Abstract:
A programmable watch winding apparatus includes a user interface for users to input a winding number and rotational direction of turns the programmable watch winding apparatus performs to wind a mechanical watch, and a control unit controlling a transmission device to rotate a rotatory base according to the users&#39; input. Thereby, the programmable watch winding apparatus is fully controlled to automatically wind the mechanical watch carried thereon.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a watch winding apparatuses for automatically winding mechanical watches. More particularly, the present invention relates to a programmable watch winding apparatus that autumnally winds mechanical watches in a fully controlled manner. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    A watch winding apparatus is designed for automatically winding mechanical watches. Mechanical watches are wound by kinetic energy created from human hands&#39; movement. Watch winding apparatuses have thus been developed for performing particular operation to substitute for human hands and keep mechanical watched wound during periods of non-use. 
         [0005]    A known orbital watch-winding apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,270. The orbital watch-winding apparatus includes a base unit and a mandrel rotatably mounted to the base unit. A watch is supported on the outer surface of the mandrel. When activated, the watch moves in a circular path. The orbital motion of the watch causes the self-winding mechanism to swing back and forth to simulate the effect produced by normal arm movements when the watch is worn by a user. 
         [0006]    The known orbital watch-winding apparatus operates in a time-based manner. For example, it may be set to operate for a time period, such as 20 or 30 minutes, so as to continuously wind a watch carried thereon during the time period. However, the rotational rate of a motor in the orbital watch-winding apparatus may be subject to the changeable supply voltage and unlikely to remain constant. Consequently, the number of turns performed by the orbital watch-winding apparatus during a preset time period cannot be accurately controlled and thus the watch may be over-wound or under-wound. 
         [0007]    Besides, operational vibration of the orbital watch-winding apparatus may damage the apparatus itself or the watch thereon. In addition, the mechanism may be damaged when the mandrel receives an outward force counter to its rotational direction or an additional co-rotating force excessively accelerating rotation of the mandrel. However, the prior art provides no approach to addressing the problems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    One objective of the present invention is to provide a programmable watch winding apparatus that winds a mechanical watch by rotating the mechanical watch in a predetermined direction by a predetermined number of turns, and prevents the mechanical watch from over-winding or under-winding. 
         [0009]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide a programmable watch winding apparatus that buffs mechanical resonance so as to operate with less operational noise and protect a mechanical watch carried thereon from vibration-induced damage. 
         [0010]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide a programmable watch winding apparatus that is equipped with cushion components for protecting reduction gears in a transmission device thereof from being damaged when imposed with an outward reverse force or an additional co-rotating force excessively accelerating rotation thereof. 
         [0011]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide a programmable watch winding apparatus that implements a control unit to control a number of winding turns and stop operating when a predetermined number is reached so as to ensure the mechanical watch wound sufficiently and eliminate over-winding and under-winding. 
         [0012]    The programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention includes a user interface that allows a user to operate and input a rotational direction and a number of winding turns. The programmable watch winding apparatus also includes a control unit that drives the transmission device of the programmable watch winding apparatus to rotate a rotatory base for the preset number of winding turns. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a transmission device of the programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is an assembled view of the transmission device of the programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a control module of the programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing of a user interface according to the present invention; and 
           [0020]      FIGS. 7 and 8  are applied views of the user interface according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0021]    While a preferred embodiment provided hereinafter for illustrating the concept of the present invention as described above, it is to be understood that the components of the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings are depicted for the sake of easy explanation and need not to be made in scale. 
         [0022]    Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for a programmable watch winding apparatus of the present invention. The programmable watch winding apparatus includes a box  50 , a gear motor  10 , a rotatory base  11 , a sensor  12 , a user interface  20 , and a control unit  30 . 
         [0023]    The box  50  has an inclined partition  51  that separates the box  50  into an inward part  52  and an outward part  53 . The box  50  is provided with a liftable cover  55  that serves to close the outward part  53  when affixed to the box  50 . 
         [0024]    The transmission device  10  is fixed to an inner surface  511  of the partition  51  and positioned in the inward part  52 . A driving shaft  101  of the transmission device  10  pierces through the partition  51  and becomes exposes in the outward part  53 . 
         [0025]    The rotatory base  11  is connected with the driving shaft  101  of the transmission device  10  and positioned in the inward part  52  so that a mechanical watch (not shown) can be mounted therearound. 
         [0026]    The sensor  12  is provided about the transmission device  10  for sensing the turns of the driving shaft  105  of the transmission device  10 . The sensor  12  may be realized by any known optical encoder. 
         [0027]    The user interface  20  includes a display unit  21  and an input unit  25  that are provided at a surface of the box  50  for users to easily view and operate the same. 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the transmission device  10  is fixed to the partition  51  by a seat  13 . A cushion pad  14  is provided at a border between the seat  13  and the partition  51  for buffing impact and reducing the vibration the transmission device  10  imparts to the partition  51  when the transmission device  10  is actuated. As a result, the entire box  50  performs less resonance while the operational noise of the programmable watch winding apparatus is also reduced. Meantime, since the vibration the transmission device  10  imparts to the partition  51  is reduced, the programmable watch winding apparatus is unlikely to damage watches. 
         [0029]    In the transmission device  10 , the driving shaft  101  is rotated in a predetermined rotation rate by a motor  102  through a reduction gear box  103  so as to drive the rotatory base  11  connected thereto. A flexible sleeve  104  is mounted around the reduction gear box  103 . The flexible sleeve  104  is positioned inside the seat  13  and abutting against an inner wall of the seat  13 . An output shaft  105  of the reduction gear box  103  is shielded by a flexible axis guide  106 . The flexible axis guide  106  has a polygonal shape for mating a polygonal hole  107  formed in a coupler  108  of the driving shaft  101  and abutting against an inner wall of the coupler  108 . The sleeve  104  services for buffer and shock absorption, so as to protect the precise gears in the reduction gear box  103  from being affected by operational vibration of the motor  102  or the rotatory base  11 . The axis guide  106  ensures close combination between the output shaft  105  and the driving shaft  101  so as to eliminate the problem related to idle running of the output shaft  105  and ensure that the rotatory base  11  connected with the driving shaft  101  performs predetermined terms. However, when the rotatory base  11  is rotated by an outward force reverse to or along with the rotational direction of the output shaft  105 , the driving shaft  101  has the coupler  108  rotating about the axis guide  106  under a resistance. Thus, the undesired outward force is blocked from reaching the output shaft  105 , so as to protect the precise gears in the reduction gear box  103 . 
         [0030]      FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate the user interface  20 . The display unit  21  of the user interface  20  displays information related to the performed turns of the rotatory base  11  or remained turns to be performed by the rotatory base  11 , and the rotational direction. The turns are displayed in numerical forms while the rotational direction is shown by figurative symbols. The input unit  25  includes a plurality of buttons for users to operate and thus input instructions related to the turns and directions. 
         [0031]    The control unit  30  is coupled with the user interface  20  and the transmission device  10  for receiving and processing the instructions input from the input unit  25 , controlling the driving shaft  101  of the transmission device  10  to rotate in a predetermined direction, receiving and processing signals related to turns output by the sensor  12 , and stopping the transmission device  10  when the rotatory base  11  has performed a particular number of turns. The control unit  30  also exhibits the turns input by users, performed turns, and turns to be performed at the display unit  21 . 
         [0032]    The display unit  21  is an LCD screen that includes a main display area  211 , a direction display area  212 , an instruction area  213  and a time area  214 . 
         [0033]    The main display area  211  acts as an electronic clock telling the current time in an “hour: minute” format or shows the performed turns (or turns to be performed). For example, 23:10 indicates that the current time is ten minutes after eleven o&#39;clock. In another example, 25:00 means the turns for the rotatory base  11  to perform is 25 turns. 
         [0034]    The direction display area  212  uses figurative symbols to describe the present rotational direction. 
         [0035]    The instruction area  213  displays phrases of relevant instructions, such as REMAIN (turns to be performed), CLOCK (clock), and SETUP (setting). For example, when it is the current time shown in the main area  211 , the instruction area  213  presents the phrase “CLOCK”. When it is the turns to be performed shown in the main area  211 , the instruction area  213  presents the phrase “REMAIN”. When a setup button  254  is pressed, the instruction area  213  presents “SETUP”. 
         [0036]    The time area  214  shows time in the format of AM, PM or 24H. 
         [0037]    The input unit  25  comprises a turn button  251 , a switch button  252 , a light button  253 , and the previously mentioned setup button  254 . 
         [0038]    The turn button  251  is associated with actuation of the transmission device  10 . 
         [0039]    The switch button  252  is used to control the main display area  211  to present the remained turns or the current time. 
         [0040]    The light button  253  can be operated to turn on or off a light  15  for illuminating the outward part  53  of the box  50 . 
         [0041]    After the setup button  254  is pressed, the turn button  251  turns to serve for mode selection and the switch button  252  turns to serve for adding numbers “UP” while the light button  253  turns to serve for reducing numbers “DOWN”. At this time, upon pressing the turn button  251  the hour, minute, time format (AM/PM/24 hours), right turns, and left turns can be successively set by adding or reducing numbers with the “UP” or “DOWN” buttons  252 ,  253 . 
         [0042]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , when the turn button  251  is pressed for the first time, the right turn symbol in the direction area  212  is lighted up and the main display area  211  presents the phrase of “REMAIN”. Afterward, the transmission device  10  starts to rotate right, while the sensor  12  detecting the turns the rotatory base  11  performs. The number of “REMAIN” counted down with the additional turns the rotatory base  11  performs, until the number becomes zero and the programmable watch winding apparatus stops. In this manner, the programmable watch winding apparatus operates every 30 minutes, namely 48 times a day. 
         [0043]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , when the turn button  251  is pressed for the second time, the left turn symbol in the direction area  212  is lighted up and the transmission device  10  starts to rotate left while the operation of the sensor  12  and display are similar to those described in the above paragraph. 
         [0044]    When the turn button  251  is pressed for the third time, the dual-direction turn symbol in the direction area  212  is lighted up and the transmission device  10  starts to rotate right for the preset turns and at the next 30-minute points starts to rotate left for the preset turns. 
         [0045]    The known winding device operates on a time-counting base. For example, the motor operates continuously for 20 or 30 minutes. However, during the continuous operation period, the number of turns is uncontrollable and tends to vary with the changing rotation speed caused by the voltage difference. As the present invention differently operates upon winding turns, the number of turns can be perfectly controlled and thus the problem related to insufficient or over winding can be eliminated. 
         [0046]    The present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment and it is understood that the embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Moreover, as the contents disclosed herein should be readily understood and can be implemented by a person skilled in the art, all equivalent changes or modifications which do not depart from the concept of the present invention should be encompassed by the appended claims.