US 4,901,296 AGranted

Watch with speed adjustment during travel for reducing jet lag

OwnerRoss E. Mitchellinventor

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Abstract

An electronic watch includes a "traveler's time" function which can be activated when a wearer leaves on a long trip, east or west by plane, boat or the like. This function will advance or retard the operation rate of the watch so that after a user-determined trip time has elapsed, the watch will display the actual local time at the arrival location, and the watch will resume operation at its normal rate. By glancing at the watch from time to time, a traveler can become accustomed gradually to a time change caused by his travel through different time zones so that the psychological effects of "jet lag" are minimized. The watch includes a microprocessor (10), a quartz crystal (20) for providing a time standard, a display (30) for displaying the time, and a set of switches (40-90) for activating the watch's functions. The microprocessor includes a set of registers (145 to 160) for storing the departure, destination, and traveler's times, and for controlling operation of the watch.

Claims15

Dependent claims

In a timepiece for continuously advancing an indication of time at a standard rate, an improvement for assisting a traveler to accommodate to a change of an applicable time standard caused by travel, for a given travel time, from a time zone at a place of departure to a different time zone at a place of destination, comprising:

input means for entering travel data representing at least two of the following data:
a time zone of departure, a time zone of destination and the travel time;
storage means for storing travel data representing the local time at said departure time zone, the time at said destination time zone, and said travel time;
calculation means, responsive to said travel data in said storage means, for automatically calculating and supplying, during said travel time, output data representing a non-standard rate of advance of time for said timepiece based upon said travel data such that said non-standard rate of advance will correspond to the rate at which time would progress if the time standard experienced by said traveler gradually changed during said travel time from the time standard in said departure time zone to the time standard in said destination time zone;
display means, responsive to said output data off said calculation means, for indicating time at said nonstandard rate for said travel time,
such that the time indicated by said timepiece varies gradually during travel between the correct local time at said departure time zone and the correct local time at said destination time zone, and such that said traveler, by observing said timepiece during said travel time, will tend to experience less of the psychological symptoms of jet lag than if said traveler experienced an abrupt change of applicable time standards.

3 more elements

A timepiece for a traveler experiencing an abrupt change of time standards caused by travel, in a given travel time, from one time zone to a different time zone, comprising:

display means responsive to a time signal for displaying time represented by said time signal;
processing means connected to provide a plurality of time signals to said display means,
one of said time signals being a normal time signal representing time advancing at a normal rate as would be experienced by a person remaining in one of said time zones,
another of said time signals being a modified signal representing time advancing at a modified rate as would be required to adjust, in said given travel time, the time standard from that in said one time zone to that in said different time zone;
data entering means arranged to enter travel data representing said change in time standards and said given travel time into said processing means;
and
selection means arranged to cause said display means to display the time represented by said modified time signal during said travel time, and said normal time signal thereafter, whereby the time displayed by said display means will change gradually to effect said time correction in a gradual manner over said travel time,
such that said traveler, by observing said timepiece during said travel time, will tend to experience less of the psychological symptoms of jet lag than if said traveler experienced an abrupt change of applicable time standards.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.