JP4878172B2 - Electronic clock - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece having a flexible circuit board, and more particularly to a connection structure between a flexible circuit board and a battery.

  Conventionally, a flexible circuit board includes a time display means including an hour hand and a minute hand, a time correction means including a train wheel and an external operation member, a circuit block in which an LSI, a capacitor, and the like are mounted on a flexible circuit board, It is used in various ways in electronic timepieces composed of a power source or the like. That is, in the electronic timepiece described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-66204 (Patent Document 1), the flexible circuit board is used as a connection lead for terminals between the flexible liquid crystal panel and the circuit board. In an electronic timepiece described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-86099 (Patent Document 2), it is used as a main substrate of a curved movement.

  By the way, in the conventional electronic timepiece, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-217542 (Patent Document 3), a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a circuit of a battery serving as a power source through a negative terminal and a positive terminal. A structure in which a block is electrically connected to drive is common. However, the conventional structure has a problem that since the number of parts is large, the number of assembly steps is large and it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost. In addition, since a space for fixing the assembly guides for the plus terminal and the minus terminal is required, there is a problem that the size of the movement is increased and the miniaturization of the electronic timepiece is prevented.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the movement of the conventional electronic timepiece is obtained by adding a motor 15, a crystal resonator 16, a circuit block 300, a train wheel bridge 17, a train wheel 18, A large number of components such as the external operation member 19, the battery plus terminal 200, and the battery minus terminal 210 are assembled. The battery 5 is housed in a battery housing recess 6 formed in the base plate 2, the end of the plus contact 200 </ b> A of the battery plus terminal 200 contacts the plus electrode, and the minus of the battery minus terminal 210 contacts the minus electrode. The end of the contact 210A is in contact. In the main plate 2, the train wheel bridge 18 is disposed at the center, the battery housing recess 6 is disposed slightly above the right side, and the circuit block 300 is disposed slightly below the left side.

  The battery positive terminal 200 and the battery negative terminal 210 made of a material having conductivity and elasticity form a conduction path for supplying power to the circuit block 300 from the battery 5 housed in the battery housing recess 6. The battery plus terminal 200 and the battery minus terminal 210 are parts that occupy a considerably large area as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, and are extremely complicated and uniquely shaped parts.

Assembling the battery plus terminal 200 to the base plate 2 is guided by the assembly guide 240A, positioning the plus contact 200A on the side surface of the battery 5 and positioning the plus spring 200B on the power supply plus pattern 220A of the circuit board 220, respectively. Subsequently, the battery plus terminal 200 is caulked and fixed by the caulking fixing portion 230A. In addition, when the battery minus terminal 210 is assembled to the base plate 2, the minus contact 210A is positioned on the lower surface of the battery 5 while being guided by the assembly guide 240B, and the minus spring 210B is placed on the power source minus pattern 220B of the circuit board 220, respectively. Position it. Subsequently, the battery minus terminal 210 has its end engaged with the fixing hook 26 of the base plate 2 and is fixed by caulking by the caulking fixing portion 230B. Therefore, the assembly steps of the battery positive terminal 200 and the battery negative terminal 210 are large and troublesome.
JP 2000-66204 A JP 2004-86099 A JP 2003-217542 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is an electronic timepiece that feeds power from a battery housed in a battery housing recess of a base plate of a movement, and the number of components of the plus terminal and the minus terminal that respectively contact the plus electrode and the minus electrode of the battery. In addition, it is to provide a low-cost electronic timepiece with significantly reduced assembly man-hours than before.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the flexible circuit board constituting the circuit block and the connecting means of the battery are integrated to form a plus terminal and a minus terminal, and the plus terminal of the flexible circuit board is formed by the contact pressure applying means. A negative terminal was pressed against the battery to ensure contact pressure.

  That is, an electronic timepiece that solves the above problems is formed by extending a flexible circuit board to the positive electrode of the battery, and a positive terminal portion that contacts the positive electrode of the battery; and the flexible circuit board to the negative electrode of the battery. A circuit block having a negative terminal portion that is formed by extending and abutting against the negative electrode of the battery, and a first contact pressure applying means for stably abutting the positive terminal portion against the positive electrode of the battery And a support body having second contact pressure applying means for stably bringing the negative terminal portion into contact with the negative electrode of the battery, and a battery storage recess formed in a concave shape for storing the battery; It was configured with.

  According to the present invention, the number of component parts and assembly man-hours of the positive terminal and the negative terminal that are in contact with the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery housed in the battery housing recess of the base plate of the movement are greatly reduced as compared with the prior art. The cost of electronic watches was reduced. In addition, since the assembly guide used for assembling the plus and minus terminals of special parts with extremely complex and unique shapes in the past and the space for fixing during assembly are no longer required, the movement can be downsized. It became possible.

  An electronic timepiece according to the present invention is an electronic timepiece in which power is supplied from a battery stored in a battery storage recess of the base plate to a circuit block assembled on a base plate of the movement. A tongue-like plus terminal portion, a tongue-like minus terminal portion, and a tongue-like plus terminal portion formed by extending a terminal and a minus terminal, respectively, by extending a flexible circuit board constituting the circuit block to the battery housing recess, The tongue-like negative terminal portion is constituted by contact pressure applying means for applying a contact pressure between the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electronic timepiece according to the first embodiment of the present invention is provided with a motor 15, a crystal unit 16, a circuit block 3, and a train wheel bridge 17 on a base plate 2 that is a support having a substantially elliptical plane. A large number of components such as a train wheel 18 and an external operation member 19 are assembled. In the main plate 2, the train wheel bridge 17 is disposed at the center, the battery housing recess 6 is disposed slightly above the right side, and the circuit block 3 is disposed slightly below the left side. The battery 5 is housed in the battery housing recess 6.

  The flexible circuit board 4 constituting the circuit block 3 is composed of a main circuit portion 4A on which electronic parts such as an LSI and a capacitor are mounted, and an extending portion 4B that forms a plus terminal and a minus terminal. The extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 has a straight portion 4BA along the motor 15 and two tip portions 4BB and 4BC branched into two from the end portion.

  The two tip portions 4BB and 4BC of the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 form a tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and a tongue-like minus terminal portion 8, respectively. On the tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8, a plus terminal pattern and a minus terminal pattern (not shown) are formed of conductive metal thin films, respectively. The positive terminal pattern and the negative terminal pattern of the conductive metal thin film are formed by the main circuit portion 4A of the flexible circuit board 4 by a positive conduction path pattern and a negative conduction path pattern (not shown) formed in the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4. Are connected to each.

  The tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 is arranged so that the end portion is located on the side surface side of the battery 5, and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 is located on the bottom surface side of the battery 5. It arrange | positions so that an edge part may be located. A cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 10 that functions as contact pressure applying means is formed on the side surface of the battery housing recess 6 by using a plastic base plate 2. Further, a cantilever-type negative terminal pressing spring 11 that functions as a contact pressure applying means is formed on the bottom surface of the battery housing recess 6 by using a plastic base plate 2.

  When the battery 5 is stored in the battery storage recess 6, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 is pressed by the plus terminal pressing spring 10 so as to contact the plus electrode surface of the battery 5, and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 is The negative terminal pressing spring 11 is pressed to contact the negative electrode surface of the battery 5. In this way, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 formed using a part of the flexible circuit board 4 are connected to the cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 10 which is a contact pressure applying means. The cantilever-type negative terminal pressing spring 11 stably contacts the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery 5 while ensuring an appropriate contact pressure.

  The cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 10 and the minus terminal pressing spring 11 are formed at the same time when the plastic base plate 2 of the movement 1 is manufactured. The tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 are simultaneously manufactured by the printed circuit technique simultaneously with the main circuit portion 4A of the circuit block 3. Then, the assembly of the tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 to the base plate 2 is performed simultaneously with the assembly of the circuit block 3 to the base plate 2 and is performed by caulking and fixing by the caulking fixing portion 23. . The caulking fixing portion 23 may be fixed with screws. Therefore, the number of assembling steps is greatly reduced compared with the conventional one, and the workability is also improved.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the electronic timepiece according to the second embodiment of the present invention is provided with a motor 15, a crystal unit 16, a circuit block 3, and a train wheel bridge 17 on a base plate 2 that is a support having a substantially elliptical plane. A large number of components such as a train wheel 18 and an external operation member 19 are assembled. In the main plate 2, the train wheel bridge 17 is disposed at the center, the battery housing recess 6 is disposed slightly above the right side, and the circuit block 3 is disposed slightly below the left side. The battery 5 is housed in the battery housing recess 6.

  The flexible circuit board 4 constituting the circuit block 3 is composed of a main circuit portion 4A on which electronic parts such as an LSI and a capacitor are mounted, and an extending portion 4B that forms a plus terminal and a minus terminal. The extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 has a straight portion 4BA along the motor 15 and two tip portions 4BB and 4BC branched into two from the end portion.

  The two tip portions 4BB and 4BC of the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 form a tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 and a tongue-like minus terminal portion 80, respectively, as shown in FIG. On the tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 80, a plus terminal pattern 70A and a minus terminal pattern 80A are formed of conductive metal thin films, respectively. Then, the positive terminal pattern 70A and the negative terminal pattern 80A of the conductive metal thin film are formed in the main circuit portion 4A of the flexible circuit board 4 by the plus conduction path pattern and the minus conduction path pattern formed in the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4. Are connected to each. The extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 reaching the tip portion 4BC where the minus terminal pattern 80A of the tongue-like minus terminal portion 80 is formed is made of a plastic having elasticity for preventing short circuit with the plus electrode surface of the battery 5. It is covered with an insulating film 9.

  The tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 is arranged so that the end portion is located on the side surface side of the battery 5, and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 80 is arranged so that the end portion is located on the bottom surface side of the battery 5. Yes. On the side surface of the battery housing recess 6, a cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 100 that functions as contact pressure applying means is provided on the side opposite to the arrangement position of the tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 using the plastic base plate 2. Is formed. Further, an elastic arm portion 90 that functions as a contact pressure applying means is formed in the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4. The elastic arm portion 90 is an arm-like portion of the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 that reaches the tip portion 4BC where the negative terminal pattern 80A of the tongue-like negative terminal portion 80 is formed, and is made of plastic having elasticity. The arm-shaped portion covered with the insulating film 9 is formed by being bent at a substantially right angle at a position XX in FIG.

  When the battery 5 is housed in the battery housing recess 6, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 is moved to the battery by the cantilever-type plus terminal pressing spring 100 arranged on the opposite side of the arrangement position of the tongue-like plus terminal portion 70. The positive electrode surface 5 and the corresponding side surface of the battery housing recess 6 are pressed so as to be sandwiched. At the same time, the tongue-like negative terminal portion 80 fixes the battery 5 by the elastic arm portion 90 and is pressed so as to contact the negative electrode surface. In this way, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 80 formed using a part of the flexible circuit board 4 are connected to the cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 100 which is a contact pressure applying means. The elastic arm portion 90 stably contacts the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery 5 while ensuring an appropriate contact pressure.

  The cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 100 is formed at the same time when the plastic base plate 2 of the movement 1 is manufactured. The tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 80 are simultaneously manufactured by the printed circuit technique simultaneously with the main circuit portion 4A of the circuit block 3. Then, the assembly of the tongue-like plus terminal portion 70 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 80 to the base plate 2 is performed simultaneously with the assembly of the circuit block 3 to the base plate 2 and is performed by caulking and fixing by the caulking fixing portion 23. . The caulking fixing portion 23 may be fixed with screws. Therefore, the number of assembling steps is greatly reduced compared with the conventional one, and the workability is also improved.

  The configuration of the movement 1 of the electronic timepiece according to the third embodiment of the present invention is basically the same as that of the first and second embodiments. And the two front-end | tip parts of the extending | stretching part 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 form the tongue piece-like plus terminal part 71 and the tongue piece-like minus terminal part 81, respectively, as shown in FIG.

  The tongue-like plus terminal portion 71 is arranged on the upper surface side of the battery 5, and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 81 is arranged on the bottom surface side of the battery housing recess 6. The contact pressure applying means in the third embodiment is a battery pressing spring 12 </ b> A of the battery pressing portion 12 attached to the main plate 2.

  When the battery 5 is stored in the battery storage recess 6, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 71 is pressed against the positive electrode surface of the battery 5 by the battery pressing spring 12 </ b> A of the battery pressing portion 12 attached to the base plate 2. At the same time, the tongue-like negative terminal portion 81 is pressed to contact the negative electrode surface of the battery 5 by the pressing force of the battery pressing spring 12 </ b> A of the battery pressing portion 12 and the weight of the battery 5. In this way, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 71 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 81 that are formed using a part of the flexible circuit board 4 are the battery holding spring 12A of the battery holding portion 12 that is a contact pressure applying means. Thus, the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery 5 are stably brought into contact with each other while ensuring an appropriate contact pressure. The battery holding part 12 covers the upper surface of the battery 5 and is fixed by engaging one end thereof with the fixing hook 25. Also in the electronic timepiece of Example 3, the number of assembling steps was greatly reduced as compared with the conventional one, and the workability was also improved.

  An electronic timepiece according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is configured using a bridge-type negative terminal pressing spring 14 shown in FIG. 8 instead of the cantilever type negative terminal pressing spring 11 of the electronic timepiece according to the first embodiment. Both the cantilever type negative terminal pressing spring 11 and the bridge type negative terminal pressing spring 14 are contact pressure applying means for stably contacting the negative terminal portion 8 with the negative electrode of the battery 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the two tip portions of the extending portion 4B of the flexible circuit board 4 form a tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and a tongue-like minus terminal portion 8, respectively. The tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 is arranged so that the end portion is located on the side surface side of the battery 5, and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 is located on the bottom surface side of the battery 5. It arrange | positions so that an edge part may be located. On the side surface of the battery housing recess 6, a plus terminal pressing spring 10 that functions as contact pressure applying means is formed using a plastic base plate 2.

  On the other hand, a bridge-type negative terminal pressing spring 14 that functions as contact pressure applying means is formed on the bottom surface of the battery housing recess 6 by using a plastic base plate 2. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the bridge-type negative terminal pressing spring 14 includes a strip-shaped bridge portion 14 </ b> A having a protrusion 14 </ b> C formed on the bottom surface of the battery housing recess 6 of the base plate 2. The strip-shaped bridge portion 14A is configured by forming a substantially rectangular recess 14D in the battery housing recess 6 and two parallel through-hole portions 14B along the long side of the substantially rectangular recess 14D. The strip-shaped bridge portion 14 </ b> A configured in this way functions as an elastic spring because it forms part of the plastic base plate 2.

  When the battery 5 is housed in the battery housing recess 6, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 is pressed so as to contact the plus electrode surface of the battery 5 by the cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 10 as shown in FIG. 2. The Further, the tongue-like negative terminal portion 8 is pressed so as to come into contact with the negative electrode surface of the battery 5 by a bridge-type negative terminal pressing spring 14 as shown in FIG. In this way, the tongue-like plus terminal portion 7 and the tongue-like minus terminal portion 8 formed using a part of the flexible circuit board 4 are connected to the cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring 10 which is a contact pressure applying means. The bridge type negative terminal pressing spring 11 stably contacts the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery 5 while ensuring an appropriate contact pressure. Also in the electronic timepiece of Example 4, the number of assembling steps was greatly reduced as compared with the conventional timepiece, and the workability was improved.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the movement of the electronic timepiece according to the first embodiment. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a connection portion between a battery and a flexible circuit board in the movement of the electronic timepiece of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a top view of the movement of the electronic timepiece of Example 2 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a connection state between a battery and a flexible circuit board in the movement of the electronic timepiece according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a minus pattern portion and a plus pattern portion of a flexible circuit board in the movement of the electronic timepiece according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a connection state between a battery and a flexible circuit board in the movement of the electronic timepiece according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a connection state between a battery and a flexible circuit board in the movement of the electronic timepiece according to the fourth embodiment. It is a top view of the bottom face of the battery accommodating recessed part of the electronic timepiece of Example 4 of the present invention. It is a top view of the movement of the conventional electronic timepiece. It is sectional drawing of the connection part of the battery and flexible circuit board in the movement of the conventional electronic timepiece.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Movement 2 Ground plane 3 Circuit block 4 Flexible substrate 4A Main circuit part 4B Extending part 4BA
4BB
5 Battery 6 Battery receiving recess 7, 70, 71 Positive terminal portion 70A Positive terminal pattern 8, 80, 81 Negative terminal portion 80A Negative terminal pattern 9 Insulating film 90 Elastic arm portion 10, 100 Positive terminal pressing spring 11 Negative terminal pressing Spring 12 Battery retainer 13 Battery retainer spring 14 Battery lift spring 14A Strip-shaped bridge portion 14B Through hole portion 14C Protrusion portion 14D Substantially rectangular recess 15 Motor 16 Crystal resonator 17 20A positive contact 20B positive spring 21 battery negative terminal 21A negative contact 21B negative spring 22 circuit board 22A power supply positive pattern 22B power supply negative pattern 23 caulking fixing parts 24A and 24B assembly guide part 25 fixing hook 26 fixing hook 200 battery Positive terminal 200A Positive contact 200B Positive spring 210 Battery negative terminal 210A Negative contact 210B Negative spring 220 Circuit board 220A Power supply positive pattern 220B Power supply negative pattern 230 Caulking fixing parts 240A and 240B Assembly guide part 300 Circuit block XX Bending part

Claims (8)

A flexible circuit board is formed by extending to the positive electrode of the battery, and a positive terminal portion that contacts the positive electrode of the battery; and the flexible circuit board is formed by extending to the negative electrode of the battery, and the negative electrode of the battery A circuit block having a negative terminal portion to be brought into contact with,
First contact pressure applying means for stably contacting the positive terminal portion with the positive electrode of the battery, and second contact pressure for stably contacting the negative terminal portion with the negative electrode of the battery A support having an applying means, and a battery storage recess formed in a concave shape to store the battery;
An electronic timepiece characterized by comprising: The first contact pressure applying means is provided on a side surface of the battery housing recess to press the side surface of the battery, and the positive terminal portion disposed on the side surface side of the battery is used as a positive electrode surface of the battery. It is a positive terminal pressing spring that presses to make contact,
Provided on the bottom surface of the battery housing recess, characterized in that the negative terminal portion disposed on the bottom side of the battery is a negative terminal pressing spring for pressing so as to abut against the negative electrode surface of the battery The electronic timepiece according to claim 1.   The positive terminal pressing spring is a cantilever type positive terminal pressing spring formed using a plastic base plate, and the negative terminal pressing spring is a cantilever type formed using a plastic base plate. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2, wherein the electronic timepiece is a negative terminal pressing spring.   The positive terminal pressing spring is a cantilever type positive terminal pressing spring formed using a plastic base plate, and the negative terminal pressing spring is a bridge type formed using a plastic base plate. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2, wherein the electronic timepiece is a negative terminal pressing spring.   The bridge-type negative terminal pressing spring is a strip-shaped elastic piece formed on the bottom surface of the battery housing recess using a plastic base plate, and both ends thereof are fixed to the base plate and project at the center portion thereof. The electronic timepiece according to claim 4, wherein the electronic timepiece is a strip-shaped elastic piece. The first contact pressure applying means is provided on the side surface of the battery housing recess to press the side surface of the battery, and the positive terminal portion disposed on the side surface side of the positive electrode of the battery is connected to the positive side of the battery. It is a positive terminal pressing spring that presses between the electrode surface and the side surface of the storage battery recess,
The second contact pressure applying means is an elastic arm portion provided in an extending portion of the flexible circuit board, and the negative terminal portion arranged on the bottom surface side of the battery is brought into contact with the negative electrode surface of the battery. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the electronic timepiece is an elastic arm portion that presses in contact.   The electronic timepiece according to claim 6, wherein the plus terminal pressing spring is a cantilever type plus terminal pressing spring formed by using a plastic base plate.   The first and second contact pressure applying means are battery holding springs of a battery holding portion attached to a ground plate, and the plus terminal portion arranged on the upper surface side of the battery is connected to the opening side of the battery housing recess. The battery retainer that presses the battery positive electrode from the bottom surface of the battery housing recess and sandwiches the negative terminal disposed between the bottom surface of the battery housing recess and the lower surface of the battery. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the electronic timepiece is a spring.

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