Radio-controlled timepiece, system, and method for controlling radio-controlled timepiece

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12019409-B2
Application number	US-202117168239-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 5, 2021
Priority date	Feb 6, 2020
Publication date	Jun 25, 2024
Grant date	Jun 25, 2024

Abstract

A radio-controlled timepiece includes a receiver configured to receive satellite radio waves including first time information, a short-range receiver configured to receive radio waves including second time information transmitted from a mobile device, an operating device configured to accept instruction operation, a reception controller configured to selectively execute first reception processing of acquiring the first time information by operating the receiver at a preset time and second reception processing of acquiring the second time information by operating the short-range radio receiver in response to the instruction operation from the operating device, and a time correction controller configured to correct a display time based on the first time information acquired in the first reception processing or the second time information acquired in the second reception processing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A radio-controlled timepiece comprising:
a battery configured to store power;
a receiver configured to receive a satellite radio wave including first time information;
a short-range receiver configured to receive a radio wave including second time information transmitted from a mobile device;
an operating device configured to accept an instruction operation;
a reception controller configured to selectively execute a first reception processing of acquiring the first time information by operating the receiver at a preset time and a second reception processing of acquiring the second time information by operating the short-range radio receiver in response to the instruction operation from the operating device; and
a time correction controller configured to correct a display time based on the first time information acquired in the first reception processing or the second time information acquired in the second reception processing,
wherein the reception controller has an automatic reception prohibition mode that is set by an operation of the operating device and in which the first reception processing is not executed at the preset time,
the instruction operation from the operating device includes an operation of canceling the automatic reception prohibition mode, and
when the automatic reception prohibition mode is canceled by the operation of the operating device and an amount of power storage of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the reception controller is configured to execute the second reception processing.

2. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the reception controller executes the second reception processing only in response to the instruction operation from the operating device.

3. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 1 , the radio-controlled timepiece comprising:
an optical sensor configured to detect whether an amount of emitted light is equal to or higher than a threshold level, wherein
when the optical sensor detects an amount of light equal to or higher than the threshold level, the reception controller causes the receiver to perform the first reception processing.

4. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the short-range receiver performs wireless communication with the mobile device by using a near-range wireless communication or a near field communication.

5. The radio-controlled timepiece according to claim 1 ,
wherein the reception controller is configured to not execute the second reception processing when the amount of power storage of the battery is less than the predetermined value, and
the reception controller is configured to execute the first reception processing when the amount of power storage of the battery is less than the predetermined value.

6. A system comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a satellite radio wave including first time information;
a short-range receiver configured to receive a radio wave including second time information transmitted from a mobile device;
an operating device configured to accept an instruction operation;
a reception controller configured to selectively execute a first reception processing of acquiring the first time information by operating the receiver at a preset time and a second reception processing of acquiring the second time information by operating the short-range radio receiver in response to the instruction operation from the operating device;
a time correction controller configured to correct a display time based on the first time information acquired in the first reception processing or the second time information acquired in the second reception processing; and
the mobile device, wherein
the mobile device includes a second operating device,
the mobile device is set, by an operation of the second operating device, to a communication prohibition mode in which a communication with another device is prohibited,
the mobile device starts a function of communicating with the radio-controlled timepiece when the communication prohibition mode is canceled by the operation of the second operating device, and
the mobile device automatically activates an application for communicating with the radio-controlled timepiece when the communication prohibition mode is canceled by the operation of the second operating device.

7. The system according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a battery configured to store power,
wherein the reception controller has an automatic reception prohibition mode that is set by an operation of the operating device and in which the first reception processing is not executed at the preset time,
the instruction operation from the operating device includes an operation of canceling the automatic reception prohibition mode, and
when the automatic reception prohibition mode is canceled by the operation of the operating device and an amount of power storage of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the reception controller executes the second reception processing.

8. A method for controlling a radio-controlled timepiece, the radio-controlled timepiece including
a battery configured to store power,
a receiver configured to receive satellite radio waves including first time information,
a short-range receiver configured to receive radio waves including second time information transmitted from a mobile device, and
an operating device configured to accept an instruction operation, the method comprising:
executing a first reception processing by the receiver at a preset time;
executing a second reception processing by the short-range receiver in response to the instruction operation from the operating device;
correcting a display time based on the first time information acquired in the first reception processing or the second time information acquired in the second reception processing; and
setting an automatic reception prohibition mode by an operation of the operating device and in which the first reception processing is not executed at the preset time,
wherein the instruction operation from the operating device includes an operation of canceling the automatic reception prohibition mode, and
when the automatic reception prohibition mode is canceled by the operation of the operating device and an amount of power storage of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the reception controller is configured to execute the second reception processing.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Fujisawa Teruhiko

Classifications

• H04W8/22

  Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities · CPC title

• G04G19/00

  Electric power supply circuits specially adapted for use in electronic time-pieces · CPC title

• G04R20/04 Primary

  Tuning or receiving; Circuits therefor · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• G04G9/0076

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