Patents Assigned to Citizen Watch Company Limited
  • Patent number: 4509421
    Abstract: A printer head of improved design for a dot line printer, for high speed data printout. The printer head features independent magnetic circuits for driving each of the printer needles which form printed dots, with the magnetic circuits acting on armatures carrying the printer stylus, the armatures being mounted on the free ends of leaf springs. The leaf springs can be designed for optimum performance, irrespective of magnetic circuit considerations, and the head assembly is based on a lightweight non-magnetic frame. Substantially higher printing speeds than have hitherto been possible are attainable, due to reduced heat buildup in the drive coils, reduced interference between adjacent magnetic circuits, and optimized spring performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1985
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Toshio Kurihara, Masao Kunita, Makoto Yasunaga, Katuya Masuda, Takashi Moriya, Seiichi Oosawa
  • Patent number: 4503606
    Abstract: An automatic assembly machine having multiple assembling heads in which a multiplicity of parts are assembled on a principal part at different positions, characterized by comprising a movable table carrying the principal part, and a plurality of assembling heads, fixedly disposed above the table along the area of movement thereof, for feeding and assembling different parts, said table being driven under the control of a numerical control device for operating on the coordinates of a position corresponding to a selected one of said assembling heads and on the coordinates of positions on the principal part at which the parts are to be assembled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 12, 1985
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Honda, Katumi Ueno, Genichi Nishizaki, Harumi Kitahara, Hiroshi Kamioka
  • Patent number: 4504048
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed which enables a controlled member (e.g. a workpiece retaining member in a jig) to be adjusted in position by extremely small amounts of linear displacement or angular rotation, with a very high degree of accuracy and static and dynamic stability. The apparatus is based on a servo system controlled by electrical signals and employs hydrostatic pads to support and move the controlled member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1982
    Date of Patent: March 12, 1985
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Kazuo Shiba, Masao Takahashi, Akira Kanai, Kouichi Koizumi
  • Patent number: 4502204
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing insulated gate thin film field effect transistors is disclosed in which first and second closely adjacent anodic oxidation electrodes are formed on an electrically insulating substrate, and a semiconducting layer is formed on the insulating substrate and the first and second anodic oxidation electrodes. An anodic oxidation of the semiconducting layer is performed, utilizing the first and second anodic oxidation electrodes, to form an oxide layer on the semiconducting layer. The oxide layer is then patterned to form a gate insulator and the semiconducting layer is patterned to expose a portion of each of the first and second anodic oxidation electrodes. The exposed portions of the first and second anodic oxidation electrodes are patterned to form source and drain electrodes, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1984
    Date of Patent: March 5, 1985
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Seigo Togashi, Kanetaka Sekiguchi
  • Patent number: 4502382
    Abstract: A head for an impact type of dot line printer comprising an array of printer wires mounted on leaf springs for forming dots on a printing paper, selectively controlled for impact on the paper by signals applied to corresponding magnetic flux circuit paths comprising coils formed on coil cores and permanent magnets, and having an improved form of construction whereby each printer wire is controlled by an independent magnetic flux circuit path and with pairs of coil cores being mounted on separate magnetic flux path members. The configuration enables a high density of printer wires to be achieved, with elimination of magnetic interference between adjacent magnetic flux circuit paths leading to uniform printing density.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 1983
    Date of Patent: March 5, 1985
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Masao Kunita, Toshio Kurihara
  • Patent number: 4496248
    Abstract: A structure of a watch case, which comprises a watchglass, a case band member composed of a cemented carbide alloy and having a flange formed at an upper portion thereof and an annular surface formed at a lower portion of the flange, a watchglass supporting ring brazed to the case band member and having an upper surface for supporting a bottom surface of the watchglass, a packing for providing a waterproof and a back cover secured to the case band member. The packing is provided between the outer periphery of the watchglass and an annular groove. The annular groove is formed by the flange and annular surface of the case band member and the upper surface of the watchglass supporting ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1985
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Masahiko Waki, Seiji Umezawa, Tsuneji Takasugi, Hiroshi Koide, Takao Kasai
  • Patent number: 4487099
    Abstract: An electro-acoustic transducer drive circuit for driving a device such as a miniature piezoelectric buzzer to emit musical notes, the notes having a damped waveform envelope whose shape is controlled by digital signals. The notes are formed by mutually independent circuit means and can be combined to produce musical chords. The circuit incorporates relatively few elements, and is suitable for implementation within a MOS IC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1983
    Date of Patent: December 11, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Heihachiro Ebihara
  • Patent number: 4483230
    Abstract: An illumination level/musical tone converter is described which is suitable for incorporation into a miniature electronic device such as an electronic wristwatch, whereby the pitch of musical notes emitted by an acoustic output device can be varied as desired by the user varying the amount of illumination reaching a light sensor, e.g. by partially shading the sensor using a finger. Melodies can be composed in this way, and means can be provided for memorizing such melodies, which can be subsequently reproduced, e.g. to provide an audible alarm indication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1983
    Date of Patent: November 20, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Masamichi Yamauchi
  • Patent number: 4478524
    Abstract: An analog-type electronic wristwatch structure comprising a main plate having a central area and first to third areas surrounding the central area. A wheel train mechanism is disposed in the central area, and a time correction mechanism is disposed in the first area. An electronic circuit block is disposed in the second area, and an electromechanical transducer is disposed in the third area. A flat battery is disposed over the wheel train mechanism, the time correction mechanism, the electronic circuit block and the electromechanical transducer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Mitsuo Saitoh, Yasuo Kamiyama, Mitsuhiro Murata
  • Patent number: 4477195
    Abstract: An analog-type electronic wristwatch structure, in which a main plate is made of an insulating material and has one side including a first area formed with a cutout, and second and third areas. A wheel train bridge is secured to one side of said main plate above said cutout to form therein a space, and a wheel train mechanism is disposed in said space. A flexible circuit board is disposed in the second area of said main plate and has its lower surface facing said main plate, said lower surface being provided with a printed circuit pattern. The flexible circuit board carries electronic components composed of at least a time base vibrator and an IC chip. An electromechanical transducer drive coil is disposed in the third area of said main plate. The main plate has recesses for accommodating at least portions of said electronic components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Mitsuo Saitoh, Yasuo Kamiyama, Mitsuhiro Murata
  • Patent number: 4477797
    Abstract: A data input device for inputting data in the form of patterns to an electronic device such as an electronic timepiece is disclosed. Data input is performed by tracing out patterns, each representing a character, numeral or symbol, such as to successively actuate a plurality of sensor elements, which can comprise touch-sensitive electrodes arrayed over a display device, and pattern recognition is performed by interpreting pairs of successive sensor element actuations as lines of an input pattern, rather than separately interpreting individual sensor element actuations as point inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Tadahiko Nakagiri
  • Patent number: 4473303
    Abstract: An electronic timepiece is provided with a temperature compensation system which combines precise control of the timebase oscillator circuit frequency over a narrow temperature range with control of the frequency divider circuit operation to provide relatively large step changes in compensation, thereby providing accurate temperature compensation over a very wide temperature range. Data for control of this compensation is produced by computing the square of a data value which varies proportionally with temperature, with the resultant data being adjusted to provided compensation control which exactly matches the temperature characteristic of the timebase oscillator circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1983
    Date of Patent: September 25, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Fuminori Suzuki
  • Patent number: 4472066
    Abstract: A miniature digital electronic timepiece is disclosed which destroys time information in a continuously laterally shifting manner upon a matrix type display, such that more than one digit and less than two digits are visible at any particular instant. The category of information currently displayed, e.g. minutes or hours, is indicated by an identification mark, and the currently displayed digits can be halted and made completely visible, through size reduction, by actuation of a correction switch. Correction of the now stationary digits can then be accomplished by further switch actuation, so that time information correction is simple and rapid, even if only a single external operating member is utilized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 18, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Tomomi Murakami
  • Patent number: 4470706
    Abstract: In an analog type of electronic timepiece provided with an alarm function, means are provided whereby the timepiece hands are rapidly rotated into positions indicating a preset alarm time, when changeover from a normal operating mode to an alarm time mode is designated, and are rapidly rotated back to indicate current time when return to the normal operating mode is designated. Signals for controlling these rapid rotations of the hands are generated using only two counter circuits, for measuring and storing the difference between the alarm time and current time, and the system differs from prior art arrangements in that no errors are introduced into the time information during the intervals in which changeover between current time display and alarm time display takes place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 11, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Katsuo Nishimura, Minoru Watanabe
  • Patent number: 4469449
    Abstract: A system for driving elements of an ECD cell, whereby each of at least two different color density states can be selectively designated for each element so that two different functions can be indicated by a single element. The selective designation is accomplished by comparing a command signal indicating the required current display state of an element with the contents of a memory circuit which stores the previous display state, the memory being capable of storing data representing at least two different display states. Any required change in the display state is thereby detected, and a predetermined amount of charge is accordingly supplied to or taken from the display element such as to produce the desired change in density state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 4, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Toshikiyo Kato
  • Patent number: 4465999
    Abstract: A method of cyclically driving an electro-optical display device having a matrix array of a plurality of row electrodes and a plurality of column electrodes, wherein said column electrodes intersect with said row electrodes to provide a plurality of display elements at intersections between said row and column electrodes, comprising the steps of: applying row drive signals to said row electrodes, respectively; and applying one of first, second and third column drive signals to each of said column electrodes, with said first column drive signal inducing a non-display state at all of the display elements along each column electrode, said second column drive signal inducing a non-display state at a single display element along said each column electrode and inducing a display state at the other two display elements along said each column electrode, and said third column drive signal inducing a display state at all of the display elements along said each column electrode; wherein each of said row drive signals ta
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventors: Akira Tsuzuki, Hiro Fujita, Shigeru Morokawa
  • Patent number: 4464067
    Abstract: A thermometer is disclosed which utilizes a thermistor as a temperature sensor, controlling the frequency of oscillation of an oscillator circuit. The output pulses from that circuit are frequency-divided during a fixed time interval by a variable frequency divider circuit, with the division ratio being successively varied during that interval in accordance with the cumulative number of pulses output from the variable frequency divider circuit, counted by a counter circuit, with the variations of the frequency division ratio being such as to accurately compensate for the non-linear temperature/resistance characteristic of the thermistor. The cumulative count of pulses output from the variable frequency divider circuit at the end of the fixed time interval is proportional to temperature, and is displayed as temperature by a digital display. The thermometer is suited to mass-production low-cost manufacture, yet can be miniaturized, lightweight and accurate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1983
    Date of Patent: August 7, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Tadashi Hanaoka
  • Patent number: 4456388
    Abstract: A watch case structure comprising a watchglass member, a bezel member, a case band member and a back cover member interconnected to define said watch case structure. One of said members includes an inclined surface and a substantially vertical wall. An annular groove means is formed in another one of said members and includes an inclined surface. A synthetic resin gasket is disposed in said annular groove means of said another one of said members and includes an inclined guiding surface and an inclined engaging surface engaging with the inclined surface of said annular groove means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 26, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Masataka Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 4455199
    Abstract: A timepiece display component such as hands and dial plates, which component comprises a first electroformed metal layer having an internal compressive stress, and a second electroformed metal layer formed over said first electroformed metal layer and including an internal tensile stress, such that the internal stresses of the first and second metal layers cancel each other out to reduce the amount of warping distortion in the display component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1983
    Date of Patent: June 19, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Tadao Enomoto
  • Patent number: 4453833
    Abstract: A movement structure for an analog display type electronic watch powered by a coin-shaped lithium cell. The movement structure comprises a base plate of a synthetic resin. The base plate has an integral lug portion which engages with and support the battery cell in a fixed place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 12, 1984
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Company Limited
    Inventor: Mitsuo Saitoh