US3757510A

US3757510A - High frequency electronic watch with low power dissipation

Info

Publication number: US3757510A
Application number: US00268291A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Dill
Original assignee: Hughes Aircraft Co
Current assignee: Raytheon Co
Priority date: 1972-07-03
Filing date: 1972-07-03
Publication date: 1973-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 1990-09-11
Also published as: GB1402221A; JPS4953873A; HK62576A

Abstract

An extremely thin and small electronic watch made possible by a crystal oscillating in the megahertz range and coupled to the display of the watch through two frequency dividers having basically different characteristics.

Description

United States Patent D111 [45] Sept. 11, 1973 [54] HIGH FREQUENCY ELECTRONIC WATCH 3,505,804 4/1970 Hofstein 58/50 R X WITH ow PQWER DISSIPATION 3,576,099 4/1971 Walton 58/23 R 3,672,155 5/1972 Bergey et al.... 58/85.5 X Inventor: Hans Dill, Costa Mesa, Calif. 3,512,351 5 1970 Shelley et a1. 58/23 A Assignee: Hughes Aircraft p y, Culver 3,553,957 1/1971 Dome et al. 58/23 A City, Calif. Primary ExaminerRichard B. Wilkinson [22] July 1972 Assistant ExaminerEdith S. Jackmon 211 Appl. No.: 268,291

Attorney-W. l-l. MacAllister, Jr. and Joseph E.

Szabo [52] U.S. Cl. 58/23 R, 58/50 R, 307/225 [51] Int. Cl. G041: 3/00, G04b 19/30 [57] ABSTRACT {58] Field of Search 58/23 R, 23 A, 50 R,

5853; 235/92 0 32 4 An extremely thin and small electronic watch made possible by a crystal oscillating in the megahertz range [56] Referenees Cit d and coupled to the display of the watch through two UNITED STATES PATENTS frequency dividers having basically difierent'character- 3,668,861 6/1972 Mitsui 553/50 R lstlcs' 3 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures 5 I7 l3 l5 QUOHZ p Low Frequency Crystal ag g Divider and Display Divider Display E-Jecironics PATENTEDSEPI 1 I975 3.757. 510

SHEET 1 BF 4 Qu t J JP'L Low Frequency crysm g g Divider and Display Divider Dusploy Elecfromcs 500 Mil Fig.4.

23 YEW/II, ISOYMiI. H 7%L I7 I3 ig.5.

PMENIEUSEPI H973 3'75? 510 SHEET 3 BF 4 Fig. l2.

' I05 I05 IO| [I03 4) I 2 Phase Dynamic Dynamic OSCIHCITOF Clock 96 Generator f 2 Stage 2 Stage Fig. IB. N09 us Feedback i m n3 ioi I03 Fig. i4.

H6 n7 I19 I21 123 I 3 4 E; B a 94 i7 N I64 I66 I70 I72 |74 HIGH FREQUENCY ELECTRONIC WATCH WITH LOW POWER DISSIPATION Reduction in the size and particularly the thickness of electronic watches to which the present invention pertains is a continuing industry objective. Present electronic watch movements, utilizing a quartz crystal time base, coupled through an electronic frequency divider to a display, tend to be too thick, even for mens' watches. For ladies watches, their size is prohibitive. The reason for the relative thickness of quartzcontrolled watch movements is the quartz crystal itself. It is hermetically sealed in a case and its size is inversely proportional to the frequency at which it vibrates. Presently quartz crystals for watches operate in the relatively low frequency 30 to 50 kilohertz region, and at these frequencies, they are more than a tenth of an inch thick and may be as long as seven-tenths of an inch long.

Crystal size may, of course, be reduced by increasing its operating frequency, but only at the cost of aggravating another problem inherent in electronic watches power consumption. The higher the frequency at which the quartz time base of an electronic watch vibrates, the more stages are required to bring its frequency down to that required for operating the watch display. And, since frequency division in electronic watches is universally done through a series of binary stages, each of which divides by only a factor of two, it will be appreciated that each ten-fold increase in crystal frequency requires the addition of more than three binary dividing stages. Thus, crystal size reduction through increased crystal operating frequency comes at the cost of a considerable increase in power consumption. Moreover, in presently used frequency dividers utilizing monolithic CMOS circuits, power consumption in any given stage is proportional to frequency. Thus, as operating frequency is increased from the tens of kilohertz toward the thousands, power consumption using conventional CMOS circuits increases geometrically. That is why watch control quartz crystals are large and operate at relatively low frequencies. They operate from power cells whose total energy output is limited. Reduced size would come only at the expense of frequent and costly energy cell changes.

It is the principal object of the present invention to overcome the current impasse between the size and power consumption of quartz controlled electronic watches and to produce such a watch of radically reduced size while keeping its power consumption at an acceptable level.

More specifically, it is the object of the present invention to reduce the size of a quartz-controlled electronic watch by increasing the frequency at which its crystal vibrates from the kilohertz to the megahertz range, but without prohibitively increasing the current drain of the watch.

A closely related object of the present invention is to provide a megahertz to hertz frequency divider for a quartz crystal controlled electronic watch whose current drain is comparable to that of currently available k'ilohertz to hertz frequency dividers.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following figures in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of an exemplary ladies wrist watch embodying features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the movement of the watch of FIG. 1 which incorporates all of the components necessary to generate and display time signals;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an assembly which includes the first three blocks of FIG. 2 mounted on one side of a base panel;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 illustrating generally the manner in which the quartz crystal is mounted upon the base panel of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a magnified diagram of a portion of FIG. 4 illustrating in greater detail some of the aspects of the quartz crystal and its mounting;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-section through an alternative type of quartz crystal which may be used instead of the crystal illustrated in FIGS. 3-5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the quartz crystal illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the movement illustrated in block diagram form in FIG. 2, and shows in particular the liquid crystal display panel which may be used therewith;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the watch movement of FIG. 8 showing the manner in which the liquid crystal display panel is mounted on one side of a face support panel and the electronic package shown in FIG. 3 is mounted on the opposite side thereof;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the back side of the watch movement illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, showing the possible disposition of the components which comprise the electronic portion of the watch movement;

FIG. 11 is a smaller and simpler alternative to the package shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, and is adapted for driving an electric motor geared to the hands of a watch havinga conventional type of display face;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary oscillator and high frequency divider which is depicted as a single block in FIG. 2, with FIG. 12 showing it to be comprised of an oscillator, a two-phase clock generator, and a series of dynamic divide-by-two stages;

FIG. 13 is a functional circuit diagram of the oscillator and two-phase clock generator referred to in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a functional circuit diagram of the dynamic divider referred to in FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a detailed circuit diagram of the oscillator and two-phase clock generator depicted in FIGS. 12 and 13;

FIG. 16 is a detailed circuit diagram of the dynamic divider depicted in FIGS. 12 and 14; and

FIG. 17 is a timing diagram showing the wave forms used to drive the successive dynamic dividers and the conditions at several points in those dividers which respond to the driving signals.

A ladies wrist watch 11 made possible by the present invention is shown approximately to scale in FIG. 1. In successive lines on the face of the watch are shown the time in hours and minutes, the seconds, and the month and day of the year.

In order to make possible the size of watch illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic movement is divided into four principal parts. In addition to the quartz crystal 13, there is provided a first microelectronic chip 15, which includes an oscillator circuit connected to the quartz crystal 13 for generating a time base. The chip 15 also includes a high frequency divider for converting the extremely high frequency, preferably in excess of one megahertz, timing signals generated by the oscillator into lower frequency timing signals comparable to' watch movement, a display device 19, which may be either a liquid crystal digital display, or a light-emitting diode digitai display or the equivalent An electronic assembly 20 constructed in accordance with the present invention to drive a digital display is illustrated in FIG. 3. Its approximate size is indicated to be approximately 400 X 500 mils, or about the size of a mans thumbnail. It will be appreciated, of course, that the size of the circuit assembly illustrated in FIG. 3, as well as those illustrated in the other figures, are given for purpose of illustration only, to help the reader appreciate the miniaturization effected by the invention. It is not meant to indicate that all circuits constructed in accordance with the invention will necessarily be of the illustrated size. The assembly of FIG. 3 is built upon a non-conductive base panel 21, upon one side of which the quartz crystal 13 and the

frequency divider chips

15 and 17 are mounted. In keeping with the invention, the oscillator and high frequency divider circuit 15 occupy a physically separate chip from the low frequency divider and display electronic circuit 17. In order to permit the oscillator and high frequency divider circuits 15 to operate in the increased frequency range dictated by the quartz crystal 13 which oscillates above a megacycle, the circuits 15 are incorporated in an integrated circuit chip which is characterized by low power dissipation at very high frequencies, this being achieved by a uniquely low node capacitance. In particular, it is proposed herein that the oscillator and high frequency divider circuits 15 be incorporated in that type of an integrated circuit wherein a semiconductor layer, such as silicon, is deposited on an insulating layer such as sapphire.

A suitable circuit configuration for the oscillator and high frequency divider 15 is shown in FIGS. 12 through 17. Suffice it to say at this point that the circuit operates in cooperation with the quartz crystal 13 to produce precisely timed pulses at a rate of about one megacycle or higher and serves also to frequencydivide those timed pulses by a pre-determined factor, which will typically be of the order of 16 or 32. The output produced by the circuits 15, which will typically be a precisely timed pulse train having a frequency of the order of 100 kilohertz to one megahertz, is then applied to the low frequency divider and display electronic circuitry incorporated in the larger chip 17, which may utilize circuitry of conventional design. The input input pulse train received by the circuit 17 is further divided in frequency down to a frequency of one pulse per hour. Additionally, the display electronic circuit portion of the chip l7 converts the pulses of various frequencies to signals suitable for driving a digital display such as a liquid crystal or a light-emitting diode array. Further details concerning the low frequency divider and display electronics chips 17 would unduly burden this description, since such circuits are, by now, well known to those skilled in the art. They are usually incorporated in a single silicon chip and feature C/MOS circuit elements for minimum power consumption. See, for example, C/MOS Digital Wristwatch Features Liquid Crystal Display," ELECTRONICS, April 10, 1972, page 93.

While the details of the circuit chip 17 do not form a part of the present invention, it is an important feature of the invention that the high frequency divider I5 and the low frequency divider portion of the circuit 17 are formed in separate integrated circuit chips having fundamentally different operating characteristics. In particular, the high frequency divider 15 is characterized by low node capacitance, achieved by the use of a silicon-on-insulator chip, which because of its low nodal capacitance permits circuit operation at extremely high frequencies without excessive power consumption. On the other hand, the lower portion of the frequency dividing chain of the watch circuit illustrated in FIG. 3 is formed in a monolithic semiconductor substrate such as silicon, and features circuitry, such as C/MOS, characterized by a very low leakage current but not necessarily the same low nodal capacitance which characterizes the chip in which the high frequency divider portion of the circuit is incorporated. Consequently, even though it is contemplated that the circuit 17 would contain a substantially larger number of frequency dividing stages than the integrated circuit chip 15, the current consumption of the integrated circuit chip 17 would not be excessive because of its inherently low leakage current.

Another important advantage of utilizing separate integrated circuit chips for the functions to be performed by the

circuits

15 and 17 is that the type of integrated circuit necessary to permit high frequency operation above one megacycle is quite expensive and would raise the cost of the assembly 20 considerably if it were also used for the remainder, or lower frequency portion, of the circuit. Separating the high and low frequency portions of the watch circuit permits the lower cost monolithic semiconductor substrate technology to be utilized in those circuits which do not require the advantages, such as the lower node capacitance, which are attainable only with the higher cost integrated circuit utilized for the high frequency portion 15 of the watch assembly. Although the low frequency dividing stages and the display electronics are described herein as being on a single monolithic chip 17, it would be within the scope of the present invention to put them on separate monolithic chips, to simplify fabrication.

Turning next to the quartz crystal 13, it is shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 as being supported at its center upon an electrically conductive pedestal 23, against which it is secured by a metal bracket 25. For a frequency not much above (2 one megahertz, a DT cut quartz crystal may be used. A DT cut quartz crystal vibrates in the face-shear mode wherein the crystal alternately contracts and expands along intersecting diagonals.

Electrodes

14 and 16 extend along opposite faces of the quartz crystal wafer 13 and serve to impose upon the crystal the potentials which cause vibrations. In accordance with a structural feature of the present invention, the pedestal 23 and the bracket 25 serve not only to support the crystal wafer securely parallel to the base panel 21 at the center of the wafer, but they also serve to apply the electric potentials to its

electrode

14 and 16. For this purpose, printed

circuit connectors

27 and 29 lead up to the pedestal 23 and the bracket so as to interconnect them with the oscillator circuit incorporated in the integrated circuit chip 15. Through conductors which may be formed on the panel 20 but which are not shown, the chips and 17 are interconnected to one another, to the crystal 13 and to a set of feed-through connectors 32, so that the display signals generated by the chip 17 may be applied to whatever digital display device may be supported on the opposite face of the panel.

A quartz crystal and a manner of mounting it suitable for frequencies in the nine megahertz range are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. They show a crystal 13a with an AT cut wherein the quartz crystal is caused to vibrate in the thickness shear mode with major faces of the crystal wafer moving in opposite directions which reverse cyclically. Whereas the frequency of vibration of the DT cut crystal illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 is determined by its width and length, the vibration frequency of the AT cut quartz crystal is a function of its thickness. For a vibration frequency in the nine megahertz range the quartz crystal 13a should have a thickness approximately 7 mils (thousandths of an inch). The size of the quartz crystal wafer utilizing the AT cut will be approximately the same as that of the DT cut crystal. Thus, a typical size for the quartz crystal of FIG. 6 will be approximately 80 by 100 mils whereas the typical size for the quartz crystal of FIGS. 4-5 will be approximately 100 by 100 mils.

As shown in FIG. 6, the method of mounting the AT cut crystal 13a may be considered more secure than that for mounting the DT cut crystal. For this reason it may be preferable. Thus, the AT cut crystal is mounted at opposite ends upon a pair of electrically conductive pillars 33 to which the crystal is secured by means of a suitable bond such as a silver filled epoxy 35. Electrical contact is made from the respective pillars 33 through the silver filled epoxy bond 35 to a pair of electrodes 16a and 14a which extend respectively along the bottom and the top of the crystal. Electric potentials for vibrating the crystal are again provided through conductors which may be formed on the base panel 21. Further details concerning the theory of operation of quartz crystals cut either AT or DT may be found in the HANDBOOK OF PIEZOELECTRIC CRYSTALS FOR RADIO EQUIPMENT DESIGNERS, WADC Technical Report 56l56, ASTIA Document No. AD110448, particularly at pages 38 and 42.

A movement for an electronic watch including a digital display is illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. Essentially it comprises an electronic assembly a which corresponds to the electronic assembly 20 showing FIGS. 3 and 4 but whose base panel 21a extends to accommodate a battery 41, a 1.5 to 15 volt up-converter 43, to convert the battery voltage to the voltage necessary for driving a liquid crystal display, and a trimming capacitor 45 which is connected into the oscillator circuit for adjusting its frequency. Connected to the electronic assembly 20a through a series of feed-through connecting pins 21 is a liquid crystal display panel 39 extending along the opposite face of the base panel 21a. Since liquid crystal displays for watches are now commercially available (see the above-referenced ELECTRONICS article), the display panel 39 need not be described in detail. Its importance to the combination is the manner in which it is compactly packaged on one side of a base panel, on the opposite side of which all of the electronic circuitry required to drive the display panel are mounted. In the illustrated display panel 39 the hour and minute are shown in the top line, the first digit of the second is shown in the second line, with the month and day appearing in the bottom line of the display. Two rows of dots are disposed to the right of the numeral indicating the first digit of the second, these dots being illuminated in succession to indicate the passing of successive seconds. Thus, when the 59th second of a given minute arrives, nine of the ten dots are illuminated.

In the foregoing paragraphs, there has been described an electronic assembly for driving a digital display and an electronic watch movement-incorporating both the digital display and the electronic assembly. The present invention, however, also finds use in driving a conventional display wherein a minute hand and an hour hand are moved across the face of a watch by an electric motor. An electronic assembly intended for this type of application will be smaller than its counterpart intended for driving a digital display because there will not be a need for generating the rather complex set of signals which a digital display requires. Such an assembly is shown in FIG. 11, drawn to the same scale as the more complex assembly appearing in FIGS. 3-5. Otherwise the electronic assembly of FIG. 11 for driving a watch motor is shown to be comprised of the same principal components; namely, a quartz crystal 49, an oscillator and high frequency divider chip 51, and a low frequency divider chip 53, all mounted on a common base panel 55. Feed-through connectors 57 provide the electrical path for applying the output of the low frequency divider 53 to the watch motor which will usually be mounted on the opposite side of the panel.

A suitable circuit for performing the function of the oscillator and high frequency-divider chip 15 is illustrated in FIGS. 12 through 17. Preferably, it is constructed in silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) and uses CMOS circuit elements. As shown in FIG. 12, the SOS-CMOS circuit chip 15 basically includes an oscillator 101, a two-phase clock generator 103 driven by the oscillator, and a series of dynamic divide by two stages 105 each dividing the output of the preceding stage by two.

Referring to FIG. 12, the oscillator 101 is principally comprised of an inverting amplifier 107 whose output is connected to its input through a feedback loop 109. The two-phase clock generator 103 includes an inverting amplifier 111 for buffering the output of the oscillator 101 and an additional inverting amplifier 113 to derive the desired inverse of the output of the buffering amplifier 111. Also connected to the output of the inverting amplifier 11 l is a transfer gate 1 15 whose function is to delay the output of the inverting amplifier 11 1 by the same amount as it is delayed by the inverting amplifier 113. In this manner the d) or in-phase output which appears at the output of the clock generator 103 will be precisely out of phase with the output of the generator.

Referring next to FIG. 14, each dynamic divide by two stage 105 is comprised of a pair of

transfer gates

116 and 119, with the output of the first transfer gate 116 being applied to the input of the second transfer gate 119 through an inverting amplifier 117 and with the output of the second transfer gate 119 being fed through a pair of series-connected

inverting amplifiers

121 and 123 to the output of the divider stage labelled 1) The inverse of that output, o is derived from the output of the first of the two inverters 121. During each two successive cycles of an input signal received by a dynamic stage 105, that stage will go through one complete cycle of its operation and will change states twice. The state from which the dynamic divider 105 changes is sensed through the feed-back loop 125 and determines the next state which it will assume.

Turning next to FIG. for a more detailed description of the circuit of oscillator 101, it includes, as mentioned previously, an inverting amplifier 107 having a feed-back loop 109 connected between its output and its input. The inverting amplifier 1117 includes a pair of MOS transistors 139 connected in series between a pair of power terminals shown as ground and a source of positive potential, labelled The output of the amplifier 1117 is taken from the junction of the

devices

139 and 141 and is labelled 143. The input of the amplifier 107 is the point 142 representing the connection between the gates of the

devices

139 and 141. Connecting the output 143 and the input 142 is the feedback loop 109 which includes the quartz crystal 13 having a pair of

electrodes

14 and 16 and a biasing resistor 133 in parallel therewith, with the function of the resistor being to insure that the amplifier is biased into the linear region of its operation. Also forming part of the feedback loop 109 are a pair of

capacitors

135 and 137, the former being connected from the point 142 to ground and the latter, a variable trimming capacitor, being connected to ground from the junction point 143. Oscillation is accomplished as a result of the 90 phase shift introduced by the inductive nature of the quartz crystal 13 and by an additional 90 phase shift introduced by the fixed capacitor 135. An additional phase shift of approximately 180 is introduced by the inverter amplifier 107 so that, with the components properly selected, the total phase shift through the entire circuit comes out to exactly 360, thereby insuring oscillation.

The output of the oscillator 101, taken from the point 143, is buffered and inverted by the inverting amplifier 111 which is comprised of a pair of MOS opposite

conductivity type devices

145 and 147 connected in series between ground and the positive potential source Then, as mentioned previously, the output of the first inverter 11 1 is fed through a second inverter 1 13, comprised of a pair of series-connected P and

N transistors

157 and 159 to obtain the desired signal. The output of inverter 111 is also fed through a transfer gate 115 to delay it by the same amount as the delay introduced by the inverter 113. The transfer gate 115 is comprised of a pair of opposite

conductivity type devices

149 and 151 connected in parallel, with their gates biased into conduction at all times so as to add a sufficient resistance to the current path from the positive potential source to the output point 155 so as to bring the total resistance of that path to the same level as the resistance of the path from the positive potential source to the iii output 156. Thus, by making the resistances of the current paths to the and the 4) output points 155, 156 the same, the timing of the output pulses at those points is also made identical. 7

Operation of the dynamic divider will be described in terms of switching ofa series of circuit points, or nodes, in the circuit labelled 164, 166, 170, 172 and 174 in response to a pair of clock signals d: and E. The waveforms 4: and are complementary so that when one is at a logic I, or high voltage level, the other is at a logic 0, or low voltage level. In order to turn on the first transfer switch 116 and to turn off the second transfer switch 1 19 when clock signals (it and are respectively high and low, (11 is applied to the gates of the N and

P transistors

163 and 165 of the two switches, and d: is applied to the gates of their P and N transistors 16] and 167. The voltage levels assumed by the various nodes i n response to the switching of the clock signals d and d) are represented by the waveforms A and B in FIG. 17.

Considering first the initial state of th e circuit prior to the time t (see FIG. 17), (1 is low and d) is high, causing the transfer switch 116 to be off, or open, and causing the transfer switch 1 19 to be on, or closed. For purpose of this explanation, let it be assumed that the node 164, representing the output of switch 116, is at a low level. As this description proceeds, it will be seen that this assumption is justified by the behavior of the circuit. If the node 164 is low, then the node 166 is high, as is the node 170, since the closed transfer switch 1 19 transmits the voltage level at its input. The node 172 is low, due to the inverter 121, and the node 174 is, agains, high, because of the inventer 123. Since the switch 116 is open, the signal at the node 174 is stopped short of reaching the node 164. Therefore, node 164 remains low. The voltage level at the node 164 is represented by the waveform A and the voltage levels at the nodes and 174 are represented by the waveform B.

At time t d and $reverse states. With ()5 going high, switch 116 is turned on, and with If going low, the switch 119 is turned off. This puts the node 170 into a dynamic storage mode in which it is isolated at the high voltage level and remains at that same high level. It should be noted that the

nodes

164 and 170 float when their associated

switches

116 and 119 are open. In this state, the nodes function as a dynamic storage capacitor which retains a charge and an associated potential for a brief period of time, after which the charge may leak off. Consequently, the switch which works into the node must not operate too slowly.

Initially then, at t the voltage at the node 174, which remains unchanged at a high level, is applied through the now closed switch 116 to the node 164, causing it to go from low to high (A is high). During t t, conditions remain stable, with the node 170 being the only one of the two to be in a dynamic storage mode.

At time t,, the clocks 41 and again reverse, causing switch 119 to close and 116 to open simultaneously. Node 164 is isolated and remains at the high level. However, closing of the switch 119 causes the node 170 to assume the state of node 166, which is the inverse of the state of node 164 and is, hence, low. Consequently, the node 170 also. goes low (B is low).

At time the clocks d) and again interchange, closing the switch'll6 and opening the switch 119. Node .170 is again isolated and remains low. Node 164 assumes the state of node 174 through the feed-back loop 125 and the now-closed switch 116, causing it to go from high to low (A goes low). This remains until time 1 when d) and a; again reverse, causing the switch 116 to open and switch 119 to close. This isolates the node 164 at its low level. The now closed switch 119 transfers the voltage level at node 166 to the storage node 170, causing it to go from low to high (B goes high). This returns the circuit to its initial state and subsequent reversals of the clocks 5 and 5 simply repeat the events described.

Outputs of each dynamic divider stage 105 are taken from the no des 174 and 172 and become the clock signals Q and for the next lower order stage in the chain of dividers.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention makes it possible to produce a quartz crystal-controlled electronic watch of greatly reduced size without unduly increasing its power consumption. This is brought about by utilizing a quartz crystal vibrating at a much higher frequency than those currently in use, thus drastically reducing ,the size of the largest single component of electronic watches. The use of such a high frequency crystal without increasing power consumption due to the increased number of frequency-dividing stages required is made possible by the use of two frequency dividers of fundamentally different characteristics. The high frequency end of the total frequency dividing chain used to bring down the crystal frequency is designed to have an acceptably low current drain at or near the crystal vibration frequency. Yet, for the sake of minimizing circuit costs, the lower frequency portion of the frequency dividing chain is formed of conventional circuit components whose current drain at'the lower frequencies are within acceptable limits.

Not only does the use of a high frequency quartz crystal reduce size, it also increase the accuracy of the watch, since it is well known that the higher the clock frequency, the more accurate is the watch. Reduced size also promotes a more rugged package and, by using a sufficiently small crystal as suggested by the present invention, the quartz crystal may be packaged in a single container along with the semiconductor components used in the watch. This tends to further reduce size and cost. Indeed, the expected size of a watch movement" made in accordance with the pre sent invention, with a quartz crystal operating in the megacycle range, is comparable to that of a currently used 32 kilohertz quartz crystal and its housing.

What is claim is:

1. An electronic watch comprising in combination:

a. a quartz crystal-controlled oscillator operating at a frequency above one Mhz, and including l. a quartz crystal and 2. a first integrated circuit chip formed of siliconon-saphire and having therein the circuit components of said oscillator connected to said crystal and a frequency divider, connected to said oscillator circuit to frequency divide its output by a first factor;

0. a second integrated circuit chip formed of silicon and having an inherently lower leakage current but inherently higher nodal capacitance than said first chip, said second chip including a second frequency divider connected to frequency divide the output of said first frequency divider by a second factor which is substantially greater than said first factor;

d. a display device; and

e. means for driving said display device in response to the output of said second frequency divider.

2. In an electronic watch the combination comprising:

a. an insulating base panel;

b. an electrically conductive pedestal extending from a surface of said base panel;

c. a rectangular, DT cut quartz crystal mounted on said base panel parallel to the surface of said panel, with the center of the crystal resting upon said pedestal for both electrical contact and mechanical support; and

d. at least one integrated circuit chip mounted on said base panel, said chip including elements connected to said crystal and to each other to form an oscillator circuit and also including additional elements interconnected to form a frequency-dividing circuit connected to frequency divide the output of said oscillator circuit.

3. The combination of claim 2 characterized further by the provision of an electrically conductive holder for said crystal, said holder making both electrical and mechanical contact with a face of said crystal in exact alignment with said pedestal, and being mechanically anchored upon said panel surface.

Claims

1. An electronic watch comprising in combination: a. a quartz crystal-controlled oscillator operating at a frequency above one Mhz, and including 1. a quartz crystal and 2. a first integrated circuit chip formed of silicon-on-saphire and having therein the circuit componentS of said oscillator connected to said crystal and a frequency divider, connected to said oscillator circuit to frequency divide its output by a first factor; c. a second integrated circuit chip formed of silicon and having an inherently lower leakage current but inherently higher nodal capacitance than said first chip, said second chip including a second frequency divider connected to frequency divide the output of said first frequency divider by a second factor which is substantially greater than said first factor; d. a display device; and e. means for driving said display device in response to the output of said second frequency divider.

2. a first integrated circuit chip formed of silicon-on-saphire and having therein the circuit componentS of said oscillator connected to said crystal and a frequency divider, connected to said oscillator circuit to frequency divide its output by a first factor; c. a second integrated circuit chip formed of silicon and having an inherently lower leakage current but inherently higher nodal capacitance than said first chip, said second chip including a second frequency divider connected to frequency divide the output of said first frequency divider by a second factor which is substantially greater than said first factor; d. a display device; and e. means for driving said display device in response to the output of said second frequency divider.

2. In an electronic watch the combination comprising: a. an insulating base panel; b. an electrically conductive pedestal extending from a surface of said base panel; c. a rectangular, DT cut quartz crystal mounted on said base panel parallel to the surface of said panel, with the center of the crystal resting upon said pedestal for both electrical contact and mechanical support; and d. at least one integrated circuit chip mounted on said base panel, said chip including elements connected to said crystal and to each other to form an oscillator circuit and also including additional elements interconnected to form a frequency-dividing circuit connected to frequency divide the output of said oscillator circuit.