Patent Application
20090185458
The present invention relates to structures for improving the visibility of instruments, such as wristwatches, other wrist-borne devices, portable electronic devices, and the like. Various examples of the invention may be particularly applicable to the illumination of an instrument's display.
A variety of instruments are commonly used in modern society. Many adults, for example, will wear some type of wristwatch. Many people also will frequently wear or carry portable electronic devices, such as wireless telephones, digital music players, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Still other types of instruments, such as pedometers, compasses, and satellite positioning devices, may be carried by individuals, e.g., during athletic activities, such as running, hiking, boating, and biking. Typically, these instruments include a mechanism, a display, and a transparent crystal or lens covering the display. With analog displays, the display often will have a dial and one or more hands that move relative to the display. Additionally or alternatively, some types of analog displays may have one or more moving dials that move below an aperture in a stationary upper dial.
The usefulness of most instruments, however, is limited by their visibility. For example, if the instrument has poor or no illumination, then the instrument cannot be viewed in low light. To improve visibility in low light, some instrument makers may include a light source, use luminescent material on the display, or both. A single light source often will illuminate only a small portion of the instrument display (e.g., that closest to the light source), however, while the use of multiple light sources typically is relatively expensive. On the other hand, most luminescent materials, such as tritium, still require some type of ambient light in order to be seen, and therefore, may not adequately function in long term, low light conditions.
Various aspects of this invention relate to structures that can improve the visibility of instrument displays. According to some examples of the invention, an instrument display is provided with a light system having a light source and a light diffusion device proximal to the light source. The light diffusion device may have at least one surface parallel to a primary plane of the display. For example, if the display has hands rotating above a dial, the light diffusion device may have an upper surface facing the hands, so that light from the light source is diffused by the light diffusion device toward the hands (and to backlight the hands). With some variations of the invention, the light diffusion device may be located underneath the dial (e.g., if the dial or portions thereof are transparent or translucent, if the dial is smaller than the light diffusion device plane, etc.). In still other variations of the invention, however, the light diffusion device may be located between the dial and the hands or the light diffusion device may itself provide display elements and/or function as at least a portion of the dial. With such arrangements, light is distributed over an entire area of the display, so that the entirety of the display can be viewed in low light conditions.
A more complete understanding of the present invention and at least some features and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features throughout, and wherein:
I. General Description of Watches and Other Instruments in Accordance with Examples of the Invention
In the following description of various example structures in accordance with the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration various example instrument assemblies in accordance with the invention. Additionally, it is to be understood that other specific arrangements of parts and structures may be utilized, and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, while the terms “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “rear,” “side,” “underside,” “overhead,” and the like may be used in this specification to describe various example features and elements of the invention, these terms are used herein as a matter of convenience, e.g., based on the example orientations shown in the figures and/or the orientations in typical use. Nothing in this specification should be construed as requiring a specific three dimensional or spatial orientation of structures in order to fall within the scope of this invention.
Aspects of this invention relate to watches and other instruments that include a display panel, such as pedometers, compasses, GPS devices, telephones, PDAs, and other wrist-borne instruments or other portable electronic devices. In at least some examples of this invention, such instruments may include: (a) a portion of an instrument display oriented substantially parallel to a plane; (b) a light source; and (c) a light diffusion device (optionally disk shaped) arranged proximal to the light source and having at least one surface parallel to the plane, wherein light from the light source is diffused by the light diffusion device toward the portion of the instrument display. As another example, instruments in accordance with at least some examples of this invention may include: (a) a casing optionally defining a battery compartment and/or a compartment for housing at least some portions of the instrument's operational structures; (b) an instrument mechanism mounted in the casing; (c) a first light source electrically coupled to receive power from a battery provided in the battery compartment; (d) a light diffusion device (optionally disk shaped) located proximal to the first light source and having at least one substantially planar surface; (e) an instrument display, wherein light from the first light source is diffused by the light diffusion device toward the instrument display; (f) optionally, a second light source electrically coupled to receive power from a battery provided in the battery compartment, wherein light from the second light source is diffused by the light diffusion device toward the instrument display; and/or (g) optionally, a plate located between the battery compartment and the light diffusion device or between the light diffusion device and the instrument display, wherein the plate includes one or more markings that form a second instrument display.
The instrument display(s) may include any desired type of display elements, such as one or more instrument hands arranged to extend substantially parallel to the plane; an LCD, LED, or other electronic display device; a dial element; chronograph hands or dials; numbers or letters (e.g., stationary or provided on a movable mechanism); hour, minute, or second markings; etc. If desired, at least some of these markings or other features of the instrument display or display elements may be marked on the light diffusion device (e.g., on a major surface thereof, embedded therein, etc.); may be marked on a cover plate for the casing or another plate provided in the instrument construction (optionally, on either side of the light diffusion device); may be provided as separate elements or structures engaged with the diffusion device, plate, or casing; etc.
The light diffusion device may include one or more passages defined therethrough, e.g., to allow connection stems, pinions, or other mechanisms for the watch (or other device) to connect to the instrument mechanism and to be driven. As a more specific example, such passages or apertures may be provided, for example, to allow a connection stem to pass through the light diffusion device and connect to a drive mechanism (e.g., a watch movement device) to drive the hour, minute, and/or second hands of a watch. As another example, such passages or apertures may be provided to allow pinions for a chronographic element to connect to a drive mechanism therefor. As another example, if desired, such passages may allow a clear and unobstructed view of underlying dials, numbers, or other markings. As yet another example, such passages may allow space for mounting a magnifying lens, e.g., to provide an enlarged view of underlying indicators or other structures.
Additionally or alternatively, if desired, a transparent lens may be positioned on a side of the one or more instrument hands opposite the light diffusion device (e.g., attached to or provided as part of the watch crystal, located between the display and the crystal, etc.). The lens may allow some portion of the instrument display (e.g., a chronograph dial, markings for the chronograph display element(s), a numerical date indicator, etc.) to appear enlarged for easier user viewing.
Specific examples of instrument structures according to this invention are described in more detail below. The reader should understand that these specific examples are set forth merely to illustrate examples of the invention, and they should not be construed as limiting the invention.
II. Specific Examples of Watches and Other Instruments in Accordance with this Invention
A. The Instrument Assembly
As is well known in the art, the movement 107 rotates the hour hand 109A so that it makes one complete revolution every 12 hours, and it rotates the hour hand 109D one complete revolution every 24 hours to indicate the elapse of hours. Similarly, the movement 107 rotates the minute hands 109B and 109E so each makes one complete revolution every hour to indicate the elapse of minutes in an hour. The movement 107 also rotates the second hands 109C and 109F so that each makes one complete revolution every minute, to indicate the elapse of seconds in a minute. Conventionally, the movement 107 continuously drives the hands 109A, 109B and 109F. The movement 107 also may be designed and structured to start and stop the operation of the hands 109C, 109D and 109E in response to input from a user. In accordance with at least some examples of the invention, the movement 107 also may provide a date counter (not shown) that increments one value every 24 hour period, to indicate the passage of days in a month. Other arrangements and functions also are possible.
A movement case cover 111 is provided over the movement holder 105. The movement case cover 111 protects the movement 107 from dust, debris and, with various examples of the invention, moisture. The movement case cover 111 defines apertures 113A-113D, each corresponding to a pinion or connection stem (e.g., connection stem 129 in
The movement case cover 111 may be formed of any desired material, such as brass. With some implementations of the invention, the surface of the movement case cover 111 that faces the hands 109 (i.e., the upper surface in
With the illustrated implementation of the invention, the movement 107 is an electronic movement, such as a quartz movement. Accordingly, the watch 101 also includes a battery 115 for powering the operation of the movement 107. With alternate examples of the invention, however, the movement 107 may be a mechanical movement that operates using an arrangement of springs and gears to store and release kinetic energy. A variety of both quartz and mechanical movements are well known in the art, and thus will not be detail in more detail here.
The watch 101 also includes a bezel 117, which in turn holds a crystal 119. The bezel 117 may be formed of a relatively hard material that will resist scratching and gouging, such as hard plastic or resin, aluminum, steel, titanium, or other metal. The bezel 117 also may be formed of a flexible material that will compress before registering a scratch or gouge, such as rubber. If desired, the bezel 117 may form a part of the case 103 and/or it may be removably mounted to other portions of the watch structure 101 (e.g., to allow removal and replacement, e.g., when damaged, for personalization/customization purposes, etc.), by mechanical connectors or in any other desired manner. The bezel 117 also may include indicia thereon, such as trademarks or logos, design elements, instrument display markings to convey information to the user (such as scales, numbers, letters, hour markings, minute markings, etc.), etc.
The crystal 119 may be formed of any desired transparent or semi-transparent material, such as sapphire, glass, clear acrylic, or clear polycarbonate. In the illustrated example of the invention, the crystal 119 is secured in the bezel 117 by an adhesive. With still other implementations of the invention, however, the crystal 119 may be secured in the bezel 117 by any desired means, such as by flanges, by threads, by welding, by press-fitting, etc. Optionally, an O-ring or gasket may be provided around the junction of the bezel 117 and the crystal 119, e.g., to help prevent moisture or water from entering the instrument casing 103 via this junction.
In the illustrated example of the invention, the crystal 119 has a circular shape. With still other examples of the invention, however, the crystal 119 may have any desired shape, such as a rectangular, square, oval or irregular shape.
The surface of the crystal 119 facing away from the hands 109 is concave in this structure 101, so that it does not extend past the surface of the bezel 117 facing away from the hands 109 (note the broken straight and planar line in
The watch 101 of this example structure also includes a crystal guard 127, e.g., formed as a protective plate. The shape of the crystal guard 127 may be selected so as to generally match the shape of the recess 121, e.g., so that the guard 127 defines a plurality of recesses or openings corresponding to the non-recessed areas 123 in the crystal 119. Further, the guard 127 is positioned within the recess 121. As seen in
It should be appreciated that, while the illustrated example of the invention has only a single guard 127, still other examples of the invention may employ multiple guards 127 that fit into the one or more recesses 121. Still further, as noted above, some implementations of the invention may have a crystal 119 with multiple recesses 121. One or more guards 127 can then be inserted into each recess. With the illustrated example of the invention, the guard 127 is fixed into the recess 121 of the crystal 119 using an adhesive. It should be appreciated, however, that other embodiments of the invention may employ any desired technique to fix the guard 127 into the recess 121. For example, the crystal 119 may be co-molded onto the guard 127 so that the guard 127 defines the recess 121 when the crystal is formed, the guard 127 may be press-fit or friction fit into the recess 121, retaining structures may be provided to hold the guard 127 in the recess, mechanical connectors may hold the guard 127 with respect to the recess 121, etc.
If desired, the crystal guard 127 (or at least portions thereof) may be removably mounted to the crystal 119, e.g., to allow removal and/or replacement, for example, when damaged, for personalization/customization purposes, etc. The crystal guard 127 may include indicia thereon, such as trademarks or logos, design elements, instrument display markings to convey information to the user (such as scales, numbers, letters, words, hour markings, minute markings, etc.), etc.
B. Illumination System
As previously noted, the light diffusion device 203 of this example structure 101 defines five separate apertures 205A-205E. The aperture 205A allows the pinions driving the hands 109A-109C to pass through the light diffusion device 203 (see connection stem 129 in
With various implementations of the invention, the light diffusion device 203 is formed of a transparent or semi-transparent material that diffuses incident light. For example, the light diffusion device 203 may be formed of glass, acrylic, or a polycarbonate material, such as an optically-enhanced polycarbonate material. As will be discussed in more detail below, the surface of the light diffusion device 203 that faces the movement 107 may be formed with a varying topography, like a grating. As will also be discussed in more detail below, one or more surfaces of the light diffusion device 203 may be painted, etched, or otherwise marked to display indicators (see indicator 133 in
With the illustrated implementation of the invention, light sources 207 are positioned on opposite sides of the light diffusion device 203. More particularly, a first light source 207A is positioned on one side of the light diffusion device 203 adjacent a minor surface oriented generally orthogonal to the surface that faces the hands 109. A second light source 207B is positioned on an opposite side of the light diffusion device 203, also adjacent a minor surface oriented generally orthogonal to the surface that faces the hands 109. It should be appreciated, however, that alternate embodiments of the invention may employ one or three or more light sources 207. Also, one or more light sources 207 may alternately or additionally be placed adjacent to the lower surface of the diffusion device 203 (that is, the surface that that faces the movement 107).
With the illustrated example of the invention, the lights sources 207 are light emitting diodes controlled through a printed circuit board 211. The light sources 207 are powered by a light source battery 213 positioned in light source battery holder 215. Of course, with alternate examples of the invention, the light sources 207 may be or may include any desired type of light emitting device, such as incandescent lights, plasma displays, or organic light emitting devices (OLEDs). With some implementations of the invention, the light sources 207 may activate only in response to input from a user (e.g., by a button press or other switch activation action). For still other implementations of the invention, however, the light sources 207 may activate in response to any desired stimulus, such as movement or input from an ambient light detector, on a periodic basis, such as between the hours of 7:00 PM and 7:00 AM, or may be continuously operational.
When the light sources 207 emit light, the light enters into the light diffusion device 203 and is propagated throughout the diffusion device in a direction parallel to the surface that faces the hands 109. As the light propagates through the light diffusion device 203, the light is emitted from the surface that faces the hands 109, to thereby illuminate the hands 109 and the surrounding area (e.g., backlighting). If the diffusion device 203 covers a substantial amount of the area traversed by the hands 109, as shown in
As shown in
It should be appreciated that various structural features can be implemented with different embodiments of the invention to increase the amount of light emitted from the upper surface of the light diffusion device 203 (that is, the surface that faces the hands 109). For example, as previously noted, the lower surface of the light diffusion device 203 can be formed with a varying topography. Depending upon the shape of the topography, the lower surface of the light diffusion device 203 may act as a diffraction grating to reflect light propagating in the light diffusion device 203 toward its upper surface. Still further, with various examples of the invention, the light diffusion device 203 may be formed with smaller and/or fewer apertures, or with no apertures at all. As yet another example, if desired, portions of the diffusion device 203 may be masked so as to allow light to be emitted therefrom only at selected locations.
In some example structures in accordance with this invention, the torque provided by the movement 111 to the chronographic hands 109D-109F can be increased, thereby allowing the pinions rotating the hands 109D-109F to be lengthened and the hands 109D-109F to be positioned well above the upper surface of the light diffusion device 203. In such arrangements, the apertures 205B-205D can be reduced in size so as to have only the minimum diameter required to fit the pinions. With other embodiments of the invention, the light diffusion device 203 may define a recess around each aperture 205B-205D to allow for rotation of the hands 109D-109F. As another alternative, if the hands 109D-109F are positioned sufficiently well above the upper surface of the light diffusion device 203, the light diffusion device 203 may avoid any recesses. Reducing the area of the apertures will increase the propagation of light through the light diffusion device 203 and more evenly distribute the light emitted from the surface of the light diffusion device 203 that faces the hands 109.
Alternately or additionally, the upper surface of the movement case cover 111 (or at least a portion thereof) may be formed of a reflective material. The upper surface of the movement case cover 111 will then reflect light emitted from the light diffusion device 203 back into the light diffusion device 203 and toward its upper surface. With some examples of the invention, a separate reflective material may be interposed (e.g., as a separate element) between the upper surface of the movement case cover 111 and the lower surface of the light diffusion device 203. As yet an additional example, if desired, the movement case cover 111 can be omitted (e.g., and the light diffusion device 203 may act as this cover).
In some embodiments of the invention, indicators 133 may be painted, etched, or otherwise marked or mounted on the light diffusion device 203, e.g., to form or partially form a dial or other display indicator. More particularly, indicia for determining the status of the instrument (e.g., a relative time or elapsed time indicated by the watch 101) can be marked on the surface of the light diffusion device 203 that faces the movement 107, on the surface of the light diffusion device 203 that faces the hands 109, embedded within the light diffusion device 203 itself, or some combination thereof (shown generally at reference number 133 in
As another example implementation of the invention, hour, minute, and second indicators (for the primary minute hand 109B, the primary second hand 109C, the chronographic hour hand 109D, the chronographic minute hand 109E, and the chronographic second hand 109F) may be printed on the surface of the crystal 119 that faces the hands 109, to provide a gauge or scale for motion of the hands 109A-109C. Indicators for the primary hour hand 109A, such as hour numbers “3”, “6”, “9”, and “12”, and an indicator arc (e.g., connecting the hour numbers “12” and “3”) may be marked on the surface of the surface of the light diffusion device 203 that faces the hands 109. Still further, supplemental indicators may be marked on the surface of the bezel 117 that faces away from the hands 109 and/or the surface of the crystal guard 127 (if any) that faces away from the hands 109 to provide a further gauge or scale for motion of the hands 109D-109F. Thus, as the various hands 109 rotate on their respective pinions, they pass over or by corresponding indicia on the light diffusion device 203, the crystal 119, the crystal guard 127, and/or the bezel 117 to show the passage of time and/or to provide information to the user. Together, the hands 109 and the indicia formed by the indicators make up the display for the watch 101.
It should be noted that the arrangement of the indicia on different portions of the watch 101 may be selected to determine which indicia will be visible under certain conditions. For example, by placing the hour numbers “3”, “6”, “9”, and “12” and the indicator arc on the surface of the light diffusion device 203 facing the hands 109, these indicia may be made so as to be relatively invisible when the light diffusion device 203 is not diffusing light from the light sources 207. When the light sources 207 are activated, however, and their light is diffused through the light diffusion device 203, these indicia may become more visible along with any indicia included on the crystal 119 or other locations. Of course, it will be appreciated that multiple light diffusion devices 203, together with one or more associated light sources 207, can be stacked or otherwise layered to allow various indicia to be viewed under different circumstances.
III. Conclusion
While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
