EP1094373B1 - Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes - Google Patents

Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1094373B1
EP1094373B1 EP99120680A EP99120680A EP1094373B1 EP 1094373 B1 EP1094373 B1 EP 1094373B1 EP 99120680 A EP99120680 A EP 99120680A EP 99120680 A EP99120680 A EP 99120680A EP 1094373 B1 EP1094373 B1 EP 1094373B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ring
small dimensions
dial
electroluminescent
dimensions according
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
EP99120680A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1094373A1 (de
Inventor
Laurent Kaelin
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.)
ETA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse SA
Original Assignee
ETA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse SA
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ETA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse SA filed Critical ETA Manufacture Horlogere Suisse SA
Priority to AT99120680T priority Critical patent/ATE422067T1/de
Priority to DE69940368T priority patent/DE69940368D1/de
Priority to EP99120680A priority patent/EP1094373B1/de
Publication of EP1094373A1 publication Critical patent/EP1094373A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1094373B1 publication Critical patent/EP1094373B1/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
    • G04B19/00—Indicating the time by visual means
    • G04B19/30—Illumination of dials or hands

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a light-emitting device for illuminating a dial, and more particularly to the circular dial of a small-sized device with an autonomous energy source, such as a timepiece to enable night reading. hourly indices located on the periphery.
  • electroluminescent sheets to illuminate a dial at night.
  • a electroluminescent sheet is cut to the dimensions of the dial of a wristwatch, pierced with a hole in its center for the passage of the axis of the needles, provided with hourly indices by printing or screen printing on the side facing the observer and connected, by flexible connectors welded to each electrode of the electroluminescent sheet, to an electronic circuit provided to provide an appropriate pulsed voltage.
  • connection means which are then formed by a tongue, curved or not, and a bare electrode portion is coated with a conductive ink to avoid or compensate for possible cracking of the electrode to establish at least one contact with the printed circuit.
  • a construction offers the advantage of being relatively simple to implement.
  • it has the drawbacks of having a still high energy consumption, due to the importance of the surface covered, despite the progress made in the design of electroluminescent sheets and excitation circuits, and to restrict the possible aesthetic variations in the dial, variations that are often desired by manufacturers to differentiate their products from those of competitors.
  • the object of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the aforementioned prior art by providing a lighting device by means of a strip-shaped electroluminescent lamp easy to set up and connect to the excitation circuit.
  • the invention relates to a small device comprising a housing in which are housed a movement driving at least one needle facing a scale of a dial, a power source and an electronic circuit capable of supplying a pulsating voltage, said casing being closed by a prolonged dial-side mirror by an annular extension forming a flange, characterized in that a circular clearance is provided inside the base of the flange to receive on the one hand a light-emitting ring formed of a strip having a strip extending beyond the base and a connecting tab, on the other hand a ring of a translucent plastic material mounted in force in the annular clearance to hold the electroluminescent ring at the bottom of the this one.
  • a chronograph watch which comprises conventionally a casing formed by a housing 1, comprising a bottom 2 and a middle part 3 in one piece, closed at its upper part by an ice 4.
  • the bottom comprises a hatch 5 to replace the energy source 6 constituted by a button cell.
  • the caseband comprises a crown 7 and two pushbuttons 8, 9 serving in a conventional manner for setting the time and the chronograph operation, and a third pushbutton 10 for activating the illumination device for night reading Of time. It is obvious that for a watch without chronograph function it would be enough to have a crown and a single push-button, or even just a push-button knowing that there are mechanisms to perform both functions by means of a single control member. Inside the case there is a chronograph movement 14 for driving the needles at the center 12a, 12b, 12c and the counter hands 13a, 13b, 13c, above a dial 11.
  • the chronograph movement is an electronic movement powered by the button cell.
  • the housing 1 also contains an electronic circuit 15 connected to both the energy source 6 and flanges 33, 34 which will make it possible to establish contact with a light-emitting ring 20 by simple assembly.
  • the curved glass 4 has in its portion facing the dial an annular extension forming a flange 17.
  • the flange 17 comprises at its base 18 a small annular shoulder 16 and a substantially rectangular annular clearance 19 and open towards the inside the case 1.
  • the annular clearance 19 comprises against its wall 19a, and all around its periphery, an electroluminescent ring 20 and a ring 30.
  • the ring 20 is obtained by cutting in a light-emitting sheet, such as those available on the market from the company Lumitec (Gais-Switzerland), a strip having substantially the length of the perimeter 19, measured at its wall 19a. The width of this band must be slightly greater than the height of the clearance 19 to form a small strip 21 whose function will be explained later.
  • a tab 22 perpendicular to the strip to enable the connection to be made.
  • this lug 22 is arranged at 1/4 of the length, so as to be able to establish the electrical connection to the 9 o'clock position, where there is no crown or push button, and to have the joining the two ends of the band at the 6h position, which is the least visible in the case of a wristwatch.
  • This tab 22 shown in more detail at figure 5 , has two contact areas 23, 24 formed by the conductive tracks of the electroluminescent sheet. These contact zones 23, 24 are made during the manufacture of a light-emitting sheet, comprising a plurality of imprints having the developed form of the ring 20, removing at the tabs 22 of the structuring steps.
  • the ring 30 After setting up the ring 20 having previously returned the ice 4, operation represented by the arrow 1 on the figure 6 , it is blocked by means of the ring 30 of translucent plastic material, operation represented by the arrow 2.
  • the ring 30 initially has a preform oval, and in the example shown a rectangular section. With particular reference to Figures 3 and 4 it can be seen that the thickness of the ring 30 is such that it is flush with the angle of junction with the window 4 and that its height is slightly smaller than the depth of the annular recess 19.
  • the ice can be manipulated and returned to adjust it to the casing 1, operation represented by the arrow 3 on the figure 6 .

Claims (6)

  1. Gerät mit kleinen Abmessungen, umfassend ein Gehäuse (1), in welchem ein Uhrwerk (14), das wenigstens einen Zeiger (12a, 12b, 12c) gegenüber eine Skala eines Zifferblatts (11) antreibt, eine Energiequelle (6) und eine elektronische Schaltung (15), die eine gepulste Spannung erzeugen kann, untergebracht werden, wobei das besagte Gehäuse durch ein Glas (4) geschlossen wird, welcher auf der Seite des Zifferblatts durch eine ringförmige, einen Höhenring (17) bildende Erweiterung verlängert wird, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass eine ringförmige Ausnehmung (19) im Inneren der Basis (18) des Höhenrings (17) vorgesehen wird, um einerseits einen durch ein Band mit einem Streifen (21), die sich über die Basis und eine Verbindungslasche (22) hinauserstreckt, gebildeten Leuchtring (20), und andererseits einen Ring (30) aus einem durchsichtigen Plastikwerkstoff aufzunehmen, der in die ringförmige Ausnehmung (19) eingepresst wird, um den Leuchtring (20) an deren Boden zu halten.
  2. Gerät mit kleinen Abmessungen gemäss Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der Haltering (30) eine ovale Vorform aufweist, um Ihre Montage zu erleichtern.
  3. Gerät mit kleinen Abmessungen gemäss Anspruch 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der Haltering (30) einen gleichmässigen rechteckigen Querschnitt besitzt, dessen Höhe kleiner als die Tiefe der ringförmigen Ausnehmung ist.
  4. Gerät mit kleinen Abmessungen gemäss Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der durchsichtige Plastikwerkstoff, der den Haltering (30) bildet, beispielsweise Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) ist.
  5. Gerät mit kleinen Abmessungen gemäss Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Zifferblatt (11) eine Oberfläche hat, deren Kontur der des Bodens der ringförmigen Ausnehmung (18) entspricht, von der ein Wert abgezogen wird, der die Dicke des Leuchtringes (20) entspricht, so dass ein Durchgang (27) für die Verbindungslasche (22) zu elastischen Kontaktelementen (33, 34), die mit der elektronischen Schaltung (15) verbunden werden, frei bleibt, und so dass die Binde (21) an ihrem Aussenumfang gegen die Wand (19a) der ringförmigen Befreiung eingeklemmt wird.
  6. Gerät mit kleinen Abmessungen gemäss einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 5, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Gerät von kleinen Dimensionen einen Uhrwerkstück ist, in welchem das Uhrwerk (14) die Zeiger gegenüber eine Skala antreibt, die zu Zeitangaben entspricht.
EP99120680A 1999-10-19 1999-10-19 Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes Expired - Lifetime EP1094373B1 (de)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT99120680T ATE422067T1 (de) 1999-10-19 1999-10-19 Elektrolumineszente vorrichtung zur beleuchtung eines ziffernblattes
DE69940368T DE69940368D1 (de) 1999-10-19 1999-10-19 Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes
EP99120680A EP1094373B1 (de) 1999-10-19 1999-10-19 Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP99120680A EP1094373B1 (de) 1999-10-19 1999-10-19 Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1094373A1 EP1094373A1 (de) 2001-04-25
EP1094373B1 true EP1094373B1 (de) 2009-01-28

Family

ID=8239227

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP99120680A Expired - Lifetime EP1094373B1 (de) 1999-10-19 1999-10-19 Elektrolumineszente Vorrichtung zur Beleuchtung eines Ziffernblattes

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1094373B1 (de)
AT (1) ATE422067T1 (de)
DE (1) DE69940368D1 (de)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102015204381A1 (de) * 2015-03-11 2016-09-15 Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Zeigerinstrument für ein Kraftfahrzeug

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ITTO20070783A1 (it) * 2007-11-06 2009-05-07 Massimo Franzosi Orologio analogico, in particolare orologio da polso, con illuminazione automatica del quadrante a elettroluminescenza

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4250575A (en) * 1979-07-11 1981-02-10 Timex Corporation Illuminator for analog timepiece dial
US4705407A (en) 1986-11-14 1987-11-10 Andre Brien Portable time piece with light diffuser
US4775964A (en) 1988-01-11 1988-10-04 Timex Corporation Electroluminescent dial for an analog watch and process for making it
US4908739A (en) 1988-09-29 1990-03-13 Andre Brien Light diffusing ring for wristwatch
JPH02177290A (ja) 1988-12-28 1990-07-10 Seikosha Co Ltd エレクトロルミネセンス文字板
DE4023693A1 (de) 1989-09-20 1991-03-28 Helmut Moser Anzeigeeinrichtung mit elektrolumineszierender beleuchtung
JP2657159B2 (ja) 1991-12-26 1997-09-24 セイコープレシジョン株式会社 Ｅｌ素子とこのｅｌ素子を用いた時計
US5265071A (en) 1993-02-02 1993-11-23 Timex Corporation Electroluminescent watch dial support and connector assembly
DE69713269T2 (de) 1997-02-20 2003-03-06 Asulab Sa Vorrichtung zur gleichmässigen Beleuchtung des Zifferblattes einer Anzeigeeinrichtung

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102015204381A1 (de) * 2015-03-11 2016-09-15 Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Zeigerinstrument für ein Kraftfahrzeug
DE102015204381B4 (de) * 2015-03-11 2016-11-03 Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Zeigerinstrument für ein Kraftfahrzeug

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1094373A1 (de) 2001-04-25
ATE422067T1 (de) 2009-02-15
DE69940368D1 (de) 2009-03-19

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