JP2000356688A - Combination quartz with power generating function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compose a CQ(combination quartz) with a power generating function by using an AQ(analog quartz)IC and a microcomputer IC, having a power generating part and a charging part in common as a power source. SOLUTION: Concerning an existing AQIC4 for a clock with a power generating function having a voltage detecting circuit 44, and a microcomputer 8 not having a voltage detecting circuit, when a power source voltage charged in a charging means 2 is lowered, a voltage detection signal SBT is inputted from the voltage detecting circuit 44 inside the AQIC4 into the microcomputer 8, and heavy loads, such as additional functions or the like, are suspended, to enable the AQIC4 and the microcomputer 8 to have a power generating means 1 and the charging means 2 in common, and to develop inexpensively this combination quartz with a generating function by using two kinds of existing IC's.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an analog quartz (hereinafter abbreviated as AQ) IC sharing a power generating means and a charging means as a power source, and a combination quartz having a power generating function (hereinafter abbreviated as CQ) whose operation is controlled by a microcomputer IC. ).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the generalization of electronic timepieces, replacement of batteries is troublesome for users. In recent years, in general, in the trend of energy saving, the amount of batteries to be discarded in a conventional electronic timepiece has become a problem. In order to solve this problem, clocks with a power generation function that generate power inside the clock by receiving some energy from the outside and do not need to replace batteries have been commercialized. Also, with the spread of watches, there has been an increasing demand for various additional functions for watches, and multifunctional watches that operate various additional functions such as chronographs and alarms by operating switches have been commercialized. Further, a CQ that can display the time in both an analog display using hands and a digital display using a liquid crystal display has been commercialized. However, when commercializing a CQ with a power generation function that satisfies all of these needs, if an existing IC is used, the microcomputer IC does not have a voltage detection circuit, so the power generation unit and the charging unit cannot be controlled. Operates on conventional silver batteries, AQ
The IC was operated by the voltage from the internal power generation unit and charging unit. Further, when a microcomputer IC is newly provided with a voltage detection circuit and designed, the IC becomes very expensive. The related art will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a description will be given with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing a conventional CQ with a power generation function using two types of existing ICs. 1 is a power generation unit that receives external energy to generate power, 2 is a charging unit that charges the generated voltage, Reference numeral 3 denotes a crystal serving as a time standard of the timepiece, and reference numeral 4 denotes an AQIC which uses the charging voltage of the charging means 2 as a power supply.
Waveform shaping circuit 42, motor drive circuit 43, charging means 2
And a voltage detection circuit 44 for detecting the voltage of the hand and controlling the hand movement. In order to match the time standard of the entire system, the oscillation circuit shares an oscillation circuit in a microcomputer described later. 5 is a motor driven by receiving a motor drive signal,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a wheel train unit composed of gears, and 7 denotes a display device.
The time is displayed in analog form by rotating the hands. In this example, the hands 71 include an hour hand 711, a minute hand 712, and a second hand 713.

[0004] Next, reference numeral 8 denotes a microcomputer, and an oscillation circuit 8
1, frequency divider circuit 82, clock circuit 83, decoder circuit 8
4, a segment driver 85, a CPU 86 for controlling additional functions, and the like, and an additional function driver 87.
The liquid crystal display signal from the segment driver 85 digitally displays the time and the mode of the additional function on the liquid crystal display device 72 of the display device 7. Reference numeral 9 denotes an additional function with a port connected to the input port of the microcomputer 8. In this example, buzzer 9
1 and the light 92 are additional functions with ports. The additional function driver 87 is required for each component of the additional function 9 with a port. Reference numeral 10 denotes a battery serving as a power supply of the microcomputer 8, and reference numeral 11 denotes an external input switch used for operation of an additional function.

Next, the operation of the conventional CQ with a power generation function will be described. First, the AQ section will be described. The power generation means 1 generates electric power by receiving kinetic energy, light, heat, or other external energy due to the natural movement of a human wearing a watch. The generated voltage is charged by the charging means 2 and becomes the power source of the AQIC 4. The crystal 3 is shared between the AQIC 4 and the microcomputer 8 in order to make the time standard of the AQIC 4 and that of the microcomputer 8 coincide with each other, and the oscillation circuit in one of the ICs is used. In this example, an oscillation circuit 81 in the microcomputer 8 is used. The voltage detection circuit 44 detects whether the charging voltage of the charging means 2 is a certain prescribed voltage. When the voltage is equal to or more than the specified voltage value, the hand is moved normally. When the charging voltage becomes equal to or higher than the withstand voltage of the charging means 2, the output of the power generating means 1 is short-circuited to prevent overcharging. When the voltage drops below the specified voltage value, the voltage detection signal SBD is sent to the waveform shaping circuit 42 and the motor drive circuit 4.
3 respectively. In the waveform shaping circuit 42 and the motor drive circuit 43 which have received the voltage detection signal SBD, the motor drive signal is changed, and the hands 71 are caused to perform a remaining capacity warning operation to notify the user of the lack of voltage.

Next, the DQ section will be described. Microcomputer 8
Uses the battery 10 as a power source. The time signal measured in the microcomputer 8 is transmitted to the decoder 84 and the segment driver 8.
The time is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 72 through 5. When a signal is input from the external input switch 11, the CPU 86
Operates additional functions corresponding to signals, such as an additional function 9 with a port, a chronograph function using a clock signal, and a calendar function. Further, the mode display of the current additional function is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 72 through the decoder 84.

Here, if the power generation means 1 and the charging means 2 are shared as the power supply of the AQIC 4 and the microcomputer 8 as in the prior art, the voltage detection circuit 44 outputs the voltage detection signal SBD when the charging voltage drops, and the AQIC 4 Performs a remaining capacity warning hand movement in order to suppress power consumption, but since the microcomputer 8 has no voltage detection circuit, it cannot detect a drop in voltage. At this time, by operating the external input switch 11, C
When the PU 86 is operated with an additional function that is a heavy load, the microcomputer stops or runs away due to insufficient voltage.

[0008]

As described above, the existing I
When C is used, since the microcomputer IC does not have a voltage detection circuit, the voltage of the charging unit cannot be detected, and the function cannot be controlled when the voltage drops, and there is a risk that the microcomputer IC may stop or run away. For this reason, the microcomputer IC is operated by a battery, and the AQIC is operated by a power generation unit and a charging unit.
This is not a watch with a power generation function in the exact sense,
Eventually, the battery needs to be replaced, which does not solve any environmental problems, and the trouble of replacing the battery still remains. In addition, a large space is taken up by the charging means and the battery, and it is difficult to manufacture a small timepiece. Further, when a microcomputer IC is newly designed for a CQ having a power generation function, it becomes an extremely expensive IC, resulting in an expensive timepiece.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to provide an AQIC and a microcomputer IC that share a power generation unit and a charging unit as a power source.
Is used to construct a CQ with a power generation function.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a power generation unit for generating electric power, a charging unit for charging the electric power generated by the power generation unit, and an operation using the charging unit as a power supply. An analog quartz IC, a hand for measuring time by a time signal from the analog quartz IC, a liquid crystal display means, and a combination quartz having a power generation function comprising a microcomputer IC for driving the liquid crystal display means. The IC has voltage detecting means for detecting the voltage of the charging unit, and controls the operation of the pointer based on the detection signal of the voltage detecting means, and the microcomputer IC controls the operation of the pointer based on the voltage detection signal of the voltage detecting means. The operation of the liquid crystal display means is controlled.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those of the prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the power generation means 1 and the charging means 2 are AQIC
4 and the microcomputer 8 also serve as a power source. The CPU 86
The voltage detection signal SBD from the voltage detection circuit 44 of the AQIC4
Enter

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A power generating means 1 for generating power by receiving external energy and a charging means 2 for charging the generated voltage are power supplies for the AQIC 4 and the microcomputer 8. When the charging voltage of the charging means 2 as a power source is sufficient, both the AQIC 4 and the microcomputer 6 operate in the normal state as in the prior art. When the charging voltage as the power supply is not sufficient, the voltage detection circuit 44 in the AQIC 4 outputs a voltage detection signal SBD to the AQIC 4 and the CPU 86 in the microcomputer 8, respectively. AQ input with voltage detection signal SBD
The operation in the IC 4 is the same as in the prior art, and the AQIC 4 performs the remaining capacity warning hand movement. CP to which voltage detection signal SBD is input
In U86, even if the external input switch 11 is operated and the input signal is received until the voltage is recovered by the power generation means 1, the input signal is rejected and the additional function which is a heavy load is stopped to save power consumption.

[0014]

As described above, the C with the power generation function according to the present invention is used.
Q is a self-powered CQ that combines two types of commercially available ICs by transferring voltage detection signals between ICs.
Therefore, a self-powered CQ that does not require battery replacement can be manufactured at low cost without manufacturing a new IC.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a combination quartz with a power generation function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional combination quartz with a power generation function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 power generating means 2 charging means 4 AQIC 44 voltage detection circuit 71 pointer 72 liquid crystal display device 8 microcomputer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A power generation unit for generating power, a charging unit for charging the power generated by the power generation unit, an analog quartz IC operating using the charging unit as a power supply, and a clock signal from the analog quartz IC. Guidelines for measuring the time by
Liquid crystal display means, and microcomputer I for driving the liquid crystal display means
In the combination quartz with a power generation function constituted by C, the analog quartz IC has voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage of the charging unit, and controls operation of the hands based on a detection signal of the voltage detecting means. A combination quartz with a power generation function, wherein the microcomputer IC controls the operation of the liquid crystal display means based on a voltage detection signal of the voltage detection means.