GB2112549A - Electronic watch assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic watch assembly has a module 10 with a water resistant multi-part case containing operatively interconnected electronic watch components including a time display. The case has a portion 14a, c thereof which is transparent and through which the time display may be viewed from the case exterior. A decorative multi-part outer housing 36, 38 contains the case. The outer housing has an opening 42, in an opaque portion thereof overlying the transparent case portion 14c and in registry with the time display. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Electronic watch assembly This invention relates to moisture resistant electronic watches.

In a conventional watch of the above mentioned type, a digital or analog time display and the other electronic components associated therewith are contained in a case made up of several parts. One case part carries a crystal through which the time display may be viewed. In order to safeguard the electronic components from exposure to moisture, the case parts are machined or molded with a high degree of precision, thereby enabling them to coact in sealing engagement with each other and with O-rings, seals or the like interposed therebetween.

The case parts are produced from relatively heavy guage stock, not only to accommodate the aforesaid precision molding or machining, but also to withstand deflections or distortions which might otherwise compromise the sealing integrity of the case.

Precision molding and machinery operations require expensive complex tooling and highly skilled personnel, all of which contribute significantly to a high unit cost. This becomes particularly burdensome when the watch case undergoes styling changes which require new tooling. Also, functional considerations such as the precise interengagement of case parts required to insure sealing integrity, adequate thickness of material, etc., often are at odds with the aesthetic aspects of case design, thus resulting in the decorative appearance and/orthe sealing integrity of the case being compromised.

The present invention provides an electronic watch assembly comprising in combination a module case having first and second parts cooperatively arranged to define a first chamber, with sealing means interposed between said case parts to resist penetration of moisture into said first chamber, and with at least one of said case parts being transparent; a plurality of operatively interconnected electronic watch components including a time display contained in said first chamber, said time display being visible through said transparent case part; and a decorative outer housing having third and fourth parts cooperatively arranged to define a second chamber, containing said module case, at least one of said housing parts being opaque and having an opening therein in registry with the time display visible through said transparent case part.

By separating the moisture resistant and decorative aspects of the assembly in this manner, the outer housing can be designed primarily from the standpoint of styling and appearance, whereas the design of the inner case can be dictated by practical considerations such as sealing integrity, structural rigidity, etc. The outer housing parts can be fabricated as inexpensive metal stampings, and their design can be changed easily without incurring high tooling costs. Moreover, the use of a transparent inner case part makes it unnecessary to employ a conventional crystal, thus providing further savings without in any way compromising appearance or sealing integrity.

Preferably, the transparent module case part includes a top wall with integrally dependent side walls, the top wall having an upwardly protruding boss received in the aforesaid opening in the outer housing part. The transparent module case part preferably is non-metallic and molded from a ther mopiastic material, such as for example that marketed under the tradename optical LEXAN, with the remainder of the case and housing parts comprising metal stampings.

The present invention also provides an electronic watch assembly comprising a module having a water resistant multi-part case containing operatively interconnected electronic watch components including a time display, said case having a portion thereof which is transparent and through which said time display may be viewed from the exterior of said case; and a decorative multi-part outer housing containing said case, said housing having an opening in an opaque portion thereof overlying said transparent case portion and in registry with said time display.

Figure 1 is a plan view, with portions broken away, of a moisture resistant electronic watch assembly according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the watch assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the inner module case broken away to show the inner first chamber; Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view, again broken away, of the principal parts of the inner module case; Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on an enlarged scale taken through the watch assembly of Figure 1, with portions of the module case broken away; Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the watch assembly; Figure 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention wherein the upper housing part has been stamped with a more ornate pattern matching that of the top shells of an expansible bracelet;; Figure 8 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 7, with adjacent sections of the bracelet shown in the expanded condition.

Figure 9 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line 9-9 of Figure 8 with the bracelet shown in its contracted condition; Figure 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention; Figure 11 is a partial plan view on an enlarged scale of the embodiment shown in Figure 10, again with an adjacent section of an expansible bracelet shown in the expanded condition; Figure 12 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the present invention employed with a non-expansible bracelet; Figures 13 and 14 are partial plan and side elevational views respectively of the embodiment shown in Figure 12; Figure 15 is an end view of the watch assembly shown in Figures 12-14 prior to its connection to the watch bracelet; Figure 16 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along lines 16-16 of Figure 13;; Figure 17 is an exploded partial view, with portions broken away, showing the manner of attachment of the top housing part to the end link of the non-expansible bracelet; and Figure 18 is a bottom perspective view of the watch assembly without the non-expansible bracelet connected thereto.

Referring now to Figures 1-6 of the drawings a moisture resistant electronic watch assembly in accordance with the present invention includes an electronic module 10 contained within a decorative outer housing 12. The module 10 has a case consisting of an upper or "first" part 14 and a lower or "second" part 16, these parts being cooperatively arranged to define a "first" chamber 18 (see Figure 3). The first casing part 14 preferably is molded from a transparent thermoplastic material such as that marketed under the tradename optical LEXAN. The first casing part has a top wall 14a and an integrally dependent side wall 14b, the lower portion of which is thickened as at 14b'. The top wall 14a has an upwardly protruding boss 14c.The bottom edge of the thickened lower side wall portion 14b' is grooved as at 20 to receive a sealing element 22, for example a compressible continuous gasket or 0being. The second casing part 16 preferably comprises a flat metal plate having holes 24 arranged for alignment with mating holes 26 (see Figure 5) in the side walls 14b. Self tapping screws 28 secure the second part 16 to the first part 14, with the sealing element 22 being interposed therebetween to resist penetration of moisture into the first chamber 18.

Conventional battery-powered electronic components generally indicated in Figure 5 at 30 and including a liquid crystal time display 32 are contained in the first chamber 18. The time display 32 underlies the upwardly protruding boss 14c and is visible therethrough from the exterior of the module.

The components 30 include one or more of the usual function switches which are manually operated by means of depressible buttons 34 protruding through the casing side wall 14b. Although not shown, it will be understood that conventional seals are employed to prevent moisture penetration into the first cham ber through the side wall 1 4b at the location of the buttons 34.

As can be best seen in Figures 5 and 6, the decorative outer housing 12 has atop or "third" part 36 cooperating with a bottom or "fourth" part 38 to define a second chamber 40 suitably dimensioned to contain the module 10. The housing parts 36,38 are opaque, each preferably consisting of a metal stamping, with the upper part 36 having an opening 42 therein arranged to receive the boss 14c on the upper wall 14a of the module's upper case part. A spring member 44 is interposed between the module 10 and the fourth housing part 38. The spring has a bottom leaf 44a which acts to resiliently urge the module up against the top housing part 36, thus insuring that the boss 1 4c remains seated in the opening 42.The spring 44 is further provided with side leaves 44b having contact sections 44c which protrude through side openings in the outer housing. The contact sections are arranged to overlie the module operating buttons 34. The module 10, spring 44 and housing parts 36,38 are interconnected by conventional spring bars 46 having tubular barrels seated in grooves 48 in the module walls 14b, with reduced diameter ends received in aligned openings 50 in the side walls of the housing parts 36,38.

It will thus be appreciated by those skilled in the art that with the above-described arrangement, only the boss 14c is exposed to view through opening 42 in the outer housing part 36. Thus, the module 10 and its case parts 14, 16 can be designed primarily with functional considerations in mind. This enables the designer to maximize structural rigidity and sealing integrity without regard to aesthetic considerations.

Since the outer housing parts 36,38 are not responsible for providing sealing integrity, their constructions are simplified considerably, to the point where conventional metal stamping techniques can be employed to achieve highly decorative designs with a relatively low unit cost. For example, in the embodiment shown in Figures 7-9, the top housing part 52 is stamped with a series of transverse grooves 54 matching those of the top shells 56 of an expansible linkage bracelet 58. This decorative design can be achieved without altering the design of eitherthe bottom housing part 60 or the electronic module 10. Moreover, by making the width of the top housing part 52 equal to that of the bracelet, a high fashion continuous look can be achieved in a relatively inexpensive manner.The aesthetic effectiveness of this unique approach is best appreciated by comparirig Figure 7 and 8 where it can be seen thatwhen viewed in plan, the top housing part 52 blends neatly into the bracelet 58 when the bracelet links are closed up. Only when the bracelet is stretched does it become possible to discern the juncture between the watch housing and the bracelet. Figures 10 & and 11 illustrate still another design variation for a narrower ladies' version where the top housing part 62 is stamped with a more intricate pattern including small decoratively embossed transversally extending rectangles 64 separated by longitudinally extending plane rectangles 66. Here also, the rectangular top opening 68 and the module boss 70 protruding upwardly therein are arranged longitudinally rather than transversally, and the time display is of the analog type.

Referring now to Figures 12-18, still another embodiment of the present invention is shown wherein thewatch housing 72 is connected to a non-expansible bracelet of the type described in U S. Patent No.4,245,461 which is assigned to the same assignee as that of the present invention. The housing has top and bottom parts 74, joined as previously described by spring bars 78, and defining a chamber 80 containing an electronic module 10, again of the type previously described, The module 10 has an analog time display visible through a transparent boss 82 in the upper module case part.

The boss 82 is received in a rectangular opening 84 in the top housing part 74, and its operating buttons (not shown) are again covered by contact sections 86 of an internal spring of the type described in connection with the embodiment shown in Figures 1-6.

The top and bottom bracelet links 88, 90 are articulately connected as described in U. S. Patent No. 4,245,461, and as can be best seen in Figure 17, the endmost bottom link 90' has side walls 90a, 90b, a bottom 90c, and openings 90d at the juncture of the side wall 90a and bottom 90c.

As shown in Figure 16, the ends of the bottom housing part 76 protrude beyond the ends of the top housing part 74 by a distance "d", and the end walls 92 of the top housing part have downwardly protruding bendable tabs 94.

The top housing part 74 is connected to the opposite ends of the bracelet by inserting the tabs 94 in the openings 90d of the endmost bottom links, and then bending the tabs inwardly around the bottom link side walls 90a as shown in Figure 16. By providing the top surface of housing part 74 with transverse grooves 96 matching the grooves 98 formed between top bracelet links 88, a continuous attractive appearance is again achieved. Moreover, by tapering the bottom housing part as at 100 and 102, an extremely thin look is obtained while still providing ample room for the electronic module.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention has the versatility to accommodate either expansible or non-expansible bracelets, and that it can be used with electronic modules having either digital or analog displays. These are but a few of the design variations that can be accommodated with external housing parts consisting of low cost metal stampings. More often than not, the design of the water resistant modules can remain constant, thus enabling manufacturers to product modules in large quantities for use in a wide range of decoratively distinct and highly versatile watch assemblies.

There has been described a moisture resistant electronic watch assembly having a design which permits functional considerations such as sealing integrity to be accommodated separately from aesthetic considerations such as external styling and appearance.

It has an external housing which can be assembled from relatively low cost metal stampings, as opposed to the outer case parts of conventional watches which require expenseive precision machining and molding operations.

Claims (9)

1. An electronicwatch assembly comprising: a module having a water resistant multi-part case containing operatively interconnected electronic watch components including a time display, said case having a portion thereof which is transparent and through which said time display may be viewed from the exterior of said case; and a decorative multi-part outer housing containing said case, said housing having an opening in an opaque portion thereof overlying said transparent case portion and in registry with said time display.

2. The electronic watch assembly of claim 1 wherein the transparent portion of said case includes a top wall and an integrally dependent side wall molded as a single piece from a thermoplastic material.

3. The electronic watch assembly of claim 2 wherein said top wail has a raised boss protruding into the opening in said housing.

4. An electronic watch assembly comprising in combination: a module case having first and second parts cooperatively arranged to define a first chamber, with sealing means interposed between said case parts to resist penetration of moisture into said first chamber, and with at least one of said case parts being transparent; a plurality of operatively interconnected electronic watch components including a time display contained in said first chamber, said time display being visible through said transparent case part; and a decorative outer housing having third and fourth parts cooperatively arranged to define a second chamber containing said module case, at least one of said housing parts being opaque and having an opening therein in registry with the time display visible through said transparent case part.

5. The electronic watch assembly of claim 4 wherein the transparent case part includes a top wall and an integrally dependent side wall, said top wall having an upwardly protruding boss received in the opening in said opaque housing part

6. The electronic watch assembly of claim 5 wherein the other of said case parts comprises a planar bottom member secured against the lower edge of said side wall, and wherein said sealing means comprises a continuous sealing member seated in a groove at the interface of said bottom member with said lower wall edge.

7. The electronic watch assembly of claim 4 further comprising resilient spring means interposed between the exterior of said module case and the interior of said housing.

8. The electronic watch assembly of either claim 4,5 or 6 wherein said transparent case part is molded of non-metallic material, and wherein the remainder of said parts comprise metal stampings.

9. The electronic watch assembly of claim 1 or claim 4 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.