Electronic wristwatch with printer function

An electronic wristwatch with a printer has a printing head which is arranged inside a wristwatch case with a recording paper loading portion and which performs printing on the recording paper. The printing head is moved by an operation member, and a displacement thereof is detected by a detecting portion. A print control circuit controls printing of the printing head in accordance with a speed corresponding to the displacement detected by the detecting portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an electronic wristwatch with a printer 
function. 
Electronic wristwatches display time with pointers or a digital display 
device and generally have other functions associated with time such as a 
stop watch function or a plurality of alarm functions. 
Recently, electronic wristwatches have acquired other functions such as a 
calculation function, a schedule table preparation function, or a game 
function. Various information relating to those functions is displayed by 
an optical display device in place of the time for confirmation by a user 
of the wristwatch. 
In an electronic wristwatch of this type, desired information can only be 
displayed and not recorded. In order to record such information, the user 
must copy it on a sheet of paper or the like. 
In order to prevent this problem, the wristwatch can be provided with a 
printer to print desired information. However, when a printer is assembled 
in an electronic wristwatch, the watch inevitably becomes large and heavy, 
and thus become impractical. 
A conventional printer uses a stepping motor or the like to move a printing 
head. In order to convert the rotational movement of the stepping motor 
into linear movement, a conversion mechanism such as a spiral bar, a belt, 
a wire and the like must be driven through a gear mechanism. 
Printing paper must also be fed in synchronism with the movement of the 
printing head and the printing timing. Thus, feeding of printing paper 
also requires a complex gear mechanism. 
When a printer is assembled in an electronic wristwatch, the wristwatch 
becomes large and heavy as described above. In addition, power consumption 
is increased, and the cell life is shortened. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has been made in consideration of this and has as its 
object to provide an electronic wristwatch with a printer which has low 
power consumption and which is simple in construction and small in size. 
In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, there is 
provided an electronic wristwatch with a printer comprising: a wristwatch 
case means having a recording paper loading portion; a printing head 
means, arranged inside said wristwatch case, for printing on the recording 
paper; an operation member means, manually operated, for moving said 
printing head means; detecting means for detecting a displacement of said 
printing head which is performed by manual operation of said operation 
member; and printing controlling means for controlling the printing of 
said printing head at a speed corresponding to the displacement detected 
by said detecting means. In an electronic wristwatch with a printer having 
the above configuration, the operation of the printing head can be 
controlled in accordance with the amount of movement of the head upon 
manual operation and without requiring a motor for feeding recording 
paper. Therefore, the printer can be rendered compact in size. Even if 
this compact printer is assembled in the wristwatch case, the wristwatch 
need not be rendered big. The weight and the power consumption of the 
wristwatch can be kept low, thus increasing the cell life.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a main part of an electronic wristwatch with 
a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 
is an enlarged perspective view of a drive portion thereof. Referring to 
these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a wristwatch case. A display 
portion 2 for displaying information such as time, a printer 3, and a 
power source switch 4 for the printer 3 are arranged in the wristwatch 
case 1. A wristwatch band 5 is attached to the rear end of the wristwatch 
case 1. 
When recording paper 6 is pulled outside the wristwatch case 1, the printer 
3 prints one line on the paper 6 in its pulling direction in accordance 
with the speed at which the paper 6 is pulled. The printer 3 has a 
recording paper storage portion 3a, pairs of guide rollers 7a and 8a, a 
detection portion 9 for detecting pulling of the paper 6, and a printing 
portion 10. The top portion of the printer 3 is covered with a cover 11 to 
be opened or closed thereby. The storage portion 3a rotatably stores a 
roll of recording paper 6. The recording paper 6 is sandwiched between the 
rollers 7a and 8a which are rotated with friction when the recording paper 
6 is pulled. A light-emitting elment 12 such as a light-emitting diode and 
a light-receiving element 13 such as a photodiode or a phototransistor in 
the detecting portion 9 detects the speed at which the recording paper 6 
is pulled. As shown in FIG. 2, light emitted from the light-emitting 
element 12 is irradiated on the outer circumferential surface of one guide 
roller 7a, and light reflected from the guide roller 7a is received by the 
light-receiving element 13. Thus, the rotational speed of the roller 7a is 
detected so as to determine the pulling speed of the recording paper 6. 
The detecting portion 9 then produces a detection signal to be described 
later. In order to allow this detection operation, thin black and white 
stripes are axially formed by printing or etching in the outer 
circumferential surface of the guide roller 7a, as shown in FIG. 2. 
Changes in density of light received from the guide roller 7a 
corresponding to these black and white stripes are detected to determine 
the rotational speed of the guide roller 7a. The printing portion 10 is 
arranged between the pairs of guide rollers 7a and 8a and prints in 
accordance with the pulling speed of the recording paper 6. As shown in 
FIG. 2, the printing portion 10 has a printing head 14 such as a thermal 
printing head and a platen 15 (a paper press in the case of a thermal 
printer). In accordance with the detection signal from the detecting 
portion 9, the printing head 14 prints on the recording paper 6 passing 
between the printing head 14 and the platen 15. 
FIG. 3 shows the circuit configuration of the electronic wristwatch with a 
printer described above. The power source switch 4 is for turning on the 
printer function and supplies an ON/OFF signal to a control circuit 16. 
The control circuit 16 controls the overall circuit. In response to an ON 
signal 4a from the power source switch 4, the control circuit 16 supplies 
from its OUT terminal a drive signal 9a to the detecting portion 9. The 
drive signal 9a opens the gate of a transistor 18 through a resistor 17 of 
the detecting portion 9 and turns on the light-emitting element 12, which 
irradiates the outer circumferential surface of the guide roller 7a with 
light. Light reflected from the guide roller 7a is received by the 
light-receiving element 13 of the detecting portion 9. Then, a signal 
having a waveform A modulated as shown in FIG. 4(A) by the black and white 
stripes on the outer circumferential surface of the guide roller 7a, i.e., 
the rotational speed of the guide roller 7a, is supplied to an 
amplifier/detector 19. This signal is amplified/detected by the 
amplifier/detector 19. The upper and lower portions of an output signal 
from the amplifier/detector 19 are cut off by a low-pass filter (L.P.F) 20 
as shown in FIG. 4(B). An intermediate signal having a waveform B is 
supplied to a wave shaper 21. The wave shaper 21 produces a rectangular 
wave C as shown in FIG. 4(C), which is supplied to an IN terminal of the 
control circuit 16 as a detection signal. In response to the detection 
signal, the control circuit 16 supplies a clock pulse, a read-write 
signal, and an address signal to a RAM 22 to exchange data therewith. At 
the same time, the control circuit 16 supplies to a character generator 
ROM 23 an address signal and a clock pulse D (FIG. 4(D)) at the leading 
edge of the rectangular wave C shaped by the wave shaper 21. The clock 
pulse D has a pulse width corresponding to the rotational speed of the 
guide roller 7a, i.e., the pulling speed of the recording paper 6. When 
the speed is high, the pulse interval is wide, and when it is low, the 
pulse interval is narrow. In response to the address signal and the clock 
pulse D from the control circuit 16, the character generator ROM 23 
prepares printing data E and supplies it to a driver 24, as shown in FIG. 
3. As shown in FIG. 5, the printing data E consists of pulse signals E0 to 
E6, and each pulse is generated in accordance with the clock pulse D. One 
character is generated per 6 clock pulses D. The interval between the 
sixth and seventh clock pulses corresponds to a space between characters. 
In response to the printing data E and a drive signal 24a from the control 
circuit 16, the driver 24 supplies a drive signal corresponding to the 
pulse signals E0 to E6 of the printing data E to the printing head 14 to 
drive it. Then, the printing head 14 prints a predetermined character in 
accordance with a pulling speed of the recording paper 6. 
Normally, a reference clock signal of a predetermined frequency generated 
by an oscillator 25 is supplied to a frequency driver 26, which frequency 
divides it. This signal is then supplied to the control circuit 16. In 
accordance with these frequency divided signals, when the power source 
switch 4 is OFF, the control circuit 16 causes the display portion 2 to 
display time information. However, when a predetermined signal for time 
correction or display switch is supplied from a switch portion 27, the 
control circuit 16 performs a time correction or display switch of the 
display portion 2. 
In the electronic wristwatch with a printer as described above, the pulling 
speed of the recording paper 6 is detected by the detecting portion 9. The 
printing head 14 is controlled in accordance with a detection signal from 
the detecting portion 9. Thus, the printing head 14 prints in accordance 
with the pulling speed of the recording paper 6. Therefore, a paper feed 
motor required in a conventional wristwatch is not required, power 
consumption is low, the construction is simple, and the wristwatch is 
compact in size. 
In the embodiment described above, the recording paper storage portion 3a 
is arranged inside the wristwatch case 1. However, the present invention 
is not limited to this. Thus, the recording paper 6 can also be arranged 
outside the wristwatch case 1 and is pulled through the printer 3. In this 
case, the wristwatch can be made even smaller. 
FIGS. 6 to 8 show a printer portion according to another embodiment of the 
present invention. The printer portion prints predetermined information on 
recording paper 38 mounted in a holder 37 in accordance with an operation 
lever 36. The printer portion slides an operation lever 36 so as to move a 
printing head 40 through a moving member 39 along the recording paper 38 
mounted in the holder 37. A moving position of the printing head 40 is 
detected by a detecting portion 41. In response to a detection signal from 
the detecting portion 41, printing data is supplied from a control circuit 
47, to be described later, to the printing head 40, which prints 
accordingly. The moving member 39 is arranged inside the wristwatch case 
31 and slides along the widthwise direction of the recording paper 38 held 
on the holder 37 in accordance with the operation of the operation lever 
36. The printing head 40, the operation lever 36, and the detecting 
portion 41 are arranged so as to have predetermined distances among them. 
The printing head 40 is a head of a thermal printer or the like; it has a 
vertical array of a plurality of dots (printing elements) which print one 
character on the recording paper 38 upon being shifted by a distance 
corresponding to one character along the transverse direction. The 
operation lever 36 extends from the rear end of the moving member 39 and 
then upward through a guide groove 31a formed in the wristwatch case 31. 
When the projecting portion of the lever 36 is moved along the guide 
groove 31a, the lever 36 slides the printing head 40 along the moving 
member 39. While the detecting portion 41 moves together with the moving 
member 39, it detects the moving position of the printing head 40. As 
shown in FIG. 7, the detecting portion 41 has a light-emitting element 42 
such as a light-emitting diode and a light-receiving element 43 such as a 
photodiode. The light-emitting element 42 and the light-receiving element 
43 are arranged at the lower portion of the moving member 39 and contact 
metal electrodes 45a of a circuit board 45 formed on the upper surface of 
the moving member 39 through lead wires 44. Light emitted from the 
light-emitting element 42 is reflected by a reflector 46 below the 
elements 42 and 43, and the reflected light is received by the element 43. 
In this case, the reflector 46 is a plate elongated along the moving 
direction of the light-emitting element 42 and the light-receiving element 
43 and is fixed inside the wristwatch case 1. The upper surface of the 
reflector 46 has a sawtooth-like surface, as shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B). 
Therefore, the light-receiving element 43, which receives light from the 
light-emitting element 42 through the reflector 46, sequentially detects 
light which changes from the maximum to the minimum level in intensity in 
accordance with the teeth of the reflector 46 upon the movement of the 
moving member 39. In this manner, the light-receiving element 43 detects 
the amount of movement (moving position) of the printing head 40. The 
amount of light received from each tooth of the reflector 46 is maximum in 
the state shown in FIG. 8(A) and is minimum in the state shown in FIG. 
8(B). 
The holder 37 holding the recording paper 38 therein is a rod member of a 
semiarcuated shape having one pivotal end. The holder 37 is located inside 
a groove 31b formed in the wristwatch case 31 and holds the recording 
paper 38 inside the groove 31b. 
FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram of the electronic wristwatch with a 
printer shown in FIG. 6. An ON/OFF switch 34 switches between the 
timepiece mode and the printer mode. When the switch 34 is ON, the printer 
mode is set. A control circuit 47 controls the overall circuit. When an ON 
signal a is supplied from the switch 34, the control circuit 47 supplies 
from its OUT terminal a drive signal b to a light-emitting element driving 
circuit 48. The light-emitting element driving circuit 48 drives the 
light-emitting element 42. When the drive signal b is received from the 
OUT terminal of the control circuit 47, the driver 49 opens the gate of a 
transistor 51 through a resistor 50 and applies a predetermined voltage to 
the light-emitting element 42. Light emitted from the light-emitting 
element 42 is then irradiated onto the reflector 46, and the reflected 
light changes in intensity for each tooth of the reflector 46 as the 
moving member 39 and the printing head 40 are moved by the operation of 
the operation lever 36. The light thus changing in intensity is received 
by the light-receiving element 43. The light-receiving element 43 converts 
changes in the amount of light received per tooth of the reflector 46 into 
an electrical signal and supplies the electrical signal to a 
light-receiving element input amplifier 52. The input amplifier 52 
amplifies/detects the modulated waveform signal from the light-receiving 
element 43 by an amplifier 53. A low-pass filter (L.P.F) 54 cuts off the 
upper and lower portions of the signal from the amplifier 53, and a wave 
shaper 55 shapes the signal into a rectangular wave. The rectangular wave 
is then supplied as a detection signal c to the IN terminal of the control 
circuit 47. In response to the signal c, the control circuit 47 supplies a 
clock pulse, a read/write signal, and an address signal to a RAM 56 to 
exchange data therewith. At the same time, the control circuit 47 supplies 
printing data stored in a RAM 56 and a clock pulse d to a character 
generator ROM 57. In response to the printing data and the clock pulse d 
received from the control circuit 47, the character generator ROM 57 
prepares a character signal e and supplies it to a driver 58. The printing 
data e is time-division dot data corresponding to each vertical dot array. 
The printing data is generated for each address in accordance with the 
clock pulse d and is sequentially supplied to the driver 58. Each time a 
drive signal f is received from the control circuit 47, the driver 58 
drives each dot of the vertical array (printing elements) of the printing 
head 40 in accordance with the character signal e so as to print the 
corresponding character. In this case, the drive signal f and the clock 
pulse d are synchronous with the detection signal c. Therefore, when the 
operation lever 36 is moved quickly, the printing head 40 prints quickly, 
and when the operation lever 34 is moved slowly, the printing head 40 
prints slowly. Characters are always printed in the same size. 
An oscillator 59 supplies reference clock signals to a frequency divider 60 
which normally supplies the frequency divided signals to the control 
cirucit 47. When the switch 34 is in the timepiece mode, the control 
circuit 47 causes the display portion 32 to display time information. 
However, when a predetermined signal is supplied from a switch portion 61 
requesting a time correction or display switch, the control circuit 47 
performs the time correction or display switch of the display portion 32. 
Printing data stored in the RAM 56 is supplied from the switch portion 61. 
Printing data includes various data such as a telephone number or the name 
of a person. 
In the electronic wristwatch with a printer as described above, when the 
operation lever 36 shown in FIG. 6 is slid along the guide groove 31a, the 
printing head 40 is moved along the recording paper 38. At the same time, 
the light-emitting element 42 and the light-receiving element 43 of the 
detecting portion 41 are moved along the reflector 46. The light received 
by the reflector 46 is intensity-modulated in accordance with each tooth 
of the reflector 46, and the thus modulated, reflected light is received 
by the light-receiving element 43. The moving speed of the operation lever 
36 and hence the printing head 40 is detected. Printing data is then 
supplied to the printing head 40 through the control circuit 47 and the 
character generator ROM 57 in accordance with a detection signal obtained 
in this manner. Therefore, predetermined printing can be performed in 
accordance with the moving speed of the printing head 40. A motor 
conventionally required for driving the printing head 40 or the recording 
paper 38 is not required, power consumption is decreased, the wristwatch 
structure is simplified, and the wristwatch can be rendered compact in 
size. 
FIGS. 10(A) and 10(B) show an electronic wristwatch according to still 
another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10(A) is a perspective 
view showing the outer appearance of the wristwatch wherein recording 
paper is housed inside a wristwatch case, and FIG. 10(B) is a perspective 
view showing the outer appearance of the wristwatch wherein recording 
paper is supported outside the wristwatch case. The wristwatch has a 
printer function and the like in addition to the timepiece function. A 
display portion 72 for displaying information such as time information is 
arranged at the center of a watch case 71. A printer portion 74 for 
printing on recording paper 73 is arranged at the upper side of the watch 
case 71. A handwriting input portion 75 for inputting display information 
is arranged at the lower side of the watch case 71. An ON/OFF switch 76 
for switching between the timepiece function and the printer function is 
arranged at a side wall of the watch case 71. Watch bands 77 are mounted 
to the front and rear walls of the watch case 71. 
FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B) show different mounting states of the recording paper 
73. FIG. 11(A) is a sectional view of the printer portion 74 shown in FIG. 
10(A), and FIG. 11(B) is a sectional view of the printer portion 74 shown 
in FIG. 10(B). A recording paper storage portion 78 for storing the 
recording paper 73 is arranged inside the printer portion 74 shown in FIG. 
11(A). The storage portion 78 stores a roll of recording paper 73a having 
a small diameter, as shown in FIG. 11(A). The recording paper 73a stored 
in the storage portion 78 is fed to a position between a printing head 80 
and a paper press (platen) 81 by paper feed rollers 79. After printing 
data is printed on the paper 73a, the paper 73a is fed out through an 
outlet port 82a of a cover 82. Meanwhile, a roll of recording paper 73b of 
a large diameter is supported outside the watch case 71 through a support 
rod 83. The recording paper 73b is fed into the storage portion 78 through 
an inlet portion 82b between the cover 82 and the watch case 71. After the 
recording paper 73b is passed between the printing head 80 and the paper 
press 81 by the paper feed rollers 79, it is fed out through the outlet 
port 82a of the cover 82. In this case, the support rod 83 is pivotally 
mounted in the inner wall at the end of the watch case 71. When the 
support rod 83 is not used, the cover 82 is opened to store only the 
support rod 83 inside the printer portion 74, as indicated by the broken 
line in FIG. 11(A). 
FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing the overall internal configuration of 
the electronic wristwatch. A glass plate 84 is mounted in the upper 
surface of the watch case 71 through a packing 84a at a position 
corresponding to the display portion 72. A tablet 85 is mounted at a 
portion corresponding to the handwriting input portion 75. When the upper 
surface of the tablet 85 is activated by a finger, information of a 
character thus written is inputted. A module 86 is arranged at that 
portion inside the watch case 71 which corresponds to the glass plate 84 
and the tablet 85. A circuit board 87 is arranged between an upper housing 
86a and a lower housing 86b of the module 86. A liquid crystal display 
device 88 is connected on the upper surface of the circuit board 87 
through interconnectors 88a. An electronic part 89 such as an LSI is also 
arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board 87. An interconnector 
90 is arranged at the leftmost end of the upper surface of the circuit 
board 87. The liquid crystal display device 88 displays information such 
as time and corresponds to the glass plate 84. The interconnector 90 
electrically connects the circuit board 87 and the tablet 85 and extends 
from the upper surface of the circuit board 87 to be in contact with the 
lower surface of the tablet 85 through the upper housing 86a and the watch 
case 71. A battery 91 is arranged below the lower surface of the circuit 
board 87. A rear cover 92 is mounted on the lower portion of the watch 
case 71 through a water-impermeable ring 93. 
The printer portion 74 is arranged to the right of the watch case 71. As 
described above, the printer portion 74 has the storage portion 78, the 
paper feed rollers 79, the printing head 80, the paper press 81, and an 
ultrasonic motor 94, which are all arranged inside the watch case 71. The 
cover 82 is mounted at the upper portion of the watch case 71. The storage 
portion 78 stores the recording paper 73 and is arranged at the right side 
inside the watch case 71. The paper feed rollers 79 are manually driven 
through a paper feed mechanism 95, as shown in FIG. 13, and feed the 
recording paper 73 stored inside the storage portion 78 to the position 
between the printing head 80 and the paper press 81. The paper feed 
rollers 79 are vertically opposed to each other inside the storage portion 
78. The printing head 80 prints on the recording paper 73 in accordance 
with printing data and is mounted on the ultrasonic motor 94. The paper 
press 81 presses the recording paper 73 to the printing head 80. For this 
purpose, the paper press 81 is arranged above the paper feed rollers 79 
and opposes the printing head 80. As will be described later, the 
ultrasonic motor 94 moves the printing head 80 in accordance with an input 
drive signal. The ultrasonic motor 94 is arranged in opposition to the 
paper feed rollers 79 and is connected to the circuit board 87 through a 
lead wire 94a. The cover 82 covers the upper portion of the printer 
portion 74 so as to be able to open or close and is pivotally mounted on 
the upper portion of the watch case 71 through a hinge 82c. In this case, 
the cover 82 has the outlet port 82a for feeding the printed recorded 
paper 73 upward and the inlet port 82b for receiving the recording paper 
73 inside the case 71. An opening 71a is formed in that portion of the 
watch case 71 which is near the cover 82 so as to receive an operation 
member 96 of the paper feed mechansm 95, as shown in FIGS. 10(A) and 
10(B). 
FIG. 13 shows the configuration of the paper feed mechanism 95. When the 
operation member 96 is manually operated, the paper feed mechanism 95 
rotates the paper feed rollers 79 through a gear train 97 so as to feed 
the recording paper 73. The operation member 96 is a disc mounted on a 
rotating shaft 96a and partially projects upward through an opening 71a of 
the watch case 71, as shown in FIG. 10. The gear train 97 consists of a 
gear 97a mounted on the rotating shaft 96a of the operation member 96 for 
rotation therewith, an intermediate gear 97b meshing and rotating with the 
gear 97a, and a driven gear 97c meshing and rotating with the intermediate 
gear 97b. The driven gear 97c is mounted on a shaft 79c of the upper paper 
feed roller 79a. Therefore, when the operation member 96 is rotated by 
fingers, the gears 97a, 97b and 97c of the gear train 97 are rotated to 
rotate the upper paper feed roller 79a. When the upper paper feed roller 
79a is rotated, the lower paper feed roller 79b in contact therewith is 
also rotated. Thus, the recording paper 73 is sandwiched between the upper 
and lower paper feed rollers 79a and 79b to be fed thereby. 
Black and white stripes are alternately formed on the outer circumferential 
surface of the gear 97c. The rotation of the gear 97c is detected by a 
detecting portion 97f having a light-emitting element 97d and a 
light-receiving element 97e. The detection signal is processed by an 
electronic circuit to be described later. 
FIGS. 14 to 16 show the construction of the ultrasonic motor 94. FIG. 14 is 
a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the motor, FIG. 15 
shows the operation principle, and FIG. 16 shows the waveform. The 
ultrasonic motor 94 moves the printing head 80 utilizing the vibration of 
a piezoelectric element. As shown in FIG. 14, the ultrasonic motor 94 
comprises a guide rail 98 for movably supporting the printing head 80 and 
two piezoelectric elements 99 and 100 arranged on the lower surface of the 
guide rail 98. In this case, the printing head 80 comprises a head support 
80a, a head portion 80b such as a thermal head arranged at the distal end 
of the head support 80a, and a wiring 80c for supplying printing data to 
the head portion 80b. The lower end portion of the head support 80a is 
mounted at the upper portion of the guide rail 98. More particularly, the 
lower end portion of the head support 80a is fitted in mounting grooves 
98a formed in two side walls of the guide rail 98. When a predetermined 
voltage is applied to the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100, they vibrate. 
Lead terminals 99a and 100a of the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100 are 
connected to the circuit board 87 through the lead wire 94a as shown in 
FIG. 12. In this case, the voltage waveforms a and b of the voltages 
applied to the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100 have a phase difference 
.alpha.. Therefore, the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100 vibrate in 
different phases. In this manner, when the piezoelectric elements 99 and 
100 vibrate in the different phases, the printing head 80 is moved along 
the guide rail 98 due to the vibration phase difference, as shown in FIG. 
15. 
FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the circuit arrangement of the 
electronic wristwatch described above. The ON/OFF switch 76 switches 
between a timepiece function and a printer function. A switch 101 corrects 
the time. The ON/OFF switch 76 and the switch 101 supply ON/OFF signals o 
and f to a control circuit 102. The control circuit 102 controls the 
overall operation of the circuit. When the ON/OFF switch 76 is kept off, 
the control circuit 102 supplies time data to the display portion 72 and 
causes the display portion 72 to display the normal time. When the switch 
101 is turned on, the time displayed on the display portion 72 is 
corrected. Furthermore, when the ON/OFF switch 76 is turned on, the 
control circuit 102 supplies pulse signals P0 to Pn to the tablet 85 in 
the handwriting input portion 75. When a character or the like is drawn on 
the tablet 85, corresponding input data T0 to Tn are supplied to the 
control circuit 102. When the input data T0 to Tn are supplied from the 
tablet 85 to the control circuit 102, the control circuit 102 detects one 
handwritten character and supplies a read/write signal, a clock pulse and 
an address signal to a RAM 103 to exchange data therewith. The control 
circuit 102 supplies a select signal e, a clock pulse f and printing data 
A0 to Am to a character generator 104. The character generator 104 
generates printing character signals D0 to Dn in response to the select 
signal e, the clock pulse f and the printing data A0 to Am. The printing 
character signals D0 to Dn are supplied to a driver 105. The printing 
character signals D0 to Dn are time-division dot data and are produced in 
units of addresses in accordance with the clock pulse f. The driver 105 
drives the corresponding dots of the printing head 80 in accordance with 
the printing character signals D0 to Dn every time it receives a drive 
signal g from the control circuit 102, thereby printing a character. Drive 
signals h and i are supplied through a driver 106 from the control circuit 
102 to the ultrasonic motor 94 for moving the printing head 80. The drive 
signals h and i have a phase difference .alpha. in the same manner as in 
FIG. 16. The drive signals h and i enable the gates of transistors 107 and 
108 of the driver 106, respectively. Each of the drive signals is supplied 
to one terminal of the corresponding piezoelectric element 99 or 100. In 
this case, the other terminal of each of the piezoelectric elements 99 and 
100 is connected to the ground (0 V) terminal of the control circuit 102. 
Coils 109 and 110 are connected in parallel with the piezoelectric 
elements 99 and 100 in the driver 106. Therefore, when the drive signals h 
and i are supplied to the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100, respectively, 
the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100 vibrate in different phases by means 
of capacitors 99b and 100b and the coils 109 and 110, respectively. The 
ultrasonic motor 94 moves the printing head 80. When one character is 
printed, the printing head 80 is stopped. When the next character is 
entered by handwriting, the printing head 80 is moved again. The clock 
pulse f and the drive signal g are synchronized with the drive signals h 
and i. The printing head 80 is moved every time one character is 
handwritten. When the operation member 96 is manually rotated to feed out 
the recording paper 73, feeding of paper is detected by the detecting 
portion 97f, and the detection signal is supplied from the detecting 
portion 97f to the control circuit 102. 
A case will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19, wherein the 
electronic wristwatch is used in the printer mode. 
In this case, the ON/OFF switch 76 arranged on the side wall of the watch 
case 71 is depressed to set the wristwatch in the printer mode. In this 
state, as shown in FIG. 18, when a character is manually drawn on the 
tablet 85 of the handwriting input portion 75, the drawn character is 
entered as input data T0 to Tn to the control circuit 102. The control 
circuit 102 detects that the character is entered by handwriting and 
supplies the printing data A0 to Am to the printing head 80. The control 
circuit 102 also supplies the drive signals h and i to the ultrasonic 
motor 94. The printing head 80 is moved by the ultrasonic motor 94 to 
print the character written on the tablet 85. This character is printed on 
the recording paper 73. 
In this manner, when one-line characters are sequentially printed on the 
recording paper 73 and the operation member 96 slightly extending upward 
from the cover 82, as shown in FIG. 19, is turned manually, the recording 
paper 73 is fed out through the paper feed rollers 79. At the same time, a 
signal is supplied from the detecting portion 97f to the control circuit 
102. As a result, the printing head 80 is returned to the initial position 
and is ready for the next printing. 
When the electronic wristwatch is used in the timepiece mode, the ON/OFF 
switch 76 is depressed and is turned off, and then the normal time is 
displayed on the display portion 72. 
According to the electronic wristwatch with a printer of the present 
invention, the control circuit 102 detects when one handwritten character 
is entered. In this manner, when one character is written quickly, 
printing can be performed quickly. 
Furthermore, since the printing head 80 is directly moved by the ultrasonic 
motor 94 by using the piezoelectric elements 99 and 100 in accordance with 
the drive signals h and i from the control circuit 102, a converting 
mechanism need not be used unlike the case of the conventional apparatus. 
As a result, the electronic wristwatch according to the present invention 
has a simple, compact construction. Furthermore, the recording paper 73 
can be housed in the recording paper storage portion 78 in the watch case 
71 or can be set on the support rod 83 arranged outside the watch case 71. 
The size of the recording paper 73 is not therefore limited to the watch 
size, but can be extended to any length. 
FIGS. 20 to 22 are respectively a plan view, a side view, and a partial 
sectional view showing an electronic wristwatch with a printer according 
to another embodiment of the present invention. A keyboard having ten keys 
120 and alphanumeric keys 121 is used in place of the handwriting tablet 
of the electronic wristwatch in FIG. 10. Recording paper 73 is housed in a 
recording paper storage portion 122 of a case 71 formed below the 
keyboard. A support rod 122a is arranged in the storage portion 122 to 
rotate the recording paper therearound. The recording paper 73 passes by 
the lower surface of the case and is subjected to printing by a printing 
head 80 at an opening 123 through which the recording sheet passes. The 
printing paper is then fed out onto the upper surface of the case 71. 
Other arrangements in this embodiment are the same as those in FIG. 10. 
With this construction, the recording paper can be easily removed/loaded. 
Furthermore, the printer is constituted by effectively utilizing the upper 
and lower portions of the watch case, thereby providing a compact 
wristwatch. 
In the respective embodiments described above, the data to be printed is 
not described in detail. However, current time data obtained by a 
timepiece circuit, alarm time data, stop watch time data, and numeric and 
character data (e.g., telephone numbers, addresses and names) entered at 
the tablet 85 or the keyboard can be directly or temporarily stored in the 
RAM and can be accessed at any time.