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:
Sep. 12, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 17, 1997
Pierre-Andre Farine, Neuchatel, CH;
Jean-Pierre Wattenhofer, Neuchatel, CH;
Asulab SA, Bienne, CH;
Abstract
An autonomous low power consumption electrical apparatus that has a supply device (8) comprising a single photo-voltaic cell, an electrical accumulator (7), and a voltage booster (10, 11, TR1, TR3) connected between the power source (9) and the accumulator for charging the accumulator. The voltage booster is controlled by a pulse signal having a predetermined frequency. To allow the apparatus to start when the accumulator is completely discharged, the pulse signal can be generated, at least temporarily, by an oscillator that can operate at a very low voltage, that is, the voltage of the single photo-voltaic cell. When the apparatus is a timepiece, the oscillator (2) can be replaced by the oscillator of the time-keeping circuit (1) of the timepiece as soon as the accumulator (9) is sufficiently charged.