EP2397922A1 - AM/PM display device for timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

The disk (1) has a graphic display comprising surfaces (3, 4) with decorations delimited between a hub (5) centered on a rotation axis (2) and a periphery (6) of the disk by boundary curves (7, 8). Each of the curves is tangent to the periphery, and includes a concavity from the periphery toward the hub. The concavities of the curves have same direction relative to rotation direction (A) of the disk. A radial line originating from the axis intersected in the surfaces passes through one of the curves between the hub and the periphery. An independent claim is also included for a timepiece comprising a movement arranged to drive a twenty-four hour wheel.

Description

The invention relates to a disk for the AM / PM display, rotating in twenty-four hours around an axis of rotation, for a timepiece.

The invention relates to an AM / PM display device for a timepiece, comprising such a rotary disc in twenty four hours and a window on a dial arranged to be integrated into a timepiece.

The invention also relates to a timepiece comprising such a device.

The invention relates to the field of timepieces, and especially those which include a visual display of the hour over twelve hours, and which are the most widespread.

The user may, in certain circumstances, and especially during a long trip, lose his bearings, and have difficulty recognizing whether his timepiece displays the day or the night, or the morning or the post- at noon, hereinafter respectively designated by universal use by AM and PM. In the rest of the talk, we will call "AM / PM display" a visual display highlighting the time of the day in relation to the hour of noon.

Numerous devices are known for solving the first problem of day-night display, generally based on a disc, connected to a twenty-four hour wheel of the timepiece, and a colored part of which is visible through a wicket, with differentiated colors for day and night.

The problem remains unresolved for the transitional phases of dawn and dusk, for which the user does not have information. to differentiate them, and does not know how to be in relation to the hour of noon.

The present invention therefore proposes to bring a solution to the problem of displaying the instant relative positioning with respect to the noon time.

To this end, the invention relates to an AM / PM display disk, rotating in twenty-four hours around an axis of rotation, for a timepiece, and comprising a graphic display comprising a first surface and a second surface juxtaposed , contiguous, and similar in shape, said first surface having a first decoration corresponding to the day, and said second surface a second decoration corresponding to the night and different from said first decoration, characterized in that said first surface and said second surface are delimited, between a hub centered on said axis of rotation and the periphery of said disk, by a first boundary curve and a second boundary curve each substantially tangent to said periphery and each having a single concavity from said periphery to said hub, said first boundary curve and said second curve curve having their concavities in the same direction compared to the direction of rotat ion of said disk, and any radial output of said axis of rotation intersecting successively, first one of said two first and second surfaces, then the other, and passing through, between said hub and said periphery, only one of said boundary curves .

According to one characteristic of the invention, said first boundary curve and said second boundary curve are identical to each other.

According to one characteristic of the invention, said first boundary curve and said second boundary curve are semicircles tangent to both said periphery and said hub, the point of tangency with said hub being on the opposite side to that hub. facing its point of peripheral tangency.

According to one characteristic of the invention, said disc comprises radial graduations defining in pairs an amplitude time range. defined, on either side of the representation of the midi of said disk, at least on all of said first surface.

According to one characteristic of the invention, said time ranges are hourly, or two-hourly.

According to a feature of the invention, said disc has concentric graduations to highlight a better visibility of the day and the night.

According to a characteristic of the invention, said disc comprises a symbol positioned at the midi time of the disc.

The invention also relates to an AM / PM display device for a timepiece, comprising such an AM / PM display disk and a window on a dial arranged to be integrated into a timepiece, said disk being visible. partially through said window, characterized in that said axis of rotation is outside or tangent to said window, and in that said window is of lenticular shape and substantially symmetrical with respect to an axis of symmetry passing through said axis of rotation.

According to one characteristic of the invention, said axis of symmetry is arranged parallel to the six o'clock-noon axis of said timepiece.

According to one characteristic of the invention, the amplitude of said aperture in a direction perpendicular to said axis of symmetry defines a time range limited to a few hours so as to visualize the time of day, with respect to the noon hour, at approximately more or less two hours around the present moment.

The invention also relates to a timepiece comprising a movement arranged to drive a twenty-four hour wheel that includes such a device, characterized in that it comprises a dial or a bearing surface of said window, window of which axis of symmetry is arranged parallel to the axis six o'clock in the afternoon of said timepiece.

Thus, the AM / PM display is made with a single disc.

During the daytime range, thanks to a progressive end-of-night indicator near the hub of the disc, and to a progressive night-start indicator on the periphery of the same disc, the user immediately determines the proximity, respectively of the blade and the blade. of twilight. This progressivity is symmetrical.

• la figure 1 représente, de façon schématisée et en vue en plan, un disque d'affichage AM/PM selon l'invention, dans un mode préféré de réalisation ;
• les figures 2 à 5 représentent, de façon analogue à la figure 1, d'autres modèles de disques selon l'invention ;
• les figures 6 à 13 représentent, de façon schématisée et en vue en plan, un dispositif d'affichage AM/PM selon l'invention, comportant un guichet derrière lequel est mobile en rotation le disque de la figure 1, dans une séquence dans laquelle la figure 6 illustre la nuit, la figure 7 l'aurore, la figure 8 le début de matinée, la figure 9 la fin de matinée à l'approche de midi, la figure 10 le début d'après-midi, la figure 11 la fin d'après-midi, la figure 12 le crépuscule, et la figure 13 la tombée de la nuit ;
• les figures 14 à 20 représentent, de façon schématisée et en vue en plan, un dispositif d'affichage AM/PM selon l'invention, comportant un autre type de guichet derrière lequel est mobile en rotation le disque de la figure 1, dans une séquence dans laquelle la figure 14 illustre la nuit, la figure 15 l'aurore, la figure 16 le début de matinée, la figure 17 la fin de matinée à l'approche de midi, la figure 18 le début d'après-midi, la figure 19 la fin d'après-midi, et la figure 20 le crépuscule.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows, with reference to the appended figures in which:

• the figure 1 shows schematically and in plan view an AM / PM display disk according to the invention, in a preferred embodiment;
• the Figures 2 to 5 represent, in a similar way to figure 1 other models of disks according to the invention;
• the Figures 6 to 13 show schematically and in plan view, an AM / PM display device according to the invention, comprising a window behind which is rotatable disk of the figure 1 , in a sequence in which the figure 6 illustrates the night the figure 7 the dawn, the figure 8 early morning, the figure 9 late morning at the approach of noon, the figure 10 the early afternoon, the figure 11 the late afternoon, the figure 12 twilight, and the figure 13 nightfall;
• the Figures 14 to 20 show, schematically and in plan view, an AM / PM display device according to the invention, comprising another type of window behind which is rotatable the disk of the figure 1 , in a sequence in which the figure 14 illustrates the night the figure 15 the dawn, the figure 16 early morning, the figure 17 late morning at the approach of noon, the figure 18 the early afternoon, the figure 19 the late afternoon, and the figure 20 Twilight.

The invention relates to the field of timepieces, and especially those which include a visual display of the hour over twelve hours, and which are the most widespread. It relates more particularly to a display allowing the user to know if the present moment is the morning or the afternoon, and to estimate the difference with respect to the hour of noon.

• la position jour/nuit ;
• les phases transitoires d'aube et de crépuscule ;
• la position matin/après-midi au sein du jour.

A rotating disk 1 is in continuous rotation and performs a revolution in 24 hours, and includes a graphic display, intended to allow the user to estimate:

• the day / night position;
• the transitional phases of dawn and dusk;
• the morning / afternoon position within the day.

The invention thus relates to an AM / PM 1 display disc for a timepiece, rotating in twenty four hours about an axis of rotation 2, in a direction of rotation A, preferably the direction of the hands of a shows. This disk 1 comprises a graphic display comprising a first surface 3 and a second surface 4 juxtaposed, contiguous, and of similar shape. The disk 1 is designed to be seen partially through a window 20 of a display device 100 arranged to be integrated into a timepiece.

The first surface 3 comprises a first decoration corresponding to the day, and the second surface 4 a second decoration corresponding to the night and different from the first decoration. These decorations are very different from each other, for example in flat colors evoking one night like black, and the other day like blue or a light shade.

According to the invention, the first surface 3 and the second surface 4 are delimited, between a hub of radius r centered on the axis of rotation 2, and the periphery 6 of radius R of the disk 1, by a first boundary curve 7. which symbolizes the passage from night to day, and a second border curve 8 which symbolizes the passage from day to night. These two boundary curves 7 and 8 are preferably each substantially tangent to the periphery 6, and each have a single concavity from the periphery 6 to the hub 5.

The first boundary curve 7 and the second boundary curve 8 have their concavities in the same direction relative to the rotation direction A of the disc 1, as visible on the Figures 1 to 5 .

Any radial coming from the axis of rotation 2 cuts successively, first one of the first two and second 4 surfaces, then the other, and only between the hub 5 and the periphery 6, only one of the curves borders 7 and 8. Thus, as visible on the figure 1 a radial 9 issuing from the axis 2 first passes through the first surface 3 corresponding to the day, then the second boundary curve 8, then the second surface 4, before reaching the periphery 6. While a radial 10 issuing from the axis 2 first passes through the second surface 4 corresponding to the night, then the first boundary curve 7, then the first surface 3, before reaching the periphery 6.

A radial from the axis 2 parallel to the six o'clock axis of the timepiece displays the daytime share and the night portion at the moment considered.

In sum, each of the boundary curves corresponds to a growth of the radius as a function of the angle at the center of the disk, since its contact with the hub 5 to its contact with the periphery 6, without any cusp point.

The boundary curves 7 and 8 have a spiral shape, and can respond to different geometric definitions. A simple way of making the drawing, in a particular embodiment as visible in the figures, is to realize them in the form of semicircles, tangent to the periphery 6, and secants or tangents with the hub 5. In the latter case, the point of tangency with the hub 5 is on the side of the latter opposite to that facing its point of peripheral tangency. The radius of these semicircles is between the minimum R / 2 value to avoid any reversal, and the maximum value (R + r) / 2 and which corresponds to a preferred embodiment of a boundary curve tangent to the hub 5 of the opposite side to that of its point of tangency with the periphery 6, this maximum boundary curve also meeting the requirement for a given radial to cut only one boundary curve between the hub and the periphery. Naturally, other profiles are possible without departing from the invention.

In a preferred embodiment, as visible in the figures, the first boundary curve 7 and the second boundary curve 8 are identical, and offset from a certain angle to the center α. Of course, this angle α, which illustrates the relative proportion of day and night during a 24-hour day, depends both on the latitude of the place and the time of the year. It is obviously possible to multiply the disks, with for example a different disk per season, and to move a cache including the wicket 20, and having a sequence of 3 months, for each moment to obscure three disks and let appear the fourth these discs can all be driven permanently by the same wheel 24 hours of movement of the timepiece. The available space generally does not allow such a multiplication of the disks, it can be limited to a mean representation, as visible in the figures, wherein the first day surface 3 is greater than the second night surface 4, and where the angle α is therefore less than 180 °.

The AM / PM display proposed by the invention is a deliberate display that allows the user to quickly identify the time of day when he is in a situation where he can lose his usual bearings as the notion of time, for example during a stay of several days in artificial lighting, or during the Arctic night, or travel, or other. The precise display of the time remains done by the display of the timepiece, and what is useful to the user is to know instantly, by a graphic display, if the time is in the morning, or evening or at night.

It is possible, in a variant, to use disc 1 without a hub, the value of radius r is then zero, and the boundary curves 7 and 8 pass through axis 2. Preferably, they are half-circles of radius R / 2.

The disk can still have, as in the example of the figure 1 , radial graduations 11 defining two by two a time range of defined amplitude, on either side of the representation of the midi of the disc, made in particular by a particular graduation 12, for example a double line as visible on the figure 1 , at least on the whole of the first surface 3. These time ranges can be hourly, or bi-hourly more easily readable on a disc of small diameter. The user can, thus, estimate the time range separating it from the hour of noon.

The disc 1 may also include concentric graduations 13 to highlight a better visibility of the day and the night.

Preferably, for rapid viewing, the disc 1 has a symbol 14 positioned at the noon hour of the disc.

The invention also relates to a display device AM / PM 100 for a timepiece, comprising such an AM / PM display disc 1 and a window 20 on a dial 21 arranged to be integrated into a timepiece. The disc 1 is partially visible through this aperture 20. According to the invention, the axis of rotation 2 of the disc 1 is outside or tangential to the aperture 20, and this aperture 20 is of lenticular shape and substantially symmetrical with respect to an axis of symmetry 22, which passes through this axis of rotation 2.

This axis of symmetry is preferably arranged parallel to the axis six o'clock in the afternoon of the timepiece in which the device 100 is incorporated.

Preferably, the surface of the aperture 20 farthest from the axis of rotation 2 of the disk 1 is circular and corresponds to the periphery 6 thereof.

Preferably, the hub 5 of the disk 1 is not visible and is hidden by the window.

When the disc rotates in the direction of rotation A time, and the aperture 20 is located above the axis of rotation 2 of the disc 1, the portion of the disc 1 visible to the right in the aperture 20 illustrates the past, then that the part of the disk 1 visible on the left in the window 20 illustrates the future.

The amplitude of the aperture 20, in a direction perpendicular to this axis of symmetry 22, defines an amplitude of time limited to a few hours, 4 to 5 hours, for example, so as to visualize the time of day, with respect to the time from noon, to about plus or minus two hours around the present moment.

From the axis 2 towards the periphery 6, the user always sees, during the day, on the right of the window 20, a part of the second surface 4 of night decoration near the axis 2 in the morning; this part of the night scenery disappears around noon, a part of night scenery reappears in the afternoon, but this time on the periphery 6 and no longer near axis 2 (the night "falls") .

From the axis 2 to the periphery 6, the user always sees, during the night, on the right of the window 20, a part of the first day decoration surface 3 near the axis 2 at the beginning of the night after the twilight; this part of the daytime scenery disappears towards the midnight hour, a part of daytime scenery reappears at the end of the night, but this time on the periphery 6 and not near the axis 2.

The invention also relates to a timepiece comprising a movement arranged to drive a twenty-four hour wheel that includes such a device 100. This timepiece comprises a dial 21 or a bearing surface of the window 20, a counter with the axis of symmetry is arranged parallel to the axis six o'clock in the afternoon of this timepiece.

In short, the AM / PM display is made with a single disk 1.

During the daytime range, thanks to a progressive late-night indicator near the hub 5 of the disc 1, as visible on the Figures 7, 8 , 15 and 16 , and to a progressive indicator of beginning of night at the periphery 6 of the same disc 1, as visible on the Figures 11, 12 , 18, and 19 , the user immediately determines the proximity of dawn and dusk, respectively. This progressivity is symmetrical.

In an alternative embodiment, the display device 100 comprises a device for adjusting the disk in angular position, so as to display the true solar time offset from the legal time.

In another variant embodiment, it comprises a device for orienting the disk by a time equation cam.

Claims (11)

An AM / PM display disc (1) rotatable in twenty-four hours about an axis of rotation (2) for a timepiece, and comprising a graphic display comprising a first surface (3) and a second surface ( 4) juxtaposed, contiguous, and similar in shape, said first surface (3) having a first decoration corresponding to the day, and said second surface (4) a second decoration corresponding to the night and different from said first decoration, characterized in that said first surface (3) and said second surface (4) are delimited, between a hub (5) centered on said axis of rotation (2) and the periphery (6) of said disk (1), by a first boundary curve (7) and a second boundary curve (8) each substantially tangent to said periphery (6) and each having a single concavity from said periphery (6) to said hub (5), said first boundary curve (7) and said second boundary curve (8). ) having their concavities in the same direction relative to the direction of rotation (A) of said disk (1), and any radial output of said axis of rotation (2) cutting successively, first one of said two first and second surfaces, then the other, and not passing between said hub (5) and said periphery (6), only one of said boundary curves. AM / PM display disc (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said first boundary curve (7) and said second boundary curve (8) are identical. AM / PM display disk (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first boundary curve (7) and said second boundary curve (8) are semicircles tangent to both said periphery ( 6) and said hub (5), the point of tangency with said hub (5) being on the side of the latter opposite to that facing its point of peripheral tangency. AM / PM display disk (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises radial graduations (11) defining two by two a range of time of defined amplitude, on either side of the representation of the midday of said disk (1), at least on all of said first surface (3). Display disk AM / PM (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said time ranges are hourly, or two-hourly. AM / PM display disk (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises concentric graduations (13) to highlight a better visibility of the day and the night. AM / PM display disk (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a symbol (14) positioned at the noon hour of the disk (1). An AM / PM display device (100) for a timepiece, comprising an AM / PM display disk (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, and a window (20) on a dial arranged to be integrated with a timepiece, said disc (1) being partially visible through said aperture (20), characterized in that said axis of rotation (2) is outside or tangent to said aperture (20), and in that said aperture ( 20) is of lenticular shape and substantially symmetrical about an axis of symmetry (22) passing through said axis of rotation (2). AM / PM display device (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that said axis of symmetry (22) is arranged parallel to the six o'clock-noon axis of said timepiece. An AM / PM display device (100) according to claim 9, characterized in that the amplitude of said aperture (20) in a direction perpendicular to said axis of symmetry (22) defines an amplitude of time limited to a few hours so as to visualize the time of day, compared to the noon time, more or less two hours around the present moment. Timepiece comprising a movement arranged to drive a twenty-four hour wheel that includes at least one Device (100) according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that it comprises a dial or a bearing surface of said window (20), window (20) whose said axis of symmetry (22) is arranged in parallel to the axis six o'clock in the afternoon of said timepiece.

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