Timepiece Display Mechanism with Jumping Hands
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mechanical timepieces lack innovative display mechanisms for indicating hours and minutes, often relying on traditional hour and minute hands, which may not provide unique or engaging visual experiences.
Innovation Solution
A timepiece with a display device featuring 11 hour hands that rotate 180 degrees and 59 minute hands that rotate 40 degrees, driven by a jumping mechanism with a retrograde drive system, allowing for a unique display of time information with the option to show a logo at noon and midnight, and a mechanism for repositioning minute hands to hide them from view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional hour and minute hands are used to indicate time, then the timepiece is easy to manufacture and operate, but the display lacks originality and visual engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous circular dial is segmented into discrete positions (e.g., 12 positions for hours, 60 positions for minutes). Instead of a single continuous hand, multiple discrete indicators are used, each corresponding to a specific time position, creating a segmented display approach that enhances originality while managing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The display mechanism incorporates dynamic elements such as rotating indicators, jumping hands, or moving markers that transition between positions. This dynamic behavior replaces static traditional hands, providing visual engagement and originality through motion while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized mechanical components
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple display members are used to show different time information, then the visual representation becomes more engaging, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple display members are designed to perform multiple functions. For example, the same mechanical drive system controls both hour and minute indicators, and the display members can serve both as time indicators and as aesthetic elements. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while enhancing display versatility
Solution Approach 2:
The display mechanism employs a nested structure where multiple indicators are arranged concentrically or hierarchically. Smaller minute indicators are nested within the broader hour indicator framework, allowing multiple time information displays to coexist in a compact arrangement that manages complexity through spatial organization
3Loss of information
If the display members are always visible, then the time information is continuously displayed, but the aesthetic appeal is reduced when not in use
Solution Approach 1:
The display members incorporate dynamic visibility control through mechanisms such as retractable hands, rotating indicators that can be positioned in or out of view, or markers that appear/disappear based on time conditions. This dynamic visibility management allows the timepiece to switch between information display mode and aesthetic mode, resolving the contradiction between continuous visibility and aesthetic flexibility
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4A
Figure 4B~4C
AI summary
The invention relates to a timepiece comprising a clock movement equipped with a display mechanism for information driven from a power take-off, said display mechanism comprising N display elements (10) of said information distributed regularly over a diameter of the movement.The said N display members (10) are each pivoted on a drive axis perpendicular to the movement, allowing them to take different first and second radial positions relative to the center of movement. The display members (10) are driven successively in time by common jumping first annular drive means (109) so that each display member (10) passes successively from the first position to the second position and is maintained in this second position until the end of a cycle in which all the display members (10) are in their second position, and second annular drive means (115) are arranged to reposition all the display members (10) in their first position at the beginning of a following cycle.