Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04C—ELECTROMECHANICAL CLOCKS OR WATCHES
  • G04C10/00—Arrangements of electric power supplies in time pieces
  • G04C10/04—Arrangements of electric power supplies in time pieces with means for indicating the condition of the power supply

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for indicating the state of batteries, intended to equip a watch. Such devices are well known to those skilled in the art.
• US Pat. No. 5,446,702 comprises, in a watch, an electronic circuit for evaluating the charge of its battery, a device for displaying the date and an independent motor for driving this. display device. When this charge drops below a limit value, the electronic circuit orders the motor to drive the display device to a position indicating the end of the battery's life.
• the information thus given is therefore of binary type. The wearer of the watch thus has a few days to change his battery.
• the device according to the invention comprises, in combination: a circuit for determining at least one physical characteristic of the battery varying when it is at the end of its life, a circuit for counting the energy consumed by said watch, a battery capacity evaluation circuit, connected to the determination and counting circuits and arranged to process the information and select the most relevant information originating either from the determination circuit or from the counting, means for displaying the state of the battery, and a circuit for controlling the display means.
• the device in which the device is intended to equip a watch which comprises several electrical components, at least one of which is used to activate a complementary function at the request of the user, the device counting system has a memory in which information relating to the consumption of this component is stored. The counting circuit is arranged so that it sends information relating to the energy consumed to the evaluation circuit each time the additional function, activated on demand, is requested.
• the evaluation circuit it is generally advantageous for the evaluation circuit to be arranged so that it sends the information coming from the counting circuit to the control circuit as long as the information coming from the determination circuit indicates normal operation of the battery. Indeed, in the In most cases, the information coming from the determination circuit varies only when the available energy can only provide a few days of normal operation. By doing so, the watch indicates, during most of the operating time of its battery, information coming from the counting circuit and which is given from the consumption of the various components, while at the end of its life, it is the determination circuit which takes over, so that the information displayed is based on information relating to the state of the battery.
• the display means comprise a needle.
• the control circuit is arranged so that, for a given energy consumption, the movement of the needle is all the more important as the energy available is low. In this way, the reading can be done on a large angle at the end of life, which corresponds to the most critical period.
• the display means further comprise a scale opposite which the needle moves, this scale comprises a first sector, which indicates the available energy, between 100% and a non-zero value and a second sector, which indicates that the battery is at the end of its life.
• the control circuit is arranged in such a way that it brings the needle opposite the first sector exclusively as long as the information coming from the counting circuit is considered to be the most relevant.
• the control circuit is arranged in such a way that the needle is brought opposite the second sector when the evaluation circuit sends to the control circuit an end of life indication order, as soon as the information coming from the circuit determination shows that the physical characteristic of the battery varies.
• FIG. 1 schematically represents a watch fitted with such a device
• FIG. 2 shows a part of the watch face with the means for displaying the state of the battery.
• the watch schematically represented in FIG. 1 comprises, in a conventional manner, a battery 10, an electronic time-counting circuit 12, an electronic alarm circuit 14 and a device for detecting and indicating the state of the battery 16.
• the battery 10 supplies the circuits 12 and 14 as well as the device 16, as shown in the drawing by the thick lines.
• the time counting circuit 12 comprises a time base 18, in general a quartz and its maintenance circuit, a frequency divider 20 ensuring, moreover, a counter function, and an electromagnetic transducer 22, formed of a motor and its control circuit.
• the time base 18 delivers a sinusoidal signal of stable frequency.
• the divider 20 transforms the sinusoidal signal into square pulses and divides the frequency up to 1 Hz or below, depending on the frequency of rotation of the motor.
• the divider 20 also provides a counter function. It is arranged to contain information relating to the second, the minute and the hour of the current time.
• the 1 Hz signals are applied to the motor control circuit, which delivers driving pulses.
• the motor of the transducer 22 comprises a rotor, driven by these driving pulses, which rotates a train of gears, schematically represented at 24, which carries needles ensuring the display of the current time.
• the alarm circuit 14 is formed by a comparator 26, a memory 28, a control 30 and an electroacoustic transducer 32. It is intended to attract the attention of the wearer at a given instant, chooses to advance.
• the comparator 26 is connected to the divider circuit 20, to the memory 28 to the control 30. When there is identity between the contents of the memory 28 and of the counter part of the divider 20, this means that the chosen instant is reached .
• the comparator 26 informs the command 30 which then activates the transducer 32.
• the device for detecting and indicating the state of the battery 16 comprises a circuit 34 for determining the state of the charge of the battery, a circuit 36 for counting the energy consumed by the components of the watch, display means 38, a control circuit 39 display means, and an evaluation circuit 40.
• the circuit 34 determines whether or not the voltage measured under load is less than a limit value which, when reached, means that the battery is reaching the end of its life. It is connected to the terminals of the battery 10 or of a resistor arranged in series at its output, for measuring the voltage, in a conventional manner.
• the counting circuit 36 is connected to the divider 20 and to the control 30. It thus knows the time during which the transducer 32 operates and the number of times that the alarm is activated. It will be noted that it is not necessary for the counting circuit 36 to be connected to the transducer 22, because the latter works regularly, so that its consumption can be evaluated on the basis of information from the divider 20.
• the counting circuit 36 would also be connected to the control circuit of this function, in order to know the time during which it operates.
• the counting circuit 36 includes a memory and a decrementing counter, which have not been shown in the drawing, to avoid overloading it.
• the memory contains information relating to the foreseeable capacity of the battery and to the energy consumption of each of the components of the watch, which will be specified later. This information is introduced during manufacturing.
• the display means 38 are partially shown in FIG. 2. There can be seen a needle 42 and a display scale 44 comprising a first sector 44a opposite which are indications relating to the load, in this case the numbers "100, 50, 20 and 10", and a second sector 44b opposite which the needle 42 is when the battery is at the end of its life.
• the needle 42 is carried by a mobile part of a gear train, itself driven by a stepping motor. Both the motor and the gear train have not been shown, to avoid overloading the drawing.
• the evaluation circuit 40 receives information from both the determination circuit 34 and the counting circuit 36.
• the watch as defined above further comprises control means, making it possible to correct the displayed time and to introduce the times at which the alarm must be activated, which have not been shown, since they are perfectly known to those skilled in the art. It works as follows.
• the time base 18 delivers a signal to the input of the divider 20.
• the latter sends pulses to the motor 22 which drives the gear train 24.
• the divider 20, in its counter part, includes the information relating to the current time, either the minute, the hour, the day, etc.
• the watch control means are, for example, formed of a crown or pushers, which make it possible to modify the information displayed by the hands, by turning the motor 22 at high speed and, simultaneously, correcting the content divider 20.
• the control means also ensure the modification and activation or deactivation of the alarm circuit 14. More specifically, the content of the memory 28 adjusted, thereby recording an alarm time.
• the comparator 26 is put into service so that the control 30 is activated when the content of the memory 28 corresponds to that of the counter part of the divider 20.
• the transducer 32 then emits one or more sound signals informing the carrier, as he had programmed it.
• the counting circuit 36 is provided, in its memory, with information relating to the capacity of the battery, to the consumption of the various components of the watch, as well as to the indication of the charge of the battery. More precisely, the memory contains a value C p corresponding to the charge of the battery and two other values, T m and T a , relating to the consumption of the watch. T m relates to the consumption of the watch in normal operation, that is to say that relating to circuit 12, and T a to the operation of the alarm, that is to say to circuit 14.
• T m and T a are, then, the times necessary for the watch in normal operation, respectively the alarm, to consume 1 ⁇ Ah, or one ten thousandth of the total charge.
• T m could be equal to 3600 seconds, or one hour. This means that the consumption of the watch is 1 ⁇ A.
• T a could be equal to 3.6 seconds, the consumption of the transducer 32 being equal to 1 mA.
• the information relating to the indication relating to the battery charge relates to the values of the state of the decrementer for which the needle must be moved. These values are called jump values in the following description.
• the decrementer When a new battery is inserted, the decrementer is initialized at its nominal value. It is decremented by 1 each time the watch in normal operation has ensured its function during a time T m , or the additional function is activated during a time T a . The state of the decrementer is then compared with the value in memory relative to the indication. Each time that the state corresponds to a jump value, the information is transmitted to the evaluation circuit 40.
• the evaluation circuit 40 receives information from both the determination circuit 34 and the counting circuit 36. As long as the determination circuit informs the evaluation circuit that the battery voltage is greater than the limit value, the evaluation circuit 40 considers the information coming from the counting circuit 36 to be relevant. It then gives the order to the indicator 38, and more particularly to its motor, to drive the needle 42 by one step each time the content of the counting circuit 36 is equal to a threshold value.
• the number of jump values typically between 5 and 25, is equal to the number of steps that the indicator motor 38 so that the needle 42 traverses the angle which corresponds to sector 44a.
• the needle 42 does not enter the second sector 44b until the determination circuit 34 sends the evaluation circuit 26 the information relating to the voltage drop across the terminals of the battery 10. At this time , whatever the position of the needle 42, the latter is brought opposite the sector 44b.
• the device as described can, of course, be the subject of many variants. It is thus possible to provide a counting circuit with an incrementer rather than a decrementer. It is also possible to provide a linear scale for displaying the available energy.
• An equivalent solution can be applied to a watch fitted with a liquid crystal display, of the digital type or by sectors. It is also possible to associate with the watch an additional indication when the battery is reaching the end of its life, for example by making a second hand limp, by flashing a display, etc. It is also possible to interrupt the possible use of certain energy-intensive functions, such as a chronograph, for example.

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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• 2000
  • 2000-10-24 FR FR0013621A patent/FR2815729B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2001
  • 2001-10-19 WO PCT/IB2001/001960 patent/WO2002035296A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 2001-10-19 US US10/398,155 patent/US6958954B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2001-10-19 DE DE60128328T patent/DE60128328D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-10-19 EP EP01978709A patent/EP1247145B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

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