Magnetic display for watches

• US 20080084381A1
• Filed: 09/27/2007
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Art Technology Group Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Art Technology Group Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Wright, Andrew, Brewer, Donald, Cope, David, Corcoran, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 8,514,170 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/111
• CPC Class Codes: G04C 17/00 Indicating the time optically by electric means G04C19/00 takes precedence; by mechanical means G04B19/00, G04B19/20
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 9/00 Visual time or date indication means
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 9/128 using mechano-optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3486 using light modulating elements actuated by a magnetic field

Abstract

A smaller sized flip dot display utilizes a magnetically actuated pixel that rotates between two orientations. The orientations display two different optical states. A simulated dot matrix design improves the aesthetics and consumer appeal, and also permits a flip dot display capable of producing a positive contrast display image with darker colored “ON” pixels contrasting with brighter background and “OFF” pixels by reducing the visibility of the spacing gap between each rotating pixel and the surrounding background. An interwoven configuration of magnetic actuators with a coil around each arm of a U-shaped core may result in lower power consumption, low production cost, and small size required for use in consumer and small mobile devices such as watches and mobile phones.

Claims

1. A watch comprising:

an array of rotatable pixels that provide chronological information, at least a portion of each rotatable pixel including a permanent magnet, wherein each pixel rotates between a first orientation to present a first display face with a first optical state and a second orientation to present a second display face having a second optical state, the first optical state being different from the second optical state, and wherein at least some of the pixels are adjacent to a background that substantially matches one of the first optical state and the second optical state;

means for magnetically rotating the array of rotatable pixels; and

a battery electrically connected to the means for magnetically rotating.

2. The watch of claim 1, wherein the means for magnetically rotating the array of rotatable pixels comprises a plurality of electromagnets, each electromagnet having a U-shaped core defined by a base portion connecting a first arm and a second arm, and wherein the first arm includes a first coil and the second arm includes a second coil.

3. The watch of claim 1, wherein the background includes a plurality of simulated dot matrix panels and grooves between at least some of the panels that are adjacent to each other, and wherein each groove substantially mimics a gap between at least one of the rotatable pixels and the background.

4. The watch of claim 3, wherein the display is a positive contrast display and an on optical state of at least one rotatable pixel is darker than the surrounding panels of the background.

5. The watch of claim 1, wherein at least one of the display faces of at least one of the array of rotatable pixels includes an attached material selected from the group comprising rhinestone, crystal, diamond, or metal.

6. The watch of claim 1 further comprising an analog movement with watch hands that are positioned above the background and the array of pixels.

7. The watch of claim 1, wherein a first group of pixels in the array of pixels are in a first plane, and wherein a second group of pixels in the array of pixels are in a second plane, the first plane and the second plane being different.

8. The watch of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first display face and the second display face of at least one pixel includes a coating consisting of a phosphorescent coating or a fluorescent coating.

9. The watch of claim 1, wherein a first group of the array of pixels are configured to display an alphanumeric character, and wherein the means for magnetically rotating the array of rotatable pixels controls rotation of the first group, each rotatable pixel of the first group being rotated by a U-shaped core having two arms that each have at least one coil, the U-shaped cores being configured beneath the first group to minimize magnetic interference between the coils and permanent magnets of the first group of rotatable pixels.

10. A watch display, comprising:

a plurality of magnetically actuated rotatable pixels positioned within a background, wherein the background includes a plurality of simulated dot matrix panels and a plurality of grooves between at least some of the adjacent panels, and wherein each groove substantially mimics a gap between at least one of the rotatable pixels and the background.

11. The watch display of claim 10, wherein each pixel rotates between a first orientation with an off optical state that substantially matches the panels around that pixel and a second orientation with an on optical state that differs from the panels around that pixel, and wherein at least one rotatable pixel in the off optical state includes a plurality of panes, each pane being substantially the same size as the simulated dot matrix panels.

12. The watch display of claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the display is a positive contrast display and an on optical state of at least one rotatable pixel is darker than the surrounding panels of the background.

13. The watch display of claim 10, further comprising means for magnetically rotating the plurality of rotatable pixels, wherein at least a portion of each pixel includes a permanent magnet, and wherein the means for magnetically rotating includes a plurality of electromagnets, each electromagnet corresponding to one pixel and having a U-shaped core defined by a base portion connecting a first arm and a second arm, and wherein the first arm includes a first coil and the second arm includes a second coil.

14. The watch display of claim 10, wherein at least one of the rotatable pixels includes a display face having an attached material selected from the group comprising crystal, gemstone, or metal.

15. A watch display comprising:

a plurality of magnetically actuated flippers having a display face positioned within a surrounding background, the flippers rotating between a first orientation in which the display face has a first optical state and a second orientation in which the display face has a second optical state; and

at least one radially extending hand positioned above the flippers and the surrounding background, the hand being connected to an analog movement beneath the flippers and the surrounding background.

16. The watch display of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of electromagnets, wherein each electromagnet corresponds to one of the plurality of magnetically actuated flippers, and wherein each electromagnet includes a U-shaped core defined by a base portion connecting two armatures and each armature includes a coil.

17. The watch display of claim 16, wherein a first group of the array of pixels are configured to display an alphanumeric character, and wherein U-shaped cores are configured beneath the first group to minimize magnetic interference between the coils and permanent magnets of the first group of rotatable pixels.

18. The watch display of claim 15, wherein the display face of at least one of the flippers includes an attached material selected from the group comprising crystal, gemstone, or metal.

19. A magnetically actuated alphanumeric display, comprising:

a plurality of flippers, each flipper including a permanent magnet and rotating about an axis to present a display face with an on state in a first orientation and an off state in a second orientation, wherein each flipper is positioned substantially within a background and portions of the background adjacent each flipper substantially match the display face in the off state, and wherein the plurality of flippers are configured to collectively present an alphanumeric character when at least some of the plurality of flippers are oriented to present the display face in the on state;

a corresponding plurality of paired electromagnet coils in an interwoven configuration beneath the plurality of flippers.

20. The display of claim 19, wherein there is substantially no gap between a first coil corresponding to a first flipper and any adjacent coil corresponding to a different flipper.

21. The display of claim 19, wherein the alphanumeric character is an Arabic numeral formed with seven flippers, and wherein each of the paired electromagnetic coils in the interwoven configuration are positioned around a pair of arms of a U-shaped core, and wherein adjacent U-shaped cores are rotated ninety degrees from one another.

22. The display of claim 19, wherein the interwoven configuration includes paired coils that each have a width less than half an axial length of the corresponding flipper, and wherein an axial length of the permanent magnet of the flipper is less than or equal to half the axial length of the flipper.

23. The display of claim 19, wherein the interwoven configuration includes paired coils that overlap at least a portion of the permanent magnet of the corresponding flipper, and wherein the paired coils do not overlap the permanent magnet of any flipper other than the corresponding flipper for which the paired coils actuate rotation.

24. The display of claim 19, wherein the background includes a plurality of simulated dot matrix panels and a plurality of grooves between at least some of the adjacent panels, and wherein each groove substantially mimics a gap between at least one of the rotatable pixels and the background