Abstract:
An hour chime clock has an hour-indicating hand and a plurality of display units disposed circumferentially around the hour-indicating hand at different hour positions. The display units are displaceable between two positions to display either an ornament or an hour numeral. At each hour, a melody chimes and the display units undergo a predetermined pattern of movements. After chiming the hour, the display unit at the present hour position is placed in a different display state from the display state of all the other display units.
Abstract:
A timepiece, with a clockwork driven by a stepping motor, has a clockwork-supporting structure with front and rear uprights, generally of hourglass shape, each constituted by a pair of mirror-symmetrical coplanar strips defining its contour, the front upright being framed by an annular dial swept by the minute and hour hands; the gears of the clockwork are visible from all sides. The supporting structure with the dial is mounted on a platform carried by two columns above a base which contains the motor, its power supply and a tone generator controlled by the clockwork to emit acoustic time signals on the hour and possibly also on the half and quarter hours; a torsion pendulum without time-keeping function is suspended between the columns. Most of the shafts of the clockwork lie in a vertical plane of symmetry also containing the axis of the nested hour, minute and seconds shafts disposed at the center of the dial ring. An ancillary shaft offset from that plane has a pinion in mesh with a gear included in the step-down transmission between the minute and hour shafts so as to rotate in step with the minute hand at one revolution per hour; this ancillary shaft carries a resetting knob and two cam disks, one of them controlling a switch for the periodic actuation of the tone generator while the other causes a resynchronization of that tone generator every 12 hours. The resetting knob is provided with a one-way coupling to prevent reverse rotation of the control cams; the seconds shaft carries an impeller for the torsion pendulum.
Abstract:
A time striking device for a timepiece including an electric time striking means, an electric contact means electrically controlling the operation of the time striking means, a time striking selecting cam plate synchronously rotating with a time indicating gear train to control the electric contact means in a state capable of closing circuit action at the striking time, a one-minute cam plate synchronously rotating with the time indicating gear train to control the electric contact means in a state capable of closing circuit action at one minute interval, a one-minute control lever transmitting contact point control force of the one-minute cam plate to the moving contact plates of the electric contact means.
Abstract:
A chime clock has a cam mounted to rotate with the clock's minute hand shaft. A cam-follower mechanism actuates striking mechanism in response to clockwise rotation of the minute hand shaft and cam. Structure is provided to prevent the cam-follower from obstructing rotation of the cam and minute hand shaft in a counterclockwise sense, as when setting the clock's minute hand by turning it backwards.
Abstract:
A ting actuating device for clock mechanism comprises generally a housing, a clock mechanism driven by a battery chamber and a circuit plate. A protrudent member is formed on the top surface of a minute wheel thereof in cooperation with a pair of a first and second conductor rods parallel disposed on a positioning plate inside the housing and toward the center of the minute wheel. The improvement has been characterized in that the conductor rods connect at one end to a power source and a load of musical sounding device where the first conductor rod is longer than that of the second conductor rod and extending exceeded the circularly travelling track of the protrudent member which pushes the first conductor rod upon each turn of the minute wheel, contacting the second conductor rod to switch on the load of musical sounding device to run hourly.
Abstract:
Melodies are changed over sequentially in accordance with hours at each of which an alarm melody is to be played as a time signal so that predetermined melodies are always played at predetermined hours, respectively. In addition, even if the hours and the melodies become discordant with each other as a result, for example, of the correction of the time made during the timekeeping operation of the timepiece, the melodies are automatically reset at a predetermined time so as to be coincident with the corresponding hours.A switch S2 for detecting a correct hour is on-off controlled by a cam 6a provided as an integral part of a minute pipe 6 that makes one revolution per hour. A reset switch S3 is on-off controlled through a reset lever 5 pivoted by an hour wheel 4 that makes one revolution per twelve hours. An alarm control circuit in an IC 3 incorporates a plurality of melodies. In response to a correct hour signal supplied thereto, the alarm control circuit outputs the incorporated melodies sequentially and plays each melody through a speaker. When supplied with a reset signal, the alarm control circuit makes the alarm melody which is to be output next coincident with the first melody.
Abstract:
The present invention provides a system whereby electronic digital clocks may announce the exact time every ten minutes. The hour is announced by a sequence of four tones. Each tone in the sequence is high if the corresponding bit of a binary numbering system representation of the hour digit is high. The tone is low otherwise. The tens of minutes digit is announced in similar manner, except that only three tones are required in the sequence. The system may be used to announce numbers emanating from computers or other electronic digital devices.
Abstract:
A digital clock circuit particularly suited for monolithic integration wherein the counting rate of the clock is variable from a normal to a faster rate in response to the level of a 60 Hz voltage derived from the power line and applied to a single input terminal as a clock reference signal.