Patent Application
20220373978
This application is claiming priority based on European Patent Application No. 21175377.7 filed on May 21, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirely by reference.
The invention relates to a system for setting a watch, in particular an electronic watch, comprising a near-field communication module contributing to the setting of at least one function implemented by this watch.
The invention further relates to a method for setting this electronic watch.
Electronic watches, such as so-called “smart” watches, have emerged in the watchmaking sector in recent years. Such a watch is conventionally set manually, in particular by activating push buttons, crowns and/or tactile keys, which is relatively inconvenient for the user or the after-sales service responsible for the setting operation. For example, if the watch has a perpetual calendar mechanism, the position of the analogue display elements of the perpetual calendar mechanism, and more generally the perpetual calendar mechanism, can be set by pulling on and/or rotating a crown of the watch and/or by pressing one or more push buttons of the watch. Thus, a type of year (for example a bissextile year) is selected, and the various display elements, and more generally all of the elements of the perpetual calendar mechanism, are positioned correctly. This method is not only tedious for the user, who has to correctly recall and execute all of the setting operations one after another, but it furthermore leads to risks of errors and discrepancies.
It is understood that there is a need to find a solution, in particular that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
The purpose of the invention is to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a method and a system for setting a mechanism carrying out a clock function such as the perpetual calendar function of an electronic watch, which method is simple, robust and reliable.
For this purpose, the invention relates to an electronic watch provided with a case comprising at least one pair of horns, a horological movement and a near-field communication module capable of participating in the setting of at least one function implemented by said watch, said communication module is connected to the movement 6 by being arranged between the horns of said at least one pair of horns 5.
According to other embodiments:
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for setting such an electronic watch, the watch comprising a near-field communication module and a microcontroller configured to exchange electric signals with this module, the method comprising the following steps of:
Advantageously, in this method, the step of establishing a connection comprises a sub-step of initiating a connection, in particular an automatic connection, between the watch and the electronic appliance when this watch is located with respect to the electronic appliance at a distance that allows a connection to be established.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a system for setting such an electronic watch implementing this method, the system comprising a portable electronic appliance provided with a near-field communication device and a microcontroller configured to control said device, the watch comprising a near-field communication module and a microcontroller configured to exchange electric signals with this module, said watch and said appliance being configured to be connected, in the near field, with one another in order to carry out the setting operation for the watch.
In
The aforementioned method is implemented by a system 1 for setting the watch 2. This system 1 thus comprises the portable electronic appliance 3 in addition to said watch 2, both of which are capable of carrying out data exchanges 13 between one another by implementing a near-field communication technology.
In this context, the watch 2 thus comprises, in a non-limiting and non-exhaustive manner:
In
Such a bracelet is preferably made of at least one dielectric and/or electrically non-conducting material for example a synthetic material (for example a composite material comprising a polymer matrix filled with fibres, typically carbon fibres), a ceramic material or a plastic material such as high-performance plastics. It should be noted that when the bracelet is made up of links, the links that are directly attached to the pairs of horns 5 are made of at least one dielectric and/or electrically non-conducting material, while the other links can be made of other various different materials. In this embodiment, the pairs of horns 5 are connected to an elastomer bracelet that closely fits the shape of the middle 14 in order to completely conceal an external face 21b of a support element 15 of the communication module 7, which will be described hereinbelow.
The middle 14 further comprises a through-opening 23 arranged between the horns of one of the two pairs of horns 5. This opening 23 is thus located in the interhorn space 25 defined between the pair of horns 5 located in the 6 o'clock position of the watch 2, but it can also be positioned in the interhorn space 25 between the pair of horns 5 located in the 12 o'clock position. This opening 23 is configured such that all or part of a body of a support element 15 of the communication module 7 passes therethrough. Moreover, it should be noted that if the pairs of horns 5 are disregarded, the middle 14 is rotationally symmetrical overall about a central axis A of the case 4.
In the present embodiment, wherein the clock function taken as an example relates to the perpetual calendar, it will be understood that the mechanism that implements it comprises a set of elements, including the date, day and month display elements. The display elements are preferably analogue display elements and comprise, for example, two hands to indicate the day and the month, and a disc to indicate the date. It is thus understood that these display elements allow the date, the day, the month and optionally the lunar phase to be indicated, while automatically taking into account the different lengths of the months and bissextile years. More specifically, a display element such as a hand is used to point to a date, day, month or lunar phase indication inscribed on the dial of the watch 2, or a display element such as a disc on which date, day, month or lunar phase indications are inscribed, one of these indications being positioned facing an aperture in the dial.
In the horological movement 6, the microcontroller 8 of this watch 2 is capable of controlling the mechanism implementing the clock function, in particular the means for positioning the elements of the perpetual calendar mechanism, in particular the display elements. The means for positioning the elements of the perpetual calendar mechanism advantageously comprise one or more stepping motors. The microcontroller 8 is furthermore connected to control means, or an input interface, which can be a crown, push pieces or touch-sensitive areas, which can be directly actuated by the wearer of the watch 2.
Inside the case 4 of this watch 2, the near-field communication module 7 is connected to the movement 6 by being arranged between the horns of said at least one pair of horns 5. Such a communication module 7 allows said watch 2 to be able to establish bidirectional communication with the portable or mobile electronic appliance 3.
More specifically, this communication module 7 is connected to the microcontroller 8 of this movement 6. In this configuration, the near-field communication module 7 is connected/linked, in a removable manner, to the microcontroller 8.
Such a near-field communication module 7 implements, for example, wireless short-range, high-frequency communication technologies of the NFC (Near Field Communication) type. This communication module 7 operates using technologies that are different from RFID and Bluetooth. This communication module 7 can, for example, operate in frequency bands at high frequencies HF for example at 13.56 MHz.
The communication module 7 thus allows for the exchange 13 of data when the watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3 are at a short distance from one another. Such a distance can be comprised between about 0 and 10 cm, and preferably between 0 and 5 cm. The communication module 7 of the watch 2 can be of the passive type with power supplied thereto by the radio frequencies transmitted by the communication device 12 of the electronic appliance 3. Alternatively, the communication module 7 of the watch 2 can be of the active type receiving power from the power supply unit of the watch 2.
More specifically and with reference to
Inside this communication module 7, the substrate 16 is attached to an internal face 21a of the aforementioned support element 15. In other words, this support element 15 comprises the substrate 16 and of course all the other components forming the communication module 7. This support element 15 has a shape that is appreciably similar to that of the opening 23 comprised in the middle 14 or strictly similar to that of this opening 23. Such an element 15 thus comprises the internal face 21a and an external face 21b, these two faces 21a, 21b being connected by a peripheral wall 22. Such a peripheral wall 22 comprises a cavity extending along the entire length of this wall 22 so as to help define the contour of this support element 15. This wall 22 further comprises a sealing element 20 with the middle 14 in order to prevent liquid ingress, such as an O-ring which is arranged within said cavity. Thus, the support element 15 closes off this opening 23 in the middle and can thus also be referred to as a “closure element”.
This support element 15 has a thickness e which corresponds to the height or the width of this peripheral wall 22. This thickness e is substantially similar to or strictly similar to the thickness of the portion of the middle 14 comprising said opening 23. In other words, the opening 23 comprises an internal wall delimiting/defining the shape of this opening 23 and the thickness whereof is substantially similar to or strictly similar to the thickness e of the peripheral wall 22 of the support element 15.
This support element 15 is preferably made of at least one dielectric and/or electrically non-conducting material. This can be a synthetic material (for example made of a composite material comprising a polymer matrix filled with fibres, typically carbon fibres), a ceramic material or a plastic material such as high-performance plastics. It should be noted that the external face 21b of this support element 15 can be of the same colour as the external face 24 of the middle 14 and can further have a texture that is substantially similar to or strictly similar to this external face 24.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the arrangement described here of the communication module 7 between the two horns of a pair of horns 5 of the watch 2, contributes to improving the quality of the bidirectional near-field communication signal capable of being received or transmitted by this module 7.
Furthermore, in one embodiment, the communication module 7 of the watch 2 can comprise a magnetic shield element (not shown) between the chip 17 and said at least one antenna 18 of this module 7, and the movement 6 of the watch 2. This magnetic shield element improves the efficiency and sensitivity of the receipt/transmission of radio signals via the antenna 18 of the communication module 7 by isolating this antenna 18 from the metallic components of the watch 2 located in the immediate vicinity thereof. In other words, this magnetic shield element prevents any modification to the magnetic field emitted or received by the communication module 7, which modification would be the result of the presence of various metallic components of the watch 2 situated in the immediate vicinity of the communication module 7. Additionally, it is capable of reducing the negative influence that these metallic components can have on the performance levels of the communication module 7. This negative influence would consist of attenuating the magnetic field generated or received by this communication module 7.
In the control system 1 shown in
With reference to
This method comprises a step 30 of establishing a near-field connection between the electronic appliance 3 and the watch 2. The term “near field” is understood herein to mean that the connection is made using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology and insofar as the distance separating the electronic appliance 3 from the watch 2 is comprised between 0 and 10 cm, preferably between 0 and 5 cm.
Then, this step 30 of establishing a connection comprises a sub-step 31, which is in particular automatic, of initiating a connection between the watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3 when this watch 2 is located with respect to the electronic appliance 3 at a distance allowing a near-field connection to be established. In other words, such a sub-step 31 can be initiated manually or automatically.
When this sub-step 31 is carried out manually, it is referred to as a sub-step 32a of manually initiating a connection between the watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3 when this watch 2 is located with respect to the electronic appliance 3 at a distance allowing a near-field connection to be established. In this context, the watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3 are arranged relative to one another at a distance that allows a near-field connection to be established. Then, the communication module 7 of the watch 2 initiates a connection process with the communication device 12 of the electronic appliance 3, or the communication device 12 of the electronic appliance 3 initiates this connection process with the communication module 7 of the watch 2, after an interaction, depending on the case, between the user and an input interface of the watch 2, or between the user and an input interface of the electronic appliance 3.
When this sub-step 31 is carried out automatically, simply positioning the watch 2 relative to the electronic appliance 3 at a distance allowing a near-field connection to be established is sufficient to initiate the connection process between the communication module 7 of the watch 2 and the communication device 12 of the electronic appliance 3. In this context, this is referred to as a sub-step 32b of automatically initiating a connection between the watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3 when this watch 2 is located with respect to the electronic appliance 3 at a distance allowing a connection to be established. In this configuration, this sub-step 32b thus contributes to establishing an automatic connection, without requiring the user to perform any actions on the watch 2 or the electronic appliance 3, between this watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3 in addition to automatically setting the clock functions of this watch 2 in a transparent manner for this user of said watch 2. It should be noted that this sub-step 32b can comprise an authentication phase taking place between the communication device 12 and module which is transparent for the user. In other words, such an authentication phase does not require the user to perform any actions. In this context, authentication elements are included in the memory elements of the communication device 12 and module.
Once the connection has been established between the watch 2 and the electronic appliance 3, the method comprises a step 33 of checking, by the microcontroller 11 of the electronic appliance 3, the accuracy of a datum indicating the clock state of the watch 2. Such a clock state datum is a datum that represents an at least partial setting state of the watch 2. It can, for example, be a time zone, a country code, an alarm, a geographic location, a date, a tide, a solar phase and/or a lunar phase, a UTC time, etc. set on the watch 2. In the case that the method aims to set said perpetual calendar mechanism, the state datum can pertain to the current date, day, month or year (or even the current lunar phase if the perpetual calendar mechanism comprises an element for displaying the lunar phase, for example a datum regarding the geographic location, the hemisphere, the country code, etc.), said state datum representing a current setting state of the perpetual calendar mechanism, for example a position of a display element of said mechanism.
Such a check step 33 comprises a sub-step 34 of transmitting, to the communication module 7 of the watch 2, by the near-field communication device 12 and when instructed to do so by the microcontroller 11 of the electronic appliance 3 controlling said communication device 12, an instruction for retrieving the datum indicating the clock state of the watch 2. During this sub-step 34, a signal regarding said instruction is thus generated by the microcontroller 11 to be transmitted to this communication device 12. The communication device 12 then transmits this instruction to the communication module 7 of the watch 2.
Then, the check step 33 comprises, after the watch 2 receives this instruction, a sub-step 35 of sending, to the electronic appliance 3, by the near-field communication module 7 when instructed to do so by the microcontroller 8 of the watch 2, the clock state datum characterising a current setting of the watch 2 corresponding to current setting parameters of this watch 2. During this sub-step 35, the microcontroller 8 determines the clock state datum characterising a current setting of a mechanism relative to a clock function such as the perpetual calendar. In the context of the perpetual calendar, the state datum relates to the current date, day, month and year (and optionally to the current lunar phase if the perpetual calendar mechanism comprises an element for displaying the lunar phase, for example data regarding a geographical location, a hemisphere or a country code, etc.).
This state datum is sufficient to represent a current setting state of the perpetual calendar mechanism, in particular the position of the display elements of said mechanism. The microcontroller 8 then generates a signal comprising this clock state datum which is transmitted to the communication module 7. The communication module 7 of the watch 2 then sends said state datum to the communication device 12.
In an alternative embodiment of this transmitting sub-step 34 and sending sub-step 35, the check step 33 can provide for a sub-step 36 of determining the clock state datum from a process involving reading a dial of the watch 2, carried out by the electronic appliance 3 comprising the camera and an optical recognition algorithm executed by the microcontroller 11 of the electronic appliance 3. Such a sub-step 36 thus comprises a phase designed to place the dial of the watch 2 and the camera of the electronic appliance 3 such that they face one another. The term “face one another” is understood to mean that the dial and the camera are positioned relative to one another and at a distance from one another such that the hands of the time display lie within the image capture field of the camera. This sub-step 36 then comprises a phase of detecting information characterising a current setting of the watch 2, which is displayed on the dial of this watch 2, by means of the camera and the optical recognition algorithm of the electronic appliance 3. This sub-step 36 then comprises a phase of estimating the clock state datum based on the information detected. This state datum can, in this case, further characterise a current setting of the perpetual calendar mechanism.
The check step 33 then comprises a sub-step 37 of comparing the state data with setting parameters, in order to check that the setting of the perpetual calendar mechanism is correct. These setting parameters are, for example, retrieved on a regular basis or upon request, over an Internet network, from the electronic appliance 3. The term “setting parameter” is understood to mean any parameter allowing the watch 2 to be at least partially set. It can be, for example, information concerning a date as shown, but also information that could concern a time zone, a country code, an alarm, a geographical location, a date, a tide, a solar phase and/or a lunar phase, or a UTC time, etc. It should be noted that when this is a setting parameter of the perpetual calendar mechanism, this is understood to mean information regarding the current date, day, month and year (and optionally the current lunar phase if the perpetual calendar mechanism comprises an element for displaying the lunar phase, this data thus being, for example, a geographical location, a hemisphere, or a country code, etc.), this information being sufficient to correctly set the perpetual calendar mechanism of the watch 2, in particular the position of the display elements of this mechanism.
The method then comprises a step 38 of sending at least one setting instruction to the near-field communication module 7 of the watch 2. This setting instruction is sent by the near-field communication device 12 when instructed to do so by the microcontroller 11 of the electronic appliance 3, as soon as the clock state datum is identified/estimated to be inaccurate. During this step 38, a control signal regarding said setting instruction is generated by the microcontroller 11 and then transmitted to the communication device 12 of the electronic appliance 3. This control signal is such that it corresponds to a coding of setting parameters of the perpetual calendar mechanism, i.e. a coding of a set of data relative to the current date, day, month and year (and also to the lunar phase where appropriate). As stated hereinabove, such setting parameters are, for example, retrieved on a regular basis or upon request, over an Internet network, from the electronic appliance 3. It should be noted that, in order to perform the coding, a dedicated application installed on the electronic appliance 3 is advantageously used. If the electronic appliance 3 is a smartphone or a tablet, this application is advantageously capable of generating the coding from the date, day, month, year and geographical location provided by the electronic appliance 3. This setting instruction is then transmitted by the communication device 12 to the communication module 7 of the watch 2.
The method then comprises a step 39 of processing said at least one instruction received by means of the microcontroller 8 of the watch 2, in order to generate setting parameters for the watch 2. During this step 39, the microcontroller 8 processes said instruction to obtain the current perpetual date.
The method then includes a step 40 of configuring the watch 2 when instructed to do so by the microcontroller 8 of the watch 2, according to the setting parameters generated. This step 40 comprises a sub-step of actuating means for positioning the elements of the perpetual calendar mechanism so as to place said elements in a position that corresponds to the setting parameters obtained during the processing step 39.
It is understood that various modifications and/or improvements and/or combinations that would be obvious to a person skilled in the art can be made to the embodiment of the invention described hereinabove, while still remaining within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims. For example, the check step 33 could be omitted, with the user converting the position of the time display hands into workable data.
Moreover, although the description describes the setting and check of the setting of a perpetual calendar mechanism, other settings could alternatively be carried out, for example setting a time zone, a time, or tides etc. Moreover, this set information is not necessarily displayed on the watch 2 in an analogue manner (in particular by hands or discs), but can be displayed in a digital manner on the dial: the configuration step 40 thus does not necessarily include activating means for displacing analogue display elements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21175377.7 | May 2021 | EP | regional |
