JP2001349968A - Bracelet type electronic appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bracelet type electronic appliance allowing to confirm the display contents visually and easily. SOLUTION: This bracelet type electronic appliance is provided with a display part 3 on the side face of a watch main body 2 or a small partition 6 along the direction around an arm. An inspection hole 8 may be formed on the side face of the watch main body 2 or the small partition 6 and the display part 3 may be arranged inside the watch main body 2 or the small partition 6 which can be observed through the inspection hole 8. A display panel using an organic light emitting element, a light emitting diode, and a liquid crystal or fluorescent display tube is used in the display part 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bracelet-type electronic device capable of visually recognizing display contents without requiring a twisting operation of an arm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a current wristwatch, a main body of a watch is connected to a watch band and is formed into an annular body surrounding an arm, so that a dial is substantially parallel to a back of a hand. When observing the display contents of the dial, it is necessary to bend and twist the arm so that the dial faces the face. On the analog dial,
Up to a certain angle (specifically, 45 degrees or less) of the line of sight with respect to the normal of the dial, the displayed contents can be visually recognized accurately.
However, in the case of a digital dial using liquid crystal, it is required to reduce the line-of-sight angle because information is displayed by light transmitted through the liquid crystal. In some cases, the displayed content cannot be visually recognized unless the line of sight matches the normal of the dial (facing the dial directly to the face). A wristwatch having additional functions such as a biological sensor and communication (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-171116)
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-133168) is also known, but it is still necessary to bend and twist the arm in order to visually recognize the display content, which is the original purpose.

[0003]

The operation of bending and twisting the arm makes the wristwatch inconvenient to use, and such operation may not be possible depending on the person or the situation. For example, if the user tries to view the displayed contents during exercise such as jogging or physical training, the arm may be bent and twisted, thereby hindering the original exercise operation. Even when working or studying, the movement of the arm that faces the dial to the face can have a bad impression on the surroundings. Moreover, the liquid crystal display dial is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to visually recognize the display contents in a dark place.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised to solve such a problem, and requires a twisting operation of an arm by providing a display unit on a side surface of an electronic device main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bracelet-type electronic device in which display contents can be visually recognized without any problem. In order to achieve the object, the bracelet-type electronic device according to the present invention is characterized in that a display portion is provided on a side surface of a watch main body or a top along the arm circumference direction.

[0005] The display section can be incorporated in the body of the watch or the frame. In this case, a viewing window is formed on the side of the watch main body or the top along the arm circumference direction, and the display unit is arranged at an internal position of the watch main body or the top viewed from the viewing window. A display panel using an organic light emitting element, a light emitting diode, a liquid crystal or a fluorescent display tube is used for the display unit.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A bracelet-type electronic device according to the present invention can be used as an auxiliary display having a display portion on a side surface of a watch body of a conventional wristwatch, a display incorporated in a decorative bracelet, or the like. As the display device, an organic light emitting element, a light emitting diode, a liquid crystal, a fluorescent display tube, or the like can be used. Organic light-emitting elements and light-emitting diodes have high image clarity and excellent visibility because they display information by self-emission. Also in the liquid crystal display, the display portion is provided on the side surface which is in a natural state and has a positional relationship directly facing the face, so that the difficulty in viewing due to the viewing angle peculiar to the liquid crystal is reduced.

A bracelet-type electronic device having a display incorporated in a wristwatch is, for example, a watch band 1 as shown in FIG.
The display unit 3 is provided on a side surface of the watch main body 2 connected to the display unit 3. The watch main body 2 is provided with a conventional analog or digital dial 4 or the like. The dial 4 and the like are used for visually recognizing display contents in a normal use mode. The position of the display unit 3 is in a positional relationship directly facing the face only by bending the arm on which the watch is fitted. Therefore, even if the liquid crystal display is greatly affected by the viewing angle, the display content can be visually recognized without the necessity of the twisting operation. Further, in a self-luminous display device such as an organic light-emitting element, a light-emitting diode, a fluorescent display tube, etc., the display content can be visually recognized even when the arm on which the timepiece is worn is lowered because the visibility is good because the influence is small depending on the viewing angle.

[0008] The display unit 3 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
A drive mechanism is provided in which an integrated circuit 12, a driver circuit 13, and a crystal oscillator 14 to which power is supplied from a power supply 11 via a terminal 11a are mounted on a flexible substrate 15. A switching element 16 operated by the crown 5 or the like is provided on one side of the flexible substrate 15 and an input terminal 18 of a display panel 17 is provided.
Is provided with a flat lead 19 connected to the flat lead. The display panel 17 has a flat shape in FIG. 2 for simplicity of illustration. However, in order to incorporate the display panel 3 into the watch body 2 (FIG. Is used. A predetermined image signal is sent from the driver circuit 13 to the display panel 17 via the flat lead 19, and a predetermined portion on the XY matrix emits or transmits light, and a required image is displayed on the display panel 17. The display panel 17 can be driven by either a simple matrix method or an active matrix method.

The display unit 3 can display various information including the time. Since the time is displayed on the dial 4 and the like, the display unit 3 can be used for displaying memos, incoming call information, and the like. In addition, a crown 5 for turning on / off the display unit 3 is provided on the other side surface of the timepiece body 2 as needed. For example, if the display unit 3 is turned off when not in use,
Power consumption can be reduced. Display devices such as liquid crystals, organic light-emitting elements, light-emitting diodes, and fluorescent display tubes are being reduced in size with the development of technology. Therefore, not only watches,
It can also be incorporated into decorative items such as bracelets. For example, when incorporating the display unit 3 into a decorative bracelet (FIG. 3) in which a plurality of pieces 6 are connected by pins 7,
The display unit 3 is provided on a side surface of one or more tops 6. The display content of this decorative bracelet can be visually recognized in the same usage form as that of the watch type.

The display section 3 can be arranged inside the watch main body 2 or the frame 6. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a viewing window 8 is provided on a side surface of the watch main body 2 to which the watch band 1 is connected, and the display unit 3 is disposed inside the watch main body 2 in a positional relationship observable from the viewing window 8. . By arranging the display unit 3 in this way, the appearance is indistinguishable from a normal wristwatch or a decorative bracelet, so that the product is attractive to consumers. In this case, when a self-luminous display device such as an organic light-emitting element, a light-emitting diode, or a fluorescent display tube is used for the display unit 3, the display content is visually recognized as a clear image regardless of the internal arrangement.

[0011]

As described above, the bracelet-type electronic device of the present invention has the display on the side of the watch main body or the top piece along the arm circumference direction. The displayed contents can be easily visually recognized without requiring a bending and twisting operation. In addition, since a new function is added to the wristwatch or bracelet without giving a sense of incongruity, the product is attractive to consumers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

Fig. 1 A wristwatch with a display unit built into the side of the watch body

FIG. 2 illustrates a driving mechanism of a display panel.

[Fig. 3] A decorative bracelet incorporating a display on the side of a frame.

FIG. 4 is a wristwatch in which a display unit is arranged inside a watch body.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: watch band 2: watch body 3: display
4: Dial, etc. 5: Crown 6: Frame 7: Pin 8: Viewing window

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2F002 AA05 AA06 AA07 AB02 AB04 AB06 AC03 BA06 BA08 BA21 EA01 EA02 EA05 EB01 EB05 ED02 EE00 EF00 EF01 EF02 EF04 GA14 5G435 AA01 AA18 BB01 BB04 BB05 BB12 EE02 LL

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A bracelet-type electronic device characterized in that a display portion is provided on a side surface of a watch main body or a top along a direction around an arm. 2. A watch window is formed on a side surface of the watch main body or the top along the arm circumference direction, and a display unit is arranged at an internal position of the watch main body or the top viewed from the view window. Bracelet type electronic device. 3. The bracelet type electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is a display panel using an organic light emitting element, a light emitting diode, a liquid crystal or a fluorescent display tube.