JP3205354B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus in which a keyboard is swingably provided on a main body of the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional information processing apparatus, for example,
There is one as shown in FIG. This information processing device
It is a so-called laptop computer, in which a display panel 2 is provided so as to be swingable with respect to the processing apparatus main body 1 and a keyboard 3 is provided integrally with the processing apparatus main body 1. By the way, in recent years, in order to improve the usability of the keyboard 3, some keyboards 3 can be separated from the processing apparatus body 1.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional information processing apparatus, when the display panel is to be closed when the keyboard is used separately from the apparatus main body, the display panel and the floor surface are closed. (The desk surface) is directly opposed, and there is a problem that the display panel may be damaged when an object such as a cup exists on the floor surface. Further, even if the keyboard cannot be separated from the main body of the apparatus, the display panel may be closed and the display panel may be damaged without noticing that the writing instrument or the like is placed on the keyboard.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an information processing apparatus capable of preventing a display panel from being damaged.

[0005]

An information processing apparatus for attaining the above object has a keyboard provided so as to be detachable from a processing apparatus main body, and a display panel provided to be swingable in the processing apparatus main body. An information processing apparatus comprising: a body; a separation detecting unit configured to detect separation of the keyboard from the processing apparatus main body; and a swing unit configured to limit a swing range of the display panel body when the separation of the keyboard is detected. Moving range regulating means. Here, the information processing apparatus may be provided with a swing regulation canceling unit for canceling the regulation of the swing range of the display panel body. Further, preferably, the information processing device,
A swing limit detecting means for detecting that the display panel body has reached the swing limit position of the regulated swing range or in the vicinity thereof; and a swing limit of the swing range in which the display panel body is regulated. It is preferable to provide a warning unit that issues a warning when it is detected that the vehicle has reached the limit position or its vicinity.

[0006]

Further, the information processing equipment includes a swing instruction means for instructing the swing direction and the swing amount of the display panel body, in accordance with an instruction by the swing instruction means, for oscillating the display panel body A display panel swinging means may be provided.
Specifically, the swing instructing means is constituted by a specific key of a keyboard, a mouse or the like, and the display panel swinging means includes a memory in which various programs are stored, and a memory in accordance with an instruction from the keyboard or the like. Run the program C
PU, a motor for swinging the display panel, and C
And a circuit for driving the motor in accordance with instructions from the PU.

[0008]

[Function] When the keyboard and the processing device main body are separated,
Separation of the keyboard is detected by the separation detecting means.
In response to this, the swing regulating means regulates the swing range of the display panel body. In this way, when the keyboard is separated, the swing range of the display panel body is regulated, so if the keyboard is not separated, even if there is an obstacle or the like in the place where the keyboard was present, The display panel body hardly hits the obstacle, and damage to the display panel body can be prevented.

Further, even if the display panel is provided with an obstacle detecting means, when the obstacle is detected, the swing range of the display panel is regulated. The panel body can be prevented from being damaged. It should be noted that the apparatus provided with the obstacle detecting means can be applied to either a keyboard that can be separated from the processing apparatus main body or a keyboard that cannot be separated.

[0010]

1 to 18 show various embodiments of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First Embodiment An information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a processing apparatus main body, 2 is a display panel, 3 is a keyboard, 4 is a keyboard projection for connecting the keyboard 3 to the processing apparatus main body 1, Is a concave portion of the processing device main body for receiving the keyboard convex portion 4, 6 is a detection button for detecting whether the keyboard 3 and the processing device main body 1 are connected or separated, and 7 is an L for transmitting the displacement of the detection button 6. A mold rod 8 is a spring for urging the detection button 6 connected to the L-shaped rod 7 in a direction of protruding into the processing apparatus main body concave portion 5. A displacement conversion rod for converting the linear displacement of the rod into a rotational displacement;
Numeral 12 denotes a displacement conversion rod support that rotatably supports 0, and is a swing restricting member that is joined to the rotation shaft of the display panel 2 and rotates with the swing of the display panel 2. This swing regulation member 12
When the displacement conversion rod 10 rotates, the displacement rod 1
A protrusion is provided for engaging with the end of the display panel 2 to regulate the swing range of the display panel 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the keyboard 3 is connected to the processing device main body 1, the keyboard convex portion 4 is inserted into the processing device main body concave portion 5, and the detection button 6 is set to the processing device main body 1 Has been pushed into the back of. The displacement conversion rod 10 is in a state where the end of the displacement conversion rod 10 does not engage with the projection of the swing regulating member 12 even when the display panel 2 swings. For this reason, the display panel 2
The display panel 2 can be freely swung within a swing range restricted from the viewpoint of the mounting structure.
The swing range at this time is, as shown in FIG. 3, specifically, 35 ° away from the vertical line ((c) in FIG. 3).
State) to a position where it is in close contact with the keyboard 3 (at 15 ° downward with respect to the horizontal plane, (a) state in the figure).

When the keyboard 3 is separated from the processing apparatus main body 1, the keyboard projection 4 comes out of the processing apparatus main body concave section 5 as shown in FIG. 5 protrudes. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the detection button 6 has a base end portion formed to be larger than a protruding end side so that the detection button 6 itself does not protrude outside. Due to the protrusion of the detection button 6, the L-shaped rod 7 and the rod 9 are displaced leftward in FIG. Receiving this displacement, the displacement conversion rod 10 rotates rightward, and is displaced to a position where the end of the displacement conversion rod 10 and the protrusion of the swing regulating member 12 can be engaged.
Therefore, when the display panel 2 is largely swung, the end of the displacement conversion rod 10 and the projection of the swing restricting member 12 are engaged, and the display panel 2 is further moved from the engaged position. It cannot be rocked. That is, when the keyboard 3 is separated from the processing apparatus main body 1, the swing range of the display panel 2 is restricted, and the swing range is specifically, as shown in FIG. However, the range extends from the position (state (c) in the figure) to a position 20 ° above the horizontal plane (state (b) in the figure). In addition,
In the state (b), the distance between the lower surface of the display panel 2 and the floor is
It is about 135 mm.

In the information processing apparatus of this embodiment, when stored, as shown in FIG. 4A, the processing apparatus main body 1, the display panel 2, and the keyboard 3 are integrated. When used, open the display panel 2 as shown in FIG.
It is often the case that the user removes the keyboard 3 and works at a position that is easy for the user to use. Even if the user tries to close the display panel 2 during use in such a form, the display panel 2 cannot swing at a distance of 135 mm from the floor surface. Even if a foreign substance such as a coffee cup or a glass is placed, it does not come into contact with a coffee cup or the like, and the display panel 2 can be prevented from being damaged.

Under normal use conditions, when the keyboard 3 is in the separated state, the swing range of the display panel 2 is in the range from the state (c) to the state (b) in FIG. It is also conceivable that the user may want to use the device in the range from the state (a) to the state (a). In such a case, the detection button 6 is pressed with a thin object such as a fingertip of a hand or a ballpoint pen to disguise the connection state of the keyboard 3 so that the display panel can be swung from the state (c) to the state (a). 2 can be used.

In this embodiment, (b) in FIG.
In the state, the distance between the lower surface of the display panel 2 and the floor is about 135.
Although the distance is about mm, this distance may be about 100 mm. In this embodiment, the displacement of the detection button 6 is transmitted by using the rods 7 and 9, but it is not necessary that the detection button 6 be a rod, and the detection button 6 can be realized by using a wire. Also,
The fact that the button 6 is mounted not on the upper surface of the processing apparatus main body 1 but on the inner side thereof is an important point in preventing malfunction.

In this embodiment, in order to protect the display panel when the keyboard 3 is separated from the floor, a space of 135 m is provided.
At position m, the display panel 2 is locked and stopped, but a user who operates for the first time without reading the manual may not be able to understand why the display panel 2 has been locked and may forcefully close the display panel 2 to destroy the opening / closing lock mechanism. There is. To prevent this, it is conceivable to emit an alarm sound at the time of locking. This configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

5 and 7, reference numeral 13 denotes a contact conductor provided at an end of the displacement conversion rod 10, reference numeral 14 denotes a contact conductor provided on a projection of the swing regulating member 12,
Reference numeral 15 denotes a conductor, reference numeral 17 denotes a buffer, and reference numeral 18 denotes an output of the buffer 17. To sound an alarm,
There are two cases: one that keeps on releasing all the time, and another that keeps releasing for a certain period of time after locking. Depending on the user, there is a case where the user wants to use the device while the device is locked. Considering this, it is preferable to output an alarm sound for a certain period of time. Providing only the lock information transmission means rather than having a dedicated timer to emit an alarm sound for a fixed period of time can achieve commonality of components, and can reduce the size and cost of the apparatus. Therefore, here, as shown in FIG.
The output 18 of 7 is connected to a port or an interrupt request line of the apparatus main body, and a program for scanning and interrupting a program to detect a lock state and emit an alarm sound for a predetermined time is executed.

In the case of the locked state, it is necessary to generate an alarm sound even when the main power is turned off. To realize such a function, a sub power supply (backup power supply) is, of course, necessary. However, an interrupt request line for making a transition from the low power consumption state of the controller to which the sub power supply is supplied to the normal operation state is provided. The output 18 of the buffer 17 is preferably connected. Although the contact conductors 14 and 15 are used here to detect the locked state,
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a microswitch 16 may be used.

In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the lock is realized by using a rod, a wire, or the like.
The present invention is not limited to the method using any of them. Therefore, a system in which the display panel body 2 is directly locked is described as a second embodiment with reference to FIGS.
This will be described below. 8 and 9, reference numeral 401 denotes a swing regulating member provided to be swingable in the processing apparatus main body 1, 402 denotes a hinge corresponding to the rotation axis of the swing regulating member 401, and 403 denotes a case where the keyboard 3 is not mounted. This is a spring that pushes up the swing regulating member 401 to a position where the swing range of the display panel 2 can be regulated. When the keyboard 3 is mounted on the processing apparatus main body 1, as shown in FIG. 8, the swing restriction member 401 cannot swing because the keyboard 3 is mounted, so that the swing range of the display panel 2 is limited. And the swing range of the display panel 2 is not restricted. When the keyboard 3 is separated from the processing apparatus main body 1, the swing regulating member 401 can swing, is pushed up by the spring 403, and can regulate the swing range of the display panel 2. In the present embodiment, the separation detecting means is constituted by a swing regulating member 401 whose swing is regulated by mounting and separating the keyboard 3.
The swing range restricting means includes a swing member 401, a hinge 402, and a spring 403.

Even in a portable workstation having a flat display panel display, it is relatively difficult to tilt the display panel because the display panel is far from the operator if the keyboard is used separately. Also,
If you move your head to tilt from the operation position, the angle with the display panel is different between immediately after tilting and when you return the head to the original position after tilting, so it is difficult to obtain the optimal tilt angle etc. There is a problem. A third embodiment in which a display panel is driven by an electric motor in accordance with an instruction from a keyboard or a mouse is shown in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

10 and 11, reference numeral 101 denotes a stepping motor for swinging the display panel 2;
02 is a timing pulley provided on the rotating shaft of the stepping motor, 103 is a timing pulley provided on the rotating shaft of the display panel 2, 104 is a timing belt wound on the timing pulleys 102 and 103, and 105 is a light shielding plate A holding disk, 105a is a lower shading plate for indicating a lower swing limit when the keyboard 3 is separated, 105b is an upper shading plate for indicating an upper swing limit of the display panel 2, and 106 is a photo interrupter.
In FIG. 12, reference numeral 16 denotes a microswitch for detecting separation of the keyboard 3, and 107 denotes a memory in which various programs for operating the CPU are stored.
Here, in the memory 107, a display panel control window is expanded on the display panel as shown in FIG. 13 by an instruction with the keyboard 3 or the mouse, and when an arrow indicated there is indicated by the keyboard 3 or the mouse, the stepping is performed. A program for outputting a drive signal to the motor 101 is stored. Note that FIG. 13 shows two types of display panel control window images. FIG.
3, reference numeral 201 denotes an outer frame of the window, 202 denotes a click area instructing to close, and 203 denotes a click area instructing to open.

In order to connect the rotation axis of the stepping motor 101 and the rotation axis of the display panel 2, gear connection (including a worm gear) or direct connection can be considered without using any timing belt or the like. However, the timing belt is advantageous for reducing the operation noise, obtaining a sufficient static torque that does not cause the display panel to fall, and enduring bidirectional rotation in the forward and reverse directions. The static torque of the stepping motor 101 is sufficient to support the display panel 2 without a brake, and is within a range that does not hinder opening and closing the display panel 2 directly by hand. FIG. 14 shows the flow of the motor control program. If the user feels that the tilt angle of the display panel 2 is not appropriate and wants to move the display panel 2 upward (in the direction of opening), the user clicks the click area 203. The CPU (the main CPU of the workstation or a small-scale CPU called a controller for controlling the I / O system) recognizes this (step 1) and determines whether or not the display panel 2 is located at the upper limit. (Step 2). When not at the upper limit,
A command for transmitting a pulse for rotating the stepping motor 101 forward is issued to the stepping motor controller (step 3). The stepping motor controller outputs a pulse for normal rotation to the motor driver according to this command, and the motor driver gives a pulse of sufficient power to operate the motor 101. If it is determined in step 1 that the click area 203 has not been clicked, or if it is determined in step 2 that it is the upper limit, the click area 20
It is determined whether or not 2 has been clicked (step 4). If the click area 202 is clicked and the display panel 2 is not positioned at the lower limit, a command for sending a pulse for rotating the stepping motor 101 forward is issued to the stepping motor controller (step 6). If it is determined in step 4 that the click area 202 has not been clicked, or if it is determined in step 5 that it is the lower limit, the process ends.

Although the keyboard 3 can be separated from the processing apparatus main body 1 as described above, a keyboard in which the present invention is applied to a keyboard that cannot be separated is shown as a fourth embodiment in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a schematic circuit block diagram of the present embodiment. Reference numeral 301 denotes an obstacle sensor for detecting whether an obstacle is present on the front side of the display panel 2;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a speaker for notifying an obstacle detected by the obstacle sensor 301, 101 a stepping motor for swinging the display panel 2, 105 a light-shielding plate holding disk, and 106 a photo interrupter. Here, as the obstacle sensor 301, the interference from the reflected wave using an infrared ray or an ultrasonic wave, or blocking the light by a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, etc. That measure the distance and presence of However, in addition to the non-contact detection of obstacles, the display panel 2 is provided with a transparent dielectric between two thin transparent electrodes, for example.
This method forms a capacitor and detects the change in capacitance due to deformation of the dielectric when it comes into contact with obstacles,
There is no problem even if a method of detecting a change in the current value due to an increase in the load of the motor is adopted. Also, the light-shielding plate holding disk 10
Reference numeral 5 is basically the same as that described in the third embodiment, but the lower limit light-shielding plate provided therein does not indicate the lower swing limit when the keyboard 3 is separated, and the display panel This is to indicate that the keyboard 2 and the keyboard 3 have come into contact with each other. Further, the memory 303 stores a program for executing the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 in addition to a general program for operating the apparatus.

The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 17, when the obstacle sensor 301 detects an obstacle (step 10), an alarm indicating that there is an obstacle is output from the speaker 302 for a certain period of time (step 11).
Exit immediately. That is, when there is an obstacle, an alarm is issued and the display panel 2 cannot be swung (swing is restricted). If there are no obstacles, it is determined whether the click areas 202 and 203 have been clicked (steps 12 and 1).
3) A forward or reverse pulse is output to the stepping motor 101. As described above, before the pulse is sent to the motor 101, the data from the obstacle sensor 301 is scanned to prevent the display panel 2 from being destroyed.

UNIX-based work stations, etc.
When the operation is completed, the power is not turned off immediately, so the power is turned off by software. If the display panel 2 is automatically closed at the end of the shutdown processing, it is convenient to save time for the operator as compared with closing the display panel 2 after confirming the end of the shutdown processing and the power-off. FIG. 18 shows a flowchart relating to this. When the operator issues an instruction to turn off the power by clicking the mouse or the like, first, a shutdown process such as saving a file is performed (step 21). Next, the presence or absence of an obstacle is checked (step 22).
The power is turned off (step 25) and the process ends. . If there is no obstacle, the motor is reversed (step 23) and the display panel 2 is started to close. If an obstacle is detected halfway, it is stopped at the same angle and the power is cut off (step 25), and the obstacle is detected halfway. Otherwise, when the photo interrupter 106 detects the lower limit with the lower light shielding plate 105a (step 24), the power is cut off (step 25). The detection of the lower limit indicates that the display panel 2 is completely closed.

Further, in pursuit of convenience, a workstation having a sensor on the back of the display panel 2 and automatically opening the display panel 2 by software at startup by a power ON switch can be considered. In this case, if an obstacle is detected, it stops at that angle and starts operating normally. If no obstacle is detected, the operation is started by reproducing the swing angle at the time of the previous shutdown processing. It is also possible to start the operation by opening the display panel at an angle set by the user to log in (taken at the time of shutdown). In order to reproduce the swing angle of the display panel 2 in this manner, the swing angle at the time of the shutdown processing or the swing angle designated by the user needs to be stored in the memory 303. As described above, in the present embodiment, the keyboard 3 cannot be separated. However, it is needless to say that the display panel 2 can be prevented from being damaged even if the embodiment is applied to a keyboard that can be separated. .

[0027]

According to the present invention, the swing of the display panel is restricted by detecting the separation of the keyboard or the presence or absence of an obstacle, so that the display panel can be prevented from being damaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the information processing apparatus when the keyboard according to the first embodiment of the present invention is separated.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a swing angle of the display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration for detecting a swing limit position according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing another configuration for detecting the swing limit position according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram for detecting a swing limit position according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an information processing apparatus when a keyboard according to a second embodiment of the present invention is separated.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of an information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of a main part of an information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a circuit block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a display panel control window according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an information processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a circuit block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an operation during a shutdown process according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an overall perspective view of a conventional information processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing apparatus main body, 2 ... Display panel, 3 ... Keyboard,
4 ... detection button, 12, 401 ... swing regulation member, 16 ...
Micro switch, 101 ... stepping motor, 3
01: obstacle sensor, 302: speaker, 303: memory.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Seiwa Nishioka 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi, Ltd. Microelectronics Equipment Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Koichi Kimura Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 292 Hitachi Microelectronics, Inc.Microelectronics Equipment Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Tadashi Kyoda 810 Shimoimaizumi, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. Office System Design and Development Center (56) References JP-A-4-74209 (JP, A) JP-A-2-226317 (JP, A) JP-A-4-48309 (JP, A) JP-A-3-233614 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷⁾ G06F 1/16-1/18 G06F 15/02 G06F 3/02-3/027

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a keyboard provided detachably from a processing apparatus main body; and a display panel body swingably provided on said processing apparatus main body. Information processing apparatus comprising: a separation detecting unit configured to detect separation of the keyboard; and a swing range regulating unit configured to regulate a swing range of the display panel when the separation of the keyboard is detected. apparatus. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a swing restriction canceling means for canceling the regulation of the swing range of the display panel. 3. A swing limit detecting means for detecting that the display panel body has reached a swing limit position of a regulated swing range or in the vicinity of the swing limit position; The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a warning unit that issues a warning when it is detected that the movement limit position of the movement range has been reached or the vicinity thereof. 4. A swing instruction means for instructing the swing direction and the swing amount of the display panel body, in accordance with an instruction by the swing instruction means, and a display panel swinging means for swinging the display panel body The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: 5. An end swing instruction means for instructing the display panel body swing means to close the display panel body after the processing apparatus main body has completed shutdown processing. The information processing device according to claim 4 . 6. A storage means for storing a swing angle of the display panel body at the time of shutdown processing of the apparatus body or a designated swing angle of the display panel body; claim against motion means, characterized in that the oscillation angle of the display panel body and a start swinging instruction means for instructing to be the swinging angle stored in the storage means 4 Or the information processing apparatus according to 5 .