JPH1152081A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus capable of extending the time until the remaining capacity in a battery runs short without loading on a user. SOLUTION: Provided are a liquid crystal panel 9 of which power consumption varies with driving methods, a second battery 2 outputting power for driving the liquid crystal panel 9, a solar battery 1 inputting generated current to the second battery 2, a system controller 5 driving the liquid panel using the output of the second battery, a charge/discharge controller 6 detecting the remaining capacity or input current value of the second battery 2. The system controller 5 switches the driving method (drive voltage value, drive frequency, continuing time of indication and indication pattern) of the liquid crystal panel 9 according to the remaining capacity detected with the charge/discharge controller 6 and/or input current value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus having a display element whose power consumption varies according to a driving method, and a battery for supplying power for driving the display element.
In particular, it relates to a technique for reducing power consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, self-powered electronic devices such as wristwatches and electronic computers have been developed and marketed, in which all or part of their operating power is provided by self-power generation using solar batteries. Many of these types of electronic devices include a liquid crystal display device. In such devices, generated power is generally used as driving power for a liquid crystal panel.

By the way, in the development of a portable electronic device having a limited size such as a self-powered wristwatch,
Since the capacity of the secondary battery that accumulates the generated current is limited, reduction of power consumption is one of the main issues. Especially,
In a self-powered wristwatch equipped with a liquid crystal panel, the current supply capacity including the power generation efficiency and the capacity of the secondary battery may be increased to a level that always turns on the liquid crystal display. In such a case, In general, a demand method for switching an on / off state of a liquid crystal display according to a user's button operation is employed.

Further, some demand type watches include:
In some cases, a liquid crystal display that is turned on by a user's button operation is turned off after a certain period of time. Normally, in this type of wristwatch, the elapsed time is counted when a button operation for turning on the liquid crystal display is triggered, and the count value is counted when an operation other than the button operation for turning off the liquid crystal display is performed before a predetermined time elapses. Is reset to 0, and the counting operation is started again. That is, if the operation of turning off the liquid crystal display is not performed within a certain time,
Since the liquid crystal display is automatically turned off, the effect of further reducing power consumption can be obtained.

[0005]

By the way, in the conventional electronic equipment, even if the demand method is adopted, if the frequency at which the liquid crystal display is turned on is high, the power consumption exceeds the current supply capability. If the power consumption continues to exceed the current supply capacity, the remaining capacity of the secondary battery becomes insufficient, which causes abnormal operation or function stoppage. In particular, since a wristwatch is required to continuously operate normally, it is necessary to surely avoid such a situation.

For the purpose of avoiding the shortage of the remaining capacity of the secondary battery, self-powered wristwatches for notifying the remaining capacity of the secondary battery have been developed and marketed. However, this type of wristwatch is designed to notify the remaining capacity of a secondary battery by a user performing a specific button operation,
In order to always accurately grasp the remaining capacity of the next battery, it is necessary for the user to periodically perform a specific button operation, which is inconvenient. In the first place, in order for the user to always accurately grasp the remaining capacity, the user must always consider the remaining capacity of the secondary battery, which places a considerable burden on the user.

In general, the power required for driving the liquid crystal panel is extremely large as compared with the movement of the hands of the display hands, and therefore, driving the liquid crystal panel in a situation where the power generation efficiency is low is two times.
This leads directly to a sharp decrease in the remaining capacity of the secondary battery. However, usually, the user cannot accurately know the power generation efficiency and the power consumption of the liquid crystal panel, and thus it is difficult to appropriately change the usage state so as to extend the time until the remaining capacity becomes insufficient. Also, even if the user can accurately know the power generation efficiency and the power consumption of the liquid crystal panel,
It is a user's task to change the usage status of the wristwatch by monitoring such information, and thus the user is burdened with a considerable load.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an electronic device that can extend the time until the remaining battery capacity becomes insufficient without imposing a burden on the user. And

[0009]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus comprising: a display element whose power consumption varies according to a driving method; a battery; and an output of the battery. An electronic device comprising: a driving unit that drives the display element; and a remaining capacity detection unit that detects a remaining capacity of the battery; and the driving unit that controls the remaining capacity detected by the remaining capacity detection unit. And a driving method control means for switching a driving method of the display element. Further, in this configuration, the battery may be a secondary battery (Claim 2), and may further include a power generation unit that inputs a generated current to the secondary battery (Claim 2). 3).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus, wherein a display element whose power consumption varies according to a driving method, a secondary battery, and a driving unit for driving the display element using an output of the secondary battery. And an input current value detecting means for detecting an input current value to the secondary battery, and the display element by the driving means in accordance with the input current value detected by the input current value detecting means. And a driving method control means for switching the driving method. Further, in this configuration, the apparatus further includes a remaining capacity detection unit that detects a remaining capacity of the secondary battery, wherein the driving method control unit includes an input current value detected by the input current value detection unit and the remaining capacity detection unit. The driving method of the display element by the driving unit may be switched in accordance with the remaining capacity detected by (5). In addition, the configuration according to claim 4 or 5 may further include a power generation unit that inputs a generated current to the secondary battery (claim 6).

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic device, wherein the display element has a power consumption that varies according to a driving method, a secondary battery, a power generation unit that inputs a generated current to the secondary battery, and An electronic device comprising: a driving unit that drives the display element using an output of a battery; a power generation current value detection unit that detects a power generation current value of the power generation unit; and a power generation detected by the power generation current value detection unit. And a driving method control means for switching a driving method of the display element by the driving means according to a current value. In addition, the apparatus further includes a remaining capacity detection unit that detects a remaining capacity of the secondary battery, wherein the driving method control unit detects the generated current value detected by the generated current value detection unit and the remaining capacity detection unit. The driving method of the display element by the driving unit may be switched according to the remaining capacity that has been set (claim 8).

Further, in the electronic device according to any one of claims 3, 6, 7 and 8, the power generation means may be a solar battery (claim 9). Still further, the display element may be a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel, and the solar battery may receive light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel to generate power (claim 11). Further, in the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the display element may be a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel (claim 10).

12. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the driving method control means switches the driving method by changing a driving voltage value, a driving frequency, or a display pattern of the display element. (Claims 12, 13, 15). Further, claim 1
12. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the driving unit continuously turns on the display element that has been turned on for a predetermined duration, and the driving method control unit changes the driving time by changing the duration. The method may be switched (claim 14).

Further, in each of the above-described configurations, the present invention may be provided with a clock means for clocking the current time, and a notification means for notifying the current time clocked by the clock means, to have a wristwatch form. Claim 16). That is, each of the above-described configurations may be realized as a wristwatch.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a combination wristwatch will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A: First Embodiment A-1: Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of a combination wristwatch according to a first embodiment of the present invention, where 1 is a value corresponding to the illuminance of incident light. A solar battery 2 in which a plurality of cells generating currents are connected in series is a secondary battery (for example, a lithium ion secondary battery) having one end connected to one end of the solar battery 1, and accumulates the generated current of the solar battery 1. I do. Reference numeral 3 denotes a limiter connected in parallel with the solar battery 1 to prevent overcharge of the secondary battery 2, and 4 denotes a capacitor having one end connected to one end of the secondary battery 2. Accumulates discharge current.

5 is a system control unit connected in parallel with the capacitor 4, and 6 is the other end of the capacitor 4 (voltage value VS
S) One end of secondary battery 2 (voltage value VDD), secondary battery 2
And a charge / discharge control unit connected to the other end of the solar battery 1, and controls the charge / discharge of the secondary battery 2 so that the potential difference between VDD and VSS becomes the rated voltage of the system control unit 5. At the same time, an input current value (power generation current value of the solar battery 1) to the secondary battery 2 and a remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 are detected by a detection instruction given from the system control unit 5, and each detected value is used as a system. It is supplied to the control unit 5. That is, the charge / discharge control unit 6 has a function of a power generation status detection unit. Actually, the charge / discharge control unit 6 and the solar battery 1
A diode for preventing backflow is inserted between the other end of the switch.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a motor drive circuit for driving a motor for hand movement in accordance with a drive voltage applied from the system control unit 5, and 9 denotes a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel comprising a plurality of segments. The unit 5 drives the liquid crystal panel 9 by controlling a voltage applied to an individual signal line (SEG) connected to each segment. Note that a common signal line (COM) is provided between the system control unit 5 and the liquid crystal panel 9, and the voltage applied to each segment is equal to the potential difference between the corresponding individual signal line and the common signal line. Become.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the system control unit 5. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the system control unit 5 includes an oscillation circuit 11 for generating a reference pulse for timing, a control program, and the like. (Read Only Memory) 12, a core CPU (CORE CPU: Central Processing Unit) 13, which performs a timing operation using a reference pulse and executes the control program in synchronization with the reference pulse. CPU 13 (hereinafter simply referred to as “CPU
13), a display control circuit 15 and a motor control circuit 16 that operate according to instructions from the CPU 13, and a liquid crystal panel driven by the display control circuit 15 to drive the liquid crystal panel 9. The driver 17 (hereinafter referred to as “LCD driver 17”) and the contents of the operation of various switches by the user
It comprises an input / output control circuit 18 for supplying to the PU 13. The motor control circuit 16 includes the system control unit 5
It is connected to an external motor drive circuit 8 and controls the motor drive circuit 8 to drive a drive mechanism including a display hand consisting of an hour hand, a minute hand and a second hand (in this specification and the drawings, "display hand" ) May represent the “drive mechanism”). Although power supply lines are connected to the above-described units 11 to 18, their illustration and description are omitted for the sake of simplicity. Also, the illustration and description of the booster circuit for adjusting the voltage of the current supplied to each section are omitted, similarly to the power supply line.

In the configuration described above, the generated current of the solar battery 1 is stored in the secondary battery 2 during charging, and the current stored in the secondary battery is discharged to the system control unit 5 during discharging. The system control unit 5 operates by using the output current (discharge current) from the secondary battery 2 side, constantly performs the timekeeping operation and the step operation of the display pointer, and controls the charge / discharge control unit 6. A detection instruction is given at predetermined time intervals (for example, one second). Upon receiving the instruction, the charge / discharge control unit 6 detects the input current value of the secondary battery 2 (the generated current value of the solar battery 1) and the remaining capacity, and supplies them to the system control unit 5.

The system controller 5 stores the input current value and the remaining capacity in the RAM 14, controls the driving of the display pointer based on the latest remaining capacity stored in the RAM 14, and controls the input signal from the input / output control circuit 18. And RAM1
The driving method of the liquid crystal panel 9 is controlled based on the remaining capacity and the input current value stored in the storage 4. Note that the control of the display pointer based on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 is control for moving the hand for two seconds when the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 falls below a preset threshold. At the time of 2 seconds hand movement, it is possible to inform the user that the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 has decreased by moving the second hand by 2 seconds (12 degrees) every 2 seconds. In addition, it is effective in reducing the power consumption related to the hand movement process.

Before explaining the control of the driving method of the liquid crystal panel 9 based on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 and the input current value, the appearance of the combination wristwatch body according to the present embodiment will be described. 3 and 4 are views showing the appearance of the wristwatch body of the combination wristwatch according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a view showing the appearance when the driving of the liquid crystal panel 9 is stopped. It is a figure showing the example of appearance at the time of driving.

As shown in these figures, members 31 are attached to respective positions on the disk-shaped dial (solar battery 1) supported by the housing, which divide the circumference into 12 equal parts, and the front side of the dial is attached. Are provided with display hands (hour hand 22, minute hand 23, second hand 24) and a plate-shaped liquid crystal panel 9, and a transparent cover glass is fitted in the foremost side. Note that the liquid crystal panel 9 has a terminal portion to which the above-described individual signal line and common signal line are connected at a peripheral portion thereof. However,
This peripheral portion is covered by the housing for aesthetic reasons and cannot be visually recognized by the user.

As described above, the dark blue solar battery 1 whose ground color is close to black is used as the display pointer and the dial as the background of the liquid crystal display.
The color of the visible surface 1 is a color that is more easily visually recognized in comparison with the background color (dark blue close to black) and white. The reason why the colors of the display pointer and the member 31 are determined in consideration of not only the background color but also the background color and the white color is that the liquid crystal panel 9 is white in the on state and substantially transparent in the off state (light transmittance is 90%). %) Is employed because a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel having segments of about (%) is employed. The adoption of the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel improves the readability of the liquid crystal display by providing a white display with the color of the solar battery 1 (dark blue close to black) as a background color, and the liquid crystal display with a wide viewing angle. Of the display pointer, and the power generation efficiency of the solar battery 1 can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the combination wristwatch according to the present embodiment, when the liquid crystal panel 9 is not driven (or when all the segments are off), the liquid crystal panel 9 is substantially transparent. Therefore, the appearance becomes almost invisible to the user, as if it were an analog clock.

On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the segment corresponding to the current time among the segments of the liquid crystal panel 9 is in the ON state, and the user can not only display the display pointer but also the current time from the liquid crystal display. Can be obtained. In addition,
In this figure, only the current time is displayed on the liquid crystal, but various information other than the preset time (for example, date and alarm information) may be displayed on the liquid crystal,
The information to be displayed on the liquid crystal may be selectable by the user performing a button operation.

As is apparent from the above description, the input signal from the input / output control signal 18 to the system control unit 5 includes a signal for driving the liquid crystal panel 9 (on-demand signal) and a signal for driving the liquid crystal panel 9. There are a signal to stop (off-demand signal), a signal to change the display content on the liquid crystal panel 9, and the like, and the system control unit 5 controls the driving of the liquid crystal panel 9 according to these signals. RAM1
The drive control of the liquid crystal panel 9 based on the remaining capacity and the input current value of the secondary battery 2 stored in the storage unit 4 is performed by the system control unit 5 in parallel with the drive control according to the input signal from the input / output control circuit 18. It is done automatically.

A-2: Processing for Controlling Driving Method of Liquid Crystal Panel 9 In the present embodiment, the system control unit 5 determines the driving voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 based on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 and the input current value. Select and set the potential difference between the communication line and the individual signal line). Here, the process of selecting and setting the drive voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 will be described.

In this embodiment, basically, each of the remaining capacity and the input current value is divided into a plurality of grades by a predetermined threshold value, and a margin is set for each combination of the remaining capacity grade and the input current value grade. Is set, and the drive voltage value is associated with the margin. Specifically, the ROM 12 or the RAM 14 stores relationship information indicating the relationships shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and describes the above-described correspondence.

As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the remaining capacity is "high" and "small", and the input current values are "high", "medium",
Each of the combinations of the grade of the remaining capacity and the grade of the input current value has a margin of 1 to 5. For example, when the remaining capacity is “high” and the input current value is “high”, the margin is 5
When the remaining capacity is “small” and the input current value is “low”, the margin is 1. That is, the margin indicates the relative current supply capability. Note that the threshold value of each grade is appropriately set according to environmental conditions such as the average current consumption of the liquid crystal panel 9.

The above-mentioned margin is associated with the drive voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the allowance “5” is 6V, and the allowance “1” is 5.
It is associated with a drive voltage value of 6V. Note that the correspondence between the margin and the drive voltage value is not limited to a linear relationship, but the relationship should be such that the drive voltage value monotonically increases with respect to the margin, and the maximum value of the margin is “5”. Should be associated with a maximum drive voltage value of 6V.

Under such an environment, the system control unit 5
Selects the drive voltage value of the secondary battery 2 from the remaining capacity and the input current value of the secondary battery 2 detected by the charge / discharge control unit 6 with reference to the correspondence relationships shown in FIGS. Subsequent driving of the liquid crystal panel 9 is performed with the selected driving voltage value.
As a result, the relationship between the remaining capacity and input current value of the secondary battery 2 and the drive voltage value is as shown in FIG. That is, the driving voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 has a monotonically increasing relationship with the grade of the input current value if the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 is the same grade, and the grade of the remaining capacity if the input current value is the same grade. Is monotonically increasing.

As shown in FIG. 7, the drive voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 and the opacity have a one-to-one correspondence, and the opacity has a monotonically increasing relationship with the drive voltage. That is, as the drive voltage value increases, the degree of white turbidity increases, and the scattering rate of incident light increases. On the other hand, the cloudiness and the visibility do not correspond one-to-one, and the visibility may be different even if the cloudiness is the same. For example, in FIG. 7, even if the turbidity is “medium”, the visibility is 2 when the input current value is low (when the illuminance is “dark”), and the visibility is 2 when the input current value is high (the illuminance is “ In the case of "light", the visibility is 3. This is because a clearer display is obtained when the reflection type liquid crystal display device is viewed in a bright environment than in a dark environment.

In FIG. 7, the visibility is evaluated on a four-point scale, with 4 being the most favorable state and 1 being the state in which it is barely visible. Therefore, visual recognition is possible regardless of the margin, and when the margin is high, the display is excellent in visibility, and when the margin is low, the power consumption is suppressed.

A-3: Supplement In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the remaining capacity is divided into two grades and the input current value is divided into three grades. However, the number of grades in each parameter is arbitrary.
For example, as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, the drive voltage value may be selected and set based only on the grade of the remaining capacity. Conversely, as shown in FIG. 9, the drive voltage may be selected and set based on only the input current value. Although the drive voltage value is selected for each grade or for each combination of grades, the drive voltage value may be obtained by calculation from the parameter values.

B: Second Embodiment Next, a combination wristwatch according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. However, description of portions common to the above-described first embodiment will be omitted. B-1: Configuration The configuration of the combination wristwatch according to the second embodiment differs from the configuration in the first embodiment in the relation information stored in the ROM 12 or the RAM 14 and the processing performed by the system control unit 5. The only processing different from the first embodiment in the processing performed by the system control unit 5 is the driving method control processing of the liquid crystal panel 9 with reference to the related information stored in the ROM 12 or the RAM 14. Therefore, only this point will be described below. I do.

B-2: Processing for Controlling Driving Method of Liquid Crystal Panel 9 In the present embodiment, the system control unit 5 switches the on / off state of the liquid crystal panel 9 in accordance with the on-demand signal / off-demand signal. Is common to the first embodiment, but has no function of changing the drive voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 and sets the liquid crystal panel 9 in the on state to a predetermined value from the most recent input of the on-demand signal. Is greatly different in that it is turned off after the lapse of time.

How long the liquid crystal panel 9 is turned off after the most recent input of the on-demand signal is selected and set based on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 and the input current value. In the present embodiment, the ROM 12 or the RAM 14 stores relation information indicating the relation as shown in FIG. 5, and when the system control unit 5 detects the remaining capacity and the input current value, the system control unit 5 refers to the relation information. To find a margin.

In the ROM 12 or the RAM 14,
Relationship information indicating the relationship as shown in FIG. 10 is stored, and the system control unit 5 refers to the relationship information and obtains the duration from the margin. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the duration is proportional to the margin, but the duration is not limited to this, and may be a monotonic increase with respect to the margin.

The system control unit 5 stores the obtained duration in a register in the CPU 13 or a predetermined area in the RAM 14, and controls the subsequent liquid crystal display based on the duration. For example, when the margin is "5", the liquid crystal panel 9 is set only for 10 seconds from the input of the on-demand signal.
Is driven, and when the margin is “1”, the liquid crystal panel 9 is driven only for two seconds from the input of the on-demand signal. That is, when the margin is high, the time (continuation time) until the liquid crystal panel 9 is turned off is long, so that it is easy to visually recognize the liquid crystal panel 9.
When the margin is low, the duration is short, so that the power consumption is suppressed.

B-3. Supplement The items described in the section "A-3: Supplement" also apply to the above-described second embodiment. However, “drive voltage value” is to be read as “duration”.

C: Third Embodiment Next, a combination wristwatch according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The description of the parts common to the first embodiment is omitted. C-1: Configuration The combination type wristwatch according to the third embodiment is different from the wristwatch according to the first embodiment in that the system control unit 5
This is the process performed by The processing performed by the system control unit 5 that is different from that of the first embodiment is the ROM 12 or RA
The liquid crystal panel 9 referring to the related information stored in M14
Since only the driving method control process is performed, only this point will be described below.

C-2: Process for Controlling Driving Method of Liquid Crystal Panel 9 In the present embodiment, the system control unit 5 switches the on / off state of the liquid crystal panel 9 according to the on-demand signal / off-demand signal. Is common to the first embodiment, except that not only the driving voltage value of the liquid crystal panel 9 but also the duration and the driving frequency are changed based on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 and the input current value. It is very different.

In this embodiment, the ROM 12 or the R
The AM 14 stores relation information indicating the relation as shown in FIG. 5. When the system control unit 5 detects the remaining capacity and the input current value, the system control unit 5 refers to the relation information to obtain a margin. Further, the ROM 12 or the RAM 14 stores relation information indicating the relation as shown in FIG. 11, and the system control unit 5 refers to the relation information and determines the relative driving voltage and driving frequency based on the margin. , And duration, and the actual drive voltage value, drive frequency, and duration are also determined.

The values of the driving voltage, the driving frequency, and the duration in FIG. 11 are relative values to the maximum values 3, 2, and 3, respectively. For example, the driving voltage “2” in FIG. 11 indicates that the driving voltage value is ／ of the maximum driving voltage value (for example, 6 V), and the driving frequency “1” indicates that the driving frequency is the maximum. Drive frequency (for example, 3
2 Hz), and the duration “1” indicates 1/3 of the maximum duration (for example, 10 seconds).

In the relation information shown in FIG. 11, the drive voltage value is first reduced as the margin decreases, and if the margin is not enough (the margin is 2 or less), the drive frequency is set to the minimum "1". If it is still insufficient (when the margin is 1), the duration is set to the minimum “1”, and the system control unit 5 refers to the relevant information and sets the duration to the margin. The subsequent liquid crystal display is controlled based on the driving voltage value, the driving frequency, and the duration determined accordingly. The reason why the drive voltage value is made to fluctuate prior to the drive frequency is that the reduction in the contrast by reducing the drive voltage value is less than the flicker of the liquid crystal display by reducing the drive frequency. This is because the visibility is not significantly affected.

As described above, in the present embodiment, as the margin becomes lower, the parameters having less influence on the visibility are reduced, so that the securing of the visibility and the reduction of the power consumption are realized in a well-balanced manner. be able to.

C-3: Supplement The items described in the section "A-3: Supplement" also apply to the third embodiment. However, “drive voltage value” is to be read as “drive voltage value, drive frequency and duration”. Further, only the drive frequency, or the drive voltage value and the drive frequency, or the drive frequency and the duration may be changed. Further, as shown in a modified example described below, parameters other than the drive voltage value, the drive frequency, and the duration may be varied.

D: Modification In this modification, the method of suppressing the power consumption of the liquid crystal panel 9 is a method of changing the display content of the liquid crystal panel 9 according to the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 and the input current value. Except for this point, it is the same as the third embodiment. In the present modification, the ROM 12 or the RAM 14 stores relation information indicating a relation as shown in FIG. 5 and relation information indicating a relation as shown in FIG. 12, and the system control unit 5 Refer to the related information and select the display content.

In FIG. 12, the display contents are digitized, for example, 1 corresponds to the current time, 2 corresponds to the date, and 3 corresponds to the alarm information. That is, the display contents when the on-demand signal is input are information represented by 1 to 3 (for example, current time, date, and alarm information) when the margin is 5, and when the margin is 4 or 3, Information represented by 1 or 2 (for example, current time and date), and when the margin is 2 or 1, information represented by 1 (for example, current time) is selected.

Incidentally, since the power consumption of the liquid crystal panel 9 is proportional to the area occupied by the ON-state segments, the power consumption of the liquid crystal display is reduced as the area is reduced (the information to be displayed is reduced). You. Therefore, according to this modification, as the margin decreases,
The power consumption of the liquid crystal panel 9 is reduced. In addition, as in the case where the duration is varied, the LCD driver 17 does not need to support a plurality of drive voltage values and drive frequencies, so that the configuration of the analog circuit can be simplified.

Although the display content is changed in the above-described modified example, the present invention is not limited to this. Power consumption can be suppressed by changing the display pattern. For example, when the margin is high, segments that do not carry information are turned on to improve the appearance and visibility (see FIG. 13), and when the margin is low, these segments are turned off. (See FIG. 4), power consumption can be suppressed. Also, for example, when the margin is high, information is displayed using a large number of segments for the purpose of improving visibility (see FIG. 14A), and when the margin is low, information is displayed with a small number of segments. By displaying (see FIG. 14B), power consumption can be suppressed. Of course, the liquid crystal panel 9 is driven by combining the above-described driving method for changing the display pattern of the liquid crystal panel 9 and the above-described driving method for changing the various parameters (driving voltage value, driving frequency, and duration). You may.

D: Supplement Common to Each Embodiment and Modified Examples In each of the above-described embodiments, an example of a combination wristwatch has been described, but it is needless to say that the present invention is applicable to a digital wristwatch. However, since the digital wristwatch always displays the current time and the like, the drive voltage value and / or the drive frequency is changed. In addition, power generation means other than a solar battery (for example, a means for generating power by the movement of a weight) may be employed. In other words, the display means may be driven using the output of a primary battery that does not require the power generation means. It may be. However, when the output of the primary battery is used as the driving power of the display means, the driving method is selected based only on the remaining capacity of the primary battery.

The present invention is not limited to a wristwatch, but a display means (for example, an LED) such as a liquid crystal display panel whose power consumption can fluctuate greatly depending on the driving method.
The present invention can be applied to any electronic device including a battery that supplies driving power for the display unit.

[0055]

As described above, the driving method of the display element by the driving means can be switched according to the remaining capacity of the battery (or the remaining capacity of the secondary battery and / or the input current value (generated current value)). By adopting a low power consumption driving method when the remaining capacity is low, the time until the remaining capacity becomes insufficient can be extended. In addition, since the switching process of the driving method is automatically performed, no burden is imposed on the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of a combination wristwatch according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a system control unit 5 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an appearance of a wristwatch main body of the wristwatch.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an appearance of a wristwatch main body of the wristwatch.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing relation information stored in a ROM 12 or a RAM 14 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing relation information stored in a ROM 12 or a RAM 14 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a remaining capacity of a secondary battery 2 of the wristwatch, an input current value, and a drive voltage value.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of selecting and setting a drive voltage value based on only the remaining capacity in the wristwatch.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of selecting and setting a drive voltage based on only an input current value in the wristwatch.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing relation information stored in a ROM 12 or a RAM 14 of a combination wristwatch according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing relation information stored in a ROM 12 or a RAM 14 of a combination wristwatch according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows a ROM 12 or RA of a modification of the wristwatch.
It is a figure showing the relation information stored in M14.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining a modification of the combination wristwatch according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

14A and 14B are diagrams for explaining a modification of the combination wristwatch according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14A shows a display pattern when the margin is high, and FIG. 14B shows a display pattern when the margin is low. Is shown.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Solar battery, 2 ... Secondary battery, 5 ... System control part, 6 ... Charge / discharge control part, 9 ... Liquid crystal panel

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An electronic apparatus comprising: a display element whose power consumption varies according to a driving method; a battery; and driving means for driving the display element using an output of the battery. And a driving method control means for switching a driving method of the display element by the driving means according to the remaining capacity detected by the remaining capacity detecting means. . 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the battery is a secondary battery. 3. The electronic device according to claim 2, further comprising a power generation unit that inputs a generated current to the secondary battery. 4. An electronic apparatus comprising: a display element whose power consumption varies according to a driving method; a secondary battery; and driving means for driving the display element using an output of the secondary battery. Input current value detecting means for detecting an input current value to the secondary battery; driving method control means for switching a driving method of the display element by the driving means in accordance with the input current value detected by the input current value detecting means An electronic device comprising: 5. The battery control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a remaining capacity detection unit configured to detect a remaining capacity of the secondary battery, wherein the driving method control unit determines an input current value detected by the input current value detection unit and the remaining capacity detection unit. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein a method of driving the display element by the driving unit is switched according to the detected remaining capacity.
Electronic device as described. 6. The electronic device according to claim 4, further comprising a power generation unit that inputs a generated current to the secondary battery. 7. A display element whose power consumption varies according to a driving method, a secondary battery, power generation means for inputting a generated current to the secondary battery, and the display element using an output of the secondary battery An electronic device comprising: a driving means for driving the power generating means; a generated current value detecting means for detecting a generated current value of the power generating means; and the driving means according to the generated current value detected by the generated current value detecting means. An electronic device comprising: a driving method control unit that switches a driving method of the display element. 8. A remaining capacity detecting means for detecting a remaining capacity of the secondary battery, wherein the driving method control means uses the generated current value detected by the generated current value detecting means and the remaining capacity detecting means. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein a driving method of the display element by the driving unit is switched according to the detected remaining capacity.
Electronic device as described. 9. The electronic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said power generation means is a solar battery. 10. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the display element is a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel. 11. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the display element is a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel, and the solar battery generates light by receiving light transmitted through the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel. machine. 12. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving method control unit switches the driving method by changing a driving voltage value of the display element. 13. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving method control unit switches the driving method by changing a driving frequency of the display element. 14. The driving device according to claim 1, wherein the driving device continuously turns on the display element for a predetermined duration, and the driving method control unit switches the driving method by changing the duration. Claim 1
12. The electronic device according to any one of items 1 to 11. 15. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the driving method control unit switches the driving method by changing a display pattern of the display element. 16. A watch comprising: a clock means for measuring a current time; and a notifying means for notifying the current time measured by the clock means, and having a wristwatch form. An electronic device according to any of the above.