This invention relates to the construction of an electronic watch, and particularly to the manner in which a watch substrate is mounted, protected and controlled within a watch case.
An electronic watch is one in which time increments are generated at a frequency in the order of kilocycles to megacycles per second, with dividers and memories for electronic time information processing. Readout is conveniently digital so that there are usually no movable mechanical parts except for switches to control the electronics. In recent years, there have been many inventions in electronic watches and many of the patents describe at least a portion of the physical constructions which interrelates the physical and electronic components. Pertinent background patents include McCullough et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,031, Perkins et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,725, Doss U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,972, Yamazaki U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,523 and Zurcher et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,567. These patents are just a few in the large body of prior art in the electronic watch and related field and are offered as examples of patents which disclose some of the physical structure of electronic watch construction.
In assemblying an electronic watch the electronics must be supported and protected and must be related to other components for physical and electrical interconnections. The clamping, attachment, interconnection, and protection of the watch structure is a field in which concepts relating to economy reliability and serviceability must be applied. The prior art does not indicate the manner in which various design features should be optimized.