Removable Watch Face Housing with Protected Hands
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interchangeable wristwatch faces are not user-friendly and often damage the watch hands due to exposure when changing the watch face, as they require non-professional handling and are not suitable for frequent or safe replacement.
Innovation Solution
A wristwatch design featuring a removable upper housing with transparent panels and a drive shaft that protects the hands, allowing for easy and safe interchange of watch faces with a memory element and flat panel display, using a secure coupling mechanism that maintains the watch face's orientation without exposing the hands to risk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the watch housing is opened to allow access to the watch face, then the watch face can be changed, but the hour, minute and second hands become exposed and are likely to be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The upper housing is divided into separable top and bottom parts that can be removed as a unit, allowing the watch face to be changed while keeping the hands protected within the segmented housing structure
Solution Approach 2:
The replaceable watch face is nested within the upper housing assembly, which itself is nested within the casing. The hands are nested within the protected chamber formed by the transparent panels and side walls, allowing multiple layers of protection while enabling face replacement
2Ease of operation
If a slit is provided in the side wall for sliding the watch face, then the watch face can be replaced, but the drive shaft requires a notch that complicates the structure
Solution Approach 1:
The drive shaft and hands are extracted from the traditional integrated structure and placed within a separate upper housing assembly. This allows the watch face to be replaced by removing the entire upper housing unit rather than manipulating individual components through a slit
Solution Approach 2:
The upper housing is merged as an integral unit containing the transparent panels, side walls, drive shaft means, and hands. This unified structure simplifies the replacement process by treating the entire assembly as a single removable component rather than separate parts requiring complex alignment
3Reliability
If the hands are protected within the casing, then they are safe from damage, but the watch face cannot be easily changed
Solution Approach 1:
The upper housing transitions from a fixed protective enclosure to a dynamically removable assembly. The releasable coupling mechanism allows the housing to switch between a secure closed state (protecting hands) and an open separable state (enabling watch face replacement)
Data Source
AI summary
A wristwatch including a casing having top and bottom parts and a movement therein, an upper housing, a replaceable watch face and a means for releasably securing the upper housing to the top part of the casing. The upper housing is formed as an integral unit, and includes top and bottom transparent panels, a drive shaft means extending through the bottom transparent panel, the drive shaft means having top and bottom ends, time indicating hands fixed to the top ends of the drive shaft means, and side walls fixed to and maintaining the top and bottom transparent panels spaced apart to define a chamber therein for enclosing the time indicating hands. The replaceable watch face includes a memory element, and a flat panel display disposed over the memory element. The replaceable watch face is situated below the bottom transparent panel and above the casing top part, and the bottom end of the drive shaft means is releasably coupled to the movement.