JPH019034Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an analog timepiece equipped with a thin film solar cell, in which the time display scale of the analog timepiece consists of a transparent boundary between several stages of thin film solar cells formed on a transparent substrate.

As shown in Fig. 1, in the conventional design, a metal electrode 1a formed by vapor deposition of aluminum was provided on the entire boundary of each thin-film amorphous solar cell 1, which also served as a time display scale for an analog clock. .
However, this method has a problem in that the color of the time display scale is limited to the color of the metal electrode, that is, silvery white colored by aluminum vapor deposition. This means that the color tone of the thin film amorphous solar cell 1, which occupies a relatively large area of the surface area forming the display part of the watch, that is, the color tone formed by the amorphous silicon layer that generally forms the thin film solar cell. In addition to being limited to blue-based colors, this significantly limits the appearance, which is the key point of the display part of the watch, and has the problem that the design of the watch is severely restricted.

The present invention attempts to solve these problems, and its purpose is not to form the metal electrodes on the entire boundary area of thin-film solar cells, but to form them on the outer periphery, which is a part of the boundary area. By making the other parts of the boundary part transparent, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in forming the color tone of the time display scale and expand the design variations of analog watches with solar cells.

A dial with a surface finish, a transparent substrate placed on the cover glass side with respect to the dial and formed with a plurality of thin film solar cells connected in series in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery, and a transparent substrate formed on the inner and outer periphery. and a cover glass having a covered portion, the transparent substrate is formed so as to equally divide the plurality of thin film solar cells in the circumferential direction to form a boundary portion, and a A difference in color tone between the color tone of the surface finish of the dial plate and the color tone of the thin film solar cell, which can be seen through a metal electrode formed on the outer periphery of the boundary portion for conductive connection and a transparent portion formed on the boundary portion. 1. An analog timepiece with a solar cell, characterized in that the metal electrode is covered with the cover part of a cover glass.

The present invention will be described in detail below based on examples.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 14 denotes a dial plate, and above this is arranged a transparent glass substrate 12 on which amorphous solar cells 11 connected in series in multiple stages are formed. The time display scale consists of the boundary portions 12a of each thin-film solar cell, and is transparent because it is untreated. The conduction of each thin film solar cell is achieved by a metal electrode 11a provided on the outer periphery of the glass substrate. The metal electrode 11a is connected to a cover glass 16 placed above the glass substrate 12.
It is largely hidden by the inner printing 15. Since the dial 14 has a finish, color, etc., it is possible to see the finish, color, etc. of the dial through the central transparent portion 12b including the time display scale 12a of the glass substrate in the plan view of FIG. . Therefore, the actual time display scale visible to the human eye has an outline formed between the transparent boundary portion 12a between each thin film solar cell 11 formed on the transparent glass substrate 12 and the inner surface printing 15 of the cover glass 16. It is formed by a partition, and its color tone is the color tone of the surface finish of the dial 14 seen through the transparent boundary portion 12a. Here, since the color tone of the thin-film solar cell 11 is a blue-based color as in the prior art, the time display scale is determined by this blue-based color, the color tone difference between the printed color of the inner surface printing 15, and the surface color of the dial plate 14. be identified and readable. In the case of FIG. 3, it is assumed that the hour and minute hands rotate between the glass substrate 12 and the dial 14, but the glass substrate 1
The hour and minute hands may be moved between the glass substrate 12 and the cover glass 16 by placing the number 2 immediately above the dial, printing the same as 15 on the top surface of the glass substrate 12 to cover the metal electrodes. Furthermore, the portions of the dial corresponding to the glass substrates 12b and 12a may be of the same color or may have different colors or finishes.

According to the present invention, first, the thin film solar cell is formed on a transparent substrate, and is not formed on the cover glass or dial plate, so that the thin film solar cell can be formed on a dedicated transparent substrate, and the thin film solar cell can be manufactured. This makes it easy to maintain quality, stable quality, and convenient after-sales service without affecting other functional parts. In particular, a plurality of thin-film solar cells are formed on a transparent substrate so as to be equally divided in the circumferential direction to form a boundary, and a metal electrode for electrically connecting each thin-film solar cell is formed on the outer periphery of the boundary. The time display scale can be read by the color tone difference between the color tone of the thin film solar cell and the color tone of the surface finish of the dial that can be seen through the transparent part formed at the boundary. For example, compared to the conventional technology, since the time display scale part 12a formed on a transparent substrate is transparent, by changing the finish and color tone of the dial plate, the finish and color tone of the time display scale can be freely expressed. , it has the unique effect of significantly expanding the design variations in appearance.

The time scale, along with the hands, is the most important part of a watch. It is essential for a watch to be used as an accessory to be able to freely choose the finish color, without being limited to the conventional silver-white electrode color. Particularly in overseas markets, gold cases are preferred and it is common knowledge that the time scale is also gold, making the present invention effective. Also, when a solar cell watch is used as a dress watch, being able to come in a variety of finishes and colors, including gold, is an important factor in determining its success or failure. In addition, the metal electrode formed on the outer periphery of the boundary part for conductive connection of each thin-film solar cell is covered by the covering part formed on the inner periphery of the cover glass, so that its unique silvery white color is Since the screen is blindfolded, a good appearance without being unsightly can be obtained. As described above, the present invention is extremely important for the design variations of thin film solar cell watches and for the expansion of thin film solar cell watches to dress watches.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional thin-film solar cell transparent substrate, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a thin-film solar cell transparent substrate showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an assembled vertical sectional view of FIG. 2. 1,11...Amorphous solar cell, 1a,1
1a...Metal electrode, 2, 12...Glass substrate,
12a...Time display scale, 14...Dial board.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A dial with a surface finish, a transparent substrate placed on the cover glass side with respect to the dial and formed with a plurality of thin film solar cells connected in series in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery, and a transparent substrate formed on the inner and outer periphery. and a cover glass having a covered portion, the transparent substrate is formed so as to equally divide the plurality of thin film solar cells in the circumferential direction to form a boundary portion, and a A difference in color tone between the color tone of the surface finish of the dial and the color tone of the thin film solar cell as seen through a metal electrode formed on the outer periphery of the boundary portion for conductive connection and a transparent portion formed on the boundary portion. 1. An analog timepiece with a solar cell, characterized in that the metal electrode is covered with the cover part of a cover glass.