JPH05264757A - Electronic clock device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a device which has a large screen for ease of reading of display details, is light, is superb in shock resistance and breakdown voltage and can select either analog or digital display by holding a liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal with a resin substrate. CONSTITUTION:A main body 1 is provided with a touch panel 2 and a liquid crystal display 3 which perform correction of time and input operation such as switching of either analog or digital display on the surface, a solar cell/power supply part 4, and an IC chip 8 inside. The display 3 uses a ferroelectric liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal such as copolymer as a liquid crystal material, thus improving strength and durability against outer force such as shock and reducing power consumption. A flexibile substrate such as polyamide is used for resin substrate 17a and 17b which hold the liquid crystal material, thus obtaining a liquid crystal display element which can display a large area and a curved surface. The chip 8 measures time, performs signal processing for display analog or digital display with a CPU, etc., performs input processing of press signal from the panel 2, and then outputs a specified signal to the display 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece device that displays information about the current time and the time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electronic timepiece, the current time is generally displayed on a liquid crystal display element using a low molecular liquid crystal in analog or digital form.

[0003]

The electronic timepiece using the liquid crystal display element of low molecular weight liquid crystal in the prior art has the following problems. The display area is small and it is difficult to read the display contents. Since glass is used as the substrate, damage is likely to occur when dropped, and safety is poor. Moreover, when the display unit is upsized, the weight increases. Since the distance between the polarizing plates is large and the optical path length is long, the viewing angle of the display portion is narrow and it is difficult to read the display contents.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional technique, and it is possible to increase the area of the display portion of the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal material, the display content can be easily read, and the glass substrate is not used as the substrate. So it's lightweight,
Damage due to external pressure is unlikely to occur, the distance between polarizing plates is small, and the optical path length is short, so the viewing angle of the display is wide. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic timepiece device having excellent impact resistance and pressure resistance and capable of selecting analog display or digital display.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, the electronic timepiece device of the present invention uses a liquid crystal display element composed of a liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal sandwiched by a resin substrate to display the time and the like. A liquid crystal display unit for displaying information is formed, and a solar cell is provided as a power source as necessary.

[0006]

In the electronic timepiece device having such a structure, the area of the display portion of the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal material can be increased, and the display content can be easily read. In addition, it has good memory performance, low power consumption, light weight, and since it does not use a glass substrate, it is less likely to be damaged by external pressure.
Due to the feature that the distance between the polarizing plates is small and the optical path length is short, the viewing angle of the display is wide, the display screen is easy to read, the power consumption is small, the weight is light and the impact resistance is high.
Excellent in pressure resistance, and analog display or digital display can be selected.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the electronic timepiece device of the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the embodiment. In FIG. 1, this example shows a transparent touch panel 2 for performing time correction and input operation for switching between analog display and digital display on the surface of a main body 1, and a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal for displaying time in analog or digital. Using a liquid crystal display element including, a liquid crystal display unit 3 to which a touch panel 2 is joined and a solar cell / power supply unit 4 are provided below the surface.

Further, a timer circuit built in the main body 1 for counting the time described below and a signal processing for analog or digital display of the clocked current time are output and one of them is output. A signal processing circuit, a selection signal processing circuit for performing selection signal processing when selecting one of an analog display signal and a digital display signal, a drive / image signal processing circuit, and an input signal processing circuit connected to the touch panel 2 are provided. It has an IC chip 8. Further, in order to attach this structure to an installation target such as a wall, strip-shaped adhesive members 9a and 9b are provided on the upper and lower sides of the back surface of the main body 1. The adhesive members 9a and 9b may have their area and material determined in consideration of the weight of the structural body and the shape of the attachment object regardless of the strip shape.

As a solar battery cell used for the solar battery 4, an inexpensive amorphous silicon type or the like can be used. For example, a CMOS-IC normally requires a voltage of about 3V, but a solar cell that generates a required voltage is used, or a plurality of solar cells are connected in series to obtain a required voltage. Since the output voltage of the solar cell 4 changes when the illuminance at the place of use changes, a constant voltage circuit may be provided,
It can be stabilized by combining an appropriate secondary battery such as a nickel cadmium battery.

As a power supply for supplying power to the IC chip 8, a battery other than a solar battery can be used, and a film-shaped thin battery or the like is suitable without impairing the lightness and thinness. As the drive circuit for driving the liquid crystal display unit 3 according to the operation of the touch panel 2, the same drive method and circuit as those for the low-molecular ferroelectric liquid crystal can be used. In the case of the dot matrix system, for example, JP-A 1-2
The methods described in Japanese Patent No. 6543 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-97445 can be preferably used. In the case of the segment method, a known method can be preferably used. These circuit configurations have existing driver driver ICs for TN cells
Although various general-purpose ICs or the like can be used, when a solar battery or a thin battery is used as a power source, it is preferable to use a CMOS IC or the like which consumes particularly low power.

FIG. 2 shows the electrical construction of this electronic timepiece device. 2, this example is composed of a touch panel 2, a liquid crystal display unit 3, a solar cell 4, and an IC chip 8. The IC chip 8 is a clock circuit 8a for continuously clocking time.
The time setting start / end operation unit 2a of the touch panel 2 for setting hour / minute / second setting start / end setting of the clock circuit 8a,
The time setting unit 2b, the minute setting unit 2c, the second (zero second forced setting) setting unit 2d, the analog / digital (A / D) display switching operation unit 2e, and the like are controlled by an instruction, and a working RAM and a program are stored. CPU with ROM
8b, an analog / digital (A / D) signal generation circuit 8c that generates one of an analog display signal or a digital display signal under the control of the CPU 8b, and an analog display signal from the analog / digital (A / D) signal generation circuit 8c Alternatively, a drive / image signal processing circuit 8d that supplies a digital display signal to the liquid crystal display unit 3 and outputs an image signal for driving and displaying is connected to the touch panel 2, and the CPU 8b recognizes the pressing on the touch panel 2. , And an input signal processing circuit 8e for outputting a signal for controlling.

FIG. 3 shows a partial sectional structure taken along the line AA in FIG. Here, the ferroelectric liquid crystal material of the liquid crystal display unit 3 is sandwiched and held by the substrates 17a and 17b to which the two transparent electrodes 18a and 18b are bonded.
The C chip 8 is connected to the transparent electrodes 18a and 18b. The two transparent electrodes 18a and 18b are joined by an adhesive 20 and polarizing plates 21a and 21b are provided. It should be noted that only one of the polarizing plates 21a and 21b may be provided, and the polarizing plate 21b on the rear surface and the main body 1 may be used.
A reflector may be arranged between the and.

As the substrates 17a and 17b, those usually used for liquid crystal display elements can be preferably used. Examples thereof include crystalline polymers such as uniaxially or biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate, non-crystalline polymers such as polysulfone and polyether sulfone, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyamides such as polycarbonate and nylon. By using such a flexible substrate, the display surface of the liquid crystal display element can be curved, and a liquid crystal display element capable of high-speed, large-area, curved surface display can be obtained. Further, it is possible to obtain a liquid crystal display element whose display does not disappear even after the power is turned off.

As the electrodes formed on the substrate, those usually used for liquid crystal display elements can be preferably used, and transparent electrodes are preferable. For example, NESA film and I
An example is a TO film. The electrode pattern may be a stripe pattern for dot matrix display, a pattern for segment display, or a mixture thereof, depending on the display content required.

As a method for sandwiching the above liquid crystal composition with the substrate with electrodes, a known method can be applied without particular limitation. In particular, since a flexible substrate is used, a method of continuously applying a liquid crystal composition to a substrate with electrodes and laminating it to a counter substrate is preferable because of excellent productivity. Further, the liquid crystal display device is preferably subjected to horizontal alignment treatment so that the smectic layer normal of the liquid crystal composition is in the vertical direction of the liquid crystal display device. By doing so, the viewing angle in the lateral direction is improved. The alignment treatment method is not particularly limited, but a bending alignment method which is excellent in continuous and high-speed productivity (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI-2)
It is preferable to use a mechanical alignment method such as that described in JP-10322) because an alignment control film such as a rubbing film can be eliminated. Examples of the transparent electrodes 18a and 18b include a tin oxide film called an NESA film, an indium oxide film mixed with tin oxide called an ITO film, an indium oxide film, a vapor-deposited film of gold or titanium, or another thin film metal or An alloy or the like is used.

When a liquid crystal material containing a polymer ferroelectric liquid crystal is used as the liquid crystal material of the liquid crystal display unit 3, the strength and durability against external force such as impact or bending can be improved. Further, the memory property of the ferroelectric liquid crystal can be utilized, and the power consumption can be reduced. Examples of the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal include, for example, one or more kinds of ferroelectric polymer liquid crystals, one or more kinds of ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystals, and one or more kinds of ferroelectric polymers. Examples thereof include a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal composed of liquid crystal, a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal composed of one or more kinds of ferroelectric low molecular liquid crystal, and one or more kinds of other polymer liquid crystal. That is, as the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal, a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal (a homopolymer or a copolymer or a mixture thereof) in which polymer molecules themselves exhibit ferroelectric liquid crystal characteristics, a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal and other Mixture of high molecular liquid crystal and / or ordinary polymer, mixture of ferroelectric high molecular liquid crystal and ferroelectric low molecular liquid crystal, ferroelectric high molecular liquid crystal, ferroelectric low molecular liquid crystal and high molecular liquid crystal, and / or Polymeric liquid crystals exhibiting all ferroelectric properties can be used, such as mixtures with common polymers or mixtures of these with normal low-molecular liquid crystals.

Among the above ferroelectric polymer liquid crystals, for example, a side chain type ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal having a chiral smectic C phase is preferably used. Further, the ferroelectric liquid crystal composition may contain an adhesive, a viscosity reducing agent, a non-liquid crystal chiral compound, a dye, etc., if necessary. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer is not particularly limited, but is preferably 1 to 10 μm, and particularly preferably 1.5 to 3 μm. Examples of the ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer include an acrylate main chain liquid crystal polymer, a methacrylate main chain liquid crystal polymer, a chloroacrylate main chain liquid crystal polymer, an oxirane main chain liquid crystal polymer, a siloxane main chain liquid crystal polymer, and a siloxane-
Included are olefin main chain liquid crystal polymers and ester main chain liquid crystal polymers.

[0018]

[Chemical 1]

[0019]

[Chemical 2]

[0020]

[Chemical 3]

[0021]

[Chemical 4]

In the repeating unit of the above-mentioned ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer, the side chain skeleton may be replaced with a biphenyl skeleton, a phenylbenzoate skeleton, a biphenylbenzoate skeleton, or a phenyl 4-phenylbenzoate skeleton. The benzene ring in the skeleton is a pyrimidine ring, a pyridine ring, a pyridazine ring, a pyrazine ring, a tetrazine ring,
It may be substituted with a cyclohexane ring, a dioxane ring, a dioxaborinane ring, or may be substituted with a halogen group such as fluorine or chlorine or a cyano group, a 1-methylalkyl group, a 2-fluoroalkyl group, a 2-chloroalkyl group, 2-chloro-3-methylalkyl group, 2-trifluoromethylalkyl group, 1-alkoxycarbonylethyl group, 2-alkoxy-1-methylethyl group, 2-alkoxypropyl group, 2-chloro-1-methylalkyl group , 2-alkoxycarbonyl-1-trifluoromethylpropyl group and the like, and the length of the spacer may vary in the range of 2 to 30 methylene chain length. The ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer preferably has a number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 200,000.

Examples of the ferroelectric low molecular weight liquid crystal compound include Schiff base type ferroelectric low molecular weight liquid crystal compounds, azo and azoxy type ferroelectric low molecular weight liquid crystal compounds, biphenyl and aromatic ester type ferroelectric low molecular weight liquid crystal compounds. Compound,
Examples thereof include ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compounds having a ring substituent such as halogen and cyano group, and ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compounds having a heterocycle.

[0024]

[Chemical 5]

[0025]

[Chemical 6]

[0026]

[Chemical 7]

[0027]

[Chemical 8]

The above-mentioned compounds are typical compounds of the ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compound, and the ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compound is not limited to these structural formulas. The above-mentioned ferroelectric liquid crystal material is preferably one that has been stretched by a cast-stretching method or the like, or applied by a roll coat method described later to form an alignment treatment. As the adhesive 20, for example, an epoxy type adhesive is used.

Here, for example, a step of patterning an electrode corresponding to a liquid crystal display portion and a drive circuit portion on the electrode surface of the substrate with a transparent electrode, and a ferroelectric property on the liquid crystal display portion on the electrode surface of the substrate. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI-2.
It can be manufactured by the manufacturing method shown in -208096.

Next, the operation and use of the electronic timepiece device having this structure will be described. In the electronic timepiece device shown in FIG. 1, the adhesive members 9a and 9b on the back surface of the main body 1 are attached to desired positions of an object to be placed such as a wall, and the whole is fixed. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the time is displayed in analog. After power is supplied to the IC chip 8 from the solar cell 4, the analog / digital (A.
D) Through the signal generation circuit 8c and the drive / image signal processing circuit 8d, characters [start / end] indicating the time setting start / end operation unit 2a, characters [hour] of the hour setting unit 2b, minute setting unit 2c
Character [minute], second (zero second forced setting) setting section 2d character [second], and analog / digital (A / D) display switching operation section 2e character [A / D] are the touch panel 2, that is, the liquid crystal. An image is displayed on the display unit 3. Next, when the switching operation unit 2e for analog / digital (A / D) display is pressed once to turn it on (ON), the CPU 8b recognizes the pressing of the analog display through the input signal processing circuit 8e.

The CPU 8b is an analog / digital (A.
D) The signal generation circuit 8c is instructed to perform an analog display, and the signal is displayed through the drive / image signal processing circuit 8d, for example, at 12 o'clock, and the time setting starts.
In this state, when the time setting start / end operation unit 2a is pressed once, the CPU 8b recognizes the position of this pressing. With this recognition, the CPU 8b controls the start of the time setting, and the hour hand setting section 2b is pressed to sequentially control the hour hand in a clockwise direction in a stepwise manner. Similarly, the minute setting unit 2c is pressed to cause the long hand to indicate a desired minute. Further, the second (zero second forced setting) setting unit 2d is pressed to forcibly set it to zero second. After that, when the time setting start / end operation unit 2a is pressed, the CPU 8b recognizes this pressing and the time setting ends. After this, the current time data measured by the timing circuit 8a is the CPU 8b, analog / digital (A / D)
It is supplied to the liquid crystal display unit 3 through the signal generation circuit 8c and the drive / image signal processing circuit 8d, and the time is continuously displayed in analog.

FIG. 4B shows a state in which the time is digitally displayed. In this case, the same operation as the analog display shown in FIG. That is, [0
0:00]], then analog / digital (A.
D) The display switching operation section 2e is pressed twice to turn it on (O
N). After that, the predetermined time is set in the same manner as the time setting operation in the analog display.

[0033]

As described above, according to the electronic timepiece device of the present invention, the display content is easy to read on a large screen, and it is lightweight, has excellent shock resistance and pressure resistance, and has an analog display or a digital display. It has the effect that can be selected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view in which a part of the configuration of an embodiment of an electronic timepiece device of the present invention is cut away.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration in the embodiment.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view provided for explaining the operation and use of the analog display in the embodiment. (B) It is a perspective view provided for operation and use explanation of digital display in an example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body 2 Touch Panel 3 Liquid Crystal Display Section 4 Solar Cell 8 IC Chips 9a, 9b Adhesive Member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic timepiece device characterized in that a liquid crystal display unit for displaying information such as time is formed by a liquid crystal display element formed by sandwiching a liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal with a resin substrate. .. 2. The electronic timepiece device according to claim 1, further comprising a solar cell as a power source.