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:
Nov. 05, 1996
Filed:
Apr. 05, 1996
Jean-Jacques Born, Morges, CH;
Etienne Bornand, Boudry, CH;
Gerard Jaeger, Blonay, CH;
Rene Viennet, Neuchatel, CH;
Asulab S.A., Bienne, CH;
Abstract
A universal timepiece (10) having a manually operable outer ring (33) for selecting one of twenty-four time zones, where a display indicates the time of the time zone selected. For this purpose a device for detecting the rotational position of the outer ring (33) is provided which has a special arrangement of permanent magnets (39a-j) in the outer ring (33) and of magnetic switches (27a-h) in the timepiece casing (11, 12) in a specific number as well as evaluating electronics in the timepiece movement (21). The permanent magnets (39a-j) determine the binary statuses of the magnetic switches (27a-h), which are interpreted together as a signal or as a status pattern. The special arrangement of the magnetic switches (27a-h) and the permanent magnets (39a-j) effect for each rotational position an intrinsic status pattern different in each case from the others which permits a clear indication of the selected rotational position of the outer ring (33).