Thin stepping motor watch
AssigneeTimex Corporation
InventorPaul Wuthrich
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A quartz analog watch has a disc with a minute hand thereon driven directly at its periphery by the rotor of a stepping motor. A single intermediate gear and pinion assembly performs a gear reduction to drive a conventional hour hand rotatably mounted on a center spindle which also supports the minute disc. The stepping motor watch internal components, including battery, stepping motor, intermediate gear assembly and integrated circuit are all partially hidden beneath the minute disc. A special watch crystal functions also as a top frame member controlling "endshake" of the movement members in conjunction with the caseback. A special metal clip provides a push button contact for electrically setting the watch and also holds the intermediate gear assembly in place.
Claims13
In a timepiece of the type having a crystal, a case with a caseback, a stepping motor having a rotor pinion disposed in said case, and an electronic circuit operating said stepping motor to turn said rotor pinion, the improvement comprising:
- a minute disc rotatably mounted in the case and driven directly at its periphery by said rotor pinion,
- a fixed center post disposed in the caseback, a cannon pinion connected to said minute disc,
- rotatable means extending through said disc and said cannon pinion, comprising a sleeve rotatably mounted on said center post and having an hour wheel connected to its lower end,
- an hour hand mounted above said disc between the disk and the crystal on said rotatable means, and
- an intermediate gear and pinion assembly disposed below said disc and adapted to be driven by the cannon pinion and to drive said hour wheel.
A thin stepping motor wristwatch comprising:
- a molded crystal having a peripheral portion on its outside, and defining depending lip portions on its internal surface,
- a bezel overlapping said crystal peripheral portion,
- a caseback attached to the bezel to hold the crystal in place,
- a stepping motor disposed in said case, said stepping motor having a rotor pinion rotatably supported from a fixed rotor post in the caseback,
- a center post disposed in the caseback and abutting said crystal,
- a rotatable sleeve disposed on the center post having an hour hand connected to one end and an hour wheel connected to the other end,
- a cannon pinion rotatably disposed on said sleeve,
- a minute disc connected to the cannon pinion and having a minute hand painted or embossed thereon, said minute disc having teeth at its periphery engaging said rotor pinion and directly driven thereby,
- a intermediate gear and pinion assembly rotatably mounted on the caseback having a gear engaging and driven by said cannon pinion and an intermediate pinion engaging and driving said hour wheel,
- a battery connected to the circuit, said battery, electronic circuit, intermediate gear and pinion assembly and stepping motor being substantially disposed beneath and hidden by the minute disc.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.