Watch with a 24-hour watch face

Details Watch with a 24-hour watch face Watch with a 24-hour watch face

2000-08-14

2002-03-19

Miska, Vit (Department: 2859)

Horology: time measuring systems or devices

Astronomical

With sun, earth, and moon display

C368S028000, C368S080000, C368S223000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06359839

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY
The invention refers to a watch/clock with a dial consisting of an analog 12-hour display that ambiguously represents a 24-hour day using an hour and minute hand and an additional display that serves to specify the time shown by the hour and minute hands, displaying two distinguishable symbols that are visible separately from one another in the additional display and which alternate at intervals of roughly 12 hours.
STATE OF THE ART
In order to present the problem associated with the analog dials described above, namely an ambiguous display of the time, known watch/clocks are to be described using
FIGS. 1
to
5
.
FIG. 1
a
shows in the middle the ambiguous half-day dial showing 6.00 or 18.00. Anyone who can read this normal dial is accustomed to being able to read one of the two possible times from the position of the minute and hour hands. With the analog ambiguous half-day dial, which very frequently also contains digits but mostly only dots and lines, we actually only read angles to know what time it is. Objectively, the time cannot, however, be determined exactly if only the information is used that can be read from the watch/clock. Without knowing whether it is evening or morning, the mere information of the position of the hands in the middle illustration of the watch/clock does not permit an unambiguous statement of the time.
The situation is very different, however, for instance with one of the many analog 24-hour auxiliary dials. To the left and right of the half-day dial in
FIG. 1
a,
the time 6.00 or 18.00 is shown on a very frequently used dial on which 12.00 midnight is at the zenith, 12.00 midday at the place where we otherwise expect 6.00 or 18.00. This example clearly shows how alien this presentation of 6.00 and 18.00 is.
FIG. 1
b,
Here, too, the ambiguous half-day dial is shown in the middle with a typical angle that clearly and rapidly tells us that it can only be 9.00 or 21.00.
On both sides of this dial is a likewise very frequent alternative of the 24-hour dial, where the zenith shows 12.00 midday and the bottom 12.00 midnight. The inventor of this rarely used dial perhaps felt that we tend to expect the sun at 12.00 midday at the zenith. Nevertheless, the display of the times 9.00 and 12.00 midday is just as confusing and cannot be read without figures.
FIG. 1
c
shows an analog watch with three analog time displays. At first sight, it could be assumed that all three dials are showing 7.07 or 19.07. Far from it. Only two of them, the main dial and that in the lower half, are the familiar ambiguous half-day dials, while the upper shows local time as 16.07, which can only be identified, however, on close examination.
FIG. 1
d
is a common 24-hour auxiliary display with an hour hand. This auxiliary display is only used in combination with an ambiguous halfway dial in order to render the latter unambiguous. The hour hand here points to 21.00.
FIG. 1
e
is a likewise common wristwatch showing three different times. In this case, all three times must be represented in completely different, i.e. difficult to identify, ways. The analog main display on the ambiguous half-day dial points to 8.07 or 20.07 p.m. In a 24-hour auxiliary display, 1, this ambiguity is removed since the hour hand in this display is pointing to around 20.00. In order to be able to perceive this more quickly, since the position of the hand pointing to 20.00 is very alien to us, two additional half-day rings for p.m. and am. are present The a.m. and p.m. zones are, however, completely alien to us Europeans. A 24-hour display, 2, similar to
FIG. 1
a,
is located in the upper part of the main dial. On the right-hand side of the main dial, 3, a second local time is provided in digital representation. In order to represent three different times, four different presentation methods are necessary here. Curiously, only the two digital presentations permit a rapid perception or comparison of the times and the determination of where it is now day or night, but these as a matter of principle cannot be read quickly.
FIGS. 1
f
and
1
g
are representations of time with a dial turning to the right, in which the light side shows daytime and the dark side very graphically shows night-time. The fact, however, that the dial turns means that the representation of 8.30 cannot be perceived automatically and at a glance.
FIG. 1
h
shows a 24-hour circle that turns clockwise once a day as a means of indicating local time, and is used with a revolving lunette or as a fixed point on a wristwatch/clock.
FIG. 1
i
shows another alternative that represents daytime or night time using a propeller-like hour hand. This blade turns once on its axis every 24 hours, the light hand showing daytime and the dark hand night-time on a half-day scale.
FIG. 1
k
is a halfway display similar to
FIG. 1
i,
in which an hour hand with two pointers turns. On the one side N stands for night-time on the other side D stands for day.
FIG. 1
l
is a time representation with two half-day rings. On the outer ring, the day hours from 6.00 to 18.00 are written, while the inner ring bears the night times from 18.00 to 6.00 in the morning. A 24-hour hand with on the one side a moon and on the other side a sun shows which hour of the day or night it is.
FIG. 2
a
shows a display as used for heating systems. The sun and the moon are both represented on dark fields. It is not possible to distingush rapidly which is daytime and which is night-time.
FIG. 2
b
shows an alternative of the 24-hour auxiliary display shown in
FIG. 1
d.
This hour display is alien to us, but is somewhat more easily perceived by virtue of the fact that night-time from 18.00 to 6.00 in the morning is shown in dark colour, daytime in light colour.
FIG. 2
c
shows, however, another 24-hour wrong-angle display that is used, in which strangely night time is shown light while daytime is somewhat darker. Such a display confuses the unfamiliar user.
FIG. 2
d
shows another 24-hour wrong-angle auxiliary display of a very well known wristwatch/clock. The dark shade shows the p.m. time, the light the a.m. time, with the result that it is no longer possible to conclude what is day or night.
FIG. 2
e
is an auxiliary display for a wristwatch with dark for a.m. and light for p.m. As in many other watches/clocks, a 24-hour disc turns behind the circular small window to the right. In this representation, it is approximately midnight. The small window goes dark in the first hours of the morning and slowly light from 12.00 midday.
FIG. 2
f
represents one of 6 local time clocks sold as a unit for various world times. The local time on the ambiguous halfway dial is supplemented here, too, by an a.m.-p.m. auxiliary display (
2
f
1
). However, in this display, a.m. is shown light and p.m. dark. Here, too, there is a gradual transition and for this reason the time is not easy to identity.
In a new time management programme, small analog time displays are presented alongside the digital times in order to permit a more rapid perception of the time (see
FIG. 2
g
). In order to counterbalance the ambiguity of our normal dial, the a.m. time is represented with a light coloured clock, the p.m. time with a dark clock. Strangely, from midnight on, the night hours appear light, will the day hours from 12.00 are dark!
FIG. 2
h:
in the battle for customers, the simple and clear representation of shop-opening hours plays a major role. This is a successful attempt to eliminate all uncertainties from the ambiguous half-day dial. This type of representation has the advantage over all the others that it can be perceived very quickly.
FIG. 2
i
merely presents an overview of the positions at which auxiliary windows are usually located on the dial:
1
is the auxiliary window discussed under
FIG. 2
e.
In this case, the change is from top to bottom.
2
shows the day
ight auxiliary window of a 24-hour alarm clock. The change from day to night is gradual, and from right to left.
3
is an a.m.-p.m. window of a well known wristwatch, shown under
2
m.
4
is a day
ight window

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