US3712043A

US3712043A - Day-date timepiece with multiple display of dates and days of week

Info

Publication number: US3712043A
Application number: US00214911A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Egger; H Meitinger; H Schwartz
Original assignee: Timex Corp
Current assignee: Timex Group USA Inc
Priority date: 1971-11-03
Filing date: 1972-01-03
Publication date: 1973-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 1990-01-23
Also published as: IT966865B; FR2158462A1; DE2154551B2; AU4780472A; BE790889A; NL7214673A; JPS4858874A; DE2154551A1

Abstract

This invention relates to a timepiece, such as a wrist watch, with a drive for the step-by-step rotation of at least one numeral disc comprising a date ring and concentrically mounted day ring, having the days of the week in annular arrangement, both rings being covered by a dial. The dial includes at least one main date window and one main day window which may be combined to form one common main window and each making visible one day of the week on the day ring and the contemporary date on the circle of numerals. Additional windows may be provided to show prior and succeeding dates.

Description

' United States Patent 91 Egger et al.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 3, 1971 Germany ..P 21 54 551.7-

[52] US. Cl ..58/5, 58/58 [51 Int. Cl. ..G04b 19/24 [58] Field of Search ..58/4, 5, 58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 650,826 6/1900 Cresson "puss/58 Jan. 23, 1973 4/1925 Van Dyke ..58/58 X 7/1969 Cabantous et al. ..58/58 X [57] ABSTRACT This invention relates to a timepiece, such as a wrist watch, with a drive for the step-by-step rotation of at least one numeral disc comprising a date ring and concentrically mountedday ring, having the days of the week in annular arrangement, both rings being covered by a dial. The dial includes at least one main date window and one main day window which may be combined to form one common main window and each making visible one day of the week on the day ring and the contemporary date on the circle of numerals. Additional windows may be provided to show prior and succeeding dates.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENIEBJANZBIEIH 3712,0413

SHEET 1 [IF 5 PATEHIE m 2 ms 7 sum 2 [1F 5 Fig. 2

PATENTEUJAH23 197s sum 3 [1F 5 PATENHDLWZEUYS. 3 712,043

SHEET 5 UF 5 DAY-DATE TIMEPIECE WITH MULTIPLE DISPLAY OF DATES AND DAYS OF WEEK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION twentyfour hours, the step corresponding to the peripheral spacing of adjacent numerals on the numeral disc. The date ring is covered by the dial and includes a window through which one numeral of the numeral disc is visible, so that the wearer of the watch can always see the date of the respective day.

It is furthermore known to install a day ring in addition to said date ring, on which the days of the week are arranged in a circle. A second window is then provided for reading the respective day of the week of the indicated day.

It is furthermore known to attach small tags to wrist watch bracelets on which are imprinted a calendar for a whole month, so that the wearer can see which date, e.g., falls on a Monday or Wednesday. Such tags must, however, be replaced every month and, in addition, they are apt to get lost, so that this system is not a satisfactory solution.

Among the more pertinent prior art disclosures are Swiss Patent No. 42,204 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,906,908 and 1,997,51 1, none of which anticipate the present invention. A conventional day-date watch is also shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,535.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By the means disclosed in the prior art, watch can give some important indications regarding the pertinent day of the week but it is still far less than the data that can be read off a calendar. The instant invention therefore, aims at improving the watch to such an extent that more information is provided concerning the pertinent period of time. This is accomplished by the watch of the present invention in that to both sides of the main windows there are disposed at least one secondary window showing the preceding and the subsequent dates. Preferably the related day and date win dows are visually combined In this way, the entire date for additional days can be disclosed. It is especially practical if an entire week is visible to the wearer. This can be achieved by providing to both sides ofthe main windows three more secondary windows that relate to the three preceding and thre three following days and which show both the day of the week as well as the actual date.

According to a further improvement of the invention, which already is significant in itself, this is remedied in that the date disc has at least three numeral circles, each .circle with the same number of numerals arranged in rows radially, one alongside the other, each such date differing from the next by one week, and that the date window always makes visible one such row of numerals. By this system there appears not only one figure in the correspondingly enlarged window, but rather, several figures, e.g., three or even four, so that for all months of 31 days the same days of the week in the same or following month are clearly presented.

On months with only 30 days, the information in a numbered row is only partly correct, namely, insofar as the dates lie in the same month. A difference occurs where such data refers to the following months. In order to also correct the readings for months of 30 or less days the date disc can be subdivided into numerals. These divided discs are then meshed in such a way that they are indexed as one whole unit during the progressive step-by-step movement and these individual discs can be properly adjusted relative to each other from the outside, e.g., by a small tool or similar means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following specification containing exemplified embodiments of the invention, when viewed in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the first embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 3a is a partial section along the line 3a of FIG. 3, on a larger scale than the latter,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the date ring,

FIG. Sis a partially sectioned view of the date disc,

FIG. 6 is a section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of a second embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the date disc of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the embodiment according to the FIGS. 1 to 6, a watch movement is disposed within the case 10 shown in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 2 and a crystal 12, having a customary framework including a lower plate 14 and an upper plate 16 as well as a spacer stud 18. In a manner not described in detail herein, there are mounted in the plates a balance wheel 20 in combination with a hairspring 22. In an electric clock or watch, the balance wheel 20 receives its driving impulses in known manner not described here. Drive is effected by an impulse pin 24 and a pivotal escapement 26 which indexes a ratched wheel 28 by an escapement fork for advance movement. Wheel 28 actuates the hands through a gear train. Of these conventional componets, only a seconds wheel 30, a minute wheel 32 and an hour tube 34 with an hour hand 36 mounted in the upper plate 16 are shown. Since the entire system for driving the hands is already known and does not constitute a part of the present invention, it is not described in detail. For the sake of completeness, it may be added that the drive may be effected by purely mechanical means in a known manner.

, On the hour tube 34, there is disposed a date pinion 38, preferably of one piece, which is rotatably disposed on guide disc 42 which in turn is secured to upper plate 16. Date pinion 38 glides on said guide disc 42 and with its four teeth 44 coacts with eight internal teeth 46 of cam 40. On its periphery, cam 40 has curved surface proper 48 with a driving face 50 and driving edge 52.

Cam 40 comprises a date indexing lever 54 pivotable about a pin 56 in the upper plate that engages aperture 58 in the date indexing lever 54. Pressure spring 60 urges date indexing lever 54 into the position shown in FIG. 3, where nose 62 contacts an internal tooth of the internal gearing 64 on date ring 66 which is rotatable along a ring shoulder 68 of upper plate 16. In addition, a date detent 70 is provided pivotable about a pin 72 that meshes with detent 74 in a tooth gap of the internal teeth 64 of the date ring 66 and is being biased by spring 76. The date detent 70 also carries a day lever spring 78. Further details of the date indexing lever 54 and thedate detent 70 will be given below.

On date ring 66, there is rotatably disposed a day ring 80 guided on pins 82 and provided with internal teeth 84. The day lever spring 78 coacts with said internal teeth' and in the rest position of FIG. 3, it engages a tooth gap of internal teeth 84.

', FIG. 4 is a plan view of date ring 66 which includes three circles of numerals, from inside to outside, a first numeral circle 100,a second numeral circle 102 and a third numeral circle 104. Each circle is numbered from 1 to 31 and staggered with regard to each other in such a manner that the numerals stand in radial sequence from inside to outside, indicating the successive dates,- one week apart, for months of thirty days.

FIG. 5 shows day ring 80 with a day circle 106 for a total of fourteen days of the week in abbreviation, covering a two week period.

As shown in FIG. 1, the day ring 80 and the date ring 66 are covered by a dial 94 which has seven day windows 96/1 to 96/7 and also seven date windows 98/1 to 98/7. The central day window 96/4 and the central date window 98/4 are designated as the main day window and the main date window are mare conspicuous by a stripe running across the middle of the dial. The main windows 96/4 and 98/4 indicate the current day of the week and the date thereof, while the other windows indicate the dates of the same day of the week in the two weeks following whereby such date may lie within the next 31-day month. To each side of the main windows there are three additional windows that relate to the three preceding and the three following days. By means of connecting lines 99 on the dial, the day of the week windows are each connected to a related window.

The following is a short description of the mode of operation for indexing the day and date discs. As a result of the reciprocal movement of the balance wheel 20, the indexing wheel 28 is indexed by escapement 26, acting on a gear train. The hour tube 34 is rotated so that it revolves once in twelve hours. Its four teeth 44 mesh with internal teeth 46 of cam 40 which thus revolves once in 24 hours. When cam 40 overrides the position shown in FIG. 3, the date indexing lever 54 moves off runoff edge 52 and then glides along the runoff face 50. Due to the large tooth gaps of internal teeth 46 this movement is jerkily effected ,by the influence of pressure spring 60. By this action the date indexing lever 54 is pivoted about pin 56 and is shifted within aperture 58. Through the pivotal movement of lever arm 86, the date detent 70 is moved around by stroke tooth 92, whereby the arresting nose 88 serves as a safety catch for the release position. Date ring 66 is thus released and moved one tooth ahead by the subsequent pivotal movement of indexing nose 62. Approximately at the same time indexing nose90 of lever arm 86 the date detent 70 is moved around by stroke 6 tooth 92, whereby the arresting nose 88 serves as a safety catch for the release position. Date ring 66 is thus released and movedone tooth ahead by the subsequent pivotal movement of indexing nose 62. Ap-

proximately at the same time indexing nose 90 of lever 7 arm 86 presses against the adjacent tooth of day disc 80 and drives this along. As a result of the transverse movement of date indexing lever 54 resulting from the shape of aperture 58, the lifting tooth 92 and the arresting nose 88 glide off date detent 70, dropping the next tooth gap of date disc 66. The day lever spring 78 of day disc 80 is thus moved into its final position and held fast there.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a further exemplified embodi-- ment of the invention. FIG. 8 shows a date disc with four numeral circles, namely, a first numeral circle 122, a second numeral circle 124, a third numeral circle 126 and a fourth numeral circle 128. The respective dates show the days that are a week apart. FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of dial 130 of a watch. Contrary to the first embodiment, the date windows 132/2 to 132/7 are somewhat longer to visibly accommodate four dates in a row. In addtion thereto, the main date window is subdivided, so that the current date is especially prominent. In other respects this embodiment corresponds to that already described.

Itis to be understood that the above-described arrangements are merely illustrative examples of the application. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devise by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim:

1. A day-date timepiece having indicator means comprising:

a day disc having the days of the week displayed thereon in a circular arrangement. I

a date disc having at least one circle of numerals indicative of the days of the month displayed thereon said disc being mounted concentrically with the day disc,

a dial having at least one main day window and one main date window which make visible one day of the week on the day circle and the corresponding date on the date disc, said dial further including-a plurality of accessory windows arranged in a predetermined relation to-the main windows to indicate preceding or following days and dates, and

means for indexing the day disc and date disc.

2. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

the main day and date windows are combined into a single window and they corresponding accessory day and date windows are combined into single windows. I

3. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

the timepiece includes three accessory windows on each side of the main window to indicate the days of an entire week.

4. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

the date disc has a plurality of numeral circles, each having the identical number of numerals radially arranged in rows one behind the other and each date one week apart, said row of dates being visible through the date windows.

position on one side of the dial and the accessory windows at.radial angles thereto with markings connecting corresponding day and date windows. 7. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 4 in engagement with each other and adjustable rela- 5 further including:

tive to each other. 6. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

the main window is positioned at the quarter hour l a separate window for indicating the date of corresponding days in preceding and succeeding weeks.

Claims

1. A day-date timepiece having indicator means comprising: a day disc having the days of the week displayed thereon in a circular arrangement. a date disc having at least one circle of numerals indicative of the days of the month displayed thereon said disc being mounted concentrically with the day disc, a dial having at least one main day window and one main date window which make visible one day of the week on the day circle and the corresponding date on the date disc, said dial further including a plurality of accessory windows arranged in a predetermined relation to the main windows to indicate preceding or following days and dates, and means for indexing the day disc and date disc.

2. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein: the main day and date windows are combined into a single window and the corresponding accessory day and date windows are combined into single windows.

3. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein: the timepiece includes three accessory windows on each side of the main window to indicate the days of an entire week.

4. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein: the date disc has a plurality of numeral circles, each having the identical number of numerals radially arranged in rows one behind the other and each date one week apart, said row of dates being visible through the date windows.

5. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein: the date disc comprises a separate ring for each numeral circle indexable as a whole said rings being in engagement with each other and adjustable relative to each other.

6. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein: the main window is positioned at the quarter hour position on one side of the dial and the accessory windows at radial angles thereto with markings connecting corresponding day and date windows.

7. A day-date timepiece in accordance with claim 4 further including: a separate window for indicating the date of corresponding days in preceding and succeeding weeks.