JP2004140848A - Portable electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable electronic apparatus, capable of regularly displaying data on a full display field of a color liquid crystal display (LCD) 11 in a state of being equipped with a charger 2, without a releasing operation for a power saving mode. <P>SOLUTION: The portable electronic apparatus is equipped with the color LCD 11, which can be set up to switch between a full field operation mode for the full display field in operation and a partial field operation mode for a partial display field in operation and a secondary battery 17 for supplying power to the color LCD 11 and a microcomputer 7. The microcomputer 7, in a state of not being equipped with the charger 2, sets up the color LDC 11 in the partial display field in operation, when no action is made on the part of a user. In a state equipped with the charger 2, the color LCD 11 is regularly set up for the full display field in operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone including an image display device and a lighting device that illuminates a screen of the image display device by receiving power supply from a commercial power supply or a built-in secondary battery.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a widespread mobile phone is provided with a plurality of operation keys such as a numeric keypad, a monochrome LCD (liquid crystal display), and an LCD backlight for illuminating a screen of the LCD. When an operation key is operated, data such as characters input by the operation is displayed on the LCD, and various data such as date and current time are displayed when an incoming call is waiting.
Also, the mobile phone has a built-in secondary battery as a power source. The power is supplied from the secondary battery to the LCD, data is displayed on the LCD, and the power is supplied from the secondary battery to the LCD backlight. The LCD backlight is turned on when supplied.

In the above-mentioned mobile phone, if power is always supplied from the secondary battery to the LCD backlight to turn on the LCD backlight, the battery life of the secondary battery is shortened due to large power consumption. There is a problem that the standby time is shortened.
Therefore, in conventional mobile phones, in order to reduce power consumption, only when an operation key is operated or an incoming call is received, power is supplied from the secondary battery to the LCD backlight to turn on the LCD backlight. In the case of waiting for an incoming call, the supply of power to the LCD backlight is stopped and the LCD backlight is turned off.
Note that even when the LCD backlight is off, the data displayed on the monochrome LCD is easy to see.

In recent years, a mobile phone equipped with a color LCD has begun to enter the market. In this mobile phone, similarly to the mobile phone equipped with a monochrome LCD, in order to save power consumption, when an operation key is operated or a call is received. The LCD backlight is turned on only when there is an error, and the LCD backlight is turned off when waiting for an incoming call.
Note that a transflective LCD is used as the color LCD. When the LCD backlight is turned off, the display on the LCD is difficult to see, but it is rare to see the LCD display when going out or waiting for an incoming call. Therefore, turning off the LCD backlight does not hinder the use of the mobile phone.

In addition, since a color LCD consumes more power than a monochrome LCD having a similar size, a power saving mode for reducing power consumption by driving only a part of the display area of the LCD is provided. This allows the power saving mode to be set.
For example, when the LCD backlight is turned off, as shown in FIG. 3, in a mobile phone in which four lines of character data are displayed in the entire display area of the LCD, if the power saving mode is set, the LCD backlight is turned off. After the light is turned off, as shown in FIG. 4, only the central two lines of character data of the four lines of character data are displayed in some display areas.

By the way, the secondary battery built in the mobile phone can be charged by the charger (2) shown in FIG. The charger (2) is provided with a recess (24) for accommodating the mobile phone (1), and is provided on the mobile phone (1) by mounting the mobile phone (1) on the charger (2). The charging terminals (15) and (15) and the power supply terminals (23) and (23) provided on the charger (2) come into contact with each other, and the secondary battery of the mobile phone (1) is charged.

For example, after returning home, the user attaches the mobile phone (1) to the charger (2) in order to charge the secondary battery, and in this state, instead of a clock or a calendar, the date displayed on the LCD and the current date are displayed. You may see the time. In particular, various data such as image data can be displayed on the LCD due to the recent development of image processing technology and communication technology, and the chance to see the display on the LCD is increasing.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional mobile phone (1), the mobile phone (1) was set to the power saving mode while going out, and after returning home, the mobile phone (1) was attached to the charger (2) in the power saving mode. In this case, data is displayed only in a part of the display area of the LCD as described above, and in order to display data in the entire display area of the LCD, an operation must be performed to cancel the power saving mode, which is troublesome. There was a problem.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to set a power saving mode in which a part of the display area of the image display device is driven when there is no user operation, and perform an operation of canceling the power saving mode in a state where the battery is attached to the charger. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device that can always display data in the entire display area of an image display device without any data.

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to solve the above problems, and as a result, in a state where the mobile phone is mounted on the charger and the secondary battery is charged, the battery life of the secondary battery is considered. The present invention has been completed by noting that it is not necessary to reduce power consumption.

A first portable electronic device according to the present invention includes an image display device, and a lighting device that receives power supplied from a commercial power supply or a built-in secondary battery and illuminates a screen of the image display device, and is mounted on a charger. By doing so, the state is detected and charging of the secondary battery is started. The image display device is capable of switching between an entire operation mode in which the entire display area is operated and a partial area operation mode in which only a part of the display area is operated to display a minimum required image. Possible, and the portable electronic device
Mode switching means for setting the image display device to a partial area operation mode when there is no user operation in a state where it is not attached to the charger, and always setting the image display apparatus to a full area operation mode when it is attached to the charger. It has.

In the first portable electronic device according to the present invention, in a state in which the image display device is not attached to the charger and there is no user operation, the image display device is set to the partial area operation mode, and the display of the image display device is performed. Only a part of the area is driven, and an image is displayed only on a part of the display area. Then, when a user operation is performed, the image display device is set to the full-area operation mode, the entire display region of the image display device is driven, and an image is displayed in the entire display region.
In this way, when there is no user operation, by driving only a part of the display area of the image display device, the power supplied from the secondary battery to the image display device is reduced, and power consumption is reduced. .

On the other hand, when the image display device is attached to the charger, the image display device is always set to the full-area operation mode, the entire display region of the image display device is driven, and an image is displayed in the entire display region.
Therefore, for example, even if the power saving mode is set and the battery is attached to the charger in the power saving mode after returning home, the image can be displayed in the entire display area of the image display device without performing the operation of canceling the power saving mode. . At this time, since the power obtained from the commercial power supply is supplied to the secondary battery and the secondary battery is being charged, it is necessary to drive the entire display area of the image display device at all times. Does not adversely affect

A second portable electronic device according to the present invention includes an image display device, and a lighting device that receives power supplied from a commercial power supply or a built-in secondary battery and illuminates a screen of the image display device, and is mounted on a charger. By doing so, the state is detected and charging of the secondary battery is started. The image display device is capable of switching between an entire operation mode in which the entire display area is operated and a partial area operation mode in which only a part of the display area is operated to display a minimum required image. Possible, and the portable electronic device
Means for performing control to reduce power to be supplied to the lighting device when the user operation is not performed for a fixed time or more in a state where the lighting device is not attached to the charger;
Means for setting the image display device to a partial area operation mode when there is no user operation in a state where the image display device is not attached to the charger;
Means for controlling the supply of a predetermined amount of electric power to the lighting device at all times while being attached to the charger;
Means for setting the image display device to the full range operation mode at all times when mounted on the charger.

In the second portable electronic device according to the present invention, in a state in which the image display device is not attached to the charger and there is no user operation, the image display device is set to the partial area operation mode, and the display of the image display device is performed. Only a part of the area is driven, and an image is displayed only on a part of the display area. Then, when the user operation is not performed for a certain time or more, the power to be supplied from the secondary battery to the lighting device is set small, and the brightness of the screen of the image display device is reduced. On the other hand, when a user operation is performed, the image display device is set to the full-area operation mode, the entire display region of the image display device is driven to display an image in the entire display region, and the illumination device is switched from the secondary battery to the illumination device. Is supplied with large power, and the screen of the image display device is illuminated with sufficient brightness.
In this way, when there is no user operation, only a part of the display area of the image display device is driven, and the power to be supplied to the lighting device is reduced, so that the power consumption is reduced.

On the other hand, when the image display device is attached to the charger, the image display device is always set to the full-area operation mode, the entire display region of the image display device is driven, and an image is displayed in the entire display region. Therefore, for example, even if the power saving mode is set and the battery is attached to the charger in the power saving mode after returning home, the image can be displayed in the entire display area of the image display device without performing the operation of canceling the power saving mode. .
Further, in the state where the image display device is mounted on the charger, the power to be supplied from the commercial power supply or the secondary battery to the lighting device is always set to a predetermined value regardless of the presence or absence of a user operation. The screen is illuminated with sufficient brightness. In this way, the image display device is always illuminated with sufficient brightness by the illumination device, so that the display of the image display device is easy to see.
In a state where the secondary battery is attached to the charger, the electric power obtained from the commercial power supply is supplied to the secondary battery to charge the secondary battery. While driving the area and supplying a large amount of power to the lighting device, it does not adversely affect the battery life of the secondary battery.

Specifically, the lighting device is configured by arranging a plurality of illuminators, and supplies power to all of the plurality of illuminators when a user operation is performed, and is attached to a charger. In a state in which the power is supplied, only a part of the plurality of illuminators, which is necessary to illuminate the screen of the image display device with the minimum brightness at which display can be read, is always supplied. It has limiting means.

In a state where the battery pack is not mounted on the charger, when the user operation is not performed for a predetermined time or more, the brightness of the screen of the image display device is reduced as described above. The brightness of the screen of the display device can be increased. At this time, in the specific configuration described above, power is supplied to all the illuminators constituting the illuminating device, and the screen of the image display device is illuminated with sufficient brightness.
On the other hand, in the state where the illuminator is mounted on the charger, the illuminating device is always lit as described above and the screen of the image display device is illuminated. Is reduced, and the screen of the image display device is illuminated with a minimum brightness that allows a user to read the display on the screen.
In this way, power consumption is reduced by reducing the power to be supplied to the lighting device.

According to the portable electronic device of the present invention, data can always be displayed in the entire display area of the image display device without performing an operation for canceling the power saving mode when the portable electronic device is attached to the charger.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention applied to a mobile phone will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a mobile phone (1) and a charger (2) according to the present invention. The mobile telephone (1) includes a telephone circuit (4) including a transmission / reception circuit, a modulation / demodulation circuit, a multiplex processing circuit for performing CDMA (code division multiple access) processing or TDMA (time division multiple access) processing, a voice processing circuit, and the like. It is possible to transmit the transmission voice input from the microphone (5) as radio waves from the antenna (3) and emit the reception voice received by the antenna (3) from the speaker (6).

A microcomputer (7) including a CPU (8), a memory (9), a bus (10) and the like is connected to the telephone circuit (4), and the operation of the telephone circuit (4) is controlled by the microcomputer (7). Is controlled.
A color LCD (11), an LCD backlight (12), a ringer (13), and operation keys (14) are connected to a bus (10) of the microcomputer (7).
The color LCD (11) drives the entire display area in response to the whole area operation command from the microcomputer (7), and drives a part of the display area in response to the partial area operation command.

Further, the mobile phone (1) is provided with a charging terminal (15), and the charging terminal (15) is connected to a secondary battery (17) serving as a power supply via a charging circuit (16).
A first power supply line (171) and a second power supply line (172) extend from the secondary battery (17), and the color LCD (11) is provided at the end of the first power supply line (171). On the other hand, the LCD backlight (12) is connected to the end of the second power supply line (172).
A power supply switch (170) is provided on the second power supply line (172), and the switch (170) is on / off controlled by the microcomputer (7). When the switch (170) is turned on, power is supplied from the secondary battery (17) to the LCD backlight (12), and the LCD backlight (12) is turned on. When the power is turned off, the supply of power from the secondary battery (17) to the LCD backlight (12) is stopped, and the LCD backlight (12) is turned off.

On the other hand, the charger (2) has an AC / DC conversion circuit (21) for converting 100 V AC power obtained from a commercial power system into DC, and a DC power obtained by the AC / DC conversion circuit for supplying the DC power to the mobile phone (1). And an output terminal of the power supply circuit (22) is connected to a power supply terminal (23).
By attaching the mobile phone (1) to the charger (2), the charging terminal (15) of the mobile phone (1) and the power supply terminal (23) of the charger (2) come into contact with each other, and (17) is charged.
A voltage detecting circuit (18) is connected to a charging terminal (15) of the mobile phone (1), and the voltage detecting circuit (18) is supplied from a power supply terminal (23) of the charger (2). The power supply voltage is detected, and the detection result is supplied to the microcomputer (7). This controls the operation of the charging circuit (16).

In the portable telephone (1), when an operation key is operated or an incoming call is received, the LCD backlight (12) is turned on, and the entire display area of the color LCD (11) is driven as shown in FIG. The data is displayed.
Thereafter, when the operation on the operation key is not performed for a predetermined time or more, the LCD backlight (12) is turned off. However, the data display by the color LCD (11) is continued.
The mobile phone (1) can set a power saving mode. When the power saving mode is set, the driving of a part of the display area of the color LCD (11) is stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the minimum required data is displayed by the remaining display areas.
Note that the above operation is exactly the same as that of the above-mentioned conventional mobile phone provided with a color LCD, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

FIG. 2 shows a control procedure by the microcomputer (7) of the present invention.
First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not a voltage is applied to the charging terminal (15) based on a signal from the voltage detection circuit (18). If the determination is no, the same determination is repeated in step S1.
On the other hand, if the mobile phone (1) is attached to the charger (2) and the answer is YES in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2 to determine whether the power saving mode is set. .

When the power saving mode is not set, it is determined as No in step S2, and the process shifts to step S3 to turn on the power supply switch (170). As a result, power is supplied to the LCD backlight (12), and the LCD backlight (12) is turned on.
Subsequently, in step S4, similarly to step S1, it is determined whether or not a voltage is applied to the charging terminal (15). If the determination is yes, the same determination is repeated in step S4.
Thereafter, when the mobile phone (1) is taken out of the charger (2), it is determined as NO in step S4, and the process shifts to step S5 to turn off the power supply switch (170). As a result, the supply of power to the LCD backlight (12) is stopped, and the LCD backlight (12) is turned off.

On the other hand, if the mode is set to the power saving mode, the determination in step S2 is YES, and the process proceeds to step S6 to issue a full range operation command to the color LCD (11) and to execute the power supply switch (170) Turn on. As a result, the entire display area of the color LCD (11) is driven to display data in the entire display area, and power is supplied to the LCD backlight (12) to turn on the LCD backlight (12). Will be.

Subsequently, in step S7, similarly to step S1, it is determined whether or not a voltage is applied to the charging terminal (15). If the determination is yes, the same determination is repeated in step S7.
Thereafter, when the mobile phone (1) is taken out of the charger (2), it is determined NO in step S7, and the process proceeds to step S8, where a partial area operation command is issued to the color LCD (11). The power supply switch (170) is turned off. As a result, only a part of the display area of the color LCD (11) is driven, data is displayed only in a part of the display area, and power supply to the LCD backlight (12) is stopped, and the LCD backlight (12) is stopped. The backlight (12) is turned off.

As described above, in the mobile phone (1) according to the present invention, when the power saving mode is not set, when the battery is mounted on the charger (2), the LCD backlight (12) is turned on at that time, and thereafter, When the battery is taken out of the charger (2), the LCD backlight (12) is turned off at that time.
As described above, the LCD backlight (12) is always lit when the battery is mounted on the charger (2), so that the data displayed on the color LCD (11) is easy to see. When the power saving mode is not set, data is always displayed on the entire display area of the color LCD (11) as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when it is set to the power saving mode, when it is attached to the charger (2),
At that time, data is displayed on the entire display area of the color LCD (11) as shown in FIG. 3, and the LCD backlight (12) is turned on. As shown in FIG. 4, data is displayed only in a part of the display area of the color LCD (11), and the LCD backlight (12) is turned off.
As described above, even when the power saving mode is set, the data is always displayed in the entire display area of the color LCD (11) by being attached to the charger (2). No operation is required to release the mode. In addition, the data displayed on the color LCD (11) is easy to see because the LCD backlight (12) is always lit when the battery is mounted on the charger (2).

The configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims.
For example, the detection that the mobile phone (1) is attached to the charger (2) is not limited to the method of detecting the voltage of the charging terminal (15), and a method of providing a dedicated detection sensor such as a magnetic sensor is also adopted. It is possible.
In the above embodiment, one LCD backlight (12) is provided. However, when a plurality of LCD backlights are provided and the mobile phone (1) is attached to the charger (2), It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which only a part of the plurality of LCD backlights is turned on.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the LCD backlight (12) is turned off when waiting for an incoming call is employed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration in which the brightness of the LCD backlight (12) is reduced is employed. It is also possible.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone and a charger according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure by the microcomputer of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an LCD screen on which data is displayed in an entire display area. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an LCD screen on which data is displayed in a part of a display area in a power saving mode. It is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a mobile telephone and a charger.

Explanation of reference numerals

(1) Mobile phone
(7) Microcomputer
(11) Color LCD
(12) LCD backlight
(15) Charging terminal
(17) Secondary battery
(170) Power supply switch
(2) Charger
(23) Power supply terminal

Claims (3)

An image display device and a lighting device for illuminating the screen of the image display device by receiving power supply from a commercial power supply or a built-in secondary battery are provided. In a portable electronic device in which charging of a battery is started, the image display device has an entire operation mode in which the entire display area is operated, and a part which performs a minimum necessary image display by operating only a part of the display area. Switching setting is possible between the area operation mode and
Mode switching means for setting the image display device to a partial area operation mode when there is no user operation in a state where it is not attached to the charger, and always setting the image display apparatus to a full area operation mode when it is attached to the charger. A portable electronic device comprising: An image display device and a lighting device for illuminating the screen of the image display device by receiving power supply from a commercial power supply or a built-in secondary battery are provided. In a portable electronic device in which charging of a battery is started, the image display device has an entire operation mode in which the entire display area is operated, and a part which performs a minimum necessary image display by operating only a part of the display area. Switching setting is possible between the area operation mode and
Means for performing control to reduce power to be supplied to the lighting device when the user operation is not performed for a fixed time or more in a state where the lighting device is not attached to the charger;
Means for setting the image display device to a partial area operation mode when there is no user operation in a state where the image display device is not attached to the charger;
Means for controlling the supply of a predetermined amount of electric power to the lighting device at all times while being attached to the charger;
Means for setting the image display device to the full range operation mode at all times when mounted on the charger. The lighting device is configured by arranging a plurality of illuminators, and supplies power to all of the plurality of illuminators when there is a user operation, while in a state of being attached to a charger, Power limiting means for constantly supplying power to only some of the plurality of illuminators required to illuminate the screen of the image display device with the minimum brightness at which display can be read is provided. The portable electronic device according to claim 2.

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