JP2000267558A - 7-segment display device, 7-segment display body, and 7- segment communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a display easy to discriminate by reducing a possibility of confusing sections of segments between adjacent display units by storing convex/concave patterns of the segments corresponding to characters beforehand and displaying them. SOLUTION: In a 7-segment display unit 24A, the 7 segments S1-S7 are arranged, for example, on the upper face 20A of a pocket bell so as to move back and forth independently of each other in the direction of D. All of the 7 segments S1-S7 projects in the direction of D1, and display a figure of '8' (A). The segments S1 and S2 keep projecting in the direction of D1, and the segments S3-S7 move in the direction of D2 and display 'A' of Hiragana or 'A' of alphabet (B). A movement in which the upper surface US of the segment projects higher than the upper face 20A in the direction of D1 is a convex movement and a state is a convex state, and similarly, the movement in which the upper surface of the segment is lowered lower than the upper face 20A is the concave movement and the state is the concave state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a seven-segment display device, a seven-segment display, and a seven-segment communication terminal, and is used in place of conventional means for displaying characters and symbols by irregularities such as braille. What you get.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Braille, which is widely used in Japan at present, is also referred to as Japanese six-point braille, which was originally devised by Louis Braille of France and adapted by Kuruji Ishikawa.

The basis of Braille's invention was twelve-point Braille, which was invented as a cryptographic communication and shorthand code for the military. The 12-point Braille means that a group of 12 points, which are arranged in a row of 6 points arranged vertically and arranged horizontally, is used as one display unit. 6 to read with your finger
The point was too long, so Braille's six-point braille was invented.

Japanese 6-point Braille (hereinafter simply referred to as "6-point Braille"
Before writing Japanese characters, Japanese hiragana characters (printed characters) in ordinary documents and convex characters (for example, convex textbooks) constructed by projecting the shape of a kanji directly from a plane are used. I was Convex characters were inconvenient to read, and particularly difficult to write.

The use of six-point braille has significantly improved the inconvenience of reading and writing.

FIG. 2 shows one square of six-point braille.

In FIG. 2A, as shown by the name in the case of six-point braille, a row of three vertically arranged points P1 to P3 (or P4 to P6) is horizontally arranged in an area called a square 10. A set of a total of six points arranged side by side is used as one display unit. P1 is called a "point", P2 is called a "point",..., P6 is called a "point".

According to the presence or absence of these six points P1 to P6, characters, numerals, and other codes are displayed.
It is rare that the square 10 indicated by the broken line in (A) is actually displayed. In a Braille commentary or the like, for example, when the hiragana “A” is displayed, as shown in FIG. Is displayed, and imaginary points "-" L2 to L6 are displayed to clearly indicate that there is no point in P2 to P6.

By displaying the imaginary points L2 to L6 together with the point P1, the relative positional relationship between one point P1 and the cell 10 to which the point P1 belongs can be clearly grasped. (B) can be identified as “A”.

In the case of six-point braille, it is not necessary to memorize the arrangement of all the syllabary points one by one, and if the vowels and consonants are memorized, the characters can be displayed in combination.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, of the vowels “A (a)” to “O (o)”, “A (a)”
Are displayed only at the point P1, and "i (i)" is displayed at the points P1 and P2.

Then, the character in the "ka (k)" column is the point P
For example, if “ka” is displayed as a combination of consonants k and vowels a, it is displayed as a combination of points P1 and P6. In addition, the character in the “sa” column is the point P
5 and P6, "sa" is considered as a combination of a consonant s and a vowel a, and as shown in FIG.
It is displayed as a combination of 5, P6.

On the other hand, when displaying numbers in six-point braille, as shown in FIG. 5, a numeral consisting of points P3 to P6 is prefixed. FIG. 5 is an example in which “123” is displayed.

[0014]

However, in the actual display form of Braille except for the Braille commentary, it is rare that an imaginary point is displayed as shown in FIG.
The cell 10 is rarely displayed as in (A).

Vending machines for train tickets and soft drinks,
The braille for explanation displayed around the elevator button has no imaginary point display and no square display when, for example, "a" is displayed. As shown in FIG. 2C, only the simple point P1 is displayed. Is displayed.

Moreover, since this is performed continuously, for example, when "for a while" is displayed, the state becomes as shown in FIG. 3A, and it is very difficult to understand tactilely and visually. In particular, it is difficult to determine whether the point corresponding to the cloud point of the "ba" is a point of an independent cell or a point belonging to the cell immediately after.

That is, as shown in FIG.
If it is possible to identify that only PX1 exists in the space and PX2 to PX4 exist in the space 12 following it, it can be correctly recognized that the “ba” is displayed in the spaces 11 and 12, but this is erroneously recognized. And dash-dotted cell 13
PX1 to PX3 exist among them (this is
Is not so small.

Usually, the size of the one square 10 in the form of six-point braille is such that it is considerably small that the vertical PL is about 8 mm and the horizontal WL is about 5 mm. , The interval between points is about 2.5mm
Since the distance between the point P4 of a certain cell and the point P1 of the next cell is about 3.5 mm, there is not much difference between the points in the cells and the points between the cells. It is a factor that is increasing.

In terms of the character size of ink characters, 8 × 5 mm
It is considered that it is generally difficult to increase the size of a cell further in view of the current situation where one book in print is divided into many books when translated.

On the other hand, it is inconvenient to convert a single book of Braille characters into a number of Braille copies, which is inconvenient. For example, it is necessary to increase the information density of Braille to a level as close as possible to Braille characters. Can be The only way to increase the information density in Braille where horizontal writing is premised is to reduce the size of the cells, especially the length in the horizontal direction (the WL direction), but this increases the possibility of the occurrence of such misperception. Means

Also, as shown in FIG.
Regarding Braille, for example, the dot arrangement of the number "1" displayed only by the point P1 is the same as the letter "A" in FIG. 4A, and the dot arrangement of the number "2" is the same as the letter "I". If you do not precede the number, you cannot distinguish numbers from other characters.

Such numerals also hinder an increase in the information density of Braille.

On the other hand, since the six-point braille is also a character, it is necessary to write a large character sometimes, for example, for a user (for example, an elderly person) whose tactile sensation of the fingertip is not always sharp, like the ink character.

However, in the case of six-point braille composed of dots, if the mass size is too large, the interval between adjacent points in the same mass becomes too large, making it difficult to recognize the mass. It can be difficult.

Reading braille is considered primarily to be visually impaired, but writing or translating braille is usually a sighted person without visual impairment. Therefore, Braille is often read not only by touching it with a fingertip but also visually by a sighted person. Increasing the number of such sighted persons, mainly composed of volunteers, and improving work efficiency will eventually lead to an improvement in the quantity and quality of the Braille environment surrounding the visually impaired.

Therefore, Braille is required to be easy to recognize visually and tactilely and to be easily identified, and it is also required to display Braille small or large as necessary.

Furthermore, Braille needs to be written as well as read.

In other words, it is considered that Braille can be used not only as an output means for displaying information but also as an input means for inputting information. It must have characteristics that can be written accurately.

As shown in the mass 10, the vertical PL is 8 mm,
Assuming that the lateral WL has a mass size of about 5 mm, the size of one point is about 1 mm in diameter, and it is more difficult to write it accurately than to read it accurately, and it takes a lot of labor.

[0030]

(A) In order to solve such a problem, a seven-segment display device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes:
(1) driving means for selectively operating each segment in one or a plurality of seven-segment display units consisting of seven segments arranged in a figure eight shape, and
Storage means for storing the correspondence between the concavo-convex pattern of one segment and the display character; and (3) when a signal meaning the display character is input, the concavo-convex pattern corresponding to the display character meaning by the input signal And display control means for causing the driving means to perform a concavo-convex operation according to the read concavo-convex pattern.

(B) Further, in the second invention, (1) display is performed by using a concavo-convex pattern of each segment in one or a plurality of seven-segment display units composed of seven segments arranged in a figure eight shape. In a seven-segment display body for fixedly displaying characters, (2) the display characters constitute a character set, and the position of the display characters in the character set is a combination of a plurality of predetermined positional components in a rule. (3) The seven segments are divided into the same number of segment groups as the number of rules corresponding to each rule, and (4) the unevenness of the segments constituting each segment group The correspondence between the display characters and the concavo-convex pattern of the seven segments is identified by using the pattern to identify the position component in the rule corresponding to the segment group. Formed, characterized in that.

(C) Further, in the third invention, (1) signal processing means for transmitting or receiving information, and (2) 8
Display means for selectively operating the respective segments in one or a plurality of seven-segment display units consisting of seven segments arranged in a V-shape to display a concavo-convex pattern; Storage means for storing the correspondence between the uneven pattern of the segment and the display characters,
(3) When transmitting, the signal processing means transmits the signal corresponding to the changed concave / convex pattern display by externally changing the concave / convex pattern display of the display means, and (4) when receiving According to another aspect of the present invention, the concavo-convex pattern of the display unit is changed according to a signal received by the signal processing unit.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (A) Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with an example in which a 7-segment display device, a 7-segment display, and a 7-segment communication terminal according to the present invention are applied to a pager (pager). explain.

A pager (receiving terminal) according to the present embodiment
Is characterized in that a 7-segment display that normally displays numbers by turning on and off LEDs operates according to the unevenness of the segments.

Another feature of the present embodiment is that a 7-segment display which originally displays only numbers is used to display not only numbers but also information including characters and symbols and provide the information to the user. .

At first glance, the seven-segment display of this embodiment resembles a convex character before six-point braille.

However, the hiragana and kanji of ink characters used in convex characters have many curves that are too complicated to read.
Since it is difficult to grasp the shape by tactile reading because the number of strokes is too large, it is inconvenient to read and more inconvenient to write. However, as in this embodiment, only seven straight lines are used. When characters are displayed only by the concave and convex pattern of a typical segment, it is important that there are no such disadvantages and inconveniences and that the characteristics can be superior to those of six-point braille.

A display using 7 segments such as a 7-segment LED is a display that is familiar to ordinary sighted persons and is easy to accept, unlike 6-point braille used exclusively for the visually impaired or its surroundings. It is a form.

(A-1) Configuration of the Embodiment FIG. 7 shows an external view of the pager receiving terminal 20 of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 7, operation buttons 21 to 23 arranged at the upper end of upper surface 20A of pager receiving terminal 20 are arranged.
Is a button for turning on / off a power supply and a ringing tone. The display unit 24 includes eight 7-segment display units 24A to 24H arranged at the lower end of the upper surface 20A.
Is a display unit for displaying the content of the received information and the like in an uneven manner. Since the seven-segment display units 24A to 24H all have the same structure, representatively, the seven-segment display unit 24A will be described.

In FIGS. 1A and 1B showing the detailed structure of the seven-segment display unit 24A, the seven segments S1 to S7 are arranged on the upper surface 20A so that they can reciprocate independently in the direction of arrow D. Have been. FIG. 1 in which all seven of the segments S1 to S7 protrude in the direction D1.
The state (A) is a state in which the numeral “8” is displayed.

In the state shown in FIG. 1B as compared with FIG. 1A, the segments S1 and S2 remain projecting in the direction D1, and the segments S3 to S7 move in the direction D2.
The upper surface US of these segments S3 to S7 is a pager 20
Is substantially the same as or lower than the upper surface 20A (position in the direction D1).

That is, in the present embodiment, the upper surface US of the segment is higher than the upper surface 20A of the pager receiving terminal 20.
Is higher in the D1 direction, is called a convex operation, and that state is called a convex state. Similarly, when the upper surface US of the segment is lower in the D2 direction than the upper surface 20A of the pager receiving terminal (it may be approximately the same as the upper surface 20A), this state is called a concave operation, and that state is called a concave state.

The state shown in FIG. 1B is a state in which the hiragana "A" or the alphabet "A" is displayed.

FIG. 6 shows the internal configuration of the pager receiving terminal 20.

In FIG. 6, an antenna 32 captures a radio signal, and a high-frequency amplifier 33 amplifies the radio signal at a high frequency.

The frequency converters 34 and 35 connected to the high-frequency amplifier 33 process the I system and the Q system, respectively.
In addition, two orthogonal systems are processed.

An oscillator 36 oscillating at a reference frequency is connected to each of the frequency converters 34 and 35 via a phase shifter 37. The phase shifter 37 is a circuit that supplies the reference frequency to the frequency converters 34 and 35 with the phases shifted by 90 ° between the frequency converters 34 and 35.

At the subsequent stage of each of the frequency converters 34 and 35, filters 38 and 39 and limiters 40 and 41 are connected in this order. The filters 38 and 39 remove unnecessary frequency components from the low-frequency baseband signals output from the frequency converters 34 and 35, and the limiters 40 and 41 work to limit the signal amplitude.

The I and Q baseband signals output from the two limiters 40 and 41 are subjected to quadrature detection processing by the demodulator 42, and the obtained serial data consisting of a 0 or 1 data string is displayed. Output to the device 31.

The display device 31 for performing the 7-segment display includes:
A display unit 43 for driving the 7-segment display units 24A to 24H, a voice generation unit 45 for notifying the user of the pager receiving terminal 20 of an incoming call or the like, and a display unit 43 and a voice generation unit based on the serial data. 45
And a 7-segment display control unit 44 for controlling the operation of.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

(A-2) Operation of the Embodiment The received signal captured by the antenna 32 is
After being high-frequency amplified by 3, the frequency converters 34 and 35 down-convert the baseband frequency band, filters 38 and 39 remove unnecessary frequency components, and the limiters 40 and 41 make the amplitudes uniform.

The amplitude-limited signal is demodulated by the demodulator 42, converted into a serial data string, and supplied to the 7-segment display control unit 44.

The 7-segment display control section 44 decodes the serial data string and recognizes its meaning. In this decoding process, it is determined whether or not the serial data string is data addressed to the terminal itself. Only when it is determined that the data string is addressed to the terminal, the data string is divided into bit units representing characters or the like. The character corresponding to the bit unit obtained by the division is stored in the received character information buffer.

From the column of characters and the like stored in the received character information buffer, a concavo-convex operation pattern for a character string portion to be displayed at that time is specified and read out from a pattern memory (not shown) (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 8, for example, this pattern memory corresponds to half of the so-called free message conversion table widely used in pager receiving terminals, that is, the Japanese syllabary of Japanese Katakana, the Japanese syllabary, and the Japanese syllable. It includes 50 different display contents.

The concave / convex operation pattern shown in FIG. 8 shows the correspondence between the characters such as the Japanese syllabary meaning of the received signal and the concave / convex operation pattern of each 7-segment display unit. The hatched segments are convex segments, and the unhatched white segments are concave segments.

In FIG. 8, as a general correspondence relationship, the horizontal arrangement of the five rows is from the “A” row of the Japanese syllabary to the “O”
The ten columns, which correspond to the rows and are arranged vertically, correspond to the "a" to "wa" columns of the Japanese syllabary.

For example, the character "A" in the "A" row and the "A" column
Is displayed by causing the segments S1 and S2 to perform a convex operation and the other segments S3 to S7 to perform a concave operation. Similarly, "i" indicates that segments S2 and S4 are to be operated in a convex manner, and the other segments S1, S3 and S5 to S7 are to be operated in a concave manner.
And the other segments S2 to S
4, S6 and S7 are displayed by performing a concave operation.

The regularity of the pattern of FIG. 8 is as follows. Among the seven segments S1 to S7, a row is specified by the uneven pattern of three segments S1, S4 and S7 which are long in the horizontal direction, and four segments S2 which are long in the vertical direction. , S3, S5, and S6 are used to specify columns.

For example, the horizontal segments S1, S4,
If only S1 of S7 is convex, the 7-segment display unit displays the character of the "a" line, and if only S1 and S4 are convex, the character of the "e" line is displayed. Is shown.

Further, for example, the vertical segment S2,
If only S2 among S3, S5, and S6 is convex, the 7-segment display unit displays the character in the “A” column, and S2
If only and S5 are convex, the characters in the "na" column are displayed.

By combining these, for example, if only the segment S4 of the horizontal segment is convex and only the segments S2 and S5 of the vertical segment are convex, the characters in the "i" row and the "na" column "Ni" will be displayed.

In the vicinity of, for example, the lower left corner in FIG. 8, there is also included a pattern in which six segments S1 to S6 are convex to display a dull sound, and segments other than S1 are convex to display a semi-dull sound. I have.

Further, in addition to the pattern of FIG. 8, for example, a pattern as shown in FIG. 9 is prepared.

In FIG. 9A, the segments S1,
S4 and S7 are convex to display the punctuation marks ("."), And segments S1 and S7 are convex to indicate the reading points (",").

FIG. 9 (B) shows that only the segment S1 is convex and a small letter is displayed, and that only the segment S4 is convex and prolonged (long sound, that is, "-" of ink character). Is convex to indicate that the character immediately before is corrected and displayed immediately afterward, segments S1 and S4 are convex to indicate uppercase letters, and segments S4 and S7 are convex to indicate lowercase letters. Show that.

By using the lowercase letters in FIG. 9B, it is possible to display a repetitive sound and a prompting sound, as well as a special sound that does not belong to the normal repetitive sounding system or the prompting system, such as the violin “va”.

Further, in FIG. 9 (C), the segments S1 to S4 and S7 are made convex to display "?" (Conversion number 67 in the free message conversion table), and the segment S is displayed.
2. Displaying "!" (Conversion number 68) by making S3 convex,
The segments S1 and S5 to S7 are projected to display “￥” (conversion number 76), and the segments S1 and S4 to S7 are displayed.
7 is convex and “&” (conversion number 77) is displayed, and segments S2 and S6 are convex and a space (conversion number 88) is displayed.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show display contents not included in the existing free message conversion table, while FIG. 9C shows a part of the free message conversion table. is there.

There is a certain regularity between the concavo-convex pattern and the symbols in FIG. 9C via the conversion numbers corresponding to the characters and symbols in the free message conversion table on a one-to-one basis.

The ones digit of the conversion number described by two digits is displayed using the horizontal segments S1, S4 and S7, and "6"
For, the segments S1 and S7 are made convex, and for "7", the segments S1, S4 and S7 are made convex and "8"
, All the horizontal segments S1, S4, S7 are concave.

The tens place of the conversion number is displayed using vertical segments S2, S3, S5 and S6,
For “6”, segments S2 and S3 are displayed as convex, for “7”, segments S5 and S6 are displayed as convex, and for “8”, segments S2 and S6 are displayed as convex. To display.

Therefore, in order to display the "?" Of the conversion number 67, for example, the segments S2, S3 are made convex, and the segments S1, S4, S7 are made convex, thus forming the above-mentioned uneven pattern.

The patterns other than those shown in FIG. 8 are not limited to the twelve patterns shown in FIG. 9, and other symbols and the like may be added, but these deviate from the clear and easy-to-understand regularity shown in FIG. Therefore, it is desirable to take care not to increase the number too much.

For example, the concavo-convex pattern in which only the segment S1 is convex may overlap the display indicating the "a" column (vowel), but the display of the vowel always accompanies the display of the consonant column. Therefore, it can be distinguished from each of the concavo-convex patterns in FIG.

The correspondence between the alphabets shown in parentheses in FIG. 8 and the concavo-convex pattern in seven-segment display units is used when, for example, the alphabetical conversion (large) pattern in FIG. Things.

In this case, the concavo-convex pattern of each 7-segment display unit is the same as the concavo-convex pattern of “A” when “A” is displayed, for example.

In addition, the display of the numbers "0" to "9" is the same as the normal on / off display of the 7-segment LED, for example, the display of "0" makes six segments other than S4 convex. In the case of Arabic numerals, a display similar to that of ink characters is performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the concave / convex pattern for displaying seven characters and the concave / convex pattern for displaying numbers are completely different from each other without overlapping, and thus are different from the conventional six-point braille. In addition, numbers can be displayed without a number sign.

In the 7-segment display control section 44 in FIG.
A segment drive signal corresponding to the concavo-convex operation pattern read from the pattern memory having the above-described comparison table is supplied to the display unit 43.

The segment drive signal is used for each of the segments S1 to S7 in the corresponding seven-segment display unit, for example, to make a convex operation projecting in the direction D1 like the segment S1 in FIG. (B) This signal specifies whether to perform a concave operation moved in the direction D2 as in the segment S3 in the middle.

Display unit 4 receiving segment drive signal
3 are 24A to 24A by means such as a motor and an actuator for converting electric power into magnetic force and mechanical force.
A required segment in a required seven-segment display unit of H is caused to perform a concave operation or a convex operation.

It is preferable to notify the user of the completion of the concavo-convex operation by, for example, voice.

The user can recognize the information received by the pager receiving terminal 20 by touching or visually reading with a fingertip.

In this embodiment, since the number of 7-segment display units is eight, the maximum number of characters that can be simultaneously displayed is eight.

If the amount of information that can be received at one time is larger than this, the received information may be divided and displayed in units of eight characters while taking into account the turbidity and the like. User is 8
By operating the operation buttons 21 to 23 for each character, information is read for every eight characters.

For example, when “a while” is displayed in accordance with the example shown in FIG.
(C).

Note that “B” is a 7-segment display unit that makes segments S1 to S6 convex to indicate a cloud point, and a 7-segment display unit that makes segments S1 to S3 that show the next “H” convex. Are displayed in two 7-segment display units, so to display "for a while"
It requires five consecutive units of the eight seven-segment display units 24A to 24H.

As is apparent from a comparison between FIGS. 3A and 3C, the seven-segment display of the present embodiment is more effective in confusion of segments between adjacent seven-segment display units than the conventional braille. It is unlikely to occur. This is considered to be because a group of segments having a rod-like or linear form tends to make the user clearly aware of the omitted cells more than a group of points as in the related art. .

In the case of six-point braille, the smaller the number of points, the more difficult it is to recognize a cell and the more likely it is to cause a false recognition. In particular, only one point such as a point P5 indicating a dull sound, or two points But instead of two points, left and right and up and down,
"O" (see Fig. 4 (A)) or "K" (see Fig. 4 (B))
This tendency is considered to be strong in the case of two oblique directions corresponding to the above.

In the case of the 7-segment display, all 1-segments are figures having a shape approximating the upper and lower or right and left two points of a six-point braille (line segments whose both ends are defined by these two points).
In that case, in the 7-segment display, there is no diagonal segment equivalent to the six-point braille "O" or "KA", and at least two points exist and one point Since it is impossible, it is considered that a cell which is not displayed is easily recognized.

In the relationship between FIGS. 3A and 3C, the distance between adjacent points in the same cell (not shown) in FIG. 3A and the length of one segment in FIG. The lengths are equal, and the size of a cell (arbitrary one seven-segment display unit is accommodated in one cell in FIG. 3C) is also illustrated.

(A-3) Effects of the Embodiment As described above, according to this embodiment, even if the cells are omitted, there is a possibility that the affiliations of the segments are confused between the adjacent seven-segment display units. It is possible to provide a display that is low and easily distinguished visually and tactilely.

Further, such display makes it possible to reduce the size of a cell, particularly in the horizontal direction, and to increase the information density as compared with conventional Braille.

In the present embodiment, the information density is also increased from the point that numbers can be displayed without prefixing numerals.

(B) Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, it is also possible to exchange the segments that operate concavely with the segments that operate convexly. That is, for example, to display "A", the segment S
It is also possible to make the other segments S3 to S7 perform a convex operation while performing the concave operation of 1 and S2. However, at this time, it is necessary to take care that the concave and convex pattern indicating a number does not match the concave and convex pattern indicating a character.

The tactile sensation of the fingertip has a characteristic that it is sensitive to a protruding object and insensitive to a concave object. Therefore, when assuming a visually impaired person as a main user,
It is considered that it is desirable to display characters or the like depending on whether the height is equal to or higher than the upper surface 20A of the pager receiving terminal 20 as in the above-described embodiment and the like.

However, depending on conditions such as the assumed user and the size of the 7-segment display unit (cell),
It is also possible to display characters or the like depending on whether the height is equal to or lower than the upper surface 20A.

The contents of the comparison table of the pattern memory are not limited to those shown in FIGS.

If necessary for the characteristics of tactile reading, FIG.
The gap G1 between the segments shown in FIG. Although the gap G1 is shown as a gap between the segments S1 and S2, when the gap G1 is increased, the gap between other segments is naturally also increased.

In the above embodiment, the pager receiving terminal has been described as an example, but the present invention is applicable to other types of receiving terminals.

The present invention can be applied not only to a reception-only terminal, but also to a seven-segment communication terminal such as a transmission-only terminal or a transmission / reception terminal that performs transmission and reception.

For example, when the present invention is applied to a seven-segment communication terminal capable of transmitting and receiving, in the transmission mode of the seven-segment communication terminal, first, all seven segments S1 to S7 of each seven-segment display unit are set in a convex state, Next, the user presses the segment to be recessed corresponding to the character or the like to be transmitted with a fingertip or the like by a user to form a necessary concavo-convex pattern, and performs the transmitting operation when the formation of the concavo-convex pattern is completed. The information corresponding to the uneven pattern is transmitted.

In the conventional mass 10, assuming a mass size of about 8 mm in vertical PL and about 5 mm in horizontal WL, the size of one point is about 1 mm in diameter. Since the length of one segment is as large as about 2.5 mm, the work for writing is easy,
Effort is also reduced.

Further, the feature of the present invention resides in that seven-segment display is performed by the uneven operation, so that the present invention can be applied to a seven-segment display device.

In the above description, the 7-segment display unit can change the characters to be displayed by the concave-convex operation. , Since there is also a display form itself that displays characters and the like with the regularity described above,
It can be replaced with a seven-segment display using a fixed concavo-convex pattern, for example, braille for explanation around a vending machine or an elevator button, or braille such as a transliterated book.

The display characters described in claims 1 to 12 are not only characters such as the Japanese syllabary or the alphabet, but also
This is a broad concept including numbers and symbols.

[0110]

As described above, according to the present invention, the possibility of confusing the affiliations of the segments between the adjacent seven-segment display units is low, and it is easy to visually and tactilely identify them. Display can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, such a display can be used to reduce the 7-segment display unit and increase the information density as compared with the conventional Braille, while increasing the 7-segment display unit. Even in cases, easy and accurate tactile reading is possible.

Further, assuming the same mass size, the length of the segment of the seven-segment display of the present invention is longer than the diameter of the conventional six-point braille point, so that the work for writing is easy. , Labor is reduced.

The display using the seven segments is a display form that is familiar to ordinary sighted persons and easy to accept, so that the user layer can be easily expanded and spread as compared with the conventional six-point braille.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seven-segment display unit according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a conventional six-point braille.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram comparing a 7-segment display unit according to the embodiment with a conventional 6-point braille.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a correspondence relationship between a conventional six-point braille pattern and Japanese syllabary.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of numbers in a conventional six-point braille.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electronic circuit configuration inside the pager receiving terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the pager receiving terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a comparison table showing a correspondence relationship between a seven-segment concavo-convex pattern stored in the pattern memory according to the embodiment and a Japanese syllabary;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a correspondence relationship between a seven-segment uneven pattern and characters other than the Japanese syllabary according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

10-13 ... square, 20 ... pager receiving terminal, 20A ...
The top of the pager receiving terminal, 24 ... 7 segment display,
24A to 24H: 7-segment display unit, P1 to P6 ...
Points (in six-point braille), S1 to S7... Segments, US...

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A driving means for selectively operating each segment in one or a plurality of seven-segment display units composed of seven segments arranged in a figure eight shape, and an uneven pattern of the seven segments. A storage means for storing a correspondence relationship with a display character; and when a signal meaning the display character is input, a concave / convex pattern corresponding to the display character meaning by the input signal is read out from the storage means. A seven-segment display device, comprising: a display control means for causing the driving means to perform a concavo-convex operation according to the concavo-convex pattern. 2. The seven-segment display device according to claim 1, wherein the display characters form a character set, and positions of the display characters in the character set are combined with a plurality of predetermined positional components in a rule. In this case, the seven segments are divided into the same number of segment groups as the number of rules corresponding to each rule, and the correspondence stored in the storage means is defined as A seven-segment display device formed by using a concavo-convex pattern of a segment constituting a group so as to identify a positional component in a rule corresponding to the segment group. 3. A seven-segment display body in which display characters are fixedly displayed by using an uneven pattern of each segment in one or a plurality of seven-segment display units composed of seven segments arranged in a figure eight shape. When the display characters constitute a character set, and the position of the display character in the character set is specified by combining a plurality of predetermined positional components on a rule, the seven segments correspond to each rule. Then, it is divided into the same number of segment groups as the number of rules, and it is captured. By using the concavo-convex pattern of the segments constituting each segment group, the position components in the rule corresponding to the segment group are identified. A 7-segment display body, wherein a correspondence between the display characters and the 7-segment concavo-convex pattern is formed. 4. A signal processing means for transmitting or receiving information, and selectively operating each segment in one or a plurality of seven-segment display units consisting of seven segments arranged in a figure-eight shape. And display means for displaying a concavo-convex pattern, and storage means for storing a correspondence relationship between the concavo-convex pattern of the seven segments and display characters. When the signal processing means transmits and receives a signal corresponding to the changed concavo-convex pattern display by changing the display from the outside, the concavo-convex pattern of the display means is provided in accordance with the signal received by the signal processing means. A 7-segment communication terminal, wherein a pattern is changed. 5. The seven-segment communication terminal according to claim 4, wherein the display characters form a character set, and positions of the display characters in the character set are combined with a plurality of predetermined positional components in a rule. In this case, the seven segments are divided into the same number of segment groups as the number of rules corresponding to each rule, and the correspondence stored in the storage means is defined as 7. A seven-segment communication terminal formed by using a concavo-convex pattern of a segment constituting a group to identify a positional component in a rule corresponding to the segment group.