CLAIMS
1. A timepiece having a display comprising: hour display means (11 ,12) for displaying a symbol representative of the current hour (11) and a symbol representative of the next hour (12); and, minute display means (13,14) for indicating the current minute past the current hour, wherein the minute display means comprises: means for displaying a plurality of symbols (14) representative of minutes past the hour, the plurality of symbols being disposed sequentially along an open path having a beginning (15) and an end
(16) remote from the beginning (15), the path between the beginning (15) and the end (16) being representative of the passage of one hour from the current hour to the next hour; and, means (13) for indicating the current minute relative to the minute symbols along the path, the current minute indicating means
(13) being adapted to reset rapidly and automatically to the beginning (15) of the path on reaching the end (16) of the path, wherein the beginning (15) of the path is proximate the current hour symbol (11) and distal the next hour symbol (12) and the end (16) of the path is distal the current hour symbol (11) and proximate the next hour symbol (12), and wherein the path along which the plurality of minute symbols (14) is disposed is a curved path.
2. A timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the curved path is an arc of a closed geometric shape
3. A timepiece according to claim 2, in which the closed geometric shape is substantially a circle.
4. A timepiece according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the arcuate path subtends an angle of less than 180 degrees.
5. A timepiece according to claim 4, in which the arcuate path subtends an angle of less than about 120 degrees.
6. A timepiece according to any preceding claim, in which the display is configured with the current hour symbol (11) disposed in an upper portion of the display and the next hour symbol (12) disposed in a lower portion of the display when oriented for normal viewing, such that the curved path is disposed in a right hand portion of the display.
7. A timepiece according to any preceding claim, in which the symbol representative of the current (11) and/or next hour (12) is a numeral.
8. A timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 7, in which the current minute indicating means comprises a hand (13), a tip of which points to a part of the path indicative of the current minute relative to the minute symbols (14), wherein the hand comprises a moving member driven by a mechanical or electromechanical mechanism.
9. A timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 7, in which the current minute indicating means comprises a hand, a tip of which points to a part of the path indicative of the current minute relative to the minute symbols, wherein the display comprises an electronic display and the hand comprises a virtual hand displayed by activating a portion of the electronic display.
10. A timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 7, in which the current minute indicating means comprises means to highlight a portion of the path between the beginning of the path and a point on the path indicative of the current minute.
11. A timepiece according to any of claims 1 to 7, in which the current minute indicating means comprises means to highlight the minute symbol most closely representing the current minute past the hour.
12. A timepiece according to claim 10 or claim 1 1 , in which the highlighting means comprise means to illuminate the path portion or the nearest minute symbol.
13. A timepiece according to any preceding claim, in which the current minute indicating means is adapted to reciprocate for automatically resetting.
14. A timepiece according to claim 8 or claim 9 when dependent on claim 2, in which the driving mechanism is adapted to cause the tip of the hand to traverse a remainder of the closed geometric shape between the end and the beginning of the path for automatically resetting.
15. A wristwatch comprising a timepiece according to any preceding claim. |
SINGLE-HANDED TIMEPIECE
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a time-piece with an open-ended minute display which can employ a single analogue type hand.
Background to the Invention
Timepieces, or watches, have evolved steadily over several hundred years, and particularly since the miniaturization of early spring-based designs enabled accurate portable timepieces, such as the marine chronometer. Early pocket watches only had an hour hand, as the inaccuracy of the watch mechanism meant that there was little point attempting to indicate the current minute. Mechanical mechanisms for watches of classical design became quite complex, including the escapement for controlling the release of stored energy in a periodic fashion, and the balance wheel and spring mechanism for providing a harmonic oscillator to control the motion of the gear system. An analogue display could then indicate, on one or more dials, the current hour, minute, and even second, by means of separate hands driven by the mechanical mechanism. Other changeable information, such as the day or date, could be indicated in separate windows, by means of a display mechanism driven by the underlying watch mechanism.
The last fifty years has seen considerable further developments in watch mechanisms, starting with the electrical or electronic tuning fork, which was rapidly superseded by the quartz crystal oscillator that provided an accurate and highly stable frequency source for pacing the timekeeping mechanism by means of the piezoelectric effect and also a source that could be powered by a modest electrical battery. As such, movements may now be entirely mechanical, entirely electronic, or a blend of the two. Over the same period there have been considerable developments in display technology, such as the advent of the liquid crystal display (LCD), which have provided alternative ways for displaying the time and other ancillary information. As a result, in addition to traditional mechanical analogue displays, the time may now be displayed in a purely digital format or may be displayed electronically, either in an analogue representation or else digitally.
Generally speaking, the modern timepiece is split between those that employ a digital representation of time with numerals, and those that employ an analogue- type representation based on two or more moving hands and a number of symbols representing the hours of the twelve hour clock and some or all of the sixty minutes that make up each passing hour. In either case, the display can be effected by either mechanical or electronic means, and both of these may be based on an electrically-powered timekeeping mechanism. With the more conventional analogue display, a 360°-rotating minute hand points towards symbols representative of minutes past the current hour and at the same time a linked 360°- rotating hour hand points towards symbols representative of the hours of the twelve hour clock.
The symbols may be numerical or simply graphical, but are usually configured such that the hour symbols and the minute symbols at multiples of five-minutes past the hour are the same. Further minute symbols provide for resolution during the five minute intervals. The minute hand is driven to complete a full 360° rotation over a period of one hour and, if mechanical, the hour hand is coupled by suitable gearing mechanism to move slowly from one hour symbol to the next over the course of an hour, thereby completing a full 360° rotation over a period of twelve hours. In an electronic analogue display, on board processing means and driving circuitry simulates this effect on the LCD display.
Alternative arrangements have been proposed for timepiece displays, for both reasons of the ease of reading of the time display and also aesthetics. Published US patent 4,752,919 describes a clock with a digital hour station and a line of discrete, binary minute substations. A similar, but analogue, arrangement is described in published German utility model DE29602019.
Published US patent 4,991 ,154 discloses a timepiece that employs a conventional 360°-rotating minute hand to analogically display the current minute past the hour, whilst at the same time indicating the current hour in a conveniently positioned window on the timepiece dial by means of a single digital display. The digital display comprises a mechanically driven rotating member, which is linked to the minute hand driving means in such a way that the member is moved in a jerking
fashion to update the current hour displayed in the window at the end of each rotation of the minute hand.
Published European patent application EP0788036A2 describes a time piece having a single minute hand, which rotates from left to right along a path traversing a little more than a semicircle. A single hour symbol is displayed in a window located below the centre of the semicircular path. The wristwatch has a control mechanism for the hours and minutes display which are linked, and the minute arm is turned by a balance wheel, which acts under the effect of a spring via a ratchet wheel on a cam so as fall back suddenly to rest once per hour. A not dissimilar control mechanism is described in DE10200284C1 , although here a single minute hand traverses almost a complete circle during the course of one hour, with an hour symbol displayed in the intervening window.
Despite the various timepiece displays described above, there is still considerable scope for alternative forms of timepiece displays, which present the core information in a readily accessible form and also in an attractive and enhanced visual display. However, in order to realise such alternative displays, a suitable technical means will be required to enable the display to operate in the desired manner.
Summary of the Invention
According to the present invention, there is provided a timepiece having a display comprising: hour display means for displaying a symbol representative of the current hour and a symbol representative of the next hour; and, minute display means for indicating the current minute past the current hour, wherein the minute display means comprises: means for displaying a plurality of symbols representative of minutes past the hour, the plurality of symbols being disposed sequentially along an open path having a beginning and an end remote from the beginning, the path between the beginning and the end being representative of the passage of one hour from the current hour to the next hour; and, means for indicating the current minute relative to the minute symbols along the path, the current minute indicating means being adapted
to reset rapidly and automatically to the beginning of the path on reaching the end of the path, wherein the beginning of the path is proximate the current hour symbol and distal the next hour symbol and the end of the path is distal the current hour symbol and proximate the next hour symbol, and wherein the path along which the plurality of minute symbols is disposed is a curved path.
In this way, the invention provides a timepiece with an innovative display, whereby the time information can be presented in a different and easy to read manner due to the open (i.e. not closed) and curved path along which the minute symbols are located and along which the current minute indicating means effectively rnoves to indicate the current minute. The display may also be more compact, depending on extent of the curved path. A separate display means is used to show both of the current (from) hour and the next (to) hour. The open path naturally runs from the proximity of the current hour symbol and towards the proximity of the next hour symbol, which provides for easy reading of the time.
The curved open path along which the plurality of minute symbols is disposed may be an arc of a closed geometric shape. For example, the geometric shape may be substantially a circle, but could be an ellipse or the like. In this way the open path is simply a portion (an arc) of the closed geometric shape. The minute symbols need not be disposed uniformly along the path as there may be a nonlinear mapping between any motion of the current minute indicating means and the minute symbols.
In a preferred embodiment, the arcuate path subtends an angle of less than 180 degrees. In another embodiment the arcuate path subtends an angle of less than about 120 degrees. This provides for a more compact display. In other embodiments the arcuate path may subtend an angle of about 45 degrees or less, which provides for much more compact and unusual displays. However, the accuracy with which a user can read the current time will be reduced, if the arcuate path subtends too small an angle.
Preferably, the display is configured with the current hour symbol disposed in an upper portion of the display and the next hour symbol disposed in a lower portion of the display when oriented for normal viewing, such that the curved path is disposed in a right hand portion of the display. When the curved path is an arc subtending about 180 degrees or less, a timepiece can be realised with a compact display, where the current minute past the hour is indicated by the current minute indicating means traversing the curved path in a generally downwards motion from the current hour symbol to the next hour symbol, before resetting.
In order for the display to operate, a current minute indicating means is provided that is adapted to automatically reset on reaching the end of the effective path, at which time the hour display means will then indicate the new current and/or next hour. This resetting must be done in a time frame that is sufficiently rapid for the minute indicating means to be able to indicate the first minute (or minutes) past the new current hour in an uninterrupted manner. This resetting action could be as slow as several seconds or even a few tens of seconds. However, the resetting will preferably be performed in under a second and may be much faster, particularly if an electronic display is employed.
It is preferred that the symbol representative of the current and/or next hour is a numeral. In this way, the current and/or next hour is displayed in a convenient digital format. However, other representations are possible.
In one embodiment, the current minute indicating means may comprise a hand, a tip of which points to a part of the path indicative of the current minute relative to the minute symbols, wherein the hand comprises a moving member driven by a mechanical or electromechanical mechanism. This embodiment uses a conventional analogue-type display for the minutes, and therefore much of the driving mechanism may be based on that used in known timepieces, but must be adapted to provide for the rapid automatic resetting. The skilled person would be able to implement such an adaptation, for example by means of resilient member such as a spring.
In another embodiment, the current minute indicating means comprises a hand, a tip of which points to a part of the path indicative of the current minute relative to
the minute symbols, wherein the display comprises an electronic display and the hand comprises a virtual hand displayed by activating a portion of the electronic display. This embodiment also uses a conventional analogue-type display for the minutes, but is implemented via a purely electronic display. Again, the display controlling mechanism may be based on that used in known timepieces, but must be adapted to provide for the rapid automatic resetting. This may be readily achieved in an LCD-type display, whereby the displayed analogue hand is "switched off' and almost instantaneously switched back on so as to appear in the new reset position. The only limitation on the speed of reset is the speed of the controlling electronics and the refresh rate of the LCD display.
In a further embodiment, the current minute indicating means comprises means to highlight a portion of the path between the beginning of the path and a point on the path indicative of the current minute. This embodiment may be implemented either mechanically/electromechanically or electronically and provides for an alternative to the more conventional analogue display. In one example, the path portion may be highlighted by an increasing stripe, which may be a moving mechanical stripe displayed in a window of the display, a virtual bar displayed on the LCD display or an illuminated stripe of increasing extent. In each case the path portion follows the curved path.
In yet another embodiment, the current minute indicating means comprises means to highlight the minute symbol most closely representing the current minute past the hour. For example, the nearest current minute symbol may be temporarily illuminated.
When the plurality of symbols is disposed on an arc of a closed geometric shape and the current minute indicating means comprises a hand, the driving mechanism may be adapted to cause the tip of the hand to traverse a remainder of the closed geometric shape between the end and the beginning of the path for automatically resetting. For example, where the shape is substantially a circle, the tip of the minute hand will move steadily along the arcuate path over the course of one hour, but at the end of this slow traverse the driving mechanism will cause the hand to rapidly traverse the remainder of the circular perimeter to reset. During this resetting the hand may be visible or hidden to the viewer.
However, for most embodiments it is preferred that the current minute indicating means is adapted to reciprocate for automatically resetting. This adaptation is particularly appropriate for embodiments of the present invention having an arcuate path which subtends less than 180 degrees, thereby corresponding to less than half of the perimeter of the closed geometric shape. Moreover, the overall display may be more compact as the minute indicating means actually or effectively retraces its original path in a rapid manner. In a mechanical or electromechanically driven display the indicating means may be reset by a resilient member such as a return spring. In an electronic display the "virtual" indicating means may appear to retrace its path of may simply be "switched off' and then back so as to appear in the rest position.
The timepiece of the present invention may take many forms, including wall clocks. However, the compact nature of the display makes it particularly suitable for application to the wristwatch. As will be appreciated by the skilled person, the present invention provides for a wide range of new timepiece displays, many of which may be implemented by suitable adaptation of the mechanisms used in known timepieces in accordance with the present invention.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Examples of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows an analogue timepiece display according to the present invention with a circular arc minute path and minute hand, and a current and next hour digital display;
Figure 2 shows an analogue timepiece display similar to that of figure 1 , but with a partially transparent minute hand and rectangular display perimeter;
Figure 3 shows an analogue timepiece display similar to that of figure 2, but with opaque minute hand and date information; Figure 4 shows another similar analogue timepiece display with radial minute lines and minute symbols;
Figure 5 shows a similar display to that of figure 4, but with an offset axis for the minute hand in a display with circular perimeter;
Figure 6 shows a horizontal linear timepiece display with graded minute scale; and, Figure 7 shows a horizontal linear timepiece display with a continuous graded minute scale; and,
Figure 8 shows a horizontal linear timepiece display with a discrete graded minute scale.
Detailed Description Figures 1 to 7 show representations of various timepiece displays according to the present invention, as will now be discussed, although many more arrangements are possible, as will be apparent to the skilled person. The internal mechanisms of the timepieces are not sh own, as the invention may potentially take many forms. Options include a mixture of analogue or digital representations, which may be displayed by means of a mechanical or electromechanical mechanism or else a purely electronic display means. However, in each case, the skilled person would be able to adapt known mechanisms to provide a suitable mechanism for implementing and driving the display of a timepiece according to the present invention when employing the teaching herein.
The present invention relates particularly to improvements in timepieces of the "analogue" type, wherein one or more hands rotate about the centre of the face of the timepiece to point to markings or indicia spaced circumferentially about the face to represent time. In the typical two-hand configuration, the longer hand rotates at a speed of one revolution per hour and indicates minutes of the hour. Meanwhile, the shorter hand rotates at one revolution per every twelve hours and indicates hours of the day. The two hands are therefore driven at different rotational rates.
A typical single-hand timepiece merely omits the faster-rotating hand used to indicate minutes in a conventional analogue timepiece, and so both minutes and hours are then measured by the relative position of the single (hour) hand in relation to the hour markings or indicia on the face of the timepiece. Accurate time measurement is not necessarily compromised in principle with this type of timepiece, but the lack of detailed resolution for the viewer in terms of minutes between exact hours means that in practice it is. The timepiece of the present invention does not suffer from this problem.
As shown in figures 1 to 5, a preferred embodiment of the timepiece uses a single hand to display the minute at any given time on an analogue-based display with the hand moving between two points in an arc which subtends an angle of less than
180°. A numeral is positioned at both of the extreme ends of the arc to indicate the "from" hour and the "to" hour. The full motion of the hand from one extreme of the arc to the other indicates the passage of 60 minutes or one hour. On reaching the end of the arc the hand returns quickly to the starting position at the beginning of the arc to indicate the start of a new hour. The hour numerals will then increment by one to show commencement of the new from-hour and to-hour.
In the examples shown, the reset mechanism is implemented in a reciprocating manner, such that the hand quickly retraces the arcuate path to return to the beginning. For mechanical/electromechanical driven displays, a suitable restoring mechanism is employed in the inner workings to reciprocate the hand. The clockwise drive mechanism may be temporarily disengaged at this point or may be temporarily overcome by the restoring mechanism. Implementation in an electronic display is simpler, as the onboard processing means and driving circuitry simply control the LCD display to show a rapidly reversing hand or else the hand temporarily disappears from the display and almost instantaneously reappears pointing to the beginning of the arcuate minute path.
The display can be viewed as a form of enlarged representation of the 30° arc representing the passage of five minutes on a traditional timepiece, but with the single minute hand representing the usual smaller hour hand on the traditional timepiece. Minutes are represented analogically, albeit the 60 minutes are represented by an arc and not a complete circle. The size of the arc effectively determines the accuracy of time measurement as read by the viewer and there is a trade-off between this and the compactness of the display.
As shown in figures 1 to 5, the timepiece of the present invention permits the displayed time information to be easily interpreted by the viewer, using a mix of analogue and digital representations. The display is compact, whilst still providing a good degree of resolution in the minute display. An added bonus of the invention is that a range of aesthetically pleasing timepiece displays may be realised. Although primarily intended for wristwatches, the timepiece of the present invention may be implemented as clock, either wall mounted or independently supported.
The "from" hour and the "to" hour are advantageously displayed in digital format at the start and end of the arc, respectively. These provide an indication of the hour at a given moment. This provides an efficient representation of the current time by only displaying details relevant to the current time. The removal of the irrelevant detail ensures quick and clearer understanding of the current time. On completion of the hour the numerals are incremented by one. Control of the digitally represented figures indicative of the hour can be operated mechanically or electronically. With either option, the transition from one hour to the next will not be represented by a gradual change of the display, as in conventional analogue timepieces, but instead will change near-instantaneously to represent the new from and to hour, in the manner of conventional date displays. Advantageously, the simplified digital hour display can employ either the twelve hour or twenty four hour clock, in which case the digits to be displayed range between 0 to 12 and 0 to 24, respectively.
Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which the face or dial 10 of the timepiece has the general overall shape of a segment of a circle that has been truncated near the centre of the circle. The from-hour 11 and the to-hour 12 are displayed in large digital formats in windows of the display and a single moving hand 13 indicates the passage of the intervening hour with respect to minute symbols 14 along the arcuate path. Both the start 15 and end 16 of the arcuate path is denoted by a circular symbol adjacent the from-hour 11 and the to-hour 12. The intervening minutes are represented by a symbol at five minute intervals. The symbols at the fifteen minute intervals are numerals, whilst those in between are simple dots or short lines. In the example shown in figure 1 , the time displayed is 5:50. If the 12-hour clock is being used, this time may be AM or PM, and this additional information may be displayed separately. If the 12-hour clock is being used, the time displayed is 5:50 AM.
Figure 2 shows a similar embodiment to that of figure 1 , but with a face 20 having a perimeter shape that is substantially rectangular. Moreover, there are two different sets of minute symbols, which are radially separated along parallel arcuate paths. The inner radial set 14 comprise numerals at five minute intervals, with the exception of the start 25 and end 26 of the arcuate path, and the outer radial set 27 comprises short lines, with those at the ten minute intervals being longer than those
at the intervening five minute intervals. The purpose of this dual array of symbols is that the partially transparent hand 23 reveals and frames the numeric minute symbol as is passes over it, whilst the very tip of the hand points to the outer short line symbol, thus providing two different sources of the same time information. In the example of figure 2, the time shown is 10:35 AM or PM on the 12-hour clock and 10:35 AM on the 24-hour clock.
Figure 3 shows a very similar embodiment to that of figure 2, but with an opaque hand 33 and two windows 38, 39 for date information on the face 30. The date is displayed numerically in the upper left-hand circular window 38 and the month is displayed in the lower left-hand, horizontal elongate window 39. In the example of figure 3, the time shown is 10:10 AM or PM on the 12-hour clock and 10:10 AM on the 24-hour clock, and the date shown is 29 September.
Figure 4 shows a further embodiment similar to that of figure 2, but with a more rounded barrel-shaped face 40 and opaque hand 43. Moreover, the minute symbols comprise an inner set of long radial lines 47 at 5-minute intervals, with those at 10-minute intervals being longer than those in between, and an outer set of numerals 44 at the 5-minute intervals apart from the start 45 and end 46 of the arcuate path. In this way, the same information is again displayed in two ways. In the example of figure 4, the time shown is 7:20 AM or PM on the 12-hour clock and 7:20 AM on the 24-hour clock.
Figure 5 shows another single-hand analogue type embodiment, with a more conventional circular face shape 50. However, the rotational axis 58 of the hand 53 is offset from the centre and the arcuate path near the tip of the hand is inset from the perimeter of the circular face. The minutes are denoted at 15-minute intervals by long radial lines 57 and by numerals 54 on the path, and at intervening 5-minute intervals by dot-like symbols on the arcuate path. In this particular example, the from-hour 51 and to-hour 52 numeric symbols are somewhat offset from the start 55 and end 56 of the arcuate path, and the time shown is 5:10 AM or PM on the 12- hour clock and 5:10 AM on the 24-hour clock.
Although the resetting mechanism for the embodiment shown in figure 5 will be of the reciprocating type, for similar embodiments, where the hand may be shorter
and/or the rotational axis of the hand is more central, the resetting mechanism may cause the hand to rapidly traverse the remainder of the circular path about the rotational axis on reaching the end of the arcuate portion in order to return to the start of the arcuate portion. During this traverse, the hand may be visible or may temporarily disappear beneath a raised baffle-like portion of the display face, in the case of the real, mechanically-driven hand.
In other embodiments of the present invention, the current minute is not displayed by means of a moving hand, whether it is an analogue or digital representation. Instead, the current minute is indicated by a means located at the minute symbol, either by highlighting or illuminating the minute symbol or by means of a slider or bar in a window. The latter can be implemented in either analogue or digital form. As will be discussed below, figures 6 to 8 illustrate the general concept, but for a linear type display, rather than the curved path of the present invention. In the present invention, the displays shown in Figures 6 to 8 would actually be configured such that the minute symbols and display means would be disposed along a curved path, such as an arcuate path subtending an angle of less than 180 degrees. The minute and hour symbols would be oriented for easy ready according to the normal viewing orientation of the timepiece.
Figure 6 shows a display face with a linear path 63 for displaying the passage of one hour. The path is essentially an elongate display or window 63 subdivided by markers 64 into 5-minute intervals, with adjacent numerals at the 15-, 30- and 45- minute points. The from-hour 61 and to-hour 62 are displayed as standalone numerals near the beginning 65 and end 66 of the elongate display window. Passage of the intervening hour may be shown by a moving vertical bar or else an increasing "stripe" in the elongate display or window 63. This minute indicator may be implemented mechanically, electromechanically or electronically. In the latter case it may be bar or stripe displayed on an LCD display or else represented by a suitably illuminated portion of the elongate display. In either case the resetting mechanism will typically be of the reciprocating type, although in the case of an electronic display the bar or stripe may simply be "switched off 1 and almost instantaneously reappear at the beginning of the linear display. In the example of figure 5, either no time is shown or the time shown is exactly 10:00 AM or PM on the 12-hour clock and 10:00 AM on the 24-hour clock.
Finally, figures 7 and 8 show further similar embodiments to that of figure 6, but for a vertical orientated display face employing a linear path for displaying the passage of one hour. The embodiment of figure 7 operates in the same manner as that of figure 6, but adjacent minute numerals are present at all 5-minute intervals 74 between the start 75 and end 76 of the elongate display window 73. In the example of figure 7, either no time is shown or the time shown is exactly 5:00 AM or PM on the 12-hour clock and 5:00 AM on the 24-hour clock. The embodiment of figure 8 is a little different in that there is not a single elongate display window for the linear path 83, but rather a series of discrete windows 84 representative of blocks of 5-minute intervals. The relevant interval is indicated by numerals in each window. In this embodiment, time may be indicated by highlighting the relevant window or all windows up to and including the relevant window, for example by illumination. In this case, the precise time will not be indicated so accurately, but rather rounded to the nearest 5-minute interval. However, in alternative implementations, the more precise time may be indicated within the relevant window by a moving bar or stripe, as in the embodiments of figures 6 and 7. In the present example of figure 8, either no time is shown or the time shown is exactly 3:00 AM or PM on the 12-hour clock and 3:00 AM on the 24-hour clock.