FR3126162A1 - Electronic book system especially for related books - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic book system (L) comprising - a book structure (S) pivotable between a closed position and an open position, - two internal screens (ED, EG) fixed to the book structure (S), configured to face each other when the book structure (S) is in the closed position, and to be juxtaposed one beside the other when the book structure (S) is in the open position, characterized in that at the least one book is produced or reproduced in the system, the system (L) being configured to display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen (EG), and the right pages of said book on the right internal screen ( ED), the system (L) further comprising means (T1) for turning the pages electronically. The invention further relates to a method for producing or reproducing at least one book in such a system. Abstract Figure: Fig. 2

Description

E-book system especially for correlated books

The invention relates to the field of electronic book devices and systems.

In this area, school or university program books represent a significant quantity of textbooks and a significant weight. This results in heavy loads involving transport inconveniences. In the case of children, these heavy loads can limit their growth.

In the case of professional tools such as dictionaries of pharmaceutical specialties, legal codes or case law manuals, in addition to the weight, the use of the corresponding books requires a significant amount of space, generating clutter in the professional's workspace.

To overcome this, e-readers have been proposed in which a book can be displayed on an electronic page.

Unfortunately, e-readers are not fully satisfactory because they are not configured to include curriculum or professional tool books.

In addition, the format of the e-reader deviates too far from the actual configuration of the book, namely including at least one cover, left and right pages that can be flipped through. Thus, the comfort of use is degraded because the reader does not find the habits he has with a real book.

Thus, a first objective of the present invention is to propose an electronic book system making it possible to overcome the problems of weight and bulk of real books.

A second objective is to propose a system closer to the configuration of real books to improve comfort of use.

To achieve these objectives, the invention proposes an electronic book system comprising
- a book structure pivotable between a closed position and an open position,
- two internal screens attached to the book structure, configured to face each other when the book structure is in the closed position, and to be juxtaposed next to each other when the book structure is in the open position.

According to a first aspect, at least one book is produced or reproduced in the system, the system being configured to display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen, and the right pages of said book on the right internal screen, the system further comprising means for turning pages electronically.

Advantageously, said book is reproduced in the form of an electronic book which makes it possible to resolve the weight and bulk problems of real books.

In addition, the configuration in two right and left screens reproducing the right and left pages makes it possible to find a configuration close to the actual configuration so as to significantly improve the comfort of use.

According to another aspect, the electronic book system further comprises a front screen, serving as a front cover, the front screen being configured to display at least part of the front cover of said book.

Advantageously, this makes it possible to get closer to the configuration of real books.

According to another aspect, the electronic book system comprising several correlated electronic books, of an academic program or tool books of a profession, the books being selectable to display one on the screens of the system.

Advantageously, this makes it fully suitable for use by a schoolchild, a student or a professional.

According to other aspects taken individually or combined according to all technically feasible combinations:
- the electronic book system is for multiple electronic books, and the front screen is further configured to display a system for selecting the book to be displayed in the screens; and or
- the electronic book system is for several electronic books, and it comprises at least one means of selecting the book to be displayed, in particular a wheel and/or a joystick at the front screen and/or a front touch screen and /or one or more selection buttons; and or
- the electronic book system includes several correlated electronic books, selectable to display one on the system screens; and or
- correlated e-books are books from an academic program; and or
- the electronic book system further comprises at least one explanatory, dictation, exercise presentation video, at least one corresponding audio, or at least one multimedia link to at least one of said videos and/or audio; and or
- correlated electronic books are tool books for a given profession.

The invention further relates to a method for producing or reproducing at least one book in electronic book form in an electronic book system comprising two internal displays attached to a book structure, configured to face each other when the book structure is in a closed position, and to be juxtaposed next to each other when the book structure is in an open position,
characterized by steps for
- display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen, and the right pages of said book on the right internal screen,
- turn pages electronically.

Preferably, the method is for an electronic book system further comprising a front screen, the method further comprising a step for displaying at least a portion of the front cover of said book on the front screen.

The invention will be further detailed by the description of non-limiting embodiments, and on the basis of the appended figures, among which:
- there illustrates a front view of an electronic book system according to a preferred embodiment in the closed position, where the book to be displayed is selected;
- there illustrates the front view according to the , the book to be displayed being selected;
- there illustrates a front view of the electronic book system of Figures 1 and 2 in the open position;
- there illustrates several interconnected e-book systems;
- there illustrates a second embodiment where the front cover includes a touchpad for selecting the book to display;
- there illustrates a third embodiment where the front cover includes a front screen associated with a wheel for selecting the book to display; And
- there illustrates a fourth embodiment where the front cover includes a front screen associated with several buttons for selecting the book to display.

The invention relates to an electronic book system L of the type making it possible to produce or reproduce one or more electronic books, so as to read them via said system L. the books can be made especially for the system L, or be reproduced from of an existing real or electronic book.

The L electronic book system includes an S book structure pivotable between a closed position and an open position. The book structure S may be a cover comprising one or more given materials. It is shaped like a book cover without book pages. It can have a format corresponding to the book to use, for example an A4 format.

The S book structure is used to structurally arrange the front and back covers as well as two internal pages.

The electronic book system L further comprises two internal screens ED, EG fixed to the book structure S. The internal screens ED, EG are arranged at the location of the second and third covers of the book structure S of so as to form electronic pages. Thus, the internal screens ED, EG are configured to face each other when the book structure S is in the closed position, and to be juxtaposed next to each other when the book structure S is in the open position. We can consider a folded position in which the screens ED, EG are opposed back to back, even if this configuration is not preferred.

According to a first aspect of the invention, at least one book is produced or reproduced in the electronic book system L, and the system L is configured to display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen EG, and the pages right of said book on the right internal screen ED. In addition, the system L includes a means T1 for turning pages electronically.

Advantageously, said book is reproduced in the form of an electronic book which makes it possible to resolve the weight and bulk problems of real books.

In addition, the configuration of two right ED and left EG screens reproducing the right and left pages makes it possible to find a configuration close to the actual configuration so as to significantly improve user comfort.

The means for turning the pages is for example a touch button on or near one or each of the internal screens ED, EG. Preferably, the internal screens ED, EG are touch screens. They can be configured so that a touch swipe in a given direction turns pages in a corresponding direction, and vice versa.

In particular, the electronic book system L further includes a front screen EA, serving as the front cover. The EA front screen is configured to display at least part of the front cover of said book.

Advantageously, this makes it possible to come closer to the configuration of real books and to improve the comfort of use because the user sees at least part of the front cover on the electronic book system L. This can be illustrated by there .

In the illustrated variant, the EA front screen illustrates part of the front cover, but we can envisage a larger screen illustrating the majority or even the entire front cover. Using a small EA front screen makes it possible to limit manufacturing costs and times, and to limit the fragility of the front cover, compared to a large front screen which would reproduce the entire front cover.

Furthermore, the illustrated variant does not provide a rear screen for the same reasons, but we can consider a variant further comprising a rear screen, serving as the back cover, to display at least part of, or even all of, the back cover of said book.

According to a variant, the front screen EA is further configured to display a system for selecting the book to be displayed in the screens EA, ED, EG. This system allows the user to view the selection of the book to be displayed.

According to one variant, the electronic book system comprises at least one means of selecting the book to be displayed M, J. It may be one or more of a wheel M; a joystick J for example at the front screen EA, a front touch screen EA, and/or one or more selection buttons B. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a joystick J to be used with the front screen EA for the selection of the e-book to display.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the fact that the system L is associated with correlated books. These are books with a close connection between them. In particular, correlated books are textbooks for a school program of a given class or a university program of a year. We can talk about an academic program.

Correlated books can be tool books for a given profession, such as dictionaries of pharmaceutical specialties, legal codes or jurisprudence manuals.

More generally, according to this aspect, the electronic book system L is characterized in that it comprises several correlated electronic books, selectable to display one on the screens EA, ED, EG of the system.

In the case of an academic program, the electronic book system L may also include at least one explanatory video, a dictation video, and an exercise presentation video. Audio may be used alternatively to or in combination with video. We can also consider using at least one multimedia link to at least one of said videos and/or audio, with an internet or local connection for example. This can be materialized in a book at a specific location. This can be illustrated by video V of the .

The electronic book system L can be provided without an internet connection or with a secure or remotely controllable internet connection, particularly for school use.

A parental control module for internet browsing can be provided, for example a module according to the prior art.

Of course, the invention can include the means of connecting mobile devices such as in particular USB C connectivity for data transfer and/or battery charging; as well as a jack and Bluetooth connectivity for headphones.

The invention further relates to a method for producing or reproducing at least one book in the form of an electronic book in an electronic book system L of the type comprising two internal screens ED, EG attached to a book structure S, configured to be face when the book structure S is in a closed position, and to be juxtaposed next to each other when the book structure S is in an open position. This is for example a system L as described previously.

The method includes steps for
- load correlated books into the electronic book system L;
- select one of the books to display on the ED, EG screens of the electronic book system L;
- display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen EG, and the right pages of said book on the right internal screen ED,
- turn pages electronically.

In particular, the system is of the type further comprising a front screen EA, the method further comprising a step for displaying at least part of the front cover of said book on the front screen EA.

We can consider connecting several electronic book systems together, for example in a local wireless network. These L systems thus connected can be configured to carry out interactions between users, for example a teacher with students, or between students. The interactions then materialize on the corresponding screen, for example for an explanation of an exercise. Annotations or plots can be reproduced on other book systems.

In the second embodiment of the , the front cover has a P touchpad to select the book to display. This illustrated embodiment does not include a front screen. We can consider an additional front screen or audio feedback to confirm the selection of the book to display. Alternatively, the P touchpad may be a touchscreen front EA.

In the third embodiment of the , the front cover has an EA front screen associated with an M wheel to select the book to display. The user can turn the M wheel to highlight a book title, and validate the selection by a button in the M wheel or by an external button B.

In the fourth embodiment of the , the front cover has a front screen EA associated with several buttons B to select the book to display. Depending on the book that the user wishes to display, button B opposite the corresponding title must be pressed to display said book in the EA, ED, EG screens.

Claims (10)

Electronic book system (L) including
- a book structure (S) pivotable between a closed position and an open position,
- two internal screens (ED, EG) attached to the book structure (S), configured to face each other when the book structure (S) is in the closed position, and to be juxtaposed next to each other when the book structure (S) is in the open position,
characterized in that at least one book is produced or reproduced in the system (L), the system (L) being configured to display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen (EG), and the right pages of said book on the right internal screen (ED), the system (L) further comprising means (T1) for turning the pages electronically. Electronic book system (L) according to the preceding claim, further comprising a front screen (EA), serving as the front cover, the front screen (EA) being configured to display at least part of the front cover of said book. Electronic book system (L) according to the preceding claim for several electronic books, characterized in that the front screen (EA) is further configured to display a system for selecting the book to be displayed in the screens (EA, EG, ED ). Electronic book system (L) according to one of the preceding claims for several electronic books, characterized in that it comprises at least one means for selecting the book to be displayed, in particular a wheel (M) and/or a joystick ( J) at the front screen and/or a touchscreen front screen (EA) and/or one or more selection buttons (B). Electronic book system (L) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising several correlated electronic books, selectable to display one on the screens (EA, ED, EG) of the system (L). Electronic book system (L) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the correlated electronic books are books of an academic program. Electronic book system (L) according to the preceding claim, further comprising at least one explanatory video (V), dictation, exercise enunciation, at least one corresponding audio, or at least one multimedia link to at least one of said videos and/or audio. Electronic book system (L) according to claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the correlated electronic books are tool books of a given profession. Method for producing or reproducing at least one book in electronic book form in an electronic book system (L) comprising two internal screens (ED, EG) attached to a book structure (S), configured to face each other when the structure of book (S) is in a closed position, and to be juxtaposed next to each other when the book structure (S) is in an open position,
characterized by steps for
- display the left pages of said book on the left internal screen (EG), and the right pages of said book on the right internal screen (ED),
- turn pages electronically. Method according to the preceding claim, for an electronic book system further comprising a front screen (EA), the method further comprising a step for displaying at least part of the front cover of said book on the front screen (EA) .