EP1324162B1 - Manuelle Steuervorrichtung zum Ausführen der Funktionen einer elektronischen Uhr - Google Patents

Manuelle Steuervorrichtung zum Ausführen der Funktionen einer elektronischen Uhr Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1324162B1
EP1324162B1 EP20020080209 EP02080209A EP1324162B1 EP 1324162 B1 EP1324162 B1 EP 1324162B1 EP 20020080209 EP20020080209 EP 20020080209 EP 02080209 A EP02080209 A EP 02080209A EP 1324162 B1 EP1324162 B1 EP 1324162B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sensors
sensor
watch
activated
sensitive
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EP20020080209
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP1324162A1 (de
Inventor
Jean-Charles Guanter
Gian-Carlo Poli
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Asulab AG
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Asulab AG
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Priority claimed from EP01205179A external-priority patent/EP1324160A1/de
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
    • G04G21/00—Input or output devices integrated in time-pieces
    • G04G21/08—Touch switches specially adapted for time-pieces
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
    • G04G11/00—Producing optical signals at preselected times

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a manual control device for executing the functions of an electronic watch.
  • the watch may be for example an analog watch which comprises, in a housing closed by a glass, a watch movement powered by a power source, a dial and hour indication hands, and at least one display at liquid crystal to view data.
  • the device comprises a determined number of sensors having a touch sensitive range of each sensor is disposed on an inner or outer face of the watch glass.
  • each sensor can be activated by a finger of a user placed on the glass in a determined area of the corresponding sensitive range of the sensor.
  • An electronic circuit receives the signals from each sensor to perform specific control of an activated sensor.
  • the invention also relates to an electronic watch which comprises such a manual control device for performing functions.
  • the execution of functions of the watch concerns, for example, the input of data, in particular for the composition of notes, addresses of an address directory, for appointments of a calendar, or for the setting of the time and date.
  • functions for modifying or deleting stored data for consulting various menus or stored data, time slots to program, alarms or wireless data transmission.
  • the document EP 0 791 868 in the name of the Applicant concerning a data entry device of an electronic watch.
  • the device comprises a keypad each associated with a sensitive range of a capacitive type sensor which is disposed on an inner face of the glass.
  • Each sensor is intended to control the input of data associated with the corresponding key when a user's finger is placed on the glass in a determined area of the sensitive range of the sensor to be activated.
  • the transparent sensitive areas of the sensors are distributed within an outline delimited by the watch glass, for example about twenty sensitive areas. They can constitute two crowns and a sensitive beach in the center.
  • the sensitive ranges As the number of sensitive ranges is relatively large, it is proposed to shift the sensitive ranges towards the bottom of the glass to correct the visual perception of the user when he wants to put a finger on a specific sensor. To do this, the sensitive areas of an upper part are larger than the sensitive areas of a lower part of the watch glass.
  • a disadvantage of the solution described in the document EP 0 791 868 is that it is difficult to put a finger on a single sensitive range of a sensor to activate without influencing neighboring beaches as a large number of sensitive ranges are distributed on the inner face of the glass.
  • the sensitive areas are not in direct contact with each other, but are separated by a short distance much smaller than the size of each range. Thus even by shifting the sensitive areas on the glass, the handling of such a device requires a certain skill, which makes it difficult to enter data.
  • each sensor is intended to introduce only one data namely a character, a number, a symbol or an operator, which limits the scope of application. such a device.
  • the device for identifying a manual action of this document is not used for the execution of various functions controlled by the action of at least one sensor. set of sensors.
  • the main purpose of the invention is therefore to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a manual control device for executing functions which is easy to handle with the aid of a small number of sensors.
  • This device with this reduced number of sensors sensitive to the touch can be used for example in the edition or consultation of different forms of an electronic organizer integrated in an electronic watch.
  • the subject of the invention is a manual control device for executing the functions of an electronic watch of the type cited above, in which, in a first mode selected by the circuit electronics, at least two sensors are grouped so that the electronic circuit performs the same operation when a finger is placed on the glass in a specific area of the sensitive range of one or the other sensor, while in a second mode selected by e electronic circuit, each sensor activated by the finger provides measurement signals to the electronic circuit for performing a different specific operation for each sensor.
  • An advantage of the manual control device for executing functions is that it comprises a small number of sensors, for example less than 10, whose sensitive areas are arranged on the inside or outside of the glass. of the watch. These sensitive areas are arranged to allow a user to control the execution of functions easily and intuitively. With this limited number of sensors, the sensitive ranges are for example separated each by a distance greater than or equal to the dimension of a sensitive range. Thus, it is possible to put his finger on a sensitive range of a single sensor without influencing other nearby sensors, which can facilitate the processing of signals in the electronic circuit.
  • the sensors may be of the capacitive or resistive type.
  • Another advantage of the control device according to the invention is that at least two sensors can be grouped by the electronic circuit to perform the same operation or function. Paired sensor array may be useful to facilitate the selection of a menu in a mode determined by the electronic circuit.
  • seven sensors may be available for control functions, programming, editing or consultation of stored data.
  • four sensors may be grouped in pairs to leave only five sensor sensing ranges for performing specific functions.
  • the two pairs of sensors are dissociated to allow the execution of a specific function of each of the seven sensors.
  • the device can be used to complete fields of notes, addresses, calendar, or parameters.
  • a field can contain up to 63 alphanumeric characters.
  • the seven sensors available it is therefore possible to easily introduce a large number of fields to be memorized for each type of card. For example, almost 2000 notes or diary.
  • the liquid crystal display (s) is (are) preferably located in a central part of the watch face, the various sensitive areas to be activated for viewing and editing plugs are arranged at the periphery of the lens.
  • a sensitive range of a sensor is instead located in the center of the glass so as to serve in particular for the selection of menus and validate the data input, and to control the electronic circuit to separate the pairs of sensors in a mode d 'edition.
  • the subject of the invention is also a watch in which the liquid crystal display and the sensitive ranges of the sensors are arranged in such a way as to make visible the data displayed on the display when certain sensors are activated by the sensor finger. 'an user.
  • the following description relates to a manual control device for executing functions of an electronic calendar watch of the analog type.
  • a manual control device for executing functions of an electronic calendar watch of the analog type.
  • the use of such a device is obviously not limited to this type of watch, but can be used for any electronic watch having for example at least one liquid crystal display for viewing data entered or stored.
  • the agenda watch 1 comprises a housing, defined by a middle-bezel 3 and a bottom 3 ', a glass 4 closing the housing, a bracelet 10 fixed to the housing, and locking means, such as a push-button 9 can be used to activate the manual control device.
  • the glass can be a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
  • a watch movement 17 powered by a power source such as a battery 15 or accumulator, which drives needles 7 on a dial 8 for the indication of time, and two liquid crystal displays 5 and 6 of the matrix type for displaying data.
  • the energy source may consist for example of two silver oxide batteries connected in series at 1.55 V each and of the RENATA 350 type.
  • the two liquid crystal displays 5 and 6, having a substantially rectangular display surface, are preferably of equivalent size. These displays 5 and 6 are attached to the back of the dial 8 and appear in two openings of the dial 8 located above and below the needle drive rod 7.
  • the two displays are used mainly to display data or various menus when the manual control device is in an operating mode. The data or menus are displayed in a direction perpendicular to the length of the bracelet 10.
  • the agenda watch further comprises a printed circuit board 16.
  • On this plate 16 are mounted two drive devices 5 'and 6' displays, which are each connected by a flexible strip of 5 "and 6" conductive tracks at each display 5 and 6, the motor 17 of the watch movement, the electronic circuit 14 for processing measurement signals of the manual control device, and an RF module 18.
  • the positive pole of the battery 15 or the accumulator is connected to a positive supply terminal of the printed circuit board 16, while the negative pole GND of the battery 15 is connected to the bottom 3 'of the metal housing.
  • the RF module 18 is connected by a connector 19 to an antenna 2 for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency signals.
  • a communication can be established for example with a computer station or another not shown watch for the bidirectional transmission of calendar data signals.
  • the antenna 2 is preferably placed under the dial 8 at its periphery.
  • the antenna For a transmission in the 433.9 MHz ISN band, for example, the antenna consists of a single circular turn defining a circle of the largest possible diameter in order to present the maximum possible gain in the given size of the watch. .
  • Icons 13 representative of a menu, an operation or a program to be performed, are arranged on the dial 8 around each liquid crystal display 5 and 6.
  • the icons placed above the first display 6 represent for example data privacy, editing mode, alarms and battery status.
  • the icons placed below the first display 6 represent, for example, the menus notes, addresses, calendar, transmission and parameters.
  • the icons placed above the second display 5 represent, for example, operations for editing, canceling data entry, deleting data or inserting characters.
  • the icons placed below the second display 5 represent for example in an editing mode, uppercase characters, lowercase characters, numbers, symbols or accents.
  • the electronic circuit 14 is for sending control signals to each driver 5 'and 6' so that at least one pointer 12 on either of the displays 5 and 6 appears designating a menu icon. , the selected operation or programming.
  • the manual control device for performing functions comprises a plurality of sensors C1 to C7 of the capacitive type.
  • the transparent sensitive areas of the sensors are arranged on an inner face of the glass 4.
  • the number of sensitive areas is preferably equal to seven for the execution in particular of all the functions of the agenda as explained below with particular reference to Figures 4a and 4b .
  • Touch sensitive ranges are represented on the figure 1 by circles in broken lines.
  • marks 11 are placed on the inner face of the glass 4 so as to indicate the position of each sensitive range, as well as a function of each sensor C1 to C7.
  • a sensitive range of a first sensor C1 is placed in the center of the glass 4.
  • Two second sensors C2, C3 have their sensitive areas disposed at the periphery of the glass respectively at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock.
  • Two third sensors C4, C5 have their sensitive range disposed at the periphery of the glass around the indication 3h.
  • two fourth sensors C6, C7 have their sensitive range disposed at the periphery of the glass around the indication 9h.
  • the third and fourth sensors C4 to C7 are grouped in pairs so as to have activation zones of the sensors located at the center, at 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9h and 12h.
  • this first selected mode it is possible to perform the functions of selecting or consulting menus or various calendar sheets when the sensors are activated by a finger of a user.
  • the pairs of sensors are dissociated so that each sensor controls a different specific function to the electronic circuit 14 when they are activated.
  • Each sensitive area is a circular electrode of the same size. All sensitive areas C1 to C7 are separated by a distance greater than or equal to the diameter of each electrode. Thus, a finger of a user 20 can be placed on the glass 4 in a determined area of a sensitive range of a single sensor to be activated without influencing the other nearby sensors.
  • the sensitive areas C1 to C7 disposed on the inner face of the glass 4 are each connected by a transparent conductive wire 21 to the terminals of a connector 19.
  • the length of all the conductive son, and their width, may be identical.
  • the connector 19 makes it possible to connect the wires 21 to the electronic circuit.
  • the conductive connection of each sensitive range of the sensors C1 to C7 to the electronic circuit has an equivalent resistive value so as to guarantee an equivalent impedance of each non-activated sensor.
  • each sensor C1 to C7 comprises a parasitic capacitor defined by each sensitive range and the housing 3, 3 'which is connected to the negative pole of the energy source 15. All the parasitic capacitors have a substantially equal capacitive value, for example 6.5 pF.
  • the bottom of the metal case 3 When the watch 1 is worn on the wrist of a user, the bottom of the metal case 3 'comes into contact with the wrist to connect the body of the user to the negative pole of the power source.
  • a capacitor By placing a finger on the glass in a determined area of a sensitive range of a sensor to be activated, a capacitor is produced between the sensitive range and the user's finger.
  • the capacitive value of the capacitor produced depends on the position and the contact surface of the finger 20 on the lens 4 facing the sensitive range of the sensor to be activated. In this way, a variable capacitance capacitor is connected in parallel with a corresponding parasitic capacitor.
  • the electronic circuit 14 will therefore measure the capacitive value of each sensor to determine if a sensor is activated. In the case where the sensor is not activated, said electronic circuit only measures the capacitive value of the parasitic capacitor. By cons, when the sensor is activated by the finger 20 near the sensitive range of the sensor, the total capacitive value is greater than a threshold value determined by the electronic circuit to control the execution of a specific function.
  • the manual control device will be described in more detail with reference to the figure 5 .
  • the sensors can also be of the resistive type with sensitive ranges placed on the outer surface of the glass, but in this case the sensitive areas may wear out very quickly when using the control device. manual.
  • the sensitive ranges of the sensors are connected to the electronic circuit by insulated conductor wires. These conductive wires are preferably placed on an inner face of the watch glass with conductive passages through the glass to connect the sensitive areas.
  • the manual control device is in a rest mode when not in use, as well as the liquid crystal displays 5, 6.
  • the sensors are thus rendered inactive in this mode of rest , and the watch only provides the indication of the time. Only by pressing on engagement means, such as the push button 9, said device becomes functional.
  • the hands 7 are driven by the motor 17 so as to occupy a position that does not disturb the vision of data on each display.
  • a first needle may occupy a position close to the indication 9h, while a second needle may occupy a position close to the indication 3h.
  • a counter of a non-represented timepiece circuit may for example count the time during which the device operates to control the motor 17 to return the hands to their initial position indicating the time.
  • the manual control device is placed in an operating mode by pressing the push button 9. Nevertheless, it can be envisaged that the device is placed in the operating mode by activating at least one of the sensors C1 to C7 for a determined period.
  • the watch is in a particularly humid atmosphere, because the sensors may be continuously activated by the presence of water on the watch glass 1. As a result, Unnecessary power consumption can quickly discharge the battery or accumulator of the watch.
  • the functions of the sensors in the first and second modes selected by the electronic circuit are represented. It should be noted that in the first selected mode, the electronic circuit performs the same function when one or the other of the third or fourth sensors C4 to C7 is activated. In the second selected mode, the electronic circuit performs a different function specific for each activated sensor. However, in some steps of menu selection or data entry, some sensors may not control any function to be performed on the electronic circuit.
  • the transition from the first to the second mode can be controlled by activating at least one of the seven sensors.
  • the sensor C1 whose sensitive range is located in the center of the glass can be used to control the transition from the first mode to the second mode.
  • the user's finger must be placed on the glass in a determined area of the sensitive range of the sensor C1, and maintained in this position for a sufficient period of time, for example greater than 2 s, for the electronic circuit interprets the transition from the first to the second mode.
  • the sensors in the first mode are used to perform functions for selecting or consulting menus or various calendar cards, while the sensors in the second mode are used to compose texts, notes, addresses or various messages using character sets to select.
  • the sensor C1 is used in particular to control the entry into a selected menu as soon as the manual control device is in an operating mode.
  • the menu to be selected appears on the LCD displays.
  • the choice of a menu to be selected is performed by the third or fourth sensors C4 to C7.
  • the various menus appear successively on the liquid crystal displays in a determined ascending order.
  • the fourth sensors C6, C7 is activated by the finger, the different menus appear successively on the displays in a decreasing order determined.
  • the second sensors C2 and C3 do not provide any command.
  • the C1 sensor can be activated to enter the menu in question.
  • a pressure on the third or fourth sensors C4 to C7 will scroll the calendar day by day in an increasing direction with one of the third sensors C4, C5 or in a decreasing direction with one fourth sensors C6, C7.
  • the second sensors C2 and C3 are used to scroll the calendar from month to month.
  • a short press on the C1 sensor will confirm the desired day.
  • Different calendar card fields can be accessed by activating sensors C4 to C7 in either direction.
  • the sensor C1 can be activated for a given period of time to enter a mode of editing a field of a calendar card, for example by keeping the finger placed on the glass opposite the sensitive range of the sensor C1 during 2 s. From this moment, the pairs of sensors C4 to C7 are dissociated and thus each sensor will control the execution of a different specific function to the electronic circuit.
  • the C4 and C6 sensors will be used to choose a character set in one direction or in the opposite direction.
  • the sensors C2 and C3 will be used to scroll for example alphanumeric characters in an increasing or decreasing direction.
  • the sensors C5 and C7 will be used to move a cursor in the edited field on one of the displays in an increasing or decreasing direction. Finally, pressing the C1 sensor will finish editing and storing the field.
  • control device can be configured differently from what has just been described above.
  • the purpose of the control device is to provide a small number of easy-to-handle sensors for performing various functions of an electronic watch.
  • the manual control device 30 is composed of the various sensors of the capacitive type C1 to C7, the sensitive ranges of which are arranged on the face interior of the glass, as well as the electronic circuit 31 to 36 for processing the measurement signals supplied by the different sensors.
  • the electronic circuit firstly comprises a multiplexer 31, to the input of which are connected all the sensors C1 to Cn with their parasitic capacitor C1p to Cnp, and a voltage-controlled oscillator 32, 36 connected to the output of the multiplexer.
  • the number n of sensors is preferably equal to 7 in the manual control device of a calendar watch.
  • the task of the multiplexer is to successively and periodically connect each sensor to the input of the oscillator as a function of control bit words 40 supplied by a measurement logic block 33 which follows the oscillator.
  • the oscillator is an RC-type oscillator
  • the capacitive value of each sensor connected to the oscillator will be used to determine the oscillation frequency. This frequency is therefore proportional to the inverse of the value of the total capacity.
  • the frequency of said oscillator is determined only as a function of the capacitive value of the parasitic capacitor C1p to Cnp.
  • the total capacitive value of this sensor is greater than that of the parasitic capacitor alone. This has the effect of reducing the frequency of the oscillator so that the measurement logic block determines this frequency variation of the oscillator for the execution of a specific function.
  • the oscillator is essentially composed of a flip-flop 32 and a programmable current source 36.
  • the flip-flop and the current source are connected to a terminal Vreg of a stable regulated supply voltage which can be fixed for example at 2.1 V.
  • the current source 36 supplies a charge current I to the capacitor connected to the input 42 of the oscillator until the voltage level of the capacitor reaches a high trigger threshold voltage of
  • the current source 36 supplies a discharge current I to the capacitor connected to the input 42 of the oscillator until the voltage level of the capacitor drops to a low trigger threshold voltage of the flip-flop.
  • the manner of producing a charge and discharge current as a function of the output signals of the flip-flop 32 is well known to those skilled in the art in this technical field without it being necessary to further describe the current source 36.
  • Such a current source 36 connected to the Vreg terminal of a regulated supply voltage is to produce a constant current over the entire capacitor charging and discharging range.
  • the charge and discharge signals of the capacitor are thus triangular signals, whereas the signals of output of the flip-flop are pulse signals of substantially rectangular shape.
  • the measurement logic block 33 receives the pulse signals of rectangular shape to determine the frequency of these signals. Depending on the output signals of the flip-flop, the logic block 33 sends a control signal 41 to the power source to switch between the charging current and the discharge current of the capacitor.
  • the logic block 33 comprises a pulse counter which is responsible for counting the number of pulses of the output signal of the flip-flop 32 in a counting time window.
  • This counting window is defined by a clock signal CLK supplied by a frequency divider of the oscillator of the timekeeping circuit of the watch.
  • CLK supplied by a frequency divider of the oscillator of the timekeeping circuit of the watch.
  • the binary count of pulses for example defined on 8 bits, will be used by the measurement logic block to determine whether the sensor connected to the oscillator is activated or not activated by comparison with an expected threshold value.
  • the duration of the counting window may be 8 ms (240 pulses counted), which corresponds to a frequency CLK of 125 Hz
  • the maximum number of pulses counted is less than 255 which corresponds to the maximum number of an 8-bit binary word.
  • this counting window may be adapted to allow counting over a longer period to ensure that one of the sensors has been activated.
  • the measurement logic block 33 will send the control signals 40 to the multiplexer to start an initialization phase.
  • all the sensors C1 to Cn are successively connected to the input of the oscillator to measure the frequency of the oscillator signals for a period determined by the logic block.
  • the result of the frequency measured for each sensor which corresponds to the frequency determined by the parasitic capacitor C1n to Cnp, is sent by the bus 43 to be stored in storage means 35, in particular in a volatile memory RAM 35a.
  • the determined frequency of each sensor will be compared with the stored value to know if the sensor is activated or not activated.
  • a reference capacitor Cref is also provided in the embodiment of the manual control device 30 to connect a reference capacitor Cref to the input of the multiplexer 31.
  • the capacitive value of this capacitor (for example 7.5 pF) is preferably the same or slightly greater than the value of a capacitor parasite.
  • This capacitor can be a discrete component placed inside the watch. In this way, this reference capacitor Cref will be connected to the oscillator successively to the other sensors.
  • This capacitor Cref the capacitive value of which is well defined, will serve essentially to adjust the value of the charging and discharging currents of the current source 36. Moreover, it enables the logic block 33 to make a measurement of the drift. frequency of the oscillator, for example due to the temperature variation.
  • the logic block will transmit binary data over the bus 44 to microprocessor means 34 linked to the storage means 35 for recognition of the specific function to be performed by the activated sensor.
  • the microprocessor means will also operate a write recognition using a program of calendar functions. These microprocessor means will send edited data to be stored in a non-volatile memory EEPROM 35b as a function of the binary data received by the bus 44.
  • the microprocessor means 34 will send LCD control signals through the bus 47 to the liquid crystal display driver to display desired data.
  • data may be received from the RF module over the bus 46 or sent to said RF module for transmission of the data signals to a computer station or other watch.
  • An interlocking signal Sm applied to the microprocessor means will allow the manual control device to switch from a rest mode to an operating mode. This signal Sm is for example generated by the action on the push button.
  • microprocessor means 34 are able to read information stored in unrepresented registers of the measurement logic block 33, or to send configuration parameters to said logic block.
  • the capacitive value of the capacitor Cref is for example stored in one of the registers of the logic block to be read by the microprocessor means.

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Claims (14)

  1. Manuelle Steuervorrichtung (30) für die Ausführung von Funktionen einer elektronischen Uhr (1), welche Uhr in einem durch ein Glas (4) geschlossenen Gehäuse (3, 3') einen Zeitmesserkreis und/oder ein von einer Energiequelle (15) versorgtes Uhrwerk (17) und wenigstens eine Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige (5, 6) zum Sichtbarmachen von Daten umfasst, wobei die Vorrichtung folgende Organe umfasst:
    - eine bestimmte Anzahl Sensoren (C1 bis C7), die jeweils einen berührungsempfindlichen Bereich aufweisen, der auf einer Innen-oder Aussenseite des Uhrglases angeordnet sein kann, wobei jeder Sensor durch einen Finger (20) eines Benutzers aktiviert werden kann, welcher Finger in einer bestimmten Zone des entsprechenden empfindlichen Bereichs des Sensors auf das Uhrglas gelegt wird, um die Ausführung einer spezifischen Funktion zu steuern, und
    - eine elektronische Schaltung (31 bis 36) für die Verarbeitung von Messsignalen, die von den Sensoren geliefert werden, um eine spezifische Steuerung eines aktivierten Sensors auszuführen, wobei die elektronische Schaltung der Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige der Uhr Steuersignale für die Anzeige von Daten, die dem aktivierten Sensor entsprechen, liefern kann,
    welche Vorrichtung dadurch gekennzeichnet ist, dass in einem ersten von der elektronischen Schaltung gewählten Modus wenigstens zwei Sensoren (C4 bis C7) gruppiert sind, damit die elektronische Schaltung eine gleiche Operation ausführt, wenn ein Finger in einer bestimmten Zone des empfindlichen Bereichs des einen oder des anderen Sensors auf das Uhrglas gelegt wird, während in einem zweiten von der elektronischen Schaltung gewählten Modus jeder durch den Finger aktivierte Sensor der elektronischen Schaltung Messsignale für die Ausführung einer spezifischen Operation liefert, die für jeden Sensor verschieden ist.
  2. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die empfindlichen Bereiche der Sensoren über einen Verbinder (19) durch einen jeweiligen Leitungsdraht (21) mit der elektronischen Schaltung verbunden sind, wobei die Länge aller Leitungsdrähte identisch ist.
  3. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die empfindlichen Bereiche (C1 bis C7), die ohne direkten Kontakt zwischen einander sind, auf der Innen- oder Aussenseite des Uhrglases derart verteilt sein können, dass sie das Auflegen eines Fingers auf einen einzigen empfindlichen Bereich eines zu aktivierenden Sensors ohne Beeinflussung der anderen Sensoren ermöglichen.
  4. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die empfindlichen Bereiche (C1 bis C7) in einem Abstand voneinander liegen, der grösser ist als die Abmessung eines empfindlichen Bereichs oder der gleich ist wie diese Abmessung, und dass die Anzahl Sensoren geringer ist als 10, nämlich vorzugsweise gleich 7.
  5. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 4 für eine analoge Armbanduhr, die ein Zifferblatt (8) mit der Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige und Zeiger (7) für die Angabe der Zeit umfasst, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die empfindlichen Bereiche der sieben Sensoren flächengleich sind, dass der empfindliche Bereich eines ersten Sensors (C1) in der Mitte des Uhrglases angeordnet sein kann, dass die jeweiligen empfindlichen Bereiche von zwei zweiten Sensoren (C2, C3) an der Peripherie des Uhrglases bei 6 Uhr bzw. bei 12 Uhr angeordnet sein können, dass die jeweiligen empfindlichen Bereiche von zwei dritten Sensoren (C4, C5) an der Peripherie des Uhrglases um die 3 Uhr-Anzeige angeordnet sein können und dass die jeweiligen Bereiche von zwei vierten Sensoren (C6, C7) an der Peripherie des Uhrglases um die 9 Uhr-Anzeige angeordnet sein können.
  6. Vorrichtung nach einem der Ansprüche 1 und 5 für eine elektronische Agenda-Uhr, wobei die Sensoren der Vorrichtung aktiv sind, wenn die Vorrichtung in einem normalen Funktionsmodus ist, oder sie sind inaktiv, wenn die Vorrichtung in einem Ruhemodus ist, wobei die Uhr Einschaltmittel (9) umfasst, die, wenn sie aktiviert werden, fähig sind, die Vorrichtung in einen normalen Funktionsmodus zu setzen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die dritten Sensoren (C4, C5) und die vierten Sensoren (C6, C7) im ersten gewählten normalen Funktionsmodus paarweise gruppiert sind, um das Nachsehen von Menüs der Agenda, von verschiedenen gespeicherten Adressen-, Notizen-, Parameter- und Agenda-Dateien zu ermöglichen, indem wenigstens ein dritter Sensor oder ein vierter Sensor aktiviert wird, und dass die dritten Sensoren und die vierten Sensoren im zweiten gewählten Modus voneinander getrennt sind, um die Ausgabeaufbereitung von Feldern verschiedener zu speichernder Dateien mit Hilfe von Zeichensätzen zu ermöglichen.
  7. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Sensoren vom kapazitiven Typ jeweils einen ersten Störkondensator (C1p bis Cnp), der durch jeden durchsichtigen empfindlichen Bereich, der auf der Innenseite des Uhrglases angeordnet sein kann, und das Metallgehäuse (3, 3') der Uhr (1) definiert ist, sowie einen zweiten parallelgeschalteten Kondensator umfassen, der durch den empfindlichen Bereich und einen Finger (20) eines Benutzers definiert wird, wenn der Finger in einer bestimmten Zone des empfindlichen Bereichs des zu aktivierenden Sensors auf das Uhrglas (4) gelegt wird, wobei der gesamte kapazitive Wert von der Position und von der Fläche des Fingers, der auf das Uhrglas gegenüber dem empfindlichen Bereich gelegt werden soll, abhängt.
  8. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 7, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die elektronische Schaltung zudem einen alleinigen spannungsgeregelten Oszillator (32, 36), einen Multiplexer (31) zum aufeinanderfolgenden Verbinden jedes Sensors (C1 bis C7) mit dem Oszillator, einen logischen Mess-Block (33) zum Bestimmen der Frequenz der Signale des Oszillators, die vom gesamten kapazitiven Wert jedes mit dem Oszillator verbundenen Sensors abhängt, wobei die Frequenz unter einem Frequenzschwellenwert liegt, wenn ein Sensor durch den Finger eines Benutzers aktiviert wird, während die Frequenz über dem Frequenzschwellenwert liegt, wenn der Sensor nicht aktiviert ist, und Mikroprozessormittel (34) umfasst, die für die Erkennung der auszuführenden Funktion eines aktivierten Sensors mit dem logischen Mess-Block verbunden sind.
  9. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 8, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der spannungsgeregelte Oszillator ein bistabiles Auslösekippglied (32) und eine programmierbare Stromquelle (36) umfasst, um dem Kondensator eines mit dem Eingang des Kippglieds verbundenen Sensors einen Lade- und Entladestrom in Abhängigkeit von den Ausgangssignalen des Kippglieds zu liefern.
  10. Vorrichtung nach einem der Ansprüche 8 und 9, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass ein Referenzkondensator (Cref) über den Multiplexer (31) im Anschluss an die Sensoren mit dem Oszillator verbunden ist, um ein Abstimmen der Frequenz des Oszillators im Vergleich zu einem gespeicherten Referenzfrequenzwert zu ermöglichen.
  11. Elektronische Uhr, die in einem durch ein Glas (4) geschlossenen Gehäuse (3, 3') einen Zeitmesserkreis und/oder ein von einer Energiequelle (15) versorgtes Uhrwerk (17) und wenigstens eine Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige (5, 6) zum Sichtbarbachen von Daten sowie eine manuelle Steuervorrichtung (30) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche umfasst, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige (5, 6) und die empfindlichen Bereiche der Sensoren (C1 bis C7) der Vorrichtung derart vorgesehen sind, dass sie Daten, die bei der Aktivierung von gewissen Sensoren durch den Finger eines Benutzers auf der Anzeige angegeben werden, sichtbar machen.
  12. Uhr nach Anspruch 11 vom analogen Typ, die ein Zifferblatt (8) mit zwei Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeigen (5, 6) und Zeiger (7) für die Angabe der Zeit umfasst, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass Symbole (13) zum Identifizieren einer Funktion oder einer auszuführenden Operation auf dem Zifferblatt in bestimmten Positionen um jede Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige (5, 6) angeordnet sind und dass die elektronische Schaltung für die Verarbeitung der Messsignale der Sensoren jeder Anzeige Steuersignale (LCD) in Abhängigkeit von aktivierten Sensoren liefert, damit wenigstens ein index (12) jeder Anzeige auf eines der Symbole (13) deutet, um eine Funktion oder eine laufende Operation anzuzeigen, wenn die Vorrichtung in Betrieb ist.
  13. Uhr nach Anspruch 12, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sie Mittel (9) zum Einschalten der manuellen Steuervorrichtung (30) umfasst, die, wenn sie aktiviert werden, ermöglichen, die Vorrichtung von einem Ruhemodus in einen Funktionsmodus übergehen zu lassen, und dass die Zeiger (7), wenn die Vorrichtung in einem Funktionsmodus ist, in bestimmte Positionen verlagert werden, derart, dass sie die auf jeder Flüssigkristall-Sichtanzeige angezeigten Daten nicht verdecken.
  14. Uhr nach Anspruch 11, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass Merkzeichen (11) auf der Innenseite des Uhrglases (4) angeordnet sind, um die Stelle jedes empfindlichen Sensorbereichs und/oder eine Funktion jedes Sensors der manuellen Steuervorrichtung (30) anzuzeigen.
EP20020080209 2001-12-27 2002-12-10 Manuelle Steuervorrichtung zum Ausführen der Funktionen einer elektronischen Uhr Expired - Lifetime EP1324162B1 (de)

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EP3839706A1 (de) 2019-12-20 2021-06-23 The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd Verfahren und vorrichtung zur bestimmung der position eines objekts auf einer vorgegebenen fläche

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BE1021995B1 (fr) * 2014-07-09 2016-02-02 Romain Gautiez Montre analogique a commande tactile

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US5088070A (en) * 1991-05-06 1992-02-11 Timex Corporation Selecting apparatus for a multimode electronic wrist instrument
US5528559A (en) * 1995-06-23 1996-06-18 Motorola, Inc. Multiple display timepiece
FR2755269B1 (fr) * 1996-10-25 1998-12-04 Asulab Sa Dispositif d'identification d'une action manuelle sur une surface, notamment pour une piece d'horlogerie
EP1079325B1 (de) * 1999-08-25 2006-04-05 Swatch Ag Uhr mit berührungsloser Steuervorrichtung für eine Computer-Maus

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3839706A1 (de) 2019-12-20 2021-06-23 The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd Verfahren und vorrichtung zur bestimmung der position eines objekts auf einer vorgegebenen fläche

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