Solid state timepiece

Claim 2

A timekeeping device of sufficiently small size and power consumption for use as a wrist watch comprising an oscillator including at least one pair of complementary MOS transistors and having a frequency of at least 5 kilohertz, a frequency divider coupled to said oscillator for reducing the frequency of the electrical signals from said oscillator, an electro-optical time display, a display actuator coupling said divider to said time display, said divider comprising a plurality of stages of transistor integrated circuitry, each stage comprising at least one pair of complementary MOS transistors, and an interrogator switch coupled to said display actuator whereby said display is energized by said actuator only upon operation of said switch.

Claim 3

A timekeeping device according to claim 1 wherein said oscillator transistors are formed of integrated circuitry.

Claim 4

A timekeeping device according to claim 1 wherein said display comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes.

Claim 5

A timekeeping device accordinG to claim 3 wherein said diodes give off light in the visible red region.

Claim 6

A timekeeping device of sufficiently small size and power consumption for use as a wrist watch comprising an oscillator including at least one pair of complementary integrated circuit MOS transistors, and electro-optical time display, a display actuator for actuating said time display in response to signals from said oscillator, frequency conversion means coupling said oscillator to said actuator for substantially reducing the frequency of the oscillator signals, said frequency conversion means comprising a plurality of stages of transistor integrated circuitry, each stage including a plurality of logic means and a plurality of signal transmission means coupling said logic means together, said logic means and said signal transmission mans having control inputs and signal paths, with the conductivity states of said signal paths being switchable in response to changes in the signal at said control inputs, substantial current flow in said signal paths occurring only during transition between conductivity states, the logic means and signal transmission means in each of said stages of transistor integrated circuitry being comprised of first transistors of a predetermined conductivity type, and second transistors of opposite conductivity type, coupled together with transistors from one conductivity type serving as a load circuit for transistors of the opposite conductivity type, and an interrogator switch coupled to said display actuator whereby said display is energized by said actuator only upon operation of said switch.

Claim 7

A timekeeping device of sufficiently small size and power consumption for use as a wrist watch comprising an oscillator including at least one pair of complementary integrated circuit MOS transistors, and electro-optical time display, a display actuator for actuating said time display in response to signals from said oscillator, frequency conversion means coupling said oscillator to said actuator for substantially reducing the frequency of the oscillator signals, said frequency conversion means comprising a plurality of stages of transistor integrated circuitry, each stage including a plurality of logic means and a plurality of signal transmission means coupling said logic means together, said logic means and said signal transmission mans having control inputs and signal paths, with the conductivity states of said signal paths being switchable in response to changes in the signal at said control inputs, substantial current flow in said signal paths occurring only during transition between conductivity states, the logic means and signal transmission means in each of said stages of transistor integrated circuitry being comprised of first transistors of a predetermined conductivity type, and second transistors of opposite conductivity type, coupled together with transistors from one conductivity type serving as a load circuit for transistors of the opposite conductivity type, and an interrogator switch coupled to said display actuator whereby said display is energized by said actuator only upon operation of said switch.

Claim 8

A timekeeping device according to claim 1 wherein said display comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes arranged to form digital numbers to the 10 base, each number being formed by a 7 bar segment array of diodes.

Claim 9

A timekeeping device according to claim 6 wherein a first electrode of said diodes are all connected in common, and a separate bipolar transistor coupled to a second electrode of the diodes for each number.

Claim 10

A timekeeping device according to claim 7 wherein the same numbers are connected to display both minutes and seconds.

Claim 11

A solid state wristwatch comprising an oscillator including at least one pair of complementary MOS transistors and forming a high frequency timing source, a frequency divider coupled to said oscillator for reducing the frequency of the electrical signals from said oscillator, said divider comprising a plurality of stages of transistor integrated circuitry, each stage comprising at least one pair of complementary MOS transistors, code generator means coupled to said divider and responsive to the output of said divider for establishing a multielement code having a unique code word for each unit time interval in a period, and a digital time display coupled to said code generator, said digital time display comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes.

Claim 12

A solid state wristwatch comprising an oscillator including at least one pair of complementary MOS transistors and forming a high frequency timing source, a frequency divider coupled to said oscillator for reducing the frequency of the electrical signals from said oscillator, said divider comprising a plurality of stages of transistor integrated circuitry, each stage comprising at least one pair of complementary MOS transistors, code generator means coupled to said divider and responsive to the output of said divider for establishing a multielement code having a unique code word for each unit time interval in a period, and a digital time display coupled to said code generator, said digital time display comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes.

Claim 13

A wristwatch according to claim 9 wherein said divider comprises a binary counting chain of complementary MOS transistors.

Claim 14

A solid state wrist watch comprising a source of high frequency timing signals, a frequency divider coupled to said source for producing a low frequency timing signal, second, minute and hour dividers coupled in series to said low frequency timing signal, said second, minute and hour dividers each producing a binary coded decimal 8-4-2-1 code output signal indicative of time, a digital time display comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes, decoders coupling said 8-4-2-1 code output signals to said light-emitting diodes, and timing means coupled to said display for periodically interrupting said display at a rate in excess of the timing signal applied to said second divider.

Claim 15

A solid state wrist watch comprising a source of high frequency timing signals, a frequency divider coupled to said source for producing a low frequency timing signal, second, minute and hour dividers coupled in series to said low frequency timing signal, said second, minute and hour dividers each producing a binary coded decimal 8-4-2-1 code output signal indicative of time, a digital time display comprising a plurality of light-emitting diodes, decoders coupling said 8-4-2-1 code output signals to said light-emitting diodes, and timing means coupled to said display for periodically interrupting said display at a rate in excess of the timing signal applied to said second divider.

Claim 16

A solid state wristwatch according to claim 11 wherein said timing means is coupled to at least one intermediate stage of said frequency divider.

Claim 17

A solid state wristwatch according to claim 12 wHerein said timing means comprises a strobe circuit coupled to said light-emitting diodes.

Claim 18

A solid state wristwatch according to claim 13 including a plurality of selection gates coupled between said second, minute and hour dividers and said light-emitting diodes, and means coupling said strobe circuit to said selection gates.

Claim 19

A solid state wristwatch according to claim 14 including a manually actuated demand switch coupled to said timing means.