U.S. patent number 3,786,626 [Application Number 05/348,174] was granted by the patent office on 1974-01-22 for digital watch.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AGON Uhrenfabrik Robert Triebold AG. Invention is credited to Zeno Hurt.
United States Patent |
3,786,626 |
Hurt |
January 22, 1974 |
DIGITAL WATCH
Abstract
A digital watch in which the numerals move beneath windows of a
cover plate and possessing a reflecting element for reading the
time in a direction which is at least approximately parallel to the
cover plate.
Inventors: |
Hurt; Zeno (Mohlin,
CH) |
Assignee: |
AGON Uhrenfabrik Robert Triebold
AG (Mumpf, CH)
|
Family
ID: |
4317169 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/348,174 |
Filed: |
April 5, 1973 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
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|
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May 10, 1972 [CH] |
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6923/72 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
368/283; 359/438;
368/232; 968/372; 368/286; 968/163 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G04B
39/008 (20130101); G04B 19/202 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G04B
19/00 (20060101); G04B 19/20 (20060101); G04B
39/00 (20060101); G04b 037/00 (); G04b 039/00 ();
G04b 019/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;58/88R,91,127R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Miller, Jr.; George H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kleeman; Werner W.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A digital wrist watch comprising a cover plate with windows
beneath which move past the numerals of the watch, and a reflecting
element for reading the time in a direction at least approximately
parallel to the cover plate.
2. The watch as defined in claim 1, further including a protective
cover means arranged over the numerals and at least pervious to
light at one side, said protective cover means incorporating a
planar, reflecting inner surface visible from the outside and
inclined with respect to the cover plate.
3. The watch as defined in claim 1, wherein the reflecting element
comprises an optical inverting prism having a surface bearing
directly upon the cover plate.
4. The watch as defined in claim 3, wherein said inverting prism is
constructed such that it simultaneously hermetically seals the
watch towards the outside.
5. The watch as defined in claim 3, wherein said inverting prism
includes a surface which is visible from the outside, and at least
a part of said surface having a metallic coating.
6. The watch as defined in claim 3, further including a cover hood
member for protecting the inverting prism.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of
a digital watch or timepiece, especially a digital wrist watch,
wherein the numerals move beneath suitable windows of a cover
plate.
Such digital-indicating wrist watches are known to the art for
quite some time. Just as is the case for watches with time
indicators in the form of minute and hour hands, these digital
watches are also very practical and quite attractive in shape.
Reading of the time occurs however in a direction perpendicular to
the dial or dial plane, which sometimes is not very comfortable.
For instance, one need only consider the situation encountered with
a person driving a vehicle where it is first of all necessary to
rotate the arm in a cumbersome manner and in so doing oftentimes
release control of the steering wheel when it is desired to look at
the watch. Looking at the watch real quickly is not readily
possible, and the fact that the driver is required to divert his
attention from the traffic for a number of seconds can lead to
dangerous accidents when considering the present day traffic
conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Hence, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a
new and improved construction of wrist watch of the previously
mentioned type which, without the need to twist or turn the wrist
of the user, at which the watch is normally worn, can be simply and
comfortably read.
It is another significant object of the present invention to
provide an improved digital wrist watch having means for permitting
reading of the watch in a direction at least approximately parallel
to a cover plate of the watch.
Now in order to implement these and still further objects of the
invention, which will become more readily apparent as the
description proceeds, the invention contemplates a digital wrist
watch which is equipped with a reflecting element for reading the
time in a direction which is at least approximately parallel to the
cover plate of the watch.
An advantageous construction contemplates providing as the
reflecting or mirror element an optical inverting prism, the
reflecting surface of which can be coated with a metal. To protect
this prism such can be equipped with a cover hood. According to a
further embodiment of the invention, the prism can also be designed
in such a way that it simultaneously hermetically seals the watch.
With a somewhat simpler construction of the watch of this
development, it is possible to mount over the numerals a protective
covering having a reflecting, planar inner surface inclined at an
angle of 45.degree. with respect to the plane containing the
numerals, so that such images the numerals towards the outside.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood and objects other than
those set forth above, will become apparent when consideration is
given to the following detailed description thereof. Such
description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary embodiment of watch without
the reflecting or mirror elements;
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the watch depicted in FIG.
1, on a different scale, and taken substantially along the line
II--II thereof;
FIG. 3 is a view analogous to the showing of FIG. 2 but only in
fragmentary illustration, and of a different exemplary embodiment
of the invention; and
FIG. 4 likewise is a fragmentary view, corresponding to the showing
of FIG. 2, of a further embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Describing now the drawings, the exemplary embodiment of watch
depicted in FIG. 1 will be understood to comprise a housing 1
possessing a suitable design as concerns the demands of consumers
at the particular time in question and this housing 1 will be seen
to possess a rectangular cutout portion or window 2 at its central
region. Through the cutout or window 2 there is visible the cover
plate 3 situated therebelow together with both of its windows 4 and
5. Beneath the cover plate 3 there are arranged in conventional
manner the numeral disks 6 and 7 for indicating the hour and minute
respectively. In this case, however, the numerals are shown upside
down, since they will of course be again inverted by the reflecting
element so that they can be readily read.
Now in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, for instance, an optical
inverting prism 8 which functions as the reflecting element, and
here is shown as a right-angled prism, bears by means of one of its
shorter sides directly over the windows 4 and 5 upon the cover
plate 3. This optical inverting prism 8 has a cross-section in the
form of an isoceles right-angle triangle, in other words, an
isoceles triangle with perpendicular legs. By means of the prism 8
the bundle of light rays emanating from the numerals are deflected
through an angle of 90.degree. and simultaneously inverted, so that
the numerals appear correctly positioned right side up and thus can
be comfortably read in a direction parallel to the watch. For the
purpose of protecting the prism 8 there is advantageously provided
a cover hood 9 which is connected with the housing 1 or can also be
fabricated directly as one-piece with the housing 1, which is here
the case.
The variant embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 3 shows a
somewhat modified form of the deflecting prism 80. In this case,
the prism 80 possesses two additional surfaces 80a which are
parallel to the cover plate 3 and which engage in a groove 2a
formed at the housing 1. As a result there is firstly insured for
better retention or holding of the prism 80 at the housing and, on
the other hand, the housing itself is practically hermetically
sealed with respect to the environment. For the purpose of
improving the reflection properties and for the purpose of
protecting the outer shape of the watch, the prism can also be
coated with a thin metal coating 10.
A particularly simple construction of watch has been depicted in
FIG. 4. Here, the recess 2 is covered at three sides by the cover
hood 90, so that light can depart from the fourth open side. The
cover hood 90 possesses as the reflecting element a suitably
machined planar inner surface 90a which is inclined at 45.degree.
with respect to the cover plate 3 and which reflects or images
towards the outside the numerals. The recess 2 is covered by a
thin, planar and transparent disk 20, so that the inner space or
compartment of the watch is adequately protected from the
surrounding influences, such as dust and moisture.
Of course, the advantages of the different exemplary embodiments
can be randomly combined with one another as desired, so that for
each situation of use there can be attained a favorable and
comfortable reading of the digital wrist watch. The inventive watch
not only satisfies the requirement of ease in reading the watch,
but also considerably contributes to prevention of traffic
accidents.
While there is shown and described present preferred embodiments of
the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention
is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied and
practiced within the scope of the following claims.
Accordingly,
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