摘要:
A timepiece includes pointers, motors for driving the pointers, a pointer position detector for detecting the positions of the pointers, a control unit, an electricity storage unit as a power supply, and a voltage detector for detecting the power supply voltage. The control unit controls the pointer position detection by means of the pointer position detector on the basis of the power supply voltage detected by the voltage detector. Therefore, the pointer position detector can be halted when the power supply voltage decreases to less than a specific voltage, and the pointer position detector can be driven while the power supply voltage is low.
摘要:
A watch has a crown for manual time adjustment, a receiver for receiving current time update signals by radio transmission, an internal counter for counting the passage of time according to an internal oscillator, and time display hands. The watch preferably does not have a means for determining the position of its time display hands and therefore relies on user intervention for roughly correlating its time display hands to its internal counter. Preferably, the user begins a manual time correction operation when the second hand is at a predetermined position between 0-60 seconds. When the crown is pushed in, the seconds count value of the internal counter is reset to the predetermined position, and the watch waits for reception of a current time radio signal. When a radio signal is successfully received, the received seconds value is compared to the seconds count in the internal counter. If the time difference is within +30 seconds, the internal time is deemed to be advanced by the difference, and if the time difference is within −30 seconds, the internal time is deemed to be delayed by the difference. The received time data is written into the internal counter, and the time display hands are moved according to the deemed time difference.
摘要:
To provide an electronic unit which can prevent brake control from stopping a generator. An electronically controlled mechanical timepiece, which is an electronic unit, includes a generator 2 driven by a coil spring 1 to generate electric power, and a rotation control unit 50 driven by electric energy of the generator to control the rotation period of the generator 2. The rotation control unit 50 is provided with a brake control unit 55 for comparing a reference signal fs with a rotation-detection signal FG1 corresponding to the rotation period of the generator 2 to apply brake control to the generator 2, and a generator-stop preventing unit 56 for setting the amount of brake to be applied to the generator 2 to a first brake setting value to prevent the generator 2 from being stopped, when the rotation period of the generator 2 is equal to or longer than a first setting period which is longer than a reference period. When the rotation period of the generator 2 becomes long, the generator 2 is controlled by the first brake setting value. The first brake setting value is a small amount of braking, such as zero, and can prevent the generator 2 from being stopped.
摘要:
An electronically controlled timepiece includes an analog circuit (160) driven by a power source (22), a logic circuit (170) driven by a constant voltage regulator circuit (161) forming part of the analog circuit, an oscillator circuit (51) driven by the constant voltage regulator, a power source switch (162) for cutting off the supply of power to the analog circuit other than the constant voltage regulator circuit from the power source during a time correction operation, and a clock cutoff gate (171) for cutting off a clock input from the oscillator circuit to the logic circuit. During the time correction operation, power consumption is reduced because only the oscillator circuit and the constant voltage regulator circuit are operative. The oscillator circuit is not suspended, and an error in time display is eliminated.
摘要:
An electronic device in which a braking torque can be increased while reduction in power generation is suppressed, and in which a rotor is prevented from stopping or rotating at an excessive speed. Such an electronic device includes a generator which is driven by an mechanical energy source and a rotation controller which controls the rotational period of the generator. The rotation controller includes two switches which connect both terminals of the generator in the form of a closed loop, a chopping signal generator which generates a chopping signal that is applied to the switches, and a brake control circuit which performs chopper control of the generator by selectively switching between three brake control modes including a high-power brake control mode in which the effective braking force generated by applying the chopping signal is relatively large a low-power brake control mode in which the effective braking force is relatively small, and a mid-power brake control mode in which the effective braking force is between that of the high- and low-power brake control modes.
摘要:
A timepiece includes a mechanical energy source, a generator, and a train wheel connecting the mechanical energy source and the generator. The mechanical energy source drives the train wheel to cause the generator to rotate thereby creating electrical power. A rotation controller coupled to the generator controls the rotation of the generator, and includes a rotation detector for detecting the rotation of the generator and generating a rotation signal corresponding to the rotation and a reference signal generator for generating a reference signal based on a signal from a time reference source. The brake controller counts the reference signal and produces a first count, counts the rotation signal and produces a second count, and brakes the rotation of the generator when the first count is less than the second count.
摘要:
An electronic device capable of increasing the braking torque applied to an electric power generator without causing a significant reduction in electric power generated by the electric power generator. The electronic device, which may be embodied in an electronically controlled mechanical clock, includes an electric power generator for converting mechanical energy transmitted from a spring via a wheel train to electrical energy, and a rotation controller for controlling the rotation period of the electric power generator. The rotation controller includes switches capable of connecting two terminals of the electric power generator in a closed-loop state, a chopping signal generator for generating two or more types of chopping signals which are different in duty ratio or frequency for use in a strong braking operation, and chopping signal selector that selects one of the chopping signals, wherein, in the strong braking operation, the selected chopping signal is applied to the switches so as to control the electric power generator in a chopping fashion. The strong braking operation is performed in one of two modes such that a higher priority is given to generation of electric power or the braking torque depending on the mode, thereby achieving an increase in the braking torque of the electric power generator without causing a significant reduction in the voltage generated by the electric power generator.
摘要:
An electronic apparatus includes a power generator (20) as a power supply, a capacitor (30) for accumulating generated power, a logic circuit (170) driven by the power from the capacitor, and a power supply cut-off circuit (31). When the power generator starts operating,the power supply cut-off circuit (31) does not supply power to the logic circuit (170) until a voltage of the capacitor (30) reaches a preset voltage. When the voltage of the capacitor (3) becomes equal to or greater than the preset voltage, power is supplied from the capacitor to the logic circuit. Accordingly, a leakage current when power generation starts is prevented, and most of the generated power is accumulated in the capacitor. The capacitor, can rapidly accumulate electricity, and the time until activation of an electronic circuit driven by the capacitor is reduced.
摘要:
An electronically controlled mechanical timepiece, which is an electronic device, is equipped with a generator 2 for converting the mechanical energy transmitted from a mainspring through the intermediary of a wheel train into electrical energy, and a rotation control unit for controlling the rotation cycle of the generator 2. The rotation control unit is equipped with a count-up/down counter 60 that compares a reference signal with a rotation detection signal of the generator 2 thereby to adjust a braking time for the generator 2, and a brake control signal generating circuit 81 that corrects the time set at the count-up/down counter 60 on the basis of the rotation cycle of the generator 2. If the rotation cycle of the generator 2 significantly deviates from a reference signal cycle, then the braking time is adjusted on the basis of the rotation cycle. Therefore, optimum brake control can be conducted, a secure and sufficient brake amount can be provided, and the responsiveness in speed control can be enhanced.
摘要:
With respect to a generator (20), a storage device (22) for storing electrical energy output from the generator and a bypass circuit (31) are connected in parallel with each other. A bypass circuit switch (33) of this bypass circuit (31) is controlled on and off according to the voltage of the storage device (22). This makes it possible to reduce the input current into the storage device so as to implement a reduction in the voltage of the storage device, thereby preventing overcharging. Moreover, since a generated waveform corresponding to the rotation period of the generator can be obtained, the rotation period of the generator can be controlled highly precisely and reliably based on this generated waveform, thereby implementing the indication of the correct time.