JP2011080889A - Radio wave correction timepiece and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a radio-controlled timepiece that can be made small and thin, and that can be easily corrected when there is a deviation between the indication of the pointer and the hand position counter.
A radio-controlled timepiece includes a receiving circuit, an internal time counting means for measuring time, a time display member for displaying time, a display driving means for driving the time display member, and a display. Display drive control means 19 for controlling the drive means 3, display time counting means 14 for counting the display time of the time display member 2, display time counting control means 15 for controlling data of the display time counting means 14, and internal time The display time comparison means 16 and the external operation member 4 capable of changing the display time of the time display member 2 are provided. The display time counting control means 15 uses the received time information when the standard radio wave is first received after the display time counting means 14 is initialized or after the time display member 2 is changed by the external operation member 4. The data of the display time counting means 14 is rewritten.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio-controlled timepiece and a method for controlling a radio-controlled timepiece.

In recent years, radio-controlled timepieces that receive radio waves (long wave standard radio waves) including time information and automatically correct and display the time based on the time information have been used. In particular, conventional radio-controlled timepieces have mainly been clocks (table clocks and wall clocks), but in recent years, they have also been incorporated into portable watches (watches and the like).
By the way, in a pointer-type radio-controlled timepiece, a pointer state, that is, a position of the pointer is detected by using an optical sensor or an electrical contact, and the position of the pointer is corrected to be received time information (for example, patent document) 1) and a configuration in which a pointer is adjusted to a predetermined time by operating a crown or a switch button, and a counter value corresponding to the time is compared with the received time information to correct (for example, Patent Document 2). Has been taken.

A device for detecting the needle position described in Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which a predetermined hole is provided in a gear for moving the pointer, and the position of the pointer is detected by the hole being positioned on the optical path of the optical sensor. It is taken.
However, in this method, in addition to the hour, minute, and second hands, a display wheel such as a date wheel or a day wheel is provided, and an optical sensor for detecting the position of these display wheels is also provided, so that the number of sensors increases. As a result, the size cannot be reduced and the cost also increases. In addition, power consumption for operating a plurality of optical sensors is required separately, and the usable time may be shortened.

In the device for performing the time adjustment operation described in Patent Document 2, the hour hand, the minute hand, and the second hand are changed to a position indicating a predetermined time (for example, 0 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds) by operating the crown. By this operation, the hour, minute, and second hand position counters are set to count values at a predetermined time corresponding to the predetermined time. At the same time, the time information is input from the time information input circuit to the hour, minute, and second time counters for counting the time. Then, the hand position counter is counted up or down until the count value of the hand position counter matches the count value of the time counter, and the hour hand, minute hand and second hand are moved in response to the count value increasing or decreasing. Correct the time.
However, in this method, initialization is performed by synchronizing the count value of the hand position counter in the radio-controlled timepiece with the position of the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand by the operation of setting the time of the hand to a predetermined time (for example, 12 o'clock position). Therefore, the operation for correcting the time is complicated, and each information of hours, minutes, and seconds is processed, and the control process is also complicated.

JP-A-8-179058 (right column on page 2-right column on page 3) JP-A-6-258461 (page 7, left column-page 7, right column: fourth embodiment)

  As described above, the radio-controlled timepiece described in Patent Document 1 requires a plurality of optical sensors, which increases the cost and makes it difficult to reduce the thickness and size of the timepiece.

In the radio-controlled timepiece described in Patent Document 2, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand are moved to a predetermined time (for example, 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds) by operating the crown to initialize the hand position counter. Since the correction is performed by synchronizing the count value of the time to be measured in the correction clock with the position of each pointer of hour, minute and second, all the hands must be moved to a predetermined position, and the operation of the correction operation is complicated. There is a problem that.
For this reason, when there is a deviation between the internal time and the instruction time indicated by the hands due to battery replacement or malfunction, it is difficult for the user to correct the deviation. In particular, in general timepieces, the hour hand and minute hand are interlocked by rotating the crown and operating the buttons to correct the hand position. Depending on the position of the pointer, the minute hand may be rotated several times to move the hour hand to a predetermined position. There is a problem that the correction operation becomes very complicated.
In addition, after moving the pointer to a predetermined position and initializing the hand position counter, if the standard time signal is not received, the hand cannot be set to the correct time. There was also a problem that it was difficult to deal with.

  The object of the present invention is to enable a watch to be made small and thin, and to easily correct a radio wave when there is a deviation between the pointer indication and the hand position counter due to battery replacement or system reset. It is to provide a modified clock and a control method thereof.

  The radio-controlled timepiece according to the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a standard radio wave including time information, an internal time counting unit that measures time based on a reference signal from a reference signal source, and an analog time that displays the time. A display member; display drive means for driving the time display member; display drive control means for controlling the display drive means; display time counting means for counting time information displayed on the time display member; and the display time. A display time counting control means for controlling the data of the counting means; an internal time display time comparing means for comparing the time counted by the internal time counting means and the time information counted by the display time counting means; An external operation member capable of changing the display time of the time display member, and the display time counting control means is provided after the display time counting means is initialized or before After time display member is changed by the external operating member, when receiving the standard radio first with the receiving means and to rewrite the data of the display time counting means by the received time information.

According to the present invention, an analog time display member such as a hand is provided, and time information displayed on the time display member is counted by the display time counting means (hand position counter). On the other hand, the internal time measuring means keeps time with the reference signal, and when the time information is acquired by the receiving means, it is updated with the acquired time information. The internal time display time comparison means compares the time counted by the internal time counting means with the time information counted by the display time counting means, and the display drive control means causes the display drive means to be compared by the difference. The time display member is controlled to drive the time display member, and the display time counting means updates the time information by the amount that the time display member is driven. Therefore, the time display member and the display time counting means are corrected until the time information counted by the display time counting means coincides with the time measured by the internal time counting means, and are corrected to the received time.
At this time, if the time displayed on the time display member and the time information counted by the display time counting means are not synchronized (matched), the time display member is correct even if the above processing is performed. Deviation from time. Therefore, it is necessary to synchronize the time information counted by the display time counting means and the time displayed by the time display member.

For this reason, the display time counting control means according to the present invention includes the time display member and the display time after the display time counting means is initialized or after the time display member is changed by the external operation member. When it is assumed that the counting means is not synchronized, when the standard radio wave is first received by the receiving means, the data of the display time counting means is rewritten with the received time information. . Here, when the display time of the time display member is deviated from the actual time, it is highly likely that the user is adjusting the time by moving the time display member using the external operation member. As described above, if the time display member matches the current time, when the data of the display time counting means is rewritten with the received time information, the time display member and the display time counting means are synchronized. Therefore, after that, if the internal time counting means updated with the received data is compared with the display time counting means, and the display driving means of the time display member is driven according to the difference, the time information is received. At the correct time.
Thereby, the time display member is manually moved to the display reference position and the display time counting means is set to a predetermined value to ensure synchronization, or without providing a sensor for detecting the position of the time display member. The time information counted by the display time counting means and the time displayed on the time display member can be easily synchronized to correct the deviation.
Further, since the displacement can be corrected without providing a position detection means for detecting the display reference position of the time display member, the timepiece can be easily made smaller and thinner than the case where the position detection means is provided.

  In the present invention, there is provided position detecting means for detecting a display reference position of at least a part of the time display member of the time display member, and the display time counting control means is provided with a position detecting means in the display time counting means. It is preferable to rewrite only the time information displayed on the non-time display member with the received time information.

For example, in the case where the position detection means for detecting the display reference position of each hand in hours, minutes and seconds is provided, the positions of these hands are periodically detected, so that the display time counting means is also synchronized. On the other hand, the time display member that displays time information other than the hour / minute / second, such as a date indicator or day wheel without such a position detection means, corresponds to the time corresponding to the display time counting means by the received time information as described above. By rewriting the information data, if the time display member displays the correct time, synchronization can be achieved.
Therefore, after that, if the internal time counting means updated with the received data is compared with the display time counting means, and the display driving means of the time display member is driven according to the difference, the time information is received. In this case, not only the time display member having the position detection means but also the time display member not having the position detection means can be automatically corrected to the correct time.
In addition, since the number of position detection means can be reduced as compared with the case where position detection means for detecting the display reference positions of all the time display members is provided, the timepiece can be easily reduced in size and thickness.

  In the present invention, the time display member includes an hour hand for indicating the hour, a minute hand for indicating the minute, a second hand for indicating the second, and a display wheel for indicating the date or the day of the week. The position detection sensor is configured to detect that the hour hand, the minute hand, and the second hand have moved to a preset display reference position, and the display time counting control unit is configured to display only time information other than hour / minute / second in the display time counting unit. It is preferable to rewrite the data with the received time information.

According to the present invention, there is no need to provide a position detection sensor for detecting the position of the display wheel, and accordingly, the timepiece can be easily reduced in size and thickness.
In addition, the display car displays the date and day of the week, and these time information are updated every day. Therefore, even when the power is turned on again or the system is reset, it is displayed on the display car. The date and day of the week are likely to match the actual date and day of the week. Therefore, even if the display vehicle is not corrected by the external operation member, if the reception time is performed and the display time counting unit is updated with the received data, the indication of the display vehicle and the data of the display time counting unit can be synchronized. it can. Accordingly, since there are many cases where the user does not need to correct the display vehicle, the correction operability can be improved accordingly.

  The control method of the radio-controlled timepiece according to the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a standard radio wave including time information, an internal time counting unit that measures time based on a reference signal from a reference signal source, and an analog that displays the time. A time display member of the formula, a display drive means for driving the time display member, a display drive control means for controlling the display drive means, a display time counting means for counting time information displayed on the time display member, The display time counting control means for controlling the data of the display time counting means, the time counted by the internal time counting means, and the internal time display time for comparing the time information counted by the display time counting means A control method for a radio-controlled timepiece comprising a comparison means and an external operation member capable of changing the display time of the time display member, wherein the display time counting means is initialized Or, when the standard radio wave is first received by the receiving means after the time display member has been changed by the external operation member, the display time counting is performed with the received time information by the display time counting control means. Rewriting the data of the means, comparing the time counted by the internal time counting means by the internal time display time comparing means, and comparing the time information counted by the display time counting means, Driving the display driving means based on the comparison result of the internal time display time comparing means by the display driving control means, and updating time information counted by the display time counting means according to the driving amount; It is characterized by providing.

  Also in the present invention, the same operational effects as the radio wave correction timepiece can be obtained.

It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the electromagnetic wave correction timepiece in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement in 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

[First Embodiment]
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, an explanation will be given of a so-called analog timepiece that has an hour hand, a minute hand, and a second hand and displays the time by a hand and also displays the date and day of the week with a display wheel. However, the present invention has a second hand. It is also applicable to things that do not have a calendar function (calendar function) such as date and day of the week. Furthermore, it can be applied to either a clock or a watch.

[Configuration of radio-controlled clock]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the radio-controlled timepiece 1 according to the first embodiment.
The radio-controlled timepiece 1 includes a time display member 2 for displaying time, display drive means 3 for driving the time display member 2, and an external operation member 4 for operating from the outside.
Further, the radio-controlled timepiece 1 operates as a receiving circuit 5 as a receiving means for receiving radio waves including time information, an oscillation circuit 6 and a frequency dividing circuit 7 serving as a reference signal source for outputting a reference signal, and operations of the entire apparatus. And control means 10 for controlling.

  The time display member 2 includes a general hand used in an analog timepiece, a display wheel (day wheel, day wheel) on which a day and a day of the week are printed, and the like. Specifically, although not shown in the drawing, the dial includes a dial, hour hand, minute hand, and second hand that are hands, and a date wheel and day wheel that display the date and day of the week. Note that both the date wheel and the day wheel may be provided, only one of them may be provided, or both may not be provided. These are set in consideration of the design of each clock.

  The display driving means 3 for driving the time display member 2 is composed of, for example, a step motor and a train wheel. The display driving means 3 is driven by a predetermined signal from the control means 10 to move the pointer. The display driving means 3 is not limited to a step motor, and various driving mechanisms capable of moving a pointer such as a piezoelectric actuator may be used.

  The external operation member 4 includes a crown and buttons. When the user manually pulls out the crown as the external operation member 4, the display time can be changed, and the user moves the pointer with the display driving means 3 by pressing the button in this state. You can change the display time. In addition, when the crown which is the external operation member 4 is pushed in, it is impossible to manually change the time, and the hand movement by driving the normal display driving means 3 is performed.

The receiving circuit 5 has the same configuration as a general standard radio wave receiving circuit, and includes an antenna (not shown) and a tuning circuit (not shown) constituted by a tuning capacitor or the like. The receiving circuit 5 is controlled by the control means 10 and is configured to receive a long-wave standard radio wave having a frequency set by the tuning circuit using an antenna. As long wave standard radio waves to be received, for example, in Japan, a standard radio wave output station of “Otakadoyayama (East Japan)” with a transmission frequency of 40 kHz and a standard radio wave of “Haganeyama (Western Japan)” with a transmission frequency of 60 kHz. There are two types of frequencies with the output station.
The receiving circuit 5 includes an amplifier circuit, a band pass filter, a demodulating circuit, a decoding circuit, and the like (not shown), and extracts a time code that is digital data from the received long wave standard radio wave. The extracted time code is output to the control means 10.

The oscillation circuit 6 includes a reference signal source (not shown) such as a crystal resonator, and oscillates the reference signal source at a high frequency, and outputs an oscillation signal generated by the high frequency oscillation to the frequency divider circuit 7.
The frequency divider circuit 7 receives and divides the oscillation signal output from the oscillation circuit 6. The frequency dividing circuit 7 resets the frequency dividing process by a predetermined signal output from the control means 10 when the control means 10 recognizes the pushing operation of the crown. The reason why the frequency dividing process is reset is to synchronize the timing when the crown is pushed in and the output timing of the reference signal output from the frequency dividing circuit 7. Then, the frequency dividing circuit 7 outputs a predetermined reference signal, for example, a 1 Hz pulse signal to the control means 10.

[Configuration of control means]
The control means 10 is constituted by a circuit on which, for example, an IC (Integrated Circuit) or various electric components are mounted, and performs time measurement and time correction of the radio-controlled timepiece 1.
The control means 10 includes a reception circuit control means 11, a reception data control means 12, an internal time counting means 13, a display time counting means 14, a display time counting control means 15, an internal time display time comparing means 16, Time display correction means 17, display reference position setting means 18, and display drive control means 19 are provided.

The receiving circuit control means 11 controls the operation of the receiving circuit 5. Specifically, the reception circuit control means 11 operates the reception circuit 5 to control the reception process of the standard radio wave when a manual reception operation is performed or when the regular reception time comes.
That is, when a signal indicating that a predetermined operation has been performed with the button of the external operation member 4 and a manual reception operation has been performed is input to the reception circuit control unit 11, the reception circuit control unit 11 operates the reception circuit 5. And execute the reception process.
The receiving circuit control means 11 refers to the internal time data counted by the internal time counting means 13, and the internal time data is set at a preset automatic reception time (for example, every day at 2 am). Then, the reception circuit control means 11 operates the reception circuit 5 to execute reception processing.

The reception data control unit 12 calculates time data based on the time code output from the reception circuit 5. Then, the calculated time data is verified, and when it is determined to be correct data, the time data is output to the internal time counting means 13 and the display time counting control means 15.
For example, in the case of a long wave standard radio wave, the time data verification method receives time information transmitted at 1-minute intervals in a plurality of frames (usually 2 to 3 frames). It can be determined by whether or not a predetermined time difference has been reached. For example, when each time information is continuously received, it is determined whether or not each time information is time information at 1 minute intervals.

The internal time counting unit 13 includes counters that count data such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, days of the week, months, and years, and counts time using a pulse signal from the frequency divider circuit 7.
That is, each counter is constituted by an up-counter or the like, and stores time information such as hour, minute, second, etc., such as ○ hour ○ minute ○ second, as count values. That is, by acquiring the pulse signal from the frequency dividing circuit 7, the count value of the second information is incremented by one second, and when the second counter is reset to 0 second by counting up by 60 seconds, the minute counter is set to 1. Counts up minutes. When the minute counter returns to 0 minutes after being counted up for 60 minutes, the hour counter is counted up for 1 hour. Similarly, when the hour counter is counted up for 24 hours and returned to 0:00, the day counter is counted up for one day and the day counter is counted up on the next day of the week.

The internal time counting means 13 is also provided with a month counter that counts the month of January to December, and is configured to automatically perform month-end update processing of the day counter by grasping the current month. ing. That is, if it is a large month up to the 31st, the day counter counts up to the 31st, and when it is further counted up for 1 day, it is updated on the 1st of the next month. On the other hand, if it is a small month up to the 30th, the day counter will count up to the 30th, and if it is counted up for another day, it will be updated on the 1st of the next month.
The internal time counting means 13 also includes a year counter. When the month counter is updated from December to January of the following year, the year counter is also counted up for one year. Then, the internal time counting means 13 determines whether or not the year is a “leap year” using this year counter, and executes the month-end update process in February.

  Further, when the internal time counting means 13 receives the time data from the reception data control means 12, the internal time counting means 13 updates each counter with the time data. Thus, if the current time data is acquired by the reception process, the internal time counted by the internal time counting means 13 is updated to the current time.

The display time counting means 14 counts time information of the display member. That is, the display time counting means 14 is provided with counters for counting data such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, days of the week, months, and years, as with the internal time counting means 13.
The display time counting control means 15 controls the counting process of each counter of the display time counting means 14 and the data rewriting process.

  In a normal hand movement state, when the second counter of the internal time counting means 13 is counted up by the pulse signal from the frequency dividing circuit 7, a signal is output from the internal time counting means 13 to the display drive control means 19. For example, when the display driving means 3 includes a second motor for driving the second hand, an hour / minute hand motor for driving the hour / minute hand, and a date motor for driving the date wheel, the internal time counting means 13 includes a second counter, When the minute counter, hour counter, and day counter are updated, the information is output to the display drive control means 19. The display drive control means 19 drives each motor based on the information, and updates the display of each pointer and date indicator according to the time counted by the internal time counting means 13.

On the other hand, the internal time counting means 13 also outputs the updated counter information to the display time counting control means 15. The display time counting control means 15 receives the information from the internal time counting means 13 and updates the counter of the display time counting means 14.
Thus, in the normal hand movement state, when the internal time counting means 13 is updated with the pulse signal from the frequency dividing circuit 7, the display drive control means 19 and the display drive means are based on the information from the internal time counting means 13. The time display member 2 is driven via 3 and the display time counting means 14 is updated via the display time counting control means 15. For this reason, if the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 are synchronized, the display time counting means 14 indicates the time indicated by the time display member 2.
For example, when the second hand indicates 0 second, the second counter of the internal time counting means 13 is incremented by 1 second while the second counter of the display time counting means 14 is also set to 0 seconds and synchronized. Suppose that In this case, information indicating that the second counter has been counted up is output from the internal time counting means 13 to the display driving control means 19 and the display time counting control means 15. Then, the display drive control means 19 drives the second motor of the display drive means 3 to advance the second hand by 1 second. For this reason, the second hand moves to the scale position indicating 1 second. The display time counting control means 15 counts up the second counter of the display time counting means 14 for one second. Therefore, when the second hand is at the 1-second scale position, the second counter of the display time counting means 14 is also set to 1 second, so the display time counting means 14 indicates the time displayed by the second hand. It will be.

The internal time display time comparison unit 16 compares the internal time counted by the internal time counting unit 13 with the display time counted by the display time counting unit 14. The internal time display time comparison means 16 does not output a signal particularly when these times coincide with each other, but if they do not coincide with each other, the internal time display time comparison means 16 sends a signal corresponding to the difference to the display drive control means 19. Output.
For example, when the internal time counting means 13 is updated with the received time data, the internal time may be different from the display time. In this case, the internal time display time comparison means 16 outputs a signal to the display drive control means 19 according to the difference, and the display drive control means 19 drives the display drive means 3 according to the signal to display the time display member. Move each pointer in 2 above. The display drive control means 19 outputs a signal corresponding to the drive of the display drive means 3 to the display time count control means 15, and the display time count control means 15 responds to the counter by the display time count means 14. Update.

For example, when the second counter of the internal time counting means 13 is 30 seconds and the display time counting means 14 is 20 seconds, there is a difference of 10 seconds between the internal time and the display time, so the internal time display time comparison means 16 outputs a signal for driving the second hand for 10 seconds to the display drive control means 19. The display drive control means 19 drives the second motor of the display drive means 3 for 10 seconds and outputs a signal indicating that the second hand has been driven for 10 seconds to the display time counting control means 15. The display time counting control means 15 updates the second counter of the display time counting means 14 for 10 seconds based on the signal. As a result, the time of the internal time counting means 13 coincides with the display time counting means 14 and the time display member 2.
The same processing is performed when the minutes, hours, days, etc. do not match between the internal time and the display time.

The time display correction means 17 corrects the internal time counting means 13, the display time counting means 14, and the time display member 2 according to the operation when the operation for correcting the time of the clock is performed by the external operation member 4. Is.
Specifically, after shifting to the time correction mode by pulling out the crown, the pointer to be corrected is selected by operating the button, and the movement amount of the pointer is set by the number of times the button is pressed. For example, when a predetermined button is pressed while correction of the second hand is selected, the time display correction unit 17 outputs a signal for the number of seconds set by the number of times the button is pressed to the display drive control unit 19. The display drive control means 19 moves the second hand by driving the second motor of the display drive means 3 for the number of seconds. At the same time, the time display correction means 17 outputs a signal for the number of seconds to the internal time counting means 13 to update the second counter of the internal time counting means 13 and sends the signal for the number of seconds to the display time counting control means 15. Output and update the second counter of the display time counting means 14. In other words, the time display correction means 17 updates the time display member 2 via the display drive control means 19 and the display drive means 3 when the time correction is performed manually, and the internal time counting means 13 and the display. The time counting means 14 is updated.

Similarly, when the hour / minute hand is to be corrected, the hour / minute motor is moved by pushing the button to move the hour / minute hand, and at the same time, the hour counter and minute of the internal time counting means 13 and the display time counting means 14 are moved. The counter is updated.
When the date indicator is to be corrected, the date motor is moved by pressing the button to move the date indicator, and at the same time, the date counters of the internal time counting means 13 and the display time counting means 14 are updated. .
The buttons for moving each pointer and date indicator need only be at least one button that moves in the direction in which each pointer or date indicator is advanced. However, if a button that moves in the opposite direction is also provided, the time adjustment operation can be performed. This is preferable in terms of simplification. Furthermore, when the button is long pressed, each pointer or the like may be fast-forwarded.

The display reference position setting means 18 is for setting the reference position of the time display member 2 with the external operation member 4.
Specifically, after moving to the display reference position setting mode by pulling out the crown, etc., select the pointer to be set by operating the button, and set the movement amount of the pointer by the number of times the button is pressed. . Here, as the display reference position, the second hand, the minute hand, and the hour hand are set at the 12 o'clock position, that is, a position that indicates 0 hour 0 minute 0 second with each hand. In addition, for example, the date wheel has a reference position at which the number “1” displayed on the date wheel is visible from the date window of the dial.
Accordingly, the display reference position setting unit 18 outputs a signal corresponding to the button operation to the display drive control unit 19 when the movement operation of the pointer or the date indicator is performed by the user's button operation, and the display drive control unit 19, The hands and date wheel of the time display member 2 are moved via the display driving means 3.
The display reference position setting means 18 outputs a reference position setting signal to the display time counting control means 15 when the display reference position setting mode is canceled by pushing in the crown of the external operation member 4. Upon receiving this signal, the display time counting control means 15 sets each counter of the display time counting means 14 to a preset value according to the reference position. Specifically, the hour, minute, and second counters are set at the time of the reference position of 0:00, 0, and 0 seconds. The day counter is also set to the reference day. The day, month, and year counters are also set to preset reference position values.

  Therefore, in the display reference position setting mode, if the user operates the external operation member 4 to move the hands and date indicator to the reference position and cancel the display reference position setting mode, the display time counting means 14 is also displayed. The counter value is set according to the reference position. Therefore, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 are in a synchronized state (a state in which the same time is indicated).

  The display drive control means 19 creates a drive signal for operating the display drive means 3 and outputs it to the display drive means 3. The display drive control means 19 is also configured to detect the signal waveform of the display drive means 3 and confirm whether the display drive means 3 has operated normally.

Further, when the display driving means 3 is composed of a stepping motor or the like, the display drive control means 19 supplies a magnetic field detection pulse for inducing an induced voltage for magnetic field detection for detecting an external magnetic field to the motor. The presence or absence of an external magnetic field can also be detected by detecting the induced voltage obtained by the detection pulse.
That is, the display drive means 3 and the display drive control means 19 also function as external magnetic field detection means. The presence of an external magnetic field affects the operation of the stepping motor. Therefore, if the external magnetic field detection means is provided, when the external magnetic field is detected, the stepping motor is stopped to stop the hand movement, and the stepping motor is controlled to be driven when the influence of the external magnetic field disappears. It is also possible to prevent the indication of the pointer from being shifted by an external magnetic field.

[Operation of the radio-controlled clock]
Next, the operation of the control means 10 in the radio-controlled timepiece 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The flowchart of FIG. 2 is a process when a scheduled reception or a manual reception is performed.
The control means 10 operates the reception circuit 5 via the reception circuit control means 11 to perform reception processing (step S1).

  Next, the control means 10 confirms whether the counter (display member counter) of the display time counting means 14 has been initialized (step S2). For example, if the current reception process is the first reception process after the power is turned on due to battery replacement or the first reception process after the system reset operation is performed, the display time counting unit 14 Since the counter is also initialized, it is determined as “Yes” in step S2.

  When it is determined “No” in step S2, the control unit 10 performs the manual correction operation of the time display member 2 with the external operation member 4 before the current reception process, that is, between the previous reception process and the current reception process. Is confirmed (step S3).

  If “No” is determined in step S3, the control means 10 determines whether reception is successful as a result of the reception process (step S4). Here, when the reception data control means 12 determines that correct time data has not been acquired and reception has failed, “No” is determined in step S4.

  If it is determined as “No” in step S4, the control means 10 has failed in reception, and thus returns to the normal hand movement process (step S5), and ends the process at the time of reception. That is, as described above, the counter of the internal time counting means 13 is counted up by the pulse signal from the frequency dividing circuit 7, the time display member 2 is moved via the display driving control means 19 and the display driving means 3, and the display is performed. The counter of the display time counting means 14 is counted up via the time counting control means 15.

On the other hand, if “Yes” is determined in step S4, the reception data control means 12 rewrites the counter (internal time counter) of the internal time counting means 13 with the reception data (time data) (step S6).
Next, the internal time display time comparison means 16 compares the counter (display member counter) of the display time counting means 14 with the internal time counter of the internal time counting means 13 (step S7). As described above, the difference between the counters is calculated in the comparison process in step S 7, and the information is output to the display drive control means 19.

Next, the display drive control means 19 drives the display drive means 3 according to the difference information of each counter output from the internal time display time comparison means 16, and corrects the time display member 2 (step S8). At the same time, the display drive control means 19 outputs the drive information to the display time count control means 15, and the display time count control means 15 updates the counter of the display time count means 14. Therefore, the time display member 2 is corrected in step S8 until the counter of the display time counting means 14 matches the counter of the internal time counting means 13. Thereby, the display time counting means 14 and the time display member 2 are corrected to the counter value of the internal time counting means 13, that is, the time of the received time data.
After the reception time is corrected in step S8, the control means 10 returns to the normal hand movement process (step S5) and ends the process at the time of reception.

On the other hand, when it determines with "Yes" by S2 or S3, the control means 10 performs the following processes. That is, when the display member counter of the display time counting means 14 is initialized, or when the time display member 2 is manually corrected, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 are not synchronized. That is, the time displayed by the time display member 2 and the time counted by the display time counting means 14 are not in agreement.
Therefore, like a normal radio-controlled timepiece, even if it is attempted to correct the time display member 2 with the received time data, it cannot be corrected to the correct time. For this reason, the processing of the present invention described below is executed.

  If it is determined as “Yes” in S2 or S3, the control unit 10 determines whether the reception is successful as a result of the reception process (step S10). Here, if the reception data control means 12 determines that the correct time data has not been acquired and reception has failed, or if reception processing has not been performed, “No” is returned in step S10. Determined.

  If it is determined as “No” in step S10, the control means 10 returns to the normal hand movement process (step S5) and ends the process at the time of reception as in the case where “No” is determined in step S4.

On the other hand, if “Yes” is determined in step S10, the reception data control unit 12 rewrites the internal time counter of the internal time counting unit 13 with the reception data (time data) (step S11).
Next, the display time counting control means 15 rewrites the counter corresponding to the time display member 2 whose reference position is not set in the display time counting means 14 with the received data (time data) (step S12).
Here, the time display member 2 in which the reference position is not set means the time display member 2 in which the reference position is not set in the display reference position setting mode as described above. That is, if there is a time display member 2 whose reference position is set in the display reference position setting mode after the display time counting means 14 is initialized by system reset or after the time display member 2 is manually corrected, Only the time display member 2 other than the time display member 2 has the reference position not set.
For example, if the reference position of the date indicator is not set, the date counter of the display time counting means 14 is rewritten with the date data of the received time data. Similarly, if the reference position of the hour hand is not set, the hour counter of the display time counting means 14 is rewritten with the hour data of the received time data. Naturally, if the reference positions of all the time display members 2 are not set, all the counters of the display time counting means 14 are rewritten with the reception time data.

When the counter of the display time counting means 14 is rewritten with the received time data in step S12, the time display member 2 whose reference position is not set is also synchronized with the display time counting means 14.
That is, when power is newly supplied due to battery replacement or when the system is reset by a user operation or when the time display member 2 is manually corrected, the counters of the display time counting means 14 are also initialized. Thus, synchronization with the time indicated by the time display member 2 becomes impossible.
On the other hand, when the display time of the time display member 2 is deviated from the current time, the user who uses the radio-controlled timepiece 1 operates the crown and buttons in the same manner as the time correction operation of a normal timepiece. The time display member 2 should be set to the current time.
If the time display member 2 is set to the actual time by operating the external operation member 4 or the like, the time displayed on the time display member 2 matches the time data at the time of reception. become. Therefore, if the data of the display time counting means 14 is updated with this time data, the display time of the time display member 2 that coincides with the time data and the time measured by the display time counting means 14 are synchronized.

Note that when a reception operation is performed immediately after the system reset, the date and day of the week displayed on the date indicator and day indicator remain correct and may not be corrected by the external operation member 4. Also in this case, since the display time counting unit 14 is initialized by the system reset, the data of the display time counting unit 14 is different from the time display member 2 that performs correct display. Also in this case, if the data of the display time counting means 14 is updated with the received time data, the display time of the time display member 2 that matches the time data and the time measured by the display time counting means 14 are synchronized.
Therefore, if the process of step S12 is performed, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 can be synchronized without setting the display reference position mode. That is, the display time counting means 14 is in a state where the reference position has been set.

Since the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 are synchronized by step S12, the internal time display time comparison means 16 includes a display member counter of the display time counting means 14 and an internal time counter of the internal time counting means 13. Are compared (step S13).
Then, the internal time display time comparison means 16 outputs the difference data to the display drive control means 19, and the display drive control means 19 drives the display drive means 3 according to the difference to correct the time display member 2. (Step S14). At the same time, the display drive control means 19 outputs a signal corresponding to the drive amount of the display drive means 3 to the display time count control means 15, and the display time count control means 15 updates the counter value of the display time count means 14, The synchronized state with the time display member 2 is maintained.
Thereafter, the control means 10 returns to the normal hand movement process (step S5), and ends the process at the time of reception.

  If the user using the radio-controlled timepiece 1 has the display time of the time display member 2 deviated from the current time, or if the time display member 2 is not set to the current time, the process of step S12 However, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 cannot be synchronized. In this case, since the time display member 2 is not corrected to the correct time even if the processes of steps S13 and S14 are performed, the user manually corrects the time display member 2. Therefore, at the time of the next reception process, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 can be synchronized in step S12.

According to this embodiment, the following operational effects can be achieved.
(1) When the display time counting means 14 is initialized at the time of power-on such as battery replacement, the system reset operation, or the time display member 2 is corrected by the operation of the external operation member 4, There is a difference between the display time of the time display member 2 and the time counted by the display time counting means 14. In such a case, in this embodiment, the display time counting control unit 15 rewrites the data of the display time counting unit 14 with the received time data. Thus, when the time display member 2 displays the actual time by manual correction, or even when the display time counting means 14 is initialized, the time display member 2 displays the actual time. If it exists, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 can be synchronized.
For this reason, the user can synchronize the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 without performing the display reference alignment operation, and the radio-controlled timepiece 1 that is easy to use for the user can be obtained. .
In particular, adjusting the time display member 2 to the current time with the external operation member 4 has been widely performed as a time adjustment operation in a general timepiece, and it is not necessary to learn any new operation. , Does not hinder the user experience.

(2) Also, the display time counting control means 15 updates the display time counting means 14 with the reception time data, thereby synchronizing the display time of the time display member 2 and the time counted by the display time counting means 14. Since it can be performed easily, there is no need to provide a sensor for detecting the position of the time display member 2. For this reason, the configuration of the radio-controlled timepiece 1 can be simplified, and the timepiece can be easily reduced in size and thickness, and the manufacturing workability and productivity can be improved.

(3) Further, in this embodiment, if the time display member 2 such as the hand is manually corrected to the current time, the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 are synchronized and the time display member 2 is received at the time of reception. Since the time indicated by can be automatically corrected, the time can be adjusted with a very simple operation. In other words, when the hand position sensor is not provided, it is conventionally necessary to synchronize the pointer with the display time counting means 14 by moving the pointer to the display reference position (for example, 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds). Was troublesome. On the other hand, in this embodiment, it is sufficient to match the current time. For example, when the battery is low and the battery is replaced, the time indicated by the time display member 2 when the battery is replaced with a new battery is the current time. In many cases, the time display member 2 can be easily adjusted to the current time because the time does not deviate so much from the time, and the operability of time correction can be improved in this respect as well.
Furthermore, when the pointer is moved to the display reference position as in the past, the amount of movement when the pointer is moved at the current time after receiving the standard radio wave is often large, and the motor is driven relatively long. Therefore, the pointer must be moved, and the power consumption for time adjustment increases. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the automatic correction amount of the time display member 2 is also small, power consumption can be significantly reduced.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The second embodiment relates to processing when the time display member 2 has a function for detecting the hand position of each pointer for hours, minutes and seconds.
The needle position detection mechanism includes a needle position detection sensor using a conventionally used optical sensor or the like. For example, when a second motor for driving the second hand and an hour / minute motor for driving the hour / minute hand are provided, a second hand position detection sensor for detecting that the second hand is located at the position of 0 second and an hour / minute hand at 0:00 And an hour / minute hand position detection sensor for detecting the position at the minute (12:00) position.
On the other hand, in the second embodiment, there are provided display vehicles (date indicator, day indicator) indicating the date and day of the week, but no position detection sensor for detecting the reference position of the indicator vehicle is provided.

In the second embodiment, the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is controlled. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the same number is assigned to the flow for performing the same processing as the flowchart of FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 3, also in the second embodiment, the processing is the same as that in the first embodiment except for the case where “Yes” is determined in step S10.

  On the other hand, if “Yes” is determined in step S10, the reception data control unit 12 rewrites the internal time counter of the internal time counting unit 13 with the reception data (time data) as in the first embodiment (step S11). .

Next, the display time counting control means 15 receives the counters corresponding to the day display member (day wheel) and day display member (day wheel) in which the position detection sensor is not provided in the display time counting means 14. The data (time data) is rewritten (step S21). Accordingly, the display time counting control means 15 does not update the counter corresponding to the hour, minute and second hands provided with the position detection sensor.
Note that the month and year counters where the time display member 2 is not provided are rewritten with the received data (time data) in the same manner as the day and day of the week because no position detection sensor is provided.

  By this step S21, the time display member 2 in which the position detection sensor is not provided, that is, the time display member 2 in which the reference position is not set is synchronized with the display time counting means 14. In addition, the time display member 2 provided with the position detection sensor is synchronized with the display time counting means 14 when detected by the position detection sensor. Normally, position detection is performed by the position detection sensor when the power is turned on or the system is reset. Therefore, the time display member 2 provided with the position detection sensor is also synchronized with the display time counting means 14 during the reception process in FIG. is doing.

Since the time display member 2 and the display time counting means 14 are synchronized by step S12, the internal time display time comparison means 16 is connected to the display member counter of the display time counting means 14 and the internal time as in the first embodiment. The internal time counter of the counting means 13 is compared (step S13).
Then, the internal time display time comparison means 16 outputs the difference data to the display drive control means 19, and the display drive control means 19 drives the display drive means 3 according to the difference to correct the time display member 2. (Step S14). At the same time, the display drive control means 19 outputs a signal corresponding to the drive amount of the display drive means 3 to the display time count control means 15, and the display time count control means 15 updates the counter value of the display time count means 14, The synchronized state with the time display member 2 is maintained.
Thereafter, the control means 10 returns to the normal hand movement process (step S5), and ends the process at the time of reception.

According to such 2nd Embodiment, there exist the following effects.
Since the hand position detection sensor for detecting the position of each pointer in the hour / minute / second in the time display member 2 is provided, the reference position of each pointer in the hour / minute / second can be periodically confirmed. Accordingly, the hour, minute and second hands and the display time counting means 14 corresponding to these hands are synchronized with each other. Therefore, when the time data is received, the internal time display time comparing means 16 performs the internal time counting. By comparing the means 13 and the display time counting means 14, the hour, minute and second hands can be automatically corrected to the correct time.

As for the display vehicles (day wheel, day wheel) in which the hand position detection sensor is not provided, the time data received by the day and day counters of the display time counting means 14 as in the first embodiment. By updating in (4), the display vehicle (time display member 2) and the display time counting means 14 can be synchronized.
The correction operation for the date indicator and day indicator is an operation that is also performed on a conventional watch, so that it does not place a burden on the user, and the reference position (for example, 1 for a date indicator). Since the amount of correction is often smaller when correcting to the actual date or day of the week than when moving to a Sunday or a day of the week car, for example, correction operability can be improved.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like within a scope in which the object of the present invention can be achieved are included in the present invention.
For example, the radio wave correction timepiece 1 of the present invention can be applied to a timepiece that does not have a second hand or a timepiece that does not include a date indicator or day indicator. Furthermore, the radio wave correction watch 1 can be applied to various watches such as a portable watch such as a wristwatch or a pocket watch, and a set-up watch such as a wall clock or a table clock.

In addition, each circuit and means of the control means 10 shown in FIG. 1 is not limited to those configured by hardware such as various logic elements, but a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory (storage device), and the like. It may be provided in the radio-controlled timepiece 1 and may be configured to implement each circuit and means by incorporating a predetermined program and data (data stored in each storage unit) into this computer.
For example, a CPU and memory (ROM, RAM, etc.) are arranged in the radio-controlled timepiece 1 so as to function as a computer, and a predetermined control program and data are stored in this memory as communication means such as the Internet, CD-ROM, etc. Alternatively, the program may be installed via a recording medium such as a memory card, and the CPU or the like may be operated by the installed program.

  In addition, in order to install a predetermined program or the like in the radio-controlled timepiece 1, it can be implemented by directly inserting a memory card, CD-ROM or the like into the radio-controlled timepiece 1, or by externally attaching a device that reads these storage media. It may be connected to the modified watch 1. Furthermore, a LAN cable, a telephone line or the like may be connected to the radio-controlled watch 1 to supply and install a program or the like by communication, or since an antenna is provided, the program is supplied and installed by radio. Also good.

  In addition, the specific structure and procedure for carrying out the present invention can be changed as appropriate to other structures and the like within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Radio wave correction clock, 2 ... Time display member, 3 ... Display drive means, 4 ... External operation member, 5 ... Reception circuit, 6 ... Oscillation circuit, 7 ... Frequency division circuit, 10 ... Control means, 11 ... Reception circuit control Means, 12: Received data control means, 13: Internal time counting means, 14 ... Display time counting means, 15 ... Display time counting control means, 16 ... Internal time display time comparison means, 17 ... Time display correction means, 18 ... Display Reference position setting means, 19... Display drive control means.

Claims (4)

A receiving means for receiving a standard radio wave including time information;
Internal time counting means for measuring time based on a reference signal from a reference signal source;
An analog time display member for displaying the time;
Display driving means for driving the time display member;
Display drive control means for controlling the display drive means;
Display time counting means for counting time information displayed on the time display member;
Display time counting control means for controlling data of the display time counting means;
An internal time display time comparing means for comparing the time counted by the internal time counting means and the time information counted by the display time counting means;
An external operation member capable of changing the display time of the time display member,
The display time counting control means is the case where the receiving means first receives a standard radio wave after the display time counting means is initialized or after the time display member is changed by the external operation member. A radio-controlled timepiece, wherein data of the display time counting means is rewritten with the received time information. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 1,
A position detecting means for detecting a display reference position of at least a part of the time display member of the time display member;
In the display time counting means, the display time counting control means rewrites only the time information displayed on the time display member not provided with the position detecting means with the received time information. . The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 2,
The time display member includes an hour hand that indicates the hour, a minute hand that indicates the minute, a second hand that indicates the second, and a display wheel that indicates the date or day of the week,
The position detection means includes a position detection sensor that detects that the hour hand, the minute hand, and the second hand have moved to a preset display reference position,
The radio-controlled timepiece characterized in that the display time counting control means rewrites data in the display time counting means with only received time information except for time / minute / second. A receiving means for receiving a standard radio wave including time information;
Internal time counting means for measuring time based on a reference signal from a reference signal source;
An analog time display member for displaying the time;
Display driving means for driving the time display member;
Display drive control means for controlling the display drive means;
Display time counting means for counting time information displayed on the time display member;
Display time counting control means for controlling data of the display time counting means;
An internal time display time comparing means for comparing the time counted by the internal time counting means and the time information counted by the display time counting means;
An external operation member capable of changing the display time of the time display member, and a method of controlling a radio-controlled timepiece comprising:
After the display time counting means is initialized, or after the time display member is changed by the external operation member, when the standard radio wave is first received by the receiving means, the display time counting control means Rewriting the data of the display time counting means with the received time information;
Comparing the time counted by the internal time counting means by the internal time display time comparing means and the time information counted by the display time counting means;
The display drive control means drives the display drive means based on the comparison result of the internal time display time comparison means, and updates the time information counted by the display time counting means according to the drive amount. When,
A method for controlling a radio-controlled timepiece, comprising:

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