US 4,064,689 AGranted

Electronic timepiece with electro-optical display

AssigneeCitizen Watch Co., Ltd.

InventorsTetsuya Yasuda, Yoshio Iinuma, Yuzo Maekawa, Toshikiyo Kato, Masaru Yoshida

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Abstract

A disk-shaped substrate supports on its front side a liquid-crystal cell bracketed by an upper and a lower glass plate and on its rear side an electric battery along with circuit elements for controlling the selective energization of various electrode leads of the cell to generate different digital symbols, the substrate being sandwiched between two flexible printed sheets whose conductors establish the necessary connections between the battery and the electrode leads of the cell. The connection between corresponding conductors of the two printed sheets is established by metal pins passing insulatedly through apertures in the substrate. A crystal oscillator included in the control circuit is enclosed in a sealed envelope which is received in a trough of the rear substrate face offset from a depression for the battery, the front substrate face being provided with a recess accommodating a chip connected in the wiring pattern of the printed sheet overlying that front face whose extremities are flexed around the lower glass plate to establish contact with conductor terminals carried on projecting marginal portions of the upper glass plate.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An electronic timepiece comprising:

a substrate with substantially parallel front and rear sides;
an electro-optical display package adjacent said front side including a first and a second plate substantially paralleling said substrate, said first plate having marginal portions projecting laterally beyond said second plate, said package being provided with electrode leads for generating a variable time indication, said electrode leads having terminals arrayed on said marginal portions;
a flexible printed sheet inserted between said front side and said display package, said printed sheet carrying an array of conductors contacting said terminals;
an electric battery mounted on said rear side;
control means on said substrate in circuit with said battery for selectively energizing said electrode leads by way of said conductors, said control means including an integrated-circuit chip at said front side electrically connected in said array and laterally offset from said battery, said control means further including an encapsulated oscillatory circuit mounted on said rear side at a location laterally offset from said battery and said chip;
and
a second printed sheet overlying said substrate at said rear side and carrying conductor means connected to said battery, to said oscillatory circuit and to certain conductors of said array.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.