JP2007232569A - Radio-controlled timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radio-controlled timepiece which displays both a standard time and a corrected time which is, for example, put forward by a few minutes. <P>SOLUTION: The radio-controlled timepiece comprises a receiving means for receiving the standard time and frequency signal including time information, a time measuring means for measuring a time on the basis of a reference signal from a reference signal source, a time display means for displaying the time, and an external operation member allowing to change the time display means through predetermined input operations. The radio-controlled timepiece corrects the time on the basis of the time information received by the receiving means. When a deviation in time is a predetermined value or less, the standard time is displayed. When the deviation in time exceeds the predetermined value, the corrected time is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece having a function of comparing and correcting with a standard time, and more particularly to an electronic timepiece capable of selecting an output time using standard time information acquired by a standard radio wave or the like.

Conventionally, a so-called radio timepiece having a function of correcting time using standard time information acquired by receiving a standard radio wave is known. This radio timepiece receives a standard radio wave (operated by the National Institute of Communications Research) that carries standard time information (time code) at a time that can be set arbitrarily, and measures time based on the clock signal generated in the clock. A method is generally adopted in which the corrected time is corrected with the correct time obtained from the standard radio wave.
Clocks to which such a correction method is applied include analog quartz with a pointer display, a clock with a digital display, etc., and are usually called electronic clocks, and are formed by an oscillator and a frequency divider as basic components. A time counter for generating a clock time by counting a 1 Hz clock signal (second signal) and a display unit for displaying the generated clock time are provided. The time correction using the standard radio wave for such an electronic timepiece is a method generally used so far by performing a correction operation of forcibly adjusting the time display of the timepiece to the standard time.

An example of an electronic timepiece that corrects the time by using the received standard radio wave can be shown in Patent Document 1 below. Patent Document 1 discloses that time correction is performed corresponding to each of a digital display system and an analog system that displays time by driving a pointer. In the case of a digital display system, the received standard time is read into a time counter that counts with an input clock of 1 second intervals (the time counter value is replaced with the standard time, and the correct time is set). Thereafter, the replaced time counter value is displayed on a liquid crystal display device or the like, thereby displaying the correct time. On the other hand, in the case of an analog system that displays the time by driving the hands, the time displayed by the hands is compared with the received standard time (in order to make this comparison, the hands are displayed corresponding to the received standard time. (It is described that a means for representing the time to be displayed by a digital value is required), and the motor for driving the pointer is fast-forwarded so as to eliminate the deviation from the standard time, thereby displaying the correct time.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-21857

    However, when the time display of the clock is advanced by 5 minutes, the time is forcibly set to the standard time, and the display cannot always be advanced by 5 minutes.

  The present invention relates to a conventional timepiece for correcting the display time forcibly using the received standard time information as disclosed in Patent Document 1, and correcting the time such that the standard time display is advanced by several minutes. An object of the present invention is to provide a radio-controlled timepiece that can perform both the display and the display.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a receiving means for receiving a standard radio wave including time information, a time measuring means for measuring time based on a reference signal from a reference signal source, and a time display means for displaying the time. And an external operation member that allows the time display means to be changed by a predetermined input operation, and corrects the time based on the time information received by the receiving means. When the value is within the set value, the standard time is displayed, and when the time deviates from the set value, the comparison means for displaying the correction time is provided.

  According to the present invention, since a plurality of times to be displayed on the clock can be selected, the standard time can be displayed, or can be used for other purposes such as displaying the time advanced by 5 minutes from the standard time.

Clock generation for time display is configured by means of a commonly used oscillation circuit and a frequency divider circuit that receives the oscillation output, and a clock having a period equivalent to, for example, 1 second required for timing is used. Generate.
The standard time signal is accurate time information acquired from the outside, and this signal can be acquired by receiving time information transmitted by, for example, standard radio waves, GPS radio waves, atomic clocks, etc. Need. The receiving means itself can be implemented by applying known elements. The watch body is provided with a switch button so that the corrected time can be switched such that the time display is arbitrarily advanced or delayed from the standard time.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An embodiment of a circuit used in the radio timepiece of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit of a radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention.
It should be noted that illustration of a manual time correction circuit or the like that is not related to the present invention is omitted.
In the figure, a circuit group surrounded by a thin line is a timing circuit 100, which creates time information maintained by a clock. The contents are an oscillation circuit 101 that is a crystal oscillator, a frequency dividing circuit 102 that reduces the output signal to a second signal with a period of 1 second, a second counter 103 that counts the second signal and outputs a minute signal, and a time signal from the minute signal. A minute counter 104 to be created, a hour counter 105 for creating a date signal from the time signal, and a day counter 106 for counting the date signal for one month.

  The time information held by the time measuring circuit 100 may not be an accurate time, but when the correct time information included in the standard radio wave received by the receiving circuit 107 is reproduced in the time signal generating circuit 108, the second , Minute, hour, day information is sent to each counter (103 to 106) in the timing circuit 100, and the count contents of each counter are forcibly changed and corrected so as to coincide with the correct time. By causing this operation to be performed periodically (when the hour counter 105 reaches a predetermined count value in the drawing, that is, at a fixed time every day) or at any time, the time measuring circuit 100 maintains time information that is hardly different from the correct time. It will be.

  The second minute wheel train 113 is a mechanism in which the second hand and the minute hand are connected by a gear train, and the output shaft of the motor A 112 that performs the step operation is directly connected thereto. The second position control circuit 110 has a built-in pointer counter having a count value corresponding to the position of the pointer. (The initial states of the two are set separately.) When the motor A is driven in either the forward or reverse direction, the count value of the pointer counter increases or decreases by the same number of steps. Accordingly, the indication of the pointer and the count value of the pointer counter always change in parallel. If there is a difference between the count value given by another and the count value of the pointer counter, the position control circuit 110 immediately sends the drive pulse for forward or reverse rotation until the difference is eliminated and the two coincide with each other. The drive pulse generation circuit 111 is instructed to cause the positions of the second hand and the minute hand to follow the given count value.

  The hour / day wheel train 118 is also a mechanism in which the hour hand and the date plate are coupled by a train wheel, and the motor B 117 is directly coupled thereto. The positions (angles) of the hour hand and date plate correspond to the count value of the pointer counter built in the date / time position control circuit 115, and the date / time position control circuit 115 until the count value matches the count value given by others. The drive pulse generating circuit B116 is commanded to generate a drive pulse, and the positions of the hour hand and date plate are immediately followed by the given count value.

  In the normal time display state, since the count contents of the second counter 103 and the minute counter 104 are always given to the second minute position control circuit 110, the count value of the pointer counter is added to this as time advances by the above-described operation. As the time advances, the second hand follows and the time continues to be displayed. Since the date and time position control circuit 115 is provided with the count contents supplied from the hour counter 105 and the day counter 106, the hour hand and the date plate similarly advance in accordance with the correct date and time.

A switch 119 is a push button switch provided in the timepiece main body, and performs display mode switching (switching between standard time display and correction time display). The comparison circuit 114 selects and displays the standard time display or the correction time display according to the operation of the switch 119. Means for displaying which display is currently selected may be provided in the watch.
When the correction time display is selected, the counter value is changed and corrected by being sent to each counter of the timer circuit so that the time set by the standard time is advanced or delayed. To do.

  When the correct time information included in the standard radio wave received by the receiving circuit 107 is sent to the time signal generating circuit 108, the time signal generating circuit 108 compares the correct time information with the time information of the time measuring circuit 100, and the time difference is detected. Is within the set value, the standard time is sent to each counter of the timekeeping circuit, and when the time is off the set value, the value set in the correction display is corrected and the time information is sent to each counter of the timekeeping circuit. Since the change and correction are made, the standard time or the correction time can be continuously displayed.

In this embodiment, the same time adjustment as that of the first embodiment can be performed without providing the switch 119 provided in the first embodiment.
In manual time adjustment, the time can be changed by pulling out the crown provided in the watch body several times, and the time can be changed by rotating the pointer by rotating the crown.
Further, when the crown is pushed in, the time cannot be changed manually, and the time is corrected only when the standard radio wave is received.

For example, when the 5-minute hand is manually advanced, a regular standard radio wave is received, the standard time received by the comparison circuit 114 is compared with the time displayed on the clock, and the correct time information is obtained. If the difference between the second hand and the second hand is equal to or greater than 1 minute, the minute hand holds the minute in the range of plus or minus 30 seconds, and processes so that only the second hand matches the correct time information for display, and the second counter 103 Only rewrite. If the standard radio wave can be received every day, the error of the clock using the crystal unit is within 8 seconds per day, so it does not accumulate or delay, and it is set by being advanced manually. Set time or delayed time can be maintained.
Here, the case where the time is advanced by 5 minutes has been described, but if the time is longer than 1 minute, the time manually corrected can be maintained and displayed.

When there is no manual time correction, the standard radio wave is received, the difference with the correct time information is compared, and if the difference is less than 1 minute, the correct time is corrected and displayed. Therefore, it is possible to display an accurate time as a normal radio timepiece.
In this way, when the time is manually adjusted, the corrected time difference can always be held and displayed without the switch 119, and the switch 119 can be omitted.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the electronic timepiece concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 clock circuit 107 reception circuit 108 time signal generation circuit 114 comparison circuit

Claims (1)

Receiving means for receiving a standard radio wave including time information; time measuring means for measuring time based on a reference signal from a reference signal source; time display means for displaying the time; and the time display means by a predetermined input operation A radio-controlled timepiece that corrects the time based on the time information received by the receiving means.
A radio-controlled timepiece comprising a comparing means for displaying a standard time when the time difference is within a set value and displaying a corrected time when the time is deviated from the set value.

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