JP2014077800A - Electronic watch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic watch which rarely cuts off power supply to a short-range wireless module against a user's use intention of short range wireless communication, and can surely cuts off the power supply when it is not necessary.SOLUTION: An electronic watch comprises: display means for displaying information such as time information by performing short range wireless communication with an external apparatus; communication means for performing the short range wireless communication with the external apparatus via an antenna; inclination detection means for detecting inclining motion of a watch body (S1 to S5); acceleration detection means for detecting accelerating motion of the watch body (S7); and power disconnection means for cutting off power supply to the communication means when the communication means is in a power-supplied state and if the inclination detection means and the acceleration detection means do not detect motion of the watch body (S10).

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece that performs short-range wireless communication with an external device.

Along with the progress of low power consumption in short-range wireless communication technology such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth), etc., in principle, a continuous communication connection is made between the electronic watch and a mobile phone such as a smartphone as an external device. Usage methods for performing communication are becoming possible. Examples of communication include sending time information of the smartphone to the electronic watch, informing the electronic watch of incoming calls and emails, and operating the electronic watch while it is ringing to stop the ringtone and vibration of the smartphone Is considered.

  In the case of an electronic watch that is always connected to a mobile phone such as a smartphone using short-range wireless communication technology, it has a built-in button primary battery and has a battery life of several years that is comparable to that of a normal watch. It has been demanded. When connecting to a smartphone or the like, for example, constantly using Bluetooth, the operating current of the Bluetooth module that controls transmission and reception greatly affects the battery life. Therefore, in order to extend the battery life while ensuring practical constant connectivity for the user, it is necessary to frequently turn on / off the power supply of the Bluetooth module to reduce the accumulated energization time of the Bluetooth module as much as possible. .

  Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic pedometer having an acceleration / inclination sensor configured to count the number of steps by an acceleration sensor when the inclination sensor determines that the pedometer is inclined. A pedometer is disclosed.

JP 2007-178303 PR

However, the activity status of the user when wearing the watch has various actions other than the action of walking and running. Therefore, if a function that turns off the Bluetooth module is activated without being able to detect adequately the motion that is almost stationary, such as during a meeting, arms in a train, or driving on a highway, etc. The following issues exist.
That is, the usage mode of the conventional electronic timepiece is mainly the use of an intermittent clock function in which the user views the time of the clock when necessary. Therefore, if necessary, the time display may be turned off and the time display may be restored due to the user performing an operation such as waving his arm. However, in the case of always-on connection orientation, if the Bluetooth module is turned off, even if the user notices, for example, turns on the Bluetooth module power by shaking his arm, there is no incoming information from the smartphone until then. However, there is a problem that the watch cannot receive calls and cannot receive incoming information. Therefore, in order to always connect with a smartphone and Bluetooth in principle, a more precise motion detection and power saving technology is required.

  An object of the present invention is to use a short-distance wireless module power source that consumes relatively large power when performing short-distance wireless communication such as Bluetooth with a mobile phone such as a smartphone as an external device. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic timepiece that is less likely to cut unintentionally and can be cut more reliably when it is not necessary.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention
In electronic watches that perform near field communication with external devices,
Display means for displaying information such as time information;
Communication means for performing near field communication with the external device via an antenna;
Tilt detecting means for detecting the tilting movement of the electronic timepiece body;
Acceleration detecting means for detecting an accelerating movement of the electronic timepiece body;
A power-off means for turning off the power of the communication means when no movement of the electronic timepiece body is detected by the inclination detection means and the acceleration detection means,
It is an electronic timepiece characterized by comprising.

  According to the present invention, an electronic timepiece that can more efficiently perform power-off of a short-distance wireless module that consumes relatively large power when performing short-distance wireless communication such as Bluetooth with a mobile phone such as a smartphone as an external device. Can be provided.

It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the electronic timepiece 40 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the smart phone 10 linked with the electronic timepiece 40 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows a mode that the electronic timepiece which concerns on embodiment of this invention is wirelessly linked with the smart phone. It is a figure which shows a mode that the user has mounted | worn the electronic timepiece 40 to the arm. It is a figure for demonstrating the inclination sensor 60 and the acceleration sensor 62 which are incorporated in the electronic timepiece 40 concerning this embodiment shown in the state with which the user's arm was mounted | worn. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of "power saving process". 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of “power saving cancellation processing” when the electronic timepiece 40 is in a power save mode.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an electronic timepiece 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the smartphone 10 linked as an external device with the electronic timepiece 40 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic timepiece 40 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41 that performs overall control of the device, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42 that stores a control program executed by the CPU 41 and control data. , A RAM (Random Access Memory) 43 that provides a working memory area to the CPU 41, and a plurality of switches that can be operated from the outside, can be operated from outside, a mode switching switch, and set time data from the outside. A switch unit 44 having a switch, a clock circuit 45 as time counting means for counting current time data, and an LCD (liquid crystal display) provided on the front part of the main body of the electronic timepiece 40 as display means for displaying time and various functions. Display unit) 46, a liquid crystal driver 47 for driving the LCD 46, and blue as a communication means for performing short-distance wireless communication via the antenna AN411. A user module 48 (short-range wireless module), a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) 49 that performs data processing such as serial / parallel conversion on data transmitted and received via the Bluetooth module 48, and notifies the user by vibration The vibration motor 50 and its driver 51, a light emitting diode (LED) 52 for notifying the user by flashing light emission or illuminating the dial and its driver 53, and a piezo element 54 for notifying the user by a buzzer sound and its A driver 55, an inclination sensor 60 for detecting the inclination of the electronic timepiece and its detection circuit 61, an acceleration sensor 62 for detecting acceleration applied to the electronic timepiece 40, and its detection circuit 63, and a power supply part 64 for supplying an operating voltage to each part And a battery 64a housed in the power supply unit 64. , And a bus 58 or the like for exchanging signals between the CPU41 and Part.

  In the present embodiment, a part called a Bluetooth module may be called a Bluetooth RF chip, a Bluetooth transmission / reception unit, or the like. In general, when calling a module, it is often a concept that collectively includes an application or OS to be controlled. When calling a chip, the application or OS that controls the chip is located elsewhere. Often refers to cases. In the present embodiment, the term “Bluetooth module” is used as a term for specifying a portion that consumes a large amount of power and is a function that controls transmission and reception in Bluetooth. In that sense, the terms Bluetooth RF chip, Bluetooth transmission / reception unit, and wireless reception unit are also synonymous with “Bluetooth module”.

  In the ROM 42 of the electronic timepiece 40, as a control program, a basic clock mode process for displaying time according to the timekeeping data of the timekeeping circuit 45 or performing an alarm operation at a set time, and changing the operation mode according to the input of the switch unit 44 Each program of operation input processing for performing various settings and pairing processing when a pairing operation is performed by the user and cooperation processing for performing various cooperation operations with the smartphone 10 is stored.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the smartphone 10 includes a CPU 11 that performs overall control of the device, a ROM 12 that stores a control program and control data executed by the CPU 11, and a RAM 13 that provides the CPU 11 with a working memory space; Input / output is performed with an operation unit 14 having a plurality of operation keys, an LCD (liquid crystal display unit) 15 for displaying various functions and its display driver 16, a speaker 17 and a microphone 18 for voice input / output during a call. A codec 19 that performs mutual conversion between audio signals and digital data, an RF transmission / reception circuit 20 that transmits / receives radio signals to / from a base station via an antenna AN111, and digital data of speech data that is input / output from the codec 19 And a communication circuit 21 that performs modulation and demodulation processing of various transmission / reception data and an antenna AN112. A Bluetooth module 22 that performs distance wireless communication, a UART 23 that performs data processing such as serial / parallel conversion on data transmitted and received via the Bluetooth module 22, a vibration motor 24 that notifies an incoming call by vibration, and a driver 25 thereof, A built-in clock 27 for counting the current time and a bus 28 for exchanging signals between the CPU 11 and each unit are provided.

  Next, the operation of the electronic timepiece 40 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the electronic timepiece 40 according to the embodiment of the present invention is wirelessly linked to the smartphone 10. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the user wears the electronic timepiece 40 on the arm. FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the inclination sensor 60 and the acceleration sensor 62 built in the electronic timepiece 40 according to the present embodiment shown in a state of being worn on the user's arm.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic timepiece 40 has a Bluetooth short-range wireless communication function and can perform data communication with the smartphone 10. The Bluetooth module 48 of the electronic timepiece performs data communication by performing communication connection with the Bluetooth module 22 of the smartphone 10. The Bluetooth module 48 includes an analog circuit such as an RF chip (RF circuit) for transmitting and receiving wireless communication, and consumes a relatively large amount of power due to the operating current of this portion. The Bluetooth module 48 performs communication setting processing called pairing in advance, so that each other's device information and authentication key data are exchanged with a communication partner by a wireless signal, and thereafter, without performing this communication setting processing every time. The communication is automatically or semi-automatically connected to or disconnected from the communication partner. For example, the communication connection is released when the electronic watch 40 and the smartphone 10 are separated from the range where the radio wave does not reach, and the communication connection is automatically established when the radio wave 40 and the smartphone 10 are close to the range where the radio wave reaches, or the communication connection is semi-automatically established by a connection operation. Or As described above, when the smartphone 10 exists at a short distance, the electronic watch 40 is always linked.

  The user can turn on / off the Bluetooth function by operating the switch of the electronic timepiece 40. When the Bluetooth function is turned off by the switch operation, the Bluetooth module power is not turned off even if the connection is lost. The clock display does not disappear.

  The electronic timepiece 40 has a power saving function. The power saving function is to turn off the power of the Bluetooth module 48 of the electronic timepiece 40 and turn off the display of the timepiece when the conditions described in detail below are satisfied with the setting of the power saving function turned on. Even if the clock display disappears, functions such as clocking still work. When the power of the Bluetooth module 48 is turned off, only a slight leakage current is consumed. On the other hand, when the power saving function is set to OFF, the electronic timepiece 40 is not in the power saving state, and the power of the Bluetooth module 48 is not cut off for 24 hours.

  Next, operations of the tilt sensor 60 and the acceleration sensor 62 built in the electronic timepiece 40 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the user wears the electronic timepiece 40 on the arm 1 and the smartphone 10 (not shown) is housed in the user's bag, for example. The user wearing the electronic timepiece 40 performs various operations. When trying to see the display of the electronic timepiece 40 or operating the switch unit 44, the user is almost armed as shown in FIG. In many cases, a rotational motion is performed around the axis of. This rotational movement is an operation in the 6 o'clock to 12 o'clock direction in the clock display. Hereinafter, the 6 o'clock to 12 o'clock direction on the display surface of the electronic timepiece 40 is referred to as a 6H direction. Further, the 6H direction of the display surface of the electronic timepiece 40 is referred to as a vertical axis direction, and the direction of an axis orthogonal thereto is referred to as a horizontal axis direction.

  In consideration of such circumstances, in the present embodiment, for example, an inclination sensor 60 that detects a tilting motion in the 6H direction is built in the main body of the electronic timepiece 40 as shown in FIG. For example, the tilt sensor 60 detects a tilt only in one axis direction (vertical axis direction) of the 6H direction.

  However, the tilt sensor 60 alone does not detect subtle movements for motions that are almost stationary, such as during a meeting, arm crossing in a train, or driving on a highway, and the power saving function works. End up. Therefore, the acceleration sensor 62 is used in combination as shown in FIG. The detection direction of the acceleration sensor 62 is perpendicular to the glass (display surface) of the electronic timepiece 40, which is the Z-axis direction perpendicular to the inclination detection direction of the inclination sensor 60, as shown in FIGS. (Z-axis direction). The acceleration sensor 62 uses, for example, a uniaxial type since the power consumption of the biaxial detection type is approximately double that of the uniaxial detection type.

  Furthermore, since the power consumption of the battery 64a increases when the acceleration sensor 62 is simply operated for a long time, the acceleration sensor 62 turns off the power supply from the battery 64a except when detecting acceleration.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the “power saving process”. Hereinafter, the “power saving process” operation by the electronic timepiece 40 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6.

  When the “power saving process” is started, the CPU 41 first sets the counter variable i of the sleep counter to i = 0 (step S1). Next, the CPU 41 checks whether or not it is a 10-minute carry. That is, it is determined whether or not every hour is 0 minute, 10 minutes, 20 minutes,... 50 minutes (step S2). If the current time is not carry for 10 minutes, the process branches to “NO”, and the process of step S2 is repeated. If the current carry time is 10 minutes, the process branches to "YES" and proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the output of the tilt sensor 60 is turned on. If it is determined that the output of the tilt sensor 60 is not detected, the CPU 41 branches to “NO” and increments the counter variable of the sleep counter by 1 (i = 1) (step S4). Next, the process proceeds to step S5. If it is determined in step S3 that the output of the tilt sensor has been turned ON, the CPU 41 branches to “YES”, and returns to step S1 at the beginning of the “power saving process”.

  In step S5, the CPU 41 checks whether or not the counter variable of the sleep counter is i = 6. If i = 6 is not satisfied, the process branches to “NO” and returns to Step S2. If the counter variable of the sleep counter is i = 6, the process branches to “YES” and proceeds to step S6. Here, when the sleep counter is i = 6, it means that the tilt sensor is not detected to be turned on continuously six times in the measurement every 10 minutes. Here, the CPU 41, the inclination sensor 60, the detection circuit 61, and steps S1 to S5 are inclination detection means.

  In step S6, the CPU 41 turns on the power of the acceleration sensor 62, and checks whether or not the acceleration sensor 62 detects an acceleration motion (step S7). If no acceleration motion is detected, the process branches to “NO”, the power of the acceleration sensor 62 is turned off (step S9), the power of the Bluetooth module 48 is turned off, and the clock display is turned off (step S10). Then, the power saving process ends. On the other hand, when acceleration is detected in step S7, the power source of the acceleration sensor 62 is turned off (step S8), and the process returns to step S1 at the initial stage of the “power saving process”. Here, the CPU 41, the acceleration sensor 62, the detection circuit 63, and step S7 are acceleration detection means. The CPU 41 and step S10 are power-off means. Moreover, CPU41, step S6, step S8, and step S9 are acceleration sensor power supply control means.

  As described above, the CPU 41 uses the tilt sensor 60 to measure 6 times every 10 minutes, and when the tilting movement of the watch body is not detected continuously 6 times, the acceleration sensor 62 is turned on, and the watch body is turned on. If the acceleration movement of the Bluetooth module 48 is not detected, the Bluetooth module 48 is turned off and the clock display is turned off. By doing in this way, an efficient power saving function is realizable. Here, six measurements every 10 minutes using the tilt sensor 60 are referred to as “detecting the tilt of the watch body within a predetermined period”. Moreover, although it was set as 6 times measurement for every 10 minutes, it is also possible to set it as 12 times measurement for every 10 minutes, and 6 times measurement for every 5 minutes.

  As the power saving function, in step S10, the timing of turning off the power of the Bluetooth module and the timing of turning off the clock display are set at the same time, but it is not necessary to limit them simultaneously. For example, when the inclination sensor 60 does not detect the inclination a predetermined number of times (when it branches to “YES” in step S5), the power-off means turns off the clock display, and then the acceleration sensor does not detect acceleration. In this case, the power-off means may turn off the Bluetooth module in step S10.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of “power saving cancellation processing” when the electronic timepiece 40 is in the power saving mode.

  When the “power saving process” is started, the CPU 41 first confirms that the power of the Bluetooth module 48 is in an off state and that the clock display is in an off state (step S21). Next, the CPU 41 determines whether or not a tilt movement of the timepiece main body by the tilt sensor 60 or a key input by the user (input of the switch unit 44) is detected (step S22). If it is determined in step S22 that neither the movement of the watch body by the tilt sensor 60 nor the key input by the user has been detected, the process branches to “NO” and returns to step S21.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S22 that any of them is detected, the process branches to “YES” in step S22, and the CPU 41 turns on the power of the Bluetooth module 48 and turns on the clock display (step S23). ). Subsequently, the CPU 41 sets a counter variable i of the sleep counter to i = 0 (step S24). And a power saving cancellation | release process is complete | finished.

  As described above, the power saving canceling process is performed by a key input by the user or a tilting movement of the timepiece main body by the tilt sensor 60. For example, when the timepiece is attached from the state where the electronic timepiece 40 is not attached for a predetermined time, the inclination sensor 60 is activated, the power saving is canceled, the power of the Bluetooth module is turned on, and the timepiece display is also turned on. And it will be in the state which can be connected for communication between smart phones.

  As described above, in the electronic timepiece 40 according to the present embodiment, when the Bluetooth module 48 is in the energized state, the inclination detection means (CPU 41, inclination sensor 60, detection circuit 61, steps S1 to S5) and acceleration detection means ( When the movement of the watch body is not detected by the CPU 41, the acceleration sensor 62, the detection circuit 63, and the step S7), the Bluetooth module 48 is powered off, so that the mobile phone such as a smartphone and the short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth Thus, it is possible to provide an electronic timepiece that can more efficiently perform power-off of a Bluetooth module that occupies a large current consumption.

  Further, the acceleration detection means detects the acceleration movement of the watch body by the acceleration detection means when the tilt detection means does not detect the tilt movement of the watch body within a predetermined period. By suppressing the use, the power saving effect of the entire electronic timepiece 40 can be enhanced.

  Further, since the power-off means turns off the display of the display means at the same time as the power-off of the Bluetooth module, the display of the display means can be cut off at the same time, and the power saving effect of the electronic timepiece 40 as a whole can be enhanced. .

  Further, the power-off means can also turn off the display of the display means when the tilt detecting means does not detect the tilting movement of the watch body within a predetermined period, and further the power saving effect of the electronic watch 40 as a whole. Can be increased.

  The acceleration detecting means includes an acceleration sensor 62, and further includes acceleration sensor power control means 41, S6, S8, and S9 for turning off the power of the acceleration sensor when the acceleration sensor is not in a measurement state. Thus, the power saving effect of the entire electronic timepiece 40 can be enhanced.

  Further, the tilt detecting means detects a tilting movement of the timepiece main body in the vertical axis direction of the display surface of the timepiece, and the acceleration detecting means detects an accelerating movement of the timepiece main body in the axial direction perpendicular to the display surface of the timepiece. As a result, the structure of the tilt sensor and the acceleration sensor can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, a Bluetooth module is exemplified as the communication means.
For example, various power-saving short-range wireless communications such as Wibree and ZigBee (registered trademark) can be applied, and a proprietary short-range wireless communication can also be applied.

In the above embodiment, the acceleration sensor is designed to detect the acceleration once when the tilt sensor does not detect the tilt movement of the watch body within a predetermined period. It may be configured to detect a plurality of times every two minutes (a plurality of times at a constant period) and to turn off the power of the Bluetooth module when no acceleration is detected. In the above embodiment, the detection direction of the acceleration sensor 62 is the Z-axis direction that is orthogonal to the inclination detection direction of the inclination sensor 60 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. For example, the Y-axis direction from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock may be used. In addition, a smartphone has been exemplified as an external device for short-distance wireless communication with an electronic watch, but an ordinary mobile phone, PDA (Personal Data Assistant)
) Or the like.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and is included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof. Hereinafter, the invention described in the scope of claims of the present application will be appended.
[Appendix]
<Claim 1>
In electronic watches that perform near field communication with external devices,
Display means for displaying information such as time information;
Communication means for performing near field communication with the external device via an antenna;
Tilt detecting means for detecting the tilting movement of the electronic timepiece body;
Acceleration detecting means for detecting an accelerating movement of the electronic timepiece body;
A power-off means for turning off the power of the communication means when no movement of the electronic timepiece body is detected by the inclination detection means and the acceleration detection means when the communication means is in an energized state;
An electronic timepiece characterized by comprising:
<Claim 2>
The acceleration detecting means includes
The detection of acceleration movement of the electronic timepiece body by the acceleration detection means is executed when the inclination detection means does not detect a tilting movement of the electronic timepiece body within a predetermined period. Electronic clock.
<Claim 3>
The power-off means is
2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the power of the communication means is turned off and the display of the display means is turned off.
<Claim 4>
The power-off means is
2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein when the tilt detection means does not detect the tilting movement of the electronic timepiece main body within a predetermined period, the display of the display means is turned off.
<Claim 5>
The acceleration detecting means includes
The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, further comprising an acceleration sensor power source control unit that includes an acceleration sensor and turns off the power source of the acceleration sensor when the acceleration sensor is not in a measurement state.
<Claim 6>
The tilt detection means detects the tilting movement of the electronic timepiece body in the vertical axis direction of the display surface of the electronic timepiece, and the acceleration detection means detects the electronic timepiece in the axial direction perpendicular to the display surface of the electronic timepiece. 2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein an accelerating movement of the main body is detected.

1 arm 10 smartphone 22 Bluetooth module 27 built-in clock 40 electronic clock 41 CPU (tilt detection means, acceleration detection means, power-off means, acceleration sensor power control means)
42 ROM
43 RAM
44 switch 45 clock circuit 46 LCD (liquid crystal display)
48 Bluetooth module (Short-range wireless module)
60 Tilt sensor (Tilt detection means)
61 Detection circuit (tilt detection means)
62 Acceleration sensor (acceleration detection means)
63 Detection circuit (acceleration detection means)
64 Power supply unit 64a Battery

Claims (6)

In electronic watches that perform near field communication with external devices,
Display means for displaying information such as time information;
Communication means for performing near field communication with the external device via an antenna;
Tilt detecting means for detecting the tilting movement of the electronic timepiece body;
Acceleration detecting means for detecting an accelerating movement of the electronic timepiece body;
A power-off means for turning off the power of the communication means when no movement of the electronic timepiece body is detected by the inclination detection means and the acceleration detection means,
An electronic timepiece characterized by comprising: The acceleration detecting means includes
The detection of acceleration movement of the electronic timepiece body by the acceleration detection means is executed when the inclination detection means does not detect a tilting movement of the electronic timepiece body within a predetermined period. Electronic clock. The power-off means is
3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit is turned off and the display unit is turned off. The power-off means is
The display of the display means is turned off when the tilting movement of the electronic timepiece main body is not detected within a predetermined period by the tilt detection means. Electronic clock. The acceleration detecting means includes
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an acceleration sensor power supply control unit that includes an acceleration sensor and turns off the power supply of the acceleration sensor when the acceleration sensor is not in a measurement state. The electronic timepiece described in the item.   The tilt detection means detects a tilting movement of the electronic timepiece main body in the vertical axis direction of the display surface of the electronic timepiece, and the acceleration detection means detects the electronic timepiece in an axial direction orthogonal to the display surface of the electronic timepiece. 6. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein an accelerating movement of the main body is detected.

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