WO1998004962A1 - Affichage numerique de l'heure - Google Patents

Affichage numerique de l'heure Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1998004962A1
WO1998004962A1 PCT/US1997/013289 US9713289W WO9804962A1 WO 1998004962 A1 WO1998004962 A1 WO 1998004962A1 US 9713289 W US9713289 W US 9713289W WO 9804962 A1 WO9804962 A1 WO 9804962A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
display
row
alphanumeric
array
digital
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1997/013289
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO1998004962A9 (fr
Inventor
Theodore Esau
Original Assignee
Master Time Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Master Time Corporation filed Critical Master Time Corporation
Priority to AU38980/97A priority Critical patent/AU3898097A/en
Publication of WO1998004962A1 publication Critical patent/WO1998004962A1/fr
Publication of WO1998004962A9 publication Critical patent/WO1998004962A9/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
    • G04G9/00—Visual time or date indication means
    • G04G9/08—Visual time or date indication means by building-up characters using a combination of indicating elements, e.g. by using multiplexing techniques
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G04—HOROLOGY
    • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
    • G04G9/00—Visual time or date indication means
    • G04G9/08—Visual time or date indication means by building-up characters using a combination of indicating elements, e.g. by using multiplexing techniques
    • G04G9/087—Visual time or date indication means by building-up characters using a combination of indicating elements, e.g. by using multiplexing techniques provided with means for displaying at will a time indication or a date or a part thereof

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to time keeping, and more particularly, to the use of a digital time display having large digits for general time keeping.
  • Digital time displays have been available for many years in a variety of devices, such as wristwatches, stopwatches, and clocks. These devices typically incorporate a horizontal array of hour and minute digits separated by a colon, with the hour digits positioned to the left the display and the minute digits positioned to the right. If seconds are also displayed, they are typically shown positioned to the right of the minute digits.
  • the present invention provides for a timepiece having a large digit vertical format digital time display.
  • hours may be displayed over minutes, or minutes may be displayed over seconds, or seconds may be displayed over tenths or hundredths of a second, or the month may be displayed over the date, or the day may be displayed over an AM/PM indicator.
  • hours may be displayed over minutes over seconds, or minutes may be displayed over seconds over tenths or hundredths of a second, or the day may displayed over the month over the date.
  • the timepiece can switch between two-row and three-row modes, and both modes are used in normal time keeping functions as well as stopwatch functions.
  • the vertical format display is compatible with segmented and pixelated representations of digits, and allows the use of large digits without substantially increasing the overall physical dimensions of the timepiece.
  • Figs, la through Id are a plan view of a two-row digital time display compatible with the present invention.
  • Figs. 2a and 2b are a plan view of a three-row digital time display compatible with the present invention.
  • Figs. 3a through 3d are a plan view of a pixelated digital time display compatible with the present invention.
  • Fig. 4 is a plan view of display mode selection buttons compatible with the present invention.
  • the present invention incorporates a general way to display time and other information on digital watches, and is compatible with a variety of display technologies, such as light emitting diode (LED) or liquid crystal display (LCD) technologies.
  • LED light emitting diode
  • LCD liquid crystal display
  • the use of LED and LCD technology watch displays is well-known within the prior art, and representative examples are taught by U.S. Patent 3,782,102 issued Jan. 1, 1974, to Bergey; U.S. Patent 4,026,101, issued May 31, 1977, to Moyer; and U.S. Patent 4,227,777, issued Oct. 14, 1980, to Murakami, all three of which are herein incorporated by reference. It will be recognized that the present invention may be used with other display technologies in addition to LED and LCD technologies without loss of generality.
  • timing devices such as wristwatches, stopwatches, clocks, and bicycle cyclocomputers, as well as many other types of digital timers and digital displays which are used, for example, with clock radios, stereo audio systems, video cassette recorders, microwave ovens, telephones, refrigerators, automobiles, and the like.
  • Fig. 1 shows the various display positions displayed by a preferred segmented two-row digital time display on a wristwatch having normal dimensions.
  • the display is divided horizontally into two substantially equal portions defining an upper row and a lower row.
  • the watch bezel preferably has a narrow border to allow the visible display area of the watch to extend substantially to the physical edges of the watch case.
  • the display positions on a row may be made larger than on a normal digital watch due to the larger than normal visible display area.
  • the display accommodates positions for at least two alphanumeric display positions per display row.
  • Fig. la shows a first two-row watch display mode where the hours are displayed in the upper row and the minutes are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. lb shows a second two-row watch display mode where the minutes are displayed in the upper row and the seconds are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. lc shows a third two-row watch display mode where the month is displayed in the upper row and the date is displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. Id shows a fourth two-row watch display mode where the day is displayed in the upper row and an AM/PM designator is displayed in the lower row.
  • Figs, la through Id are representative modes only, and that in general the present invention provides for the display of any time, day, date, or other information capable of being represented in two or more alphanumeric display positions in each of the upper and lower rows in any order.
  • Fig. 2 shows the various display positions displayed by a preferred segmented three-row digital time display on a wristwatch having normal dimensions.
  • the display is divided horizontally into three substantially equal portions defining an upper row, a middle row, and a lower row.
  • the three-row display watch bezel preferably has a narrow border to allow the visible display area of the watch to extend substantially to the physical edges of the watch case.
  • the large display area is used either to allow die increased size of the digits, or to accommodate additional rows, or both.
  • the three-row display accommodates positions for at least four alphanumeric display positions per display row, but it will be recognized that the number of display positions per row may be increased or decreased without loss of generality.
  • Fig. 2a shows a first three-row watch display mode where the hours and minutes are displayed in the upper row, the minutes and second are displayed in the middle row, and the tenths and hundredths of a second are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. 2b shows a second three-row watch display mode where the day is displayed in the upper row, the month is displayed in the middle row, and the date is displayed in the lower row. It will be recognized that the display modes shown in Figs. 2a and 2b are representative modes only, and that in general the present invention provides for the display of any time, day, date, or other information capable of being represented in two or more alphanumeric display positions in each of the upper, middle, and lower rows in any order.
  • Fig. 2a shows a first three-row watch display mode where the hours and minutes are displayed in the upper row, the minutes and second are displayed in the middle row, and the tenths and hundredths of a second are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. 2b shows a second three-
  • FIG. 3 shows the various display positions displayed by a preferred pixelated two-row or three-row digital time display on a wristwatch having normal dimensions.
  • the display is divided horizontally into either two or three substantially equal portions which define either two or three corresponding display rows.
  • Fig. 3a shows a first two-row pixelated watch display mode where the hours are displayed in the upper row and the minutes are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. 3b shows a second two-row pixelated watch display mode where the minutes are displayed in the upper row and the seconds are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. 3c shows a first three-row pixelated watch display mode where the minutes are displayed in the upper row, the seconds are displayed in the middle row, and the tenths and hundredths of a second are displayed in the lower row.
  • Fig. 3d shows a second three-row pixelated watch display mode where the day is displayed in the upper row, the month is displayed in the middle row, and the date is displayed in the lower row.
  • the display modes shown in Figs. 3a through 3d are representative modes only, and that in general the present invention provides for the display of any time, day, date, or other information capable of being represented in two or more alphanumeric display positions in each of the upper, middle, and lower rows in any order.
  • the present invention accommodates the use of nondigit display elements such as apostrophes, colons, commas, periods, or symbols and icons as shown, for example, in Figs, la, lb, and 2a.
  • the present invention also accommodates the use of any display mode discussed or implied above or shown in any of the figures with either segmented or pixelated display technology without loss of generality.
  • the present invention provides for switching between two-row and three-row display modes. Switching between two-row and three-row modes is easily accomplished by the processor unit which controls the array of display elements. Selecting between a two-row mode and a three-row mode is preferably accomplished by using a function button located on the watch case. Further, the present invention also accommodates a marquee mode, where the processor unit can scroll information on the display in either a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal direction.
  • Fig. 4 shows display mode selection buttons used by a preferred pixelated two-row or three-row digital time display on a wristwatch having normal dimensions.
  • the wristwatch preferably has four function buttons as shown.
  • the "A” button activates a back light or other display light mechanism.
  • the “B” button changes modes from a blank face to: 1) hours and minutes, 2) minutes and seconds, 3) minutes, seconds, and tenths or hundredths of a second, and 4) day, month, and date.
  • the "C” button activates the start and stop of a stopwatch function.
  • the "D” button deletes the action of the stopwatch, and changes digits, day, month, and date in all program modes.
  • the display may be blank until a button is pressed.
  • the present invention further accommodates a variety of foreground and background display colors, including, but not limited to, black on white and white on black. It will be recognized that the functions of the display mode function buttons may be interchanged without loss of generality. It will also be recognized that other functions such as lap times, count-down or count-up timer, pulse monitor, or in the case of a cyclocomputer, functions such as speed, average speed, cadence (pedal rate), or distance, as well as many other types of functions, may be accommodated by the present invention without loss of generality.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electric Clocks (AREA)

Abstract

Cette pièce d'horlogerie présente un affichage numérique, de format vertical et à grands chiffres, de l'heure. Dans un mode d'affichage sur deux rangées, les heures peuvent s'afficher au-dessus des minutes, ou les minutes au-dessus des secondes, ou les secondes sur des dixièmes ou centièmes de seconde, ou le mois sur la date, ou le jour sur une indication matin/après-midi, et dans un mode sur trois rangées, les heures peuvent s'afficher sur les minutes et sur les secondes, ou les minutes sur les secondes et sur les dixièmes ou centièmes de seconde, ou le jour sur le mois et sur la date. On peut commuter cette pièce d'horlogerie entre le mode d'affichage sur deux rangées et celui sur trois rangées, et on peut utiliser les deux modes dans des fonctions d'inscription de l'heure de même que dans des fonctions de chronométrage. L'affichage de format vertical est compatible avec des représentations segmentées et pixelisées des chiffres et permet l'utilisation de grands chiffres sans augmenter sensiblement les dimensions physiques globales de cette pièce d'horlogerie.
PCT/US1997/013289 1996-07-30 1997-07-30 Affichage numerique de l'heure WO1998004962A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU38980/97A AU3898097A (en) 1996-07-30 1997-07-30 Digital time display

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US68854496A 1996-07-30 1996-07-30
US08/688,544 1996-07-30

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998004962A1 true WO1998004962A1 (fr) 1998-02-05
WO1998004962A9 WO1998004962A9 (fr) 1998-06-18

Family

ID=24764843

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1997/013289 WO1998004962A1 (fr) 1996-07-30 1997-07-30 Affichage numerique de l'heure

Country Status (2)

Country Link
AU (1) AU3898097A (fr)
WO (1) WO1998004962A1 (fr)

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2525694A1 (de) * 1975-06-10 1976-12-16 Schickedanz Willi Zeitanzeigevorrichtung
GB1555296A (en) * 1977-03-30 1979-11-07 Suwa Seikosha Kk Method of manufacturing digital electronic timepieces
GB2039100A (en) * 1978-11-25 1980-07-30 Casio Computer Co Ltd Electronic alarm watches
GB2075726A (en) * 1980-05-02 1981-11-18 Suwa Seikosha Kk Electronic timepiece
JPS5739382A (en) * 1980-08-20 1982-03-04 Seiko Instr & Electronics Ltd Electronic clock of matrix display
GB2098365A (en) * 1981-03-06 1982-11-17 Citizen Watch Co Ltd Digital electronic timepiece
WO1990010897A2 (fr) * 1988-03-13 1990-09-20 Koller, Armin Horloge tridimensionnelle

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2525694A1 (de) * 1975-06-10 1976-12-16 Schickedanz Willi Zeitanzeigevorrichtung
GB1555296A (en) * 1977-03-30 1979-11-07 Suwa Seikosha Kk Method of manufacturing digital electronic timepieces
GB2039100A (en) * 1978-11-25 1980-07-30 Casio Computer Co Ltd Electronic alarm watches
GB2075726A (en) * 1980-05-02 1981-11-18 Suwa Seikosha Kk Electronic timepiece
JPS5739382A (en) * 1980-08-20 1982-03-04 Seiko Instr & Electronics Ltd Electronic clock of matrix display
GB2098365A (en) * 1981-03-06 1982-11-17 Citizen Watch Co Ltd Digital electronic timepiece
WO1990010897A2 (fr) * 1988-03-13 1990-09-20 Koller, Armin Horloge tridimensionnelle

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 006, no. 108 (P - 123) 18 June 1982 (1982-06-18) *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU3898097A (en) 1998-02-20

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