Title of Invention	AN ARRANGEMENT FOR ACCOMODATING ADDITIONAL BATTERIES IN A WATCH
Abstract	The present invention describes an arrangement for accommodating multiple batteries in a watch within the same space constraints. The invention also describes how to accommodate additional batteries without disrupting the normal functioning of the watch as well as ways to prevent reverse drain of the charge. Representative Figure: Fig. 3

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Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to the field of horology. More particularly the present invention relates to the battery driven watches and an arrangement to accommodate additional batteries in a watch. Background of the Invention: A wristwatch is primarily made of 'watch movement' (i.e. the basic functioning parts) and the appearance parts such as the watchcase, dial, hands and strap. These part together give functioning, meaning and look to the watch. Another important component of the watch is the battery that powers the movement parts and thereby makes the watch function. Presently the initial life of the watch is limited to the life of the battery provided by the manufacturer. Usually this battery is fitted inside the watch movement. In a typical wristwatch, the current consumption of the watch movement is 1 microampere and the capacity of a battery is 26 milli ampere-hours (i.e. SR 626 SW). The battery will last in the watch for 26000 hours, or (26000/24) 1083 days or (1083/30) 36 months or 3 years. This life is normally enough in the western world or in advanced countries where there is a concept of throwing away such items after a few years. But is underdeveloped countries like India a watch is expected to last many more years than the life that is provided to it by the battery in the movement. Hence the owner needs to take the watch to a mechanic for a battery change. Even though the wholesale cost of the battery is quite low (approximately Rs. 5), the cost of replacement to a customer usually turns out to be much higher (typically around Rs. 50) owing to the mechanic's time and effort spent. There is also a possibility that the mechanic may not put a good battery in which case the life of the new battery will not be more than a few months or at most a year. There is also a high possibility that the watch may not even be fitted back correctly in which case its waterproofing will be compromised and other internal delicate parts may be damaged. Finally in many cases the mechanic may be unscrupulous and he can tell the customer that there are many other faults in the watch and that more parts need to be changed which results in a higher expenditure for the owner. Over and above this the whole process is quite cumbersome for the customer, since he has to make special time for this chore. All these problems are encountered only after the original battery of the watch dies out. Hence there exists a need to extend the life of the watch battery beyond the life provided for in the movement and thereby delaying a visit to the watch mechanic. Objectives and Summary of the Invention: It is an objective of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the present day watches. Further, the invention has the objective to provide additional battery power in present day watches so as to increase their life. To achieve the aforementioned objectives and to get over the limitations of the prior art, the invention describes a watch having such an arrangement that it includes space for accommodating multiple batteries. Due to multiple source of power, the life of the watch increases and fewer trips to the service centre are required saving the time and money of the customer. The present invention provides for an arrangement for accommodating additional batteries in a watch comprising: a movement holder having space for accommodating the additional batteries, - a lower interconnection component touching the negative terminal of all the batteries, and an upper interconnection component touching the positive terminal of all the batteries. In the particular embodiment, the present invention describes a dual battery watch having an arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch comprising: a movement holder having space for accommodating the second battery, a lower interconnection component one end of which touches the negative terminal of the first battery and the other end touches the negative terminal of the second battery, and - an upper interconnection component touching the positive terminal of the second battery. Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings: Figure 1 shows the movement holder as per the invention. Figure 2 shows the upper and lower contacts for the batteries. Figure 3 shows the exploded view of the watch showing the arrangement of the various components. Figure 4 is a top open view of the watch as per the invention. Detailed Description of the Accompanying Drawings: To fulfill the need to provide additional battery life, an additional battery alongwith some interconnection components had to be included in the watch. As the watch movement space is restricted, this would have to be done outside the space occupied by the movement. In the preferred embodiment, another battery was fit into the empty space between the watch movement and the case by modifying the movement holder. Figure 1 shows the modified movement holder, as per the preferred embodiment, that has space for accommodating an additional battery. The battery is held in the space (1.1) provided on the top of the holder wherein upward projections provide the hold to keep the battery in place. The holding also has a recess for the passage of the lower interconnection component. The movement holder also has a gripping portion (1.2) to keep the lower interconnection component in place. The movement holder is designed in such a manner that the upper and lower interconnection components do not make a contact and shot the battery. Figure 2 shows the upper and lower interconnection components. The lower interconnection component (2.1) is made in such a manner that on two opposing ends, it has contacts for the negative terminal of the batteries. It also has a hole through which it passes in the gripping portion of the movement holder such that it stays in place. The upper interconnection component (2.2) connects the positive terminals of the batteries. On one end it has a hole through which it is screwed to the watch movement. Both these interconnection components are metallic strips connecting the batteries in parallel. Figure 3 shows the interconnection of the various components as per the invention. Battery 1 (3.1) is the normal battery of the watch that goes into its usual space in the watch (3.2). Battery 2 (3.3) is accommodated in the specially designed movement holder (3.4). The lower interconnection component (3.5) is fixed in such a manner that its two ends touch the negative terminals of the batteries. It is held in place with the help of the hole through which it is fixed in the grip provided in the movement holder. The upper interconnection component (3.6) is fixed to the positive terminal of the second battery using a screw (3.7) that is in contact with the positive terminal of the first battery. The whole arrangement is done taking care of the fact that the two interconnection components do not touch each other and shot the circuit. Figure 4 shows the watch after all the components have been put into place. By putting two batteries in parallel we get double battery life. This is possible due to the stable internal impedance of the silver oxide batteries. Care must be taken to ensure that the batteries are from the same manufacturer to ensure better compatibility, although this will not cause any major detrimental impact since all battery manufacturers adhere to the same norms. The invention increases the life of watches much beyond their designed capacity thereby adding more value at a negligible cost. Even three or more batteries can be added thereby increasing the life even further. The limitation of how many and what type of battery is imposed by the availability of space in the watch outside the area occupied by the watch movement. Theoretically, adding more batteries can provide a battery life of 10 - 15 years. This theoretical limitation is placed by the phenomena of self-drain in the battery, which will increase to an unacceptable level beyond 15 years, (e.g. the self discharge in a silver oxide battery (normally used in watches) is about 5% in 10 years.) As mentioned above the invention increases the life of a watch to more than that provided for in the movement by the movement manufacturer. Hence it adds value to the time keeping device by increasing its time between services. This enhances the customer delight and will be appreciated by any watch purchaser who wishes to keep his watch for more than 3 years. One has to take care that dissimilar batteries are not clubbed together. If dissimilar batteries are used then the life of the watch may actually reduce to less than what a single battery can provide. By dissimilar we mean batteries of different chemical systems like Alkaline, Silver Oxide, Lithium Ion or Nickel Cadmium. This will happen since each system has it's own internal impedance and discharge curves. So if batteries of different systems are put in parallel then they will begin to discharge into one another even when the load is disconnected! It will be apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative intended to be exhaustive or limiting, having been presented by way of example only and that various modifications can be made within the scope of the above invention. For example additional batteries can be accommodated in the watch. Accordingly, this invention is not to be considered limited to the specific examples chosen for purposes of disclosure, but rather to cover all changes and modifications, which do not constitute departures from the permissible scope of the present invention. The invention is therefore not limited by the description contained herein or by the drawings, but only by the claims. We Claim: 1. An arrangement for accommodating additional batteries in a watch comprising: - a movement holder having space for accommodating the additional batteries, a lower interconnection component touching the negative terminal of all the batteries, and an upper interconnection component touching the positive terminal of all the batteries. 2. An arrangement for accommodating multiple batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 1 wherein said lower and upper interconnection component are fixed in such a manner so as to make them movement free and ensure that they do not contact each other. 3. An arrangement for accommodating multiple batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 1 wherein said lower and upper interconnection component are made of conductive material. 4. An arrangement for accommodating multiple batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 1 wherein all the batteries in said watch are preferably of one chemical system. 5. An arrangement for accommodating multiple batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 4 wherein said chemical systems include Alkaline, Silver Oxide, Lithium Ion and Nickel Cadmium. 6. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch comprising: a movement holder having space for accommodating the second battery, a lower interconnection component one end of which touches the negative terminal of the first battery and the other end touches the negative terminal of the second battery, and - an upper interconnection component touching the positive terminal of the second battery. 7. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 6 wherein said lower interconnection component is fixed into the movement holder. 8. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 6 wherein said upper interconnection component is fixed to the watch and the positive terminal of the first battery using a screw. 9. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 6 wherein said lower and upper interconnection component are made of conductive material. 10. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 6 wherein both the batteries in said watch are preferably of one chemical system. 11. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch as claimed in claim 6 wherein said chemical systems include Alkaline, Silver Oxide, Lithium Ion and Nickel Cadmium. 12. An arrangement for accommodating multiple batteries in a watch as and herein described with reference to the accompanying figures. 13. An arrangement for accommodating two batteries in a watch as and herein described with reference to the accompanying figures.

Documents:

841-del-2003-abstract.pdf

841-del-2003-claims.pdf

841-del-2003-complete specification (granded).pdf

841-del-2003-correspondence-others.pdf

841-del-2003-correspondence-po.pdf

841-del-2003-description (complete).pdf

841-del-2003-drawings.pdf

841-del-2003-form-1.pdf

841-del-2003-form-19.pdf

841-del-2003-form-2.pdf

841-del-2003-form-3.pdf

841-del-2003-gpa.pdf

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