Claims:We claim:
1. A bi-directional micromotor (100) for a timepiece, the micromotor (100) comprising:
a base plate (1);
a stator (5) mounted on the base plate (1), wherein the stator (5) is defined with a rotor cavity (10);
a rotor (11) housed inside the rotor cavity (10);
a pair of coils (3) mounted on the stator (5) on either sides of the rotor (11), wherein, each of the pair of coils (3) is configured to power the rotor (11) to rotate in at least one direction;
a plurality of internal notches (9) defined along an inner circumference of the rotor cavity (10), wherein radius of each of the plurality of internal notches (9) ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.15 mm from a point coinciding an inner circumference of the cavity (10).

2. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, is configured to operate at an operational frequency in a range of 200 Hz to 240 Hz.

3. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, comprising a gear train (12) coupled to the rotor (11), wherein the gear train (12) is configured to drive a hand of the timepiece.

4. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein gear ratio of the gear train (12) is of 1:180.

5. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein tolerance between gears in the gear train (12) ranges from 10 microns to 20 microns.

6. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of coils (3) includes a core (7) mounted on the stator (5), and a winding wound around the core (7).

7. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein thickness of the winding ranges from about 14 microns to 18 microns.

8. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of turns of the winding around the core (7) ranges from 4600 to 5000.

9. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of internal notches (9) is two in number.

10. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of internal notches (9) are defined diametrically opposite to each other.

11. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stator (5) is defined with at least three external notches (8) along an outer circumference of the rotor cavity (10).

12. The micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 11, wherein distance between each of the external notches (8) and circumference of the cavity (10) ranges from 0.080mm to 0.120mm.

13. A movement of a timepiece, the movement comprising:
a bi-micromotor (100) comprising:
a base plate (1);
at least two stators (5a and 5b) mounted on the base plate (1), wherein each of the at least two stators (5a and 5b) are oriented opposite to each other;
and wherein, each of the at least two stators (5a and 5b) is defined with a cavity (10) to a rotor (11);
a plurality of internal notches (9) defined on an inner circumference of the cavities (10), wherein radius of the plurality of internal notches (9) ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.15 mm from a point coinciding an inner circumference of the cavity (10);
a plurality of coils (3) mounted on each of the at least two stators (5) on either sides of the rotor (11), wherein each pair of coils (3) on each of the stator (5) are oriented opposite to each other;
a gear train (12) coupled to each of the rotors (11) housed in the cavities (10);
a plurality of hands (2) coupled to the gear train (12) for indicating time, wherein the movement of the plurality of rotors (11) energised by the at least one coils (3) causes the movement of the at least one hand (2) through the gear train (12).

14. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of the at least two stators (5a and 5b) are equidistant from centre of the base plate (1).

15. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the bi-directional micromotor is configured to operate at an operational frequency in a range of 200 Hz to 240 Hz.

16. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the gear ratio of the gear train (12) is of 1:180.

17. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the tolerance between the gears of the gear train (12) ranges from 10 microns to 20 microns.

18. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of coils (3) includes a core (7) mounted on the stator (5), and windings are wound around the core (7).

19. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein thickness of the winding ranges from 14 microns to 18 microns.

20. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the number of turns of the winding around the core (7) ranges from 4600 to 5000.

21. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the plurality of internal notches (9) is two in number.

22. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of internal notches (9) are defined opposite to each other.

23. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the stator (5) is defined with at least three external notches (8) along an outer circumference of the rotor cavity (10).

24. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the distance between the at least three notches (8) and the circumference of the cavity (10) ranges from 0.080mm to 0.120mm.

25. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least two stators (5a and 5b) are oriented on the base plate (1) along a same longitudinal axis (A-A).

26. The movement as claimed in claim 13, wherein at least one of the coils (3) from a pair of coils (3) in each stator (5) energises the rotor (11) of the respective stator (5) to rotate in clock wise direction and the other coil (3) of the stator (5) energises the rotor (11) to anti-clockwise direction.

27. A timepiece comprising a micromotor (100) as claimed in claim 1.

Dated this 01st Day of July 2020

GOPINATH A S
IN/PA 1852
OF K&S PARTNERS
AGENT FOR THE APPLICANT
, Description:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10 and Rule 13]

TITLE: “A BI-DIRECTIONAL MICROMOTOR FOR A TIMEPIECE”

Name and address of the Applicant:
Name and Address of the Applicant: TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, Integrity, No 193 Veerasandra, Electronic city P.O, Off Hosur Main Road, Bangalore -560100

Nationality: Indian

The following specification describes the nature of invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of horology. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a bi-directional micromotor for use in timepiece. Further embodiments of the present disclosure disclose the bi-directional micromotor with an operational frequency in the range of 200 Hz to 240 Hz.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an era of rapidly changing technology, the increase of consumer demand for timepieces such as smartwatches, hybrid watches, smart hybrid watches and wearables is on the rise. However, the existing smartwatches have poor battery life and require frequent charging. Consequently, the consumers prefer hybrid smartwatches. Hybrid smartwatches look like a traditional analog watch, but function like a smartwatch. These hybrid watches run with the help of micromotor. Instead of a touchscreen interface, these watches use the minute and hour hands or other functional hands to show various parameters. These watches are Paired with smartphones using Bluetooth Low Energy, a hybrid smartwatch can usually survive on a coin-cell battery. The hybrid watches may also comprise of multiple buttons like the traditional watches. These buttons are programmable and can be configured for different functions like a remote shutter for your phone’s camera, for controlling the music, or to locate your phone ring in case you cannot find it. If the user who intends to know the time in a particular country may press a particular button on the watch and the hands of the watch may rotate suitably to indicate the time of that particular country. The hour and minute hands of the hybrid watch may also be configured to indicate various tracking physical activities like step count, calories burned, distance travelled etc. These hybrid smart watches can also be configured to indicate various call and text related notifications to the user. One such example could be user may assign a specific contact to specific indices on the watch and the minute and hour hands may rotate and point to the specific assigned indices when a certain contact is trying to reach the user. Thus, the modern hybrid watches may be configured to indicate information or notifications, solely by the rotation of the hands in the watch to various indices.

The hybrid smart watches generally make use of a bi-directional motors for enabling the rotation of the hands to various indices. The motor comprises of a stator (stationary part) and a rotor (rotating part). The stator, being an electromagnet, is connected to a coil carrying current. The coil magnetizes the stator when a current is passed through the coil. As a property of the electromagnet, a north pole and a south pole are created in the stator. The rotor, being a permanent magnet, tries to align its north pole with south pole of the stator and its south pole with north pole of the stator. When excitation is changed and current is passed through a different coil, polarity of the stator gets changed, thus, changing position of the rotor. The change in excitation thus causes rotation of the rotor. Thus, the motor allows bidirectional movement of the hands, i.e., clockwise rotation and counter-clockwise rotation. Generally, each hand of the watch is controlled by an independent motor, thus allowing independent movement of the hands. For e.g., a second hand is controlled by a first motor, a minute hand is controlled by a second motor and an hour hand is controlled by a third motor. The existing trends majorly involve micromotors which are of a “V” or “L” configuration. Both these configurations basically comprise of two stators with one rotor each. The stators are oriented to a V or L shape i.e. one of the stator is oriented perpendicular to the other stator in an L shaped configuration or both the stators are configured at a 45 degree angle in a V shaped configuration. However, such conventional micro motors often consume excessive space in the housing of the watch. Since many other electronic components & sensors need to be placed on the circuit boards, battery etc. are also required to be housed inside the watch, the ability of the manufacturer to design and manufacture slim and compact watches becomes limited. Consequently, hybrid watches with conventional micromotor are often bulky and such bulky watches are not particularly suitable for unisex applications.

Further, the existing micro motors have an approximate operational frequency of around 64 Hz. With an operating frequency of around 64 Hz, any hands of the watch will take approximately 2.8 seconds for a complete rotation. Consequently, when a user receives a notification, the time required for the hands to be aligned to the required indices is excessive. Further, the movement of the hands in motors with low operational frequency is not fluid i.e. the hands move in fixed gradients. The slow movement of the hands due to the operation of the motor at low frequency causes delay in indication of the required information, which may sometimes be infuriating to the user. In addition, the slow movement of the hands to indicate information is often less appealing to the users while buying a hybrid watch.

The gear assemblies in conventional micro motors with low operational frequencies are often configured such that the rotation of hands in the watch is capable of movement with a minimum angular rotation of 2 degrees. Consequently, the minimum angular movement of the hands is always limited to 2 degrees, due to which the accuracy at which the information is displayed by the hands as the hands point towards a particular indices is not always accurate. Further, the precision at which the information is observed from the user’s perspective is also reduced due to the large angular rotation of the hands.

The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of conventional assemblies and processes are overcome and additional advantages are provided through the assembly and the process as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a bi-directional micromotor for a timepiece is disclosed. The micromotor comprises a base plate, a stator mounted on the base plate, where the stator is defined with a rotor cavity. A rotor is housed inside the rotor cavity and a pair of coils are mounted on the stator on either sides of the rotor, where the each of the pair of coils is configured to power the rotor to rotate in at least one direction. A plurality of internal notches defined along an inner circumference of the rotor cavity, where radius of each of the plurality of internal notches from the inner circumference of the rotor cavity ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.15 mm from a point coinciding an inner circumference of the cavity.

In an embodiment, the micromotor is configured to operate at an operational frequency in a range of 200 Hz to 240 Hz.
In an embodiment, the micromotor comprises a gear train coupled to the rotor, where the gear train is configured to drive a hand of the timepiece.
In an embodiment, the gear ratio of the gear train is of 1:180 and the tolerance between the gears in the gear train ranges from 10 microns to 20 microns.
In an embodiment, the micromotor comprises a plurality of cores having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end and the second end of the core is removable & connected to stator.
In an embodiment, each of the plurality of coils includes a core mounted on the stator, and winding wound around the core.
In an embodiment, thickness of the winding ranges from about 14 microns to 18 microns
In an embodiment, the number of turns of the winding around the core ranges from 4600 to 5000.
In an embodiment, the plurality of internal notches is two in number and each of the plurality of internal notches are defined diametrically opposite to each other.
In an embodiment, the stator is defined with at least three external notches along an outer circumference of the rotor cavity.
In an embodiment, the distance between the at least three notches and the circumference of the cavity ranges from 0.080mm to 0.120mm.
In a non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, a movement of a timepiece is disclosed. The movement comprises a bi-micromotor including a base plate. At least two stators is mounted on the base plate, where each of the at least one stators oriented opposite to each other. Each of the at least two stators are defined with a cavity to house a rotor where a rotor is housed in each of the cavity defined in each of the at least one stators. The circumference of the cavities is defined with a plurality of internal notches, where the radius of the plurality of internal notches ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.15 mm from a point coinciding an inner circumference of the cavity. A plurality of coils are mounted on each of the at least two stators on either sides of the rotor, where each pair of coils on each of the stator are oriented opposite to each other. A gear train coupled to each of the rotors housed in the cavities. A plurality of hands coupled to the gear train for indicating time, wherein the movement of the plurality of rotors energized by the at least one coils causes the movement of the at least one hand through the gear train.
In an embodiment, each of the at least two stators are equidistant from center of the base plate.
In an embodiment, the at least two stators are oriented on the base plate to lie along a same longitudinal axis.
In an embodiment, at least one of the coils from a pair of coils in each stator energizes the rotor of the respective stator to rotate in clock wise direction and the other coil of the stator energizes the rotor to anti-clockwise direction.
It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of a micromotor for a timepiece, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a bottom view of the micromotor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates a bottom perspective view of the micromotor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a coil and a core of the micromotor, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a bottom view of the micromotor without lower plate and gear train, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrates top view of the stator of the micromotor with and without coils respectively, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates a bottom view of the micromotor without the base plate, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 9 illustrates the pulse input that drives the coils of the micromotor, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

The figure depicts embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of a bi-directional micromotor for a timepiece without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other system for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, as to its organization, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure.

In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a assembly that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such mechanism. In other words, one or more elements in the device or mechanism proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the mechanism.

Embodiments of the present disclosure discloses a bi-directional micromotor for a timepiece. Conventional micromotors in hybrid timepieces often consume excessive space in the casing of the timepiece. Consequently, the ability of the manufacturer to design and manufacture slim and compact watches becomes limited. Conventional micromotors have an operating frequency of around 64 Hz, due to which any hand of the watch will take approximately 2.8 seconds for a complete rotation. Consequently, when a user receives a notification, the time required for the hands to be aligned to the required indices is high. The slow movement of the hands due to the operation of the motor at low frequency causes the user to wait for the hands to stop and indicate the required information which may sometimes be infuriating to the user. Gear assemblies in conventional watches are often configured such that the rotation of hands in the watch is capable of movement with a minimum angular rotation of 2 degrees. Consequently, the accuracy at which the information is displayed by the hands as they indicate towards a particular index is not always accurate.

Accordingly, the present disclosure disclose a micromotor for a timepiece which overcomes one or more limitations mentioned above. The micromotor includes a base plate. Two stators are mounted on the base plate and are equidistant from center of the base plate. The stators are oriented opposite to each other. Each of the two stators are defined with a rotor cavity, where a rotor is housed in each of the cavity. The circumference of the cavities is defined with a plurality of internal notches, wherein the radius of the plurality of internal notches ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.15 mm. The radius of the internal notches extend from a point coinciding an inner circumference of the cavity (10). A pair of coils are mounted on each of the stator on either sides of the rotor, where each pair of coils on each of the two stators are oriented opposite to each other. The thickness of the winding ranges from about 14 microns to 18 microns and the number of turns of the coil around the core ranges from 4600 to 5000. A gear train is coupled to each of the rotors housed in the cavities, where gear ratio of the gear train is of 1:180 and the tolerance between the gears of the gear train ranges from 10 microns to 20 microns. A plurality of hands coupled to the gear train is used for indicating time or any other functional indication, wherein the movement of the plurality of rotors energized by the at least one coil causes the movement of the at least one hand through the gear train. The micromotor is configured to operate at an operational frequency in a range of 200 Hz to 240 Hz.
The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to Figs. 1 to 9.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are top perspective view, bottom view and rear perspective view of the micromotor (100) respectively. The micromotor (100) may include a base plate (1) made of non-conducting material with predetermined dimensions. In an embodiment, the base plate (1) may be made of electrically insulative material and the dimensions of the base plate (1) may include range from19.93 mm to 20.03 mm in length width of the may range from 6.95 mm to 7.05 mm and thickness of the base plate may range from 1.7mm to 1.8mm. The base plate (1) may be defined with a plurality of provisions for accommodating multiple components such as stator (5), core (7) etc. Further, the base plate (1) is configured to appear such that two I section components are placed consecutively and the bottom end of one of the I section component is suitably joined with the top end of the other I section component. In an embodiment, the base plate (1) may be a single component that is machined to a configuration as described above. The base plate (1) may be configured to have a symmetrical shape and the base plate may be made of any suitable material known in the art. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the micromotor (10) includes stator (3) mounted on the base plate (3) by means of suitable connectors (13). The stator (3) which may be mounted on the base plate (1) may be clearly seen from Figs. 5 and 6. Further, with reference to Fig. 3 and 4, the core (7) may be mounted on top of the stator (3), by means of the same connector (13) that is used to mount the stator (7) to the base plate (1). Further, a substrate (6) may be provided on the core (7). The core (7) may be defined with a first and a second end (7a and 7b). The first end (7a) of each of the core (7) may be mounted at the outward end of the micromotor (100) and the second end (7b) of the core (7) may be mounted on the stator (3) at a substantially central region of the micromotor (100). The first end (7a) of each of the core (7) may be further provided with a substrate (6) and the second end (7b) of the core (7) may be mounted with a lower plate (4) which is further connected to the base plate (1) by suitable means. The micromotor (100) may include a first and a second stator (5a and 5b). The first stator (5a) may be mounted on the left-hand side of the base plate (1) and the second stator (5b) may be mounted on the right hand side of the base plate (1). The first and second stators (5a and 5b) may be mounted opposite to each other on the base plate (1), and the stators (5) may be mounted to lie along the same longitudinal axis (A-A). This configuration of base plate (1) and the mounting of the stators (5) on the base plate (1), imparts the micromotor (100) with a straight form factor.

Further, two cores (7) may be mounted on the first stator (5a) and coils may be wound around each of the two cores (7). The cores (7) may be mounted opposite to each other on either ends of the first stator (5a). The coils (3) wound around the core (7) mounted at the top end of the first stator (5a) may be defined as the first coil (3a) and the coil (3) wound around the core (7) at the bottom end of the first stator (5a) may be defined as the second coil (3b). Similarly, the second stator (5b) may also be provided with two cores (7) that are oriented opposite to each other. The coil (3) wound around the core (7) at the top end of the second stator (5b) may be defined as the third coil (3c) and the coil (3) wound around core (7) at the bottom end of the second stator (5b) may be defined as the fourth coil (3d). The first coil (3a) and the third coil (3c) are oriented opposite to the second coil (3b) and the fourth coil (3d) respectively. Further, a substrate (6) may also be mounted on top of each of the cores (7) and a lower plate (4) may be provided at the central region of the base plate (1). The number of turns of each the coils (3) that are wound around each of the cores (7) may range from 4600 to 5000. The total thickness of the coils (3) may range from 14 microns to 16 microns. The above-mentioned range of coil (3) windings enable the coil (3) thickness to be reduced, which consequently reduces the overall space consumed by the micromotor (100) in a timepiece. Thinner micromotors (100) enables the watch makers to design more sleek and slim timepieces.

The stators (5) that are mounted on the base plate (1) are further explained with greater detail below. Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the micromotor (100) without the lower plate (4) and gear train (12). Fig. 6 and 7, depict top view of the stator (5). The first and the second stators (5a and 5b) may both be defined with a rotor cavity (10) for housing a rotor (11). The rotor (11) may be a permanent magnet and is rotatably housed inside the cavity (10) of the stators (5). Further, the circumference of the rotor cavity (10) may be defined with a plurality of internal notches (9). These internal notches (9) may be configured with a radius ranging from 0.1mm to 0.15mm (15). The radius of the internal notches (9) may extend outwardly from the circumference of the rotor cavity (10). Two internal notches (9) may be configured along the circumference of the rotor cavity (10) and these notches (9) may be provided diametrically opposite to each other. Further, the stator (5) may also be provided with a plurality of external notches (8). These external notches (8) are positioned at a distance ranging from 0.080 mm to 0.120 mm (14) from the outer circumference of the rotor cavity (10). The stator (5) may be defined with three external notches (8a, 8b and 8c). The first external notch (8a) may be defined along the longitudinal axis (A-A) of the micromotor (100). The second and the third external notches (8b and 8c) may be oriented at an angle ranging from 40 degrees to 60 degrees (16) from the longitudinal axis (A-A) of the micromotor (100). The above mentioned constructional aspects of providing internal notches (9) in the above mentioned range and providing external notches (8) in the above-mentioned distance from the center, enables the micromotor to operate at a frequency ranging from 200 Hz to 240 Hz. The internal notches (9) are used for stopping the rotation of the rotor (11) and they provide resistance to the rotation of the rotor (11). Since the internal notches (9) are optimized with radius they offer less resistance to the rotation, and at the same time act as stopper for handling the rotation of the rotors (5). Further, the external notches (8) defined in the stator (5) act as electromagnets. Poles are induced around the external notches (8) when current is passed through the stator plate (5). The high operational frequency of the micromotor (100) ranging from 200 Hz to 240 Hz enables a quicker rotation of the hands (2) of the timepiece. Further, the hands (2) of the watch would take less than1.8 seconds to complete one rotation, since the operational frequency is high in the range of 200 Hz to 240 Hz.

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the micromotor (100) without the base plate (1). The micromotor (100) may be provided with a gear train (12) at the center of the base plate (1). The gear train (12) may comprise a plurality of gears. The gears are coupled to the rotors (11) provided in cavities (10) on both the first and the second stators (5a and 5b). The gear train (12) is coupled to the hands (2) of the micromotor (100) and the gear train (12) transmits the rotary motion from the rotors (11) to the hands (2) of the micromotor (100). The gear train (12) coupled to the rotor (11) on the first stator (5a) may be defined as the first gear train (12a) and the gear train coupled to the rotor (11) on the second stator (5b) may be defined as the second gear train (12b). The micromotor (100) may comprise of a plurality of hands (2) for indicating information. Two hands (2a and 2b) are indicated herein, however, any number of suitable hands (2) may be used to indicate information on the timepiece. The two hands (2), indicated herein may be an hour hand (2a) and a minute hand (2b). The hour hand (2a) may be coupled to the first gear train (12a) and the minute hand (2b) may be coupled to the second gear train (12b). The rotation of the hour hand (2a) may be controlled by the rotation of the rotor (11) housed in the first stator (5a) and the rotation of the minute hand (2b) may be controlled by the rotor (11) housed in the second stator (5b) or vice versa. The overall gear ratio of the gear train (12) is of 1:180 and the tolerance between the gears of the gear train (12) ranges from 10 microns to 20 microns. The above-mentioned gear ratio and the low tolerance between the gears, enables the gear train (12) to effectively transmit the rotary motion of the rotors (11) to the hands (2) of the timepiece with precision. Further, the above-mentioned gear train (12) enables the rotation of the hands (2) with an accuracy of 1 degree. Consequently, the accuracy at which the hands (2) of the timepiece indicate towards the indices in the timepiece is drastically improved.

The stator (5) may energized by the power supplied through the coils (3). The stator (5) may be made of a material suitable to act as an electromagnet. As power is supplied through the coils (3), the stator (5) gets energized and the north pole and the south pole is created in the stator (5). The rotors (11) may be a permanent magnet having a north pole and a south pole. The rotor (11) north pole is attracted by the south pole of the stator (5) and the rotor (11) south pole is attracted by the north pole of the stator (5). The changing of the north and south pole in the stator (5) causes the rotor (11) to rotate in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction and the north and south pole in the stator (5) may be changed by supplying current to different coils (3). The first stator (5a) may be energized by the first coil (3a) and a second coil (3b). The current supplied to the first coil (5a) may energize the rotor (11) housed in the first stator (5a) to rotate in a clockwise direction. The current supplied to the second coil (3b) may cause the north and the south poles of the first stator (5a) to be reversed. Consequently, by reversing the poles in the first stator (5a), the rotor (11) housed in the first stator (5a) is caused to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction. Thus, supplying current to the first coil (3a) may cause the rotor (11) in the first stator (5a) to rotate in a clockwise direction, whereas supplying current to the second coil (5b) may cause the rotor (11) of the first stator (5a) to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction and vice versa. The first gear train (12a) is coupled to the hour hand (2a) of the timepiece and connects the rotor (11) of the first stator (5a) to the hour hand (2a) of the timepiece. Consequently, the movement of the rotor (11) in the first stator (5a) is directly translated to the movement of the hour hand (2a) of the timepiece. The rotation of the hour hand (2a) in the clockwise direction is achieved by energizing the first coil (2a) and the rotation of the hour hand (2a) in anti-clockwise direction may be achieved by energizing the second coil (3b).

Similar to the first stator (5a), the second stator (5b) is also provided with a third coil (3c) and fourth coil (3d). The second stator (5b) also houses a rotor (11) which may be coupled to the minute hand (5b) of the micromotor (100) by means of the second gear train (12b). The second gear train (12b) may transmit the rotary motion from the rotor (11) housed in the second stator (5b) to the minute hand (2b) of the micromotor (100). The current supplied to the third coil (3c) may cause the rotor (11) of the second stator (5b) to rotate in a clockwise direction. The current supplied to the fourth coil (5d) may cause the poles in the second stator (5b) to be reversed. Consequently, the rotor (11) in the second stator (5b) may rotate in an anti-clockwise direction. The rotation of the minute hand (2b) in the clockwise direction is achieved by energizing the third coil (3c) and the rotation of the minute hand (2b) in anti-clockwise direction may be achieved by energizing the fourth coil (3d).

The terminals of the micromotor (100) can be connected to a power circuit, which may apply driving pulses to the micromotor (100). The coils (3) are driven by the pulse input as seen from Fig. 9

According to this driving pulse waveform, all of the coils (3) are maintained in the same polarity and none of the coils are driven into a high impedance state. In some cases, two of the coils (e.g., the first and the third coils (3a and 3c) of the micromotor (100)) may be configured to drive one of the hands (2a or 2b) of the timepiece in a clockwise direction while the other two coils (e.g., the second and fourth coils (3b and 3d) of the micromotor (100)) may be configured to drive the other hand (2a or 2b) of the timepiece in a counterclockwise direction.

Further, when a user intends to seek additional information other than the time displayed, the user may press the suitable buttons on the timepiece and the hands of the watch may suitably move to the corresponding indices. For e.g. when a user presses a set of buttons for instance to seek the time of a different country, a controller calculates the nearest distance that the hour hand (2a) and the minute hand (2b) has to travel in order to indicate the time of the desired country. Accordingly, the controller energizes the suitable coils i.e. first or second coils (3a or 3b) and third or fourth coils (3c or 3d), such that the hour hand (2a) and the minute hand (2b) take the shortest route to travel to the required indices on the timepiece. The time taken for the hands (2) of the timepiece to travel to the required indices is very less since the operational frequency of the micromotor (100) ranges from 200 Hz to 240 Hz. The above-mentioned constructional features such as configuring the internal and external notches in pre-determined ranges enables the micromotor to achieve an operational frequency in the range 200 Hz to 240 Hz. Further, since the overall gear ratio of the gear train (12) is of 1:180 and the tolerance between the gears of the gear train (12) ranges from 10 microns to 20 microns, the movement of the hands (2) at as little as 1 degree is possible. Consequently, a smaller degree of movement of the hands (2) is achieved which improves the accuracy at which each hand (2) of the timepiece indicates towards the indices.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the timepiece may include single hand (2) which may be coupled to a single micromotor (100) and the single hand (2) of the timepiece may indicate time and other information to the user.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the high operation frequency of 200 Hz to 240 Hz of the micromotor enable the hands (2) of the timepiece to complete one rotation in 1.8 seconds. Consequently, the micromotor enables the information to be indicated rapidly.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the high operation frequency of the micromotor (100) imparts a swift and fluidic movement to the hands (2) of the timepiece.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, a minimum angular movement of 1 degree may be imparted to the hands (2) of the timepiece by configuring the overall gear ratio of the gear train (12) to 1:180 and providing the tolerance between the gears of the gear train (12) in the range of 10 microns to 20 microns.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the overall thickness of the micromotor (100) is reduced by providing the number of turns of each the windings in the range from 4600 to 5000. Reduction in overall thickness of the micromotor (100) enables the manufacturer to design and produce slim and compact timepieces.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, providing a micromotor (100) with a straight form factor further saves the space that the micromotor (100) consumes inside a timepiece and thereby enables the manufacturer to mount larger circuit boards with a wide variety of operations in the timepiece.

Equivalents

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding the description may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated in the description.
Referral Numerals:

Referral numeral Description
1 Base plate
2 Hands of the watch
2a Hour hand
2b Minute hand
3 Coils
3a First coil
3b Second coil
3c Third coil
3d Fourth coil
4 Upper plate
5 Stator plate
5a First stator plate
5b Second stator plate
6 Coil substrate
7 Core
8 External notches
9 Internal notches
10 Cavity
11 Rotor
12 Gear train
13 Connectors
14 Distance of external notches form the circumference of the cavity
15 Radius of the internal notches
16 Angular orientation of the second and third external notches
100 Micromotor