JPS58120189A - Electronic time piece - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable users to do color application or erasion for a time piece case as desired by arranging an electrochromic display device integral on the back of a transparent case. CONSTITUTION:An electronic time piece is composed of a transparent or semi- transparent plastic case 1, a time indicator 3 for indicating time, an electrochromic display device (ECD) 4 and a module 6. The ECD, for example, comprises a transparent electrode 4a, a WO3 layer 4b, a Ta2O5 layer 4c, Ir(OH)n layer 4d and a transparent electrode 4e and arranged at the position deviated horizontally from the display device 3 on the back of the case 1. The ECD is driven to apply or erase color in response to external operation with an external operation member SW, a switch interlocking it, a drive control circuit adapted to output a color application signal or a color erasion signal receiving a switch signal thereof and a drive circuit which drives the ECD accoding to the signal.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Lectrochromic display device (hereinafter abbreviated as ECD)
Regarding an electronic clock with a

Conventionally, ECDs have only been used as time display elements in display devices for electronic watches, and other effective uses have hardly been considered.

In addition, conventional watch cases are determined by the manufacturer based solely on the product image of the watch, which is insufficient to satisfy users at a time when fashionable watches are now sought after as a product value. there were.

An object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide an electronic watch equipped with a fashionable case according to the purpose by allowing the user to arbitrarily color or erase the color of the watch case. In particular, it is intended to be carried out using an ECD that is integrally arranged on the back surface of a transparent case.

The electronic time opening of the present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electronic poem showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a transparent or translucent plastic watch case, and 2 is a windshield glass. 6 is an analog display device, 4 is a complementary solid-state ECD disposed integrally on the back surface of the case 1, and the back surface of the case 1 includes a transparent electrode 4a and a first EC layer 4b made of tungsten oxide WO3. .

A transmission type ECD is constructed by laminating a transparent nine-layer layer 4c of tantalum oxide Ta205, a second EC layer 4d of iridium hydroxide Ir(OH)n, and a transparent electrode 4e in this order. 5 is a transparent electrode 4a of the ECD4.

4e and the later-described ECD drive circuit 1 installed in module B
Conductive rubber 5a with insulating rubber 5b sandwiched therebetween to connect output terminals A and B of 0 respectively.

This connector has a monolayer structure consisting of 5C.

SW is an external operating member equipped with a switch SW that performs a command operation for driving the ECD 4 to color or decolor. 7 is the back cover of the watch.

In FIG. 3, SWl is a switch that opens and opens in conjunction with the external operating member SW, and 8 is the switch SW1.
This is a drive control circuit that controls the drive of the ECD 4 by inputting the switch signal No. 1, and includes a one-shot circuit 8a & an inverter 8b1 and a flip-flop 80 for coloring/decoloring control.
%AND gates 8d and 8e, and switch S
Coloring signal Pw or decoloring signal PE based on the opening/closing operation of W1
are selectively output.

Reference numeral 9 is a power supply for the watch, and reference numeral 10 is an 0ECD drive circuit for inputting a signal from the drive control circuit 8' to color or decolor the ECD 4.

Next, the operation in the above configuration will be explained.

Usually, the ECD 4 disposed on the back surface of the plastic watch case 1 is decolored and transparent or translucent, and the module 10 is visible from the outside of the case 1. (
As shown in 1) in the figure, a reflective plate with letters or a pink pattern printed thereon may be provided on the top surface of the module 6 for viewing.

Next, when the user presses the external operation member SW, the switch SW1 is turned on, and the switch signal Ps
A signal of 1H" level is output.

In response to the switch signal Ps, the one-shot circuit 8a of the drive control circuit 8 outputs an "H" level one-shot signal in synchronization with the rise of the switch signal Ps, and the switch signal ps is inputted via the inverter 8b. The output of the coloring/decoloring control flip-flop 8C is inverted by the switch signal Ps, and an "H" level signal is output from the output terminal Q.

Therefore, the two input terminals of the AND gate 8d both have a 'H' level.
Since the “H” level signal is supplied, the “H” level coloring signal PW is outputted, and the ECD4
to a colored state.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The ECDd which is disposed substantially planarly shifted between the
The colored state of the ECD 4 can be observed from the outside through the windshield 1.

Then, when the user presses the external operating member SW again, the switch SW1 changes to the H'' level switch signal Pg.
The one-shot circuit 8a of the drive control circuit 8 outputs an "H" level one-shot signal, and the output of the control flip-flop 8C is inverted by the switch signal Ps given from the inverter 8b. An "H" level signal is output from the output terminal Q.

Therefore, the AND gate 8e outputs a decoloring signal PE of H level, and the ECD 4 is brought into the decolorized state via the drive circuit 1o, so that the ECD 4, which forms part 7 of the case 1 in appearance, becomes transparent again. be put in a state of

In this embodiment, an analog type (pointer type) display device is used to display the time, but an electro-optical display device such as a liquid crystal display device or an ECD may also be used to display the time. Good too.

Further, the display form accompanying the colored drive of the ECD 4 may be a colored display state over the entire surface, or a colored display state may be obtained by patterning the transparent electrode 4a and the 80 layer 4b14d of the ECD into an arbitrary pattern shape. .

As described above, in the present invention, the user can arbitrarily select the color tone and pattern, etc. of whether the ECD, which is integrally arranged on the back side of the transparent or translucent plastic watch case, is colored or decolored. This makes it possible to select the image of the watch case and the watch itself depending on the purpose, which is very effective in providing a highly fashionable watch.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the appearance of an electronic timepiece according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of an electronic timepiece that is an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Transparent plastic watch case, 2...
...Windshield glass, 3...Analog display device, 4...ECD. 5... Connector, 6... Module, 7... Back cover, 8... Drive control circuit, 9... Power supply for watch, 10... ... ECD drive circuit, SW ... external operation member, SW ... switch, Ps ... switch signal, Pw ... colored signal, PE ... ...Color erasure signal. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A transparent or semi-transparent plastic watch case, an external operating member provided on the case, a switch that opens and closes in conjunction with the operation of the external operating member, and a switch that receives the switch signal of the switch and that receives a colored signal and an extinguishing signal. The electrochromic display comprises a drive control circuit that selectively outputs a color signal, a drive circuit that receives the colored signal or the colorless signal as an input and drives an electrochromic display device, and a time display device that displays the time. The chromic display device is disposed on the back side of the case at a position offset from the time display device in plan view, and the electrochromic display device is selectively colored or turned off in accordance with the operation of the external operation member. An electronic clock characterized by being color-driven.