JP2002185599A - Portable telephone and method of displaying its menu - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable telephone that is provided with an automatic scrolling and displaying function for general screen display made for setting functions so as to reduce the key operating burden imposed upon the user of the telephone. SOLUTION: The portable telephone is constituted in such a way that, when an automatic scroll starting key is pressed down, the telephone starts automatic scroll for successively displaying a functional menu and, when a scroll stopping key is pressed down, the telephone stops the scroll. When a decision key is pressed down, the telephone decides a function and, simultaneously, starts the automatic scroll of a more detailed menu and, when the scroll stopping key is again pressed down, the telephone stops the scroll. When the decision key is again pressed down, the telephone completes the setting of the function. The user can freely set the automatic scrolling speed of the display screen of the functional menu or more detailed menu. When no scroll stopping request is made for a fixed period of time after the automatic scroll is started, the telephone automatically stops the scroll.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable telephone having an automatic scroll function, and more particularly to an improvement in a menu display / selection method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones have been mainly used so that users can set functions according to their preferences. Here, the function is a function that collectively sets and confirms a user. For example, there is a function for setting a ring tone (melody), storing the other party's dial in a memory as a telephone directory, checking received mail, and checking a list of incoming calls (hereinafter, called a call history). .

[0003] With the diversification of the functions of such mobile phones, the setting of the above-mentioned functions has become complicated due to the adoption of a hierarchical structure. Since the function setting is manually performed by the user, many key operations are required. Here, as an example of the key operation of the function setting in the related art, a method of setting a ringtone will be described with reference to FIG.
No. 5345).

The procedure for setting a ringtone can be divided into the following a and b. a. Display the function menu in sequence and select "Ringtone". b. After selecting the "ring tone" in a, the type of the ring tone is sequentially displayed, and a specific ring tone is selected. a is referred to as “selection of a function menu” and b is referred to as “selection of a detailed menu”. 1 indicate key operations by the user.

First, an operation flow of the procedure a will be described. S1
01 is a standby screen. When the user presses a key, display of the function menu is started (display starts).
As shown, S102 shows a display screen of a telephone directory function, S103 shows a screen selection function, S104 shows a mail function, S105 shows a reception history function, and S106 shows a display screen of a ringtone function. Switching of the display screen of each function is performed each time the user presses a key (to display the next screen). The key pressed here is a key assigned to scroll in advance. When the last screen (S106) is displayed,
It returns to the first display screen (S102). When setting a ringtone as in the example of FIG. 1, the enter key is pressed down on a screen for setting a desired ringtone. The enter key is assigned separately from the keys for scrolling.

Next, a detailed menu is displayed and selected in step b. In step a, when the enter key is depressed on the ringtone screen of S106, the screen of the detailed menu from S107 to S110 is displayed (to next screen display).
Here, screens of various types of ring tones are displayed. If "melody 4" is to be set as a ring tone, the enter key is depressed on the "melody 4" screen in S110 (decision 10). S
The screen 111 is displayed, and the setting is completed.

Regarding the automatic scrolling technique, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-59835 discloses a method of automatically scrolling a message display in a radio selective calling receiver. In this method, a plurality of received messages are stored, and are automatically scrolled and displayed at specified time intervals according to a user's instruction. Also,
You can also specify the scroll speed for each message. However, this message automatic scrolling technology only automatically displays a plurality of received or related messages on a screen, and does not target the display of information in which a user's selection operation intervenes, such as a menu operation. .

[0008]

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 10, the conventional function menu selection method requires many key operations by the user. In particular, since a scroll operation for selecting a menu item to be set from one function is relied on a key each time, the key operation is simply repeated, thereby imposing a burden on the user. Further, the automatic scrolling method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-59835 is applied only to the display of messages, and thus does not reduce the burden on the user for general operation of the mobile phone. Conventionally, on a screen on which a part of a function menu is displayed, it is necessary to scroll each time by a key operation in order to select a desired menu. Also, in the prior art in which automatic scrolling was introduced, it was applied only to displaying messages. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile phone and a menu selection that can select and set a desired menu item while minimizing the number of key operations as much as possible, and reduce the user's burden on key operations. It is to provide a method. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone and a menu selection method that achieve a user-friendly operation when selecting and setting functions. In setting the functions of the mobile phone, it is important to reduce the number of key operations as described above in order to reduce the burden on the user, but at the same time, such key operations are truly user-friendly. It is also necessary to devise ways to improve the quality.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, a portable telephone according to the present invention displays a function menu by automatic scrolling by the portable telephone, and stops scrolling when a desired function menu is displayed. And you can decide on that menu. As a result, the number of key operations for determining a function is reduced, and the burden on the user is reduced. Further, in the case where a more detailed menu is selected and determined after the function menu is determined in this manner, the burden on the user is further reduced by adopting the same automatic scrolling as described above. In addition, the same means can be applied to the selection of a lower menu extending over a plurality of layers. By applying automatic scrolling to the menu selection of a plurality of layers, it is possible to supply a user-friendly mobile phone in response to the recent sophistication and complexity of mobile phone functions.

In the automatic scrolling, the menu displayed when the enter key is depressed while sequentially scrolling the screen on which the function menu is displayed can be selected and set. That is, a key operation of stopping scrolling when a desired function menu is displayed can be omitted. This makes it possible to not only reduce the number of key operations by automatic scrolling but also further reduce the number of key operations.

Further, in the above automatic scroll,
The scroll time interval can be set. That is,
In the automatic scroll of the screen on which the function menu is displayed, the user can freely set the time interval for scrolling to the next screen. For example, if the user is not accustomed to key operations, the time interval for automatic scrolling may be set long so that the screen can be viewed slowly. If the user is accustomed to key operations, the time interval may be set short to avoid redundant operations. By enabling the setting of the time interval for the automatic scroll, the operation for setting the function can be made more user-friendly. The setting of the time interval is set by a counter incorporated in the mobile phone.

If there is no user's request to stop scrolling within a certain period of time after the start of the automatic scrolling display, the scrolling is automatically stopped and the screen returns to the initial screen. This is set by a counter different from the counter for setting the scroll time interval.
If automatic scrolling is started due to an erroneous operation and scrolling does not stop unless there is a scroll stop request, wasteful power consumption occurs during that time. With the automatic scroll stop function described above, it is possible to avoid such wasteful power consumption.

The present invention can be applied to a case where the portable telephone is a foldable type and a case where the portable telephone is not a foldable type. In the case of a foldable mobile phone having a liquid crystal display (LCD) provided on the back and side keys, the same automatic scrolling can be realized using the back LCD and the side keys even in the folded state. .

[0014]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a portable telephone according to the present invention. The configuration described here is
The same is true whether the mobile phone is a foldable type or a non-foldable type. In FIG. 2, a mobile phone according to the present invention includes an antenna 201 and a radio unit 20.
2, a memory 203, an audio signal processing unit 204, a speaker 205, a microphone 206, a control unit 207, an operation unit 208, and a display unit 209.

The radio section 202 is connected to the antenna 201 and performs transmission / reception processing of a radio signal through the antenna 201. The memory 203 stores data and the like set by the user. The audio signal processing unit 204 includes a speaker 205
The control unit 207 converts the signal received through the antenna 201 and the wireless unit 202 and processed by the control unit 207 into an analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal from the speaker 205. The audio signal processing unit 204 processes an analog audio signal input from the microphone 206 to generate a digital signal, and the digital signal is transmitted to the other party via the control unit 207, the wireless unit 202, and the antenna 201. .

The operation unit 208 is composed of a plurality of keys for inputting a telephone number or the like, selecting each function, and the like. The operation unit 302 shown in FIG. 3 and the operation unit 402 shown in FIG.
4B corresponds to the operation unit (side key) 404 in FIG. FIG. 3 is an external view showing a non-foldable mobile phone, and FIG. 4 is an external view showing a foldable mobile phone. Since the side key 404 in FIG. 4 is provided on the side surface of the foldable mobile phone, it can be operated even in a folded state.

The control unit 207 includes a radio unit 202, a memory 203, an audio signal processing unit 204, an operation unit 208,
It is connected to a display unit 209 and controls these units. The control unit 207 monitors the operation unit 208 and, when detecting a user operation, performs processing corresponding to the key operation and controls the display unit 209 to perform various displays. Display 2
09 denotes the display unit 301 in FIG. 3 and the display unit 40 in FIG.
1. This corresponds to the rear LCD of FIG. The control unit 207 includes a timer circuit 210 and a CPU 211. The CPU 211 monitors whether a predetermined key of the operation unit 208 has been pressed, and outputs a command to start or stop the timer to the timer circuit 210 when the key is recognized. The timer circuit 210 includes an interval timer,
Two types of one-shot timers can be set.
It operates according to the control from.

An automatic scrolling method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The automatic scroll is to automatically switch the screen display without using a user operation. In the present invention, the start and stop of the automatic scroll are basically performed by the user pressing the keys.

In FIG. 5A, when a scroll start request is received from the user in a standby state (S501), the CP
U211 starts the timer circuit 210 to calculate the scroll time interval (S502). In the example of FIG. 5, scrolling is performed at 1 second intervals, and the timer used is 10
The timer is set to 0 msec. In addition, a flag for counting the scroll interval of 1 second is set to “Counter 1”,
The flag for counting the scroll display timeout time is set to “counter 2”. The scroll display timeout period is a period of time in which there is no scroll stop request for a certain period of time after the start of scrolling (described in detail later). Here, the timeout period is set to 10 seconds. When the timer starts, the counters 1 and 2 are initialized (set to 0).

When the timer is started, the CPU 211
Monitors whether a timer interrupt has occurred (S50).
3). As will be described later, the CPU 211 also monitors the presence or absence of a menu selection or scroll stop request from the user. 100ms from timer start
After ec has elapsed, the timer circuit 210 generates a timer interrupt for the CPU 211 (YES in S503). CP
When recognizing that the interrupt has occurred, U211 updates the counter value in S504. Here, updating the counter value means adding 1 to the counter 1 and the counter 2 respectively.

Next, in S505, it is determined whether the scroll display timeout time has elapsed. In this case, since a timer of 100 msec is used, the timeout time of 10 seconds is “100 msec × 100 times = 10 times”.
000 msec (10 seconds) ", a timeout occurs when the count 2 reaches 100. The timeout operation will be described later.

If the count 2 is less than 100 (S50)
5), and in S506, it is determined whether or not one second of the scroll time interval has elapsed. "100m for one second
Since “sec × 10 times = 1000 msec (1 second)”, the updating of the counter is continued until the counter 1 reaches 10 (S503 to S505). When the count value of the counter 1 becomes 10 (YES in S506), it is determined that one second has elapsed, the screen is updated, that is, the screen is scrolled (S507), and the counter 1 is cleared (returned to 0) in S508. Then, a new scroll screen is displayed for one second (S503 to S506).

Steps S503 to S508 (scroll display at one-second intervals) are repeated until there is a scroll stop request from the user. However, if the automatic scrolling is started due to a malfunction, continuing the automatic scrolling operation until a stop request is made by the user wastes power. Therefore, if there is no scroll stop request for a certain period of time from the start of automatic scrolling,
Provide a function to stop scrolling automatically. As described above, the time from the start of the automatic scroll to the time when there is no scroll stop request is referred to as the timeout time.

The operation of the timeout will be described. In this embodiment, the timeout time is set to 10 seconds.
When 10 seconds are counted continuously in the determination of the timeout time in S505, the process automatically shifts to the scroll stop processing in S509. In S509, all the flags used for scrolling are cleared, and the timer function is stopped. afterwards,
In S510, the screen returns to the initial standby screen.

Steps S503 to S508 are a flow during the scroll operation after the start of scrolling, and do not include an operation when a scroll stop request is made by the user. Therefore, an operation performed when a scroll stop request is made by the user will be described using S511 to S513.
In FIG. 5B, S511 includes S503 to S508.
Of the scroll operation. If there is a stop request during scrolling in S512, the scroll screen is stopped in S513 and the flag used for scrolling is cleared in the same manner as in the stop processing due to timeout in S509. The scroll stop request is, in the present embodiment, a request by the user pressing a predetermined key. When a stop request is made by the user, the screen at the time of receiving the stop request remains displayed. Then, as described later, the menu item scroll of the selected function is started by pressing the enter key.

In this embodiment, the scroll time interval (scroll speed) is 1 second, but the scroll time interval can be set in advance by the user. The scroll time interval is set as follows. When the time interval to be selected is determined in some steps (here, five steps), the scroll speed is selected from scroll speeds 1 to 5 according to the user's preference. Alternatively, the scroll time interval may be configured to be freely set by the user. In this case, the user inputs the number of seconds for scrolling as desired. By setting the scroll time interval in advance, the scroll speed can be adjusted according to the user's preference.

Next, the operation of "setting a ringtone" using automatic scrolling in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As in the conventional example of FIG. 1, the number of function menus is five. 6 in FIG. 6 represents a key operation by the user.

First, when the user presses a predetermined key on the operation unit on the standby screen S601, scrolling of the function menu is started. If the function menu is in the order of phonebook, screen selection, mail, history, ringtone, S
At 602, a screen showing the telephone directory function is displayed. After that, in S602 to S606, the telephone directory every second →
The screen of the function menu switches automatically in the order of screen selection → mail → history → ringtone (scroll). Here, the user selects the ringtone function, so that the user does not perform any key operation until the screen of the ringtone is displayed.
When the screen of S606 is displayed, the user presses a key for stopping scrolling (stop scrolling of the function menu). The keys for starting and stopping the automatic scrolling may be the same or different keys. If there is a scroll stop request, the screen changes to S606.
Remains stopped on the ringtone selection screen.

Next, selection and determination of a more detailed menu from the menu of the ring tone function are performed. Here, the type of ring tone is selected and determined. In a state where the screen display indicating the ringtone function in S606 is displayed, the user presses down a key for determining a menu (determination of a function menu). The key for determining the function menu may be the same as or different from the key for starting and stopping scrolling. When the enter key is depressed, a more detailed ringtone menu (here, melody 1
The display of melody 4) starts. "Melody 4"
Is selected, it is necessary to scroll from melody 1 to melody 4. Automatic scrolling is also employed here as in the case of selecting the function menu in step a. After pressing the enter key, melody 1 every second →
Melody 2 → Melody 3 → Melody 4 in order
The screen is automatically switched (scrolled) in steps 607 to S610. In order to select the melody 4, when the scroll screen becomes the melody 4, the scroll stop key is depressed (scroll stop). After the stop key is pressed, the screen stops with the melody 4. By depressing the determination key in S610 (determination), the ringtone is determined as the melody 4, and the selection of the ringtone is completed (S61).
1).

In the flowchart of FIG. 6, the settings performed by the user are summarized as follows. That is,
Start scrolling (start automatic scrolling of function menu), stop scrolling (stop scrolling of function menu), determine function menu (decide function menu as ringtone, start automatic scrolling of more detailed menu),
The scroll stops (stops scrolling of a more detailed menu) and determines a more detailed menu (determines the type of ringtone). Here, when the automatic scrolling is applied to select a detailed menu in a lower hierarchy, the automatic scrolling of a more detailed menu is started without being determined and completed. Become.

In the above, if the function of the stopped screen is not selected after the scrolling is stopped, the automatic scroll start key is depressed to restart the scrolling from the screen next to the stopped screen. In the above description, the operation of stopping scrolling may be omitted, and after the automatic scrolling is started, the menu scrolling of the function is started to perform a more detailed menu scrolling, and after the automatic scrolling of the more detailed menu is started. , It is possible to determine the type of ringtone by determining a more detailed menu. After the scrolling of the more detailed menu is started, it is possible to shift to the display screen of the function menu by continuously pressing the scroll start key twice (return to the previous automatic scrolling).

As described above, in this embodiment, since the scroll display of the function menu or the more detailed menu is automatically performed, it is not necessary to press a key every time the display is switched. Therefore, key operations for setting functions are simplified as compared with the conventional example, and the burden on the user is reduced. Furthermore, since it is possible to apply a configuration in which automatic scrolling is applied to select menus extending to lower layers, further key operations by the user are required in response to the recent sophistication and complexity of mobile phone functions. Can be reduced. In addition, since a function of automatically stopping scrolling after a certain time has elapsed is provided, wasteful power consumption can be suppressed. Further, by allowing the user to freely set the scroll time interval, it is possible to supply a mobile phone that meets the user's preference.

The present invention can be applied to a non-foldable mobile phone and a foldable mobile phone. In particular, in the second embodiment applied to the foldable mobile phone with a rear LCD shown in FIG. 4, the operation unit is the operation unit 40 shown in FIG.
2 and the operation unit (side key) 404 in FIG. The side key 404 in FIG. 4 is provided on the side of the foldable mobile phone and has a rear LCD, so that it can be operated even in a folded state.

The same applies to the foldable portable telephone with the rear LCD, which employs automatic scrolling in which switching of each screen display is automatically performed without using a user operation. The start and stop of the automatic scrolling are performed by the user pressing a key. At this time, the pressed key is configured to use a side key. Thus, even when the mobile phone is folded, it is possible to start and stop automatic scrolling of the function menu and the like while looking at the rear LCD. The start and the stop of the scroll may be the same side key or different side keys.
The basic operations and the operations that can be omitted for the above-mentioned function settings are the same in the case of the present embodiment. Further, also in the present embodiment, the user can freely set the scroll time interval.

As described above, even in the folded state, operation is possible using the side keys and the rear LCD. Therefore, as an effect of the present embodiment, even when the mobile phone is folded, the key operation for setting the function is simplified and the burden on the user is reduced by the automatic scroll function as compared with the conventional example. In addition, since a function of automatically stopping scrolling after a certain time has elapsed is provided, wasteful power consumption can be suppressed. Furthermore, by allowing the user to freely set the scroll time interval of the function menu, a mobile phone that meets the user's preference can be supplied.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, an automatic scroll display is provided which allows the user to specify the content of the automatic scroll display in advance. Here, for the functions frequently used by the user, the scroll content is determined in advance, so that the number of key operations can be further reduced.

This embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. A mobile phone generally has various functions such as the five functions shown in FIG. 6, but frequently used functions may be fixed depending on each user. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, a user who frequently uses the ringtone setting is assumed, and the setting of the ringtone will be described as an example. Also, a foldable mobile phone with a rear LCD will be described as an example.

The user as described above sets a function menu scrolling on the rear LCD in advance as a ring tone.
If the user wants to change the content of the ringtone,
When the scroll start key, which is a side key, is depressed while the foldable mobile phone with a CD is closed, scrolling of a more detailed menu screen relating to a ringtone is started immediately from the standby screen (S701) (automatic scroll start). That is, scrolling of the melody 1 to melody 4 screens is started (S702 to S705).
When the melody 4 is desired to be selected, when the screen is automatically scrolled and the melody 4 is displayed, the key is depressed to stop the scroll (scroll stop). afterwards,
By depressing the enter key, the setting for the melody 4 is completed (the enter key is depressed).

In this embodiment, as described above, one of the function menus is previously selected and set by the user, thereby further simplifying the key operation with respect to the above embodiment. Can be. That is, in the present embodiment, of the key operations 1 to 3 shown in FIG. ) Can be omitted. Further, it is possible to omit the stop of scrolling (stopping scrolling of a more detailed menu).

As an effect of the present embodiment, by selecting and setting one of the function menus in advance according to the user's preference, it is possible to greatly reduce the key operation and reduce the burden. Becomes In addition, even when the mobile phone is in a folded state, the user can operate with the side keys while looking at the rear LCD, and the above-described effect is exhibited.

A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. Conventionally, when it is desired to make a call to a person registered in the telephone directory, the foldable mobile phone is opened once, and then the telephone number of the partner is called from the telephone directory using a key operation or voice recognition. Then, press the call dial to call the other party. In order to omit a series of operations as described above, the following functions are provided.

In a state where the foldable portable telephone with the rear LCD is folded, the telephone book is automatically scrolled by the rear LCD. When the information of the other party is found, the scroll is stopped and the memory dial of the other party to be called is displayed on the rear LCD. At this time, by starting and stopping the automatic scrolling by using the side keys, the memory dial of the other party can be displayed in the folded state in the folded state. Thereafter, by opening the foldable mobile phone with the rear LCD, it is possible to automatically call the other party.

The effect of the present embodiment will be described. First, the effect that the number of key operations for function setting is reduced by automatic scrolling and the burden on the user is reduced is the same as in the above-described embodiment. Also, back LCD
In the case of a foldable mobile phone, it is possible to display the other party's memory dial using the rear LCD and side keys in the folded state. This and the automatic scrolling for the function setting according to the present invention reduce the number of key operations by the user while the telephone is open, so that the key operation for the function setting in a form that reduces the burden on the user is further reduced. Becomes possible.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. As described in the second embodiment, it is assumed that the user can set in advance the contents desired to be automatically scrolled, and the following functions are set. a. Automatic scroll display of received mail content b. Automatic scroll display of schedule contents

First, the case of the received mail of a will be described by taking a foldable portable telephone with a rear LCD as an example. When a mail is received in a state where the foldable mobile phone with the rear LCD is folded, a message such as "received mail" may be displayed on the rear LCD. When such a message is displayed, the contents of the received mail are displayed by depressing the automatic scroll start key in the side keys. If there is no received mail, the normal standby screen remains, and the received mail is not scrolled even if the automatic scroll start key is pressed in this state. By having the above function, the user can easily check the contents of the mail when receiving the mail without opening the foldable mobile phone with the rear LCD.

Next, the case of the schedule b will be described. The schedule function is a function of registering a schedule on a specific day in advance, and notifying at the registered time by an alarm, a message, or the like. For example, the content of the scroll display is set to a “schedule list” in advance. When the user depresses the automatic scroll start key in the side keys while the foldable mobile phone with the rear LCD is kept folded, only the schedule of the day is scroll-displayed on the rear LCD. On a day for which no schedule is registered, a message such as "no schedule" can be displayed. Alternatively, the schedule list may be configured to display all items. It is assumed that the user can set either the schedule display for the current day only or the schedule display for all cases.

The effect of the present embodiment will be described. First, the effect of automatic scrolling for menu selection is the same as in the above embodiment. The user can set the scroll display contents in advance, so that the back face L
The user can confirm the scroll content desired by the user with the foldable mobile phone with CD folded. This and the automatic scrolling for the function setting according to the present invention make it possible to confirm the display contents in a form that reduces the number of key operations and reduces the burden on the user without opening the foldable mobile phone with the rear LCD. Become.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the start and stop of the automatic scrolling are performed by pressing the keys, but other methods may be used. For example, speech recognition can be used. The user automatically starts and stops scrolling when he speaks "Kai-shi" or "I-shi" into the microphone connected to the mobile phone.

The effect of the present embodiment will be described. First, the effect of automatic scrolling for menu selection is the same as in the above embodiment. Further, in the present embodiment, the key operation can be further reduced by utilizing the voice recognition, and the burden on the user is further reduced.

[0050]

The first effect of the present invention is that the burden of key operation for setting functions by the user can be reduced by the automatic scroll function. The second effect is that when the user sets a function, the automatic scroll speed can be freely set by the user.
It is possible to supply a more convenient mobile phone. A third effect is that useless power consumption can be suppressed by providing a function of automatically stopping scrolling. In summary, the effect of the present invention is to improve the convenience of the mobile phone by widely applying the automatic scroll function to screen display for setting functions in the mobile phone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional method of displaying a function menu.

FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing a non-foldable mobile phone.

4A and 4B are external views showing a foldable mobile phone with a rear LCD, in which FIG. 4A shows an open state and FIG. 4B shows a closed state.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an embodiment of an automatic scrolling method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a function menu selection in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another example of function menu selection in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 201 antenna 202 wireless unit 203 memory 204 audio signal processing unit 205 speaker 206 microphone 207 control unit 208 operation unit 209 display unit 210 timer circuit 211 CPU 301 display unit 302 operation unit 401 display unit 402 operation unit 403 back LCD 404 operation unit (side) Key)

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5E501 AB03 AC33 BA03 BA05 CA04 CB02 EB05 FA05 FB03 FB32 5K023 AA07 BB11 GG04 HH05 5K027 AA11 BB02 FF00 5K067 AA34 BB04 FF23 FF25 GG11 KK13

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A portable telephone capable of displaying a hierarchical menu of a plurality of function items on a screen, comprising: an automatic scroll means for automatically scrolling a plurality of function items in an arbitrary layer at a fixed time interval; One of the plurality of function items
Selecting means for selecting one, and if a plurality of function items exist in a lower layer of the selected function item, the plurality of function items in the lower layer are automatically scrolled by the automatic scrolling means, and the selected function is selected. If the item is a final function item, the control means activates a function corresponding to the final function item. 2. A portable telephone capable of displaying a menu comprising a plurality of hierarchically arranged function items on a screen, an input means comprising a plurality of keys for inputting a telephone number and selecting a function, and a display for performing various displays. And control means for performing a process corresponding to a key operation by the input means, and performing various displays on the display means, wherein the control means is provided by pressing an automatic scroll start key of the input means. Start automatic scrolling,
A plurality of function items are automatically scroll-displayed on the display means at regular time intervals, and a predetermined key of the input means is pressed to select a function item currently displayed on the display means. A mobile phone characterized by the following. 3. The control means further comprising: if a plurality of function items are present in a lower layer of the selected function item, automatically display the plurality of function items in the lower layer sequentially.
3. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein when a predetermined key of the input unit is pressed, a function item currently displayed on the display unit is selected. 4. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein said control means includes a timer circuit for measuring a predetermined time interval, and determines a time interval for automatic scrolling and a time for timeout of scroll display. . 5. The control means stops scrolling when a scroll stop key of the input means is pressed, and displays a function item displayed at that time by pressing a decision key of the input means. The mobile phone according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the mobile phone is selected. 6. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said control means executes automatic scrolling on said display means at an arbitrary speed selected from a plurality of predetermined speeds. Mobile phone. 7. The mobile phone according to claim 4, wherein the control unit automatically stops scrolling if there is no function selection operation after the start of the automatic scrolling and before the time-out period elapses. . 8. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of function items of a layer from which automatic scrolling is started are selected in advance. 9. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein start and stop of automatic scrolling and selection of a desired function item can be executed by voice input. 10. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein the mobile phone is a foldable mobile phone, and the display unit is a display unit provided on a back surface of the foldable mobile phone. A mobile phone according to claim 1. 11. The automatic scroll start key and the predetermined key are side keys provided on a side surface of the foldable mobile phone, and start, stop, and desired functions of automatic scrolling in a state where the foldable mobile phone is folded. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein selection of an item is enabled.
The mobile phone according to 0. 12. A method of displaying on a screen a menu composed of a plurality of hierarchically arranged function items in a mobile phone, comprising the steps of: a) cyclically scrolling and displaying a plurality of function items in an arbitrary layer at a predetermined time interval; B) determining whether one of the plurality of scrolled function items has been selected; and c) if one function item is selected, if there are a plurality of function items in a lower layer below it, Cyclically scroll-displaying the plurality of function items of the lower layer at the predetermined time interval, and repeating steps (b) and (c) until a final function item is selected. Characteristic menu display method in mobile phone. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein a time interval during which the selection of the function item is not executed in step (b) is measured, and the scroll display is stopped when the measured time interval exceeds a predetermined time. Menu display method on mobile phones.