SATELLITE RADIO-CONTROLLED WRISTWATCH

• US 20150168924A1
• Filed: 07/10/2013
• Published: 06/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd. (Citizen Electronics Company Limited), Citizen Watch Co Limited (Citizen Electronics Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd. (Citizen Electronics Company Limited), Citizen Watch Co Limited (Citizen Electronics Company Limited)
• Inventors: Kato, Akira
• Granted Patent: US 9,170,567 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G04R 20/04 Tuning or receiving; Circuits therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G04R 60/14 specific to electromechanical timepieces, e.g. moving parts thereof

Abstract

In a satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, a time to be spent on acquisition and tracking is reduced and also a reception success probability is increased. A satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to the present invention includes: a satellite radio wave reception unit including an antenna for receiving a satellite radio wave, a high frequency circuit, and a decoder circuit; a clock circuit for holding and counting an internal time; and a controller for controlling timings of at least: an activation operation of supplying power to the satellite radio wave reception unit for activation thereof; an acquisition and tracking operation of acquiring and tracking a certain satellite radio wave by the satellite radio wave reception unit; and a time information acquisition operation of acquiring time information from the satellite radio wave received by the satellite radio wave reception unit, the controller being configured to: wait for arrival of an activation time point, which is inversely calculated by subtracting an acquisition and tracking time period and an activation time period from a time information receivable time point that is predicted based on the internal time, and then start the activation operation; and vary the acquisition and tracking time period depending on a predetermined condition.

Claims

1. A satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, comprising:

a satellite radio wave reception unit comprising an antenna for receiving a satellite radio wave, a high frequency circuit, and a decoder circuit;

a clock circuit for holding and counting an internal time; and

a controller for controlling timings of at least;

an activation operation of supplying power to the satellite radio wave reception unit for activation thereof;

an acquisition and tracking operation of acquiring and tracking a certain satellite radio wave by the satellite radio wave reception unit; and

a time information acquisition operation of acquiring time information from the satellite radio wave received by the satellite radio wave reception unit,

the controller being configured to;

wait for an arrival of an activation time point, which is inversely calculated by subtracting an acquisition and tracking time period and an activation time period from a time information receivable time point that is predicted based on the internal time, and then start the activation operation; and

vary the acquisition and tracking time period depending on a predetermined condition.

2. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition comprising, at least one selected from the group consisting of whether automatic reception or manual reception is carried out, a position of a hand, a power supply voltage, whether or not a power supply is charged, a reception history, whether or not time is manually adjusted, an attitude of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, movement of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, illuminance around the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, and a position of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch.

3. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 1, wherein the controller selects one of a plurality of predetermined time periods as the acquisition and tracking time period depending on the predetermined condition.

4. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 3, wherein the controller selects, as the acquisition and tracking time period, any one of a first acquisition and tracking time period and a second acquisition and tracking time period longer than the first acquisition and tracking time period.

5. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 4, further comprising a reception indication member for indicating at least that a first reception operation is in progress and a second reception operation is in progress,

wherein the controller causes the reception indication member to indicate that the first reception operation is in progress when the first acquisition and tracking time period is selected as the acquisition and tracking time period, and

wherein the controller causes the reception indication member to indicate that the second reception operation is in progress when the second acquisition and tracking time period is selected as the acquisition and tracking time period.

6. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 4, wherein the controller selects the first acquisition and tracking time period when a user selects manual reception, a position of a hand is not overlapped with the antenna in a plan view, a power supply voltage is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold voltage, and reception has succeeded in each of a previous predetermined number of times.

7. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 1, further comprising:

a positioning unit for measuring a position of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch, or a position information reception unit for receiving information relating to the position of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch from a user,

wherein the predetermined condition comprises a condition relating to latitude of the position of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch.

8. The satellite radio-controlled wristwatch according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined condition further comprises a condition relating to an elevation angle of an artificial satellite, which is predicted based on the position of the satellite radio-controlled wristwatch.