A digital watch with oscillator/divider power selection circuitry. The selection circuitry selects the source of the voltage to be supplied to the crystal oscillator and initial divider circuits. If battery voltage is low because battery current is high, as when the light emitting diodes (LED's) are illuminated in an LED digital watch or when the illumination light is on in a liquid crystal display (LCD) digital watch, the crystal oscillator and initial divider would be powered by two batteries; and when battery voltage is high because battery current is low, the crystal oscillator would be powered by only one battery. Therefore, the power selection circuitry determines whether one or two batteries are used to power the oscillator depending upon the particular operating conditions. There are two advantages of this technique: (1) current is reduced so battery life is increased, and (2) the voltage never goes so low that circuit production yields are adversely affected. The power selection circuitry includes a plurality of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET's) and an input signal, which determines whether one battery is needed to power the oscillator because the LED's are not illuminated or two batteries are needed to power the oscillator because the LED's are illuminated.
A battery select circuit and level translator in a digital watch; the battery select circuit uses the voltage from a single battery to power a digital watch's oscillator and high frequency dividers and uses the voltage from two batteries when the watch user desires the watch's horological information to be displayed on the display devices. Also, when only the voltage of a single battery is required, i.e., to power the digital watch's oscillator and high frequency dividers, the power switch causes the voltage from a first battery to be used during the 12 hour A. M. period and then switches to use the voltage from a second battery during the 12 hour P. M. period; thereby causing both batteries to wear out at the same rate. The level translator which includes level shifters shifts or extends the voltage from the oscillator and high frequency dividers to a higher voltage level to clock the low frequency watch logic.
An electronic alarm watch having an external operation device, which comprises a timekeeping section and an electronic calculator. The timekeeping section is composed of a quartz crystal oscillator connected to a first battery and providing a relatively high frequency signal to provide a low frequency signal, a counter circuit responsive to the low frequency signal to provide time information signals, a driver circuit providing driving signals in response to the time information signals, a time display section in response to the driving signals, an alarm time detection circuit connected to the counter circuit to detect an alarm time set by the external operation device, and an acoustic device responsive to an output from the alarm time detection circuit to generate a sound indicative of the alarm time. The electronic calculator is composed of a calculating section connected to the external operation device to perform calculation in response to input signals delivered from the external operation device, a calculator display section, and a booster circuit connected to second batteries to supply boosted output voltage to the calculating section and the calculator display section.
Illuminating devices may be added to footwear or other objects worn by persons. The illuminating devices are necessarily compact in nature, consisting primarily of flashing lights and a power-and-control circuit that controls and enables the flashing of the lights. The lights may be illuminated by differing voltage levels, so that lights will flash brighter or dimmer, in sequence, depending on whether the light receives a higher voltage or a lower voltage. The voltages may be achieved by using batteries in series. A unique flashing effect is achieved by the use of differing voltages in sequence on the same lamps or LEDs. A battery charger may also be included to restore battery life.
Flashing lights may be added to footwear or other objects worn by persons. Flashing light systems are necessarily compact, consisting primarily of flashing lights and a power-and-control circuit that controls and enables the flashing of the lights. The lights may be illuminated by differing voltage levels, so that lights will flash brighter or dimmer depending on whether the light receives a higher voltage or a lower voltage. The voltages may be achieved by using batteries in series. A unique flashing effect is achieved by the use of differing voltages in sequence on the same lamps or LEDs. A battery charger may also be included to restore battery life.
An interactive shoe light device includes at least one power source, at least one motion switch to generate an activation signal in response to an electrical engagement within the motion switch, the activation signal indicating at least duration of electrical engagement within the motion switch, an integrated circuit functioning as a controller, the integrated circuit electrically connected to the motion switch to receive the activation signal, and lighting elements electrically connected to the integrated circuit. The lighting elements are selectively actuated by the integrated circuit to illuminate the lighting elements in one or more predetermined illumination patterns depending on the duration of electrical engagement indicated by the activation signal. For a short duration, all lighting elements flash in a flashing pattern for a pre-determined period. For a long duration, only one lighting element lights up and continues for a few seconds after the switch is opened.
