Watch including a built-in microphone in the watchcase

A watch (1) has a microphone (16) placed in a watchcase (2), a bracelet (3) with two end parts respectively attached to two opposite sides of the case and at least one through aperture (7) made in a lateral wall (12) of the case. The through aperture defines a first sound wave guide channel, and opens into the case in the direction of said microphone. The microphone is connected in the case to a sound wave processing unit circuit (19) for voice recognition. The watch further includes an audio guide member (6) fitted with a second open sound wave guide channel that comes into direct contact with the external surface of the lateral wall of the case across an area (13) that extends on either side of the aperture so as to guide the sound waves towards said first channel. This guide member may be made in an end part of the bracelet. In this manner, any interference from reflecting cavities, edges or surfaces in said area close to the aperture can be removed or attenuated.

This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. 08168370.8 filed Nov. 5, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a watch that has a built-in microphone in the watchcase. The watch also includes a wristband or bracelet that has two end parts, respectively attached to two opposite sides of the case, and at least one through aperture made in a lateral wall of the case to define a first sound wave guide channel. This through aperture opens into the case in the direction of said microphone, for the reception of sound waves by the microphone. A sound wave processing unit circuit is arranged in the case and connected to the microphone, used for voice recognition, for example.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A microphone placed inside a watchcase may be used for recognising the watch user's voice. The microphone must thus be able to perform reproducible voice recording regardless of the position of the watch worn on a user's wrist. Further, the voice recording by the microphone must not depend upon the distance between the watch when worn and the user's skin, if the bracelet is tight or loose. Moreover, the possible influence of obstacles in the watch user's surroundings, i.e. furniture, walls or other objects, must be minimised as far as possible.

Acquisition of an audio signal by a watch may be influenced by reflective surfaces that generate echoes. These reflective surfaces may be, for example, a table, walls, the watch user himself, or prominent parts of the middle part of the watchcase. Signal acquisition may also be influenced by cavities that generate resonance, for example between the watchcase and the arm or between the horns of the case and the bracelet.

Another particular situation is when voice recognition is performed with the watch on a base attached to a computer. Significant reflections can be generated on the table and can alter the features of the audio signal that is recorded as the reference for future recognition when the watch is worn on the wrist. This leads to a very poor recognition rate, which is a drawback.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of the invention to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks by providing a watch that includes a built-in microphone in the case for optimum voice recognition, while minimising external influences as far as possible.

The invention therefore concerns a watch that includes a built-in microphone in the case, connected to a sound wave processing unit circuit, placed inside a watchcase, a bracelet having two end parts, respectively attached to two opposite sides of the case and at least one through aperture, which is made in a lateral wall of the case, to define a first sound wave guide, and which opens into the case in the direction of said microphone, for the reception of sound waves by the microphone, wherein the watch further includes an audio guide member fitted with a second open sound wave guide channel, said guide member coming into direct contact with the external surface of the lateral wall of the case, across an area that extends on either side of the aperture, to guide the sound waves towards said first channel, so as to remove or attenuate any interference from reflecting cavities, edges or surfaces in said area close to the aperture.

Particular embodiments of the watch are defined in the dependent claims2to10.

One advantage of the watch according to the invention lies in the fact that the second sound wave guide channel, made in an audio guide member, guides the sound waves in the direction of the first channel in the through aperture without being influenced by cavities, edges, or surfaces that reflect sound waves and create interference. In order to do this, the audio guide member comes into direct contact with the external surface of the lateral wall of the case, on an area that extends on either side of the aperture. This enables, for example, a sound wave processing unit circuit, connected to the microphone and integrated in the case, to perform high quality voice recognition.

The guide member may advantageously be an end part of the bracelet connected to the case. This end part of the bracelet may be made of rubbery material that is compressed against the external surface of the lateral wall between two horns of the lateral case wall.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, all of the elements that conventionally make up a wristwatch type watch, which are well known to those skilled in the art in this technical field, will only be described in a simplified manner.

Watch1according to the invention is shown inFIGS. 1 to 3, which show a partial top view, a partial side view and a partial, diametral cross-section in the 6 o'clock-12 o'clock direction of the wristwatch.

Watch1is of the wristwatch type and has a strap or bracelet3, which has two end parts, respectively attached to two opposite sides of the case, between two horns11of a lateral wall12of case2. The watch essentially includes at least one microphone16, which is connected to a sound wave processing unit circuit19. Microphone16and processing unit circuit19, which is placed on a printed circuit board14, are arranged inside case2. Preferably, the microphone is positioned in one part of the middle part of case2, i.e. in a lateral wall12of the case.

Watch1may include, in a conventional manner, one or more control buttons8on one side of lateral wall12of case2, a tactile glass10fitted with various transparent electrodes, time indicator hands15on a dial5, which are driven by motor means18, an LCD liquid crystal display device4for displaying various data, and a battery or an accumulator17in the bottom of the case. Printed circuit board14may include several other electronic components, which are not described, for performing various conventional watch functions, including a time base circuit for driving the motor means.

One or several through apertures7are made in the lateral wall12of the case. The aperture or group of apertures7define a first sound wave guide channel, and open out into case2in the direction of said microphone16, for the reception of sound waves by the microphone. Preferably, the circular through aperture(s)7are made in a plate in the form of a cover9in lateral wall12, which is secured in a water-resistant manner in a cavity of the lateral wall. The number of through apertures can be for example equal to 4. A sealing membrane20may be placed between the microphone and through apertures7of plate9to protect the microphone from environmental constraints.

Watch1mainly includes an audio guide member, which may be integral with lateral wall12of the case, or preferably be one of the end parts of bracelet3. This audio guide member is fitted with a second sound wave guide channel6. Across an area13that extends on either side of through aperture(s)7, said guide member comes into direct contact with the external surface of lateral case wall12, so as to guide the sound waves towards said first channel. In this way, any interference from reflecting cavities, edges or surfaces is removed or attenuated in said area13, close to the aperture(s).

If the sound waves are voice waves, better voice recognition can be performed by processing unit circuit19, which is connected to microphone16. The processing unit circuit can be directly connected to a memory unit, which contains personal data or stored commands. One or several vocal commands, spoken by the watch user and recognised by the processing unit circuit, can perform various operations or functions in the watch. More specific features of this kind of processing unit circuit combined with a microprocessor unit are defined in CH Patent No. 644 246, which is incorporated herein by reference.

At least the end parts of bracelet3of watch1are made of a rubbery material. This enables each end part of the bracelet to be mounted on two opposite sides of lateral wall12between two respective horns11of the lateral wall. Each end part of the bracelet is held in a fixed position with no rotation between the two horns11, compressed against the external surface of lateral wall12. One of the end parts of bracelet3can be used as audio guide member and thus comes into direct contact across an area13that extends either side of through aperture(s)7. This area13also extends over the inner portions of horns11.

The end part of the bracelet, used as audio guide member, includes a second open sound wave guide channel6. This second open channel includes a cone-shaped portion, the axis of which is preferably arranged in the direction of a central reception area of microphone16. The contact line of the second sound wave guide channel with the external surface of lateral wall12is U-shaped, and the base of the U defines an arc of a circle, centred relative to a through aperture for receiving sound waves, or relative to a group of through apertures7made in the lateral wall.

The second sound wave guide channel, which has cone-shaped portion and is made in the end part of the bracelet, is open on the side of a watch glass10, i.e. on the side of the bracelet that is visible to the watch user. This second guide channel is thus arranged in the 6 o'clock indication position of an analogue time display. The top surface of the audio guide member on each side of the aperture of the second guide channel lies in the extension of the top surface of the two horns11. This also prevents any interference from cavities or edges and ensures good sound wave reception through the first sound wave guide channel.

To ensure minimum influence from the immediate surroundings of microphone16, the latter is placed, as indicated above, in the direction of the user, preferably at 6 o'clock. The microphone is protected by the bracelet, one end part of which forms the audio guide member. This audio guide member includes the second acoustic horn channel for masking any interference from the user's arm and other possible sources. The second sound wave guide channel thus formed in the audio guide member can favour a conical space C between watch microphone16and the user's mouth. However, it should be remembered that this does not form a barrier against all surrounding sounds in this field of acoustics, but it can prevent any interference from reflecting obstacles close to through aperture(s)7.

Moreover, to favour the position of the watch in the vocal axis by the user, data is displayed on the LCD display device4of watch1. This makes the user to align the watch in the direction of microphone16by reading the text on display device4.

If watch1is placed on a base (not shown) resting on a table, the base should be raised to increase the distance from the table and thus reduce echoes. Moreover, the base is made with the fewest possible obstacles on the main acoustic path between microphone16and the user's mouth.

In addition to microphone16and sound wave processing unit circuit19for voice recognition, watch1may include a tactile glass10, whose transparent electrodes are connected to another electrode signal processing circuit, which is not shown. In such case, watch operations or functions can be performed by a vocal command or by a command activated by a finger placed on at least one electrode of the tactile glass. More specific features concerning the combination of the two control means are disclosed in WO Patent No. 2004/054213, which is incorporated herein by reference.

From the description that has just been given, those skilled in the art can devise several variants of the watch with a microphone arranged inside the case, without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the claims. Several microphones may be provided, for example, two microphones arranged in the middle part in diametrically opposite positions at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock. With two microphones, two acoustic guide members may be provided, each made in one of the respective end parts of the bracelet. The end parts of the bracelet may be made of plastic or another metallic or insulating material, for example.