EP0660205B1 - Verfahren zur Ortsbestimmung und Uhr zur Ausführung dieses Verfahrens - Google Patents

Verfahren zur Ortsbestimmung und Uhr zur Ausführung dieses Verfahrens Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0660205B1
EP0660205B1 EP94119297A EP94119297A EP0660205B1 EP 0660205 B1 EP0660205 B1 EP 0660205B1 EP 94119297 A EP94119297 A EP 94119297A EP 94119297 A EP94119297 A EP 94119297A EP 0660205 B1 EP0660205 B1 EP 0660205B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
time
earth
magnetic field
timepiece
local
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP94119297A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0660205A1 (de
Inventor
Etienne Bornand
Rudolf Dinger
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Asulab AG
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Asulab AG
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Asulab AG filed Critical Asulab AG
Publication of EP0660205A1 publication Critical patent/EP0660205A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0660205B1 publication Critical patent/EP0660205B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
    • G04B45/00—Time pieces of which the indicating means or cases provoke special effects, e.g. aesthetic effects
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
    • G04G21/00—Input or output devices integrated in time-pieces
    • G04G21/02—Detectors of external physical values, e.g. temperature
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
    • G04G9/00—Visual time or date indication means
    • G04G9/0064—Visual time or date indication means in which functions not related to time can be displayed

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a timepiece comprising a time base, at least an hour and minute display to indicate local time, means for setting the time of said display, and further comprising means for display information that is a function of at least the position where it is on the surface of the earth, according to the preamble of claim 1.
  • An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for determining at least approximately the latitude and longitude of where we are at the surface of the earth, which lends itself to an implementation fully automatic and does not require having use of satellites.
  • a second object of the present invention is to provide a method for determining at least approximately the latitude and longitude of the location where we are on the surface of the earth, which can be implemented in a small device like a timepiece.
  • a third object of the present invention is to provide a timepiece capable of displaying automatically information that depends on the latitude and longitude of where we are find.
  • the time difference can be determined simply, for example, by comparing information provided by two timepieces, and the inclination of the field magnetic earth can be determined from the relationship between its vertical component and its component horizontal, these can each be obtained at using magnetic sensors.
  • the longitude is taken into account during the conversion the tilt of the Earth's magnetic field in one latitude. Indeed, the tilt of the magnetic field terrestrial with respect to the horizontal not being function only latitude but also, in a certain measure of longitude, we get a more precise value of latitude.
  • computing means for determine, from said latitude and said measured longitude, the azimuth of a preselected location at the surface of the globe.
  • the timepiece which will now be described is intended to implement the method according to invention and to use the latitude value and the longitude value thus obtained to determine the direction of Mecca.
  • the timepiece in this example is shown as a block diagram.
  • This piece watchmaking series includes a quartz oscillator 2, a division 4 chain delivering a signal at 1/60 Hz (1 cycle / minute) and a hand position counter minutes 6. It also includes a divider by twelve 8, receiving the output signal from the division chain 4, and a 10 hour hand position counter whose input is connected to the output of the divider 8.
  • the counters 6 and 10 are counters by sixty which in normal mode define the position of the hands minutes and hours compared to the hour turn of the dial of the timepiece.
  • the timepiece is provided, in the mode of illustrated embodiment of three motors 18, 19 and 20 controlled respectively by power circuits 12, 14 and 16 to respectively drive the needle of minutes, the hour hand and a hand additional, called the steering needle, intended for indicate the direction of Mecca.
  • the first two power circuits 14, 16 receive, in normal mode, the pulses applied respectively to the inputs position meters for minute hands 6 and 10 hours.
  • the coin watchmaking still includes electronic means of management 22 to allow on the one hand the implementation of the process of the present invention and on the other hand of order the displacement of one or the other of the three needles when necessary.
  • These means management electronics 22 have MN and H inputs to read the content of the position counters of the 6 and 10 hour hands, and access by parallel COR for the control signals produced by displacements of a time-setting rod.
  • the signals supplied to the COR access means 22 management electronics are produced by a circuit 24 interpretation of the position and the displacement of the control rod. These time setting signals allow to order a display correction either minute per minute, either whole hours, either of these corrections can be made in one direction or the other. Operation of the control rod and circuit 24 will not be described in detail here since the person skilled in the art already knows devices for this guy.
  • Patent EP-0 175 961 in particular describes a control rod associated with an interpretation circuit can easily be adapted for use with the timepiece described here.
  • the counter 25 is a counter by twenty-four which is intended to count the time zone changes corresponding to operations of correction for whole hours carried out by the user using the control rod.
  • the electronic management means 22 also include three outputs Mmn Mh and Mdir for delivering pulses to the motors 18, 19 and 20 and an output C for managing the state of two switches 26, 28 arranged at the input of the first two circuits of power 12, 14 and arranged to transmit to them either the pulses applied to the inputs of the position meters of the minute hands 6 and hours 10 when the switches are in a position referenced a , or the pulses delivered by the electronic management means 22 when the switches are in a second position referenced b .
  • Electronic management means can be advantageously produced in the form of a circuit integrated with a programmed microcontroller.
  • the man of the trade will know, from the indications provided here, programming the microcontroller, so that make him perform the functions described.
  • the electronic management means are inactive, the switches 26 and 28 are in the position referenced a and the motors 18, 19 receive the pulses applied to the inputs of the hand position counters. minutes and hours 6, 10.
  • the elements which have just been described make it possible on the one hand to correct the time displayed by the hands and on the other hand to keep an account of the time difference with respect to a reference time zone to allow the subsequent determination of the longitude in accordance with the method of the present invention.
  • the user activates the time correction function by pulling the rod.
  • the outward movement of the rod causes the transmission by the interpretation circuit 24 of a signal to the access COR of the electronic management means 22.
  • the reception of this signal by the electronic management means 22 causes the passage of switches 26 and 28 in state b .
  • the electronic management means emit a signal on a standby line (designated by the indication reset in the figure) for the division chain 4 so that it no longer provides the signal for incrementing the 6 and 10 hour hand position counters.
  • the interpretation circuit 24 then sends pulses corresponding to the various manipulations of the rod by the user, to the input COR of the electronic management means 22 which, in turn, send control pulses to increment or decrement the counters position of the minutes 6 and hours 10 hands and to simultaneously control the motors 18 and 19 to move the hands either conventionally, minute by minute, or optionally by whole hours.
  • the interpretation circuit 24 supplies a deactivation signal to the electronic management means 22 which in turn supply a signal by their output C for switch switches 26 and 28 to state a . Simultaneously the signal on the standby line of the dividing chain returns to zero and the latter begins again to supply the signal for incrementing the position counters of the hands 6, 10.
  • the legal time of some countries is halfway between two time zones.
  • the time difference between these country and their neighbors is therefore half an hour.
  • the latter is planned to take into account these particularities of the political geography.
  • the skilled person will know how to replace the shift counter without problem timetable 25 by a modulo 48 counter and modify simultaneously the interpretation circuit 24 of movements of the control rod so that the display corrections when changing time zones hours are done in whole half hours instead of do by whole hours.
  • Programming the reference time zone is done by bringing the hour hand and the minutes in a position corresponding to the time of the time zone chosen to be the time zone of reference and then pressing the crown for ten seconds.
  • the pressure on the crown exerted by the user results in a signal supplied to the means management electronics 22.
  • the means management electronics When the means management electronics have detected this signal to their COR input for three seconds, they control the setting to zero the content of the time difference counter 25, this which has the effect of giving the corresponding time zone at the time displayed, the role of the reference time zone.
  • the content of the jet lag 25 corresponds to an indication approximate longitude of where the wearer of the timepiece is located. This content can therefore constitute the time difference data which are necessary to allow electronic means to management 22 to implement the method of this invention.
  • the timepiece still has a module (referenced 30) consisting essentially of three sensors unidirectional magnetic 32, 34 and 36 arranged perpendicular to each other and therefore designed to measure the intensity of a magnetic field exterior in three orthogonal directions.
  • a module consisting essentially of three sensors unidirectional magnetic 32, 34 and 36 arranged perpendicular to each other and therefore designed to measure the intensity of a magnetic field exterior in three orthogonal directions.
  • Two of the sensors are oriented relative to the timepiece so as to measure the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field along two axes parallel to the plane of the dial (not shown) of the coin of watchmaking.
  • One of these two sensors is oriented along an axis parallel to the diameter of the dial which goes through 6 and 12 o'clock, while the other of these sensor 32 is arranged parallel to the diameter of the passing dial by 3 and 9 o'clock.
  • the third sensor 36 of the timepiece is oriented perpendicular to the dial. In this way, when the timepiece is laid flat, i.e.
  • sensors 32 and 34 measure both horizontal components of the Earth's magnetic field Bx and By, and the third sensor 36 measures the component vertical Bz of the same field.
  • the three measured intensities Bx, By and Bz are transmitted conventionally by a bus with electronic management means 22.
  • the means 22 are programmed so as to calculate, from the measured values Bx, By and Bz of the three components of the Earth's magnetic field, the tilt I of this field with respect to the horizontal.
  • the tilt I of the Earth's magnetic field varies with where we are on the surface of the earth. For a given longitude, it is, in principle, a unequivocal function of latitude. Under these conditions, if we know the longitude of where we are as well as the tilt of the Earth’s magnetic field at this location, it is in principle possible to determine unequivocally the latitude of this place.
  • the electronic management means 22 include a non-volatile memory in which a program has been programmed double entry conversion table containing values of the tilt I of the earth's magnetic field in time zone and latitude.
  • the access to this conversion table allows electronic means management 22 determine the latitude value of where the watch user is located, time zone function as provided by the jet lag counter 25, and the tilt of the Earth's magnetic field determined using sensors 32, 34 and 36. So that this determination is possible, it is naturally necessary that the means management electronics 22 have a memory not volatile large enough to store a number sufficient values of the tilt of the magnetic field terrestrial to cover the surface of the earth with a sufficient density. A set of 2000 points distributed more or less uniformly on the surface of the earth is enough to get acceptable accuracy.
  • the timepiece described here is intended to indicate the direction of La Mecca.
  • the coordinates (latitude and longitude) of Mecca are previously programmed in a second non-volatile memory of the means management electronics 22. So once the latitude and longitude of where the room of clockwork is found on the surface of the earth were determined in accordance with what has just been described, the electronic management means 22 can calculate the azimuth corresponding to the direction of Mecca. This last calculation only involves relationships well known trigonometrics. In addition, devices planned to implement this last calculation have already have been described, for example in document DE-A-3412777.
  • the means management electronics 22 are still provided for determine the direction of magnetic north from Bx and By components of the Earth's magnetic field measured by the two horizontal sensors 32 and 34 already described above.
  • the By component of the magnetic field being the component parallel to the direction of the diameter 12: 00-6: 00 on the dial of the timepiece, the ratio of the two intensities Bx and of By provided by a simple trigonometric operation the angle north makes magnetic with the 12 o'clock-6 o'clock axis of the dial of the timepiece.
  • the electronic management means 22 carry out then the sum of the azimuth previously calculated for La Mecca and the angle between magnetic north and the 12 o'clock-6 o'clock diameter of the timepiece. This sum corresponds to the angle between the direction of Mecca and the axis between 12 p.m. and 6 a.m. timepiece.
  • the sum described above does actually correspond to the angle between the direction of Mecca and the axis between 12 p.m. and 6 a.m. shows that to the extent that we admit that the management magnetic north determined by sensors 32.34 east identical to the direction of true geographic north. This is, as is well known, generally not the case.
  • the declination of the magnetic field (angle between north magnetic and geographic north) that we have neglected can be a source of error in the determination of the direction of Mecca. It is possible to eliminate this source of error by providing in the non-volatile memory of the microprocessor a second double entry table containing the declination of Earth's magnetic field for a set of points at the surface of the earth identified by their time zone and their latitude.
  • the method for determining the azimuth of La Mecca can be simplified.
  • the memory not volatile timepiece has only one double entry table providing values directly calculated once and for all from the true azimuth of the Mecca, depending on time zone and incline of the Earth's magnetic field.
  • the timepiece comprises a third motor 20 controlled by a circuit of power 16 and intended to drive the needle direction to make him indicate the direction of La Mecca.
  • the coin also includes a position counter 38 of the steering needle.
  • This counter 38 is a counter by 360 which defines the position of the steering needle relative to the 360 degrees around the coin dial of watchmaking.
  • the electronic management means 22 To make the direction hand indicate the direction of Mecca, the electronic management means 22 first read the content of the position counter 38 of the direction hand, and subtract this quantity from the previously calculated value of the angle between the direction of Mecca and the 12 o'clock-6 o'clock axis of the timepiece. The result of this subtraction corresponds to the number of steps to be taken by the motor 20 to orient the direction needle towards Mecca.
  • the electronic management means 22 control the advance of the motor 20 by sending to the power circuit 16 a number of pulses corresponding to the number of steps to be made by the motor.
  • the pulses delivered by the electronic means 22 for advancing the motor 20 simultaneously increment the position counter of the steering needle 38. In this way, the content of the counter 38 always corresponds to the position of the steering needle on the dial.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electric Clocks (AREA)
  • Navigation (AREA)
  • Electromechanical Clocks (AREA)

Claims (5)

  1. Uhr umfassend eine Zeitbasis (2), die Ortszeit anzeigende Anzeigemittel, Mittel (24) zum Einstellen der Ortszeit, Mittel (22, 24, 25) zum Bestimmen des Zeitunterschiedwertes zwischen der Ortszeit und der Zeit in einer Referenzzeitzone, wobei die Anzeigemittel zudem zum Anzeigen einer geographischen Information vorgesehen sind, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß sie umfaßt:
    Mittel (22) zum Umwandeln des Zeitunterschiedwertes in einen Näherungswert der örtliche Länge, wobei die Länge einen ersten Teil der durch die Anzeigemittel der Uhr angezeigten geographischen Information darstellt,
    Mittel (30) zum Bestimmen der Neigung des Erdmagneffelds im Vergleich zur Horizontalen, und
    Mittel (22) zum Umwandeln der Neigung des Erdmagnetfeldes in einen Näherungswert der örtlichen Breite, wobei die Breite einen zweiten Teil der geographischen Information darstellt, wobei diese Mittel (22) den Näherungswert der örtlichen Länge berücksichtigen.
  2. Uhr nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Mittel zum Bestimmen des Zeitunterschiedwertes einen Zeitunterschiedzähler (25) umfassen, welcher zum Erfassen aller mittels der Mittel (24) zum Einstellen während einer Zeitzonenänderung hervorgerufenen Änderungen in der Zeitanzeige vorgesehen ist, wobei der Inhalt des Zählers (25) dem Zeitunterschiedswert entspricht.
  3. Uhr nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß sie eine Bezugsebene umfaßt und daß die Mittel (30) zum Bestimmen der Neigung des Magnetfelds drei magnetische, in einer Richtung messende, zum Messen der orthogonalen Komponenten des Erdmagneffelds ausgebildete Sensoren (32, 34, 36) umfassen, von denen zwei in der Referenzebene so angeordnet sind, daß das Bestimmen der Neigung des Erdmagneffelds im Vergleich zur Horizontalen ermöglicht wird, wenn die Referenzebene horizontal gehalten wird.
  4. Uhr nach Anspruch 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß sie zudem Mittel (22) zum Berechnen umfaßt, welche zum Berechnen des Azimuts eines vorbestimmten Orts auf der Oberfläche des Globus als Funktion der Näherungswerte der örtlichen Länge und der örtlichen Breite vorgesehen sind.
  5. Uhr nach Anspruch 4, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Anzeigemittel einen Markierer umfassen, daß die Uhr zudem Mittel zum Bestimmen der Richtung des mit den zwei die zwei orthogonalen Komponenten des Erdmagneffelds in der Referenzebene messenden magnetischen Sensoren assoziierten magnetischen Nordens umfaßt, und daß die Mittel zum Berechnen ebenfalls zum Bestimmen der Richtung des vorbestimmten Orts, die mit Hilfe des Markierers angezeigt wird, als Funktion des Azimuts und der Richtung des magnetischen Nordens vorgesehen sind.
EP94119297A 1993-12-23 1994-12-07 Verfahren zur Ortsbestimmung und Uhr zur Ausführung dieses Verfahrens Expired - Lifetime EP0660205B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CH3860/93 1993-12-23
CH03860/93A CH686469B5 (fr) 1993-12-23 1993-12-23 Pièce d'horlogerie permettant de faire le point.

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0660205A1 EP0660205A1 (de) 1995-06-28
EP0660205B1 true EP0660205B1 (de) 1999-03-17

Family

ID=4265031

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94119297A Expired - Lifetime EP0660205B1 (de) 1993-12-23 1994-12-07 Verfahren zur Ortsbestimmung und Uhr zur Ausführung dieses Verfahrens

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US5598381A (de)
EP (1) EP0660205B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH07209012A (de)
KR (1) KR100347991B1 (de)
CN (1) CN1054927C (de)
CH (1) CH686469B5 (de)
DE (1) DE69417186T2 (de)
HK (1) HK1012450A1 (de)

Families Citing this family (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL1001683C2 (nl) 1995-11-17 1997-05-21 Ballad Investment N V Inrichting, werkwijze en systeem voor het bepalen van een tijdstip en/of richting voor gebed.
DE19946169A1 (de) * 1999-09-27 2001-04-05 Heyner Klaus Gerät zur Anzeige von Standort und Richtung zu gewünschten Zielorten
US20110063167A1 (en) * 2009-09-15 2011-03-17 Qualcomm Incorporated Using magnetometer with a positioning system
KR101513772B1 (ko) 2008-10-31 2015-04-22 퀄컴 인코포레이티드 위치확인 시스템을 구비한 자력계의 이용
EP2207011B1 (de) * 2009-01-12 2011-11-09 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Verfahren zur Bereitstellung einer digitalen Kompassfunktion und darauf eingerichtetes tragbares Endgerät
US8887404B1 (en) 2014-05-12 2014-11-18 Jasem Mohammad Ali Rashed alOmani Method and apparatus for displaying the direction of mecca on a wall or corner of a room
CN104317189A (zh) * 2014-11-03 2015-01-28 合肥万合科技信息服务有限公司 一种多功能手表
JP6631357B2 (ja) * 2016-03-28 2020-01-15 セイコーエプソン株式会社 電子時計
CN110687770A (zh) * 2019-10-25 2020-01-14 天王电子（深圳）有限公司 一种基于手表的自动切换时区的控制方法及控制系统

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4136397A (en) * 1977-10-03 1979-01-23 Pierce Darrel J Astronomical timepiece
CH641310B (fr) * 1980-06-10 Spacetronic Sa Montre electronique notamment montre-bracelet, a affichage digital, avec fonctions geographico-solaires.
US5216816A (en) * 1990-03-20 1993-06-08 Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Compass
US5068838A (en) * 1990-07-18 1991-11-26 Klausner Patent Technologies Location acquisition and time adjusting system
FR2681159A1 (fr) * 1991-09-10 1993-03-12 Affaire Dev Systemes Montre a microprocesseur associe a un programme donnant des indications de temps et associee a un indicateur d'orientation.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN1054927C (zh) 2000-07-26
CH686469B5 (fr) 1996-10-15
JPH07209012A (ja) 1995-08-11
DE69417186D1 (de) 1999-04-22
KR950019993A (ko) 1995-07-24
KR100347991B1 (ko) 2002-11-29
US5598381A (en) 1997-01-28
EP0660205A1 (de) 1995-06-28
DE69417186T2 (de) 1999-10-21
CN1113327A (zh) 1995-12-13
HK1012450A1 (en) 1999-07-30
CH686469GA3 (fr) 1996-04-15

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