CN1794745A - Information processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an information processing unit, such as a mobile phone, that is equipped with a fingerprint sensor and that makes size reduction and operability highly compatible. The present invention is provided with a V-shaped groove adjacent to the operation panel, and the V-shaped groove includes a first slope extending away from the operation panel and inclined downward, and a first slope extending further away from the operation panel and inclined upward A second slope, wherein the V-groove contains a fingerprint scanning sensor that detects a fingerprint on a finger moving along the first slope and the second slope.

Description

information processing unit

technical field

The present invention relates to an information processing unit equipped with a fingerprint sensor and operation keys, such as a mobile phone including a PHS (Personal Handyphone System).

Background technique

Recently, mobile phones have been promoted at a remarkable pace, and have been developed as portable information processing units equipped with multiple functions including not only simple telephone functions but also e-mail functions and various functions for storing, for example, telephone numbers. Enhanced storage capabilities for personal information.

Big problems caused by these developments of mobile phones include illegal use of mobile phones and unauthorized disclosure of information stored in mobile phones.

One of conventional techniques for solving these problems includes allowing the use of a mobile phone only when a registered PIN is entered.

Because it is troublesome to input a PIN, a mobile phone equipped with a fingerprint sensor and allowed to be used only when a registered fingerprint is detected has recently been developed and actually put on the market (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2 ). The fingerprint sensor has a fairly high level of protection against illegal use and ease of operation.

[Patent Document 1]

Japanese Patent Early Publication No.2002-216116

[Patent Document 2]

Japanese Patent Early Publication No.2002-279412

Although it is desirable to mount a fingerprint sensor on a mobile phone from the viewpoint of security, there is a problem in the case where the size and weight of the mobile phone are required to be reduced and the size of the mobile phone has been reduced close to the limit in consideration of the user's operability What kind of fingerprint sensor is installed and what part of the mobile phone is installed.

Operation keys and a screen necessary for a mobile phone are arranged to face the user at the same time under normal use, so that the user can operate the operation keys by looking at the screen. Although it is conceivable to mount the fingerprint sensor in the space provided on the rear surface opposite to the front surface containing the operation keys and the screen, the fingerprint sensor serves as a kind of operation key operated by the user, and mounting the fingerprint sensor on the rear surface would impair operability.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose using a fingerprint scanning sensor that reads a fingerprint when a user moves a finger at a correct angle to a line sensor composed of one-dimensionally arranged microsensors.

The fingerprint scanning sensor does not require a large installation space, and can be installed on the front surface of the mobile phone without increasing the size of the mobile phone, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 shows a diagram in which a fingerprint scanning sensor is installed adjacent to an operation key, and Patent Document 2 shows a diagram in which a fingerprint scanning sensor is installed adjacent to a screen.

However, if the fingerprint scanning sensor is installed adjacent to the operation key without taking any measures, there is a risk of mistakenly pressing the operation key adjacent to the fingerprint sensor when moving the finger along the fingerprint sensor. Also, if the fingerprint sensor is installed adjacent to the screen, the portion of the screen adjacent to the fingerprint sensor may become dirty due to being touched by a fingertip. However, mounting the fingerprint sensor on a portion of the surface of the mobile phone away from the operation keys and the screen to prevent the above-mentioned problems would be contrary to the requirement to reduce the size of the mobile phone.

In addition, a fingerprint scanning sensor that does not require a large installation space can be installed on the side of the mobile phone. But in this case, as in the case where the fingerprint sensor is mounted on the back, there is still a problem of operability. The above-mentioned problems are not unique to mobile phones, but are common to information processing units equipped with fingerprint sensors and operation keys.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing unit equipped with a fingerprint sensor and in which size reduction and operability are highly coordinated.

Contents of the invention

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an information processing unit comprising a housing equipped with an operating area, wherein:

The housing includes a slot adjacent to the operating area, the slot including a first slope extending away from the operating area and inclined downward and a slope extending further away from the operating area and inclined upward. second slope;

the slot contains a fingerprint sensor that detects a fingerprint on a finger moving along the first slope and the second slope; and

The first slope and the second slope have different inclination angles from each other.

In the information processing unit according to the present invention, the fingerprint sensor is preferably a fingerprint scanning sensor.

In the information processing unit according to the present invention, since the fingerprint sensor is contained in the groove, the first slope of the groove prevents unintentional pressing of the operation key when moving the finger along the fingerprint sensor. In addition, the information processing unit allows the user to move the finger along the first slope and the second slope by reliably placing the finger on the fingerprint sensor using both sides of the slope as guides. This allows reliable detection of fingerprints.

Preferably, the first slope and the second slope have different inclination angles from each other, which is determined from the viewpoint of preventing misoperation and reliably detecting fingerprints. In this case, the inclination angle of the first slope is preferably larger than that of the second slope.

If the fingerprint sensor installed in the information processing unit according to the present invention is a fingerprint scanning sensor, the fingerprint scanning sensor preferably has a surface protruding above the groove inner surface. In addition, the fingerprint scanning sensor is preferably positioned in the groove in such a way as to hide a ridge line where the extension of the first slope and the extension of the second slope intersect.

By protruding the fingerprint scanning sensor above the inner surface of the groove and at the bottom of the groove with the ridges thereunder, it is possible to move a finger in close contact with the fingerprint scanning sensor and thereby reliably detect a fingerprint.

As described above, by installing the fingerprint sensor adjacent to the operation area and on the same surface as the operation area, the present invention can make size reduction and operability highly compatible.

Description of drawings

1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a portion around a fingerprint scanning sensor of the mobile phone 100 shown in FIG. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial enlarged view of the part surrounded by double-dashed line A in Fig. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the structure of a fingerprint scanning sensor;

6 is a sectional view of a slot of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and

7 is a sectional view of a slot of a mobile phone according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone as an embodiment of an information processing unit according to the present invention.

The mobile phone 100 is a foldable phone having a top case 110 and a bottom case 120 rotatably connected by a hinge 130, wherein the top case 110 includes a display screen 111, a handset 112, an antenna 113, etc.; and the bottom case 120 is equipped with an operation panel 121, microphone 122, etc. The bottom case 120 of the mobile phone 100 includes a V-shaped groove 123 adjacent to and immediately below the operation panel 121 . The fingerprint scanning sensor 124 is mounted on the bottom of the V-shaped groove 123 . In addition, on both sides of the V-shaped groove 123 in the bottom case 120 is a pair of cushion pads 125, which are made of soft material (such as rubber) that protrudes slightly above the surface of the bottom case 120, and serve as cushions to prevent when the top case 110 is folded. The top case 110 directly contacts the bottom case 120 when it is on the bottom case 120 . According to this embodiment, the bumper 125 also serves as a positioning marker during fingerprint detection. Details thereof will be described later.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the part around the fingerprint scanning sensor of the mobile phone 100 shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. A zoomed-in view of the live part.

FIG. 2 shows three keys 121 a , 121 b , and 121 c located at the bottom of a plurality of keys on the operation panel 121 . The V-shaped groove 123 is immediately under the middle key 121b of the three keys 121a, 121b and 121c at the bottom of the bottom case 120 .

The V-shaped groove 123 includes a downward slope 123a extending away from the key 121b and an upward slope 123b extending further away from the key 121b. The V-groove 123 also includes a fingerprint scanning sensor 124 .

In order for the fingerprint scanning sensor 124 to detect a fingerprint, the user should place the finger in such a way that the nearest joint closest to the fingertip is positioned on a straight line connecting the two cushion pads 125, and along the direction of the arrow shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 2 . Move the finger along the downward slope 123a and the upward slope 123b in the V-shaped groove 123 . As a result, the fingerprint scan sensor 124 detects the fingerprint on the moved finger.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the downward slope 123 a and the upward slope 123 b of the V-shaped groove 123 have different inclinations α and β, which satisfy α>β. The inclination angles α and β are determined in such a manner that the key 121b in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the fingerprint scanning sensor 124 is located at the bottom of the V-shaped groove 123 , and the bottom of the V-shaped groove 123 has a ridge 123 c where the extension of the first slope 123 a and the extension of the second slope 123 b intersect. In addition, the top surface 124a of the fingerprint scanning sensor protrudes by a height b.

By placing the fingerprint scanning sensor 124 at this position, finger pressure applied to the fingerprint scanning sensor 124 when the finger moves along the first slope 123a and the second slope 123b can be stabilized. This allows for more reliable detection of fingerprints. However, the fingerprint scanning sensor 124 does not have to be placed in this position, but can be placed in other positions in the V-groove 123 where fingerprints can be reliably detected.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the fingerprint scan sensor 124 .

The fingerprint scanning sensor 124 includes a one-dimensional line sensor 126, conductive pads 127 installed on both sides of the one-dimensional line sensor 126, bonding wires 128 connecting the one-dimensional line sensor 126 and the conductive pads 127, and a mold (not shown). The bonding wires 128 are installed to protrude outward on both sides of the one-dimensional line sensor 126 . The mold is formed in such a manner that only the active area D at the center is exposed by the V-groove 123 by burying the bonding wire 128 . In this way, the V-shaped groove 123 effectively only exposes the effective area D of the fingerprint scanning sensor 124 and hides the protruding parts on both sides in the bottom case 120 .

By the way, descriptions are mainly provided on placement positions and surrounding structures (including V-shaped grooves) of fingerprint scanning sensors in mobile phones, which are representative of the above-mentioned embodiments, and descriptions on other functions of mobile phones are omitted. However, the mobile phone referred to here has nothing to do with the communication scheme, and may be, for example, PHS (Personal Handyphone System).

Furthermore, needless to say, the information processing unit referred to here may be a multifunctional unit equipped with not only a mobile phone function but also, for example, an e-mail function, a camera function, and the like.

Furthermore, although a folding phone is described here, the present invention can be applied not only to a folding phone, but also to various other types of phones. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to other information processing units such as PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described. The only difference between the following embodiment to be described and the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 is the shape of the slot where the fingerprint scanning sensor is placed. Therefore, other embodiments will be described by referring only to FIG. 3 corresponding to the shape of the groove showing the above-described embodiment and instead of FIG. 3 , other embodiments will be described. The reference numerals shown in the following figures used instead of FIG. 3 are the same as those in FIG. 3, and only different features will be explained below.

6 is a sectional view of a slot of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 , the first slope as the downward slope 123 a and the second slope as the upward slope 123 b are planes. However, in the second embodiment, each of the downward slope 123a and the upward slope 123b is integrally convex upward, and these slopes have different inclination angles from each other.

7 is a sectional view of a slot of a mobile phone according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, each of the downward slope 123a and the upward slope 123b is integrally convex downward (concave upward), and these slopes have different inclination angles from each other.

As shown in these other embodiments, the downward slope 123a and the upward slope 123b are not limited to planar surfaces. These bevels can be designed in any shape as long as they protrude upwards or downwards to prevent incorrect key operation and indeed to detect fingerprints.

Claims (6)

1. An information processing unit, which is a folding unit and includes an upper case and a lower case equipped with an operating area, the upper case and the lower case are hinged so as to be freely opened and closed, wherein: The lower housing includes a groove adjacent to the operating area, the groove including a first slope extending toward a direction away from the operating area and inclined downward and extending toward a direction further away from the operating area and inclined upward. the second inclined plane; the slot includes a fingerprint sensor; and The first slope and the second slope have different inclination angles from each other. 2. The information processing unit according to claim 1, wherein an inclination angle of the first slope is larger than that of the second slope. 3. The information processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the fingerprint sensor is a fingerprint scanning sensor. 4. The information processing unit of claim 3, wherein the fingerprint scanning sensor has a surface protruding above an inner surface of the groove. 5. The information processing unit according to claim 3, wherein the fingerprint scanning sensor is positioned in the groove in such a manner as to hide a ridge line where an extended surface of the first slope and an extended surface of the second slope intersect. middle. 6. The information processing unit of claim 1, wherein the upper housing includes an earpiece.

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