Patent Application
20130142015
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new time displays which are composites of digital and analog elements that portray time in a way that provides unique simplicity, balance, and readability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cosmologists say that time began from the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. Millions of years afterwards, humans began to evolve, and eventually started resorting to ways for keeping track of time. Examples are the shadows of sticks in the ground, sundials, hour glasses, cracks in stones and rocks, the cycles of sun/moon rise and set, ebb and flow of tides, and the sun's seasonal oscillations.
Several hundred years ago, the first pocket watch was invented, followed by wristwatches, initially analog, then digital, and today myriads of style and functions are extant. The time industry annually produces a large range of timepieces from cheap throwaways to expensive models costing tens to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Sales also generate a few billions dollars yearly.
All people live for a lifetime, i.e., a finite amount of time. This is the most precious existence one can have. Therefore, time must be used carefully, satisfactorily, and successfully. The raison d'etre for achieving these goals is the engine that has driven production of countless styles and types of time displays and timepieces.
The present invention creates a composite of digital and analog elements which have been coordinated with each other. This system achieves simplicity, balance and immediate readability to enable tracking time with unprecedented efficiency, satisfaction and confidence.
Other features and details of the invention will be understood from the following drawings and specific descriptions thereof.
Bezel 12 is inscribed at the top with a double zeros mark “00”. The right side of 00 is inscribed with a “+” mark. The left side is inscribed with a “−” mark.
Horizontal edges of bezel 12 are inscribed with minute values 15, and the vertical bottom edge of bezel 12 is inscribed with minute value 30. The four quadrants 18, 20, 22 and 24 are bordered by four curved bezel segments, each of which of which is inscribed with two short equally spaced radial line segments 12A which divide each quadrant into 5 minute locations, see
Adjacent the curved inner bezel border segments are a series of small dots 26, see
From this point on, all subsequent values of up to 15 minutes are displayed at the stationary central location of quadrant 18, with the coordinated appearances of the corresponding pixels 26. Thus, a lengthening curved set of tracks is formed by the pixels 26 at the inner rim of bezel 12, which function as an analog of the completion of the first quarter of hour 1. The specific time displayed in
From this point on, the minutes incrementally decrease one-by-one toward value 15 on the left side of dial 14, and the pixels 26 are simultaneously extinguished one-by-one to shorten the length of the analog tracks extending along bezel 12 toward the top of the dial 14. In other words, the display depicts the diminishing amount of time that remains until the beginning of next hour 2. This progression is displayed digitally and in analog fashion by the disappearing tracks of pixels 26 toward the end of hour 1 and the beginning of hour 2. This point in time is reached by the progressions shown in quadrant 22 of
The principal features of the invention have been portrayed and explained. The dial 14 is divided into four curved quadrants. Each quadrant is successively activated to display the current time, while the other three are empty but also geometrically outlined by the quadrant cross border lines, 17A, 17B, 17C, and 17D.
The analog tracks cross into and through two successive pairs of quadrants. The first pair of quandrants indicates that the first half hour portrays elapsed time past the current hour. The second pair of quandrants portrays how much time remains until the beginning of the next hour. The symbols + and − that flank 00 on the right and left sides of the bezel 12 indicate that the watch displays initially elapsed time and thereafter forward time during every hour.
The above noted features create complete balance and equality of the two halves of each hour, as in the natural motions of nature cited above. Therefore, this system of digital exactitude, coordinated with graphic analog approximation, provides time displays that are very useful for virtually all conceivable timekeeping needs during normal daily tasks or play. It should also be noted that the first two quadrants display the day name and date, specifically Wednesday, i.e.(“WE”) and the current month's 24th day, which are frequently useful to know.
In 2006, applicants' assignee, Equitime, Inc, introduced a new digital watch called QUADTEC. It was operated with five push buttons 28A, 28B, 28C, 28D and 28E marked with identifying icons, namely; a lamp emitting light beam (for lighting the display in the dark); a watch face showing 10 past 10 (for switching the display into a setting mode); a three tone musical melody (for switching the display into an alarm setting mode), and two more buttons marked with SEL and SET (for selecting and setting time modes and values), see
Manufacture of a module for the above described watch face can be readily accomplished by preparing an object code and then programming it in the ROM of a silicon LCD chip. The same technique was used in manufacturing the previous QUADTEC watch in 2006.
The invention has been described by its functional principles and specific embodiments. Many variations of this disclosure will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it should be understood that the ensuing claims are intended to cover all changes and modifications of the illustrative embodiments which fall within the literal scope of the claims and all equivalents thereof.
