Wrist-portable electronic apparatus and air chamber device

Details Wrist-portable electronic apparatus and air chamber device Wrist-portable electronic apparatus and air chamber device

2002-03-18

2003-11-18

Martin, David (Department: 3736)

Horology: time measuring systems or devices

Cases

Wrist worn

C368S276000, C368S278000, C368S282000, C368S283000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06648502

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wrist-portable electronic apparatus and an air chamber device wherein the air chamber device is caused to expand to thereby allow the apparatus to be held in close contact with the wrist.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a portable watch equipped with an air chamber device, a technique such as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-130342 is known.
FIG. 16
is a side view showing the general construction of such a conventional portable watch
100
,
FIG. 17
is an enlarged perspective view showing a display portion of the watch shown in FIG.
16
.
FIG. 18
is a perspective view of an air chamber device
103
alone with which the conventional portable watch
100
shown in
FIGS. 16 and 17
is equipped.
This portable watch
100
is equipped with a watch case
101
, a watch band
102
, and the air chamber device
103
. The air chamber device
103
is composed of a pump portion
104
, a discharge valve
105
, and an expansion chamber
106
. The pump portion
104
and the discharge valve
105
are provided so as to be perpendicular to the plane of the expansion chamber
106
. The pump portion
104
and the discharge valve
105
are respectively inserted into reception holes
107
a
and
107
b
provided in the watch case
101
from the back side of the watch case
101
to come out on the upper surface of the watch case
101
.
To fasten the portable watch
100
to the wrist, the watch band
102
is wound around the wrist, and, in this condition, a push-in portion
108
of the pump portion
104
is pressed down, whereby air is supplied to the expansion chamber
106
, and the expansion chamber
106
expands to come into close contact with the wrist. To limit the number of times that the pressing down is conducted, for example, to approximately 20, the pump portion
104
must have a predetermined level of volume. Thus, the volume of the pump portion
104
is substantially determined by the volume of the expansion chamber
106
.
In the air chamber device
103
with which the above-described conventional portable watch
100
is equipped, the pump portion
104
is arranged on the upper surface of the watch case
101
, so there arises a problem that there is a limitation regarding the general design of the watch. Further, the direction in which the push-in portion
108
is pressed is such that the expansion of the air chamber device
103
is hindered, causing a problem of a poor efficiency.
Further, since the volume of the pump portion
104
is large, there is a problem that the size of the watch case
101
is rather large. On the other hand, there is a limitation to the reduction in the volume of the pump portion
104
since that would lead to a marked increase in the number of times that the pressing down is conducted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been made in view of the above problems. To overcome the above problems, a wrist-portable electronic apparatus of the present invention is characterized by an expansion chamber provided on the wrist side of an apparatus case or an apparatus band, and a pump portion which supplies air to the expansion chamber and has an air push-in portion on a side portion of the apparatus case or the apparatus band.
That is, in accordance with this invention, the air push-in portion is provided on a side portion of the apparatus case or the apparatus band, which means the air push-in portion is not positioned on the upper side of the apparatus, whereby it is possible to increase the degree of freedom regarding the design of the wrist-portable electronic apparatus. Further, since the direction in which the expansion chamber expands differs from the pressing direction, the expansion can be efficiently effected. In particular, when the push-in portion is provided on a side portion of the apparatus band, it is possible to prevent an increase in the size of the apparatus case. Further, in this wrist-portable electronic apparatus, it is possible to use an air chamber device in which the pump portion has a pressing direction substantially parallel to the plane of the expansion chamber.
Further, in accordance this invention, there is provided a wrist-portable electronic apparatus characterized by an expansion chamber provided on the wrist side of an apparatus case or an apparatus band; and a pump portion which connects with the expansion chamber to supply air thereto, separably attaches a hollow pump body to the apparatus case or the apparatus band so as to be rotatable with respect to the apparatus case or the apparatus band, and has an air push-in portion on a side portion of the pump body.
That is, in this wrist-portable electronic apparatus, when supplying air to the expansion chamber, the pump body of the pump portion is rotated in a direction which facilitates pushing, with the wrist-portable electronic apparatus being attached to the wrist, and the push-in portion is pressed a plurality of times with a finger, whereby the expansion chamber expands, and the wrist-portable electronic apparatus is tightly secured to the wrist. Further, this wrist-portable electronic apparatus can adopt a construction in which the pump portion is separated from the expansion chamber and rotatably connected to the expansion chamber.
Further, a wrist-portable electronic apparatus of this invention is characterized in that the apparatus case or the apparatus band is further provided with a groove into which the pump portion is fitted; and the pump portion can be pulled out from and pushed into the apparatus case or the apparatus band, in which in the pulled-out state, the pump portion is rotatable, and in the pushed-in state, the pump portion is fitted into the groove formed in the apparatus case or the apparatus band and its rotation is prevented.
When supplying air to the air chamber device, the pump portion is first pulled out of the apparatus case or the apparatus band, with the wrist-portable electronic apparatus being attached to the wrist, and the push-in portion of the pump portion is rotated in a direction which allows the push in portion to be easily pressed to supply air. Then, when the air supply has been finished, the groove to thereby prevent the pump portion from rotating. Note that, apart from a rectangular sectional configuration, the groove may also have a semi-circular sectional configuration, etc. Further, the prevention of rotation of the pump portion by means of the groove is effected not only when the air supply is finished but also when, for example, the apparatus is not attached to the wrist, or when it is not secured in position by the expansion chamber.
Further, a wrist-portable electronic apparatus of this invention is characterized in that the expansion chamber of the wrist-portable electronic apparatus has a discharge valve for discharging the air from the interior of the expansion chamber; and the discharge valve of the expansion chamber and the push-in portion of the pump portion are externally arranged substantially at the same position, whereby in the design of the wrist-portable electronic apparatus, the influence of th air chamber device can be diminished, thereby achieving an improvement in terms of degree of freedom in design. Further, in this invention, the expansion chamber constitutes a part or all of the apparatus band of the wrist-portable electronic apparatus, whereby the construction of the wrist-portable electronic apparatus can be simplified.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4030646 (1977-06-01), Switack et al.
patent: 5663932 (1997-09-01), Weng
patent: 6461125 (2002-10-01), Terasawa et al.

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