JP2004318123A - Information device and information display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize usability of page scrolling through daily operation in an information device comprising flexible electronic paper. <P>SOLUTION: The information device includes a flexible display unit capable of displaying information given page information, page by page. Further, the information device has a means of detecting at least one of a direction, an amount and a duration of bending applied to the display unit and a means of judging whether page-scrolling has been inputted based on one of the detected direction, amount, and duration of bending and updating information outputted to the display unit when it is judged that a page-scrolling has been inputted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to flexible electronic paper. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information device using a plurality of electronic papers.

  In recent years, the information society has become increasingly sophisticated, and the text information, image information, and audio information that we deal with have also increased in capacity. Various information devices for efficiently handling this type of information have been developed and commercialized. One of the information devices is an information device called an electronic book. An electronic book enables storage and display of a huge amount of information that is physically difficult in the form of a traditional book with paper bundles.

  An electronic book is generally provided with a display unit using a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display and a storage unit for information. However, since there is a limitation that a large number of page information can be handled on one display, information devices are used. Attempts have been made to improve the usability and develop new interfaces.

  There has been proposed a user interface to which a function of detecting a contact pressure, a contact area, a contact position, and the like of a finger contacting a display unit of an information device and updating a page is added.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-163873 determines whether or not a page turning input has been performed based on the contact and movement direction of a finger touching a display unit such as a liquid crystal display. There is disclosed an information device for updating image information of a current page to image information of any one of the preceding and following pages.

On the other hand, flexible electronic paper is currently attracting attention as a new device for realizing the electronic book as if it were an old paper. The following are the directions for the development of electronic paper.
1) You can read and write anytime, anywhere.
2) Characters and images can be freely rewritten.
3) There is little irritation to the eyes from the display surface. (Friendly to human eyes)
4) Thin and lightweight and free to carry. It is flexible. (Handling)
5) The display can be maintained for a long time without power. (Image retention)
Development has been actively conducted as a device for realizing flexible electronic paper satisfying the above functions.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a detachable, memory-capable, flexible electric field writing type display sheet, a housing having a function of applying an appropriate electric field to the sheet to form an image, and connecting to the display sheet. And a processor for transmitting the captured image data.

An information device in which a plurality of flexible electronic papers are bundled as described above is herein referred to as a flexible electronic book. It is considered that the flexible electronic book can provide usability closer to the feeling of paper than an electronic book configured with one flat panel display as described above. On the other hand, a flexible electronic book composed of limited flexible electronic paper also requires an interface for displaying a large amount of information in a limited display area. Patent Literature 3 also proposes a user interface using an acceleration sensor.
JP 2000-163193 A U.S. Pat. JP 2002-287729 A

  The present inventors have addressed the problem of how to realize the ease of use in page turning with everyday operations, particularly in a flexible electronic book composed of a plurality of flexible electronic papers.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an information device including a flexible display unit capable of displaying information provided with page information for each page unit, the direction of the bend added to the display unit, the bend. Means for detecting at least one of the amount and the duration of the turn, and the presence or absence of a page turning input from at least one of the detected direction of the turn, the amount of the turn and the duration of the turn, It is an object of the present invention to provide an information device having means for updating information output to a display unit when it is determined that a page turning input is present.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the flexible electronic book comprised by several flexible electronic papers, it becomes possible to improve the usability in page turning by daily operation.

  The simplest configuration of the information device according to the present embodiment can be shown by a block diagram as shown in FIG. That is, a display unit 11 of the information device, a memory unit 12 for managing information, a detection (sensor) unit 13 for detecting input information from a user, and a control unit 14 for controlling the whole. The display unit 11 has a function as a flexible electronic paper, and specific devices include a microcapsule electrophoresis system, a twist ball system, a dual-frequency drive liquid crystal system, and a liquid crystal / organic photoconductor system. And a toner display system are preferably used. As a substrate of the device, a material such as a polymer is suitably used in order to impart flexibility. As the form of the electronic paper, any of single-sided display on the front side and double-sided display on both sides can be suitably used.

  The bend detecting unit has a function of detecting, for the flexible electronic paper, a bend amount, a bend time, and the like of the electronic paper input by the user. In addition to the amount and duration of the bend, the direction of the bend, that is, whether it is bent inward or outward may be detected.

A piezoelectric element is suitable as a device for converting such deformation of the bending detection unit into an electric signal, and a piezoelectric polymer is preferably used for convenience in disposing the pressure element on a flexible electronic paper. . Advantages of using a piezoelectric polymer include the following.
Highly flexible and hard to break.
Good sensitivity to stress.
Large area is possible.

  FIG. 2 shows a flexible electronic paper provided with a piezoelectric element, in which a pixel array (not shown) in a matrix arrangement for displaying page-by-page information is formed on a display surface, and upper left and lower left (from the display surface side) Are located at the upper right and lower right), sensors 21 and 22 of piezoelectric elements are arranged. The piezoelectric elements on the electronic paper may be arranged on either side of the paper, and may be arranged in an arbitrary area. However, in order to bring the feeling of turning the paper closer, it is preferable to arrange the piezoelectric elements at the corners of the square paper.

  A sheet sandwiching polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which is a piezoelectric polymer, is formed into a sheet by an extruder to have a thickness of 50 μm. This stretched film is subjected to a poling treatment and used as a pressure sensor.

  A 300 μm thick PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is used as a base material of the electronic paper. An ITO electrode is formed as a transparent electrode on this base material, and white toner particles and black toner particles are sandwiched between two base materials to produce a toner display type electronic paper capable of displaying black and white. The pressure sensors 21 and 22 are disposed at corners of the back (non-display portion) of the toner display. Electronic paper with a pressure sensor shall be a single-sided display type. An appropriate number of such electronic papers, for example, 10 sheets, are stacked according to the purpose, and a display section (paper section) 32 and a file section 31 are connected as shown in FIG. 3 to create an electronic book. The file unit 31 contains the control unit 14 and the memory 12.

  Each page of the display unit 32 displays information sent from the control unit in page units. Normally, information of 10 pages or more is stored in the memory 12 of the control unit, and the designated 10 pages are displayed. At this time, ten consecutive pages may be used. However, the user can also specify, for example, ten discrete parts according to the purpose, such as a table of contents, a text page, and a chart page.

  FIG. 5 shows a state in which the electronic book 30 is opened. As in the case of a normal book, the number of pages is displayed in any of the margins at the top, bottom, and four corners of the page.

  The sensors 21 and 22 are attached to each of the ten electronic papers 10, but when opened in the state shown in FIG. 5, the electronic paper directly seen by the user, that is, the uppermost electronic paper 101 Only those sensors are determined to be valid. For example, a signal is generated as to whether each electronic paper is facing up or down, and a control unit that receives the signal from each electronic paper determines which top electronic paper is based on the number of signals in the table. May be. Rewriting is performed only for the electronic paper.

  If the sensor 21 at the lower right of the page at the top of the display unit (the paper unit in FIG. 2) is bent with the electronic book 30 displaying information with page information, the bending direction and A voltage corresponding to the amount is generated in the sensor 21 and sent to the control unit 14. The control unit determines whether the voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage, and when the voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage, further measures the duration thereof. At the point in time when the measurement time has elapsed for a predetermined time or more, the control unit determines that an input of page turning has been added. Further, the control unit calculates a page update speed according to the voltage value, and rewrites the display unit at that speed. Thereby, scrolling of page information in the forward direction can be performed.

  Hereinafter, this operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 shows a sensor output 54 when the state is changed from a state 50 having no initial bending to a state 51 slightly bent, a state 52 further bent, a state 53 returned to the original state, and a state described below. The first and second comparator output signals 81, 84, the page turning signal 83, and the high-speed page turning signal 86 are shown. The horizontal axis is time.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the control unit 14. The control unit 14 receives a signal 71 from each of the sensors 21 and 22 of the ten electronic papers, outputs an effective sensor signal, an input buffer 72, first and second comparators 73 and 74, and first and second comparators 73 and 74. 2 counters 75 and 76, first and second page turning determination units 77 and 78, and a display control unit 79.

  The voltage output 80 of the effective sensor output from the input buffer 72 is input to the first comparator 73 and compared with a threshold value V1 (100 mV in FIG. 7). When the bend becomes larger than a certain value, the sensor output 80 exceeds 100 mV, the output 81 of the first comparator 73 changes from L (low) to H (high), and the signal is transmitted to the first counter 75. . From that time, the counter 75 starts counting, and outputs the count value, that is, the time during which the bending is continued, to the first page turning determination unit 77. When the counter output 82 reaches a predetermined time (1 second), the page turning determination unit 77 generates a pulse 831 of the page turning signal 83 and sends it to the display control unit 79. In response to this, the display control unit 79 advances the display page by one, reads information of the new page from the memory unit 12, transmits the information to the display unit 11, and the display unit 11 displays the new page.

  After that, if the sensor 21 or 22 continues to bend, the counter 75 further advances. When a predetermined time (0.5 seconds) elapses after the first turning signal is generated, the next page turning signal pulse 832 is generated, and the display is rewritten again. Thereafter, the purge turn-over signal pulses 833, 834,... Are successively generated every 0.5 seconds, and the page is rewritten.

  By the above operation, the user rewrites the page one second after bending the sensor unit, and sees that the page moves once every 0.5 seconds as long as the bending is continued thereafter.

  If the bending of the sensor 21 or 22 is further increased in the above operation, the sensor output 80 exceeds the second threshold value (200 mV in FIG. 7). This is a change from L → H of the output 84 of the second comparator 74, the duration of which is measured by the second counter 76, and output as the count output 85. When the time exceeds a predetermined time (1.5 seconds), the second page turning determination unit 78 determines that the page turning is the high speed page, and the pulse 861 of the high speed page turning signal 86 is sent to the display control unit 79. Upon receiving this, the display control unit 79 ignores the normal page turning signal for each page and gives priority to the high-speed page turning signal, reads information skipped by 10 pages from the memory unit 12 and sends it to the display unit 11. The display unit rewrites the display every 10 pages. Thereafter, a pulse 862... Is sent every 0.5 seconds, and high-speed page feeding with 10 pages skipped is sequentially performed.

  In the above-described high-speed page turning, the degree of bending may be subdivided to provide three or more threshold values, and a page turning at an intermediate speed may be provided.

  When the target page is displayed, the user stops bending the sensor 21 or 22 and returns to the original state 53. As a result, the sensor output 80 becomes lower than the threshold value, and the comparator outputs 81 and 84 also return to L. The counters 75 and 76 are reset and output stops. Since the page turning pulse does not occur thereafter, the page is maintained as it is.

  It is also possible to determine the input only by the amount of the bend or only by the duration of the bend. Further, when a normal book is bent in a direction opposite to the bending direction when turning a book, it is possible not to judge that the input is a page turning input.

  If the number of pages is displayed at the same position as the sensor 21, the number of pages of the next page can be seen when the sensor section is bent, so that the user can continue scrolling to the desired page while looking at it. it can.

  In addition, the page information can be scrolled in the reverse direction by turning the sensor 22. Alternatively, the page information may be scrolled in the reverse direction when a negative voltage is generated by bending the sensor section in the reverse direction.

  When each sensor is bent, the voltage value generated by reducing the curvature of the bend decreases, resulting in slow scrolling. On the other hand, the voltage value generated by increasing the curvature of the bend increases, and the scroll speed is reduced. As described above, a flexible electronic book having an intuitively excellent user interface can be realized.

  The sensor 21 or 22 is also bent when the electronic paper 10 is really turned and another electronic paper is opened to view the information. However, since the operation time is usually 1 second or less, it is distinguished from the above-mentioned page turning. You. In other words, the time until the first page turning signal is generated (1 second in the above example) may be set to a time longer than the time required to actually turn the electronic paper.

  When the second or subsequent electronic paper 101 (fifth paper in FIG. A) is opened, the back surface of the previous electronic paper 102 comes to the left of the double-page spread. If the electronic paper can also display the back side, the information one page before the information displayed by the electronic paper 101 facing the right side is displayed here.

  FIG. 4 illustrates electronic paper constituting a display unit of the information device of the present embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the electronic paper of FIG. 4 will be described.

  First, a pressure sensor made of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sheet is prepared as in the first embodiment.

  A 300 μm thick PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is used as a base material of the electronic paper. An ITO electrode is formed as a transparent electrode on the base material, and a polymer-dispersed two-frequency liquid crystal is sandwiched between the base material and a liquid crystal display type electronic paper capable of displaying black and white is produced. Next, the two electronic papers are attached to each other with their backs facing each other and the pressure sensor is sandwiched between the backs, thereby forming a double-sided display electronic paper. The pressure sensors 41 and 42 are arranged at the corners. After preparing 20 electronic papers, an electronic book is created by connecting a display unit, a sensor unit, and a file unit including a control unit.

  The page information can be scrolled in the forward direction by bending the sensor 41 in a double-page spread state in which information in which page information is added to the electronic book is displayed. In addition, the page information can be scrolled in the reverse direction by turning the sensor 42 part. Further, when bending each sensor section, the scroll speed can be increased by continuing to bend, and the page updating can be efficiently operated. As described above, a flexible electronic book having an intuitively excellent user interface can be realized.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information device according to the present invention. It is a figure showing an example of electronic paper of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing an example of electronic paper of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an electronic book according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit according to the present invention. 5 is a timing chart illustrating the operation of the present invention.

Explanation of reference numerals

Reference Signs List 11 display unit 12 memory unit 13 sensor unit 14 control unit 21, 22 sensor

Claims (12)

  An information device including a flexible display unit capable of displaying information provided with page information for each page unit, wherein at least one of a direction of the turn, an amount of the turn, and a duration of the turn applied to the display unit. Means for detecting a page turn, and determining whether there is a page turn input from at least one of the detected direction of the turn, the amount of the turn, and the duration of the turn, and displaying when it is determined that the page turn input is present. An information device comprising: means for updating information output to a unit.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein an information update speed changes according to the amount of the bend.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the bend duration is a time duration in which the bend amount exceeds a predetermined size.   2. The information device according to claim 1, wherein when the direction of the turning is opposite to a predetermined direction, the page turning input is not determined.   2. The information device according to claim 1, wherein when the direction of the bending is opposite to a predetermined direction, the updating of the display unit is performed in the opposite direction.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is provided at two positions on the display unit.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the means for detecting at least one of the direction of the bend, the amount of the bend, and the duration of the bend includes a piezoelectric element.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a piezoelectric polymer.   The information device according to claim 8, wherein the piezoelectric polymer is polyvinylidene.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit displays information on one side.   The information device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit displays information on both sides. A method of displaying information provided with page information on a flexible display unit for each page,
Determining the page information, displaying the page information on a flexible display unit, and detecting at least one of the direction of the bend, the amount of the bend, and the duration of the bend applied to the display unit Determining the presence or absence of a page turning input from at least one of the detected turning direction, the amount of turning, and the duration of the turning; and outputting to the display unit when it is determined that the page turning input is present. Updating the information to be obtained.

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