Abstract
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a wristband adapted to position a watch face substantially over at least one of a lateral radial portion of a wrist of a user or an anatomical snuffbox of the user. In an example, this watch face may be part of a smartwatch or other personal electronic device.
Claims
1. An apparatus comprising: a wristband connected, via a first angled adaptor and a second angled adaptor, to a watch face that positions and holds the watch face substantially over at least one of a lateral radial portion of a wrist of a user or an anatomical snuffbox of the user and not over a broad anterior or posterior portion of the wrist and prevents the watch face from rotation to the broad anterior or posterior position; a first insert on a first external portion of the wristband that is positioned above the broad anterior portion of the wrist that maintains the watch face above the lateral radial portion of the wrist; and a second insert on a second external portion of the wristband that is positioned above the broad posterior portion of the wrist that maintains the watch face above the lateral radial portion of the wrist.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the watch face comprises at least one of a watch, a smartwatch, a wearable electronic display, a wearable computer display, and a wearable user-input device having a capture device.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a vertical axis of the watch face is offset from a long axis of the wristband.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the watch face positioned above the lateral radial portion of the wrist is to substantially reduce wrist pronation, wrist supination, and medial shoulder rotation of the user during prolonged interaction with the watch face, the watch face comprising a smartwatch.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the watch face is positioned and held by the wristband to enable the vertical axis of the watch face to be parallel to a vertical axis of a user's field of vision from one or more of a neutral head position and a neutral head position with neck flexion, the watch face comprising a smartwatch.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first insert comprises a first angled portion that connects with the watch face and a second angled portion that connects with the first external portion of the wristband, the first angled portion angled with respect to the second angled portion.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wristband comprises a buffer member on a backside thereof that enables the watch face to be positioned above the lateral radial portion of the wrist.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the buffer member comprises a concave first face that mates with at least a portion of the anatomical snuffbox and a substantially planar second face that adapts to a rear side of the watch face.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the buffer member comprises a convex first face that mates with at least a portion of the lateral radial portion of the wrist and a substantially planar second face that adapts to a rear side of the watch face.
10. A smartwatch comprising: a housing having an electronic display coupled to a power source, a processor and a storage device; a wristband affixed to the housing, the wristband having a long axis to be circumscribed about a wrist of a user, wherein the wristband maintains a vertical axis of the electronic display offset from the long axis of the wristband and maintains positioning of the electronic display substantially over at least one of a lateral radial portion of the wrist of the user or an anatomical snuffbox of the user; and one or more stabilization members on the wristband that maintain the electronic display positioning substantially over the at least one of the lateral radial portion or the anatomical snuffbox and prevent rotation of the electronic display to an anterior or posterior portion of the wrist, wherein a first stabilization member is positioned above the anterior portion of the wrist.
11. The smartwatch of claim 10, wherein the wristband maintains positioning of the electronic display substantially over the lateral radial portion of the wrist to substantially reduce wrist pronation, wrist supination, and medial shoulder rotation of the user during prolonged interaction with the electronic display.
12. The smartwatch of claim 10, wherein the wristband maintains positioning of the electronic display having the vertical axis of the electronic display to be parallel to a vertical axis of a user's field of vision from one or more of a neutral head position and a neutral head position with neck flexion.
13. The smartwatch of claim 10, wherein a second stabilization member is positioned above the posterior portion of the wrist.
14. The smartwatch of claim 10, wherein the wristband is affixed to the housing via a first angled adaptor and a second angled adaptor.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) FIG. 1 shows a watchband and watch face in accordance with an embodiment.
(2) FIG. 2 shows a watchband and watch face in accordance with an embodiment.
(3) FIG. 3 shows a watchband and watch face in accordance with an embodiment.
(4) FIG. 4 shows a watch face attached to a rigid angled or curved piece.
(5) FIG. 5 shows a mechanism for rotating a watch face within a circular casing.
(6) FIG. 6 shows a close-up portion of one layer of the circular casing.
(7) FIG. 7 shows pegs attached to a watch face.
(8) FIG. 8 shows a close-up of a watch face with pegs attached resting in a circular casing.
(9) FIG. 9 shows a watch-face casing, watch face, and wristband.
(10) FIG. 10 shows a wristband with attachable adaptations.
(11) FIG. 11 shows a watch face secured in the cuff of a glove.
(12) FIG. 12 shows a wristband with attachable adaptations.
(13) FIG. 13 shows a wristband with attachable adaptations.
(14) FIG. 14 shows a wristband with attachable adaptations.
(15) FIG. 15 shows a wristband with attachable adaptations.
(16) FIG. 16 shows a wristband with attachable adaptations.
(17) FIG. 17 shows a watch face with a convex buffer member attached to a backside of the watch face
(18) FIG. 18 shows a watch face with a concave buffer member attached to a backside of the watch face
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(19) FIGS. 1-5,7-11 depict embodiments with the image of a traditional watch face, the image of which is a customizable viewing option on smartwatches. The 12-3-6-9 orientation of a traditional watch face image illustrates the orientation of the watch face's view screen in familiar terms, where the 12:00 and 6:00 positions are aligned substantially along a vertical axis of the watch face and the 9:00 and 3:00 positions are aligned substantially along a horizontal axis of the watch face.
(20) FIGS. 5-6, 8 depict a donut or torus shaped ring casing around a watch face that may connect either side of a watch band via conventional fastener or may comprise a unitary structure where the donut casing and band are one piece. The donut casing may be configurable to place a watch face on the left or right hand with different sets of peg slots 11 for different arms or different placement on the wrist (traditional or present embodiment).
(21) FIGS. 1-5, 9-10, 12-16 depict wristbands (which may be a unitary construction with the watch face, a single band, or a two-piece band with clasp or other means of joining, composed of leather, rubber, nylon, elastic, chain link or other materials).
(22) FIGS. 1-4, depict embodiments: a wristband allowing a watch face 2 to be positioned on the lateral radial portion of the wrist, over the anatomical snuff-box, with the vertical axis (with respect to a 12:00 position of conventional watch hands and/or with respect to a perpendicular section of a display screen) of the watch face 1b parallel to the length of a fully-extended pointer finger 1a.
(23) One embodiment features one or two rigid or semi-rigid insertseither removable or non-removable strips or rods, 3&4that may be placed in or along the broad anterior surface and/or the broad posterior surface of the wrist to hold the band in position to prevent the band from rotating around the wrist, thereby holding the watch face in position over the anatomical snuff-box.
(24) FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present embodiments, featuring a rigid, curved or angled (hinged or fixed) piece 6 attached along the lower edge of the watch face 5 then bending and following along the broad anterior surface of the wrist either attached to or embedded in the watchband, stabilizing the position of the watch face over the lateral radial portion of the wrist over the anatomical snuff-box.
(25) FIGS. 5-9 show another embodiment, featuring either a circular [FIGS. 5-8] casing 7 that circumscribes the watch face or an eight-pointed Armenian star [FIG. 9] shaped casing 13 with a raised border and recessed inner surface 14 on which rests the watch face. Both of these embodiments [FIGS. 5-8 and FIG. 9] allow the watch face to turn radially inside the casing in order to orient it in one of two alternative positions: (1) to be worn in the traditional position 8 on the posterior (or anterior) surface of the wrist, or (2) alternatively to orient it with the vertical axis 45-60 degrees away from the long axis of the wristband (shown in 9) to be worn on the lateral radial portion of the wrist over the anatomical snuffbox.
(26) The circular casing 7 may be formed of two stacked circular layers 10, with one or both layers having grooves, divots, or recessed portions 11 in which pegs 12 attached to the watch face rest to secure the desired orientation of the watch face.
(27) For FIGS. 5-9, when in position 2, the wristband may have rigid or semi-rigid strip or rod inserts 3&4 present to secure the placement of the watch face over the lateral radial portion of the wrist; whereas in position 1, those inserts would be absent (removed) to let the watch face rest on the posterior (or anterior) surface of the wrist.
(28) FIG. 10 shows two angled adaptor pieces 15&16 that attach to a wristband 17 to modify it so that the watch face is oriented as per the present embodiments to be worn on the lateral radial portion of the wrist over the anatomical snuffbox. Piece 15 is adapted to twice mimic whatever connection mechanism was used to connect the wristband to the watch face in prior art 18: once to connect piece 15 to the wristband, and a second time to connect piece 15 with the bottom edge of the watch face using its existing connectors. Piece 16 is similarly adapted for the top of the watch face. Rigid or semi-rigid inserts or attachments 3&4 may be used in conjunction with 15&16 to convert a traditional wristband for use with the present embodiments.
(29) FIG. 11 shows another embodiment whereby a watch face is embedded in, sewn into, or otherwise attached to or secured in the cuff of a glove in lieu of or with a built-in wristband to effect the present embodiments, positioning the watch face over on the lateral radial portion of the wrist over the anatomical snuff-box with the vertical axis of the watch face aligned with a natural line of sight in a neutral (or neutral with slight neck flexion) head position.
(30) FIGS. 12-16 show two angled adaptor pieces 15&16 that attach to a wristband 17 to modify it so that the watch face is oriented as per the present embodiments to be worn on the lateral radial portion of the wrist over the anatomical snuffbox. Piece 15 is adapted to twice mimic whatever connection mechanism was used to connect the wristband to the watch face in prior art 18: once to connect piece 15 to the wristband, and a second time to connect piece 15 with the bottom edge of the watch face using its existing connectors. Piece 16 is similarly adapted for the top of the watch face. Rigid or semi-rigid inserts or attachments 3&4 may be used in conjunction with 15&16 to convert a traditional wristband for use with the present embodiments.
(31) FIG. 17 shows a buffer member that comprises a convex first face 19 to mate with at least a portion of the anatomical snuffbox and a substantially planar second face to adapt to a rear side of the watch face 2.
(32) FIG. 18 shows a buffer member that comprises a concave first face 20 to mate with at least a portion of the lateral radial portion of the wrist and a substantially planar second face to adapt to a rear side of the watch face 2.
(33) While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention.
