JPS6215150B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the structure of a clock that displays analog information on a liquid crystal display panel.

An object of the present invention is to propose an analog display liquid crystal watch that uses a liquid crystal display panel to display an analog display like a normal mechanical watch, but has an electrode pattern necessary for a new display.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an analog display timepiece that is capable of displaying other information such as the date and alarm time by simplifying the analog display section.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an analog display timepiece having a plurality of liquid crystal display layers to increase the display function. The analog display liquid crystal watch of the present invention has 60 minute display electrodes arranged radially on an arc on the outside on one substrate to form a minute display section, and 12 minute display electrodes arranged radially on a concentric arc on the inside. Hour display electrodes are arranged to form an hour display section, and three of the adjacent minute display electrodes and hour display electrodes are placed on the other substrate opposing the substrate and the liquid crystal.
In an analog display liquid crystal watch in which 20 block electrodes and 4 block electrodes are formed concentrically on the outer and inner sides corresponding to each minute electrode, the minute display electrode is connected to three block electrodes corresponding to one outer block electrode. The nth (n = integer from 1 to 3) minute display electrode from the clockwise direction of the minute display electrode is connected to the (4-n)th minute display electrode corresponding to the adjacent block electrode in the clockwise (or counterclockwise) direction. The (4-n)th minute display electrode of the minute display electrode that is connected to the outside of the minute display section and corresponds to the block electrode adjacent in the counterclockwise (or clockwise) direction and the minute display Two sets of electrodes are formed by connecting wires inside the part and extending electrodes from the minute display part to the outer terminal part, and three hour display electrodes corresponding to the four inner block electrodes are connected to the minute display part. The wires are connected to each other on the inside, one of them is connected to one of the minute display electrodes inside the minute display section, and the remaining two are provided at the break between the two sets of minute display electrode interconnections. The inner four block electrodes extend outward from the gap between the minute display electrodes and connect to the terminal portion, and the inner four block electrodes extend over the other substrate corresponding to the gap between the minute display electrodes on the other substrate. Each of the 20 outer block electrodes extends outward and is connected to a terminal on the outside of the display section.

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1a is a diagram showing an embodiment of the arrangement of electrodes in the analog display section of the analog display liquid crystal timepiece according to the present invention. Although not shown, if the liquid crystal is a twisted nematic, a pair of polarizing plates on both sides of a pair of transparent flat substrates that sandwich the liquid crystal constituting the panel, and a reflecting plate on the lower side are required. Here, the overall structure of the panel will not be explained in detail since it does not change the gist of the invention and is a well-known fact.

In FIG. 1, 1 means the minute hand, which is shown in 60 divisions. 1a and 1b are opposing electrodes that sandwich the liquid crystal and display opposing minute hands 1. In addition,
1a is a segment type electrode that displays minutes;
1b is a block type electrode corresponding to three minute display electrodes. In the figure, the electrodes 1a are connected to the external lead terminal 4 in a zigzag pattern with three wires, as shown in 60 electrodes. The electrodes 1b are divided into groups that are opposed to the three electrodes 1a, and are shown in 20 groups in the figure.
The external lead-out terminal of this electrode is indicated by 3. 2
indicates the hour hand, which is displayed in 12 divisions, and like the minute hand 1, opposing electrodes 2a and 2b are divided into four groups and led out. Block-shaped electrodes are provided on the other substrate corresponding to three segment-shaped electrodes for each of the 12 hour display. For electrode 2a, external lead terminals are connected to 6a, 6.
b, 6c. The terminal 6c is internally connected to the terminal 4c of the minute hand. The external lead-out terminals corresponding to the electrode 2b are four terminals 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d. The terminals 6a and 6b are externally connected to the terminals 4a and 4b using a printed circuit board or the like constituting the watch.

Here, the display method of the minute hand 1 will be explained. terminal 4
Periodic pulses with different phases are sequentially applied to a, 4b, and 4c. When pulses of opposite phase are applied to terminals 3 in 20 groups in synchronization with this periodic pulse, the maximum voltage is applied to the liquid crystal and it lights up. If this is selected to be applied to only one location, the minute hand will light up at one location. Drive voltage waveform is 1/2 bias method,
Although it differs depending on the 1/3 bias method, it is well known and will therefore be omitted.

Although the electrodes 1b corresponding to the electrodes 1a are shown in 20 groups in FIG. 1, they may be arranged in 15 groups, 10 groups, etc. In this case, the zigzag lines become 4 lines and 6 lines, causing a gap between the hour and minute hands.
In Figure 1, the display drive is shown with three multiplexes, but as is well known, liquid crystals have extremely low power consumption and display panels can be made small and thin, and are used in wristwatches. Increasing the number also has the disadvantage of narrowing the viewing angle and making crosstalk more likely to occur. Since display quality is particularly important in watches, multiplex 3 is considered appropriate at present, and multiplex 3 is shown in the figure.

The features of the analog display liquid crystal timepiece according to the present invention having electrodes configured in this manner will be described below.

In FIG. 1, the terminals 6a and 6b are led out without crossing or opposing any line or electrode. The terminals 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d are opposed to each other on the outer circumferential side of the terminal 4 arranged in a zigzag arrangement, so that they light up at opposing positions, but if they are opposed outside the field of view, the appearance of the display will not be impaired. Another major feature is that each terminal of the hour hand is led out one by one between the minute hand electrodes. By doing this, the interval between the minute hand display electrodes can be narrowed, resulting in a beautiful appearance.

Here, other parts of FIG. 1a will be explained with reference to b. 7 is the day of the month digitally displayed, 8 is the day of the week, 9
is a display indicating that an alarm is set with the alarm mark ALM, and 10 is an English character indicating AM and PM of the alarm time setting. Furthermore, although not shown, it would be even more convenient if the alarm setting time were digitally displayed. In these displays, although the electrode arrangement is not shown, it is possible to drive the same number of multiplexes as in the analog display section. As described above, according to the present invention, a major feature is that the multiplex drive can be easily applied to the analog display section, thereby reducing the number of external lead-out terminals and providing many display functions. . Reducing the number of terminals can also reduce the burden on the large-scale integrated circuits that drive the clock. Next, referring to FIG. 2, an actual display example of the analog display timepiece according to the present invention will be explained. 11 indicates a time display section. 12 is the minute hand, which indicates 0 minutes. 13 indicates 4 o'clock with the hour hand. 14 is a display of time positions such as 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock, etc. by printing or the like. 15 is 26
Displays the day, 16 indicates Monday, and 17 indicates that an alarm is set. 18 indicates that the alarm is set in the afternoon. Although not shown, keys for time adjustment, alarm setting, etc. are provided.

Next, an embodiment of the analog display liquid crystal timepiece according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In Figure 3, 2
0, 21, and 22 are transparent flat substrates having transparent electrodes for displaying a predetermined display on the side in contact with the liquid crystal.
The step shape is used to easily connect the external lead-out terminal to another circuit board. 23 is a spacer that holds the liquid crystal. 24 and 25 indicate display layers, which also mean liquid crystal. 26 is a reflecting plate. By providing multiple display layers in this manner, more display functions can be expressed. For example, if the electrodes are configured to display a second hand and an hour hand on the display layer 24 and a minute hand on the display layer 25, as shown in FIG. It is possible to design a wonderful clock. In Figure 4,
27 is the second hand at the outermost periphery, 28 is the minute hand, and 29 is the hour hand. If 30 is provided on the display layer 25, since this layer has only a minute hand, the electrode terminal can be led out, and an alarm display is provided in the middle.

A digital display such as the date may be provided on both display layers 24 and 25.

As described above, according to the analog display liquid crystal timepiece according to the present invention, an aesthetically pleasing timepiece can be manufactured with a simple electrode configuration. Furthermore, by reducing the number of external lead-out terminals, it becomes possible to digitally display other days, months, and days of the week, and the creation of a multifunctional timepiece will bring about a great contribution to industry.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the arrangement of counter electrodes for minutes and hours in an analog display liquid crystal watch according to the present invention.The minute hand electrode is divided into 20 groups, the hour hand is divided into 4 groups, and the multiplex number is 3. The drive system is illustrated. 7 shows the case where the date etc. is displayed digitally. FIG. 2 shows an example of an actual case where the time is 4 o'clock with the electrode configuration shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows another example of an analog display liquid crystal timepiece according to the present invention, which has two display layers and can display hours, minutes, and seconds simultaneously, and FIG. 4 shows an actual display example of this.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. On one substrate, 60 minute display electrodes are arranged radially on an arc on the outside to form a minute display section, and 12 hour display electrodes are arranged radially on a concentric arc on the inside. electrodes are arranged to form an hour display section, and three of the adjacent minute display electrodes and hour display electrodes are placed on the other substrate that faces the substrate with the liquid crystal in between.
In an analog display liquid crystal watch in which 20 block electrodes and 4 block electrodes are formed concentrically on the outer and inner sides corresponding to each minute electrode, the minute display electrode is connected to three block electrodes corresponding to one outer block electrode. The nth (n = integer from 1 to 3) minute display electrode from the clockwise direction of the minute display electrode is connected to the (4-n)th minute display electrode corresponding to the adjacent block electrode in the clockwise (or counterclockwise) direction. The (4-n)th minute display electrode of the minute display electrode that is connected to the outside of the minute display section and corresponds to the block electrode adjacent in the counterclockwise (or clockwise) direction and the minute display Two sets of electrodes are formed by connecting wires inside the part and extending electrodes from the minute display part to the outer terminal part, and three hour display electrodes corresponding to the four inner block electrodes are connected to the minute display part. The wires are connected to each other on the inside, one of them is connected to one of the minute display electrodes inside the minute display section, and the remaining two are provided at the break between the two sets of minute display electrode interconnections. The inner four block electrodes extend outward from the gap between the minute display electrodes and connect to the terminals, and the inner four block electrodes extend over the other substrate corresponding to the gap between the minute display electrodes on the other substrate. An analog display liquid crystal watch, characterized in that the 20 outer block electrodes are connected to terminals on the outside of the display section, and each of the 20 outer block electrodes extends outward and connected to the terminals on the outside of the minute display section.