GB2308899A - Clock with night location light - Google Patents

Description

2308899 CLOCK The present invention relates to a clock According to the

invention, there is a provided a clock which is battery- operated and comprises a body on which a display is provided for time indication, an internal electronic clock operating circuit, a plurality of switches provided on the body for controlling the operation of the operating circuit, and a light source for indicating the location of the clock.

Preferably, the light source is arranged to flash.

it is preferred that the light source is arranged to be manually enabled or disabled by means of one of the switches.

Alternatively, it is preferred that the light source is arranged to be automatically enabled or disabled under software control of the operating circuit.

Preferably, the operating circuit is programmed to enable or disable the light source at a time presettable by a user.

Preferably, the operating circuit incorporates a lightsensitive element to monitor the ambient lighting condition 2 in order to enable or disable the light source at an appropriate time.

It is an advantage that the clock includes a back-light arrangement for the time display.

in a first preferred embodiment, the light source is provided by a lightemitting diode.

More preferably, the back-light arrangement is to be controlled by means of one of the switches and the light source is provided behind the knob of said one switch.

It is preferred that the light source is provided by a part of the backlight arrangement.

In a second preferred embodiment, the back-light arrangement is provided by an electro- luminescent panel and the light source is provided by a portion of the panel.

is Preferably, the operating circuit and the light source are to be powered by separate battery power sources.

The invention will now be more particulary described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of a clock 0.4 in accordance with the invention, showing a cover of the clock folded open flat; Figure 2 is a front view corresponding to Figure the cover folded closed; 1, showing Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of electronic operating circuitry of the clock of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front view of a second embodiment of a clock in accordance with the invention, showing a cover of the clock folded open flat; Figure 5 is a right side view of the clock of Figure 4, showing the cover folded back to form a rear stand; and Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of electronic operating circuitry of the clock of Figure 4.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is shown a first clock 10 embodying the invention, which clock 10 is portable and operated an standard battery cells. The clock 10 has a pocket-size slim rectangular body 11 having a front side 12 on which a digital LCD (liquid crystal display) display 13 is provided. The clock 10 includes a cover ill which is hinged to the clock body 11 for folding forwards onto the front side 12 to cover the front side 12 except the LCD display 13 and backwards to a 0 6 4 # 1 1 - - 4 extend from the back side of the clock body 11 at an acute angle to serve as a rear stand. The LCD display 13 is designed to display, in digital form, the current time and a presettable alarm time, with an alarm set indicator in the form of a bell. An electro-luminescent (EL) back-light panel 131 is provided on the back of the LCD display 13 to facilitate or permit time reading in a dark or low-light environment.

A plurality of switches are provided on the body front side 12 below the LCD display 13 for controlling the operation of the clock 10, which consist of a slide-switch 14 for selecting TIME SET, LOCK and ALARM SET operation modes, a pair of triangular press-switches 15 for advancing the numerical setting up and down, another slide-switch 16 for switching the ALARM function ON and OFF, and another press switch 17 for performing a SNOOZE function and switching on and off the back-LIGHT function, all as generally known in the art.

As shown in Figure 3, the clock 10 incorporates internal 20 electronic operating circuitry for controlling the operation of the clock 10. The operating circuitry is designed based an a micro-processor as a clock driving circuit 20 to perform the various clock functions, as generally known in the art. The clock driving circuit 20 is connected directly to the LCD display 13 and indirectly to the EL back-light panel 131 via a back-light driving 0 0 circuit 21, for controlling their respective functions. A first battery power supply 23 is employed to supply power to the clock driving circuit 20. A second battery power supply 24 is used to supply power to the back- light driving circuit 21 via the press-switch 17, for switching on and off the EL back-light panel 131. The press-switch 17 is connected directly to the clock driving circuit 20 for controlling the snooze function. User controls 18 provided by the switches 14 to 16 are connected directly to the clock driving circuit 20.

The knob of the press-switch 17 is semi -transparent or translucent and, internally thereof, an LED (light-emitting diode) 171 is provided to render, when necessary, the knob illuminating. The LED 171 is to be driven by an LED driving circuit 22 which is connected indirectly to the second battery power supply 24 via a further slide-switch 19. The slide- switch 19 is provided on the back of the clock body 11 for enabling and disabling the operation of the LED driving circuit 22. The LED driving circuit 22 is designed to drive the LED 17' in an intermittent or flashing manner.

It is to be appreciated that the driving circuits 20 to 22 may be partially or fully integrated together. Also, the two battery power supplies 23 and 24 may be replaced by a single battery power source. The battery power supplies/ source employed may be rechargeable and used in combination % -0.

with solar panels.

In a dark or low-light environment, such as in the middle of the night, a user of the clock 10 may wish to read the time. The clock 10 must first be found or located before the user can read the time theref rom. A Night Finder function provided by means of said flashing of the LED 171 and hence the press-switch 17 will enable the user to find the clock 10 easily. once getting to the clock 10, the user may press the press-switch 17 to turn on the back- light panel 131 to read the time on the LCD display 13.

Continuous turning on of the back-light panel 131 will not only cause too much power drain of the battery power supply 24 but also unnecessarily disturb sleeping of the user. The flashing of the LED 171 (the pressswitch 17 visually), is when enabled by means of the back slide-switch 19, is controlled at a reasonably low frequency so as not to drain too much power and yet sufficiently prominent to indicate the location of the clock 10.

The physical association of the Night Finder LED 171 with the press-switch 17, which is used to turn on the back- light panel 131, has the particular advantage, in this example, that the press-switch 17 is readily indicated in position for the user to turn on the back-light panel 131 as a necessary step before time can be read. It is, however, envisaged that the Night Finder LED 17' may be 0 1 1.' -! -0.

- 7 provided at a separate position, such as centrally above the LCD display 13, to provide independent prominence.

Reference is now made to Figures 4 to 6 of the drawings, which show a second clock 10A embodying the invention. This clock 10A has a construction similar to that of the clock 10 described above, with like parts designated by the same reference numerals suffixed by a letter "All, compared with the previous clock 10. of the clock 10A, the cover 11A, is designed to close the entire front side 12A of the clock body 11A including the LCD display 13A. Also, the switch 17A (for the snooze and back-light functions) is provided on the back of the clock body 11A, in the form of a micro-switch, for triggering by the cover 11A1 in the condition acting as a rear stand. In order to operate the snooze function and/or to switch on the back-light panel 13A1, the user is required to press the clock body 11A slightly backwards against the cover stand 11A1, thereby operating the micro-switch 17A.

As shown in Figure 6, the internal operating circuitry of the clock 10A is also similar to that of the previous clock 10, with like parts designated by the same reference numerals suffixed by a letter "All. The operation of this operating circuitry is likewise substantially the same as that of the previous operating circuitry.

The only major difference resides in the provision of the -!0 0 0 Night Finder function, which, in the case of the clock 10A, is provided by means of a small portion 17A1 of the EL back-light panel 13A, for the LCD display 13A. This EL portion 17A1 is provided at the bottom right corner of the LCD display 13A. In operation, the driving circuit 22A of the operating circuitry, which is switchable on and off by means of the switch 19A provided on the back of the clock body 11A, drives the EL portion 17A1 to flash in order to indicate the location of the clock 10A. As the portion 17A' is only a.very small part of the EL back-light panel 13A1, it is comparatively much less power-consuming and may, therefore, be energised continuously instead of intermittently.

The Night Finder portion 17A' of the EL back-light panel 13A1 may be chosen to be provided right behind a segment of the time digits or the time colons or any other preferred location to have the desired visual prominence.

In a slightly different embodiment of the clock according to the invention, in which the LCD display 13A is back- lighted by means of one or several LEDs (for example), one or more of the LEDs may be driven by the driving circuit 22A to flash continuously at a suitable frequency to indicate the clock location.

It is clear that the use of only a part of the LCD display back-light light source (in the clock lOA) or a separate - 9 less power-consuming light source (in the clock io) to provide the Night Finder function, particularly but not necessarily together with its flashing or intermittent illumination, minimises the demand of power, which is critical for battery-operated clocks.

In the described embodiments, the Night Finder function is capable of being enabled (used) or disabled (not used) manually a user operating the switch 19 or 19A. It is envisaged that, alternatively, the Night Finder function may be automatically enabled/disabled under software control of the internal operating circuitry of the clock. In one alternative design, the micro-processor of the operating circuitry is programmed to enable and disable the Night Finder function at different times respectively, such as at dusk and at dawn, which are presettable by the user to automatically cover only the hours of darkness. In another alternative design, the operating circuitry incorporates a light-sensitive element, such as a photodiode/sensor, to monitor the ambient light level and, accordingly, to automatically enable and disable the Night Finder function at an appropriate time when the indoor lighting condition becomes too dark and sufficiently bright, respectively, for sight.

It is to be appreciated that the clock of this invention may have, alternatively, an analogue time display provided by hour and minute hands.

The invention has been given by way of example only, and various other modifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiments may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the appended claims.

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Claims (13)

1. A clock which is battery- operated and comprises a body on which a display is provided for time indication, an internal electronic clock operating circuit, a plurality of switches provided on the body for controlling the operation of the operating circuit, and a light source for indicating the location of the clock.

2. A clock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light source is arranged to flash.

3. A clock as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the light source is arranged to be manually enabled or disabled by means of one of the switches.

4. A clock as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the light source is arranged to be automatically enabled or disabled under software control of the operating circuit.

5. A clock as claimed in claim 4, wherein the operating circuit is programmed to enable or disable the light source at a time presettable by a user.

6. A clock as claimed in claim 4, wherein-the operating circuit incorporates a light-sensitive element to monitor the ambient lighting condition in order to enable or disable the light source at an appropriate time.

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7. A clock as claimed in any one of claims i to 6, including a back-light arrangement for the time display.

8. A clock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light source is provided by a light-emitting 5 diode.

9. A clock as claimed in claim 8 when dependent upon claim 7, wherein the back-light arrangement is to be controlled by means of one of the switches and the light source is provided behind the knob of said one switch.

10. A clock as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 when dependent upon claim 7, wherein the light source is provided by a part of the back-light arrangement.

11. A clock as claimed in claim 7, wherein the back-light arrangement is provided by an electro- luminescent panel and is the light source is provided by a portion of the panel.

12. A clock as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the operating circuit and the light source are to be powered by separate battery power sources.

13. A clock substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 or Figures 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.