FR2485763A1 - Small battery operated alarm clock - has dial light operated by push button with protective locking lever to prevent wastage of battery power - Google Patents

Abstract

The small battery operated alarm clock (1) has a light (12) in one corner of the face to illuminate the position of the hands. A pushbutton (11) to one side of the face is arranged to operate contacts (14) inside the casing to turn on the light. A sliding control switch (3) is mounted below the pushbutton, so that it may move vertically. In its lower position the word 'ON' is displayed, and the pushbutton may be operated. If the sliding control is moved upwards, an insulating tag (13') is inserted between the pushbutton contacts. This prevents the light being turned on - partic. when the alarm is in luggage, so that the battery power is not wasted. This same sliding switch may also put the alarm in the operational state, or shut it off for travelling.

Description

Small alarm clock with needle lighting device.

 The present invention relates to a small alarm clock comprising a signal transmitter and a movable stop cursor on an external surface of the case, as well as a device for lighting the hands.

 We know from German patent DE-OS 24 01 422 an electronic alarm clock powered by a battery in which is provided for the stop cursor, outside the two stationary positions of "ringing on" (ON) and stopping the ringing "(OFF) a third position beyond the stop position in which the lighting of the hands is on as long as the cursor is held manually in this third position, that is to say is not brought back by the force of a return spring in the ringing stop position. When it comes to small alarm clocks in the form of travel alarm clocks that can be carried in a bag, there is a danger that the cursor is pushed momentarily unintentionally and without being noticed in the lighting position, which quickly depletes the battery and which can cause the travel alarm to no longer be in a position to operate at the decisive moment, namely when the battery that powers the lighting must also supply current to the sound device and / or to the movement of the hands.

 Taking into account this drawback, the invention aims to constitute the lighting control device so as to make any unintentional lighting impossible, and this with simple constructive means.

 According to the invention, this problem is solved essentially by the fact that an alarm clock of the type mentioned in the preamble is provided with a maneuver blocking device connected to the stop slider and cooperating from the rear with a switch. lighting.

 The fact that when it is a small electronic alarm clock designed for travel you can start from the idea that the cursor is in the off position when you carry the alarm clock in a pocket of clothing or in a bag, it is ensured by virtue of the locking coupling of the invention provided between the stop cursor and the lighting switching device to avoid an involuntary consumption of the current following an incorrect connection of the lighting; because the lighting can only be switched on in the "ringing on" position of the cursor which allows the alarm to ring.

 This solution can be applied in a particularly simple manner by constituting the light switch in the form of a push button and by providing the slider mounted near it with an attached protruding part or forming part thereof. integral and having dimensions such that this projecting part is present on the path of the push button or that it penetrates between the pair of contacts of the push button and therefore prevents, when the alarm is in the stop position the buzzer, the operation of the push button or at least the establishment of a contact when the push button is operated.

 It is then possible to ensure that the direction of the operation of the push button for the temporary connection of a power user device and in particular of the lighting is transverse to the direction of the operation of the ringing cursor of the alarm clock, which constitutes a particularly simple constructive solution for the constitution of the projecting part serving for blocking the operation of the push button. On the other hand, and according to another embodiment of the invention, the push button can be designed to operate in the same operating direction as that of the control cursor; this offers the possibility, thanks to the appropriate construction form given to the protruding part, of bringing the alarm clock to its operating position by means of the protruding part of the cursor after actuating the push-button of the lighting In this way, a single operation is enough to obtain the illumination of the dial and ensure the correct setting of the alarm hand and to place the striking device in the on position. Natureflement, following this movement coupled by the projecting part, it is necessary to foresee on the cursor a pressure limit or any other type of deformation so that there is not, due to an involuntary pressure applied on the push button when the small alarm clock is transported without a protective pouch in a pocket, the connection of the lighting with the alarm ringing position.

 To protect the stop cursor and the push button, these are arranged inside a recess made at the front of the housing.

 The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a preferred embodiment of the invention and to a drawing limited to the essentials and representing an alarm clock in the sketched state and on an approximate scale.

 The only figure in the drawing is a perspective view from the front of a small alarm clock comprising on the front surface of its case a movable stop cursor and a lighting push-button, and indicating several constructive possibilities of sound. blocking.

 The small alarm clock 1 shown in the drawing is a miniature travel alarm clock without pocket and provided with a stepping motor drive controlled by quartz for the needles, and it includes in some way and known an electronic signal transmitter. acoustic 2 whose operation depends on the position of the hand when a cursor 3 is in the alarm on position (as shown in the figure) and when the time indicated on the dial 5 by the hands 4 coincides with the hour fixed by the position of a alarm hand 6. A protective glass 8 is mounted on the dial 5 in the front part 7 of the housing of the small alarm 1. The stop cursor 3 which includes a large operating surface 9 occupies an important part of the front part 7 of the housing next to the protective glass 8.

 So that the front surface 7 of the housing constitutes an at least approximately planar surface all around the dial 5, the cursor 3 is arranged in a recess 10 whose depth is such that the front surface 7 of the housing and the front surface 9 of the cursor are approximately in the same plane.

 A horizontal grooving is provided on the front surface 9 of the slider 3 to facilitate its movement in the ringing on position or in the ringing stop position by pressing the fingertip and to accentuate the pleasant shape of the housing despite the importance of the dial 5 relative to the entire front surface 7.

 At the upper part of the recess 10 is disposed, in the embodiment shown, a push button 11 intended for lighting and which can be pressed against a return spring, this push button serving to actuate a lighting device 12 of the dial (shown only symbolically in the drawing), or of any other device consuming power - possibly powered by its own battery.

 Between the stop cursor 3 and the push button 11 is provided a coupling such as in the stop position of the cursor ringing (for example during the transport of the small alarm clock 1 in the pocket of a garment or in a bag) the lighting device 12 of the dial (or any other device consuming power and which can be started by the push button 11) is not connected and does not cause the battery to be exhausted. This locking coupling can be carried out in a particularly simple manner by means of a projecting part 13 mounted at the rear of the slider 3 and which passes behind the push-button 11 in the position for stopping the ringing of the slider so as to prevent contact of its set of contact springs 14.

Instead of this measure, or in addition, a protruding part 13 ′ can be provided at the rear of the recess 10 which is arranged between the set 14 of contact springs to constitute an insulation or elastic flexion separation when the cursor is in the ringing stop position. Damage is thus avoided when the cursor is in the ringing stop position if the push-button 12 is actuated, which is still movable elastically but without closing the current circuit via the game 14 associated contact springs.

 As indicated in dotted lines in the drawing, it may also be advantageous for the push button 11 ′ to be mounted on the covering surface of the housing of the small alarm clock 1 so that the direction of the locking operation of the protruding part 13 is oriented in the opposite direction-8 the direction of operation of the push button 11 'to set the alarm in the ringing position. In this case, the direction of operation of the push button 11 ′ coincides with the direction of movement of the cursor 3 when it is moved to the ringing position. The protruding part 13 can be provided, from the point of view of its guidance and of its capacity for biasing by a bending torque in connection with the operating paths of the push button 11 ′ and of the slider 3, so that the slider 3 in the stopped position is brought to its on position from the buzzer when the push button 11 'is pressed. For example, when you arrive late in a hotel room, you can control by a single operation the correct setting of the alarm time by lighting the dial 5 while simultaneously putting the alarm in the operating position of the alarm.

 For clarity, the drawing does not show the stop devices or other click or deformation devices which make it possible to be certain, in particular with regard to the embodiment explained last, that the described operation is not not triggered by a low pressure applied to the push button 11 'during the transport of the small alarm clock 1 in a pocket and without protective pouch. Likewise, the details of the fixing and guiding of the mobile parts in the alarm clock housing 1, including the known fixing possibilities of the set 14 of contact springs in the alarm clock housing 1 and which are familiar to the person skilled in the art. art is not shown.

Claims (6)

 1. Small alarm clock comprising a signal transmitter and a movable stop cursor on an external surface of the case, as well as a device for lighting the hands, characterized in that a device for blocking the operation is connected to the cursor stop (3) and cooperates from the rear with a light switch.  2. Small alarm clock according to claim 1, characterized in that the maneuver blocking device is constituted in the form of a projecting part (13 ') mounted on the control slider (3), part which is placed on the operating path of a push button (11).  3. Small alarm clock according to claim 1, characterized in that the maneuver blocking device penetrates inside a set (14) of contact springs which can be operated by the lighting switch.  4. Small alarm clock according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stop cursor is arranged in a recess (10) of the front part (7) of the housing.  5. Small alarm clock according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the push button (11) is mounted so as to be operated transversely to the direction of movement of the control cursor (3).  6. Small alarm clock according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the push button (11 ') can be operated in the same direction as the stop cursor (3) when it is passed from its alarm clock stop position in its alarm clock start position and is kept in operating connection with the stop cursor (3) by means of the projecting part (13).