JPS62103932A - Structure of touch switch - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a touch switch structure for inputting correction signals, function operation signals, etc. of a watch.

[Conventional technology]

In order to simplify the mechanism and improve the design of the watch by omitting the external operating parts such as buttons and buttons used to input corrections to electronic watches, we have developed a system that allows users to easily touch a part of the case with their fingers, etc. to simplify the mechanism and improve the design of the watch. There are many proposals for touch switch structures for input. However, in conventional touch switches, the structure that electrically connects the inside and outside of the watch is one in which a conductor as an electrode for touch input passes through the first member (in the case of a metal case, the surrounding area is insulated). In many cases, a touch electrode pattern made of a transparent conductive film was provided on the surface of the windshield, and each pattern was routed from the side to the back of the windshield.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the conventional example (2), the structure of the watch case itself becomes complicated, which increases the cost, and also creates design constraints for the arrangement of the touch switches.

Further, in conventional example (2), since a complicated three-dimensional printing technique is applied, the cost of the windshield glass is greatly increased, and there is also a high risk of breakage of the membrane electrode.

The present invention solves these difficulties and creates a touch switch structure that does not require any special processing on the case or windshield (and is significantly different from a regular watch with external operation members in terms of cost) and has fewer design constraints. The purpose is to provide.

[Means for solving problems]

A touch switch structure characterized in that an insulator is provided to fill a gap between a case and a windshield of an electronic watch, and a conductor passing through the insulator is used as a touch switch for taking in signals from the outside of the watch to the inside.

[Effect]

Since the inner end of the conductor is naturally connected to the correction input terminal of the watch circuit, touching the outer end of the conductor with a finger changes the potential at the input terminal and inputs a correction signal into the circuit.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of essential parts showing the structure of a timepiece in one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is the watch case (body), 2 is the windshield (
(glass), 3 is an insulating member made of hard rubber or plastic that is usually used as a packing material, and a conductive member 4 such as conductive rubber or a metal rod or plate is inserted into the insulating member 5 and inserted into the case so as to pass through it in the inside and outside directions of the case. has been done. (The horizontal cross-section of the conductor 4 is not limited to a circle, but can be any shape.) The insulating member 6 is ring-shaped and is compressively held in the gap between the case 1 and the windshield 2, and has a waterproof effect on the front of the watch. The step shape serves to position and hold the windshield 2 and the windshield 2 relative to the case 1. 5 is a hand space in which the hour, minute, and second hands move.

6 to 8 constitute a module (movement),
6 is a dial, 7 is a circuit board, and 8 is a mechanical part of the module. 9 is the middle frame, 10 is the case back, and 11 is the seal. One end of the pattern provided on the outer edge of the circuit board 7 is in contact with the lower end of the conductor 4, and the other end of the pattern is connected to a clock circuit (not shown), so that the upper end of the conductor 4 cannot be touched by a finger or the like. The change in potential due to this is input to the circuit.

There are a plurality of conductors 4, and they are arranged in discrete K (for example, at equal intervals) inside the ring-shaped insulating member 3. In this example, due to the layout (the diameter of the dial is made as large as possible),
The cross-sectional shape of the conductor 4 is not vertical but inclined.

In the figure, the conductor 4 is completely surrounded by an insulating material, but the windshield 2 is usually made of an insulating material, and the case 1 may also be made of an insulating material such as plastic, so in these cases, The side surface of the conductor may be exposed and touching the windshield or case. That is, it is sufficient that the individual conductors are basically insulated from each other.

FIG. 2 is a partial circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of the input circuit of the touch switch. There are 12 conductors 4 shown in FIG. 1, and these are represented by 41 to 47. 41-460
Each of the six conductors, for example 41, is connected to v8. through a transistor 12 and a high resistance 13. It is connected to the. P1~P
6 is an output terminal of each touch contact. Conductor 41~
46 are arranged in numerical order, for example, clockwise when viewed from the front, at equal intervals.

These are represented by white circles on the diagram. Conductors 47 (6 conductors, shown as black circles) fixedly connected to vDD are arranged between the respective conductors. Since the distance between adjacent conductors is small, when a part of the ring of the insulating member 3 is touched with a finger, two adjacent conductors (for example, 41 and 47) are short-circuited.
The conductor 41 is at voD potential. The control terminal T of each transistor 12 is normally supplied with a voltage that turns the transistor conductive and OFF, but is intermittently supplied with an ON voltage for a very short time (for example, several micrometers every 4 seconds).

As described above, when any of the conductors 41 to 46 is touched, the potential of any of the outputs (PI to P6) changes from VSS to V during the conduction period. It changes to D, but the rest remains the same.

Therefore, the clock circuit can determine which electrode is touched. Of course, if the case body or the windshield surface is uniformly conductive, these may be connected to VDD and the conductor 47 may be omitted.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the time adjustment operation of this embodiment. It is assumed that the clock circuit is a CMOS IC consisting of a normal time signal generation circuit and a so-called microcomputer type control circuit. This figure exemplifies the operation when time correction input is performed in the microcomputer type control circuit.

When the clock starts, the presence or absence of continuity between the conductors 41-46 and 47 is briefly checked every 4 seconds in functional stages 21-22. The reason why the check interval is relatively long is to suppress an increase in current consumption due to the check current.

If continuity is detected in any conductor, the function stage 26 is entered in which the clock pulses determining the time intervals between checks are sped up (from a period of 4 seconds to, for example, 1/16 seconds) to detect continuity. To be able to detect changes in a conductor over time. Then, at stages 24 and 25, the touch order of the conductors is 41 → 42 → 46 →...→
Only when it is cycled twice in a certain direction like 46→41→42→...→46 and then once in the reverse order like 46→45→...41, the check loop is broken and the correction subroutine is executed. 39.

Any other touch is considered to be a malfunction and returns to the start state 2o. In addition, in any case, if there is no change in the conduction state of the conductor (movement of conduction position or temporal discontinuity) for 4 seconds or more, the forced interrupt function 65, which is constantly monitored during the correction operation, is activated to return everything to the starting state 2 degrees. It is now back to .

When the control state moves to the ℃ correction subroutine.

First, the stage 26 determines whether the direction of movement (input order) of the conductor with the subsequent touch input is the forward direction (clockwise) or the reverse direction (counterclockwise). Stage 27 prepares to output a fast-forward signal waveform for forward rotation, and stage 27 recognizes that a correction to delay the time is required for reverse rotation.
8, preparations are made to output a fast-forward signal waveform for reverse rotation.

Next, in stage 29, the duration of the touch state of the last touched conductor is compared with a predetermined value, and if the dwell time of the input state is long (that is, it is assumed that the finger is being moved slowly), stage 30 is performed. When the finger moves one step (or a predetermined set number of steps) at a fixed rate, and then moves the finger touching another conductor, the direction of finger movement changes at stage 31 from the direction immediately before. It is determined whether or not there is a change in direction, and if there is no change in direction, the fixed amount feed is repeated each time the finger moves, and if there is a change in direction, the process returns to the start state of the correction subroutine. At stage 29, the input dwell time is shorter than the predetermined value (assuming that the finger is moving quickly)
At this point, the stage 62 pointer shifts to a state of continuous fast-forward movement. This state is maintained until a second touch input is detected by the stage 66 and the process advances to the stage 34 where the fast forward operation is stopped.

When the fast-forward operation is stopped, the correction subroutine returns to its initial state and becomes ready to continue making any new forward/reverse or fixed/continuous fast-forward corrections. Of course, if the clock is left in this state for more than 4 seconds, the stage 650 forced interrupt function returns to the start state 20 (the normal hand movement state of the clock).

Although one embodiment has been described above, the structure and material combination of the watch case - conductor and insulating member - module mechanical part, the number and arrangement of touch conductors, the manner of touch and the various correction states or circuit configurations that occur. It goes without saying that the hardware or software is not limited to the above example and can be modified in various ways. Furthermore, the present structure can be effectively used not only for adjusting the time of a clock but also for controlling various functions of microelectronic devices.

〔effect〕

The present invention is expected to ensure reliable operation without the risk of wire breakage, requires no special processing, and reduces manufacturing costs (with a reduced number of contacts).
This has the effect of providing a close-to-ideal touch switch structure that is compact and has fewer design constraints.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a timepiece according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a correction operation of the same embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Case, 2... Windshield, 3... Insulating member, 4... Conductor, 7... Circuit board, 8... Module mechanism part. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A touch switch structure characterized in that a conductor that penetrates an insulator that fills the gap between the case and the windshield of an electronic watch is used as a touch switch to take in signals from the outside of the watch to the inside.