US 6,791,905 B1Granted

Timepiece

AssigneeCitizen Watch Co., Ltd.

InventorKanetaka Sekiguchi

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Abstract

A timepiece is provided with a solar cell 8 comprising a power generation unit 39, having a first electrode, a photovoltaic layer, and a second electrode, stacked up in that order on the solar cell substrate 31 so as to be superimposed on each other, and electric power generated by the solar cell 8 is used as an energy source for executing time display on a time display unit by a dial 14 and hands 5, 6 or a liquid crystal display panel 50. The solar cell 8 is constructed such that a plurality of the power generation units 39, and transmitting portions 40 having a transmittance of light, larger than that for the power generation units, are alternately patterned on a solar cell substrate 31, and is disposed on the visible side of the time display unit so as to be superimposed thereon, thereby ensuring satisfactory power generation efficiency of the solar cell without impairing visibility of the time display unit, and without introducing restrictions on the design feature of the timepiece.

Claims42

Dependent claims

A timepiece comprising a time display unit, and a solar cell comprised of a solar cell substrate, and a power generation unit having at least a first electrode, a photovoltaic layer, and a second electrode, stacked up in that order so as to be superimposed on each other on the solar cell substrate, using electric power generated by the solar cell as an energy source for executing time display in the time display unit,

wherein said solar cell is composed such that the solar cell substrate is composed of a transparent material, a plurality of the power generation means are patterned and provided on the solar cell substrate, and transmitting portions having a large transmittance in a visible light range are provided between the plurality of the power generation means,
the solar cell is disposed on a visible side of the time display unit so as to be superimposed on the time display unit, the power generating units and the transmitting portions are superimposed on the time display unit, and the time display region is rendered to be recognized through the transmitting regions.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.