Manual control device for executing functions of an electronic watch

• US 20030123329A1
• Filed: 12/27/2002
• Published: 07/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Asulab SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Asulab SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Poli, Gian-Carlo, Guanter, Jean-Charles
• Granted Patent: US 6,882,596 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 368/82
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 11/00 Producing optical signals at preselected times
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/00 Input or output devices integrated in time-pieces
• CPC Class Codes: G04R 60/12 inside metal cases

Abstract

The manual control device for executing functions of an electronic watch (1) particularly a diary watch, includes a certain number of sensors (C1 to C7) wherein one touch sensitive pad of each sensor is placed for example on an internal face of the crystal (4). When a user'"'"'s finger (20) is placed on the watch crystal in a determined zone of the sensitive pad of a sensor to be activated, it causes an electronic circuit (14) of the device to execute an instruction or a function. In a first mode selected by the electronic circuit, at least two sensors are grouped such that the electronic circuit executes the same operation when a finger is placed on the crystal in a determined zone of the sensitive pad of one sensor or the other. However, in a second mode selected by the electronic circuit, each sensor (C1 to C7) activated by the finger (20) provides measuring signals to the electronic circuit (14) for the execution of a different specific operation for each sensor.

The sensitive pads of the sensors are distributed on the internal face of the crystal for the purpose of allowing data to be entered into the watch, pre-stored data to be consulted or different function menus to be consulted.

Claims

1. A manual control device for executing functions particularly for an electronic watch including, in a case closed by a crystal, a time-keeping circuit and/or a watch movement powered by an energy source, and at least one liquid crystal display for displaying data, said device including:

a determined number of sensors wherein one touch sensitive pad of each sensor is arranged on an internal or external face of the watch crystal, each sensor being able to be activated by a user'"'"'s finger placed on the crystal in a determined zone of the corresponding sensitive pad of the sensor in order to control the execution of a specific function, and

an electronic circuit for processing measuring signals provided by the sensors for carrying out a specific instruction from an activated sensor, the electronic circuit providing control signals to the liquid crystal display of the watch to display data corresponding to the activated sensor, wherein in a first mode selected by the electronic circuit, at least two sensors are grouped such that the electronic circuit executes the same operation when a finger is placed on the crystal in a determined zone of the sensitive pad of one sensor or the other, whereas in a second mode selected by the electronic circuit, each sensor activated by the finger provides measuring signals to the electronic circuit for executing a specific operation different for each sensor.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensitive pads of the sensors are connected to the electronic circuit, via a connector, each by a conductive wire, the length of all the conductive wires being identical.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensitive pads with no direct contact between them are distributed on the internal or external face of the crystal so as to allow a finger to be able to be placed on a single sensitive pad of a sensor to be activated without influencing the other sensors.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the sensitive pads are each separated by a distance greater than or equal to the dimension of a sensitive pad, and in that the number of sensors is less than 10, preferably equal to 7.

5. The device according to claim 4 for an analogue wristwatch including a dial with the liquid crystal display and hands for indicating the time, wherein the sensitive pads of the seven sensors have an equivalent surface, wherein a first sensor has its sensitive pad arranged at the centre of the crystal, wherein two second sensors have their sensitive pad arranged at the periphery of the crystal respectively at 6 o'"'"'clock and at 12 o'"'"'clock, wherein two third sensors have their sensitive pad arranged at the periphery of the crystal around the 3 o'"'"'clock indication, and wherein two fourth sensors have their sensitive pad arranged at the periphery of the crystal around the 9 o'"'"'clock indication.

6. The device according to claim 1 for an electronic diary watch, the sensors of the device being active, when the device is in a normal operating mode, or inactive when the device is in a standby mode, the watch including switch-on means for placing the device in a normal operating mode when they are activated, wherein in the first selected mode in normal operation, the third sensors and the fourth sensors are grouped in pairs to allow diary menus, various stored records concerning addresses, notes, settings and the diary to be consulted by activating at least a third sensor or a fourth sensor, and wherein in the second selected mode, the third sensors and fourth sensors are separated to allow fields of various records to be stored to be edited using sets of characters.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the capacitive type sensors each include a first parasitic capacitor defined by each transparent sensitive pad arranged on the internal face of the crystal and the metallic case of the watch, as well as a second parallel capacitor defined by the sensitive pad and a user'"'"'s finger when the finger is placed on the crystal in a determined zone of the sensitive pad of the sensor to be activated, the total capacitive value depending upon the position and the surface of the finger placed on the crystal facing the sensitive pad.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein electronic circuit further includes a single voltage controlled oscillator, a multiplexer for successively connecting each sensor to the oscillator, a logic measuring unit for determining the frequency of the oscillator signals which depends on the total capacitive value of each sensor connected to the oscillator, the frequency being below a threshold frequency value when a sensor is being activated by the user'"'"'s finger, whereas the frequency is above the threshold frequency value when the sensor is not being activated, and microprocessor means connected to the logic measuring unit for recognising the function to be executed from an activated sensor.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein the voltage controlled oscillator includes a flip-flop and a programmable current source for supplying a charge and discharge current to the capacitor of a sensor connected to the input of the flip-flop as a function of the output signals of the flip-flop.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein a reference capacitor and the other sensors are successively connected to the oscillator via the multiplexer to allow the oscillator frequency to be calibrated with respect to a stored reference frequency value.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein marks are placed on the internal face of the crystal in order to indicate the location of each sensitive sensor pad and/or a function for each sensor.

12. An electronic watch including, in a case closed by a crystal, a time-keeping circuit and/or a watch movement powered by an energy source, and at least one liquid crystal display for displaying data, and a manual control device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display and the sensitive pads of the sensors are arranged so as to make data displayed on the display visible when certain sensors are activated by a user'"'"'s finger.

13. The watch according to claim 12 of the analogue type including a dial with two liquid crystal displays and hands for indicating the time, wherein icons for identifying a function or an operation to be carried out are arranged on the dial at determined positions around each liquid crystal display, and wherein the electronic sensor measuring signal processing circuit provides control signals to each display as a function of the activated sensors such that at least one pointer of each display designates one of the icons to indicate, when the device is operating, a function or an operation in progress.

14. The watch according to claim 13, wherein it includes means for switching on the manual control device allowing the device to pass from a standby mode to an operating mode when they are activated, and wherein the hands are moved to determined positions in the operating mode of the device to avoid concealing the data displayed on each liquid crystal display.