JP4301046B2 - Related document browsing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a related document browsing technique in which a document image related to a reference document is displayed and held on an electronic paper that displays and holds a document image in a non-powered state for browsing by a user.

Documents are created, edited, viewed, etc. by using electronic data of various media such as images and texts by using an information processing apparatus constituted by a personal computer or the like.
Such a document converted into electronic data is generally displayed on a display screen of an information processing apparatus or printed on a sheet of paper, which is used for user browsing.

In recent years, as a document browsing medium that can replace paper, which is a paper medium, it is possible to display and hold a document image on the display unit in a non-powered state, and it is flexible, thin and portable like a sheet. Electronic paper is being developed.
Electronic paper is a device that has a display unit that displays and holds a document image in a non-powered state. If it is roughly classified according to the writing format of the document image on the display unit, it displays the document image by itself based on the document electronic data. There are self-writing type electronic paper having a function of writing in a part and optical writing type electronic paper that holds a projected document image on a display part.
Unlike electronic paper, such electronic paper can erase or overwrite the document image displayed and held on the display unit, and can update or repeatedly use the document image displayed and held. Promotion of use is also desired from the viewpoint of saving energy.

A browser is known as a technology related to a personal computer, and a projector is connected to the personal computer to project a document image, or a document image related to the document is projected, and a plurality of users browse the document. A work environment that can be used is configured (see Non-Patent Document 1).
Further, as a technique related to a personal computer, a technique is known in which a display area of a display screen is divided into nine matrix shapes, and a document image related to a document image displayed in a central area is displayed in a peripheral area (non-display). (See Patent Document 2).
Microsoft, “Internet Explorer”, Internet <URL: http://www.microsoft.com/japan/ie/> “Mandarat”, Internet <URL: http://www_Hlt66273244._Hlt66273244mandal-art.com/product.html>

  Conventionally, browsing of documents converted into electronic data has been performed by a method such as printing on paper or displaying on a display screen, but there are advantages and disadvantages between paper printing and display screen display. In particular, such a problem arises when a user wants to realize a free collaborative work environment in which a plurality of users work while browsing related documents and further browse other related documents as necessary. It was remarkable.

  That is, in the method of printing a document image on paper, a plurality of papers each having a related document printed thereon are arranged on a desk or the like, and a plurality of users browse the related documents in a list at the same place. While it is possible to realize a work environment in which each user can freely sort the document sheets by hand in order to organize the relationship between documents, it is also possible to browse and use other related documents. Had to do the cumbersome task of finding document data from the information processing device and printing the document image on paper, and it was not necessary to print it as it would be relevant Documents were also wasted paper.

  On the other hand, in the method of displaying on the display screen, the user operates the information processing apparatus to display various document images, and an unnecessary document can be easily switched to another document, but a plurality of document images are listed. It is difficult for a plurality of users who are displayed in the same place and view them. Although it is possible to display multiple windows on the display screen and display different document images in each window, it is a limited display environment such as the size of the display screen. It is difficult to fully view the document contents. Moreover, when trying to view the contents of a document that each user needs, it is necessary to perform troublesome work such as changing the operation of the information processing apparatus between the users or asking the user who is operating the information. I couldn't see the document immediately.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to realize an environment for browsing related documents that combines the advantages of paper and the advantages of information processing technology by using electronic paper. It is said.
Another object of the present invention is to realize an environment in which a user can browse a plurality of documents composed of electronic data as if they were freely operated by hand.

  The present invention uses a document displayed and held on paper or electronic paper as a reference, and based on document identification information acquired from the reference document, displays and holds related documents previously associated with the document on electronic paper. Thus, an environment where a plurality of users can freely browse these related documents is realized. Furthermore, the present invention is based on the electronic paper displaying and holding related documents as a new standard, further displaying related documents on the electronic paper and presenting them to the user. Realize an environment that allows browsing without causing any problems.

  In the present invention, the electronic data of a plurality of documents are stored in the document storage means in advance with identification information associated with each other (for example, associated in time series, upper / lower order, common keyword, etc.), and the identification information acquisition means The identification information is acquired from the reference document (for example, if the reference document is a document image displayed and held on the electronic paper, the document ID data is received from the electronic paper, and if the reference document is a document image printed on the paper, the paper The document ID code displayed in the image is read out), the electronic document data related to the reference document is extracted from the document storage unit based on the document identification information acquired by the related document extracting unit, and the related document output unit is extracted. Related The related document image is written and displayed on the electronic paper based on the document electronic data (for example, the document electronic data is transmitted and self-written on the display unit and displayed and held, and the document image is projected and displayed and held on the display unit. )

In the present invention, each of the above functional means is constituted by, for example, a server. As a database in which the document storage means is distributed in a network, the related document extracting means accesses these databases and acquires related document electronic data. May be.
Further, in the present invention, the identification information of the related document may be held in the electronic paper. In this case, the identification information acquisition unit acquires the related document identification information from the reference document by data communication or image reading, Document electronic data related to the reference document is extracted from the document storage means based on the document identification information acquired by the related document extracting means, and the related document output means is related to the electronic paper based on the extracted related document electronic data. Write and display the document image. Note that the document storage means in this case may store electronic data of a plurality of documents with identification information attached to each other even if the documents are not associated with each other.

  Here, the related document browsing system of the present invention may have a table for arranging a reference document and an electronic paper for writing and displaying the related document image, thereby limiting the existence range of the reference document and the electronic paper. In addition, it is possible to improve the accuracy of obtaining document identification information from the reference document and writing the related document to the electronic paper, and further define a work place where a plurality of users can freely view the related document. be able to.

Here, in the present invention, the identification information reading means can be provided in various modes as long as the document identification information can be acquired from the reference document. From the viewpoint of acquisition and writing, as a preferable aspect in the present invention, the reference document in the table is used. Identification information acquisition means for acquiring the identification information from the reference document is provided at the arrangement position, and related document output means for transmitting the document electronic data to the arrangement position of the electronic paper.
In the present invention, the arrangement of related documents is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of browsing, a preferred embodiment in the present invention is a form in which eight electronic papers are arranged in a matrix around a table with a reference document at the center. The related document is displayed around the reference document, or the electronic paper is arranged on the top and bottom or left and right with the table as the center. Enable users to understand relevance at a glance.

In the present invention, when the electronic paper is a self-writing type having a communication unit that performs data communication and a writing unit that writes and displays a document image on the display unit based on document electronic data acquired by the communication unit, Preferably, related document output means for transmitting related document electronic data to the electronic paper and writing and displaying the related document image is provided at the position of the electronic paper on the table.
Further, in the present invention, when the electronic paper is an optical writing type having a display unit for displaying and holding the document image by projecting the document image, the electronic paper is based on the related document electronic data at the position of the electronic paper on the table. It is preferable that related document output means for projecting a document image on a display unit of electronic paper and writing and displaying the related document image is provided.

  In the present invention, in addition to the aspect in which the related document is displayed on the electronic paper planarly arranged on the table as described above, the related document output means is provided on the electronic paper based on the extracted related document electronic data. A device such as a printer that writes and displays the related document image may be used.

  According to the present invention, since related documents are browsed using electronic paper, the advantages of paper such as listability and operability are combined with the advantages of information processing technology such as ease of document switching. The related document browsing environment can be realized. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an environment in which a user can browse a plurality of documents composed of electronic data as if they were freely operated by hand.

The present invention will be specifically described based on examples.
First, the electronic paper EP used in the present invention as a medium for displaying and holding a document will be specifically described with reference to examples shown in FIGS.
The electronic paper EP is roughly classified according to the display information recording method, and includes an optical writing type shown in FIGS. 12 to 15 and a self-writing type shown in FIGS. 16 to 18. As is called electronic paper, it is a thin and flexible device like paper.
The various functions of the electronic paper EP described below may be selected according to the system mode for carrying out the present invention to be described later and provided in the electronic paper EP.

FIG. 12A shows the optical writable electronic paper EP viewed from the front, and FIG. 12B shows the optical writable electronic paper EP viewed from the side. The electronic paper EP shown in the figure has a display unit 2 for displaying and recording document images and a processing unit 3 for processing electronic data. In FIG. The functional part is also shown.
The optical writable electronic paper EP is a flexible thin thin film such as an A4 size paper, for example, and displays and records a document image on the display unit 2 occupying a large area in a non-powered state. The size of the display unit 2 is arbitrary, and the display unit 2 and the processing unit 3 are detachable. For example, the clip-type processing unit 3 is attached to the display unit 2 and connected to the electronic paper EP. You may make it comprise.

As will be described later, the processing unit 3 includes an electrode 4 for applying a voltage for driving the display unit 2, a communication unit (wireless unit in the illustrated example) 5 for data communication with the outside, and electronic data can be freely read and written. A memory 6 to be held, a control unit (CPU) 7 that performs processing such as transmission / reception of document identification information (document ID) stored in the memory 6 as will be described later, and a battery that supplies driving power for these functional units 8 is provided.
Note that the communication unit 5 may be in a format for performing data communication by bringing terminals into contact with each other, or in a form of optical communication using infrared rays or the like, depending on the implementation configuration of the system.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the optical writable electronic paper EP displays a document as an image on the liquid crystal panel 10, and the optical writable electronic paper EP is applied to the liquid crystal panel 10 while applying a voltage to the electrode 4 from an external power source. The document image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10 can be transferred to and stored in the display unit 2 by irradiating with light.
The document image can also be transferred and stored in the display unit 2 by irradiating light on the optically writable electronic paper EP while applying a voltage to the electrode 4 and irradiating with light. The optical writing type electronic paper EP transfers the projected image information to the display unit 2 by applying a voltage to the electrode 4, and holds the image information in a display state even after the voltage applied to the electrode 4 is removed. It has the function to continue.

  As shown in FIG. 15 showing the cross-sectional structure of the display unit 2, the optical writable electronic paper EP is composed of an organic photoconductive material layer (organic photoconductive layer) 20 and a liquid crystal display material layer used in a copying machine. (Microencapsulated cholesteric liquid crystal layer) 21 is combined, these layers are sandwiched between a pair of front and back transparent electrodes 22, and this laminate is sandwiched between a pair of front and back transparent substrate films 23. In this configuration, the white display in which the cholesteric liquid crystal layer 21 reflects light and the light is transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 21 and absorbed by the black layer 24 provided between the cholesteric liquid crystal layer 21 and the organic photoconductive layer 20. Black display monochrome image display is possible. Furthermore, since the cholesteric liquid crystal has a characteristic of interference-reflecting color light according to the helical pitch, color display can be realized with a simple structure by forming the cholesteric liquid crystal layer 21 by laminating liquid crystals having different helical pitches. It is also possible.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14 showing the operation principle of the display unit 2, the optical writing type electronic paper EP displays a document image to be transferred to, for example, a dimming element panel (light emitting panel) 10 for image writing, and displays the display unit. When the voltage is applied to the electrode 4 and a voltage is applied to the electrode 4, the intensity of light is instantaneously converted to a reflection density and the projection image is held. The image information held in the display unit 2 can be erased by applying an erasing voltage to the electrode 4, and the optical writable electronic paper EP can be reused many times by repeating writing and erasing. The optical writable electronic paper EP does not perform such an erasing process, but applies a voltage to the electrode 4 to project a new image as described above, whereby a document image held in the display unit 2 is projected. Can be overwritten and can be reused again and again by such overwriting.
Therefore, the optical writing type electronic paper EP has the property of holding the document image transferred by projecting the image without power in addition to the property of being thin and flexible like paper, so that it is used for a printer or a copying machine. It is a display recording medium that can be used like paper and can be reused repeatedly.

FIG. 16A shows the self-writing electronic paper EP as viewed from the front, and FIG. 16B shows the self-writing electronic paper EP as viewed from the side. The electronic paper EP shown in the figure has a display unit 12 for displaying and recording a document image and a processing unit 13 for processing electronic data. In FIG. Is also represented.
The self-writing type electronic paper EP, like the optical writing type electronic paper, is a flexible thin display device having a size such as, for example, A4 size paper, and a processing unit on one piece of the display unit 12 occupying most of the area. 13 is provided. Similar to the optical writable electronic paper, the size of the display unit 12 is sized according to the application, and the display unit 12 and the processing unit 13 are detachable. The electronic paper EP may be configured by attaching and connecting 13 to the display unit 12.

The processing unit 13 includes a driver 14 that drives the display unit 12, a communication unit (in the illustrated example, a wireless unit) 15 for data communication, a memory 16 that holds electronic data in a readable and writable manner, as will be described later. A control unit (CPU) 17 that performs processing such as transmission / reception of document identification information (document ID) stored in the memory 6 from the wireless unit 5, a battery 18 that supplies driving power for these functional units, a button that receives user operation input, and the like The operation unit 19 is provided.
Note that the communication unit 15 may be in a format for performing data communication by bringing terminals into contact with each other, or in a form of optical communication using infrared rays or the like, depending on the implementation configuration of the system.

  Further, the self-writing type electronic paper EP is different from the optical writing type electronic paper, and the driver 14 writes and displays the document image on the display unit 12 based on the document electronic data held in the memory 16. The document image to be displayed can be switched and changed by the processing by the CPU 17 according to the operation input from 19 and the received document data as will be described later, and the document image is displayed on the display unit 12 even if the driving power of the driver 14 is removed. Has a function of continuously holding in the display state.

  As shown in FIG. 18 showing the cross-sectional structure of the display unit 12, the self-writing type electronic paper EP has fine colored particles (white particles 31 and black particles 32 in the illustrated example) used as toner in the copying machine. Is sealed between a pair of front and back electrodes 33 whose surface side is transparent, and is sandwiched between a pair of front and back film substrates 34 whose surface side is transparent. An air layer is formed between the electrode layers 33 so that the colored particles 31 and 32 can freely move. The matrix-like electrode layer 33 is provided with an insulating layer 35 for preventing contact with the colored particles 31 and 32. It has been. Note that a color display can be realized with a simple structure by using a color filter.

The self-writing type electronic paper EP is in a state in which no voltage is applied to the electrode 33 as shown in FIG. 17 showing the operation principle of the display unit 12 (however, the electrode 33 is charged to the polarity at the previous driving). ), The negatively charged white particles 31 accumulate on the back side, while the positively charged black particles 32 accumulate on the front side. When the display unit 12 is viewed from the front side, the display unit 12 is observed. Becomes a black state. And if the electrode polarity of the required part of the matrix according to the image information which the driver 14 operates and displays based on the electronic data is inverted, the positional relationship between the white particles 31 and the black particles 32 is switched, and the display unit 12 is switched. The image information based on the contrast between the white particles 31 and the black particles 32 is displayed. By operating the driver 14 based on different electronic data, the image information displayed on the display unit 12 can be switched depending on the contrast between the white particles 31 and the black particles 32, and can be reused many times. .
Accordingly, the self-writing type electronic paper EP has the property of holding the image information displayed on the display unit 12 with no power supply in addition to the property of being thin and flexible like paper, so that the display can be used like paper. It is a recording medium.

Regardless of the optical writing type or the self-writing type, the wireless communication function such as the wireless unit 5 (15), the memory 6 (16), the battery 8 (18), etc. May be configured as another wireless IC tag, and the wireless IC tag may be attached to electronic paper to have the same configuration as described above. In the case of a wireless IC tag, the battery 8 (18) may be a capacitor that holds the electromotive force from the tag reader.
In addition, the present invention can be applied to electronic papers other than formats such as self-writing type electronic paper and optical writing type electronic paper. For example, the electronic paper can be loaded into an external rewriting device and the display unit can be self-writing type. A format in which content images are electronically written may be used. That is, the self-writing electronic paper is an example of an electronic paper that does not require an external image writing device, and the optical writing electronic paper is an example of an electronic paper that requires an external image writing device. .
In addition, as the display section 2 (12) of the electronic paper, a liquid crystal having a memory property typified by a ferroelectric liquid crystal, an electrophoretic method in which charged particles are moved to switch a display, and charged particles are rotated. Alternatively, a particle rotation method for switching the display, a magnetophoresis method for switching the display by moving particles by magnetism, a thin battery-driven thin liquid crystal or an EL element may be used.

Next, a related document browsing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
First, in the related document browsing system described below, a document (related document) previously associated with a reference document (reference document) is displayed on the electronic paper EP as described above. The reference document may be in a form printed on paper in addition to the form displayed and held on the electronic paper EP. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a document image serving as a reference is printed on a sheet P, and an ID code 37 for identifying the reference document (related document in another embodiment of the present invention) is printed on the sheet P. The ID code 37 may be pasted and input to the system server by the reading device 38 by a method such as image reading. That is, since the related document is not written in the medium that displays and holds the first reference document, the system server only needs to hold the reference document ID or the related document ID so that the system server can acquire it.

The electronic paper EP used for displaying and holding the related document and the reference document can be either an optical writing type or a self writing type. FIG. 1 shows the case where the optical writing type electronic paper EP is used. FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of the system when the self-writing electronic paper EP is used.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electronic paper EP displays and holds the image of the reference document. However, the first reference document may be displayed and held as described above. 1 and 2 store the document ID for identifying the document that the electronic paper EP displays and holds, but as another embodiment, there is a relationship associated with the document in advance. A document ID for identifying the document is stored.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, when the document ID of a document displayed and held by the display unit 2 is stored in the memory 6 of the optical writable electronic paper EP, and the document is a reference document as described later, the control unit 7 Under this control, the document ID stored in the memory 6 is transmitted from the wireless unit 5 to the server 40.
The server 40 includes a wireless unit 41 that receives a document ID from the electronic paper EP, an association data memory 42 that stores association data between a plurality of documents in advance, and electronic data of the document and additional data such as an issue date and time and keywords. A document data memory 43 is provided.

Further, the server 40 corresponds to the related search unit 44 for searching the ID of the related document from the related data memory 42 based on the document ID received from the wireless unit, and the document data memory 43 based on the searched related document ID. The related data extraction unit 45 that extracts the document electronic data and the additional data, the arrangement processing unit 46 that determines the arrangement of the related document based on the extracted additional data, and the related document ID of the display target output from the arrangement processing unit 46. The ID writing unit 47 for transmitting from the wireless unit 41 to the electronic paper EP is configured by causing a computer constituting the server to execute a program for executing the processing of the present invention. Related documents based on electronic document data Optical writing unit to be displayed on the light emitting panel in positional relationship to the determined placement image (projector) and a 48.
The related search unit 44 and the related data extraction unit 45 constitute a related document extracting unit that extracts document electronic data related to the reference document based on the document ID.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the association data memory 42 of this example relates to a number of documents in which document IDs (document numbers) are associated with IDs of related documents (related document numbers) associated in advance with the document. Association data is stored, and the degree of association of the associated document is preset for each document ID. For example, the document number D1 is associated with the document number D11 with the highest degree of association “1”, and the document number D15 document is associated with the document number D58 with the degree of relevance “8”. Yes.

  In the document data memory 43 of this example, as shown in FIG. 8, the document ID (document number), the title name (title) of the document, the electronic data file name (document file name) of the document, and the document are stored in advance. Document data relating to a large number of documents in which the assigned keywords and the issue date and time of the document are associated with each other is stored. In the example shown in the figure, the document electronic data is indicated by the document file name so that the document electronic data stored in another memory area can be extracted. Electronic data may be stored in association with each other.

As described above, the association data and the document data are separated from each other, so that the related data extraction unit 45 has a network access function so that the document data (particularly, the document electronic data and its ID) can be transmitted on the network. It can be easily used as a file.
Alternatively, the association data and the document data may be integrated, and the data memory 42 and the document data memory 43 may be merged.

Here, in the system configuration described above, the server 40 searches for a related document based on the ID of the document held and displayed that is acquired from the electronic paper EP by wireless communication. As an example, the server 40 may be configured not to search for such related documents.
In this case, the electronic paper EP stores one or a plurality of related document IDs previously associated with the document currently displayed and held on the display unit 2 in the ID memory 6. The related document ID is transmitted from the wireless unit 5 to the server 40. In the server 40, based on the related document ID received and acquired from the electronic paper EP, the related data extraction unit 45 extracts the corresponding document data and additional data from the document data memory 43, and performs the same processing as described above. Based on the extracted related document data, a process of displaying the related document image on another electronic paper is performed.

  Further, when the electronic paper EP transmits the reference document ID as in the above embodiment, the ID writing unit 47 transmits the ID of the document displayed and held by the electronic paper to the other electronic paper EP displaying the related document. However, when the electronic paper EP transmits the related document ID of the document displayed and held by the electronic paper EP as in this embodiment, the other electronic paper EP displaying the related document is displayed. The ID of the document further related to the document displayed and held by the electronic paper is transmitted by the ID writing unit 47 and stored in the ID memory 6. That is, the related search unit 44 searches the related data memory 42 based on the related document ID acquired from the electronic paper EP to search for the ID of a document further related to the related document, and the document related to the related document. The ID is stored in the electronic paper EP, and the electronic paper displaying the related document is prepared as a reference document.

In the system shown in FIG. 2, when the document ID of the document displayed and held by the display unit 12 is stored in the memory 16 of the self-writing electronic paper EP, and the document is a reference document as described later, the control unit 17 Under this control, the document ID stored in the memory 16 is transmitted from the wireless unit 15 to the server 40.
The server 40 has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 1, but transmits the related document electronic data and the document ID extracted by the related search unit 44 and the related data extraction unit 45 to the self-writing electronic paper EP from the wireless unit 41. A data providing unit 49 is provided, and no means 48 for optically writing to the electronic paper EP is provided.

Here, in the system configuration of the above-described self-writing electronic paper, the server 40 searches for related documents based on the ID of the document held and displayed, which is acquired from the electronic paper EP by wireless communication. As another embodiment of the present invention, the server 40 may be configured not to search for such related documents.
In this case, in the same manner as described above, the electronic paper EP stores one or a plurality of related document IDs previously associated with the document currently displayed and held on the display unit 12 in the ID memory 16 and is used as a reference document. The related document ID is transmitted from the wireless unit 15 to the server 40. In the server 40, based on the related document ID received and acquired from the electronic paper EP, the related data extraction unit 45 extracts the corresponding document data and additional data from the document data memory 43, and performs the same processing as described above. The extracted related document data is transmitted from the wireless unit 41 to another electronic paper to display the related document image.

  Further, when the electronic paper EP transmits the reference document ID as in the above embodiment, the ID writing unit 47 transmits the ID of the document displayed and held by the electronic paper to the other electronic paper EP displaying the related document. However, when the electronic paper EP transmits the related document ID of the document displayed and held by the electronic paper EP as in this embodiment, the other electronic paper EP displaying the related document is displayed. The ID of the document further related to the document displayed and held by the electronic paper is transmitted by the ID writing unit 47 and stored in the ID memory 16. That is, the related search unit 44 searches the related data memory 42 based on the related document ID acquired from the electronic paper EP to search for the ID of a document further related to the related document, and the document related to the related document. The ID is stored in the electronic paper EP, and the electronic paper displaying the related document is prepared as a reference document.

4 to 6 illustrate a related document output unit that causes the electronic paper EP to display and hold an image of the related document based on the extracted related document electronic data.
The related data output unit illustrated in FIG. 4 is a table 50 in which nine electronic papers EP1 to EP9 are arranged in a matrix. As nine arrangement positions for arranging the electronic papers EP1 to EP9, reference positions X0 and Eight positions X1 to X8 are set around the reference position.
In the table 50 shown in FIG. 4, in order to display and hold a document image on the optical writable electronic paper EP, the arrangement positions X0 to X8 are light emitting panels composed of the optical writing unit 48, and the display positions X0 to X8 An image of a related document is projected onto the placed optical writable electronic paper EP and displayed on the display unit 2.

Further, in the table 50 shown in FIG. 4, the wireless unit 41 of the server is provided corresponding to each of the reference position X0 and the arrangement positions X1 to X8, and the electronic paper placed at the reference position X0 for placing the reference document. The document ID is received and acquired from the EP, and the ID of the related document to be displayed and held is transmitted to the optical writing type electronic paper EP placed at the display positions X0 to X8 and stored in the memory.
In the case of a system using the self-writing type electronic paper EP, it is not necessary to provide the optical writing unit 48 at the arrangement positions X1 to X8, and from the wireless unit 41 provided corresponding to the arrangement positions X1 to X8. The related document electronic data is also transmitted to the self-writing type electronic paper EP placed at each position, and the display unit 12 displays and holds the related document image.

The table 50 illustrated in FIG. 5 has a horizontally long shape. When the electronic paper EP that displays and holds the reference document D1 is placed at the position X0, the electronic paper EP placed at the left and right positions X1 to X8 of the position X0 is displayed. Data is transmitted from the wireless unit 41 to display and hold an image of the related document. In such a table format, for example, the placement processing unit 46, based on the issue date information (additional data) of each document, to the left of the reference position X0, the related documents D15, D14, D13 whose issue date is older than the reference document. , D12, and D11 are displayed in time series, and related documents D16, D17, and D18 whose issue date and time are newer than the reference document can be displayed in time series to the right of the reference position X0.
Similarly, the association of concepts such as upper and lower is set in advance between the documents and registered in the server. The table 50 is assumed to be vertically long, and the upper relationship above the reference document is above the reference position X0. The documents may be sequentially displayed, and related documents lower than the reference document may be sequentially displayed below the reference position X0.

  In addition, without providing the table 50 as described above, a plurality of electronic paper EPs are arranged in a matrix, top and bottom, or left and right on a desk or a wall, and data corresponding to each electronic paper EP is transmitted by the wireless unit 41. The related document may be displayed and held. In this case, for example, in the self-writing type electronic paper EP, a device ID for identifying itself is given to each electronic paper EP, and the server 40 and each electronic paper EP perform data communication to each server 40. The electronic paper is recognized by the device ID, and the document ID is transmitted to the server 40 from the electronic paper EP displaying and holding the reference document by the user operation. Based on this, the server 40 adds the device ID to the electronic paper. By transmitting the data, the data related to the related document may be transmitted to the predetermined electronic paper EP by wireless communication to display and hold the related document.

The related data output unit illustrated in FIG. 6 is a printer-type device 51. In addition to a writing function for outputting data to the electronic paper EP and displaying and holding the related document, the related data output unit is displayed from the electronic paper EP that displays and holds the reference document. It also has a function to acquire an ID.
Note that this writing function is a document image projection mechanism for optical writing electronic paper, and a terminal connection or wireless document electronic data transmission function for self writing electronic paper. The document ID acquisition function is a data communication function for receiving a document ID (reference document ID or related document ID) from electronic paper by terminal connection or wirelessly, or a mechanism for reading the ID code 37 of the paper P on which the reference document is printed. It is.

  When the apparatus 51 shown in FIG. 6 displays and holds the reference document D1 and places the electronic paper EP (or paper P) at the reading position of the apparatus 51, the document ID (reference document ID or related document ID) from the electronic paper EP is displayed. Is obtained and provided to the server 40, and the images of the related documents D11 to D18 are respectively displayed and held on the required number of electronic papers EP based on the data retrieved and output from the server 40 and output.

Next, related document browsing processing by the system configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
10 shows a processing procedure of the server 40 in a configuration in which the electronic paper EP provides the reference document ID to the server 40, and FIG. 11 shows a processing procedure of the server 40 in a configuration in which the electronic paper EP provides the related document ID to the server 40. A processing procedure is shown. First, a case where the former server 40 acquires a reference document ID from the electronic paper EP will be described.

First, as shown on the left side of FIG. 9, nine electronic papers EP are arranged in a matrix and the documents D1, D11 to D18 are respectively displayed and held on the display unit, as shown on the right side of FIG. Further, it is assumed that the user replaces the electronic paper EP displaying and holding the document D15 arranged in the lower right corner with the center position of the matrix which is the reference position.
The document D15 placed at the reference position in this manner becomes a reference document at this point, and the reference electronic paper EP stored in the memory 6 (16) is displayed on the display unit 2 in response to a transmission request from the server 40 side. The ID (reference document ID) of the document displayed and held in (12) is transmitted from the wireless unit 5 (15), and the server 40 receives and acquires the reference document ID by the wireless unit 41 (step S1).

In the server 40, the related search unit 44 searches the related data memory 42 to extract the related document ID and the related degree related to the reference document ID (step S2), and the related data extraction unit 45 searches for the related document ID. The additional data such as the electronic document data and the issue date / time information corresponding to is extracted from the document data memory 43 (step S3).
Note that the maximum number for extracting the related document ID or related document electronic data is preset in the related search unit 44 or the related document extracting unit 45, and as shown in FIG. 9, eight related documents are arranged around the reference document. Is displayed, the related search unit 44 or the related document extracting unit 45 extracts a maximum of eight related document IDs or related document electronic data.

  In the server 40, the arrangement processing unit 46 causes the extracted related document data to be displayed on any electronic paper EP arranged around the reference document D15 based on the additional data such as the degree of association and the issue date information. If the optical writing type electronic paper EP is an optical writing type electronic paper EP, the optical writing unit 48 projects and holds the image of the related document on the display unit 2 of each electronic paper. If there is, the related document electronic data is transmitted from the communication unit 41, and each electronic paper is written and displayed on the display unit 12 (step S5). In this writing process (step S5), the ID of the related document to be displayed and held on the electronic paper is transmitted from the communication unit 41 and stored in the ID memory 6 (16). The ID of the existing document is stored.

  Here, in order to display the related document on the corresponding electronic paper EP so as to have the arrangement determined by the arrangement processing unit 46, as shown in FIG. 4, the related document image is displayed at a position corresponding to each electronic paper EP. And the data may be transmitted from the communication unit 41 at the position corresponding to each electronic paper EP. Also, the server 40 knows the device ID of each electronic paper, and the server 40 The system configuration may be such that only the electronic paper designated by the device ID receives the data transmitted from.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the processing of the embodiment in which the electronic paper EP provides the related document ID to the server 40, the reference electronic paper EP displays and holds the reference electronic paper EP in response to a transmission request from the server 40 side. The related document ID previously associated with the document is read from the memory 6 (16) and transmitted from the wireless unit 5 (15), and the server 40 receives and acquires the related document ID by the wireless unit 41 (step S11). .
Note that the maximum number of related document IDs stored in the memory 6 (16) is set in advance, and when eight related documents are displayed around the reference document as shown in FIG. Two related document IDs are stored in the memory 6 (16) and provided to the server 40 as described above.

In the server 40, the related search unit 44 searches the related data memory 42 to extract relevance information corresponding to the related document ID, and the document electronic data corresponding to the related document ID received by the related data extraction unit 45. And the additional data such as the issue date information is extracted from the document data memory 43 (step S12).
In the server 40, the arrangement processing unit 46 performs the same arrangement process as in step S4 (step S13), and the related document is set to the periphery in a method corresponding to the optical writing type electronic paper EP and the self writing type electronic paper EP. The ID of the document associated with the document (related document) to be displayed and held on each arranged electronic paper and also to be displayed and held on the electronic paper is transmitted from the communication unit 41 and stored in the ID memory 6 (16). Then, the ID of the document displayed and held by each electronic paper is stored (step S14).

As described above, in any method, as shown on the right side of FIG. 9, the related document is displayed and held on the electronic paper placed around the document D15.
Therefore, by replacing an arbitrary electronic paper EP displaying and holding a document image with the center of the matrix to be a reference document, a document related to the reference document is displayed and held on the surrounding electronic paper, and the electronic paper has a rewriting function Thus, such an operation can be repeated.

It is a functional block diagram of the related document browsing system using the optical writable electronic paper which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the related document browsing system using the self-writing type electronic paper based on the Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the paper which printed the reference | standard document based on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the related document output means which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the related document output means which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the related document output means which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the association data based on the Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the document data which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the browsing operation of the related document which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the server which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the server which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of optical writable electronic paper. It is a figure explaining the usage method of optical writable electronic paper. It is a figure explaining the principle of operation of optical writing type electronic paper. It is a figure explaining the structure of optical writing type electronic paper. It is a figure which shows an example of self-writing type electronic paper. It is a figure explaining the principle of operation of self-writing type electronic paper. It is a figure explaining the structure of self-writing type electronic paper.

Explanation of symbols

EP: electronic paper, P: paper,
2, 12: Display unit, 5, 15: Communication unit (radio unit),
6, 16: ID memory, 7, 17: Control unit,
40: server 41: communication unit (wireless unit)
42: Association data memory 43: Document data memory
44: related search unit, 45: related data extraction unit,
46: arrangement processing unit, 47: ID writing unit,
48: Optical writing unit, 49: Data providing unit,
50: Table, 51: Reading / writing device,

Claims (8)

A related document browsing system for displaying a document image related to a reference document using an electronic paper having a display unit capable of writing a document image and displaying and holding the document image in a non-powered state,
An identification information acquiring means for acquiring the identification information from the reference document, based on the acquired identification information of the reference document, each identification information of electronic data relevant documents, multiple documents of the electronic data associated with the reference document and Related documents extracting means for extracting from the document storage means for storing in association with each other are denoted by, based on the electronic data of the extracted the related documents, related document output to write display the document image of the relevant documents in the electronic paper means a, instrumentation with a table defined around the position around the reference position to place the electronic paper to write Show and document image of the associated document reference position is defined to place the reference document Equipped with a,
The related document browsing system , wherein the identification information acquisition means is provided at the reference position in the table . A related document browsing system for displaying a document image related to a reference document using an electronic paper having a display unit capable of writing a document image and displaying and holding the document image in a non-powered state,
The reference document holds the identification information of the related document associated with the reference document so that it can be obtained from the outside.
An identification information acquiring means for acquiring identification information of the relevant documents from the reference document, based on the acquired identification information of the relevant documents, the electronic data of the relevant documents, each identification information electronic data of a plurality of documents and Related documents extracting means for extracting from the document storage means for storing subjected, on the basis of the electronic data of the extracted the related documents and associated document output means for writing display the document image of the relevant documents in the electronic paper, the A table in which a reference position for arranging a reference document is determined, and a position at which an electronic paper for writing and displaying a document image of the related document is arranged is determined around the reference position.
The related document browsing system , wherein the identification information acquisition means is provided at the reference position in the table . In the related document browsing system according to claim 1 or claim 2 ,
The related document browsing system, wherein the table has a form in which eight electronic papers are arranged in a matrix around the reference document. In the related document browsing system according to claim 1 or claim 2 ,
The related document browsing system, wherein the table has a form in which electronic paper is arranged vertically or horizontally with the reference document as a center. The related document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The electronic paper includes a communication means for performing data communication, has a writing means for the document image writing displayed on the display unit based on the electronic data of the document acquired by the communication means,
The table is related document viewing, wherein a related document output means for the electronic data of the relevant documents to the position of the electronic paper and transmitted to the electronic paper display write a document image of the relevant documents provided system. The related document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The electronic paper has a display unit for displaying and holding the document image by projecting the document image,
The table is provided with related document output means for projecting a document image based on the electronic data of the related document onto the display position of the electronic paper and writing and displaying the document image of the related document at the arrangement position of the electronic paper. Related document browsing system characterized by By using an electronic paper having a display unit capable of writing a document image and displaying and holding the document image in a non-powered state by an apparatus including an identification information acquisition unit, a related document extraction unit, and a related document output unit. A related document browsing method for displaying a document image related to a document,
The apparatus includes a table in which a reference position where a reference document is arranged is determined, and a position where an electronic paper for writing and displaying a document image of a related document related to the reference document is arranged around the reference position. Have
The identification information acquisition means is provided at the reference position in the table;
The identification information acquisition means acquires the identification information from a reference document arranged at the reference position in the table ;
Storing said associated document extracting means, based on the acquired identification information of the reference document, the electronic data related documents related to the reference document, in association with each other are denoted by the respective identification information electronic data of a plurality of documents Extracted from the document storage means,
The associated document output means, based on the electronic data of the extracted the relevant documents, that is the reference position writing display the document image of the relevant documents to the electronic paper disposed around around the in the table A related document browsing method as a feature. By using an electronic paper having a display unit capable of writing a document image and displaying and holding the document image in a non-powered state by an apparatus including an identification information acquisition unit, a related document extraction unit, and a related document output unit. A related document browsing method for displaying a document image related to a document,
The apparatus includes a table in which a reference position where a reference document is arranged is determined, and a position where an electronic paper for writing and displaying a document image of a related document related to the reference document is arranged around the reference position. Have
The identification information acquisition means is provided at the reference position in the table;
The identification information of the related document associated with the reference document is attached to the reference document so as to be acquired from the outside,
The identification information acquisition means acquires the identification information of the related document from the reference document arranged at the reference position in the table ;
The associated document extracting means, based on the acquired identification information of the relevant document, extracts the electronic data of the relevant documents, from the document storage means for storing each assigned the identification information of electronic data of a plurality of documents,
The associated document output means, based on the electronic data of the extracted the relevant documents, that is the reference position writing display the document image of the relevant documents to the electronic paper disposed around around the in the table A related document browsing method as a feature.

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