Timepiece with touch-type reading and control of time data

• US 20040042347A1
• Filed: 09/02/2003
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Asulab SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Asulab SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Born, Jean-Jacques, Frenkel, Erik Jan
• Granted Patent: US 7,031,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 368/69
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/08 Touch switches specially adapted for time-pieces

Abstract

The timepiece, which is preferably a wristwatch, includes for each time position a capacitive sensor (C1 to C12), on a fixed bezel, including only four markings (R3, R6, R9, R12) at 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock and 12 o'"'"'clock, and a single crown-push-button (9). The case contains, in particular, a non-acoustic vibration generator (20) and an electronic interpretation and coding circuit (15), associated with a time-keeper circuit (10), with the sensors and with the crown to control the vibration device, said circuit (15) being designed to identify the manipulations on the crown (brief, long application of pressure or pull) and on the sensors (positioning or movement).

Claims

1. A timepiece with touch-type reading and control of time data including:

a case formed of a back cover and a middle part closed by a glass arranged above a dial with analogue display by means of hands, said glass being surrounded by a fixed bezel mounted on the middle part including a crown-push-button;

a timekeeping circuit;

at least one stepping motor for driving each hand individually;

a non-acoustic vibration generator;

at least one energy source powering the timekeeping circuit, the stepping motors and the vibration generator device;

a set of twelve sensors arranged on the periphery of the glass facing twelve time positions and over which a finger has to run; and

an electronic interpretation and coding circuit associated with the timekeeping circuit and receiving from the sensors and the crown-push-button signals for driving the vibration generator device, wherein the bezel is provided with four markings arranged facing the four 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock, 12 o'"'"'clock time positions and in that the electronic circuit is designed to recognise both a specific manipulation on the crown-push-button, the activation of an individual sensor, of any sensor in a group of contiguous sensors, and the order in which contiguous sensors are activated.

2. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each marking is formed of two bars projecting from the bezel and arranged on both sides of a sensor corresponding to the 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock, 12 o'"'"'clock time positions.

3. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each marking is formed of a projection projecting from the bezel by a sensor corresponding to the 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock, 12o'"'"'clock time positions.

4. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each marking is formed by a recess arranged in the bezel by a sensor corresponding to the 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock, 12o'"'"'clock time positions.

5. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each marking is formed by a rough surface arranged on the bezel by a sensor corresponding to the 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock, 12o'"'"'clock time positions.

6. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each marking is formed of a rough surface on the glass by a sensor corresponding to the 3 o'"'"'clock, 6 o'"'"'clock, 9 o'"'"'clock, 12o'"'"'clock time positions.

7. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the sensors are of the capacitive type and are located under the glass above each time position.

8. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein said timepiece is a wristwatch.

9. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit recognises a brief application of pressure on the crown-push-button associated with a finger running over the sensors in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.

10. The timepiece according to claim 9, wherein the clockwise direction causes the electronic circuit to pass into current time read mode and the anticlockwise direction into alarm time read mode, by activating two sensors, whose signals trigger trains of vibrations coding respectively the hour and the minutes, the time position of said sensors being determined by bringing the finger back onto the bezel to identify, either one of the four markings, or an immediately preceding position, or an immediately following position.

11. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit differentiates a brief application of pressure from a long application of pressure exerted on the crown-push-button associated with the immobile positioning of the finger on a sensor or on a group of contiguous sensors.

12. The timepiece according to claim 11, wherein a brief application of pressure associated with the group of sensors at 11 o'"'"'clock, 12o'"'"'clock, 1 o'"'"'clock corresponds to the position of the alarm when on and associated with the group of sensors to the position of the alarm when off.

13. The timepiece according to claim 11, wherein a long application of pressure successively associated with two sensors allows an alarm time to be selected.

14. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit recognises a pull exerted on the crown-push-button associated with the positioning of the finger successively on a sensor or on two sensors for changing time zone or for changing the current time.

15. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each hand is driven separately by a stepping motor and in that the electronic circuit recognises a long application of pressure exerted on the crown-push-button associated with a group of sensors positioned at 2o'"'"'clock, 3 o'"'"'clock or 9 o'"'"'clock, 10 o'"'"'clock, or associated with a group of sensors positioned at 4 o'"'"'clock, 5 o'"'"'clock or 7 o'"'"'clock, 8 o'"'"'clock, to successively bring the hands into superposition at the 12o'"'"'clock position to initialise the display.