JPH11237484A - Timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a timepiece which is not limited in material of face to fluorescent member, light condensing member, etc., can adequately irradiate marks and hands on the face even with the use of aluminum material uable casting light in the face and shows no uneven lighting in which a part facing to the light source is too bright and the sides of the light source are too dark in conventional ones. SOLUTION: To a timepiece having a wind shield cover 2 constituted of optically transparent light introducing material, a white layer 5 provided in the periphery of the surface side of the wind shield cover 2 and a light source 8 to irradiate light in the wind shield cover 2 are provided. Therefore, the light coming inside the wind shield cover 2 from the light source 8 is emitted on the face through the white layer 5. The light emitted on the face irradiates marks 4 on the face via the wind shield cover 2 arranged in the front of the face 3 and so the material of the face 3 is not limited to fluorescent member and light condensing member and aluminum face and the like not capable of casting light inside the face can be used. Also, light is not directly cast in the face, and so large unevenness of light like in conventional ones does not occur.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a timepiece capable of recognizing time even in a dark place by using an illuminating means for an alarm clock or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when a timepiece dial is used in a dark place, it is impossible to distinguish an index or the like on the dial, so that the dial is used as a light guide member. A light-emitting diode (L
ED) is installed inside the timepiece, and the indicator on the dial can be recognized by turning on the LED. In addition, characters are formed on the back surface of the dial by white printing or the like and attached to the portions serving as indices on the dial.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional timepiece, since light is applied to the dial, the dial is limited to the raw material of the fluorescent member and the light condensing member. Materials other than members could not be used. Further, when light is directly applied to the dial, there is a disadvantage that the portion facing the light source is too bright, and both sides close to the light source are too dark, and the unevenness of light is large.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and its object is not to limit the material of the dial to a material such as a fluorescent member or a light collecting member. Indices and pointers on the dial can be accurately illuminated even with materials such as aluminum that cannot be put in, and the part facing the light source is extremely bright as before, and both sides of the light source are extremely dark as before. Or to provide a clock that is evenly illuminated.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a timepiece having an optically transparent light guide member in front of a dial is provided on a peripheral portion on the front side of the light guide member. And a light source for irradiating the light guide member with light. Preferably, a concealing layer having a notch index formed thereon is provided on the front surface of the white layer.

A timepiece having an optically transparent ring-shaped light collecting member in front of the dial, comprising a light source for irradiating the light collecting member with light, An inclined surface was provided.

That is, with this configuration, the light that has entered the inside of the light guide member from the light source is emitted onto the dial by the white layer provided on the peripheral portion of the light guide member. The light emitted on this dial illuminates the dial's indicators and pointers through the light guide member located in front of the dial, so the dial material is limited to fluorescent and condensing members. Instead, it is possible to use an aluminum dial or the like that cannot enter light into the dial. Further, since no light is directly input into the dial, there is no extreme unevenness of the light as in the related art.

In addition, an annular windshield cover is formed by a light-collecting member in front of the dial, and an inclined surface is provided on the inner peripheral back surface side of the light-collecting member. The light illuminates the indicators and pointers on the dial. Also in this case, the material of the dial is not limited, and there is no extreme unevenness of light as in the related art.

[0009]

1 and 2 show a specific example of a timepiece according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part.

As shown in the figure, the timepiece 1 has a windshield cover 2 made of an optically transparent light guide member on the front side of a front frame 6 in order to prevent dust and moisture from entering the inside of the timepiece. Installed. A dial 3 is arranged behind the windshield cover 2, and a movement of a timepiece (not shown) is attached to the back of the dial 3. A through hole is provided at the center of the dial 3, and an hour hand, a minute hand, and a second hand are attached to a pointer pipe projecting from the through hole to the front side of the dial.

The windshield cover 2 disposed in front of the dial 3 is made of a fluorescent material. Below the windshield cover 2, as shown in FIG. 2, a hole 2a into which a light source 8 such as a light emitting diode is inserted. Is provided. This light source 8 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), a hole 2a is provided in an extension of the windshield cover 2 located on the front surface of the front frame 6, and light can be incident into the windshield cover by inserting the light source 8 into the hole 2a. Becomes In this case, a front frame 6 is arranged in front of the light source 8, and the front frame 6 receives direct light from the light source 8. As shown in FIG. 6B, a through hole may be provided in the front plate, and the light source 8 may be inserted into the through hole and inserted into the hole 2a provided in the windshield cover.

On the front side of the windshield cover 2, an annular white layer 5 is formed on the periphery of the windshield cover by annular white printing or white painting when viewed from the front, and when the windshield cover 2 is mounted on the front frame 6, The white layer 5 is printed so as not to overlap the index 4 on the dial when viewed from the front, and to be positioned outside the index 4.

Next, how light travels when the light source 8 is turned on will be described. The light emitted from the light source 8 enters the windshield cover 2 through the hole 2 a provided in the windshield cover 2, and eventually reaches the entire windshield cover 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, since the white layer 5 is not formed in the central portion 2 b of the windshield cover 2, the light in the central portion 2 b of the windshield cover 2 is irregularly reflected by the special dye inside the cover. Part of the light is emitted outward from the central part 2b, and part of the light is emitted from the central part 2b toward the dial 3.

Light at the periphery of the windshield cover 2 is irregularly reflected by the special dye inside the cover, and a part of the light is reflected at the periphery 2c.
, And a part of the light is emitted outward from the peripheral edge, but the white layer 5 is formed on the surface side of the windshield cover peripheral edge 2c. The light is reflected toward the dial 3 in a state close to total reflection.
Most of the reflected light reaches the dial 3 and illuminates the dial 3. As shown in FIG. 2, since the white layer 5 is disposed near the index 4 on the dial, the light reflected by the white layer 5 illuminates the index 4 on the dial. Also,
Since the white layer 5 is formed in a ring shape, it is possible to illuminate the index on the outer peripheral portion of the central portion 2b with soft light.

The light illuminating the indicator 4 on the dial is reflected by the dial 3 in the direction of the windshield cover 2.
The reflected light is emitted outward, so that the time can be checked even in a dark place.

In this specific example, the central portion 2b and the peripheral portion 2c of the windshield cover 2 are made of the same member, but, for example, the central portion of the windshield cover 2 is formed as a through-hole slightly smaller than the dial 3, and A cover 15 made of a plastic material having a higher transmittance than the material of the windshield cover 2 may be attached to the through-hole separately from the windshield cover 2. In this case, it is easy to smoothly guide the light reflected on the dial 3 to the outside of the timepiece, so that the time can be easily recognized.

FIG. 3 is a front view in which a part of the specific example shown in FIG. 1 is modified. That is, after forming the white layer 5 on the peripheral portion 2 c on the front side of the windshield cover 2, an annular concealing layer 7 equal to the white layer is formed on the white layer 5. On the surface of the concealing layer 7, as shown in FIG.
a is formed. The notch index 7a is the white layer 5
It is formed by applying a mask having a shape of an index (for example, a shape of a numeral as shown in FIG. 3) thereon, and then performing black printing or black coating thereon and applying a masking layer 7 thereon.

When the light source 8 is turned on on the windshield cover 2, the presence of the notch index 7a raises the index so that the time can be recognized even in a dark place. That is, light is collected on the notch index 7a (white layer), and the light shines on the notch index 7a, and the brightness enables recognition of the time in a dark place. The light reflected on the white layer illuminates the tip of the pointer around the dial with soft light.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views showing another specific example of the timepiece according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front view, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part. The same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the specific example. In this specific example, the material of the windshield cover is a light collecting member as a light guide member.

The timepiece 1 is provided with a windshield cover 2 made of an optically transparent condensing member on the front side of the front frame 6.
On the back side, a movement of a timepiece (not shown) is provided. When viewed from the front, the windshield cover 2 formed of the light collecting member is formed in an annular shape with a central portion penetrating as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, an inclined surface 20 inclined toward the central portion of the windshield cover 2 is formed on the entire inner peripheral surface on the back side of the inner peripheral surface through which the central portion passes.
The windshield cover 2 composed of this light-collecting member contains a special fluorescent dye, which captures light from the light source 8 and converts it into fluorescent light, which is re-emitted at a longer wavelength and collected. Most of the member (about 70 to 80%) has a property of being guided to the side surface of the light-collecting member according to the law of total reflection and emitted from the side surface in a dense state.

Therefore, the light emitted from the light source 8 extends from the hole provided in the windshield cover 2 to the whole of the windshield cover, and from the inclined surface 20 provided on the inner peripheral back surface of the windshield cover, to the center of the dial or an index on the dial. 4 to transmit the densed light.

As shown in FIG. 5, a cover 15 separate from the windshield cover is attached to the central portion of the windshield cover 2 through which the central portion penetrates. In addition, this separate cover 15
The material is preferably a cover formed of a plastic material having a high transmittance as used in a normal alarm clock in order to easily transmit the light reflected by the dial 3 to the outside of the timepiece. The cover 15 may have, for example, a plurality of elastic claws formed at an end of the cover, and engage the elastic claws with the inner peripheral surface of the windshield cover 2. In this case, it is easy to smoothly guide the light reflected on the dial to the outside of the timepiece, so that the time can be easily recognized. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, since the inclined surface 20 is formed on the entire back surface side of the inner peripheral surface of the windshield cover 2, when the light source 8 is turned on when viewed from the front, 1 A ring of light can be formed to create a decorative watch.

In the above embodiment, the windshield cover 2 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 5, it is formed in a circular or annular shape, but a square, hexagonal or elliptical windshield cover or a square or hexagonal or elliptical annular It may be a cover.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the light incident from the light source into the light guide member is emitted onto the dial by the white layer provided on the periphery of the light guide member. I do.
The light emitted on the dial illuminates the dial's indicators and pointers through the light guide member arranged on the front side of the dial, so the dial's material is used for the fluorescent and condensing members. The present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to use an aluminum dial or the like that cannot enter light into the dial, and the dial can be widely used. Further, since no light is directly input into the dial, there is no extreme unevenness of the light as in the related art.

Further, the material of the dial is not limited, and there is no extreme unevenness of light as in the prior art. Further, when the light source is turned on, a ring of light can be formed around the dial when viewed from the front, and a decorative watch having a simple configuration can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a specific example of a timepiece according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a specific example of the timepiece of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view in which a part of the specific example shown in FIG. 1 is modified.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing another specific example of the timepiece of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another specific example of the timepiece of the invention.

FIG. 6A is a partial cross-sectional view showing a light source support structure according to this specific example. (B) Another partial sectional view showing the light source support structure of this specific example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Watch 2 Windshield cover 2a Hole 2b Central part 2c Peripheral part 3 Dial 4 Indicator 5 White layer 6 Front frame 7 Concealment layer 7a Notch index 8 Light source 15 Cover 20 Inclined surface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A timepiece having an optically transparent light guide member in front of a dial, comprising: a light source for irradiating the light guide member with light; and a light source provided at a peripheral portion on a front surface side of the light guide member. A timepiece comprising: a white layer; 2. The timepiece according to claim 1, wherein a concealing layer in which a notch index is formed is provided on a front surface of the white layer. 3. A timepiece having an optically transparent annular light collecting member in front of a dial, comprising: a light source for irradiating light to the light collecting member; A timepiece having an inclined surface.