Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8107324 | Hand position detecting device and method A hand position detecting device stops optical detection of the respective rotational positions of seconds, center and hour hands when such detection is impossible. When it is determined that the respective positions of the hands have not been detected successively ... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8094522 | Electronic clock An electronic clock makes no erroneous determination of rotation detection and suppresses unnecessary current consumption even when being provided with a second hand having a large moment of inertia. The electronic clock uses a first detection mode determination cir... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8050147 | Device incorporating both time keeping and static adjustment dials for determining feeding times and position A breastfeeding assist timepiece includes a housing containing a first live time display and a second resettable static time display. A left/right side indicator is defined at a further location of said housing. In use, the static time display is continuously reset ... | 11/01/2011 |
| 7974156 | Movement for timepiece with retrograde display A movement for a timepiece having a retrograde display member displaying at least one time division, includes a going train, elements for driving the display member including a wheel unit driven by the going train and carrying a first cam sharing the same axis of ro... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7961557 | Analog electronic watch An analog electronic watch of the present invention includes: a display unit (2) for displaying time with a position of a hand; a stepper motor (3) for driving the hand; a motor drive unit (4) for controlling driving of the stepper motor at a pr... | 06/14/2011 |
| 7944777 | Watch fitted with an electric motor control case The invention concerns an electronic watch (8) including: a motor (5), a power circuit (7) supplying first and second voltage levels; a case (11), in which there are mounted: ... | 05/17/2011 |
| 7940604 | Dial indicator display device A dial indicator display device according has a needle indicator; a needle moving means for moving the needle indicator; a display panel disposed behind the needle indicator and capable of displaying an image; and a drive control means for controlling the needle mov... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7859952 | Hand position detecting device and apparatus including the device It is determined whether light has passed through apertures in a seconds, a center and an intermediate wheels and a relevant one of apertures in an hour wheel, thereby determining their respective rotational positions. When the center wheel rotates one step at a tim... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7859951 | Universal electronic device module configuration A movement assembly for controlling at least one display indicator of a first display assembly and at least one display indicator of a second display assembly in a wearable electronic device, wherein the at least one display indicator of the first display assembly i... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7821878 | Wearable electronic device with multiple display functionality A wearable electronic device for conveying information in an analog manner at least in part by the use of at least one display hand positioned on the dial side of a dial, wherein the wearable electronic device uses the display hand(s) to convey information that is s... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7821877 | Pointer indication type timepiece A pointer indication type timepiece, wherein three projecting portions (11) projecting from a shaft part (112) to an outer peripheral side and formed in such a shape that a cylinder is split into two parts along a central axis direction are disposed at... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7742364 | Timepiece display apparatus, movement, and timepiece A timepiece display apparatus causes a day hand to move reciprocally by means of center wheel, driven day wheel, cam, lever, and rack. These wheels, cam, lever, and rack can be easily arranged to fit the available space on the main plate of the movement, and the con... | 06/22/2010 |
| 7701807 | Analog electronic timepiece that prevents deviation of displayed time when an impact is applied to the timepiece Impact detecting resistors (141), (143) of an impact detecting circuit (104) detect a counter electromotive force of a step motor (105) generated due to an impact. This counter electromotive force is amplified applying a predetermined per... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7596057 | Chronograph watch with retrograde display The invention relates to a chronograph watch with a display with a first retrograde hand for indicating the tenths of a second of the chronograph and a second retrograde hand for displaying the hundredths of a second of the chronograph. The hours, minutes and second... | 09/29/2009 |
| 7515508 | Indicator assembly for a wearable electronic device An indicator assembly for a wearable electronic device having a dial, a slotted opening therein and surface indicia to which an indicator can point and convey information thereby, wherein the indicator assembly comprises a track assembly comprising a first track and... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7443768 | Multifunctional timepiece including plural types of hand operating train wheels There is realized a multifunction timepiece constituted to be able to constitute a plurality of types of hand operating train wheels by only changing positions of integrating parts without changing dimensions and shapes of parts of a movement. A movement of a... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7440359 | Timepiece including means for determining the angular position of an analogue indicator of the timepiece The timepiece includes a motor which drives at least one hand via a gear reduction train (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13), and means (22) for detecting at least one angular reference position of an intermediate wheel (9) forming part of the gear reduction... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7436737 | Electric timepiece An electric watch is characterized by including a transmitting circuit 6 for generating a plurality of transmitted signals, transmitting electrodes 1 and 2 for outputting the output signals generated by the transmitting circuit 6, a signa... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7394727 | Clock A clock 1000 of the invention includes a dead-weight body, dead-weight body lifting means 100 for lifting the dead-weight body supplied to a lower position to an upper position, a rotation wheel 210 having, at its periphery, plural reception par... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7364352 | Time measurement device and method A mechanism having at least a function of measuring an arbitrary elapsed time is provided, which disables the function from being reset after the function is started, and enables the function to be reset after the function is stopped. The function is continuously he... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7362072 | Method for controlling two-phase stepping motor A method of controlling a two-phase stepping motor to operate in one of a plurality of operating modes in which output of the motor behaves differently upon encountering obstacle, comprises the steps of: generating an electrical dr... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7362661 | Device for teaching time A device for teaching one about telling time is provided. The device includes a clock face with rotatable minute and hour hands. The minute and hour hands are adapted so that a user of the device can rotate them manually to indicate a preselected time. The device is... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7359289 | Watch provided with push-buttons comprising a mechanism for actuating delocalised control elements of a clockwork The invention concerns a watch including a case having a middle part and housing a watch movement having a time-setting stem in a first peripheral region, said movement further including a first and a second control member which are arranged on either side of the ti... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7310288 | Watch movement equipped with an animation A mechanical-type watch movement is disclosed. In one implementation, the movement may include a frame. The frame may support a work train that is periodically driven in rotation by a driving element. The frame may also support an animation part. The animation part ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7274375 | Timekeeping system and method for graphically tracking and representing activities A timekeeping system and method is provided for enabling users to graphically represent one or more activities, as well as the time that has been allocated to each. A graphical display uniquely identifies activities or events based on different visual indicators (e.... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7269102 | Multifunction timepiece having fan shape moving hand train wheel and fan shape moving hand train wheel apparatus To realize a small-sized analog multifunction timepiece by adopting a fan shape moving hand mechanism which does not use a hairspring. A multifunction timepiece of the invention is provided with a day display mechanism for operating a small hand moving in a fan shap... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7267480 | Scrapbook clock The present invention is a method and apparatus for decorating the dial of a clock with photos, papers, or other embellishments so as to create a decorative personalized memory for the person's home or office through the creation of a specific customized timepiece i... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7269100 | Electronic dive watch including a redundant instantaneous depth display The present invention proposes an electronic dive watch (10) including a water resistant case (12) containing a watch movement (15) on which there is mounted a dial (16) provided with at least one first and one second coaxial hand (18,... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7269101 | Multifunction timepiece having fan shape moving hand mechanism including return spring and fan shape moving hand train wheel apparatus To realize an analog multifunction timepiece which is small sized and does not need much time period in operation of fabricating and integrating a part by adopting a fan shape moving hand mechanism without using a hairspring. A movement of a multifunction timepiece ... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7265594 | Methods and apparatus for generating timing signals One embodiment of the invention is directed to a method, comprising acts of generating a plurality of delay signals, and processing at least first and second delay signals of the plurality of delay signals to generate a first timing signal. Another embodiment of the... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7266051 | Method and construction for autocalibrating an actuation mechanism in an electronic device A method of calibrating a display hand in an electronic device. The preferred method comprises the steps of initializing a counter; stepping the rotor of the stepping motor a predetermined number of steps in a first direction and incrementing the counter; determinin... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7265520 | Electronic apparatus and method of controlling the electronic apparatus An electronic watch in which the display on a liquid crystal display 236 is prohibited when the detected output voltage of a secondary battery 220 drops to a first predefined voltage. An initialization process is performed when the detected voltage of ... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7258481 | Multiindicator device and method for calibrating/setting same A method of setting/calibrating at least two display hands in an electronic device, wherein the method comprises the steps of initiating an actuation sequence of the setting/calibration mechanism; causing the first of the at least two display hands to rotate at leas... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7242639 | Altimeter watch The invention concerns a method allowing an electronic watch to automatically exit an altimeter mode including the following steps: (a) entry into altimeter mode by activating the watch altimeter module; (b) using a pressure sensor of the watch to measure at least o... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7236430 | Apparatus, method and system for teaching elapsed time A teaching clock for teaching the concept of elapsed time includes a clock face having a minute hand and an hour hand pivotally mounted to the clock face and an elapsed time indicator having an hour hand and a minute hand that move synchronously with the movement of... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7234010 | Body-worn data storage device A wrist-worn phone is disclosed which includes a main housing with a front surface and a rear surface, the rear surface including speaker holes, the front surface having a display. The wrist-worn phone further includes a first strap attached to a first end of the ma... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7230884 | Clock diagnostics Disclosed is a clock for use in a master/slave clock system, including a system and method for semi-automatically performing diagnostic self-tests on the status and operability of a plurality of components of one or more secondary clocks. The invention addresses a m... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7218577 | Method for synchronising an analog display of a timepiece with its electronic time base The method of synchronizing the analogue display (41) of a timepiece (40), including an electronic time base (64), is achieved using proximity sensors (60, 62) respectively associated with wheels (46, 48) each having an aperture ( | 05/15/2007 |
| 7215603 | Clocking apparatus A timing device includes a time display section and a drive unit. The time display section has a dial with a measurement indicator from a zero time position to a maximum measurable time position, and pointers capable of rotating above the dial in a fan-shaped trajec... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7215601 | Wearable electronic device with multiple display functionality A wearable electronic device for conveying information in an analog manner at least in part by the use of at least one display hand positioned on the dial side of a dial, wherein the wearable electronic device uses the display hand(s) to convey information that is s... | 05/08/2007 |
