Patents by Inventor Michel Willemin
Michel Willemin 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).
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Publication number: 20200073335Abstract: An active lighting device is placed on a person's wrist to light a path that the person is taking. The device is preferably in the form of a wristwatch. The device includes first light sources, which are controlled by a control unit. The first light sources are placed on a portion of a case. Each first light source activated by the control unit can produce a light beam of different orientation from another first light source activated by the control unit. The device further includes a motion sensor connected to the control unit to determine the wrist movement of the person wearing the device in order to allow the control unit to select certain first light sources to be activated depending on the person's wrist movement in order to light the path to be followed in the same defined forward direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 29, 2019Publication date: March 5, 2020Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Olivier MATTHEY, Michel WILLEMIN, Bruno SCAGLIARINI
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Patent number: 10532786Abstract: An active lighting device of a bicycle includes a first optical system with a first light source arrangement for long-distance illumination, which is controlled by a control unit, and a second optical system with a second light source arrangement for short-distance illumination, which is controlled by the control unit. A light sensor determines the light intensity of a location of the bicycle and allows the control unit to adapt the light intensity of the light sources, if they are activated and if the ambient light intensity is below a threshold. A speed sensor determines the speed of the bicycle, so that the control unit controls the activation of the light sources of the first light source arrangement from a speed threshold. An orientation or inclination detector selects and adjusts the light intensity of light sources.Type: GrantFiled: July 12, 2019Date of Patent: January 14, 2020Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Olivier Matthey, Michel Willemin, Bruno Scagliarini
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Patent number: 10346830Abstract: A portable object includes a near-field communication device. The communication device includes an electronic chip provided with two terminals connected to an electrical circuit including an antenna and a filter. The communication device is provided to receive and transmit at a defined frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of the electrical circuit. The portable object includes a control element which is able to be displaced between two predefined positions, i.e. an active position in which the communication device is activated and a passive position in which the communication device is deactivated. The electrical circuit includes, furthermore, a bypass branch provided with a mechanical switch which is able to switch between an open state and a closed state in response to a displacement of the control element from one to the other of its predefined positions causing a modification in the resonance frequency of the electrical circuit.Type: GrantFiled: November 16, 2017Date of Patent: July 9, 2019Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Pierry Vuille, Jean-Claude Martin, Michel Willemin, Thierry Scordilis
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Patent number: 10338527Abstract: A self-winding watch includes a movement connected to a winding device of a barrel spring including an oscillating weight pivoting around an axis A, a reduction wheel train cooperating with the oscillating weight to transmit the torque to the barrel, a storage unit for electrical energy, a photovoltaic cell arranged to receive the ambient light and charge the electrical energy storage unit, a control circuit connected to the terminals of the electrical energy storage unit and a driver connected to the circuit and coupled to the oscillating weight to displace it. The electrical energy storage unit, the control circuit an d the driver are integrated to the oscillating weight.Type: GrantFiled: September 20, 2017Date of Patent: July 2, 2019Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Lionel Tombez, Jean-Jacques Born, Michel Willemin, Pascal Winkler, Lionel Paratte
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Publication number: 20190196408Abstract: A process for producing a metal alloy balance wheel by molding, the process including the following steps: a) making a mold in the negative shape of the balance wheel, b) getting hold of a metal alloy that has a thermal expansion coefficient of less than 25 ppm/° C. and is able to be in an at least partly amorphous state when it is heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature, c) putting the metal alloy into the mold, the metal alloy being heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature so as to be hot-molded and to form a balance wheel, d) cooling the metal alloy to obtain a balance wheel made of the metal alloy, e) releasing the balance wheel obtained in step d) from its mold.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 3, 2018Publication date: June 27, 2019Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Alexandre Haemmerli, Francois Gueissaz, Jean-Claude Martin, Lionel Paratte, Yves Winkler, Gianni Di Domenico, Pascal Winkler, Jean-Luc Helfer, Lionel Tombez, Baptiste Hinaux, Donald William Corson, Michel Willemin
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Publication number: 20190018369Abstract: The present invention relates to a safety valve including: a tube intended to be fixed to a watch case, a hollow head mounted for rotation about the tube, a first element fixedly mounted with respect to the head and a second element integral with the head, wherein the first element and the second element each include one or more passages allowing gas to flow, the rotational motion of the head allowing the passages of the first element and of the second element to be placed in communication for gas to escape from the interior to the exterior of the case in case of overpressure inside the case or, conversely, allowing the passages of the first element and of the second element to be moved out of alignment to prevent gas escaping.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 27, 2018Publication date: January 17, 2019Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Pierry VUILLE, Michel WILLEMIN, Jean-Claude MARTIN
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Publication number: 20190018370Abstract: A safety valve for a watch including a head that is movably mounted on a tube and able to move between an open position and a closed position, the tube including in its internal volume a first spring and wherein the tube is provided on an external face with a cam surface allowing a manual movement and an automatic movement of the head into its open position, after the first spring, the tube includes a second spring having a higher stiffness than that of the first spring.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 20, 2018Publication date: January 17, 2019Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Pierry VUILLE, Michel WILLEMIN, Jean-Claude MARTIN
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Patent number: 10156830Abstract: The invention relates to a method for detecting and calculating the duration of a jump effected by an individual, comprising the following steps: Detection of a moment associated with a landing following the jump, this step comprising a sub-step of detecting an acceleration peak of an amplitude greater than a first threshold amplitude, within the acceleration measurements provided by a three-axis accelerometer, on board a watch worn on the wrist of the individual. Detection of a jump phase, by detection, in a temporal window finishing at the moment of landing, of a succession of acceleration measurements between 0 g and 0.5 g during a duration greater than a first threshold duration.Type: GrantFiled: November 14, 2017Date of Patent: December 18, 2018Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Christophe Germiquet, Yvan Ferri, Michel Willemin
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Publication number: 20180341225Abstract: Method for adjusting the rate of a basic oscillator of a watch arranged to oscillate at a nominal frequency N0, with a master oscillator generating an excitation frequency NE approximately equal to an integer multiple of this nominal frequency N0, the master oscillator subjecting the watch to excitation or a modulated motion during a transition phase after which the basic oscillator is stabilised at the excitation frequency NE, and a state of display correction method with a winder for mechanical or automatic watches, moving a support carrying the watch and comprising a state of display correction oscillator, having a lower variation of rate value than the initial variation of rate value DI of this basic oscillator, and oscillating at a correction frequency NC to impose oscillation or a motion on the watch, during a state of display correction phase whose duration is adjusted to exactly correct a state of display error measured at the initial moment of actuation.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 9, 2018Publication date: November 29, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Jerome FAVRE, Michel WILLEMIN, Jean-Jacques BORN, Dominique LECHOT, Gianni DI DOMENICO
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Publication number: 20180341226Abstract: A method for adjusting the rate of a watch with an oscillator arranged to generate oscillation at a nominal frequency N0, with a servo-system including a master oscillator arranged to generate excitation oscillation at an excitation frequency NE, which is approximately equal to, or equal to the nominal frequency N0, or to an integer multiple of this nominal frequency N0, the watch is subjected to excitation oscillation or to a modulated motion, generated by the master oscillator, during a transition phase after which the oscillator of the watch is stabilised at excitation frequency NE, and there is incorporated in the servo-system a winder for mechanical or automatic watches, arranged to move a support on which such a watch is fixed.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 20, 2018Publication date: November 29, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Jerome FAVRE, Michel WILLEMIN, Jean-Jacques BORN, Dominique LECHOT, Gianni DI DOMENICO
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Patent number: 10142669Abstract: A set of devices including: at least one receiver and at least one portable device, the receiver including a mechanism receiving a multichannel signal capable of preserving a part of the signal transmitted on a particular channel allowing information to be received, a conversion mechanism associated with a propagation mechanism broadcasting the information, and a communication mechanism; a portable object including an electronic module, the electronic module including at least a calculation unit and a wireless communication circuit to communicate with the communication mechanism of the receiver. The portable object can detect, via the wireless communication circuit, presence of at least one receiver belonging to the set of devices and acting on the at least one receiver to change the particular channel and to select a particular channel whose identifier or whose program currently being broadcast has at least one identifier identical to the identifier programmed in the portable object.Type: GrantFiled: April 8, 2015Date of Patent: November 27, 2018Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Georges Nicolas Hayek, Michel Willemin, Hans-Rudolf Gottier, Jean-Luc Bazin
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Patent number: 10031485Abstract: Watchmaker's portable lubrication tool including at least one lubricant reservoir, with a plurality of chambers, each only accessible to a user in a first open position of the tool, each reservoir being closable by a sealed lid which, in a second closed position, is kept sealingly pressed on the reservoir, and the tool includes a structure which carries such a lid associated with such a reservoir, and which is a component of a multi-function pocket knife of the “Swiss army knife” type, with a frame on which pivots a plurality of blades, the tool comprises at least one elastic return arranged to exert, in the second closed position, a force on at least one lid to press it sealingly on an associated reservoir.Type: GrantFiled: April 2, 2015Date of Patent: July 24, 2018Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Jean-Claude Martin, Michel Willemin
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Patent number: 10018968Abstract: A skeleton watch including a case provided with a back cover and a crystal, and a set of components forming a movement of the skeleton watch, the components being arranged inside the case between the back cover and the crystal and being wholly or partially visible through the crystal, wherein the skeleton watch comprises at least one solar cell.Type: GrantFiled: July 20, 2016Date of Patent: July 10, 2018Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Michel Willemin, Alain Jornod
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Publication number: 20180189770Abstract: A portable object includes a near-field communication device. The communication device includes an electronic chip provided with two terminals connected to an electrical circuit including an antenna and a filter. The communication device is provided to receive and transmit at a defined frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of the electrical circuit. The portable object includes a control element which is able to be displaced between two predefined positions, i.e. an active position in which the communication device is activated and a passive position in which the communication device is deactivated. The electrical circuit includes, furthermore, a bypass branch provided with a mechanical switch which is able to switch between an open state and a closed state in response to a displacement of the control element from one to the other of its predefined positions causing a modification in the resonance frequency of the electrical circuit.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 16, 2017Publication date: July 5, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Pierry Vuille, Jean-Claude Martin, Michel Willemin, Thierry Scordilis
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Publication number: 20180190455Abstract: A portable object including a near-field communication device. The communication device includes an antenna, the ends of which are configured to be connected electrically to an electronic chip, forming, together with the chip, an electrical circuit. In an original manner, the portable object includes a control element which is able to be displaced between two predefined positions, i.e. an active position wherein the communication device is activated and a passive position wherein the communication device is deactivated. The portable object includes, furthermore, a mechanical switch which is able to switch between an open state and a closed state in response to a displacement of the control element from one to the other of its predefined positions.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 8, 2017Publication date: July 5, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd.Inventors: Pierry VUILLE, Jean-Claude Martin, Michel Willemin, Thierry Scordilis
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Publication number: 20180164747Abstract: The invention relates to a method for detecting and calculating the duration of a jump effected by an individual, comprising the following steps: Detection of a moment associated with a landing following the jump, this step comprising a sub-step of detecting an acceleration peak of an amplitude greater than a first threshold amplitude, within the acceleration measurements provided by a three-axis accelerometer, on board a watch worn on the wrist of the individual. Detection of a jump phase, by detection, in a temporal window finishing at the moment of landing, of a succession of acceleration measurements between 0 g and 0.5 g during a duration greater than a first threshold duration.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 14, 2017Publication date: June 14, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd.Inventors: Christophe GERMIQUET, Yvan FERRI, Michel WILLEMIN
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Publication number: 20180161622Abstract: The invention pertains to a method of detecting and calculating height of a jump performed by an individual, comprising the following steps: A detection of a reception subsequent to the jump, this step comprising a sub-step of detecting a pressure spike of amplitude greater than a first threshold amplitude, within pressure measurements provided by a pressure sensor embedded aboard a watch worn on the wrist of the individual, A calculation of a height of the jump by differencing a starting altitude corresponding to a last stable pressure measured before the pressure spike and a finishing altitude corresponding to a first stable pressure measured after the pressure spike via the pressure sensor, a stable pressure being defined as a pressure whose variations do not exceed 0.1 hectopascals for at least 2 seconds.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 5, 2017Publication date: June 14, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Christophe GERMIQUET, Yvan FERRI, Michel WILLEMIN
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Publication number: 20180088534Abstract: The invention relates to a self-winding watch comprising a movement connected to a winding device of a barrel spring comprising an oscillating weight pivoting around an axis A, a reduction wheel train cooperating with the oscillating weight to transmit the torque to the barrel, a storage unit for electrical energy, a photovoltaic cell arranged to receive the ambient light and charge the electrical energy storage unit, a control circuit connected to the terminals of said electrical energy storage unit and drive means connected to the circuit and coupled to the oscillating weight to displace it. According to the invention the electrical energy storage unit, the control circuit and the drive means are integrated to the oscillating weight.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 20, 2017Publication date: March 29, 2018Applicant: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Lionel TOMBEZ, Jean-Jacques BORN, Michel WILLEMIN, Pascal WINKLER, Lionel PARATTE
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Publication number: 20180047013Abstract: An assembly includes a main terminal equipped with a communication module using at least a first communications protocol capable of connecting the main terminal to a communication network, which enables the use of at least one function, the main terminal being arranged to use at least one configuration program, and the configuration program enables at least one preferred function to be selected and a code representing the selected preferred function to be generated, and a second communications protocol. The assembly additionally comprises at least one secondary terminal equipped with a passive communication module using the second communications protocol to communicate with the main terminal in order to protect the code representing the selected preferred function.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2016Publication date: February 15, 2018Applicant: EM Microelectronic-Marin S.A.Inventors: Georges Nicolas HAYEK, Michel WILLEMIN, Jean-Claude MARTIN, Thomas GYGER
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Patent number: 9836027Abstract: A device for winding automatic watches, including an electrical energy source and a receptacle support including a surface configured to receive in abutment a back cover of a watch, the device configured to generate a magnetic and/or electrostatic field or eddy currents, in a fixed position underneath the bearing surface and generate, on a substantially annular angular sector, a magnetic and or electrostatic field that varies as a function of time and whose direction is orthogonal to the bearing surface, or generating eddy currents that vary as a function of time. The device can be provided for a watch including an automatic winding mechanism with an oscillating weight including a first ferromagnetic inner part and a second heavy metal peripheral part, and possibly with a paramagnetic conductive disc coaxial to the oscillating weight.Type: GrantFiled: March 20, 2014Date of Patent: December 5, 2017Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development LtdInventors: Michel Willemin, Jean-Jacques Born, Francois Klopfenstein, Patrick Ragot