Pointer-type electronic clock

Details Pointer-type electronic clock Pointer-type electronic clock

1998-04-06

1999-12-14

Miska, Vit

Horology: time measuring systems or devices

Chronological

With power monitor

368 80, 368157, 368187, G04B 900, G04B 1904, G04B 1924, G04F 500

Patent

active

060026529

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a pointer type electronic clock, and more specifically to a pointer type electronic clock whose minute hand takes a plurality of steps per minute.


BACKGROUND ART

Heretofore, an electronic clock whose minute hand is moved not at one step per minute but at one step at 15-second intervals, at 20-second intervals or the like has been commercialized. For example, in case of a 20-second-interval movement, such an electronic clock performs three step movements per minute so as to thereby gain one minute. A reason for such an arrangement is to know an approximate second even by the minute hand alone and to reduce a rotating angle of the minute hand so as to thereby facilitate a drive control of a step motor or the like.
On the other hand, if a correction of time, a setting of alarm time or the like is performed in the driving system as described above, this is very troublesome. More specifically, when it is desired to move the minute hand by one or two minutes alone, this driving system has a shortcoming in which a switch operation must be often carried out. Therefore, the applicant discloses, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-169690/1982, a system in which one switch operation allows the clock to gain one minute at the time of setting the alarm.
However, in the conventional electronic clock, the step of the minute hand is normally set to, for example, the 20-second-interval movement. Therefore, when a source voltage is reduced and thus the electronic clock is stopped, the minute hand may be stopped between one minute scale and another minute scale. When a battery replacement or the like is performed and then the minute hand is corrected, this causes the clock to gain one minute each. Thus, the minute hand cannot be set to the minute scale, whereby the time correction is very difficult to perform.


DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the above problem. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pointer type electronic clock which can easily perform a time correction even if the clock is arranged so that a minute hand may be moved a plurality of times per minute.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a pointer type electronic clock in which a minute hand is moved at a plurality of divisional steps per minute in a time display state and the minute hand is moved at one step per minute in a correction state, and the pointer-type electronic clock comprises minute hand position adjusting means for allowing the minute hand to be moved onto any one of each minute scale and to be then stopped when the minute hand is stopped or time is corrected.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the pointer-type electronic clock according to claim 1, the minute hand position adjusting means is controlled by means of a voltage detecting circuit for detecting a source voltage.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the pointer-type electronic clock according to claim 1, the minute hand position adjusting means is operated when a clock mode is shifted from a normal state to the correction state.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the pointer-type electronic clock according to claim 1, the minute hand is moved at n-time divisional steps per minute in the time display state, and the minute hand position adjusting means has an n-ary counter whose count value indicates a position of the minute hand and minute hand driving means for driving the minute hand onto any one of each minute scale in accordance with an output from the n-ary counter.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the pointer-type electronic clock, the minute hand is moved at three divisional steps per minute in the time display state, and the minute hand position adjusting means has a ternary counter whose count value indicates the position of the minute hand and minute hand driving means for driving the minute hand onto any one of each minute scale in accordance with

REFERENCES:
patent: 4192134 (1980-03-01), Yoshida
patent: 4445785 (1984-05-01), Chambon et al.
patent: 4459031 (1984-07-01), Perucchi
patent: 4470707 (1984-09-01), Chambon et al.
patent: 5245591 (1993-09-01), Katou

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