JP2003255061A - Electric clock - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems wherein conventional systems, such as a mechanical contact switch structure and a position detection mechanism by an optical sensor have the problems of the restriction of arrangement space, increased energy consumption, wear resistance properties, detection resolution, costs, and the like, even though an electric clock requiring the detection of the position of a clock wheel train, such as the correction of the deviation of the display clock of a precision clock such as a radio-controlled clock and an annual rate clock, and the automatic correction of the end of a month in a calender. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of transmission lines for simultaneously transmitting a plurality of AC electric fields through a wheel train are formed inside a clock. The position information of the wheel train is extracted from a change, in the propagation characteristics of a plurality of transmission line. Then, the position of a mechanical wheel train is subjected to electrical detection control, thus performing synchronization control of a mechanical closing mechanism by a low-power electric clocking mechanism. As an actual example, a signal having different phase and frequency is outputted from transmission electrodes 41 and 42, while pinching the toothed wheel of a detection wheel 43 made of metal having a hole 45. A modulated combined signal is received by a reception electrode 44 depending on the presence or absence of the hole 45, and the position of the detection wheel 43 is detected from the information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a quartz oscillation type electric timepiece that mechanically displays time and calendar information, and detects an angular rotation position of a train wheel or the like by detecting an electric field to measure an electric time. The present invention relates to a structure that is controlled by electrical holding time by a mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mechanism of a low-power operation quartz timepiece has been established, in addition to a small-capacity primary battery type timepiece, a photovoltaic type quartz wristwatch using a combination of a solar cell and a secondary battery, or a mechanical rotary weight power generation. Energy-generating quartz watches, which operate with a small amount of energy taken from the environment around the timepiece, have been put to practical use, such as mechanical power generation wristwatches that use a mechanism and a secondary battery. Quartz wrist watches that accurately clock the time for one to three years have been widely used in the world due to their convenience of carrying and inexpensive price, but the disadvantage of disposable primary batteries is that they consume a great deal of resources.

Further, a power generation type electric timepiece by collecting and accumulating ambient environment energy has an advantage that resource consumption is prevented, but there is no margin in collected energy, and lack of stored energy impairs reliability for time keeping. There was a problem.
Particularly, in the pointer type wristwatch, the wheel train is driven with a minimum drive torque in order to reduce energy consumption as much as possible. Therefore, there is a risk that the converter drive error may occur due to disturbance such as impact or magnetic force, and the pointer display time may shift, and to prevent the pointer display time from shifting, the size of the pointer should be adjusted. It had the drawback of being limited.

Further, in the calendar display mechanism of the quartz timepiece for displaying the time with the mechanical pointer, the month end processing of the date display part has been a problem. It is not practical to manually correct and use the date approximately every two months. However, if only the date part is electro-optically displayed, there is a drawback that the time display surface is uncomfortable in design. Although this can be solved by a complicated mechanical mechanism, the assembly cost is high and the mechanical mechanism is complicated, so that the operational reliability in long-term stable operation is reduced. In addition, there is a drawback that the power consumption increases and it becomes difficult to operate the environmentally harvested energy without stopping.

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, it is necessary to have a function of detecting the display time of the pointer type and the mechanical reference position of the calendar display. The conventional structure has a mechanical contact switch mechanism in a part of the rotary train wheel, or a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged with a rotary wheel train with holes sandwiched between them. A wristwatch or the like has been realized which employs a means for detecting the presence or absence of a hole by an optical sensor. Further, some configurations have been devised, such as a configuration for reading a value in which an electrostatic capacitance value or an absolute amount of magnetic force between a pointer, a train wheel and the like and a position detection member changes due to rotational driving.

[0006]

However, the position detecting mechanisms that have been commercialized or devised so far have each had a great problem. The position detection mechanism using the mechanical contact switch detects the position by contacting a rotary drive member such as a train wheel, and thus has a structure in which a load is applied to drive energy, and the drive force of the motor is reduced to the limit. It is not suitable for electronic wrist watches. In particular, there is a problem with rechargeable watches that have a small amount of energy balance, and this may cause position shifts because position detection is performed, and contact type switch mechanisms may cause wear and deterioration of contact members. However, there was a drawback that the reliability was low.

Further, in the structure using the optical switch, it is necessary to dispose the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element on the upper and lower surfaces of the member, so that there is a drawback that the thickness of the timepiece increases. For this reason, it has a track record of application to radio-controlled wrist watches with a large thickness for functional clock enthusiasts, table clocks, wall clocks, etc., but it was not applicable to ordinary thin wrist watches. Further, in order to operate an optical element such as a light emitting diode, a considerable amount of power consumption is required, so that the detection frequency can be applied only once a day. Further, since a certain driving voltage or more is required for light emission, there is a drawback that it is difficult to adapt to a rechargeable timepiece having a large fluctuation in power supply voltage.

Further, regarding the structure for detecting the change in the electrostatic capacitance value or the absolute amount of the magnetic force between the pointer, the train wheel, etc. and the position detecting member, the change in the capacitance detected from the wristwatch size position detecting component is detected. The amount is very small, it is easily affected by the position change of the component due to the carrying posture and the influence of the external environment, and the reliability of the position detection is extremely low, and it has not been practically used in practice.

An object of the present invention is to realize a non-contact type mechanical position detecting mechanism which realizes detection of the wheel train gear or the pointer position with a thin structure in order to improve the reliability of the operation of the mechanical timing mechanism. , The problem of contact failure due to the change with time of the contact type detection mechanism is avoided, and high reliability exceeding the limit of the quartz clock of the conventional mechanical timekeeping mechanism is secured. In addition, the mechanism is thinner than the contactless detection mechanism using the light emitting element and the light receiving element, and the cost is further reduced, and the high voltage constraint conditions required for the circuit components due to the threshold voltage required by the light emitting element of the detection mechanism. The purpose is to enable the timepiece system to be directly driven by the voltage of the storage element by releasing the above. In addition, it ensures the detection of the time difference between the mechanical holding time and the electrical holding time, and includes multiple point position detection from precise position detection with second hand control to detection that allows errors in the date dial detection. The purpose of the present invention is to realize a position detecting mechanism with low cost.

[0010]

The gist of the present invention for solving the above problems is to shape a plurality of transmission signals using an electric field as a carrier in an electric timepiece having a mechanism for detecting an angular rotation position of a train wheel or the like. A transmitter circuit mechanism, a transmitter electrode that outputs the output signal formed by the transmitter circuit mechanism, and a signal modulator that is arranged in close proximity to the transmitter electrode in a non-contact manner, and that modulates the plurality of transmitter signals by rotation or reciprocating motion. A member, a receiving electrode which is disposed in close proximity to the signal modulating member in a non-contact manner, and which receives the plurality of transmission signals modulated by the signal modulating member, and a receiving circuit mechanism which inputs the receiving signal received by the receiving electrode. A detection circuit mechanism for detecting mechanical position information of the signal modulation member based on an electric field propagation characteristic of the received signal received by the reception circuit mechanism.

The detection circuit mechanism is a phase detection circuit mechanism, and detects mechanical position information of the signal modulation member from phase information of the reception signal modulated by the modulation member.

The detection circuit mechanism is an amplitude detection circuit mechanism, and is characterized by detecting mechanical position information of the signal modulation member from relative intensity information of the received signal modulated by the modulation member.

The detection circuit mechanism includes both a phase detection circuit mechanism and an amplitude detection circuit mechanism, and outlines a detection range of mechanical position information of the modulation member from relative intensity information of a reception signal modulated by the signal modulation member. The position information of the signal modulating member is detected from the phase information of the received signal modulated by the signal modulating member.

The plurality of transmission signals are the same frequency signals having different phases.

The plurality of transmission signals are signals having different frequencies and having a synchronous relationship.

It is characterized in that the plurality of transmission signals are sine waves or waveforms similar to sine waves.

The phase detection circuit mechanism determines the voltage of the output of the phase detection depending on whether the phase of the reception signal modulated by the modulation member is advanced or delayed with respect to the phase reference signal which is the reference of the phase detection. Characterized by changing.

The phase detection circuit mechanism outputs a pulse signal having a pulse width that is a phase difference between the phase reference signal and the received signal modulated by the modulation member, and pulse generation means for the phase reference signal. Delay / advance detection means for detecting and outputting the phase delay / advance of the received signal, charging / discharging means for charging / discharging the capacitor with a charge amount proportional to the pulse width of the pulse signal, and the charge / discharge is the delay / advance output. It is characterized by having a charge / discharge switching means for switching charging or discharging to the capacitor by means of and a voltage detecting means for comparing and outputting the terminal voltage of the capacitor with a preset voltage.

The signal modulating member is characterized in that the shape or a part of the constituent member has a structure different in electric conductivity or dielectric constant from other parts.

The signal modulating member is characterized by being made of a conductive metal material, and having a structure having a hole, a notch, or an uneven shape in a part thereof.

The signal modulating member is characterized by being made of a non-conductive member such as plastic and a conductive metal material, and having a structure having a hole, a notch or an uneven shape in a part of the metal material.

The signal modulating member is made of a non-conductive member such as plastic, and is characterized in that a part of the non-conductive member is plated with metal.

The signal modulating member is composed of a part of a train wheel for transmitting a rotary motion driven by an electromechanical converter to a pointer display, and a mechanical position information of the signal modulating member serves as a reference of the train wheel. It is characterized by having a mechanism for detecting the position.

The signal modulating member is composed of a part of a train wheel or a date display plate for transmitting the rotational movement driven by the electromechanical converter to the date display, and the mechanical position information of the signal modulating member indicates the date. It is characterized by having an automatic end-of-month correction function that detects the reference position of the display board and automatically eliminates the non-existing days at the end of the small month based on the electrical calendar information held in the clock circuit.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the basic operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an outline of a signal modulation structure of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of FIG. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the transmission electrodes 1 and 2 are arranged to face the reception electrode 4 with the rotating body 3 serving as a signal modulating member interposed therebetween, and the transmitting electrodes 1 and 2 and the rotating body 3 and the rotating body 3 and the receiving body 3 receive. The electrodes 4 are arranged close to each other in a non-contact manner. The transmission signals of the transmission electrodes 1 and 2 are configured such that the lines of electric force reach the reception electrode 4 from both the transmission electrodes 1 and 2 through the hole 5. The rotating body 3 is, for example, a wheel of a wristwatch wheel train, is made of metal or plastic with a metal coating, and has conductivity. The rotating body 3 is electrically grounded by a shaft or other portion (not shown).

Reference numeral 6 is a transmission circuit showing a transmission circuit mechanism for shaping a plurality of transmission signals having an electric field as a carrier. The transmission circuit 6 allows two kinds of transmission signals φA and φB of, for example, sinusoidal waves having the same frequency but different phases. Then, the transmission electrode 1 outputs the transmission signal φA and the transmission electrode 2 outputs the transmission signal φB. The transmission signals φA and φB are the transmission signals φA and φ.
The signal is received by the receiving electrode 4 as a received signal φC via the rotating body 3 that modulates B.

The received signal φC is the transmitted signal φ in amplitude.
Although it is much lower than A and φB, the transmission signals φA and φ
Since the electric potential is derived from the combined electric field of B, if the transmission signals φA and φB have the same frequency, the reception signal φC has the same frequency. If there is a phase difference between the transmission signals φA and φB, the reception signal φC is Take the phase of. The holes 5 move with the rotational movement of the rotating body 3, the spatial relative positional relationship between the transmitting electrode 1, the transmitting electrode 2, and the receiving electrode 4 changes, and reception induced by superposition of electric fields near the receiving electrode 4 occurs. The amplitude and phase of the AC signal of the electrode 4 change. That is, the position of the hole 5 of the rotating body 3 is changed according to the rotation angle θ of the rotating body 5,
Due to the change in the spatial relationship between 2 and 2 and the receiving electrode 4, the phase and amplitude of the received signal φC changes as a function of the spatial position θ.

When the reception circuit φC is amplified by the reception circuit mechanism 7, a portion of the sine wave signal having a large amplitude is saturated into a trapezoidal wave, and further amplification becomes a rectangular wave detection signal Pc. Even in this case, since the phase information is saved, the phase information can be easily extracted by the synchronous detection. This method is equivalent to the scheme of FM broadcasting with high sound quality. A different point is that the broadcasting station transmits the signal already frequency-modulated or phase-modulated at the time of transmission, whereas in the configuration of the present invention, the phase modulation of the reception signal is caused by the electromagnetic wave of the transmission line between the transmission electrode and the reception electrode. This is where mechanical changes in the rotating body, which is the structure, are performed. Similar to FM broadcasting, the disturbance due to the noise inside the clock mechanism and the circuit noise is effectively removed by the phase detection means.

The detection signal Pc is input to the detection circuit mechanism 8,
The mechanical position information of the rotating body 3 is obtained from the electric field propagation characteristics of the received signal φC received. The detection circuit mechanism 8 may be a phase detection circuit mechanism that detects phase information or an amplitude detection circuit mechanism that detects amplitude information. Alternatively, the relative strength information of the received signal may be detected by the amplitude detection circuit mechanism to roughly determine the mechanical position information, and the phase information of the received signal may be detected by the phase detection circuit mechanism to determine the mechanical position information.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing the modulation process of the received signal φC according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. When the position of the hole 5 is apart from the transmitting electrodes 1 and 2, a ground voltage of the transmission signal φA applied to the transmission electrode 1 and a ground voltage of the transmission signal φB applied to the transmission electrode 2 are generated. The lines of electric force generated are shielded by the conductive rotating body 3. In this state, the voltage to ground induced in the receiving electrode 4 becomes a signal having an extremely small amplitude as shown in FIG.
In this state, the residual phase information is also dominated by meaningless noise components.

After that, when the rotating body 3 rotates and the hole 5 is located between the transmitting electrode 1 and the receiving electrode 4 as shown in FIG.
Although the ground voltage of the transmission electrode 1 is transmitted to the reception electrode 4,
The voltage to ground of the transmission electrode 2 is shielded by the rotating body 3 and does not transmit. That is, the reception signal φC has a small amplitude as shown in FIG. 3B, but has a phase substantially the same as that of the transmission signal φA.

When the rotation of the rotating body 3 further advances and the hole 5 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 and is located between the transmitting electrode 1 and the transmitting electrode 2 as shown in FIG. Since the combined signal of the transmission signal φA and the transmission signal φB is transmitted,
As shown in FIG. 3C, the received signal φC is the transmitted signal φ
The signal has an intermediate phase between A and the transmission signal φB.

When the rotating body 3 is further rotated and the hole 5 is positioned between the transmitting electrode 2 and the receiving electrode 4, the transmitting signal φ is transmitted.
Since only B is transmitted to the reception electrode 4, the reception signal φC becomes a signal having substantially the same phase as the transmission signal φB as shown in FIG.

That is, when the hole 5 of the rotating body 3 is separated from the vicinity of the transmitting electrodes 1 and 2, the received signal φC has almost no amplitude, and the rotating body 3 continues to rotate and passes through the transmitting electrodes 1 and 2. In this case, the reception signal φC transmits a signal having an amplitude, and the phase of the reception signal φC is gradually changed from the phase of the transmission signal φA to the phase of the transmission signal φB. This received signal φ
The reference position of the rotating body 5 can be detected by detecting the phase change of C, the amplitude change, or both.

In the structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the proximity of the hole 5 is detected by the amplitude of the received signal φC, and when the amplitude exceeds a certain level, the phase detection information of the received signal φC is judged to be valid and the rotor is rotated. It is easy to detect the position of 3. When the received signal φC has an amplitude below a certain level, a well-known squelch circuit is activated to stop the hole position detection circuit operation. Conductive rotating body 3
In the case of using, since the shielding effect of the transmission signals φA and φB with respect to the reception signal φC is great, the squelch operation is easy to use. The specific configuration of the squelch circuit will be described later in detail.

As described above, the phase of the reception signal φC takes a value between the transmission signals φA and φB, and the same amplitude also changes as a function of the mechanical position of the rotating body 3. This is easily derived from the composition formula of trigonometric functions that represent the electric field. Hereinafter, when the AC signals φA and φB are expressed as a periodic function of the time of the angular velocity ω with the time t as a variable, they are represented by φA (ωt) or φB (ωt), and in the abbreviation, φA and φB are used.
It will be used as in B. Further, although the reference position detection using two transmission signals having different phases has been described, position detection using signals having different frequencies is also possible.

Next, the relationship between the amplitude and the phase of the received signal φC will be further described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 4A and 4B show the relationship between the phase and amplitude of the reception signal φC when the transmission signals φA and φB have the same frequency and different phases. FIG. 4A shows the received signal φC as Cos (ωt)
FIG. 3 is a diagram in which X is plotted on the x-axis and Sin (ωt) is plotted on the y-axis.

In FIG. 4A, the hole 5 indicates the transmission signal φA.
Signal φ when it is located directly below the transmitting electrode 1 for transmitting
C is Ps (a), the reception signal φC when the transmission signal φB is located directly below the transmission electrode 2 is Ps (b), and the reception signal φC when the transmission electrode 1 and the transmission electrode 2 are in the intermediate position is It is represented as Ps (m) (s = 1, 2, 3).

A path 31 of P1 (a) → P1 (m) → P1 (b) shows a vector locus when the phase difference between the transmission signals φA and φB is π / 2, and similarly P2 (a) → P2. (M)
→ The path 32 of P2 (b) shows a vector locus when the phase difference between the transmission signals φA and φB is 3π / 4, and P3 (a)
→ P3 (m) → P3 (b) path 33, the transmission signal φA
A vector locus in the case where the phase difference between φB and φB is close to π is shown, and a point in the middle of each path is represented by Ps (x).

The amplitude of the detected voltage at the point Ps (x) on each path is represented by the length of the vector from the point O to the point Ps (x). However, the amplitude of the received signal φC is expressed as a relative value. The phase of the detected voltage at the point Ps (x) on each path is indicated by the component of the projection length on the x axis. For example, in the path 33 in which the phase difference between the transmission signals φA and φB is π, π / 2 phase advances, and the amplitude is equal to the radius r of the circle P3.
Starting from the state of (a), passing through the state of phase 0 and small amplitude at P3 (m), the π / 2 phase of P3 (b) is delayed, and the amplitude moves to a position equal to the radius r of the circle. .

FIG. 4B shows the relationship between the phase and the amplitude described above,
FIG. 4 is a diagram individually showing as a function of a rotation angle of the rotating body 3. In FIG. 4B, the horizontal axis represents the moving distance of the hole 5 of the rotating body 3, and the vertical axis represents the amplitude and the phase. The phase difference between the transmission signals φA and φB is π / 2, 3π / 4, about π
, The amplitude paths are indicated by the lines 34, 35 and 36, respectively, and the phase paths are indicated by the lines 37, 38 and 39, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4B, as the phase difference between the transmission signals φA and φB exceeds π / 2 and increases to π, the amplitude fluctuation increases and the modulation phase difference also increases. Transmission signal φ
When the phase difference between A and φB approaches π, the amplitude of the received signal φC exhibits a bimodal characteristic, and the amplitude between the peaks decreases, which interferes with phase information detection. It is better to set it small. In practice, it is necessary to devise and use only the received signal phase information at the rotation angle position where the received amplitude becomes large. However, the amplitude fluctuation can be compensated and made constant by saturation amplification unless the amplitude becomes extremely small.

When a change in amplitude is used for position detection instead of phase detection, the steepness of the amplitude function of the received signal φC near the hole center position is brought close to the phase difference between the transmitted signals φA and φB by π. Can be used. That is, the rotating body 3
After detecting the position with large amplitude,
The reference position can be detected by detecting a change in which the amplitude sharply decreases and the amplitude sharply increases.

One of the requirements to be satisfied by a plurality of transmission signals is
This means that the amplitude of the vector sum of the receiving electrodes does not always become zero, including a plurality of AC vector signal components that are in an orthogonal relationship. When Sin (ωt) is applied to one electrode, the other electrode must contain a Cos (ωt) component orthogonal to this signal or a harmonic component thereof. Therefore 2
When using one transmission electrode and setting the phase difference α as φA = Sin (ωt−α / 2) φB = Cos (ωt + α / 2); (ω and α are constants, t is time), α> π And need to.

Both signals do not necessarily have to be in an orthogonal relationship, but it is necessary to include an orthogonal vector component. Orthogonal components having different frequencies, for example, φA = Sin (ωt + β) φB = Sin (n × ωt + γ); (n = 2, 3, 4, ...
・; Β and γ are constants, a synchronous detection circuit using the common signal that is the basis for creating both signals for detection of the transmission signals φA and φB as the phase reference is performed, and the differential amplification circuit is set. The position detection signal is extracted from the difference between the two synchronous detection output signals.

Next, various transmission path structures of a plurality of transmission / reception signals will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the transmission path of the position information detection signal.
5 (a) to 5 (d) show five types of embodiments.

FIG. 5A shows a plurality of transmitting electrodes 51, 52.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a structure including a single receiving electrode 55.
Transmission signals 53 and 54 having different phases or frequencies from the transmission electrodes 51 and 52 pass through the holes of the rotator 500 and are combined and transmitted to the reception electrode 55. That is, signals having the same frequency but different phases or signals having different frequencies are respectively transmitted from the plurality of transmitting electrodes 51 and 52, and are received by the single receiving electrode 55 on the receiving electrode side, and the difference in the transmission characteristics between the plurality of transmission paths is obtained. Are extracted and the difference is extracted as a function of the position of the mechanical rotating body 500. In particular, the transmission / reception system of phase demodulation suppresses the influence of disturbance electric field noise and enables accurate train wheel position measurement. This FM has good sound quality and is strong against noise radio waves.
(Frequency modulation = equivalently phase modulation) Broadcast system is supported.

The structure of FIG. 5 (a) is a highly compatible first candidate for the position detecting mechanism of the present invention. The configuration for simultaneously transmitting a plurality of alternating electric fields having a phase difference and detecting a change in the phase difference of the electric field near the receiving electrode has high detection sensitivity and reliability as described below. From the transmission electrodes 51 and 52, a plurality of sinusoidal signals having a phase offset of several tens to several hundreds of degrees at a frequency of several kHz are transmitted as an electric field, and the reception electrode 55 is a signal whose phase and amplitude are modulated by a rotating body. Receive, detect and analyze.

A method is possible in which transmission and reception are performed at different timings, the received information is stored in a storage circuit, and a plurality of data received later are compared, but signal difference calculation of different transmission lines is performed due to circuit noise and calculation error. Is better at the same time in the transmission path space and detecting the same difference. In the case of simultaneous transmission, an interference electric field can be generated due to the overlapping of the transmission lines and the common use of the receiving electrodes, and the transmitting signal 53,
The 54 superposition interference results in a phase and amplitude modulated signal. Since the difference due to the interference of the electromagnetic waves is based on the principle of superposition of electromagnetic waves, no noise is generated and S
/ N (= signal-to-noise ratio) This is an excellent method without deterioration problems. Thus, the use of the rotating body 500 as a mechanism for sensitively modulating electromagnetic waves is a feature of the present invention.

A method of transmitting a plurality of transmissions at different timings is also conceivable. In this case, the receiving electrode 55 only receives a single sine wave signal, but since it is inside the same clock system, the transmitted signal is used as a reference to perform precise phase measurement of the received signal. It is possible to perform precise measurement of the phase of signals from different transmission electrodes received at different timings on the time axis. But,
Since the circuit-like processing for obtaining the difference between the phase and the amplitude of a minute signal is performed after passing through the receiving circuit, in terms of S / N (= signal-to-noise ratio), the principle of superposition is directly used on the transmission line. This is inferior to the configuration of simultaneous transmission and simultaneous reception capable of differential processing.

FIG. 5B shows a plurality of transmitting electrodes 56 and 57.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a structure including a plurality of receiving electrodes 60 and 61. Signals 58 and 59 having different phases or frequencies are transmitted from the transmitting electrodes 56 and 57, respectively, and transmitted to the receiving electrodes 60 and 61 through the holes of the rotating body 500.

That is, this is a method of comparing, measuring and analyzing differences in transmission characteristics from a plurality of receiving electrodes 56 and 57 among a plurality of transmission paths. In the measurement of the transmission line of the single transmission electrode and the single reception electrode, the error due to the mechanical rattling of the train wheel is detected as it is, so the detection error is large and the reliability of the measurement result is considerably lowered. The detection can be performed by amplitude modulation or phase modulation, but since the difference creation and comparison of the reception signals are performed by the circuit processing after the reception electrodes 60 and 61, they are easily affected by the internal noise of the circuit, and therefore, FIG. Compared to the above-described mechanism for simultaneously detecting a single receiving electrode by simultaneous transmission of a plurality of electrodes for extracting a differential signal from space as described in a), the sensitivity of position detection tends to decrease.

FIG. 5C is an explanatory diagram of a structure composed of a single transmitting electrode 62 and a plurality of receiving electrodes 65 and 66.
A plurality of signals 63 and 64 are transmitted from the transmitting electrode 62, pass through the holes of the rotating body 500, and are transmitted to the receiving electrodes 65 and 66.

That is, a plurality of receiving electrodes 65 and 66 are provided for the single transmitting electrode 62, and the plurality of receiving electrodes 65 and 66 are provided.
This is a configuration for performing a mutual comparison of a plurality of signals induced by. The reception timing and the comparison timing are determined by the plurality of receiving electrodes 6.
It does not have to be the same for 5,66. Since the signals have the same frequency and substantially the same phase, the homodyne detection method of synchronous detection and filtering based on the transmission signal is used to remove noise. Although the number of electrodes does not decrease, the detection accuracy decreases, so there is little advantage.

However, the circuit complexity of producing the plurality of transmission signals 63, 64 is reduced. Further, when the positions of a plurality of train wheel members are detected by the plurality of receiving electrodes 65 and 66, the time division is performed, the transmitting electrode 62 and the receiving electrodes 65 and 66 are sequentially classified into groups, and time division switching is performed. In such a case, the configuration in which the single transmitter electrode 62 is used as the plurality of receiver electrodes 65 and 66 is also sufficiently applicable to a detection portion having a large error allowable range such as the date plate position detection.

FIG. 5D is an explanatory diagram of a structure composed of a single transmitting electrode 69 and a single receiving electrode 70. A signal 6 from a single transmitting electrode 69 in a synchronous relationship with different frequencies.
8 and 67 are transmitted, pass through the hole of the rotating body 500, and are transmitted to the receiving electrode 70.

That is, a pair of transmitting and receiving electrodes are arranged in the vicinity of the rotator 500, and carrier radio waves of different frequencies are transmitted from the transmitting electrode 69 and received by the receiving electrode 70 at the same time or at another time close to each other. , The transmission characteristic data corresponding to each frequency are mutually compared at the position of the same rotating body, and the change in the difference in the transmission characteristic is sampled as a function of the train wheel rotation position,
A method of estimating the position of the rotating body 500 is possible. There is an advantage that the number of electrodes can be two.

FIG. 5E is an explanatory view of a structure in which the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode are the same electrode. Signals 72 and 73 having different frequencies are transmitted from the transmitting / receiving electrode 71, and the signals are received again by the transmitting / receiving electrode 71 via the vicinity of the rotating body 500.

That is, only one transmission electrode and one reception electrode are prepared, and the electrodes are driven by AC power supplies of a plurality of different frequencies through a high output impedance element to drive the electrodes in proximity to the rotating body. The electrode voltage and phase of the transmission / reception combined electrode 71 are compared with the voltage and phase of the constant voltage drive circuit based on the electrode voltage. The change is detected by the input / output terminal of the drive integrated circuit and the constant voltage drive circuit inside the integrated circuit. Alternatively, the mechanical position information of the rotating body 500 is collected from the frequency dependence of the electromagnetic load characteristics of the transmission / reception electrodes, by measuring at different frequencies simultaneously or temporally closely and intermittently a plurality of times.

Although the detection sensitivity is low, there is an advantage of miniaturization because only one electrode is required for detection. The high impedance element uses a high resistance formed in the integrated circuit for a watch,
Suppresses the effects of humidity and electromagnetic fields outside the integrated circuit. Although it is unavoidable that the detection sensitivity is lowered and the train wheel is rattled, it can be sufficiently used when there is a sufficient volume such as a wall clock or a table clock.

When the above-described several wheel train position detecting structures are summarized, the change in the difference between the different electromagnetic wave components detected via the plurality of transmission paths is mechanically changed by the electrodes arranged in the vicinity of the train wheel. To obtain the position information of the train wheel. The point is that the train wheel positions are spatially or temporally different, and a plurality of types of AC electric fields are transmitted as carrier signals, and the electric field is modulated by at least a part of the common detection member so that differences in transmission characteristics are transmitted. Express in and detect differences directly from space. In the mechanism of an actual timepiece, there are demands for simplification of the mechanism, volume reduction, thickness compression, assembly adjustment cost reduction, member cost reduction, and drive detection integrated circuit cost reduction, and optimization is attempted under these constraints.
For this reason, a complicated structure is not allowed, and a decrease in measurement accuracy and reliability is not allowed.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a hand position detecting mechanism of a second hand of a wristwatch will be described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a train wheel portion having a second hand position detecting mechanism. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 46 is a fifth wheel & pinion for decelerating and transmitting the rotation of the rotor of the electromechanical conversion mechanism. The fifth wheel & pinion 46 transmits rotation of the same reduction ratio to the fourth wheel & pinion 47 and the detection wheel 43 which is a signal modulation member. The second hand 48 is fixed to the fourth wheel 47 and displays the second information. Fourth wheel 47 and detection wheel 43
Performs one step of 60 rotations, that is, every 6 degrees of step, synchronized step movement.

The detection wheel 43 is made of a conductive metal member, and is grounded at a bearing portion (not shown). The gear wheel of the detection wheel 43 has a hole 45. The detection wheel 43 has a structure in which the electric conductivity or the dielectric constant is different from that of the other portions due to the hole 45 in the rotation direction.
Further, the hole 45 of the detection wheel 43 may have a notch shape or unevenness in the cross-sectional direction of the gear as long as the distance to the electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces of the gear changes with rotation even if the hole 45 does not have a hole shape. . The transmission electrodes 41, 4 are provided above the gears of the detection wheel 43.
2. On the lower side, the receiving electrodes 44 face each other and are arranged close to each other in a non-contact manner.

Each time the detection wheel 43 rotates step by step, sine wave signals having different phases are transmitted from the transmission electrodes 41 and 42. The signal waveform may not be a perfect sine wave shape, but may be an approximate waveform. For example, the transmission electrode 41 transmits a sine wave signal φA with a phase advanced by 45 degrees with respect to a certain reference signal, and the transmission electrode 42 transmits a sine wave signal φB with a phase delayed by 45 degrees.

With no hole 45 near the transmitting and receiving electrodes,
Although neither signal is transmitted because it is shielded by the detection wheel 43 that is electrically grounded, when the detection wheel 43 rotates and the hole 45 comes to the position of the transmission electrode 41, a sine wave is generated between the transmission electrode 41 and the reception electrode 44. The voltage change of the wave signal φA is transmitted to the receiving electrode 44 as the change of the electrostatic capacitance. When the rotation of the detection wheel 43 progresses and the hole 45 comes between the transmission electrode 41 and the transmission electrode 42, a signal obtained by combining both transmission signals is transmitted to the reception electrode 44. When the rotation further advances and the hole 45 reaches the position of the transmission electrode 42, only the transmission signal φB of the transmission electrode 42 is transmitted.

As described above, the rotation of the detection wheel 43 causes the phase of the signal φC received by the receiving electrode 44 to change from +45 degrees to −45 degrees, so that the phase of the reception signal φC with respect to the reference signal having the phase of 0 degrees. Can be detected as a reference position of the detection wheel 43 when it crosses 0 degree. Therefore, it is possible to detect the reference position of the second hand 48 which is in synchronization with the detection wheel 43.

Next, the operation control of the timepiece using this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a timepiece that displays three minutes of hours, minutes, and seconds is used, the second hand is driven by one motor, and the minute hand and the hour hand are driven by different motors, although the description is omitted below. When applied to a watch with additional functions,
The second hand not only displays the second, but can also switch and display calendar information such as day, month, and leap years, and can also be used by switching to a stopwatch or timer hand.

First, the method of attaching the second hand during assembly will be described. First, a crown pulling operation (not shown) is performed to bring the crown into a reset state. At this time, a converter drive signal is output from the electromechanical converter, and the second train wheel performs fast forward hand movement every one second. After driving the second wheel train, the transmission electrodes 41, 4
The transmission signals φA and φB are output from 2 each time the hand movement is performed, and the reception signal φC is received by the reception electrode 44. The phase of the received signal φC received is detected, and the instant when the phase changes from the state delayed from the reference signal to the state advanced is detected as the reference position of the detection wheel 43 and the fast-forwarding movement is stopped.
Since the detection wheel 43 and the fourth wheel & pinion 47 are synchronously rotating, the reference position of the detection wheel 43 can be set to the reference position of the fourth wheel & pinion 47. In this state, the second hand 48 is moved to the forward second. Install according to the position of.

When the crown is returned to the 0-step position after attaching the second hand 48, the converter drive signal is output at 1 pulse per second, and the second hand 48 starts the hand movement every 1 second and displays the current time in seconds. The IC that controls the entire timepiece system outputs a converter drive signal and performs counting by an electrical counting mechanism to hold electrical time. The electrical holding time is the second hand 48
The counting is started from the state in which the reference position of is detected, and the reset is performed after 60 times of counting. Each time the detection wheel 43 is rotationally driven, a detection signal is transmitted from the transmission electrode 41 and the transmission electrode 42, and reception is performed by the reception electrode 44. If the detection vehicle 43 is I
If the rotation signal is accurately driven by the drive signal of C, 60
It returns to the original position every second, that is, every minute, and the reference position is detected. That is, the reference position of the second hand 48 and the 0 position of the electrical holding time coincide with each other every 60 seconds.

However, when the detection wheel 43 does not rotate normally due to the influence of an impact or an external magnetic field or is forced to rotate due to an external force, the reference position of the second hand 48 and the electric holding time are displaced. Occurs. When the deviation is detected, the converter drive signal and the needle position detection signal are continuously output, and the detection wheel 43 is fast-forwarded in the forward rotation until the reference position is detected, and the electric holding time is set to the 0 position. Correct the deviation. In the present embodiment, the converter for driving the second hand 48 and the converter for driving the not-shown hour / minute hand are separated, so that even if the detection wheel 43 driven simultaneously with the second hand 48 is driven in the forward rotation fast forward mode. , Time information of hours and minutes does not shift.

As described above, even if the reference position of the second hand 48 is temporarily displaced due to an external factor such as a shock or a magnetic field on the completed timepiece, the hand position is corrected every one minute and the display accuracy is improved. A high clock can be realized. Further, if the pointer position is corrected every minute, it is possible to use a large-sized display needle that may be displaced due to impact.

In the above-described embodiment, the hole 45 is provided in the detection wheel 43 made of a metal member, but it is also possible to use a structure made of a plastic gear and a metal plate as shown in FIG. is there. In FIG. 7, the detection wheel 49 is injection-molded with a plastic material and has no conductivity. A metallic detection plate 50 is arranged on the upper surface of the gear of the detection wheel 49 and is press-fitted and fixed to the shaft of the detection wheel 49. When the detection wheel 49 rotates and the detection plate 50 comes close to the transmission / reception electrodes, the capacitance between the transmission / reception electrodes changes.
Position information can be detected. This structure can reduce the manufacturing cost by making the detection wheel 49 plastic.

Further, as a more simplified structure, metal plating is applied to a part of the gear surface of the detection wheel made of plastic, or
On the contrary, it is also possible to apply a metal plating to the entire surface other than a part of the gear surface so that the transmitted and received signals are modulated by the rotation of the detection wheel. In addition to the cost reduction of plastic materials, the effect of thinning can be expected.

Next, the block structure of the entire timepiece system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG.
It is equipped with a light charging power source including a photovoltaic element 22 and a secondary battery 23. To create the minimum unit of time of the clock,
A time reference signal generation mechanism 11 composed of a crystal oscillator including a crystal oscillator is provided, and the frequency reference signal is frequency-divided to generate a clock time unit signal, which is the minimum time interval for holding the time of the clock, by the frequency divider circuit 12. Reference numeral 21 is a system control mechanism for controlling the operation of the entire timepiece system. The timekeeping unit time signal created by the frequency dividing circuit 12 is input to the motor drive circuit 14 for driving the pulse motor of the electromechanical conversion mechanism 15 under the control of the system control mechanism 21, and in parallel with this, the timekeeping It is also input to the electrical counting circuit 13 that counts the time signal and holds the electrical time. The electromechanical conversion mechanism 1
The mechanical time information is held by the train wheel mechanism 16 connected to the pulse motor 5 of FIG. The mechanical time information held in the train wheel mechanism 16 is displayed by the pointer of the mechanical display mechanism 17.

Under the control of the system control mechanism 21, sine wave signals having different phases are generated by the transmission circuit mechanism 203 and output from the transmission electrodes 18 and 19 arranged near the train wheel mechanism 16. The transmission signals 18 and 19 are given a specific modulation by the train wheel mechanism 16, then combined and transmitted to the reception electrode 20, and the reception circuit mechanism 200 detects the reception signals. The detected reception signal is phase-compared with the reference signal generated by the transmission circuit mechanism 203 in the detection circuit mechanism 202, and the mechanical time information held by the train wheel mechanism 16 is detected from the result. The system control mechanism 21 uses the mechanical time information obtained from the detection circuit mechanism 202 and the electrical counting circuit 13
Control of time synchronization, malfunction correction, or time setting is performed based on the electrical time information stored in. Although not shown, the system control mechanism 21 also receives control information from an external operating mechanism for inputting time information from the outside, and directly mechanically operates the train wheel mechanism 16 to set mechanical time. You can do it.

Next, the specific configurations of the transmission circuit mechanism 203, the reception circuit mechanism 200, and the detection circuit mechanism 202 will be described in order. FIG. 9 shows a transmitter circuit 2 for generating a transmission signal.
An example of the system configuration of No. 03 is shown. Reference numeral 71 is a crystal oscillator, and 72 is a crystal oscillating circuit having an accurate frequency for creating a tick of a time when the clock is held. Oscillation frequency is 2 of 15
It is the power of frequency. Reference numeral 79 is an integrated circuit for constructing an electric timepiece. Reference numeral 73 denotes a quarter frequency divider circuit included in the integrated circuit 79, which outputs pulse signals Pa and Pb having a frequency of 2 to the 13th power in the present embodiment. Both signals differ in phase by π / 2. Reference numerals 74 and 76 are band-pass type amplifier circuits for amplifying only the signal of the frequency of 2 to the 13th power. The circuit configuration is such that a pass band stop filter circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor is combined with the inverting amplifier circuits 75 and 77, and further divided by the resistance type voltage dividing circuit, so that signals other than a specific frequency are attenuated, Only the characteristic frequency is amplified. By combining with this specific frequency amplifier circuit, sine wave signals φA and φB with stable amplitude and phase difference are created from the pulse signals Pa and Pb created by the digital circuit.

Next, FIG. 10 is used in the mechanism of the present invention.
It is an example of a receiving circuit mechanism including an equivalent circuit of a train wheel modulation mechanism and a preamplifier circuit for detection. Transmitting electrodes 41 and 42
Transmit different transmission signals φA and φB. The phase and amplitude of the transmission signals φA and φB are modulated by the transmission path 86 passing through the detection wheel 43, and the reception signal φC is received by the reception electrode 44. The voltage of the induced signal φC of the receiving electrode 44 is given a phase with respect to the ground potential from the potential distribution by the capacitive bridge formed of the capacitor of the transmission line 86. Received signal φC
Is then amplified by the amplifier circuit 87. In the case of phase detection, the amplifier only needs to have phase information, and is saturated and amplified to a pulse signal Pc.

FIG. 11 shows signal waveforms in each circuit mechanism. The relative phase relationship of each waveform is also maintained and displayed. φ15 is a voltage waveform with respect to the ground of the terminal of the crystal oscillator 71 of the crystal oscillation circuit 72 in FIG. P15 is a pulse signal of 2 @ 15 Hz, that is, 32768 Hz obtained by shaping a sine wave signal of a crystal oscillator, and is also used as a clock signal for defining a phase step for operating the logic circuit of the electric timepiece of the invention. There is. The pulse signals Pa and Pb shown in FIG. 9 are created based on P15, and the sine wave signals φA and φB of 2 to the 13th power Hz, that is, 8192 Hz, which are different in phase by π / 2, are created through the bandpass amplifier circuit. .
The frequency itself can be arbitrarily selected. Ordinary watches use a crystal oscillator with a power of 2 frequency as a common specification in the industry in order to improve the mass production effect.

The sine wave signals φA and φB are modulated by the rotational position of the detection wheel 43, and the transmission signal φ is received by the receiving electrode 44.
Received signal φC (x) (x =
1, 2, ...) are transmitted. When the detection wheel 43 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 6 and the hole 45 is near the transmission electrode 41, the reception signal φC has a phase close to that of the transmission signal φA. When you come near the electrode 43,
The received signal φC (2) has a waveform close in phase to the transmitted signal φB, and the phase changes. Also, the hole 4 of the detection wheel 43
When 5 is not near the transmission / reception electrodes, the transmission signals φA and φB are shielded by the detection wheel 43 and are not transmitted to the reception electrode 44, and the reception signal φC (3) is a waveform that includes only noise components and has almost no amplitude. Becomes

Since the received signal φC (3) at this time is a noise signal having no phase component necessary for position detection, it is cut by a squelch circuit which will be described in detail later. Received signal φ including phase information
Since C (x) is transmitted by a change in electrostatic capacitance between the electrodes, it is a signal with a small amplitude, but the phase information is retained. The received signal φC (x) is the amplification circuit 87 shown in FIG.
Is saturated and amplified by the rectangular detection signal Pc (x) (x = 1,
2, ...).

Next, the detection method of the received signal will be described. FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing a detection circuit mechanism that performs phase detection of a received signal, and FIG. 13 is a waveform diagram of a detection result signal which is an output of the detection result. The detection circuit mechanism shown in FIG. 12 has a phase reference signal that is a reference for phase detection.
This is a structure in which the voltage of the output of the phase detection is changed depending on whether the phase of the reception signal modulated by the detection wheel 43 is advanced or delayed.

In FIG. 12, a pulse signal P, which is just an intermediate phase between the signal Pa and the signal Pb shown in FIG. 11 as a reference signal, is applied to the clock of the data input flip-flop 216.
Enter ab. The reference signal Pab is easily generated with a correct phase offset from the signal used as the basis of the transmission signal generation by the logic circuit and the clock signal. On the other hand, the received signal φc
The detection signal Pc (x) obtained by saturation-amplifying and shaping (x) is input as the data signal of the flip-flop 216. The flip-flop 216 outputs the detection result signal Sens-Out triggered by the rising edge of the clock signal Pab.

The detection signal Pc (x) is the signal P shown in FIG.
When the phase is ahead of the reference signal Pab as in c (1), the H level of the detection result signal Sens-Out = "1" is output, and the rotation of the detection wheel 43 advances and the reception signal Pc
When (x) is modulated and the phase is delayed from the reference signal Pab like the received signal Pc (2), the detection result signal Sens-
It switches to the L level of Out = "0". Then, the timing at which the detection result signal Sens-Out switches from the H level to the L level can be detected as the reference position of the detection wheel 43.

Next, a phase detection method different from the above structure will be described. From the detection signals Pc (1) and Pc (2) and the reference signal Pab, a charge instruction signal Pcrg and a discharge instruction signal Pdcrg as shown in FIG. 11 are created by a logic circuit which is pulse generation means. Since the phase of the reception signal Pc (1) is ahead of Pab and the phase of the reception signal Pc (2) is behind that of Pab, Pcrg = [Pc] ∩ [/ Pab] = [Pc1] ∩ [/ Pab] P_dcrg = [/ Pc] ∩ [Pab] = [/ Pc2] ∩ [Pab]; (∩ represents logical sum, / represents logical inversion).

The transmission signal frequency is 2 to the 13th power Hz, that is, about 8 kHz, and at the H level of Pcrg = "1", a small-capacity storage capacitor is charged to the + side through a resistor, and P
At the H level of dcrg = "1", the capacitor is discharged to the-side through the resistor. Charge and discharge time constant of the capacitor is 8
The phase information of the received signal with respect to the transmitted signal is obtained as the voltage of the capacitor by setting the frequency of the received signal to be larger than the period of kHz by one digit or more.

If the phase of Pc is ahead of Pab,
A signal Pcrg = "1" is obtained, the pulse width of which increases in proportion to the phase difference, and the voltage of the capacitor saturates on the + side. On the contrary, when the delay occurs, a signal Pdcrg = "1" having a pulse width proportional to the delay phase is obtained, the electric charge of the capacitor is discharged to the negative side, and the voltage of the capacitor becomes zero. In this way, the phase change of the detection signal is converted into the voltage change of the capacitor and read, and the reference position is detected.

FIG. 15 shows a concrete circuit example of the phase detection mechanism using the above-mentioned storage capacitor. In FIG. 15, the gate 91 charges the charge storage capacitor 92 to the + side through the resistor 93. Switch element 9 for charging conditions
The condition for turning ON 4 is: {Detection output: Pc = H} & {Phase reference signal: Pab = L} & {Non-squelch: / Scl-out = H} = H, and the logic level of the gate 91 becomes L Becomes, P channel F
The ET 94 (field effect transistor) is turned on, and the capacitor 92 is charged via the resistor 93. Explaining the contents of the above logical product, non-squelch: / Scl-out =
H indicates that the hole position exists near the detection electrode, and the phase of the detection output is advanced from the phase reference signal by the phase reference signal: Pab (ωt) = L and the detection output: Pc = H. Is shown. That is, it means that the hole 45 is close to the transmitting electrode 41 in FIG.

Similarly, the discharge condition of the capacitor 92 is that the discharge switch element is the N-channel transistor 96,
The gate potential of the N-channel transistor 96 is set to H level under the condition of discharging. The condition that the output of the gate 95 becomes H level is: {Detection output: Pc = L} & {Phase reference signal: Pab = H} & {Non-squelch: / Scl-out = H} = H. When the FET switch 96 is turned on, the resistance 97
Is discharged through. The condition at this time indicates that the hole position exists near the detection electrode, and the phase of the detection output is delayed from the phase reference signal. That is, in FIG. 6, it means that the detection wheel 43 continues to rotate and the hole 45 is close to the transmission electrode 42.

The gates 91 and 96 detect that the amplitude of the detection signal Pc is at a certain level, and detect and output the phase delay of the received signal Pc with respect to the phase reference signal Pab, and output it. It is a means. Further, the FET switches 94 and 96 are gate 9 which is a delay / advance detection means.
It is charge / discharge switching means for switching charge / discharge according to the outputs of 1 and 96.

In the actual configuration, the resistor 93 and the switch element 94 are used in common, and the ON resistance of the FET which is the switch element 94 is designed to be an appropriate value and the resistor 93 is not added. Similarly, the function of the resistor 97 is designed to be included in the ON resistance of the discharging FET that is the switch element 96. Ground potential Vcrg of the charge storage capacitor 92
And a reference voltage Vr obtained by dividing the power supply voltage with resistors 98 and 99.
ef is compared with a comparator 101, which is a voltage detecting means, to obtain V
When crg ≧ Vref, the detection result signal Senc_out is output as a logical output via the Schmitt circuit 100.
The H level of is output.

FIG. 14 shows a functional form of the charge storage capacitor 92 with respect to the ground voltage Vcrg with respect to the rotation angle. When the rotation of the detection wheel 43 progresses and the hole 45 approaches the transmission electrode 42, the charge storage capacitor is charged, and the ground voltage Vcr is reached.
g is from "L" state to the comparison reference voltage 111
H ”, and then the transmission electrode 41 and the transmission electrode 4
After passing through the middle of 2, the charge storage capacitor 92 is discharged and changes to the "L" state again.

Since the train wheel of the timepiece includes an error in all of the machine dimensions, there is a clearance for operation in both the vertical direction and the rotating direction of the gear shaft. Depending on the direction of the clock, the voltage of the detection voltage Vcrg changes significantly and the phase also changes slightly.
As an example, 112 indicates the voltage to ground when the clock is turned up, 1
Reference numeral 13 indicates the voltage to ground when the device is turned clockwise.

Regarding the phase detection information, an error signal is generated under the influence of noise when the detection voltage Vcrg is small. That is, there is a high risk that the capacitor 92 is charged and the timing at which the reference voltage 111 changes from L to H shifts. However, the accuracy is high when the detection voltage Vcrg is large. Therefore, in the vicinity of the center of the hole where the detection voltage Vcrg is high, the position of the detection voltage Vcrg from H to L is not easily affected by noise and accurate position information can be obtained. Therefore, point 11 at which Vcrg changes from "H" to "L"
4 is less susceptible to changes due to differences in the attitude of the watch, so
It is effective to read this timing as the reference position.

In FM broadcasting, when a weak radio wave from a distant broadcasting station causes phase noise to become conspicuous, the detection circuit of the receiver generates excessive noise, which becomes an obstacle. To prevent this
In a fully equipped FM receiver, a threshold value is set for the received signal level of the received signal, and a squelch circuit that suppresses the detection output for the received signal below the threshold value is prepared. The present invention is the transmission and reception of a signal between the electrodes within a short distance inside the timepiece, but by introducing a similar squelch circuit, it is possible to obtain the effect that the detection electrode suppresses the noise around the detection pattern hole and the place other than the hole. To be

In addition to identifying the squelch circuit based on the magnitude of the amplitude of the received signal to create the squelch circuit, the time at which the hole position is detected next is predicted based on the timing of the hole position detection signal that has been reliably captured, and Squelch by a time gate that masks the input signal in the period up to is also effective.

In the configuration of the present invention, the information of the phase measurement result indicates the hole position of the gear train to be measured, and normally, the rotational position of the gear train is ensured only once every time after the pulse motor for driving the gear train is driven. It would be good if it could be measured. It is not necessary to always measure continuously. The detection information in the simplest method detected by the method of the present invention is 1-bit information, and is whether or not the rotation angle of the hole position of the train wheel gear exceeds the specific angle at the specific time. Therefore, in order to determine the angle of the train wheel, after resetting the count, the electric counting circuit and the pulse motor for driving the train wheel are driven in parallel by the number of times of one rotation of the gear, and the count value of the electric counting circuit is addressed. The position detection data is stored as. The resulting hole position can then be determined from the data pattern for the address.

To summarize the above-mentioned measurement contents, the position measurement is intermittently performed from the state where the detection pattern hole does not exist near the detection electrode. The procedure for measuring the angle of rotation of the train wheel is as follows: detection of the standby state information until the detection pattern hole reaches the detection electrode, and between the arrival of the detection pattern hole and the center of the detection pattern hole. Detection of the L level of the detection data, and the detection data from the L level to the H level at the center of the detection pattern hole.
The measurement is performed in the order of detecting the change in the level, confirming that the H level is maintained with respect to the subsequent movement of the gear, and confirming and detecting the standby state information from the passage of the detection pattern hole to the original rotational position.

In order to measure the hole center position, it is necessary to measure the presence of the detection electrode in the vicinity of the hole position and the precise measurement of the angular position in the vicinity of the hole, and it is judged from the overall image of the measurement data. Is determined from the amplitude component of the detection signal that the measured data is less noise and that the phase detection information is in a "non-standby state", or the phase detection circuit changes the output logic value for a certain waiting time It is necessary to have a circuit for storing as a standby time zone by an electric clock. A non-squelch signal {/ Scl-out} gate signal is generated from this amplitude detection signal or the time zone signal of the electric timekeeping system.

FIG. 16A shows the non-squelch signal {/ S
An example of an amplitude detection circuit for noise suppression for creating cl-out} will be shown. The minute reception signal φC is received and amplified by the amplification circuit 132 having a constant amplification factor. This amplifier circuit 13
Negative feedback is applied to 2 to perform 1 / K partial voltage negative feedback by resistance voltage division so that the amplification factor becomes K times regardless of the ambient temperature and the power supply voltage.

The threshold used as the reference for the amplitude comparison is FET13.
It is a little higher than the threshold value of the FET 133 determined by the threshold value of 3 and the carrier mobility, and is set so that the temperature characteristics of the threshold value and the temperature characteristics of the mobility compensate each other. F with resistance 134
The current level of the charging operation of the ET133 is determined and the resistance 135
Defines the discharge current level. When K times the peak value of the AC input received signal φC exceeds the threshold value of the FET 133, charging of the capacitor 136 starts, and when the discharge resistance 135 is set sufficiently large, the capacitor 136 responds to the peak value exceeding the threshold value of the FET 133. The charges are charged in a sampling manner, and the charges are held for a time of about the discharge time constant.

The voltage Vcrg of the capacitor 136 due to the charge accumulated in the capacitor 136 and the voltage Vscl obtained by dividing the power supply voltage by the resistors 137 and 138 are compared by the comparison circuit 139, and the resulting logical value is latched by the latch circuit 14.
It is stored in 0 at the cycle of the transmission signal. In this way, the peak value component of the AC detection signal is separated and the non-squelch signal (/ S
cl-out) can be created. The source side power supply potential of the FET 133 may be used as a cycle variation threshold value by applying a voltage obtained by dividing the pulse itself of the reference signal Pab or a sine wave voltage obtained by removing harmonics of Pab instead of the + DC power supply voltage. I can. The harmonic elimination is performed by the bandpass type amplification circuit 7 of FIG. 9 in which the input voltage dividing circuit and the selective amplification circuit are combined.
It can be realized with the same circuit as 4.

The structure of FIG. 16A is represented by functional blocks as shown in FIG. 16B. In FIG. 16B, the reception signal φC is amplified by the amplification circuit 142 with a constant amplification factor at a constant magnification, the amplitude component is extracted by the detection circuit 143, and the comparison circuit 144 creates the comparison by the reference voltage generation mechanism 147. The fact that the detected amplitude is equal to or larger than the set amplitude is detected and latched and stored, and the fact that the phase detection output has a meaning is latched by the synchronous latch circuit 145 as a logic signal output of the non-squelch output, and the non-squelch signal (/ Scl-ou
t) is output.

FIG. 17A shows the non-squelch signal {/ S
It is another embodiment of the amplitude detection circuit for creating cl-out}. The minute reception signal φC is received and amplified by the amplification circuit 169 having a constant amplification factor. As the amplitude threshold comparison value, the potential obtained by dividing the reference signal Pab by the resistors 151 and 152 is given as the fluctuation threshold. Although the circuit is a little complicated, Pab
The method of replacing with a signal from which harmonic components are removed is also a reasonable threshold. A signal voltage that is a constant multiple of the fluctuation threshold and the input signal is amplified by the comparison and amplification circuit 153, rectified by the diode 154, and the circuit having the discharge time constant determined by the capacitor 155 and the resistor 168 temporarily holds the result, and the latch circuit. 1
At 56, it is stored as a logical value, and a non-squelch output (/ Scl-out) is output using the signal Pb as a clock.

The structure of FIG. 17A is represented by functional blocks as shown in FIG. 17B. In FIG. 17B, K · φC obtained by amplifying the received signal φC by the amplification circuit 161 having a K-fold constant amplification factor and the comparison reference voltage Vref created by the reference voltage generation mechanism 164 are supplied to the comparison amplification circuit 162. The signal is input, saturated and amplified, detected by the detection circuit 163, temporarily stored by the synchronous latch circuit 165, and output by the non-squelch output (/ Sc
1-out).

In the position detecting method of the embodiment described above, first, the amplitude of the received signal φC is detected to detect that the hole is close to the transmitting / receiving electrodes, and then the position is accurately detected by the phase information of the received signal φC. Although the configuration is adopted, the position can be detected by only one of the phase detection and the amplitude detection. In that case, although the reliability of position detection due to noise or the like is poor, the circuit configuration can be simplified.

One of the main points of the configuration of the present invention is that the influence of the clearance of the mechanical mechanism is suppressed by differential calculation using a plurality of transmission lines. From the above viewpoint, FIG. 18A shows the transmission signals φA, φ obtained by extracting the components of the reception signal φC when the transmission signals φA, φB are transmitted through the individual independent transmission paths.
The set of amplitude voltage of φC component corresponding to B is {P1, Q
1} and {P2, Q2}, the rotation angle is represented by the horizontal axis and the vertical axis with respect to the axis of zero amplitude. The rattling caused by the clearance in the axial direction of the gear depends on, for example, the attitude difference of the wristwatch, and the amplitude pairs of the received signals are {P1, Q1} and {P1.
2, Q2}. Therefore, when the detection voltage is divided at a constant slice level in such a single transmission line, the detection angles of P1 and P2 (= rotation angles at which the slice level and the detection level match) show different values due to the difference in attitude of the wristwatch. It will be a matter.

The graph obtained by calculating the difference between the graphs of FIG. 18A is shown in FIG. 18B. In the figure, D1 = P1-Q1 and D2 = P2-Q2. In both D1 and D2, it can be seen that the rotation angle at the 0 cross point at which the sign of the differential output signal switches is equal, and the difference detection method reduces the influence of rattling of the train wheel.

Another configuration for suppressing noise and improving the reliability of position detection will be described below. A signal obtained by saturation-amplifying the received signal φC without suppressing noise also amplifies the internal noise to the saturation level, so that a spike-shaped noise signal is generated. However, for example, measurement is performed three times in a row,
If the majority logic output of these three signals is taken, the spike noise is removed. Since the measurement of the train wheel may be performed after the intermittent drive of the motor of the timepiece, the actual position detection is the intermittent sampling detection of the above signal.

Further, another configuration for removing noise will be described. The detection signal obtained by amplifying the received signal φC with noise included becomes a pulse signal containing spike-like noise. A spike noise component is removed from this pulsed detection signal through a low-pass frequency filter composed of a known approximate integration circuit to remove P.
0 (θ), and PΔ (θ) delayed by a logically constant short time Δt is created using a latch circuit.

Letting Pdet be the logical product of the inverted signals of P0 (θ) and PΔ (θ), Pdet = P0 (θ)  {/ PΔ (θ)} is a book with narrow spike noise removed. A pulse width that coincides with the rising edge of the signal changing from L level to H bell Δ
A pulse of t, which gives the angle of the hole center position. If the spike noise can be sufficiently removed by the low-pass filter circuit, the hole position detection circuit can be greatly simplified. It is possible to omit the window function creation and noise suppression by the squelch signal.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the timing of wheel train gear position measurement. At the moment of driving the pulse motor of the watch, in the watch system of low power consumption, a large instantaneous power consumption of 1 million times as much as the average power consumption is consumed. Voltage fluctuations occur. In addition, a large electromagnetic noise is generated at the moment of driving. Therefore, the position detection operation by the weak electric field detection as in the present invention needs to be carried out with sufficient time away from the motor drive phase.

Further, considering the interference due to the internal noise of the amplifier circuit for the weak electric field measurement, the position measurement itself is also
It is necessary to carry out a plurality of times, process the result with a majority logic circuit, estimate the most probable value and use it. The measurement shown in FIG. 19 shows an example of a timing chart in the case where the position measurement is performed an odd number of times after a predetermined time has elapsed after the motor is driven. The detection position is determined by the majority vote of the detection results that are measured an odd number of times while avoiding the noise generation range.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the structure for detecting the position of the time information by the driving wheel train has been described, but as another embodiment, it can be applied to the detection of the display position information of the calendar. FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view for explaining the position detecting structure of the date plate 301 for displaying the date. In FIG. 20, 1 to 31 date indications are printed on the surface of the date plate 301, and one date indication is performed from the window hole 302 of the dial.

In FIG. 20, one day is displayed. Although not shown, the date dial 301 is rotationally driven by one display per day by the rotational drive of the motor of the electromechanical converter being transmitted.
The transmitting electrode 30 is provided on the upper surface side of the printing positions of 3 and 4 on the date plate 301.
3, 304 and the receiving electrode 305 are arranged to face each other on the lower surface side. In addition, the date plate 301 is formed of a plastic material,
A metal film is applied to the lower surface side of the watch move to be grounded, but the lower surface portion of the printing position of 4 has a circular non-printed portion 306.

In the state of FIG. 20, only the signal from the transmitting electrode 304 is transmitted to the receiving electrode 305, and the signal from the transmitting electrode 303 is shielded by the date plate 301 and is not transmitted. When the date plate 301 rotates for one day and 2 is displayed in the window 302, the circle 306 moves to the position of the transmitting electrode 303, and only the signal from the transmitting electrode 303 is transmitted to the receiving electrode 305. . The reference position of the date dial 301 can be detected by reading the change in the signal transmitted to the receiving electrode 305. As shown in the figure, if the position of the date plate 301 is detected at a date position different from that of the window hole 302, the date can be detected without affecting the date display.

If the positions of the date plate, the moon plate and the year plate of the wristwatch can be confirmed, the wristwatch incorporating the perennial calendar which does not require the end-of-month date correction can be realized by a simple mechanism. The detection timing may be limited to the vicinity of midnight. The detection angle tolerance is also large. Therefore,
Amplitude detection or impedance detection with two or one transmission / reception electrodes can be used. In the initial setting of the radio-controlled watch,
It is necessary to instantly rewrite the electric time system based on the received information and then synchronize the mechanical time with the electric time.

It takes a lot of time to correct the year / month / day date / time by fast-forwarding seconds, but if the correction is divided into three blocks of seconds / hour / minute / year / month / day in parallel, it is epoch-making. The initial memory setting can be realized quickly. Since such a large time shift occurs only once every few years, such as immediately after connecting the power battery, the train wheel transmission / reception electrode detection is continuously operated while driving the hour / minute / second at high speed, and it is engraved in the gear. A simple method of optically reading the code hole as a time series code may be used.

[0118]

As described above with reference to the embodiments,
The mechanical position information of the wristwatch can be realized without contact, with low current, low voltage, space saving, and low cost, and also with high reliability without fear of deterioration over time. As a result, due to the realization of watches with highly reliable holding time, radio-controlled watches with short time correction functions, and watches with automatic end-of-month correction functions, and the use of large hands, electric fields that have been required but could not be realized until now. A detection type thin train wheel position detection mechanism can be realized by the difference detection method using a plurality of train wheel passing multiple transmission paths according to the present invention.

Since the method of directly detecting a single electric field as conventionally considered uses the principle of detecting the spatial intensity change of the electric field, the spatially dependent intensity change of the electric field is smooth, and Sensitive detection of specific points is impossible. In addition, it could not be used for position detection because the electric field strength due to the clearance of the train wheel has a large dependency on the timepiece attitude. These bottlenecks are solved by the multiple transmission line difference detection method of the present invention. In particular, by utilizing the phase difference, the amplitude or polarity of the detection signal can be made to cross 0 when passing through a specific point in combination with a phase detection circuit, and it becomes possible to design sensitive detection of spatial position. Moreover, the influence of the difference in the attitude of the timepiece can be reduced by the difference detection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an outline of a signal modulation structure of the present invention.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 showing an outline of a signal modulation structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing a modulation process of a signal of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing amplitude and phase characteristics of a detection signal of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing various signal transmission paths of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a detection wheel when the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an entire timepiece system of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of a transmission circuit of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of an equivalent circuit of a modulation mechanism and a receiving circuit according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 11 is a waveform diagram showing signal waveforms of various parts in the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram for performing phase detection of a received signal in an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 13 is a waveform diagram of a detection signal which is an output of a detection result of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 14 is an output diagram of the voltage to ground of a charge storage capacitor used in another detection mechanism according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram of another detection mechanism of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram and a block diagram of a noise control circuit of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram and a block diagram of another noise control circuit according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a timepiece.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the individual transmission line detection output and differential output characteristics of a plurality of transmission lines of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a timing relationship between motor drive and wheel train position detection of the timepiece of the invention.

FIG. 20 is a plan view showing a date portion of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a calendar display timepiece.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 transmitter electrode 2 Transmitting electrode 3 rotating bodies 4 receiving electrodes 5 holes 41 Transmitting electrode 42 Transmitting electrode 43 Detection vehicle 44 Receiving electrode 45 holes 47 Fourth wheel

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoshiki Iwakura             6-12 Tanashi-cho, Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo             Chisun Watch Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Igarashi             6-12 Tanashi-cho, Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo             Chisun Watch Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2F077 AA36 AA38 AA41 AA42 CC02                       NN02 NN23 PP10 PP21 QQ11                       TT04 TT06 TT21 TT62 TT82                 2F082 AA01 DD06 FF01 FF10 GG00

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An electric timepiece having a mechanism for detecting an angular rotation position of a train wheel or the like, wherein a transmission circuit mechanism for shaping a plurality of transmission signals using an electric field as a carrier and the output signal formed by the transmission circuit mechanism are provided. A transmitting electrode for outputting, a signal modulating member which is arranged in non-contact proximity to the transmitting electrode and which modulates the plurality of transmission signals by rotation or reciprocating motion, and a signal modulating member which is arranged in non-contact proximity to the signal modulating member. A receiving electrode that receives the plurality of transmission signals modulated by the modulation member, a receiving circuit mechanism that inputs the received signal received by the receiving electrode, and an electric field propagation characteristic of the received signal that is received by the receiving circuit mechanism, An electric timepiece comprising a detection circuit mechanism for detecting mechanical position information of the signal modulation member. 2. The detection circuit mechanism is a phase detection circuit mechanism, and detects the mechanical position information of the signal modulation member from the phase information of the reception signal modulated by the modulation member. The listed electric clock. 3. The detection circuit mechanism is an amplitude detection circuit mechanism, and detects mechanical position information of the signal modulation member from relative intensity information of a reception signal modulated by the modulation member. The electric timepiece according to item 1. 4. The detection circuit mechanism includes both a phase detection circuit mechanism and an amplitude detection circuit mechanism, and a detection range of mechanical position information of the modulation member from relative intensity information of a reception signal modulated by the signal modulation member. 2. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the position information of the signal modulating member is detected from the phase information of the reception signal modulated by the signal modulating member. 5. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmission signals are same frequency signals having different phases. 6. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmission signals are signals having different frequencies and having a synchronous relationship. 7. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of transmission signals has a sine wave or a waveform similar to a sine wave. 8. The phase detection circuit mechanism outputs a phase detection output depending on whether the phase of a reception signal modulated by the modulation member is advanced or delayed with respect to a phase reference signal serving as a reference for phase detection. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the voltage is changed. 9. The phase detection circuit mechanism includes pulse generating means for outputting a pulse signal having a pulse width of a phase difference between the phase reference signal and a reception signal modulated by the modulating member, and a phase reference signal. On the other hand, a delay / advance detection means for detecting and outputting a delay / advance of the phase of the received signal, and switching the charging or discharging of the capacitor with the amount of charge proportional to the pulse width of the pulse signal by the delay / advance output,
The electric timepiece according to claim 1, further comprising a charge / discharge switching means and a voltage detecting means for comparing and outputting a terminal voltage of the capacitor at a preset voltage. 10. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the signal modulating member has a shape or a structure in which a part of the constituent member has a structure different in electric conductivity or dielectric constant from other parts. 11. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the signal modulation member is made of a conductive metal material, and has a structure having a hole, a notch, or an uneven shape in a part thereof. 12. The signal modulation member is made of a non-conductive member such as plastic and a conductive metal material, and has a structure in which a part of the metal material has a hole, a notch, or an uneven shape. The electric timepiece according to claim 1. 13. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the signal modulating member is made of a non-conductive member such as plastic, and a part of the non-conductive member is plated with metal. 14. The train wheel is constituted by a part of a train wheel for transmitting a rotary motion driven by an electromechanical converter to a pointer display, and the train wheel train is constituted by mechanical position information of the train signal modulator. 2. The electric timepiece according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for detecting the reference position of. 15. The signal modulating member is constituted by a part of a train wheel or a date display plate for transmitting a rotational movement driven by an electromechanical converter up to a date display. , A standard month end correction function for automatically eliminating a month end nonexistent day of a small month by detecting the reference position of the date display board and the electric calendar information held in the clock circuit. The electric timepiece described in 1.