CA2100609A1 - Rollerball control arrangement for a timepiece adapted to receive radio broadcast messages - Google Patents

Abstract

ROLLERBALL CONTROL ARRANGEMENT FOR A TIMEPIECE
ADAPTED TO RECEIVE RADIO BROADCAST MESSAGES

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The timepiece includes a timekeeper displaying the hour (4) and the minute (5), a receiver for radio broadcast messages adapted to be read on a display (7) and a control arrangement (2) including a rollerball (1) adapted to be manually rolled in a first direction (Y) for which received messages can be displayed one after the other and in a second direction (X) for which at least the functions of engagement, of disengagement or entry into a special operat-ing mode may be chosen. The rollerball may also be pressed in a third direction (Z) for which the displayed message may at least be erased or protected.

Description

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The present invention concerns a timepiece including a timekeeper for displaying at least the hour and the minute by means of hands, a receiver for radio-broadcast messages composed of signs, a memory for storing said messages, a cell for displaying at least said messages, an acoustic transducer and a control arrangementO

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A timepiece responding to the generic defini tion here-inabove and in which the control arrangement includes a stem fitted with a manually operated crown has already been described in several documents published in the name of the same assignee. The general arrangement of the ant-enna confined within the watchcase forms the object of patent document EP-B-0 339 482 (US-A-4 884 252). The combination of the movement, the caseband and the back cover of such a timepiece is described in patent document EPA-0 461~ 526. Finally, the arrangement of the cell energizing the radio frequency portion of the watch is set forth in patent document EP-A-0 460 525.

As such appears from what has been said hereinabove, the timepiece in question is backed by a search apparatus for persons, which will be designated hereinafter by its common name "pager". As will be seen further on, the pager portion is made up of an antenna, a receiver circuit, a decoder, a microcomputer and a memory capable of storing several messages, each of such messages upon request being able to appear on an LCD display cell. The pager is completed by an acoustic diffuser signalling for example the arrival of a message. The pager appears basically here as a microreceiver signalling to the user that a third person is looking for him.

There exist pagers transmitting only one or several acoustic signals. When the signal sounds, the user must . : . : .
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then compose a suitable number on a telephone apparatus.
The pager which will be the topic of discussion in the present description enables making the user aware at the same time as an acoustic signal can sound as to-who is the third person seeking him and this through the appearance of a message on a display cell, such message consisting in most cases of the display o~ a telephone number to call back. In order to send his message, the third person begins by composing on his telephone apparatus the number of the pager to be attained following which a special acoustic signal sounds in the handset. The person then composes his message by means of the digital keyboard available on his own apparatus and awaits until the telephone exchange informs him that his call has been recorded. As soon as such confirmation is received, the handset can be rung off. After a subsequent lapse of time, the message sent will appear on the pager called, accompanied by a warning signal if the user so wishes.

To combine a pager with a wristwatch is advantageous because the apparatus is worn permanently by the user who, because of this, will not forget to take it with him and also because it is of a size greatly reduced from that exhibited by independent pagers known to the statP of the art. SUCh combination, however, poses technical problems which are difficult to resolve. Certain of such problems have already formed the objective of descriptions in the documents cited hereinabove. The present invention aims to solve a problem which has not been raised up to the present and which is that posed by the control arrange-ment of an apparatus combining at the same time a wrist-watch and a pager in which it is a matter on the one hand to be able to correct the time displayed by the watch and on the other hand to be able to run past the messages received by the pager or, if necessary, to be able to protect or erase such messages.

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
-Such functions are assured according to the present invention by at least a rollerball emerging partially from the caseband with which the timepiece is provided, said rollerball being adapted to be manually rolled in a first direction thanks to which at least the messages contained in the memory can be displayed one after the other, and in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first, thanks to which at least functions of turn-on, turn-off or entry into a special operating mode of the receiver can be chosen, said rollerball furthermore being adapted to be manually pressed against the return force of a spring in a third direction, perpendicular to the other two, thanks to which at least the displayed message can be erased or protected.

The invention will now be explained by means of ex-amples illustrated by the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

- Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the pa~er watch according to the invention, in which the control arrangement includes only a single rollerball;
- figure 2 is an enlarged illustration of the dis-play cell of the watch of figure 1 showing the various graphic representations capable of being displayed thereon;
- fi~ure 3 is an enlarged broken-away view of the control arrangement shown summarily on figure 1;
- figure 4 is a cross-section according to line IV-IV of figure 3;
- figure 5 is a cross-section according to line V-V of ~igure 4, such cross-section showing a two-stage cam forming part of the control mechanism;
- figure 6 is a block schematic showing the electr-onic part of the pager watch of figure 1;

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- figure 7 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the pager watch according to the invention in which the control arrangement includes a stem - crown in addition to the rollerball;
- figure 8 is a cross-section of the mechanism of the stem - crown according to line VIII-VIII of figure 7;
- figure 9 is a plan view of the mechanism shown on figure 8~
- figure 10 is a block schematic showing the electr-onic part of the pager watch of figure 7;
- figure 11 is a diagram explaining the functions of the rollerball of the pager watch of figure 1, such diagram illustrating the states of the pager in the control mode;
- figure 12 is a diagram explaining the functions of the rollerball of the pager watch of figures 1 and 7, such diagram illustrating the states of the pager in the message mode;
- figure 13 shows the manipulation to be exerted on the rollerball of the pager watch of figures 1 and 7 in order to protect a message contained in the memory;
- figure 14 shows the manipulation to be exerted on the rollerball of the pager watch of figures 1 and 7 in order to erase a message contained in the memory;
- figure 15 shows the manipulation to be exerted on the rollerball of the pager watch of figures 1 and 7 to bring about time setting of the internal clock of the pager, and - figure 16 shows the manipulation to be exerted on the rollerball of the pager watch of figures 1 and 7 in order to set the predetermined times of turn-on and of turn-off.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figures 1 and 7 are plan views of first and second embodiments of the pager watch according to the invention.
This timepiece includes a timekeeper which displays the time of day at least by means of hours and minutes hands 4 and 5. The timepiece further ineludes a pager system, i.e. an arrangement comprising a receiver for radio-broad-east messages made up of signs and a memory for storing such messages, such receiver and memory forming the object of a description which will be found further on. The mess-ages are captured by an antenna wound around the caseband of the case and which appears on figures 1 and 7 under the form of wires 6. A description of this antenna may be read in the patent document EP-B-0 339 482 (US-~-~ 884 252). The messages appear on a cell 7 formed for example by a liquid crystal. Cell 7 is shown on figure 2 which is an enlarged view of said cell. The two embodiments of the pager watch further include a control arrangement 2 comprising in both cases a rollerball 1 adapted to be manually operated and the description of which is to follow.
An aeoustie diffuser 8 of which only the orifice has been shown on figures 1 and 7 enables signalling, inter alia, the arrival of a message. The constructional organization of the entire arrangement is described in the patent docum-ent EP-A-0 ~60 526 to which one will be able to refer in order to obtain further details.

In both embodiments and according to the invention, the rollerball can be manoeuvred in three different direct-ions according to a mechanism which is to be explained now with the help of figures 3 and ~. As is seen on figure 3, rollerball 1 may be rolled manualIy in a ~irst direction Y thanks to whieh messages contained in the memory can at least be displayed one after the other. Rollerball 1 can also be rolled in a seeond direction X which is subst-antially perpendicular to the first direction Y. The manip-, : , - - . : . ~ , 2 ~ $ ~

ulation in direction X enables choosing at least functions of turn-on, turn-off or entry into a special operational mode of the pager receiver. Finally, rollerball 1, as is seen on figure 4, can be pressed in a third direction ~ perpendicular to the first two directions X and Y and against the return force of a spring, thanks to which the displayed message can at least be erased or protected.

Figure 3 is an enlarged and broken-away view of the control arrangement 2 summarily shown on figure 1~ Such arrangement includes a rollerball 1 which rests on four rollers 40, 41, 42 and 43. Rollers 40 and 41 are driven by rollerball 1 when the rollerball is rolled in directions Y and X respectively. As is better seen on figure 4~ roller drives alternately first 44 and second 45 conductive blades which respectively enter into contact with first E1 and second F1 conductive tracks when the rollerball is rolled in the first direction Y. It is the same for roller 41 (not shown on figure 4~ which alternately drives third 46 and fourth 47 conductive blades which enter res-pectively into contact with third E2 and fourth F2 conduct-ive tracks (not shown on figure 4) when the rollerball is rolled in the second direction X. Each roller 40 and 41 is fitted on a respective shaft 48 and 49. On shaft 48 is fitted a two-stage cam 50 and on shaft 49 a cam 51 likewise having two stages.

Cam 50 which i5 similar to cam 51 is shown on figure which is a cross-section along line V-V of figure 4.
~am 50 includes two stages 27 and 28 and a hole 60 intended to receive shaft 48 connecting roller 40 to cam 50. Each of the stages possesses an oblong section as is readily seen on figure 5 on the hatched portion of stage 270 Stages 27 and 28 are angularly shifted relative to one another by about 45. As is seen on figure 4, elastic conductive blades 44 and 45 bear respectively on stages 28 and 27 of cam 50 in a manner such that when the cam .

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is driven in rotation by roller 40 which itself is driven by the rollerball 1, blades 44 and 45 enter alternately into contact with the conductive tracks respectively designated by E1 and F1, such tracks being engr-aved on a printed circuit 52. Cam 51 in the same manner drives elastic blades 46 and 47 which enter alternately into contact with conductive tracks E2 and F2 respectively.

Rollers 42 and 43 shown on figure 3 are also driven by the rollerball but have no other effect than that of exhibiting a lifting function for the rollerball. A spring arrangement (not shown but which is described for example in patent document GB-A-2 154 306) acts on the lifting rollers as return spring in a manner such that rollerball 1 is supported at rest or when it is rolled in directions X and Y within orifice 53 from which it partially emerges (see figure 4).

The lifting and elastic efect of rollers 42 and 43 having been explained, it will be understood that in exert-ing a pressure on rollerball 1 according to the sense of arrow Z shown on figure 4, a switch 35 formed by an elastic and conductive blade 36 and a conductive track K is closed, which can form part of a printed circuit, not shown.

There will now be described the two embodiments of the invention.

1. First Embodiment Figure 1 is a plan view of the first embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the control arrangement 2 of the pager watch is a single rollerball 1 arranged at 3 o'cloc~. Such rollerball emerges from the caseband and may be operated by a finger of the hand along the three different directions set forth hereinabove. Such rollerball could be arranged elsewhere than 3 o'clock, at 6 o'clock 2 ~

for example.

Figure 2 is an enlarged showing of the display cell referenced 7 on figure 1. Such cell includes a -zone 85 referred to as the message zone and two zones 86 and 87 referred to as indicators. In zone 85 appear messages which can be made up of diglts and letters. Each sign includes a set of segments, here seven segments at the maximum. In the display taken as example, the message can contain at maximum twelve signs. In the indicator zone 86, there is found: at 88, the indication NEW which signals a new message and remains displayed as long as the latter has not been acknowled~ed by a short pressure on the rollerball; at 89, the indication FULL which indicates that the memory is full; at 90, the indication PROT signalling the operation of protecting the message;
at 91, the indication DEL signalling the erase function;
at 92, the slgn Y indicating that the radio range is good, thus that message reception is possible; at 93, the indication BAT indicating that the power cell of the pager must be changed. Tn the indicator zone 87, there is found:
at 100, a sign indicating that there has been overflow of the message to the left of the cell; at 94, the indication OFF indicating that the pager is turned off;
at 95, the indication ON signalling that the pager is turned on; at 96, the indication AUTO signalling that the pager is turned on and turned off automatically; at 97, the indication TIME permitting setting of the internal clock of the pager; at 98, the indication MUTE signalling that the pager is in a standby state; at 99, a sign indicating that there is overflow of the message to the right of the display cell.

Figure 6 is a block schematic showing the electronic part of the pager watch illustrated on figure 1. Messages captured by the antenna 6 are received by an RF circuit 64 (for example of the type UAA 2033 of the Philips Company~

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which is coupled to a special circuit 101 by a three wire bus 102. The special circuit 101 allies an ordinary micro-computer with a decoder in order to decode the messages present at the output of RF circuit 64 (~or example of the type PCF 5001 o~ the Philips Company). Such special circuit further includes a watch circuit (for example of the type H 5026 of the EM Microelectronic - Marin Company) including a clock oscillator 67, a frequency divider and a driver attacking, by line 77, a stepping motor having two rotation senses, the rotor spindle of such motor driving a ~heel train and hours and minutes hands 4 and 5. The decoder is associated with an exterior EEPROM memory 103 which can be programmed by the two line conductor 104 referred to as the programming line, in order to report only messages intended for this specific pager possessing its own radio identi~ication code (RIC) and responding on the occasion to the radioelectric calling code Nr 1 of the CCIR (based on the recommendation CCIR 58~
~ubrovnik, 1936). The special circuit 101 is coupled by a nine wire bus 105 to the memory EEPROM already mentioned, such memory being associated with another memory RAM.
l`he messages to be made to appear on the liquid crystal display LCD 7 are controlled by a driver 106 itself coupled to circuit 101 by a seven wire bus 107. To tne special circuit 101 is coupled an acoustic alarm or buzzer 8.
To circuit 101 are connected the conductive tracks E1 and ~`1 to which correspond respectively conductive blades 44 and 45 (rolling the rollerball in direction Y), conductive tracks E2 and F2 to which correspond respectively conductive bla~es 46 and 47 (rolling the rollerball in direction X) and the track K to which corresponds blade 36 (pressing the roller ball in direction Z), such tracks and blades having been described hereinabove and discussed with reference to figures 3 and 4. ~lades 44, 45, 46, 47 and 36 are all connected to a common potential Vpp. The fact that the rollerball is: rolled in direction Y, for example, has as result that tracks E1 and F1 are coupled alternately 210~

to potential V p. Such alternation is taken into account by circuit 101 which is then capable of recognizing initially the fact that the rollerball is driven in rotation and next in which sense such rotation takes place.

Memory RAM 103 of figure 6 is of standard construction.
In such memory RAM messa~es are stacked one over another, the oldest at the bottom and the most recent at the top of the stack and a zone without message surmounts the most recent message, such zone exhibiting a neutral display when it is shown (see figure 12). Memory RAM being able to contain only a limited number of messages, it is evident that if said memory is full, a newly entering message is ~oing to bring about loss of the oldest message if such latter is not protected.

With the help of figures 11 to 16, there will be des-cribed now the manner of making use of the pager watch in acting on the sole roller ball 1. The symbols used on the figures under discussion with their significance are as follows:

: long duration pressure on the rollerball < : short duration pressure on the rollerball : rolling of the rollerball in direction x : rolling in the direction X and in the sense 9 o'clock - 3 o'clock : rolling in the direction X and in the sense 3 o'clock - 9 o'clock $ : rolling of the rollerball in direction Y
: rolling in the direction Y and in the sense 6 o'clock - 12 o'clock : rolling in the direction Y and in the sense 12 o'clock - 6 o'clock .
A pressure on the rollerball is long ( ) when its duration exceeds one second. Such pressure is short ~<) .
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_ 12 --when such duration is less than one second. Short and long pressures can be acknowledged by an acoustic bip.

It is evident that the rollerball can be rolled in other directions than the strict directions X and Y. In such case a discriminator mounted in the electronic circuit will decide which of the two directions must be taken into consideration, the preponderance being given to the cam 50, 51 which rotates most rapidly.

Generally, rolling of rollerball in the direction X enables selecting a func'~ion while a short duration pressure enables validating the chosen function and a long duration pressure permits entering into a phase or special menu. Generally as well, rolling the rollerball in direction Y enables passing from one message to another and permits reaching the neutral display.

Figure 11 is a diagram explaining the functions of rollerball 1 of the watch shown on figure 1, such diagram illustrating the states of the pager in the control mode, such states being signalled by indicators 94 (OFF) to 98 (MUTE) illustrated on figure 2.

In causing the rollerball to roll in the ~ direction, the pager is brought into the waiting mode 110 for which the display is neutral. From there a long pressure ~ is exerted on rollerball 1 which illuminates all state indicators from OFF (94) to ~UTE (9~) with the OFF
indication blinking. The OFF state can then be validated by exerting a short pressure < on the roller~all. The pager then returns to the waiting position 112 with the OFF indicator illuminated. If the ON state is wished for, a long pressure << is exerted on rollerball 1 which illumin-ates all the state indicators from OFF (94) to MUTE (98) with the OFF indication blinking. Rollerball 1 is then rolled in the direction X and in the sense ~ until the , 2 !~D6~

indicator ON (95) blinks. The ON state can then be validated in exerting a sh~rt pressure < on the rollerball.
The pager then returns to the waiting position 112 with the indicator ON illuminated. As shown b~ figure~ 11, the other states AUTO 96, TIME 97 and MUTE 98 can be obtain-ed in the same manner, in observing that the selection of the state is obtained by rolling the rollerball in the sense ~ until blinking of the desired indicator and that the validation of the state which blinks is obtained by a short pressure on the rollerball. It is also observed on figure 11 that once having arrived at the MUTE state 98, it is possible to return to the OFF state 94 in pass-in~ by all the intermediate states by turning the rollerball in the sense ~ .

Figure 11 further shows that from the OFF state 94 the MUTE state 98 can be directly attained by rolling the rollerball in the sense ~ . Inversely, from the MUT~
state 98 it is possible to return directly to OFF state 94 by rolling the rollerball in the sense ~ .

As indicated hereinabove, following a long pressure on the rollerball, all the indicators appear and one among them is blinking. Another manner o~ operation could consist of having only the selected indicator blin]c, the other indicators being extinguished.

If the states OFF and ON are self-understood, the states MUTE, AUTO and TIME merit further explanation.

The MUTE state 98 has as purpose to put the pager into a standby state for whi~h the received messages are at least stored in the memory RAM without having a sound signal draw the attention of the pager wearer to the fact that a message has arrived. Normally, the arrival of a message is visible on the display cell and is accompanied by an audible si~nal. In the MUTE state, such audible signal 3 ~

is suppressed. The visible signal which is that of the appearance of the message on the display cell could also be suppressed or materialized only by a serial number.

The AUTO state 96 has as purpose to turn on and turn off the pa~er automaticaily at times pre-progxammed by the pager wearer. In selecting the AUTO state 96 by rolling the rollerball and in validating such state by a short pressure on such rollerball, one returns to the wait mode 112 with the hours programmed by default, that is to say, those which are found in a special memory equipping the pager. The manner of adjusting the turn-on time ON TIME
113 and the turn~off time OFF TIME 114 which appear on the diagram of figuxe 11 will now be explained likewise with the help of the manipulation program shown on figure 16.

Here it is pointed out that in figures 13, 14, 15 and 16 a long pressure on the rollerball has been symbolized by a long-tailed arrow which is equivalent to the symbols of figures 11 and 12. In the same manner, a short pressure on the rollerball is symbolized in figures 13, 14, 15 and 16 by a short-tailed arrow which is equivalent to the symbols < of figures 11 and 12.

The rollerball is manipulated to have appear on one hand the neutral display and on the other hand the AUTO
indicator 96 in the validated state, in proceeding as indic-ated hereinabove. The indicator AUTO will be accompanied by the indicator ON if the time at which one proceeds with such adjustments is comprised in the turn-on period of the AUTO state. If not, the OFF indicator is illuminated.
One then enters (see figure 16) the control phase or menu of the times by a long pressure 115 on the xollerball.
By a rolling action 116 ~ on the rollerball there is selected the AUTO state 96 which blinks~ the blinking state being marked by bright letters AUTO on figure 16. When - . : . . , . ~ .

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2~8a~9 the AUTO mode is selected, there then appears on display 117 the turn-on time (08hOO) and the turn-off time (18hOO).
Again a long pressure 118 is exerted on the rollerball which has as result to enter into the adjustment menu of the AUTo time. The turn-on time ~08hOO) appears alone accompanied by the indication ON. The hours ~08) blink.
The hours are programmed by rolling action 119 ~ of the rollerball. The new hours program (07) is validated by pressure 120 on the rollerball. The validation of the hours brings about blinking of the minutes (00) of the turn-on time. One then programs the minutes by rolling action 121 ~ of the rollerball. The new minutes program (00) is validated by pressure 122 on the rollerball. Valid-ation of the minutes brings about appearance of the turn-off time (18hOO) with the OFF indication and blinking of the turn-off hours (18). The hours are programmed by rolling action 123 ~ of the rollerball. The new hours program (19) is validated by pressure 124 on the rollerball, which brings about blinking of the minutes (00~ of the turn-off time. The minutes are programmed by rolling action 125 ~ of the rollerball. The new minutes program (00) is validated by pressure 126 on the rollerball, such validation bringing about return to the neutral display 112 with the inscription AUTO and the inscription ON if the current time of day is comprised in the turn-on period.

The state TI~E 97 shown on figure 11 has as purpose to set the pager to the time of day for correc-t operation of the AUTO function. Such time setting is brought about in the following manner if reference is also had to the manipulation program of figure 15: the pager is arranged in the neutral display with the AUTO state illuminated.
Entry is made into a control phase or menu by a long pressure 115 on the rollerball. In rolling the rollerball in the sense ~ the menu TIME 97 is selected, which brings about the display of the time of day (14h32). A new long `` ~ . `' ' `: ' ,, - : ::
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pressure 1~ on the rollerball causes blinking in 183 of the hours of the time of day (14), such hours being then adjustable by rolling 181 ~ of the rollerball, then validated by a short pressure 182 on said rol~lerball.
Validation of the hours brings about blinking of the minutes in 18~ which can be adjusted by rolling 185 ~o~ the roller-ball then validated by a short pressure 129 on said ball, such validation 129 bringing about return to the neutral display 112.

In the case in which starting off from the TIME state 97, a short pressure 170 is exerted on the rollerball inst-ead of exerting a long pressure 128, one returns to the waitin~ position 112 in having validated the time already memorized in the pager.

The pager watch of the first embodiment includes only a single rollerball as control and adjustment means. It thus also concerns capability to time set the hands 4 and 5 of the timekeeper by means of such rollerball. Such problem here is resolved in employing the ~unction TIME
which is used for time setting the pager clock~ as has been seen hereinabove. Effectively, the system is arranged in a manner such that when the adjusted time of day has been validated in steps 183 and 1~4 shown on ~igure 11, the hands 4 and S are automatically aligned onto said time of day. Thus, when one returns to the neutral display l12 in proceeding with the validation 129, the timekeeper is set to the time of day by the trace symbolized by 1~6~

It will be noted that the AUTO state is an accessory function which is not indispensable to operation of the pa~er watch. In a simplified version of this latter, it could be omitted. It will be further mentioned that there is provided an automatic return to the waiting mode start-in~ out from any of the selected modes if no manipulation has been ef~ected during th-irty seconds.

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2 ~ 3 It will be further noted that functions 94 to 98 are displayed in line on display 1 of figure 2. It is thus logical that the rollerball be rolled in the horizontal direction X ~ in order to choose the desired function, such rollerball being rolled in the sense ~ if it is a matter of returning towards the left or in the sense if it concerns advancing towards the right.

Figure 12 is a diagram explaining the functions of rollerball 1 of the watch of figure 1, such diagram illus-trating the states of the pager in the message mode.

In order to visualize the messages contained in the memory one after the other, the rollerball is caused to roll in the direction Y ~ . Rolling of the ball in the sense ~130 causes disappearance of the message cell dis-played (for example message n), an older message (message n-1, 142) being substituted for the vanished message.
Inversely, rolling the rollerball in the sense ~ 131 causes disappearance of the message cell displayed (for example message n-1), a more recent message (message n) being substituted for the vanished message.

As the memory is shown constituted by stacked messages, that is to say arranged in a column, it is logical to have the rollerball roll in the vertical direction Y in order to pass from one message to another~

In the case in which a message, message n for example, exceeds the capacity of the display cell, it is possible to have it run past (shift 132) sign by sign, in rolling the rollerball in the direction x ~ 133. If the message exceeds the capacity of the display at the right (see figure 2), an overflow sign 99 is illuminated. In order to read the hidden signs, the rollerball is~ rolled in the sense~
until the sign 99 is extinguished. At such moment the overflow sign 100 is illuminated, indicatlng thereby that , ~' '' .
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the message exceeds the display capacity at the left~
There likew-se it is logical that the rollerball be rolled in the direction x since a message is shown on a horizontal line.

Protection of a message is effected in the following manner. It is supposed that it is desired to protect message n-2 of figure 12, such message appearing under the reference 135 on figure 13. For this a long pressure 136 is exerted on the rollerball, which enables entering into a message treatment phase or menu in which indicators appear PROT 90 and DEL 91. The protection option PROT 90 is then selected by default. One can select then the desired option by rolling 138 ~ the rollerball which operation in fact is not necessary since the indicator PROT is already blinking. Finally, the message protection state is validated by a short pressure 139 on the rollerball, a sign P 137 indicating such state. The indic-ators PROT and DEL have disappeared.

The erasure indicated by the term DELETE or DEL is effected in the following manner: it is supposed that it is desired to erase message n-2 indicated on figure 12, which message is referenced 1 35 on figure 14. For this, a long pressure 136 is exerted on the rollerball, which enables entering a message treatment phase or menu in which the indicator PROT 90 blinks by default, as mentioned in the preaeding paragraph. The option DEL 91 is selected by rolling 140 the rollerball in the sense -~ . The indicator ~EL 91 blinks. Finally, the erase state is validated by a short pressure 141 on the rollerball, the message 135 then disappearing from the display cell on which now appears the more recent message n-1 referenced 142. Figure 12 also shows that starting from the blinking DELETE option, one can either return to the PROTECT option by rolling 143 of the roIlerball in the sense ~ , or return to message n-2 without it being affected, by rolling 144 2 ~ 3 ~

of the rollerball in the sense ~ .

~ s shown by figures 13 and 14, the messages are preced-ed by a serial number 145. Here, as is seen, the protected message bears a P following the serial number.

As is further visible on figure 12, the pager can include arrangements for erasing on request all non-protect-ed messages. In order to proceed with this general deletion symbolized at 150 on figure 12 by CLR ALL, the rollerball is driven by rolling it ~ until the first (the oldest) received message 151 is obtained. From there further rolling ~ 152 is exerted on the rollerball in order to obtain CLR ALL displayed by the cell, which mode is confirmed by exerting a long pressure 153 on the rollerball. At this instant appears the blinking word YES referenced by 154. If there is then exerted a short pressure 155 on the rollerball, the function CLR ALL is effected and all non-protected messages are erased at onoe. It will be noted that during the operation which has just been described, messages could have arrived and thus not yet have been acknowledged. The procedure des-cribed hereinabove does not erase this type of message.
Figure 12 shows further that from the function YES 154 one can cause appearance of a function No 171 in substitution by operating the rollerball in the sense 172 . If the function NO 171 is validated by a short press-ure 173 on the rollerball, there is a return to CLR ALL
without a general erasure. It will be noted that starting from the display NO 171, one can return to YES 154 in operating the rollerball in the sense 174 ~ .

2. Second embodiment Figure 7 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the pager watch according to the invention. Compared to the first embodiment, such second emhodiment includes in :: :
' ' :,,, ~ , addition to the control arrangement 2 by rollerball 1 a second control arrangement 3 by a crown 10. The rollerball is located preferably at 6 o'clock, but could also be placed elsewhere. Crown 10 is preferably situated at 3 o'clock.
In this embodlment, the pager part of the pager watch is controlled by the rollerball 1 accordingto programs ident-ical to those described with reference to the first embod-iment. The timekeeper part which indicates the time of day by means of hands 4 and 5 is on the other hand control-led by the crown 10. There ls thus in this second embodim-ent a clear separation of the timekeeping and pager funct-ions, such separation appearing upon examination of ~igure 10 which is a block schematic of the system.

The pager portion of the figure 10 schematic is similar to that which has been described hereinabove with the ex-ception of circuit 69 which includes only the microcomputer and decoder present in circuit 101 of figure 6. With cir-cuit 69 is associated the rollerball control arrangement 2 which behaves as described having reference to the first embodiment. There is thus no reason to return to it here.

The timekeeping portion of the schematic of figure 10 is completely separated from the pa~er portion and is controlled for itself alone by means of the arrangement 3 including a stem-crown which acts on a watch circuit 75 fitted with its own oscillator 76 and driving a stepping motor by line 77, such motor driving hands ~ and 5 of the watch. The watch circuit 75 can be the same as that assoc-iated with circuit 101 of figure 6 and described with reference to such figure 6.

There remains to be given some indications concerning the control arrangement 3 which is illustrated on figures 8 and 9.

The stem-crown 3 of figure 8 includes a stem 9 on . .
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which is fitted a crown 10. On figure 8, the stem is shown in a neutral or pushed-in position. It can be drawn out axially. On crown 10 may be exerted a rotational movement.
Stem 9 slides in an opening 11 formed in the caseband 12 of the watch case and in a hole 13 formed in an elbowed element 14. The stem includes a groove 15 in which a pack-ing 16 is placed. The stem further includes another groove 17 in which is fitted a lever 18 fixed to a slu~ 19~ Finally the stem comprises a squared off portion 20 adapted to slide in a sliding pinion 21 held axially in place by the elbowed element 14 and by another fixed elbowed element 22. There is further recognized on figures 8 and ~ elements described in the patent document EP-A-0 460 526 already cited, namely the baseplate 23, dial 2~, the first crystal 25 and the second crystal 26.

The sliding pinion 21 includes two stages 80 and 81 and a hole 61 intended to receive the squared portion 20 of stem 9. Each of the stages is formed as des~ribed with reference to the staged cam 50 of figure 5. As is seen on figure 8 and on figure 9 which is a plan view from below o~ figure 8, the elastic conductive blades 29 and 30 bear respectively on stages 80 and 81 of the sliding pinion 21 in a manner such that when the sliding pinion is driven in rotation by the stem, such blades 29 and 30 ent~r alter-nately into contact with respective conductive tracks des-ignated by A and B, such tracks being engraved on a printed circuit 31. Whatever be the axial position of the stem, the sliding pinion 21 remains in place and there will always be contact of blade 29 with track A and of blade 30 with track B, such contacts taking place alternately as already mentioned.

Figures 8 and 9 further show that the stem mechanism includes a switch 32 formed by a conductive blade 33 adapted to come into contact with a conductive track C formed on the printed circuit 31. When the stem is drawn out, ~lade - - ~
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2 ~ ~ ~ G 1~ ~) 33 is drawn by the slug 19 and comes into contact with tracks C thus closing switch 32. The drawn-out position is that of the time setting of the timekeeper while the pushed-in position has no effect thereon. In the drawn-out position switch 32 is closed and if the crown 10 is made to turn, the first 29 and second 30 conductive blades are alternately driven to enter into contact respectively with the first A and second B conductive tracks. Rotation of the crown at an angular velocity less than a predeter-mined velocity enables correction step by step in addition or in subtraction of the minutes indication according to the rotation sense of the crown, while a rotation of the crown at an angular velocity greater than said predetermined velocity enables rapid correction in addition or subtraction of the hours indication by entire time zones according to the rotation sense of the crown. The means employed for such corrections are described in detail in the patent document CH-A-643 427 (US-A-4 398 831), such means being taken up in the second embodiment of the present invention.
It will be added that in this first drawn-out position, correction of the time zone takes as reference the real time which runs starting from activation in the drawn-out position of the crown, means being employed in order to cancel all step by step minutes corrections which could have preceded correction of the time zone, as has been set out in the patent document EP-B-0 175 961 (USA-4 620 797)-If reference is once again had to figure 9, it isnoted that blades 29, 30 and 33 comprise a sole and unique element having a common base 37. Such blades are cut out from a metallic sheet, then folded over at right angles as far as blade 33 is concexned. The three blades are thus found to be connected to a common electrical potential, namely Vpp as appears in the schematic of figure 10.

It has been seen that in this second embodiment the . .

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pager portion is controlled by a roller ball having the same functions as those described with reference to the first embodiment with the exception of time setting of the timepiece which is brought about by means of a stem-crown. There results therefrom that the diagrams of figures 11 and 12 as well as the manipulation programs of figures 13 to l6 remain valid by analogy for such second embodiment.
It will nevertheless be noted that on figure 11, the line 186 should be eliminated since the time setting of hands 4 and 5 is accomplished in another manner.

Claims (12)

1. A timepiece including a timekeeper for displaying at least the hour (4) and the minute (5) by means of hands, a receiver for radio broadcast messages made up of signs, a memory (103) for storing said messages, a cell (7) for displaying at least said messages, an acoustic transducer (8) and a control arrangement (2, 3), characterized in that the control arrangement includes at least a rollerball (1) emerging partially from the caseband with which the timepiece is provided, said rollerball being adapted to be manually rolled in a first direction (Y) thanks to which at least the messages contained in the memory can be displ-ayed one after the other, and in a second direction (X), substantially perpendicular to the first, thanks to which at least functions of turn-on, turn-off or entry into a special operating mode of the receiver can be chosen, said rollerball furthermore being adapted to be manually pressed against the return force of a spring in a third direction (Z), perpendicular to the other two, thanks to which the displayed message can at least be erased or protected.

2. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the rollerball control arrangement is adapted to drive alternately first (44) and second (45) conductive blades which enter respectively into contact with first (E1) and second (F1) conductive tracks when the rollerball is rolled in the first direction (Y) and to drive altern-ately third (46) and fourth (47) blades which enter respec-tively into contact with third (E2) and fourth (F2) conduct-ive tracks when the rollerball is rolled in the second direction (X) and to close a switch (35) when the rollerball is pressed in the third direction (Z).

3. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the messages contained in the memory (103) are stacked over one another, the oldest at the bottom and the most recent at the top of the stack, a zone (110, 160) with no message, forming a neutral display when pres-ented, surmounting the most recent message, and in that the memory can contain a limited number of messages in a manner such that if the memory is full a new entering message provokes the loss of the oldest message, if such message is not protected.

4. A timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that if the rollerball (1) is rolled in the first direct-ion (Y) and if the memory contains contains several messages (n), said messages appear one after another on the display, from the most recent (n) to the oldest (1) when the roller-ball is rolled in a sense (?) running from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock on the timepiece display and from the oldest (1) to the most recent (n) if the rollerball is rolled in a sense (?) running from 6 o'clock to 12 o'clock on the timepiece display and that if the rollerball is rolled in the second direction (X) the displayed message runs past character after character in one sense (?) or in the other (?) according to the sense in which the rollerball is rolled whenever the contents of the message exceed the capacity of the display cell (7).

5. A timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that in order to protect or to erase a message appearing on the display cell (7), the rollerball (1) is pressed in the third direction (Z) during a period greater than a predetermined period in order to enter a phase in which the protection function (PROT) or the erase function (DEL) can be chosen by rolling the rollerball in the second dir-ection (X), said chosen function appearing on the display and capable then of being validated for the displayed mess-age in exercising a further pressure on the rollerball during a period less than said predetermined period.

6. A timepiece according to claim 5, characterized in that it futhermore includes means (CLR ALL) arranged to erase on request all non-protected messages.

7. A timepiece according to claim 3, characterized in that starting from said neutral display ( 110, 160) the timepiece can be turned on, turned off or brought into a standby state in which received messages are at least stored in the memory (103) by pressing on the rollerball (1) in the third direction (Z) during a period greater than a predetermined period in order to enter a phase in which the turn-on function (ON), the turn-off function (OFF) or the standby function (MUTE) can be chosen by roll-ing the rollerball in the second direction (Y), said chosen function appearing on the display and being then capable of validation, for the chosen function, by exercising a further pressure on the rollerball during a period less than said predetermined period.

8. A timepiece according to claim 7, characterized in that the display cell can additionally be brought into an operating mode for which, following pressure on the rollerball during a period greater than a predetermined period, the time of day (TIME) is displayed so as to be adapted for correction by rolling the rollerball in the second direction (X), then validated by pressure on the rollerball during a period less than said predetermined period.

9. A timepiece according to claim 8, characterized in that it further includes means (AUTO) for turning it on and turning it off at times of day chosen by the user.

10. A timepiece according to claim 8, characterized in that the validation (129) of the time of day by pressure on the rollerball simultaneously brings about time setting of the hands (4, 5) of the timepiece.

11. A timepiece according to claim 1, characterized in that the control arrangement (2, 3) further includes a stem-crown ((9, 10) by means of which the timepiece can be set to the time of day, the rollerball control arrangement (1) being used only for controlling the radio-broadcast message receiver.

12. A timepiece according to claim 11, characterized in that the stem-crown (9. 10) can be placed into at least two different axial positions, a first drawn-out position in which the timepiece can be set to the time of day by rotation of the crown and a second pushed-in position for which rotation of the crown has no effect, the first drawn-out position being arranged to close a switch (32) and to drive alternately first (29) and second (30) conductive blades which respectively enter into contact with first (A) and second (B) conductive tracks when the crown is driven in rotation, the second pushed-in position being arranged to open said switch.