JPH08186870A - Portable communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow the user to easily confirm an outside of zone indication and a battery residual capacity indication, to confirm the indication of them even at a dark place and to reduce the power consumption for the indication. CONSTITUTION: The communication equipment is provided with an outside zone display section 15 being a light emitting element provided to a main body upper part 10b of a portable communication equipment (portable telephone set) 1 and indicating a reception electric field strength of a radio wave reached to the communication equipment, a battery residual capacity display section 16 being a light emitting element provided to the main body upper part 10b of the portable communication equipment and indicating the residual capacity of the battery for the communication equipment and a confirmation switch 17 to activate the indication operation for the outside zone display section 15 and the battery residual capacity display section 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable communication device such as a portable wireless device or a mobile phone having an out-of-range display function and / or a battery remaining amount display function, and particularly, it is easy to confirm these displays. The present invention relates to a portable communication device capable of confirming a display even in a dark place and reducing power consumption for the display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a portable communication device, for example, a portable telephone, the reception electric field intensity of a radio wave arriving at the portable telephone is constantly monitored in an incoming call waiting state. The wireless line is set, and a call can be made. Here, if the mobile phone is taken out of the communication range, the reception electric field strength becomes lower than a predetermined value at which communication is possible, so that the setting of the wireless line cannot be performed, and the communication is disabled. Therefore, users of mobile phones
At present, it is necessary to confirm whether the mobile phone is out of the communication range.

Further, the mobile phone is constructed so as to be operated by a built-in battery, and when the voltage of the battery falls below a predetermined value, the radio unit, the communication control unit, etc. in the phone will not operate and the mobile phone will be activated. Calls and incoming calls cannot be made, resulting in a call disabled state. For this reason, the user of the mobile phone is required to confirm the remaining battery level in addition to the confirmation of the out-of-communication range.

Therefore, a portable telephone having a function of displaying out-of-service area and a function of displaying a remaining battery level has been used. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a conventional mobile phone provided with an out-of-service display function and a remaining battery level display function.

In FIG. 1, a conventional portable telephone 100 has an LCD (Liquid Crystal) for displaying various items such as time and memory contents on a front surface 101 of the telephone body.
An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 110 is provided, and the LCD 110 performs an out-of-service area display 111 and a battery remaining amount display 112.

That is, a microprocessor (not shown) measures the received electric field strength and the battery voltage, and outputs a signal when these are below a predetermined reference value. The LCD 110 displays an out-of-service area display 111 and a remaining battery level display 11 based on a signal from the microprocessor.
2 had been done.

[0007] A portable communication device that performs out-of-service display using such an LCD is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-27162.
There is one proposed in No. 5.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional portable telephone (portable communication device), the out-of-service area display 111 and the remaining battery level display 1 are provided.
12 is configured to be displayed by the LCD 110 provided on the front of the telephone main body. Therefore, when the user puts the mobile phone 100 in the pocket, the user must take the mobile phone 100 out of the pocket in order to view these displays. Instead, the out-of-service area display 111 and the remaining battery level display 11
There was a problem that it took time to confirm Step 2.

Further, in the conventional mobile phone 100, after the received electric field strength and the battery voltage have become equal to or lower than the predetermined reference values, the LCD 110 displays the out-of-range display 111 and the battery remaining amount display 1.
Since 12 is continuously displayed, there is a problem that extra power consumption is required.

[0010] Further, the liquid crystal display of the LCD 110 cannot be visually recognized in a dark place such as in a vehicle at night, and the display is difficult to see even in a bright place when the battery level is low. was there.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-145340, an LED is caused to emit light of a different color according to the remaining battery level of a wireless device.
A portable wireless device that more accurately displays the remaining battery level has been proposed. According to such a portable wireless device, it is possible to confirm the remaining battery level even in a dark place by the light emission of the LED.

However, in the portable radio device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-145340, it takes a lot of time to check when the portable radio device is put in a pocket, and the LED is used.
However, the problem that extra power is consumed due to continued lighting remains unsolved.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-82537 proposes a portable wireless device in which an LCD is provided on the upper surface of the wireless device main body to display the battery level. According to such a portable wireless device, even when the portable wireless device is put in a pocket,
With the LCD provided on the upper part of the wireless device, the display of the remaining battery level can be easily confirmed without taking it out from the pocket.

However, the problem that the display of the remaining battery level cannot be confirmed in a dark place cannot be solved by the LCD display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to easily confirm the out-of-service display and the remaining battery power display, and to confirm these displays even in a dark place. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable communication device capable of reducing power consumption for display.

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, a portable communication device according to claim 1 is provided in an upper part of the communication device main body in a portable wireless communication device and reaches the communication device. The configuration includes an out-of-range display section that displays the received electric field strength of the radio wave, and an operation section that causes the out-of-range display section to perform a display operation.

A portable communication device according to claim 2 is a portable wireless communication device, which is provided on an upper portion of the communication device main body, and has a battery remaining amount display section for displaying a remaining battery amount of the communication device. The battery remaining amount display section is provided with an operation section for performing a display operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable communication device in a portable wireless communication device, which is provided on an upper portion of the communication device main body and includes an out-of-range display section for displaying a received electric field strength of a radio wave reaching the communication device. , A battery remaining amount display portion provided on the upper portion of the communication device main body for displaying the remaining amount of the battery of the communication device, and an operation unit for performing a display operation on the out-of-range display portion and the battery remaining amount display portion. It has a different structure.

A portable communication device according to a fourth aspect is the portable communication device according to the first, second or third aspect, in which the out-of-range display portion and / or the battery remaining amount display portion is formed by a light emitting element. There is.

A portable communication device according to a fifth aspect is the third aspect.
In the portable communication device described above, the out-of-range display unit and the battery remaining amount display unit are formed by one display unit, and the received electric field strength or the battery remaining amount is displayed by the difference in the emission color.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable communication device according to the first, second, third, fourth or fifth configuration, wherein the operation section is also used as a power switch of the communication device. There is.

[0022]

According to the portable communication device having the above structure, the out-of-range display unit and the battery remaining amount display unit are provided on the upper part of the communication unit, so that the portable communication device is You can check these out-of-range indications and battery level indications without taking them out of your pocket.

Further, since the out-of-service area display section and the battery remaining capacity display section are operated by the operation section, the display can be performed only when necessary, and the power consumption can be reduced.

According to the portable communication device of the fourth aspect, since the out-of-range display section and the remaining battery level display section are light emitting elements, the out-of-range display and the remaining battery level display can be confirmed even in a dark place. .

According to the portable communication device of the fifth or sixth aspect, the out-of-range display unit and the battery remaining amount display unit are formed by one display unit, and the operation unit is a power switch of the communication unit. With the dual-use configuration, the mounting area of the display unit and the operation unit can be reduced, and the appearance of the portable communication device can be simplified.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A portable communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B show the external appearance of a portable communication device according to this embodiment. FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a front view. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the portable communication device.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b),
An external configuration of the portable communication device will be described. FIG.
In FIG. 1B, reference numeral 1 denotes a portable communication device (mobile phone), and an LCD 11 and a push button 12 are provided on a front surface 10a of the main body. Here, the LCD 11 displays the memory contents such as time and telephone number on a liquid crystal display. Also, 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a speaker for reception, and reference numeral 14 denotes a microphone for transmission.

In FIG. 1 (a), an out-of-service area display section 15 and a battery level display section 16 are attached to an upper portion 10b of the front surface 10a of the main body of the portable communication device 1. The out-of-service display unit 15 and the remaining battery level display unit 16 are formed by light-emitting elements of different emission colors, and for example, LEDs are used as the light-emitting elements.

A confirmation switch (operation section) 17 for operating the out-of-service area display section 15 and the remaining battery level display section 16 is provided on one side of the main body upper section 10b, and a transmitting / receiving unit is provided on the other side of the main body upper section 10b. The antenna 18 for is attached.

Next, the circuit configuration of the portable communication device will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a transmission / reception unit 21 receives and outputs a reception signal from a base station via an antenna 18, receives a transmission signal from a call control unit 22, and transmits the reception signal to the base station via the antenna 18. Send. Further, the transmitting / receiving unit 21 outputs the received electric field strength signal input from the base station to the microprocessor 30.

The call control unit 22 converts the transmission signal from the transmission / reception unit 21 into a voice signal and outputs it to the speaker 13.
Also, the voice collected by the microphone 14 is converted into a transmission signal,
Output to the transmission / reception unit 21.

The microprocessor 30 is composed of an electric field strength detector 31, a battery voltage detector 32, and a control circuit (not shown). This microprocessor 30
Is a transmission / reception unit 21 and a call control unit 2 by the control circuit.
2 and LCD 11 are controlled.

Further, the electric field strength detection unit 31 is provided in the transmission / reception unit 2
The received electric field intensity signal is input from the device 1 and the received electric field intensity is monitored at regular time intervals. Then, when the received electric field strength becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value, an out-of-range detection signal is output.

Further, the battery voltage detector 32 constantly measures the voltage of the battery 50 and outputs a battery voltage detection signal when the voltage becomes a predetermined value or less due to the decrease of the remaining amount of the battery 50. Note that the battery voltage detection unit 32 may be configured to output a battery voltage detection signal by detecting that the voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined value when the remaining battery level of the battery 50 is sufficient. With such a configuration, the user of the portable communication device 1 can confirm that the remaining amount of the battery 50 is sufficient.

Reference numeral 41 denotes an out-of-range display control unit, which receives an out-of-range detection signal from the electric field intensity detection unit 31 to enter a standby state. In this standby state, the confirmation switch 17
When is pressed, an operation signal is output to the out-of-service display unit 15.

A battery remaining amount display control unit 42 receives a battery voltage detection signal from the battery voltage detecting unit 32 to enter a standby state. When the confirmation switch 17 is pressed in this standby state, the battery remaining amount is indicated. The operation signal is output to the display unit 16.

Next, the display operation of the portable communication device of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a display operation of the portable communication device. FIG. 3 (a) shows an out-of-service display operation, and FIG. 3 (b) shows a battery remaining amount display operation.

First, the out-of-range display operation will be described.
2 and 3A, the received electric field intensity of the portable communication device 1 is constantly monitored by the electric field intensity detection unit 31. When the portable communication device 1 is taken out of the service area, the received electric field intensity is reduced. The value becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value, and the out-of-service detection signal is output from the electric field strength detection unit 31 (S1).

The out-of-range detection signal is sent to the out-of-range display control section 41.
And the out-of-service display control unit 41 enters the standby state (S2). Here, when the user of the portable communication device 1 presses the confirmation switch 17 to confirm whether it is out of the service area, an operation signal is output from the out-of-service area display control unit 41, and the out-of-service area display unit 15 that inputs the operation signal is displayed. The light turns on and the out-of-range display is performed (S3).

Next, the operation of displaying the remaining battery level will be described. 2 and 3 (b), the voltage of the battery 50 is
The battery voltage is always measured by the battery voltage detection unit 32. For example, when the remaining amount of the battery 50 decreases due to a long-time call or the like, the battery 5
The voltage of 0 becomes a predetermined value or less (S4). Then, a battery voltage detection signal is output from the battery voltage detection unit 32 that detects this.

This battery voltage detection signal is input to the battery remaining amount display control unit 42, and the battery remaining amount display control unit 42 enters the standby state (S5). Here, when the user of the portable communication device 1 presses the confirmation switch 17 in order to confirm the remaining amount of the battery 50, an operation signal is output from the battery remaining amount display control unit 42, and the battery remaining amount input is input. The amount display unit 16 is turned on and the remaining battery amount is displayed (S6).

According to the portable communication device of the present embodiment having such a configuration, the out-of-service area display section 15 and the battery level display section 1
Since 6 is provided on the upper portion 10b of the front surface 10a of the main body of the portable communication device 1, it is possible to easily confirm the out-of-range display and the battery remaining amount display without removing the portable communication device 1 from the pocket. Moreover, these displays can be confirmed from the front side 10a of the main body.

Further, since the out-of-service area display section 15 and the battery remaining capacity display section 16 are operated by the confirmation switch (operation section) 17, the display can be performed only when necessary, and the power consumption is reduced. Can be made.

Further, since the out-of-range display section 15 and the battery remaining amount display section 16 are light emitting elements such as LEDs, the out-of-range display and the battery remaining amount display can be confirmed even in a dark place.

The portable communication device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the confirmation switch 17 is provided separately from the power switch of the portable communication device 1. However, the confirmation switch 17 may be used also as the power switch.

For example, the confirmation switch 17 and a switch which also serves as the power switch are formed by a frequency divider, an AND circuit and a counter, and when this switch is pressed for a time longer than 1.5 seconds to send a pulse, the power supply is turned on. ON / OFF
When switching is performed, and when a pulse is sent by pressing for less than 1.5 seconds, out-of-service area display and remaining battery level display may be performed.

Alternatively, the confirmation switch 17 and the switch that doubles as the power switch are formed by a two-stage switch, and when the depth of pressing this switch is 5 mm, the power source O
N / OFF switching is performed, and when the distance is 2 mm, out-of-area display and remaining battery level display may be performed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the out-of-range display section 15 and the battery remaining amount display section 16 are formed by separate display sections.
6 may be formed by one display unit, and the received electric field strength or the remaining battery level may be displayed according to the difference in the emission color of the LED. In such a configuration, when a two-color light emitting LED is used as the light emitting element, the size of the display portion can be reduced.

As described above, when the confirmation switch 17 is configured to also serve as the power switch, and the out-of-range display portion 15 and the battery remaining amount display portion 16 are formed by one display portion, these confirmation switches are used. 17, the mounting areas of the out-of-range display unit 15 and the battery remaining amount display unit 16 can be reduced, and the appearance of the portable communication device 1 can be simplified.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the mobile phone (portable communication device 1) has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is applied to other portable communication devices such as a portable wireless device. can do.

[0051]

As described above, according to the portable communication device of the present invention, it is possible to easily confirm the out-of-range display and the battery remaining amount display, and also to confirm these displays even in a dark place. In addition, it is possible to reduce power consumption for display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B show the appearance of a portable communication device according to an embodiment, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a front view.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the portable communication device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a display operation of the portable communication device, wherein FIG. 3 (a) shows an out-of-service display operation and FIG. 3 (b) shows a battery remaining amount display operation.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a conventional mobile phone having an out-of-service display function and a remaining battery capacity display function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable communication device (mobile phone) 10a Main body front 10b Upper body 11 LCD 12 Push button 13 Speaker 14 Microphone 15 Out-of-service display unit 16 Battery remaining amount display unit 17 Confirmation switch (operation unit) 18 Antenna 21 Transmission / reception unit 22 Communication control unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 Microprocessor 31 Electric field strength detection part 32 Battery voltage detection part 41 Out-of-service display control part 42 Battery remaining amount display control part 50 Battery

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a portable wireless communication device, an out-of-range display section which is provided on an upper part of the communication apparatus main body and displays a received electric field strength of a radio wave reaching the communication apparatus, and a display operation on the out-of-range display section A portable communication device comprising an operation unit for performing the operation. 2. In a portable wireless communication device, a battery remaining amount display portion which is provided on an upper portion of the communication device main body and displays a remaining amount of a battery of the communication device, and a display operation on the battery remaining amount display portion. A portable communication device, comprising: 3. A portable radio communication device, which is provided on an upper part of the communication device main body, and is provided on an upper part of the communication device main body, and an out-of-range display part for displaying a received electric field strength of a radio wave reaching the communication device. And a battery remaining amount display section for displaying the remaining battery level of the communication device, and an operation section for causing the out-of-range display section and the battery remaining amount display section to perform display operations. Machine. 4. The portable communication device according to claim 1, wherein the out-of-service area display section and / or the battery remaining capacity display section is formed by a light emitting element. 5. The portable communication according to claim 3, wherein the out-of-range display unit and the battery remaining amount display unit are formed by one display unit, and the received electric field strength or the battery remaining amount is displayed according to the difference in emission color. Machine. 6. The portable communication device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the operation section is also used as a power switch of the communication device.