JPS6193979A - Electronic timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase power generating efficiency and the degree of freedom in size and to obtain a power generating mechanism having high durability by rectifying the AC current generated by the rotation of a rotor and preventing the reverse current thereof. CONSTITUTION:A converter as the power generating mechanism has a rotor 20 contg. a permanent magnet 20a. The magnetic core 22a of a coil 22 and a stator 21 are fixed by a screw 23 and AC electromotive force is generated in the coil 22 by the rotation of the rotor 20. The rotating force by a rotary weight 51 is transmitted by an accelerating wheel train 52 to the rotor 53 in the charging circuit. The change of the magnetic field generated by the rotation of the rotor 53 is transmitted via the stator 54 to the coil 55, by which the induced voltage is generated. The generated electric power is accumulated in the capacitor 57 and is supplied to a timepiece body 56. A limiter 58 prevents the overcharge of the capacitor 57 and the AC power generated by the coil 55 is subjected to half-wave rectification by a diode 59 for preventing the reverse current.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece that uses electrical energy as an energy source, like the quartz watch that has become mainstream in recent years.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, almost all the energy source for electronic watches was batteries. This battery has a lifespan determined by its capacity and the current consumption of the watch body, and the hassle of replacing the battery has always been the biggest drawback of electronic watches. In order to overcome this drawback, attempts have been made to provide a power generation mechanism inside the watch. The attempt was made in the previous Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 50-178.
66, the power generation efficiency is poor, the size is large, and there are problems with durability, so it has not been put into practical use.

Furthermore, the conventional rectifier circuit for an alternating current generator has four diodes arranged in a bridge as shown in FIG. 4, and has a large number of elements, which hinders its application to small devices such as watches.

〔the purpose〕

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and has a power generation mechanism with extremely high power generation efficiency, a high degree of flexibility in terms of size, and excellent durability inside the watch. It is intended to provide watches.

〔overview〕

An electronic timepiece according to the present invention uses electric energy as an energy source, and includes a rotor.

The rotor is composed of a stator and a coil, and the rotor has at least one permanent magnet, and the stator is made of a high magnetic permeability material and has a cylindrical hole that encloses the magnet, so as to guide the magnetic flux of the magnet to the coil. The coil is formed by winding a coil around a magnetic core made of a high magnetic permeability material, and includes a transducer having means for fixing the stator and the magnetic core, a means for rotating the rotor, and a transducer formed by the rotation of the rotor. [Embodiment] The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.The present invention includes a rectifying means for rectifying alternating current and a storage means for storing the rectified electric power, and the rectifying means is constituted by one backflow prevention means.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the concept of a system for a crystal wristwatch that effectively utilizes the present invention.

1 is a means for generating rotation torque, and the center of rotation and the center of gravity may be eccentric, and the rotation of this rotating means 1 is a means for rotating by operating an external operating member such as a winding stem. The speed of the motion is increased by the speed increasing wheel train 2, and the rotor of the converter A5 as a power generation mechanism is rotated to generate an alternating current. This alternating current is rectified by the rectifier circuit 4 and stored in the power storage means 5. In this embodiment, an electric double layer capacitor, which is a large capacity capacitor, is used as the power storage means. A control circuit 6 including a crystal as a time standard and a drive circuit 7 controlled by the control circuit 6 operate using this large capacity capacitor as a power source. Energy is supplied by the drive circuit 7 to operate the exchanger B8, and this converter B8
The movement is transmitted to the hand 10 by the deceleration wheel train 9, and the time is displayed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the converter A3 as a power generation mechanism.

A stator 21 is arranged to surround a rotor 20 including a permanent magnet 20α. The coil 22 has a magnetic core 22α
The magnetic core 22α and the stator 21 are connected by screws 2
It is fixed by 3.

As this rotor 20 rotates, an electromotive force expressed as dφ e = N-stone is generated in the coil. Rotational speed L of 20: Coil intitalance This electromotive force is an alternating current with an approximately sinusoidal curve. Further, the rotor 20 and the hole in the stator 21 surrounding it are concentric circles and surround the rotor magnet over almost the entire circumference. This minimizes the force (pulling torque) that forces the rotor to stay in place.

FIG. 3 shows a converter A which is
5 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the mechanism up to No. 5. FIG. In FIG. 5, an unbalanced wheel 31 whose center of rotation and center of gravity are eccentric is used as a rotating means. 32 is the main plate, 3
3 is Uke. The rotational motion caused by the unbalance of the unbalanced wheel 51 is caused by the rotational movement of the speed increasing gear train 31α, 34. The rotor pinion 22b causes the rotor magnet 20α to rotate.

Reference numeral 22b denotes a coil lead board, on which the terminals of the coil are processed, and the coil lead board 22b and the circuit board 35 come into contact with each other, and the electric power induced in the coil is transmitted to the circuit.

As described above, if the pulling torque of the rotor is small, the amount of unbalance of the unbalanced wheel 31 may also be small. The minimum condition is (rotor pull torque) < (unbalanced torque of unbalanced vehicle).

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional rectifier circuit.

The rectifier circuit is composed of four diodes 41.42 and 43.44. Reference numeral 5 represents a power storage means, and in this embodiment, an electric double layer capacitor, which is a large capacity capacitor, is used. When electric power shown by a thin line 45 is induced in the coil 22, a current flows as shown by the thin line and is stored in the capacitor 5. Further, when the electric power shown by the broken line 46 is induced in the coil, the current flows as shown by the broken line and is stored in the capacitor 5 in the same direction as in the case of 45.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a charging circuit according to the present invention.

The rotational force from the rotating weight 51 is transferred to the rotor 53 by the speed increasing gear train 52.
tell to. Changes in the magnetic field caused by the rotation of the rotor 55 are transmitted to the coil 55 via the stator 54, and an induced voltage is generated at both ends of the coil.

57 is a capacitor which is a means of storing electricity, and a coil "
The power generated in the circuit 55 is stored through 01+02 and supplied to the watch body 56. A limiter 58 is a circuit for preventing overcharging beyond the withstand voltage of the capacitor 57. 5
Reference numeral 9 denotes a backflow prevention diode which performs half-wave rectification of the alternating current power generated by the coil 55. Moreover, it also serves to prevent the power stored in the capacitor 57 from being lost through the coil 55 when the coil 55 is not generating power.

Also, by placing the diode 59 between the coil 55 and both the limiter 58 and the capacitor 57, the voltage applied to the limiter 58 when the diode 59 cuts the half-wave rectification current, that is, during the period 66 in FIG. It also reduces charging efficiency and prevents damage.

FIG. 6 shows a comparison of the current waveform flowing through the power storage means 57 between the conventional rectifier circuit shown in FIG. 4 and the rectification circuit using one diode 59 according to the present invention shown in FIG.

60 is the reference line. 61 is the current generated in the conventional rectifier circuit, 62 is the current generated in the present invention, 63 is the loss due to the voltage drop in the conventional rectifier circuit, and 64 is the loss due to the voltage drop in the rectifier circuit according to the present invention. It's a minute. Conventionally, the amount of charge stored in the power storage means is the area encompassed by 61 and 63, and the amount of charge according to the present invention is the area encompassed by 62 and 64.
It is the area integral wrapped in. In this area comparison, there is almost no difference, and the power storage performance is the same. The reason why there is no difference in energy storage performance with half-wave rectification compared to conventional full-wave rectification is explained below. During the period cut by half-wave rectification (indicated by 66 in FIG. 6), no current flows through the coil 22, and therefore, the brake torque applied to the rotor is small, so that the rotating weight moves faster. That is, the energy for the period 66 is stored as kinetic energy of the rotary weight and released during power generation. Therefore, the peak value of velo 2 is also large compared to 61. It is also advantageous that the rectification loss is halved by replacing two diodes with one. As a result, even though it is half-wave rectified, its power generation and storage performance is not worse than that of full-wave rectification.

Control circuit 6° drive circuit 7 from power storage means 5 in FIG. Converter B8. Reduction gear train 9. The pointer 10 is the same as the conventional one, and uses well-known techniques.

According to the present embodiment described above, since an unbalanced wheel is used as the rotating means, a self-winding crystal watch is realized. Regarding generator problems, the coil movable unit type shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 50-17866 has a limit in increasing the size of the coil because the coil is rotated, and the power generation efficiency cannot be increased. Also, the brush part is a mechanical contact point, so there is always concern about the mother. Also, in terms of size, it has to be thick in order to obtain the number of turns of the coil. In addition, it is difficult to process thin cylinders with magnets, and it is difficult to use strong magnets such as rare earth magnets that have been put into practical use in recent years.From this point of view, they also have the disadvantage of not being able to increase power generation efficiency. According to this embodiment, the magnets and coils, which are the components of the generator, can be arranged apart from each other, and can be set according to the required characteristics. The coil can also be made much larger than that of a rotating coil unit type, and the power generation efficiency can be increased. Furthermore, the magnet is of a thick-walled cylindrical shape and is extremely easy to process, and any type of magnet, including rare earth magnets, can be used. In addition, since the magnetic flux of the magnet is taken out by constructing a magnetic circuit using high magnetic permeability materials such as the stator and the magnetic core, the magnetic flux N·φ that crosses the coil becomes extremely large. Therefore, from this aspect as well, the power generation efficiency is greatly increased.

Furthermore, since each V element can be arranged in a distributed manner, it can be freely placed in the spaces between other components, such as wheel trains and circuits, considering the overall layout of the watch, resulting in extremely high space efficiency.

Further, in this embodiment, a large capacity capacitor is used as the power storage means. A capacitor is not a chemical reaction like a silver battery, but a physical phenomenon, and the lifespan of the power storage means itself is extremely long.With the system implemented in this study, a lifespan similar to that of a conventional spring-type watch can be obtained, and of course, it is easy to replace the battery. To realize a highly accurate clock such as a crystal clock without any trouble, and to use half-wave rectification using one diode as a rectifier circuit. As a result, the conventionally required four elements are now reduced to one, which is extremely advantageous in terms of space.

In addition, the implementation is simplified, and the cost is not only reduced by the cost of five diodes, but the yield of the entire circuit is also improved, which has a great effect.

Reliability is also improved due to the simpler configuration.

Also, by placing the diode closer to the generator than the limiter, it absorbs the negative effects of half-wave rectification when current is cut, improving rectification efficiency.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

Regarding the rotation means, although this embodiment utilizes the rotation motion of an unbalanced wheel, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be used in parallel with a means for rotating an external operating member such as a winding stem to rotate a rotor of a generator.

As a combined method, there is a method of using a rotation means using an unbalanced wheel in the first stage of the winding stem, and when the winding stem is pulled out to the first stage, the winding stem rotates and drives the speed increasing gear train. ), the rotation of the winding stem is transmitted to the speed-increasing gear train via the rocking wheel, and the rotation of the unbalanced wheel is configured so as not to be transmitted to the winding stem, and the winding stem acts as a brake for the rotation of the unbalanced wheel. It is also possible to configure the configuration so that this does not occur.

In addition, the unbalanced portion of the unbalanced vehicle is arranged in almost the same cross section as the speed increasing gear train, generator, etc. in FIG. 5, and the effect of making the vehicle thinner is significant.

Moreover, the unbalanced portion 31b is not limited to this structure, but other structures are also possible.

For example, in the present embodiment, a large-capacity capacitor is used as the power storage means 5, which can easily increase the unbalance amount by placing it on the receiver 33 in FIG. 3, but any rechargeable power source may be used. But it doesn't matter. For example, in recent years, rechargeable lithium batteries, solid electrolyte batteries, and the like have been put into practical use, and these batteries themselves have large capacities and high long-term reliability, and are suitable power sources for the present invention. Silver batteries can also be used as a means of storing electricity, although there are some problems with their long-term reliability.

Further, in FIG. 1, the configuration from the control circuit after the power storage means to the pointer which is the display means is shown as an example of a needle display, and may be a digital display.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, by having the I[&A structure inside the watch, the troublesomeness of battery replacement, which is the biggest drawback of T-child watches, can be eliminated, and the life of the watch can be made semi-permanent. The effect of doing so is significant.

In addition, as a generator configuration, the coil and magnet are separated, and they are magnetically connected by a stator, and the coil is fixed.
By rotating a magnet to generate AC power, the number of turns in the coil and the number of magnetic flux passing through the coil, which have the greatest effect on power generation efficiency, can be extremely large, making it possible to obtain large power generation in a small space, and for the first time in a watch size. This made it possible to create a practical power generation system.

Furthermore, as in the present invention, the magnet, stator, and coil are completely independent components that can be assembled at the same time when the watch is finally assembled, thereby greatly improving ease of assembly and repair. In addition, in terms of space, it is possible to register the name using the gaps between various other components, and it is possible to prevent the watch from becoming large and floating due to the introduction of the power generation system. It is a non-contact converter and has high long-term reliability including contact parts.

Furthermore, the rectifier circuit requires only one circuit instead of four diodes, which is extremely advantageous in terms of space.

In addition, the implementation is simplified, and the cost is not only reduced by the cost of five diodes, but the yield of the entire circuit is also improved, which has a great effect.

Also, in terms of reliability, the circuit itself becomes simpler and its reliability becomes higher.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1.2 A block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2. Power generation mechanism diagram of the knee embodiment. Fig. 5. Cross-sectional view of the wheel train section of the knee embodiment. Fig. 4: Explanatory diagram of a conventional rectifier circuit. Figure 5; Explanatory diagram No. 6 of the rectifier circuit according to the present invention
Figure: Formation of stored current 1...Rotating means 2...Increasing gear train 3...Generator hinoki 4...Rectifier circuit 5... ...Power storage means 22...Coil 51...Diode or more

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electronic watch that uses electrical energy as an energy source includes a rotor, a stator, and a coil, the rotor having at least one permanent magnet, and the stator being made of a high magnetic permeability material and having a cylindrical hole that encloses the magnet. , the converter is arranged so as to guide the magnetic flux of the magnet to a coil, the coil is formed by winding a coil around a magnetic core made of a high magnetic permeability material, and has means for fixing the stator and the magnetic core. and means for rotating the rotor, rectifying means for rectifying alternating current power generated by rotation of the rotor, and storage means for storing the rectified electric power, and the rectifying means is constituted by one backflow prevention means. An electronic clock that features: