JP3227853B2 - Watch structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wristwatch structure using a film liquid crystal as a display member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, wristwatches using a film liquid crystal member as a display component have been developed for thinning. The structure of a conventional wristwatch using this film liquid crystal member is similar to the liquid crystal member made of a glass substrate, in which the film liquid crystal member is arranged on the top of the wristwatch case, while the display contents and mode of the film liquid crystal member are changed and set. Operation buttons for performing the above operations are arranged around the film liquid crystal member or on the side of the watch case.

[0003]

By the way, in a wristwatch, since it is necessary to make it easy to see the display contents such as time, a film liquid crystal member for displaying is enlarged.
To that extent, small operation buttons are used. Moreover, since a plurality of operation buttons are usually provided, the installation space for each is further limited. For this reason, the conventional arrangement has a problem that the operability of the operation buttons is poor. In addition, since the operation button cannot be formed into a special shape or cannot be made large, there is a limitation in design, and there has been a problem that it is difficult to develop a wristwatch with originality.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, eliminates restrictions on the size of the operation button, can be a special shape or a large shape, it is possible to improve the design,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wristwatch structure that does not impair the function as a wristwatch.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a through hole formed in the center of the upper surface.
A ring-shaped recess is formed around the through hole of
A watch case with a slit formed on the bottom of the recess,
It was arranged to be able to be pressed in the through hole of the watch case
An operation button and the ring-shaped recess of the watch case.
Ring-shaped film liquid crystal member placed, and this ring-shaped
Attached to the recess so as to cover the film liquid crystal member of
Ring-shaped watch glass and an arm corresponding to the operation button
The switch is operated by pressing the operation button provided inside the watch case.
A switch member that operates to switch,
The film liquid crystal member and the slit are provided inside.
Electrically connected via a connector member inserted through
The film liquid crystal is switched by switching the switch member.
An electronic circuit member for controlling the display of the member .

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views taken along lines AA and BB. Band attachment portions 2 are integrally provided at both ends. Watch case 1, an operation button 3 arranged in the center of the upper surface of the watch case 1, a film liquid crystal member 4 provided around the operation button 3, and a sub operation button arranged on a side surface of the watch case 1 5 and 6.

The watch case 1 has through holes 7 and 8 formed in the upper central portion and side surfaces, and the operation button 3 is provided in the through hole 7 on the upper surface.
However, sub operation buttons 5 and 6 are arranged in through holes 8 on the side surface. (See FIGS. 2 and 3). The wristwatch case 1 has a partition plate 1a for partitioning the inside up and down, and a donut-shaped recess 9 is formed on the upper portion of the partition plate 1a. Further, a timepiece module is arranged below the partition plate 1a. The clock module controls the entire watch.
SI10, a circuit board 11 on which the LSI 10 is mounted,
A battery 12 for supplying power to the circuit board 11;
1 and a battery 12 are assembled, and a housing 13 is inserted into the watch case 1 from the lower surface thereof in this assembled state. In this case, the LSI 10 sends a display signal for controlling the display of the film liquid crystal member 4 to the circuit board 11.
It is sent to the film liquid crystal member 4 via the upper printed wiring. The LSI 10 and the circuit board 11 constitute an electronic circuit member for controlling the display of the film liquid crystal member 4. 2 and 3, reference numeral 14 denotes a back cover attached to the lower surface of the watch case 1, and 15 denotes the back cover 14 and the watch case 1.
This is a seal ring inserted between the lower surface and the lower surface to maintain airtightness.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the operation button 3 comprises a shaft portion 3a and an operation portion 3b integrally connected to the upper portion of the shaft portion 3a.
Is slidably inserted into the through hole 7 at the center of the upper surface of the watch case 1. On the other hand, the operating portion 3b is provided such that the upper end portion thereof is the same height as or slightly higher than the upper end surface of the device case 1. By pressing the operating portion 3b, the shaft portion 3a is integrated. And switching is performed. To perform such switching, the circuit board 11 facing the shaft portion 3a of the operation button 3
The switch member 16 is provided on the upper surface of the switch. The operation button 3 is provided with a retaining ring 17 such as an E-ring at the lower portion of the shaft portion 3a to prevent the operation button 3 from falling out of the wristwatch case 1, and a seal ring 18 is provided between the shaft portion 3a and the through hole 7. It is provided and airtightness is maintained. The operation part 3b of the operation button 3 is formed in a large diameter shape which spreads outward in a flange shape, and the operation button 3 is pushed upward in a direction between the lower surface of the flange portion and the upper surface of the watch case 1. A biasing elastic member 19 is provided. Since the operation button 3 is provided on the upper surface of the wristwatch case 1, the operation is easy. Therefore, the operation button 3 is used as an operation switch frequently operated, for example, a timer switch.

The film liquid crystal member 4 is a watch case 1
Is mounted on the partition plate 1a with an adhesive 20 therebetween, thereby supporting a flat state. The film liquid crystal member 4 has a circular outer shape, but has a donut shape as a whole through the center portion, and is disposed in the concave portion 9 of the watch case 1 formed in a similar donut shape. Is done. Thus, the film liquid crystal member 4 has a concentric shape surrounding the operation button 3 as shown in FIG. A doughnut-shaped watch glass 2 is provided above the film liquid crystal member 4 in the recess 9.
1 is fitted to protect it. The film liquid crystal member 4 is electrically connected to the circuit board 11 to control the display. 1 and 2, reference numeral 23 denotes a connector member for making the connection.
It has a flexible sheet shape. Both ends of the connector member 23 are joined to the electrode of the film liquid crystal member 4 and the electrode of the circuit board 11 by heat sealing, soldering, or the like, and these are connected. Reference numeral 1b denotes a slit formed in an opposing portion of the partition plate 1a of the wristwatch 1 for inserting the connector member 23 therethrough. Here, the film liquid crystal member 4 has an inner peripheral side portion as a display area,
The outer peripheral portion including the joint portion of the connector member 23 is a non-display area. To hide this hidden area,
A mask film 24 by printing or the like is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the lower surface of the watch glass 21 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The decorativeness is given to the outer peripheral portion of the display area by coloring or masking the mask film 24.
The appearance is improved.

In the wristwatch having such a structure, since the film liquid crystal member 4 is provided outside the operation button 3, the watch has a novel design, and the taste is increased. In addition, it is easy to design the operation button 3 to be large, and not only the degree of freedom in design is increased, but also the operability of the operation button 3 is improved.

As shown in FIG. 3 (sub-operation buttons 5 are shown in FIG. 3 but sub-operation buttons 6 are also the same), sub-operation buttons 5 and 6 provided on the side surface of wristwatch case 1 are shown in FIG. It is slidably inserted into the through hole 8 of the case 1,
The retaining ring 31 prevents the wristwatch from falling off, the seal ring 32 maintains airtightness, and the elastic member 33 urges the wristwatch case 1 outward. The sub operation buttons 5 and 6 are provided on the side surface of the wristwatch case 1 so that the mode setting with less operation frequency can be performed.
Used as an operation switch for mode switching and the like. FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 28 denotes a sub-switch member which is formed on the side surface of the circuit board 11 facing the sub-operation buttons 5 and 6, and is switched by a pressing operation on the sub-operation buttons 5 and 6.

FIG. 4 shows a circuit configuration in the LSI 10. An oscillating circuit 41 that oscillates a reference frequency pulse that is a reference for various operations and timekeeping of the wristwatch, a frequency dividing circuit 42 that divides the frequency of the reference frequency pulse oscillated by the oscillating circuit 41, and a pulse that is divided by the frequency dividing circuit 42 A timer circuit 43 that measures a timer based on a pulse from the frequency dividing circuit 42; and a signal from the timer circuit 43 and the signal from the timer circuit 44. And a switching unit 45 for outputting to the member 4. When the operation button 3 is used as a timer switch, the operation button 3 is connected to the flip-flop circuit 46. The flip-flop circuit 46 receives a signal generated by switching the operation button 3 from the T terminal, and outputs a high-level signal from the Q terminal to the timer circuit 44 and the switching unit 45. The timer circuit 44 starts the time measurement of the timer in response to the input of the high-level signal, and the switching unit 45 outputs the time-measurement circuit 4 which has been output until then by the input of the high-level signal.
3 is switched to the output of the timer circuit 44 and sent to the film liquid crystal member 4.

Although not shown, the operation buttons 5 and 6 operate as a time correction switch of the clock circuit 43 or as a reset switch of the timer circuit 44. Then
FIG. 5 shows a normal mode for displaying the date and time.
This is a state in which 10:58:50 on September 30, 992 is displayed. By pressing the operation button 3 in this mode, the timer mode shown in FIG.
4 starts, and as shown in FIG. 7, the timer set time sequentially flashes while flashing. When the operation button 3 is released in this blinking state, the mode returns to the mode for displaying the date and time. In the switching operation as described above, the frequently used switching is performed by the operation button 3 provided at the center of the upper surface of the watch case 1, so that the operability is improved and the reliable operation can be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, the film liquid crystal member may have a polygonal ring shape such as a triangular meter or a rectangle. It may be applied to switching.

[0015]

As described above, the present invention provides a watch case
A through hole is formed at the center of the upper surface of the
A ring-shaped recess is formed in the surrounding area, and the operation button is
And a ring-shaped film liquid crystal member.
Attach a ring-shaped watch glass on top of the watch case
Because the switch member and the electronic circuit member are arranged inside,
The operability of the operation buttons is improved, and the degree of freedom in design can be increased. In addition, penetration of the top of the watch case
A ring-shaped recess is formed around the hole, and the ring-shaped recess is
Since the film-shaped liquid crystal member is
The crystal member can be stably held.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the operation.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the operation.

FIG. 7 is a drawing showing the operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 watch case 3 operation button 4 film liquid crystal member 10 LSI 11 circuit board 16 switch member

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A through hole is formed in the center of the upper surface.
A ring-shaped recess is formed around the through hole.
A watch case that slits are formed in the recess bottom surface of the pressing operably disposed of in the through hole of the watch case
Operation button, and a button disposed in the ring-shaped recess of the watch case.
Said recess so as to cover the ring-shaped film liquid crystal member, the ring-shaped film liquid crystal member
A ring-shaped watch glass provided in the watch case, and an operation provided inside the watch case corresponding to the operation buttons.
Switch member that performs switching operation by pressing the operation button
And the film liquid crystal unit provided inside the watch case.
Material and a connector member inserted through the slit.
Connected by the switching member
An electronic circuit member for controlling display of the film liquid crystal member .