Patent Application
20060062086
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital watches, clocks and similar timepieces that are traditionally operated with multiple control buttons. More particularly, the invention provides a new system of enhanced control buttons that alleviates or eliminates much of the difficulties that have been experienced in operating timepieces having conventional control buttons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional digital timepieces, e.g. wrist watches, are generally provided with multiple control buttons located around, and in some cases atop, the watch case. These buttons are usually operated by pressing them into the case to perform control functions such as illuminating the time display at night, accessing setting modes for real and alarm times, retrieving calendar dates, other stored information or messages, etc. The buttons are sometimes identified by word names in adjacent locations, or some or all of the buttons are not named, so that written operating instructions have to be consulted to perform the corresponding functions. Many users have complained about the complexity and difficulty of operating digital timepieces with such conventional control buttons.
Other types of prior art digital timepieces are characterized as operating in non-traditional display modes, such as quadribalanced, balanced, enhanced quadribalanced and unidirectional segmented. These systems are disclosed in several issued patents, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,497, U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,737, U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,736 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,041, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
These timepieces were designed to operate with a single setting crown, instead of buttons, thereby eliminating many of the problems of conventional control buttons. In addition to omission of buttons, the single setting crown embodied the functional principle of singularity. That is to say, forward and reverse twists of the crown in the case, and similar twists with the crown pulled axially out of the case, provided four singular operating positions each of which could be used to perform a single, or single type of, function which could be easily learned, remembered and performed without having to consult written instructions.
For example, in one design, repeated forward twists with the crown in the case would turn the night light on and off. Repeated reverse twists would activate and deactivate the alarm time setting mode, as well as the alarm sound when it would become andible at the set time. Pulling the crown out of the case without preactivation would immediately enter the real time setting mode, and with preactivation into the alarm setting mode. Thereafter, repeated reverse twists would select and flash each real time, alarm time and calendar functions, while repeated forward twists would advance the values of each such function to the desired value. U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,823 discloses such a crown, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The new system of control buttons provided by the present invention achieves the advantage of singularity for each button, like the single setting crown described above. This is especially important for the single button that is devoted to preactivating the alarm setting mode, entering such mode to set the alarm time, then returning to real time and terminating the alarm sound when it becomes audible at the set alarm time.
The invention is based on the realization that control buttons for digital timepieces can be constructed with integral icons that render them immediately recognizable and intuitive as to the functions they each perform. Moreover, such buttons are preferably located on the top face of the timepiece, below the time display, in a predetermined arrangement, such that the different modes of them that are typically most often accessed are readily available for operation by a user's forefinger. In addition, two buttons are located on the right side of the case in a predetermined arrangement that permits selection, flashing and advancing the values of each function, again with the forefinger. Preferably, the left side of the case is purposely made without any buttons to enable a user to press on it with his thumb while operating either the select or set buttons, thus applying squeezing pressure on the case and buttons without risk of inadvertent interference from or with any other button during the selection and setting process. These attributes of the control buttons of the invention allow a user to operate all functions of a wrist watch without having to remove it from his wrist.
Finally, one of the top buttons is programmable to operate with both a momentary and a relatively longer time of pressure to render it capable of performing all of the functions of accessing and exiting an alarm setting mode, and repeatedly turning off and restoring the alarm function as often as a user may desire.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the drawings.
Referring now to
Button A is programmable to turn on an electro-luminescent light for illuminating the time display in the dark. Preferably the program permits the user to press and hold the button for as long as he or she wishes the light to remain on, and after release to automatically become extinguished. Alternatively, and preferably, a momentary press of the button will turn the light on which will automatically self-extinguish after a set period of time, e.g. approximately 5 seconds, in order to conserve battery life.
Button B is programmable to switch the display into a real time setting mode after being momentarily pressed by the user. Thereafter, all real time and calendar functions are incrementally selected and flashed by pressing the SELECT button, and the values of each advanced to a desired value by pressing the SET button, for example, in the order of seconds, minutes, hours, AM/PM, day name, month, day and year dates. At any time during or at the end of such sequence, another momentary press of button B will return the display to real time.
Button C is programmable to operate in response to two types of pressure applied by the user. A momentary press of preferably about 1 to 1½ seconds will turn the melody icon on in the top of the time display, as illustrated in
This is illustrated in
As shown in the latter, the melody icon remains on in the top of the display. This reminds the user that the melody will sound when the set alarm time is reached. At that time, a momentary press of button C will both terminate the sound and also turn off the icon. If desired the same alarm time can be re-activated to sound 24 hours later by another momentary press of button C, after a delay of preferably 30 to 60 seconds to permit the current sounding time to self-extinguish. Finally, the user can check the previously set alarm time at any moment by applying the relatively long pressure time on button C to enable seeing that time in the display, and thereafter pressing button C momentarily to return to the real time display, as previously described for the process of switching the display from
Buttons A, B and C are preferably oval-shaped and slighted raised above the horizontal surface plane of the watch face to enhance their ergonomic contact with the user s forefinger. The icons may be embossed or engraved into the button surfaces and, in the latter case, optionally filled with ilks or dyes to heighten their contrast and visibility from the remainder of the button surfaces. The SELECT and SET indicia are preferably printed on the watch surface beside their corresponding buttons on the right side of the case, as illustrated in the drawings. The left side of the case is purposely left without buttons, so that the user can readily hold that side with his or her thumb and thereby stabilize the watch against motion to the left as the SELECT and SET buttons are pressed in that direction in a squeezing manner. These latter buttons are programmable to advance the values of functions singly by momentary presses, and continuously in approximately ½ second increments by pressing and holding the buttons down for as long as a user desires.
The invention has been described in terms of its general principles and a preferred specific embodiment. Many variations and modifications of such embodiment will be obvious to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that all such variations and embodiments are intended to be covered by the following claims and all equivalents thereof.
