JPH0342922A - Selective call receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the visibility of display information and the convenience of use of the selective call receiver which displays message information on a display device by setting the display direction of characters on the display device to a specified display direction by a display direction control means. CONSTITUTION:When present receiver is called, its control circuit 40 decodes and then writes message codes on an M-RAM 10. Then information regarding the angle of rotation of a display direction specification switch 12 is inputted and the display direction of characters specified by the owner is decided from the information regarding the angle of rotation. Then a control signal for specifying the access direction of a character pattern corresponding to the display direction of the characters is outputted to the character generator(CG) 81 of a display driving circuit 80. Then the message information which is received and stored now is read out of the M-RAM 10 and transferred to the CG 81, digit by digit, according to the display direction of the characters specified with the display direction specification switch 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a selective call receiver with a message display function.

(Prior Art) In recent years, a new type of selective calling system has been proposed, in which a selective calling receiver not only makes a paging announcement but also transmits and displays a message code.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of a selective calling receiver employing this type of system. In the figure, a selective paging signal sent from a base station is transmitted to a radio circuit 2 via an antenna 1.
The signal is received by the demodulation circuit 3, demodulated by the demodulation circuit 3, and introduced into the control circuit 4. The control circuit 4 is equipped with a microcomputer, for example, and converts the individual number code included in the reception selection call signal into the individual number code (ID code) of the own machine stored in advance in an individual number code memory (ID-ROM) 5. ), and if both codes match, it is recognized that a call has occurred to the own machine, and a sound signal is supplied to the speaker 7 via the drive circuit 6. Therefore, a ringing tone is generated from the speaker 7, and the owner is notified of the occurrence of the ringing. In addition, when a call to the own machine occurs, the control circuit 4
The message code included in the reception selection □ calling signal is decoded after error correction, and the decoded message information is supplied to the display drive circuit 8. This display drive circuit 8 has, for example, a character generator,
A character pattern corresponding to the message information is generated from this character generator and supplied to a display device 9 consisting of, for example, a liquid crystal display. The message code stored in this M-RAM 10 is
The data is read out when the display switch of the operation input section 11 is operated, decoded by the control circuit 4, and then supplied to the display drive circuit 8, which displays it on the display 9.

Incidentally, recently, some selective call receivers of this type have a hook member such as a clip, and are attached to a pocket, belt, special case, etc. with the display device 9 exposed. If such a selective call receiver is used, when a call occurs, the holder can relatively easily call the display 9 while it is attached to a pocket, etc., without having to take the receiver out of the case or bag each time. You can see the message information displayed on the screen, which is very convenient.

(Problem 8 to be solved by the invention) However, in this type of conventional selective call receiver, depending on the direction in which the receiver is attached to a pocket, belt, or case, the direction in which the message information is displayed on the display device may change depending on the orientation of the receiver. It may be upside down or tilted for some people. In such cases, the owner may have to look at the message information displayed on the display in an unnatural position, such as by bending his or her neck, or may have to remove the receiver from its pocket or other location each time. I have to take a look.

For this reason, the visibility and usability of message information were extremely poor. Additionally, in order to improve this problem, it has been considered to make the mounting position of the clip variable, but this would impose design constraints on the receiver and the structure of the clip. This was not desirable because it caused problems such as complication and decreased reliability.

Therefore, the present invention focuses on this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a selective calling receiver that can improve the visibility and usability of displayed information without causing design restrictions or deterioration of reliability of the receiver. do.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving All) The present invention receives a selective call signal transmitted from a base station, and compares the individual number code included in the selective call signal with the individual number code of the own machine. and a selective calling receiver that displays message information included in the selective calling signal on a display when both codes match, a character generating means having a character pattern rotation means, and a display orientation of the characters on the display. a display orientation designation input means for inputting a designation; and a display orientation control means; the display orientation control means allows
The character generation means is controlled to set the display orientation of characters on the display device to the display orientation designated by the display orientation designation input means.

(Function) As a result, according to the present invention, by specifying and inputting the orientation of the displayed characters using the display orientation designation input means, the orientation of the displayed characters on the display device can be reversed vertically or rotated 90 degrees left and right, etc. It becomes possible to set the desired direction. Therefore, no matter what direction the receiver is attached to your pocket, belt, case, etc., this installation allows you to set the display characters to the optimal orientation according to the orientation. The holder can always read accurately without taking an unnatural posture or removing the receiver each time. Therefore, visibility and usability of displayed information are improved. In addition, since it is no longer necessary to change the position of the hook member for attaching the receiver or change the structure of the hook member, there are no design constraints when designing the receiver, and there is no need to change the hook member structure. There is no need to worry about complicating the structure of components, leading to decreased reliability or increased costs.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a selective call receiver in an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

The selective call receiver of this embodiment includes a display orientation designation switch 12 in addition to an operation input section 11.

This display orientation designation switch 12 is composed of a rotary switch, and generates a signal according to its rotation angle to the control circuit 4.
Supply to 0. Further, the installation position of this switch 12 is set, for example, in a position aligned with one of the indicators on the front panel of the receiver, as shown in FIG. The receiver of this embodiment also includes a display drive circuit 80. This display drive circuit 8
0 includes a character generator (CG) 81 and a display memory 82 that temporarily stores character patterns generated by the character generator 81 and supplies them to the display 9 for display. Among these, the character generator 81 has a function of rotating the character pattern by changing the access direction of the generated character pattern.

By the way, the control circuit 40 is equipped with, for example, a microcomputer as a main control section, and its functions include an ID code verification means 41, a call control means 42 that generates a ringing tone when a call to its own machine occurs, M
- It is provided with message storage control means 43 for writing and reading message codes into and from RAMI O, and display control means 44. Among these, the display control means 44 is provided with means for controlling the display orientation of displayed characters according to the state of the display orientation designation switch 12 when displaying message information on the display 9.

Note that 13 is a time circuit (TIM) that generates time information to be displayed on the display 9 during a period when message information is not displayed.

Next, the operation of the receiver configured as described above will be explained according to the control procedure of the control circuit 40. In the standby state, the control circuit 40 monitors whether or not a call has been made to its own device by means of the checking means, and also monitors whether or not an instruction to display message information has been inputted by the operation input section 11.

In this state, if a call occurs to the machine itself, the control circuit 40 first supplies a ringing signal to the speaker 7 via the drive circuit 6 by the ringing control means 42, thereby generating a ringing tone.

Further, the subsequently received message code is decoded and written into the M-RAM 10, and message information display control is executed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, first, in step 2a, the display orientation designation switch 12 is
Information related to the rotation angle is input, and in step 2b, the display orientation of the characters specified by the owner is determined from the information related to the rotation angle. Then, in step 2C, a control signal is output to the character generator (CG) 81 of the display drive circuit 80 for specifying the access direction of the character pattern according to the display orientation of the characters. Thus, the rotation angle of the character pattern to be generated from now on is set in the character generator 81. Next, in step 2d, the control circuit 40 determines whether the current display mode is the message information display mode, and since the current display mode is the message display mode, the process moves to step 2e. Then, in this step 2e, the message information that has just been received and stored from the M-RAMI O is read out, and in step 2f, this message information is converted into characters one digit at a time according to the display orientation of the characters specified by the display orientation designation switch 12. Transfer to generator 81. Then, the character generator 81 generates character patterns corresponding to the message information one digit at a time at the specified rotation angle, and these character patterns are temporarily stored in the display memory 82 and then supplied to the display 9 for display. be done.

For example, the designation section 12a of the current display orientation designation switch 12
Assuming that the setting position of M- is facing downward in the figure as shown in FIG.
The message information read from the RAM 10 is supplied to the character generator 81 in order from the first digit. Therefore, a character pattern corresponding to the message information is generated from the character generator 81 in a state in which no rotation angle is given in order from the first digit, and the character pattern is displayed on the display 9 via the display memory 82 as shown in FIG. It is displayed as shown in a).

On the other hand, if the setting position of the designation section 12a of the display orientation designation switch 12 is upward in the figure as shown in FIG. Set it to 81,
Furthermore, the message information read from the M-RAM 10 is supplied to the character generator 81 in order from the last digit. Therefore, the character generator 81 generates a character pattern corresponding to the message information, rotated by 180@ from the last digit,
It is displayed on the display 9 via the display memory 82. Therefore, the message information is displayed on the display 9 upside down as shown in FIG. 3(b).

Similarly, when the position of the instruction section 12a of the display orientation designation switch 12 is set to the left or right in the figure as shown in FIG. An access direction is set according to the above direction, and message information is supplied sequentially from the last or first digit. For this reason,
The character generator 81 generates a character pattern corresponding to the message information, rotated 90'' to the right or left. Therefore, the display 9 displays the characters of each digit of the message information as shown in FIG. (c)
, (d), they are displayed rotated to the left or right, respectively.

After confirming in step 2g that all digits of the message information have been displayed, the control circuit 40 monitors whether a certain period of time has elapsed in steps 2h and 2i, and switches the display stop switch using the operation input unit 11, respectively. and monitor whether or not it has been operated. When the display time elapses over a certain period of time or the display stop switch is operated, the process moves to step 2j to erase the message information displayed on the display 9 and return to the standby state.

Moreover, when the control circuit 40 returns to the standby state in this way,
While monitoring the arrival of calls and monitoring the operation of the message display switch, display control of time information is periodically executed as follows. That is, in this case as well, the control circuit 40
In step 2a, information specified by the display orientation designation switch 12 is input, and in step 2b, the specified display orientation is determined from this input information. And step 2
At step C, an access direction is set for the character generator 81 according to this display orientation. Subsequently, when the control circuit 40 confirms that the message display mode is not in step 2d, the control circuit 40 moves to step 2k, and inputs the current time information from the time circuit 13 in step 2. Then, in step 21, this time information is transferred to the above step 2b.
The characters are transferred to the character generator 81 in order from the first digit or the last digit depending on the display orientation determined in step. Then, the character generator 81 generates a number pattern corresponding to the time information, rotated according to the display orientation, and displayed on the display 9 via the display memory 82. Therefore, the time information will be displayed on the display 9 during the waiting period, and the holder will be able to
You can know the current time by looking at the . That is, the selective call receiver can also be used as a clock.

Note that when the message display switch of the operation input unit 11 is operated in the standby state, message information received in the past from M-RAMIO is read out and displayed on the display 9.
However, the orientation of the message information displayed on the display 9 in this case is also controlled according to the display orientation designated by the display orientation designation switch 12, as in the case where the above call occurs.

In this embodiment, the display orientation designation switch 12
By specifying the display direction of the display information, the display direction of the message information displayed on the display 9 can be arbitrarily changed according to this specification. For this reason, when the receiver is attached to a pocket, belt, case, etc., no matter how it is oriented, the message information displayed on the display 9 will always be displayed in the same direction as when the receiver is attached. It can be set to the optimal orientation according to the Therefore, the holder does not have to look at the message displayed on the display 9 in an unreasonable position, thereby making it difficult for misreading to occur. Furthermore, since there is no need to remove the receiver from a pocket, belt, etc. each time, the usability can be improved.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiment described above, the display orientation designation switch 12 is configured by a rotary switch, but it may also be configured by a sliding type switch. Further, in the above embodiment, the display orientation of the display information is configured to be variably set every 90'', but it may be configured so that it can be variably set even more finely, such as every 45'', or even steplessly. The configuration may be such that the settings can be freely changed.Also, in the above embodiment, the receiver is attached to a pocket or belt using a clip, but it can also be attached to the arm like a wristwatch or press thread, for example. In addition, the control procedure and control content of the display control means, the type of display information and the form of its characters, the configuration of the display drive circuit, the type and shape of the display device, etc. are also covered by the present invention. Various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, there are provided a character generating means having a character pattern rotation means, and a display orientation designation input means for inputting a designation of the display orientation of characters on the display device. and display orientation control means, and the display orientation control means controls the character generation means to set the display orientation of the characters on the display to the display orientation specified by the display orientation designation input means. By doing so, it is possible to provide a selective calling receiver that can improve the visibility of display information and the usability without causing design restrictions or deterioration of reliability of the receiver.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the functional configuration of a selective call receiver in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control procedure and control contents of the control circuit of the receiver.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the display state of the receiver shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional selective call receiver with a message display function. 1... Antenna, 2... Radio circuit, 3... Demodulation circuit, 5... Individual number code memory (ID-ROM)
, 6... Drive circuit, 7... Speaker, 9... Display device, 10... Message memory (M-RAM), 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Operation input part, 12... Display orientation designation switch, 13... Clock circuit, 40... Control circuit, 41...
- Verification means, 42... Calling control means, 43... Message storage control means, 44... Display control means, 80... Display drive circuit,... Character generator, 82... Display memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A selective call signal transmitted from a base station is received, and the individual number code included in this selective call signal is compared with the individual number code of the own machine, and if both codes match, the selective call is performed. In a selective calling receiver that displays message information included in a signal on a display device, character generation means includes a character pattern rotation means and generates a character pattern corresponding to the message information and supplies it to the display device; Display orientation designation input means for specifying and inputting the display orientation of characters on the display device; and the character generation device for setting the display orientation of the characters on the display device to the display orientation designated by the display orientation designation input device. A selective call receiver comprising display orientation control means for controlling.