JPS633410B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a device for preventing malfunction of a touch switch for an electronic watch, and in particular, a device for preventing malfunction of a touch switch for electronic watches. The present invention relates to a malfunction prevention device that can prevent supply.

2. Description of the Related Art Touch switches that can output a desired control signal by a touch operation using a user's finger or the like are well known and have been put into practical use in various devices. These touch switches are suitable as on/off switches for electrical control equipment and as keyboard switches for watches, calculators, etc., and have the advantages of being able to reliably obtain control signals with a small amount of operating force, and being highly durable. . Normally, this type of touch switch has a structure in which the adjacent electrodes are covered with an insulator, and the two electrodes are electrically connected by the user's finger, but of course, any other switch structure can be used. You can take it.

As mentioned above, the touch switch is suitable as a switch that is used frequently, and has the advantage that the device can be made smaller by using the touch operation part as the case frame or display surface of the device. , watches, etc., by placing a transparent touch switch on the time display surface, the touch switch is hidden in the normal time indication state, but when necessary, its position is displayed using a liquid crystal display, etc., and the time is displayed. It can be used as a correction switch, etc., and its range of use is extremely wide.

However, with conventional touch switches, a control signal is output simply when the user's finger or the like touches the switch. Even in such a case, a control signal is output, and when used as a correction switch in a clock or the like, the indicated time may be adjusted unnecessarily, causing erroneous operation.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional device in which a touch switch for adjusting the time is incorporated into a digital display table clock.
The desired time adjustment effect can be obtained by touching the switch 12. However, as shown in the figure, when the user is carrying the watch or otherwise, the user's finger may accidentally press the touch switch 12.
The drawback was that if you touched the clock, the time indicated on the clock would be incorrectly corrected.

This type of erroneous operation can cause calculation errors not only in watches but also in calculators, etc. Also, in the case of on/off switches, which are often used in various devices, the device may be turned on or off against the user's will. This caused problems such as storage.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to reliably prevent erroneous operation of a touch switch contrary to the user's intention, and to prevent malfunction of a touch switch without outputting erroneous control signals. The goal is to provide equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an oscillation circuit that outputs a reference oscillation signal forming a time instruction signal, a counter that counts time based on the reference oscillation signal, and a counter that counts time based on the output of the counter. In an electronic timepiece including a time display section that performs display, a time adjustment device that outputs a time adjustment signal to a counter that is provided corresponding to at least one time display digit of the time display section and counts the time measured by the display digit. an erroneous operation detection touch switch that is disposed in close proximity to the operating touch switch so that it can be operated simultaneously and outputs an erroneous operation detection signal; and a delay circuit that delays the operation output of the operating touch switch for a certain period of time; The present invention is characterized in that it includes a correction operation determination circuit that includes an arithmetic circuit that prohibits output of the time correction signal based on the operation output when the erroneous operation detection touch switch is operated within the delay time.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a specific example showing the basic structure of the present invention, in which a touch switch is provided for correcting a liquid crystal display timepiece.

The time indication signal of the clock is obtained from a reference oscillation signal of an oscillation circuit 14 including a crystal oscillator, etc., and after this oscillation signal is divided into a desired frequency by a frequency dividing circuit 16, it is sent to a minute counter 18 and an hour counter 20. This is converted into a time instruction signal by the decoder driver 22 and displayed on the liquid crystal panel 24.
Displayed by.

The liquid crystal panel 24 has a cover glass 2 on its front.
6 is arranged, and the time indicated on the liquid crystal panel 24 can be read through a cover glass 26. In this embodiment, a switch for adjusting the time is incorporated in the cover glass 26 as a touch switch. That is, the cover glass 26
An operating touch switch 28 for selecting a correction mode is provided at the center of the right end of the cover glass 26, and a time correction touch switch 3 is provided at the bottom end of the cover glass 26.
A touch switch 32 for adjusting 0 and minutes is arranged,
Furthermore, at the upper right end is the touch switch 3 for canceling the correction.
4 is placed. Therefore, by touching the operation touch switch 28, the watch enters the time adjustment mode, and both adjustment touch switches 3
0 and 32 are valid, and by touching them an arbitrary number of times or continuously for an arbitrary period of time, the desired corrective action can be obtained. Then, by touching the correction release touch switch 34, the timepiece returns from the time adjustment state to the normal time indication state.

Each of the touch switches 28, 30, 32 and 3
4 consists of a transparent electrode in each example,
As such, its position cannot be recognized from the outside, and the display surface of the liquid crystal panel 24 can have a clear design. The liquid crystal panel 24 includes touch switches 28 and 3, respectively.
Switch position indicators 36, 38, 40, and 42 are provided at positions corresponding to 0, 32, and 34, and the position of each switch can be displayed as necessary.
That is, FIG. 3 shows the normal time display state, and only the switch position display 36 is displayed, so that the position of the operating touch switch 28 for selecting the correction mode can be easily known. . When the operating touch switch 28 is touched to select the time adjustment mode, switch position indicators 38, 40, and 42 are displayed on the display screen as shown in FIG. and touch switch 3 for adjusting the time.
It becomes possible to indicate the positions of the touch switch 32 for correcting 0, minute and the touch switch 34 for canceling correction.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that a touch switch 44 for detecting an erroneous operation is arranged close to the touch switch 28 for operation. Consists of a partially cut-out ring shape placed in the
With this configuration, in order to perform a normal touch operation, only the operation touch switch 28 must be touched correctly without touching the touch switch 44 for detecting an error operation, and the other touch switches 44 for detecting an error operation must be touched. If an operation is performed, it is recognized as an erroneous operation, and in the case of such an erroneous operation, the output of the operating touch switch 28 is disabled.

In order to distinguish between normal operation and erroneous operation by the signals of both touch switches 28 and 44, a second
In the figure, an operation discrimination circuit 46 is provided. In the figure, the operation discrimination circuit 46 is connected to the operation touch switch 2.
8, and a flip-flop (hereinafter referred to as FF) 50 controlled by the output of the delay circuit 48, and the FF 50 controls an OR gate 52 by the output from the touch switch 44 for detecting erroneous operation. It will be reset via

The output of the operation determining circuit 46 switches the display mode of the watch from normal time indication to time correction, and at this time, the position display of the touch switch is switched. That is, the FF of the operation determination circuit 46
The Q output of FF50 is fed to the clock input of FF54, and the Q output of FF54 is used to ungate 56,
58, and touch both the correction touch switches 30,
32 is supplied from OR gates 60 and 62 to hour counter 20 and minute counter 18, respectively, to enable desired time correction, and at this time, FF
Touch switch 3 for correction by Q output of 54
The position displays 38 and 40 of 0 and 32 and the position display 42 of the touch switch 34 for canceling correction are set to the display state. Furthermore, the Q output of FF54 is inverter 6
4, the display of the position display 36 of the operating touch switch 28 is stopped. In addition, both FF5
0 and 54, the output of the touch switch 34 for canceling correction is supplied via OR gates 52 and 66 to their reset inputs.

Furthermore, in this specific example, a circuit is provided that automatically returns to the normal time indication mode if no correction action is performed for a predetermined period of time after the correction mode is selected, and this circuit is configured to control the 30-decimal counter 68.
A 1 Hz count input is supplied through an AND gate 70 which is opened by the Q output of the FF 54, and its Q output is supplied to the reset input of each of the FFs 50 and 54 through OR gates 52 and 66. There is. Therefore, when the Q output of the FF 54 becomes "H" as determined by the normal operation determination of the operation determination circuit 46, the 30-decimal counter 68 continues counting for 30 seconds, and if no corrective operation is performed during this period, , both FFs 50 and 54 are reset, and the clock returns to its normal time indicating state. And said 30
The OR gate 7 is used as the reset input for the advance counter 68.
2, the output of the FF 54 and the outputs of both correction touch switches 30 and 32 are supplied, and as a result, whenever any correction is performed within the 30 seconds, the 30-decimal counter 68 is reset and the correction is performed. mode can be maintained.

The basic structure of the present invention consists of the above structure, and the effects of each operating state will be explained below based on FIGS. 5 to 8.

FIG. 5 shows a normal operating state, in which the user must touch only the correction touch switch 28 without touching the error detection touch switch 44.

In the case of the operating state shown in FIG. 5, the output of the operating touch switch 28 is delayed by a predetermined time in the delay circuit 48 and is supplied to the clock input of the FF 50, but at this time, no output is supplied from the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44. Therefore, the FF50 immediately supplies a Q output of "H" to the clock input of the FF54 after the delay time elapses, and as a result, the Q output of the FF54 becomes "H", thereby validating the outputs of the correction touch switches 30 and 32. This makes it possible to adjust the time as desired, and also allows each touch switch 3 to adjust the time as desired.
The positions of 0, 32, and 34 can be displayed, while the display of the operating touch switch 28 can be turned off.

FIG. 6 shows an erroneous operation state in which the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44 is touched simultaneously with the operating touch switch 28. At this time, the output from the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44 resets the FF 50 via the OR gate 52. ,
The output from the operating touch switch 28 is FF50.
Even if the Q output of the FF 50 is supplied to the clock input of the FF 50, the Q output of the FF 50 remains "L", and the touch operation can be invalidated.

7A and 7B show an erroneous operation state in which the user first touches the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44 and then touches the operation touch switch 28. Even in this case, the FF 50 continues to be in the reset state. , the output of the operating touch switch 28 is disabled.

Furthermore, FIGS. 8A and 8B show an erroneous operation state in which only the operation touch switch 28 is first touched, as in the normal state, but immediately after this, the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44 provided around it is operated. The interval between operations of both touch switches 28 and 44 at the time of such an erroneous operation is relatively short, and in this basic configuration, the delay time of the delay circuit 48 is set to be larger than such a normal operation interval. . Therefore, even in the case of an erroneous operation as shown in FIG. 8, the output of the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44 resets the FF 50 before the output of the operating touch switch 28 is supplied from the delay circuit 48 to the FF 50, and the FF 50 is reset by the output of the erroneous operation detection touch switch 44. As before, no clock input is supplied from the operation determination circuit 46 to the FF 54.

As described above, according to the basic configuration of the present invention, various erroneous operations can be reliably detected and the output of the operating touch switch can be invalidated.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the malfunction prevention device according to the present invention, and the same members as those in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, operating touch switches 74 and 76 are used to adjust the hours and minutes of the digital display clock.
is used, and unlike the basic configuration, the clock is in a state where the time can be adjusted at all times, so both touch switches 7
In order to reliably prevent malfunctions of the touch switches 74 and 76, a ring-shaped touch switch 7 with a part cut out is installed around both touch switches 74 and 76.
8,80 are provided. Switch position displays 82, 84 are provided on the liquid crystal panel 24 at positions corresponding to the operating touch switches 74, 76, and the operating touch switches 74, 76 are always displayed.
position is displayed. The outputs of the touch switches 74 and 76 are supplied to an hour adjustment operation determination circuit 86 and a minute adjustment operation determination circuit 88, and only correct operation signals are taken out and sent to an AND gate 9, respectively.
0, 92, and during this correction signal output period, that is, during the period when normal touch operations are being performed, 2.
Hz correction signal from each AND gate 90, 92 and OR gate 60, 62 to each counter 20, 18.
The desired hour and minute time adjustments can be made.

The operation determination circuits 86 and 88 have the same configuration, and the time adjustment circuit 86 will be explained below based on FIG. 10.

The discrimination circuit 86 in FIG. 10 is similar to the discrimination circuit 46 of the basic configuration, and the same members are given the same reference numerals and explanations are omitted. In addition, in this embodiment, since correction operation is always possible, the correction state can be changed. The counter to be maintained is a ternary counter 68a, which returns to the normal time indicating state when the correction operation is stopped for 3 seconds.

The characteristic feature of this embodiment is that the output from the touch switches 78 and 80 for detecting erroneous operation is FF9.
4 to the FF 50 and the reset input of the counter 68a, and this
The FF 94 is reset by a delay signal of the erroneous operation detection signal, and a delay circuit 96 is provided for this purpose.

That is, according to the combination of the FF 94 and the delay circuit 96, the erroneous operation detection signal is once output.
Even if the Q signal “H” is output from FF94,
When the erroneous operation detection signal disappears, the Q output of the FF 94 returns to "L" after a predetermined delay time, allowing normal signal output. Normally, the delay time of the delay circuit 96 is set longer than the delay time of the delay circuit 48 for processing the output of the operating touch switch.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the operation touch switch 74,
When only 76 is operated, the output of the touch switch is enabled, and when the touch switches 78 and 80 for detecting erroneous operation are operated, the touch switch output can be disabled as an erroneous operation.

Further, according to this embodiment, the erroneous operation detection signal is
Since the processing is carried out by the FF 94 and the delay circuit 96, for example, as shown in FIG. 11A, when the erroneous operation detection touch switch 78 is touched by mistake for the first time, the FF 94 disables the output of the operation touch switch 74 as in the basic configuration. A reliable malfunction prevention effect can be achieved, and if the correct operation touch switch 78 is operated after touching the malfunction detection touch switch 78, as shown in FIG. 11B, a predetermined delay time will elapse. This output can be validated later.

FIG. 12 shows a modification of the present invention, which is an improvement on the embodiment shown in FIG. The structure and operation are exactly the same as in the embodiment.

Furthermore, FIG. 13 shows a modification in which the malfunction prevention device according to the present invention is applied to an on/off switch of a calculator or the like.

After the input signal obtained from the keyboard 98 of the calculator is subjected to a desired calculation by the calculation circuit 100,
It is displayed on the display unit 102. A power source 104 such as a battery is provided to operate each of the circuits, and the keyboard 98 is provided with an operation touch switch 106 for turning on, and its output is determined by an operation determination circuit 108 to determine whether the operation is normal or not. Operation determination circuit 1 determines whether the operation is an operation or an abnormal operation, and the power supply voltage is transmitted from the power supply 104 to each part during normal operation.
08. Said touch switch 1
In order to determine the operating state of the touch switch 106, a touch switch 1 for detecting erroneous operation is installed around the touch switch 106.
10 is arranged, thereby preventing the power from being turned on unnecessarily in the event of an erroneous operation. The output of the off touch switch 112 of the keyboard 98 is supplied to the operation determination circuit 108, and it is possible to forcibly turn off the power as in the conventional case. Note that the oscillation circuit 1 is connected from the power supply 104.
14 is constantly supplied with a power supply voltage, and the output of the oscillation circuit 114 is supplied to the arithmetic circuit 100.

FIG. 14 shows the internal configuration of the operation determination circuit 108, in which the delay circuit 48,
By means of the FF 50 and the OR gate 52, when only the operating touch switch 106 is touched, the output can be made valid, and this output turns on the MOS transistor 116 to supply voltage from the power supply 104 to each part.

As explained above, according to the present invention, even if the touch switch is accidentally touched while carrying the device or otherwise, such erroneous operation is reliably detected and the operation output of the touch switch for operation is prohibited. It becomes possible to reliably prevent equipment malfunctions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a watch incorporating a conventional operating touch switch, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic configuration of a digital display watch incorporating a malfunction prevention device according to the present invention, and Figs. 3 and 4 are An explanatory diagram showing the time indication mode and time adjustment mode of the basic configuration. Figures 5, 6, 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B are respectively explanatory diagrams of the operation of the basic configuration. Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 10 is an operation discrimination circuit diagram of FIG. 9, FIGS. 11A and 11B are action explanatory diagrams of the embodiment, FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the present invention similar to the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a modified example of the present invention in which the malfunction prevention device according to the present invention is incorporated into a calculator, and FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram showing an operation determination circuit of the modified example. 28... Touch switch for operation, 44... Touch switch for detecting erroneous operation, 46... Operation discrimination circuit, 48... Delay circuit, 50... Flip-flop, 74, 76... Touch switch for operation, 7
8, 80...Touch switch for detecting erroneous operation, 86
...Hour correction operation discrimination circuit, 88...Minute correction operation discrimination circuit, 106...Touch switch for operation, 10
8... Operation discrimination circuit, 110... Touch switch for detecting erroneous operation.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An oscillation circuit that outputs a reference oscillation signal forming a time instruction signal, a counter that counts time based on the reference oscillation signal, and a time display that displays time based on the counter output. an electronic timepiece comprising: an operating touch switch for time adjustment that outputs a time adjustment signal to a counter provided corresponding to at least one time display digit of the time display section and counting the time of the display digit; , an erroneous operation detection touch switch that is disposed in close proximity to the operation touch switch so that it can be operated simultaneously and outputs an error detection signal; a delay circuit that delays the operation output of the operation touch switch for a certain period of time; A malfunction prevention device for a touch switch for an electronic watch, comprising: an arithmetic circuit that prohibits the output of the time adjustment signal using the operation output when the touch switch for detecting an error operation is operated; and a correction operation discrimination circuit that includes: .