JPS6157595B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pointer display type electronic timepiece which has an elapsed time counting function such as a timer in addition to a current time display function.

In recent years, pointer display type electronic wristwatches and digital display type electronic wristwatches equipped with crystal oscillation circuits are rapidly becoming popular as timepiece standards.

However, in the case of digital display electronic watches,
Compared to products that are equipped with additional functions such as timers or chronographs that are equipped with elapsed time counting functions, electronic wristwatches with pointer display are equipped with additional functions such as those mentioned above. The current situation is that the product has not been realized at all. The biggest reason for this is that in the case of a digital display type electronic wristwatch, there is no need to provide any movable parts other than the external operation switch member, whereas in the case of a pointer display type electronic wristwatch, there is no need to provide any movable parts. They still require many movable parts and their structures are becoming more complex. In other words, when a device such as a timer or chronograph is equipped with an elapsed time counting function as an additional function, the initial state of the elapsed time counting function can be modified (adjusted) from outside, and the counting operation of the elapsed time counting function can be started. , the ability to control the stop externally;
etc., and it is clear that an externally operated switch is required for this purpose. However, as mentioned above, pointer display type electronic wristwatches have a complicated structure, and it is extremely difficult to equip them with an elapsed time counting function unless the number of installed external operation switches is reduced as much as possible. Have difficulty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a pointer display type electronic timepiece that can reduce the number of externally operated switches and still perform necessary control over the elapsed time counting function section.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a pointer display type electronic wristwatch according to one embodiment of the present invention. As an additional function, the timepiece of this example is equipped with a timer device configured to activate a buzzer when a preset time has elapsed. In FIG. 1, 1 is a crystal oscillation circuit, 2 is a frequency dividing circuit, and a predetermined output from the frequency dividing circuit 2 is input to a motor drive control circuit 3. As will be described later, the motor drive control circuit 3 determines whether the timer is in an operating state or a stopped state by modulating the driving state of the step motor 6 (that is, by modulating the movement state of the second hand). This is provided as a control means to clearly indicate the The output of the motor control circuit 3 has its pulse width suitably converted by the waveform conversion circuit 4, and is then inputted to the motor drive circuit 5 to drive the step motor 6.
to drive.

On the other hand, a reset switch mechanism Sr consisting of a reset lever 7 and terminal pins 8 and 9 is configured to be linked to the pull-out position of a known reuse. The terminal pin 8 is connected to one input side of the OR circuit 10 and the reset terminal (R) of the frequency divider circuit 2, and the terminal pin 9 is connected to the input side of the inverter 11 and one input side of the AND circuit 12. has been done. By the way, the reset switch mechanism was originally provided to reset at least a part of the frequency dividing circuit by moving the reuse to the needle correction position (outermost pulled out position), as is well known. Example clock reset switch mechanism
In addition to the function of resetting the frequency dividing circuit 2, Sr also has the function of distinguishing between the normal position setting state of the reuse and the one-stage pull-out position (intermediate pull-out position) setting state. That is, the reset switch mechanism Sr of this example has, in addition to the terminal pin 8 and the reset lever 7 connected to the reset terminal R of the frequency dividing circuit 2, the terminal pin 9 as a means for the above-mentioned identification. , when the reuse is pulled out to the needle alignment position (outermost pulled out position),
The point of resetting at least a part of the frequency dividing circuit 2 by bringing the reset lever 7 into contact with the terminal pin 8 is exactly the same as in the case of a conventional pointer display type electronic wristwatch, but as described later, reuse is usually When the reset lever 7 is set at this position, the reset lever 7 is in contact with the terminal pin 9, and when the reuse is set at the 1st pull position (intermediate pullout position), the reset lever 7 is in contact with the terminal pins 8, 9. By being in a state where it is not in contact with any of the above, the above-mentioned identification function is also achieved. Furthermore, the watch of this example has a timer control switch S as a push-button type external operation switch, and the switch S is connected to one input side of AND circuits 12 and 13 provided as input control circuits. ing. Further, for the timer function, a timer minute memory 15, a timer minute counter 23, a coincidence detection circuit 24, etc. are provided, and when the contents of the minute memory 15 and the minute counter 23 match, the coincidence detection circuit 24
4 becomes the [H] level, and the buzzer 27 is driven by the buzzer drive circuit 26.

Here, first, the timer memory 1
The input operation to 5 will be explained. Note that the circuit in this example operates with positive logic, and when it is simply written as [H], it means that it is at the logic level [H], and when it is simply written as [L], it means that it is at the logic level [H]. Each indicates that it is at logic level [L]. When the watch of this example is pulled out to the first pull position, the reset lever 7 is regulated to a neutral state in which it is not in contact with any of the terminal pins 8 and 9, and the output side of the NOR circuit 10 is set to [H].
level. As a result, the AND circuit 13 is turned on and the AND circuit 12 is turned off. In this state, the timer control switch S
When the closing operation is performed for a period less than a predetermined time width, one correction pulse signal is formed by the differentiating circuit 14, and this signal is input into the timer memory 15. Further, when the contents of the minute memory 15 are incremented by one step as described above, the monitor control circuit 16 increments the contents of the minute memory 15 by one step.
A short tone signal is generated, and the signal is input to the buzzer drive circuit 26 to generate a short buzzer tone. That is, the user of the watch can confirm that one correction signal has been input to the minute memory 15 by hearing the short buzzer sound as described above. Further, the minute memory 15 is constituted by a hexadecimal counter, and is therefore configured so that the timer can be set for up to 15 minutes. For this reason, in the watch of this example, when the contents of the minute memory 15 return to zero during an input operation to the minute memory 15, the monitor control circuit 16 generates one long tone signal, It is configured to generate a wide buzzer sound. Therefore, during the input operation as described above, the user of the watch can confirm that the contents of the minute memory 15 have gone through one cycle and become zero by hearing the long buzzer sound.

On the other hand, if the timer control switch S is kept closed for more than a predetermined time width, the minute memory 15 will be reset to zero.
That is, while the switch S is closed as described above, since the output side of the AND circuit 13 is at the [H] level, the reset of the timer circuit 29 is released, and the A 1 Hz signal from the frequency dividing circuit 2 is input to the time limit circuit 29. As a result, the time limit circuit 2
9 counts a predetermined number of pulse signals (that is, when a predetermined time elapses), the timer circuit 29
The output side _T1 becomes [H] level, and the timer memory 15 is reset to zero. Further, in conjunction with the zero reset, one long tone signal is generated by the monitor control circuit 16 and inputted to the buzzer drive circuit 26. For this reason, the user of the watch can adjust the minute memory by listening to the buzzer sound with a long duration.
You can confirm that the contents have been forcibly reset to zero.

Therefore, according to the above configuration, when setting the timer setting time, the following operation may be performed. In other words, after first pulling out the reuse to the 1st pull position, press the timer control switch S until you hear a long buzzer sound.
Continue to close the button to reset the minute memory 15 to zero. Thereafter, by repeating the operation of closing the timer control switch S for a short time a desired number of times and then pushing the reuse back to its original position, the setting of the timer setting time is completed. Also, if you lose track of how many times you have closed the timer control switch S during the input operation as described above, by continuing to close the switch S again for a predetermined period of time or more, All you have to do is reset the minute memory 15 to zero and then try the input operation again. As described above, in the watch of this example, the initial state that should be adjusted before actually using the elapsed time counting function is to set the timer control switch S with the reuse set to the first pull position. The structure is such that the correction can be made by manipulating the .

Next, the operation of the timer function of this example will be briefly explained. After setting the timer setting time as described above, when the reset lever is returned to its original position, that is, the normal position, the reset lever 7 is regulated to a position where it contacts only the terminal pin 9.
The output side of the NOR circuit 10 is at [L] level,
The AND circuit 13 returns to the OFF state. At the same time, the AND circuit 12 turns on and the output side of the inverter 11 goes to the [L] level, so the flip-flop circuit (hereinafter simply abbreviated as FF) 20 is forced to remain in the reset state. The current state will be lifted.
That is, in this state, the FF 20 is still in the reset state, but next, the timer control switch S
When the FF 20 is closed, a single pulse signal generated by the differentiating circuit 18 at that moment inverts the FF 20 to the set state. As a result, AND circuit 21 is turned on.
The 1 Hz output signal from the frequency divider circuit 2 begins to be input to a series of timer counters consisting of the timer seconds counter 22 and the minute counter 23 through the AND circuit 21, and the timer enters the operating state. become. Thereafter, the counting contents of the minute counter 23 and the minute memory 16 will be explained.
As described above, when the contents of . Note that even after the timer enters the operating state as described above, if the timer control switch S is operated, the differentiating circuit 1
8, a pulse signal is formed and input to the toggle terminal T of FF20, so FF2 is again
Return 0 to the reset state and turn off the AND circuit 21
By reversing the state, it is also possible to interrupt (stop) the counting operation of the timer counter. In other words, when the reuse is set to the normal position, the timer control switch S functions as an input to control the start and stop of the counting operation of the timer counter, and when the timer control switch S is turned on once. Each time the counter is closed, the start state and stop state of the counting operation are alternately and selectively set. Also, as above, AND
At the same time as the output side of the circuit 25 becomes [H] level
The AND circuit 30 is turned on, and the 1 Hz signal from the frequency divider circuit 2 begins to be input to the time limit circuit 31.
As a result, when a predetermined number of signals are counted by the timer circuit 31 (that is, when a predetermined time has elapsed), the output side _T2 of the timer circuit 31 becomes [H] level, and the FF 20 The timer second counter 22 and minute counter 23 are returned to the zero reset state, and the buzzer 27 is automatically stopped. Note that the zero detection circuit 17 is connected to the memory 15 for the aforementioned amount.
This is a circuit for determining whether the content of the minute memory 15 is zero, and since the output side of the detection circuit 17 is at [H] level when the content of the minute memory 15 is zero, the OR circuit 17 is The output side of the FF 20 also becomes [H] level, and the FF 20 is forcibly held in the reset state. As a result, in this state, even if the timer control switch S is closed, the FF 20 will not be reversed to the set state, and the timer is regulated not to operate. Note that when the monitor control circuit 16 is configured to generate a buzzer sound when the timer control switch S is operated as described above, in order to save the current consumption by the buzzer 27, the monitor control circuit 16 generates a buzzer sound. When the buzzer sound is generated by input, it may be driven with low current consumption so that the buzzer sound is smaller than the buzzer sound generated by the original timer function.

As described above, according to the present invention, by utilizing the existing reset switch mechanism that is also provided in conventional pointer display type electronic watches,
The input function of the control push-button switch for the elapsed time counting means can be selectively switched to a correction input function regarding the initial state or a control input function for starting and stopping the counting operation. This means that the number of externally operated switches has been reduced. In addition, since the switching of the above input functions is performed depending on whether the reuse is in the normal position setting state or the 1st pull position setting state, the user can determine which state is being switched to. As for the identification, it can be immediately identified by the condition of the reuse itself without installing a new special display means, and the risk of erroneous operation is also prevented. Furthermore, in the present invention, any of the above inputs to the elapsed time counting means can be performed without setting the watch to the needle alignment position (that is, without resetting the frequency dividing circuit). At the same time, there is no possibility of disrupting the current time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a pointer display type electronic timepiece equipped with an input device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1... Crystal oscillation circuit, 2... Frequency dividing circuit, 6...
Step motor, 15...Minute memory for timer, 16...Monitor control circuit, 17...Zero detection circuit, 22...Second counter for tire, 23...
...Minute counter, 24...Coincidence detection circuit, 26...
... Buzzer drive circuit, 27 ... Buzzer, 29, 31
...Timed circuit, Sr...Reset switch mechanism,
S...Timer control switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A frequency dividing circuit that frequency divides the output from the oscillation circuit;
a step motor that is driven based on the output from the frequency dividing circuit; a reuse configured to be able to be set to at least three axial positions; In a pointer display type electronic watch equipped with a reset switch mechanism configured to partially reset the watch,
The reset switch mechanism includes, in addition to means for resetting the frequency dividing circuit, means for distinguishing between the normal position setting state of the reuse and the one-stage pulled position setting state, and has an additional function. elapsed time counting means provided as a counter, a push button switch provided for externally controlling the counting means, and a push button switch for switching the input function of the push button switch in accordance with the state of the reset switch mechanism. and an input control circuit, the input control circuit providing an input function to the push button type switch for correcting the initial state of the elapsed time counting means when the reuse is set to the first pull position. and means for providing an input function for controlling the start and stop of the counting operation of the elapsed time counting means when the reuse is set to the normal position. A distinctive pointer display type electronic watch. 2. In the pointer display type electronic timepiece as set forth in claim 1, the input function for correcting the initial state of the elapsed time counting means is such that the input function for correcting the initial state of the elapsed time counting means is such that the signal from the push button type switch indicates that a predetermined period of time or more has elapsed. A pointer display type electronic timepiece characterized by comprising zero reset means for detecting the elapsed time and resetting the elapsed time counting means to zero.