EP0667004B1 - Radio-controlled clockwork - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP93/02983 Sec. 371 Date Apr. 26, 1995 Sec. 102(e) Date Apr. 26, 1995 PCT Filed Oct. 27, 1993 PCT Pub. No. WO94/10612 PCT Pub. Date May 11, 1994A radio-controlled, analog display clockwork has at least two pointers and is driven by an electric driving arrangement. A pointer setting arrangement is provided for the user to bring the pointers of the clockwork to a predetermined position which corresponds to a certain time. Starting from said predetermined pointer position, the control device applies control signals to the driving arrangement, causing the pointers to move more quickly until they have reached a position which corresponds to the instantaneous time.

Description

The present invention relates to a radio-controlled clockwork with at least two hands, a method for setting and the use of such a clockwork.

In most countries, the time is nominated by radio signals that are broadcast by a central transmitter. In the Federal Republic of Germany e.g. the time standard is supplied by an atomic clock from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, which controls the transmission of time signals via a long-wave transmitter.

In the prior art, so-called radio clocks are known which can also be used in the private sector, which process the signals from this long-wave transmitter and which therefore always display the exact time. These watches usually work with a digital display using light emitting diodes or liquid crystals. Such a clock is known for example from DE 28 02 040 A1.

Radio clocks that work analogously have also become known for some time, i.e. a dial with two or three hands is used for the display.

In the case of such clocks, a special constructive solution requires setting the time when the clock is started up, for example after a battery change and when the clock is adjusted, when larger time intervals have to be bridged, as is the case, for example, when changing from summer to winter time and vice versa.

Radio clocks are controlled by a control device which receives the time signals from a radio receiving device. In order to bring the pointers into the correct position on the basis of the signals received, this control unit must receive information about the position of the pointers at this point in time. For this it is necessary to provide devices for recognizing the pointer position.

The pointer position detection is usually carried out in such a way that a special position is defined in the drive wheels which are assigned to the individual pointers, for example by means of a bore which is provided with a corresponding sensor device, e.g. a light barrier, cooperates. The holes are usually provided so that the hands are exactly in the 12 o'clock position when the light from the light barrier penetrates the hole.

As soon as the clock is to be reset, these drive wheels are rotated until they reach this defined position and then brought into a pointer position corresponding to the current time.

A radio clock according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from the work "Funkuhren" by Wolfgang Hilberg (ed.), Published in 1983 in Munich and Vienna, pages 104-109. This radio clock uses a retro-reflective sensor to determine the position of the hands. The method disclosed there Adjusting the clock mechanism provides that the setting process is started with an electrical switching device, that the pointers are then moved until their position is determined by the reflection light barrier and that the pointers then move out of this position at a higher speed than normal clockwork operation are counted, the number of current pulses that are supplied to a drive device to move the pointers. The setting process is stopped as soon as the number of pulses output matches the number of pulses required to reach the current time. This current time is determined by evaluating the time signals received by a radio receiver. The watch has a stepper motor for the hour hand and a stepper motor for the minute hand.

The setting process is relatively unproblematic if the watch has two or three motors, as in the version described. Such clockworks are very complex and expensive in design and also require a lot of space. In addition, they require a relatively large amount of electricity. The use in smaller watches, for example in wristwatches, is therefore generally not an option.

In the case of clockworks which have only one motor, the pointer position detection devices are very complex in terms of production and also in terms of the space required in relation to the rest of the construction. Another disadvantage is the long operating time required for single-motor clockworks. The electrically operated drive devices of such clockworks are used for the drive power required to move the pointer designed. If the pointers move faster during the adjustment process, a higher drive power is required. In order not to make the drive device too large, the speed of the actuating gear must be limited, for example to a movement at sixteen times the usual speed. This means that the adjustment by one hour for a single-motor clockwork takes almost 4 minutes. A further increase in speed is ruled out, because otherwise the pointers cannot decelerate in the detected starting position due to the moment of inertia.

For example, if the hands are in the 2 o'clock position when the device is restarted, it takes 37 minutes for a single-engine clockwork alone until the hands are in the position in which the pointer position is detected.

Carrying out pointer position detection also causes problems with the battery capacity. As long as the pointer position detection process continues, the light-emitting diodes of the light barriers must be supplied with electrical energy at regular, short intervals. This energy must be taken from the battery, which leads to a rapid depletion of the, relatively expensive, battery, particularly in wristwatches. But also with other clocks, for example with alarm clocks or wall clocks, a lot of energy is required by the hand position detection.

EP-A-0 372 432 shows an autonomous radio-controlled clock which works with mechanical parts (pointers or numerical drop-down flaps) and in which, after actuation of a reset or start switch, the current time display is moved to a position corresponding to 0.00 hrs . After receiving time information, the time display is moved to the corresponding position in rapid traverse.

EP-A-0 204 851 shows a clock with an analog time display, in which a hand position detection is not provided. In this watch, an electronic counter is provided, which begins at the beginning of an hour in the zero position and counts the pulses supplied to the second hand every second until the counter reading 3599 is reached and a new hour begins. With the help of a time signal arriving every hour on the hour or every day, the advance or lag of the second hand is compensated for by this counter.

Conrad Elektronik GmbH, Hirschau, Germany, has sold a radio clock module under the designation DCF 77, which according to the instructions for use consisted of a time signal receiver with which the time information was received, decoded and digitally displayed with an LCD. One or more electrical analog clocks could be controlled with the help of control outputs.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a clockwork which, on the one hand, is constructed in a space-saving manner and with little effort, and which, on the other hand, is reliable and requires little energy allows the current time to be set. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for operating such a clockwork.

This object is achieved by a clockwork according to claim 1.

The method according to the invention is the subject of claim 8.

The preferred use of such a clockwork is the subject of claims 12 to 14.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The construction for the construction of an analog-displaying radio clock is drastically reduced by the invention. As a result of the design according to the invention, it is no longer necessary to provide a pointer position detection device even in the case of a single-motor clockwork.

Rather, the pointers are brought into a predetermined position by a mechanical device to be operated by the user. This position can be, for example, the 12 o'clock position of all hands. However, the starting position of the hands is preferably selected to be variable, in such a way that it corresponds to the elapsed full hour. However, this variant presupposes that the user has a different clock, which at least enables a rough display of the time.

Because the hands have to be brought into their starting position by the user, the time becomes Setting the clock significantly reduced.

It is also not necessary to provide a device for recognizing the pointer position. This significantly reduces the construction work for the clockwork and considerably reduces power consumption.

If, as in the preferred embodiment, a variable starting position of the pointer is selected, which e.g. corresponds to the elapsed full hours, the positioning times that the clockwork needs to move the hands from this starting position to the current position are significantly reduced and is a maximum of approx. 5 minutes.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the clockwork according to the invention is provided with three hands. In this case there are preferably two externally accessible setting devices for the pointers. The first actuating device for the second hand contains an electrical switch, by means of which the drive device is temporarily set in operation. It is thus possible to move the second hand electrically into the starting position, preferably the 12 o'clock position, with the aid of the drive device. If this e.g. at four times the usual rotation speed, this setting takes less than 15 seconds. The user then moves the hour and minute hands to the predetermined position.

This embodiment has the advantage that the connection between the drive device and the second hand, which is usually produced by a toothing, is not interrupted for setting the clock must become.

Alternatively, a mechanical setting device for the second hand can also be provided.

• Fig. 1 eine Explosionsdarstellung eines erfindungsgemäßen Uhrwerks, wobei die Zeiger allerdings nicht mit dargestellt sind,
• Fig. 2 eine Explosionsdarstellung des Laufwerks, wie es in dem Uhrwerk gemäß Fig. 1 verwendet wird, und
• Fig. 3 eine elektronische Baueinheit zur Steuerung des Uhrwerks.

Further advantages, features and possible uses of the present invention result from the following description of an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawing. In it show:

• 1 is an exploded view of a clockwork according to the invention, but the pointers are not shown,
• Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the drive, as used in the clockwork of FIG. 1, and
• Fig. 3 shows an electronic unit for controlling the clockwork.

An embodiment of the clockwork according to the invention, in which the pointers have been omitted for the sake of clarity, is described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The clockwork shown has a housing 1 consisting of plastic, in which a compartment 3 for a commercially available battery is provided by a housing wall 2.

A bore 7 is provided in the bottom of the housing 1, into which the plastic hour wheel 10 is inserted during assembly, which is provided with a hollow cylindrical shoulder 11 on which the hour hand is placed.

In the longitudinal bore 12 of the hour wheel, the minute wheel 15 is inserted, which also has a hollow cylindrical extension 16 which penetrates the hollow cylindrical extension 11 of the hour wheel and on which the minute hand is placed. An intermediate wheel 18 is provided for transmitting the rotary movement from the minute wheel 15 to the hour wheel 10, the transmission taking place in a ratio of 1:60.

In the assembled state, the shaft of the second wheel 20, which is arranged in a separate preassembled part, the drive 22, engages in the hollow cylindrical projection 16 of the minute wheel.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the drive 22 consists of a holding plate 23 in which an electric drive 24 consisting of a stator arrangement 25, a rotor 26 and a coil 27 is held.

A gear 30 is arranged on the rotor 26, concentrically to the latter, which transmits the rotary movement of the rotor to the second gear 20 via the intermediate gears 32 and 34. A cover plate 36 holds the parts of the drive together in the assembled state.

The constructive structure of such a drive described so far is known to the person skilled in the art from commercially available quartz clockworks and therefore need not be explained in detail.

The housing 1 is closed on its side facing away from the dial with a cover 40. In this cover 40 there is an opening 42 in which an adjusting wheel 43 is provided for setting the minute hand and hour hand.

Furthermore, a first electrical switch 44, a second electrical switch 46 and a third electrical switch 48 are located in the cover, the function of which will be described below.

The clock is controlled by an electronic module 50, the construction of which will now be explained with reference to FIG. 3. The electronic assembly has a radio receiving device 52 which is connected to an antenna 53. The radio receiving device is intended to receive the signals of a transmitter that transmits time signals.

In the time transmitter used in the Federal Republic of Germany, the time signals are broadcast every second. A so-called time telegram, from which the date and time are derived, is additionally transmitted at predetermined time intervals.

The structure of such a radio receiving device is known in the prior art and need not be explained further.

The signals of the radio receiving device are transmitted to a control device 55, which is implemented by a conventional microprocessor. The control device 55 is controlled by a program which is stored in a memory 56.

The device also has a quartz controller 58 so that the clock can also be operated when no signals are received from the time transmitter.

It should be pointed out that one or more of the aforementioned components, for example control device 55 and Memory 56, can be combined into a block.

The first electrical switching device 44, the second switching device 46 and the third electrical switching device 48 are also connected to the microprocessor.

The function of this movement is now explained below:

During the normal functioning of the clock, the signals from the time transmitter are received by the radio receiving device 52 and forwarded to the microprocessor 55. The microprocessor outputs corresponding pulses via which the drive device 28 is controlled. The output of a pulse means that the rotor 26 rotates a full or half revolution depending on the design. This causes the second wheel 20 to move forward 6 ° clockwise. The rotary movement of the second wheel, correspondingly reduced, is transmitted to the minute wheel and the hour wheel.

The clock must be adjusted when the watch is started up for the first time or after an interruption in operation, for example due to a battery change. The embodiment offers two different possibilities for this adjustment, which depend on the position of the switch 48. In the first alternative, the seconds and minute hands are set to "12" and the hour hand to the time that corresponds to the full elapsed hour. For example, if the time to be set is 5:30 a.m., the clock is set to 5:00 a.m.

In the second alternative, all pointers to "12" posed.

The setting of the second hand is carried out by the electrical switch 44. When the switch is activated, the microprocessor outputs signals to the drive device 28 in rapid succession, which cause the drive device 28 to advance rapidly. As soon as the second hand has reached the 12 o'clock position, the switch 44 is returned to its starting position and the second hand is held in this position.

Then, depending on the position of switch 48, the minute and hour hands are moved to the 12 o'clock position or the position of the previous full hour. This is done mechanically by the user using the adjusting wheel 43. As soon as the pointers are in the correct starting position, the switch 46 is actuated, which outputs a start signal to the processor 55, by means of which the time setting process begins.

The control device now waits until it has received the first time telegram from the radio receiving device 52. When the controller operates according to the first alternative, it calculates the time difference between the 12 o'clock position and the current time and, from this, the number of pulses required to move the clock at that time. The pulses required for this are then output in rapid succession, for example four pulses per second, so that the setting process for an hour takes a total of 15 minutes. The pulses are counted and serve the processor as a measure of the position of the pointers. Since the time continues during the setting process, the number must the pulses required to move from the original pointer position to the current time are adjusted accordingly. The setting process continues until the current time is reached.

If the second alternative is followed, the processor assumes that the hands are in a position which corresponds to the last elapsed hour. Again, the difference between the current time and the time given by the pointer position is determined and the drive is subjected to a number of pulses in order to bring the hands into the required position of the current time.

The advantage of the first alternative is that no reference time is required for this, since the entire setting is from a fixed pointer position, namely e.g. 12 o'clock, goes out. The disadvantage, however, is that the setting can take a long time. Since clockworks of the type discussed here can generally only run in one direction, namely forward, high response times occur.

The second alternative has the disadvantage that the current time must be known approximately. In contrast, however, it has the advantage that the response time is very short. If, for example, sixteen pulses per second are used for setting, this means that the maximum setting time for this alternative is only about 5 minutes.

In the first exemplary embodiment described above, three electrical switches 44, 46 and 48 are provided. In a simplified second exemplary embodiment, this switch 48 is omitted. In this exemplary embodiment, the setting method is preferably used used, which assumes the setting of the elapsed full hour. As explained, this has the advantage that short response times result. In contrast, the disadvantage that the clock must be known approximately does not play a role, since in regions in which such time transmitters are installed, the time is generally also available.

In a third exemplary embodiment, the electrical switching device 44, which is used to set the second to 12 o'clock, is omitted. In this exemplary embodiment, the second is then set by the user using a mechanical setting device. In order to accelerate the setting, two setting devices can also be provided, in which the first acts on the minute and hour hands and the second only on the second hand.

In a third exemplary embodiment, all electrical switching devices are omitted. In this embodiment, the clockwork then only has one or two mechanical setting devices with which the user sets the desired time to be specified, preferably the full elapsed hour. To prevent the watch from operating during the setting process, the battery is removed. As soon as the hands are set to the specified value, the battery is inserted again and the clock starts as soon as the control device receives the signal for the full minute from the radio receiving device.

The advantage of this embodiment is its extremely simple structure.

The aforementioned embodiments of the Clockwork according to the invention can be used in different clocks, in wall clocks, grandfather clocks, alarm clocks and in wristwatches.

Depending on the space requirement, available battery capacity and ease of use can be selected from one of the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments.

When used as an alarm clock, the clockwork according to the invention can be coupled with a conventional mechanical alarm trigger. It is also possible to couple the alarm clock with an electronic alarm trigger. In this case, however, an LCD display must be provided in order to set and display the alarm clock.

If the clockwork according to the invention is installed in a wristwatch, the crown is used as a mechanical setting device for the time. The switch 46 is then designed as a switch which is actuated by disengaging and reinserting the crown. In this case, the clock starts to run as soon as the crown is inserted.

As stated, a quartz mechanism is preferably used in all the exemplary embodiments, which outputs control signals to the control device, with the aid of which the time can be controlled when no radio signal is available or when the radio signal cannot be received temporarily. In a further development of the invention, which can be combined with all of the aforementioned exemplary embodiments, the control signals basically process the signals output by the quartz device. In this case, the radio receiving device is only used at predetermined time intervals, for example once an hour. activated to synchronize the displayed time according to the received time and to correct the time if necessary. The advantage of this embodiment is that the power consumption is further reduced, which is of particular interest for wristwatches and alarm clocks.

The use of a quartz movement has the further advantage that it can be used to calculate how long the time has been since the start of the setting process. This is important if the radio clock does not receive a signal for a long time at the start of the setting process. Is the current time e.g. 10.55 a.m., the user must set 10.00 a.m. as the starting time for the hand setting. If it now takes, for example due to a temporary fault, 10 minutes until the first radio signal is received and the hand position can be set, the watch would assume a hand position from 11 a.m. and would therefore only adjust the hands by 5 minutes with respect to the starting position . This would, however, result in a false report of 1 hour.

If, on the other hand, the quartz clock is used to check the length of the setting process, the processor can calculate back that the predefined pointer position was set at 10.55 a.m. The control device 55 can determine from this that the preset pointer position is 10 a.m. and cause a corresponding pointer movement.

Claims (14)

1. Radio-controlled analog display clockwork working willant pointer position detection with:

   at least two pointers,

   a current source,

   a driving arrangement (24), driving the pointers,

   a mechanic pointer setting arrangment (43, 44, 46) to be actuated by the user,

   a control device (55) supplying control signals for controlling this driving arrangement (24),

   a radio receiver arrangement (52), receving time signals from a time transmitter and passing them on to the control device (55), this current source, this driving arrangement (24) this control device (55), and this radio receiving arrangement (52) being arranged in one common housing,

   characterized in that
   the control device (55) applies control signals to the driving arrangement (24) on the basis of a predetermined starting position of the pointers, into which they are moved by the user by means of this pointer setting arrangement (43,44,46) corresponding to a certain time, resulting in an increased pointer speed, until a pointer position is reached corresponding to the instantaneous time.
2. Clockwork according to claim 1, characterized in that this predetermined starting position cannot be changed.
3. Clockwork according to claim 2, characterized in that this predetermined starting position can be changed depending on the relevant instantaneous time.
4. Clockwork according to claim 2 and claim 3, characterized in that a switching arrangement (48) is provided, permitting the arrangement to be switched from a first setting alternative, where the predetermined starting position is fixed, to a second setting alternative, where the predetermined starting position depends on the instantaneous time.
5. Clockwork according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the predetermined starting position dependent on the instantaneous time, corresponds to the past full hour of the instantaneous time.
6. Clockwork according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a third pointer is provided, designed as pointer for the seconds and that a first switching arrangement (44) is provided, permitting the second pointer to be switched to an increased rotary speed by means of the driving arrangement (28), in order to move this second pointer into this predetermined starting position.
7. Clockwork according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a 2nd switching arrangement (46) is provided, permitting the user to start the time setting procedure, performing the movement of the pointers from the predetermined starting position to the pointer position corresponding to the instantaneous time.
8. Procedure for setting an analog display radio clockwork according to claim 7, characterized by the following procedure steps:

   stopping the clockwork, such that the pointers do no longer move,

   moving the pointers into a predetermined starting position by a setting wheel (44) to be actuated by the user, which is a part of said mechanical setting arrangement (43, 44, 46)

   starting the setting procedure with this electric switching device (46) ;

   fixing the instantaneous time by evaluating the time signals received from a radio receiver by means of this control device (55),

   moving the pointers at an increased speed out of this predetermined starting position, counting the number of current impulses, supplied to this driving arrangement (24) for pointer movement,

   comparing the number of impulses emitted with the number of impulses required for reaching the instantaneous time,

   terminating the setting procedure, as soon as the number of impulses has been put out, required for moving the pointers into a position corresponding to the instantaneous time,

   continuation of the normal clockwork operation.
9. Procedure according to claim 8, characterized in that this predetermined starting pointer position is predetermined invariably.
10. Procedure according to claim 8, characterized in that the predetermined starting pointer position depends on the instantaneous time.
11. Procedure according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that a pointer for the seconds is provided, electrically transferable to this predetermined pointer starting position by means of the driving arrangement (24).
12. Use of a radio-controlled clockwork according to one of claims 1 to 7 for the manufacture of a wall or Grandfather's clock.
13. Use of a radio-controlled clockwork according to one of claims 1 to 7 for the manufacture of an alarm clock.
14. Use of a radio-controlled clockwork according to one of claims 1 to 7 for the manufacture of a wristwatch.

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