JP2001272413A - Portable telephone with motion sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a portable telephone to have a new function to expand usefulness, more specifically, new information display and processing functions such as games, control, or mutual communication by detecting acceleration or angular velocity, displaying the output, or using the output. SOLUTION: The portable telephone with motion sensors is provided with an acceleration sensor and/or an angular velocity sensor, and a switch means for controlling the operation, and at the same time has a display function for displaying output data including the size and direction of acceleration or angular velocity that is detected by the acceleration sensor or the angular velocity sensor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for expanding the functions of a portable telephone. The present invention also relates to an application technique of a motion sensor for measuring acceleration or angular velocity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the spread of portable telephones has been remarkable, and the functions possessed by portable telephones have become increasingly sophisticated. However, looking at the interaction, the user hears and hears,
The user visually confirms the display and operates a switch group such as a button by tactile sense, but maintains a posture such that the user and the telephone have a substantially constant positional relationship during use of the telephone. That is, a relatively large local movement of the user's body (for example, waving his arm) has conventionally been unrelated to the mobile phone.

[0003]

However, in view of the fact that the portable telephone is an electronic device which can be operated with one hand, that the posture at the time of operation is fixed, and the degree of its spread, the prior art still has its own potential. It is considered that sex is not fully utilized. In other words, if a function for detecting the movement of the user, which was not related to the related art, is added to the mobile phone and utilized, the mobile phone can be used as a more useful portable electronic device.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile phone with a new function and expand its usefulness. More specifically, the function of detecting the acceleration or angular velocity of a mobile phone and displaying its output is provided, or the output is used to provide new information display and processing functions such as games, control, or mutual communication. It is an object of the present invention to provide a configuration of a mobile phone that can have a higher use value as an information device or an information terminal device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a mobile phone with a motion sensor according to the present invention has the following features. (1) A display function for mounting an acceleration sensor and / or an angular velocity sensor and a switch means for controlling the operation of the acceleration sensor and / or the angular velocity sensor, and displaying output data on acceleration or angular velocity detected by the acceleration sensor or the angular velocity sensor. Having prepared.

The mobile phone with a motion sensor of the present invention may further have at least one of the following features. (2) The output of the acceleration or the angular velocity becomes a part of a control input for controlling a function possessed by the mobile phone.

(3) It has a function of transmitting and receiving the output data of the acceleration or the angular velocity and displaying the received output data.

(4) The data of the output of the acceleration or the angular velocity is displayed on a display device for displaying functions possessed by the mobile phone.

(5) A display function is provided for performing a predetermined display when at least one of the output of the acceleration or the angular velocity exceeds a predetermined value.

(6) A function for storing and displaying at least one maximum value of the output of the acceleration or the angular velocity within a predetermined period is provided.

(7) A display function is provided for displaying a time integral value relating to at least one of the output of the acceleration or the angular velocity.

[0012]

1 (a), 1 (b) and 1 (c) are front views or partial front views of a portable telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention, each showing a different exercise display mode. . (D) shows the six components of the movement common to the other figures using coordinate axes. ω represents the angular velocity.
(A) In the figure, 1 is a mobile phone in a case, 2
Is a group of a large number of operation switches arranged on the surface and side surfaces thereof. Reference numeral 3 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal, which normally displays telephone information such as the telephone number of the incoming or outgoing telephone, the name of the other party, and a communication message. Reference numeral 10 denotes a motion sensor, which is an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor housed in a flat package, mounted on a circuit board (not shown) inside the mobile phone 1, and has three directions (( 5), and a total of 5 to 6 components can be detected, including three components of linear acceleration in the motion (2) and two to three components of angular acceleration of rotation about each axis. The motion of the aircraft is usually provided by the user.

Although the internal structure of the sensor is not shown because it has been proposed by many patent applications, for example, the motion sensor is a disk-shaped vibrator having a mass deviated to one side (Z-axis direction) of the plate surface. The acceleration sensor uses this vibrating body without vibrating, and uses a piezoelectric element to deform the disc in three axes (X, Y axes in the plane, and Z axis perpendicular to the plane) due to the inertial force acting on the mass. Detection. The angular velocity sensor uses a two-axis sensor that excites the vibrating body in the Z-axis direction and piezoelectrically detects the deformation of the disk due to the Coriolis force generated when rotating around the X-axis or the Y-axis.

The display device 3 shown in FIG. 1A displays acceleration components in three axial directions. On the display screen, the X-axis in the left-right direction, the Y-axis in the long-axis direction, and the Z-axis perpendicular to the display surface of the mobile phone 1 are displayed (the Z-axis is shown in a perspective view using an inclined straight line). ), The size of each measured component is the origin O
And the length of the thick line overlapping each axis. In order to switch the display to the angular velocity or to return to the acceleration display again, one of the switches 2 (for example, one on the side of the body) is operated.

The display device 3 shown in FIG. 1 (b) is a display device 3 which is a liquid crystal display portion for mainly displaying telephone information, and is dedicated to exercise display, which is arranged outside the display device 3 along two sides in X and Y directions. LE
The display device 3a is a D display unit. The magnitudes of the X and Y components of the acceleration or angular velocity are indicated by the number of lit LEDs or the lit positions of the LEDs in each axis direction, and the sign of the vector direction is, for example, the outermost (right end and upper end) LED which is the sign display element 34 ( (It is preferable to make the emission color different from the others). Display component 3 for Z component
Is displayed using a part near the lower side, and the center of the straight line 31 is set to 0.
The size and direction are indicated by the position of the black dot 32 displayed on either the left or right. The mark 33 indicates the magnitude of the predetermined acceleration Z component, and when the black point 32 is outside the mark 33, it indicates that the generated acceleration is larger.

FIG. 1C illustrates another display mode. The display device 3 displays the directions and magnitudes of the three components of the acceleration by arrows and numbers (magnification based on the gravitational acceleration) using the lower three stages of the left half of the screen instead of the erased display of the telephone relation. ing. The three components of the angular velocity are indicated by arrows and numbers (rotation angles per second) indicating the rotation direction using the lower three steps in the right half of the screen. The upper part of the screen (portion surrounded by a thin frame) indicates the magnitude and approximate direction of the combined acceleration and angular velocity. Thus, all necessary exercise information can be displayed collectively.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an internal circuit in one example of the embodiment of the portable telephone according to the present invention. Various functions other than those described with reference to FIG. 1 are included in a basic form.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a transmission / reception circuit, and reference numeral 5 denotes a telephone circuit, which has almost existing functions, and controls the operations of a buzzer 6, a transmitter 7, a receiver 8 and the like for notifying an incoming call while the operation is defined by the switch group 2, Also, display data is supplied to a display signal generation and holding circuit 9 for causing the display device 3 to display various characters and numerals. The switch group 2 regulates not only the operation related to the telephone but also the operation of all the functional circuits related to the movement (including those whose signal lines are not shown).

Reference numeral 10 denotes a motion sensor, and 11 denotes an excitation detection circuit which excites a sensor vibrator (in the case of an angular velocity sensor), detects acceleration or angular velocity, and outputs data of the detection results. The output is selected by the communication control circuit 12 either itself or the exercise data transmitted by the communication partner and received by the transmission / reception circuit 4, and is output to each circuit of the subsequent stage. The level determination circuit 13 determines whether the detected exercise data has exceeded a predetermined value. This is effective when a control signal is output when the exercise output exceeds this threshold. The maximum value holding circuit 14 stores the maximum value within a certain trial period (for example, the maximum acceleration output when the arm holding the mobile phone is shaken strongly). This is used, for example, for evaluating athletic ability.

The control signal generating circuit 15 controls the ON / OFF of the power of the telephone function and a part of the functions quickly by swinging the arm or gently hitting the body to another object without using the push button. In this case, a circuit for controlling the telephone circuit 5 by creating a control output instead of a push button output from a detection output of acceleration or the like. The control target of this circuit is not limited to the telephone function, but may be any exercise data processing circuit (including itself).

The time interval measuring circuit 16 has a function of measuring the elapsed time from a certain reference point in time to a certain point during exercise. This circuit, for example, can be
Get used to. From the time of this sound, the user swings his arm in response to this, and a short time interval is measured until the acceleration reaches a predetermined value. This will allow the user's reflex ability to be evaluated and a physical condition to be checked. Alternatively, a game in which the reaction speed of a reflex nerve with a communication partner is competed becomes possible.

The time integrating circuits 17 and 18 have a function of integrating data of acceleration and angular velocity to calculate data of the speed (distance of the user), distance, rotation angle, and the like. The output of each circuit from the excitation detection circuit 11 to the time integration circuit 18 is input to a display signal creation and holding circuit 9 as shown by a signal line, and is converted into an appropriate symbol, numeral or figure, and is converted to a display device. 3 (or 3a).

Although the basic functions of the present invention have been described with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is not limited to these. For example, the type of motion data (for example, measuring only a specific limited direction), a processing method (weighting is performed by some scale instead of a component, and comprehensive display is performed), or an evaluation method (in the above-described embodiment, Exemplifies the evaluation of the user's reflexes, but it can also test the ability to maintain a stationary state for a long time in a space where the arm or the like is not supported), the display form (changing the figure or its area, Display location (for example, to obtain a large display area using the LED light emitting display that transmits through the back of the fuselage case or translucent fuselage case), control applications (games and other software by exercise) Operating), organic coupling with sound and voice signals, and changes in how to give exercise to mobile phones. In which it can realize the information device which is more sophisticated.

Another application example of the present invention will be described.
For example, a sick user wears a mobile phone and transmits acceleration data and angular velocity data from his / her home to a rehabilitation center or from a hospital bed to a nurse station. It is also possible to send a predetermined signal by moving the telephone. The receiving side can grasp the exercise status without interviewing the patient and give advice on the phone, and there is an abnormality in the exercise data (for example, if the stationary state continues for a long time, Treatment) can be treated without delay.

Also, since the exercise data can be transmitted together with the transmission using the voice or the push button signal, one kind of encryption can be transmitted by using the exercise data alone or in combination with other signals. For example, a specific arm swinging motion (eg, an acceleration of a certain level or more in the X-axis direction five times while transmitting to the home security system, followed by a rotation about the Y-axis that gives an angular velocity of a certain level or more). 3) can open the key to the house.

The code by this exercise is not fixed, and it is easy to complicate it by changing the number of exercises in accordance with the numbers of the push buttons operated at the same time, thereby making it difficult for a third party to steal. Thus, the application range of the present invention is extremely wide. In the case of transmission to others, the motion data is not raw acceleration or angular velocity, but may be information obtained by processing them,
Of course, it may be combined with an audio signal or a signal by a button operation.

[0026]

(1) By adding a motion detection function to a mobile phone which is a small device carried by many people,
By adding an information processing function related to exercise performed by humans, the usefulness and applicability of mobile phones could be expanded.

(2) When a function of controlling the mobile phone by exercise is added, a part of the control operation is more intuitively simple and simplified, and the usefulness can be increased. (3) In addition, when the function of mutual communication of exercise information is added, the comparison and exercise of the exercise of the mobile phone user are performed.
The exercise status can be notified to others, and the exercise itself can be transmitted as a signal or data. (4) When the function display and the exercise display of the telephone are performed on a common display device, the functions can be increased without increasing the volume of the mobile telephone and the complexity of the internal mechanism.

(5) When the function control of the mobile phone is performed when the user's exercise amount is equal to or more than a predetermined value, there is an effect that the user can easily know whether or not the exercise amount has reached the level. (6) Also, when the maximum value of the user's exercise amount is held and displayed, there is an effect that information on the user's exercise ability and the like can be easily obtained. (7) When the information such as the speed, the distance, and the rotation angle is obtained and displayed by integrating the acceleration and the angular velocity, the usefulness of the mobile phone can be further increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are front views or partial front views of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and show examples of different display forms. (D) is a coordinate system indicating a component of the direction of motion.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an internal circuit in an example of the embodiment of the mobile phone of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 mobile phone 2 switch group 3, 3a display device 31 straight line 32 black spot 33 mark 34 sign display element 4 transmission and reception circuit 5 telephone circuit 6 buzzer 7 transmitter 8 receiver 9 receiver display signal generation circuit 10 motion sensor 11 excitation detection circuit 12 switching circuit 13 Level judgment circuit 14 Maximum value holding circuit 15 Control signal creation circuit 16 Time interval measurement circuit 17, 18 Time integration circuit

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Claims (7)

[Claims] An acceleration sensor and / or an angular velocity sensor, and a switch for controlling the operation of the acceleration sensor and / or the angular velocity sensor, and a display for displaying output data relating to acceleration or angular velocity detected by the acceleration sensor or the angular velocity sensor. A mobile phone with a motion sensor, comprising a function. 2. The mobile phone with a motion sensor according to claim 1, wherein the output of the acceleration or the angular velocity is a part of a control input for controlling a function of the mobile phone. 3. The mobile phone with a motion sensor according to claim 1, further comprising a function of transmitting and receiving the output data of the acceleration or the angular velocity, and displaying the received output data. . 4. The mobile phone with a motion sensor according to claim 1, wherein the data of the output of the acceleration or the angular velocity is displayed on a display device that displays functions possessed by the mobile phone. 5. The exercise according to claim 1, further comprising a display function for performing a predetermined display when at least one of the outputs of the acceleration or the angular velocity exceeds a predetermined value. Mobile phone with sensor. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function of storing and displaying at least one maximum value of the output within a predetermined period of the acceleration or the angular velocity.
A mobile phone with a motion sensor. 7. The mobile phone with a motion sensor according to claim 1, further comprising a display function of displaying a time integration value relating to at least one of the acceleration and the angular velocity output.