Electronic timepiece and setting display method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10289072-B2
Application number	US-201715465182-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 21, 2017
Priority date	Jun 17, 2016
Publication date	May 14, 2019
Grant date	May 14, 2019

Abstract

An electronic timepiece includes: a bezel having location markers for indicating positions of the world; a second hand moving relative to the bezel; a memory storing time difference information in which each location marker is associated with information relating to a time zone to which a position indicated by each location marker belongs; and a controller performing operation control for moving the second hand relative to the bezel, and the bezel has a set exception indication position representing non-correspondence to any time zone associated with each location marker by being in a predetermined positional relationship with the second hand, and the controller causes the second hand and the exception indication position to be in the predetermined positional relationship when there is no location marker associated with a set time zone, during display relating to the set time zone for a date and time to be displayed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic timepiece comprising:
an indicator on which a plurality of location markers is provided for indicating locations in various places of the world;
a hand that moves relative to the indicator;
a memory that stores time difference information in which each of the location markers and information relating to a time zone to which a location indicated by each of the location markers belongs are associated with each other;
a controller that performs operation control for moving the hand and the indicator relative to each other; and
an operation member that accepts an input operation,

wherein:
the indicator has an exception indication position representing non-correspondence to any time zone associated with each of the location markers by being in a predetermined positional relationship with the hand,
the controller causes the hand and the exception indication position to be in the predetermined positional relationship when none of the location markers are associated with a set time zone, during display relating to the set time zone for a date and time to be displayed, and
when a rotational operation of the operation member is detected which indicates that a relative positional relationship between the hand and each of the location markers should be incrementally changed in a certain direction and none of the location markers are associated with the set time zone, (i) the controller incrementally changes the relative positional relationship between each of the location markers and the hand according to the rotational operation by a single predetermined increment in the certain direction indicated by the rotational operation, in a case in which the hand is in the predetermined positional relationship with one of the location markers which is immediately followed by a next one of the location markers in the certain direction, such that the incremental change by the single predetermined increment causes the hand and the next one of the location markers to be in the predetermined positional relationship, and (ii) the controller incrementally changes the relative positional relationship between each of the location markers and the hand according to the rotational operation by an increment larger than the single predetermined increment in the certain direction indicated by the rotational operation, in a case in which the hand is in the predetermined positional relationship with one of the location markers which is immediately followed by the exception indication position in the certain direction indicated by the rotational operation so as to skip over the exception indication position such that the hand and the exception indication position are not brought into the predetermined positional relationship with each other by the incremental change and so that the hand is brought into the predetermined positional relationship with a next location marker which follows the exception indication position in the certain direction indicated by the rotational operation.

2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the memory is capable of updating and storing the time difference information.

3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2 , wherein the controller determines whether or not a time zone associated with each of the location markers has been changed from an initial setting and, when the time zone associated with each of the location markers has been changed from the initial setting, does not perform operation control that causes each of the location markers and the hand to be in the predetermined positional relationship, during display relating to the set time zone.

4. The electronic timepiece according to claim 3 , further comprising a communicator that receives the time difference information to be updated and stored from an external device.

5. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2 , further comprising a communicator that receives the time difference information to be updated and stored from an external device.

6. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2 , wherein the controller performs time zone setting for a date and time to be displayed, based on !predetermined input operation, and performs display relating to the time zone by causing the hand and the exception indication position to be in the predetermined positional relationship when a set time zone does not correspond to any of the location markers.

7. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein a predetermined marker is provided at the exception indication position.

8. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller performs time zone setting for a date and time to be displayed, based on p predetermined input operation, and performs display relating to the time zone by causing the hand and the exception indication position to be in the predetermined positional relationship when a set time zone does not correspond to any of the location markers.

9. The electronic timepiece according to claim 8 , further comprising a counter that counts a date and time to be a reference,
wherein the controller performs the time zone setting, based on a difference between a current date and time accepted via the predetermined input operation and the date and time to be the reference.

10. The electronic timepiece according to claim 9 , wherein the controller
changes a relative positional relationship between each of the location markers and the hand, based on a first input operation, and displays a date and time in a time zone associated with each of the location markers having the predetermined positional relationship with the hand with the changed relative positional relationship, as the date and time to be displayed, and
changes the displayed date and time, based on a second input operation, and sets the time zone, based on a difference between the changed date and time and the date and time to be the reference.

11. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , further comprising a positioning device that computes a current location,
wherein
the positioning device stores a correspondence relationship between the computed current location and the time zone, and
the controller reads the correspondence relationship from the positioning device, and identifies a time zone to which the current location computed by the positioning device belongs, based on the read correspondence relationship.

12. The electronic timepiece according to claim 11 , wherein the positioning device is capable of updating and storing the correspondence relationship.

13. The electronic timepiece according to claim 11 , further comprising a mode hand, wherein information relating to the current location is computed by the positioning device, and the mode hand indicates whether or not a time zone corresponding to the current location is used for setting of the date and time to be displayed.

14. The electronic timepiece according to claim 11 , wherein the positioning device includes a receiver for performing positioning by receiving a radio wave from a positioning satellite.

15. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , further comprising
a positioning device that computes a current location, wherein
the memory stores a correspondence relationship between the current location computed by the positioning device and the time zone, and
the controller reads the correspondence relationship from the memory, and identifies a time zone to which the current location computed by the positioning device belongs, based on the read correspondence relationship.

16. The electronic timepiece acc

Assignees

• Casio Computer Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hasegawa Kosuke

Classifications

• G04B19/223 Primary

  with rotary disc, rotary bezel, or rotary dial · CPC title

• G04B19/22 Primary

  Arrangements for indicating different local apparent times; Universal time pieces {(indicating by means of numbers or signs disposed on moving devices G04B19/20; illumination of dials or hands G04B19/30; combination with a terrestial globe in general G04B47/02; electronic time-zone watches G04G9/0076)} · CPC title

• G04R20/04

  Tuning or receiving; Circuits therefor · CPC title

• G04G9/0076 Primary

  in which the time in another time-zone or in another city can be displayed at will · CPC title

• G04C3/14

  incorporating a stepping motor (G04C3/02 - G04C3/12 take precedence {; generating commutating pulses in primary clocks G04C13/0463}) · CPC title