JP2014038007A - Electronic watch with solar cell and manufacturing method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic watch with a solar cell that can be easily manufactured at low costs and has a dial plate unit of a desired color.SOLUTION: An electronic watch with a solar cell comprises: a solar cell 4 having a base material 41 and a light receiving section 42 formed on the base material 41; and a dial plate unit 5 having a dial plate 16 that is disposed at a light receiving section 42 side of the solar cell 4 and has light transmissivity. The dial plate 16 has a coloring layer 162. A color of the coloring layer 162 is set to a color for causing the dial plate unit 5 to be a desired color by being combined with a color of the light receiving section 42.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece with a solar cell and a method for manufacturing the same.

In an electronic timepiece with a solar cell, a dial plate is arranged on the surface side of the light receiving portion of the solar cell, and the solar cell generates power by receiving light through the dial plate. Therefore, the dial plate is required to have high translucency, and transparent glass or plastic has been used.
When the light receiving portion is usually dark purple and a dial with high translucency is arranged, the light receiving portion appears on the appearance of the dial of the electronic timepiece with solar cell, and the color of the dial is limited.

  Therefore, as described in Patent Document 1, a technique for changing the color of a solar cell (photocell) to a desired color is known. The technology described in Patent Document 1 uses a reflection interference filter by appropriately selecting the film thickness of two specific constituent layers of a solar cell, and manufactures a solar cell of a desired color, which is attached to the solar cell. When used in an electronic timepiece, the dial has a desired color appearance.

JP 2001-217444 A

  However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, the solar cell must be manufactured by strictly calculating the film thickness for each desired color based on the refractive index of the material constituting the constituent layer of the solar cell. Take it. Moreover, it is necessary to prepare a solar cell in which the film thickness of the constituent layer is changed for each color, which increases the cost.

  Therefore, the present invention is to provide an electronic timepiece with a solar cell and a method for manufacturing the same that can manufacture a dial unit of a desired color easily and inexpensively.

  An electronic timepiece with a solar cell of the present invention includes a solar cell having a base material and a light receiving part formed on the base material, and a translucent dial arranged on the light receiving part side of the solar cell. A dial unit is provided, and the dial has a colored layer, and the color of the colored layer is combined with the color of the light receiving unit to make the dial unit a desired color. It is characterized by being.

According to the present invention, part of the light incident on the dial is reflected by the colored layer of the dial. The remaining light passes through the dial plate having the colored layer and reaches the light receiving portion of the solar cell. Therefore, the solar cell receives the light and generates power. Further, part of the light reaching the light receiving part of the solar cell is reflected by the light receiving part and passes through the dial having the colored layer.
Therefore, the light reflected by the colored layer of the dial and the light reflected by the light receiving part and transmitted through the dial having the colored layer reach the eyes of the user who visually recognizes the dial. The light looks like a mixed color. In short, the dial unit shows a color determined by the reflected light from the colored layer and the reflected light from the light receiving unit, that is, a color determined by a combination of the color of the colored layer and the color of the light receiving unit. Therefore, according to this invention, a dial unit can be made into a desired color only by adjusting the color of a colored layer. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an electronic timepiece with a solar cell having a dial unit of a desired color simply and inexpensively.

In the solar cell electronic timepiece of the invention, it is preferable that the dial having the colored layer has a transmittance of 40% or more and 60% or less.
According to this invention, the dial transmits incident light with a transmittance of 40% or more and 60% or less. Therefore, as described above, the light receiving portion of the solar cell receives light that can be generated sufficiently by the solar cell. The dial can transmit the reflected light from the light receiving part of the solar cell. Therefore, the dial unit shows a color determined by reflected light from the colored layer and reflected light from the light receiving unit, that is, a color determined by the color of the colored layer and the color of the light receiving unit.
Here, the transmittance in the present invention means that a dial plate is arranged on the light receiving unit side with respect to the generated current value I ₀ in a state where the dial plate is not arranged on the light receiving unit side of the solar cell. Is a value ( _ID / I ₀ × 100 (%)) expressed as a percentage of the generated current value _ID . For this reason, what is necessary is just to adjust the transmittance | permeability with the film thickness dimension of the said colored layer, for example.

  On the other hand, the manufacturing method of the electronic timepiece with solar cell of the present invention includes a solar cell having a base material and a light receiving portion formed on the base material, and translucent characters arranged on the light receiving portion side of the solar cell. A solar cell-equipped electronic timepiece having a dial unit having a plate, and in combination with the color of the light receiving unit, a color for making the dial unit a desired color is determined, A colored layer of the determined color is provided on the dial.

  According to this invention, by combining with the color of the light receiving portion, the color of the colored layer that makes the dial unit a desired color is determined, and the dial unit can be obtained by simply providing the colored layer on the dial. Can be color. Therefore, an electronic timepiece with a solar cell having a dial unit of a desired color can be manufactured easily and inexpensively.

In the manufacturing method of the solar cell electronic timepiece of the invention, it is preferable that the dial having the colored layer has a transmittance of 40% or more and 60% or less.
According to this invention, the light receiving part of the solar cell can receive light that can be generated sufficiently by the solar cell, and the dial transmits the reflected light from the light receiving part of the solar cell. Therefore, a solar cell electronic timepiece is manufactured in which the dial unit shows a color determined by the reflected light from the colored layer and the reflected light from the light receiving unit, that is, the color determined by the color of the colored layer and the color of the light receiving unit. it can.

The front view which shows the electronic timepiece with a solar cell which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The disassembled perspective view which shows the principal part of the said embodiment. The expanded sectional view of the principal part of the embodiment. The figure which shows the external appearance of the dial plate and dial unit which concern on Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 1 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 2 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 3 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 4 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 5 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 6 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 7 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 8 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 9 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part based on Example 10 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part which concerns on Example 11 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part based on Example 12 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part based on Example 13 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part based on Example 14 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part based on Example 15 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit. The figure which shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part based on Example 16 of this invention, a dial plate, and a dial plate unit.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Schematic configuration of electronic watch with solar battery]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electronic timepiece 1 with a solar cell according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the solar timepiece-equipped electronic timepiece 1 includes a timepiece main body 10, an outer case 100 that houses the timepiece main body 10, and a band 101 that is connected to the outer case 100. It is a pointer type wristwatch (analog timepiece) provided with a time display unit 12 for displaying. The time display unit 12 includes an hour hand 13, a minute hand 14, a second hand 15, and a dial plate 16.

[Configuration of the watch body]
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the solar cell electronic timepiece 1 of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the watch body 10 includes a movement 2 and a dial unit 5. The dial unit 5 includes a dial receiving ring member 3, a solar cell 4, and a translucent dial 16 disposed on the front side of the solar cell 4. Since the movement 2 employs a general configuration in which a ground plane, a circuit board, a stepping motor, a driving wheel train and the like are incorporated, description thereof is omitted. Moreover, since the exterior case 100 is also a general structure, description is abbreviate | omitted.
Furthermore, the movement 2 of the present embodiment includes a date dial 21 and a date dial holder 22 that holds the date dial 21 so as not to be disengaged upward.

[Configuration of dial plate ring member]
The dial receiving ring member 3 is formed in an annular shape from a non-translucent material. On the surface side of the dial receiving ring member 3, a solar cell support surface 31 is formed along the inner peripheral surface of the dial receiving ring member 3 and is formed one step lower than the upper surface 30 of the dial receiving ring member 3. Is formed.
In addition, the dial receiving ring member 3 has support hook portions (not shown) formed at two locations facing each other across the plane center. The support hook portion engages with the movement 2, and the dial receiving ring member 3 holds the movement 2.
On the upper surface 30 of the dial receiving ring member 3, a dial fixing portion 32 and a solar cell positioning portion 33 are provided.

[Configuration of solar cell]
As shown in FIG. 2, the solar cell 4 includes a base material 41 having a substantially circular shape in plan view, and a light receiving unit 42 formed on the surface side of the base material 41.
The base material 41 is made of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin film and has an engagement groove 43 that engages with the solar cell positioning portion 33.

The light receiving portion 42 can be formed by any method, and can be formed by plasma CVD or the like, for example, like a thin film silicon solar cell. The light receiving unit 42 is divided into three regions. That is, three fan-shaped light receiving portions 42 are formed on the surface of the solar cell 4. In the present embodiment, the power generation voltage is improved by connecting the outputs of the three light receiving units 42 in series.
The solar cell 4 generates power when light such as sunlight that has passed through the dial 16 strikes the light receiving unit 42, and the power generated by the light receiving unit 42 is charged to the secondary battery provided in the movement 2. Then, the movement 2 is driven by the output of the secondary battery.

[Configuration of dial plate]
The dial plate 16 includes a translucent plate 161 and a colored layer 162 laminated on the translucent plate 161. The colored layer 162 is laminated on the surface side of the dial 16. That is, the colored layer 162 is laminated on the surface of the translucent plate 161 opposite to the surface facing the solar cell 4.
The translucent plate 161 is a translucent material, and is formed in a size that covers the entire light receiving unit 42 of the solar cell 4 as shown in FIG. 2. The translucent plate 161 only needs to be large enough to cover at least the entire light receiving unit 42 and is appropriately set according to the size of the watch body 10.
Examples of the light-transmitting material constituting the light-transmitting plate 161 include transparent plastic and glass. Examples of the transparent plastic include acrylic resin, thiourethane resin, methacrylic resin, allyl resin, episulfide resin, and polycarbonate resin.

The colored layer 162 is provided by applying ink of an arbitrary color to the translucent plate 161. The thickness of the colored layer 162 is not less than 50 nm and not more than 800 nm. If the thickness of the colored layer 162 is greater than 800 nm, the incident light may not be sufficiently transmitted, and the light receiving unit 42 of the solar cell 4 may not be able to receive light sufficiently. If the thickness of the colored layer 162 is less than 50 nm, the colored layer 162 is not sufficiently colored. When the dial 16 is overlapped with the solar cell 4 to form the dial unit 5, the dial unit 5 There is a possibility that the color is determined by the color of the light receiving unit 42 regardless of the color. Examples of the ink application method include vacuum deposition, ion plating, and sputtering. In the present embodiment, the translucent plate 161 is made of a transparent plastic, so that the color of the dial plate 16 is the same as the color of the colored layer 162.
The dial plate 16 provided with the colored layer 162 is set so that the light transmittance is 40% or more and 60% or less by adjusting the thickness dimension of the colored layer 162. Therefore, the light receiving unit 42 can receive light sufficient for power generation via the dial 16, and the dial 16 transmits reflected light from the light receiving unit 42. Thereby, the dial unit 5 shows a new color determined by the reflected light from the colored layer 162 and the reflected light from the light receiving unit 42. If the transmittance is less than 40%, the light receiving unit 42 may not receive sufficient light, and the solar cell 4 may not generate enough power. Further, if the transmittance is greater than 60%, the transmittance of the reflected light from the light receiving portion 42 is increased, and the color of the light receiving portion 42 is more intense than the color of the colored layer 162 when the dial unit 5 is formed. Therefore, there is a possibility that the color of the dial unit 5 cannot be a desired color.

  The dial plate 16 includes four engaging portions 163 formed on the outer peripheral edge. The dial 16 is supported by the dial receiving ring member 3 by being placed on the upper surface 30 of the dial receiving ring member 3. The engaging portion 163 is fitted to the dial plate fixing portion 32. Thereby, the dial 16 is positioned and fixed in the circumferential direction with respect to the dial receiving ring member 3.

[Color of dial unit]
Next, the color of the dial unit 5 (the color of the appearance viewed from the dial 16 side) will be described with reference to FIG. In the dial unit 5, a part of the incident light A is reflected by the colored layer 162 to generate reflected light A <b> 1, and the rest is transmitted through the colored layer 162 and the light transmitting plate 161 as transmitted light A <b> 2. To reach. A part of the transmitted light A2 reaching the light receiving unit 42 is reflected by the light receiving unit 42 to generate reflected light B1, and the remaining transmitted light A2 is absorbed by the light receiving unit 42. The reflected light B1 generated by the light receiving part 42 is transmitted through the light transmitting plate 161 and the colored layer 162 to become reflected light B1 ′. Thus, in the dial unit 5, the reflected light A1 and the reflected light B1 ′ are visible. Accordingly, the color of the dial unit 5 is determined by the additive color mixture of the reflected light A1 from the colored layer 162 and the reflected light B1 ′ from the light receiving unit 42.

[Method for manufacturing electronic timepiece with solar battery]
The manufacturing method of the solar cell electronic timepiece 1 according to the present embodiment determines the color of the colored layer 162 for making the dial unit 5 a desired color by matching the color of the light receiving unit 42, and this determination is made. A step of laminating a colored layer 162 on the translucent plate 161 and providing it on the dial 16.

As described above, the color of the dial unit 5 is determined by the additive color mixture of the reflected light A1 from the colored layer 162 and the reflected light B1 ′ from the light receiving unit. In the solar cell equipped electronic timepiece 1, the same light receiving unit 42 is used regardless of the desired color of the dial unit 5. Therefore, in the manufacturing method of the solar cell electronic timepiece 1, the color of the dial unit 5 is set to a desired color by adjusting the reflected light A1 from the colored layer 162, that is, by adjusting the color of the colored layer 162. can do. Specifically, the desired color of the dial unit 5 is represented by a reflection spectrum, and the reflection spectrum of the reflected light A1 from the colored layer 162 and the reflected light B1 ′ from the light receiving unit 42 is simulated according to the principle of additive color mixing. By The color showing the obtained reflection spectrum is determined as the color of the colored layer 162.
Then, by applying the determined color ink to the translucent plate 161 and laminating the colored layer 162, the dial unit 5 showing a desired color can be obtained. In addition, the colored layer 162 is laminated | stacked by the thickness dimension from which the transmittance | permeability of the dial 16 which has the colored layer 162 becomes 40% or more and 60% or less.

[Assembly of the watch body]
Next, a method for assembling the watch body 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the movement 2 is held by the dial receiving ring member 3. At this time, the dial receiving ring member 3 is fitted from above the movement 2, and a support hook portion (not shown) of the dial receiving ring member 3 is supported by being hooked on the movement 2.
Next, the dial unit 5 is assembled. First, the solar cell 4 is engaged with the dial plate ring member 3 and held. The solar cell 4 is positioned with respect to the circumferential direction of the dial receiving ring member 3 by engaging the engaging groove 43 with the solar cell positioning portion 33. Further, the solar cell 4 is placed on the solar cell support surface 31 so as to be positioned with respect to the thickness direction of the timepiece.

Next, the dial 16 is held on the dial receiving ring member 3 from the surface side of the solar cell 4. That is, the engaging portion 163 is fitted to the dial fixing portion 32 of the dial receiving ring member 3. As a result, the dial 16 is placed on the upper surface 30 of the dial receiving ring member 3 and positioned in the thickness direction. Further, the dial 16 is positioned with respect to the circumferential direction of the dial receiving ring member 3 by engaging the engaging portion 163 with the dial fixing portion 32.
As described above, the timepiece body 10 including the dial unit 5 is assembled.

The solar cell electronic timepiece 1 according to the above-described embodiment has the following effects.
(1) The dial unit 5 that combines the dial 16 and the solar cell 4 has a color determined by the reflected light from the colored layer 162 and the reflected light from the light receiving unit 42, that is, the color of the colored layer 162 and the light receiving unit. The color determined by 42 colors is shown. Therefore, the dial unit 5 can be made a desired color simply by adjusting the color of the colored layer 162, and the solar cell electronic timepiece 1 having the desired color dial unit 5 can be manufactured easily and inexpensively. .
Further, in the conventional electronic timepiece with solar battery, the dial 16 is made the same color as the light receiving portion 42 or darker than the light receiving portion 42 in order to make the light receiving portion 42 inconspicuous. There were restrictions on color variations. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the dial unit 5 of any various colors, and the design of the electronic timepiece with solar cell 1 can be varied.

(2) Further, in the conventional electronic timepiece with solar cell, the dial 16 has the same color as the color of the light receiving part 42 or a darker color than the light receiving part 42. The transmittance of was about 20 to 30%. If the transmittance of incident light decreases, the power generation efficiency of the solar cell decreases.
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the transmittance of the dial 16 is 40% or more, the solar cell 4 can sufficiently generate power and can maintain power generation efficiency.
Furthermore, since the transmittance of the dial plate 16 is set to 60% or less, the light receiving portion 42 of the solar cell 4 is not conspicuous, and the balance between the color of the colored layer 162 and the color of the light receiving portion 42 can be appropriately achieved. Thus, the color of the dial unit 5 can be easily set to a desired color.

(3) Moreover, in this embodiment, since the colored layer 162 was 50 nm or more and 800 nm or less, the light-receiving part 42 of the solar cell 4 can receive light that the solar cell 4 can generate enough power, and the solar cell. The power generation efficiency of the attached electronic timepiece 1 can be maintained.
Since only the colored layer 162 of 800 nm or less is provided, the parts constituting the dial unit 5 are the same as the conventional one, and the shape of the dial 16 does not change greatly. There is no need to change the design.

[Modification of Embodiment]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention.
In the embodiment, the colored layer 162 is provided on the surface of the dial plate 16, that is, the surface opposite to the surface facing the solar cell 4, but the colored layer 162 is provided on the back surface of the dial plate 16, that is, the surface facing the solar cell 4. 162 may be provided, or the colored layer 162 may be provided on both the front surface and the back surface of the dial 16.
In the embodiment, the transmittance of the dial 16 is set to 40% or more and 60% or less. However, depending on the setting of the color of the dial unit 5 and the color of the light receiving unit 42, the transmittance is within the above range. It does not have to be.
Although the wristwatch type timepiece has been described as an example of the electronic timepiece 1 with a solar cell according to the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this and may be another type of timepiece such as a wall clock.

Examples of the present invention will be described below. The present invention is not limited to the examples described below.
Examples 1-16
(1) Configuration of Dial 16 A predetermined ink is applied to a transparent transparent plate 161 made of polycarbonate resin by vacuum deposition, and the solar cell 4 is applied to the dial 16 and the dial 16 provided with a 50 nm colored layer 162. A dial plate unit 5 having a plurality of layers was prepared for each example.
As an example, the external appearance of the dial 16 and the dial unit 5 of Example 1 is shown in FIG.

(2) Measurement of reflection spectrum In each example, the reflection spectrum of the light receiving portion 42 of the solar cell 4, the reflection spectrum of the dial plate 16, and the reflection when the dial plate 16 is superimposed on the light receiving portion 42 to form the dial unit 5. Each spectrum was measured. The measurement was performed using a spectrophotometer (U-4100, manufactured by Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation).
The measurement results of the dial 16 and the dial unit 5 created in Examples 1 to 16 are shown in FIGS. 5-20, a dotted line shows the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part 42 of the solar cell 4, a dashed-dotted line shows the reflection spectrum of the dial plate 16, and a continuous line shows the spectrum of the dial unit 5. FIG. In addition, in Examples 1-16, the solar cell 4 uses the same thing, and the reflection spectrum of the light-receiving part 42 of the solar cell 4 is the same in each figure.

(3) Measurement of transmittance When the dial 16 is not disposed on the light receiving portion 42 side, the current value I ₀ generated in the solar cell 4 and when the dial 16 is overlapped with the light receiving portion 42 to form the dial unit 5 The current value _ID generated in the solar cell 4 was measured to determine the transmittance.
As a result, it was found that in all the electronic timepieces with solar cells of Examples 1 to 16, the transmittance was 40% or more and 60% or less.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 20, in any of the embodiments, the reflection spectrum of the dial unit 5 is greatly different from the reflection spectrum of the light receiving unit 42 and the reflection spectrum of the dial 16. It can be seen that the color different from that of the portion 42 and the dial 16 is shown. In Example 1 shown in FIG. 4, the dial unit 5 in which the solar cells 4 are stacked on the blue dial 16 indicates green. Also in the other Examples 2 to 16, the dial unit 5 of various colors can be provided by setting the color of the colored layer 162 of the dial 16.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic timepiece with solar cell, 4 ... Solar cell, 5 ... Dial plate unit, 16 ... Dial plate, 41 ... Base material, 42 ... Light-receiving part, 161 ... Translucent plate, 162 ... Colored layer.

Claims (4)

A solar cell having a substrate and a light-receiving portion formed on the substrate;
Comprising a dial unit having a translucent dial arranged on the light receiving part side of the solar cell,
The dial has a colored layer,
The color of the colored layer is a color for making the dial unit a desired color by being combined with the color of the light receiving part. An electronic timepiece with a solar cell. It is an electronic timepiece with a solar cell according to claim 1,
An electronic timepiece with a solar cell, wherein the dial having the colored layer has a transmittance of 40% to 60%. A solar cell having a substrate and a light-receiving portion formed on the substrate;
A translucent dial disposed on the light receiving portion side of the solar cell, and a manufacturing method of an electronic timepiece with a solar cell comprising a dial unit having:
By combining with the color of the light receiving portion, the color for making the dial unit a desired color is determined,
A manufacturing method of an electronic timepiece with a solar cell, wherein the colored layer of the determined color is provided on the dial. It is a manufacturing method of the electronic timepiece with a solar cell according to claim 3,
The dial having the colored layer has a transmittance set to 40% or more and 60% or less. A method for manufacturing an electronic timepiece with a solar cell.