JP2003333141A - Mobile telephone equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily photograph a user himself/herself as an object in a foldable camera phone. <P>SOLUTION: In the foldable mobile telephone equipment which is composed of a lower casing 101 and an upper casing 102 coupled by a hinge part 103, and is provided with buttons 104 for communication operations on the surface of the lower casing 101 which becomes inside when the equipment is folded, a first LCD 105 is provided on the surface of the upper casing 102 which becomes inside when the equipment is folded, and a second LCD 106 and a camera lens 107 are provided on the back of the upper casing 102. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile phone device, and more particularly to a foldable mobile phone device having a camera function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Mobile phone devices having a camera function are already widely used. In addition, some mobile phone devices having such a camera function have a function of attaching a captured image to an e-mail and transmitting it. In a conventional mobile phone device having a camera function, a display unit composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Diplay) or the like for realizing a display function inherent in the mobile phone device is used as a finder at the time of shooting, and a part of the display unit is used as a finder. Combined use,
Or, it is common to use all of them as a viewfinder. Therefore, the camera lens for shooting is L
It is often mounted on the surface opposite to the surface on which the CD is mounted.

However, when a user of a portable telephone device having a camera function tries to photograph the user himself and transmits the image, if the lens for photographing is directed to himself, an LCD display as a finder is displayed. Since the part faces away from me, I cannot use the viewfinder. Therefore, as a solution to such inconvenience, a mobile phone device as shown in FIG. 5 has been proposed.

As shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), this prior art portable telephone device 500 is a basic device in which a lower casing 501 and an upper casing 502 are openably and closably coupled via a hinge portion 503. As shown in FIG. 5A, a communication operation button 504 and an LCD 505 serving as a camera finder that also serves as a display unit of the apparatus are mounted on the surface of the lower housing 501, and as shown in FIG. As shown in b), a camera lens 506 is arranged on the back surface of the upper housing 502, and a mirror 507 for determining a shooting range is provided on this surface in the vicinity of the camera lens 506. The mirror 507 is composed of a concave mirror, and when the user wants to take a picture of himself / herself, the user can confirm the general photographing field including himself / herself by looking at the reflected image of the mirror 507.

[0005]

In the prior art portable telephone device shown in FIG. 5, not only the mirror 507 must be prepared for the purpose of taking a picture of itself, but also the visual field of view confirmation. On top of that, there was the problem that mirrors are not always convenient. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a mobile phone device having a camera function, it is easy to confirm the field of view when photographing oneself, and a viewfinder function for photographing oneself is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile phone device that requires a small number of additional functions to realize it.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 relates to a portable telephone device, which comprises a first casing and a second casing connected by a hinge portion, In a foldable mobile phone device in which buttons for communication operation are provided on a surface of the first casing that is inside when folded, a second surface of the second casing is provided on a surface that is inside when folded. The first display means is provided, and the second display means and the camera lens are provided on the back surface of the second housing.

The invention according to claim 2 relates to the portable telephone device according to claim 1, wherein the first display means displays a telephone number of an incoming and outgoing call, a mail text and / or the camera lens. It is characterized in that the photographed image is displayed via the camera, and the second display means displays the incoming call number or the like when waiting for an incoming call in the folded state and / or displays the photographed image via the camera lens.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 relates to the portable telephone device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first display means and the second display means have the same screen size. .

The invention according to claim 4 relates to the portable telephone device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first display means and the second display means have different screen sizes. .

Further, the invention according to claim 5 relates to the portable telephone device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the images of the same magnification are displayed on the first display means and the second display means. It is characterized by displaying.

Further, the invention according to claim 6 relates to the portable telephone device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein images of different magnifications are displayed on the first display means and the second display means. It is characterized by displaying.

Further, the invention according to claim 7 relates to the portable telephone device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first display means and / or the second display means is an LCD. Is characterized by.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The description will be specifically made using the embodiments. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the external structure of a mobile phone device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the mobile phone device of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a usage mode of the mobile phone device of the present embodiment.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, the external structure of the portable telephone device of this example will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the mobile phone device 100 of this example has a basic configuration of a folding type, and includes a lower housing 101 and an upper housing 1.
02 and a hinge portion 103 connecting the two. In FIG. 1, (a) shows the front surface that appears when the mobile phone device is opened, and (b) shows the back surface.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the lower housing 101 has a numeric keypad and other various communication operation buttons 104 necessary for performing communication operation on the surface thereof which appears when the portable telephone device is opened. Is provided. Upper housing 102
As shown in FIG. 1 (a), on the surface that appears when the mobile phone device is opened, the telephone number of incoming and outgoing calls and the mail text are displayed on the surface during communication operation, and the image is captured during camera shooting. A first LCD 105 that displays an image is provided. Further, the upper casing 102 has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a second LCD 106 is provided on the back surface thereof for displaying a called number and the like when waiting for an incoming call in a state where the mobile phone device is closed, and for displaying a captured image at the time of shooting by the camera,
A camera lens 107 for photographing is provided.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the electrical configuration of the portable telephone device of this example will be described. Mobile phone device 2 of this example
Reference numeral 00 denotes a camera unit 201, a camera interface (I / F) unit 202, an image memory interface (I / F) unit 203, and an image memory 204, as shown in FIG.
And the camera image data 20 that constitutes the image memory 204.
5, general-purpose image data 206, ..., 207 and the first LC
D interface (I / F) unit 208 and first LCD
209 and the second LCD interface (I / F) unit 2
10, a second LCD 211, a control unit 212, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that constitutes the control unit 212.
) 213 and a memory 214.

The camera unit 201 captures an image of a subject and converts it into image data. The camera I / F unit 202 is
Image data from the camera unit 201 is fetched, and the image size is processed. The image memory I / F unit 203 includes a camera I / F unit 202, an image memory 204, and a control unit 2.
12 and the LCD I / F units 208 and 210 are controlled to input and output image data and various control signals. The image memory 204 stores camera image data 205,
Comprised of general-purpose image data 206, ..., 207,
The image data captured by the camera unit 201 is stored in the camera image data 205, and the general-purpose image data 206, ...
The data of the general-purpose image used for the communication operation display from the control unit 212 is stored in 7.

The LCD I / F unit 208 is an image memory I / F.
The image data from the F unit 203 is transferred to the LCD 209. The LCD I / F unit 210 uses the image memory I
The image data from the / F unit 203 is transferred to the LCD 211. The LCD 209 is provided on the surface of the upper housing 102, and displays the telephone numbers of incoming and outgoing calls, mail texts, and the like and the captured images at the same time by dividing the screen or separately by switching. LCD211 is
It is provided on the back surface of the upper housing 102, and displays the incoming call number and the like in the incoming call waiting state and the display of the captured image at the same time by dividing the screen or separately by switching. LCD
The screen sizes of the 209 and the LCD 211 may be the same or different. Control unit 21
2 has a CPU 213 and a memory 214,
213 uses the programs and data stored in the memory 214 to control the overall operation of the mobile phone device.

The operation of the portable telephone device of this example will be described below with reference to FIG. The image data from the camera unit 201 is transferred to the control unit 2 in the camera I / F unit 202.
The image data is sent to the image memory 204 through the image memory I / F unit 203 after being subjected to processing such as image cutting and reduction based on an instruction from the camera image data 20.
It is stored as 5. Image data from the camera unit 201 is supplied at a constant cycle of, for example, 15 frames / second, and the image memory I / F unit 203 has the same speed or a speed that is slowed down by a method such as thinning out frames at a predetermined rate. The camera image data 205 in the image memory 204 is updated.

The image memory I / F unit 203 is a camera I / F.
In addition to the camera image data from the F unit 202, the control unit 21
The image data from No. 2 is stored in the general-purpose image data 206, ..., 207 in the image memory 204. Further, the image memory I / F unit 203 includes the camera image data 205 and the general-purpose image data 206 stored in the image memory 204.
..., 207 is read out, and the LCD I / F unit 208 and L
The transfer to the CD I / F unit 210 and the control unit 212 is also performed.

The LCD I / F unit 208 is an image memory I / F.
The general-purpose image data 206, ..., 207 supplied from the F unit 203 is processed into an image size that can be displayed on the LCD 209 and transferred to the LCD 209, whereby the image captured by the camera unit 201 is displayed on the LCD 209. An image or image data from the control unit 212 is displayed. The LCD I / F unit 210 is
The camera image data 205 or the general-purpose image data 206, ..., 207 supplied from the image memory I / F unit 203
The image is processed into an image size that can be displayed on the LCD 211 and transferred to the LCD 211.
In 1, the image captured by the camera unit 201 or the image data from the control unit 212 is displayed.

FIG. 3 exemplifies a mode of use at the time of photographing in the portable telephone device of this example. The mobile phone device 300 of this example, as shown in FIGS.
The lower housing 301 has a basic structure in which a lower housing 301 and an upper housing 302 are joined by a hinge portion 303, and appears when the mobile phone device is opened, as shown in FIG.
01 is provided with a communication operation button 304 on the surface of the upper housing 3
02 is provided with a first LCD 305 on the same surface, and as shown in FIG.
The second LCD 3 is provided on the back side of the surface on which the LCD 305 is mounted.
06 and a camera lens 307.

When the subject 308 other than the user is photographed by the portable telephone device 300, as shown in FIG. 3A, the back surface of the portable telephone device 300 equipped with the camera lens 307 is placed on the subject 308 side. Shoot towards. In this case, the first
By using the LCD 305 as a finder, the user can see the screen of the first LCD 305 while
The subject 308 other than the user can be photographed.

On the other hand, when the subject 309, which is the user himself, is photographed by the portable telephone device 300, FIG.
As shown in (b), photographing is performed with the back surface of the mobile phone device 300 equipped with the camera lens 307 facing the user. In this case, by using the second LCD 306 on the back surface of the mobile phone device 300 as a finder, the user can photograph the subject 309, which is the user himself, while looking at the screen of the second LCD 306. You can

As described above, in the portable telephone device of this example,
No. 1 on the surface of the upper housing that appears when the mobile phone device is opened
In addition to having the LCD, the camera lens and the second LCD are provided on the back surface of the upper housing, so that when the subject other than the user is to be photographed, the back surface of the mobile phone device should be aimed at the subject. By photographing, the image of the subject other than the user can be confirmed using the first LCD on the surface of the mobile phone device as a finder. On the other hand, when the user wants to shoot himself as a subject, he or she shoots the back side of the mobile phone device toward himself so that the second LCD on the back face of the mobile phone device is used as a viewfinder. You can see an image of yourself.

At this time, since the first LCD and the second LCD are provided on the front surface and the back surface of the upper housing, they are used with the upper housing facing upward and the front surface facing the user. From the normal usage mode, the user can take an image of himself / herself simply by turning the mobile phone device face down, so that the operation is easy. Further, since the camera lens and the first LCD are provided in the upper housing, the relative positional relationship between the user's field of view and the camera lens at the time of photographing a subject other than the user is different from that in the normal use state. Since it does not change, it is easy to shoot a subject other than the user.

In the portable telephone device of the first embodiment, even when the same image data is displayed on two LCDs having different sizes, the image is not enlarged or reduced, so that it is displayed depending on the size of the LCD. The display range of the displayed image is different. However, if the image is enlarged or reduced, the same range of the same image can be displayed on the two LCDs having different sizes. In the following,
An example of this case will be described.

Second Embodiment FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a mobile phone device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, showing only a portion related to the display of a photographed image by a camera. . As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile phone device 400 of this example has a camera unit 40.
1, a camera interface (I / F) unit 402, an image memory 403, and a first LCD interface (I / F).
F) section 404, first LCD 405, second LCD
Interface (I / F) unit 406 and second LCD 4
And 07.

The camera unit 401 captures an image of a subject and converts it into image data. The camera I / F unit 402 is
Image data from the camera unit 401 is fetched, and the image is enlarged or reduced. The image memory 403 stores the image data from the camera I / F unit 402. LCD
The I / F unit 404 performs a process of transferring the image data from the image memory 403 to the LCD 405. LCD I / F
The unit 406 converts the image data from the image memory 403 to L
Processing for transferring to the CD 407 is performed.

The LCD 405 is provided on the surface of the upper casing 102, and displays the telephone numbers of incoming and outgoing calls, mail texts, etc. and the shot images at the same time by dividing the screen or separately by switching. indicate. The LCD 406 is provided on the rear surface of the upper housing 102, and displays the incoming call number and the like and the captured image at the same time by splitting the screen or separately by switching.

The operation of the portable telephone device of this example will be described below with reference to FIG. Images captured by the camera unit 401 are displayed on two LCDs 405, 407 of different sizes.
When displaying on the LCD I / F unit 402 and the LCDI
The / F unit 404 and the LCD I / F unit 406 cut out or enlarge or reduce the image data. Camera unit 401
While the image capturing size 408 in 352 pixels is 352 pixels × 288 pixels, the image display size 41 of the LCD 405 is
1 is 120 pixels × 160 pixels, and the image display size 413 of the LCD 407 is 60 pixels × 80 pixels,
When transferring image data from the camera unit 401 to the LCDs 405 and 407, it is necessary to change the image size.

In the camera I / F unit 402, an image is cut out or reduced in accordance with the image display size 411 of the LCD 405 having the larger size, and the image memory 40 is displayed.
An image size 409 of 120 pixels × 160 pixels is stored in No. 3. When the image data is transferred from the image memory 403 to the LCD 405, it is not necessary to change the image size in the LCD I / F unit 404.
The image data read from 3 is directly displayed on the LCD 405.
On the LCD 405 by transferring
An image of 0 pixels × 160 pixels is displayed.

On the other hand, from the image memory 403 to the LCD 407
When the image data is transferred to the LCD I / F unit 406, the image size needs to be changed. In this example, L
The CD I / F unit 406 thins out every other pixel in both the vertical and horizontal directions to obtain an image size of 120 pixels × 160 pixels of 6 pixels.
By changing to 0 pixels × 80 pixels and transferring to the LCD 407, the LCD 407 has 60 pixels × 80 pixels.
The pixel image is displayed.

As described above, in the portable telephone device of this example,
An image displayed on the first LCD even if the first LCD provided on the front surface of the upper housing and the second LCD provided on the back surface of the upper housing have different image display sizes.
Since it is possible to change the enlargement / reduction ratio of the image displayed on the second LCD, the second LCD can be used even when a subject other than the user is photographed using the first LCD as a finder.
Even when the user himself / herself is used as a finder to shoot an image, the shooting range can be optimized.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific structure is not limited to this embodiment, and there are design changes and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention. However, it is included in this invention. For example, the display units provided on the front and back surfaces of the upper housing are not limited to LCDs,
One using EL (Electro Luminescence) element, P
A DP (Plasma Display Panel) may be used.

[0036]

As described above, according to the portable telephone device of the present invention, the first casing is provided on the surface of the upper casing, which appears when the folding portable telephone device is opened, and the upper casing is provided. Since the camera lens and the second LCD are provided on the back of the body, when the subject other than the user is to be photographed, the first LCD is used as the finder and the user photographs himself as the subject. In this case, since the second LCD can be used as a finder for shooting, shooting is easy in any case.

In particular, when the user takes a picture of himself / herself, the user only has to turn the mobile phone unit opened in the normal use state to face down, so that the operation is easy. Further, since the camera lens and the first LCD are provided in the upper housing, the relative positional relationship between the user's field of view and the camera lens at the time of photographing a subject other than the user is different from that in the normal use state. Since it does not change, it is easy to shoot a subject other than the user.

Further, the first LCD on the front surface of the upper casing is for the purpose of displaying telephone numbers of incoming and outgoing calls, mail texts, etc., and the second LCD on the back surface is in a state of waiting for an incoming call by folding the portable telephone device. All of them have been conventionally equipped for the purpose of displaying the incoming call number, etc. Therefore, the additional components newly required for implementing the present invention are few, and the cost burden is low. Is small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external structure of a mobile phone device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the mobile phone device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a mode of use of the mobile phone device of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a mobile phone device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an external configuration of a conventional mobile phone device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101, 301 Lower case (first case) 102, 302 Upper case (second case) 103,303 Hinge part 104, 304 Communication operation buttons 105, 305 First LCD (first display means) 106, 306 Second LCD (second display means) 107,307 Camera lens

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A first housing and a second housing connected by a hinge portion.
A foldable mobile phone device having a housing for storing a button for communication operation on a surface of the first housing that is inside when folded, wherein the second housing is folded. A mobile phone device characterized in that the first display means is provided on the inside surface when the second display means and the camera lens are provided on the back surface of the second casing. 2. The first display means displays a telephone number of an incoming or outgoing call, a mail text, etc. and / or a captured image through the camera lens, and the second display means displays a folded state. 2. The mobile phone device according to claim 1, wherein an incoming call number and the like during standby for incoming call are displayed and / or a photographed image through the camera lens is displayed. 3. The first display means and the second display means have the same screen size.
Alternatively, the mobile phone device described in 2. 4. The first display means and the second display means have different screen sizes.
Alternatively, the mobile phone device described in 2. 5. The mobile phone device according to claim 2, wherein the first display means and the second display means display images of equal magnification. 6. The mobile phone device according to claim 2, wherein images of different magnifications are displayed on the first display means and the second display means. 7. The mobile phone device according to claim 1, wherein the first display unit and / or the second display unit is an LCD.