Seiko Epson Corporation

Nisca Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Suwa Seikosha

Hiroshi Yabe

Makoto Okeya

Hiroyuki Kojima

Tadao Kadowaki

Joji Kitahara

Shinji Nakamiya

Yoshiki Makiuchi

Noriaki Shimura

Takashi Kawaguchi

Akihiko Maruyama

Tatsuo Moriya

Teruhiko Fujisawa

Hitomi Aizawa

Kenji Sakamoto

Tsutomu Ogihara

Masato Yoshino

Osamu Shinkawa

Kenji Yamazaki

Kazumi Kamoi

Yutaka Tanaka

Toshiaki Oshima

Yuichi Aruga

Mitsuhiro Ishihara

Akio Yamamoto

Yoshinori Kanesaka

Kuniharu Natori

Wataru Iwanami

Hiroyuki Kubo

Tatsumi Miyashita

Akeshi Tsurubuchi

Airborne ink mist is prevented from sticking to the detector part of a paper detector disposed on a carriage without using a configuration for capturing the ink mist. A printer has a conveyance path that conveys paper past the print position of a printhead; a carriage that carries the printhead; and a carriage moving mechanism that moves the carriage bidirectionally on the transverse axis of the printer. A paper detector and a shutter that opens and closes the detection part of the paper detector are disposed on the carriage. When the carriage moves to one end of the range of carriage movement, a shutter operating member disposed on a second side frame facing the carriage contacts the shutter and moves the shutter from its open position or closed position to the other position.

Printer, and paper position detection method of a printer

There are provided a platen on which an original is mounted, a line sensor that performs photoelectric conversion on light from the original on the platen, a first carriage that moves along the platen and guides the light from the original to the line sensor, a first housing that stores and supports the first carriage to be movable along the platen, first driving means for moving the first carriage, a second carriage provided with a plurality of rod-shaped light-source lamps that applies light to the original, a second housing that stores and supports the second carriage to be movable along the platen and covers the platen, second driving means for moving the second carriage, and control means for controlling the first driving means, the second driving means and lighting of the plurality of light-source lamps.

Image reading apparatus

This invention relates to a crystal oscillation circuit that oscillates stably with a low power consumption. This crystal oscillation circuit comprises an inverting amplifier, a crystal oscillator, and a feedback circuit that inverts the phase of an output from this inverting amplifier and feeds it back as an input. The sum of the absolute value of the threshold voltage of a first semiconductor switching element and the absolute value of the threshold voltage of a second semiconductor switching element is set to be greater than or equal to the absolute value of the potential difference between first and second potentials, when said inverting amplifier includes the first and second semiconductor switching elements.

Oscillation circuit, electronic circuit using the same, and semiconductor device, electronic equipment, and timepiece using the same

If a supply voltage reaches a voltage level that may lead to detection errors of a supply voltage detecting circuit, then a voltage detecting operation is prohibited if generation of power that can be charged into a high-capacity secondary power source is not detected, while the voltage detecting operation is continued if the generation of power that can be charged into the high-capacity secondary power source is detected.

Electronic equipment and method of controlling electronic equipment

An oscillation circuit including a first electrostatic protection circuit connected between a signal path of the oscillation circuit and a constant-voltage side, and bypassing an electrostatic voltage of a first polarity that intrudes into the signal path to a side of a constant bypass voltage through a first semiconductor rectifier element. A second electrostatic protection circuit is connected between the signal path and a reference potential side, and bypassing an electrostatic voltage of a second polarity that intrudes into the signal path to the reference potential side through a second semiconductor rectifier element. The constant bypass voltage is set to a value such that the first and second semiconductor rectifier elements are not turned on by voltage change in the signal path caused by a leakage current, even when a leakage current is generated between the signal path and a power-supply voltage line.

Oscillation circuit and electronic circuit, and semiconductor device, timepiece and electronic equipment provided with the same

To provide a portable electronic device which is easily shifted into a power save mode at the discretion of an operator, such as a user, and optimally reduces power consumption in accordance with the current use of the device. An operator can force an electronic device into a power save mode at the operator's discretion by manipulating a control. Electrical energy stored is thus reliably saved in accordance with the usage by the operator, and unnecessary power consumption is efficiently reduced, even more than in a method in which a device automatically stops the time display and is shifted into a power save mode in accordance with the presence or absence of power generation. Setting a time limit within which the operational state of the control needs to be complete, the operator is prevented from erroneously shifting into the power save mode, and the ease of use of the time measurement device is still assured.

Portable electronic device and control method for controlling the portable electronic device

A power supply apparatus employs a unidirectional unit equipped with a diode, a bypass switch connected in parallel to the diode, and a controller which turns the bypass switch ON when a forward voltage appears in the diode in order to rectify or prevent the backflow of the power from a power generating unit built in portable electronic equipment of an arm-worn type or the like; it is able to eliminate almost all loss caused by the forward voltage at the time of power supply. The elctromotive force of the power generating unit incorporated in arm-worn type electronic equipment ranges from almost the same level to about a few times the level of the forward voltage; hence, the use of the unidirectional unit enables rectifying efficiency to be markedly improved.

Power supply apparatus with unidirectional units

In the transition from a state in which charge is being transferred from a large-capacitance secondary power supply to an auxiliary capacitor through a step-up/down circuit by a step-up/down multiplying factor M&prime; (M&prime; is a positive real number excluding one) to a state in which the large-capacitance secondary power supply and the auxiliary capacitor are electrically directly coupled, the electrical energy is transferred from the large-capacitance secondary power supply to the auxiliary capacitor through the step-up/down circuit by a step-up/down multiplying factor M&equals;1 in a non-stepping-up/down state. A potential difference between the large-capacitance secondary power supply and the auxiliary capacitor is less than a predetermined potential difference. Since a sudden variation in a power supply voltage due to changing the step-up/down multiplying factor is prevented, malfunctioning in an electronic apparatus resulting from the sudden variation in the power supply voltage is prevented.

Electronic apparatus and control method for electronic apparatus

To reduce electric power consumed during the operation of adjusting the indication of time and reduce the time required for the time adjusting operation. Using a second hand driving motor and a hour/minute hand driving motor both capable of rotating in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions, the indication of time is adjusted by driving the second hand driving motor and the hour/minute hand driving motor at times different from each other. The hand driving method (hand driving direction) is determined on the basis of the time elapsed during the power saving mode measured by a time information adjusting part such that the hands are driven in a direction which results in a reduction in the power consumption or the adjusting time.

Time-measurement device and method of controlling the same

A reliable power supply control function in a portable electronic device which includes a limiter circuit, or includes the limiter circuit and a voltage step-up circuit, to reduce power consumption. It is detected whether or not a voltage generated by a power generator or a voltage accumulated in a power supply device exceeds a preset limiter-ON voltage. When the voltage generated by the power generator or the voltage accumulated in the power supply device has become not lower than the preset limiter-ON voltage, a voltage of electrical energy supplied to the power supply device is limited to a predetermined reference voltage set in advance. When it is determined based on a detection result of a status-of-power-generation detecting section that power is not generated by the power generator , detecting operation of a limiter-ON-voltage detecting circuit A is prohibited. Power consumption required for operating the limiter-ON-voltage detecting circuit can be thus reduced.

Portable electronic device and control method for the portable electronic device

In an electronic unit having a plurality of motors, a reduction in power-supply voltage is suppressed even if the plurality of motors are driven, and a difference in hand moving timing is allowed to be made inconspicuous. An electronic timepiece having a seconds motor for driving a seconds hand and an hour-and-minute motor for driving hour and minute hands, which serves as an electronic unit, moves the seconds hand and the hour and minute hands such that, when a seconds auxiliary pulse signal is output to the seconds motor at the hand moving timing of the seconds hand, control is applied in a way in which neither magnetic-field detection around the hour-and-minute motor nor the rotation detection of the hour-and-minute motor is performed at the hand moving timing of the hour and minute hands, and an hour-and-minute auxiliary pulse signal is output to the hour-and-minute motor.

Electronic unit, and control method for electronic unit

Portable electronic equipment includes a carried-by-user detector for detecting whether the electronic equipment is in a state carried by a user or not. When the electronic equipment is in a state not carried by the user, i.e., when the user is not employing the electronic equipment, an operating mode is shifted from a normal operating mode to a power saving mode to reduce power consumption of the electronic equipment. Useless consumption of power during non-use of the electronic equipment can be thus reduced. Further, in electronic equipment (timepiece) incorporating a power generator for generating power by converting first energy (motion, pressure or heat) into electric energy as second energy, whether the power generator is generating power, i.e., whether the electronic equipment is carried by the user, is detected by a power generation detecting circuit, and when a non-power-generation time exceeds a predetermined time, the operating mode is shifted to the power saving mode, thereby reducing power consumption. Accordingly, the electronic equipment (timepiece) can be provided with which when the electronic equipment is in the state not carried by the user or when the electronic equipment is in the state not carried by the user and in a state of not generating power, the operating mode of the electronic equipment is shifted to the power saving mode and energy can be saved without inconveniencing the user.

Electronic equipment and control method for electronic equipment

In an electronic device having a stepping motor which can be driven more quickly than in a normal driving operation without causing a significant increase in power consumption, a detecting coil control circuit is provided which controls a connection circuit serving to open and close a detecting coil that is wound coaxially with a driving coil, in such a manner that the detecting coil is opened during the period in which a quick driving pulse is supplied to the driving coil. After supplying the quick driving pulse, a driving controller controls a driving circuit so as to open the driving coil, while the driving controller closes the detecting coil so that a voltage induced in the detecting coil by an electromotive force is detected by a position detecting circuit thereby determining the position of a rotor. The chance that the driving coil and the detecting coil act as electromagnetic brakes is minimized thereby ensuring that the quick driving operation is performed with low power consumption. During the quick driving operation in which the rotor rotates at a high speed, the position of the rotor is monitored thereby ensuring that the quick driving operation is performed in a stable fashion. Additionally, the timing of the delivery of the driving pulses may be varied in response to a measured voltage.

Growing community of inventors

Shiojiri, Japan

Hiroshi Yabe