound up and unwound, said addition-and-subtraction wheel having a single plane of rotation;
• and
• a lock mechanism actuated in response to the rotation of said addition-and-subtraction wheel to limit winding up and unwinding of said mainspring to a selected range of windings, and to thereby prevent transmission of torque having a value outside a set range from said mainspring to said primary wheel train;
• and
• a generator for converting the mechanical energy of said mainspring transmitted through said wheel train into electrical energy, and a rotation controller driven by the electrical energy to control a rotational period of said generator.

A winding protection structure for a mechanical device having a mainspring, said winding protection structure comprising:

• an indicator wheel rotatable about a stationary axis and responsive to the winding and unwinding of said mainspring, said indicator wheel having a first directional rotation proportional to the winding of said mainspring and having a second directional rotation proportional to the unwinding of said mainspring, said first directional rotation being opposite said second rotational direction, said indicator wheel including a rotation marker for indicating the amount of winding and unwinding in said mainspring;
• and
• a first disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said first disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a first predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a first predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring;
• wherein the movement of said rotation marker on said indicator wheel corresponding to a winding range of said mainspring ranging from a predefined minimum unwound condition to a predefined maximum wound condition is not more than a 180° rotation of said indicator wheel.

A winding protection structure for a mechanical device having a mainspring, said winding protection structure comprising:

• an indicator wheel rotatable about a stationary axis and responsive to the winding and unwinding of said mainspring, said indicator wheel having a first directional rotation proportional to the winding of said mainspring and having a second directional rotation proportional to the unwinding of said mainspring, said first directional rotation being opposite said second rotational direction, said indicator wheel including a rotation marker for indicating the amount of winding and unwinding in said mainspring;
• and
• a first disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said first disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a first predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a first predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring;
• said first disabling mechanism further includes a lock lever having a pivot arm sliding on said indicator wheel, said rotation marker including an engaging mechanism for actuating said lock lever as said rotation marker meets said pivot arm, said engagement mechanism including grooves on said rotation marker for grasping said pivot arm.

A winding protection structure for a mechanical device having a mainspring, said winding protection structure comprising:

• an indicator wheel rotatable about a stationary axis and responsive to the winding and unwinding of said mainspring, said indicator wheel having a first directional rotation proportional to the winding of said mainspring and having a second directional rotation proportional to the unwinding of said mainspring, said first directional rotation being opposite said second rotational direction;
• a first disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said first disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a first predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a first predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring;
• a second disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said second disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a second predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a second predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring;
• said mechanical device including an energy-storing wheel train for applying a winding torque onto said mainspring and a mechanical-load wheel train for drawing unwinding energy from said mainspring, said first predetermined angular rotation measure being indicative of an over winding condition wherein the amount of winding applied to said mainspring by said energy-storing wheel train is not less than a first predetermined maximum amount, said second predetermined angular rotation measure being indicative of an under winding condition wherein the amount of winding of said mainspring due to the unwinding action of said mainspring by said mechanical-load wheel train is not greater than a second predetermined minimum amount;
• said mechanical-load wheel train being coupled to a gear train of said mainspring and said second disabling mechanism further including an under-winding lock lever for engaging said mechanical-load wheel train thus preventing further rotation of said mainspring in the unwinding direction;
• and
• said first disabling mechanism being further effective for disengaging said energy-storing wheel train from said mainspring and thereby preventing the application of said winding torque on said mainspring.

A winding protection structure for a mechanical device having a mainspring, said winding protection structure comprising:

• an indicator wheel rotatable about a stationary axis and responsive to the winding and unwinding of said mainspring, said indicator wheel having a first directional rotation proportional to the winding of said mainspring and having a second directional rotation proportional to the unwinding of said mainspring, said first directional rotation being opposite said second rotational direction, said indicator wheel further having a rotation marker for indicating the amount of winding and unwinding in said mainspring, the movement of said rotation marker corresponding to a winding range of said mainspring extending from a predefined minimum unwound condition to a predefined maximum wound condition, said winding range corresponding to not more than a 180° rotation of said indicator wheel;
• a first disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said first disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a first predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a first predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring, said first disabling mechanism including an over-winding lock lever for engaging with a gear train of said mainspring thus preventing additional rotation of said mainspring in the winding direction;
• a second disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said second disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a second predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a second predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring;
• said mechanical device including an energy-storing wheel train for applying a winding torque onto said mainspring and a mechanical-load wheel train for drawing unwinding energy from said mainspring, said first predetermined angular rotation measure being indicative of said predefined maximum wound condition wherein the amount of winding applied to said mainspring by said energy-storing wheel train is not less than a first predetermined maximum amount, said second predetermined angular rotation measure being indicative of said predefined minimum unwound condition wherein the amount of winding of said mainspring due to the unwinding action of said mainspring by said mechanical-load wheel train is not greater than a second predetermined minimum amount;
• and
• said mechanical-load wheel train being coupled to said mainspring and said second disabling mechanism further including an under-winding lock lever for engaging said mechanical-load wheel train thus preventing further rotation of said mainspring in the unwinding direction.

A winding protection structure for a mechanical device having a mainspring, said winding protection structure comprising:

• an indicator wheel rotatable about a stationary axis and responsive to the winding and unwinding of said mainspring, said indicator wheel having a first directional rotation proportional to the winding of said mainspring and having a second directional rotation proportional to the unwinding of said mainspring, said first directional rotation being opposite said second rotational direction;
• a first disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said first disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a first predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a first predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring, said first disabling mechanism including an over-winding lock lever for engaging with a gear train of said mainspring thus preventing additional rotation of said mainspring in the winding direction;
• a second disabling mechanism responsive to said indicator wheel, said second disabling mechanism being effective for preventing further rotation of said mainspring in response to said indicator wheel reaching a second predetermined angular rotation measure indicative of a second predetermined amount of winding in said mainspring;
• said mechanical device further including an energy-storing wheel train for applying a winding torque onto said mainspring and a mechanical-load wheel train for drawing unwinding energy from said mainspring, said first predetermined angular rotation measure being indicative of an over winding condition wherein the amount of winding applied to said mainspring by said energy-storing wheel train is not less than a first predetermined maximum amount, said second predetermined angular rotation measure being indicative of an under winding condition wherein the amount of winding of said mainspring due to the unwinding action of said mainspring by said mechanical-load wheel train is not greater than a second predetermined minimum amount;
• said mechanical-load wheel train being coupled to said mainspring and said second disabling mechanism further including an under-winding lock lever for engaging said mechanical-load wheel train thus preventing further rotation of said mainspring in the unwinding direction;
• and
• said under-winding lock lever and over-winding lock lever each including a respective pivot arm sliding on said indicator wheel, said rotation marker including an engaging mechanism for actuating said under-winding and over-winding lock levers as their respective pivot arms meet said rotation marker along said indicator wheel.