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Digital alarm clock
US3636699A
United States
- Inventor
Chester B Marble - Current Assignee
- General Electric Co
Worldwide applications
Application US55817A events
1970-07-17
1972-01-25
Application granted
1972-01-25
1989-01-25
Anticipated expiration
Status
Expired - Lifetime
Description
translated from
United States Patent Marble Jan. 25, 1972 [54] DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK [72] Inventor: Chester B. Marble, Ashland, Mass.
[73] Assignee: General Electric Company [22] Filed: July 17, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 55,817
52 US. Cl. ..58/22, 58/38, 58/125 c, 58/l6 [51] Int. Cl. ..G04b 23/02 [58] FieldofSearch ..58/l6, l9,20,2l,2l.1,22, 58/30, 125 C [56] References Cited UN lTED STATES PATENTS 2,507,216 5/1950 Moss 2,768,332 10/1956 Protzmannetal 3l7/99 Clark ..58/l6 2/l970 Funaki Primary ExaminerRichard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner- Lawrence R. Franklin AtlorneyLawrence R. Kempton, Leonard J. Platt, John F. Cullen, Frank L. Neuhauser, Oscar B. Waddell and Joseph B. Forman 5 7 ABSTRACT A digital alarm clock wherein an alarm mechanism is provided at the sides of the digital clock numerals. An elongated longitudinally moveable rod 76 extends from an electric motor 5 on one side of the digital alarm clock to an alarm cam mechanism 64-72 on the other side of the digital alarm clock for translating motion from one side to the other side of the clock.
10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIEU JANZS m2 SHEET 1 OF 2 3 rwf w w H %u W5 I k w 5 9 w b DIGITAL ALARM CLOCK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a digital alarm clock and, more particularly, to a unique alarm control mechanism for a digital clock.
In the construction of digital clocks, it is conventional to locate the time-indicating numerals of the digital clock on drums or pages which are centrally positioned between two side-supporting plates. It is also common practice to provide an electric motor and audible alarm vibrator on one side of the numerals, and an alarm time indicator and cam mechanism on the other side of the clock numerals. A low-cost alarm movement which may be conveniently incorporated into such a digital alarm clock and which has a readily movable linkage extending from the electric motor side to the alarm time-indicating side of such a digital alarm clock is especially desirable.
In a prior US. Pat. No. 2,768,332 to Protzmann et al., dated Oct. 23, 1956, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, there is disclosed an alarm mechanism including a bellcrank lever 13 which is arranged to be resiliently urged toward an alarm cam gear 3 by a resilient vibrator arm 10. With such an alarm control mechanism a manually movable shutoff lever 11 may be provided for lifting the resilient vibrator arm to remove the spring force from the bellcrank l3 and the axially movable cam gear 3 when the alarm has been shut off. This construction prevents the occurrence of an undesirable clicking noise which would occur when the cam gear 3 passes through the position in which the alarm-actuating movement would normally occur.'
This invention is concerned with such a digital alarm clock movement and has its general object the provision of a lowcost digital alarm clock in which the parts are constructed so that an objectionable click is not heard on the days when it is not desired to have the alarm sound.
It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved digital alarm mechanism having a minimum number of parts which may be readily incorporated in a digital clock.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one of the aspects of this invention, two generally parallel sideplates are provided for supporting digital numerals between the plates. An electric motor is mounted on the outside of one of the plates and an alarm time control cam is mounted on the outside of the other plate. A resilient vibrator is mounted adjacent to the motor and is arranged to provide the resilient force necessary to move a continuously rotated alarm cam toward the alarm time control cam. To achieve this in a unique and low-cost manner, an elongated longitudinally slidable rod is loosely positioned within an aperture in one of the plates for cooperating with the vibrator on the motor side of the alarm clock and the continuously rotated gear on the other side of the alarm clock. By this arrangement, at a preset alarm time the resilient vibrator arm slides the elongated rod to move the continuously rotated alarm cam toward the alarm time control cam to thereby release the alarm vibrator to sound the alarm.
With this construction,- a minimum number of parts are required for transmitting motion from the alarm vibrator on one side of the clock to the alarm cams on the other side of the clock. A simple loosely mounted elongated rod is all that is required to translate motion from one side to the other side. Moreover, the parts are arranged so that motion is translated in the appropriate direction with a minimum number of parts.
It can also be appreciated that a "no click alarm clock is also achieved since a manual alarm shutoff lever may be provided for lifting the resilient vibrator to shut off the alarm. With this construction, when the vibrator is lifted the longitudinally slidable rod does not exert a force on the continuously rotated cam which could cause an objectable click at the alarm set time.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a digital alarm clock constructed in accordance with my invention;
FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the alarm clock shown in FIG. I;
FIG. 3 is a partial exploded perspective view of a portion of the alarm control mechanism of the alarm clock shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a partial rear elevational view of the alarm clock shown in FIG. 1 with the parts in the alarm-sounding position;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevational view similar to FIG. 4 with the parts held in the alarm set position by the alarm control mechanism; and
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front perspective view of the casing and the alarm time-indicating drum of the digital alarm clock shown in FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings and first particularly to FIG.
I, there is shown a digital alarm clock which includes my unique low-cost alarm control mechanism. As shown, the digital clock numerals may conventionally include two sets of pages 2 and 4 which. are centrally positioned on the clock for indicating the time of day.
The digital alarm clock may be driven by conventional timing mechanism including a self-starting synchronous motor 5. Portions of the motor stator magnetic core and energizing coil are shown at 6 and 8, respectively. A resilient magnetic vibrator l0 operated by leakage flux from the motor is arranged to have its free end portion 12 vibrate against a stator portion 14 and produce an audible alami at all times when the motor is energized unless the vibrator is prevented from vibrating hy a manual alarm shutoff lever 16, or my unique automatic alarm control mechanism including a bellcrank lever 18.
As shown more particularly in FIG. 2, the manual alarm shutoff lever 16 may be suitably mounted on a supporting plate 17 of the clock motor and has a projection 20 thereon which is positioned so as to engage the free end 12 of the vibrator arm 10. A knob 22 which may extend outside of the clock casing is fixed to the lever 16 for sliding the lever to the left to shut off the alarm, or to the right to the position shown in FIG. 2 to allow the alarm to sound at the preset time.
The bellcrank lever 18 for automatically permitting the alarm to sound at a preset time is generally similar to the bellcrank lever 13 as shown in FIG. 2 of the aforementioned US. Pat. No. 2,768,332 issued Oct. 23, 1956 to D. E. Protzmann et al. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5 of the instant application, the bellcrank lever I8 is pivoted to the motor-supporting plate 17 by means of ears 28 and a pivot pin 30, and the resilient vibrator arm I0 is utilized to-spring load the bellcrank lever. It can be seen that when the shutoff lever 16 is moved to the left, the projecting portion 20 is brought into engagement with the end 12 of vibrator arm 10 forcing it out of engagement with the bellcrank 18 thereby not only restraining vibratory movement of the vibrator arm, but also removing the spring force of the vibrator from bellcrank lever 18.
A supporting structure including two sideplates 32 and 34 is provided for supporting the two sets of pages 2 and 4 for indicating the time of day. As shown more particularly in FIG. 1, I
the sideplates 32 and 34 are arranged generally parallel to each other, and a plurality of spacer posts 36, 38 and 40 are provided for securely connecting the plates to each other in the desired spaced relationship.
As shown in FIG. I, the synchronous motor 5 for driving the pages of the clock is suitably connected to sideplate 32 of the page-supporting structure. To achieve this with a minimum number of parts, suitable spacer posts 42 and 44 are provided for connecting the motor-mounting plate 17 in spaced parallel relationship with respect to sideplate 32.
With this arrangement, reduction gearing 46 from the clock motor may be positioned between the motor-supporting plate 17 and the sideplate 32 for driving the sets of pages 2 and 4 of the digital clock at the appropriate synchronous speed. The digital numerals may be adjusted and set by means of an adjusting wheel 48 which is also suitably mounted between the sideplate 32 and the motor-mounting plate 17. In a conventional manner not shown, the adjusting wheel 48 is arranged in mesh with the reduction gearing 46 of the clock motor for setting the time-indicating pages of the digital clock.
The reduction gearing 46 between the motor-mounting plate 17 and slideplate 32 drives a center shaft 50 of the digital clock movement at l revolution per hour. As shown more particularly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the center shaft 50 extends from the motor side of the digital clock to the alarm control mechanism side of the digital clock and is supported in suitable bearings which are provided in the sideplates 32 and 34.
ALARM CONTROL MECHANISM According to this invention, there is combined with the aforedescribed digital clock elements a uniquely designed and positioned alarm control mechanism which may utilize the alarm vibrator at the left side of the clock for sounding an audible alarm at the appropriate time. The mechanism utilizes the output from the center shaft 50 for driving a 12-hour cam mechanism which cooperates with a manually adjustable alarm set cam for causing the alarm vibrator 10 to sound at the preset time.
As shown more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3, a gear 56 may be fixed to the central power output shaft 50 for rotation along with the shaft 50 at I revolution per hour. Suitable reduction gearing 58 and 60 is mounted on a stub shaft 62 fixed to plate 34 for rotating a cam gear 64 at I revolution every [2 hours. As illustrated more particularly in FIG. 3, the cam gear 64 is suitably mounted on a centrally located bearing shaft 50 of the digital clock-supporting structure, and has two projecting cam portions 66 integrally formed thereon. The cam portions 66 comprise abrupt axially extending cam surfaces 68 located on one side thereof and sloped cam surfaces 70 located on the other. The continuously rotated axially movable cam 64 is arranged for cooperation with a manually adjustable alarm time cam 72. As shown in FIG. 3, the alarm time cam is provided with abrupt cam surfaces formed by two slots 74 for cooperating with the abrupt cam surfaces 68 of the axially movable continuously rotated alarm time cam 64.
My unique reliable and low-cost mechanism for utilizing the vibrator arm 10 on the electric motor side of the digital alarm clock for providing the resilient force necessary to urge the continuously rotated l2-hour cam 64 toward the manually settable alarm time cam 72 will now be more particularly described. The mechanism includes two principal parts. A readily movable longitudinally slidable rod 76 which extends from the electric motor side to the alarm cam side of the digital alarm clock, and a readily formed alarm actuator lever 78 which is arranged between the continuously rotated I2- hour cam gear 64 and the longitudinally slidable rod 76. As shown more particularly in FIGS. 1 and 3, the alarm actuator lever 78 may be formed from flat sheet metal and it extends from its pivot 80 at the front right corner of the digital alarm clock upwardly and rearwardly to the upper right rear corner of the digital alarm clock where it cooperates with the elongated longitudinally slidable rod 76. In accordance with my invention, the pivot 80 for the alarm actuator lever 78 may be formed from an extension of the spacer post 36. With this arrangement, the pivot 80 is provided without the use of additional materials.
A similar low-cost reliable arrangement is also provided for guiding the upper portion of the alarm-actuating lever 78. As illustrated, an aperture 83 is formed in the lever 78 for cooperating with guidepost 84 which may be readily staked to sideplate 34. A suitable enlarged aperture 86 may be formed in the alarm actuator lever 78 for receiving pinion gear 60 of the reduction gearing for the continuously rotated cam gear 64, and another enlarged aperture 88 is also formed in the alarm actuator lever for receiving the end portion of shaft 50.
The elongated rod 76 which extends from one side of the digital alarm clock to the other side of the alarm clock may be readily and reliably mounted without the use of any additional parts. As shown more particularly in FIG. 2, an aperture 90 is formed in sideplate 34 for receiving one end of the elongated rod 76 while another aperture 92 is formed in the motor-supporting plate 17 for guiding the other end of the elongated rod.
With this unique arrangement, it can be appreciated that the resilient vibrator alarm 10 provides the force required for urging the continuously rotated alarm cam gear 64 into engagement with the manually set alarm time gear 72. With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, it can be seen that the end 12 of the vibrator is urged downwardly against the upper portion of bellcrank lever 18, thereby causing the bellcrank lever to pivot to the left as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 to urge the elongated rod 76 to the left to thereby urge the actuator lever 78 to the left about its pivot 80, and the continuously rotated cam gear 64 to the left into engagement with the manually settable alarm time gear 72.
As shown more particularly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, suitable protrusions 94 and 96 may be readily formed on the outside surface of alarm-actuating lever 78 for providing low-friction contact between the alarm-actuating lever 78 and the side surface of the continuously rotated cam 64. As shown more particularly in FIGS. 3 and 5, a screw 98 may be threaded into the upper portion of lever 78 for providing a contact surface with the end of elongated rod 76. Naturally, the screw also provides an arrangement to compensate for manufacturing tolerances between the bellcrank lever 18, vibrator l0, alarm actuator lever 78, and the continuously rotated cam 64.
A unique low-cost arrangement is also provided for indicating the alarm time cam setting of the manually adjustable cam 72. As shown more particularly in FIG. 3, the alarm time cam 72 includes a shaft portion 100, an inside surface 102 which is provided with the slots 74 for cooperating with the cam projections 66 on the continuously rotated cam gear 64, and a surface 104 for cooperating with an alarm time-indicating drum 106. In order to mount the alarm time-indicating drum 106 on the alarm time cam 72, it is merely necessary to place an aperture 108 formed in the drum over a cylindrical guide surface 10 of the alarm time cam 72, and then place a flat metal spring washer 110 over the end of drum 106. Suitable projections lll extend outwardly from the alarm time cam 72 for connecting the washer I10 to the alarm time cam 72. Thus, the alarm time-indicating drum 106 is frictionally held between the alarm time cam 72 and the flexible metal washer 110. By this construction, the alarm time-indicating drum 106 may be rotated relative to the alarm time cam in order to set the numerals on the drum to the appropriate relative position with respect to the cams 66 and 74 during manufacture of the clock. The friction washer 110 provides sufficient force against the side surface of the alarm time-indicating drum 106 so that the drum 106 is carried with the cam 72 as the cam is rotated to change the alarm time setting of the digital alarm clock.
In order to set the alarm time from outside of the clock casing, a suitable gearwheel 112 is mounted on a stub shaft 113 which is staked to the sideplate 34. As shown more particularly in FIG. 2, gear 112 is arranged to be in mesh with gear teeth 1 I5 formed on the outer periphery of the alarm time set gear 72, and thus manual adjusting movement of gear 112 causes corresponding movement of the alarm time cam gear 72 and the alarm time-indicating drum 106.
A readily formed indexing mechanism is provided for bolding the alarm time-indicating drum I06 and the alarm time cam 72 in any one of a plurality of alarm time set positions. As shown more particularly in FIG. I, a detent lever is provided with a bored sleeve 122 and is mounted on a post 124 which may be staked to the outside of sideplate 34. A suitable spring I26 is positioned between the sideplate 34 and the indexing lever 120 for resiliently urging the detent lever 120 toward the gear teeth 115 which are formed on the outer periphery of the alarm time set cam 72. The spring 126 is of sufficient force so that a detent 130 at the end of the detent lever 120 will be urged into engagement with the teeth 115 with such force as to permit alarm set cam gear 72 to be adjusted and readily moved by simply rotating the adjusting wheel 112 which protrudes from the bottom of the clock casing, and yet, the spring is of sufficient force to hold the alarm set cam 72 in its adjusted position after it has been set.
OPERATION If, for example, it is desired to have the alarm ring at 7 oclock in the morning, the operator rotates adjusting wheel 112 to set the alarm cam 72 and the alarm set-indicating drum 106 to the appropriate 7 a.m. position, as indicated in FIG. 6. Then the operator slides the alarm shutoff lever 16 to the right as shown in FIG. 2 to remove the end of vibrator 10 from the projection on the alarm shutoff lever 16. This allows the projection 12 on the end of the vibrator to be placed in engagement with the bellcrank lever 18. Accordingly, the spring force of the vibrator 10 is placed on the bellcrank lever 18, the elongated shaft 76, the alarm-actuating lever 78, and the right side surface of the continuously rotated cam gear 64, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Thus, the cam surfaces 70 of the continuously rotated cam gear will ride on the inside surface of the time set cam 72 as the continuously rotated gear 64 is rotated by the synchronous motor of the clock.
At 7 oclock in the morning, the abrupt cam surfaces 68 become aligned with the abrupt cam surfaces 75 formed by slots 74 in the alarm set cam 72, and the vibrator arm 10 acting through the bellcrank lever 18, the elongated rod 76, and the alarm actuator lever 78 rapidly forces the continuously rotated cam gear 64 toward the time set cam gear 72 from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 4. In the FIG. 4 position, the vibrator arm 10 is unrestrained and is free to vibrate under the influence of the continuously applied electromagnetic forces to give an audible alarm signal.
When the alarm has sounded, the operator simply grasps knob 22 to slide the alarm shutoff lever 16 to the left from the position shown in FIG. 2 to thereby move the projection 20 on the shutoff lever into engagement with the end 12 of the vibrator arm forcing it out of engagement with the bellcrank lever 18 and restraining further vibratory movement of the vibrator arm. It can be appreciated that when the vibrator shutoff lever holds the vibrator in this position, the spring force of the vibrator is removed from the bellcrank lever 18, the elongated rod 76, the flat alarm actuator lever 78, and the continuously rotated cam gear 64. Thus, should the alarm shutofi' lever 16 remain in this position for another 12 hours at which time the abrupt cam surfaces 68 on the continuously rotated gear 64 are placed in alignment with the slots 74 on the alarm time set cam, the cam surfaces 68 will not be rapidly forced into engagement with the alarm set cam 72 to thereby create an objectionable click since the continuously rotated alarm cam 64 is not being urged to the left, as viewed in FIG. 3, under the force of the resilient vibrator arm 10.
From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that my unique alarm control mechanism is achieved with the use of a minimum number of parts'which are reliably arranged with respect to each other. The elongated rod 76 which is utilized for translating motion from the electric motor side of the digital clock to the alarm cam side of the clock is a simple cylindrical rod which is arranged for longitudinal slidable motion in apertures 90 and 92 which may be readily formed in plate 34 and the motor-mounting plate 17, respectively, at the same time that these plates are being punched to provide other apertures and tabs. Moreover, with this unique arrangement of parts, it is not necessary to connect any levers or other mechanisms to the elongated rod 76 since the translating motion of the rod is simple longitudinal sliding motion rather than rotary motion which is required in some prior art motiontranslating arrangements. In like manner, the alarm-actuating lever 78 which is positioned at one end of the longitudinally slidable rod may be stamped from a single piece of metal, and may be pivotally mounted on an existing spacer post 80 of the digital clock. Thus, an exceedingly simple, yet reliable digital clock alarm mechanism has been achieved.
What I claim is:
l. A digital alarm clock comprising:
a. a supporting structure;
b. digital clock numerals generally centrally positioned on said supporting structure;
c. an electric motor for driving said digital clock numerals fixed to one side of said supporting structure;
(I. an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm for causing an audible sound upon vibration thereof connected to said electric motor on said one side of said supporting structure;
e. a first cam gear rotatably mounted on the other side of said supporting structure and continuously rotated as a function of time by said electric motor;
. a rotatably mounted alarm time control cam member positioned adjacent to said first cam member for permitting movement of first said cam member at a preset alarm time;
g. an elongated axially movable rod mounted on said supporting structure and extending from one side of said supporting structure to the other side of said supporting structure, one end of said rod being arranged for longitudinal slidable movement by the resilient vibrator arm; and
h. means in engagement with the other end of said rod and said first cam gear for permitting said resilient vibrator arm to longitudinally slide said rod and said first cam gear toward the alarm time control cam to thereby release the alarm vibrator arm to sound the alarm at a preset alarm time.
2. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 1 wherein a generally flat lever is pivotally mounted on said supporting structure and is positioned between the other end of said elongated rod and said first cam gear for permitting said resilient vibrator arm to longitudinally slide said rod and said first cam gear toward the alarm time control cam to thereby release the alarm vibrator arm to sound the alarm at a preset time.
3. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 1 wherein an alarm time-indicating drum is mounted on the alarm time control cam, and a spring member is fixed to the alarm time control cam for resiliently urging said indicating drum into frictional engagement with said alarm time control cam.
4. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 3 wherein gear teeth are formed on the outer periphery of said alarm time control cam and a gearwheel is positioned in mesh with the teeth on the alarm time control cam for adjusting the relative position of the alarm time control cam with respect to the continuously rotated gear.
5. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 4 wherein an indexing lever is pivotally mounted on said supporting structure and is spring urged against the teeth formed on the periphery of the alarm time control cam for holding the alarm time control cam and the alarm time-indicating drum in any one of a plurality of alarm time set positions.
6. A digital alarm clock comprising:
a. a supporting structure including two sideplates arranged generally parallel to each other and held spaced from each other by a plurality of spacer posts;
b. digital clock numerals positioned between said sideplates;
c. an electric motor for driving said digital clock numerals fixed to one of said sideplates;
d. an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm for causing an audible sound upon vibration thereof connected to said electric motor;
e. a pivotally mounted bellcrank lever having a first portion for engaging said vibrator to restrain vibratory movement thereof;
f. a first cam gear rotatably mounted adjacent to said outer plate and continuously rotated as a function of time by said electric motor;
y g. a rotatably mounted alarm time cam member positioned adjacent to said first cam gear for permitting axial movement of said first cam gear at a preset alarm time;
h. a generally flat lever mounted adjacent to said axially movable cam gear for movement thereby;
. an elongated slidable rod extending through an aperture in one of said sideplates, one end of said elongated slidable rod being arranged for engagement with a second portion of said bellcrank lever, and the other end of said elongated rod being in engagement with said flat lever, said vibrator arm exerting a spring force on said bellcrank lever for causing pivotal rotation thereof and longitudinal slidable motion of said elongated rod toward said flat lever; and
. said first cam gear and said alarm time cam cooperating to cause axial movement of said first cam gear upon relative rotation of said cams as a function of time through a predetermined relative angular movement of said cam members for allowing said elongated rod to slide toward said first cam gear to thereby allow said bellcrank lever to pivot to release the alarm vibrator to sound the alarm. 7. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 6 wherein said flat lever is pivotally mounted on one of said spacer posts and is provided with an aperture for receiving a guidepost which is fixed to one of said sideplates in order to pivotally mount and guide said lever on said clock-supporting structure.
8. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 6 wherein a screw is threaded into an upper portion of said generally flat lever for providing a contact surface with the end of the elongated rod and for compensating for manufacturing tolerances between the bellcrank lever, the alarm vibrator, the flat alarm actuator lever and the first cam gear.
9. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 6 wherein the electric motor is supported on a supporting plate which is arranged generally parallel to and spaced from one of said sideplates.
10. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 9 wherein an aperture is provided in one of said sideplates for guiding one end of said elongated rod and an aperture is provided in the motor-supporting plate for guiding the other end of the elongated rod.
Claims (10)
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Claims (10)
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1. A digital alarm clock comprising: a. a supporting structure; b. digital clock numerals generally centrally positioned on said supporting structure; c. an electric motor for driving said digital clock numerals fixed to one side of said supporting structure; d. an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm for causing an audible sound upon vibration thereof connected to said electric motor on said one side of said supporting structure; e. a first cam gear rotatably mounted on the other side of said supporting structure and continuously rotated as a function of time by said electric motor; f. a rotatably mounted alarm time control cam member positioned adjacent to said first cam member for permitting movement of first said cam member at a preset alarm time; g. an elongated axially movable rod mounted on said supporting structure and extending from one side of said supporting structure to the other side of said supporting structure, one end of said rod being arranged for longitudinal slidable movement by the resilient vibrator arm; and h. means in engagement with the other end of said rod and said first cam gear for permitting said resilient vibrator arm to longitudinally slide said rod and said first cam gear toward the alarm time control cam to thereby release the alarm vibrator arm to sound the alarm at a preset alarm time.
2. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 1 wherein a generally flat lever is pivotally mounted on said supporting structure and is positioned between the other end of said elongated rod and said first cam gear for permitting said resilient vibrator arm to longitudinally slide said rod and said first cam gear toward the alarm time control cam to thereby release the alarm vibratOr arm to sound the alarm at a preset time.
3. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 1 wherein an alarm time-indicating drum is mounted on the alarm time control cam, and a spring member is fixed to the alarm time control cam for resiliently urging said indicating drum into frictional engagement with said alarm time control cam.
4. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 3 wherein gear teeth are formed on the outer periphery of said alarm time control cam and a gearwheel is positioned in mesh with the teeth on the alarm time control cam for adjusting the relative position of the alarm time control cam with respect to the continuously rotated gear.
5. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 4 wherein an indexing lever is pivotally mounted on said supporting structure and is spring urged against the teeth formed on the periphery of the alarm time control cam for holding the alarm time control cam and the alarm time-indicating drum in any one of a plurality of alarm time set positions.
6. A digital alarm clock comprising: a. a supporting structure including two sideplates arranged generally parallel to each other and held spaced from each other by a plurality of spacer posts; b. digital clock numerals positioned between said sideplates; c. an electric motor for driving said digital clock numerals fixed to one of said sideplates; d. an alarm mechanism having a resilient vibrator arm for causing an audible sound upon vibration thereof connected to said electric motor; e. a pivotally mounted bellcrank lever having a first portion for engaging said vibrator to restrain vibratory movement thereof; f. a first cam gear rotatably mounted adjacent to said other plate and continuously rotated as a function of time by said electric motor; g. a rotatably mounted alarm time cam member positioned adjacent to said first cam gear for permitting axial movement of said first cam gear at a preset alarm time; h. a generally flat lever mounted adjacent to said axially movable cam gear for movement thereby; i. an elongated slidable rod extending through an aperture in one of said sideplates, one end of said elongated slidable rod being arranged for engagement with a second portion of said bellcrank lever, and the other end of said elongated rod being in engagement with said flat lever, said vibrator arm exerting a spring force on said bellcrank lever for causing pivotal rotation thereof and longitudinal slidable motion of said elongated rod toward said flat lever; and j. said first cam gear and said alarm time cam cooperating to cause axial movement of said first cam gear upon relative rotation of said cams as a function of time through a predetermined relative angular movement of said cam members for allowing said elongated rod to slide toward said first cam gear to thereby allow said bellcrank lever to pivot to release the alarm vibrator to sound the alarm.
7. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 6 wherein said flat lever is pivotally mounted on one of said spacer posts and is provided with an aperture for receiving a guidepost which is fixed to one of said sideplates in order to pivotally mount and guide said lever on said clock-supporting structure.
8. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 6 wherein a screw is threaded into an upper portion of said generally flat lever for providing a contact surface with the end of the elongated rod and for compensating for manufacturing tolerances between the bellcrank lever, the alarm vibrator, the flat alarm actuator lever and the first cam gear.
9. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 6 wherein the electric motor is supported on a supporting plate which is arranged generally parallel to and spaced from one of said sideplates.
10. A digital alarm clock as defined in claim 9 wherein an aperture is provided in one of said sideplates for guiding one end of said elongated rod and an aperture is provided in the motor-supporting plate for guiding the other end of the elOngated rod.