Electronic timepiece

Abstract

An electronic timepiece includes an exterior case; an electronic module housed in the exterior case; a winding stem projecting from the electronic module to the exterior case; and a conductive earth member having a plate-like portion and an elastic portion extending from the plate-like portion to a winding stem side, in which the winding stem has a flange disposed between the electronic module and the exterior case, and the elastic portion is brought into contact with a surface of the flange on an electronic module side in a state where the winding stem is pushed into the electronic module.

Claims

1. An electronic timepiece comprising: an exterior case having an exterior case body with an opening, and a back cover covering the opening; an electronic module housed in the exterior case; a winding stem projecting from the electronic module to the exterior case; and a conductive earth member having a plate portion and an elastic portion extending from the plate portion to the winding stem, wherein the winding stem has a flange disposed between the electronic module and the exterior case, and the elastic portion is configured to contact with a surface of the flange on an electronic module side in a state where the winding stem is pushed into the electronic module, wherein the elastic portion has an extending portion extending from the plate portion to the winding stem, and first and second abutting portions which are provided at a tip of the extending portion and configured to contact with the flange in the state where the winding step is pushed into the electronic module, and the winding stem is disposed between the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion such that the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion do not contact an outer peripheral surface of the winding stem.

2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the flange has a shape projecting in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the winding stem, and the surface on the electronic module side is a plane.

3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion has an extending portion extending from the plate portion to the winding stem, and first and second abutting portions which are provided at a tip of the extending portion and in contact with the flange, and the winding stem is disposed between the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion.

4. The electronic timepiece according to claim 3, further comprising: a dial disposed in the outer case, wherein the electronic module is disposed between the dial and the back cover, the plate portion is disposed between the electronic module and the back cover, the extending portion extends from the plate portion to a dial side, and the first and second abutting portions extend from a tip of the extending portion to the dial side, and tips of the first and second abutting portions are disposed closer to the dial side than a center of the axis of the winding stem.

5. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the flange restricts motion of the winding stem in an axial direction.

6. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is separated from the flange in a state where the winding stem is pulled out from the electronic module.

7. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein the conductive earth member is a circuit support disposed between the back cover and the electronic module, and the circuit support is provided with a conductive portion which conducts with the exterior case.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

(2) FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an electronic timepiece according to one embodiment.

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating main parts of the electronic timepiece.

(4) FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating main parts of a movement of the electronic timepiece.

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating main parts of the electronic timepiece in a state where a crown is at a zero position.

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic front view illustrating main parts of the electronic timepiece in the state where the crown is at the zero position.

(7) FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating main parts of the electronic timepiece in a state where the crown is at a first-step position.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

(8) An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(9) FIG. 1 is a front view of an electronic timepiece 1 according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic timepiece 1 facing down. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating main parts of a movement 4. In this embodiment, a side of a cover glass 130 will be referred to as a front side and a side of a back cover 120 will be referred to as a back side in the electronic timepiece 1.

(10) Configuration of Electronic Timepiece

(11) The electronic timepiece 1 is provided with an exterior case 100 formed of a conductive material, and an annular dial 2 is disposed on an inner circumferential side of the exterior case 100 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

(12) The exterior case 100 is provided with an exterior case body 110 formed in a substantially ring shape (tubular shape), and a back cover 120 which is a cover detachably attached to the back side of the exterior case body 110 and covering an opening of the exterior case body 110. Examples of the conductive material include metallic materials such as stainless steel, gold, titanium material or the like. A cover glass 130 is mounted on the front side of the exterior case body 110.

(13) Furthermore, the exterior case body 110 is configured as a part different from the back cover 120 in this embodiment, but the invention is not limited to this configuration. The exterior case body 110 may be integrated with the back cover 120 as an integral case.

(14) A crown 3 is provided on a side surface of the exterior case 100. By manipulating the crown 3, input according to the manipulation can be performed. The crown 3 can be pulled out in two steps from the normal position (zero position) where the crown 3 is pushed into toward a center of the electronic timepiece 1. A position where the crown 3 is pulled out up to a first step is referred to a first-step position and a position where the crown 3 is pulled out up to a second step is referred to a second-step position.

(15) A dial 2 and a movement 4, which is one example of the electronic module, are housed in the exterior case 100, as shown in FIG. 2.

(16) The dial 2 is made of a non-conductive material such as plastic, which is arranged on a side opposite to the back cover 120 with the movement 4 interposed therebetween. A second hand 21, a minute hand 22, an hour hand 23, and pointers 24, 25 and 26 indicating various information are arranged on the front side of the dial 2. Each of pointers 21 to 26 is attached to a pointer shaft of the movement 4 and is driven by the movement 4.

(17) Configuration of Movement

(18) A component which is conventionally used for the electronic timepieces can be adopted as the movement 4. In this embodiment, the movement 4 is a movement including a secondary battery that charges the power generated by the solar cell, a step motor driven by the electric power of the secondary battery, and a gear train driven by the step motor.

(19) The movement 4 is provided with a circuit support 41, a magnetic resistant member 43, a circuit board 44, and a main plate 45 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. An electronic circuit or the like, for driving a step motor (not shown), is embedded into the printed circuit board 44.

(20) Furthermore, the movement 4 is provided with a metallic winding stem 42 projecting from the movement 4 to the exterior case 100. A switching mechanism, such as a setting lever (not shown), is arranged around the winding stem 42.

(21) Configuration of Winding Stem

(22) FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the winding stem 42 in a state where the crown 3 is at the zero position.

(23) The crown 3 is attached to the winding stem 42 as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, thus the winding stem 42 moves in the axial direction by pulling out the crown 3. That is, the winding stem 42 is normally positioned at the zero position, and moves to the first-step position or the second-step position by pulling out the crown 3.

(24) Furthermore, the winding stem 42 is provided with a flange 421 arranged between the movement 4 and the exterior case 100. The flange 421 is formed so as to project in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the winding stem 42, in which a surface 422 on a side of the movement 4 is a plane perpendicular to the axis of the winding stem 42, and a surface on a side of the exterior case 100 is formed as a tapered surface. The flange 421 is brought into contact with the main plate 45 directly or via an elastic portion 414 when the winding stem 42 is pushed into toward a center of the electronic timepiece 1 by, for example, an impact on the electronic timepiece 1 due to the falling, and thus, the flange 421 restricts that the winding stem 42 moves beyond the zero position. That is, the flange 421 is one example of a positioning portion for restricting the motion of the winding stem 42 in the axial direction. Furthermore, the flange 421 is not limited to a shape of this embodiment. For example, the surface on the side of the exterior case 100 may be a flat surface instead of a tapered surface, or alternatively, the surface on the side of the movement 4 may be formed as the tapered surface. In particular, the surface on the side of the movement 4 is preferably in a shape capable of easily maintaining a contact state with the elastic portion 414 (described later).

(25) Configuration of Circuit Support

(26) The circuit support 41 is formed of a metal in a tabular shape. The circuit support 41 has a plate-like portion 410 which is arranged so as to cover the magnetic resistant member 43 and the printed circuit board 44, as shown in FIG. 3. Moreover, the circuit support 41 is provided with conductive portions 411 to 413, each of which functions as a metal spring bent so as to be inclined from the plate-like portion 410 toward the side of the back cover 120.

(27) The circuit support 41 has an elastic portion 414 as a metal spring which is bent from an outer peripheral part of the plate-like portion 410 and extends toward the winding stem 42. The elastic portion 414 has an extending portion 415 extending from the plate-like portion 410 toward the winding stem 42, and a first abutting portion 416 and a second abutting portion 417, which are continuous to a tip side of the extending portion 415 and formed in bifurcated and in a U-shape.

(28) FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the vicinity of the winding stem 42 in a state where the crown 3 is at the zero position.

(29) The extending portion 415 extends from the plate-like portion 410 toward a side of the dial 2, that is, the front side of the electronic timepiece 1, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

(30) The first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are formed so that a width M of a groove formed in a U-shape on an inner side is larger than a diameter L of the winding stem 42. The winding stem 42 is arranged between the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417. Therefore, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are not brought into direct contact with an outer peripheral surface of the winding stem 42.

(31) Furthermore, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 extend from the tip side of the extending portion 415 to the side of the dial 2. At this time, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are formed so that a depth N of the groove formed in a U-shape on the inner side is larger than the diameter L of the winding stem 42, of which tips are disposed closer to the dial side than a cross-sectional center (center of the shaft) P of the winding stem 42.

(32) The first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are brought into contact with the surface 422 of the flange 421 on the side of the movement 4 in a state where the crown 3 is at the zero position, that is, the winding stem 42 is pushed into the movement 4, as shown in FIG. 4. The conductive portions 411 to 413 are brought into contact with the back cover 120 in order to electrically connect the circuit support 41 to the back cover 120.

(33) Consequently, the static electricity which has intruded from the crown 3 to the winding stem 42 can escape to the back cover 120 via the elastic portion 414, the plate-like portion 410, and the conductive portions 411 to 413. That is, in this embodiment, the circuit support 41 is one example of a conductive earth member.

(34) In this embodiment, the elastic portion 414 is brought into contact with the surface 422 of the flange 421, thus the elastic portion 414 is brought into contact with the surface 422 in a state of being elastically deformed in the axial direction of the winding stem 42. Therefore, it is unnecessary to provide the elastic portion 414 to be gently inclined with respect to the planar direction. In this embodiment, the elastic portion 414 is provided such that its base end side is bent at an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to the plate-like portion 410.

(35) FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the winding stem 42 in a state where the crown 3 is at the first-step position.

(36) The first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are separated from the flange 421 in a state where the crown 3 is at the first-step position, that is, the winding stem 42 is pulled out from the movement 4, as shown in FIG. 6. Therefore, the flange 421 is not brought into contact with the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 when rotating the crown 3 at the first-step position.

(37) As a matter of course, in a state where the crown 3 is at the second-step position, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are separated from the flange 421.

(38) Furthermore, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are separated from the flange 421 in a state where the crown 3 is at the first-step position, thus the elastic portion 414 does not need to be elastically and greatly deformed toward the side of the movement 4 along the axial direction of the winding stem 42 upon pushing the crown 3 into the zero position as shown in FIG. 4. That is, the elastic portion 414 is brought into contact with the flange 421 in a state of being elastically deformed toward the side of the movement 4 in a state where the crown 3 is at the zero position. In this state, the elastic force applied on the flange 421 is sufficiently smaller than the force required to pull out the crown 3 to the first-step position or the second-step position.

(39) The user usually touches the crown 3 in a state where the winding stem 42 is pulled out, thus the static electricity which has intruded into the crown 3 escapes to a user side. Therefore, the static electricity hardly intrudes into the movement 4 via the winding stem 42 even if the elastic portion 414 is disposed away from the flange 421.

Advantageous Effects of Embodiment

(40) According to the embodiment as stated above, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.

(41) In this embodiment, the elastic portion 414 is brought into contact with the surface 422 of the flange 421 in a state where the winding stem 42 is pushed into the movement 4. Consequently, the elastic portion 414 is brought into contact with the flange 421 in a state of being elastically deformed with respect to the axial direction of the winding stem 42, thus it is unnecessary to provide the elastic portion 414 to be gently inclined with respect to the planar direction. Therefore, the electronic timepiece 1 can be downsized without necessity of providing a large space for disposing the elastic portion 414 in the winding stem 42 on the side of the back cover 120. Furthermore, the static electricity which has intruded from the crown 3 to the winding stem 42 can escape to the back cover 120 of the exterior case 100 via the elastic portion 414, the plate-like portion 410, and the conductive portions 411 to 413, thus it is possible to prevent the electronic circuit from being influenced by the static electricity.

(42) In this embodiment, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417, in contact with the flange 421, are formed so that the width M of the groove formed in a U-shape on the inner side is larger than the diameter L of the winding stem 42. The winding stem 42 is arranged between the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417. Therefore, even when the electronic timepiece 1 is received an impact by falling of the like, motion of the elastic portion 414 in a direction intersecting with the axial direction of the winding stem 72 is restricted by the first abutting portion 416, the second abutting portion 417 and the winding stem 42. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the elastic portion 414 from separating from the flange 421, and to release the static electricity which has intruded from the crown 3 to the winding stem 42 more reliably.

(43) Furthermore, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are not brought into direct contact with the outer peripheral surface of the winding stem 42, thus the winding stem 42 is smoothly pulled out without a risk of being stuck with the outer peripheral surface of the winding stem 42.

(44) In this embodiment, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 extend from the tip of the extending portion 415 to the side of the dial 2. At this time, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are formed so that the depth N of the groove formed in a U-shape on the inner side is larger than the diameter L of the winding stem 42, in which tips of the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are disposed closer to the dial side than a cross-sectional center P of the winding stem 42. Therefore, even when the timepiece 1 is received an impact by falling of the like and the winding stem 42 moves toward the side of the dial 2 with respect to the elastic portion 414, the winding stem 42 remains between the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 and thus does not get out of a space between the abutting portions as long as a moving amount of the winding stem 42 is at least equal to or smaller than a radius of the winding stem 42. Accordingly, it is easy to maintain the contact state between the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 with the flange 421 in a case where the elastic portion 414 and the winding stem 42 are relatively moved in the thickness direction of the timepiece. Consequently, it is possible to release the static electricity which has intruded from the crown 3 to the winding stem 42 more reliably.

(45) In this embodiment, the flange 421 functions as a positioning portion of the winding stem 42 to restrict motion of the winding stem 42 in the axial direction. Therefore, it is easier to process the winding stem 42 as compared with a case where the flange 421 and the positioning portion are provided separately. Consequently, the production efficiency can be improved and the production cost can be reduced.

(46) In this embodiment, the elastic portion 414 is separated from the flange 421 in a state where the winding stem 42 is pulled out from the movement 4, that is, in a state where the crown 3 is rotated. Whereby the elastic portion 414 is not brought into contact with the flange 421 upon rotating the crown 3, and thus the crown 3 is smoothly operable. Moreover, the elastic portion 414 does not need to be elastically and greatly deformed toward the side of the movement 4 upon pushing the winding stem 42 into the movement 4. Accordingly, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the elastic force applied on the flange 421 from the elastic portion 414 to the force required to pull out the winding stem 42, thereby preventing the winding stem 42 from being falsely pulled out due to the elastic force of the elastic portion 414.

(47) In this embodiment, the circuit support 41 is provided with conductive portions 411 to 413 conducting with the back cover 120 of the exterior case 100. Thus, it is unnecessary to additionally provide a component for releasing the static electricity, guided from the elastic portion 414 to the plate-like portion 410, to the exterior case 100, thereby decreasing types of the components. Consequently, the production efficiency can be improved and the production cost can be reduced.

Other Embodiments

(48) It should be noted that the invention is not limited to the embodiment stated above, and variations, improvements and the like are encompassed in the invention in a range where the objects of the invention are achieved.

(49) In the embodiment stated above, the circuit support 41 is provided with conductive portions 411 to 413 conducting with the back cover 120. However, a separate component may be provided to release the static electricity to the exterior case; but in this case, types of the components increase, thus it is preferable that the circuit support 41 is provided with conductive portions 411 to 413.

(50) The conductive portions 411 to 413 are provided so as to bring into contact with the back cover 120. However, the conductive portions 411 to 413 may be provided so as to bring into contact with a component functioning as the ground, for example, so as to bring into contact with a case body of the exterior case.

(51) In the embodiment stated above, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are continuous to a tip side of the extending portion 415 and formed in bifurcated and in a U-shape. However, for example, two thin plate-shaped elastic portions may be bent from the plate-like portion, respectively, and the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion may be provided. Furthermore, the elastic portion may be provided so as to be in contact with the flange. For example, the elastic portion may be provided in a ring shape so that the tip end surrounds the winding stem.

(52) In the embodiment stated above, the flange 421 functions as the positioning portion for restricting a position of the winding stem 42 in the axial direction, but the flange and the positioning portion may be provided separately. However, in this case, it is difficult to process the winding stem 42, thus it is preferable that the flange functions as the positioning portion.

(53) In the embodiment state above, the first abutting portion 416 and the second abutting portion 417 are configured to separate away from the flange 421 in a state where the crown 3 is at the first-step position, that is, in a state where the winding stem 42 is pulled out from the movement 4. However, the elastic portion and the flange may be brought into contact with each other in a state where the crown 3 is at the first-step position or the second-step position.

(54) The electronic module according to the invention is not limited to a movement having a step motor for driving pointers, and may be an electronic module for driving a display unit such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL panel.

(55) The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-018554, filed Feb. 5, 2018 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.