Timex Corporation

Adolf Sedlak

Gerhard Stotz

Herbert Schwartz

Friedrich Mose

Louis M Galie

Joseph Egger

Jean-Pierre Skwarek

Hans-Georg Schnell

Horst Friedrich

A multifunctional holding plate for use in an analog wristwatch movement with a calendar date ring, a day of the week disc, an engageable time setting pinion and various gear members. The multifunctional holding plate is attached to the movement frame and has (1) retaining fingers to hold the gear members and date ring in place, (2) a flexible detenting spring leg to detent the date ring, (3) a flexible retaining leg to facilitate engagement of the timesetting pinion, and (4) a flexible detenting spring leg to detent the day disc.

Multifunctional holding plate for an analog wristwatch with date ring

The invention comprises a universal stepping motor/gear train module for a wrist instrument having a frame plate, a bridge plate attached thereto and spaced therefrom, a stepping motor comprising rotor and stator disposed between said plates, a reduction gear train having gear members coupled to be driven by the rotor and having coaxial output members adapted to receive analog hands, an input/output circuit board disposed in said frame plate and having a pair of power supply terminals thereon, said frame plate defining a recess large enough to receive at least a portion of a button energy cell, and first and second spring contact connectors having ends adapted to contact the terminals of the energy cell and extending between the recess and the power supply terminals on the input/output circuit board, whereby power may either be supplied to said board directly from said power supply terminals or from said energy cell. The input/output circuit board includes other terminals for driving connection to the stepping motor, and for oscillator, switching, etc.

Universal stepping motor/gear train module for a wrist instrument

An improved contact spring in a movement for a timepiece having a frame, a stepping motor, an energy cell, a circuit driving the stepping motor with a switching terminal for disabling the stepping motor, a gear train driven by the stepping motor, and a manually actuatable stem disposed in the frame. The improved contact spring comprises a shaped member of electrically conductive spring metal with a battery contact portion and a circuit supply portion respectively engaging the energy cell and the supply terminal of the circuit. The contact spring has a spring biased first arm actuated by movement of the stem, said first arm having a braking portion adapted to supply a braking force to a member of the gear train when the stem is actuated. The arm may further include a switching portion adapted to make and break contact with the switching terminal of the circuit to disable the stepping motor when the stem is actuated. The improved contact spring may further include a spring-biased second arm adapted to provide detenting of the stem.

Combination electrical contact member and braking member for a timepiece

A stator for a stepping motor of an electric watch comprises an elongated yoke member having a free end, a coil arm integrally formed on the other end of the yoke member and having a free end, an exciter coil arranged on the coil arm by being pushed onto this coil arm from the free end thereof, and a bridge member connecting the free ends of the yoke member and the coil arm, the yoke member with the coil arm and the bridge member hereby being flat elements made of a magnetizable sheet metal. In accordance with the invention, the coil arm is of a greater length then the exciter coil and the bridge member rests flat on the free ends of the yoke member and the coil arm and areally overlaps regions of these elements.

Lavet stepping motor with U-shaped coil core

The invention relates to a base element for a wristwatch in the form of a laminate, which simultaneously serves the purpose of a movement plate or frame and a case back and which consists of two integrally joined plates, these plates being bonded together in particular by means of a foil using ultrasonic heat-sealing. Such a base element may be manufactured with high precision simply and cheaply and has good stability, especially when a circular edge is folded to the inside of one of the plates of the base element for the purpose of reinforcement.

Base element for a wristwatch

Movement for a wrist watch, having at least one rotatable minute disc, a drive connection between the toothed disc edge and a drive pinion, being reliably and positively maintained in that the disc is mounted with clearance and capable of tilting, in that simple guide pins for the disc edge are provided on both sides of the disc in the region of the drive connection between the pinion and the disc. For example, one guide pin may be provided on each side of the minute disc. Alternatively, one pin is provided on one side of the disc and two additional guide pins lie opposite to this first pin on the other side of the disc.

Watch movement with a rotating minute disc

A wristwatch with a stepping motor driving the hands through a normal gear train also includes a supplementary gear train driving a circumferential date ring showing the calendar date. The gear train includes a planetary gear assembly, which may also be selectively operated by an exterior manually rotatable button to change the date without interfering with the normal driving of the date ring from the stepping motor. Preferably the manually rotatable button is operable from the back of the watch using a ball-point pen or the like.

Planetary gear for date mechanism in a wristwatch

A quartz controlled analog watch with a minute hand indexed once a minute by minute pulses and a seconds hand indexed once every five seconds by weaker pulses occurring at five second intervals between minute pulses.

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Wurmberg, Germany

Adolf Sedlak