GB2153112A - Digital watch casing with front waterproof structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A digital watch casing with front waterproof structure includes in combination: a watch casing body (20) having a blind recess (23) integrally formed therein; a digital display unit (30) with a substrate and an IC board (34) installed in the recess (23) of the watch casing body (20); a gasket ring (60) located in a recess (24) around the periphery of the digital display unit (30); a plurality of control push buttons (40) disposed in the upper surface of the digital display unit (30); and a transparent sealing piece (50) closely secured on the top surface of the watch casing body (20); wherein the control push buttons (40) are provided with flanges 43 such that if water enters beyond the gasket 60 they act as a second seal to prevent it passing down the button stems. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Digital watch casing with front waterproof structure This invention relates to a digital watch casing, particularly to the structure of the control push buttons which are provided in the top surface of the watch casing body, and to a double waterproof arrangements made thereto.

Convertionally, all the digital watch casings are as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the control push buttons and waterproof structure are usually provided in the side wall portion. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the water casing body 10 has plurality of push-button mounting openings 11 provided in the side wall portion.

Each of the mounting openings 11 has an indented positioning groove 1 3 formed therein, and a sealing ring 1 4 is disposed in each of the grooves 1 3. An isolating ring 1 6 is placed at a proper position around the stem of each push button 15, which is then respectively installed in the mounting openings 11 with the isolating ring 1 6 inserted into the positioning groove 13, accomplishing the waterproof structure therein. When water permeates though the mounting openings 11, isolation is provided by both the sealing ring 14 and the isolating ring 16.Difficulties suffered by the known digital watch casing and the waterproof structure are: 1) the structure of the mounting openings in the watch casing and the waterproof materials are complex, and any accidental neglect during installation will result in water leakage; and 2) the cost of mould building and components manufacturing are rather high, not to mention the elaborate assembly operations involved therewith.

It is accordingly' a primary object of this invention to provide a novel digital watch casing with the control push buttons and waterproof structure effectively arranged in the top surface of the watch casing so as to improve the known digital watch casing and overcome the problems associated with the prior art.

According to the present invention, this and other objects are achieved by providing a novel digital watch casing, which comprises: a watch casing body having a blind recess integrally formed therein; a digital display unit fitfully installed in the recess of the watch casing body; a gasket ring embedded around the periphery of the digital display unit; a plurality of control push buttons disposed in the upper surface of the display unit; and a transparent sealing piece closely secured on the top of the watch casing body in conjunction with the control push buttons and the gasket ring; thereby, the mould building process is simplified, manufacturing cost reduced, and the efficiency of waterproof is substantially promoted accordingly.

Other advantages and characteristics of this invention will become clear from the following description of a preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with he accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a partial sectional illustration of the push button and the waterproof structure of the conventional digital watch casing; Figure 2 is a perspective and exploded view of a preferred embodiment of a digital watch casing with front waterproof structure according to this invention; Figure 3 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the push button and the waterproof structure shown in Fig. 1; and Figure 4 is a partial sectional view of the waterproof structure of the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is shown a preferred embodiment of a novel digital watch casing with front waterproof structure according to this invntn, which watch casing comprises in combination; a watch casing body 20; a digital display unit 30 installed in the watch casing body 20; a gasket ring 60 disposed around the periphery of the display unit 30; a plurality of control push buttons 40 provided in the top surface of the display unit 30; and a transparent sealing piece 50 closely secured on the watch casing body 20 in connection with the display unit 30 through a plurality of fixing screws 70.

The watch casing body 20 is integrally formed with a blind recess 23 in the middle, an indented edge 24 along the upper open section of the recess 23, a plurality of threaded holes 25 in the top peripheral surface, and a pair of strap fitting seats 21 and 22 at the opposing sides thereof.

The digital display unit 30 includes: an IC board 34 having a liquid crystal display (LCD) 35 in rectangular shape disposed thereon; a substrate 300 having a depression on one side (cannot be seen on the drawing), a rectangular opening 31 corresponding to the LCD 35 in one side, a plurality of mounting holes 32 in the other, and each of the mounting holes 32 having an annular indented area 33 around the periphery of the hole (as shown in Fig. 3); and a mercury cell 36 provided in the IC board 34. The combination of the display unit 30 is placed in the blind recess 23 of the watch casing body 20 with the gasket ring 60 closely embedded in the indented edge 24 along the periphery of the digital display unit 30.

Referring to Fig. 3, each of the push buttons 40 has a stem portion 42, and a jacket 41 with a circular flange 43 placed around the upper part of the stem portion 42 of which the lower part is installed in the mounting hole 32 in conjunction with the IC board 34, and the circular flange 43 is closely positioned in the annular indented area 33.

The transparent sealing piece 50 integrally formed with a plurality of orifices 51 corresponding to the jacketed portion 41 of the control push buttons 40 and a plurality of screw holes 52 is tightly secured on the top surface of the watch body 20 through the fixing screws 70 with the top ends of the push buttons 40 extending out of the orifices 51 as shown in Fig. 4.

The mould building and components manufacturing of the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 2 are very simple, and the assembly operation can be easily done therewith. As shown in Fig. 4, when the water permeates through the joining places 80, it is respectively isolated at the places where the gasket ring 60 and the circular flange 43 of the jacket 41 are closely embedded. Therefore, not only the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the waterproof condition is perfectly achieved.

Having thus described the invnetin, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications thereof will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Therefore, it is intended that the specification and drawings be interpreted as illustrative rather than in a limiting sense.

Although the invention has been described in relation to a digital watch casing the underlying concept of the invention may also be applied to conventional watch casings, or small clock casings.

Claims (5)

1. A digital watch casing with front waterproof structure including a watch casing body having a blind recess integrally formed therein, a digital display unit combined by a substrate and an IC board installed in the blind recess of the watch casing body, a waterproof gasket ring disposed around the periphery of the digital display unit, a plurality of control push buttons mounted in the upper surface of the substrate of the digital display unit with respect to the IC board thereof, and a transparent sealing piece having a plurality of orifices tightly secured on the top surface of the watch casing body, which is characterized by an indented edge integrally formed along the upper open section of the blind recess for disposing the gasket ring therein in effecting waterproofing function.

2. A digital watch casing according to Claim 1 wherein said substrate of the digital display unit is characterized by having a plurality of mounting holes each of which has an annular indented area integrally formed around the periphery of the open section thereof for closely fitting the control push buttons therein.

3. A digital watch casing according to Claim 1 wherein said control push buttons are characterized in that a jacket having a circular flange corresponding to said annular indented area of said mounting holes in the substrate is fitfully placed around each upper stem portion of the push buttons.

4. A digital watch casing according to Claim 1 wherein said transparent sealing piece is characterized in that said orifices include a plurality of push-button holes integrally formed therein for closely receiving the upper portion of said jacket of the push buttons, and a plurality of screw holes for fixing the sealing piece to the watch casing body.

5. A digital watch casing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings of Figs. 2, 3 and 4.