U.S. patent number 3,823,545 [Application Number 05/187,961] was granted by the patent office on 1974-07-16 for electronic watch.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Centre Electronique Horloger S.A.. Invention is credited to Claude Fonjallaz, Eric Andrew Vittoz.
United States Patent |
3,823,545 |
Vittoz , et al. |
July 16, 1974 |
ELECTRONIC WATCH
Abstract
An electronic watch, which includes a time base, a logic circuit
and an electronic display, comprises a data input device including
at least one manual control member for transferring data, e.g. a
numerical value or a numerically coded instruction, into the logic
circuit by means of a logic transfer circuit. For example, any of
60 different data of any kind may be introduced into the logic
circuit by means of a single push button. A number between 0 and 59
is attributed to each of these data. Any of these data is
introduced by pushing the button where the corresponding number is
displayed by the seconds display. Alternatively, a number indicated
on a separate display by means of a separate counter can be
selectively transferred into any part of the time counter to
thereby set the time. The number indicated can be transferred into
any digit of a register part of an auxiliary calculator included in
the logic circuits to thereby introduce the number to be processed.
Alternatively, an indication of a first unit of time (e.g. seconds)
can be transferred to replace and thereby correct an indication of
a second unit of time (e.g. hours), a supplementary impulse
generator selectively accelerating the sequential indication of
seconds.
Inventors: |
Vittoz; Eric Andrew
(Cernier-Neuchatal, CH), Fonjallaz; Claude
(Cormondreche-Neuchatel, CH) |
Assignee: |
Centre Electronique Horloger
S.A. (Neuchatel, CH)
|
Family
ID: |
4409326 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/187,961 |
Filed: |
October 12, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 20, 1970 [CH] |
|
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15464/70 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
368/188; 368/224;
368/239; 968/895; 968/917; 968/937; 968/961 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G04G
9/007 (20130101); G04G 5/045 (20130101); H03K
21/08 (20130101); G04G 21/00 (20130101); G04G
9/107 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H03K
21/00 (20060101); H03K 21/08 (20060101); G04G
1/02 (20060101); G04G 9/00 (20060101); G04G
9/10 (20060101); G04G 5/00 (20060101); G04G
1/00 (20060101); G04G 5/04 (20060101); G04c
003/00 (); G04b 019/30 (); G04b 027/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;58/23R,23A,23AC,5R,5A,152 ;340/309.4 ;235/92T |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tomsky; Stephen J.
Assistant Examiner: Jackmon; Edith Simmons
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Stevens, Davis, Miller &
Mosher
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an electronic watch having a time base, a logic circuit, an
input of which is coupled to an output of said time base, and an
electronic display means coupled to the output of said logic
circuit, the improvement comprising: data input means coupled
between the output of said logic circuit
and a further input thereof for selectively transferring signals
from the output of said logic circuit to said further input;
and
manual control means coupled to said data input means for
selecting the data to be transferred from said output of said logic
circuit to said further input.
2. An electronic watch according to claim 1, wherein said logic
circuit includes first means for generating a signal corresponding
to units of time to be displayed on said display means, the input
of said data input means being coupled to the output of said first
means.
3. A watch according to claim 1, in which actuation of said manual
control means causes transfer of data displayed by said display
means to a circuit to cause a shift in said circuit, said shift
corresponding to said displayed data.
Description
The present invention relates to electronic watches.
It is known to provide electronic watches without any moving parts,
formed from a time base, a logical assembly for counting and
transcoding impulses, and an electro-optical display device
replacing the traditional hands.
On such a watch, the operations of setting the second, the minute,
the hour and the date can no longer be carried out as on mechanical
watches by means of a rotatable setting crown, and a separate
action must be made to set each of the seconds, the minutes, the
hours and the date.
Moreover, by the use of highly complex integrated circuits with a
low bulk and a very low power consumption, the volume normally
taken up by the mechanical and electro-mechanical parts is
available for the carrying out of certain accessory functions such
as a simple calculator, a simple data store or a radio receiver
employing a part of the electronics and all or part of the display
of the watch. However, such accessory functions must necessarily be
controlled by input members , and a fundamental problem therefore
arises, namely the introduction of a relatively large number of
data into the watch by a simple manual actuation. It can be readily
understood that it is difficult, if not impossible, to employ the
arrangement used in table calculators in which each element of data
is introduced by means of a specific key or push button : the
necessity of adapting the dimensions of each key or push button to
the dimensions of the user's fingers limits the possible number of
keys or push buttons to a very low value.
An aim of the present invention is to resolve this problem.
According to the invention, an electronic watch comprises a data
input device, said device comprising first circuit means for
sequentially emitting data, a display device for electronically
displaying the data emitted by the first circuit means, and a
manual control member acting on a logical transfer circuit for
controlling transfer of the displayed data.
The invention will now be particularly described, by way of
example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a basic arrangement of a watch
according to the invention , in which the circuit sequentially
emitting data and the electronic display device are also used for
displaying the time ;
FIGS. 2 to 4 are more detailed partial block diagrams of three
specific embodiments of the basic arrangement ;
FIG. 5 is a partial block diagram of another embodiment ;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a further embodiment; and
FIG. 7 is a partial block diagram of an improvement of the
embodiment according to FIG. 6.
The watch schematically shown in FIG. 1 comprises a time base 1
supplying impulses which are counted and transcoded by at least a
part of a logic circuit 2 before being applied to an electronic
display device 3. The logic circuit 2 may otherwise carry out other
accessory functions, as mentioned earlier, such as making simple
calculations, storing simple data or simply switching on and off a
receiver, a personal location apparatus or a small recorder.
A supplementary circuit 4 enables introduction into the logical
circuit 2 of a number of data equal to the number of different
indications that can be displayed. To employ the device, it
suffices to wait until the data that it is desired to introduce
into the circuit 2 is displayed by the device 3 and actuate the
manual control member 5 (hereinafter simply referred to as "push
button") at the moment when this data is displayed.
FIG. 2 is a partial schematic view of a first specific embodiment
of the arrangement of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the display
device 3 consists of sixty luminous points formed by
electroluminescent lamps or diodes 6 each remaining illuminated in
turn during one second, so as to display the second. In FIG. 2, for
greater clarity, only four diodes representing the first four
seconds 1", 2", 3", and 4" of the minute are shown. Of course, the
watch also comprises displays of the hours and minutes, which are
also not shown for the sake of greater clarity. The additionnal
circuit 4 is formed of 60 AND logical gates 7 one of the inputs of
each of which is controlled by a circuit comprising the positive
pole of a voltage source, not shown, in series with a switch or
contact 8 controlled by the push button 5. The other input of each
of the AND gates 7 is separately connected to the control circuit
of one of the luminous diodes 6. The output of each of the AND
gates is separately applied to the logic circuit 2.
The described data input device will for example enable
modification of the position of the counter included in the circuit
2 so as to carry out setting of the time. By means of this data
input device, it is possible to introduce sixty different data by
means of a single push button 5. For example, if it is desired to
introduce the data corresponding to the number three the operator
will wait until the luminous diode 6 corresponding to the second 3"
lights up, an then actuate the push button 5.
FIG. 3 shows a second specific embodiment of the arrangement
according to FIG. 1, namely a watch with a digital display of
seconds provided by two matrices 9 each comprising fifteen
electroluminescent diodes 10, only one of these matrices being
shown. Only the matrix displaying the units of seconds is used for
the input of data, which enables the input of 10 different
data.
The normal circuit of the watch associated with the time display
comprises a counter 11 of which only the part corresponding to the
counting of units of seconds is shown, this part delivering four
logical signals A, B, C, D indicating the second in binary code. In
a conventional manner, this code is firstly transformed into
decimal code by a matrix 12 composed of diodes 13 then into a code
for controlling the 15 diodes 10 of the matrix 9 by means of a
further matrix 15 including diodes 16. In FIG. 3, the number seven
is displayed by the diodes 10. The data input circuit 4 comprises
ten AND gates 17 controlled by the output of the transcoder matrix
12 and by a circuit comprising the positive pole of a voltage
source in series with a switch or contact 18 controlled by means of
the push button 5.
The data input circuit enables the introduction of one of the ten
data 9" to 9" by pressing on the push button 5 at the moment when
the number of the desired data is displayed by the matrix 9. The
data 0" to 9" thus introduced can be used to carry out a setting of
the time or for other purposes, as will be described further
on.
FIG. 4 is a partial block diagram of a third specific embodiment of
the arrangement according to FIG. 1, in which the introduction of
data enables setting of the watch according to the time zone. The
watch comprises an hours display formed by a matrix 20 of
electroluminescent diodes for displaying the units and a matrix 21
for displaying the tens of hours ; and a seconds display formed by
a matrix 22 for displaying the units and a matrix 23 for displaying
the tens of seconds.
The matrices 20 to 23 are respectively controlled by transcoders 24
to 27 with four, three or two inputs (as shown) and each with 15
outputs, only one of these outputs for each transcoder being shown.
The inputs of each of the transcoders 24 to 27 are provided by the
outputs A, B, C, D of four counting groups 28 to 31 with four,
three or two stages, as shown, of an impulsion counter fed by a
time base 132. The outputs A, B, C, D of groups 28 to 31 indicate
in binary code the decimal number which must be displayed by the
corresponding matrix 20 to 23. Each of the stages of the counting
groups 28 and 29 comprises a SET input S and a RESET input R, these
inputs S and R being such that when a logical signal of value 1 and
a logical signal of value 0 are respectively applied to the input S
and R, the output takes the logical value 1, and conversely. The
inputs R and S are themselves controlled by the corresponding
outputs of eight AND logical gates 32 for the group 28 and four AND
logical gates 33 for the group 29. One of the inputs of each of the
AND gates 32 and 33 is fed by a circuit comprising the positive
pole of a current source connected in series with a contact or
switch 34 controlled by a push button 35. The other inputs of the
AND gates 32 connected to the inputs S of the group 28 are
connected directly to the corresponding outputs A, B, C, D of the
group 30, whilst the other inputs of the AND gates 32 connected to
the inputs R of the group 28 are connected to the corresponding
outputs A, B, C, D of the group 30 via a corresponding inverter 36.
The other inputs of the AND gates 33 are connected in the same
manner to the outputs A, B of the counting group 31, two inverters
37 being provided for this purpose. Counters 28, 29 and inverters
36, 37 form the logic transfer circuit of FIG. 1.
To carry out a setting of the time zone, it suffices to wait until
the matrices 2 and 23 display a desired indication and to press on
the push button 35 so that the number displayed by these matrices
is transferred to the counters 28 and 29 and hence to the matrices
20 and 21. For example, if the push button 35 is actuated with the
display in the state shown, the number twenty four displayed by the
matrices 20 and 21 will be replaced by the number seventeen
displayed by the matrices 22 and 23.
The use of the display of seconds for the sequential indication of
data to be selected has the disadvantage of obliging the user to
wait for a desired indication of the second before carrying out
selection. This time can be up to 59 seconds for the embodiments
according to FIGS. 2 and 4. Moreover, a time interval of only one
second is available for giving the selection order. These drawbacks
can be remedied by providing an accelerated sequential indication
of the data to be transferred by means of a supplementary manual
control member.
FIG. 5 is a partial block diagram of another embodiment in which a
frequency generator and an auxiliary counter are provided to
accelerate the introduction of data. The normal time display of the
watch comprises a matrix 40 of electroluminescent diodes controlled
by a counting group 41 with four stages, via a transcoder 42. The
matrix 40 is intended to display the minutes for example, the other
matrices not being shown. The data introduction device comprises an
auxiliary impulse generator 43 and an auxiliary counter 44. The
four binary outputs A, B, C, D of the counter 44 are respectively
applied to one of the inputs of four corresponding AND logical
gates 45 the other inputs of which are controlled by a circuit
comprising the positive pole of a voltage source in series with a
switch or contact 46 controlled by a push buttom 47. The data 48
emitted at the outputs of the four AND gates 45 are applied to the
logic circuit 2, not shown, for example with a view toward carrying
out a setting of the time indicated by the watch, or changing the
content of a register part of an auxiliary calculator. Actuation of
the auxiliary generator 43 is controlled by a circuit comprising
the positive pole of a voltage source in series with a switch or
contact 49 controlled by a push button 50. The latter circuit also
controls a selector 51 with two positions and four channels
comprising four OR logical gates 52, eight AND logical gates 53 and
four inverters 54.
In normal operation, that is to say when the two switches 46 and 49
are open, the generator 43 is inoperative and the selector 51
transmits to the transcoder 42 the binary outputs A, B, C, D of the
counter 41, which binary outputs are transcoded into the decimal
system by the transcoder 42 and displayed by the matrix 40. When
the push button 50 is actuated, the generator 43 is put into
operation and the state of the selector 51 is modified so that the
outputs A, B, C, D of the counter 44 are applied to the transcoder
42 and displayed by the matrix 40. When the desired decimal number
is displayed by the matrix 40, the push button 50 is relaxed and
push button 47 is actuated so as to emit output data 48
representing in binary code the number which had been displayed by
the matrix 40. Hence, the rate of sequential indication of the data
to be transferred is no longer one number per second ; however, it
is necessary to provide a supplementary push button.
As a variant, it would be possible to provide an additional push
button enabling adjustment of the frequency of the generator 43 by
changing the value of one of the elements determining its
frequency, for example by means of a pressure-sensitive element
such as a piezo-transistor. This push button could alternatively be
combined with the push button 50 so that only two push buttons are
required.
In another variant, the generator 43 could be eliminated, and a
step by step control of the counter could be carried out by
actuation of the push button 50 to close the switch 49.
To increase the possibilities of use of the data input device, data
can be combined to form a more evolved data. For example, the
operator could introduce a first data representing one of several
possible orders or commands, and then introduce a second data
representing a numerical value attached to the given order.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of watch in which the second, the tens
of seconds, the minute, and the tens of minutes can be selectively
set by firstly introducing a first data indicating which of these
four operations it is wished to carry out, and then introducing a
second data indicating the corrected value.
The normal time indicating device 55 comprises a matrix 56 for
displaying the seconds, a matrix 57 for displaying the tens of
seconds, a matrix 58 for displaying the minutes, and a matrix 59
for displaying the tens of minutes, these matrices being controlled
from corresponding counters 60 to 63 through transcoders 64 to 67
respectively. The device 68 for setting the time comprises a
display matrix 69 which does not form part of the time display.
This matrix 69 is controlled by means of an independent counter 70,
through a transcoder 71. The counter 70 moves forward step by step
by means of a push button 86 controlling a switch or contact 87.
The set of four binary outputs A, B, C, D of the counter 70 is
applied to a transfer block 73 controlling the counter 60 for the
units of seconds and to a transfer block 74 controlling the counter
62 for the units of minutes, whilst only the binary outputs A, B, C
of the counter 70 are applied to the transfer blocks 75 and 76
controlling the counters 61 and 63 for the tens of seconds and the
tens of minutes respectively. In practice, since these latter
counters do not provide for the display of any number greater than
five, the binary output D of the counter 70 is not required. These
transfer blocks 73 to 76 also comprise a control input respectively
actuated by an AND logical gate 77, 78, 79, 80 each with three
inputs. These transfer blocks 73 to 76 transfer to the
corresponding counter 60 to 63 the data at the outputs A, B, C, D
of the counter 70 when a control impulse is emitted by the
corresponding AND gate 77 to 80. The transfer blocks 73 to 76 can
be formed in the same manner as the device with AND gates 33 and
inverters 37 of FIG. 4. The time setting device also comprises a
memory 81 formed of two RS type flip-flops 82, 83 and a logical
input comprising four AND gates 84 and two inverters 85. The RS
flip-flops 82 are such that a signal of logical value 1 applied at
R makes Q=0 and Q=1, and a signal of logical value 1 applied at S
makes Q=1 and Q=0.
In addition to the first push button 86 controlling a switch or
contact 87 to carry out the step by step advance of the counter 70,
the time setting device comprises a second push button 88
controlling a switch or contact 89 for the excitation of one of the
inputs of each of the four AND gates 77 to 80, and a third push
button 90 controlling a switch or contact 91 for the excitation of
one of the inputs of each of the AND gates 84.
The operation of the device is as follows :
For each of the four orders which can be carried out, a code number
is attributed according to the following table :
0 correction of the units of seconds ;
1 correction of the tens of seconds ;
2 correction of the units of minutes ;
3 correction of the tens of minutes.
After having displayed on the matrix 69 by means of the push button
86 whichever of the numbers 0 to 3 corresponds to the order that it
is desired to carry out, the button 90 is actuated, the effect of
which is to register this number in the memory 81.
By once more actuating the push button 86, a decimal number which
it is desired to register in the counter 60-63 corresponding to the
preceedingly given order is displayed on the matrix 69. It then
suffices to actuate the push button 88 to transfer the data of the
counter 70 to the said one of the counters 60-63.
FIG. 7 is a partial block diagram of an improvement of the input
device according to FIG. 6, in which the two push buttons 88 and 90
are replaced by a single push button 92 actuating a switch or
contact 93. The data input device comprises a supplementary display
matrix 94 with two diodes, controlled by a T-type flip-flop 95 (two
state counter). The outputs Q and Q of the flip-flop95 change state
each time that the button 92 is lifted up, the state of the
flip-flop or counter 95 being displayed by the matrix 94. The
device also comprises two AND gates 96 and 97 whose outputs 98 and
99 respectively replace the two push buttons 90 and 88 of FIG. 6.
By applying on the button 92, the logical state 1 is alternatively
imposed on the outputs 98 and 99, which thus behave the same as
when the push buttons 88 and 90 of FIG. 6 are actuated
alternatively.
The data input device according to the different preceeding
embodiments thus enables setting the time of a watch in the most
general sense of the term. It additionally enables, by the use of
more or less advanced logical systems, but which are available with
present day integrated circuit techniques, other operations to be
carried out. For example, for the adjustment of the running or
timekeeping of the watch, an order can be given to modify the
division ratio at the beginning of the counting chain by a certain
number of parts per million (ppm).
The device also makes possible the provision of certain new
functions in a watch, such as :
Momentary use of the display of the watch for the display of other
data, for example the atmospheric pressure, the acceleration
undergone by the wearer, or the wearer's pulse rate.
An elementary calculator : the numbers and the operations to be
carried out being introduced as for the time setting data.
Other accessory functions such as a personnel location apparatus, a
radio receiver, or a dictaphone, which are controlled by orders
introduced by means of the device.
* * * * *