JP2003121571A - Radio controlled timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple and preferable mode, in the display of a reception state and a mechanically simple structure for an analog radio control timepiece, capable of receiving a plurality of standard radio waves. SOLUTION: The timepiece is provided with an analog time display device, a device for receiving the standard radio waves, a time signal creating circuit for extracting a time signal included in the standard radio waves, and a pointer location control device for making the display contents of the analog time display device follow the time signal. The timepiece is further provided with a circuit for determining the reception level of the standard radio waves. The receiving device is capable of receiving the plurality of standard radio waves. The pointer location control device is provided with a function of displaying the type of the received standard radio waves or a reception state comprised of the reception level thereof, by the location of a pointer within predetermined different regions on an analog time display surface. The locations of the regions are related to the locations or to the bearings of transmitting stations on a map. The locations of the regions to a west station and an east station are symmetrically arranged to the right and left of the time display surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a so-called radio-controlled timepiece. More specifically, the present invention relates to a display mode for displaying a standard radio wave reception state in a radio-controlled timepiece capable of receiving a plurality of standard radio waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a strong demand from general users for high-precision timepieces, and as an ultimate form to meet the demand, the international standard time radio wave (in Japan, the Communications Research Laboratory is always transmitting). ) Is received from time to time or periodically, and the time displayed by the clock is included in the standard time signal (in the 1-minute signal, not only the hour, minute, and minute, but also the month, day, and more). A so-called radio-controlled timepiece has become widespread in which a user can always display a highly accurate time even if he / she does not normally adjust the time by automatically correcting the time according to (including the daylight saving time information). Moreover, wristwatches have already been realized with the downsizing and low power consumption of the receiving means.

FIG. 11 is a front view of an example of a conventional radio-controlled wristwatch. The display surface and the overall shape are emphasized, and the bands and details are not shown. This radio-controlled wristwatch 1 has a time display surface 2 for displaying the time in a pointer type, which includes an hour hand, a minute hand, a second hand and a date plate. A plurality of standard radio waves can be received, and which radio wave (transmitting station) is being received is displayed on the mode hand 4 using the mode display surface 3 which is a small character dial provided at the bottom of the display surface. Point to and display. The reception status display area 5 is an area in which three characters are printed and arranged in the vicinity of 12:00 on the time display surface 2, and is surrounded by a broken line. Further, the enlarging part on the left side of the radio-controlled timepiece 1 is an antenna housing part 7 having a built-in antenna for receiving standard radio waves.
Is a ring-shaped date plate that allows the date of the day to be seen through the dial window.

The characters in the reception state display area 5 are marks for instructing by using the second hand (switching from the time display state) to inform the user of the reception state of the standard radio wave. When the user performs an operation of forcibly receiving the electric wave displayed on the mode display surface 3, the second hand points to the character RX. When the reception is completed, the second hand once returns to the normal time display mode, and when the timepiece confirms the success or failure of the reception, the second hand indicates the result. When the second hand points to the character OK, it indicates that the reception level is good, and when the second hand points to the character NO, it indicates that the reception level is poor.

[0005]

In the past, the standard time radio wave in Japan had a frequency of 40 kHz and the transmitting station was in Fukushima prefecture.
Since it is a long wave, the receivable distance is about 1000 km and it cannot be received in the west of Japan, and the radio-controlled timepiece as a product had to be unevenly distributed in the domestic market. However, currently, the second station in Japan is under preparation for opening in Saga prefecture, and the frequency is 60 kHz. As a result, it becomes possible to receive any of the standard radio waves throughout Japan. If this happens, the radio-controlled timepiece will be approved as a product in all domestic markets, and there is a demand for a radio-controlled timepiece that can handle two transmitting stations and can use the standard radio wave that is advantageous (high sensitivity). In the present specification, the transmitting station in Fukushima prefecture is tentatively referred to as the east station, and the second transmitting station in Saga prefecture is referred to as the west station.

[0006] Standard radio waves are also transmitted overseas in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, but different frequencies and data formats are adopted in each country. Therefore, when the radio-controlled timepiece is provided as a global product, it is advantageous that it is possible to receive signals from multiple stations. However, providing a dedicated mode display surface complicates the structure of the timepiece movement and requires an operating mechanism such as a motor and a train wheel, which causes a cost increase.
This is a major constraint on the design of the time display surface.

Further, the technology for reducing the size and reducing the power consumption of the receiving device has been further advanced, and the receiving antenna has come to fit well within the contour of the front of a normal men's wristwatch. For this reason, a design that dared to show off the functions of a radio-controlled timepiece as in the past,
Alternatively, it has become technically possible to subtly add a function of correcting radio wave usage to a wristwatch having an ordinary shape without using an illusionally compact design.

This is, of course, preferable, and it is desired to further develop the design of watches, especially hand-held radio timepieces, in that direction. However, the minimum function display as a radio-controlled timepiece (for example, which radio wave is being received and its sensitivity level is displayed) is necessary. In particular, in a timepiece with a pointer-type time display, it is difficult to display the function because the display characters cannot be switched and the display format is limited unlike the digital type. The more elaborate and concise the display surface, the more difficult it becomes. This applies not only to wristwatches, but also to pointer-type table clocks and wall clocks.

An object of the present invention is, in a radio-controlled timepiece capable of displaying a plurality of standard radio waves by displaying a pointer-type time, a simple and preferable mode of displaying the reception state such as the type and reception level of the received radio wave and mechanically. It is to provide a simple structure.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the radio-controlled timepiece of the invention has the following features. (1) Pointer type time display device, standard radio wave receiving device,
In a timepiece provided with a time signal generating circuit for extracting a time signal included in the standard radio wave and a pointer position control means for making the display contents of the pointer type time display device follow the time signal, the timepiece further comprises: A standard radio wave reception level determination circuit is provided, the receiving device is capable of receiving a plurality of standard radio waves, and the pointer position control means indicates a reception state consisting of the type of the standard radio wave being received or its reception level. It must have a function to display the hands according to the position of the hands within a predetermined different area on the time display surface.

The radio-controlled timepiece of the invention may further have at least one of the following features. (2) The plurality of standard radio waves are transmitted from different transmitting stations, and the position of the predetermined area on the display surface of the pointer-type time display device for each transmitting station is on a normally used map. It should be associated with the position or direction of each of the transmitting stations.

(3) The plurality of transmitting stations are an east side station and a west side station, and the area where the pointer displays the reception state is on the right side of the display surface of the clock with respect to the east side station, It should be on the left side of the western station.

(4) The reception status display mark in the area for the station on the east side and the reception status display mark in the area for the station on the west side are at 12 o'clock on the display surface of the pointer type time display device. Be placed symmetrically with respect to the line connecting 6 o'clock.

[0014]

1 is a front view of a radio-controlled wristwatch according to a first embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which normal time is displayed. First, the radio-controlled wristwatch 1 has an appearance that is substantially the same as that of a normal wristwatch-type time display wristwatch.
(Although the side and the inside are not shown, the thickness of the timepiece is the same as that of a normal timepiece.) The antenna is embedded in the timepiece movement.

Two reception state display areas 5 along the outer edge of the time display surface 2 on the 3 o'clock side (on the right side of a normal clock) and 9 o'clock side (usually on the left side) correspond to the east station and the west station, respectively. The area. This is to prevent misreading by using the association because the right side is the east and the left side is the west in a normal map with the north on the top. Inside the reception status display area 5, four character marks, NO / E or NO / W,
RX, H, M and L are arranged symmetrically. By the second hand 6 temporarily interrupting the normal time display state to indicate one of the character marks inside one of these areas,
Displays the selected transmitting station and its standard radio wave reception status. This display mode conversion is performed by pressing the push button 9 located at the 4 o'clock position of the timepiece and operating the switch.

When the push button 9 is first pressed in the time display state, the reception state display mode is entered. The mode signal generation circuit 114 senses the operation and commands the position control circuit for seconds, and first, it is displayed whether or not the previous reception was successful.
The letter NO pointed to by the second hand 6 indicates that the previous reception was unsuccessful, the letter H indicates that the level of the reception sensitivity was sufficiently good, the M indicates that it was decent, and the L indicates that the reception was successful. However, the sensitivity was not good. Hereinafter, display examples of various reception states in the first embodiment will be shown. FIG. 2 shows that the previous reception state of the east station was at the M level in this embodiment. (The broken line shows the position immediately before the second hand. The same applies to the other figures.)

If the push button 9 is kept pressed in this state, the mode signal generating circuit 114 senses the operation and gives an instruction to the receiving circuit 107 to start a new reception. The second hand 6 first points to RX indicating that the forced reception operation has been performed (FIG. 3). The reception sensitivity level is determined every one minute during the reception operation, and the sensitivity is displayed by the letters H, M, L, and NO.
FIG. 4 shows that the sensitivity was H (good).

The east-west station is selected by using the hidden switch 10, and the receiving station is switched each time the switch is pressed. This switch is almost buried at the 8 o'clock position on the exterior of the watch to prevent malfunction, and is operated by pushing it with a pen tip. If the hidden switch 10 is pressed during the receiving operation, the reception is canceled (the received data is canceled) and the time display mode is restored. FIG. 5 shows that the previous reception state by the operation of the push button 9 was H when the west station was selected. FIG. 6 shows a state immediately after an operation of forcibly receiving the standard radio wave of the west station is performed by operating the push button 9. FIG. 7 shows that the result of forced reception at the west station was M. This is the end of the description of the operation of the first embodiment of the radio-controlled wristwatch of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a radio-controlled wristwatch according to a second embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which normal time is displayed. This example is an example in which three receivable transmitting stations (Japan = JPN, Germany = GER, United Kingdom = UTC) are assumed, assuming that they can be used in foreign countries (Europe). Also in this example, for the UK and Germany, the positions of the reception state display areas 5 corresponding to them are arranged on the left and right of the time display surface in association with the geographical east-west relation. As a modified example, taking into consideration the low latitude of Japan,
It would be good to place the area around 6 o'clock, UTC around 10 o'clock, and GER around 2 o'clock. The description of the operation of the second embodiment is omitted.

Next, an embodiment of a circuit used in the radio-controlled timepiece of the present invention will be described. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the circuit of the radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention, which is used in the first embodiment of the radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention. Note that illustration of a manual time adjustment circuit or the like, which has little relation to the present invention, is omitted. In the figure, a circuit group surrounded by a thin line is a clock circuit 100, which creates time information maintained by a clock. The content is an oscillator circuit 1 which is a crystal oscillator.
01, a frequency dividing circuit 102 that reduces the output signal to a second signal of a one second cycle, a second counter 103 that counts the second signal and outputs a minute signal, a minute counter 104 that creates an hour signal from the minute signal, and a hour signal Time counter 10 to create the day signal
5. A day counter 106 for counting the day signal for one month.

The time information held by the time counting circuit 100 may not be accurate time, but if the correct time information included in the standard time signal received by the receiving circuit 107 is reproduced in the time signal creating circuit 108. , Seconds, minutes, hours,
The day information is stored in each counter (103 to 10) in the clock circuit 100.
6), and the count contents of each counter are forcibly changed and corrected so as to coincide with the correct time. By performing this operation periodically (in the figure, when the hour counter 105 reaches a predetermined count value, that is, at a fixed time every day) or at any time, the timing circuit 100 maintains time information that is almost the same as the correct time. It will be.

The second minute wheel train 113 is a mechanism in which a second hand and a minute hand are connected by a gear train, and an output shaft of a motor A112 which performs a step operation is directly connected to this. The second / minute position control circuit 110 internally has a pointer pointer having a count value corresponding to the pointer position. (The initial states of both are separately adjusted.) When the motor A is driven in either the forward or reverse direction, the count value of the pointer counter also increases or decreases by the same number of steps. Therefore, the pointer indication and the count value of the pointer counter always change in parallel. When there is a difference between the count value given from the other and the count value of the pointer counter, the second-minute position control circuit 110 immediately sends the drive pulse for forward rotation or reverse rotation until the difference is resolved and both match. The drive pulse generation circuit 111 is instructed to cause the positions of the second hand and the minute hand to follow the given count value.

The hour / day wheel train 118 is also a mechanism in which the hour hand and the date dial 8 are connected by a wheel train, and the motor B117 is directly connected thereto. The positions (angles) of the hour hand and the date plate correspond to the count value of the pointer counter incorporated in the date / time position control circuit 115, and the date / time position control circuit 115 continues until the count value matches the count value given from the other. Drive pulse creation circuit B1
16 is instructed to generate a drive pulse, and the positions of the hour hand and date dial are immediately made to follow the given count value.

In the normal time display state, the second counter 103 and the minute counter 1 are provided to the second minute position control circuit 110.
Since the count value of 04 is always given, the count value of the pointer counter advances in accordance with the progress of time due to the above operation, and accordingly, the second hand continues to display the time. The date / time position control circuit 115 has an hour counter 105.
Also, since the count contents supplied from the date counter 106 are given, the hour hand and the date plate also advance in accordance with the correct date and time.

The reception level determination circuit 109 is the reception circuit 10.
The reception sensitivity level when H is 7 is H, M, L, NO
It is determined which of the two is the same, and the result is output to the second / minute position control circuit 110 as a predetermined signal. If the user sees the result and displays NO, he / she can re-receive by the forced reception operation or switch to reception by another station.

The switch A119 corresponds to the push button 9 in FIG. 1 and performs display mode conversion (switching between time display and reception status display). The switch B120 is the hidden switch 10 in FIG. 1 and switches the receiving station. The mode signal generating circuit 114 is a signal for operating the receiving circuit 107 according to the operation of each switch (forced reception or switching of the receiving station), or instructs the second / minute position control circuit 110 to switch the display mode and receiving station. Gives a signal indicating which is. When the reception state display mode is commanded, the second / minute position control circuit 110 uses the reception level mark (reception level determination) on the reception state display area 5 according to the receiving station as an external count value for comparison with the internal pointer counter. Circuit 1
The count value of the second hand (and minute hand) position corresponding to the position (given from 09) is created and given by itself.

FIG. 10 is a second circuit diagram of the radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of the embodiment of the present invention, which is used in another embodiment of the radio-controlled wristwatch of the present invention. The difference between the first embodiment of the circuit and this example is that a switch B120 for manually selecting a channel is added by adding an automatic channel selection circuit 121 for alternately receiving each station and comparing the sensitivity levels and selecting the better one. Is abolished.

The automatic channel selection circuit 121 includes an hour counter 105.
When receiving the fixed time signal from or the forced reception command signal from the mode signal generation circuit 114 by operating the switch A119, the reception circuit 107 is instructed to receive any station (which may be the same as the previous one). The reception level determination circuit 109 determines the sensitivity level. Next, the automatic music selection circuit 121 switches the reception station, and the reception level determination circuit 10
9 also determines its sensitivity level. The reception level determination circuit 109 compares the two results, selects the station with the higher sensitivity, and sends the signal to the automatic channel selection circuit 121. The automatic channel selection circuit 121 determines the station to be received by the reception circuit 107.
The rest of the configuration / operation is the same as that of the first embodiment of the circuit, so its explanation is omitted.

Although the second embodiment of the radio-controlled wristwatch of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can be applied not only to a wristwatch but also to a pointer-type table clock or wall clock, and similar effects can be obtained. Further, symmetrically providing regions (and marks) to the east and west stations can be used not only in Japan but also overseas. The pointer indicating the reception state is not limited to the second hand. For example, a minute hand can be used in a two-hand timepiece having only an hour and minute hands. Alternatively, the forced reception may be performed as soon as the receiving station is switched by operating the hidden switch 10. Although various functions are shown as circuit blocks in the circuit diagram, these functions may be operated by software on the microcomputer. In addition, there may be various modified examples in accordance with the idea of the present invention.

[0030]

According to the present invention, since the reception state is indicated by the pointer indicating the time by using the different area on the time display surface for each standard radio wave, the display form is not complicated and the function is exaggerated. There is an effect of giving necessary information to the user. In addition, the mechanism dedicated to mode display is not required, the structure of the watch is simple, and the product can be provided at a low price.

Furthermore, when the position of the reception state display area is associated with the position or direction of each transmitting station on a normal map, it can be easily judged at a glance which station the reception state indicates. effective.

Further, by arranging the positions of the reception state display areas on the right side and the left side with respect to the transmitting stations in the east and west, there is an effect that the above judgment can be made easier and clearer. In this case, further, by symmetrically arranging the corresponding marks in the reception state display area, there is an effect that the determination screen is easy and the display surface of the timepiece is well-balanced and beautiful.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a radio-controlled wristwatch according to a first embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where normal time is displayed.

FIG. 2 shows the previous reception state when the east station is selected in the embodiment shown in the previous figure.

FIG. 3 shows a state immediately after performing an operation of forcibly receiving the standard radio wave of the east station in the embodiment shown in the previous figure.

FIG. 4 shows a sensitivity level as a result of forced reception of a standard radio wave of the east station in the embodiment shown in the previous figure.

FIG. 5 shows the previous reception state when the west station is selected in the embodiment shown in the previous figure.

FIG. 6 shows a state immediately after performing an operation of forcibly receiving the standard radio wave of the west station in the embodiment shown in the previous figure.

FIG. 7 shows the result of forced reception of the standard radio wave of the west station in the embodiment shown in the previous figure.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a radio-controlled wristwatch according to a second embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where normal time is displayed.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a circuit of a radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention, which is used in the first embodiment of the radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a circuit of a radio-controlled wristwatch of the present invention, which is used in another embodiment of the radio-controlled wristwatch of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a front view of an example of a conventional radio-controlled wristwatch, showing a state in which normal time is displayed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 radio-controlled wristwatch 2 Time display surface 3 mode display surface 4 mode hand 5 Reception status display area 6 second hand 7 Antenna housing 8th board 9 push buttons 10 hidden switch 100 clock circuit 101 oscillator circuit 102 frequency divider 103-second counter 104 minute counter 105 hour counter 106 day counter 107 receiver circuit 108 time signal generation circuit 109 reception level judgment circuit Position control circuit for 110 seconds 111 Drive pulse generation circuit A 112 Motor A 113 seconds wheel train 114 mode signal generation circuit 115 Date and time position control circuit 116 Drive pulse generation circuit B 117 Motor B 118 o'clock day train 119 Switch A 120 Switch B 121 Automatic tuning circuit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takanori Takada             6-12 Tanashi-cho, Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo             Chisun Watch Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaaki Yukukawa             6-12 Tanashi-cho, Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo             Chisun Watch Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2F002 AB06 AD03 AD06 AD07 BA04                       BB04 BD01 DA00 ED01 ED02                       ED05 EE00 FA16                 2F083 AA00 CC02 CC08 JJ10 JJ11

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pointer type time display device, a standard radio wave receiving device, a time signal generation circuit for extracting a time signal included in the standard radio wave, and a display of the pointer type time display device for the time signal. In a timepiece provided with a pointer position control means for making the contents follow, the timepiece further includes a standard radio wave reception level determination circuit, and the receiving device can receive a plurality of standard radio waves, and the pointer position control means. Is a radio-controlled timepiece having a function of displaying the reception state consisting of the type of the standard radio wave being received or its reception level according to the position of the hands within a predetermined different area on the hand type time display surface. . 2. The plurality of standard radio waves are transmitted from different transmitting stations, and the position of the predetermined area on the display surface of the pointer type time display device for each transmitting station is a map that is normally used. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the radio-controlled timepiece is associated with the position or direction of each of the transmitting stations above. 3. The plurality of transmitting stations are an east side station and a west side station, and a region where the pointer displays a reception state is on the right side of the display surface of the clock with respect to the east side station, The left side with respect to the station on the west side is characterized in that
Radio clock. 4. The reception status display mark in the area for the east side station and the reception status display mark in the area for the west side station are displayed at 12: 00-6 on the display surface of the pointer type time display device. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 3, wherein the radio-controlled timepieces are arranged symmetrically with respect to a line connecting time.