EP1385067B1 - Timepiece for planning events - Google Patents

Abstract

The electronic watch includes liquid crystal display (4) and/or an analogue display (5). A control circuit (6) with a memory (7) contains data relating to a number of planned events and their starting times. This information may be remotely loaded, and one of a series of indicators (D1 - D6) is then activated to at the time of the event. The electronic watch includes a time base (1) comprising an quartz oscillator (2) and a frequency division chain associated with a clock signal generator. This provides primary and secondary time indications (IH1, IH2), the first of which corresponds to local time and the second of which corresponds to GMT. The first information is supplied to a liquid crystal display (4) and/or an analogue display (5). The second information is supplied to a control circuit (6) including a memory (7) containing data relating to a number of planned events and their starting times. This information may be remotely loaded using radio signals or infrared signals, from a computer network site. A comparator (8) receives data from the memory (7) and the time base to determine when an event is about to start. One of a series of indicators (D1 - D6) is then activated to show this.

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece, of the wristwatch type, for providing information related to an event comprising a plurality of planned events, such as the Olympic Games, the World Cup soccer , or holidays in the world.

In the prior art, it is known from document DE 199 11 008 a wristwatch, represented in FIG. 1, with a circular watch case 101, a circular bezel 102, and an ice-cream, the latter being fixed by the glasses. A dial 104 is located under the window of the watch, held by a frustoconical flange 105, on which are inscribed the hours from "1" to "12" .Au center of the dial 104, is formed an opening through which pass the four trees carrying needles which only the outer shaft 106 is visible in the figure. The shafts are connected to the watch movement, not shown, placed under the dial 104. Each of the four shafts supports one of the four needles, the hour hand 107, the minute hand 108, the second hand 109, and the additional needle 110 turning counterclockwise.

The telescope 102 is divided into 12 parts, in each of which there is an indication of one of the months. The indication of the month of January is placed between 11 and 12 hours, the indication of the month of February is placed between 10 and 11 hours, and that until the indication of the month of December which is placed between 12 hours and 1 hour.

The additional needle 110 is driven by the clock movement of the watch so as to perform a dial revolution 104 in one year through 52 positions, which corresponds to about a shift of one step per week.

On the dial 104, the 17 dates corresponding to the 17 Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season of the year 1999 are represented, as well as the country in which the Grand Prix takes place. The various indications concerning the countries are inscribed radially at the periphery of the dial 104 opposite dates, the indications relating to the dates being inscribed in boxes also represented at the periphery of the dial.

Thus, during the week during which a Grand Prix takes place, the additional hand 110 indicates the country and the date, the user can thus check if the date of the day corresponds with the indicated date and therefore know if the Grand Prix takes place the day in question, the Formula 1 Grand Prix always taking place on Sunday, the user can also check the day of the week. For this type of information, the indication of the additional needle 110 to a week is just sufficient.

Since no Grand Prix takes place from November to February, it is planned to use this sector of the dial 104 left blank to enter "Formula One 1999".

The box 101 of the watch comprises a ring 111 arranged at 3 o'clock, in particular for setting the time, and a push button 112 arranged at 2 o'clock, for the adjustment of the additional needle 110 to the correct date.

Such a watch nevertheless has several disadvantages. Indeed, it is important to note that the additional needle provides first a temporal indication, which is in correspondence with inscriptions concerning for example the place of the event. As a result, the position of the additional needle depends solely on the date, and more precisely, on the current week. Thus, the additional needle can indicate only one inscription, for example a country, in a certain way. It therefore neither allows to indicate several simultaneous events, nor to indicate several indications of the same nature concerning an event in progress.

The idea of using several additional needles has no advantage knowing that there is a direct correspondence between the position of the additional needle and the current week. Thus, to be able to indicate two events by means of two additional hands, it would be necessary that they provide different time indications which would make the reading almost impossible.

In addition, it should also be noted that the additional hand indicates only the arrival of an event within a week. The user is subsequently obliged to compare the date indicated by the additional hand with that of the current day to check the actual arrival of the event indicated. That being so, if the user wants to know the start time of the event indicated in order to be able to follow, for example, a live television broadcast, he must know the start time of the event in question. where he is. This requires knowing the start time of the event in the country where it takes place and the time difference between the location of the event and the location of the user. It is therefore not very easy to use this watch to obtain accurate information about the arrival of an event.

Finally, such a watch can only be used for a Formula 1 season. In fact, from one year to the next, the dates change for each Grand Prix, and the order of the calendar can undergo some modifications, as well as the addition or the suppression of some Grand Prix.

The invention is therefore particularly intended to provide a timepiece that is capable of indicating a plurality of simultaneous events accurately.

Indeed, the electronic timepiece according to the invention is remarkable in that it overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks.

For this, the present invention relates to an electronic timepiece according to claim 1.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the electronic timepiece is characterized in that said time base delivers a second time information independent of the time zones, and in that said plurality of events is scheduled according to this second time information.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the electronic timepiece is characterized in that it furthermore comprises means for receiving external signals for loading said data relating to the planning of said plurality of events from a specific site of an extensive computer network.

• La figure 1, déjà décrite, représente une montre « Formule 1 » selon l'art antérieur ;
• La figure 2 représente un schéma de principe d'une pièce d'horlogerie selon un mode de réalisation préféré de l'invention ;
• Les figures 3A et 3B représentent une pièce d'horlogerie selon des première et deuxième variantes selon un premier mode de réalisation de l'invention ;
• La figure 4 représente une pièce d'horlogerie selon un deuxième mode de réalisation de l'invention ;
• La figure 5 représente une pièce d'horlogerie selon un troisième mode de réalisation de l'invention ;
• La figure 6 représente une pièce d'horlogerie selon un quatrième mode de réalisation de l'invention ;

The invention will be explained below in detail for embodiments given by way of example only, these embodiments being illustrated by the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1, already described, shows a watch "Formula 1" according to the prior art;
• FIG. 2 represents a block diagram of a timepiece according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
• FIGS. 3A and 3B show a timepiece according to first and second variants according to a first embodiment of the invention;
• FIG. 4 represents a timepiece according to a second embodiment of the invention;
• FIG. 5 represents a timepiece according to a third embodiment of the invention;
• FIG. 6 represents a timepiece according to a fourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 represents a schematic diagram of an electronic timepiece according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The timepiece comprises in particular a time base 1 comprising in particular a crystal oscillator 2 and a frequency division chain associated with a time signal generator forming an assembly 3 for delivering first IH1 and second IH2 time information. The first time information IH1 corresponds to the local time for the user of the timepiece. The second time information IH2 is a universal time information such as GMT ("Greenwich Meridian Time"), or a time of the type "Internet Time". In this respect, the application EP 0 984 342 A1, filed in the name of Swatch AG entitled "Electronic timepiece comprising a time indication based on a decimal system", discloses means for generating this universal time information based on a decimal system. , also called "Internet Time", shown in Figures 4 to 6 of this application.

The first time information IH1 is provided to display means which may be a liquid crystal display 4 (LCD) and / or an analog display 5 by means of hands indicating the hours, minutes and possibly seconds.

The timepiece also comprises a control circuit 6 including in particular a memory 7 capable of containing data relating to a plurality of scheduled events and comparison means 8 receiving as input the second time information IH2 compared to the data stored in memory . The data relating to a plurality of scheduled events stored in memory 7 include for each event, the arrival time of this event in a universal time system, GMT or Internet Time, as well as the indications relating to this event.

The stored data can be preprogrammed in the memory 7, but preferably they are downloaded by means of a receiver 9 acoustic, or a conventional radio frequency or infra-red receiver, from a site of an extended computer network.

The detail of operation of an acoustic receiver is in particular given in the application WO 01/09689 filed in the name of this Applicant, in particular with regard to the electrical diagram of a converter circuit of an acoustic signal represented in FIG. this application.

The use of such an acoustic receiver for downloading data from a site over an extended computer network is detailed in EP Application No. 01201271.2 filed in the name of Swatch AG entitled "Method and system for accessing information. and / or available data of an extended computer network. In particular, the system for accessing this information and / or data is represented in FIG. 1 of this application, as well as the associated access method.

Typically, the data relating to a plurality of scheduled events are grouped together in the form of a downloadable file in the memory 7, this file being available on the partner site or sites linked to the plurality of events.

The comparison means 8 make it possible to compare the second time information item IH2 with the arrival time of each event stored in memory, and in the case of a match to activate indicator means 10 arranged in correspondence with indications / symbols 11 (D1 ... D6) placed on the dial of the timepiece. It is also possible to provide a warning to a user in case of correspondence to indicate the arrival of one or more events, by the activation by the comparison means 8 of warning means, formed for example by a piezoelectric crystal 12.

FIGS. 3A and 3B represent first and second variants according to a first embodiment of the invention, where the plurality of planned events relates to the different events played during an Olympiad grouped by disciplines. The data relating to this plurality of events are either pre-programmed or downloaded into the memory of the timepiece.

According to a first variant represented in FIG. 3A, the timepiece 21 comprises time indicator means comprising analog display means 22 and / or digital display means 23, for example of the LCD type ("Liquid Crystal Display"). "). In addition, the dial 24 of the timepiece comprises in particular non-hourly symbols of the same nature relating to the plurality of events, these symbols being preferably arranged at the periphery of the dial 24. In this first embodiment these symbols represent the various sports disciplines of the Olympic Games.

The dial 24 also comprises indicator means 26 preferably fixed and annularly placed opposite the symbols representing the disciplines. These indicator means may be for example LEDs or LEDs, represented in the form of white or black pellets. A white dot indicates that the corresponding LED is off or on, but a black dot indicates that the corresponding LED is on or off.

The dial 24 may furthermore comprise digital display means 27 capable of providing information such as the date and the time remaining before the beginning or the end of the plurality of scheduled events, this plurality of events being linked. between them, as part of a larger event such as the Olympic Games. In a particular embodiment, the timepiece is provided with an RF antenna and means for processing the signals received by this antenna, the additional digital display means 27 then being used to display the information obtained by radiofrequency transmission, such as for example the site (s) on which the event (s) take place, or the evolution of the score of the current event (s).

In the first variant shown in FIG. 3A, it is visible that, as a function of the content of the memory and the universal time calculated by the internal circuit, the indicator means 26 corresponding to the symbols 25 of the current disciplines are activated - black pellets - , regardless of the local time of the user's geographical position. In fact, the data relating to the plurality of scheduled events stored in the memory include, as information, the arrival of each of the events as a function of a universal time, for example the Internet Time, and the piece of Horlogerie includes a time base to generate a universal time information of the same type as that used to define the arrival of events. Thus, the comparison between the two pieces of information does not depend on the local time of the user's geographical position.

According to a second variant of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3B, the timepiece 21 comprises digital time display means 23. The dial 24 has, unlike the symbols of the first variant of FIG. non-hourly indications of the same nature, relating to the plurality of events. These indications 25 are preferably placed on the periphery of the dial 24. These indications represent in this example the different disciplines of the Olympic Games. We find otherwise the same elements, especially indicator means 26 preferably stationary and placed along a circle opposite indications representing the disciplines.

FIG. 4 represents a second embodiment according to the invention, where the plurality of planned events concerns the different countries participating in an international competition of the World Cup type. All matches of such a competition being known well in advance, it is planned either to pre-program or to download from a site of an extensive computer network, the information concerning all the matches, namely, the the universal schedule of each match, the names of the teams playing against each other and possibly other information such as the venue of the match. As for the matches after elimination of certain team, it is also planned to download, or introduce the result of previous matches to know the remaining matches to be played.

The timepiece 31 comprises time indicator means 23, for example of the LCD type ("Liquid Crystal Display"). The dial 24 of the timepiece includes non-hourly indications 25 of the same nature, relating to the plurality of events. In this second embodiment, these indications 25 represent the different countries participating in a World Cup. Note that it is possible to replace the indications 25 with symbols, such as, for example, flags of different countries.

The dial 24 also comprises indicator means 26, preferably fixed and placed along a circle opposite the indications 25 representing the countries. These indicator means may for example be LEDs or LEDs, represented in the form of white or black arrows in the drawing. A white arrow indicates that the corresponding light-emitting diode is off or on, a black arrow indicates that the corresponding light-emitting diode is on or off, and the white-black arrows with dashed lines indicate that the corresponding light-emitting diodes are flashing to indicate alternately different teams playing at the same time, especially when two matches are played at the same time.

The dial 24 further includes means for disguising unnecessary non-hourly indications, for example countries whose national teams have been eliminated from the competition. These means for masking these indications 25 preferably comprises a reflective liquid crystal cell disposed between the dial 24 and the ice, not shown, of the timepiece 21. This cell comprises segments 28 addressed appropriately. Depending on whether the national team of the countries indicated on the indications 25 is eliminated or not, the reflective segments 28 are respectively controlled so as to let the light, the country then remaining visible, or not to let the light through, the country then being masked.

The dial 24 may further include digital display means 27 for providing information such as the progress of the competition and the place of the meeting in progress.

In addition, the timepiece comprises control members 30 for inputting information such as the results of matches already disputed, in particular to allow the data relating to the plurality of events, stored in the memory of the room d watchmaking to be updated. It is also possible to download this information directly from a specific site of a wide area computer network.

FIG. 5 represents a third embodiment according to the invention, where the plurality of planned events concerns the different holidays of one year for a certain number of selectable countries. The data relating to this plurality of events are either pre-programmed or downloaded into the memory of the timepiece.

The timepiece 21 comprises time indicator means comprising analog display means 22 and / or digital display means 23, for example of the LCD ("Liquid Crystal Display") type. In addition, a reflective liquid crystal cell is disposed on the periphery of the dial 24 of the timepiece. This cell comprises segments 28 addressed appropriately, capable of displaying, according to the data stored in the memory, non-hourly indications and / or symbols, not shown, of the same nature relating to the plurality of events. In this third embodiment, the indications 25 represent the two-letter code of the contracting states to the European Patent Convention. The segments 28 when they let the light, display the two-letter codes, and when they do not let the light, hide these codes.

It should be noted that, as a variant, it is also possible to use a reflective liquid crystal screen disposed above the dial and in particular above the periphery of the dial, and to define the zones that must pass through. the light and thus leave visible the indications to be displayed in these areas, and areas should not allow light to pass and thus hide the indications corresponding to these areas.

According to a fourth advantageous embodiment of the invention, represented in FIG. 6, it is expected that non-hourly indications and / or symbols of the same nature relating to a plurality of planned events are arranged not on the 24 of the timepiece 21, but on the telescope 31. Preferably, a removable bezel is used to change the indications and / or symbols 25 during reprogramming or when downloading a new plurality of events planned. Indeed, it is preferable and greatly economical to be able to modify these indications or symbols by simply changing the telescope 31, instead of having to change watches, change the dial, or have a timepiece equipped with indications or programmable symbols that can be displayed with a liquid crystal cell. In order to correctly position the new removable bezel during a change, it should be noted that it is intended to provide, for example, the box of the timepiece of a keying device, for example a triangular mark 32, to which corresponds to a similar mark 33 on the new telescope. It will also be noted that digital display means 23 may especially be used to specify the tests of the disciplines corresponding to the current events.

Finally, it is important to note that the display of the current event (s) among the plurality of events concerned, whatever the embodiment, can be carried out either continuously or, for the sake of economy of operation. energy, only after the activation of a control device of the push button type, crown, touch-sensitive glass, etc.

In addition, it may be planned to integrate ancillary features of the type countdown before an event, querying the planning of events, etc.

It is also important to note that all the combinations of the above-mentioned characteristics, and in particular the hourly and non-hourly indicating means, are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

Claims (13)

1. Electronic timepiece including a time base (1) for delivering a first time-related piece of information (IH1), first indicator means (4, 23 or 5, 22) for said first time-related piece of information and a plurality of non time-related indications/ symbols (11, 25) having a same nature and relating to a plurality of scheduled events and connected to each other within the scope of a larger event, characterized in that it includes:

   - second indicator means (10, 26, 28) capable of simultaneously designating several non time-related indications/symbols relating to one or more events occurring from among said plurality of scheduled events,

   - a control circuit (6) including storage means (7) in which data is stored relating to the scheduling of said plurality of events and comparison means (8) for comparing said stored data with a time-related piece of information, said control circuit activating said second indicator means in response to a control signal from said comparison means.
2. Electronic timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said second indicator means are formed by a plurality of fixed indicators (26, 28) each corresponding to one of said non time-related indications/symbols (25).
3. Electronic timepiece according to claim 2, characterized in that said non time-related indications/symbols (25) are arranged at the periphery of the dial (24) and in that said fixed indicators are light emitting diodes (26) arranged in a ring facing said indications/symbols.
4. Electronic timepiece according to claim 2, characterized in that said non time-related indications/symbols (25) are arranged at the periphery of the dial and in that said fixed indications are formed by a liquid crystal cell including a plurality of segments (28) arranged in a ring above said indications/symbols.
5. Electronic timepiece according to claim 2, characterized in that said non time-related indications/symbols (25) are arranged on a removable bezel (31) and in that said fixed indicators are light emitting diodes (26) arranged in a ring facing said indications/symbols.
6. Electronic timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that said non time-related indications/symbols (25) are arranged at the periphery of the dial (24) and in that said second indicator means are formed by a liquid crystal cell arranged above the dial, capable of masking or leaving visible each of said indications/symbols.
7. Electronic timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said time base (1) delivers a second universal time-related piece of information (IH2), and in that said plurality of events is scheduled as a function of this second time-related piece of information.
8. Electronic timepiece according to claim 7, characterized in that it further includes warning means (12) to alert a user that one or several events from among said plurality of scheduled events are starting.
9. Electronic timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further includes means (9) for receiving external signals for loading said data relating to the scheduling of said plurality of events.
10. Electronic timepiece according to claim 9, characterized in that said reception means (9) are means for receiving modulated acoustic signals and in that the data relating to the scheduling of said plurality of events is loaded from a specific site of a wide computer network.
11. Electronic timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further includes control members (30) for activating said second indicator means (26, 28) corresponding to one or more events in progress from among said plurality of scheduled events.
12. Electronic timepiece according to claim 11, characterized in that it includes a continuous operating mode during which said second indicator means (26, 28) corresponding to one or more events in progress from among said plurality of events are activated and deactivated automatically, respectively at the beginning or at the end of each event.
13. Electronic timepiece according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further includes countdown means for indicating the time remaining until an event.

Images