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:
Oct. 01, 2002
Filed:
Nov. 24, 1998
Susumu Fujita, Chiba, JP;
Tokuya Akase, Chiba, JP;
Joichi Miyazaki, Chiba, JP;
Yoshimitsu Kurasawa, Chiba, JP;
Seiko Instruments Inc., , JP;
Abstract
An electronic timepiece has a thermoelectric element for generating an electromotive force in response to a temperature difference thereacross. A booster circuit boosts the electromotive force generated by the thermoelectric element. A storage mechanism stores electrical power utilizing the electromotive force boosted by the booster circuit. A power monitoring circuit monitors the electromotive force boosted by the booster circuit to detect whether the boosted electromotive force is lower than a threshold value. An oscillation circuit is driven by electrical power stored in the storage mechanism. A dividing circuit frequency-divides a signal output by the oscillation circuit. A display mechanism is driven by a display driving circuit to display time in accordance with an output signal from the dividing circuit. A display drive controlling circuit stops operation of the display driving circuit when the power monitoring circuit detects that the boosted electromotive force is lower than the threshold value.