WO1995025294A1

WO1995025294A1 - Watch

Info

Publication number: WO1995025294A1
Application number: PCT/EP1995/000919
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paolo Spadini; Manfred Pekari
Original assignee: MAGIC TOUCH FAR EAST Ltd
Current assignee: MAGIC TOUCH FAR EAST Ltd
Priority date: 1994-03-15
Filing date: 1995-03-13
Publication date: 1995-09-21
Anticipated expiration: 1996-09-15
Also published as: GB9405044D0

Abstract

A watch consists of a housing (10), a viewing window (11), a base (12) and a casing (20). Apertures in the base (12) receive protrusions (14) of a sealing member (16). The sealing member (16) is resilient and allows the protrusion (14) to be pressed upwards relative to the housing (10) when the window (11), and so the housing (10) is pressed downwards. By pressing and selectively tilting the window (11), and so the housing (10), chosen of the protrusions can be pressed to operate and close different respective watchwork control function switch contacts (15) and (17). The watchwork and contacts (15) and (17) are housed inside a water resistance enclosure provided by the housing (10), the window (11) and the base (12).

Description

Wa t c h

The invention relates to watches.

The invention relates more specifically to watches having control functions operated by one or more switches mounted within a housing.

It has already been proposed to enclose switches inside an enclosure such as described in USA Patent 4956827. In order to retain a water resistant enclosure formed by the housing, the base of the housing must be sealed to the housing and be flexible and springy so as to allow the base to bend and apply pressure to an internally mounted switch. This in itself presents some limitations but does so especially if two or more switches are required to be operated within a small enclosure. It is very difficult to provide a material which is sufficiently strong and yet sufficiently flexible and springy to serve as a water resistant cover. This is partly because the base must be discretely flexible to allow operation individually of each of two or more switches where required.

It is an object of the invention to provide a watch with one or more internally mounted control function switches which can be operated by externally applied pressure and meet more stringent operating requirements.

According to the invention there is provided a watch, comprising a housing, an open topped casing, a top for said housing, a base for the housing having one or more apertures formed therein, electrical contact means arranged internally of said housing and serving for accomplishing control functions of a watch work mounted in the housing, and a flexible sealing member in the housing extending over the apertures, the sealing member having respectively one or more protrusions which extend through and externally beyond respective apertures arranged so that each protrusion can be pushed towards the housing to flex the sealing member inside the housing and cause operation of a respective electrical contact means adjacent a respective aperture, in which the casing surrounds the housing and has a floor against which each of the protrusions bear, the housing being supported in the casing in a manner to allow the housing to move relative to the casing so that pressure can be applied to the top of the housing to urge each protrusion against the floor and relatively towards the housing to operate respective electrical contact means.

The watch preferably has four apertures and four protrusions evenly distributed around the base, and four respective electrical contact means inside the housing.

The sealing member may be electrically conductive at least in regions opposite each protrusion, the sealing member being arranged to electrically bridge between respective contact means when the pressure is applied and moves a protrusion towards the housing.

The membrane may be formed at least in part of silicone rubber material .

The top is formed of transparent material to form a viewing window, an analogue time display means may be fitted behind the window.

More than one, preferably four, contact means may be arranged to control functions of the watchwork.

A rotatable bezel may be mounted around the top of the housing and arranged to close one or more different contacts electrically connected electrically to a watch work control circuit in the housing for controlling operations of the watch work according to different rotational positions of the bezel relative to the housing.

One or more additional manually operated switches may be provided operable from outside the casing and connected electrically to the watch work control circuit.

Embodiments of the present invention incorporate a time piece. What is useful as and externally in appearance a wrist watch can be made also to serve as a remote controller by including in the housing a transmitter to provide radio, infra-red, and ultrasonic radiation, for example. Such an arrangement may be arranged to provide a multitude of remote control functions. Thus, a watch according to the invention can also serve as a remote controller arranged to open a door or gate, or unlock a vehicle, say. The remote controller can be designed to provide many functions to control a TV, a telephone handset (for example, to turn-on a loudspeaker and/or control the volume), as well as open a door, and unlock a vehicle .

The manner and operational arrangements of small domestic transmitters for remotely contro11 ing TV sets, telephones, door locks and the like is well-known and so further specific explanation is not necessary here. Embodiments of the present invention which include remote controllers are not directly concerned with the form or type of transmitters or their manner of operation (by pulse or frequency selection for example). More important, in terms of such embodiments, is the physical incorporation of the remote controller in the housing and casing. This encloses the transmitter or at least the control circuitry (as well as normally the battery for the watch and the control ler ) .

A watch according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which :- Figure 1 is a bottom view of a housing for a watchwork of the watch;

Figure 2 is a side view of the housing;

Figure 3 is a top view of the housing;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the watch in much larger scale;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the housing in a casing;

Figure 6 is an isometric view of the watch and support straps; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view of part of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, in Figures 1 to 3 a quartz controlled watchwork (not shown) of the watch is incorporated in a housing 10 which has a viewing window 11 and a base 12. The base has four evenly distributed apertures 13 through which protrusions 14 extend which are attached to or formed integrally with a sealing member mounted inside the base 12. In Figure 4, a resiliently mounted normally-open electrical contact 15 is mounted above a protrusion 14 of the sealing member 16. The contact 15 is arranged to be closed to make contact with a second fixed contact 17 whenever the protrusion 14 is pressed and urged upwards relative to the housing 10. The electrical contact 15 is provided to accomplish a control function for the watchwork. Such control functions, as well as printed circuit boards and the controlled watchwork itself are well known per se in the art and so further description is not required. It will be noted however that the housing 10 surrounds the various electrical components of the watch, including a motor and a battery 18 and an analogue display (see Figure 3). The housing therefore together with the window 11 and base 12, provide a water resistant enclosure. The member 16 is generally planar and seals between the housing 10 and the base 12 and extends over the apertures 13. It will be noted that a peripheral rim 19 is formed in a lower surface of the housing 10 to locate the member 16 and enhance the sealing effect. It will also be noted that the natural resilence of the seal allows in general terms for the casing to be opened to change the battery and effectively re-sealed when closed again.

The member 16 which is normally formed integrally with the protrusions 14 and has two functions; it provides a seal and it supports the protrusions in a flexible and resilient manner. This means that electrical switches or contacts mounted inside the housing 10 can be operated by externally applied pressure while retaining the electrical components of the watch in a secure water resistant enclosure. Once the external pressure is released, the. membrane and protrusions acting in effect as return "springs", moves the housing 10 naturally back to the position shown in Figure 4 allowing the electrical contacts to open, or in some cases close, as the case may be.

The member 16 may be formed wholly or at least partly of conductive resilient rubber, such as silicone rubber, or condutive plastic materials. If the member 16 is conductive in the regions above the protrusions 14, the conductive part of the member can be used to electrically bridge between two contacts, mounted on a printed circuit board for example, to provide the function switching for the watchwork or timepiece. Thus, the membrane 16 acts as a seal, a spring and part of electrical contacts in this case .

The watchwork with the housing 10 described is mounted in use in an open topped casing 20 as shown in Figure 5. The housing 10 can be moved relative to the casing 20 by pressing the window 11 downwards. The housing 10 is supported by a resilient circular cushion 21 which allows the housing 10 to be sufficiently movable, and tiltable, relative to a central axis of the casing 20 so that the protrusions 14 can be pressed selectively against a floor 20A of the casing 20. The choice of tilt determines which of the protrusions is selected to move and so allows four different functions to be selected in the example described.

The resilience of the member 16 provides the necessary bias for the protrusions 14 such that the resilence returns the housing 10 to a neutral and non-tilting position as soon as external downward pressure is released from the window 11.

The casing 20 normally has straps or carrying fixtures attached to it (see Figure 6). A rotatable bezel 23 is mounted on top of the casing 20 above the housing 10. The bezel 23 is arranged to press against the side of the housing 10 which is provided with a number of pushers 24, such as shown in Figure 7. The bezel has a surface (not shown) which extends down and surrounds are upper part of the side of the housing 10. The bezel surface has one or more protrusions extending inwards. When a pusher 24 is pressed in by the or one of the bezel protrusions, a respective electrical contact inside the housing closes. The number of pushers and contacts provided varies according to the number of additional functions required but there can be at least 8 or 10 such pushers mounted on the side of the housing 10 if required. When the bezel 23 is rotated to different positions it presses selected pushers in, usually one at a time, and so can change the operation of the watch accordingly. In one embodiment of the invention, the bezel is rotated to different positions to alter the time zones for the watch. More generally, the housing may include a remote controller which generates signals, infra-red or ultrasonic for example, to control various external items or appliances. In that case, in one rotational position the bezel selects "television", in another "watch" to change time zones or whatever, and in another "vehicle door". Thus, in the one position for "Television", an appropriate pusher is pressed to close TV select electrical contacts inside the housing 10. In such television mode, if the "watch" of Figure 7 is held with its 12 o'clock mark generally in line and pointing at a TV set, the remote controller can be used to alter the operation of the television. If the window 11 is pressed next to the 12 o'clock mark, tilting the housing 10 down next to the 12 o'clock mark, the TV channel selection is moved one step upwards. If the housing 10 is tilted down adjacent the six o'clock mark the channel is changed downwards by one step. If the housing 10 is tilted the same way again the channel is moved a further one step downwards and so on. To increase the volume of the sound, the housing 10 is pressed down and tilted towards the three o'clock mark and to reduce the volume the housing 10 is tilted down adjacent the 9'oclock mark.

In another example if "watch" is selected by rotating the bezel to another position, tilting the housing 10 downwards adjacent the three o'clock mark advances the hands of the watch, and tilting the housing 10 down adjacent the 9 o'clock mark retards (turns back) the watch hands .

It will be appreciated that the same watchwork and housing of Figures 1 to 4 may be fitted to different casings to allow the manufacturer to readily change the outer appearance of the watches. More importantly, the actual components of the watch can be assembled carefully in a clean environment and suitably sealed against water or other contaminants for storage or transportation. The watches can be fitted later to one of a number of different casings, as required or when and as preferred, without a need for particularly clean or especial environmental control. Also, the form and nature of the membrane 16 and its protrusions enable two or more (preferably four as described) function switches to be readily and satisfactorily operated in one housing even if the overall dimensions of the housing are small, say, no larger than a child's or ladies wrist watch.

It will be appreciated in a watch time display may comprise alternatively or additionally a digital time display.

It will also be appreciated that when a bezel or the like (including simple, say two or three, externally manually operated extra switches) is fitted, a great many additional or different functions can be provided using a small compact physical configuration. This enables a single watchwork to offer a significant number of time functions, and provide remote operations if required or desired.

The watch alone or with a remote controller may be in the form of a standing clock, a pocket watch and the like.

Claims

CLA I MS

1. A watch comprising a housing, an open topped casing, a top for said housing, a base for the housing having one or more apertures formed therein, electrical contact means arranged internally of said housing and serving for accomplishing control functions of a watchwork mounted in the housing, and a flexible sealing member in the housing extending over the apertures, the sealing member having respectively one or more protrusions which extend through and externally beyond respective apertures arranged so that each protrusion can be pushed towards the housing to flex the sealing member inside the housing and cause operation of a respective electrical contact means adjacent a respective aperture, in which the casing surrounds the housing and has a floor against which each of the protrusions bear, the housing being supported in the casing in a manner to allow the housing to move relative to the casing so that pressure can be applied to the top of the housing to urge each protrusion against the floor and relatively towards the housing to operate respective electrical contact means.

2. A watch according to claim 1, in which there are four apertures and four protrusions evenly distributed around the base, and four respective electrical contact means inside the housing.

3. A watch according to claim 1 or 2, in which the sealing member is electrically conductive at least in regions opposite each protrusion, the member being arranged to electrically bridge between respective contact means when the pressure is applied and moves a protrusion towards the housing.

4. A watch according to claim 3, in which the membrane is formed at least in part of silicone rubber material.

5. A watch according to claim 1, in which the top is wholly formed of transparent material to form a viewing window, including an analogue time display behind the window.

6. A remote controller according to any one of claims 1 to 5, including one or more additional manually operated switches operable from outside the casing connected to control the watchwork.

7. A remote controller according to any one of claims 1 to 6 including a rotatable bezel mounted above the housing and arranged to press selectively against one or more switches connected to control the watchwork so as to provide different operations of the watchwork according to the rotational position of the bezel.

8. A watch according to any one of claims 1 to 7, incorporating a remote controller inside the housing arranged to respond to operation of the contact means and other switches where present.

9. Watches substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.