Circuit Description:

The above circuit consists of 4 seven segment display driver IC 4026 which
can display 0 to 9 on common cathode 7 segment display, one IC controls
one 7 segment display. There are three IC 4017 which are decade
counters, it tracks the time and reset the IC 4026’s count to “00” when the
minute digit reaches 60.
There is a logic two input AND gate IC 7408 in this circuit which is used for
resetting the hour digits to “00” when hour reaches “12”. The AND gate’s
output goes HIGH when its two inputs are HIGH. The input for AND gate is
provided by two IC 4017s (IC6 and IC7), when the clock reads 12 the pin
numbers 2 and 4 of IC6 and IC7 respectively becomes HIGH and rest the
IC1 and IC2 (4026s) to count “00”.

This circuit will output a short burst of pulse for every one minute which
will increment the count in the main circuit. This circuit consists of two IC
4017s one of them will divide the input 1 Hz signal by 10 and another IC
4017 will divide the 10 by 6 so at the end we will get 1 pulse every minute
(60 pulses).
The IC 555 is configured as Astable multivibrator whose pulse can be
controlled using given 100K pre-set resistor. You have to adjust the pre-set
and bring the pulse of IC 555 to 1 Hz. There are two blinking LEDs which
can be inserted in between the hour and minute digits. All the circuit is
power at 5V.

NOTE: The accuracy of this digital clock depends on how accurate you
bring the IC 555 pulse to 1 Hz.

IC 4026 to 7 segment display connection:

You need to connect the 220 ohm resistor to each segment as shown
above. Now let’s see the pin diagram of IC 4026.
IC 4026 Pin Diagram:

• Pin #1 is clock input, when we apply clock signal, the IC increments

the count.
• Pin #2 is Clock Enable, when it is connected to Vcc the clocks inputs
are ignored, it has to be grounded during normal operation so that
counts can be incremented.
• Pin #3 is Display Enable, when it is connected to Vcc the 7 segment
display lights up, grounding this pin will turn off the display but the
count will be incremented internally, this can be used for power
saving.
• Pin #4 is not used here.
• Pin #5 is carry out, when the count reaches 10 this pins outputs HIGH
signal, this output is used for cascading another IC 4026 for 10’s
place digit.
• Pin numbers 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 are output for 7 segment display.
• Pin # 8 is ground and pin # 16 is +5V supply.
 • Pin #15 is reset, when this pin is connected HIGH the count resets to
zero. This pins has to be grounded while incrementing the count.

Pin Diagram of IC 4017:

The IC 4017 is a decade counter meaning it can count up to 10. There are 10
output pins each gets high sequentially with successive input pulses. For
example, when the IC is powered ON the pin #3 (Q0) gets high initially; rest
of the output pins goes to LOW state, when a pulse is applied the pin #3
goes LOW and pin #2 (Q1) gets HIGH and rest of the output pins stays LOW,
similarly for Q2 to Q9.
• Pin numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 are output pins.
• Pin #8 is GND and pin #16 is Vcc.
• Pin #15 is reset, when this pin connects to HIGH signal the count reset
to zero.
• Pin #14 is clock input.
 • Pin# 13 is clock enable; when this pin is connect to Vcc the pulse will
be ignored, during normal operation this pin has to be grounded.
• Pin #12 is for carry out function.

Pin diagram of IC 7408:

The IC 7408 is two input logic AND gate, it has 4 gates; we are using just
one of them.

• Pin #14 is +5V and pin #7 is GND.

• Pin #1 and 2 are input and pin #3 is output, similarly for rest of the
gates.

How to Set Time:

You can set time using the given two push buttons, one for hours and one
for minutes. You have to push and release the button for incrementing one
digit, long pressing will not increment the count.
How to Wire the circuit easily:
Wiring the circuit is the tedious part of this project and connecting a single
wire incorrectly can mess the project. You can wire the circuit without any
mistake by finishing a bunch of wires of with same colors as shown in the
schematic.
The main circuit wiring is smartly indicated with colors: Red, black, green,
pink, yellow, blue and cyan (clock input). Finish any one of the colors first
and move on to next, this will ensure that all the connections are done
properly.

Once the main circuit connections are done; now connect the all 4 seven
segment displays to four IC 4026s. If it didn’t work at first attempt don’t
give up.
24 Hour Clock Design:
Here we are going to discuss 24 hour digital clock design using IC 555 and
IC 4026.
I would like to thank the guy with the username “kuma” for sharing his
24 hour clock design. He not only successfully replicated 12hrs clock
project but also able to modify it to 24 clock and added some useful
features.