Patents by Inventor Gianni DI DOMENICO

Gianni DI DOMENICO has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10114340
    Abstract: Timepiece movement including a flexible strip resonator cooperating with a magnetic escapement mechanism, wherein an escape wheel set includes tangential magnetized areas repelling first magnetized areas of an inertial element of the resonator, this movement includes isochronism correction means combining the first magnetized areas and compensating magnets on the escape wheel set, each arranged in proximity to a tangential magnetized area and producing a leakage field in a different direction from that of the field of the tangential magnetized area, the leakage field intensity being low compared to that of the field of the second tangential magnetized area, and this leakage field interacting with one of the first magnetized areas to produce a low variation in the operation of the resonator mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Jerome Favre, Dominique Lechot, Baptiste Hinaux, Olivier Matthey, Jean-Jacques Born
  • Patent number: 10095187
    Abstract: Watch with a timepiece movement, a resonator mechanism, including a magnetic escapement mechanism including an escape wheel set including a magnetized track, with a succession of areas according to a scrolling period in which its magnetic features are repeated, each area including an increasing magnetic field ramp followed by a magnetic field barrier with an increasing field and of higher field gradient that that of the ramp, the track includes a continuous, closed magnetic layer over the entire periphery of the escape wheel set, of constant thickness and variable width, whose geometry defines these magnetic field ramps and barriers, this escape wheel set cooperating with a sprung balance via a pivoting magnetic stop member comprising a pole piece arranged to cooperate alternately with an internal track and an external track of the magnetic layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Dominique Lechot, Jerome Favre, Benoit Legeret, Davide Sarchi
  • Patent number: 10054908
    Abstract: A timepiece escapement mechanism including a resonator and an escape wheel arranged to cooperate with this resonator directly or indirectly through a stopper forming part of this escapement mechanism, this escape wheel including a succession of tracks carrying magnetic or electrostatic field potential ramps arranged to cooperate with the resonator or respectively with the stopper, this escapement mechanism comprising a non-return device arranged to oppose the recoil of the escape wheel, and the stopper cooperates, on the one hand, with a plate forming part of the resonator and, on the other, with these magnetic or electrostatic field potential ramps by at least one pole shoe forming part of the stopper and arranged to move in the field corresponding to the magnetic or electrostatic field potential ramps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Jerome Favre
  • Patent number: 10001753
    Abstract: A device regulating motion of a mechanical horological movement includes: a frame; a resonator attached to the frame and including a first annular magnetic structure including N1 magnets arranged regularly in a circle and a resilient structure; a second annular magnetic structure including N2 magnets defining a central axis about which the structure rotates, N2 being different than N1. The resonator is configured so that a resonant mode in which the first magnetic structure is subject to curvilinear, or substantially circular, translation about the central axis may be excited by rotation of the second magnetic structure. The two magnetic structures define a magnetic cycloid gear such that the regulating device incorporates a reducer of frequency between the resonance frequency and the rotational frequency of the second magnetic structure which is rigidly connected to an escapement wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal Winkler, Gianni Di Domenico, Jean-Jacques Born
  • Patent number: 9983549
    Abstract: A watch including a movement including itself an isochronous timepiece oscillator mechanism including a fixed support bearing a crosspiece carrying N primary resonators each including a weight carried by a rotating flexible bearing fixed to this crosspiece. Each primary resonator has a center of mass which, at rest, is on the virtual pivot axis of its rotating flexible bearing and is arranged to oscillate in rotation about this virtual pivot axis. The primary resonators are arranged in rotational symmetry of order N about a main axis parallel to the virtual pivot axes, and oscillating motions of any two primary resonators are phase shifted by the value of the central angle formed by their respective virtual pivot axes with the main axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal Winkler, Jean-Luc Helfer, Gianni Di Domenico, Thierry Conus
  • Publication number: 20180143591
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a flexible strip, including forming a plate of the required thickness with one or more micromachinable substrate wafers; affixing, on either side of the plate, an upper mask with an upper window and a lower mask with a lower window, of identical geometry; etching the plate, at least to mid-thickness, from the upper side of each upper etching window, and from the side of each lower etching window; removing the upper mask and the lower mask, to delimit a flexible strip having a height equal to the thickness of the plate, and whose edges are as-etched. A flexible strip made of micromachinable material, including, between two parallel upper and lower surfaces, two peripheral, tapered and reverse-tapered edge surfaces, for a flexible pivot, a resonator, a movement or a watch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2017
    Publication date: May 24, 2018
    Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Jerome Favre, Dominique Lechot, Baptiste Hinaux, Olivier Matthey, Pierre Cusin, Alex Gandelhman
  • Publication number: 20180136607
    Abstract: A timepiece resonator mechanism includes a structure and an inertial element oscillating around an axis and subjected to restoring forces exerted by a plurality of elastic blades, each fixed directly or indirectly to the structure at a first end and fixed directly or indirectly to an inertial element at a second end. The elastic blade extends in a perpendicular plane to the pivot axis and is deformable substantially in this plane, where this resonator mechanism includes an axial stop including at least a lower axial stop and/or an upper axial stop, and the axial stop is arranged for the protection of the blade resonator mechanism against axial shocks in the direction of the axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Publication date: May 17, 2018
    Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Dominique LECHOT, Pascal WINKLER, Gianni DI DOMENICO, Jean-Jacques BORN
  • Patent number: 9971309
    Abstract: The mechanical timepiece movement includes at least one barrel, a set of gear wheels driven at one end by the barrel, and an escapement mechanism of a local oscillator with a resonator in the form of a sprung balance and a feedback system for the timepiece movement. The escapement mechanism is driven at another end of the set of gear wheels. The feedback system includes at least one precise reference oscillator combined with a frequency comparator to compare the frequency of the two oscillators and a mechanism for regulating the local oscillator resonator to slow down or accelerate the resonator based on the result of a comparison in the frequency comparator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal Winkler, Gianni Di Domenico, Thierry Conus, Jean-Luc Helfer
  • Patent number: 9971303
    Abstract: A timepiece resonator mechanism with a pivoting weight pivoting about a virtual axis, and including a flexure pivot mechanism and a first and second fixed support to which is attached, by a first resilient assembly and respectively a second resilient assembly which together define the virtual axis, a rotary support carrying the pivoting weight, this flexure pivot mechanism is planar, the first resilient assembly includes, on either side of the virtual axis, a first outer flexible strip and a first inner flexible strip, joined to each other by a first intermediate strip stiffer than each of the latter, together defining a first direction passing through the virtual pivot axis, and the second resilient assembly includes a second flexible strip defining a second direction passing through the virtual pivot axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Helfer, Gianni Di Domenico, Pascal Winkler
  • Patent number: 9958831
    Abstract: A watch or movement including a timepiece resonator movement including two RCC flexural pivots mounted in series about an intermediate rotary support and having the same virtual pivot axis, each including two straight flexible strips of the same length, whose clamping points opposite to this pivot axis are at the same distance with respect to this axis, and which define linear directions, forming angles, in pairs, with this virtual pivot axis, whose value expressed in degrees is comprised between: 109.5+5/[(D/L)?(2/3)] and 114.5+5/[(D/L)?(2/3)], or more particularly between 107+5/((D/L)?(2/3)) and 112+5/((D/L)?(2/3)).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Dominique Lechot, Jean-Luc Helfer, Pascal Winkler
  • Publication number: 20180113423
    Abstract: Timepiece movement including a flexible strip resonator cooperating with a magnetic escapement mechanism, wherein an escape wheel set includes tangential magnetized areas repelling first magnetized areas of an inertial element of the resonator, this movement includes isochronism correction means combining the first magnetized areas and compensating magnets on the escape wheel set, each arranged in proximity to a tangential magnetized area and producing a leakage field in a different direction from that of the field of the tangential magnetized area, the leakage field intensity being low compared to that of the field of the second tangential magnetized area, and this leakage field interacting with one of the first magnetized areas to produce a low variation in the operation of the resonator mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2017
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni DI DOMENICO, Jerome FAVRE, Dominique LECHOT, Baptiste HINAUX, Olivier MATTHEY, Jean-Jacques BORN
  • Publication number: 20180113420
    Abstract: A timepiece resonator mechanism having a central wheel train fixed in rotation around an axis of an input wheel train subjected to a driving torque, arranged to turn continuously, and having a plurality of N inertial elements, each movable in relation to the central wheel train, and restored to the axis by elastic restoring device. The mechanism having device between all the inertial elements that are arranged to maintain all centers of mass of these inertial elements at the same distance from the axis at any time, and the elastic restoring device cause an elastic potential such as: Vtot=(d?0/dt)2·?j (Mj·Rj2), where: Vtot is the elastic potential, ?j is the sum over the js of the quantity between parentheses, (d?0/dt) is the speed of rotation to be imposed, Rj is the position of the center of mass G of the inertial element j of mass Mj.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal WINKLER, Jean-Luc HELFER, Gianni DI DOMENICO
  • Publication number: 20180107161
    Abstract: Timepiece movement for a mechanical watch, comprising, arranged on a main plate, a resonator mechanism with two degrees of freedom, and a maintaining mechanism subjected to the torque of driving means comprised in the movement, wherein this maintaining mechanism is a continuous maintaining mechanism, and includes a crank movable about a crank rotational axis, and which includes, on the crank rotational axis, an axial element subjected to the torque of driving means, and, off-centre relative to the crank rotational axis, a crankpin which is arranged to travel on a track of a stiff ring comprised in the resonator mechanism, this stiff ring being movable in the two degrees of freedom.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal WINKLER, Gianni DI DOMENICO
  • Publication number: 20180107164
    Abstract: Movement including an escapement mechanism and a resonator including an inertial element subjected to the action of a flexible gimbal and cooperating with an escape wheel set pivoting about a main axis, which includes driving means cooperating in a continuous transmission of motion with complementary means of the inertial element in every angular position of the latter, the flexible gimbal tending to return these complementary means towards the main axis, and including elastic return means about axes orthogonal to the main axis and restricting the mobility of the inertial element in two rotational degrees of freedom, about a fixed position of the centre of inertia of the inertial element with respect to a plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2017
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal WINKLER, Gianni DI DOMENICO, Jean-Luc HELFER
  • Patent number: 9927773
    Abstract: An escapement mechanism including a stop member between a resonator and two escape wheel sets each subjected to a torque, and each including a magnetized or ferromagnetic track over a period. The stop member includes at least one magnetized or ferromagnetic pole shoe, transversely movable with respect to travel of a surface of the track. The pole shoe or the track creates a magnetic field between the pole shoe and the surface, and the pole shoe is confronted by a magnetic field barrier on the track just before each transverse motion of the stop member actuated by the period action of the resonator. The escape wheel sets are each arranged to cooperate alternately with the stop member, and are connected to each other by a direct kinematic connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Jerome Favre
  • Patent number: 9891591
    Abstract: A magnetic clock escapement, and a regulating device, the escapement including a first circular network formed by N1 magnetic lines and a second circular network formed by N2 magnetic lines, N2 being different from N1. The first and second networks are superimposed to define a combined pattern having a magnetic Moiré effect. The combined pattern is coupled magnetically to at least one magnet of a resonator to pace operation of a mechanical clock movement. The first magnetic structure is carried by an escapement wheel and can rotate relative to the second fixed magnetic structure with an angular frequency F1. The combined pattern rotates with a greater angular frequency F2 and equal to the angular frequency F1 multiplied by the number N1 and divided by the number ?N equal to this number N1 minus the number N2, F2=F1·N1/?N.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventor: Gianni Di Domenico
  • Patent number: 9836024
    Abstract: A timepiece or watch includes at least one resonator, which includes at least one weight that oscillates with respect to a connecting element fixed to a structure of a timepiece movement. The weight is suspended from the connecting element by resilient crossed strips which extend at a distance from each other in two parallel planes. The projections of the strips on one of the parallel planes intersect at a virtual pivot axis of the weight, and define a first angle which is the apex angle opposite which there extends the portion of the connecting element that is located between the attachments of the crossed strips to the connecting element. The first angle is between 68° and 76°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Gianni Di Domenico, Baptiste Hinaux, Laurent Klinger, Jean-Luc Helfer
  • Patent number: 9804570
    Abstract: A mechanical clock movement includes a resonator, an escapement linked to the resonator, and a display of at least one item of time information. The display is driven by a mechanical drive device via a counter wheel train, the work rate of which is set by the escapement. At least the resonator is housed in a chamber, in which a reduced pressure in relation to atmospheric pressure prevails. The escapement is a magnetic escapement including an escape wheel coupled directly or indirectly to the resonator via a non-contact magnetic coupling system, wherein the magnetic coupling system is formed so that a non-magnetic wall of the chamber runs through the magnetic escapement so that a first part of the escapement is located inside the chamber whereas a second part of the escapement is located outside the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal Winkler, Jean-Luc Helfer, Thierry Conus, Gianni Di Domenico, Jean-Jacques Born
  • Publication number: 20170300015
    Abstract: A device regulating motion of a mechanical horological movement includes: a frame; a resonator attached to the frame and including a first annular magnetic structure including N1 magnets arranged regularly in a circle and a resilient structure; a second annular magnetic structure including N2 magnets defining a central axis about which the structure rotates, N2 being different than N1. The resonator is configured so that a resonant mode in which the first magnetic structure is subject to curvilinear, or substantially circular, translation about the central axis may be excited by rotation of the second magnetic structure. The two magnetic structures define a magnetic cycloid gear such that the regulating device incorporates a reducer of frequency between the resonance frequency and the rotational frequency of the second magnetic structure which is rigidly connected to an escapement wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Pascal WINKLER, Gianni DI DOMENICO, Jean-Jacques BORN
  • Publication number: 20170261933
    Abstract: Timepiece regulating mechanism including an energy storage means delivering an output torque (CS), via a train (3), to a wheel set (4) forming a magnetic escapement mechanism (10) with a resonator wheel set (5) subjected to the torque from a return means (6) and cooperating therewith, either directly or via a magnetic stop member (7), this magnetic escapement mechanism (10) being arranged to operate when the wheel set (4) receives a torque higher than or equal to a maintenance torque (CE), and the train (3) includes a torque regulating means (30) arranged to deliver to the wheel set (4) a constant torque comprised between 1.0 and 2.0 times the maintenance torque (CE), the torque regulating means (30) including a fusee (8) of continuously variable cross-section, from which unwinds a chain (9), wound by a drum (21), directly or indirectly driven by the energy storage means (2).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Publication date: September 14, 2017
    Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Jerome FAVRE, Gianni DI DOMENICO, Dominique LECHOT, Jean-Jacques BORN, Baptiste HINAUX