Patent Application
20120075960
The invention relates generally to the field of time display devices such as clocks and watches and methods of displaying time.
It has been quite common for many years for a digital watch or clock to include world time function. It has also been known for even longer to include world time function for an analog watch or clock. Often, an analog watch or clock is more desirable than a digital counterpart because of its decorative as well as ornamental properties, its perceived high collection value and its practicality, which gives its place in both luxury and mass markets.
Most well known coaxial analog world time display devices can be classified into 3 types, i.e. a 12-hour time system, a 24-hour time system and a dual (12-hour and 24-hour) time system with concentric assembly. World time display devices adopting the dual time system appear to be most popular.
One design of a known dual time system watch uses a small central dial and the associated hour pointer and minute pointer for indicating local time. An outer ring is provided for indicating different time zones in the world using different time zone symbols (e.g., names of countries or cities). These symbols are fixedly printed on and around the outer ring. An inner ring, rotating at a speed of completing one circle in 24 hours, is provided to indicate time of different time zones in the world.
This design provides the convenience of displaying local time and world time on the same side of the watch, and thus overcomes the inconvenience of earlier designs caused by showing local time and world time on different sides of a watch. However, displaying of local time and displaying of world time are independent of each other. The two sets of hour symbols on the clock/watch face are not integrated and lack any apparent relationship to a casual user. Thus, it may require one to become familiar with the features of the display system in order to use effectively such a watch or clock, especially when searching for hour reading in a target time zone other than the local time zone. The hour hand of such a design also may not necessarily indicate the local time in a 24-hour system, other than during some brief period. One also would have to read local time twice, once for the local time displayed in the 12-hour system and once for the local time displayed in the 24-hour system.
It is an object of the present invention to mitigate or obviate at least one of the above mentioned disadvantages.
In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a time display device. The time display device includes a first time display component for showing first time markings of a system having a first number of hours in a day on a first time scale, a second time display component for showing second time markings of a system having a second number of hours in a day on a second time scale, a time zone display component including a time zone display, the time zone display including time zone markings to indicate time zones in a pre-defined time zone system such as international time zone system, the total number of whole hour time zones in the pre-defined system being the same as the second number of hours, and a time indication component for positioning a time indicator to indicate time on the first time scale according to a time source. The time indicator and the time zone display of the time display device advance relative to the first time scale both at a first speed and in the same direction, and the second time scale advances relative to the first time scale at a second speed and in the same direction as the time indicator. The second speed and the first speed forms a ratio that is equal to a ratio of the first number of hours to the second number of hours. The second time scale is resettable to align any one of the second time markings with any one of the first time markings at a time reset time and the time zone display is resettable to align any one of the time zone marking with any one of the second time markings of the second time scale at a time zone reset time.
According to one feature of this aspect of the invention, the first time display component is configured according to a 12-hour system and the second time display component is configured according to a 24-hour system.
Optionally, there are less time zone markings than the total number of whole hour time zones; or alternatively, the time zone markings may include at least one marking to indicate region falling within a half-hour or quarter-hour time zone.
According to another feature, the first time display component includes a 12-hour circular member for displaying the first time scale that has indicated thereon the first time markings representing each of 12 hours in a 12-hour system and the second time display component includes a 24-hour circular member for displaying the second time scale that has indicated thereon the second time markings representing each of 24 hours in a 24-hour system; the 12-hour circular member and the 24-hour circular member are concentric.
Further, the time display device may include its own time source, which may be one of mechanical movement, electrical quartz movement, and electronic clock circuitry. The time source may include an energy storage unit for storing energy required for energizing the time source.
According to another feature, the time indicator, the second time scale and the time zone display all advance relative to the first time scale in a clockwise direction or all advance in a counterclockwise direction.
According to another feature, the time display device further includes a display screen to display the first time scale, the second time scale, the time zone display and the time indicator on the display screen. The time display device may further include a microprocessor to control operation of the first time display component, the second time display component, the time zone display component, and the time indication component.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of displaying time. The method includes the steps of initializing a display area that includes a first time display scale for showing first time markings of a system having a first number of hours in a day, a second time display scale for showing second time markings of a system having a second number of hours in a day, and a time zone display scale for showing time zone markings to indicate time zones in a pre-defined time zone system, the total number of whole hour time zones in the pre-defined time zone system being the same as the second number of hours; obtaining a first time that includes at least a first hour value; positioning a time indicator on the first time display scale according to the first hour value; aligning the second time display scale with the first time display scale according to the first hour value; aligning the time zone display scale with the second time display scale according to the first hour value and an input of a local time zone value, and in a loop until interrupted by an external instruction,
According to a feature of this aspect of the invention, the method includes the additional step of waiting for a first pre-selected period of time prior to returning to the step of obtaining updated time; or alternatively, includes the additional steps of testing between the step of obtaining the current time and advancing the hour indicator if a second pre-selected period of time has elapsed and returning to the step of obtaining updated time if the second pre-selected period of time has not elapsed.
According to another feature of this aspect of the invention, the first time display scale is configured according to a 12-hour system and the second time display scale is configured according to a 24-hour system.
Optionally, the number of time zone markings shown on the time zone display scale is less than the number of time zones. The time zone markings shown on the time zone display scale may include at least one marking to indicate a half-hour or quarter-hour time zone.
According to another feature of this aspect of the invention, the first time display scale includes a 12-hour circular member that has indicated thereon marks representing each hour in a 12-hour system and the second time display scale has a 24-hour circular member that has indicated thereon marks representing each hour in a 24-hour system. The 12-hour circular member and the 24-hour circular member are concentric.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium containing computer program instructions stored thereon. When executed by a processing system, the instructions cause the processing system to perform a method comprising steps of initializing a display area that includes a first time display scale for showing first time markings of a system having a first number of hours in a day, a second time display scale for showing second time markings of a system having a second number of hours in a day, and a time zone display scale for showing time zone markings to indicate time zones in a pre-defined time zone system, the number of time zones in the pre-defined time zone system being the same as the second number of hours; obtaining a first time that includes at least a first hour value; positioning a time indicator on the first time display scale according to the first hour value; aligning the second time display scale with the first time display scale according to the first hour value; aligning the time zone display scale with the second time display scale according to the first hour value and an input of a local time zone value, and in a loop until interrupted by an external instruction,
According to a feature of this aspect of the invention, the first time display scale is configured according to a 12-hour system and the second time display scale is configured according to a 24-hour system.
Optionally, the number of time zone markings shown on the time zone display scale is less than the number of time zones. The time zone markings shown on the time zone display scale may include at least one marking to indicate a half-hour or quarter-hour time zone.
According to another feature of this aspect of the invention, the first time display scale includes a 12-hour circular member that has indicated thereon marks representing each hour in a 12-hour system and the second time display scale has a 24-hour circular member that has indicated thereon marks representing each hour in a 24-hour system. The 12-hour circular member and the 24-hour circular member are concentric.
In other aspects the invention provides various combinations and subsets of the aspects described above.
For the purposes of description, but not of limitation, examples are explained in greater detail by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 10-a and 10-b show in perspective views an example of a pawl wheel;
FIGS. 12-a and 12-b show in perspective views an example of an end cover;
FIGS. 15-a, 15-b and 15-c illustrate some examples of movements of clock hands, time zone dial and 24-hour dial relative to the 12-hour dial;
FIGS. 16-a, 16-b and 16-c illustrate some examples of time zone dials;
The description which follows, and the examples described therein, are provided by way of illustration of an example, or examples, of particular examples of the principles of the present invention. These examples are provided for the purposes of explanation, and not limitation, of those principles and of the invention. In the description which follows, like parts are marked throughout the specification and the drawings with the same respective reference numerals.
Referring to
The time display device 100 has a first time display component 110 for showing first time markings 112 on a first time scale 114, such as 12 markings for each hour in a 12-hour system, and a second time display component 116 for showing second time markings 118 on a second time scale 120, such as 24 markings for each hour in a 24-hour system. In addition, the time display device 100 has a time zone display component 122 for showing a time zone display 124, with time zone markings 126 to represent time zones corresponding to, for example, time zones in a standard international time zone system which is a 24-hour system. The time zone display may additionally provide a label or geographic symbol 128 to indicate the region or city represented by the time zone marking 126.
Also provided is a time indication component 130 for positioning a time indicator 132 to indicate time on the first time scale 114. The time indicator 132 may be an hour hand 134, an hour hand 134 and a minutes hand 136, or an hour hand, a minutes hand and a seconds hand, among others. The time indicator 132 indicates time on the first time scale 114 according to a time source 138. As illustrated in
The time display device 100 may include a casing 140. The time source 138 may be located within the casing and may be, for example, a mechanical movement, an electrical quartz movement, or an electronic clock circuitry commonly found in a computer or computing device, among others. The time source 138 may locate outside the casing. For example, the time source may be remote to the time display device, thus providing time information in a remote manner, such as through a communication network, an electric power line, a wired or wireless connection, among others.
The time source 138 may include its own energy storage unit for storing energy required for energizing the time source. The energy storage unit may be a battery for an electric quartz movement or electronic clock circuitry or a spring rewinding mechanism for a mechanical movement.
Typically, a first number of first time markings are used to show each hour in a system that has the first number of hours in a day, a second number of second time markings are used to show each hour in a system that has the second number of hours in a day and the number of time zones may conveniently be the same as the second number, thus using the second number of time zone markings to indicate each time zone. However, this may not be necessary. For example, some of the first time markings or second time markings may be omitted, for space or aesthetical considerations. In addition, while conventionally, each time zone corresponds to the difference of a whole hour, thus the total number of whole hour time zones is equal to the number of hours in a day, there may be provided less time zone markings than the total number of whole hour time zones. For example, some time zones may not have a corresponding marking on the time zone display, due to space, aesthetical or practical considerations.
Referring to
Referring to
The second dial, i.e., the 24-hour dial 204, has a diameter smaller than that of the first, i.e., 12-hour dial 202. The third dial, i.e., the time zone dial 206, has a diameter smaller than that of the 24-hour dial 204. This will enable simultaneous unobstructed reading of markings on all three dials when they are in an installed position, in which the 12-hour dial 202 is located at the bottom, the time zone dial 206 is located at the top, and the 24-hour dial 204 is sandwiched between the time zone dial and the 12-hour dial. It will be appreciated that these dials may have other relative sizes and relative locations, provided that they are appropriately sized so that when they are in an installed position and positioned on top of each other, a simultaneous unobstructed reading of markings on all three dials is possible.
When assembled, these three dials are spaced along and concentric about an hour axis 208 and enclosed within a casing 140. An hour hand 134 may be fixedly mounted to hour axis 208 to indicate time on both the 12-hour dial and the time zone dial. As will be appreciated, the hour hand may be replaced by any other suitable time indicator device, such as a moving graphic shape, a moving dot, or a moving light projection illuminating a section or a spot on the dials. The 24-hour dial may also be driven by a half-speed advance mechanism connected to a time source, driven directly by a motor, controlled directly by a controller in the second time display component or connected to and passively driven the first time display component. The similar modifications to direct mounting of time zone dial to hour axis 208 may also be made.
The 12-hour dial 202 is not movable relative to casing 140. The time zone dial 206 is rotated by the hour axis 208 at the same rate of rotation and in the same direction as the hour axis 208. The time zone dial 206 may be directly driven by the hour axis 208 or coupled to and driven by the hour axis 208 to rotate at the same rate as the hour axis 208. The 24-hour dial 204 is also rotated by the hour axis 208 in the same direction but at half the rate of rotation of the hour axis 208, through a half-speed advance mechanism 212 coupled to the hour axis 208, in the nature of a transmission train, for example, a gear train. Alternatively, the 24-hour dial 204 and the time zone dial 206 may also be independently advanced, e.g., by independent motor(s) or gear train driven by motor(s) controlled by a microprocessor or coupled to a time source.
As illustrated in
Again, as will be appreciated, although the time zone circle 314 is shown to locate within both rings, any one of the first time scale 114, the second time scale 120 and the time zone display 124 may be a ring (or all may be rings) and their sizes may have any relative order. Thus, it is also possible to arrange them as three concentric rings, such that the time zone display is an outer ring, the second time scale for displaying 24-hour system time is an inner ring and the first time scale for displaying 12-hour system time is a middle ring sandwiched between the outer and inner rings.
As with the mechanical construction, the 12-hour ring 306 has a set of first time or hour markings to indicate hours in the 12-hour system. In the example illustrated, there are 12 first hour markings, with each marking indicating one of the 12 hours on the first time scale. Conventionally, the markings represent hours increasing in a clockwise direction, though they may also decrease in a clockwise direction for special purpose time display devices, in which case the time zone markings also may be modified accordingly. The 24-hour ring 310 has second time or hour markings to indicate hours in the 24-hour system. In the example illustrated, there are 24 markings, each indicating one of the 24 hours on the second time scale. The time zone circle 314 has time zone markings 126 to indicate time zones corresponding to the 24-hour system illustrated on the 24-hour ring. The number of time zone markings 126 may be the same as the number of hour markings on the second, i.e., 24-hour time scale. These time zone markings divide the time zone display 124 into 24 display zones 320, each corresponding to one of the hours on the second time scale. For clarity, these time zone markings 126 may be arranged in two rows or two concentric bands. Each display zone 320 in the time zone display, or selected display zones 320, may also include a geographic symbol 128, to help users easily identify or locate a time zone on the display.
The display screen 302 may be a display screen of a computing device, such as a desktop or portable computer, a smart phone, a tablet, or a dedicated screen such as a display screen of an electronic watch or clock. With modification, this display may also be projected to a display surface, using an image projecting device, such as a projector or a dedicated projecting device included with the time display device.
Referring to both
As described earlier, there may be more or less time zone markings than the total number of whole hour time zones or the hours on the second, i.e., 24-hour scale. One may add one or more markings to indicate half time zones. One may also omit time zone markings for space, aesthetic or practical considerations, thus using time zone markings or geographic symbols only for a few selected time zones that are of interest to a particular group of users.
It is generally desirable to show local 24-hour time and 12-hour time. Both the 24-hour ring/dial, i.e., the second time scale, and the time zone display circle/dial, i.e., the time zone display, are resettable. To reset the 24-hour ring/dial at any given time, a user aligns one of the second time markings 118, i.e., the 24-hour markings 318 on the 24-hour scale 310 corresponding to the current time, with one of the first set of markings, i.e., the 12-hour markings 316 on the 12-hour scale 306 corresponding to the current time. To reset the time zone ring/dial at any given time, a user aligns the time zone marking 126 corresponding to the local time zone with the current hour marking on the 12-hour time scale 306, which is also aligned with the current hour marking on the 24-hour time scale 310. When the user desires to reset the time display device to a different local time zone, for example, when the user has arrived in Chicago from Hong Kong, the user will need to realign the hour hand 134 with local time, realign the 24-hour mark 318 with the 12-hour mark 316 so the hour hand indicates correctly the hour in both 12-hour and 24-hour systems, and realign the local time zone mark representing Chicago 326 with the current local time.
In order to correctly display time in both 12-hour and 24-hour systems and in different time zones, both the 24-hour ring/dial and the time zone display circle/dial are advanced relative to the 12-hour ring/dial according to a fixed relationship. Conveniently and also according to general convention (although not strictly necessary), the 12-hour ring/dial is held static relative to a casing or the displace screen. In the following, this relationship will be explained assuming the 12-hour ring/dial is held static.
Referring to
Returning to
When a driving mechanism 150 is provided, the operations of the first time display component 110, the second time display component 116, the time zone display component 122, and the time indication component 130 are driven and controlled by the driving mechanism. For example, a conventional clock/watch movement and additional transmissions and gear trains may be provided as a driving mechanism to advance the hour, minutes and seconds hands, and to advance the second time scale, such as a 24-hour system circular plate, and the time zone display, such as a time zone plate, relative to the first time scale, such as a 12-hour system circular plate. Conventionally, the first time display component provides a first time scale that is static relative to a casing 140 or a display screen 302.
As will be appreciated, an electrical quartz movement 154, including motor(s), may be provided to similarly advance the hour, minutes and seconds hands, and to advance the 24-hour circular plate and the time zone plate relative to the 12-hour circular plate for showing time in both 12-hour system and 24-hour system and for showing time in different time zones.
Similarly, when a microprocessor 156 is employed, it may be used to control the first time display component to present on a display screen a first time scale in the nature of a 12-hour display, the second time display component to present a second time scale in the nature of a 24-hour display, and the time zone display component a time zone display, replicating the effects of the circular plates of an electrical/mechanical device. The microprocessor 156 can periodically instruct the first time display component, the second time display component, the time zone component and the time indication component to update their respective displays, thus showing on the display screen 302 the time in both 12-hour and 24-hour systems and in different time zones.
It will be further appreciated that the driving mechanism 150 may be designed to drive each of the individual components 110,116,122,130, or the driving mechanism may be designed to drive one or some of these individual components 110,116,122,130 directly and use couplings or connections between these components to drive the remaining components. For example, for a mechanical system, the driving mechanism may drive directly the time indicator component 130, or more particularly the hour hand 134 and use mechanical connections or couplings in the nature of engaged gears to drive the 24-hour dial 204 and the time zone dial 206, as explained in a further example later. The connection lines 158 indicating in a non-exhaustive manner these possible couplings or connections.
Referring to
First (step 402), the display screen 302 is initialized (see
Next, the time indicator 132, the 24-hour ring 310 and the time zone circle 314 are advanced periodically according to time obtained from the time source 138. This is performed in a loop 450 until an interrupting event happens, for example when a user requests realigning the 24-hour ring or the time zone circle. In this loop, the processor is instructed to first obtain the current time (step 408). Conventionally, the seconds hand is advanced every second. The processor is instructed by the time indicator component, i.e., programmed by it, to calculate the new position of the seconds hand and advance the display of the seconds hand to the new position (step 410). The minutes hand is advanced every minute, or at any other suitable, possibly shorter, interval. The hour hand may be advanced proportionally every minute, or at any other suitable, possibly shorter, interval. A frequency of advancing both the hour and the minutes hands every minute will be used in this example. For every minute, or every 60 seconds, the hour hand is advanced proportionally. The processor tests at step 412 if the pre-determined amount of time has elapsed and therefore should advance the hour or minutes hand. To advance the hour hand (step 414), the processor calculates and advances the hour and minutes hands to their respective new position as instructed or programmed by the time indicator component. This establishes an amount of advancement of the hour hand for each update, which is 360°/(12×60), or 0.5°. Similarly, the processor 156 is programmed or instructed by the time zone display component to advance the display of the time zone circle (step 416) and programmed or instructed by the second time display component to advance the 24-hour ring (step 418). The time zone circle 314 is advanced by the displacement amount, i.e., at the same speed as the hour hand 134. The 24-hour ring 310, on the other hand, is advanced only half the angular displacement amount as the hour hand, i.e., at a second speed that is half of the hour hand's speed. After a predetermined amount of time has elapsed (step 420) since the step of obtaining current time (step 408) of the loop, such as 1 second, the process 400 returns (step 422) to the beginning of the loop and starts the next cycle at step 406. For the other 59 seconds or cycles, i.e., if the hour and minutes hand are not to be advanced, the process jumps directly to the end of the loop to wait (step 420) to return to the top of the loop 450.
As will be appreciated, while a processor may be pre-programmed, for example, when the processor is a dedicated processor, in general, a software program stored on a computer readable storage media is used for loading by a processor in a computer or computing device to program the processor. When the software program is loaded and executed by the processor, the process implemented by the software program will be executed by the programmed computer, or the processor. The computer readable media may be any suitable media and may take different forms as the computer technology evolves. Some examples include an optical storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, or a solid-state memory storage device. However, a processor may also be programmed using firmware, or combinations of firmware and software, among others. The process illustrated in
It will be appreciated from the above discussions that various modifications may be made and different time displays, advance mechanisms, time sources and energy units may be combined. It is therefore understood that the time display device according to the present invention (and similarly the method of displaying time) is not limited to any particular examples provided herein. The following there examples are provided to illustrate how these different components may be combined.
Example 1 provides an analog world time clock adopting a dual-time system. As shown in
A universal quartz clock movement 154 (with a three-pointer timing system according to the 12-hour system) which is well-known by technical personnel in this field is selected. However, in order to meet the requirement of the example, the length of output axes of the three pointers (502, 514, 516) need to be long enough so as to meet the requirements of components of the additional wheel train which will be described below. 12-hour dial 202, the hour hand 134, the minute hand 136 and the second hand 517 which are matched with the universal quartz clock movement 154 are reserved to use as shown in
Besides the additional wheel train, an indicating mechanism is also additionally arranged. The indicating mechanism comprises a synchronous dial (as shown in
a) The time zone dial 206 serves as the time zone scale and there are 24 time zone markings (meeting international standards) in total. A plurality of hour hand-shaped parts exerting the function of the hour hand indicating local time of a plurality of time zones (for example, 24 hour hand-shaped parts shown in
b) The half-speed dial 204 serves as the rotatable 24-hour marking dial and there are the 24 hour markings (namely the numerals 0 to 23) in total. The hour markings are arranged increasing by degrees (as shown in
The universal movement 154 adopted by the example comprises an energy mechanism, a time reference and a time travelling mechanism and is used for driving the additional wheel train.
The components comprised in the additional wheel train are described below.
The section of the contact part between an inner hole of the synchronous wheel tube 503 (as shown in
When the synchronous wheel tube 503 is forced by an external force to rotate counterclockwise and both the inner wall of the synchronous wheel tube 503 and the outer wall of the axis tube of the hour wheel 502 slide to stop reverse transmission.
A central hole of the time zone dial 206 is matched closely with the outer diameter of the synchronous wheel tube 503; when in assembling, the time zone dial 206 is sheathed fixedly at the upper end of the synchronous wheel tube 503 so that the time zone dial 206 can be driven by the synchronous wheel tube 503 to rotate synchronously with the synchronous wheel tube 503.
The ratchet gear 504 (as shown in
The last-stage half-speed wheel tube 506 (as shown in
An additional end cover 507 can also be additionally arranged. The additional end cover 507 (as shown in FIG. 12-a and FIG. 12-b) is used for positioning, installing and protecting the additional wheel train. An axis output hole, a ratchet installing and positioning column 508 and two screw holes (as shown in FIG. 12-b) are arranged on the additional end cover 507. As a dependent component, the positioning column 508 is one part of the additional end cover 507 and plays a role of supporting and positioning. Of course, when no additional end cover 507 is arranged, a shell of the universal movement can be changed to cover the additional wheel train. The 12-hour dial 202 arranged fixedly on the outer end surface of the additional end cover 507 is provided with hour markings of the 12-hour system according to 12-indexing, which is the same as the 12-indexing fixed dial of the traditional clock. It is understandable that the improved end cover of the shell can exert the functions of positioning, installing and protecting the additional wheel train and the additional end cover is allowed not to be arranged if the shell with the end cover of the original movement is improved and the additional wheel train is arranged at the inner side of the end cover of the shell of the traditional movement.
The universal movement has the function of utilizing a regulating button 512 to regulate time. The hour hand 134 not only has the original function of the universal movement but also can be used for indicating hour markings of the 24-hour system. The minute wheel 514, the minute hand 136, the second axis 16 and the second hand 517 all implement the original function of the universal movement and no more details will be given below.
The assembling method of the time display device of the example is described below.
The assembling steps of the additional wheel train are as follows:
With the wheel part below and the pipe part above, the synchronous wheel tube 503 is sheathed at the tube part of the hour wheel 502 and is in friction matching with the hour wheel 502 so as to realize synchronous rotation; with the gear part below and the axis tube part above, the half-speed wheel tube 506 is sheathed on the synchronous wheel tube 503 and can slide relative to the synchronous wheel tube 503; with the ratchet gear 504 below and the pawl wheel 505 above, the ratchet teeth of the ratchet gear 504 are relatively matched with the pawl of the pawl wheel 505 to form a ratchet mechanism; the positioning column 508 of the additional end cover 507 penetrates through a concentric axis hole earlier than the pawl wheel 505 and later than the ratchet gear 504; the output axis of the movement 154 on which the synchronous wheel tube 503 and the half-speed wheel tube 506 are sheathed penetrates through an output hole of the additional end cover 507; fine position adjusting is carried out to realize occlusion between the wheel teeth of the synchronous wheel tube 503 and the gear teeth of the ratchet gear 504, elastic press fit between the ratchet teeth of the ratchet gear 504 and the pawl of the pawl wheel 505 and occlusion between the wheel teeth of the pawl wheel 505 and the wheel teeth of the half-speed wheel tube 506; and the movement 154 and the additional end cover 507 are locked into a whole by screws to form a composite movement with the function of a dual-time system (as shown in
The ratchet gear 504 is exposed so as to be convenient for setting and regulating the clock.
The assembling steps of the indicating mechanism (as the basis of the example, the composite movement is matched with indicating mechanisms with different sizes and can be manufactured into a wristwatch, a small wall clock, a large wall clock or a desk clock) are as follows:
The 12-hour dial 202 is fixed at the outer side of the additional end cover 507 of the composite movement and the hour marking “12” is located at the center position of the upper part, so that the 12-hour dial 202 has no difference from the dial of a universal clock; the 24-hour dial 204 is arranged on the last-stage half-speed wheel tube 506, with any hour marking value aiming at any hour marking on the 12-hour dial 202; with the time zone marking of any time (o'clock) zone aiming at certain hour marking of the 12-hour dial 202, the time zone dial 206 is arranged on the synchronous wheel tube 503; the hour hand 134 is arranged at the upper end of the tube part of the hour wheel 502, aiming at any hour marking (for example 4) of the 12-hour dial 202. The minute hand 136 and the second hand 517 are respectively arranged at the front ends of the minute axis of the minute wheel 514 and the second axis, aiming at the hour marking “12” of the 12-hour dial 202.
As shown in
FIG. 15-a shows the effect after the indicating mechanism is assembled.
The working process of Example 1 of the invention is as follows: the hour wheel 502 exerts the function of an hour axis to form a power (namely time scale torque) output component, the power output component is used for outputting and transmitting the time scale torque of the movement to the additionally-arranged transmission mechanism, and then the additionally-arranged transmission mechanism transmits the time scale torque to the rotatable hour marking dial and the rotatable time zone dial. The specific driving process namely the driving process of the additional wheel train is as follows: after the whole clock is powered up, the timing function of the original universal movement is as usual, a new indicating system is formed during running of the time zone dial 206, the rotatable 24-hour marking dial 204 and the hour hand 134.
The driving process is as follows:
Hereinafter described are the setting and regulating of the clock.
Setting of a main time zone (with Hong Kong as the using place): the regulating button 512 is manually rotated clockwise and components of an indicating system are rotated clockwise according to respective rotation speed; certain hour marking of a 24-hour dial 204 is set to aim at a corresponding hour marking of the 12-hour dial 202, for example 4 or 16 aims at 4, 6 or 18 aims at 6 and 11 or 23 aims at 11; finally, the ratchet gear 504 is manually poked clockwise to realize that the time zone marking “Hong Kong” on the time zone dial 206 is overlapped with the hour hand. Setting of time of the time zones (time regulating for the first time): the regulating 512 is manually rotated counterclockwise; besides the last-stage rotatable 24-hour dial 204, the time zone dial 206, the hour hand and the minute hour hand are respectively rotated counterclockwise. The regulating result needs to meet that the hour hand and minute hour hand indicate time of the main time zone according to the 12-hour system and meanwhile the time zone marking “Hong Kong” and the hour hand jointly indicate time of the last-stage rotary 24-hour dial 204 according to the 24-hour system. See the effect shown in
Fine adjusting of the system (time check-up): when the time indicated is later than the correct one, the regulating button 512 is manually rotated clockwise (the same as the time regulating of the universal clock); when the time indicated is earlier than the correct one, a battery is removed to stop the running of the clock and fine adjusting is carried out after the time indicated is later than the correct one.
The application range of the example: the additional wheel train and the dials are only arranged at the outer side of the output axis of the movement in the example, so that the example is suitable for not only the quartz clock but also a mechanical clock. Such final product forms as a small wall clock, a desk clock, a large/medium wall clock (like an outdoor/indoor building clock) can all be implemented.
In order to meet some personalized requirements, the classical clock/watch mechanism rotates counterclockwise in the previous design and the hour markings are arrayed decreasing by degrees. Such design is an image duplication of the prototype in essence. Similarly, the example can also be manufactured into an imaging device of which rotary components rotate counterclockwise and the arraying order of markings is also reverse. The practical application of the imaging device is as follows: a special clock/watch is manufactured to meet some personalized requirements; the display device of the original clock is enlarged and transparent materials are adopted to manufacture an integrated dual-face clock with a transparent dial. In order for bidirectional identification, such patterns as national flags, landmarks, etc can be selected as time zone markings and hour markings can also be correspondingly screened or designed. Such dual-face clock not only has complete displaying function but also achieves unique visual effect.
The time zone dial of the example is designed according to international standard time zones so as to adapt to general requirements. If only aiming at the requirements of several specific time zones, the time zone dial can be simplified into a time zone dial with multiple time zones and the mechanical structure is kept unchanged. The method is that the sequence relationships among the time zones (including those hidden ones) are kept unchanged and the non-selected time zone markings are hidden (see Example 2).
Example 2 is an analog phase hour marking clock with multiple time zones and adopting the 24-hour system.
The system composition of the example is consistent with the analog world time quartz clock adopting the dual-time system in Example 1. The differences lie in that 1) the global standard 24 time zones of the rotatable time zone dial are replaced by multiple time zones; 2) the hour markings of the 24-hour marking dial are provided with phase positions; 3) the display mechanism adopting the 12-hour system is simplified. Details will be given below.
1. Multiple time zones of the time zone dial: 1) time zones are selected: a) a plurality of time zones (for example 6 time zones) are selected according to the requirement; b) landmark patterns in famous cities of the time zones are selected as time zone markings (see Table 3) and the rest 18 time zones are hidden; c) the order relationships among the time zones (including the hidden ones) are kept unchanged. 2) the time zone markings are highlighted: a) a blank zone is realized on the dial surface due to the hiding of 18 time zones so that 6 time zone markings can be highlighted; b) the position of the time zone marking of each time zone is expanded right and left so that 6 fan-shaped zones connected with one another are presented on the dial (see FIG. 16-a); c) 6 scale positions at the rim of the dial are adopted as top points and the boundary line of each fan-shaped zone is properly shrunk inwards (arcs at the two sides of each top point are then pulled towards the center of the circle); in order to beautify the visual effect, a curved area drawing is adopted; the time zone markings are filled up according to the time zone positions, and FIG. 16-b shows the time zone dial of a clock with 6 time zones; d) the shape of the dial can be changed into a star according to the profile of the zone (see FIG. 16-c); if the time zones can be chosen uniformly, the profile of the zone can present the shape of a regular polygon or a regular star. By contrast, FIG. 16-c lacks sense of beauty and is therefore allowed not to be adopted.
2. The hour markings of the 24-hour system are provided with phase positions (taken Arabic numerals as an example): 1) an hour marking ring is divided into a day section (the numerals 6 to 18 are black in a white background) and a night section (the numerals 18 to 6 are white in a black background); 2) determination of the phase positions of the hour markings: a) the scale for the hour marking “0” is positioned at the highest point of the dial and the positions of other hour markings are determined accordingly; b) the phase position of every hour marking (see Table 2) can be determined according to −15°×G (G represents the numerals 0 to 23 of the hour markings); The design result is shown in
3. Simplification of the classical display mechanism (see
The assembling of the time display device in the example: 1) the assembling of the additional wheel train is consistent with that of Example 1; 2) refer to the assembling way of Example 1 to learn about the assembling of the indicating mechanism, wherein a) as the 12-hour dial is not provided with hour markings, the dial only needs to be well placed (one of the highlighted scales in
The running effect of the time display device of the example is as follows: 1) London is adopted as the main time zone and the time zone marking is the landmark “Big Ben”; as shown in
The application range of the time display device is as follows: 1) people usually are only interested in a plurality of time zones due to non-uniform distribution of the large world population, difference of development level and diversity of social life; according to the example, specific time zones are selected for combination and the time zone dial with a plurality of time zones is customized, namely a clock with a plurality of times zones can be manufactured to meet various requirements; and even a highly-personalized product can be manufactured; 2) although no hour hand is arranged, the indication for time of the main time zone according to the dual-time system and the indication for time of the selected time zones according to the 24-hour system are quite clear. The time display device of the example has both strong practicability and high novelty.
Examples described in the description or the technical schemes of the invention can have various variations. For example, the time display device is not limited to a three-hand timing system and the second hand or the hour hand or both the hour hand and the second hour hand can be cancelled. In addition, according to variations of the examples of the invention, a traditional hour hand can be used to replace the rotatable time zone dial so that the time display device can be simplified into the one with the dual-time systems. Moreover, the time display device of the invention is not limited to the quartz clock/watch or the mechanical clock/watch. Time can also be displayed on various electronic screens according to the principle of the invention. The rotatable time zone dial with a rotation period of 360°/12 h and the rotatable hour marking dial with a rotation period of 360°/24 h can be displayed on the electronic screen through a program in an analog way. The number of teeth of the gear and the ratchet gear and the number of pawls of the pawl wheel comprised in the time display device of the example can all be adjusted according to specific requirements of the design. Example 1 provide a specific additional wheel train. However, technical personnel in this field can think of and design many kinds of additional wheel trains according to the requirement on the basis that the description of the invention is disclosed, the number of gears of the designed additional wheel trains can be different from that of Examples 1 (namely the number can be either increased or reduced), and the number of teeth of every gear can also be adjusted. All those variations of the technical schemes which satisfy the condition that the rotatable time zone dial rotates synchronously with the rotatable hour marking dial in the same direction and the rotation speed of the rotatable time zone dial is twice of that of the rotatable hour marking dial can realize the purpose of the invention. And all those variations are included in the scope of the invention. The time display device of the invention can be designed to adopt an image structure namely all indicating mechanisms and indicating components such as all the rotatable dials, the hour hand, the minute hand and the second hand rotate not clockwise but counterclockwise.
Various examples of the invention have now been described in detail. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications, adaptations and variations may be made to the examples. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited to those details but only by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201010290353.1 | Sep 2010 | CN | national |
