JPS5932755B2 - analog electronic watch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic wristwatch, and more particularly to an electronic wristwatch with an analog display.

The present invention enables a multi-functional display, which was previously impossible, even though it is an analog timepiece, by bonding a transparent display such as a liquid crystal panel or an EC display to the cover glass of an analog display electronic wristwatch. Regarding the electronic wristwatch that made it possible.

An object of the present invention is to fully utilize the characteristics of an analog electronic wristwatch and realize a multifunctional display despite being an analog wristwatch.

In recent years, crystal electronic watches have been applied to wristwatches, and electronic wristwatches are rapidly becoming popular.

In particular, in terms of time display methods, digital wristwatches using LEDs, LCDs, etc. have appeared instead of conventional analog wristwatches.

This digital wristwatch has a multi-layered display panel,
Alternatively, a matrix display method is used, and the display is driven entirely electronically using an IC, with excellent multi-functional display capabilities, and various information can be displayed simultaneously or alternately using a display conversion switch, etc. It has the ability to do things.

On the other hand, in analog watches that display the hours, minutes, and seconds using hands, most of the watch surface is occupied by the dial, which imposes significant design and space constraints. It was impossible to incorporate any display other than the analog display of hours, minutes, and seconds using hands, and at most a small window was installed in a part of the dial to display the day of the week and date.

In mechanical wristwatches, since the timekeeping operation is performed using gears, addition of the day of the week and date display in addition to the hours, minutes, and seconds display is limited, and there has been no real problem.

However, even if it is the same analog display wristwatch, in electronic analog display wristwatches that use electronic circuits such as ICs, all display driving is done by electronic circuits, so it is necessary to have multiple types of display functions. All you have to do is add or change the electronic circuit that drives the display, and especially those that use IC can incorporate a considerable variety of circuit wiring in terms of space, and even have memory functions that are unimaginable for mechanical watches. Because it can be incorporated into electronic circuits, it has the ability to display various information in addition to hours, minutes, seconds, day of the week, and date.

However, even though electronic wristwatches have the ability to display a wide variety of information because they are analog display wristwatches, they do not have a place to display anything other than hours, minutes, and seconds, and their capabilities are not fully utilized.

Furthermore, from the user's point of view, all wristwatches in the past had analog indications using hands, and most other watches were analog as well, so they are completely accustomed to analog watches, and they are not used to digital watches. In comparison, the time from looking at the clock to recognizing the time is overwhelmingly shorter with analog watches, and for this reason there is still a large demand for analog watches.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides an analog display type electronic wristwatch in which the cover glass is configured with a transparent display such as a liquid crystal panel or an EC display, or the cover glass is LCD panel or EC
By adhering a transparent display such as a display, it is possible to display multiple functions even though it is an analog wristwatch.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of a wristwatch according to the present invention, where ■ is the wristwatch main body, and ■ is a liquid crystal panel or a liquid crystal panel constructed from an ED display according to the present invention. Or, it is a cover glass to which an EC display body is adhered, which enables various displays.

In this way, if the cover glass is equipped with a display panel made of liquid crystal or a material that is almost transparent when no display is displayed, such as EC, the panel display can be turned off and it can be used as a conventional analog wristwatch. It can be used without any changes in terms of appearance, design, etc., and when you want to know various kinds of information, you can turn on the display panel by pressing a button and read the display.

FIG. 1 shows an example of this display, and the figure shows an example of the display of December 14, 1979 on the cover glass.

In such a multi-functional display method, for example, for liquid crystal,
By using a transmissive liquid crystal, if the transparent electrode is made as thin as possible so that the existence of the electrode can be almost ignored when the liquid crystal is turned off, the appearance of the watch will remain the same even if the liquid crystal is attached to the cover glass of the watch. In addition to being completely unchanged from conventional analog wristwatches, it can also add great added value to analog wristwatches in that it can display multiple functions.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing one example of a method for attaching a cover glass, which constitutes a display panel, to a watch case according to the present invention. Transparent wiring is also coated and adhered to one side of the glass plate ■, the cover glass ■ and the glass plate ■ are made to face each other with a suitable spacer, and molten crystal ■ is filled between them to form a liquid crystal display panel. On the other hand, the inner surface of the watch case ■ and
As shown in the figure, apply the desired wiring using thick film or the like on the surface that contacts the cover glass (■), and fix the watch case and cover glass with the cover glass tightening ring (■) as shown in the figure.

■ is a dial for an analog clock. Furthermore, the transparent wiring coated and adhered to the glass plate ■ is electrically connected to the transparent wiring on the cover glass ■ using spacers of the liquid crystal panel, etc.
Furthermore, it is connected to the internal electronic circuit via thick film wiring on the watch case.

As described above, according to the present invention, by using the cover glass of a wristwatch as a display body, it is possible to add a multi-function display to an analog wristwatch, which has conventionally been used in daily life, and also to add a multifunctional display to an electronic wristwatch. can fully demonstrate its characteristics.

Although the present invention has been described above with a focus on liquid crystal displays, any type of display such as a transmissive liquid crystal, EC, etc. can be used as the display constituting the cover glass.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an external view of an example of a wristwatch whose cover glass is constructed from a display body according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an example of a method of constructing a wristwatch according to the invention. FIG. ■・・・Watch body, ■・・・Cover glass that formed the display body, ■・・・Cover glass, ■
・・・・・・Liquid crystal, ■・・・Glass plate, ■・・・
...Transparent wiring, ■...Watch case, ■...
・・・Cover glass tightening ring,■・・・・・・
dial.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An analog electronic wristwatch using a dial and hands, characterized in that a transparent display is provided between the hands and a cover glass, and additional functions are displayed by the transparent display.