JP2005260884A - Communication terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To widen a range of usage of a communication terminal device by providing a communication terminal device having a new camera function. <P>SOLUTION: In this communication terminal device 1, first and second cases 3, 5 have camera units 17, 27, respectively. A distance measuring means can calculate the distance to an object 10 to be photographed with two camera units 17, 27 according to the following formula (1). A first display panel 11 can display a measurement result by the distance measuring means. Here, a formula (1) is D=(d×tanθ<SB>1</SB>×tanθ<SB>2</SB>)/(tanθ<SB>1</SB>+tanθ<SB>2</SB>), where D is the distance between the device 1 and the object 10, d is the distance between the camera unit 17 and the camera unit 27, θ<SB>1</SB>is an angle formed by a straight line connecting the camera unit 17 to the camera unit 27 and a straight line connecting the camera unit 17 to the object 10, and θ<SB>2</SB>is an angle formed by the straight line connecting the camera unit 17 to the camera unit 27 and a straight line connecting the camera unit 27 to the object 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal device.

  In a communication terminal device such as a cellular phone, a foldable type in which two casings are connected so as to be freely opened and closed is known. In a foldable mobile phone, in general, a display panel is provided in one housing, an operation button is provided in the other housing, and the usage posture is such that the two housings are opened at a predetermined angle, Is configured to be able to adopt a closed standby posture (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

A conventional mobile phone has a camera function in addition to a telephone function and a mail function. A mobile phone having a camera function is usually provided with a camera unit composed of a lens, an image sensor, and the like on the back side of one housing, and an image photographed thereby is displayed on a display unit on the inner surface side. It has come to be.
JP 2003-333139 A

  In a conventional mobile phone with a camera function, a technique for improving the image quality of an image taken by a camera unit has been proposed, but a technique for a function using a camera unit body has not progressed much.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal device having a novel camera function, thereby expanding the range of use of the communication terminal device.

A communication terminal device according to a first aspect includes a first casing, a second casing, a distance measuring unit, and a display unit. The first housing has a first camera unit. The second housing is movably connected to the first housing so as to adopt at least the first usage posture, and has a second camera portion disposed on the same side as the first camera portion in the first usage posture. The distance measuring means can calculate the distance to the subject photographed by the first and second camera units according to the following equation. The display unit can display the measurement result by the distance measuring means.
[Equation 1]
D = (d · tan θ ₁ · tan θ ₂ ) / (tan θ ₁ + tan θ ₂ )
(Where D: distance between the communication terminal device and the subject, d: distance between the first camera unit and the second camera unit, θ ₁ : a straight line connecting the first camera unit and the second camera unit, and the first camera unit. And θ ₂ : an angle formed by a straight line connecting the first camera unit and the second camera unit and a straight line connecting the second camera unit and the subject)
In this device, since the camera unit is provided in each of the two housings, it is possible to calculate the distance to the subject according to the above formula by performing camera shooting in the first usage posture. Therefore, here, the distance to the subject can be calculated by a simple calculation, and the distance to the subject can be calculated by a method different from the conventional method of measuring the distance by the autofocus function of one camera unit, for example. Can be sought. Since the measurement result is displayed on the display unit, the user can easily know the distance to the subject.

  In the present invention, the first usage posture refers to a posture in which the two camera units are arranged on the same side with respect to the subject. Moreover, the display part should just be provided in at least one housing | casing, and may be provided in both housing | casing.

  The communication terminal device according to claim 2 is the device of claim 1, further comprising a communication control unit for communication with the outside. The second housing is movable with respect to the first housing so as to further adopt a second usage posture different from the first usage posture. And operation control by a communication control part is performed in the 2nd use posture.

  In this device, since different controls such as distance measurement or communication are performed for each posture taken by the two housings, the user can easily switch the control state by changing the posture of use of the device. Become.

  In the communication terminal device according to claim 3, in the device according to claim 2, the first and second housings are connected to each other so as to be foldable and turnable, and the first use posture is opened at a first angle. When the second angle is opened, the second usage posture is set.

  In this device, specifically, in a foldable device, the control state can be switched by changing the opening and closing angles of the two housings to adopt different postures.

  A communication terminal device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the device according to any one of the first to third aspects, further comprising a focus setting unit that sets a focal point according to the distance measured by the distance measurement unit. The display unit can display an instruction button for accepting an input operation from the outside and instructing the focus setting means to set the focus.

  With this device, the focus is set according to the measured distance to the subject, but here it is possible to instruct the setting of the focus by performing an input operation on the instruction button displayed on the display unit. It has become.

  A communication terminal device according to a fifth aspect is the device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein one of the camera units is capable of photographing with an autofocus function. The distance measuring means can further measure the distance to the subject photographed by one camera unit, and the distance to the subject photographed by the two camera units and the subject photographed by the one camera unit. The average value with the distance can be calculated.

  Since this device can calculate the average value of the distances obtained in two ways, more reliable information about the distance to the subject can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, since the camera unit is provided in each of the two housings, it is possible to calculate the distance to the subject according to the above formula by performing camera shooting in the first usage posture. Therefore, here, the distance to the subject can be calculated by a simple calculation, and the distance to the subject can be calculated by a method different from the conventional method of measuring the distance by the autofocus function of one camera unit, for example. Can be sought. Since the measurement result is displayed on the display unit, the user can easily know the distance to the subject.

[Configuration of mobile phone]
1 to 3 show a mobile phone 1 in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted.

  The mobile phone 1 is a folding type that can be opened and closed between a use posture and a standby posture, and includes a first housing 3 and a second housing 5.

<First housing>
The first housing 3 has a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes a first display panel 11 and a speaker portion 13 provided on the inner surface side, and a connection portion 15 provided at an end portion on the second housing 5 side. The first camera unit 17 is provided on the back side, and the jog dials 19 and 20 are provided on the side and end portions, respectively.

  The first display panel 11 is composed of a liquid crystal display, and predetermined display contents are displayed by the control unit 7 (described later). The speaker unit 13 is generated by converting an electrical signal from the other party during a call into voice information. The connection portion 15 is a portion that is attached to the second housing 5. The first camera unit 17 is configured by a lens, an image sensor, and the like (not shown), and can display image information captured from the outside on the display panels 11 and 21 via the control unit 7. The first camera unit 17 has an autofocus function. The jog dials 19 and 20 are for moving a pointer 33 (see FIG. 5), which will be described later, displayed on the first display panel 11 in the distance measuring mode, which will be described later, in the vertical and horizontal directions.

<Second housing>
The second housing 5 has a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes a second display panel 21 and a microphone portion 23 provided on the inner surface side, and a connection portion 25 provided at an end portion on the first housing 3 side. A second camera part 27 provided on the back side, an operation button 28 provided on the side part (see FIG. 5), and jog dials 29 and 30 (see FIG. 5) provided on the side part and the end part, respectively. have.

  The second display panel 21 is configured by a touch panel type liquid crystal display, and predetermined display contents are displayed by the control unit 7. The microphone unit 23 converts voice information such as a user's voice into an electrical signal to be sent to the other party.

  The connecting portion 25, together with the connecting portion 15 of the first housing 3, constitutes a hinge that allows the first housing 3 and the second housing 5 to turn freely. A standby posture in which the inner surfaces are opposed to each other and a use posture in which the first and second housings 3 and 5 are opened (see FIGS. 2 and 3) can be adopted. The usage posture includes the first usage posture shown in FIG. 2 and the second usage posture shown in FIG. The first housing 3 and the second housing 5 are opened at an angle of 165 ° in the second usage posture, and are opened at an angle of 180 ° in the first usage posture. A sensor 26 for detecting the relative angle between the first and second housings 3 and 5 is disposed between the two connection portions 15 and 25.

  The second camera unit 27 is the same as the first camera unit 17. The operation button 28 is used to instruct distance measurement by the control unit 7 in the distance measurement mode. The jog dials 29 and 30 are for moving a pointer 35 (see FIG. 5), which will be described later, displayed on the second display panel 21 in the distance measurement mode, up and down and left and right.

<Control unit>
A control unit 7 is arranged inside these two casings 3 and 5.

  The control unit 7 is constituted by a microcomputer including a CPU and a memory, determines which use posture is in accordance with the angle detected by the sensor 26, performs control in the normal mode in the second use posture, In one use posture, control is performed in the distance measurement mode. The memory stores a control program executed in each mode. The control program in the normal mode includes a program related to communication with another mobile phone or the like. The control program in the distance measurement mode includes a program related to the measurement of the distance to the subject and the setting of the focus.

The memory stores data in which the positions on the screen of the pointers 33 and 35 displayed on the display panels 11 and 21 in the distance measurement mode are associated with the angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ with respect to the subject 10. The angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ can be grasped by the positions where the pointers 33 and 35 are positioned on the screen. Further, in the memory, the distance d to the first camera unit 17 in the first use posture is stored as data, and data relating to the distance to the subject 10 measured in the past can be held.

  In the normal mode, calls and e-mails can be sent and received, and shooting in the same camera mode as before can be performed. In the normal mode, the first display panel 11 displays a standby screen including a clock display or the like, and a captured image in the normal camera mode, and the second display panel 21 displays an operation screen 22. It is like that. Various buttons such as a numeric keypad for accepting a user input operation are displayed on the operation screen 22 so that the same operation as that of a conventional mobile phone operation button can be performed. In addition, the autofocus function of the first and second camera units 17 and 27 can measure the distance according to a known method based only on the images photographed by the camera units 17 and 27. Then, an average value of the distance thus measured and the distance to the same subject 10 obtained in the distance measurement mode can be calculated.

On the other hand, in the distance measurement mode, images taken by the camera unit 17 are displayed on the first and second display panels 11 and 21, respectively, and pointers 33 and 35 are displayed on the panels 11 and 21, respectively. The pointers 33 and 35 can be moved to arbitrary positions by the jog dials 19 and 20 or 29 and 30 of the bodies 3 and 5. When the operation button 28 is pressed, the angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ are determined from the positions of the pointers 33 and 35 on the screen, and the distance to the subject 10 is calculated according to the following equation. A conceptual diagram of such distance measurement is shown in FIG.
[Equation 2]
D = (d · tan θ ₁ · tan θ ₂ ) / (tan θ ₁ + tan θ ₂ )
(However, D: distance between the mobile phone 1 and the subject 10, d: distance between the first camera unit 17 and the second camera unit 27, θ ₁ : a straight line connecting the first camera unit 17 and the second camera unit 27) Between the first camera unit 17 and the subject 10, θ ₂ : a straight line connecting the first camera unit 17 and the second camera unit 27, and a straight line connecting the second camera unit 27 and the subject 10. Angle formed by
In the distance measurement mode, the measurement result by the distance measurement program is displayed on the first display panel 11, and the instruction button 24 (see FIG. 2) for instructing the focus setting operation is displayed. The focus is determined according to a known method according to the calculated distance.

  Note that the control unit 7 can perform control related to notification of incoming calls and mails, a clock, a timer, and the like even in a standby posture.

[Operation of mobile phone]
Next, an example of the operation of the mobile phone 1 will be described.

  In the cellular phone 1, when using the telephone, mail function, etc., the first casing 3 and the second casing 5 are opened to the second usage posture. Then, the control in the normal mode is performed, and the telephone, mail function, and the same camera function as the conventional one can be used. At this time, the operation screen 22 is displayed on the second display panel 21, and the user can input the telephone number of the other party, create a mail, or perform distance measurement by the autofocus function. The measured distance is displayed on the first display panel 11 and can be held in the memory.

On the other hand, when using the distance measurement mode, the first and second housings 3 and 5 are further opened from the second usage posture to the first usage posture. Then, it switches to distance measurement mode, the image image | photographed with the camera part 17 is each displayed on the 1st and 2nd display panel 21, and the pointers 33 and 35 are displayed. The combined each pointer 33, 35 on the object 10 in the screen by operating the jog dial 19,20,29,30, press the operation button 28, along with two angles theta ₁ and theta ₂ are determined 2 The value of the distance d between the two camera units 17 and 27 is called, and the distance D to the subject 10 is calculated according to the above formula. The calculation result is displayed on the first display panel 11. Further, the distance D obtained here can be stored in the memory, and the focus corresponding to the distance D is determined by pressing the instruction button 24 displayed on the first display panel 11.

  When the second use posture is again set to the normal mode, the average value of the distance previously obtained in the normal mode and the distance obtained in the distance measurement mode can be calculated. The calculation result here is also displayed on the first display panel 11 and can be held in the memory.

According to the mobile phone 1 described above, since the camera units 17 and 27 are provided in the two casings 3 and 5, respectively, the distance to the subject 10 can be calculated according to the above formula. Therefore, here, the distance to the subject 10 can be calculated by simple calculation, and the distance to the subject is different from the conventional method of measuring the distance by the autofocus function of one camera unit, for example. Can be requested. Since the measurement result is displayed on the display panel, the user can easily know the distance to the subject 10.
[Other Embodiments]
(A) The mobile phone may be configured such that three or more types of usage postures are taken and different control is performed for each usage posture. Moreover, the angle of each use posture is not limited to what was demonstrated in the said embodiment.

  (B) In the above embodiment, the operation screen may be displayed on the first display panel instead of the second display panel, or may be displayed across the two display units.

  (C) In the distance measurement mode, instead of the configuration in which the pointer is moved to match the subject, for example, a mark is fixedly displayed at the center of each panel, and when the jog dial is operated, the image itself displayed on the panel moves. It is possible to adopt other means such as the above and aligning the subject with the mark.

  (D) The mobile phone is not limited to a foldable type, but may be a revolver type or a composite type of these.

  (E) The present invention can be applied to any communication terminal device having two housings that can take two or more postures. In addition to a mobile phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a mobile computer, etc. It can also be applied to other communication terminal devices.

The block diagram which shows typically the structure of the mobile telephone by which one Embodiment of this invention was employ | adopted. The perspective view which shows the said mobile telephone in a 1st use attitude | position. The perspective view which shows the said mobile telephone in a 2nd use attitude | position. The top view which shows notionally the distance measurement operation | movement by the said mobile telephone. The top view which shows the mobile telephone of FIG. The rear view which shows the mobile telephone of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile telephone 3 1st housing | casing 5 2nd housing | casing 7 Control part 11 1st display panel 21 2nd display panel

Claims (5)

A first housing having a first camera section;
A second housing that is movably coupled to the first housing so as to adopt at least a first usage posture and has a second camera portion disposed on the same side as the first camera portion in the first usage posture. When,
A distance measuring means capable of calculating a distance between the first and second camera units to a subject photographed according to the following equation;
A display unit capable of displaying a measurement result by the distance measuring means;
Communication terminal equipment equipped with.
[Equation 1]
D = (d · tan θ ₁ · tan θ ₂ ) / (tan θ ₁ + tan θ ₂ )
(Where D: distance between the communication terminal device and the subject, d: distance between the first camera unit and the second camera unit, θ ₁ : a straight line connecting the first camera unit and the second camera unit, and the first camera unit. And θ ₂ : an angle formed by a straight line connecting the first camera unit and the second camera unit and a straight line connecting the second camera unit and the subject) A communication control unit for communication with the outside;
The second housing is movable relative to the first housing to further adopt a second usage posture different from the first usage posture;
Operation control by the communication control unit is performed in the second usage posture.
The communication terminal device according to claim 1.   The first and second housings are foldably connected so as to be foldable, and are in the first use posture when opened by a first angle. When the first and second housings are opened by the second angle, the second use is performed. The communication terminal device according to claim 2, which is in a posture. A focus setting means for setting a focus according to the distance measured by the distance measuring means;
The display unit is capable of displaying an instruction button for receiving an input operation from outside and instructing the focus setting unit to set a focus.
The communication terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. One camera part can shoot with autofocus function,
The distance measuring unit can further measure the distance to the subject photographed by the one camera unit, and the distance to the subject photographed by the two camera units and the one camera unit. An average value of the distance to the subject to be calculated can be calculated,
The communication terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images