Watch provided with a display lighting device

Abstract

The invention relates to a watch with a display lighting device. The watch comprises a display; a watch cover (6) arranged above the display and having an active area (9) through which a watch user can see the display; and a lighting device comprising at least one electroluminescent unit (14a) arranged below the watch mirror and formed by at least one light source, in particular an LED or OLED. According to the invention, the at least one electroluminescent unit is supplied with power from peripheral contact regions (30a to 30d) superimposed on the mirror edge via conductor pads (22g to 22j) made of a transparent conductor material, said conductor pads covering all of the active areas except for gaps (26a to 26d) for separating the conductor plates at least in the active areas. A significant feature is that each gap separates two adjacent conductor regions and its width (especially less than 100 [mu] m, preferably less than 50 [mu] m) is such that the watch user cannot perceive the gap at a distance of about 30 cm under normal ambient light.

Description

The invention relates to a watch comprising a display, a glass (6) arranged above the display and having a usable region (9) through which a watch user can view the display, and a lighting device comprising at least one electroluminescent unit (14a) arranged under the glass and formed by at least one light source, in particular of the LED or OLED type. Said at least one electroluminescent unit is powered from peripheral contact areas (30a to 30d) located superimposed on the edge of the glass, via conductive areas (22g to 22j) of transparent conductive material, which cover the entire usable region except for gaps (26a to 26d) separating said conductive areas, at least within said usable region. Remarkably, each gap separates two adjacent conductive areas and has a width, notably less than 100 µm and preferably less than 50 µm, which makes this gap imperceptible at about 30 cm, in normal ambient light, to a user of the watch.

Claims

1. A watch (2, 42) comprising: Display (12); watch face (6), the watch face being arranged above the display and having an effective area (9) through which the watch user can see the display; And an illumination device comprising at least one electroluminescent unit (14, 14a, 14b) disposed below the watch face and above the display, the electroluminescent unit being formed by at least one light source, the light source being, in particular, an LED or an OLED; characterized in that the at least one electroluminescent unit obtains power from peripheral contact areas (20a, 20b; 20c to 20f; 22g to 22j; 22g to 22k; 22p, 22n) via conductive pads (22a, 22b; 22c to 22f; 22g to 22j; 22g to 22k; 22p, 22n) made of a transparent conductive material, the peripheral contact areas being stacked axially. The conductive pads are arranged in a manner outside the effective area, with the conductive pads covering at least the entire lower portion of the effective area of ​​the mirror, except at a gap (26) separating the two conductive pads (22a, 22b) in the case of a single electroluminescent unit (14) having only two power contacts, or at multiple gaps (26a to 26d; 28) separating the conductive pads in the case of multiple electroluminescent units (14b) or a single electroluminescent unit (14a) having at least three power contacts; wherein each gap (26; 26a to 26d; 28) separates two adjacent conductive pads and has a width less than or substantially equal to two hundred micrometers.

2. The watch of claim 1, wherein, The width is less than one hundred micrometers.

3. The watch of claim 1, wherein, The width is less than fifty micrometers.

4. The watch according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, In the case of a single electroluminescent unit (14) with only two power contacts, the two conductor pads (22a, 22b) each extend over almost half of the effective area (9) of the watch mirror.

5. The watch according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, In the case of multiple electroluminescent units (14b) or one electroluminescent unit (14a) having at least three power contacts, the individual conductor pads (22d to 22f; 22h to 22j; 22h to 22k) in the conductor pads are configured such that each of the individual conductor pads has substantially the same resistance between the corresponding peripheral contact area (20d to 20f; 30b to 30d; 30b to 30e; 30n) and the corresponding power contact on the one or multiple electroluminescent units, each of the individual conductor pads being electrically connected to a single power contact associated with a single light source.

6. The watch of claim 5, wherein, A common conductor pad (22c; 22g; 22p) is configured to have a lower resistance than the individual conductor pads, and the common conductor pad is connected to multiple power contacts and / or associated with multiple light sources (14b) connected to the same power contact.

7. The watch according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The peripheral contact areas are arranged at intervals along the periphery of the watch face.

8. The watch according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The peripheral contact areas are arranged in a single connecting segment (29) that extends over less than a quarter of the perimeter (7), preferably over less than an eighth of the perimeter, wherein the peripheral contact areas are arranged in a row.

9. The watch according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The conductor pad is formed by a structured conductor layer (16) deposited on the lower surface (8) of the mirror (6); the at least one electroluminescent unit (14, 14a) is attached to the conductor pad.

10. The watch according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The conductor pad is formed by a structured conductor layer (16) deposited on the upper surface of the transparent substrate (44), and the at least one electroluminescent unit (14b) is attached to the conductor pad; the transparent substrate is glued to the lower surface (8) of the mirror (6) and covers the at least one electroluminescent unit.

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