Crystal controlled movement with frequency dividing circuitry

Claim 2

An electronic timepiece comprising; a crystal oscillator for producing pulses at a predetermined super audible reference frequency, means including a series of frequency divider stages connected to the oscillator and responsive to said pulses having terminals for producing a drive signal at a sub-audible frequency and an alarm signal at an audible frequency, time display means including a stepping motor and an electromechanical transducer, the stepping motor being coupled to the drive signal terminal and the transducer being coupled to the alarm signal terminal, said time display means having an alarm switch and means for triggering the same at a pre-set time, the switch being effectively interposed between the alarm terminal and the transducer so that an audible alarm is produced at the pre-set time.

Claim 3

An electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said time display means includes time indicating elements advanced by said stepping motor and wherein said sub-audible drive signal is at a frequency corresponding to a standard unit of time, said signal being directly coupled to advance an indicating element of said time display means representing said standard unit of time.

Claim 4

An electronic timepiece according to claim 2 wherein said drive signal has a frequency of 1 Hz. and wherein said directly advanced indicating element is a seconds hand.

Claim 5

An electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said crystal oscillator produces pulses at a super-audible reference frequency which is an exact binary multiple of 1 Hz.

Claim 6

An electronic timepiece according to claim 1 wherein said reference frequency is at least a binary magnitude above the audio frequEncy range and wherein said frequency divider stages comprise divide-by-two flip-flops connected in a series chain, each of said flip-flops having a pair of mutually complimentary outputs delivering signals at one half the frequency of the previous flip-flop output.

Claim 7

Timekeeping apparatus comprising; display means including a stepping motor and indicator elements for providing a visual time indication, alarm means operatively associated with said display means and including a signal amplifier and a speaker, a precision pulse source producing pulses at a super-audible reference frequency which is an exact binary multiple of a unit of time, a binary division unit responsive to said pulses and operative to divide said reference frequency by a plurality of binary factors for providing a signal at a sub-audible frequency for driving said display means and at least one signal at an audible frequency for driving said alarm means.

Claim 8

Timekeeping apparatus comprising; display means including a stepping motor and indicator elements for providing a visual time indication, alarm means operatively associated with said display means and including a signal amplifier and a speaker, a precision pulse source producing pulses at a super-audible reference frequency which is an exact binary multiple of a unit of time, a binary division unit responsive to said pulses and operative to divide said reference frequency by a plurality of binary factors for providing a signal at a sub-audible frequency for driving said display means and at least one signal at an audible frequency for driving said alarm means.

Claim 9

Timekeeping apparatus according to claim 6 further including commutating means controlling the application of at least two of said audible frequency signals to said alarm means and controlled by one of said signals at a sub-audible frequency, said sub-audible signal effecting connection of said audible range signals in alternating sequence to drive said speaker when said alarm means is actuated.

Claim 10

An electronic timepiece comprising in combination a precision source of pulses including a crystal oscillator operating at a reference frequency of at least 8kHZ, frequency division means mounted on a semiconductor chip and being responsive to said pulses for providing a plurality of available output signals at frequencies which are sub-multiples of said reference frequency, including a 64Hz display drive signal, said means including a plurality of binary divider circuits connected in series, a multi-pole synchronous motor responsive to said display drive signal, and time display means driven by said motor and operative to advance at a rate proportional to said reference frequency.

Claim 11

An electronic timepiece comprising in combination a precision source of pulses including a crystal oscillator operating at a reference frequency of at least 8kHZ, frequency division means mounted on a semiconductor chip and being responsive to said pulses for providing a plurality of available output signals at frequencies which are sub-multiples of said reference frequency, including a 64Hz display drive signal, said means including a plurality of binary divider circuits connected in series, a multi-pole synchronous motor responsive to said display drive signal, and time display means driven by said motor and operative to advance at a rate proportional to said reference frequency.

Claim 12

An electronic timepiece comprising in combination, a precision source of pulses including a crystal oscillator operating at a reference frequency of at least 8 kHz, frequency division means mounted on a semi-conductor chip and being responsive to said pulses for providing a plurality of available output signals at frequencies which are sub-multiples of said reference frequency, said reference frequency being an exact binary multiple of 1 cycle per second, and said means including a plurality of binary divider circuits connected in series, time display means responsive to at least one of said available output signals and operative to advance at a rate proportional to said reference frequency, and an alarm means including a speaker and an amplifier, said divided output signals including at least one audio signal coupled to said amplifier for driving said speaker at a predetermined alarm time.

Claim 13

An electronic timepiece comprising in combination, a precision source of pulses including a crystal oscillator operating at a reference frequency of at least 8 kHz, frequency division means mounted on a semi-conductor chip and being responsive to said pulses for providing a plurality of available output signals at frequencies which are sub-multiples of said reference frequency, said reference frequency being an exact binary multiple of 1 cycle per second, and said means including a plurality of binary divider circuits connected in series, time display means responsive to at least one of said available output signals and operative to advance at a rate proportional to said reference frequency, and an alarm means including a speaker and an amplifier, said divided output signals including at least one audio signal coupled to said amplifier for driving said speaker at a predetermined alarm time.