US3638417A - Timepiece with an automatic hand-set mechanism by standard time announcement - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a timepiece which is automatically corrected by responding to the standard time announcement on radio, television, etc., every hour at ''''zero'''' time. In the invention, the timepiece is previously adjusted to be slightly fast. As soon as the radio set receives a standard time signal, a stopper stretches out at a certain point i.e., at the point of 30 seconds) on the dial and the second hand in motion stops against this stopper at the point. On the other hand, the stopper is released by means of an electronic timer at a certain time interval (30 seconds) after said radio set receives a standard time signal and the second hand starts at the correct time.

Description

United States Patent Hirose [54] TIMEPIECE WITH AN AUTOMATIC HAND-SET MECHANISM BY STANDARD TIME ANNOUNCEMENT [211 App]. No.: 16,807

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 17, 1969 Japan ..44/l9626 [52] US. Cl. ..58/26, 58/35 W [51] Int. Cl. ...G04c 13/08, G04c 9/02 [58] Field of Search ..58/24,26, 35 W, 35

[56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,362,011 4/1964 France ..58/35 [4 Feb.l,l972

Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant ExaminerEdith C. Simmons A ttorneyBlum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan ABSTRACT The present invention relates to a timepiece which is automatically corrected by responding to the standard time announcement on radio, television, etc., every hour at zero" time. In the invention, the timepiece is previously adjusted to be slightly fast. As soon as the radio set receives a standard time signal, a stopper stretches out at a certain point i.e., at the point of 30 seconds) on the dial and the second hand in motion stops against this stopper at the point. On the other hand, the stopper is released by means of an electronic timer at a certain time interval (30 seconds) after said radio set receives a standard time signal and the second hand starts at the correct time.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I wanna rEa new:

FIG. 2

FIG.3

TIMEPIECE WITH AN AUTOMATIC HAND-SET MECHANISM BY STANDARD TIME ANNOUNCEMENT BACKGROUND OF'THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a timepiece which is automatically corrected by responding to the standard time announcement on radio, television, etc., every hour at zero time.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate completely man operated hand-setting.

Another object of the invention is to make this device in a size small enough to be incorporated in a watch.

A further object of the invention is to reduce the power con sumption of said device and to assure the longer life of the battery.

In the case of conventional timepieces of this type, such timepieces are connected to the power supply several minutes before the radio set receives the standard time signal and is ready for receiving said time signal.

As soon as the radio set receives the standard time signal, an electromagnet or a motor which has been connected to the regulating device is driven, synchronized with said signal and the hands are set to the correct time. A heart-shaped cam and a lever touching one side of said cam, or combined unit con sisting of several levers and a pin placed between said levers is used as the regulating device. The hand is displaced with a force to a predetermined point on the dial and is there released from said regulating device. It is for this reason that a slipping mechanism is provided between the movement of the timepiece and said regulating device.

The above-mentioned regulating devices have the following disadvantages:

First, a large and powerful electromagnet or motor is needed, because ofthe large amount ofenergy required to displace the hand to the predetermined point on the dial.

Secondly, if the second hand alone is regulated in the case of a timepiece having three hands, errors in the indication of the other two hands are accumulated. To eliminate this inconvenience, the regulating device must be very complicated and large in size for correction of every hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the rate of the timepiece is previously adjusted to be slightly fast. A stopper to stop the second hand is disposed at the position of 30 seconds on the dial. When the radio set receives the standard time signal, said stopper stretches out on the path of said hand at the position of 30 seconds. The second hand in motion stops against this stopper at the position of 30 seconds and restarts 30 seconds after the radio set has received the standard time signal by the release of the stopper connected to an electronic timer.

In this way the second hand remains at the same position against the stopper during the time corresponding to that it has gained previously. Therefore, the timepiece is regulated to the correct time at all times.

The nature, principle and details of the invention will be best understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I shows a plan view of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a graph explaining the action of the electronic timer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The regulating device in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. I. It comprises a battery I which is a power source of the regulating device, a radio set 2, a detecting part 3 which detects the standard time signal and transmits it to the coil 5 of the electromagnet, and a switch 4 which is driven by the hour wheel or the minute wheel of the movement II and which connects several times per day the battery l to the radio set 2 a few minutes before the hand is to be corrected.

As soon as the detecting part 3 has detected the standard time signal and transmitted it to the coil 5, the core 6 of the electromagnet instantaneously pulls the lever 7, made of permanent magnet or magnetic material. This state is shown in FIG. 1. As the electromagnet is a polarized relay, said lever 7 is kept in this state even after the standard time signal has been cut off. In this state the stopper 8 fixed at the top of said lever 7 stops the second hand 9 which is tightly fixed on the pivot 10 of the movement Ill.

Let us assume that the second hand 9 is 10 seconds fast at the time to be corrected. As the stopper 8 is disposed at the position of 30 seconds on the watch dial, the second hand in motion stops at the position of 30 seconds after the detecting part 3 detected the standard time signal. Namely, as the second hand 9 has been l0 seconds fast, it stops 20 seconds after the zero time. If the whole movement stops at the same instance when the second hand stops, indicating errors among the three hands will be prevented.

In the present invention, when the said lever 7 is pulled by the core 6, the contact point 12 is closed at the same time. Consequently, the voltage corresponding to that of the battery I is supplied to the terminal 14. The electronic timer 13 is formed of a time constant circuit including a capacitor C, a re sistor R, a Schmit circuit and a transistor 15. Said capacitor C is charged with the time constant which is predetermined by the numerical values ofC and R. The voltage of the point a reaches the value V ti, second after the voltage was applied to the terminal 14 as shown in FIG. 3. As the Schmit circuit is adjusted to have an output signal when the voltage ofthe point 11" exceeds the value V we can choose the value of the time constant t at our option by taking the suitable numerical values of R and C. Now, assuming that the time constant is 30 seconds, the signal current is applied to the output terminal of the Schmit circuit 30 seconds after the zero" time. Then the input pulse is applied to the base 16 of the transistor 15, the transistor 15 is activated and the collector current flows into the coil 18. As a result the lever 7 is pulled by the core 19 of the electromagnet and the stopper 8 leaves the second hand 9. At the same time the voltage which is applied to the terminal l4 becomes zero. As the electromagnet is a polarized relay, the lever 7 remains in this state until the signal current flows into the opposite coil 5 again. As described above, the second hand 9 remains at the same position for 10 seconds from 20 seconds after the radio set 2 received the standard time signal and then it starts again corresponding to the correct time.

Further, it is possible to choose any time duration from the arrival of the standard time signal till the second hand is set at any position other than 30 seconds. It is undesirable, however, to make the duration too short, because in the event the indi cation errors of the second hand have been accumulated for lack ofthe reception of the standard time signal, there is a risk that the stopper will stretch out after the second hand has passed the position of the stopper. On the other hand, it is very difficult to make the duration very long because a capacitor of very large capacitance value would be required in the electronic timer l3 and errors of time t which depends on the values of the resistor R and the capacitor C may become larger.

FIG. 2 represents another embodiment ofthe present invention, in which the wheel geared to the hand is stopped directly by means of an electromagnet. It comprises a battery 1 which is a power source of the regulating device, a radio set 2, a detecting part 3 which detects the time signal and transmits it to the coil 5 of the electromagnet, and a switch 4 which is driven by the hour wheel or the minute wheel of the movement 11 and which connects several times per day the battery I to the radio set 2 a few minutes before the hand should be corrected.

When the detecting part 3 detects the standard time signal and transmits it to the coil 5, the rotor 7a made of permanent magnet or magnetic material rotates from the position indicated by the dotted line to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 2. At the end of this rotation, the stopper which is coaxially fixed on the rotor axis 717 comes in contact with the pin 20 fixed on the wheel 21 of the movement and stops the rotation of the wheel 21. The wheel 2] may be the one which carries the hand or the one which engages with the wheel carrying the hand in the movement. The timepiece is previously adjusted to be slightly fast and the stopper 8 is disposed at the position of 30 seconds on the dial in the same way as in the case of embodiment of FIG. ll.

Assuming that the second hand is 10 seconds fast when the radio set received the standard time signal, the wheel 21 and the second hand (not shown in FIG. 2) stops 20 seconds after. At the same time that the rotor 7a reaches the position of the solid line in FIGv 2 at the zero" time, the contact point 12 is connected to the plus terminal of the battery ll through said stopper 8 and the electric power is supplied to the terminal 14 of the electronic timer 13a. As the electronic timer 13a is constructcd in quite the same manner as that shown in FIG. 1, an input pulse is applied to the base electrode 16 of the switching transistor 30 seconds after the radio set 2 receives the standard time signal. As a result, the corrector current flows through the collector l7 and the coil 18 of the electromagnet. As the collector current which flows in the core 6 has the opposite polarity, the rotor 7a goes back from the position of the solid line to that of the dotted line instantaneously and stops there. As a result, the pin 20 is set free from the stopper 8 and no electric power is supplied to the terminal 14. Consequently, the wheel 21 and the second hand remain at the same position for 10 seconds from 20 seconds after the radio set 2 received the standard time signal and then they start again corresponding to the correct time.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described. it will be understood that many modifications and changes can be made within the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

lclaim:

l. A timepiece automatically corrected by means ofa transmitted standard time signal comprising a radio set; a power source; a switch for connecting said radio set to said power source at least a predetermined time before correction; a polarized electromagnet including a coil; a detecting part for detecting said transmitted standard time signal and applying said signal to said electromagnet coil; a timepiece movement whose rate is previously adjusted to be slightly fast; a stopper coupled to said electromagnet for displacement into the path of a portion of said movement in response to the energization of said electromagnet by receipt of said standard time signal; and an electronic timer adapted to start its operation upon the detection of said standard time signal by said detecting part, said electronic timer having a time-constant and being operatively coupled to said stopper for displacing said stopper out of the path of said portion of said movement after a predetermined time interval corresponding to said time-constant.

2. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said timepiece movement is adjusted to operate no more than 30 seconds fast during the interval between hand-settings, said stopper being positioned to stretch out into the path of said portion of said movement at a point in said path corresponding to 30 seconds on said timepiece.

3. A timepiece as recited in claim I, wherein said switch connecting said radio set to said power source is actuated by a portion of said timepiece movement.

4. A timepiece as recited in claim I, wherein said elec tromagnet includes a yoke defining a closed magnetic circuit and a rotatably mounted rotor positioned for rotation in response to the energization of said electromagnet coil.

5. A timepiece according to claim 1, in which said electronic timer has a time constant circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor together with a Schmit circuit generating an output signal 30 seconds after the radio set received the standard time signal.

Claims (5)

1. A timepiece automatically corrected by means of a transmitted standard time signal comprising a radio set; a power source; a switch for connecting said radio set to said power source at least a predetermined time before correction; a polarized electromagnet including a coil; a detecting part for detecting said Transmitted standard time signal and applying said signal to said electromagnet coil; a timepiece movement whose rate is previously adjusted to be slightly fast; a stopper coupled to said electromagnet for displacement into the path of a portion of said movement in response to the energization of said electromagnet by receipt of said standard time signal; and an electronic timer adapted to start its operation upon the detection of said standard time signal by said detecting part, said electronic timer having a time-constant and being operatively coupled to said stopper for displacing said stopper out of the path of said portion of said movement after a predetermined time interval corresponding to said time-constant.

2. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said timepiece movement is adjusted to operate no more than 30 seconds fast during the interval between hand-settings, said stopper being positioned to stretch out into the path of said portion of said movement at a point in said path corresponding to 30 seconds on said timepiece.

3. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said switch connecting said radio set to said power source is actuated by a portion of said timepiece movement.

4. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said electromagnet includes a yoke defining a closed magnetic circuit and a rotatably mounted rotor positioned for rotation in response to the energization of said electromagnet coil.

5. A timepiece according to claim 1, in which said electronic timer has a time constant circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor together with a Schmit circuit generating an output signal 30 seconds after the radio set received the standard time signal.

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