EP2784607B1 - Watch comprising a flange - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a watch comprising a flange. More specifically, the present invention relates to a watch comprising electrical connection means between an electronic device arranged under the watch glass and a printed circuit board housed in the watch case.

In products such as the wristwatch marketed under the registered trademark T-Touch®, the electrical connection between the structured touch keys on the underside of the glass and the printed circuit board is made by means of elastomeric connectors, also known under the trade name Zébra® connectors.

These elastomeric connectors consist of an alternating succession of conductive layers and insulating layers typically made of elastomer. These elastomeric connectors that provide high density connections of electrical paths are typically arranged between the middle part of the watch and a flange that covers the edge of the dial and that hides the elastomeric connectors with respect to the wearer of the watch when the wearer examines his watch. by the side.

Two components, namely an elastomeric connector and a flange, are therefore necessary to ensure the electrical connection between the touch keys and the printed circuit board.

Moreover, in order to totally hide the elastomeric connectors with respect to the wearer of the watch, it is still necessary to cover the peripheral edge of the glass by means of a bezel or to print an opaque ink layer under the surface of the watch. ice. The lens has the disadvantage of reducing the apparent opening of the ice and to increase the thickness of the watch. This solution also has the disadvantage of not being very aesthetic, especially in the case of ladies' watches. Similarly, the printing of the ink layer under the surface of the ice also has the disadvantage of reducing the apparent opening of the ice. It is also not easy to harmonize the color of the print with that of the dial. Finally, if we look at the ice from the side, there appears a discontinuity in the print.

The document EP 2 477 084 A1 discloses a light guide comprising a slot for guiding and holding a zebra® connector vertically.

The document EP 1 734 422 A1 discloses a connector passing through an insulating gap and connecting an electronic module.

The document EP 1 122 620 A1 discloses a bezel having an inner reinforcement serving as a guide to a zebra® connector.

The document US 2012/0099406 A1 discloses a conductive elastomeric connector or formed using alternating conductive layers and insulating layers.

The document US 2002/00118605 A1 discloses two connectors each formed of a succession of conductive and insulating vertical strips.

The present invention aims to overcome these and other disadvantages by providing a watch comprising means for the electrical connection between an electronic device and a circuit board which are simpler and which are few (or not) visible through the ice of the watch.

For this purpose, the present invention relates to a watch comprising a caseband which delimits with an ice a watch case, the ice comprising an upper face oriented on the side of a user, and a lower face oriented on the side of the watch case, an electronic device being arranged on the lower face of the ice, a map of printed circuit being arranged in the watch case, under the electronic device and at a distance from it, the watch comprising a flange disposed between the ice and the printed circuit board, the watch being characterized in that means for providing the electrical connection between the electronic device and the printed circuit board are structured on the flange.

Thanks to these features, the present invention provides a watch comprising a flange on which are arranged means for electrically connecting an electronic device fixed under the ice of the watch and a printed circuit board housed in the watch case. It is therefore possible, by means of a single component, to combine the functions which, in the prior art, were provided by two separate components. Furthermore, the connection means are little or not visible through the watch glass, thanks to which it is not essential to have to provide a bezel or an opaque ink layer to cover the peripheral edge of the ice . The apparent opening of the watch glass is thus little or not affected at all, so that one can use virtually the entire surface of the dial of the watch, which allows to display the information according to dimensions larger, either to display more such information.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe de la montre selon l'invention, et
• la figure 2 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 1 qui illustre une première variante de réalisation de la montre selon l'invention.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the detailed description which follows of an example embodiment of a watch according to the invention, this example being given purely by way of illustration and not limiting only in connection with the attached drawing in which:

• the figure 1 is a sectional view of the watch according to the invention, and
• the figure 2 is a view similar to that of the figure 1 which illustrates a first embodiment of the watch according to the invention.

The present invention proceeds from the general inventive idea of providing a flange of a watch with means for establishing a bottom of a watch glass and a printed circuit board housed in a watch case. The flange serves to transfer electrical contacts from the electronic device arranged under the window of the watch to the circuit board disposed under and away from the electronic device. It is therefore possible, by means of a single component, to combine the functions which, in the prior art, were provided by two distinct components. Moreover, the top of the flange is virtually invisible to the user, so that, if necessary, it is sufficient for example to print a narrow strip of opaque ink along the edge of the ice to hide this flare. This avoids having to reduce excessively the apparent opening of the watch glass, which makes full use of the surface of the dial of the watch to display the necessary information.

Thanks to these features, the present invention provides a watch comprising a flange on which are arranged means for electrically connecting an electronic device fixed under the ice of the watch and a printed circuit board housed in the watch case. It is therefore possible, by means of a single component, to combine the functions which, in the prior art, were provided by two separate components. Moreover, the connection means are little or not visible through the watch ice, whereby it is not essential to take measures to cover the peripheral edge of the ice to hide the connection means. The apparent opening of the watch glass is thus only slightly affected, so that one can use virtually the entire surface of the dial of the watch, which allows to display the information in more dimensions. large, either to display more such information.

The figure 1 is a sectional view of a watch according to the invention. Designated as a whole by the general numerical reference 1, this watch comprises a middle part 2 which delimits with a mirror 4 a watch case 6.

The window 4 comprises an upper face 8 directed towards the side of a user of the watch 1, and a lower face 10 directed towards the side of the watch case 6. On the lower face 10 of the window 4 is arranged an electronic device. The electronic device can be of any type. It can be a digital display device, for example liquid crystal, or (see figure 1 ) first conductive tracks 12 made of a transparent electrically conductive material such as tin-indium oxide, better known under the name Anglo-Saxon Indium-Tin Oxide or ITO. These first conductive tracks 12 are intended to materialize on the surface of the glass 4 tactile keys sensitive to variations in capacity and allowing the user by means of a finger 14 to introduce instructions in an electronic circuit 16 management touch keys. This electronic management circuit 16 is mounted on a printed circuit board 18 housed in the watch case 6, under and away from the conductive tracks 12. The assembly is completed by an electronic circuit 20 which controls the execution of a function watchmaker or other according to the instructions provided by the electronic management circuit 16.

The conductive tracks 12 define first electric contact pads 22 that it is necessary to transfer from the lower face 10 of the lens 4 to the printed circuit board 18. The printed circuit board 18 has second electrical contact pads 24 corresponding to the first electrical contact pads 22 and which are connected to the electronic management circuit 16. As illustrated in FIG. figure 1 , there is provided for this purpose a flange 26 of generally circular shape disposed under the window 4 of the watch 1. This flange 26 is made of a non-electrically conductive material and comprises means which must make it possible to ensure the connection between a first and second electrical contact pad 22 and 24. In a preferred but non-limiting embodiment of the invention, these electrical connection means consist of second conductive tracks 28 which come into contact with the first pads. electrical contact 22 on the one hand, and with the second electrical contact pads 24 on the other hand. The assembly is completed by a dial 30, for example metal, supported by the flange 26.

In the case where the flange 26 is made of an electrically nonconductive material such as a plastic material, the second conductive tracks 28 may be made for example by photolithographic structuring of an ITO layer. The second conductive tracks 28 may also be made for example of copper, silver or aluminum by means of a method such as a laser treatment method making it possible to obtain a device known as the English Molded Interconnect Device or MID. Subsequently, the second conductive tracks 28 are structured by an electroplating process. Alternatively, it is also possible to structure the second conductive tracks 28 at the surface of the flange 26 by printing an electrically conductive ink. It is also conceivable to achieve the flange 26 by a bi-injection method of a plastic material and a conductive material followed by an electroplating step.

For better electrical contact between the second conductive tracks 28 and the second contact pads 24, contact pads or bumps 32 may be structured on the lower surface 34 of the flange 26. It may also be envisaged to mount the movement (not shown ) of the watch 1 prestressed so that this movement slightly forces the flange 26 towards the ice 4 of the watch 1. Similarly, the flange 26 itself can be mounted elastically prestressed to promote electrical contact between the second conductive tracks 28 and the first contact pads 22.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the figure 2 attached to this patent application. It is possible that the first electrical contact pads 22 defined by the first conductive tracks 12 under the surface of the glass 4 are in large numbers, for example sixteen. It can then be difficult to directly contact the sixteen conductive tracks 28 of the flange 26 with the second electric contact pads 24 structured on the printed circuit board 18. This is why it is expected to mount directly on the flange 26 the circuit management electronics 16 to the input of which are connected the sixteen conductive tracks 28 of the flange 26. As output the electronic management circuit 16 comprises at most four or five ports, namely two ports for power and two or three ports for the multiplexing bus, it is easier to connect the outputs of this electronic management circuit 16 rather than the conductive tracks 28 to the second electrical contact pads 24 of the printed circuit board 18. The electrical connection between the outputs of the circuit Management electronics 16 and the second electrical contact pads 24 are typically made by means of mechanical electrical contact elements 36 which can come from material with the circuit board 18.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments which have just been described and that various modifications and simple variants can be envisaged by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the claims appended to the present application. patent. In particular, it will be understood that the electronic device arranged on the lower face 10 of the lens 4 may be a digital display device such as a liquid crystal display cell. Such a liquid crystal display cell comprises a front substrate and a rear substrate extending parallel and at a distance from one another and joined together by a sealing frame which delimits a sealed volume for the confinement of the crystal. liquid. The two front and rear substrates are arranged between a first and a second polarizer whose polarization directions are crossed. The assembly formed by the two substrates and the two polarizers is glued by means of an optical adhesive layer on the lower face 10 of the glass 4 of the watch 1. The dimensions of the front substrate exceed those of the rear substrate. This makes it possible to provide a contact surface on which conductive tracks open for the electrical connection of the control electrodes of the display cell with the electronic control circuit 20 of the cell. The electronic device arranged on the lower face 10 of the ice 4 may also be a solar cell, for example formed of thin strips of amorphous silicon sufficiently thin and spaced apart so as not to be perceptible to the naked eye.

Claims (8)

1. Watch comprising a middle part (2) which, with a crystal (4), delimits a watch case (6), the crystal (4) comprising a top face (8) facing the user, and a bottom face (10) facing the watch case (6), an electronic device being arranged on the bottom face (10) of the crystal (4), a printed circuit board (18) being disposed inside the watch case (6), underneath and remote from the electronic device, the watch including a flange (26) which is disposed between the crystal (4) and the printed circuit board (18), the watch being characterized in that means for ensuring the electrical connection between the electronic device and the printed circuit board (18) is structured on the flange (26).
2. Watch according to claim 1, characterized in that the flange (26) is made of a non-electrically conductive material.
3. Watch according to claim 2, characterized in that the electrical connection means includes second conductive paths (28).
4. Watch according to claim 3, characterized in that the second conductive paths (28) are made of ITO, copper, aluminium or silver.
5. Watch according to any of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the electronic device includes first conductive paths (12) which form tactile keys.
6. Watch according to claim 5, characterized in that the first conductive paths (12) define first electrical contact pads (22), which are transferred from the bottom face (10) of the crystal (4) to the printed circuit board (18), in that the printed circuit board (18) includes second electrical contact pads (24) which match the first electrical contact pads (22), and in that the second conductive paths (28) come into contact with the first electrical contact pads (22) on the one hand, and with the second electrical contact pads (24) on the other hand.
7. Watch according to claim 6, characterized in that an electronic control circuit (16), one input of which is connected to the second conductive paths (28), is mounted on the flange (26), an output of the electronic control circuit (16) being connected to the second electrical contact pads (24) of the printed circuit board (18).
8. Watch according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the electronic device includes a digital display device or a solar cell.

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