The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 05, 1977
Filed:
Feb. 13, 1976
Shigeru Morokawa, Tokorozawa, JA;
Yukio Hashimoto, Niiza, JA;
Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JA;
Abstract
To facilitate acceleration or deceleration of the stepping rate of a time-keeping counter responding to driving pulses from a frequency divider connected to a crystal-controlled oscillator, a succession of such driving pulses is taken from an OR gate with inputs receiving a basic pulse train .phi..sub..gamma. a normally present first ancillary pulse train .phi..sub..beta. spacedly interleaved with pulse train .phi..sub..gamma. and a normally absent second ancillary pulse train .phi..sub..alpha. with pulse positions offset from those of the other two pulse trains. To retard the timepiece, the pulses of train .phi..sub..beta. are blocked for a desired period; to advance it, pulses of train .phi..sub..alpha. are interpolated at a rate depending on the cadence of a series of control pulses selectively synthesized from a combination of low-frequency stage outputs of the frequency divider. Externally set selection signals are temporarily stored in a memory circuit including NOR gates with positive-feedback connections to inverting inputs thereof, the memory circuit being periodically tested by a resetting pulse recurring at a frequency lower than that of the driving pulses.