Patents by Inventor Thierry Conus

Thierry Conus 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).

  • Publication number: 20230288877
    Abstract: A device (1) for guiding a rotary shaft (6) of a sprung balance. The device includes at least the rotary shaft and a guide bearing (2) for guiding an end of the rotary shaft of the sprung balance, the guide bearing including at least one blade (3) and a surface (5) for coming into contact with and holding the end of the rotary shaft of the sprung balance. At least one end part of the shaft and at least the blade and the contact surface of the guide bearing are made of a material with a Young's modulus of less than or equal to 100 GPa and to reduce the coefficient of friction of the contacting parts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
    Inventors: Thierry CONUS, Raphaël Courvoisier, Jean-Luc Helfer, Sylvain Huot-Marchand
  • Publication number: 20230288878
    Abstract: A device (1) for guiding a rotary shaft (6) of a sprung balance, including the rotary shaft and a guide bearing (2) for guiding an end of the rotary shaft. The guide bearing includes a blade (3) and a surface (5) for coming into contact with and holding the end of the rotary shaft of the sprung balance. The contacting parts are made of a material with a Young's modulus of less than or equal to 100 GPa and/or to reduce the coefficient of friction of the contacting parts. The device also includes a solid body (15) with a guide opening, such as a hole jewel (15), disposed along the axis of the rotary shaft (6) in a centred position. An end of the shaft passes through the opening without too much angular play caused by the effect of gravity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Thierry CONUS, Raphaël Courvoisier, Jean-Luc Helfer, Sylvain Huot-Marchand
  • Patent number: 11720062
    Abstract: A balance of a timepiece including an adjustment face provided with at least one recess provided for receiving a projected material for an implementation of an adjustment of the rate of the timepiece notably by the modification of the inertia and of the unbalance of the balance, the recess including an opening and a back notably a solid back or a back fully or partially forming an orifice, the back being at most partially visible from a position defined above the opening notably on a central axis of the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: CSEM Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique SA-Recherche et Developpement
    Inventors: Sebastien Lani, Frederic Maier, Emmanuel Dupas, Thierry Conus
  • Patent number: 11169487
    Abstract: A shock-absorber device for a wheel arbor of a micromechanical device includes a support which includes a turning-arbor delimited by a rim defining a housing into which a pivot module is inserted. The pivot module includes a setting having a central orifice into which is inserted a bored stone. An endstone is placed on top of the bored stone. The shock-absorber device also includes a spring ring arranged between the support and the pivot module. The shock-absorber device is equipped with a bayonet system for mounting the spring ring. The bayonet system includes a peripheral shoulder under which is formed a circular groove which defines a holding area. The spring ring is equipped on an outer periphery with at least one catch. At least one first notch which leads to the circular groove is provided in the peripheral shoulder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Antonio Merino, Thierry Conus, Ivan Villar
  • Patent number: 11054791
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a rate of a timepiece after encasing a movement to ensure a better rate for the timepiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Thierry Conus, Pascal Winkler
  • Patent number: 10761484
    Abstract: The invention relates to a balance-spring stud-holder for a mechanical timepiece movement, which comprises a pair of tabs, namely a front tab and a rear tab, jointly defining a notch, the tabs being arranged in such a way that a balance-spring stud can be held in the notch, wherein the rear tab of the balance-spring stud-holder comprises an extension which defines, beyond the notch, a bend forming a retaining abutment for the balance-spring stud after said balance-spring stud has been extracted from the notch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Julien Christan, Thierry Conus
  • Publication number: 20200142359
    Abstract: A balance of a timepiece including an adjustment face provided with at least one recess provided for receiving a projected material for an implementation of an adjustment of the rate of the timepiece notably by the modification of the inertia and of the unbalance of the balance, the recess including an opening and a back notably a solid back or a back fully or partially forming an orifice, the back being at most partially visible from a position defined above the opening notably on a central axis of the opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2019
    Publication date: May 7, 2020
    Applicant: CSEM Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique SA-Recherche et Developpement
    Inventors: Sebastien LANI, Frederic Maier, Emmanuel Dupas, Thierry Conus
  • Patent number: 10444706
    Abstract: The spiral includes turns of rectangular section, whose pitch p and/or thickness e can vary from the inside curve towards the outside curve, or whose winding can deviate from the line of a perfect spiral. The inside curve can also be extended by a self-locking washer for fixing the spiral on the balance arbour with no play. The spiral is manufactured by photolithography and galvanic growth, or by micro-machining an amorphous or crystalline material, such as a silicon wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Thierry Conus, Kaspar Trumpy
  • Publication number: 20190302700
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a rate of a timepiece after encasing a movement to ensure a better rate for the timepiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Thierry CONUS, Pascal WINKLER
  • Patent number: 10310451
    Abstract: A temperature-compensated resonator including a body used in deformation, and a core of the body is formed by a material that is one of glass, ceramic glass, technical ceramic, and metallic glass. At least one part of the body includes a coating whose Young's modulus variation with temperature is of an opposite sign to that of the material used for the core, so that at least a first order frequency variation with temperature of the resonator is substantially zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Thierry Hessler, Philippe Dubois, Thierry Conus
  • Publication number: 20190107809
    Abstract: The spiral includes turns of rectangular section, whose pitch p and/or thickness e can vary from the inside curve towards the outside curve, or whose winding can deviate from the line of a perfect spiral. The inside curve can also be extended by a self-locking washer for fixing the spiral on the balance arbour with no play. The spiral is manufactured by photolithography and galvanic growth, or by micro-machining an amorphous or crystalline material, such as a silicon wafer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Thierry CONUS, Kaspar Trumpy
  • Publication number: 20190107810
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a shock-absorber device for a wheel arbor of a micromechanical device comprising a support which includes a turning-arbor delimited by a rim defining a housing into which a pivot module is inserted, wherein this pivot module comprises a setting having a central orifice into which is inserted a bored stone, wherein an endstone (34) is placed on top of the bored stone, wherein the shock-absorber device also comprises a spring ring arranged between the support and the pivot module, wherein the shock-absorber device is equipped with a bayonet system for mounting the spring ring, wherein this bayonet system comprises a peripheral shoulder under which is formed a circular groove which defines a holding area, wherein the spring ring is equipped on an outer periphery with at least one catch, wherein at least one first notch which leads to the circular groove is provided in the peripheral shoulder, such that it is simply necessary to present the spring ring in such a way that the catch
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Antonio Merino, Thierry Conus, Ivan Villar
  • Publication number: 20190064739
    Abstract: The invention relates to a balance-spring stud-holder for a mechanical timepiece movement, which comprises a pair of tabs, namely a front tab and a rear tab, jointly defining a notch, the tabs being arranged in such a way that a balance-spring stud can be held in the notch, wherein the rear tab of the balance-spring stud-holder comprises an extension which defines, beyond the notch, a bend forming a retaining abutment for the balance-spring stud after said balance-spring stud has been extracted from the notch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2018
    Publication date: February 28, 2019
    Applicant: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse
    Inventors: Julien CHRISTAN, Thierry CONUS
  • Patent number: 10126712
    Abstract: The present invention concerns an assembly for holding or supporting a timepiece balance spring, comprising a balance spring stud and a balance cock on which is fixed a balance spring stud-holder, wherein said stud-holder comprises a holding means provided with a housing for housing the balance spring stud therein and a gripping means, at least said gripping means being movable with respect to the holding means in order to lock the balance spring stud inside its housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
    Inventors: Florent Strahm, Ivan Villar, Laurent Kaelin, Thierry Conus
  • Patent number: 10114341
    Abstract: A method of setting inertia of and/or poizing a timepiece sprung balance assembly including: manufacturing a balance and a balance spring irreversibly assembled to each other; fixing an outer coil of the balance spring in position in a tamperproof manner to a balance spring stud which is immobilized in a tamperproof manner by irreversible attachment to a balance cock; determining a peripheral surface of the balance, every point of which is remote from the balance spring by a first predefined distance; performing a re-machining operation only on the peripheral area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: Nivarox-FAR S.A.
    Inventors: Thierry Conus, Marco Verardo, Christian Charbon
  • Patent number: 10018965
    Abstract: Method for attachment of a last outer coil of a timepiece balance spring inside a groove provided in a balance spring stud, wherein the method includes the step of adhesive bonding the last outer coil of the timepiece balance spring by means of a fluid adhesive whose viscosity is comprised between 200 and 400 mPa·s.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse
    Inventors: Julien Christan, Thierry Conus
  • 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
  • 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: 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
  • Patent number: 9798291
    Abstract: Wristwatch comprising a mechanical device for executing a first mechanical function arranged to produce a first acoustic alarm signal, and an electronic device housed in a bracelet and arranged to produce a second acoustic alarm signal and/or a mechanical vibration, wherein the electronic device is arranged to produce the second acoustic alarm signal at the moment when the mechanical device for executing the first mechanical function produces the first acoustic alarm signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
    Inventors: Jean-Claude Martin, Jean-Jacques Born, Thierry Conus, Jean-Claude Eggen, Emmanuel Fleury, Michel Willemin