JP2006214909A - Analog time piece with led display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an analog time piece of an excellent interior property capable of coping with plentiful variation of design, in a device for exhibiting concurrently a time and other information. <P>SOLUTION: This analog time piece with an LED display has a letter code designation area 12 arranged with character codes in a band-like area in the periphery of a timepiece dial; the LED display 21 surrounded by the letter code designation area; a hand shaft 14 penetrated through the center of the LED display; and long and short hands 13 supported by the hand shaft to be driven, and the analog time piece includes an LED display control unit 22 for controlling display in the LED display; and a movement 15 for driving the long and short hands 13, on a reverse face of the timepiece dial. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an analog timepiece with an LED display device, and preferably to an analog timepiece with a full color LED display device.

  In general, analog watches are rich in design variations and are superior to digital watches in terms of interior and aesthetics. Therefore, it is often installed in a public place not only for the purpose of telling the time but also for the purpose of decoration. For example, it is often installed in places where many people usually gather, such as hospitals, schools, public facilities, and famous buildings.

  On the other hand, in places where many people gather such as public facilities, it is very convenient for people to provide not only time but also various information (news, weather forecast, traffic information, etc.).

  Patent Document 1 discloses a display device that can display an analog timepiece and displays various information, video, and the like in a region other than the display region of the analog timepiece.

Patent Document 2 discloses a display device that can display an analog timepiece, and displays various information, images, and the like on a portion other than the long and short hands display portion in an area for displaying the long and short hands of the analog timepiece. ing.
JP 2001-281362 A JP 2002-257993 A

  However, the analog timepiece in the display device combining the conventional analog timepiece function and the information providing function described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is not an old-fashioned timepiece having actual long and short hands, but an image by the display function of the display device. It was an analog clock that displayed long and short hands. Therefore, a display control system for simultaneously displaying an analog clock and other information has become complicated. In addition, analog watches that are displayed on the same plane as other information displays are limited in design as watches, and thus impair the overall interior.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an analog timepiece that presents time and other information at the same time, can cope with a variety of design variations, and has excellent interior characteristics. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an LED timepiece that has recently been attracting attention as an element for displaying information and messages such as information on arrival and departure times of transportation, vehicle display, public facilities, etc., and particularly an analog clock equipped with a full color LED display device. Objective.

(1) An analog timepiece with an LED display device according to claim 1 is:
A character note area in which character marks are arranged in a band-like area along the periphery of the clock face,
An LED display device surrounded by the character mark region;
A needle shaft penetrating the center of the LED display device;
A long and short needle supported and driven by the needle shaft,
An LED display control unit for controlling display in the LED display device and a movement for driving the long and short hands are provided on the back surface of the timepiece dial.

(2) The analog timepiece with LED display device according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, the LED display device is a full-color LED display device.

(3) The analog timepiece with LED display device according to claim 3 is controlled by display control data transmitted from the remote control device by the LED display control unit according to claim 1 or 2.

(4) The analog timepiece with an LED display device according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in claim 3, the transmission of the display control data is wireless transmission or wired transmission.

(5) An analog timepiece with an LED display device according to a fifth aspect is characterized in that in any one of the first to fourth aspects, an audio controller and a speaker for reproducing sound are provided.

(6) An analog timepiece with an LED display device according to a fifth aspect is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the outline of the timepiece dial is round or square.

  In the analog timepiece with LED display device of the present invention, since the LED display device is actually provided in the central area of the analog timepiece having long and short hands, not only the time is transmitted but also various images and information are displayed on the LED display device. Information transmission or appreciation. In addition, the overall shape is an analog watch with actual long and short hands, so the design variations are wide and the interior is excellent. In addition, aesthetics can be further enhanced by optimally selecting an image or the like to be displayed on the LED display device. Since the image displayed on the LED display device can be arbitrarily changed, the design variation can be further expanded. Further, the LED display device does not need to perform a clock display and can be used exclusively for presenting information other than the clock, so that the display control system is not complicated.

  In particular, the full-color LED display device is excellent in terms of aesthetics and display clarity. A wide variety of information can be provided by changing the display contents according to the display control data transmitted from the remote control device. For example, it can cope with news, weather forecast, and disaster information that fluctuate in real time. It is also possible to distribute moving images such as TV and movies. Furthermore, by playing back sound with a speaker, it is possible to play back sound or distribute music associated with the video. Wireless transmission does not require extra wiring or installation for installation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1A is a front view of an embodiment of an analog timepiece 1 with an LED display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. The analog timepiece which is the subject of the present invention may be either a wall clock or a table clock. The overall size is not limited. It can also be installed indoors or outdoors.

  In the front view of FIG. 1 (A), the entire front face of the clock face appears. In the illustrated example, the clock face has a circular outline. A band-like area along the periphery of the clock face is a character mark area 11 where character marks 12 are arranged. The character marks are numbers pasted on the clock face, but not all “1” to “12” are marked with numbers, and some of them are symbols or omitted. Sometimes. The width of the character mark area 11 is arbitrary and is basically a constant width from the periphery, but the width may be varied depending on the design. In order to make it easy to see even at night or in a dark place, either the character mark itself or the character mark area that is the background thereof or both of them may be constituted by a light emitting element such as an LED. This is provided separately from the LED display device 21 in the central area described later.

  In the central area surrounded by the character mark area 11, an LED display device 21 is provided and its front surface appears. The LED display device 21 is a panel type device (dot matrix panel) in which a predetermined number of LED elements are arranged in a matrix in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a commercially available one generally has a square outline, but in the illustrated example, the outline is an outline. Is circular. In order to reduce the manufacturing cost and driving cost of the circular LED dot matrix panel, the character mark region 11 having a suitable donut shape is overlaid on a general square LED dot matrix panel (for example, a square). An apparent circular LED dot matrix panel may be used.

  The LED display device 21 is preferably a full color LED display device. A full-color LED display device is realized by a dot matrix panel in which respective elements having emission colors of red, green, and blue are incorporated. Various characters, numbers, figures, and the like can be displayed as still images and moving images by controlling the lighting and extinction of each LED element corresponding to one dot (pixel) of the dot matrix panel and the luminance. In the illustrated example, a still image 31 representing a landscape is shown. In another embodiment, only one color may be displayed. Alternatively, multicolor display such as two colors or three colors may be used.

  A hole for penetrating the needle shaft 14 is formed in the center of the LED display device 21, and no LED element is provided at the position of this hole. This can be produced by removing the LED element at the center of the LED dot matrix panel and drilling a through hole in the substrate.

  The needle shaft 14 supports the long and short needles 13 and drives them. In the illustrated example, only the long hand and the short hand are provided, but a second hand may be arbitrarily provided. These are the same parts as a conventional analog timepiece.

  1B, the LED display device 21 may be fitted into a recess provided on the front surface of the watch face main body, which is a disc having an appropriate thickness. Various methods of installing the LED display device 21 on the main body are conceivable depending on the design. Further, an LED display control unit 22 that controls display on the LED display device 21 and a movement 15 that drives the long and short hands 13 are provided on the back of the clock face. The LED display control unit 22 is connected to the LED display device 21 by an appropriate connection wiring 21a. The movement 15 is an analog timepiece drive mechanism, and is the same as that of a conventional analog timepiece.

  Optionally, when performing audio reproduction, speakers 23a and 23b and an audio controller 24 may be provided on the back of the clock face, for example. The audio controller 24 converts the audio control data and sends it to the speakers 23a and 23b for reproduction.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of another embodiment of the analog timepiece 1 with an LED display device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the clock face has a square outline. Since the LED display device 21 is also square, a commercially available LED dot matrix panel can be used as it is. Other examples of the contour shape of the clock face include hexagons, octagons, ellipses, irregular shapes, and the like. In the analog timepiece 1 with the LED display device of the present invention, the region on the peripheral side from the character mark region 12 is a conventional analog timepiece, so that a free design is possible regardless of the LED display device 21 provided in the central region. It is.

  On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 2, in addition to the still image 31, character information 32 is also displayed on the LED display device 21. It is also possible to display a moving image that only scrolls text information.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a control system of the analog timepiece 1 with an LED display device according to the present invention. The full color LED display device 21 performs display under the control of the LED display control unit 22. The LED display control unit 22 includes an LED driver 22a that directly drives each LED element that is a pixel of the LED display device 21, and an LED display controller 22b that sends display control data to the LED driver 22a using a logic IC or the like. For example, it is formed as an electronic circuit board. There are various driving methods for the configuration of the LED driver 22a. The display data memory 22c stores display control data corresponding to information content to be displayed (for example, a still image of a landscape).

  The LED display controller 22b takes out the display control data stored in the display data memory 22c, converts it appropriately, and outputs it to the LED driver 22a. A power supply unit (not shown) for the full-color LED display device 21 and the LED display control unit 22 is also provided and connected to an external power source. The analog timepiece units 11 to 15 may be powered by a general battery or may be supplied with an external power source.

  The LED display control unit 22 can be implemented by a logic circuit constituted by, for example, a logic IC including a PIC (peripheral interface controller). The PIC preferably used is a logic IC having a built-in program memory that stores a predetermined program, an arithmetic processing unit that executes the program, and a memory that stores data. When performing relatively simple image display, if the image data is stored in the memory, it is not necessary to receive display control data from the outside via the external communication line 41 as shown in the figure. Can do.

  In the illustrated example, the LED display controller 22 b is connected to the external communication line 41 via the communication interface 25. The external communication line may be wireless or wired, but wireless transmission that does not require wiring is suitable. Wireless transmission includes satellite broadcast reception. In the case of wired communication, connection with various communication networks using a public telephone line network is also included.

  In one embodiment, the audio controller 24 reads and converts audio control data stored in an audio data memory (not shown), and reproduces the audio through the speakers 23a and 23b. In another embodiment, audio control data may be received from the outside via the communication interface 25 and reproduced by a speaker.

  The external communication line 41 is connected to the remote control device 40. The remote control device 40 is, for example, a computer having an appropriate communication device, and software for controlling the LED display controller 22b is introduced. Optionally, software for controlling the voice controller 24 may be introduced. With these control software, the display control data and the voice control data can be transmitted to the LED display controller 22b and the voice-on / roller 24 of the analog timepiece 1 with the LED display device via the external communication line 41. By using the remote control device 40, various displays can be performed on the LED display device 21. For example, there are various displays such as TV images, movies, traffic information, disaster information, weather forecasts, news, music, and the like by video, text, voice, and combinations thereof.

(A) is the front view of one Example of the analog timepiece 1 with an LED display device by this invention, (B) is XX sectional schematic of (A). It is a front view of another Example of the analog timepiece 1 with an LED display device by this invention. It is the block diagram which showed schematically the control system of the analog timepiece 1 with an LED display apparatus by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Analog clock with a full color LED display 11 Character code area 12 Character code 13 Long and short hands 14 Needle shaft 15 Movement 21 Full color LED display device 21a Connection wiring 22 LED display control unit 22a LED driver 22b LED display controller 22c Display data memory 23a, 23b Speaker 24 Voice controller 25 Communication interface 31 Still image 32 Character information 40 Remote control device 41 External communication line

Claims (6)

A character note area in which character marks are arranged in a band-like area along the periphery of the clock face,
An LED display device surrounded by the character mark region;
A needle shaft penetrating the center of the LED display device;
A long and short needle supported and driven by the needle shaft,
An analog timepiece with an LED display device, wherein an LED display control unit for controlling display in the LED display device and a movement for driving the long and short hands are provided on the back surface of the timepiece dial. The analog timepiece with LED display device according to claim 1, wherein the LED display device is a full-color LED display device.   3. The analog timepiece with LED display device according to claim 1, wherein the LED display control unit is controlled by display control data transmitted from a remote control device.   4. The analog timepiece with LED display according to claim 3, wherein the display control data is transmitted by wireless transmission or wired transmission.   The analog timepiece with LED display device according to claim 1, further comprising a sound controller for reproducing sound and a speaker.   6. The analog timepiece with LED display according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a contour of the timepiece dial is circular, square or elliptical.

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