Ebauches Electroniques S.a.

Manufacture Et Fabrique De Montres Et Chronometres Ulysse Nardin Le Locle Sa

Michel Vermot

Pierre Gygax

Loïc Pellation

An electronic timepiece with an alarm device, having a digital display unit for indication of the actual time and a memorized time of alarm, and an analog display unit driven by a stepping motor. In such a timepiece, the alarm signal is produced from signals delivered by the frequency divider and is transmitted to an electroacoustic transducer when coincidence exists between the time as measured by the timepiece and the memorized time of alarm. During the signal, the consumption of current is relatively high and is further increased when a driving pulse of the stepping motor is superimposed upon the alarm signal. Such a peak of current is undesirable because the magnetic field produced by the excitation coil of the electroacoustic transducer may disturb the correct functioning of the motor. A solution to this problem is to shift the alarm pulses in time with respect to the driving pulses so that they never appear simultaneously. To this end, the timepiece includes an electronic circuit which is enabled by an alarm logic circuit, and which receives signals from the frequency divider for delivering an alarm signal, at the time of alarm, such that the alarm signal is shifted in time with respect to the driving pulses of the stepping motor.

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Les Ponts-de-Martel, Switzerland

Michel Vermot