Method and apparatus for transferring time information to a watch

• US 5,777,950 A
• Filed: 11/21/1996
• Issued: 07/07/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Timex Group USA Incorporated (Tanager Group BV)
• Original Assignee: Timex Corporation (Tanager Group BV)
• Inventors: Becker, Lance, Helm, Walter
• Primary Examiner(s): Roskoski, Bernard
• Application Number:
  US08/754,375
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 368/47, 368/185, 368/85, 368/223-242
• US Class Current: 368/47
• CPC Class Codes: G04R 20/00 Setting the time according to the time information carried or implied by the radio signal

Abstract

A wristwatch is set by optically transmitting time of day information from a wall clock or table clock to an optical sensor in the wristwatch. The time information is optically transmitted as sequential light pulses by controlling a light source, such as a light emitting diode (LED) in the wall clock or table clock.

Claims

1. Method for setting a portable timepiece from a stationary timepiece, comprising:

providing a stationary timepiece having a time base oscillator, a stationary minutes counter,a stationary hours counter, a light source driver circuit and a stationary time display incorporating therein at least one controllable light source,

providing a portable timepiece having an optical sensor, a time base oscillator,a portable minutes counter, a portable hours counter, a minutes update circuit, an hours update circuit, and a portable electro optical time display indicating at least hours and minutes thereon,

sampling the count values of the stationary minutes counter and the stationary hours counter,

operating the light source driver circuit to cause the controllable light source to serially transmit the sampled count values by turning the controllable light source on and off,

positioning the portable timepiece so that the optical sensor faces the controllable light source,

receiving the sampled count values from the optical sensor, and

applying the count values to the minutes update circuit and the hours update circuit of the portable timepiece to cause the count values in the portable minutes counter and the portable hours counter to correspond to the count values in the stationary minutes counter and the stationary hours counter.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the controllable light source is an LED.

3. Apparatus for continuously providing time update information to a portable timepiece, comprising:

a stationary timepiece having a time base oscillator, at least one timekeeping counter, a light source driver, at least one controllable light source, and a time display indicating the time in the timekeeping counter and incorporating the controllable light source therein,

means for sampling the count value of the timekeeping counter,

means for operating the light source driver circuit to cause the controllable light source to serially transmit the sampled data by turning the controllable light source off and on,

whereby the time displayed on the timepiece and stored in the timekeeping counter is also transmitted in the form of light pulses.

4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein the time display is an LED display.

5. The combination according to claim 4, wherein the controllable light source is an LED element in the LED display.