JP3523989B2 - Clock dial - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dial such as a wristwatch, and more particularly to a dial for a timepiece using a solar cell.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A solar cell using natural light as a light source is widely used as a power source for a timepiece, but the surface of the solar cell has a unique dark purple color, which may cause a problem in terms of decoration. . For this reason, conventionally, the display part such as a dial is colored or patterned to make the dark purple peculiar to the solar cell inconspicuous.

As a technique for making the dark purple of such a solar cell inconspicuous, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-244174.
Have been disclosed in. In this case, a ceramic material is used for a display plate on which hour characters and the like are formed, and convex portions and concave grooves are further formed on the ceramic material to form a pattern. The dark purple of the solar cell can be made inconspicuous by using a white ceramic material, and the decorative effect can be enhanced by forming a convex portion or a concave groove on the surface.

In addition, as another conventional technique, a solar cell in which a colored transparent resin substrate is used as a display plate in place of the ceramic material to soften the dark purple color of the solar cell is often used.

[0005]

However, although it is possible to make the dark purple of the solar cell layer inconspicuous by using the white ceramic material or the colored translucent resin material as described above, the opposite is true. In addition, there is a problem that the light receiving surface of the solar cell layer and the light transmittance are reduced.

Further, the material of the display plate arranged on the upper surface of the solar cell layer is limited to a white ceramic material or a translucent resin substrate having a light transmissive property, and a character rich in decoration is used. There were restrictions in making the board.

Therefore, the present invention prevents the dark purple of the solar cell layer disposed below the transparent substrate from being conspicuous when the transparent substrate is viewed obliquely from above, and at the same time, improves the appearance quality of the three-dimensional pattern layer. It is an object of the present invention to improve and to irradiate a solar cell layer by introducing outside light by utilizing a gap formed by disposing a non-translucent body.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The timepiece dial according to the present invention is a timepiece dial formed by arranging a transparent substrate on the upper surface of the solar cell layer, the transparent Formed on the upper surface of the substrate by a film with a metallic luster
And a pattern layer is formed by a large number of raised non-translucent bodies having a thickness of 50 to 150 μm and a gap provided between adjacent non-translucent bodies. The solar cell layer is illuminated by external light introduced into the transparent substrate, and the solar cell layer is hidden by the non-translucent material when the transparent substrate is viewed obliquely from above.

Further, the raised non-translucent body is formed of at least one of a metal film, a plating film, a printing film and a metal sealing film.

Further, the timepiece dial according to the present invention is characterized in that the surface of the non-translucent body is formed of a film having metallic luster.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a timepiece dial according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1
2 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. The timepiece dial according to this embodiment is composed of a disk-shaped transparent substrate 7 which is arranged above the movement 1 with a solar cell layer 6 in between and in which a hole 4 through which a pointer shaft 3 penetrates is provided in the center. Has been done. The movement 1, the solar cell layer 6 and the transparent substrate 7 are supported and fixed to the support frame 2 of the watch casing.

The transparent substrate 7 is composed of a transparent acrylic substrate or a transparent glass substrate formed in a disk shape having the same shape as the solar cell layer 6, but the transparent substrate 7 is not limited to a colorless and transparent substrate and transmits light. As long as the property can be secured, it may be colored.

In this embodiment, a pattern layer 8 is formed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7. The pattern layer 8 includes a large number of non-translucent bodies 8 a that are raised in a substantially semicircular cross section, and the non-translucent bodies 8 a.
The non-translucent bodies 8 adjacent to each other when a are arranged at predetermined intervals
It is composed of a narrow gap 8b formed between a. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the non-translucent body 8a is concentrically arranged on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 so that the non-translucent body 8a is formed.
And the ring-shaped pattern layer 8 is formed.

First, in the first embodiment, the pattern layer 8 is formed by the plating method.
A metal film is formed concentrically on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 by vapor deposition or sputtering, which is dry plating, and then the metal film is used as a conductive film, and plating that is raised on the upper surface of the metal film by wet plating is performed. Form a film. (Not shown)

The non-translucent body 8a formed of two layers on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 is a raised and three-dimensional ring-shaped pattern layer 8a.
And the surface has a metallic luster.

In the method of forming the pattern layer 8 of the non-translucent body 8a consisting of two layers, a metal film of nickel, chromium or the like is formed on the surface of the transparent substrate 7 which has been washed and degreased by a vapor deposition method. Next, a photoresist is applied to the surface of the metal film, dried, and then a negative film or a positive film is placed on the surface of the photoresist to expose and develop. Next, the exposed portion of the metal film is removed by chemical etching, and then the photoresist is removed with an organic solvent to form a ring-shaped metal film.
Next, using this metal film as a conductive film, wet plating is performed to form a raised plating film of copper, nickel, or the like on the metal film. The degree of protrusion of the plating film can be freely changed by changing the plating time as necessary. In addition, the plating film (pattern layer 8) having a metallic luster on the surface may be formed with a noble metal plating such as gold, rhodium, or platinum on the surface if necessary.

Next, in the second embodiment, the pattern layer 8 is formed by a printing film, and the printing film is formed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 by the screen printing method or the pad printing method.
(Not shown)

The non-translucent body 8a made of a printed film formed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 is raised and becomes a three-dimensional ring-shaped pattern layer 8, and the surface has a gloss of colored resin.

The pattern layer 8 of the non-translucent body 8a is formed by screen-printing on the surface of the transparent substrate 7 which has been washed and degreased, using a screen-printed plate that has been made and an ink having a necessary color tone. To form a printed film. Then 4
The transparent substrate 7 is put into a dryer set to a temperature of 0 ° C. to 80 ° C., and the printed film is dried. When forming a print film by the pad printing method, the raised print film is formed by performing printing a plurality of times. This is because the film thickness that can be formed by one pad printing is about 4 μm to 10 μm, and thus it is necessary to perform printing a plurality of times to obtain a raised printed film. In addition, in the above embodiment, the heat-curable ink was used as the ink, but it goes without saying that a UV-curable ink, a room temperature-curable ink, or the like can be used.

Further, as the pattern layer 8 of the non-translucent body 8a, a metal seal film having a protrusion formed by embossing, or a two-layer type in which a printing film is formed on a part of the surface of the raised plating film. It is possible to make various combinations of metal films, plating films, printing films, and metal sealing films.

By using the timepiece dial having the pattern layer 8, the dark purple color of the solar cell layer 6 arranged below can be made inconspicuous.

When the pattern layer 8 is formed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 in this way, as shown in FIG.
When viewed from diagonally above as indicated by arrow A, the inside is blocked by the raised non-translucent body 8a, and the solar cell layer 6 arranged below becomes difficult to see. Furthermore, if the surface of the non-translucent body 8a has a noble metal luster, the non-translucent body 8a appears to stand out due to reflection on the surface and the inside becomes more difficult to see. The angle of the arrow A is the height and shape of the opaque body 8a,
These are appropriately selected depending on the width of the gap 8b and the like. By the way, the narrower the width of the gap 8b, the arrow A
The angle with respect to the upper surface of the transparent substrate 7 can be increased, but since external light 11 such as sunlight needs to be introduced into the transparent substrate 7 through the gap 8b, it is approximately 30 μm.
A width dimension of the order is suitable. In addition, the thickness of the non-translucent body 8 is about 50 in consideration of deterioration of appearance due to being too high.
A thickness of ˜150 μm is suitable. The above-mentioned gap 8b
The light guided from the transparent substrate 7 to the transparent substrate 7 as it is.
The light-receiving surface 13 of the solar cell layer 6 is irradiated with light through the lower surface side of the.

In the above embodiment, the case where the non-translucent body 8a is formed in a semicircular cross section has been described, but the shape thereof is not particularly limited. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the pattern layer 8 formed on the transparent substrate 7 has a ring shape in accordance with the case where the timepiece dial is round. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the transparent substrate 7 has a rectangular shape. In this case, the pattern layer 8 can be formed in a stripe shape or a lattice shape.

The time characters (not shown) of the timepiece dial are formed directly on the transparent substrate 7 or by forming a smooth clear layer on the pattern layer 8 and printing on the clear layer. Alternatively, it is formed by sticking small pieces.

[0025]

As described above, according to the timepiece dial according to the present invention, since the non-translucent material raised on the upper surface of the transparent substrate is arranged at predetermined intervals, the dial is slanted from above. When viewed, the solar cell layer arranged below can be blocked by the non-translucent body, and the dark purple characteristic of the solar cell can be hidden. In addition, since the raised non-translucent pattern layer is three-dimensional, the appearance quality is excellent and the solar cell layer (solar
It is possible to enhance the decorative effect of the dial for a clock using a pond .

Also, outside light can be introduced into the transparent substrate through the gaps between the non-translucent bodies arranged at predetermined intervals, and the light receiving surface of the solar cell layer is irradiated with a sufficient amount of light, so that it is used as a timepiece. There is an effect that it is possible to apply sufficient sunlight to the solar cell layer to drive the solar cell.

Further, by providing a metal film having metallic luster, a plating film, a metallic printing film, a metal seal film or the like on the surface of the non-translucent body, the non-translucent body is distinguished by the luster of the metal. It is possible to make the solar cell layer less visible and to further enhance the decorative effect of the timepiece display plate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a timepiece dial according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a dial when a pattern layer is formed in a ring shape.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a dial when a striped pattern layer is formed.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 solar cell layer 7 Transparent substrate 8 pattern layers 8a Non-translucent body 8b gap 11 outside light 13 Light receiving surface

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Toshio Hosoya 2 6663 Funatsu, Kawaguchiko-cho, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture Kawaguchiko Precision Co., Ltd. Watch Co., Ltd. Tanashi Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-9-69641 (JP, A) JP-A-9-127261 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G04B 19/06 G04B 19/30 G04C 10/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A timepiece dial having a transparent substrate disposed on the upper surface of a solar cell layer , wherein the transparent substrate has a surface on the upper surface.
Is formed of a film with metallic luster and has a thickness of 5
External light that forms a pattern layer with a large number of raised non-transparent bodies of 0 to 150 μm and a gap provided between adjacent non-transparent bodies, and introduces the pattern layer into the transparent substrate through the gaps between the pattern layers. A timepiece dial which is characterized in that the solar cell layer is illuminated by the solar cell layer, and the solar cell layer is hidden by a non-translucent material when the transparent substrate is viewed obliquely from above. 2. The timepiece dial according to claim 1, wherein the raised non-translucent body comprises at least one of a metal film, a plating film, a printing film, and a metal sealing film. .