JPH11258365A - Electronic watch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an electronic watch where it is easy to find even a small second band is making an alarm motion by moving the hand for alarming by a first pulse. and a second pulse that is outputted to a specific range value from the output of the first pulse. SOLUTION: An electronic watch is provided with an alarm function by the abnormal movement of a small second hand 1, and the abnormal movement of clock hands is made by a first pulse and a second pulse that is outputted in 250 ms or more and less than 1 second from the first pulse. The small second hand 1 is first located at the position of the small second hand 1a. Then, the small hand 1 moves to the position of a small second hand 1b by the first pulse. After that, the small second hand 1 moves to the position of a small second hand 1c by the second pulse that is outputted 250 ms later. Therefore, the small second hand seems to stop at the position of the small second hand 1b momentarily while the small second hand 1 moves from the position of the small second hand 1a to that of the small second hand 1c for a user, thus informing the user of the advance of 2 seconds due to the small second hand 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a warning hand movement of an electronic timepiece having a small second hand.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a display method used for warning of battery life in an electronic timepiece, a method of driving a second hand with two pulses once every two seconds is often used.
This example will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a front view of an electronic timepiece showing a conventional example. In the figure, 9 is a second hand, 2 is a minute hand, and 3 is an hour hand. Reference numeral 6 denotes a dial, and the dial 6 is provided with a cut 4. Normally, the second hand 9 moves every second and advances by one division of the division 4. However, at the end of the battery life, the second hand 9 advances from the position of the second hand 9a to the position of the second hand 9b by two divisions every two seconds by two divisions to warn the user of the end of the battery life. It has become.

FIG. 5A is a waveform diagram of the hand movement pulse at that time. The first pulse P1 is output to the O1 side of one end of the coil at the timing of the second. Then, after 40 ms, the second pulse P2 is output to the O2 side at the other end of the coil. Then, two seconds after the output of the first pulse P1, the first pulse P1 is output to the O1 side again. Hereinafter, similarly, the first pulse P1 and the second pulse P2 are alternately output.

The first pulse P1 and the second pulse P2 are 40 m
Since the output is made at a very short interval of s, it seems that it has advanced 2 seconds at a time. That is, in FIG. 4, the second hand 9 looks as if it has instantaneously moved from the position of the second hand 9a to the position of the second hand 9b.

Further, as a method of warning hand movement using the same second hand 9, a method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-194484 has been proposed. In this manner, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), in the hand movement two seconds after the second pulse P2 is output 40 ms after the first pulse P1 and two seconds after the first pulse P1,
The second pulse P2 is output after 50 ms.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned method, in the case of an electronic timepiece of the small second hand type, the second hand becomes small and the movement becomes difficult to understand. FIG. 6 is a front view of a small second hand type electronic timepiece. In the figure, 1 is a small second hand. The same components as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. In the pulse as shown in FIG. 5 (a), it is instantaneous for the small second hand 1 to move from the small second hand position 1a to the small second hand position 1b.
I do not understand whether I sent seconds. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem and to propose an electronic timepiece in which it is easy to understand that a warning hand is being operated even with a small second hand.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electronic timepiece having a small second hand that moves in steps of one second every second is provided, wherein the electronic timepiece has a warning function by the non-normal movement of the small second hand. The extraordinary hand movement is characterized in that the hand is moved by a first pulse and a second pulse output from the first pulse for 250 ms or more and less than 1 second.

[0008] The non-ordinary hand movement is a warning hand movement for battery life.

The electronic timepiece is equipped with a rechargeable power supply, and the extraordinary hand movement is a hand movement for warning a voltage drop of the rechargeable power supply.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of an electronic timepiece according to an embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the present invention. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a solar cell which is a power generation means, 11 denotes a power supply comprising an electric double layer capacitor,
Reference numeral 12 denotes a clock circuit, reference numeral 13 denotes a voltage detection circuit that detects the voltage of the power supply 11, reference numeral 14 denotes a hand movement circuit that generates a hand movement pulse,
Is a step motor. FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram of a pulse output from the hand movement circuit 14.

Normally, the voltage of the power supply 11 is 1.2 V or more, and the voltage detection circuit 13 outputs an “H” signal to the hand movement circuit 14. The hand operation circuit 14 receives the “H” signal, creates a pulse shown in FIG. 2B from the signal output from the timekeeping circuit 12, and outputs the pulse to the step motor 15. This is a pulse alternately output from the terminals O1 and O2 of the coil every second, and the small second hand 1 moves every second.

However, when the solar cell 11 is not exposed to light, the electronic timepiece consumes the power of the power supply 11, and thus the voltage of the power supply 11 gradually decreases. And power supply 1
When the voltage of 1 becomes less than 1.2 V, the voltage detection circuit 13 outputs an “L” signal to the hand movement circuit 14. Hand operation circuit 14
Receives the "L" signal, generates a pulse shown in FIG. 2A from the signal output from the timing circuit 12, and outputs the pulse to the step motor 15. The pulse shown in FIG. 2A has a different hand movement form than usual, and serves as a warning hand movement that informs the user that the voltage has dropped.

The pulse shown in FIG. 2A outputs a first pulse P1 to the O1 side at the timing of a second. And 250
After ms, the second pulse P2 is output to the O2 side. Then, two seconds after the output of the first pulse P1, the first pulse P1 is output to the O1 side again. Hereinafter, similarly, the first pulse P1 and the second pulse P2 are alternately output. Note that even in this case, two pulses are output every two seconds, so that there is no time delay.

Next, the movement of the small second hand 1 driven by the first pulse P1 and the second pulse P2 described above will be described. The small second hand 1 is first located at the position of the small second hand 1a. Then, the small second hand 1 moves to the position of the small second hand 1b by the first pulse P1. Then, the small second hand 1 moves to the position of the small second hand 1c by the second pulse P2 output 250 ms later. Therefore, when viewed by the user, the small second hand 1a to the small second hand 1c
While the small second hand 1 moves to the position, the small second hand 1
It seems to stop at the position b. Therefore, even if the small second hand 1 is small, it can be informed that it is advanced by 2 seconds without fail.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has two features.
By setting the operation interval of the second hand to 250 ms or more, it is possible to inform the user that the electronic timepiece of the small second hand type, which has a small hand, is surely moving the hand for 2 seconds.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an electronic timepiece according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram of a pulse according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a conventional electronic timepiece.

FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram of a conventional pulse.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a conventional small second hand type electronic timepiece.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Small second hand 2 Minute hand 3 Hour hand 10 Solar cell 11 Power supply 12 Clock circuit 13 Voltage detection circuit 14 Hand operation circuit 15 Step motor P1 First pulse P2 Second pulse

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic timepiece having a small second hand that moves stepwise every second. The electronic timepiece has a warning function by the non-normal movement of the small second hand. An electronic timepiece driven by a second pulse output from a pulse within 250 ms or more and less than 1 second. 2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the extraordinary hand movement is a warning hand movement for battery life. 3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the electronic timepiece is equipped with a rechargeable power supply, and the extraordinary hand movement is a movement that warns of a voltage drop of the rechargeable power supply.