JP6112506B2 - Portable electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, and particularly to a portable electronic device that can be easily operated with one hand.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, portable electronic devices such as smartphones that have a display input device that can perform an input operation on a display screen have been widely used. In such portable electronic devices, the size of the display screen has been increased without increasing the size of the portable electronic device itself, and the ratio of the display screen to the surface area of the portable electronic device has increased. Yes. Therefore, input devices other than the display input device are arranged on the side surface of the device, but it is difficult to arrange a plurality of input devices on the side surface of the portable electronic device as the portable electronic device becomes thinner. Therefore, there is a need for a portable electronic device including an input device that can be operated by a single input device.

  In Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 6, a portable device 900 is proposed in which a touch sensor is provided on a side surface of a housing and an input operation can be performed by sliding a finger in the longitudinal direction and thickness direction of the housing. ing.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an apparatus 900 (computer system such as a mobile computer device) described in Patent Document 1. A touch formed on a side surface 914 of the device 900 and having a concave shape corresponding to a human thumb from the upper surface 908 of the device 900 to the bottom surface 910 of the device 900 and having a function of detecting a motion input of the thumb on the surface An input device 902 including a sensor surface is provided, and the portable device 900 that can be operated with a thumb can be provided by providing the input device 902 on a side surface 914 of a housing having a display 916.

JP 2011-8767 A

  However, mobile computer devices (portable electronic devices) such as smartphones are becoming thinner, and in the above-described conventional apparatus 900, the operation range in the thickness direction is particularly limited to the thickness range of the apparatus 900. For this reason, the range that can be operated becomes narrow, and there is a problem that the operation is difficult.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and provides a portable electronic device including an input device that is easy to perform an input operation in the thickness direction of the side surface of the portable device, even for a thin portable electronic device. With the goal.

  In order to solve this problem, a portable electronic device according to the present invention detects a case, a display unit provided on an upper surface of the case, an input operation unit, and an input operation to the input operation unit. In the portable electronic device comprising a control means for outputting a control signal, the input operation unit is located on a side of the housing and is sandwiched between an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing. A first space including the side of the casing and a second space including a region protruding above the upper surface of the casing; the side of the casing and below the lower surface of the casing One proximity sensor using one space as a detection area among the third space including the protruding area, and another proximity sensor using another space different from the one space as a detection area, To do.

  According to this, it is possible to detect the proximity of the operation body accompanied by the operation in a range wider than the thickness of the portable electronic device. Therefore, the range that can be operated can be expanded beyond the thickness of the portable electronic device. Therefore, even with a thin portable electronic device, the portable electronic device is equipped with an input device that allows easy input operation in the thickness direction of the side surface of the portable device. Equipment can be provided.

  In the portable electronic device of the present invention, the input operation unit is disposed on a side surface of the housing and includes a side surface proximity sensor including the first space as a detection region, and an upper surface side in the vicinity of the side surface. An upper surface side proximity sensor including the second space in the detection region, and a lower surface side proximity sensor disposed on the lower surface side in the vicinity of the side surface and including the third space in the detection region.

According to this, the range which can be operated can be expanded more than the thickness of a portable electronic device, and proximity input operation by at least three detection areas can be performed.
Therefore, even if it is a thin portable electronic device, it is possible to provide a portable electronic device that can easily perform an input operation and can perform an input operation of three steps or more in the thickness direction of the side surface of the portable device.

  According to the portable electronic device of the present invention, the first space including the region sandwiched between the upper surface and the lower surface of the housing, the side of the housing, At least two of the second space including the area protruding above the upper surface and the third space including the area protruding from the lower surface of the casing on the side of the casing are detected. It has the 1st proximity sensor used as a field, and the 2nd proximity sensor. For this reason, it is possible to detect the proximity of the operation body accompanied by the operation in a range wider than the thickness of the portable electronic device. Therefore, the range that can be operated can be expanded beyond the thickness of the portable electronic device. Therefore, even with a thin portable electronic device, the portable electronic device is equipped with an input device that allows easy input operation in the thickness direction of the side surface of the portable device. Equipment can be provided.

1 is a schematic external view of a portable electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the input operation part of the portable electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the detection range of an input operation part. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a portable electronic device 100 according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of an input operation part. It is a figure explaining the portable portable apparatus of a prior art.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a portable electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a portable electronic device 100 according to the embodiment. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating the input operation unit 30 of the portable electronic device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the portable electronic device 100, and FIG. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detection range of the input operation unit 30. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the portable electronic device 100. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the input operation unit 30.

  First, the configuration of the portable electronic device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the portable electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a casing 10 that forms an outer shape, and a display unit 20 on the Z1 side (upper surface) of the casing 10. On the X1 side (right side), an input operation unit 30 on which an operator performs a proximity input operation is provided.

  The display unit 20 is configured by a display element such as a liquid crystal display, and performs display according to the operation state of the portable electronic device 100.

  The input operation unit 30 is located on the X1 side of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. 2 (a), and is provided across the upper surface, side surface, and lower surface of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. 2 (b). Yes. On the inner surface of the housing 10 in which the input operation unit 30 is provided, the first proximity sensor 1 is on the X1 side, the second proximity sensor 2 is on the Z1 side (upper bottom surface), and the third proximity sensor 2 is on the Z2 side (lower bottom surface). A proximity sensor 3 is arranged. In addition, the 1st proximity sensor 1, the 2nd proximity sensor 2, and the 3rd proximity sensor may be a continuous integrated sensor, for example, and this may be formed by bending or curving. .

  As shown in FIG. 2C, the first proximity sensor 1 has a plurality of electrodes 1a for detecting capacitance along the Y1-Y2 direction. As shown in FIG. It is arranged with the electrode surface facing the X1 side of the body 10.

  On the X1 side (right side) of the housing 10 where the first proximity sensor 1 is disposed, an operating body such as an operator's finger is in proximity to and in the region sandwiched between the upper surface and the lower surface of the housing 10. Then, since the capacity | capacitance between electrodes increases, the 1st proximity sensor 1 can be operated as a side surface side proximity sensor. Detection including an area sandwiched between the upper surface and the lower surface of the housing 10 on the X1 side (right side) of the housing 10, which can detect the operating body by the capacitance between the electrodes of the first proximity sensor 1. The region is defined as a first space A1 (see FIG. 3B).

  Further, in the range of the first space A1, the operating body is close to the Y1 side along the housing 10 and the capacitance between the electrodes is increased. The operating body is close to the first space front A1a and Y2 side. A range in which the capacity increases is defined as the first space rear A1b (see FIG. 3A).

  The second proximity sensor 2 has a plurality of electrodes for detecting capacitance, and is arranged with the electrode surface facing in the Z1 direction as shown in FIG. For this reason, the capacity between the electrodes increases when an operating body such as an operator's finger comes close to the vicinity of the region protruding from the upper surface of the housing 10 on the X1 side (right side) of the housing 10 and the vicinity thereof. The second proximity sensor 2 can be operated as an upper surface side proximity sensor. Of the region protruding from the upper surface of the housing 10 on the X1 side (right side) of the housing 10, the region detectable by the second proximity sensor 2 is the second space A2 (see FIG. 3B). And

  The third proximity sensor 3 has a plurality of electrodes for detecting capacitance, and is arranged with the electrode surface facing in the Z2 direction as shown in FIG. For this reason, the capacitance between the electrodes increases when an operating body such as an operator's finger comes close to and in the vicinity of the region protruding from the lower surface of the housing 10 on the X1 side (right side) of the housing 10. The third proximity sensor 3 can be operated as a lower surface side proximity sensor. A region that can be detected by the third proximity sensor 3 out of a region protruding from the lower surface of the housing 10 on the X1 side (right side) of the housing 10 is a third space A3 (see FIG. 3B). And

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the portable electronic device 100 according to this embodiment. The first proximity sensor 1, the second proximity sensor 2, and the third proximity sensor 3 are connected to the control means 4 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control means 4 includes a detection unit 4a, a control unit 4b, a storage unit 4c, and an interface unit 4d.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the detection unit 4a is connected to the first proximity sensor 1, the second proximity sensor 2, the third proximity sensor 3, and the control unit 4b, and is controlled by the control unit 4b to control the first to third. The capacitance values of a plurality of electrodes provided in the proximity sensors (1, 2, 3) are detected.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 4b is connected to the detection unit 4a, the storage unit 4c, and the interface unit 4d. The control unit 4b controls the detection unit 4a, writes and reads data to and from the storage unit 4c, and controls the interface unit 4d. The control signal is output to the main control unit 40.

  The main control unit 40 controls the operation of the portable electronic device 100 based on the control signal received from the interface unit 4d, and controls the display unit 20 to update the display.

  Next, the operation of the input operation unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the control means 4. The control means 4 executes the processing procedure shown in FIG. 5 at regular time intervals.

  The control unit 4b acquires a capacitance value for each of the electrodes of the first to third proximity sensors detected by the detection unit 4a in step S1 of FIG. 5, and the acquired capacitance value is analog-digital in step S2. Conversion (hereinafter referred to as AD conversion) is performed.

  Next, the control part 4b memorize | stores the result obtained by AD conversion in the memory | storage part 4c as capacity | capacitance data of a digital value by step S3, and the threshold value preset in order to determine the presence or absence of a proximity operation by step S4 And capacity data are compared to determine the presence or absence of a proximity operation. The determination of the proximity operation can be set such that, for example, it is determined that the proximity operation is present when the capacity data is larger than the threshold value, and that there is no proximity operation when the capacity data is equal to or less than the threshold value. If it is determined in step S4 that there is an operation, the process proceeds to step S5. If it is determined that there is no operation, the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S5, the control unit 4b stores data representing the position corresponding to the electrode determined to be operated in the storage unit 4c as an operation location.

  The control unit 4b reads the previous operation location in which the previous operation location is stored in step S6, and in step S7, collates the previous operation location with the operation location, and moves the operation location if the previous operation location and the operation location are different. Determined to be present. If the previous operation location matches the operation location, it is determined that the operation location does not move. If it is determined in step S7 that there is movement, the process proceeds to step S8. If it is determined that there is no movement, the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S8, the control unit 4b outputs a first control signal indicating that the operation location has moved and the movement direction of the operation location to the main control unit 40 of the portable electronic device 100 via the interface unit 4d. For example, when the previous operation location indicates the first space A1 and the operation location indicates the second space A2, the proximity operation is performed from the first space A1 to the second space A2 illustrated in FIG. It is operated in the Z1 direction. In that case, a first control signal corresponding to the upward operation from the first space A1 to the second space A2 is output. Further, when the front operation location indicates the first space rear A1b and the operation location indicates the first space front A1a, the proximity operation is performed from the first space rear A1b illustrated in FIG. 3A to the first space front. That is, it is operated in the Y1 direction toward A1a. In this case, a first control signal corresponding to the operation from the first space rear A1b toward the first space front A1a is output.

  After outputting the first control signal in step S8, in step S9, the control unit 4b reads the operation location stored in step S5 from the storage unit 4c, and in step S10, before determining whether or not the next operation location has moved. It memorize | stores in the memory | storage part 4c as an operation location, and complete | finishes a process.

  In step S11, since it is determined in step S7 that the operation location does not move, the control unit 4b sends a second control signal indicating the operation location to the main control unit 40 of the portable electronic device 100 via the interface unit 4d. The process proceeds to step S9.

  After outputting the second control signal in step S11, in step S9, the control unit 4b reads the operation location stored in step S5 from the storage unit 4c, and in step S10, before determining whether or not the next operation location has moved. It memorize | stores in the memory | storage part 4c as an operation location, and complete | finishes a process.

  In step S12, since it is determined that there is no operation in step S4, the control unit 4b deletes the data of the operation portion (for example, sets to “0”), and third control data indicating that the operation is not performed in step S13 Is output via the interface unit 4d, and the process proceeds to step S9.

  After outputting the third control signal in step S13, in step S9, the control unit 4b reads the operation location erased in step S12 from the storage unit 4c, and in step S10, before determining whether or not the next operation location has moved. It memorize | stores in the memory | storage part 4c as an operation location, and complete | finishes a process.

  Next, the operation of the portable electronic device 100 will be described.

  A first space A <b> 1 including a region where an operation body such as a user's finger is sandwiched between an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing 10 in the input operation unit 30 of the portable electronic device 100, on the side of the housing 10. The second space A2 including a region protruding above the upper surface of the housing 10 or the third space A3 including a region protruding laterally from the lower surface of the housing 10 on the side of the housing 10. When approaching either of them, the capacitance of the electrodes provided in the first to third proximity sensors provided in the close locations as described above changes.

  First to third control is performed by detecting the change in the capacitance of the electrodes provided in the first to third proximity sensors accompanying the proximity operation, and determining whether or not the operation is performed, the operation location, and the direction of the operation. The signal is output to the main control unit 40.

  The main control unit 40 can control the update of the content displayed on the display unit 20 and the operation of the portable electronic device 100 by the first to third control signals output from the input operation unit 30.

  Hereinafter, the effects of the present embodiment will be described.

  In the portable electronic device 100 according to the present embodiment, a control signal is output by detecting an input operation to the housing 10, the display unit 20, the input operation unit 30, and the input operation unit 30 on the upper surface of the housing 10. And a control means 4 for performing. The input operation unit 30 is located on the side of the housing 10, the first space A <b> 1 including a region sandwiched between the upper surface and the lower surface of the housing 10, and on the side of the housing 10. The second space A2 including a region protruding above the upper surface of the housing 10 and the third space A3 including a region protruding laterally from the lower surface of the housing 10 to the side of the housing 10 are respectively detected regions. The first proximity sensor 1, the second proximity sensor 2, and the third proximity sensor 3 are provided.

  For this reason, the proximity of the operating body accompanying the operation can be detected in a range wider than the thickness of the portable electronic device 100. Therefore, the operable range can be expanded beyond the thickness of the portable electronic device 100. Therefore, even for a thin portable electronic device, a portable electronic device including an input device that can easily perform an input operation in the thickness direction of the side surface is provided. Can be provided.

In addition, because it is configured to be able to perform proximity input operation with three detection areas,
Even if it is a thin portable electronic device, it is possible to provide a portable electronic device that can easily perform an input operation and can perform an input operation of three steps or more in the thickness direction of the side surface of the portable electronic device.

  As described above, the portable electronic device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been specifically described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It is possible to implement. For example, the present invention can be modified as follows, and these embodiments also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

  (1) In the present embodiment, the input operation unit 30 has been described with an example in which the input operation unit 30 is located on the side of the housing 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 in the X1 direction. However, the input operation unit 30 is located on the side of the X2 direction. Alternatively, the input operation units may be arranged on both sides.

  (2) In the present embodiment, the first space A1 has been described with an example in which the area is divided in the Y1-Y2 direction of the housing 10 illustrated in FIG. 3A. However, the first space A1 is not divided. Thus, only the thickness (Z1-Z2) direction of the housing 10 may be detected. Further, the second space A2 and the third space A3 may be configured to divide the region in the Y1-Y2 direction of the housing 10 shown in FIG. In the case of such deformation, it is preferable that the electrodes arranged in the proximity sensor to be written are optimized so as to match the division of the operation range and the detection area.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st proximity sensor 2 2nd proximity sensor 3 3rd proximity sensor 4 Control means 4a Detection part 4b Control part 4c Memory | storage part 4d Interface part 10 Housing | casing 20 Display part 30 Input operation part 40 Main control part 100 Portable electronic device

Claims (3)

A housing,
A display unit provided on an upper surface of the housing;
An input operation unit;
Control means for detecting an input operation to the input operation unit and outputting a control signal;
In portable electronic devices equipped with
The input operation unit is
A first space that is lateral to the housing and includes a region sandwiched between an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing;
A second space including a region lateral to the housing and protruding above the upper surface of the housing;
And a third space including a region that is lateral to the housing and protrudes below the lower surface of the housing.
Of, possess one and the proximity sensor for the detection region one space, the other proximity sensor according to the one space different from other spaces detection regions,
When there is a transition of the operation location from any one of the first space, the second space, or the third space to another space different from the one space
A portable electronic device that outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation .
Storing data indicating the operation location of the first space, the second space, or the third space ;
When the previous operation location that memorized the previous operation location is read, the previous operation location is compared with the operation location, and the previous operation location and the operation location are different
The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the operation location is moved .
The input operation unit is
  A side proximity sensor disposed on a side surface of the housing and including the first space in a detection region;
  An upper surface side proximity sensor disposed on the upper surface side in the vicinity of the side surface and including the second space in a detection region; ,
  A lower surface side proximity sensor disposed on the lower surface side in the vicinity of the side surface and including the third space as a detection region; ,
The portable electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: