JP6919700B2 - Equipment case and watch - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device case and a watch.

Conventionally, inorganic glass or organic glass (for example, acrylic glass) has been used as a windshield member or a decorative member (decorative member) for an equipment case such as a watch.
Inorganic glass has a high surface hardness and is not easily scratched, but it is heavy and when used as a windshield member or the like, the entire device becomes heavy.
In addition, since it is difficult to process the shape of inorganic glass, it is difficult to apply it to various highly designed decorative parts and the like.

On the other hand, organic glass is lighter in weight than inorganic glass and is easy to shape, so that it can be applied as a windshield member or a decorative member (decorative member) having various shapes.
However, the surface hardness of organic glass is low, and it is easily rubbed or scratched with repeated use. Therefore, especially when organic glass is used as the windshield member, the visibility may be lowered by repeated use.

In this regard, for example, Patent Document 1 describes that, in a wristwatch case or the like, a semi-finished plastic product is coated with a hard lacquer to perform an optical and mechanical surface finishing treatment.
Therefore, it is conceivable that organic glass formed of acrylic resin or the like also has a surface strength close to that of inorganic glass by applying such a surface coating treatment.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-164010

However, just by applying a hard coating to the surface of organic glass, the surface hardness is improved by only about 3H in pencil hardness, and damage to the glass surface cannot be sufficiently prevented, and the surface hardness is equivalent to that of inorganic glass. It is difficult to achieve impact resistance.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a device provided with a lightweight and highly processable glass unit such as organic glass while achieving surface hardness and impact resistance equivalent to those of inorganic glass. It is intended to provide cases and watches.

In order to solve the above problems, the device case according to the present invention is
A unit member in which the second layer of organic-inorganic copolymer glass on the surface of the first layer of organic glass formed by superposed,
A case body having a fitting portion for fitting the unit member, and
With
The fitting portion is formed so that when the unit member is fitted in the fitting portion, the upper end surface thereof is higher than the overlapping surface in the second layer.
The case body has a groove portion which is the fitting portion, and has a groove portion.
The unit member is characterized in that it is a decorative ring member fitted in the groove.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide the equipment case with a lightweight glass unit having excellent workability, such as organic glass, while achieving surface hardness and impact resistance equivalent to those of inorganic glass.

It is a front view of the clock in this embodiment. It is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part along the line II-II of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the main part which shows the state which the conventional glass unit was fitted to the case body. It is sectional drawing of the main part which shows the state which the glass unit was fitted to the case body with the joint part exposed to the outside of the case body.

An embodiment of the device case and the timepiece according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Although various technically preferable limitations for carrying out the present invention are attached to the embodiments described below, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the clock according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the timepiece 100 in this embodiment has an equipment case 1, a display unit 2 and a module 3 housed in the equipment case 1.

The equipment case 1 of the present embodiment includes a case main body 10 formed in a hollow short pillar shape and a glass unit (first glass unit 4, second glass unit 4 to be described later) which is a unit member mounted on the case main body 10. It is equipped with a glass unit 5).
As shown in FIG. 1, the case body 10 has an opening 11 on the front surface side (visual side in the watch) of the watch 100.
The case body 10 is formed of, for example, a hard synthetic resin such as ABS resin, super engineering plastic such as polyarylate (PAR), or engineering plastic such as polyacetal (POM) and polycarbonate (PC). The material forming the case body 10 is not limited to the one illustrated here.
On the outer surface of the case body 10, a pair of band attachment portions 12 for attaching bands (not shown) are provided at opposite positions (vertical positions of the watch 100 in FIG. 1).
Further, an operation button 13 for performing various input operations by the user is provided on the side portion of the case body 10 (left and right positions of the watch 100 in FIG. 1).

The display unit 2 is housed inside the case body 10.
In the present embodiment, the display unit 2 has a liquid crystal display panel 21 having a digital display function. For example, a time, a calendar, or the like is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 21 of the display unit 2.
The display unit 2 is not limited to the one having the liquid crystal display panel 21, and may be provided with, for example, an organic EL display.
Further, the display unit 2 is not limited to the digital display unit, and may be an analog display unit having a dial, a pointer, or the like, or a display unit having both an analog system and a digital system. May be good.

Further, a module 3 for operating the display unit 2 is housed inside the case body 10.
In the module 3, for example, a circuit board or the like on which various electronic components (not shown) are mounted is housed in a housing made of resin or the like.
Further, a battery (not shown) for supplying power to each part of the watch is provided in the module.

A fitting portion 14 for fitting the first glass unit 4, which is a windshield member, is formed in the opening 11 on the surface side of the case body 10.
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the opening 11 has an inward flange 141 protruding from the inner side surface of the case body 10 toward the inside of the case body 10 at a position lowered by a predetermined depth from the upper end surface of the case body 10. Is provided.
In the present embodiment, the fitting portion 14 is formed by the inner side surface of the case body 10 in the opening 11 and the inward flange 141.

A first glass unit 4 is fitted in the fitting portion 14 so as to close the opening 11.
The first glass unit 4 (windshield member) is formed by superimposing the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 43, which is the second layer, on the surface of the organic glass 41, which is the first layer.
The organic glass 41 is, for example, acrylic glass or the like.
The organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43 is obtained by copolymerizing a component of an inorganic glass such as _{SiO 2 glass and an organic monomer.} As the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43, it is preferable to use one having a surface hardness equivalent to that of the inorganic glass (for example, a pencil hardness of about 9H).
The thickness of the organic glass 41 and the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 43 (for example, about 2 mm) is appropriately set according to the size and application of the equipment case 1, but the thickness of the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 43 (FIG. The thickness T in No. 2 (for example, about 0.5 mm) is thicker than the height A (see FIG. 2) from the upper end surface of the fitting portion 14 to the upper surface of the first glass unit 4.
The organic glass 41 and the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43 are a transparent adhesive, a double-sided tape (preferably a tape composed only of an adhesive without a base material such as a highly transparent adhesive transfer tape) and the like. It is joined via an adhesive layer 42 composed of. Further, in the present embodiment, a print layer 44 on which various characters and the like are printed is provided on the back surface side (lower side in FIG. 2) of the organic glass 41.

The first glass unit 4 (windshield member) is fitted into the opening 11 via, for example, a waterproof ring (not shown) and is held on the upper surface of the inward flange 141, for example, the inward flange 141 or the inner surface of the case body 10. The portion of the organic glass 41 is ultrasonically welded to the fitting portion 14 to be fixed in the fitting portion 14.
The method of fixing the first glass unit 4 (windshield member) in the fitting portion 14 is not limited to ultrasonic welding, and may be fixed by various types of welding or adhesion.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fitting portion 14 fits the first glass unit 4 (windshield member) into the fitting portion 14 from a direction orthogonal to the surface of the first glass unit 4 (windshield member). When this is done, the upper end surface thereof is formed so as to be higher than the overlapping surface (that is, the lower surface of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43) in the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43.
In the present embodiment, the upper surface of the first glass unit 4 is located higher than the upper end surface of the fitting portion 14, and the first glass unit 4 is designed to bulge above the upper end surface of the case body 10. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the height A from the upper end surface of the fitting portion 14 to the upper surface of the first glass unit 4 is the thickness T of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43 (that is, both organic and inorganic). It is lower than the height from the overlapping surface of the double glazing layer 43 to the upper surface of the first glass unit 4).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a groove portion 15 as a fitting portion is formed on the upper surface of the case body of the present embodiment so as to surround the opening portion 11, and the groove portion 15 has a groove portion 15 as a fitting portion. The glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) of 2 is fitted.
Similar to the first glass unit 4 (windshield member), the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) is formed by superimposing the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 53 on the surface of the organic glass 51, and the organic glass 51. And the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 53 are bonded to each other via an adhesive layer 52.
Specific materials of the organic glass 51, the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 53, and the adhesive layer 52 include the organic glass 41 of the first glass unit 4 (windshield member), the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 43, and the adhesive layer 42. Since the same is true, the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the groove portion 15 fits the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) into the groove portion 15 from a direction orthogonal to the surface of the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member). When this is done, the upper end surface thereof is formed so as to be higher than the overlapping surface (that is, the lower surface of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 53) in the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 53.
The second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) is fixed in the groove 15 by the adhesive 54.
The method of fixing the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) in the groove 15 is not limited to fixing with the adhesive 54. For example, the organic glass 51 is ultrasonically welded to the bottom surface of the groove 15. It may be fixed by various kinds of welding such as, or it may be fixed by double-sided tape or the like.

Next, the operation of the device case 1 and the watch 100 to which the device case 1 is applied in the present embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, when the device case 1 is assembled, the display unit 2, the module 3, and the like are housed in the case body 10.
Then, the first glass unit 4, which is a windshield member, is fitted into the opening 11 of the case body 10 via a waterproof ring or the like, and the portion of the organic glass 41 is ultrasonically welded to the inward flange 141 and the inner surface of the case body 10. The first glass unit 4 (windshield member) is fixed in the fitting portion 14 by allowing the glass unit 4 (windshield member) to be fixed.
Further, the second glass unit 5 which is a decorative ring member is fitted into the groove portion 15, and the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) is attached to the groove portion 15 by adhering the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) to the bottom surface of the groove portion 15 by the adhesive material 54. Fix inside.
As a result, the watch 100 including the device case 1 according to the present embodiment is completed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing how the conventional windshield member 6 is attached to the fitting portion 14 of the case body 10.
The conventional windshield member 6 shown in FIG. 3 is provided with a hard coating layer 62 on the surface (upper surface in FIG. 3) of organic glass 61 such as acrylic glass. A print layer 63 is provided on the back surface (lower surface in FIG. 3) of the organic glass 61.
Even if the hard coating layer 62 is provided, the surface hardness of the windshield member 6 having such a conventional structure is about 3H in terms of pencil hardness. Therefore, the structure is such that the surface of the windshield member 6 is easily rubbed or scratched by use.

Further, in FIG. 4, similarly to the first glass unit 4 (windshield member) of the present embodiment, the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 73 is superimposed on the front surface of the organic glass 71, and is formed on the back surface side of the organic glass 71. A cross section of a main part showing how a glass unit 7 (windshield member) in which an organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 73 provided with a printing layer 74 is joined via an adhesive layer 72 is attached to a fitting portion 14 of a case body 10. It is a figure.
In FIG. 4, when the fitting portion 14 fits the glass unit 7 into the fitting portion 14 from a direction orthogonal to the surface of the glass unit 7, the upper end surface thereof is superimposed on the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 73. The case where the position comes lower than the surface (that is, the lower surface of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 73) is shown.
That is, in the case body shown in FIG. 4, the height A from the upper end surface of the fitting portion 14 to the upper surface of the glass unit 7 is the thickness T of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 73 (that is, the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer 73). The height is higher than the height from the overlapping surface of the glass unit 7 to the upper surface of the glass unit 7), and the joint portion between the organic glass 71 and the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 73 is exposed to the outside of the case body 10.
In this case, even when the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 73 is superposed on the surface of the organic glass 71 on the glass unit 7, when a continuous impact such as a pendulum test is applied, the impact causes the organic glass 71 and the organic-inorganic particularly. The outer peripheral portion is chipped (peeled) from the joint portion with the copolymerized glass layer 73, and the outer peripheral portion of the glass unit 7 is gradually scraped and scratched.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) on which the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layers 43 and 53 are superposed on the surfaces of the organic glass 41 and 51 are provided with the organic glass 41. , 51 is mounted so that the overlapping surface of the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layers 43 and 53, which is the joint portion between the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layers 43 and 53, is lower than the upper end surfaces of the fitting portion 14 and the groove portion 15. However, the joint portion between the organic glass 41, 51 and the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 43, 53 is arranged so as not to be exposed to the outside of the case body 10.
As a result, the surface hardness of the glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) can be made equal to that of the inorganic glass, and the organic glass 41, 51 and the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 43, 53 are formed. Glass units 4 and 5 (windshield members and decorative ring members) that can withstand continuous impacts such as pendulum tests by preventing damage such as chipping (peeling) and scraping of the outer peripheral part from the joint part of It can be a device case 1 to be provided.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the glass units (first glass unit 4, second glass unit 5) formed by superimposing the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layers 43 and 53 on the surfaces of the organic glasses 41 and 51. ) Is used as a windshield member or a decorative ring member, and the fitting portion 14 and the groove portion 15 for fitting the glass units 4 and 5 are fitted with the glass units 4 and 5 in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the glass units 4 and 5. When fitted in the groove portion 15, the upper end surface thereof is formed so as to be higher than the overlapping surface of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layers 43 and 53.
As a result, the surface hardness of the glass units 4 and 5 which are the windshield member and the decorative ring member can be set to the same hardness as the inorganic glass (for example, the pencil hardness is about 9H), and the surface of the windshield member and the decorative ring member can be set to about 9H. It is possible to prevent the glass from being rubbed or scratched.
Further, since the overlapping surface of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layers 43 and 53, which is the joint portion between the organic glass 41 and 51 and the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layers 43 and 53, is not exposed to the outside of the case body 10, the joint portion is formed. Equipment case 1 equipped with glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) that can prevent damage such as chipping (peeling) and scraping and can withstand continuous impact such as pendulum test. Can be done.
Further, since the glass units 4 and 5 are formed by laminating the high-strength organic-inorganic copolymer glass layers 43 and 53 on the lightweight organic glasses 41 and 51, the impact resistance equivalent to that of the inorganic glass is thus obtained. It is possible to reduce the weight as compared with the case where the entire glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) are made of inorganic glass while ensuring the properties and the like.
Further, the glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) can be welded to the case body 10 and the like formed of the resin material at the portions of the organic glass 41 and 51. Therefore, the glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) can be easily fixed to the case body 10.
Further, since the glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) are formed by superimposing the organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 43 on the organic glass 41 and 51, they are easier to process than the inorganic glass and are inorganic. It can be made into various shapes such as a ring shape, which is difficult to manufacture with glass. Therefore, the degree of freedom in design is improved and an excellent design can be realized.
When the device case 1 provided with such glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) is applied to the watch 100, the windshield member and the like are not easily scratched, so that it is excellent even if it is used repeatedly. The visibility can be maintained.
In addition, because of its excellent impact resistance, even sports watches that are expected to be used in harsh environments can be used safely.
Further, since the entire glass units 4 and 5 (windshield member and decorative ring member) can be reduced in weight as described above, when applied to a timepiece for which weight reduction is required, for example, a running timepiece. It is possible to provide a watch that is light and easy to run by achieving both excellent visibility and impact resistance and weight reduction of the entire watch.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

For example, in the present embodiment, the case where the windshield member and the decorative ring member are composed of glass units 4 and 5 in which the organic inorganic copolymer glass layers 43 and 53 are superimposed on the organic glass 41 and 51 is shown as an example. However, the members composed of the glass units 4 and 5 are not limited to the windshield member and the decorative ring member.
The glass units 4 and 5 can be widely applied as a member used in a portion where high surface hardness and impact resistance are required. For example, the present embodiment is used as a one-point decorative member fitted in the case body 10. A glass unit similar to the above may be used.

Further, the second layer superimposed on the surface of the organic glass 41, which is the first layer, is not limited to the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layers 43 and 53. For example, instead of the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layers 43 and 53, the glass units 4 and 5 may be formed by superimposing an inorganic glass layer as a second layer.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the case body 10 is formed of a hard synthetic resin is illustrated, but the material forming the case body 10 is not limited to the resin, for example, titanium, stainless steel (SUS), or the like. It may be made of a hard material such as metal.
In this case, the first glass unit 4 (windshield member) and the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) are fixed to the fitting portion 14 and the groove portion 15 of the case body by a method such as adhesion.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the device case 1 including the first glass unit 4 (windshield member) and the second glass unit 5 (decorative ring member) is the case of the watch 100 is illustrated. Is not limited to when applied to watches.
For example, the device case of the present invention may be applied to a device case of a pedometer, a heart rate monitor, an altimeter, a barometer, or the like, or a device case of a terminal device such as a mobile phone.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof. ..
The inventions described in the claims originally attached to the application of this application are added below. The item number of the claim described in the appendix is as per the scope of the patent claim originally attached to the application of this application.
[Additional Notes]
<Claim 1>
A unit member in which a second layer, which is harder than the first layer, is superimposed on the surface of the first layer.
A case body having a fitting portion for fitting the unit member, and
With
The fitting portion is characterized in that when the unit member is fitted in the fitting portion, the upper end surface thereof is formed so as to be at a position higher than the overlapping surface in the second layer. Equipment case.
<Claim 2>
The first layer is organic glass and
The second layer is an inorganic glass layer or an organic-inorganic copolymerized glass layer.
The equipment case according to claim 1, wherein the unit member is a glass unit.
<Claim 3>
The case body has an opening and
The fitting portion is formed in the opening and is formed.
The equipment case according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the unit member is a windshield member that closes the opening.
<Claim 4>
The case body has a groove portion which is the fitting portion, and has a groove portion.
The device case according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the groove portion is formed in an annular shape, and the unit member is a decorative ring member fitted in the groove portion.
<Claim 5>
The device case according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and the device case.
The display unit housed in the device case and
A timepiece including a module for operating the display unit.

1 Equipment case 2 Display unit 3 Module 4 First glass unit (windshield member)
5 Second glass unit (decorative ring member)
10 Case body 11 Opening 14 Fitting part 15 Groove 41 Organic glass 51 Organic glass 42 Adhesive layer 52 Adhesive layer 43 Organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 53 Organic-inorganic copolymer glass layer 100 Watch 141 Inward flange

Claims (5)

A unit member in which the second layer of organic-inorganic copolymer glass on the surface of the first layer of organic glass formed by superposed,
A case body having a fitting portion for fitting the unit member, and
With
The fitting portion is formed so that when the unit member is fitted in the fitting portion, the upper end surface thereof is higher than the overlapping surface in the second layer.
The case body has a groove portion which is the fitting portion, and has a groove portion.
A device case characterized in that the unit member is a decorative ring member fitted in the groove. The organic glass is acrylic glass.
The equipment case according to claim 1, wherein the organic-inorganic copolymerized glass is obtained by copolymerizing a component of the inorganic glass and an organic monomer. The case body has an opening and
The fitting portion is formed in the opening and is formed.
The unit member includes a first unit member and a second unit member.
The equipment case according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first unit member is a windshield member that closes the opening. The device case according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a printing layer is provided on the back surface side of the first layer. The device case according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and the device case.
The display unit housed in the device case and
The module that operates the display unit and
A watch characterized by being equipped with.

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