JPS6116033B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a timepiece device that adjusts the time display based on time signals broadcast on radio, television, etc., and is particularly suitable for use in small timepieces such as wristwatches.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various clock devices have been proposed that correct the time display of a digital clock by detecting time signals sent through radio broadcasts or television broadcasts, and some of them have been put into practical use. Such devices are mainly built into relatively large timepieces such as wall clocks and desk clocks, but it is extremely difficult to incorporate them into wristwatches due to their size and weight. For this reason, in the past, wristwatches had to be adjusted only manually. Digital watches with built-in crystal oscillators are manufactured with a high degree of accuracy, but as time passes, errors accumulate and become large. Therefore, it would be extremely convenient if the wristwatch could be automatically adjusted based on the time signal.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is configured to connect a correction device to a wristwatch to correct the time using a time signal.

First, an embodiment of a timepiece device applicable to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Describing the principle of this device, this device has 1
The time display is adjusted every hour using a time signal. For this purpose, power is supplied to the radio every hour to bring it into reception mode, but the time for which power is supplied is initially long, and once the correct corrections have been made, the time for which power is supplied is gradually shortened. For example, if the initial power supply time is set to 5 minutes and a time signal is received during this 5 minutes, the time is corrected based on the time signal. With the accuracy of a normal digital clock,
Once the correct correction is made, the time will not deviate significantly after about one hour, so the next power supply time is set to, for example, one minute. and the next one
After that time, the power supply time is set to 30 seconds, for example. In this way, the power supply time is shortened every hour, and finally, for example, it is set to about 10 seconds each time, and subsequent corrections are made. Furthermore, if there is no time signal during the first 5 minutes, power is supplied for the same 5 minutes after the next hour. Furthermore, once the correction has been made, if for some reason the clock is significantly out of order and there is no time signal for the above 1 minute, 30 seconds or 10 seconds, then the time signal for the previous 5 minutes, 1 minute or Set it back to 30 seconds and try again. As described above, by always minimizing the power supply time, it is possible to reduce the probability that a sound similar to the time signal is detected before the time signal, and it is also possible to suppress power consumption.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a timepiece device for performing the above-described operations.

In FIG. 1, the window circuit 2 operates for 5 minutes, 1 minute, and 30 seconds every hour as described above.
The window is opened every second to supply the power supply voltage from the power supply circuit 1 to the receiver 3. The receiver 3 is in a receiving state for each of the above-mentioned times, and when a time signal is received during this time, the time signal is detected by the time signal detection circuit 4, and at this time, a detection pulse is obtained from the time signal detection circuit. The time adjustment circuit 5 is operated by this detection pulse. A signal indicating the currently displayed time is added to the time adjustment circuit 5 from the clock circuit 6. Based on this signal, the correct time is corrected, and this correction signal causes the display of the clock circuit 6 to be correct. Can be set to time. In this case, for example, if a time signal is detected while the display is in the range of 11:30 to 12:29:59, 12:00 is displayed as the corrected time. On the other hand, the above detection pulse is also applied to the determination circuit 7. The power supply voltage obtained from the window circuit 2 is also applied to this determination circuit 7, and when the power supply voltage is applied, that is, when the receiver 3 is in the receiving state, it is determined whether there is a time signal or not. The determination signal and the power supply time at that time are stored in the storage circuit 8. The adjustment circuit 9 sets the next opening time of the window circuit 2 based on the data in the storage circuit 8. That is, when there is a time signal during the previous power supply time, the next power supply time is shortened, and when there is no time signal, the previous power supply time is repeated once again. In addition, after the power supply time becomes constant for 10 seconds each time, if there is no time signal during these 10 seconds, the next power supply time will be changed.
You may want to go back to 30 seconds or 1 minute, or even 5 minutes in some cases. With the configuration and operation described above, the time can be set accurately every hour.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention in which the device shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a wristwatch will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, a part of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 is externally connected to the wristwatch, so that automatic correction is performed when the wristwatch is not in use, for example, while sleeping.

In FIG. 2, a correction device 11 and a wristwatch 12 are detachably connected via a photocoupler 15 consisting of a light emitting diode 13 and a phototransistor 14. The correction device 11 includes the light emitting diode 13, the receiver 3 shown in FIG.
A heat-retaining heater 17 and the like are provided. The detection unit 16 includes the power supply circuit 1, window circuit 2, and
It is composed of a time signal detection circuit 4, a determination circuit 7, a storage circuit 8, an adjustment circuit 9, and the like. The heat-retaining heater 17 is generally used in watches that use a crystal oscillator.
It is designed to have the highest accuracy at 28°C, so by keeping the correction device 11 at this temperature,
It is provided to operate the crystal oscillator of the wristwatch 12 coupled to the correction device 11 with high precision.
The wristwatch 12 includes the phototransistor 14,
A time adjustment circuit 5 shown in FIG. 1, a clock circuit 6 driven by a crystal oscillator, etc. are built-in. Incidentally, the photocoupler 5 may be replaced with a coupling means such as a magnetic coupler or an ultrasonic coupler that allows signal transmission and reception without contact.

According to the above configuration, the time signal detection signal obtained by the detection unit 16 through the operation described in FIG. The time is displayed. This correction device 11 is used when the watch is not used for a long time, such as when sleeping, but even when the watch is in use, the correction device 11 can be connected to the wristwatch as appropriate and adjusted to the current time signal. good. Further, during a long period of time, such as during sleep, while the correction device 11 and the clock device 12 are connected to adjust the time, the temperature of the heat-retaining heater 17 is transmitted to the wristwatch 12 via the above-mentioned connection portion.
This maintains the crystal oscillator at a predetermined temperature, so that the crystal oscillator can oscillate with high precision during time adjustment. Therefore, the time can be corrected with extremely high precision. Note that after the correction is made, the wristwatch 12 is worn on the wrist, so that it can be kept warm by body temperature. Furthermore, although the circuit shown in FIG. 2 described above is a case in which the circuit shown in FIG. It is.

The present invention comprises a timepiece having a built-in time adjustment circuit, a detection unit having a time signal detection circuit, and a correction device having a built-in heat retention heater, and the correction device and the timepiece are detachably connected. The time adjustment circuit is operated based on the time signal detection signal obtained from the adjustment device, so that the time display of the timepiece is corrected, and the oscillator of the timepiece is kept warm by the warming heater. This relates to a timepiece device that has been developed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the time can be easily and automatically corrected in accordance with the time signal without incorporating a correction device into the wristwatch. In particular, by providing a heat-retaining heater in the adjustment device, the crystal oscillator is kept warm during time adjustment and can be caused to oscillate with high accuracy, making it possible to adjust the time with extremely high accuracy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a timepiece device to which the present invention can be applied, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. 11...correction device, 12...watch, 15...
Photocoupler, 16... is a detection unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Consisting of a timepiece that incorporates a time adjustment circuit and a clock circuit driven by an oscillator, and a correction device that includes a detection section having a time signal detection circuit and a heat-retaining heater, the correction device and the watch are removable. The time adjustment circuit is operated based on the time signal detection signal obtained from the adjustment device, so that the time display of the clock circuit is corrected, and the adjustment device and the clock When the oscillator and the watch are coupled together, the oscillator is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the heat-retaining heater through the coupling portion between the correction device and the timepiece.