JPH0114950Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an analog chronograph crystal watch.

Conventional mechanical watches were equipped with a chronograph mechanism, but the cam mechanism and other components were extremely complex and large, making them unsuitable for practical use. Furthermore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 49-95656, there was an idea to provide a chronograph mechanism to a crystal watch, but the specific structure was not disclosed and the idea was not available on the market. It was hot.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a small, thin, and low power consumption configuration when adding a chronograph mechanism to an analog crystal watch.

The present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure shows a block diagram of the invention. A clock mechanism for normal time display uses a crystal oscillator as the time standard 21, for example. The oscillation signal of the crystal oscillator is transmitted through MOS/MOS as a high-density integrated circuit.
A frequency dividing circuit 22 consisting of an IC or the like divides the frequency of the signal, for example, once every second. This signal is shaped by the drive circuit 23 into a waveform for driving the motor. The shaped signal is input to a well-known step motor consisting of a rotor, stator, and coil of an electromagnetic transducer 24. The electric signal generated once per second becomes a rotational motion in the converter 24, and is transmitted through the front gear train 25,
The time is indicated by an indicating wheel train 26 of hour, minute, and second hands.
Up to this point, this is a well-known analog crystal watch, and the second hand moves once every second. This is to reduce the influence of external disturbances. Next, by operating an external operating member 31 such as a winding stem or a button, a signal is input into the inside of the watch body, and the internal input signal 3
2, a gate circuit 33 is provided which can obtain a signal in the middle of frequency division from the frequency dividing circuit 22 which divides the signal to a normal clock. The frequency-divided signal passing through this gate is shaped by a chronograph drive circuit 27 like a normal watch, converted into rotational motion by a chronograph converter 28, and transmitted through a chronograph wheel train 29 for hours, minutes, and seconds. etc. Chronograph indicator train 3
The measurement time can be indicated by 0.

The chronograph converter 28 is a step motor composed of a well-known rotor, stator, coil, etc., and the drive cycle of this step motor is shorter than the once-per-second signal used to drive a clock. For example, if the period is 1/10 second, the chronograph second hand will move 10 times faster than a normal watch.
When operating the chronograph, it is possible to read with an accuracy of 1/10 second. Conversely, this simply requires 10 times the current consumption to drive the step motor. However, in the present invention, the step motor of the converter 24 for driving the timepiece and the step motor 28 for driving the chronograph are constructed separately.

Current consumption is low for a step motor for a watch.
It has been put into practical use with battery life of around 1.5 μA and battery life of around 5 years. As a chronograph motor, there is no need for extra output torque to feed the calendar as is required for watches, and the coil can be small as it only needs to drive the second, minute, and hour hands of the chronograph. However, the current consumption is only about 1/3, which is sufficient. Furthermore, with a chronograph gear train that has a cycle that is 1/10 that of a normal watch, the reduction ratio from the chronograph rotor to the second hand is reduced to 1/10, so the output torque is 10 times that of a normal watch. From this point as well, it can be seen that there is no problem even if the chronograph step motor output is reduced. For example, the current consumption for a chronograph, which would have required 10 times the current consumption to achieve a cycle of 1/10, is reduced to 1/3 because the output torque can be reduced.
If it can be reduced to 10/3≒3.3 times, the current consumption will be 10/3≒3.3 times. The current consumption of the crystal oscillator circuit is considered to be relatively small compared to the current used to drive the motor, and if a watch with a lifespan of 5 years is used to constantly operate both a chronograph train and a regular watch, 5 years/3.3+1≒1.1 years battery life. However, in reality, you should not use the chronograph all the time, or use a timer 60 that cuts off the chronograph drive signal after a certain period of time after the chronograph starts operating, or use it for one hour every day or after using the chronograph. By configuring the timer to work after one hour,
3.3 times the current consumption is 3.3/24H ≒ 0.1375, and for the current consumption of 1 for a normal watch, 5/0.1375 + 1 = 4.4 years, and for a watch with a 3-year lifespan, it is 3/1.1375 ≒ 2.64 years, which means that the battery A chronograph mechanism can be added without much loss in service life.

The concrete structure of the present invention is shown in the plan view of Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.
This will be explained with reference to a cross-sectional view of the figure.

The structure of the signal generating circuit block 46, such as a crystal resonator or MOSIC, has been explained in detail in FIG. 1, and will therefore be omitted. A normal watch sends the signal from the circuit to coil 4.
1, the converter of the rotor 6 consisting of the stator 42 and magnets generates rotational motion, and the number wheels 5, 4,
It is comprised of a front wheel train 3 and 2, and a pinion 44 for indicating a second hand, and a calendar mechanism (not shown) is activated by moving the hands in steps, for example, once every second. Next, as a chronograph converter that responds to a signal with a shorter period than that for a watch, a coil 45,
It consists of a stator 43, a rotor 18, chronograph numbers 17, 16, 15, 14, and 13, and a number wheel 12 for indicating the minute hand.

When viewed from the dial side of a normal watch, the minute hand 62 and hour hand 61 are located near the center of the dial as shown in FIG. 3, and the second hand wheel 44 is located away from the center, for example, in this figure as a second hand pinion. The chronograph second hand 14a is located near the center of the watch,
The chronograph minute hand 12a is away from the center. Although the chronograph hour hand is not shown, the minute hand can be slowed down and positioned away from the center like the minute hand. In other words, since the hands of a regular timepiece and a chronograph can be placed on the entire face of the dial, it is possible to give a powerful image similar to that of a mechanical chronograph. When using a chronograph, the lever 49 is displaced by pressing the externally operated button 47 in FIG.
Then, the contact pin 53 coming out of the circuit comes into contact and gives a chronograph start signal to the circuit. To stop, press the button 48 to release the lever 50.
is displaced, and by selection of the well-known chronograph actuating cam 51, when the lever 50 is displaced, the hammer lever 52 is activated.
engages with heart cams fixed to the second hand wheel 14 and minute hand wheel 12 of the chronograph, and returns to zero. This article has described the general operation of a chronograph, but unlike mechanical chronographs, a friction clutch mechanism is not used for the second hand position, and the watch wheel train and chronograph wheel train are independent, so the number wheels can be adjusted. It can be placed flat, preventing it from becoming thick like a mechanical chronograph.

In addition to the characteristic configuration described above, the chronograph mechanism of the present invention can exhibit further advantages as a crystal watch in the following points. In other words, if the second hand of a chronograph mechanism has the same scale on the dial as the minute scale, the chronograph step motor moves in steps of 1 second/minute as a normal watch function. During a 10-second cycle, the chronograph second hand rotates by dividing the one-second scale into 10 equal parts, so the chronograph hand appears to move smoothly at first glance. Therefore, the movement of the second hand for a timepiece and the movement of the second hand for a chronograph are completely different between steps and sweeps, so it is possible to provide an analog chronograph timepiece that is visually distinctive as a timepiece.

In addition, the second hand of the chronograph mechanism has a cycle of 1/10 seconds,
The rotation angle of the second hand is 1 second scale per step of the motor, that is, 10 scale marks on the dial per second.
If you rotate it by seconds, the seconds scale will correspond to 1/10 seconds, so you can easily measure times in the 1/10 second range. This is a feature of a separate motor type that could not be easily achieved with conventional mechanical or tuning fork type chronograph watches, and the high precision characteristics of a crystal watch can also be demonstrated with a chronograph mechanism. Again, the chronograph seconds hand rotates rapidly across the dial, making it clearly distinguishable from a regular seconds hand.

According to the configuration of the present invention, both the clock function and the chronograph function are configured to be driven by one flat battery, and each of the clock function and the chronograph function is driven by a coil having a core in a direction parallel to the substrate. The motor is driven by a step motor consisting of a rotor and a plate-shaped stator located at a distance from the coil in plane, and the coil, circuit block, battery, and gear train are arranged without overlapping each other, and the gear train for the clock mechanism and By arranging the chronograph wheel trains independently at different planar positions from the center of the watch body toward the outer periphery, and by arranging their respective coils with offsets in the plane, the first chronograph mechanism and the clock mechanism The mechanism is simple and does not require a special clutch mechanism between them, which contributes to making the watch thinner and more compact.Also, as mentioned above, by preventing parts from overlapping as much as possible, This results in a thinner design.

In addition, in this invention, the chrononograph hand, which has a drive cycle of 1 second or less, is placed coaxially with the clock hour hand and the clock minute hand, so it has the advantage of being able to easily read instructions of 1 second or less. By placing the pointer that starts and stops at the following drive cycle in the center, you can easily recognize the operation.
Another advantage is that malfunctions can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention. 21... Time standard, 22... Frequency dividing circuit, 23...
... Drive circuit, 24 ... Converter, 25 ... Front wheel train,
26...Instruction wheel train, 33...Gate circuit, 27...
... Chronograph drive circuit, 28 ... Chronograph converter, 29 ... Chronograph train, 30 ... Chronograph indicator train, 31 ... External operating member, 3
2...Internal input signal, 41...Clock coil, 4
2... Stator for watches, 6... Rotor for watches,
44...Clock second hand wheel, 61...Clock hour hand, 6
2...Minute hand for a clock, 14a...Second hand for a chronograph, 12a...Minute hand for a chronograph.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The only flat drive battery 40 and time standard 2
1 and a signal generation circuit block 46 comprising MOSIC.
and a coil 4 with a core oriented parallel to the watch board.
1, a rotor 6 disposed at a position away from the coil, and a plate-shaped stator 42, and a timepiece step motor driven by the first output signal of the signal generation circuit block; Driven clock second hand 44 clock minute hand 62
and a clock indicator wheel train 2 that operates the clock hour hand 61
a clock mechanism composed of
The chronograph drive circuit 27 includes a chronograph drive circuit 27 operated by an output signal from the watch, a coil 45 having a core parallel to the watch board, a rotor 18 and a plate-like stator 43 arranged at a distance from the coil. Consisting of a chronograph step motor 28 operated by a drive circuit, and a chronograph indicator wheel train 29, 30 that is driven by the chronograph step motor and operates a chronograph pointer 14a having a drive cycle of 1 second or less. the clock minute hand, the clock hour hand, and the rotation center of the chronograph hand having a drive cycle of 1 second or less are arranged on the same axis, and the battery, the coil, and the indicator are arranged on the same axis. The wheel train, the chronograph wheel train, and the signal generation circuit block are arranged so as not to overlap each other, and the timepiece coil, the timepiece wheel train, the chronograph coil, and the chronograph pointer wheel train are arranged so that they do not overlap each other. An analog chronograph crystal watch in which the coils are arranged at different plane positions from the center of the watch body to the outer periphery, and each coil is arranged so that they do not overlap.