JP2011048697A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic apparatus is provided that allows a user to easily and easily identify and check various types of notification information.
A touch sensor for detecting a touch input, a tactile sensation providing unit for vibrating a touch surface of the touch sensor, a storage unit capable of storing different types of notification information, and a touch surface are touched. A control unit 17 that controls driving of the tactile sensation providing unit 13 so as to present a tactile sensation with respect to the touch target F. The control unit 17 puts the touch target F into a predetermined touch state with respect to the touch surface 11a. When the presence is detected, the touch surface 11 a is vibrated by the tactile sensation providing unit 13 so as to present different tactile sensations to the touch target F for each type of notification information stored in the storage unit 16.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device.

  Some conventional electronic devices have a function of notifying various information, and the user can know various information by the information notification function. As an example of the information notification function of this electronic device, when unread mail or unanswered incoming call is stored in the electronic device, information indicating that there is unread mail or unanswered incoming call is displayed on the display unit provided in the electronic device. To notify the user. With this function, the display unit displays whether or not a new received mail or a new incoming call has been received on an electronic device that has been left for a certain period of time, that is, whether or not there is an unread mail or an unanswered incoming call. It can be confirmed by information.

  However, electronic devices that are carried and used, such as mobile phone terminals and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), are often carried in bags or pockets. In this case, to check the notification information displayed on the display unit of the electronic device, take out the electronic device from the bag or pocket one by one, press the operation key depending on the model, or open the device in the case of the folding type. The notification information displayed on the display unit is visually recognized by performing a troublesome operation such as. For this reason, in a situation where it is difficult to take out the electronic device due to a clogged item in a pocket or bag, it is difficult to check the notification information, which is inconvenient for the user. Further, every time the notification information is confirmed, it is troublesome for the user to perform a series of operations of taking out the electronic device from the pocket or the like and then returning the electronic device to the pocket or the like again.

  In addition, as a conventional foldable electronic device, there has been proposed a device in which a sub-display portion is provided in a portion exposed in a folded state, and date / time, incoming call, new mail, etc. are displayed on the sub-display portion ( For example, see Patent Document 1). According to this electronic device, the notification information displayed on the sub display unit is confirmed by visually recognizing the sub display unit in a state where the device is folded without unfolding the device and looking at the main display unit. be able to. However, also in this electronic device, when the electronic device is in a pocket or the like, the device is taken out and the sub display unit is visually recognized, so that the same inconvenience occurs.

  In addition, since electronic devices are carried and used in various places, for example, notification information displayed on a display unit may be viewed under a hot sun or a bright light. However, under such an environment, reflection of external light by the display unit, reflection of the outside world onto the display unit, etc. occur, making it difficult to see the notification information displayed on the display unit.

  On the other hand, as a conventional electronic device, a predetermined key of the key input unit is configured as a predetermined switch that represents two tactilely different states, and predetermined processing such as incoming call or reception of e-mail is performed. There is also known an electronic device that, when executed, causes the predetermined switch to transition to a predetermined state (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  According to the electronic device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the user can check whether there is an unread mail or an unanswered call by touching a predetermined switch. In addition, since the user only needs to touch a predetermined switch, if the electronic device is in a pocket or bag, the user can check whether there is an unread mail or unanswered call by touching the predetermined switch while it is in the pocket. It becomes possible to do.

JP 2003-198676 A JP 2001-249759 A

  However, in the case of the electronic device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the user can know that there is an incoming call or an e-mail by touching a predetermined switch, but there is an incoming call. It is not possible to determine whether an e-mail has been received. For this reason, for example, when waiting for a call or waiting for an e-mail, the user needs a troublesome operation of checking the incoming call by looking at the display unit.

  Further, the predetermined switch is relatively small with the size of one key of the key input unit. For this reason, when touching a predetermined switch while the electronic device is still in a bag, pocket, etc., it is difficult to grasp the electronic device's accommodation state and posture, and the search for the predetermined switch is made. It may take some time.

  For this reason, it is desired to develop an electronic device that can easily and easily identify and confirm unread mail and unanswered incoming calls without looking at the display unit. In particular, in recent electronic devices, various information such as schedules can be notified in addition to the above-mentioned unread mail and unanswered incoming calls. It is hoped that it can be identified and confirmed.

  The present invention has been made to meet such a demand, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that allows a user to easily and easily identify and confirm various types of notification information.

The invention of the electronic device according to the first aspect of achieving the above object is as follows:
A touch sensor for detecting touch input;
A tactile sensation providing unit that vibrates the touch surface of the touch sensor;
A storage unit capable of storing different types of notification information;
A control unit that controls driving of the tactile sensation providing unit so as to present a tactile sensation with respect to a touch target that is touching the touch surface;
When the control unit detects that the touch target is in a predetermined touch state with respect to the touch surface, the control unit applies to the touch target for each type of notification information stored in the storage unit. Vibrate the touch surface with the tactile sensation providing unit to present a different tactile sensation,
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to a second aspect is the electronic device according to the first aspect,
The touch sensor outputs position information of a touch position of the touch surface by the touch target;
The control unit detects a slide by the touch target in which the position information from the touch sensor continuously changes as the predetermined touch state.
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to a third aspect is the electronic device according to the first or second aspect,
A load detecting unit for detecting a pressing load on the touch surface;
The control unit executes a predetermined process when the pressing load detected by the load detection unit satisfies a predetermined load criterion, and the pressing load detected by the load detection unit satisfies the predetermined load criterion. Detecting the predetermined touch state when not
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to a fourth aspect is the electronic device according to any one of the first to third aspects,
A communication unit for sending and receiving e-mails or making calls;
The storage unit stores incoming information of unread mail or unanswered telephone calls received by the communication unit as the notification information, and stores a schedule input via the touch sensor.
It is characterized by this.

The invention according to a fifth aspect is the electronic device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.
The control unit varies the presentation mode of tactile sensation according to the importance of the notification information.
It is characterized by this.

  According to the electronic device of the present invention, a predetermined touch state on the touch surface of the touch sensor is detected, and the notification information is presented with a tactile sensation according to the type. Accordingly, the user can easily identify and check various notification information by a simple operation that sets the touch state of the touch sensor on the touch surface to a predetermined state.

It is a functional block diagram of the mobile telephone terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the mounting structure of the part containing the touch sensor shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the tactile sense presentation aspect of the notification information by the mobile telephone terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the tactile sense presentation operation | movement of the notification information by the mobile telephone terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the mobile telephone terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the mobile telephone terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the mobile telephone terminal which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an electronic device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This electronic device is a mobile phone terminal having a telephone function and an e-mail transmission / reception function, and includes a touch sensor 11, a load detection unit 12, a tactile sensation presentation unit 13, a display unit 14, a communication unit 15, a storage unit 16, and the entire It has the control part 17 which controls operation | movement.

  The touch sensor 11 detects a touch input by a touch target such as a finger or a stylus pen on the touch surface, and outputs two-dimensional position information of a touch position such as a resistance film method, a capacitance method, and an optical method. It comprises a well-known thing and arrange | positions on the display part 14. FIG. The load detection unit 12 detects a pressing load on the touch surface of the touch sensor 11 and is configured using an element that reacts to a load such as a strain gauge sensor or a piezoelectric element. The tactile sensation providing unit 13 vibrates the touch sensor 11 and is configured using, for example, a piezoelectric element.

  The display unit 14 displays an input object such as an input button such as a push button switch (push button switch), and is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL display panel. The touch input to the input object displayed on the display unit 14 is detected by the control unit 17 based on the position information output from the touch sensor 11. The communication unit 15 is configured to perform wireless communication such as telephone and e-mail via a network such as a known cellular network. The storage unit 16 stores various operation programs including a wireless communication program, incoming information of unread mail and unanswered phone calls, various notification information such as a schedule by user input, driving signal information of the tactile sensation providing unit 13, and the like. .

  The control part 17 consists of CPU etc., for example, and controls operation | movement of each part based on the positional information from the touch sensor 11, and the press load information from the load detection part 12. FIG.

  2A and 2B show an example of a mounting structure of a part including the touch sensor 11 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2A is a main part sectional view, and FIG. 2B is a main part plan view. The display unit 14 is housed and held in the housing 21. The touch sensor 11 is held on the display unit 14 via an insulator 22 made of an elastic member. In the present embodiment, the touch sensor 11 and the display unit 14 are formed in a vertically long rectangular shape in plan view, and the touch sensor 11 is separated from the display area A of the display unit 14 indicated by a virtual line in FIG. It is held on the display unit 14 via insulators 22 arranged at the four corners.

  The casing 21 is provided with an upper cover 23 so as to cover the surface area of the touch sensor 11 that is out of the display area of the display unit 14, and is formed of an elastic member between the upper cover 23 and the touch sensor 11. An insulator 24 is provided.

  The touch sensor 11 shown in FIG. 2 is configured such that the front surface member having the touch surface 11a is made of, for example, a transparent film or glass, the back surface member is made of glass or acrylic, and the touch surface 11a is pressed. A part having a structure in which the portion bends (distorts) a little according to the pressing force or the structure itself bends a little is used.

  On the surface of the touch sensor 11, a strain gauge sensor for detecting a load (pressing force) applied to the touch sensor 11 and a load sensor 31 made of a piezoelectric element are bonded to each side in the vicinity of each side covered with the upper cover 23. Provide. In addition, on the back surface of the touch sensor 11, piezoelectric elements 32 for vibrating the touch sensor 11 are provided in the vicinity of two opposing sides by bonding or the like. That is, in the mobile phone terminal shown in FIG. 2, the load detection unit 12 shown in FIG. 1 is configured using four load sensors 31, and the tactile sensation providing unit 13 is configured using two piezoelectric elements 32. Then, the touch sensor 11 is vibrated by the tactile sensation providing unit 13 to vibrate the touch surface 11a so as to present a tactile sensation to the touch target on the touch surface 11a. In FIG. 2B, the casing 21, the upper cover 23, and the insulator 24 shown in FIG. 2A are not shown.

  In the mobile phone terminal according to the present embodiment, a touch operation (touch input) on the touch surface 11 a of the touch sensor 11 is detected based on the output from the touch sensor 11. When the position information from the touch sensor 11 continuously changes in a state where the pressing load detected by the load detection unit 12 does not satisfy a load reference (for example, 1.5N) for executing a predetermined process. It is determined that a touch target such as a finger is sliding on the touch surface 11a. If it is determined that the user is sliding, if there is unread mail or unanswered telephone incoming call information, or notification information on the future schedule of the day, the tactile sensation is displayed according to the type of the notification information. The touch surface 11 a is vibrated by the unit 13.

  For example, when there is an unread mail, as shown in FIG. 3A, a tactile sensation that feels “bull” is presented to the finger F to be touched, and when there is an unanswered telephone call, FIG. As shown in the figure, a tactile sensation that feels “buzz” is presented to the finger F, and when there is a schedule, a tactile sensation that feels “katsu” is presented to the finger F as shown in FIG. In addition, when there are a plurality of types of notification information, a predetermined tactile sensation according to a combination of notification information types is presented as necessary. Thus, the type of notification information is identified and presented to the finger F sliding on the touch surface 11a.

  Here, when the tactile sensation providing unit 13 is configured using a piezoelectric element, the drive signal applied to the piezoelectric element is 200 Hz to 500 Hz when presenting a soft tactile sensation that feels “bull” or “buzz”. A triangular wave signal or a sine wave signal of about 2 to 3 periods is applied. In addition, when presenting a hard tactile sensation that feels “cut”, a rectangular wave signal of about 200 Hz to 500 Hz is applied for two to three periods. The drive signal information presenting these various tactile sensations is stored in the storage unit 16. The storage unit 16 preferably stores other tactile driving signals or driving signals having the same waveform and different amplitudes, and presents a desired tactile sensation according to the type of notification information by the user. The drive signal to be set can be set as appropriate.

  Hereinafter, the tactile sensation presenting operation of the notification information by the mobile phone terminal according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the control unit 17 detects an input of position information from the touch sensor 11 and detects that a touch target such as a finger contacts (touches) the touch surface 11a (step S401). It is determined whether or not the input pressing load is less than (does not satisfy) the load standard (1.5N) for executing a predetermined process (step S402). As a result, when it is determined that the pressing load is less than the load reference (in the case of Yes), the control unit 17 detects the movement distance of the touch target touching the touch surface 11 a based on the position information from the touch sensor 11. (Step S403), it is determined whether or not a certain amount of movement (for example, 2 mm movement) has been performed (Step S404). As a result, if it has moved a certain amount (if Yes), it is determined as a slide (step S405), and if it is determined that it has not moved a certain amount (if No), it is determined as an erroneous input and processing is performed. finish.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5A, the user moves the finger F a predetermined amount (2 mm) or more on the touch surface 11a, and the pressing load detected by the load detection unit 12 at that time is shown in FIG. As shown to b), when it is less than a load reference | standard (1.5N), it determines with a slide. On the other hand, when the touch surface 11a is simply touched with a pressing load less than the load reference, the process is terminated at that point and the touch operation is canceled.

  If the control unit 17 determines that it is a slide in step S405, the control unit 17 next determines whether or not unread mail, unanswered phone call, or immediately following schedule notification information is stored in the storage unit 16 (step S406). In the case (Yes), the tactile sensation providing unit 13 is driven according to the type of the notification information to present the tactile sensation (step S407), and in the absence (in the case of No), the tactile sensation providing unit 13 is driven. The process is finished without.

  Here, for example, when there is only unread mail, as shown in FIG. 3A, the control unit 17 provides a corresponding drive signal so as to present a tactile sensation that feels “bull” to the finger F to be touched. To drive the tactile sensation providing unit 13. When there is only an unanswered call, the control unit 17 causes the tactile sensation providing unit 13 to display a tactile sensation that feels “buzz” on the finger F as shown in FIG. Drive. Similarly, when there is only a schedule, the control unit 17 causes the tactile sensation providing unit 13 to respond to the corresponding driving signal so as to present the tactile sensation of “katsu” to the finger F as illustrated in FIG. To drive.

  When there are multiple types of notification information, the control unit 17 notifies the notification information of those types during one slide. In this case, the tactile sensation providing units 13 are sequentially driven by corresponding drive signals so as to sequentially notify a plurality of types of notification information, or corresponding drive signals set in advance according to combinations of notification information types. To drive the tactile sensation providing unit 13. FIG. 6 shows a tactile sensation presentation mode when the tactile sensation providing unit 13 is sequentially driven by the corresponding drive signals when there is an unread mail and an unanswered telephone.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 17 determines in step S402 in FIG. 4 that the pressing load from the load detection unit 12 satisfies the load standard (1.5 N) (No), the control unit 17 performs the input operation. It is accepted as an execution instruction for a predetermined process (step S408), and the predetermined process is executed (step S409). For example, when the mobile phone terminal is in a power saving mode such as a sleep mode, a predetermined process such as canceling the power saving mode and shifting to a standby mode or accepting an input of a telephone number or the like is executed.

  According to the mobile phone terminal according to the present embodiment, when the user slides a finger or the like on the touch surface 11a of the touch sensor 11 with a pressing load less than the load reference, if there is notification information, the notification information A tactile sensation is presented to the touch target according to the type. Thus, the user can easily identify and recognize the notification information. Therefore, for example, when waiting for a call or waiting for an e-mail, the user can easily identify which incoming call has been received, so that it is necessary to perform troublesome operations such as checking the display unit 14 for confirmation. Therefore, it is possible to respond appropriately and improve convenience. In addition, since the user only needs to lightly slide the touch surface 11a of the touch sensor 11, the user can easily find and operate the touch sensor 11 even when the mobile phone terminal is still in the bag or pocket. 3, 5, and 6, the case where the finger F slides in the vertical direction on the touch surface 11 a is illustrated, but the sliding direction with respect to the touch surface 11 a is an arbitrary direction.

(Second Embodiment)
The electronic device according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention has a tactile sensation different from a normal tactile sensation, for example, a tactile sensation that feels stronger than a normal tactile sensation, for the type of notification information having high importance Present. Here, for example, when there are multiple unread mails and unanswered calls from the same party, there are unread mails with high importance, unread mail and unanswered calls from a given party, different parties If there is a plurality of unread mails or unanswered calls, or if there is a schedule that cannot be canceled, the user sets appropriately.

  For this reason, the storage unit 16 stores drive signals having the same waveform and different amplitudes, and assigns drive signals having a large amplitude to high importance. Then, the type of notification information having a high degree of importance is notified by presenting a tactile sensation that feels stronger than a normal tactile sensation. For example, when there is an unread mail, if the importance is not high, as shown in FIG. 7A, a tactile sensation that feels “bull” is applied to the finger F to be touched, as in FIG. When the degree of presentation is high, as shown in FIG. 7B, the tactile sensation presentation unit has the same waveform as in FIG. 7A and a drive signal having a larger amplitude than that in FIG. 7A. 13 is driven, and the tactile sensation that “Bull” feels strongly is presented to the finger F. The same applies to other notification information.

  As described above, in the mobile phone terminal according to the present embodiment, when the notification information is presented by tactile sensation, the notification type of tactile sensation is made different depending on the importance level for the same type of notification information. Therefore, it is possible to cope with the situation more appropriately, and the convenience can be further improved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation or a change is possible. For example, the tactile sensation presented to the touch target such as a finger can be appropriately set by a drive signal of the tactile sensation providing unit 13 that vibrates the touch surface 11a. In addition, when there is one unread mail, immediately after the notification, the pressing load detected by the load detecting unit 12 by the pressing operation by the user exceeds a predetermined threshold that is the same as the load reference for executing the predetermined processing. In such a case, it may be configured to automatically transmit a fixed-form mail indicating that the reply cannot be made to the sender automatically.

  Further, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the load detection unit 12 and the tactile sensation providing unit 13 may be configured to share the piezoelectric element for load detection and tactile sensation presentation. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the touch surface of the touch sensor 11 is not limited to a vertically long rectangle, but may be an arbitrary shape such as a square or a horizontally long rectangle. The slide determination can also be determined as a slide when the touch position has moved a predetermined distance when the pressing load exceeds a predetermined threshold higher than a load standard for executing a predetermined process.

  Further, the touch sensor may be provided exclusively for presenting the tactile sensation of the notification information. In this case, it is only necessary to detect only the slide and present the notification information by tactile sensation without detecting the pressing load. In this case, the touch sensor may be a touch sensor that outputs one-dimensional position information.

  In addition, it is possible to detect a long press for a predetermined time by a touch target without detecting a slide, and present the presence / absence of notification information by tactile sensation according to the type. Furthermore, the notification information is not limited to unread mail, unanswered telephone calls, and schedules, but can be configured to identify and notify more notification information, or identify only the desired two notification information. It can also be configured to notify. The present invention is not limited to the mobile phone terminal as shown in FIG. 1 and can be effectively applied to other electronic devices that do not have the communication unit 15.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Touch sensor 11a Touch surface 12 Load detection part 13 Tactile sense presentation part 14 Display part 15 Communication part 16 Memory | storage part 17 Control part 21 Case 22 Insulator 23 Upper cover 24 Insulator 31 Load sensor 32 Piezoelectric element

Claims (5)

A touch sensor for detecting touch input;
A tactile sensation providing unit that vibrates the touch surface of the touch sensor;
A storage unit capable of storing different types of notification information;
A control unit that controls driving of the tactile sensation providing unit so as to present a tactile sensation with respect to a touch target that is touching the touch surface;
When the control unit detects that the touch target is in a predetermined touch state with respect to the touch surface, the control unit applies to the touch target for each type of notification information stored in the storage unit. Vibrate the touch surface with the tactile sensation providing unit to present a different tactile sensation,
An electronic device characterized by that. The touch sensor outputs position information of a touch position of the touch surface by the touch target;
The control unit detects a slide by the touch target in which the position information from the touch sensor continuously changes as the predetermined touch state.
The electronic device according to claim 1. A load detecting unit for detecting a pressing load on the touch surface;
The control unit executes a predetermined process when the pressing load detected by the load detection unit satisfies a predetermined load criterion, and the pressing load detected by the load detection unit satisfies the predetermined load criterion. Detecting the predetermined touch state when not
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an electronic device. A communication unit for sending and receiving e-mails or making calls;
The storage unit stores incoming information of unread mail or unanswered telephone calls received by the communication unit as the notification information, and stores a schedule input via the touch sensor.
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic apparatus is an electronic apparatus. The control unit varies the presentation mode of tactile sensation according to the importance of the notification information.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an electronic device.

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