JPH11125682A - Electronic apparatus with solar battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for improving power generation in a wrist watch with a solar battery and other various electronic apparatus with a solar battery by increasing the light reception area of the solar battery. SOLUTION: A cover glass 26 is provided with a parallel plate shape in the part other than the periphery similarly to ordinary cover glass but in the outer surface of the periphery, a light collection part 26a with a curved shape facing to the light reception part 12a of a solar battery 12 is provided. The inclination angle to the horizontal plane of the light collection part 26a increases gradually with progressing outside. Most of this light collection part 26a is formed outside a shaping line formed on the border of a dial ring 14 inside the indication part and a translucent plate 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device with a solar cell, and more particularly, to a power supply which receives external light incident on a display unit, such as a wristwatch having a light receiving surface of a solar cell on a dial surface. The present invention relates to a structure suitable for an electronic device including a solar cell configured as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various kinds of electronic devices configured to operate by power generation of a solar cell by incorporating a solar cell have been used. For example, there is a wristwatch equipped with a solar cell that incorporates a solar cell. In many wristwatches, in order to secure a sufficient light receiving area of the solar cell, a light receiving surface of the solar cell is arranged on a display unit on which a dial is conventionally arranged.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the internal structure of the above-mentioned wristwatch equipped with a solar cell. A movement (not shown) is housed inside the body 10, and a disk-shaped solar cell 12 is fitted to a middle frame 11 that supports and fixes the movement. The outer edge of the solar cell 12 is pressed from above by a dial ring 14 engaged with the body 10. Body 1
A cover glass 16 is press-fitted and fixed to the inner edge portion of the “0” via a packing 15 made of a ring-shaped plastic or the like.

The solar cell 12 corresponds to a dial of a normal wristwatch, and constitutes a display unit together with a pointer (not shown). The surface of the solar cell 12 is a light receiving surface 12a, and external light transmitted through the transparent cover glass 16 is applied to the light receiving surface 12a to generate power. Solar cell 12
Is stored in a secondary battery such as a capacitor (not shown) and supplied to a movement or the like as necessary.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned wristwatch equipped with a solar cell, the amount of power generated by the solar cell 12 is limited because the light receiving surface 12a is limited to the display portion, and ample power is necessarily secured. There is a problem that cannot be done. The light receiving area is determined by the area inside the circular parting line (the boundary between the inner edge of the dial ring 14 and the light receiving surface 12a of the solar cell 12) formed by the dial ring 14 shown in FIG. The light receiving area cannot be changed unless the area of the display section is changed.

Further, as described above, since the light receiving surface 12a of the solar cell 12 is exposed on the display unit, the appearance is poor.
There is also a problem that the design in the display unit cannot be freely performed.

Therefore, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem, and the problem is not limited to the above-mentioned wristwatch with a solar cell, but to various electronic devices with a solar cell other than a method of increasing the light receiving area of the solar cell. Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique for improving the amount of power generated by a solar cell by the method described above.

[0008]

Means taken by the present invention in order to solve the above-mentioned problems are provided in an electronic device with a solar cell provided with a solar cell configured to generate electric power by receiving external light in a light receiving region. And a light condensing means for condensing external light applied to the outside of the light receiving area and guiding the light to the inside of the light receiving area.

According to this means, since the external light irradiated to the outside of the light receiving area by the light condensing means can be guided into the light receiving area, the amount of light received by the solar cell can be increased and the amount of power generation can be increased. .

Here, it is preferable that the light condensing means is provided at an outer edge of a translucent member covering the light receiving area.

According to this means, since the light converging means is provided at the outer edge of the translucent member covering the light receiving area, there is no need to separately provide and arrange the light converging means, and the appearance is not uncomfortable. can do.

In this case, it is preferable that the light condensing means is constituted by a light refracting surface formed on an outer edge of the translucent member.

According to this means, the external light can be refracted by the light refraction surface formed at the outer edge of the translucent member and guided into the light receiving region. In this case, the light condensing means can be easily formed and the manufacturing is easy.

In this case, it is preferable that the refracting surface is formed on the surface of the translucent member in view of easiness of manufacture, and in particular, the refracting surface is capable of protecting the refracting surface. It is desirable to be formed on the inner surface of the translucent member.

Further, it is preferable that the refraction surface is joined to the translucent member and provided on another translucent member having a different refractive index from the translucent member.

According to this means, the refraction surface is provided on a translucent member different from the translucent member covering the light receiving region, and the other translucent member is joined to form another translucent member. Can be changed, so that external light can be more effectively condensed.

Further, it is preferable that the refraction surface is a bonding interface between the light transmitting member and another light transmitting member having a different refractive index from the light transmitting member.

According to this means, the refraction surface can be easily formed inside the member by providing the refraction surface at the joining interface between the translucent member covering the light receiving region and another translucent member. Since the position of the refraction surface can be more freely provided and the optical system can be more freely designed by using two translucent members having different refractive indexes,
It is possible to further improve the light collection characteristics.

In each of the above-mentioned means, it is preferable that the light receiving area is provided in a display section configured so that a predetermined display can be visually recognized.

Since the light receiving area is provided in the display section, a special portion for the light receiving area is not required, so that the size of the device can be reduced. The light receiving area can be made relatively large. In this case, in particular, the light receiving amount can be increased by providing the light collecting means as described above.

The above-mentioned light condensing means guides light outside the light receiving area into the light receiving area. By forming most or all of the light condensing means outside the light receiving area, the visibility of the display unit is improved. Will not be disturbed.

It is preferable that a translucent dial (semi-transparent plate) is arranged on the light receiving surface of the solar cell while the light receiving amount of the solar cell is secured by the above configuration. With this configuration, since the light receiving surface of the solar cell is not directly exposed on the display unit, the display unit can be designed and the appearance can be improved.

[0023]

Next, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Each of the embodiments described below shows an example in which a light receiving surface of a solar cell is arranged on a display unit of a wristwatch, but the present invention is not limited to a wristwatch, a pocket watch, a mobile phone, various display devices. The present invention can be applied to various electronic devices provided with a solar cell, such as a measuring device, a card, and a calculator. Here, the electronic device encompasses any article having a solar cell as an electronic structure.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a first embodiment of the present invention. The inner frame 11, the solar cell 12, the dial ring 14, and the packing 15 press-fitted into the body 10 are substantially the same as those described above.

In this embodiment, the translucent plate 13 is disposed on the light receiving surface 12a of the solar cell 12, and the dial ring 1
4 presses the translucent plate 13. As the translucent plate 13, a translucent thin film on the surface of a transparent plate made of a cloudy polycarbonate resin or other synthetic resin plate, a thin ceramic plate, a thin paper, a translucent thin stone plate, an acrylic resin or other various materials, What fixed a film etc. by printing, vapor deposition, application, sticking, etc. can be used.

The translucent plate 13 is a light receiving surface 12 of the solar cell 12.
This is for improving the appearance of the display unit by preventing a from being directly exposed on the display unit. Translucent plate 13
As long as it transmits at least about 40% of the light in the use wavelength range of the solar cell 12, the power consumption of a normal wristwatch can be sufficiently ensured.

In this embodiment, a cover glass 26 is press-fitted and fixed to the body 10 via a packing 15. The cover glass 26 is provided with a parallel plate shape in a portion other than the peripheral edge like the normal cover glass, but is directed toward the light receiving surface 12a of the solar cell 12 on the outer surface of the peripheral edge (downward in the figure). T) a light-collecting surface 26a having a curved surface (lens shape). That is, the inclination angle of the light-collecting surface portion 26a with respect to the horizontal plane gradually increases toward the outside. Most of the light-collecting surface 26a is formed by the dial ring 14 and the translucent plate 13 in the display unit.
Are formed outside of the parting line formed at the boundary with.

The light-collecting surface 26a functions as a refracting surface for refracting external light into the display. In the conventional structure shown in FIG. 7, the light radiated outside the parting line is radiated to the dial ring 14 and the like.
2a is not irradiated. However, in the present embodiment, most of the light applied to the light-collecting surface 26a is refracted inward from the parting line even if it is outside the parting line, and is applied to the light receiving surface 12a of the solar cell 12. Therefore, the amount of light received by the solar cell 12 can be increased as compared with the related art, so that the amount of power generated by the solar cell 12 can be increased.

If there is a curved surface such as the light-collecting surface 26a, the visibility usually deteriorates. However, most of the light-collecting surface 26a of the cover glass 26 has the outer edge of the light-receiving surface 12a of the solar cell 12. Since it is formed outside the specified parting line, the refraction of the light-collecting surface 26a hardly lowers the visibility of the display unit. In order to avoid a decrease in the visibility of the display unit, it is preferable that the light-collecting surface 26a is formed only outside the parting line.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the parts other than the cover glass 36 are completely the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The description is omitted. In this embodiment, a Fresnel lens 36a is formed on the outer surface of the peripheral portion of the cover glass 36. The Fresnel lens 36a is formed by concentrically forming a plurality of annular refraction orbicular zones as is known. The Fresnel lens 36a is also formed outside the parting line of the display unit, and is configured to refract external light incident on the outside to the inside of the parting line of the display unit.

In the case of the Fresnel lens 36a, since it is formed outside the parting line, the visibility of the display unit is not impaired.

(Third Embodiment) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a Fresnel lens 46a similar to the second embodiment is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral portion of the cover glass 46. The Fresnel lens 46a also performs the same operation as in the second embodiment, and guides external light incident outside the parting line to the inside of the parting line, thereby increasing the power generation amount of the solar cell 12. Further, in this case, since the uneven shape is formed on the inner surface of the cover glass 46, the appearance does not deteriorate, and the Fresnel lens 46a can be protected by the cover glass 46 itself, thereby preventing chipping of the lens portion and the like, and It is a target.

(Fourth Embodiment) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, an inclined surface portion 56a cut obliquely is formed on the outer surface of the peripheral portion of the cover glass 56, and the refractive index is formed on the inclined surface portion 56a. The high refraction layer 57 is formed into a thin film by a physical film forming method such as vapor deposition and sputtering or a chemical film forming method such as plasma CVD. As a material of the refraction layer 57, in addition to sapphire used as a cover glass of a wrist watch, ZrO ₂ , TiO ₂ , InO ₂ , CdS,
CdSe, CeO ₂ , HfO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , Ta ₂ O
₃ , high refractive index materials such as ZnSe, ZnS, ZrTiO ₄ , and Y ₂ O ₃ can be used.

In this embodiment, since the external light is refracted by the refraction layer 57, the light outside the parting line can be guided to the inside. In particular, as shown in the drawing, the refraction angle can be increased by making the inclination angle of the refraction layer 57 larger than the inclination angle of the inclined surface portion 56a.

It should be noted that a half mirror is formed on the surface of the inclined surface portion 56a in this embodiment instead of a refraction layer.
By providing a reflection layer on a portion of the inner surface of the cover glass 56 facing the dial ring, it is possible to guide the external light incident outside the parting line to the inside while reflecting the external light by the half mirror and the reflection layer. .

(Fifth Embodiment) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a ring-shaped refractor 67 having a high refractive index is adhered to the outer edge of a cover glass 66 using a transparent adhesive or the like. The outer surface of the refractor 67 is formed into an inclined surface 67a. The inclined surface 67a is formed outside the parting line. As the material having a high refractive index, those shown in the fourth embodiment can be used. In this embodiment, the external light incident on the inclined surface 67a is largely refracted by the high refractive index of the refractor 67 and guided to the inside of the parting line.

If the joining surface 67b of the refractor 67 is formed to be slightly inclined as shown in the figure, the joining operation with the cover glass 66 can be easily performed. In this case, the refractor 67 is preferably formed by plastic molding. In particular, by inclining the joining surface 67a obliquely inward toward the display unit (light receiving area) as shown in the figure, the optical effect of the joining surface 67b when condensing light can be reduced.

(Sixth Embodiment) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, an inclined surface portion 76a is formed on the outer surface of the peripheral portion of the cover glass 76, and a cover glass is formed on the surface of the inclined surface portion 76a. A refraction plate 77 having a lower refractive index is bonded. Materials having a low refractive index include MgF ₂ , CaF ₂ , Na ₃ AlF ₆ , and SiO ₂ . An inclined surface 77a is also formed on the outer surface of the refraction plate 77.

In this embodiment, the inclined surface 7 of the refraction plate 77
Although slight refraction occurs even at 7a, refraction also occurs at the joint interface 76a between the refraction plate 77 and the cover glass 76, and both act to guide outside light outside the parting line to the inside. In this embodiment, since the bonding interface 76a at which refraction occurs can be disposed obliquely below the inclined surface 77a of the refraction plate 77, which is the outer surface, the refraction surface is configured inside the bonding cover glass. Thus, there is an advantage that the light-collecting action from the outside can be ensured without largely changing the appearance of the cover glass with respect to the normal cover glass.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, the external light irradiated to the outside of the light receiving region by the light condensing means can be guided into the light receiving region. The amount can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a first embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing a structure of a second embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a third embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a fourth embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a fifth embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a sixth embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the structure of a display unit of a conventional wristwatch equipped with a solar cell.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Body 11 Middle frame 12 Solar cell 12a Light receiving surface 13 Translucent plate 14 Dial ring 15 Packing 16, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66, 76 Cover glass 26a Light collecting surface part 36a, 46a Fresnel lens 56a Inclined surface part 57 Refraction layer 67 Refractor 76a Joining interface 77 Refractor

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device with a solar cell including a solar cell configured to receive external light and generate power in a light receiving area, wherein the external light irradiated to the outside of the light receiving area is condensed to receive the light. An electronic device with a solar cell, comprising: a light condensing means for guiding light into a region. 2. The electronic device with a solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the light collecting means is provided at an outer edge of a light-transmitting member that covers the light receiving area. 3. The electronic device with a solar cell according to claim 2, wherein said condensing means is constituted by a light refraction surface formed on an outer edge of said translucent member. 4. The electronic device with a solar cell according to claim 3, wherein the refraction surface is formed on a surface of the translucent member. 5. The electronic device with a solar cell according to claim 4, wherein the refraction surface is formed on an inner surface of the translucent member. 6. The translucent member according to claim 3, wherein the refracting surface is joined to the translucent member and provided on another translucent member having a different refractive index from the translucent member. Electronic equipment with solar cells. 7. The sun according to claim 3, wherein the refracting surface is a bonding interface between the translucent member and another translucent member having a different refractive index from the translucent member. Electronic equipment with batteries. 8. The electronic device with a solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving area is provided in a display unit configured to allow a predetermined display to be visually recognized.