Solid state, battery operated electronic watch having arm-actuated battery switch
AssigneeBulova Watch Company, Inc.
InventorEgbert Van Haaften
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An arm-actuated switch for a solid-state electronic watch having an electro-optic display. To conserve battery power, the display is normally quiescent and is momentarily turned on by the switch only when the wearer of the watch moves his arm in a particular way. The switch includes a pair of spaced contacts which when interconnected close the circuit. Such interconnection is effected by a shorting bridge formed by a pair of flexible tines which normally occupy positions adjacent to but out of touch with the contacts, the tines being flexed into engagement with the contacts by a pair of swingable mallets that are caused to swing and strike the tines only if the arm is moved in a predetermined manner.
Claims11
An arm-actuated switch for an electronic device which is borne on the wrist of a wearer, said switch acting to close a circuit in said device to activate same only when the wearer's arm is made to undergo a predetermined sequence of motions, said switch comprising:
- A. a pair of spaced contacts which when interconnected close said circuit;
- B. a conductive shorting bridge having a pair of flexible tines symmetrically disposed with respect to said contacts, each tine in its neutral position being adjacent to but out of engagement with a respective contact, and
- C. a pair of swingable mallets pivoted on an axis normal to the axis of symmetry of said tines and so disposed with respect to said tines that the mallets are capable of being retracted and then swung to strike the tines simultaneously with sufficient force to bend the tines to cause them to engage the contacts and close the circuit only when the wearer moves his arm so that it undergoes said predetermined sequence of motions.
An arm-actuated switch for an electronic device which is borne on the wrist of an arm of a wearer, said switch acting to close a circuit in said device to activate same only when the arm is made to undergo a predetermined multi-step sequence of motions, said switch comprising:
- A upper and lower complementary cup-shaped metal pieces joined together by an insulating spacer to define a chamber, each piece having a central metal shaft extending along a common axis, the two shafts being joined together by an insulating hub positioned at the midpoint of the chamber, whereby the metal pieces constitute the terminals of the switch;
- B upper and lower contact elements mounted on the respective shafts and extending laterally therefrom at different angles, the upper element having a downwardly bent finger and the lower element having an upwardly bent finger, said fingers defining a pair of spaced contacts;
- C a shorting bridge formed by a hairpin-shaped wire clamped onto said hub and having a pair of resilient tines symmetrically disposed relative to said spaced contacts, each tine in its neutral position being adjacent to but out of engagement with a respective contact;
- and
- D upper and lower pendulums pivoted on the respective shafts of the upper and lower pieces, each pendulum having a mallet at the free end thereof for striking a respective tine, said mallets being capable of being retracted and then swung to strike the tines simultaneously with sufficient force to bend the tines inwardly to cause them to engage the contacts and close the circuit only when the wearer moves his arm so that it undergoes said predetermined sequence of motion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.