JPH11304964A - Alarm clock - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the display of the setting of an alarm clock to be recognized even in a dark room. SOLUTION: A clock 1 is provided with a display part 2 for displaying current time and a display part 4 for displaying whether an alarm has been set or not. Weather can be displayed at the display part 4 by operating a switch 7. The display 4 is in an LED(light-emitting diode) display or a liquid crystal display with backlight and allows display details to be easily discriminated even in the darkness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an alarm clock, and more particularly, to an alarm clock capable of easily recognizing whether or not an alarm function has been set.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After setting an alarm function (alarm function) of an alarm clock and going to sleep, the user sometimes wakes up before the set scheduled time. At this time, it is determined whether or not the alarm function has been set. Sometimes you want to. In a conventional alarm clock, whether or not the alarm function is set is recognized by confirming the position of a switch used for setting the function, that is, checking the on / off state of the switch.

[0003]

However, when the user wakes up at midnight, the surroundings are dark, so that the switch is turned on and off.
It is difficult to confirm the off state. In addition, it is normal to want to know the time when the user wakes up, but even in that case, it is difficult to visually recognize the time in the dark. Some alarm clocks have fluorescent paint applied to the characters indicating the time or the hands of the clock, but it is not easy to identify the display from a slightly distant position.

[0004] If the presence or absence of the alarm function setting and the time cannot be recognized, the user of the alarm clock feels anxious and frustrated, rises and turns on the light to check whether the alarm function is set and the time, and looks at the clock. The operation is called. Such actions during sleep are inconvenient,
You may wake up completely from sleep and get sick.

[0005] In addition to the presence or absence of an alarm function and the current time, there are times when it is desired to know weather conditions such as indoor / outdoor temperature, humidity, weather, and the like. There is no. In particular, no alarm clock could satisfy all of these requirements in a dark room.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an alarm clock capable of easily recognizing a weather condition in addition to an alarm function set and a time display in a dark room in response to the above demand.

[0007]

An alarm clock according to the present invention comprises a time display means for displaying a current time, an alarm setting means for setting an alarm, and an alarm for displaying that the alarm has been set by the alarm setting means. Display means, and the wake-up display means is configured to display by a light emitting element or a liquid crystal display device with a lighting device.

According to the above feature, the setting of the wake-up is displayed by the light emitting element or the liquid crystal display unit with the lighting device, so that it is possible to easily determine whether or not the wake-up is set even in the dark.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an alarm clock. In the figure, a clock 1 has four display units 2, 3,
4 and 5 are provided. The first display unit 2 displays the current time, and the second display unit 3 displays the room temperature. On the other hand, both the third display unit 4 and the fourth display unit 5 display two types of information. For example,
The third display unit 4 alternately displays the time when the alarm is set and the weather display. The fourth display unit 5 alternately displays the indoor humidity and the outside air temperature. FIG. 1 shows an example in which a weather forecast is displayed on the third display unit 4 and an outside air temperature is displayed on the fourth display unit 5.

The third display section 4 normally displays the weather. When the alarm clock is set, the display is switched to the alarm clock time display, and the display is switched to the weather display again by a switch operation as needed. The display of the room humidity and the outside air temperature on the fourth display unit 5 may be switched by a switch operation, or may be configured to be automatically switched at every scheduled time (for example, every 5 seconds) by setting a timer.

The display units 2 to 5 are constituted by a light emitting diode (LED) display panel or a liquid crystal display panel so that the display contents can be recognized even in darkness. In particular, the liquid crystal display panel is so-called with a backlight so that it can be distinguished even in darkness. Since the display using the LED display panel or the liquid crystal display panel can be performed with relatively small power consumption, the display units 2 to 5 are used.
Can be driven by a direct current such as a dry battery. When rectifying and using an alternating current of a commercial power supply (for example, 100 V) instead of a dry battery, display is performed using this rectified current, and the storage battery is charged and used for both AC and DC. Is preferably not erased.

A switch 6 provided on the upper surface of the timepiece 1
Is used for setting an alarm clock. When this switch 6 is pushed to the ON (ON) side, the alarm clock is set. The switch 7 is provided for switching the display of the third display unit 4, and the switch 8 is provided for switching the display of the fourth display unit 5. When the switch 7 or the switch 8 is pressed, the two types of display contents displayed on the third display unit 4 and the fourth display unit 5 are switched to a display different from the display at that time. The display of the room humidity and the outside air temperature may be configured so that one of them is displayed with priority and the display is switched to the other only when the switch 8 is pressed.

For example, when the wake-up is set by the switch 6, the wake-up time is displayed on the third display unit 4. After that, the display state is maintained until the switch 7 is operated, and the switch 7 is operated. It is configured so that weather display is sometimes made. The weather display preferably has a timer function to return to the wake-up time display at the scheduled time (for example, one minute later) unless the switch 6 is pressed to cancel the wake-up setting.

In this way, when the user wakes up before the alarm time comes, the third display section 4 of the timepiece 1 can be used to recognize the presence / absence of the alarm setting based on the presence / absence of the time display. If the user wants to know the weather at that time, the user can press the switch 7 to switch to the weather display. FIG.
It is a figure which shows the example of a display when the display of the display part 4 and the 4th display part 5 is each switched to the display of the wake-up time and the display of room humidity.

The timepiece 1 is provided with an operation switch for adjusting the current time or the wake-up time, but is not shown because it is not a main part of the present embodiment. Further, the shapes of the switches 6, 7, 8 are not limited to those shown in the drawings.
Further, these arrangement positions are not limited to the upper surface of the timepiece 1 and may be on any surface. For example, display changeover switches 7 and 8
Is disposed on the surface of the timepiece 1 adjacent to the third display unit 4 and the fourth display unit 5 so that the correspondence between the switch and the display unit can be easily recognized (the dotted line part 7 in FIG. 2).
a, 8a).

A cord 9 extending from the back of the timepiece 1
A temperature sensor 10 that can be exposed to the outside air to detect the outside air temperature is provided at the tip of the device. Temperature sensor 1
A value of 0 is preferably a thermistor whose resistance changes according to a change in temperature, for example. The temperature can be measured by incorporating a thermistor used as the temperature sensor 10 into a CR oscillator as a resistor and detecting an oscillation frequency that changes according to the temperature. Note that the temperature sensor for detecting the indoor temperature may be built in the watch 1. Similarly, as a humidity sensor for displaying humidity, a semiconductor element whose resistance changes according to a change in humidity or a temperature capacitor whose electric capacity changes according to the humidity can be used.

The prediction of the weather for the weather display can be performed as follows. The atmospheric pressure is measured by the pressure sensor, and the weather after the scheduled time (for example, three hours) is predicted based on the measurement result of the atmospheric pressure for each scheduled time (for example, one hour). As a pressure sensor, for example, a layer of a piezoresistive element is formed on a silicon film supported so as to be deviated according to pressure,
A bridge circuit including this piezoresistive element can be used. The air pressure detected by such a pressure sensor is taken in at every scheduled time in accordance with the output of the clock device for displaying the time on the first display unit 2. Then, the weather is predicted based on the fluctuation rate of the atmospheric pressure measured at each scheduled time and the previous weather prediction. For example, if the previous weather prediction is cloudy and the air pressure is further decreasing at a higher rate than expected, rain is predicted. The detected current time, temperature, humidity, predicted weather, and the like are displayed on the display units 2, 3, 4, and 5 by a known method as appropriate.

The switching of the display information on the third display unit 4 and the fourth display unit 5 may be performed by operating the switches 7 and 8 as described above, but when the timepiece 1 is not within the reach of the user. In consideration of the above, remote control may be performed by a remote controller. The remote controller is LE
D, and means for modulating the light output from the LED with a predetermined modulation signal, so that the modulated and coded light signal is projected on the timepiece 1 to perform a switching operation. I just need. It is needless to say that the timepiece 1 is provided with a photoelectric conversion element such as a phototransistor for receiving light from the LED and converting the light into an electric signal, and a light receiving window for taking light into the photoelectric conversion element.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the display of the current time display and the display of the room temperature are performed by the dedicated display unit, the wake-up time display and the weather display share one display unit, and the indoor humidity display is used. The display and the outside air temperature display were shared by another display. However, the combination of contents displayed on the shared display unit can be arbitrarily modified. For example, one display unit may be shared by the combination of the wake-up time display and the outside air temperature display, and the other display unit may be shared by the combination of the indoor humidity display and the weather display.

The first display unit 2, the second display unit 3, and the third
The display unit 4 and the fourth display unit are not limited to those each having a separately separated display area, but each of the four display units is configured by an integrated large liquid crystal display screen, and the integrated liquid crystal display screen is
It may be divided into two areas and displayed. Further, the wake-up time displayed on the third display unit 4 may be displayed together with information indicating that the wake-up has been set, for example, pictures and characters.

In the case of a liquid crystal display, the backlight may be normally turned off from the viewpoint of power saving, and may be turned on by operating a switch (not shown) only when it is desired to view the display. . The backlight on / off switch may be constituted by a contact sensor that forms a conductor operating part on the body or casing of the timepiece 1, for example, and turns on and off the power for the light every time a hand touches the operating part.

The third display unit 4 may display a plurality of weather forecasts, room humidity, and outside air temperature in addition to the display of the alarm setting. In this case, for example, every time the switch 7 is pressed, the alarm setting, the weather prediction, the indoor humidity,
It is preferable that the display such as the outside air temperature is sequentially switched. The wake-up sound may be any of an electronic sound, a buzzer sound, a music box sound, and the like, or a radio may be sounded at the wake-up time.

Further, the characters and the like on the display units 2 to 4 are LE
In the case of displaying with D, if the emission color is distinguished for each display unit,
Identification becomes easier. For example, the display on the first display unit 2 and the second display unit 3 is green, the display on the third display unit 4 is red,
The display on the display unit 5 is blue.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the user wakes up in a dark room before the wake-up operation is performed, it is determined whether or not the wake-up is set together with the current time. It can be easily recognized. Further, according to the second to fifth aspects of the present invention, in addition to determining whether or not the alarm is set, it is possible to make a determination while keeping the weather conditions such as weather, temperature, and humidity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an alarm clock according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display of an alarm clock according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Clock, 2-5 ... Display part, 6 ... Alarm setting switch, 7, 8 ... Display changeover switch, 10 ... Temperature sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Alarm display means comprising: a time display means for displaying a current time; an alarm setting means for setting an alarm; and an alarm display means for displaying that an alarm has been set by the alarm setting means. The alarm clock is configured to be displayed by a light emitting element or a liquid crystal display device with a lighting device. 2. The alarm display means is configured to display at least one of a weather forecast, indoor humidity, and an outside air temperature, in addition to the alarm alarm being set, wherein the alarm is set. A first display for displaying at least one of the weather forecast, the indoor humidity, and the outside air temperature on the alarm display means in place of the display of
2. A switch according to claim 1, wherein
The alarm clock described. 3. The alarm clock according to claim 2, further comprising an environment display unit for displaying, out of the weather forecast, the indoor humidity, and the outside air temperature, those not displayed by the alarm display unit. 4. An environment display means for displaying a plurality of weather forecasts, indoor humidity, and outside air temperature, and a second changeover switch for switching display contents of the environment display means. The alarm clock according to claim 3, wherein 5. The alarm clock according to claim 1, further comprising an indoor temperature display means for displaying an indoor temperature.