Watch with touch reading and setting of time functions

• US 6,052,339 A
• Filed: 06/01/1998
• Issued: 04/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Asulab SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Asulab SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Derivaz, Pascal, Frenkel, Erik Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Roskoski, Bernard
• Application Number:
  US09/087,987
• Time in Patent Office: 687 Days
• Field of Search: 368/230, 368/276, 368/281, 368/282
• US Class Current: 368/230
• CPC Class Codes: G04B 25/02 by feeling; Clocks or watches for blind persons
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/08 Touch switches specially adapted for time-pieces

Abstract

Watch with visual and touch horometric functions, including:

a case (1) sealed by a crystal (4) arranged above an analogue dial (5) surrounded by a fixed bezel (8)

a time-keeping circuit (10), a stepping motor (11);

a non-acoustic vibration generating device (20);

a power source (24) supplying the circuit (10), the motor (11) and the vibration generating device (20);

twelve sensors (C₁ to C₁₂) facing the twelve time positions and a control element (9);

an electronic coding circuit (25) associated with the circuit (10), the sensors (C₁ to C₁₂) and the control device (9) to control the vibration generating device (20);

wherein the bezel (8) has twelve projections (R₁ to R₁₂) being arranged between the twelve sensors (C₁ to C₁₂) which extend radially beyond the bezel (8) and the case (1), said projections (R₁ to R₁₂) to guide a user'"'"'s finger towards a determined sensor.

Claims

1. A watch with visual and touch horometric functions, including :

a case sealed by a crystal arranged above an analogue display dial and hand display means, said crystal being surrounded by a fixed bezel

a time-keeping circuit and at least one stepping motor for driving the hands;

a non-acoustic vibration generating device;

at least one power source supplying the timekeeping circuit, the stepping motor and the vibration generating device;

a set of twelve sensors arranged facing the twelve time positions and at least one external control element;

an electronic coding circuit associated with the time-keeping circuit, the sensors and the external control device to control the vibration generating device;

wherein the bezel is provided with twelve projections extending radially beyond the bezel and the case, said projections being arranged between the twelve sensors to guide a user'"'"'s finger towards a determined sensor.

2. A watch according to claim 1, wherein the sensors are of the capacitive type and are situated under the crystal above each time positions.

3. A watch according to claim 2, wherein small external portions of the crystal facing each time position are treated so as to have slight roughness perceptible by touch, but not discernible visually.

4. A watch according to claim 1, wherein the external control element is a push-button arranged for setting the watch in touch reading mode when said pushbutton is pressed briefly.

5. A watch according to claim 1, wherein the sensors are arranged so that the first activation thereof by positioning a finger selects a determined piece of horometric information.

6. A watch according to claim 5, wherein the sensors allow respectively the current time and the alarm time to be selected, for reading and setting, once passage into touch reading mode has been effected.

7. A watch according to claim 6, wherein the pushbutton is arranged so that a pull exerted thereon allows setting of the current time or the alarm time to be effected.

8. A watch according to claim 5, wherein the sensors are arranged so that successively activating them, having previously pressed for a long time and pulled the pushbutton, allows initialisation of the watch, via visual monitoring of the superposition of the hands at 12 o'"'"'clock.