JP2503377B2 - World clock - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a world timepiece.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an analog world timepiece that displays the time of a designated city with a time pointer, when another city whose time difference is an integer time from the currently designated city is designated, only the hour hand is displayed. It was common to display the time of a designated city by moving hands.

[0003]

The above problem is that when another city whose time difference is an integer time from the currently specified city is specified, only the hour hand moves, so the performance is low and the user is not able to operate it. I didn't feel the fun.

An object of the present invention is to improve the performance of an analog world timepiece.

[0005]

The present invention is directed to a city designating means for designating a desired city, a time display section for displaying the current time of the city designated by the city designating means with hour and minute hands, and the city. When the city specified by the specifying means has an integer time difference from the currently specified city, temporarily rotate the hour hand and the minute hand in opposite directions.
After that, the above object is achieved by providing a control means for displaying the current time of the specified city.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a reference time measuring circuit,
Measures the reference time including calendar information. Reference numeral 2 denotes a city designating section which constitutes city designating means and selects a plurality of cities.
In this example, Honolulu, Anchorage, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Cairo, Dubai, Karachi, New Delhi, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, and Wellington can be selected. There is. 3 is the city display,
The LEDs are provided at positions corresponding to cities selectable by the world map and the city designating unit 2, and the LEDs corresponding to the cities selected by the city designating unit 2 are displayed by blinking. Reference numeral 4 denotes a time difference storage circuit, which is composed of a ROM or the like, and in this example, stores time differences between a plurality of cities designated by the city designation unit 2 when "Tokyo" is set as a reference time. Reference numeral 5 denotes a designated city time counting circuit, which counts the current time of the city designated by the city designating section 2 by adding the time difference stored in the time difference storage circuit 4 to the reference time. Reference numeral 6 denotes a digital display unit, which is composed of an LCD or the like, and displays the time measured by the designated city time measuring circuit 5 and calendar information. A time display unit 7 includes an hour hand 8 and a minute hand 9 and displays the current time of the city designated by the city designation unit 2. Reference numeral 10 is an hour hand drive circuit, which is composed of a reversible rotation motor or the like, and moves the hour hand 8. A minute hand drive circuit 11 is composed of a reversible rotation motor or the like and moves the minute hand 9. An up / down counter 12 is an hour hand drive circuit 10
The number of hour hand drive pulses for operating is counted, and the hour information displayed by the hour hand 8 is detected. The up / down counter 12 is cleared by the output of a sensor (not shown) that produces a detection output when the hour hand 8 displays 0:00. 13 is an up-down counter, which is a minute hand drive circuit 1
Count the number of minute hand drive pulses to operate 1 and
Detects the minute information displayed by. The up / down counter 13 is cleared by the output of a sensor (not shown) that produces a detection output when the minute hand 9 displays 0 minutes. Reference numeral 14 denotes an input section, which includes a calendar mode switch 15, a time mode switch 16 and an alarm time mode switch 17, and an up key 18, a down key 19 and an alarm set switch 20 for setting the time in each mode. Become. 21 is a sounding device,
Sounds alarms, key clicks, etc. Reference numeral 22 is a control circuit which constitutes a control means, and is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like, and controls various operations. A lock switch 23 locks the setting in each mode. An oscillating unit 24 generates a reference clock for the control circuit 22.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which the same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same.

First, the movements of the hour hand 8 and the minute hand 9 when a city whose time difference from the currently specified city is an integer time is specified by the city specifying unit 2 will be described.

Now, "Paris" is designated in the city designation section 2, the LED corresponding to "Paris" in the city display section 3 blinks, the calendar information of "Paris" is displayed in the digital display section 6, AM as the current time of “Paris” on the time display section 7.
It is assumed that 2:05 is displayed.

When the city designating section 2 of "Tokyo" is operated, the hour hand 8 moves in the forward rotation direction (clockwise direction) in order to display the current time PM10: 05 of "Tokyo". At the same time, the minute hand 9 moves in the opposite direction to the hour hand 8. When the hour hand 8 reaches the position displaying 6:05 (the minute hand 9 is in the position displaying 45 minutes at this time), that is, when it reaches the half position of the timing operation, the minute hand 9 changes the rotation direction. , Rotate in the same direction as the hour hand 8. Therefore, the hour hand 8 is 1
When the position to display 0:05 is reached, the minute hand 9 also reaches the position to display 5 minutes at the same time, the operations of the hour hand 8 and the minute hand 9 are finished, and 10:05 is displayed.

Next, the above operation will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

Similar to the above, now, "Paris" is designated in the city designation section 2, the LED corresponding to "Paris" in the city display section 3 blinks, and the calendar information of "Paris" is displayed in the digital display section 6. Is displayed, and AM 2:05 is displayed as the current time of “Paris” on the time display unit 7.

When the city designation section 2 of "Tokyo" is operated (step 3a), the control circuit 22 outputs the time difference data of "Paris" and "Tokyo" from the time difference storage circuit 4.
It is read into the internal register (step 3b).

Next, the reference time measured by the reference time measuring circuit 1 and the value read in the register are calculated to obtain the current time of the selected area. In this example, the current time PM10: 05 in Tokyo is obtained (step 3c).

Next, the display time of the hour hand 8 is read from the count value of the up / down counter 12, and the display time of the minute hand 9 is read from the count value of the up / down counter 13 to detect the display time of the time display section 7. Find the time difference from the current time in the selected city.

In this embodiment, the reversible rotation motor for rotating the hour hand is used, and the rotation speed of the hour hand 8 in the forward rotation direction (clockwise direction) is 2 times the rotation speed in the reverse rotation direction (counterclockwise direction).
Since we are using something that doubles,
If the current time of the selected city is 0 minutes to 8 hours or 12 hours to 20 hours ahead of or 4 hours to 12 hours or 16 hours to 24 hours behind the time displayed on the time display unit, control is performed. Circuit 22 is an hour hand 8
The hand movement direction flag of is set to "1", that is, the forward rotation direction (clockwise direction), the hour hand 8 is set to the number of drive pulses for displaying the hour digit of the current time of the selected city, and the up / down counter 12 is set. The count value obtained by adding the number of drive pulses to the count value of is stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22 (step 3d). In this case, since the time of "Tokyo" is 20 hours ahead of "Paris", the hand movement direction flag of the hour hand 8 is set to "1" and the hour hand 8 is at 10:05.
Up / down counter 12 when the display position is
The count value of is stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22.

The current time of the selected city is 8 hours to 12 hours or 20 hours to 24 hours ahead of the display time of the time display portion, or 0 minutes to 4 hours or 12 hours to 16 hours behind. In this case, for example, when the time of "Paris" is displayed, the time is "Paris".
When "Sydney" which is 21 hours ahead is selected, the hand movement direction flag of the hour hand 8 is set to "0", that is, the reverse rotation direction (counterclockwise direction), and the hour hand 8 indicates the current time of the city. The number of drive pulses for displaying the hour digit is set, and the count value obtained by subtracting this drive pulse number from the count value of the up / down counter 12 is used as the R value of the control circuit 22.
Store in AM (step 3d).

By determining the rotation direction of the hour hand 8 as described above, timing can be performed in the shortest time.

Next, when the time difference between the current time of the selected city and the display time of the time display section is an integer time (step 3e), the hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9 is set in the direction opposite to the hand movement direction of the hour hand 8. Then, the number of drive pulses that is 1/2 the number of drive pulses of the hour hand 8 is set as the drive pulse, and the count value obtained by adding or subtracting this drive pulse number to the count value of the up / down counter 13 is stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22. Let This count value is the turn-back position when the minute hand 9 moves. The hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9 is "1".
When it is set to, the number of drive pulses of 1/2 of the drive pulse of the hour hand 8 is subtracted, and when it is set to "0", it is added (step 3f). In this case, since the hand movement direction of the hour hand 8 is set to "1", the hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9 is set to "0" and the up / down counter when the minute hand 9 is in the position displaying 45 minutes. The count value of 13 is stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22.

Then, the control circuit 22 outputs a drive pulse in the rotation direction corresponding to the set hand movement direction flag of the hour hand 8 to the hour hand drive circuit 10 to move the hour hand 8 for one pulse. At this time, the up / down counter 12 causes the hour hand 8
The digit information when is displayed is detected (Step 3
g). The up / down counter 12 counts up when the hand movement direction flag of the hour hand 8 is "1" and counts down when it is "0".

If the count value of the up / down counter 12 does not match the count value of the up / down counter 12 stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22 (step 3h),
A drive pulse in the rotation direction according to the set hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9, that is, a drive pulse in the rotation direction opposite to the hour hand 8 is output to the hour hand drive circuit 11 to move the minute hand 9 for one pulse. At this time, the up-down counter 13 detects the information of the digit of the minute displayed by the minute hand 9 (step 3i). The up / down counter 13 counts up when the hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9 is “1”,
Counts down when "0".

When the count value of the up / down counter 13 does not match the count value of the up / down counter 13 stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22, that is, when the minute hand 9 has not reached the folding position (position of 45 minutes) (step 3j), returning to step 3g, the same operation as above is performed.

When the count value of the up / down counter 13 matches the count value of the up / down counter 13 stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22 (step 3j), the control circuit 22 determines that the minute hand 9 has reached the folding position. ,
A drive pulse for changing the hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9 to reverse the rotation direction of the minute hand 9 is output, and the minute hand 9 is moved by one pulse in the opposite direction (step 3k), that is, in the same rotation direction as the hour hand 8. The hands are moved, and the process returns to step 3f to perform the same operation as above. In step 3i, the minute hand 9 is moved in the rotation direction according to the hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9, that is, in the same rotation direction as the hour hand 8.

Then, when the count value of the up / down counter 12 matches the count value of the up / down counter 12 stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22 (step 3).
h), the control circuit 22 determines that the time display unit 7 has displayed the current time of the designated city, stops the output of the drive pulse to the hour hand drive circuit 10 and the minute hand drive circuit 11, and performs the time adjustment operation. finish. In the present case, the current time 11:05 of "Tokyo" is displayed on the time display unit 7.

As described above, even when the time difference is an integer time, the minute hand 9 moves, and the rotation direction thereof is opposite to that of the hour hand, so that the performance is improved and the number of driving pulses of the hour hand 8 is half the number. Since the operation of changing the hand movement direction of the minute hand 9 is performed by, the unnecessary time is not spent for the hand movement at the time of timing.

When the time difference between the current time of the selected city and the display time of the time display section is not an integer time (step 3e), the hand movement direction flag of the minute hand 9 is set to "1" and the minute hand 9 is set. The number of drive pulses for displaying the digit of the current time of the selected city is set, and the count value obtained by adding the number of drive pulses to the count value of the up / down counter 13 is stored in the RAM of the control circuit 22 and controlled respectively. The hour hand 8 and the minute hand 9 are moved until they match the count value stored in the RAM of the circuit 22, and the current time of the selected city is displayed (steps 3m, 3n, 3o, 3).
p).

In this example, the cities that can be designated are defined as described above, but the city settings can be changed as appropriate.

[0029]

According to the present invention, in a world timepiece which displays time by means of an hour hand and a minute hand , the hour hand and the minute hand are turned in mutually opposite directions during time adjustment between cities where the time difference is an integer time.
After turning, you can display the current time in the specified city.
With, performance can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 city designation means 7 time display section 8 hour hand 9 minute hand 22 control means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-54-118274 (JP, A) SAIKAI-SHO 53-129972 (JP, U) JP-B-61-33149 (JP, B2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A city designation means for designating a desired city,
When the time display unit that displays the current time of the city designated by the city designating means by the hour hand and the minute hand, and by the city designating means, a city whose time difference is an integer time from the currently designated city is designated, Once the hour hand and the minute hand
And a control means for displaying the current time of the specified city after rotating the two in opposite directions .