An electronic watch having a circuit for permitting it to be stopped in a state of minimum consumption. The watch has an oscillator, a frequency divider comprising flip-flops and a display, with the display and at least some of said flip-flops being connected to a common line so that a signal applied to the common line places them in a state of minimum consumption. The circuit including a switch connected between the common line and a terminal of the power supply and at least two MOS transistors connected so as to apply the signal to the common line when the switch is closed.
An analog electronic timepiece wherein oscillation of the oscillator circuit is stopped when the watch is placed into a reset mode. This lowers power consumption and provides for greater battery life during shipping and stocking periods. In one embodiment of the invention the oscillator is stopped immediately upon placing the watch into a reset mode. In another embodiment of the invention, cessation of oscillation does not occur until a predetermined delay after reset.
A electronic timepiece having a dynamic frequency divider, a static frequency divider and a reset system, in which a switching means is provided in the voltage supply circuit of the dynamic frequency divider and a gate means is provided between the dynamic frequency divider and the static frequency divider. The switching means is a transistor adapted to be cut off to stop the operation of the dynamic frequency divider in the reset state and the gate means is a digital logic gate adapted to fix the output thereof by an input voltage applied by the reset system, whereby power consumption in the dynamic frequency divider and in the static frequency divider may be reduced.
An integrated circuit having circuitry for clamping input terminals that remain unconnected after assembly into a system. A transistor is connected to clamp the input terminal to reference potential and provide regenerative feedback to a NAND circuit forming a latch which maintains the transistor on when the input terminal would otherwise be left floating. Alternatively, when the terminal is connected to supply potential, the transistor is maintained "off", precluding loss of power.
IC input circuitry particularly suited for use in an electronic wristwatch or other small-sized electronic instrument is provided. Each input stage is adapted to receive at least one input. An input terminal is provided for each input stage in order to receive a two-state input signal. An impedance element is disposed intermediate each input terminal and a reference voltage, in order to distinguish between respective states of the input signal. The invention is particularly characterized by gating circuitry for producing a gating signal having a predetermined time interval, and a memory, coupled to each input terminal and impedance element coupled thereto, for selectively storing the state of the input signal applied to the input terminal and discriminated by the impedance element, during the predetermined time interval of the gating signal.
The invention comprises an arrangement which permits placing a timepiece o a state of minimum energy consumption for storage purposes. It includes a manual control arranged to act on an electronic circuit. When the manual control is briefly actuated the minutes hand may be set to the minute, with a longer actuation causing the hands to advance through one time zone. Should the control be actuated while the hands are in motion during time zone adjustment the hands are stopped and the timepiece is in order for storage. The arrangement is applicable to timepieces which must be stored during a certain period and serves to conserve energy as well as to stop the hands in a uniform position for a collection on display.
