Universal Timepiece Winter-Summer Switching Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Universal timepieces fail to accurately account for time zone changes due to variations in daylight saving time practices across different regions, leading to incorrect time indications in atypical situations, especially when changes occur on different dates or not at all.
Innovation Solution
A universal timepiece with a counter for days of the week driving a rotating actuator to automatically adjust geographical indications for daylight saving time changes, ensuring accurate timekeeping by shifting dial sectors between winter and summer time positions based on predefined dates, primarily occurring on weekends.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual adjustment of geographical indications is used, then users can change time zones, but users must keep track of daylight saving dates which increases operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automatic adjustment of geographical indications through a counter that tracks days of the week and automatically shifts dial sectors between winter and summer time positions, eliminating the need for users to manually track daylight saving dates and reducing operational complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-programs the counter with predetermined dates for daylight saving time changes, allowing the system to automatically prepare and execute time zone adjustments in advance without requiring user intervention or knowledge of specific dates
2Ease of manufacture
If fixed date adjustment is used, then time changes are simple to implement, but time indications become incorrect when daylight saving dates vary by region
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different adjustment rules to different geographical indications on the dial, allowing each region to have its specific daylight saving time pattern while maintaining a unified automatic adjustment mechanism, thus achieving both manufacturing simplicity and regional accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a counter that tracks days of the week and automatically changes the operational parameters of the dial sectors, switching between winter and summer time configurations based on predetermined dates, thereby maintaining reliability across varying regional schedules
3Measurement precision
If automatic counter-driven adjustment is used, then time zone accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the counter mechanism, actuator, and dial sector adjustment system into an integrated automatic time zone indication device, where the counter drives the actuator which in turn adjusts the geographical indications, reducing overall system complexity through functional merging
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the counter and actuator mechanism to serve multiple functions: tracking days of the week, determining daylight saving dates, and automatically adjusting multiple geographical indications simultaneously, thereby achieving high precision without proportionally increasing device complexity
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
The universal timepiece includes a winter/summer switching mechanism (27, 29, 31, 25, 19, 19H, 19E, 20, 20H, 20E, 21, 21E, 21H, 22, 22E, 22H, 23, 23E, 23H, 11, 11A, 12, 12A, 13, 13A, 14, 14A, 15, 15A, 17) arranged to be driven intermittently by the movement to selectively shift certain geographical indications displayed on the dial (3) by 1/24th of a turn, so as to change the local time associated with these geographical indications by one hour when switching from winter time to summer time or from summer time to daylight saving time. winter.