JP2002229707A - Portable information equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable information apparatus easy to operate, and convenient to use at a carry destination. SOLUTION: This portable information apparatus comprises a body 1, a display panel 2, an angle sensor 5 for detecting an inclination of the body 1, one operating button 3, and a control circuit 6 for controlling a display panel 2. Based on the inclination (Θx, Θy) of the body 1 at the moment when pressing an operating button 3, the control circuit 6 obtains displacement (dΘx, dΘy) of inclination thereafter of the body, and control display on the display panel 2 in accordance with the displacement (dΘx, dΘy) of the inclination.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information device provided with a display panel made of a liquid crystal or the like and an operation member for input, and particularly to a portable information device which can be supported by one hand so as to be easily carried. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, portable information devices have been provided with operating members which can be operated by fingers of a hand supporting a main body, such as push buttons, sticks, and jog dials provided for each moving direction of a cursor. Is provided. Thereby, the operation can be performed while walking or standing.

However, in this conventional operation method, since the operation time is proportional to the moving distance of the cursor, if the moving distance is large, the operation must be continued throughout the entire operation.
Therefore, when the scroll operation is performed many times, the range (display range) displayed on the display panel for the entire display area that is the entire display content, such as a map, an image, or a web page, is small. This is inconvenient when moving the range to browse the entire display area.

In particular, in the case of a jog dial, it is difficult to support the main body because a finger to be operated must be released from the main body every time a scroll operation is performed.

[0005] Further, the moving direction of the cursor depends on the pressure for operating the push button or the stick and the moved position.
There is a method of adjusting the speed and the distance, but when trying to finely adjust the pressure and the position, it is impossible to apply force unnecessarily to the finger being operated. This makes it difficult to stably support the main body with the remaining fingers.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-250702 discloses a portable information device in which a cursor is moved according to the inclination of the main body and the time for which the main body is tilted. In this configuration, since it is not necessary to move a finger to operate the operation member, it is possible to stably support the main body.

[0007]

However, in the portable information device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-250702, the inclination of the reference body is not clear, and the moving speed is determined from the inclination of the body. It is difficult to stop the cursor at the position. In addition, when the drawing of the screen takes a long time due to the low capability of the device, it is difficult to predict the position of the cursor during the scroll operation. Therefore, useless operations increase.

[0008] The inclination of the main body serving as a reference can be determined to be horizontal with respect to the ground, but in that case, the main body must always be horizontal. Therefore, it cannot be used with the main body tilted, and it is not suitable for use while standing or lying down and held upside down.

Further, since the moving distance of the cursor is proportional to the time during which the main body is tilted, if the moving distance of the cursor is large as in a scroll operation, the operation time becomes longer accordingly.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a portable information device which is easy to operate and convenient for use at a portable place.

[0011]

To achieve the above object, a portable information device according to the present invention comprises a display panel on a main body, an angle sensor for detecting a tilt of the main body, one operation button, and an angle sensor. And a control circuit for controlling in accordance with the detected inclination of the main body and pressing of the operation button.

In this control circuit, when the pressing of the operation button is detected, the inclination of the main body detected by the angle sensor at that time is obtained. The user further tilts the main body after pressing the operation button, and the control circuit obtains the tilt of the main body detected by the angle sensor. Then, based on the inclination of the main body when the operation button is pressed, the displacement of the inclination of the main body is calculated, and the control is performed according to the displacement of the inclination.

For example, when a part of the entire display area, which is the entire display content, is displayed on the display panel as a display range, and the display area is moved to view other parts in the entire display area, The range is moved by a distance and a direction corresponding to the displacement of the inclination angle and the direction.

Alternatively, when one of a plurality of items displayed on the display panel is selected, the selected item is determined by the inclination angle and the displacement in the direction.

Another portable information device according to the present invention includes a display panel on the main body, an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration applied to the main body, one operation button, and acceleration and operation of the main body detected by the acceleration sensor. And a control circuit for controlling in response to pressing of a button.

In this control circuit, when the pressing of the operation button is detected, the acceleration applied to the main body detected by the acceleration sensor at that time is obtained. The user moves the main body after pressing the operation button, and the control circuit obtains the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor. Then, based on the acceleration applied to the main body when the operation button is pressed, the displacement of the subsequent acceleration applied to the main body is obtained, and control is performed according to the displacement of the acceleration.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the portable information device of the present embodiment. A display panel 2 made of a liquid crystal or the like is provided on an upper surface of the main body 1. One operation button 3 is provided on the left side surface of the main body 1 at a position where the user can press the main body 1 with the right hand with the index finger.

As shown in FIG. 2, the portable information device has a display circuit 4 for displaying on a display panel and an X of the main body 1.
Angle sensor 5 for detecting the inclination (Θx, Θy) of the axis and the Y axis,
And a control circuit 6 of the portable information device for controlling the display circuit 4 and the like.

In the present embodiment, the scroll operation is performed based on the pressing of the operation button 3 and the inclination Θx of the X axis and the inclination Θy of the Y axis of the main body 1. The scroll operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of the control circuit 6 shown in FIG. Control circuit 6
When the flowchart starts, first, in step S5, the display panel 2 displays the browsing mode.

In this case, as shown in FIG.
Browses a map represented by (0,0)-(DX _max , DY _max ). The display panel 2 can display DXw, Y in the X direction.
The range of DYw in the direction is (X, Y)-(X + DXw, Y + DYw). Note that this (X, Y) is a reference display position. Now
In step S5, a range B (X0, Y0)-(X0 + DXw, Y0 + DYw) in which the reference display position is P0 (X0, Y0) is displayed on the display panel 2.

Next, in step S10, it is detected whether or not the operation button 3 has been pressed. If it has not been pressed, the process returns to step S5 to wait for the operation button 3 to be pressed. On the other hand, if the operation button 3 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S15, where the inclination of the X-axis and the Y-axis of the main body 1 when the operation button 3 detected by the angle sensor 5 is pressed (Θx, Θ
y) is stored.

When performing a scroll operation, the user tilts the main body 1 in a desired direction and angle after pressing the operation button 3. Therefore, in step S20 of the flowchart, the X of the main body 1 at that time is detected by the detection of the angle
The inclination of the axis and the Y axis is obtained, and the inclination at the time of pressing (Θx,
The displacement (dΘx, dΘy) of the inclination based on Θy) is obtained.

The displacement of the inclination (dΘx, dΘy) is given by the following equation.
(1) and (2) are satisfied. -dΘx _max <dΘx <dΘx _max ... (1) -dΘy _max <dΘy <dΘy _max ... (2) Anything exceeding this is replaced with a maximum value or a minimum value.

Next, at step S25, the reference display position P
P1 (X1, Y1) which is the moving position of 0 (X0, Y0) is calculated by the following equation.
It is determined from (3) and (4) and the displacement of the inclination (dΘx, dΘy). X1 = X0 + DX _move ^* dΘx / dΘx _max (3) Y1 = Y0 + DY _move ^* dΘy / dΘy _max (4)

DX _move and DY _move are the maximum values of the moving distance of the reference display position. That is, as shown in FIG.
0 (X0, Y0) is 2 · DX _move × 2 · DY centered on P0
_Move within a rectangle of the size of _move (dotted line C in the figure).

In the next step S30, as shown in FIG. 6, a range B '(X1, Y1)-based on P1 (X1, Y1) is used.
(X1 + DXw, Y1 + DYw) is displayed on the display panel 2. That is, the display range has moved from the dashed line B to the solid line B ′.

Next, in step S35, it is detected whether or not the operation button 3 is continuously pressed. If the operation button 3 is pressed, the operation from step S20 is performed again. on the other hand,
If the operation button 3 has not been pressed, step S40
Then, the reference display position is updated from P0 (X0, Y0) to the current display position P1 (X1, Y1), and the process returns to step S5 to wait for the operation button 3 to be pressed again.

Thereafter, the reference display position is updated many times.
And the single moving distance of the display range is DX _move, DY_moveTo
Although it is limited, you can freely browse the entire display area A.
You.

When the operation button 3 is pressed for a very short time, the above-mentioned flowchart is forcibly terminated, and the display of the browsing mode is stopped.

As described above, since the operation button 3 is located near the index finger of the hand supporting the main body 1, the portable information device of the present embodiment can be operated by slightly moving the index finger. The only operation member is the operation button 3, and the rest controls the scroll operation by tilting the main body 1. Therefore, the support of the main body 1 does not become unstable during the operation.

Further, the tilt of the main body 1 serving as a reference is set by pressing the operation button 3, and the main body 1 is tilted so that the display range moves in a desired direction and distance from that state. It is easy to recognize the angle at which the main body 1 is tilted. Since the moving distance corresponds to the tilt angle, it is possible to predict to what extent the user has scrolled.

Further, even if the operation button 3 is pressed, the display range does not move if the inclination of the main body 1 is fixed, so that the display contents can be stopped immediately even during the scroll operation.

Further, the inclination of the main body 1 can be set as a reference at any time by pressing the operation button 3.
The scroll operation can be performed regardless of the posture of the user.

Also, in the present embodiment, unlike the prior art in which the display range is continuously moved by the unit movement amount of the cursor, the display range is moved by a distance corresponding to the inclination of the main body 1 in a dotted manner. Becomes shorter.

In particular, when the display range is largely moved, the main body 1 may be tilted so that the movement distance in one scroll operation is maximized. As a result, the operation time can be further shortened as compared with the related art in which the moving distance of the cursor is proportional to the time during which the main body 1 is tilted.

In the present embodiment, the operation of pressing the operation button 3 for a very short time is performed in order to end the flowchart, but the operation method is not limited to this operation method. Similarly, another operation of the control circuit 6 may be assigned to this operation method.

Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of the portable information device of the present embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the portable information device includes a main body 1 and a display panel 2 provided on an upper surface thereof.
And an operation button 3 located on the left side of the main body 1. Also, as in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
A display circuit 4, an angle sensor 5, and a control circuit 6 are also provided.

This portable information device determines one of a plurality of items based on the pressing of the operation button 3 and the inclination Θ of the X axis of the main body 1. The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of the control circuit 6 shown in FIG. When the control circuit 6 starts the flowchart, first, in step S105, it is detected whether or not the operation button 3 is pressed.

If the operation button 3 has not been pressed, the operation button 3 is put on standby. On the other hand, if the operation button 3 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S110, and the display panel 2 displays N items in the item selection mode.

FIG. 7 shows “item 2” to “item 6”. Of course, you can browse other items by scrolling the screen. Now, the cursor 7 is positioned at “item 4”, indicating that this is selected.

Next, in step S115, the angle sensor 5
The inclination Θ of the X-axis of the main body 1 when the operation button 3 is pressed, which is detected in the step S3, is stored.

When changing the item to be selected by moving the cursor 7, the user presses the operation button 3 and tilts the main body 1 in a desired direction and angle. Therefore, in step S120 of the flowchart, the inclination of the X-axis of the main body 1 at that time is obtained by the detection by the angle sensor 5, and the displacement d of the inclination based on the inclination 時 when the operation button 3 is pressed is obtained therefrom.
Ask for Θ.

The inclination displacement dΘ satisfies the following equation (5). -dΘ _max <dΘ <dΘ _max (5) Anything exceeding this is replaced with the maximum value or the minimum value.

Next, in step S125, the n-th item to be selected next is obtained from the following equation (6) and the displacement dΘ of the inclination. n = N ^* (dΘ / dΘ _max ^* 0.5 + 0.5) +1 (6) Note that the fractional part is omitted.

Then, in the next step S130, a display in which the cursor 7 is placed on the n-th item is made, indicating that the n-th item has been selected. Next, step S135
To detect whether or not the operation button 3 is continuously pressed. If the operation button 3 has been released, then step S
Proceeding to 140, the function corresponding to the nth item is executed. On the other hand, if the operation button 3 is pressed, the operation after step S120 is performed again.

As described above, the portable information device of the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment in that the operation member is the operation button 3
Then, the user can tilt the main body 1 to select an item. In particular, the function corresponding to the item selected by releasing the operation button 3 is executed, and the number of operation members is reduced as much as possible. Therefore, the support of the main body 1 does not become unstable during the operation.

Further, since the tilt of the main body 1 is set as a reference by pressing the operation button 3 and the main body 1 is tilted from that state, the tilt angle of the main body 1 can be easily recognized.

Further, since the reference inclination of the main body 1 can be set at any time by pressing the operation button 3, the main body 1 can be set.
The operation of item selection is possible regardless of the posture.

The angle sensor 5 used in the first and second embodiments may be a sensor for detecting the inclination of the main body 1 with respect to the direction of gravity, or a sensor for detecting the azimuth using a gyro compass.

Further, an acceleration sensor can be used instead of the angle sensor 5. FIG. 9 shows a configuration of a portable information device using an acceleration sensor. The main body 1 has an operation button 3, a display circuit 4 for displaying on a display panel similar to the first embodiment (see FIG. 1), an acceleration sensor 7, and a control circuit of the portable information device for controlling the display circuit 4 and the like. 6 is provided.

This portable information device can perform the same scroll operation as in the first embodiment and the same item selection as in the second embodiment. To do so, the user first presses the operation button 3 to set the acceleration applied to the main body 1 at that time as a reference.

Then, the main body 1 is moved to give an acceleration. The acceleration applied to the main body 1 at that time is obtained by the detection by the acceleration sensor 7, and the displacement of the acceleration based on the acceleration when the operation button 3 is pressed is obtained therefrom. The display range and the position of the cursor for selecting items are determined according to the magnitude and direction of the displacement.

[0054]

As described above, since the portable information device of the present invention has only one operation button, it is necessary to largely change the position of the finger as if operating a plurality of operation buttons, sticks and jog dials of the prior art. There is no. Therefore, the main body can be stably supported during the operation. Therefore, free operation is possible even when standing outdoors or with one hand closed.

Further, since the reference tilt of the main body is set by pressing the operation button, the angle at which the portable device is held and the range in which the hand can be moved, such as when used in a narrow place or when lying down and holding the device upside down, are set. Operation is possible even if it is limited.

When the scroll operation is performed, the display range is moved according to the angle and direction of the tilt of the main body.
The position of the display range can be predicted to some extent, and unnecessary operations need not be performed. Therefore, even when the drawing of the device takes a long time due to the low capability of the device, the device can be used without stress.

Further, since the display range moves by the distance determined by the displacement of the tilt in one scroll operation, the display range is different from that of the prior art in which the cursor is moved by a unit movement amount.
The moving distance is large. Therefore, the display range can be quickly moved to the target position, and the operation time is shortened.

The selection of an item and the execution of a function assigned to the item can be performed by operating one operation button and tilting the main body. That is, since the operation of the operation member is minimized, the operation is easy even when the user carries the device.

Further, another portable information device of the present invention is provided with an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration applied to the main body. However, this can also obtain the same effect as a portable information device having an angle sensor. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a portable information device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a map viewed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a map viewed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a map viewed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a portable information device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a portable information device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Display panel 3 Operation button 5 Angle sensor 6 Control circuit 7 Acceleration sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09G 3/20 680 G09G 3/20 680T

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A main body, a display panel, an angle sensor for detecting an inclination of the main body, one operation button, and control in accordance with the inclination of the main body detected by the angle sensor and pressing of the operation button. A portable information device, comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit obtains a displacement of the inclination of the main body thereafter based on the inclination of the main body when the operation button is pressed, and performs control according to the displacement of the inclination. 2. The portable information device according to 1. 3. When a part of the entire display area that is the entire display content is displayed on the display panel as a display range, the display range is set within the entire display area to view the entire display area. The portable information device according to claim 2, wherein the moving direction and the distance are determined by the displacement of the inclination. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein when selecting one of a plurality of items displayed on the display panel, the selected item is determined by the displacement of the inclination.
A portable information device according to claim 1. 5. A main body, a display panel, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration applied to the main body, one operation button, and an acceleration applied to the main body detected by the acceleration sensor and a press of the operation button. And a control circuit for controlling the portable information device.