CPC Definition - Subclass G04C
This place covers:
- The "electromechanical timepieces" in a strict sense, namely timepieces in which the time reference (signal) is obtained by electromechanical means, that is by the cooperation of mechanically moving parts and electric/electronic/electromagnetic elements (e.g. a mechanical oscillator whose frequency is regulated by the use of coils), and
- electronic timepieces comprising mechanically moving parts (see G04G for the definition of electronic timepiece).
One has, in any case, to bear in mind that in the recent decades, a distinction between an electronic and an electromechanical timepiece has become more and more pointless, in some case even useless. For this reason, G04C is nowadays used to classify electromechanical aspects of clocks or watches in general, without putting an excessive stress on the nature of the timepiece as a whole (for more info, see "Overlapping with external fields" below).
Although an explicit link to G04B is present in the title of G04C, documents concerning mechanical parts of electromechanical timepieces could still be classified in G04C, especially if these mechanical parts cooperate to actuate or implement electronic and/or electromechanical functions.
A typical example of such a document involves a setting crown wherein a mechanical rotation (of the crown) is transformed into a sequence of electronic pulses.
The major overlaps of G04C are found with G04G. This depends on the fact that a clear distinction between the two has become less and less possible and also less and less important. To a certain extent, G04C and G04G should be regarded as two complementary classifications or like two sides of the same coin. For these reasons, some common aspects of these two subclasses shall be discussed here.
- G04C 11/00 is defined in parallel with G04G 7/00;
- G04C 17/00 is defined in parallel with G04G 9/00;
- G04C 19/00 is defined in parallel with G04G 11/00;
- G04C 21/00 is defined in parallel with G04G 13/00;
- G04C 23/00 is defined in parallel with G04G 15/00.
In all of the above groups, documents can be found which could belong to their corresponding parallel group. For example, documents could be found in G04C 9/00 which could also be in G04G 5/00 and vice-versa.
When classifying, a lot is left to the common sense of the classifier. If a document describes relevant electromechanical aspects of a timepiece, this document will usually receive at least a classification symbol in G04C. The "real life" situation is such that most often documents receive a double classification (both in G04C and in G04G).
Definitely, in cases of doubt, giving a classification symbol in both G04C and G04G is a preferred solution to choosing only one of them.
A typical example is given by the pair G04C 23/00, G04G 15/00. Here, timed switches, e.g. devices to execute a timed programme of switching on/off the heating system of a household are typically classified. A document showing mechanical jumpers to set the time-on and time-off, together with details concerning the mechanical connections of the jumpers with other parts of the mechanism is usually classified in G04C 23/00. Similarly, a document showing a fully programmable CPU-based thermostat with wireless connection to the main heater is typically classified in G04G 15/00.
This place covers:
Documents showing internal electric and/or electromechanical means to wind a mechanical energy source such as a mainspring or a (free-falling) weight. The typical device classified here is a wall clock, pendulum clock or the like. The field has not been particularly active in the last three decades.
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Winding mechanically | |
Mechanical winding up; Winding up with special equipment | |
Testing apparatus for complete clockworks with regard to the functioning of the automatic winding-up device | |
Driving; Starting; Stopping record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form; Control thereof |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Motors with reciprocating, oscillating or vibrating magnet, armature or coil system |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Protecting arrangements against rupture or overwinding of the mainspring located in the barrel or attached to the barrel | |
Keys or the like with means preventing overwinding | |
Protecting means preventing overwinding in manual or mechanical winding arrangements | |
Protecting means preventing overwinding in automatic winding arrangements | |
Devices controlled by such state, e.g. device affording protection means against overwinding |
This place covers:
- Position sensitive switches integrated in timepieces (G04C 3/001).
- Electrically driven timepieces comprising electromechanical regulators (up to G04C 3/08).
This place does not cover:
Clocks driven by synchronous motors |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Electric or magnetic means for convertingoscillatory to rotary motion in time-pieces | |
Electrically-actuated devices for setting the time-indicating means | |
Motors with reciprocating, oscillating or vibrating with polarised armatures moving in alternate directions by reversal or energisation of a single coil system | |
Motors with rotor rotating step by step and without interrupter or commutator driven by the rotor, e.g. stepping motors |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Electric switches; Relays; Selectors; Emergency protective devices |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Mechanisms for stabilising frequency in mechanically-driven clocks or watches, in mechanical parts of clocks or watches or in time-pieces using the position of the sun, moon or stars |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Rotating governors, e.g. centrifugal governors, fan governors |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Balance construction |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Pawl-type clutch mechanisms with magnetic elements | |
Pawl constructions for devices allowing the motion of a rotatable part in only one direction |
This place does not cover:
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a pendulum | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a balance | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a mechanical oscillator other than a pendulum or balance, e.g. by a tuning fork | |
Generating commutating pulses in primary clocks |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Circuit arrangements; Electric clock installations | |
Secondary clocks actuated intermittently by electromechanical step advancing mechanisms | |
Apparatus for producing preselected time intervals for use as timing standards | |
Producing timing pulses | |
Setting, i.e. correcting or changing, the time-indication | |
Synchronisation | |
Control circuits for stepping motors in general |
This place does not cover:
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a pendulum | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a pendulum using electromagnetic coupling between electric power source and pendulum | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a pendulum using torsion pendulum | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a balance | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated using electromagnetic coupling between electric power source and balance | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is regulated by a mechanical oscillator other than a pendulum or balance, e.g. by a tuning fork | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is driven by electromagnetic means | |
Electromechanical clocks or watches wherein movement is driven by piezoelectric means; Driven by magnetostrictive means |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Clocks driven by synchronous motors | |
Time-interval measuring with electric driving mechanisms | |
Additional arrangements in connection with ordinary electric clocks | |
Apparatus for measuring unknown time intervals by electromechanical means |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Mechanisms for stabilising frequency in mechanically-driven clocks or watches, in mechanical parts of clocks or watches or in time-pieces using the position of the sun, moon or stars |
This place covers:
Documents dealing with setting the time (or the date) in an electromechanical timepiece or, by electromechanical means, in an electronic timepiece. With the exception of
, the key element of
is a setting crown.
This place does not cover:
Pulse transmission systems with additional means for setting the time indication of secondary clocks |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Radio-controlled time-pieces |
contains many radio-controlled timepieces (which are nevertheless all double classified and shall be soon removed from here) and, in addition, it contains documents showing systems allowing to test or correct the running precision of a timepiece by establishing a wireless communication between the timepiece and an external control device. Typically, these control devices are available on timepiece manufacturing sites or in retailer shops, to perform calibration or re-calibration of some (otherwise inaccessible) of the timepiece elements.
Documents classified in the rest of
should, as a general rule, contain details concerning the operations that a user needs to perform in order to set the time. On the contrary, if a document merely contains hardware details concerning the electromechanical setting element (the crown, most typically), then classification in
should be considered. In the past, this has not always been a strict policy, therefore an overlap still exists and should always be considered.
This place covers:
Documents showing details of the power supply of timepieces. These details generally concern:
- The mechanical positioning of the power supply with respect to the remaining elements of the timepiece;
- mechanical modifications which other parts of the timepiece have to undergo in order to fit/cope with the power supply (e.g. special dials to cooperate with solar cells mounted there under);
- power supply details of "automatic electromechanical" (also known as Kinetic) watches.
This place does not cover:
Mounting, assembling of components |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Structural details; Housings | |
Electric power supply circuits specially adapted for use in electronic time-pieces |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charges [SoC] |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Radio-controlled time-pieces |
This place does not cover:
Electrically-actuated devices for setting the time-indicating means |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors |
This place covers:
Primary-secondary clock systems wherein, as a general rule, the secondary clocks are not autonomous clocks and they constantly need driving signals issued by the primary clock in order to deliver time information.
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors |
This place covers:
Details concerning secondary clocks.
This place does not cover:
Independent clocks or watches incorporating a stepping motor |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Motors with reciprocating, oscillating or vibrating magnet, armature or coil system |
This place covers:
Documents showing electromechanical time displays. The groups/subgroups are defined in terms of the technical features used to display time (bands, flaps, drums).
This place does not cover:
Producing optical time signals at prefixed times by electric means |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Liquid crystal materials | |
Indicating the time by visual means | |
Indicating the time by numbered bands, drums, discs or sheets |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Visual time or date indication means by building-up characters using a combination of indicating elements and by selecting desired characters out of a number of characters or by selecting indicating elements the positions of which represents the time |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
The title of this subclass contains the expression "at predetermined times".
This is an important aspect because this subclass contains documents describing timepieces producing a visual action at a predetermined time of the day.
This means that countdown timers which would count-down a predetermined time interval independently on the time of the day are not part of G04C 19/00, but rather G04F 1/00, G04F 3/00.
See G04C 23/00
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Sounding bodies; Whistles; Musical apparatus | |
Indicating the time by other means or by combined means |
This place does not cover:
Indicating the time of the day | |
Producing the signals at adjustable fixed times |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Acoustic indication of time |
This place covers:
Documents related to timepieces providing an electromechanical action (non visual, nor acoustic) at predetermined times (of the day). It also extends to the possibility to act after the elapse of a predetermined time interval which is nevertheless counted starting from a predetermined time of the day.
This place does not cover:
Producing acoustic time signals by electrical means |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Producing optical time signals at prefixed times byelectric means | |
Mechanical alarm clocks | |
Apparatus which can be set and started to measure-off predetermined intervals | |
Time or time-programme switches which automatically terminate their operation after the programme is completed |