GB2006482B - Electronic timepieces - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic timepiece with a date ring calendar in which date errors due to the months having different lengths are automatically corrected by a motor controlled by circuitry discriminating between months of different lengths and controlled to run fast at the ends of short months by a switch SW1 actuated by the date ring. The motor is a stepping motor which also drives the timepiece hands, and a counter 163 compensates for the time during which the hands are being driven at the higher speed. In Figure 6 switches SW1, SW2, SW3 control the operation of circuitry including counters 160, 161, 162, 163, 164 and 165, mono-multis MM, flip-flops FF, gates and inverters, the switches SW2, SW3 being under manual control. Gates 108, 109 and 117 have pulse inputs of different frequencies taken from the normally provided frequency divider (not shown) of the timepiece. Figure 6 provides automatic calendar correction for any year. In a modification calendar correction in a leap year is effected manually on February 29th. A mechanical arrangement for initial setting of the date ring is also described. <IMAGE>