JP2005195436A - Analog electronic timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an analog electronic timepiece which displays correct time by driving an electromagnetic motor with minimum necessary driving energy. <P>SOLUTION: The analog electronic timepiece 1 comprises the electromagnetic motor 7, control means 4 which controls the rotation of the electromagnetic motor by supplying it with a driving pulse, a gear train 8 which transmits the rotation of the electromagnetic motor to drive hands indicating time, and a position detection mechanism 10 which detects the rotation position of the gear train and supplies the control means with a position detection signal. The control means 4 can generate a plurality of pulse patterns for driving the electromagnetic motor. When a position detection signal DP cannot be obtained by driving the electromagnetic motor with a first pulse pattern, the first pulse pattern is changed into a second pulse pattern having larger driving energy than that of the first pulse pattern. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an analog electronic timepiece. More specifically, the present invention relates to an analog electronic timepiece that saves power and can reduce energy used to drive a train wheel.

  An analog timepiece incorporates a movement mechanism for moving hands indicating hours, minutes and seconds. This movement includes a train wheel for moving the pointer. These wheel trains include a plurality of gears connected with a predetermined reduction ratio, and when driven by a motor, a pointer fixed to one end performs analog display on the display board. In the past, movements have been designed to have target performance and versatility. If a movement is manufactured in this way, it can be used in common for various products, so that the cost can be reduced. In the case of an electronic movement mechanism, electrical energy such as a battery is used to drive the mechanism, but it is required to have a structure that saves energy so that it can be used for a long time.

  However, as described above, one type of movement mechanism is commonly used for various models, and even in the same movement mechanism, there are variations in characteristics due to variations in parts. For this reason, conventionally, there has been a tendency that the energy input to the motor is set higher so that the required torque can be obtained regardless of the timepiece. Therefore, most products supplied more drive energy than necessary to the motor. Especially in the case of a sweep motor, a large amount of energy is required at the time of start-up, but once it starts, it tends to supply more current than necessary even if it requires lower energy than at the time of start-up in order to maintain rotation. was there.

  Electronic watches that have reduced energy consumption have been studied in the past. A low-consumption analog electronic timepiece is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. In this analog electronic timepiece, the output of the oscillation circuit is input to a system clock generation circuit, and a CPU that performs various arithmetic processes is operated by this system clock. In order to operate the chopping pulse generation circuit and the one-shot pulse generation circuit, the CPU enters an interrupt operation by an interrupt signal from the interrupt signal generation circuit. At this time, according to the rotation detection information in the previous motor drive of the rotation detection circuit, the duty information of the chopping pulse generation circuit and the pulse information of the pulse rank storage circuit that stores the pulse information of the one-shot pulse generation circuit are independently controlled, The motor is driven by the motor drive pulse generated by the chopping pulse generation circuit and the one-shot pulse generation circuit.

JP-A-11-231075

  However, the analog electronic timepiece disclosed in Patent Document 1 has many circuits such as an oscillation circuit, a frequency dividing circuit, and an interrupt signal generation circuit in order to realize energy saving, and a dedicated CPU that performs various arithmetic processes related thereto. It is installed. Therefore, this analog type electronic timepiece has a problem that the electric circuit is complicated and a dedicated IC is required, which increases the cost.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, prepares a plurality of drive pulses to be input to the electromagnetic motor, and supplies a large drive energy only when a predetermined signal cannot be obtained from a position detection mechanism that detects the position of the train wheel. In this way, an analog type timepiece that saves power and drives a motor with minimum energy is provided.

  The object is to provide an electromagnetic motor, control means for supplying a driving pulse to the electromagnetic motor to control rotation, a wheel train for transmitting the rotation of the electromagnetic motor and driving a pointer for displaying time, and the wheel train. A position detecting mechanism for detecting a rotational position of the first motor and supplying a position detection signal to the control means, wherein the control means is capable of generating a plurality of pulse patterns for driving the electromagnetic motor, When a position detection signal cannot be obtained by driving the electromagnetic motor with this pulse pattern, it can be achieved by an analog electronic timepiece that changes to a second pulse pattern having a drive energy larger than that of the first pulse pattern.

  According to the present invention, when a position detection signal cannot be obtained from a position detection mechanism that detects the position of a train wheel that rotates integrally with the pointer, the control means changes to the second pulse pattern with a large drive energy to change the electromagnetic motor. Is adjusted so that the train wheel rotates accurately. Therefore, the train wheel can be rotated accurately by driving the electromagnetic motor with the minimum required drive energy. Therefore, an analog electronic timepiece that saves energy can be provided.

  The position detection mechanism may be configured to detect the rotational position of the train wheel at a predetermined cycle, or the position detection mechanism may detect the rotational position of the train wheel at a predetermined time. You may form as follows. In this way, the driving energy can be checked at a constant cycle and time, and analog display can be performed using the minimum necessary driving energy.

  Further, it is desirable that the control means is set so as to return the second pulse pattern to the first pulse pattern at every preset period or time. By setting in this way, when the driving load temporarily increased due to environmental changes is reduced, it is possible to move the hand using low driving energy again, so that further energy saving can be achieved.

  The pulse pattern includes a plurality of patterns having different pulse widths, duty ratios, or voltage values. In the case where a radio wave correction function for correcting the analog display time by receiving the standard time radio wave is provided, the position detection mechanism is inherently provided, which can be used. Therefore, an energy-saving analog electronic timepiece can be easily provided by making a simple change.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an analog electronic timepiece that can display an accurate time by driving an electromagnetic motor with a minimum required driving energy.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to an analog radio timepiece that receives radio waves and corrects time will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an analog radio timepiece according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the train wheel provided in the analog radio timepiece. An outline of the analog radio timepiece 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The analog radio-controlled timepiece 1 is a central control unit (CPU) that controls a standard time radio wave (time code signal) transmitted from a transmitting station (not shown) as control means via a receiving antenna 2 and a receiving circuit 3 at a specific time. ) 4 received. This signal is supplied to the internal clock 6 from the control circuit 5 in the CPU 4. The CPU 4 corrects the time of the internal timepiece 6 based on the time code signal, and also performs a time correction operation for correcting the time indicated by the hands 9 of the analog timepiece by driving and controlling the electromagnetic motor 7 to rotate the train wheel 8. Do. Thus, in order to correct the time pointed by the hands 9, the present analog radio timepiece 1 is provided with a position detection mechanism 10 for detecting the position of the train wheel 8.

  The position detection mechanism 10 is set to detect the train wheel position at a predetermined cycle or time under the control of the CPU 4. A position detection signal DP from the position detection mechanism 10 is supplied to the control circuit 5, and the CPU 4 drives and controls the electromagnetic motor 7 based on the position detection signal DP. The analog radio timepiece 1 uses the position detection signal DP from the position detection mechanism 10 when the time is adjusted based on the signal received from the receiving antenna 2.

  Further, in the analog radio timepiece 1, the CPU 4 functions as a control unit for suppressing drive energy, and the position detection mechanism 10 is used for that purpose. A configuration for realizing energy saving of the analog radio timepiece 1 will be described. The CPU 4 includes a memory unit 4M. The memory unit 4M stores a plurality of pulse patterns of drive pulses used for driving and controlling the electromagnetic motor 7. This pulse pattern is set so that the drive energy of the electromagnetic motor 7 is different. For example, by changing any of the pulse width, duty ratio, and voltage value, a plurality of drive patterns are stored in the memory unit 4M.

  The CPU 4 activates the position detection mechanism 10 and changes the pulse pattern when the position detection signal cannot obtain the DP at a predetermined timing. Specifically, the CPU 4 drives the electromagnetic motor 7 with a pulse pattern (first pulse pattern) having the lowest driving energy in the initial stage. When the position detection signal DP cannot be obtained using the first pulse pattern, the electromagnetic motor 7 is driven by changing to the second pulse pattern having a large drive energy. By controlling in this way, the train wheel can be rotated, that is, the hand can be moved with the lowest energy. It is desirable that a plurality of the second pulse patterns are stored in the memory unit 4M and designed so that they can be changed in order to higher drive energy.

  Moreover, the load of the electromagnetic motor 7 that moves the hand may change slightly due to environmental changes such as temperature and humidity. For example, even if the position detection signal DP is not obtained using the first pulse pattern and the second pulse pattern is changed to a high energy second pulse pattern, the electromagnetic motor 7 again uses the first pulse pattern on the next day. Is assumed to be driven. In such a case, continuously driving with the second pulse pattern results in energy loss. Therefore, the analog radio timepiece 1 is driven by returning the pulse pattern used by the CPU 4 to the first pulse pattern at a preset period (for example, every 24 hours) or at a preset time (for example, 1:00 am). Is done. By adopting such a configuration, the above-described energy loss can be suppressed. The analog radio timepiece 1 is driven using electrical energy from a power source PW as shown in FIG.

  Further, referring to FIG. 2, a detailed configuration of the train wheel 8 of the analog radio timepiece 1 shown in FIG. 1 and a position detection mechanism 10 incorporated therein will be described. The analog radio timepiece 1 is configured so that the second hand performs a sweep hand, and the hour and minute hands perform a 10-second step hand. Between the lower case 20 and the middle case 21, there is provided a first 10-second step electromagnetic motor 30 that operates in response to a drive pulse supplied from the control circuit 5 of the CPU 4. An hour / minute wheel drive wheel train is connected to the motor 30. That is, the rotor 31 of the motor 30, the driving wheel 32, the intermediate wheel 33, the minute hand wheel 34, the minute wheel 35, and the hour hand wheel 36 are rotatably supported by shafts, and are sequentially meshed to form a reduction gear train. .

  Further, between the middle case 21 and the upper case 22 is disposed a second hand wheel drive wheel train that is rotationally driven by a second sweep drive motor (not shown). In other words, a second wheel, a third wheel 47 and a second hand wheel 48 (not shown) meshing with the motor gear are rotatably supported and sequentially meshed to form a reduction wheel train. The minute hand wheel 34, the hour hand wheel 36, and the second hand wheel 48 are rotatably fitted to pipes 21b provided integrally with the middle case 21, respectively, and protruded downward from the lower case 20. A pointer 9 (not shown) is attached to the part. Specifically, a second hand is attached to the end portion 48T, a minute hand is attached to the end portion 34T, and an hour hand is attached to the end portion 36T. As shown in the figure, these hands constitute a so-called medium three-hand type analog timepiece that rotates concentrically.

  Furthermore, the position detection mechanism 10 included in the train wheel shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The third wheel 47 is formed with a through hole 47a for position detection. Further, the third wheel 47 is formed with a positioning hole 47b for assembling a train wheel at a position smaller than the through hole 47a and at a short distance from the rotation center and 180 degrees away from the through hole 47a. The second hand wheel 48 is formed with a position detecting through hole 48a and a reflecting portion 48b made of a reflecting plate at a position 180 degrees apart on the same circumference. The position of the reflecting portion 48b is arranged such that the second hand drive is at a position 30 seconds from the initial position.

  Further, the intermediate wheel 33 included in the above-mentioned hour / minute wheel driving wheel train has three through holes 33a on the same circumference at intervals of 120 degrees, and the minute hand wheel 34 has through holes 48a of the second hand wheel 48. Three through holes 34a are formed at intervals of 120 degrees on the circumference of the same radius. The hour hand wheel 36 is formed with seven through holes 36a on the circumference of the same radius as the through hole 48a. Since there are eight reference times as will be described later, eight through holes 36a are originally required, but since two through holes are connected, seven through holes 36a may be provided. Further, the middle case 21 is formed with a through hole 21a so as to align with the through holes 47a, 48a, 33a, 34a, 36a for position detection in a straight line. The time at which these through holes for position detection are aligned vertically is 12:00, 1:40, 3:00, 5:40, 6:00, 8:20, 9:00, 11:00. There are 8 times, and this is the reference time. The intervals between adjacent reference times are all different.

  The light emitting diode 19 is fixed to the lower case 20 at a position facing the through holes 36a aligned on this straight line. A reflective sensor 14 having a light emitting element and a light receiving element is fixed to the board 13 disposed above the third wheel 47 at a position facing the straight through hole 47a. The position detection mechanism 10 has the above configuration.

  The CPU 4 performs initial setting of the position detection mechanism 10. For this purpose, the initial position detection of the train wheel is performed. First, the second hand wheel 48 is driven and performed by the reflector 48b and the reflective sensor 14, and when the position can be detected, the second hand wheel 48 is turned by 180 ° and stopped. At this time, the second hand is set to be 0 second. At the 0 second position, the through hole 47a of the third wheel 47 and the through hole 48a of the second hand wheel 48 are aligned vertically. Next, when the light emitting diode 19 is caused to emit light and the hour and minute hands are rotated, the light from the light emitting diode 19 is reflected by the reflective sensor 14 when the through holes 33a, 34a, and 36a of the intermediate wheel 33, the minute hand wheel 34, and the hour hand wheel 36 overlap. It reaches the light receiving element. Since this position is one of the eight reference times, when the hour and minute hands continue to rotate and the through holes overlap again and come to a position where light reaches the reflective sensor 14, the first time the through holes match And determine the position when the through holes overlap for the second time. This makes it possible to recognize where all the hour, minute, and second hands are, and the initial setting of the position detection mechanism 10 is completed.

  In the analog radio-controlled timepiece 1, the position detection mechanism 10 constantly detects the transfer of the train wheel after the initial setting is completed as described above. As described above, the second hand wheel 48 includes the reflecting portion 48b at a position rotated by 30 seconds from the initial position. Thereby, whenever the second hand comes to the position of 30 seconds, the reflection portion 48b faces the reflection type sensor 14. Therefore, it is possible to check whether the electromagnetic motor 7 is operating normally from the train wheel position by operating the reflective sensor 14 at a cycle of 30 seconds (predetermined cycle) during normal hand movement. An output signal from the reflective sensor 14 is input to the CPU 4 (see FIG. 1), and the CPU 4 controls driving of the electromagnetic motor 7. If the train wheel position is checked every 30 seconds as described above, a change in energy can be quickly checked, but the period of checking may be every minute, every hour, or the like. Further, the train wheel position may be set to be detected not at a predetermined period but at a predetermined time, for example, every day at midnight and midnight.

  Next, details of the control performed by supplying a drive pulse to the electromagnetic motor 7 based on the output signal received from the reflective sensor 14 by the CPU 4 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. Here, the operation of the second hand motor (sweep motor) that drives the second hand wheel 48 will be described. A power supply PW shown in FIG. 1 is configured by connecting two 1.5 V dry batteries in series. The CPU 4 drives the second hand motor using two types of pulse patterns shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a pulse pattern example stored in the memory unit 4M of the CPU 4. Whereas the pulse width of pattern 1 is 25 ms, the pulse width of pattern 2 is as wide as 40 ms. Therefore, the power consumption of pattern 2 is larger and the energy for driving the second hand motor is larger.

The drive pulse output from the CPU 4 to the second hand motor 7 of the second hand is initially set to a constant voltage of 2.2 V by a regulator as shown in pattern 1 of FIG. 3, and has a pulse width of 25 ms and both ends of the coil every 62.5 ms. Is added with the polarity changed. As a result, the second hand motor 7 is driven. In general, the characteristics of a motor vary from sample to sample, but the average characteristics are an average current consumption of 30 μA and a second hand shaft output torque of about 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ N · m.

  The CPU 4 drives the second hand motor 7 with the pattern 1 to change to the pattern 2 with large energy when the above-described position output signal cannot be obtained from the reflective sensor 14 of the above-described position detection mechanism 10. As a result, the second hand motor 7 is reliably driven, and the train wheel (pointer) can be accurately driven. Since the second hand motor 7 is a sweep motor, conventionally, there has been a tendency to consume useless energy after startup, but such an analog radio timepiece 1 can suppress such energy loss.

  Furthermore, a series of operations relating to the position detection of the second hand wheel train of the analog radio timepiece 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Normally, as described above, the CPU 4 selects the driving pulse of the pattern 1 in FIG. 3 and supplies it to the motor 7 (S100). Further, the CPU 4 refers to the internal clock 6 from the initial position (S101), and activates the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the reflective sensor 14 every 30 seconds (S102). When the CPU 4 can obtain an output signal from the reflective sensor 14, the train wheel (second hand) is being driven accurately, so that the driving with the pattern 1 with low power consumption is continued (S103). On the other hand, when the output signal cannot be acquired from the reflective sensor 14, it is considered that the train wheel is not driven correctly due to insufficient energy. Therefore, the CPU 4 performs the driving by changing the driving to the pattern 2 with high power consumption (S104).

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 shows an example in which the pattern 2 is once maintained after being changed to the pattern 2, but the load for driving the train wheel may vary depending on the environment in which the timepiece is installed. Conceivable. Therefore, if the CPU 4 is set to start the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 at a preset period (for example, every 24 hours) or a preset time (for example, midnight), after changing to the pattern 2, A state of driving with the pattern 1 can be formed. Thereby, further power consumption suppression can be aimed at.

  Further, although the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 shows the case where the train wheel of the second hand is detected at a predetermined cycle (every 30 seconds), the train wheel may be checked at a predetermined time (for example, every day at 3 am). The train wheel related to the hour / minute hands may be detected, and it may be determined whether or not the detection signal has been acquired at a predetermined time to determine whether the motor is operating normally. In the above embodiment, the pulse width is changed to switch the input energy. However, for example, the pulse may be a comb pulse and the pattern may be changed based on the duty.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, two patterns for changing the voltage value may be prepared to change the drive energy. For example, the voltage value may be changed by switching a resistance in series with the drive coil of the motor 7 to switch the level of energy supplied to the motor 7.

  Furthermore, in the said Example, the case where the pattern 2 (2nd pattern with high energy) which switches from the pattern 1 (1st pulse pattern) with the lowest energy is illustrated is illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this mode, and a plurality of pulses having different energy levels may be prepared as the second pulse pattern, and the energy may be changed in order to higher energy. If comprised in this way, it will become an analog electronic timepiece which can suppress energy consumption more reliably.

  According to the analog electronic timepiece 1 described above, it is possible to suppress consumption of energy more than necessary without impairing versatility for a plurality of models. Therefore, when a battery is used as the power source, its life can be extended. As described above, the radio timepiece receives the standard time radio wave from the outside, and corrects the internal clock 5 provided in the CPU 4 to display the time. When the radio-controlled timepiece is of an analog type, a train wheel detection mechanism is provided for correcting the internal clock 6 provided in the CPU 4 and correcting the train wheel (pointer). Therefore, the analog electronic timepiece of the above embodiment can use the inherently equipped train wheel detection mechanism, and therefore can save energy without providing a new mechanism.

  However, even an analog electronic timepiece that does not have a time correction function using radio waves has a function of detecting the position of the train wheel and matching the hands with the internal timepiece. The present invention may be applied to such an analog electronic timepiece to produce an energy saving electronic timepiece based on the time of the internal timepiece.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an analog radio timepiece according to an embodiment. It is sectional drawing which showed the principal part of the train wheel with which the analog type radio timepiece shown in FIG. It is the figure which showed the example of a pulse pan pattern stored in the memory part of CPU. It is the flowchart which showed a series of operation | movement regarding the position detection of the second hand wheel train of an analog type radio timepiece. It is the figure which showed the other pulse pan pattern example stored in the memory part of CPU.

Explanation of symbols

1 Analog electronic timepiece 4 CPU (control means)
5 Control circuit 5M Memory unit 6 Internal clock 7 Electromagnetic motor 8 Train wheel 9 Pointer 10 Position detection mechanism PW Power supply

Claims (6)

An electromagnetic motor, control means for supplying a drive pulse to the electromagnetic motor to control rotation, a wheel train for transmitting the rotation of the electromagnetic motor and driving a pointer for displaying time, and a rotational position of the wheel train A position detection mechanism for detecting and supplying a position detection signal to the control means,
The control means can generate a plurality of pulse patterns for driving the electromagnetic motor. When the electromagnetic motor is driven with the first pulse pattern and a position detection signal cannot be obtained, the first pulse pattern is generated. An analog electronic timepiece characterized by changing to a second pulse pattern having a larger driving energy. The analog electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the position detection mechanism detects the rotational position of the train wheel at a predetermined cycle. The analog electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the position detection mechanism detects the rotational position of the train wheel at a predetermined time. 2. The analog electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the control unit returns the second pulse pattern to the first pulse pattern at a preset cycle or time. 2. The analog electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the pulse pattern has a pulse width, a duty ratio, or a voltage value varied. 6. The analog electronic timepiece according to claim 1, further comprising a radio wave correction function for receiving a standard time radio wave and correcting an analog display time.

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