JPS6138424B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a world clock with a map display, which is configured to be able to arbitrarily display the time in various parts of the world.

Conventionally, fairly large table clocks that can display the time in various parts of the world have been equipped with an opaque map board based on the Mecator projection, separate from the time display, and lamps placed in major urban areas of the map board. , and a large number of key switches arranged corresponding to the major cities have been realized. Such a watch is constructed in such a way that when the user presses the key switch of the city in which the user wants to know the time, the lamp of that city lights up and the time of that city is displayed at the same time. However, it is convenient as a table clock because you can find any region in the world on a map and find the time, but if you make it the size of a wristwatch, it would be impossible due to space constraints to provide the world map as a separate member from the display device. The configuration of a world clock equipped with a world map as described above was inappropriate for a wristwatch.

The purpose of the present invention was to solve these difficulties, and to provide a map-equipped electronic wristwatch that does not require a world map as a separate member and is not difficult to see even if it is a relatively small watch. There is a particular thing.
The gist thereof is to provide the world map as a part of the component parts of a liquid crystal display device.

The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an FE type liquid crystal display device in which a liquid crystal cell is disposed between polarizing plates and passing light is controlled by utilizing the optical rotation of the liquid crystal. 1 is an upper substrate, 2 is a lower substrate, and both substrates 1 and 2 are sealed with a constant gap maintained by an adhesive member 3,
A liquid crystal 4 is held within the gap. The layer of liquid crystal 4 has optical rotation of approximately 90 degrees on the upper and lower surfaces. 5
6 is an upper polarizing plate, and 6 is a lower polarizing plate, and the polarization axes of both are substantially perpendicular to each other. Reference numeral 7 denotes a light guide that guides light to a liquid crystal display device equipped with illumination means such as a lamp, and 8 a reflection plate. The present invention is characterized by a timepiece that includes a world map as a part of each of the above-mentioned members constituting the liquid crystal display device.
Next, examples of the present invention will be shown.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 2 is a plan view of a world clock with map display obtained from a representative embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a world map 9 is provided on the upper substrate 1 among the components of a liquid crystal display device. Display electrodes forming city marks 10 for displaying the locations of major cities around the world at different times on the world map 9 are provided in the liquid crystal cell. Select the city you want to know the time of, and the city mark 1 on the map
0 is lit or flashed, and at the same time, the city name is displayed in abbreviations on the city name display section 11 provided at the lower right. Furthermore, the time of the city is displayed simultaneously on the time display section 12 provided at the lower left.
The detailed structure of the world map 9 provided on the surface of the upper substrate 1 in contact with the liquid crystal 4 includes electrodes forming the city mark 10, electrodes forming the city name display section 11, and time display section 12. An adhesive used for bonding, for example, the upper substrate 1 and the lower substrate 2 on the upper substrate 1 which has display electrodes such as constituent electrodes and has undergone liquid crystal alignment treatment necessary for an FE type liquid crystal display device. It is conceivable that the same adhesive as the member 3 is printed in the shape of the world map 9 by means such as screen printing. The printed world map 9 is, for example, a world map based on the Mecator projection. The world map also depends on the size of the display area allowed for the liquid crystal display device for wristwatches. For example, if the world map is large to a certain extent, the world map is represented by an outline, and if the display area is quite small, the map is It may also be displayed by filling in each continent. Particularly in the case of displaying the former type of outline, screen printing can clearly print thin lines up to about 100 μm, so a normal wristwatch size can be sufficiently represented by the outline. Upper substrate 1 having a world map 9 drawn in this way
and the lower substrate 2 are glued with a constant gap between them, and the first
By manufacturing the FE type liquid crystal cell as shown in the figure, the part of the world map pattern printed with the same adhesive as the adhesive member 3 loses the orientation of the liquid crystal, and therefore has optical rotation. The liquid crystal becomes cloudy, and the light incident on the liquid crystal display device cannot pass through the polarizing plate. In this case, if the adhesive used to print the map is a material that has almost no light transmittance, the contrast between the adhesive and the non-printed areas can be achieved by utilizing only the clouding phenomenon of the liquid crystal itself. The display becomes clearer than the case where the image is displayed, and it becomes a fine display in a liquid crystal display device. Note that it is also possible to simultaneously perform the step of printing the world map and the step of printing an adhesive on the substrates in order to bond the two substrates together.
In that case, the world map pattern and the pattern for bonding both substrates can be made onto a single screen, making the process extremely easy. It is possible to bring out the maximum features in the embodiment. In this embodiment, voltage is applied through the display electrodes and the world map is displayed in the same part as the liquid crystal display, so the map and display are more easily integrated than in the case where they are provided in the components of other liquid crystal display devices. The display device has no parallax, the color tone is well-matched, no visual blurring occurs, and the mutual positional relationship between the display electrodes such as the world map 9 and the city mark 10 can be maintained with high accuracy, and the display device has a very good appearance. is obtained. Further, in this embodiment, the world map is provided on the upper substrate 1, but the same effect can be obtained even if it is provided on the lower substrate 2 by the same means. In addition, the material used to draw the world map is not limited to adhesives, but must also be a material that does not have a negative effect on the liquid crystal sandwiched between the two substrates, can withstand other processes in the manufacturing of liquid crystal cells, and has excellent printability. It is fine as long as it is excellent. Further, as a similar example to this embodiment, when performing liquid crystal alignment treatment on the upper substrate 1 and lower substrate 2, or after performing the liquid crystal alignment treatment, masking or Even by removing it, substantially the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. Furthermore, the method of this embodiment allows fixed display of partition lines, partition frames, characters, marks, patterns, etc. instead of a map. In this case as well, of course, features such as no parallax with the liquid crystal display section, good color harmony, and good relative positional accuracy are superior to other methods.

Example 2 Light guide 7 constituting the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 1
It has a world map on the front or back side. Screen printing may be used as in Example 1, or a world map may be provided on the light guide 7 by photoprinting. In this case, for example, the world map may be color-coded by time or continent. Furthermore, as a similar embodiment, substantially the same effect as in the previous embodiment can be obtained even if it is provided on the upper surface of the reflecting plate 8.

Example 3 This is an example in which a world map is provided on the upper surface side of the upper substrate 1 or the lower surface side of the lower substrate 2 shown in FIG. After the upper substrate 1 and the lower substrate 2 are glued together and the liquid crystal cell is completed, a world map may be provided by screen printing or the like.
Further, the world map may be provided on the upper substrate 1 or the lower substrate 2 alone.

Example 4 Upper polarizing plate 5 or lower polarizing plate 6 shown in FIG.
Print a world map. The printing process may be carried out after the polarizing plate is adhered to the liquid crystal cell. In this embodiment, especially when a world map is provided on the surface of the upper polarizing plate 5, the world map is not viewed with light passing through the polarizing plate as in other embodiments, so the world map can be printed in color, for example. Clear color display can be obtained even when applied with

As another embodiment, for example, a world map drawn on a film may be inserted into a part of the liquid crystal display, in addition to the members constituting the liquid crystal display. In addition, in Examples 2 to 4 above,
By printing a world map using a fluorescent material such as luminous paint, it is also possible to use it as a night illumination means for a liquid crystal display device.

In Examples 2 to 4, as in Example 1, the city mark 10, time display, city name abbreviation display, etc. are displayed by applying voltage to the liquid crystal.

As described above, the present invention relates to wristwatch size.
This has the effect of making it easier to search for the time of each major city or region in the world where the time is different and to search for the region of the city by constantly displaying a world map in the liquid crystal display device. By providing the world map by direct printing on the component parts of the liquid crystal display device, we can provide a world clock with a display that is compact and has a clear display and is mass-producible, something that was not possible with conventional table clock technology. can do.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an FE type liquid crystal display device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a world clock combined with a map display, showing a typical embodiment obtained by the present invention. 1... Upper substrate, 2... Lower substrate, 3... Adhesive member, 4...
Liquid crystal, 5... Upper polarizing plate, 6... Lower polarizing plate, 7... Light guide, 8... Reflecting plate, 9... World map, 10... City mark, 11... City name display section, 12... Time display section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an electronic watch equipped with a world map for displaying regions or cities with different times, the world map is made using the same adhesive as the adhesive used to bond the upper and lower substrates of the liquid crystal display device. A world clock combined with a map display, characterized in that the world clock is formed on at least one of the upper substrate or the lower substrate.