JP3762412B2 - Information equipment and information display method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a flexible electronic paper. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information device using a plurality of electronic papers.

  In recent years, the information society has become more and more sophisticated, and the character information, image information, and voice information that we handle have become increasingly large. Various information devices for efficiently handling this type of information have been developed and commercialized. One of such information devices is an information device called an electronic book. Electronic books enable the storage and display of a vast amount of information that is physically difficult in the form of an old book bundled with paper.

  Electronic books are generally provided with a display unit using a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display and an information holding unit. However, since there is a restriction that a large amount of page information can be handled on one display, information equipment Improvement of usability and development of new interfaces are being attempted.

  There has been proposed a user interface to which a function of updating a page by detecting a contact pressure, a contact area, a contact position, and the like of a finger brought into contact with a display unit of an information device is proposed.

  In Patent Document 1, the presence or absence of a page turning input is determined from the contact and movement direction of a finger touching a display unit such as a liquid crystal display, and when it is determined that a page turning input has been made, it is output to the current display unit. An information device that updates image information of a given page to image information of any page before or after the page is disclosed.

On the other hand, flexible electronic paper is currently attracting attention as a new device for realizing the electronic book as if it were a conventional paper. The direction of development of electronic paper includes the following items.
1) You can read and write anytime, anywhere.
2) Characters and images can be rewritten freely.
3) Less eye irritation from the display surface. (Friendly to human eyes)
4) Thin film is lightweight and portable. Flexible. (Handling properties)
5) The display can be maintained for a long time without power. (Image retention)
Development has been actively conducted as a device that realizes flexible electronic paper that satisfies the above functions.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a removable electric field writing type display sheet having a memory property, a housing having a function for forming an image by applying an appropriate electric field to the sheet, and a connection to the display sheet. And a system comprising a processor for sending image data.

An information device in which a plurality of flexible electronic papers as described above are bundled is referred to as a flexible electronic book here. The flexible electronic book is considered to be able to provide usability that is closer to that of paper than an electronic book configured with one flat panel display as described above. On the other hand, even in a flexible electronic book composed of limited flexible electronic paper, an interface for displaying a large amount of information in a limited display area is required. Patent Document 3 also proposes a user interface using an acceleration sensor.
JP 2000-163193 A US Pat. No. 5,724,064 JP 2002-287729 A

  The inventors of the present invention have been tackling the problem of how to realize the usability in turning pages in a daily operation, particularly in a flexible electronic book composed of a plurality of flexible electronic papers.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an information device in which a plurality of flexible display units capable of displaying information to which page information is assigned for each page unit, and includes a bending applied to the display unit. Means for detecting direction, amount of bending, and duration of bending, means for determining presence / absence of page turning input from detected direction of bending, amount of bending and duration of bending, and judgment that page turning input is present Means for updating the information output to the display unit when
When the duration of the bending detected by the detecting means reaches a predetermined time, the means for judging whether or not the page turning input is generated generates a page turning signal, and the operation for actually turning the display portion and a page turning input is intended to provide information apparatus characterized that you are distinguished.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the flexible electronic book comprised by the some flexible electronic paper, it becomes possible to improve the usability in page turning by daily operation | movement.

  The most simplified configuration of the information device according to this embodiment can be illustrated by a block diagram as shown in FIG. That is, a display unit 11 of an information device, a memory unit 12 for managing information, a detection (sensor) unit 13 for detecting input information from a user, and a control unit 14 for controlling the whole. The display unit 11 has a function as a flexible electronic paper. Specific devices include a microcapsule electrophoresis system, a twist ball system, a dual-frequency drive liquid crystal system, and a liquid crystal / organic photoreceptor system. A toner display system or the like is preferably used. As the substrate of the device, a material such as a polymer is preferably used in order to impart flexibility. As the form of the electronic paper, both single-sided display only on the surface and double-sided display on both sides can be used suitably.

  The bending detection unit has a function of detecting, for the flexible electronic paper, the amount of bending of the electronic paper input by the user, the time of bending, and the like. In addition to the amount of bending and the duration, it is also possible to detect the direction of bending, that is, whether it is bent inward or outward.

A piezoelectric element is suitable as a device for converting such deformation of the bending detection portion into an electric signal, and a piezoelectric polymer is preferably used for the purpose of arranging the pressure element on flexible electronic paper. . The following points can be considered as advantages of using the piezoelectric polymer.
Highly flexible and difficult to break.
Good sensitivity to stress.
Large area is possible.

  FIG. 2 shows a flexible electronic paper provided with a piezoelectric element. A pixel array (not shown) having a matrix arrangement for displaying information in units of pages is formed on the display surface, and an upper left and lower left (from the display surface side) on the back surface. Are arranged with piezoelectric element sensors 21 and 22 in the upper right and lower right). The arrangement of the piezoelectric elements on the electronic paper may be either on the front or back of the paper, and can be arranged in any area. However, in order to make it closer to the feeling of turning the paper, a form in which the piezoelectric elements are arranged at the corners of the square paper is preferable.

  A material in which polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which is a piezoelectric polymer, is sandwiched is molded into a sheet shape by an extruder to a thickness of 50 μm. The stretched film is subjected to a poling treatment and used as a pressure sensor.

  As a base material for electronic paper, 300 μm thick PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is used. An ITO electrode is formed as a transparent electrode on the base material, and white toner particles and black toner particles are sandwiched between the two base materials to produce a toner display type electronic paper that enables black and white display. The pressure sensors 21 and 22 are arranged at the corners on the back surface (non-display portion) of the toner display. Electronic paper with a pressure sensor is a single-sided display type. An appropriate number of electronic papers, for example, 10 sheets, are stacked according to the purpose, and an electronic book is created by connecting the display unit (paper unit) 32 and the file unit 31 as shown in FIG. The file unit 31 includes the control unit 14 and the memory 12.

  Each page of the display unit 32 displays information sent from the control unit in units of pages. Normally, information of 10 pages or more is stored in the memory 12 of the control unit, but the designated 10 pages are displayed. At this time, 10 consecutive pages may be used, but the user can also specify 10 skipping points according to the purpose, such as a table of contents, a text page, and a chart page.

  FIG. 5 shows a state where the electronic book 30 is opened. Similar to a normal book, the number of pages is displayed in any of the margins at the top and bottom and four corners of the page.

  The sensors 21 and 22 are attached to each of the ten electronic papers 10, but when opened in the state shown in FIG. 5, the electronic paper directly visible to the user, that is, the uppermost electronic paper 101. Only these sensors are judged to be effective. For example, a signal indicating whether each electronic paper is facing front or back is generated, and the control unit that receives it from each electronic paper determines which is the top electronic paper based on the number of signals on the front. May be. Rewriting is performed only on the electronic paper.

  When the sensor 21 at the lower right of the page at the top of the display section (paper section in FIG. 2) is bent in a state in which information with page information is displayed on the electronic book 30, the direction of the bending is obtained. A voltage corresponding to the amount is generated in the sensor 21 and sent to the control unit 14. The control unit determines whether the voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage, and further measures the duration when the voltage is equal to or higher than the predetermined voltage. When the measurement time exceeds a predetermined time, the control unit determines that page turning input has been added. Further, the control unit calculates the page update speed according to the voltage value, and rewrites the display unit at the speed. Thereby, the page information can be scrolled in the forward direction.

  Hereinafter, this operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 shows a sensor output 54 when changed from a state 50 where there is no initial bending to a state 51 where the bending is slightly performed, a state 52 where the bending is further increased, and a state 53 where the bending is restored, and the first described below. The first and second comparator output signals 81 and 84, the page turning signal 83, and the high speed page turning signal 86 are shown. The horizontal axis is time.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the control unit 14. The control unit 14 receives a signal 71 from each of the sensors 21 and 22 of the ten electronic papers, and outputs an effective sensor signal. The input buffer 72, the first and second comparators 73 and 74, the first and first comparators. 2 counters 75 and 76, first and second page turning determination units 77 and 78, and a display control unit 79.

  The voltage output 80 of the valid sensor output from the input buffer 72 is input to the first comparator 73 and compared with the threshold value V1 (100 mV in FIG. 7). When the bending becomes larger than a certain level, the sensor output 80 exceeds 100 mV, the output 81 of the first comparator 73 changes from L (low) to H (high), and the signal is transmitted to the first counter 75. . From that time, the counter 75 starts counting, and outputs the count value, that is, the time during which bending is continued, to the first page turning determination unit 77. When the counter output 82 reaches a predetermined time (1 second), the page turning determination unit 77 generates a pulse 831 of the page turning signal 83 and sends it to the display control unit 79. In response to this, the display control unit 79 advances the display page by one, reads the information of the new page from the memory unit 12, transmits it to the display unit 11, and the display unit 11 displays the new page.

  If the sensor 21 or 22 continues to be bent thereafter, the counter 75 further proceeds. When a predetermined time (0.5 seconds) elapses after the first turning signal is generated, the next page turning signal pulse 832 is generated and the display is rewritten again. Subsequently, purge turning signal pulses 833, 834,... Are generated one after another every 0.5 seconds, and the page is rewritten.

  With the above operation, the user rewrites the page 1 second after bending the sensor unit, and then sees the page move at a rate of once every 0.5 seconds as long as the bending is continued.

  If the bending of the sensor 21 or 22 is further increased in the above operation, the sensor output 80 exceeds the second threshold (200 mV in FIG. 7). This is a change of L → H of the output 84 of the second comparator 74, the duration is measured by the second counter 76, and is output as the count output 85. When the predetermined time (1.5 seconds) is exceeded, the second page turning determination unit 78 determines that the page is turned at high speed, and a pulse 861 of the high speed page turning signal 86 is sent to the display control unit 79. Receiving this, the display control unit 79 ignores the normal page turning signal for each page and prioritizes the high speed page turning signal, reads out the information skipped by 10 pages from the memory unit 12 and sends it to the display unit 11. The display unit rewrites the display by skipping 10 pages. Subsequently, pulses 862... Are sent every 0.5 seconds, and high-speed page feed with 10 pages skipping is sequentially performed.

  In the above-described high-speed page turning, the degree of bending may be subdivided to provide three or more threshold values, and an intermediate speed page turning may be provided.

  When the target page is displayed, the user stops bending the sensor 21 or 22 and returns to the original state 53. As a result, the sensor output 80 becomes lower than the threshold value, and the comparator outputs 81 and 84 also return to L. The counters 75 and 76 are reset and output is also stopped. Since the page turning pulse is not generated thereafter, the page is maintained as it is.

  It is also possible to determine the input by the amount of bending or only the duration of the bending. Further, when the book is bent in a direction opposite to the bending direction when turning an ordinary book, it can be determined that the page turning input is not determined.

  If the number of pages is displayed at the same position as the sensor 21, the page number of the next page can be seen when the sensor unit is bent, and the user can continue scrolling until the desired page is reached while looking at it. it can.

  Further, the page information can be scrolled in the reverse direction by turning the sensor 22 part. Alternatively, the page information may be scrolled in the reverse direction when a negative voltage is generated by bending the sensor unit in the reverse direction.

  When each sensor is bent, the voltage value generated by reducing the curvature of the bend is reduced, and the scroll becomes slow. On the other hand, the voltage value generated by increasing the curvature of bending increases and the scrolling speed is stopped. As described above, it is possible to realize a flexible electronic book having a user interface that is excellent in sensation.

  The sensor 21 or 22 is bent when the electronic paper 10 is really turned and another electronic paper is opened and the information is viewed. However, since the time required for the operation is usually 1 second or less, it is distinguished from the above page turning. The In other words, the time until the first page turning signal is generated (1 second in the above example) may be set to be longer than the time required to turn the actual electronic paper.

  When the second and subsequent sheets (fifth sheet in FIG. A) of the electronic paper 101 are opened, the back surface of the previous electronic paper 102 comes to the left of the spread. When the electronic paper can also display the back side, the information one page before the information displayed by the electronic paper 101 facing the right front side is displayed here.

  FIG. 4 shows an electronic paper constituting the display unit of the information device of this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a method for producing the electronic paper of FIG. 4 will be described.

  First, the pressure sensor which consists of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sheet | seat similarly to Example 1 is created.

  PET (polyethylene terephthalate) having a thickness of 300 μm is used as a base material for electronic paper. An ITO electrode is formed on the substrate as a transparent electrode, and a polymer dispersed type dual frequency liquid crystal is sandwiched to produce a liquid crystal display type electronic paper capable of monochrome display. Next, two electronic papers are bonded to each other with the back surfaces facing each other and the pressure sensor is sandwiched between the back and back surfaces to obtain a double-sided display type electronic paper. The pressure sensors 41 and 42 are arranged at the corner portions. 20 sheets of electronic paper are prepared, and an electronic book is created by connecting a display unit, a sensor unit, and a file unit incorporating a control unit.

  The page information can be scrolled in the forward direction by bending the sensor 41 in a spread state in which information with page information is displayed on the electronic book. Further, the page information can be scrolled in the reverse direction by turning the sensor 42 part. Further, when each sensor unit is bent, the scroll speed can be increased by continuing to bend, and the page update can be operated efficiently. As described above, it is possible to realize a flexible electronic book having a user interface that is excellent in sensation.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the information equipment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic paper of this invention. It is a figure showing one form of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic paper of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic book of 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control part of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Display part 12 Memory part 13 Sensor part 14 Control part 21, 22 Sensor

Claims (12)

An information device with multiple flexible display units that can display information with page information on a page-by-page basis, detecting the direction of bending, amount of bending, and duration of bending applied to the display unit Means for determining the presence or absence of page turning input from the detected direction of bending, amount of bending and duration of bending, and information output to the display unit when it is determined that page turning input is present Means for updating,
When the duration of the bending detected by the detecting means reaches a predetermined time, the means for judging whether or not the page turning input is generated generates a page turning signal, and the operation for actually turning the display portion and information device characterized that you and page turning input is distinguished.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein an information update rate changes in accordance with the amount of bending.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the duration of the bending is a time for which the amount of bending continues in a state where the amount exceeds a predetermined magnitude.   2. The information device according to claim 1, wherein when the turning direction is opposite to the predetermined direction, the page turning input is not determined.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein when the direction of the bending is opposite to a predetermined direction, the display unit is updated in the opposite direction.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is provided at two places on the display unit.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the means for detecting at least one of the direction of bending, the amount of bending, and the duration of bending includes a piezoelectric element.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a piezoelectric polymer.   The information device according to claim 8, wherein the piezoelectric polymer is polyvinylidene.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit displays information on one side.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit displays information on both sides. An information device display method for displaying information with page information on an information device in which a plurality of flexible display units are stacked for each page unit,
A step of determining page information; a step of displaying the page information on a flexible display unit; a step of detecting the direction of the bending applied to the display unit, the amount of bending and the duration of the bending; and the detected bending Determining the presence or absence of page turning input from the direction, the amount of bending and the duration of bending, and updating the information output to the display unit when it is determined that the page turning input is present,
The step of determining whether or not there is a page turning input is performed by determining that the page turning input is present and generating the page turning signal when the duration of the detected bending reaches a predetermined time, thereby actually displaying the display unit. display method of an information device, wherein the operation to be the page turning distinguishes an input step of turning on.

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