JPS6239911B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sound generation circuit for a watch, and particularly to a sound generation circuit for a watch that can generate onomatopoeic sounds such as birds or insects.

Clocks with a sounding mechanism are well known, and are particularly used as alarm clocks or time-signal clocks. In these conventional devices, the alarm sound or time-signal sound is usually produced by hitting a buzzer or a bell with a hammer. It was done with sound. In recent electronic watches, electronic circuits are also used in such sound-producing mechanisms, and alarm sounds or time-signal sounds have been generated by chimes or the like.

However, these conventional devices have a problem in that they do not necessarily provide a sounding effect that gives a pleasant feeling to the user.

The object of the present invention is to be able to generate sounds that are pleasant to the user, specifically the sounds of birds or insects, to generate onomatopoeic sounds of birds or insects using a simple circuit, and to generate an electric sound as an alarm or time signal. An object of the present invention is to provide a sound generation circuit for a clock that can generate sounds in a timely manner.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a notification operation start device that outputs a notification operation start signal at a preset time, and an oscillation stop signal output terminal connected to the output terminal of the notification operation start device. and a control circuit that outputs an oscillation stop signal and a reset signal from a reset signal output terminal and releases the output of the oscillation stop signal and reset signal on the condition that the notification operation start signal exists, and an oscillation stop signal output of this control circuit. a sound generation reference signal generator connected to the terminal, which does not output a sound generation reference signal in the presence of the oscillation stop signal, and outputs a sound generation reference signal of a constant frequency in response to cancellation of the oscillation stop signal; and this sound generation reference signal. a frequency divider connected to the sound generation reference signal output terminal of the generator, which divides the sound generation reference signal and outputs a sound generation period reference signal having a constant frequency lower than the sound generation reference signal; and a reset signal output terminal of the control circuit. A reset signal input terminal is connected to the frequency divider, a clock input terminal is connected to the sound generation cycle reference signal output terminal of the frequency divider, and in response to the release of the reset signal, the sound generation cycle reference signal is counted and repeated at the sound generation cycle. A repetition period counter that performs counting and outputs count signals to a plurality of Q output terminals, a plurality of D input terminals respectively connected to each Q output of this repetition period counter, and a clock connected to an output terminal of the frequency divider. a programmable counter having an input terminal, from which a plurality of preset target count values are read out corresponding to the count signal of the repetition period counter and outputted to a plurality of Q output terminals as a frequency division ratio selection signal; , a reset signal input terminal is connected to a reset signal output terminal of the control circuit, a clock input terminal is connected to a sound generation reference signal output terminal of the sound generation reference signal generator, and a plurality of Q output terminals of the programmable counter are connected to a reset signal input terminal. D input terminals are connected in correspondence, and in response to cancellation of the reset signal, the frequency of the sound generation reference signal is divided according to the frequency division ratio selection signal of the D input terminal, and the frequency division signal is outputted. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a frequency generator, and a sound generator connected to the program frequency divider and driving a sound generating element in accordance with the frequency-divided signal.

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

FIG. 1 shows the model characteristics of a bird's chirping sound, with the sound frequency plotted on the vertical axis versus time on the horizontal axis. As is clear from Figure 1, the onomatopoeic sounds of birdsong exhibit a periodic waveform that repeats with a nearly constant or varying pronunciation period T _a , and the frequency decreases continuously within each pronunciation period T _a . Indicates change characteristics.

Of course, the characteristic diagram in Figure 1 shows an extremely basic model, and actual bird chirps or insect calls are much more complex, and the pronunciation period itself changes.
Furthermore, it is clear that the change characteristics within the sound generation period T _a are also complex characteristics.

Therefore, in the present invention, the varying pronunciation period T
By performing a sounding function with a frequency that changes repeatedly with _a , you can obtain onomatopoeic sounds of birds or insects, and this can be extremely useful by using it as a clock alarm sound, a time signal sound, or a background sound during a time signal function. It is possible to obtain a pronunciation clock that gives pleasure to the user.

In FIG. 2, the pronunciation reference signal generator 10 outputs a pronunciation reference signal of a constant frequency, and in order to obtain the model pronunciation characteristics as shown in FIG. It is necessary to form it from an oscillator that outputs a sound reference signal having the following characteristics.

The output of the sound generation reference signal generator 10 is supplied to a program frequency divider 14, and the sound generation reference signal is frequency-divided according to a predetermined program, and is outputted from the program frequency divider 14 as a sound generation signal whose frequency changes.
In the embodiment, the program frequency divider 14 is formed of a programmable frequency divider whose frequency division ratio can be arbitrarily set in advance, and a plurality of different frequency division ratios are sequentially selected according to a predetermined program. The tone generation reference signal supplied to the clock input can be frequency-divided and output.

In order to sequentially select the programmed division ratios of the programmed frequency divider 14, each D input of the programmed frequency divider 14 is supplied with the output of a programmable counter 16. Depending on the selection signal, the frequency division ratio corresponding to the frequency changing within the sound generation period T _a shown in FIG. 1 is selectively read out from the program frequency divider 14. This programmable counter 16 sequentially counts a sound generation cycle reference signal, which will be described later, and supplies this time frequency division ratio selection signal to the program frequency divider 14, which sequentially selects the frequency division ratio.

Programmable counter 16 is itself essentially a counter and performs a repetitive counting operation by counting a predetermined number of clock inputs. The programmable counter 16 can be programmed to have a predetermined target count value in advance when counting the clock input, and the repetition period counter 18 is used to read out the programmed target count value. That is, the repetition period counter 18 also consists of a counter, performs a repetition counting operation by counting a predetermined number of clock inputs, and its Q output is supplied to the D input of the programmable counter 16. The target count value of the programmable counter 16 changes according to the cycle, and as a result, the sound generation cycle T _a changes with the repetition cycle.

A frequency divider 12 is provided to supply a tone generation period reference signal to each clock input of the programmable counter 16 and repetition period counter 18, and the tone generation period T _a and repetition period are determined by the tone generation period reference signal.

The frequency divided output of the program frequency divider 14 mentioned above is
The signal is supplied to the sound generator 22, and the sound generating elements of the sound generator 22 are driven in accordance with the frequency-divided output. The sound generator 22 in the embodiment includes an amplifier 24 and a speaker 26 forming a sound generation element, and after the frequency-divided output of the program frequency divider 14 is amplified by the amplifier 24, the speaker 26 is driven, and the sound is repeated at a modified sound generation period T _a. It is possible to perform sound effects with varying frequencies.

The illustrated circuit is incorporated into an alarm clock, and detects an alarm signal from the reference contact 30 of the clock mechanism section 28, operates a control circuit 32 in response to the alarm signal, and controls each of the circuits.
That is, the control circuit 32 normally supplies a reset signal to the program frequency divider 14 and the repetition period counter 18, and also supplies an oscillation stop signal to the sound generation reference signal generator 10.
When the reference contact 30 of the clock mechanism section 28 is turned on, the control circuit 32 can cancel the reset signal and the oscillation stop signal and start the circuit operation.

The effect will be explained below.

When the time indicated on the watch reaches the estimated time,
The reference contact 30 is turned on, and the control signal 32 puts each circuit into an operating state. As a result, the sound reference signal generator 10 outputs a sound reference signal of a constant frequency, e.g.
A 1MHz reference signal is output to the program frequency divider 14. At the same time, the frequency divider 12 supplies a low frequency sounding period reference signal of, for example, 380 Hz to the programmable counter 16 and the repetition period counter 18, and both counters 16 and 18 start counting the sounding period reference signal. First, the function of selecting the frequency dividing ratio within one arbitrary sound generation period by the programmable counter 16 will be explained below. The programmable counter 16 consists of a 7-bit counter, and in its initial state, each Q output is "0000000", and at this time the program frequency divider 14 outputs an 8KHz sound signal to the sound generator 22. Then, each time the programmable counter 16 counts the sound generation period reference signal, its Q output is "0000001",
Change it to "0000010"... and program frequency divider 1
4 selects a preprogrammed frequency division ratio in accordance with this frequency division ratio selection signal, and outputs the frequency-divided sounding reference signal based on this frequency division ratio. In the embodiment, the program frequency divider signal 14 sequentially performs a selection action to increase its frequency division ratio by a predetermined program, and as a result, a frequency conversion action corresponding to the mode characteristic shown in FIG. 1 within the sound generation period T _a is obtained. can be done.

When the programmable counter 16 counts 27 sound generation period reference signals, its count output, that is, the frequency division ratio selection signal, becomes "1111111", and at this time, the program frequency divider 14 sets the frequency division ratio to approximately 4KHz for the sound generation reference signal. The frequency division ratio for frequency division is selected. Then, the programmable counter 16 and the repetition period counter 18 count up by inputting the next sound generation period reference signal, return to the initial state, and continue the repetition counting operation again.

As described above, according to the example, approximately 300
The frequency changes as shown in FIG. 3 corresponding to the characteristics shown in FIG. 1 are repeated at a sound generation period T _a of about milliseconds, and the sound generator 22 performs a sound generation operation in response to the sound generation signal whose frequency continuously changes. The user can receive an alarm notification as an onomatopoeic sound of a bird's song or an insect's voice, and can hear an extremely pleasant alarm sound.

The present invention is characterized in that the sound generation period T _a of the programmable counter 16 changes periodically at a repetition period T _b shown in FIG. While counting the signals, the count is increased by a predetermined count value and this counting operation is repeated. During counting, the Q output of the counter 18 changes the frequency division ratio of the programmable counter 16 according to a predetermined program, and as a result, the repetition period T It becomes possible to obtain a sound generation period T _a that changes periodically at _b .
At the same time, the range of change in frequency within each sound generation period T _a also changes for each period, which has the advantage that complex combinations of tones can be obtained.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain pseudo-sounds that are similar to actual birdsong, etc., due to the frequency change characteristics that change in a complicated manner.

Furthermore, instead of incorporating the present invention into an alarm clock in which a reference signal is supplied to the control circuit 32, it is also possible to incorporate the present invention into a time signal, and by supplying a time signal at each hour on the hour, a desired time signal effect or It is also preferable to use the onomatopoeic sound as the background sound during the time signal operation. Furthermore, although the clock mechanism section 28 is shown as an analog clock in the embodiment, it is of course possible to use a digital clock or the like.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to generate onomatopoeic sounds of birds, insects, etc. with a simple configuration, and it is possible to notify the user of a pleasant tone as an alarm sound, time signal sound, etc. It has the advantage of being able to In particular, since the frequency division ratio of the programmable frequency divider is changed stepwise within a predetermined period using a repetition period counter and a programmable counter, unlike a simply stylized onomatopoeic sound, it has a variety of intonation. Or it can generate bird onomatopoeia.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a model characteristic diagram of an onomatopoeic sound obtained by the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the clock sound generation circuit according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing the sound generation characteristics in the figure. T _a ... Sound generation period, T _b ... Repetition period, 10...
... Sound reference signal generator, 12 ... Frequency divider, 14 ...
... Program frequency divider, 16 ... Programmable counter, 18 ... Repetition period counter, 20 ... Sound generation period reference signal generator, 22 ... Sound generator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A notification operation start device that outputs a notification operation start signal at a preset time; and a device connected to an output terminal of the notification operation start device,
A control circuit that normally outputs an oscillation stop signal and a reset signal from an oscillation stop signal output terminal and a reset signal output terminal, and releases the output of the oscillation stop signal and reset signal on the condition that the notification operation start signal exists; A sound generation reference signal generator that is connected to an oscillation stop signal output terminal of the control circuit, does not output a sound generation reference signal in the presence of the oscillation stop signal, and outputs a sound generation reference signal of a constant frequency in response to cancellation of the oscillation stop signal. a frequency divider connected to the sound generation reference signal output terminal of the sound generation reference signal generator, which divides the frequency of the sound generation reference signal and outputs a sound generation period reference signal having a constant frequency lower than the sound generation reference signal; A reset signal input terminal is connected to a reset signal output terminal of the control circuit, a clock input terminal is connected to a sound generation period reference signal output terminal of the frequency divider, and the sound generation period reference signal is outputted in response to cancellation of the reset signal. a repetition period counter that performs repeated counting in the sound generation period and outputs count signals to a plurality of Q output terminals; a plurality of D input terminals respectively connected to each Q output of the repetition period counter; A clock input terminal is connected to the output terminal, and a plurality of preset target count values are read out corresponding to the count signal of the repetition period counter, and a plurality of Q output terminals are connected to the clock input terminal as a frequency division ratio selection signal. A reset signal input terminal is connected to the reset signal output terminal of the control circuit, a clock input terminal is connected to the sound generation reference signal output terminal of the sound generation reference signal generator, and the plurality of programmable counters A plurality of D input terminals are connected in correspondence to the Q output terminal of the D input terminal, and in response to the cancellation of the reset signal, the sound generation reference signal is frequency-divided according to the division ratio selection signal of each D input terminal. A sound generation circuit for a watch, comprising: a program frequency divider that outputs a frequency-divided signal; and a sound generator that is connected to the program frequency divider and drives a sound generation element in accordance with the frequency-divided signal.