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US 8,333,501 B2Granted
Balance spring, regulated balance wheel assembly and methods of manufacture thereof
AssigneeCarbontime Limited
InventorGideon Levingston
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A balance spring comprising a flat spiral coil and a non-elastic inner attachment part formed by laser beam cutting. The spring has an outer attachment plate in the plane of the coil formed with a channel which receives and protects the outer winding of the coil. The outer attachment plate has a curved attachment edge which allows the location of the oscillator dead point to be varied without affecting spring frequency.
Claims11
A method of forming a balance spring for a horological oscillator mechanism comprising the steps of:
- forming one or more layers of non-magnetic balance spring material, the spring material being ceramic or any form of carbon;
- generating a precision laser beam to penetrate the layer or layers and cut therethrough;
- and
- directing the precision laser beam at the layer or layers, causing relative movement therebetween, and thereby cutting out with the laser beam from the layer or layers of spring material a balance spring comprising a flat spiral having a plurality of coils and a non-elastic inner attachment part attachable at the centre of the coils, and wherein the layer or layers of spring material cut away from the spiral comprises a spiral shape.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.