JP2010261905A - Analogue timepiece, mobile information device, and method for controlling driving of pointer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an analogue timepiece for completely synchronizing a time of the analogue timepiece to a time of a digital timepiece in a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: This analogue timepiece performs driving of a pointer in synchronization with the digital timepiece. The analogue timepiece includes a time information input means for inputting time information indicated by the pointer, a pointer positioning means for matching a display time of the digital timepiece with the time indicated by the analogue timepiece on the basis of the time information input via the time information input means, a current time setting means for matching the display time of the digital timepiece with a current time, a difference calculation means for obtaining a difference between the current time and the time indicated by the analogue timepiece by computing, and a time synchronization means that outputs a difference second drive signal for driving a motor to a drive signal generation means so as to make the time indicated by the pointer to the current time according to the difference. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric analog timepiece (a timepiece operated by a motor or the like with a hand type mechanical timepiece), a portable information device including the electric type analog timepiece, and a hand movement control method.

  Conventionally, the time display of the mobile phone terminal is generally digitally displayed on the display unit so that the time is displayed numerically. Recently, there is a mobile phone terminal that can select the design of the time display and several variations are available, but there is also a need to prefer the analog expression of the original pointer-type clock, the mobile phone terminal There are also proposals to incorporate analog display clocks.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, an analog display clock module is incorporated in the back of a display unit of a foldable mobile phone terminal in which an operation unit and a display unit overlap, and the time of the analog display clock can be viewed with the mobile phone terminal closed. There is known a portable information device which can be used. Similarly, Patent Document 2 discloses a portable device in which an analog display clock module is incorporated in the back of a display unit of a foldable portable device, and time information displayed on the digital display unit of the portable device is synchronized with time information of the analog display clock module. Proposed.

JP 2004-205378 A JP 2004-200918 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-179058 JP 59-079885 A

  By the way, the communication system of a mobile phone includes a base station and a mobile station (mobile phone terminal), and the base station and the mobile station are connected by a wireless line. The radio line mainly consists of a control channel for controlling and a call channel for making a call. Since the control channel includes time information, the mobile station obtains accurate time information every time the control channel is received. can do. This accurate time information can be obtained, the time of the mobile phone terminal can be corrected, and digitally displayed.

  However, in order to display this accurate time information on the analog display clock module, it is necessary to control the hand position of the analog display clock module and synchronize it with the time display of the mobile phone terminal. Conventionally, there are two types of methods for controlling the hand position of an analog display timepiece. One method is a needle position automatic correction method. This method detects a needle position using an optical sensor or an electrical contact. For example, in Patent Document 3, a detection hole is provided in a gear for moving a pointer, and the detection hole is a light emission of the optical sensor. The position of the pointer is detected by being positioned on a line connecting the light receiving parts.

  However, in this method, since the optical sensor is provided in the direction in which the gear is sandwiched, that is, in the thickness direction of the watch body, the light sensor cannot be reduced in size and the assembly is performed in consideration of the relationship between the specific position of the gear and the position of the pointer. Thus, there are problems that the assembly workability is deteriorated and that the power consumption is increased to drive the optical sensor.

  The other method includes a mode setting switch and a pointer correction switch. The mode setting switch switches between a normal clock mode and a hand position alignment mode, and the needle position adjustment mode is used to switch the pointer to a specific position (for example, 12). The actual pointer position is adjusted by clearing the pointer position counting means to zero. For example, in Patent Document 4, the following method is used for synchronizing the digital display unit and the pointer display. When the pointer correction mode is selected, the digital display unit is controlled to display the reference value at 12:00, and the pointer display is also fast-forwarded to a position corresponding to 12:00, so that the pointer position memory circuit sets the reference position. Stop.

  After the battery replacement, the digital display unit and the pointer position memory circuit unit are not synchronized, so the pointer is corrected to the reference position 12:00 indicated by the digital display unit in the pointer correction mode. At this time, the pointer is controlled to be driven at a frequency faster than the driving frequency in the normal time mode. For example, in the normal time mode, it is driven every 1 Hz, but in the pointer correction mode, it is driven at a high speed of 64 Hz. A very basic analog display timepiece has a second hand driven by one motor, and a minute hand and hour hand driven in conjunction with the second hand. In this case, it takes about one minute to advance the hour hand by one hour. If the current pointer position is 1:00:00, driving the pointer to the 12 o'clock position requires approximately 11 minutes to move the second, minute, and hour hands by 11 hours. There is a problem that it takes time to match.

  To solve this problem, it is conceivable to increase the drive frequency. However, if the rotation of the motor that drives the second hand becomes faster, position control may become impossible due to the step-out phenomenon of the stepping motor. Generally, the upper limit of rotation is determined. Further, as a solution other than the driving frequency, if a stepping motor is prepared for each of the second hand, the minute hand, and the hour hand, and the time required for correction is shortened, or if not only forward rotation but also reverse rotation driving is prepared, It is possible to shorten the correction time by returning the hour hand by the amount of time. However, increasing the number of motors has problems that the analog display timepiece module cannot be made small and thin and that the motor drive control circuit is complicated in order to prepare reverse drive.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an analog timepiece, a portable information device, and a hand movement control method capable of completely synchronizing the time of an analog timepiece with the time of a digital timepiece with a simple configuration. For the purpose.

  The present invention relates to a motor for moving the pointer, a train wheel connected to the motor and connected to the pointer, and applying a driving pulse to the motor to drive the motor to move the pointer. A time signal input means for inputting time information indicated by the hands, and input by the time information input means. Based on the time information, the pointer positioning means for matching the display time of the digital clock with the time indicated by the analog clock, the current time setting means for matching the display time of the digital clock to the current time, and the current time And a difference calculating means for calculating a difference between the time indicated by the analog timepiece and the generation of the drive signal according to the difference And a time synchronizing means for outputting a differential second drive signal for driving the motor to the drive signal generating means so that the time pointed to by the hands is the current time for the stage. And

  The present invention includes the analog timepiece according to claim 1.

  The present invention comprises communication means for establishing a communication line with a base station, wherein the current time setting means sets the current time using the current time notified from the base station. .

  The present invention relates to a motor for moving the pointer, a train wheel connected to the motor and connected to the pointer, and applying a driving pulse to the motor to drive the motor to move the pointer. A time signal input step for inputting time information indicated by the hands, and a time information input step. A pointer positioning step for matching the display time of the digital clock with the time pointed to by the analog clock based on the time information input by the current time setting step for matching the display time of the digital clock with the current time; The difference calculation step for calculating the difference between the current time and the time indicated by the analog timepiece. In response to the difference, a difference second drive signal for driving the motor is sent to the drive signal generating means so that the time indicated by the pointer is the current time. And a time synchronization step for outputting.

  According to the present invention, when the position of the hand of the analog timepiece is adjusted in a device equipped with the analog timepiece and the digital timepiece, the position of the hand of the analog timepiece The time displayed on the analog clock is set to the current time by correcting the time of the analog clock when the digital clock is set to the current time and then the time displayed on the analog clock is set to the current time. There is an effect that the display times of the analog clock and the digital clock can be completely synchronized.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the position alignment operation | movement of a pointer.

  Hereinafter, an analog timepiece and a portable information device including the analog timepiece according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment. In this figure, reference numeral A denotes an analog pointer display unit having an electric analog timepiece (a timepiece that is operated by a motor or the like with a hand type mechanical timepiece). Reference numeral B denotes a portable information device such as a mobile phone terminal device, and the analog pointer display part A is embedded in a part of the outside of the housing, so that the user can check the current time. Yes.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes an electric analog timepiece, which includes a second hand, a minute hand and an hour hand. Reference numeral 2 denotes a stepping motor that generates a driving force to move the hands of the analog timepiece 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a second wheel train (gear assembly) connected to the rotation shaft of the motor 2 and transmits the rotation of the rotation shaft of the motor 2 to the second hand. Reference numeral 4 denotes a minute wheel train that transmits the rotation of the second wheel train 3 to the minute hand. Reference numeral 5 denotes an hour wheel train portion that transmits the rotation of the minute train wheel portion 4 to the hour hand. Reference numeral 6 denotes a drive signal generator that generates a drive signal for rotating the motor 2. Reference numeral 7 denotes a transmission circuit that includes a crystal oscillator and outputs a pulse signal having a fundamental frequency for outputting a signal at the timing of hand movement. Reference numeral 8 denotes a frequency dividing circuit that divides the pulse signal of the fundamental frequency output from the oscillation circuit 7 and converts it into a hand movement timing signal every second and outputs it. The drive signal generator 6 generates a drive signal for rotating the motor 2 based on the hand movement timing signal output from the frequency divider circuit 8.

  Reference numeral 9 denotes a control unit that performs overall control of processing operations of the portable information device B. Reference numeral 10 denotes an antenna that transmits and receives radio signals to and from the base station. Reference numeral 11 denotes a transmission / reception unit that demodulates a signal received by the antenna 10 and outputs the demodulated signal to the control unit 9, modulates a signal output from the control unit 9, and transmits the modulated signal via the antenna 10. Reference numeral 12 denotes a transmission / reception unit that performs a call with the mobile information device of the communication partner by receiving or transmitting a signal in the transmission / reception unit 11. Reference numeral 13 denotes a storage unit that stores information. Reference numeral 14 denotes an input unit composed of dial keys and the like. Reference numeral 15 denotes a digital display control unit that executes processing for digitally displaying time. Reference numeral 16 denotes a digital display driving unit that generates and outputs display information based on time information output from the digital display control unit 15. Reference numeral 17 denotes a digital display unit that digitally displays the time based on display information output from the digital display driving unit 16, and includes a liquid crystal display device or the like.

  Next, the basic operation of the analog timepiece 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the drive signal generator 6 inputs a hand movement timing signal output every 1 second from the frequency divider circuit 8, and at the timing when this hand movement timing signal is input, the drive signal generator 6 puts a 1 second minute second hand on the motor 2. A hand movement driving pulse signal for moving the hand is output. The motor 2 to which this hand movement drive pulse signal has been input rotates the rotating shaft for one second. The rotation of the rotation shaft is transmitted to the second wheel train portion 3, and the second hand moves by one second. Further, the rotation of the second wheel train portion 3 is transmitted to the minute wheel train portion 4 so that the minute hand moves for 1 second (1/60 minutes). Further, the rotation of the minute wheel train portion 4 is transmitted to the hour wheel train portion 5 so that the hour hand moves for one second. By such an operation, the second hand, the minute hand, and the hour hand of the analog timepiece 1 keep the time.

  Next, a processing operation for synchronizing the time displayed on the analog timepiece 1 shown in FIG. 1 with the time displayed on the digital display unit 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when the system is reset at the time of manufacture, battery replacement, or the like (step S1), the clock counting processing operation is restarted (step S2). At this time, since the hand position of the analog timepiece 1 and the time information displayed on the digital display unit 17 do not match, it is necessary to align the hands. When reset, the pointer time counter becomes “00:00:00”, and “00:00:00” is also displayed on the digital display unit 17. (See FIG. 3 (1)).

  Next, the user operates the input unit 14 to select the needle alignment mode. The control unit 9 determines whether or not an operation for selecting the needle alignment mode has been performed (step S3). When the needle alignment mode is selected, the control unit 9 notifies the drive signal generation unit 6 of the needle movement drive pulse signal. To stop the output of. In response to this, the drive signal generator 6 stops the output of the hand movement drive pulse signal (step S4). Thereby, the hand movement of the analog timepiece 1 is stopped. At this time, the analog timepiece 1 is assumed to indicate “5:15:40”.

  Next, the user visually reads and reads the time displayed on the analog timepiece 1 (here, 5:15:40), and inputs time information of the read time from the input unit 14. There are two methods for inputting time information. One is a method of making corrections using the up / down and left / right keys of the input unit 14. The correction digit is changed from the hour digit → minute digit → second digit with the left / right keys, and the numerical value is increased / decreased with the up / down keys. The second is a correction method using the left and right keys and the numeric keypad. The correction digit is changed from the hour digit to the minute digit to the second digit with the left and right keys, and a numerical value is directly input using the numeric keypad. The user performs an input operation of time information for correcting the displayed digital display by using one of these two methods (step S5).

  In response to this, the control unit 9 sets a count value so that the internal pointer time counter matches the input time information (step S6), and outputs the input time information to the digital display control unit 15. To do. The digital display control unit 15 generates digital display information based on the time information output from the control unit 9 and outputs the digital display information to the digital display driving unit 16. In response to this, the digital display driving unit 16 performs digital display of time on the digital display unit 17 based on the digital display information output from the digital display control unit 15 (see FIG. 3B). Here, “05:14:40” is displayed on the digital display unit 17. Thereby, the display time of the digital display unit 17 and the alignment of the hands of the analog timepiece 1 are completed (see step S7, FIG. 3 (3)).

  Next, the control unit 9 determines whether or not an operation for selecting the hand alignment mode has been performed (step S3). If the hand alignment mode has not been selected, the operation of the time correction mode is performed from the input unit 14. (Step S8), and if the time adjustment mode is not operated, every time the pointer time counter in the control unit 9 advances for one second in order to perform a normal time display operation. The control unit 9 outputs time information to be displayed to the digital display control unit 15. As a result, the time displayed on the digital display unit 17 is updated every second (step S9). Further, the controller 9 outputs a hand movement timing signal to the drive signal generator 6 every time the pointer time counter advances by 1 second to the drive signal generator 6 (step S10). The drive signal generator 6 generates a hand drive pulse signal in accordance with the hand movement timing signal output from the control unit 9 instead of the hand movement timing signal output from the frequency dividing circuit 8 after the hand positioning is completed. To output. As a result, the motor 2 is driven (step S11), and the hands of the analog timepiece 1 are driven to move the hands (step S12; see FIG. 3 (4)).

  However, at this time, the time pointed to by the analog timepiece 1 and the time displayed on the digital display unit 17 are merely synchronized, and the current time is not necessarily matched. Therefore, the user needs to perform an operation for adjusting to the current time. The control unit 9 determines whether or not the operation of the time correction mode is performed from the input unit 14 (step S8), and when the operation of the time correction mode is performed, the driving signal generation unit 6 is driven to move the needle. Instructs to stop the output of the pulse signal. In response to this, the drive signal generator 6 stops outputting the hand movement drive pulse signal (step S13). Then, the user performs an operation of correcting the current time displayed on the digital display unit 17 to, for example, 12:15, using the up / down key, the left / right key, or the numeric keypad, in the same manner as the needle positioning operation (step) S14).

  Next, the control part 9 calculates | requires the difference of the time information corrected by the user, and the value of a pointer time counter by a calculation (step S15). Then, the value of the pointer time counter is updated based on the time information corrected by the user (step S16). Subsequently, the control unit 9 determines the difference seconds so that the time of the hands of the analog timepiece 1 is displayed on the digital display unit 17 based on the difference between the corrected time information and the value of the hand time counter. The drive signal is output to the drive signal generator 6. Receiving this, the drive signal generation unit 6 generates a hand movement drive pulse of the number of seconds based on the difference, and outputs it to the motor 2 (step S17). As a result, the motor 2 is driven by the number of inputted hand movement driving pulses, and the pointer is made coincident with the time corrected by the user (see step S18, FIGS. 3 (5) and (6)).

  Next, the control unit 9 returns to the normal operation from the time adjustment mode and outputs time information to be displayed to the digital display control unit 15. As a result, the time displayed on the digital display unit 17 is updated every second (step S9). Further, the controller 9 outputs a hand movement timing signal to the drive signal generator 6 every time the pointer time counter advances by 1 second to the drive signal generator 6 (step S10). The drive signal generator 6 generates and outputs a hand drive pulse signal in accordance with the hand movement timing signal output from the controller 9. As a result, the motor 2 is driven (step S11), and the hands of the analog timepiece 1 are driven to move the hands (step S12; see FIG. 3 (4)).

  In this way, first, the analog clock is adjusted so that the current time of the digital display corrected by the user is obtained after the hands are aligned by adjusting the digital display to the time indicated by the hands of the analog clock 1. Since the hand of 1 is automatically moved, the time indicated by the analog timepiece 1 and the time displayed on the digital display unit 17 can be completely matched.

  In the above description, the operation for correcting the current time by the operation of the user has been described. However, even when the mobile information device B is corrected using accurate time information obtained from the base station, The drive signal to the analog timepiece 1 is stopped, the difference between the current time at that time, which is the current hand position information, and the time information obtained from the base station is calculated, and the pointer of the analog timepiece 1 is calculated based on this difference. You only have to move the hands.

  Note that a counter for counting the number of hand movement drive pulses output from the drive signal generator 6 is provided and stored in the nonvolatile memory, and instead of the user inputting the pointer position (step S5), The hand position of the analog timepiece 1 may be obtained based on the number of hand movement driving pulses, and hand position alignment may be performed assuming that the hand position is input. In this case, it is possible to store the pointer position in the analog timepiece 1 by using a counter that can count 43200 seconds (12 hours) of hand movement driving pulses. In addition, the position of the hand of the analog timepiece 1 and the digital display can be reliably matched.

  As described above, when positioning the hand of an analog clock in a portable information device equipped with the analog clock and the digital clock, the digital clock is aligned with the time indicated by the hand of the analog clock. The time displayed on the analog clock is set to the current time by adjusting the pointer of the analog clock when the digital clock is synchronized with the current time, and then the time displayed on the analog clock is the current time. It is possible to completely synchronize the display time of the analog clock and the digital clock.

  A time synchronization process is performed by recording a program for realizing the function of the control unit 9 in FIG. 1 on a computer-readable recording medium, causing the computer system to read and execute the program recorded on the recording medium. May be performed. The “computer system” here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The present invention can be applied to an electric analog timepiece that moves a pointer of a mechanical timepiece by driving a motor with a driving pulse for hand movement.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Analog timepiece, 2 ... Motor, 3 ... Time wheel train part, 4 ... Dividing wheel train part, 5 ... Second wheel train part, 6 ... Drive signal generation part, 7 ... Oscillator circuit, 8 ... Divider circuit, 9 ... Control unit, 10 ... Antenna, 11 ... Transmitter / receiver unit, 12 ... Transmitter / receiver unit, 13 ... Storage unit, 14 ... Input unit, 15 ... Digital display control unit, 16 ... Digital display drive unit, 17 ... Digital display unit, A ... Analog pointer display unit, B ... Portable device unit

Claims (4)

A motor to move the pointer,
A train wheel connected to the motor and connected with a pointer;
An analog timepiece that performs hand movement in synchronization with a digital timepiece by providing a hand movement driving pulse to the motor to drive the motor to move the pointer.
Time information input means for inputting the time information indicated by the hands;
Pointer positioning means for matching the display time of the digital clock with the time indicated by the analog clock based on the time information input by the time information input means;
Current time setting means for adjusting the display time of the digital clock to the current time;
A difference calculating means for calculating a difference between the current time and the time indicated by the analog timepiece;
In response to the difference, a differential second drive signal for driving the motor is output to the drive signal generating means so that the time indicated by the pointer is the current time. An analog timepiece comprising time synchronization means.   A portable information device comprising the analog timepiece according to claim 1. A communication means for establishing a communication line with a base station;
The portable information device according to claim 2, wherein the current time setting means sets the current time using the current time notified from the base station. A motor for moving the pointer, a train connected to the motor and connected to the pointer, and a driving signal generation for driving the pointer by driving the motor by giving a driving pulse to the motor Means for controlling movement in an analog timepiece that moves in synchronization with a digital timepiece,
A time information input step for inputting the time information indicated by the pointer;
Based on the time information input by the time information input step, a pointer positioning step for matching the display time of the digital timepiece with the time indicated by the analog timepiece;
A current time setting step for adjusting the display time of the digital clock to the current time;
A difference calculating step for calculating a difference between the current time and the time indicated by the analog timepiece;
In response to the difference, a differential second drive signal for driving the motor is output to the drive signal generating means so that the time indicated by the pointer is the current time. And a time synchronization step.

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