US3827234A

US3827234A - Display device for calendar watch

Info

Publication number: US3827234A
Application number: US00385294A
Authority: US
Inventors: K Imanishi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-08-03
Filing date: 1973-08-03
Publication date: 1974-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-06
Also published as: CH1117573A4; DE2339472A1; JPS5336343B2; JPS4936370A; CH583932B5

Abstract

A compact calendar watch is provided with a minimum number of component parts and displays correct dates automatically for one year from the first of March to the end of February at which time an adjustment is made manually; thus, troublesome monthly manual adjustments are eliminated.

Description

UnitedStates Patent [191 Imanishi Aug. 6, 1974 [54] DISPLAY DEVICE FOR CALENDAR 2,286,000 6/1942 Neyhart 58/5 WATCH 2,709,885 6/1955 Van Kampen.. 58/5 3,438,196 4/1969 Teramoto et al. 58/58 Inventor: K i lmanishi, 31-29, 3 Che-me 3,673,789 7/1972 Tsuzuki et al. 58/58 Sanbashidori, Kochi, Japan 3.716983 2/1973 Tllnllkil ct a1. 58/58 [22] Filed: Aug. 3, 1973 NO: Prinary Examiner-OCOI'gG H. Jr.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 57 ABSTRACT Aug. 3, i972 Japan 47-7867) A compact calendar watch is provided with a mini- 52 US. Cl. 58/58 mum number of component Parts and p y correct [51] Int. Cl. G04b 19/24 dates automatically for one y from the first of 58 Field of Search 58/4, 5, 58 March to the end of February at which time an j ment is made manually; thus, troublesome monthly 5 References Cit d manual adjustments are eliminated.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 203,640 5/1878 Paddock 58/58 1 Clan, 9 Drawmg Figures PAIENTED AUG 6l974 3,827, 234

SHEET 2 BF 2 BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION This invention relates to a compact calendar watch and has a structural arrangement of a minimum number of parts to achieve correct dates being displayed automatically for'one year from the. first of March to the end of February at which time an adjustment is made manually.

In the conventional calendar watch, a small month (30 days) is adjusted for manually by making a one day adjustment, which is not only troublesome to the user but the user frequently forgets to make the correction for several days. This disadvantage has been noticed by the watch manufacturing companies and a number of inventions have appeared in the official gazettes of patents, but suchinventions are not suitable for practical incorporation in a watch. A permanent calendar has been incorporated in a clock and such clock. is available on the commercial market but a watch that incorporates such a calendar is not available on the market.

The reasons for this unavailability seems to be attributable to the difficulty of incorporating the large number of parts that are required into the housing of the watch and also to the structure which is unduly complicated. The present invention eliminates the disadvantage due to the manual adjustment mentioned above and only requires several additional parts and thus the thickness of a watch is increased only slightly. Consequently, the present invention can be readily applied to watches which are currently available on the market.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates generally to a calendar watch and, more particularly, to a compact calendar watch having-a minimum number of parts and displaying correct dates automatically for one year from the first of March to the end of February at which time an adjustment is made manually. The parts of the novel automatic correcting mechanism according to the present invention are made of a relatively small size whereby said mechanism may be incorporated with a conventional wrist watch movement to form a compact wrist watch unit.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a compact calendar watch which includes novel mechanisms by which the monthly calendar corrections can be automatically and mechanically switched and by which the manual adjustment is made only once a year at the end of February.

A further object of the present invention is to provid a compact calendar watch which will automatically compensate for differences in the number of days between given months and will consequently always indicate the precise day of the month for a period of one year without any need for manual adjustments.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a compact calendar watch of the foregoing general character having a simplified structurally arrangement for automatically advancing the indications of the days of the months for the year starting from the first of March to the end of February.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a compact calendar watch having automatic correcting mechanisms which are capable of being 2 combined with the conventional wrist watch: movements.

A further object is to provide compact and simplified mechanisms for achieving the objects and results as referred to in the foregoing.

These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when reading the following detailed description of the invention-with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating several preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a plan view of a compact calendar watch in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, wherein, however, several parts thereof are shown only partially and the full lines and dotted lines represent the constituent parts thereof;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the positions of portions of the date calendar ring and the pawl-star mechanism on the 31st day;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the positions of portions of the date calendar ring engaging the watch movement part on the 31st day;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the principal parts shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the pawl-star mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a portion of a similar view of FIG. 1, showing the parts slightly past the 31st day position;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a compact calendar watch in accordance with the second embodiment of the inventron;

FIG. 8 is a detailed view, for illustration purpose, of the pawl-gear mechanism of FIG. 7 divided into nine parts; and

FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the lever-gear mechanism of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:

Discussing now the drawings in detail, it is to be understood that the compact calendar watch of the present invention includes a watch movement which is housed normally in a cylindrical structural arrangement.

Referring now to the first embodiment of the present invention, numeral 1 denotes in a chain line in FIG. 1 a center gear which rotates once during the 24 hour day period. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the gear 1 is fixedly mounted to a lower portion of an hour wheel 21. The gear 1 and hour wheel 21 are rotatably mounted on a shaft 30 that is associated with the support of the watch movement. The hour wheel 21 is cooperatively connected with a pivotally mounted lever mechanism 24 via

gears

22 and 23 of the watch movement. The teeth of gear 1 engagingly mesh with the teeth of an adjacent larger gear 2 and for illustration purpose in FIG. 1 the interlocking or meshing teeth of the respective gears are shown partially in solid lines. The gear 2 is mounted on a pin or stem 3. A feed or drive pin 4 is fixed on the upper surface of the gear 2 and drives one tooth of a star wheel 5 in a 24 hour day. The star wheel 5 as seen in dotted lines in FIG. 5 is illustrated as including nine teeth, numbered 101 through 109 consecutively. The star wheel 5 is mounted on a center pin or stem 7. A wheel member 6 has two cam-like portions thereon;

I namely, outwardly extending

pawl projections

8 and 9.

, 4 1 1 therefore the position of the 31st day becomes the position of the tooth 14. Also in FIGS. 1 and 6, the portions indicated by

numerals

27 and 28 are operative parts of the calendar mechanism engaging the conventional watch movement.

therewith. Thereby during the operation thereof a line 5 famed from the engaging Projection 8 01 1X2? 5.5 523211252 155 t'li illlilfi' ll 21 15? 9 and a line formed from the tip of a tooth of the star which are im ortant com onents ot" the c lendzi wst ch wheel 5 to the center thereof would be disposed respecof the resegt inventionpwi" be described AS noted tively on the identical line. Thus when the star wheel 5 1O p g y the teeth 101 109 of the star vheel 5 are tates th awl wheel member 6 is caused to rotate in g zg manner indicated by dotted lmes therem. The teeth 101-109 are counted sequentially and repeatedly, that is one AS Seen I numeral 10 repreents a tooth per day in a counterclockwise direction from Control lever Whlch ls plvotably fingageable wlth the March 1st based on the tooth 101 as the startingpoint. teeth surfaces of the star wheel 5. The control lever 10 1 5 As Shown in Table 1 the number of teeth required for Teslhemly Pressed by a sPrmg 11 whlch has a check one year is determined therefrom and the tooth num- P The control lever mounted a Shaft ber of the last day of each month becomes as shown in A date calendar ring 25 has a flat annular surface and T bl 2, A il a d S pt b r b e number 107, has displayed thereon, a series of successlve date calena d J N v b r a d F br ary be ome number dar numerals l-3l and thus such numerals cover either 20 I 105. Thus, no identical number is given to a large the days in a large or small month. The date teeth (for month (31 days) and a small month (30 days). Accordexamples,.

teeth

14 and 26 ad acent calendar numerals i gly, th requirement for a small month, as shown in 31 n 1 p i e y, in FIGS. 1 d are located Table 3, is a number combination of the star wheel on the inside periphery of the date ring 25 and coincide and pawl wheel member 6. Consequently, the pawl prowith and are integrally formed with teeth of a gear ar- 25 jection 8 for April and September and the pawl projecrangement integrally formed therewith. FIGS. 2 and 3 tion 9 for June and November correct respectively one illustrate, among other things, a tooth 26 of the gear arday on the calendar, but since February has 28 days, rangement integrally formed with a tooth 14 of the date the pawl projection cannot correct the calendar, and ring 25. At the end of a small month, one of the pawl the calendar has to be shifted to March 1 by a

manual projections

8, 9 of the wheel member 6 engages with 30 operation.

TABLE 1 MONTH MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB DATE large small large small large small large small large small large small 1 101 105 1011 103 106 101 105 1011 103 106 101 105 2 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 3 103 107 101 105 1011 103 107 101 s 1011 103 107 4 104 1011 102 106 109 104 1011 102 106 109 104 I08 5 105 109 103' 107 101 105 109 103 107 101 105 109 6 106 101 104 1011 102 106 101 104 108 102 106 101 7 107 102 105 109 103 107 102. 105 109 103 107 102 11 1011 103 106 101 104 1011 103 106 101 104 1011 103 9 109 104 107 102 105 109 104 107 102 105 109 104 10 101 10s 1011 103 106 101 105 1011 103 106 101 105 11 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 12 103 107 101 10s 1011 103 107 101 105 1011 103 107 13 104 1011 102 106 109 104 1011 102 106 109 104 1011 14 105 109 103 107 101 105 109 103 107 101 105 109 13 106 101 104 1011 102 106 101 104 1011 102 106 .101 16 107 102 105 109 103 107 102 105 109 103 107 102 17 1011 103 106 101 104 1011 103 106 101 104 1011 103 111 109 104 107 102 105 109 104 107 102 105 109 104 19 101 10s 1011 10.1 106 101 10s 1011 103 106 101 105 20 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 21 103 107 101 10s 1011 103 107 101 10s 1011 103 107 22 104 1011 102 106 109 104 1011 102 106 109 104 1011 23 105 109 103 107 101 105 109 103 107 101 105 109 24 106 101 104 1011 102 106 101 104 1011 102 106 101 25 107 102 105 109 103 107 102 105 109 l 103 107 102 26 1011 103 106 101 104 1011 103 106 101 104 1011 103 27 109 104 107 102 105 109 104 107 102 105 109 104 211 101 105 1011 103 106 101 105 1011 103 I06 101 105 29 102 106 109 104 107 102 106 109 104 107 102 30 103 107 101 105 1011 103 107 101 105 1011 103 31 104 102 109 104 102 109 104 tooth l4 and thus the calendar is driven or fed by one TABLE 2 day.

The position of tooth l4 obviously varys with the semonth days size star 0 11 lective position of a window frame of the calendar ring and the particular mounting position thereof on the k g 25 lg;

- sma watch. Both FIGS. 1 and 6 show pos1t1ons which have MAY me 102 JUNE 30 small 105 been arbitrarily set at the position of 3 oclock and TABLE 2-Continued month days size star tooth no.

JULY 3] large 109 AUG 31 large I04 SEPT 30 small 107 OCT 3i large 102 NOV 30 small 105 DEC 31 large 109 JAN 31 large I04 FEB 28 small l05 TABLE 3 month star tooth no. pawl no.

APR 107 8 JUNE 105 9 SEPT 107 8 NOV I05 9 FEB I05 9 The number of teeth for star wheel 5 has been shown and described as nine, but it is to be understood that suchnumber may be 14, 16,17 or 18. A star wheel having 17 teeth is provided with two pawl projections, but the other mentioned star wheels require four pawl projections. Also, it is to be noted that as the number of teeth increases, the rotating angle for one day becomes smaller, and the instant star wheel having nine teeth that is capable of operating with two pawl projections has the largest rotating angle.

Next, with reference tothe rotating direction of the star wheel 5 in the foregoing description, the reason for counting the number of teeth of the star wheel in an anticlockwise direction is that the star wheel is not rotated as such and thus the number of teeth may be counted. Therefore, in order to rotate the star wheel, it must be rotated in the opposite direction, namely in the clockwise direction. Also, when the position of the projection is determined by counting the number of teeth in the clockwise direction, a star wheel of a counter rotation is thus construed.

For a better understanding of the inventive concept of the first embodiment, the operation thereof will be described as follows:

The center gear 1 being fixed to the lower portion of the hour wheel 21 that rotates twice a day being meshed with the gear train of the watch has a number of teeth which is one half of the number of teeth of the larger gear 2. Therefore the gear 2 is reduced in its speed to one rotation per day and the drive pin 4 being fixed to the upper surface of the particular tooth drives the star wheel 5 one tooth a day. Accordingly, the pawl wheel member 6 rotates one tooth per day in a similar manner.

On the other hand, the date calendar ring 25 being interlocked or meshed with a timekeeper mechanism is driven for each day by the watch movement, and accordingly makes the proper advancement, but other than for the small months, this presents no obstacle as there is no interference to its rotation.

As explained in the foregoing, when the time for the 31st day of the date ring 25 is to be begin at the end of the small month and while both elements are operatively rotating, the particular pawl projection engages with the tooth l4, and the date ring 25 is then driven by one day by the advancement of the pawl projection. in this case, the calendar feeding manipulation of the As will be obvious from the foregoing description,

the calendar makes the correct display automatically throughout the year once the March 1st date is correctly adjusted by the manual operation.

Regarding the setting of the date with the star wheel 5 when the instant watch period terminates on March 1st date, a small window is provided on the dial and the numerals 1 through 9 of the teeth number of the star wheel are arranged to be indicated on the upper surface of the pawl wheel member so as to be easily observed.

The following operations are of particular significance':

1. For setting of the star wheel with the March 1st date, the tooth number 1 of Table l is made to appear on the window and'the date is set to the March 1st date together with the day of the week.

2. For a setting of the date when the watch stops on a day during the year, the following operations are performed:

a. When the watch has been stopped for several days,

the hand is advanced to set it at the proper time.

b. When the watch stops for a longer period of time,

it is set as follows:

For example, when the watch is stopped on June 10, and it is set on July 15, one can easily find the tooth number of the star wheel of July 15 from the Table l and that the number is 2. One can then produce 2 on the window, and the date is set to the 15th togetherwith the day of the week.

With reference to FIGS. 7-9, the second embodi ment will now be described. The drive mechanism of the second embodiment has some similar parts having the same reference numerals and differs principally in the star wheel of the first embodiment has been replaced by a gear arrangement.

In FIG. 7, the gear 1 is fixedly mounted to an upper portion of the hour wheel 21 of the watch movement (it may be the lower portion depending on the design of the plate of the watch) and includes 16 teeth. An adjacent and larger gear 2 is interlocked or meshed with the gear 1 and includes 32 teeth. A gear member 5a is fixedly mounted to an upper portion of the gear 2 and is interlocked or meshed with an adjacent pinion 20 having 16 teeth. The gear member 50 has 36 teeth and rotates l60 per 1 day. Lever member 6b has two camlike portions thereon; namely, outwardly extending

pawl projections

8 and 9 and rotates per day together with the axially mounted gear member 5a. Also lever member 6b is pivotally mounted on a pin or stem 18 that is fixedly mounted to the upper portion of the gear member 5a in such a way that its head portion is enlarged so as not to be disengaged like the portion 19 of FIG. 9, and normally it is supported in a fixed position by means of a pin which has a play in the direction to prevent excessive load even if the tooth 14 of the date wheel is engaged at the end of the small month or the watch is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. Further, lever member 6b may be formed in various shapes as long as it can perform the required function.

The operation principle of the gear member a is similar to the star wheel 5 of the Embodiment 1. In the case when the rotating angle of one day is equal to one tooth of the star wheel, namely 40, there takes place a similar meshing of the gear member 5a. Therefore the operation time is longer and thus it takes one day. Consequently the rotating angle for one day must be made larger, but if the angle becomes too large, the respective pawl remains in the rotating range of the one day of the gear member 5a. At the end of a large month, the pawl thus is engaged with a tooth 14 to feed the calendar. As a result, the selection must be made so that the

pawls

8 and 9 are not present in the rotating range of the gear member 5a on the 31st day of the large month. The selection technique will be described in the following.

FIG. 8 shows the division of a circle divided equally into nine parts for illustration purpose and is a view of the pawl arrangement having an angle of 40 which is the mechanical equivalent of the nine tooth arrangement of the star wheel. The nine equally divided points are marked with the numbers from 101 through 109 similar to the equivalent numbering in Embodiment l. The angle between one number and the next number is 40. Assume that one day equals to the rotation of 40; for an anticlockwise rotation, 101 is usedas the starting point; each month is sequentially checked to determine the pawl position which corresponds to the time of the star wheel. Therefore, this particular 40 is omitted. An investigation may be made in the following manner using 80, 120, 160, 200, 240, 280, 320 which correspond in teeth to two through eight, respectively, of the star wheel. As for the rotating angle of a one day operation, the operative numbers are recited in Table 4 for five kinds of angles 80, 160, 200, 280, and 320 so that the position of the pawl engagement is determined. g

The positions of the pawls having selective rotations of 200, 280, 320 for one day as shown in Table 4 have large rotating angles and thus short operating time. Therefore they are ideal in theory, but since the rotating angles are large, the

pawls

8 and 9 remain in the rotating range of 1 day of the pawl arrangement on the 3 1 st date of the large month in feeding the calendar so that this arrangement cannot be used as a practical manner.

The numbers for pawl engagements for the end of a large month which have the rotation of 80 for one day are 107, 103, 108, respectively, as shown in Table 4. The numbers for pawl engagements for the end of a 5 spective numbers.

Two kinds of pawlarrangements can be used as the member 5a, but the pawl arrangement having rotation takes the longer operating time and it takes 12 hours and thus the pawl arrangement having 160 rota- 10 tion which can operate in 6 hours is preferable. Also,

the pawl-arrangement which is equally divided in other than nine parts can be used and the principle is the same.

This pawl arrangement performs l day-one tooth ro- 15 tation of the star wheel and the equivalent thereof and the rotating angle of oneday is large. The position of the pawl is determined on the basis of 160 in the anticlockwise direction with 101 as the starting point. Therefore the angle for 101 is included in 160 in the clockwise rotation. The position in the zero time is midnight of March 1st, the position of 101 becomes 12 PM of March 1st, and simultaneously it becomes the zero time of March 2nd. On an ordinary monthly day, however, this causes no trouble but at the end of a small operating range before the advancement of the date wheel. The tooth 14 is engaged wth the pawl arrangemet. Thus the date wheel cannot make the advancement (although the pawl arrangement is allowed to have some play, it is better for the tooth 14 not to be engaged with the pawl) and it is arranged to be delayed in the assembly thereof by adding the foregoing angle to the position by which the date wheel can previously be advanced. Caution must be exercised in that as the operation of the

pawls

8 and 9 are continuous, excessive dalay is set and the tooth 14 comes to engage the pawl 8 for June and November at which time the pawl 9 operates. Therefore when the date of the date wheel 25 changes, the position is determined so that the operation is effected in such a way that the tooth 14 is not engaged between both pawls.

In order to prevent such an engagement, as a third embodiment, the pawl 8 is eliminated and only the pawl 9 is used, the start and termination of the operation become delayed for April and September, but the correctable pawl arrangement is formed in the morning of the 1 day.

7 With the use of this pawl arrangement, component parts related to the feed pin and the control lever employed for the pawl arrangement are no longer needed. Table 5 shows the numbers of each month and the date TABLE 4 MONTH DAY lurgc rotates 80 rotates 160 rotates 200 rotates 280 rotates 320 PAWL per per per per per no. small one day one day one day onc day one day 3 31 large 107 104 107 104 107 4 30 small 104 107 104 107 104 8 5 31 large 103 106 108 109 6 30 small 109 108 103 102 106 9 7 31 large 108 106 105 103 102 8 31 large 107 104 107 104 107 9 30 small 104 107 104 107 104 8 10 31 large 103 105 106 108 109 l l 30 small 109 108 103 102 106 9 12 31 large 108 106 105 103 102 l 31 large 107 104 107 104 107 2 28 small 109 108 103 102 106 month, the pawl arrangement has already come in the V of one year of the pawl arrangement having 160 rotation and the numbers of the end of each month are the 9 numbers of month of the rotation of 160 in the Table enters the rotating range of 1 day of the next month and after about 6 hours, the remaining pawl 9 enters the operating range. Accordingly, the start of operation is dey 4. layed, and termination also delayed and thus the cor- TABLE 5 MONTH MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB DATE large small large small large large small large small large large small I IOI I08 I02 I09 I03 IOI I08 I02 I09 I03 I01 I08 2 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 3 I09 I07 IOI I08 I02 I09 I07 I01 I08 I02 I09 I07 4 I04 I02 I05 I03 I06 I04 I02 I05 I03 I06 I04 I02 5 3 I08 I06 I09 I07 IOI I08 I06 I09 I07 IOI I08 I06 6 .103 I01 I04 I02 I05 I03 l0l I04 I02 I05 I03 I01 7 I07 I05 I08 I06 I09 I07 I05 I08 I06 I09 I07 I05 8 I02 I09 I03 l0l I04 I02 I09 I03 101 I04 I02 I09 9 I06 I04 I07 I05 I08 I06 I04 I07 I05 I08 I06 I04 I0 I01 I08 I02 I09 I03 IOI I08 I02 I09 I03 IOI I08 11 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 12 I09 I07 I01 I08 I02 I09 I07 I01 I08 I02 I09 107 I3 I04 I02 I05 I03 I06 I I04 I02 I05 I03 I06 I04 I02 .14 I08 I06 I09 I07 IOI I08 I06 I09 I07 I01 I08 I06 I5 I03 I01 I04 I02 I05 I03 I01 I04 I02 I05 I03 I01 I6 I07 I05 I08 I06 I09 I07 I05 I08 I06 I09 I07 I05 17 I02 I08 I03 I01 I04 I02 I08 I03 IOI I04 I02 109 I8 I06 I04 I07 I05 I08 I06 I04 I07 I05 I08 I06 I04 I9 I0l I08 I02 I09 I03 I01 I08 I02 I09 I03 I01 I08 20 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 2l I09 I07 IOI I08 I02 I09 I07 IOI I08 I02 I09 I07 22 I04 I02 I05 I03 I06 I04 I02 I05 I03 I06 I04 I02 3 I08 I06 I09 I07 IOI I08 I06 I09 I07 I01 I08 I06 24 I03 IOI I04 I02 I05 I03 I01 I04 I02 I05 I03 I01 25 I07 I05 I08 I06 I08 I07 I05 I08 I06 I08 I07 I05 26 I02 I09 I03 IOI I04 I02 I09 I03 IOI I04 I02 I09 27 I06 I04 I07 I05 I08 I06 I04 I07 I05 I08 I06 I04 28 l0l I08 I02 I09 I03 10] I08 I02 I09 I03 l0l I08 29 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 I03 I06 I04 I07 I05 30 I08 I07 IOI I08 I02 I09 I07 IOI I08 I02 I09 3 I I04 I05 I06 I04 I05 I06 I04 The operation sequence will be described in the following:

FIG. 7 shows the gear 1 having 16 teeth using the pawl arrangement having 160 rotation per one day. The gear 1 is fixedly mounted to the hour wheel 21 and rotates twice a day and the meshing gear 2 having 32 teeth rotates once a day. The pinion 20 fixedly mounted on the upper part of the gear 2 has 16 teeth, and therefore it takes the meshing gear 5a having 16 teeth a day to rotate. The gear 5a has 36 teeth, and thus one tooth makes 10 and rotates 160. Accordingly, the lever member 6b axially mounted with gear 5a rotates 160 per day. On the other hand, the date wheel 25 being mounted with the conventional timekeeper mechanism makes the advancement of one tooth per day and thus there is no obstacle on the normal monthly days. Consequently, both elements do not interfere with each other in the advancement thereof. However, at the end of each small month with the exception of February, the respective pawl (8 or 9) involved is engaged with the tooth 14 that is fixed to the date wheel 25 to correct the calendar automatically.

In a further embodiment having a pawl section of 160, the gear 1 is eliminated and the gear 2 is meshed directly with the hour wheel 21. The gear 2 then rotates twice a day and when the number of teeth of the pinion 26 is selected as eight, the same result can be obtained.

In a further embodiment, pawl 8 is eliminated, and thus, the pawl engagement that operates for April and September is eliminated. Consequently, it cannot operate in the previously selected time frame, and the pawl rection is delayed and completed by noon.

As explained in the foregoing, the once a year correction is made manually at the end of February and thus starting with March 1st, the calendar is automatically corrected throughout the coming year.

The foregoing disclosure is representative of several preferred embodiments of the present invention and is tended to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, the present invention to be accorded the full scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

l. A compact calendar watch having a minimum number of component parts and being adapted for use with a watch movement and being adapted for automatically displaying the correct dates for one year from the first of March to the end of February, comprising in combination: a supporting shaft means having an axle associated with said watch movement, a date calendar ring. means operatively connected to and concentrically mounted on said supporting shaft means; said ring means having a flat annular surface and inner periphery teeth, said flat annular surface having thirtyone successive date calendar numerals displayed thereon, said ring means having thirty-one teeth on the inner periphery thereof and said teeth corresponding respectively to and adjacent to said thirty-one date calendar numerals on said flat annular surface; a first gear means axially and concentrically mounted on said sup porting shaft means; an hour wheel means coaxially mounted and operatively associated with said first gear means, said first gear means fixedly mounted on said hour wheel means; said hour wheel means being adapted to be operatively connected with said drive means of said watch movement for movement thereof;

a second gear'me ans offset from the axis of said supporting shaft means and meshing with said first gear means; a star wheel means offset from the axis of said supporting shaft means and said second gear means, said star wheel means having nine pointed teeth thereon; drive pin means fixedly mounted on said second gear means and drivingly connected with at least one tooth of said star wheel means; a wheel member axially mounted and fixedly attached to said star wheel means in one direction thereof.

=l I l

Claims

1. A compact calendar watch having a minimum number of component parts and being adapted for use with a watch movement and being adapted for automatically displaying the correct dates for one year from the first of March to the end of February, comprising in combination: a supporting shaft means having an axle associated with said watch movement, a date calendar ring. means operatively connected to and concentrically mounted on said supporting shaft means; said ring means having a flat annular surface and inner periphery teeth, said flat annular surface having thirty-one successive date calendar numerals displayed thereon, said ring means having thirty-one teeth on the inner periphery thereof and said teeth corresponding respectively to and adjacent to said thirty-one date calendar numerals on said flat annular surface; a first gear means axially and concentrically mounted on said supporting shaft means; an hour wheel means coaxially mounted and operatively associated with said first gear means, said first gear means fixedly mounted on said hour wheel means; said hour wheel means being adapted to be operatively connected with said drive means of said watch movement for movement thereof; a second gear means offset from the axis of said supporting shaft means and meshing with said first Gear means; a star wheel means offset from the axis of said supporting shaft means and said second gear means, said star wheel means having nine pointed teeth thereon; drive pin means fixedly mounted on said second gear means and drivingly connected with at least one tooth of said star wheel means; a wheel member axially mounted and fixedly attached to said star wheel means, said wheel member having at least two outwardly extending cam portions, said cam portions operatively and drivingly connected with the inner periphery teeth of said ring means at predetermined periods of time; and an elongated spring-pressed lever means pivotally mounted at one end, the other end thereof slidably engageable with the teeth of said star wheel means for controlling the movement of said star wheel means in one direction thereof.