Apparatus for driving a light emitting diode of horologic display

Claim 2

Apparatus for displaying the time of day comprising: a time iNdicating display having a plurality of time indicating elements, each element having two electrodes and being actuated by the application of a potential across these electrodes, said display containing a first number of time indicating elements in a first ring representing both minutes and seconds and a second number of time indicating elements in a second ring representing hours, the elements being divided into groups, one electrode of all the elements in each group being interconnected so as to form a group terminal, the other electrodes of the elements in each group being interconnected with the other electrodes of corresponding elements in the other groups to form a position terminal; means for generating a pulsed electrical signal; means responsive to said pulsed electrical signal for generating a binary output representing time; means for decoding said binary output and for driving said display in accordance with said decoded output; and means interposed between said means for generating said binary output and said decoding means, for multiplexing said binary output such that only portions thereof are coupled to said decoding means during any one time, said multiplexing means sampling said binary output portions sequentially over mutually exclusive and spaced time intervals, such that said display is driven only when said binary output is sampled, whereby said multiplexing means not only functions to sequentially sample portions of said binary output, but also serves to drive said display in a low duty cycle mode.

Claim 3

Apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said binary output contains information concerning the group as well as the position of the element to be actuated, said decoding means decoding this group and position information and causing said driving means to apply said potential across that element which is located at that position in that group that is indicated by that portion of said binary output which is sampled by said multiplexing means.

Claim 4

The apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein said means for generating a pulsed electrical signal is powered with a lower voltage than that of the rest of the apparatus to conserve on power.

Claim 5

Apparatus for driving a time display having a number of time indicating elements actuated by the application of a potential across the electrodes thereof, comprising in combination: means for generating a series of pulsed electrical signals, each signal having a precise frequency, and one of said signals having a frequency of 1 Hz; a power supply; means operative in response to the signals generated by said pulse generating means for generating a series of seconds, minutes and hours sampling pulses in a timed sequence, said series of sampling pulses repeating over a predetermined sampling period and having sampling durations totalling only a fraction of said sampling period; pulse-to-binary encoding means for storing in binary form information derived from said 1 Hz signal corresponding to seconds, minutes and hours, said encoding means storing said binary information such that said seconds and minutes information has associated with it bits of information indicating that minutes and seconds are divided into a predetermined number of sets each having a number of elements some of which corresponding in position to elements in other of said sets, said encoding means providing binary output signals corresponding to said seconds, minutes and hours information and to the set to which said information belongs; multiplexing means for coupling said binary output signals to corresponding outputs thereof such that the seconds, minutes, hours and set information stored in said pulse-to-binary encoder is read out in response to the presence of a corresponding sampling pulse at said multiplexing means, said multiplexing means producing signals capable of actuating elements in said display only during the presence of a sampling pulse at the input thereto; meanS for decoding the binary output of said multiplexing means so as to form an output signal in one of a predetermined number of output circuits within said decoding means; means active in response to a signal in one output circuit of said decoding means for selectively connecting one electrode of those time indicating elements having the same position in their respective sets to one terminal of said power supply, the elements to be connected to said one terminal being selected by that binary state of said multiplexing means corresponding to that binary state of said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during a given sampling pulse interval; and means responsive to that information in said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during said given sampling pulse interval indicating the set to which the encoding means output belongs for connecting to the other of the terminals of said power supply those other electrodes of the time indicating elements corresponding to this set, whereby individual time indicating elements are sequentially actuated in accordance with said series of sampling pulses by being connected across said power supply over a low and therefore power-saving duty cycle determined by said sampling pulse duration in combination with said multiplexing means.

Claim 6

Apparatus for driving a time display having a number of time indicating elements actuated by the application of a potential across the electrodes thereof, comprising in combination: means for generating a series of pulsed electrical signals, each signal having a precise frequency, and one of said signals having a frequency of 1 Hz; a power supply; means operative in response to the signals generated by said pulse generating means for generating a series of seconds, minutes and hours sampling pulses in a timed sequence, said series of sampling pulses repeating over a predetermined sampling period and having sampling durations totalling only a fraction of said sampling period; pulse-to-binary encoding means for storing in binary form information derived from said 1 Hz signal corresponding to seconds, minutes and hours, said encoding means storing said binary information such that said seconds and minutes information has associated with it bits of information indicating that minutes and seconds are divided into a predetermined number of sets each having a number of elements some of which corresponding in position to elements in other of said sets, said encoding means providing binary output signals corresponding to said seconds, minutes and hours information and to the set to which said information belongs; multiplexing means for coupling said binary output signals to corresponding outputs thereof such that the seconds, minutes, hours and set information stored in said pulse-to-binary encoder is read out in response to the presence of a corresponding sampling pulse at said multiplexing means, said multiplexing means producing signals capable of actuating elements in said display only during the presence of a sampling pulse at the input thereto; meanS for decoding the binary output of said multiplexing means so as to form an output signal in one of a predetermined number of output circuits within said decoding means; means active in response to a signal in one output circuit of said decoding means for selectively connecting one electrode of those time indicating elements having the same position in their respective sets to one terminal of said power supply, the elements to be connected to said one terminal being selected by that binary state of said multiplexing means corresponding to that binary state of said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during a given sampling pulse interval; and means responsive to that information in said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during said given sampling pulse interval indicating the set to which the encoding means output belongs for connecting to the other of the terminals of said power supply those other electrodes of the time indicating elements corresponding to this set, whereby individual time indicating elements are sequentially actuated in accordance with said series of sampling pulses by being connected across said power supply over a low and therefore power-saving duty cycle determined by said sampling pulse duration in combination with said multiplexing means.

Claim 7

The apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the same time indicating elements indicate minutes and seconds.

Claim 8

The apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the number of time indicating elements indicating minutes and seconds exceeds the number of output circuits in said decoding means.

Claim 9

Apparatus for driving a time display having a number of time indicating elements actuated by the application of a potential across the electrodes thereof, comprising in combination; means for generating a series of pulsed electrical signals, each signal having a precise frequency, and one of said signals having a frequency of 1 Hz; a power supply having a pair of low voltage output terminals and a pair of high voltage output terminals, said low voltage output terminals being coupled to said pulse generating means; means operative in response to the signals generated by said pulse generating means for level shifting said 1 Hz signal to a level compatible with the remainder of said apparatus and for generating a series of seconds, minutes and hours sampling pulses in a timed sequence, said series of sampling pulses repeating over a predetermined sampling period and having sampling durations totalling only a fraction of said sampling period; pulse-to-binary encoding means for storing in binary form information derived from said level-shifted 1 Hz signal corresponding to second, minutes and hours, said encoding means storing said binary information such that said seconds and minutes information has associated with its bits of information indicating that minutes and seconds are divided into a predetermined number of sets each having a number of elements some of which corresponding in position to elements in other of said sets, said hour information constituting an undivided further set having a number of elements, said encoding means providing binary output signals corresponding to said seconds, minutes and hours information and to the set to which said information belongs; multiplexing means for coupling said binary output signals to corresponding outputs thereof such that the seconds, minutes, hours and set information stored in said pulse-to-binary encoder is read out in response to the presence of a corresponding sampling pulse at said multiplexing means, said multiplexing means producing signals capable of actuating elements in said display only during the presence of a sampling pulse at the input thereto; means for decoding the binary output of said multiplexing means so as to form an output signal in one of a preselected number of output circuits within said decoding means; means active in response to a signal in one oUtput circuit of said decoding means for selectively connecting one electrode of those time indicating elements having the same position in their respective sets to one high voltage output terminal of said power supply, the elements to be connected to said one terminal being selected by that binary state of said multiplexing means corresponding to that binary state of said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during a given sampling pulse interval; and means responsive to that information in said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during said given sampling pulse interval indicating the set to which the encoding means output belongs for connecting to the other of the high voltage output terminals of said power supply those time indicating elements corresponding to this set, whereby individual time indicating elements are sequentially actuated in accordance with said series of sampling pulses by being connected across the high voltage terminals of said power supply over a low and therefore power-saving duty cycle determined by said sampling pulse duration in combination with said multiplexing means and whereby only low frequency elements in said apparatus are connected to said pair of high voltage output terminals.

Claim 10

Apparatus for driving a time display having a number of time indicating elements actuated by the application of a potential across the electrodes thereof, comprising in combination; means for generating a series of pulsed electrical signals, each signal having a precise frequency, and one of said signals having a frequency of 1 Hz; a power supply having a pair of low voltage output terminals and a pair of high voltage output terminals, said low voltage output terminals being coupled to said pulse generating means; means operative in response to the signals generated by said pulse generating means for level shifting said 1 Hz signal to a level compatible with the remainder of said apparatus and for generating a series of seconds, minutes and hours sampling pulses in a timed sequence, said series of sampling pulses repeating over a predetermined sampling period and having sampling durations totalling only a fraction of said sampling period; pulse-to-binary encoding means for storing in binary form information derived from said level-shifted 1 Hz signal corresponding to second, minutes and hours, said encoding means storing said binary information such that said seconds and minutes information has associated with its bits of information indicating that minutes and seconds are divided into a predetermined number of sets each having a number of elements some of which corresponding in position to elements in other of said sets, said hour information constituting an undivided further set having a number of elements, said encoding means providing binary output signals corresponding to said seconds, minutes and hours information and to the set to which said information belongs; multiplexing means for coupling said binary output signals to corresponding outputs thereof such that the seconds, minutes, hours and set information stored in said pulse-to-binary encoder is read out in response to the presence of a corresponding sampling pulse at said multiplexing means, said multiplexing means producing signals capable of actuating elements in said display only during the presence of a sampling pulse at the input thereto; means for decoding the binary output of said multiplexing means so as to form an output signal in one of a preselected number of output circuits within said decoding means; means active in response to a signal in one oUtput circuit of said decoding means for selectively connecting one electrode of those time indicating elements having the same position in their respective sets to one high voltage output terminal of said power supply, the elements to be connected to said one terminal being selected by that binary state of said multiplexing means corresponding to that binary state of said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during a given sampling pulse interval; and means responsive to that information in said encoding means read out by said multiplexing means during said given sampling pulse interval indicating the set to which the encoding means output belongs for connecting to the other of the high voltage output terminals of said power supply those time indicating elements corresponding to this set, whereby individual time indicating elements are sequentially actuated in accordance with said series of sampling pulses by being connected across the high voltage terminals of said power supply over a low and therefore power-saving duty cycle determined by said sampling pulse duration in combination with said multiplexing means and whereby only low frequency elements in said apparatus are connected to said pair of high voltage output terminals.

Claim 11

The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the same time indicating elements indicate minutes and seconds.

Claim 12

The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein the number of time indicating elements indicating minutes and seconds exceeds the number of output circuits in said decoding means.

Claim 13

The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein said binary encoding means is a series of three cascaded counters, the first two of said counters having six toggle flip-flops and the third counter having four toggle flip-flops, the first two of said counters counting from 0 through 59 bits of input information, said first two counters being reset after the 59th bit, said third counter counting from 0 through 11 bits of input information and being reset after said 11th bit.

Claim 14

The apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein all switching components in said apparatus are metal oxide semiconductors.

Claim 15

The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said counters utilize NAND gate logic for resetting.

Claim 16

The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said means for generating sampling pulses, said counters, said multiplexing means, said decoding means, and said means responsive to set information utilize NAND gate logic in performing their various functions.

Claim 17

The apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein said time indicating elements are arranged in two concentric rings with a first number of time indicating elements in a first ring representing both minutes and seconds and with a second number of time indicating elements in a second ring representing hours, the elements being divided into said sets, one electrode of all the elements in each set being interconnected so as to form a set terminal, the other electrodes of corresponding elements in each set being interconnected so as to form a position terminal, said multiplexing means, said means for decoding, said means for selectively connecting one electrode, and said means responsive to set information acting in combination to apply a potential across a selected element by simultaneously applying a potential to a selected set terminal and a selected position terminal so as to successively actuate each of the elements in said first ring during successive seconds, each of the elements in said first ring during successive minutes, and each of the elements in said second ring during successive hours.

Claim 18

The apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein said elements are divided into five sets with three sets having the same number of elements and the remaining sets having a number of elements different from that of said first three sets.

Claim 19

The apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the sets representing the elements in said first ring corRespond to quadrants which are asymmetrical due to the use of said toggle flip-flops in said counters, whereby the total number of transistors in said counters are minimized.

Claim 20

The apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein said time indicating elements are light emitting diodes.

Claim 21

The apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein said means for generating a series of pulsed electrical signals includes a crystal oscillator having a frequency which is some power of 2 and a series of cascaded flip-flops coupled to the output of said oscillator for counting down the output of said oscillator to 1 Hz, intermediate outputs of said cascaded series of flip-flops being used in the generation of said sampling pulses.

Claim 22

The apparatus as recited in claim 18 wherein the output of one of said cascaded flip-flops in said means for generating a series of pulsed electrical signals is applied to the input of the first of said three counters to alter the time indicated by said display.