JP2007156892A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent wasteful power consumption without emitting display light for an unnecessarily long time in the electronic equipment of a configuration where a key board whose key top comprises phosphorescent materials and a display part can be folded up. <P>SOLUTION: A current amount of charge of the phosphorescent materials is calculated according to an amount of charge of light energy excitation with respect to the phosphorescent materials in a key input part under a PC open use state corresponding to illuminance around a PC detected by a illuminance detection part 15a and an amount of charge subtracted by the light emission, and recorded in a charge amount storage part 22A. When it is determined that the illuminance around the PC at the time the PC starts to be used is below visible minimum illuminance in the key input part, a necessary amount of charge of the phosphorescent materials by which the key input part is viewable is calculated. A time for light charge for obtaining the amount of light charge in accordance with the difference in amounts of charges is calculated when the amount of charge at present is smaller than the necessary amount of charge. A display part is blink-operated by a light charge performance control unit 34 to perform light charge with the phosphorescent materials of the key input part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a notebook personal computer having a structure in which a keyboard in which a key top character is formed of a phosphorescent material and a display unit can be folded.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, portable electronic devices such as notebook personal computers and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) have been proposed in which a keyboard is backlit so that keys can be operated even in the dark.

  However, when the backlight is attached not only to the display unit but also to the keyboard, the power consumption becomes very large, especially for portable electronic devices that are driven by a battery power source such as a rechargeable battery. Will be shorter. For this reason, the keyboard backlight is not actively installed in portable electronic devices.

  Therefore, by making the characters of the keyboard using a phosphorescent material, an electronic device is considered that makes the characters of each key of the keyboard appear brightly and allows key operations even in the dark, although not as much as the backlight. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

This phosphorescent material absorbs (charges) photons (light energy) incident from the outside and emits light spontaneously. Therefore, particularly in the case of a foldable electronic device such as a notebook personal computer, It is necessary to absorb light energy by irradiating light from the display unit facing the keyboard while the casing is closed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-228343

  However, in the conventional electronic device, the phosphorescent material used for causing the keyboard to self-emit without requiring large power consumption is proportional to the self-emission time even if the light energy is charged beyond the maximum charge amount. In order to obtain normal self-emission without knowing the appropriate charge amount because it emits light energy by continuously emitting self-emission regardless of whether or not an electronic device is used. There is a risk that unnecessary power will be consumed by irradiating light unnecessarily for a long time.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem. When a character part of a keyboard is made of a phosphorescent material and emits light by itself, unnecessary power consumption is avoided without irradiating light unnecessarily long. It is an object to provide an electronic device that can be prevented.

The electronic device according to claim 1 is an electronic device having a structure in which a keyboard and a display unit in which characters of a key top are configured by a phosphorescent material face each other and can be folded,
Illuminance measuring means for measuring the ambient illuminance, and the amount of light energy charged to the phosphorescent material according to the ambient illuminance measured by the illuminance measuring means in a state where the keyboard and the display unit are opened, and light emission of the phosphorescent material Charge amount calculating means for calculating the charge amount of the phosphorescent material from the charge amount reduced by the charge amount, charge amount storage means for storing the charge amount of the phosphorescent material calculated by the charge amount calculating means, and the illuminance at the start of use When it is determined that the ambient illuminance measured by the measuring means is lower than the minimum illuminance at which the keyboard can be visually recognized, the necessary charge amount calculation for calculating the necessary charge amount of the phosphorescent material for causing the keyboard to emit light so as to be visible And the necessary charge amount of the phosphorescent material calculated by the necessary charge amount calculating means is calculated by the charge amount storing means. A light charge time calculating means for calculating a light charge time corresponding to the light charge amount according to the difference when it is determined that the charge amount is greater than the current charge amount calculated based on the stored charge amount; And a light charge execution control means for turning on the display portion and light-charging the phosphorescent material according to the light charge time calculated by the time calculation means.

  An electronic device according to a second aspect is the electronic device according to the first aspect, wherein a lock unit that locks the keyboard and the display unit in a closed state, and the light storage material is controlled by the light charge execution control unit. And a lock control unit that maintains the keyboard and the display unit in a closed state by the lock unit during light charging.

  An electronic device according to a third aspect is the electronic device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a usage time estimating unit that estimates a usage time of the electronic device, wherein the required charge amount calculating unit includes A required charge amount of the phosphorescent material for causing the keyboard to emit light so as to be visible during the usage time of the electronic device estimated by the usage time estimation means is calculated.

  The electronic device according to claim 4 is the electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the usage time estimating means includes battery remaining amount detecting means for detecting a remaining battery amount by a battery power source. The operating time of the electronic device corresponding to the remaining battery level detected by the detecting means is estimated as the usage time.

  The electronic device according to claim 5 is the electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the usage time estimation means includes user schedule acquisition means for acquiring user schedule information corresponding to the current time, and the user The time until the schedule end time of the schedule information acquired by the schedule acquisition means is estimated as the usage time.

  The electronic device according to claim 6 is the electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the usage time estimation unit includes a battery remaining amount detection unit that detects a remaining battery level by a battery power source, and a user corresponding to a current time. User schedule acquisition means for acquiring the schedule information of the electronic device corresponding to the remaining battery level detected by the remaining battery level detection means and the schedule information acquired by the user schedule acquisition means It is characterized in that the shorter of the time until the schedule end time is estimated as the usage time.

  According to the electronic device of the first aspect of the present invention, the charge amount of the light energy with respect to the phosphorescent material according to the ambient illuminance in the state where the keyboard and the display unit are opened, and the charge amount reduced by the light emission of the phosphorescent material. The amount of charge of the phosphorescent material is calculated and stored from the above, and when it is determined that the ambient illuminance is lower than the minimum illuminance at which the keyboard can be visually recognized at the start of use, Calculate the required charge amount. When it is determined that the required charge amount of the phosphorescent material is larger than the current charge amount calculated based on the stored charge amount, a light charge time corresponding to the light charge amount corresponding to the difference is calculated. In addition, since the display unit is turned on and the phosphorescent material is photocharged according to the photocharge time, unnecessary photocharge can be prevented and unnecessary power consumption can be eliminated.

  According to the electronic device according to claim 2 of the present invention, in the electronic device according to claim 1, during the optical charge to the phosphorescent material by the optical charge execution control means, the keyboard and the display unit are connected by the lock means. Since the control is performed so as to maintain the closed state, light charging to the phosphorescent material by turning on the display unit can be performed quickly with maximum efficiency, and wasteful power consumption can be eliminated.

  According to the electronic device according to claim 3 of the present invention, in the electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, when the light storage material is charged with light, the usage time of the electronic device is estimated. In addition, since the necessary charge amount of the phosphorescent material for causing the keyboard to emit light so as to be visible during the estimated device usage time is calculated, it is necessary to emit light so that the keyboard can be seen at least during the estimated device usage time. Only the light charge can be performed, so that useless power consumption can be eliminated.

  According to the electronic device according to claim 4 of the present invention, in the electronic device according to claim 3, in the estimation of the device usage time for calculating the necessary charge amount of the phosphorescent material, the battery remaining amount detecting means The operable time of the electronic device corresponding to the detected remaining battery level of the battery power supply can be estimated as the usage time.

  According to the electronic device according to claim 5 of the present invention, in the electronic device according to claim 3, in the estimation of the device usage time for calculating the necessary charge amount of the phosphorescent material, the user corresponding to the current time Schedule information can be acquired, and the time until the schedule end time of this schedule information can be estimated as the usage time.

  According to the electronic device according to claim 6 of the present invention, in the electronic device according to claim 3, in the estimation of the device usage time for calculating the necessary charge amount, the battery remaining amount detecting means detects the device usage time. The shorter one of the operable time of the electronic device corresponding to the remaining battery level of the battery power source and the time until the schedule end time of the user schedule information corresponding to the current time can be estimated as the usage time.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, when the character part of the keyboard is made of a phosphorescent material and self-emits, it is possible to prevent unnecessary power consumption without irradiating light unnecessarily long. Equipment can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an open use state of a notebook PC (Personal computer) 10 according to an embodiment of an electronic apparatus of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the closed state of the notebook PC 10 when not in use.

  The notebook PC 10 includes a PC main body 10A on which a key input unit (keyboard) 11 is mounted, and a transmissive or slightly reflective LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that is foldably attached with one end of the PC main body 10 as a hinge. The key input unit 11 mounted on the PC body 10A is configured to face the display unit 13 when the cover 10B is folded and closed.

  The key tops arranged in the key input unit 11 are configured by screen printing with a phosphorescent material 12. In this case, each key of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 is a phosphorescent material 12 and a character is screen-printed thereon, conversely, each keytop is screen-printed with a phosphorescent material 12 or a phosphorescent material. 12 is embedded and used as a character.

  Here, the phosphorescent material 12 constituting each key top of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 will be described.

  The phosphorescent material 12 absorbs surrounding photons (light energy), excites electrons in the atoms, and emits light when the excited electrons transition to a lower energy level with a certain probability. , A substance whose emission time lasts for a long time such as several tens of minutes to several hours, for example, about 8 hours. However, the light emission duration of the phosphorescent material 12 depends on the material and thickness thereof.

  The phosphorescent material 12 has a property of absorbing light having a wavelength of light of 460 nm (blue) or less, and almost always emits light with lower energy than the absorbed excitation light, that is, a longer wavelength than the excitation light.

  Further, the phosphorescent material 12 always emits light even in a bright place, but is not noticeable because the surrounding area is brighter. At this time, both excitation and light emission occur, and after a certain amount of time, excitation and light emission are balanced and the number of excited electrons is saturated.

  On the other hand, in a dark place, excitation is substantially stopped and only light emission occurs. At this time, the phosphorescent material 12 stands out because it emits light brighter than the surroundings. The number of excited electrons decreases with a constant time constant, and the light emission intensity is proportional to the number of excited electrons, so that the light emission becomes darker with time, and when it becomes dark to some extent, the phosphorescent material 12 becomes invisible.

  In this embodiment, irradiating light from the outside to the phosphorescent material 12 to excite electrons is referred to as optical charge, and the number of electrons currently excited (a number proportional to the number of electrons) is referred to as a charge amount.

  As the material of the phosphorescent material 12, a material obtained by adding copper to zinc sulfide, a material containing strontium aluminate (SrA1204) as a crystal matrix, and a rare earth element such as europium (Eu) or dysprosium (Dy) is used. To do.

  In addition, the display unit 13 displays characters and images during normal use, but when performing a light charge on the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit 11, in the case of an LCD backlight or organic EL, Light charging is performed by irradiating light.

  In addition, an opening operation element 14 is provided at the center of the open end of the lid 10B to unlock the lid of the lid 10B with respect to the PC main body 10A, and at the right end of the open end of the lid 10B. Is provided with an illuminance sensor 15 for measuring the illuminance of ambient light of the notebook PC 10.

  The wavelength characteristic of the illuminance sensor 15 needs to react at least to the visible light range in consideration of light / dark determination. In consideration of the absorption rate to the phosphorescent material 12, it is preferably filtered so as to react to a shorter wavelength than blue.

  In addition, the optical charge with respect to the phosphorescent material 12 of the said key input part (keyboard) 11 is the state which closed the cover body 10B with respect to 10 A of PC main bodies, and light of the maximum brightness | luminance is given to the key input part (keyboard) 11 from the display part 13. Irradiation is performed, but during this light charging, in order to prevent leakage of the light, the opening operator 14 is locked to prevent the lid 10B from being opened.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic circuit of the notebook PC 10.

  The electronic circuit of the notebook PC 10 includes a control unit 20 composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  The control unit 20 includes an open / close detection unit 14a for detecting when the lid 10B is opened and closed in conjunction with the key input unit (keyboard) 11, the display unit 13, and the opening operation element 14 of the lid 10B. An illuminance measurement signal from an illuminance sensor 15 provided on the lid 15 and a lock controller 14R for controlling locking / unlocking of a lock mechanism (not shown) that locks the operation of the opening operation element 14 of the lid 10B. Then, an illuminance detector 15a for detecting the illuminance value is connected.

  Furthermore, a storage device 21 including a hard disk and a semiconductor ROM, a RAM 22, a timer unit 23, and a power management unit 24 are connected to the control unit 20.

  The storage device 21 stores a PC system program that controls the overall operation of the notebook PC 10, and stores various application programs such as a Web browser function, a mail function, a schedule function, and a document creation function. A light storage material light charge control program for optimally controlling and managing the light charge on the light storage material 12 of the input unit (keyboard) 11 is stored.

  The RAM 22 stores various data generated / updated / deleted according to execution of various application programs, for example, user schedule data generated according to a schedule management program. Further, the RAM 22 stores work data generated according to the phosphorescent material light charge control program as necessary. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit 11 is obtained by calculation. A charge amount storage unit 22A for storing the light charge amount 22a1 and the writing time 22a2 is secured.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the stored data in the charge amount storage unit 22A secured in the RAM 22 of the notebook PC 10.

  The timer unit 23 performs a time output of the current time, a time output of the set timer time, and the like.

  The power management unit 24 manages the remaining battery level of a battery power source (not shown) that drives the notebook PC 10.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an overall image of the phosphorescent material light charge control function for the key input unit (keyboard) 11 of the notebook PC 10.

  This functional block is based on the opening / closing detection signal of the PC lid 10B from the opening / closing detector 14a and the illuminance value around the PC detected by the illuminance detector 15a. Charge amount estimator 31 for calculating and estimating the charge amount, and the charge amount storage unit 22A for storing the latest charge amount 22a1 estimated by the charge amount estimator 31 and its time information (writing time) 22a2 in association with each other , A utilization time estimation unit 32 for calculating and estimating a utilization time when the PC is opened, a light charge time calculation unit 33 for calculating an appropriate irradiation time when performing light charge on the phosphorescent material 12, and this light charge time calculation unit The light charge execution control unit 34 controls the execution of light charge based on the light irradiation time calculated by 33.

  In other words, the light charge amount estimation unit 31 is lost due to the increase in the charge amount due to the light charge formed by the light charge execution control unit 34 and the light charge due to ambient light detected by the illuminance detection unit 15a, and the constant light emission. The amount of decrease in charge is calculated and estimated, and this calculation estimation process is executed at regular time intervals (for example, 5 seconds) when the PC 10 is open.

  When the user schedule corresponding to the current time is stored in the schedule management memory in the RAM 22, the usage time estimation unit 32 is acquired by the power management unit 24 and the time until the schedule ends. The shorter one of the PC operable time corresponding to the battery remaining amount is estimated and output as the PC usage time, and if there is no user schedule corresponding to the current time, the power management unit 24 responds to the battery remaining amount acquired. The PC operating time is estimated and output as the PC usage time as it is, and only necessary for the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 to emit light with a light emission amount greater than or equal to the predetermined PC usage time. The light charge time calculation unit 33 calculates a light charge time for performing light charge.

  That is, the optical charge time calculation unit 33 calculates the current charge amount calculated based on the charge amount 22a1 corresponding to the previous writing time 22a2 stored in the charge amount storage unit 22A and the elapsed time thereof, from the usage time estimation unit. The light charge time required to make the amount of light equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of light that can be seen by the key in the PC usage time estimated by 32 is calculated.

  Then, the light charge execution control unit 34 controls display data on the display unit 13 and, if necessary, the backlight according to the light charge time calculated by the light charge time calculation unit 33, and the key input unit (keyboard) 11. In this case, when the display unit 13 can display two or more colors, for example, when the display unit 13 can display two or more colors, only the colors necessary for the light charge are turned on to suppress wasteful power consumption. be able to.

  Next, details of the phosphorescent material light charge control function for the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 in the notebook PC 10 having the above-described configuration will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a charge amount estimation process (31) associated with the phosphorescent material light charge control in the notebook type PC 10.

  This charge amount estimation process is repeatedly executed at regular time intervals (for example, 5 seconds) in a state in which the lid 10B of the PC 10 is opened and external light can enter the key input unit (keyboard) 11. The charge amount of the phosphorescent material 12 corresponding to the previous writing time 22a2 stored in the charge amount storage unit 22A is read (step T1), and the illuminance detection unit 15a detects the illuminance value around the PC ( Step T2).

  In the phosphorescent material 12, new electrons are excited and charged by the amount corresponding to the detected illuminance (number of photons) and the time, and this [illuminance (number of photons) x elapsed time from the previous writing time 22a2 Excitation corresponding to [Time] is added to the previous charge amount 22a1 (step T3).

  On the other hand, the phosphorescent material 12 always emits light even during charging, and the amount of charge continues to decrease, and the amount of decrease in the amount of charge corresponding to the elapsed time from the previous writing time 22a2 to the present time is reduced. It is calculated according to the following equation (1) (step T4).

e ^{t / T} (1) (T: time constant determined by phosphorescent material 12, t: elapsed time)
Then, the elapsed time from the previous writing time 22a2 obtained in step T4 to the current time point from the charge amount obtained by adding the excitation charge amount due to external light from the previous writing time 22a2 obtained in step T3. The decrease in the charge amount corresponding to the time is subtracted, and the charge amount storage unit 22A is updated with the write time 22a2 as the current charge amount 22a1 (step T5).

  With such a charge amount estimation process (31), in the state where the lid 10B of the notebook PC 10 is opened and used, the charge amount of the phosphorescent material 12 at that time is fixed every certain time (for example, 5 seconds). It is estimated and stored in the charge amount storage unit 22A.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a phosphorescent material light charging process accompanying a PC activation operation in the notebook PC 10.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a light charge time calculation process (33) in the phosphorescent material light charge process associated with the PC activation operation in the notebook PC 10.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the PC use time estimation process (32) accompanying the light charge time calculation process (33) in the notebook PC 10.

  When the notebook PC 10 is used, when the opening operator 14 of the PC 10 in the closed non-use state is operated by the user and the opening operation is detected by the open / close detection unit 14a (step S1), the light charge time in FIG. The process proceeds to the calculation process, and the required photocharge time of the phosphorescent material 12 is calculated according to the future PC use time (step SA).

  In the light charge time calculation process in FIG. 8, first, it corresponds to the previous writing time (22a2) stored in the charge amount storage unit 22A (in this case, the closing operation of the lid 10B after the previous use of the PC). The charge amount 22a1 of the phosphorescent material 12 is read (step A1).

  Then, a decrease in charge amount corresponding to the elapsed time from the previous writing time 22a2 to the current time is calculated according to [fixed decreased charge amount per unit time × elapsed time] (step A2), and the above step A1 is executed. The current charge amount 22a1 is obtained by subtracting from the charge amount 22a1 at the time of previous writing (22a2) read out and updated and recorded in the charge amount storage unit 22A (step A3).

  Here, the illuminance value around the PC is detected by the illuminance detection unit 15a (step A4), and it is determined whether or not the key input unit (keyboard) 11 is greater than or equal to a predetermined illuminance value visible (step A5). If it is determined that the light intensity is equal to or greater than the predetermined illuminance value, the light charge time is set to “0” because the light charge is unnecessary (step A5 → A6).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the illuminance value around the PC detected by the illuminance detection unit 15a is not greater than or equal to a predetermined illuminance value visible by the key input unit (keyboard) 11, the PC usage time in FIG. The process proceeds to the estimation process (step A5 → AB).

  When the PC use time estimation process in FIG. 9 is started, first, the current time output by the time measuring unit 23 is read (step B1), and the user schedule corresponding to the current time is stored in the schedule management memory in the RAM 22. Is stored (step B2).

  When it is determined that there is a user schedule corresponding to the current time, the time until the end of the schedule is calculated based on the current time and the setting end time of the schedule data (step B2 → B3), and the power source The PC operable time is calculated according to the remaining battery level acquired by the management unit 24 (step B4).

  Then, the shorter time of the time until the end of the user schedule calculated in step B3 and the PC operable time corresponding to the remaining battery level calculated in step B4 is the estimated value R of the PC usage time. (Step B5).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no user schedule corresponding to the current time, the PC operable time is calculated according to the remaining battery level acquired by the power management unit 24 (step B2 → B6), and this PC operation The possible time is set as it is as the estimated value R of the PC usage time (step B7).

  When the PC usage time R is estimated and set by such usage time estimation processing (step AB), a necessary charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R is obtained (step A7). That is, the required charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R is the minimum luminance that can be visually recognized by the key input unit (keyboard) 11 even if the charge amount is reduced due to light emission during the PC usage time R. Is a charge amount that does not fall below the charge amount Q corresponding to, and the required charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R is the charge amount Q corresponding to the minimum visible luminance and the equation (1). Is calculated according to the following equation (2) (step A7).

Qe ^{R / T} Equation (2) (T: Time constant determined by phosphorescent material 12, R: PC usage time)
Then, the current charge amount recorded in the charge amount storage unit 33 in step A3 is subtracted from the necessary charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R, and the necessary light charge amount is calculated (step A8).

  Here, when it is determined that the photo charge amount obtained by subtracting the current charge amount from the necessary charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R is equal to or less than “0”, the photo charge is unnecessary, so the photo charge time Is set to “0” (step A9 → A6).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the required light charge amount obtained by subtracting the current charge amount from the required charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R is greater than “0”, this required light charge amount and unit Based on the light charge amount per time, the light charge time corresponding to the required light charge amount is calculated (step A9 → A10).

  Then, the necessary charge amount that will be obtained by the optical charge during this optical charge time is recorded as a new charge amount 22a1 in the charge amount storage unit 22A together with the writing time 22a2 (step A11).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the photocharge time obtained by the photocharge time calculation process (step SA) is “0” (step S2). Since the light storage material 12 emits light at least at the minimum luminance or more during the PC usage time R without requiring a light charge, the lock controller 14R unlocks the opening operation element 14 of the PC lid 10B (step S1). S4), use of the PC 10 is started.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the light charge time obtained by the light charge time calculation process (step SA) is not “0”, the key input is performed by driving the display unit 13 during the light charge time. The light charge to the phosphorescent material 12 of the unit (keyboard) 11 is executed, and the light charge up to the necessary charge amount corresponding to the PC usage time R is performed (steps S2 → S3).

  Then, the lock of the opening operation element 14 of the PC lid 10B is released by the lock control unit 14R (step S4), and the use of the PC 10 is started.

  Therefore, according to the phosphorescent material light charge control function for the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 in the laptop PC 10 having the above-described configuration, the PC lid 10B corresponding to the illuminance around the PC 10 detected by the illuminance detector 15a. The current charge amount of the phosphorescent material 12 is calculated from the charge amount of the light energy excitation with respect to the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 in the open state and the charge amount of the decrease due to the light emission. Record in the charge amount storage unit 22A. When it is determined that the illuminance around the PC 10 is lower than the minimum illuminance visible on the key input unit (keyboard) 11 at the start of use of the PC 10, the visible phosphorescent material on the key input unit (keyboard) 11 When the required charge amount of 12 is calculated, and the current charge amount is less than the required charge amount, the light charge time for obtaining the light charge amount according to the difference is calculated, and the display unit 13 is turned on. Thus, since the light charging of the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 is performed, unnecessary light charging can be prevented and unnecessary power consumption can be eliminated.

  Moreover, according to the phosphorescent material light charge control function for the phosphorescent material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 in the notebook PC 10 having the above-described configuration, the timing for determining whether or not to perform the light charge is determined by opening the PC lid 10B. A key constituted by the phosphorescent material 12 by locking the opening operation of the lid 10B until the end of the photocharge time when it is determined that the photocharge is necessary when the opening operation by the operation element 14 is detected. Since the face-to-face state of the input unit (keyboard) 11 and the display unit 13 is maintained, the light storage material 12 is quickly charged with maximum efficiency by lighting the display unit 13 to eliminate unnecessary power consumption. Can do.

  Further, according to the light storage material light charge control function for the light storage material 12 of the key input unit (keyboard) 11 in the notebook PC 10 having the above-described configuration, when calculating the light charge amount for the light storage material 12, the user schedule at the current time is calculated. The PC usage time is estimated from the PC operation possible time according to the battery remaining amount, and the necessary charge amount of the phosphorescent material 12 that can visually recognize the key input unit (keyboard) 11 is calculated during this PC usage time. In addition, it is possible to perform light charging that requires light emission so that the key input unit (keyboard) 11 can be visually recognized only during the PC usage time, and wasteful power consumption can be eliminated.

  In the above-described embodiment, the PC usage time is estimated from the PC operable time according to the user schedule and the remaining battery level at the current time. However, the user himself / herself uses the PC usage time of 15 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours. It is also possible to provide a usage time designation button for designating such as to obtain the PC usage time.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention when it is practiced. Further, each of the embodiments includes inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in each embodiment or some constituent features are combined, the problems described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved. When the effects described in the “Effects of the Invention” can be obtained, a configuration in which these constituent elements are deleted or combined can be extracted as an invention.

1 is an external perspective view showing an open use state of a notebook PC (Personal computer) 10 according to an embodiment of an electronic apparatus of the present invention. The external appearance perspective view which shows the obstruction | occlusion non-use state of the said notebook type PC10. The block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic circuit of the said notebook type PC10. The figure which shows the content of the memory | storage data in 22 A of charge amount memory | storage parts ensured in RAM22 of the said notebook type PC10. The functional block diagram which shows the whole image of the luminous material light charge control function with respect to the key input part (keyboard) 11 of the said notebook type PC10. The flowchart which shows the charge amount estimation process (31) accompanying the luminous material light charge control in the said notebook type PC10. The flowchart which shows the luminous material light charge process accompanying PC starting operation in the said notebook type PC10. The flowchart which shows the optical charge time calculation process (33) in the luminous material light charge process accompanying PC starting operation in the said notebook type PC10. The flowchart which shows the PC utilization time estimation process (32) accompanying the optical charge time calculation process (33) in the said notebook type PC10.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Notebook PC
10A ... PC body 10B ... PC lid 11 ... Key input part (keyboard)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Phosphorescent material 13 ... Display part 14 ... Opening operation element 14a ... Opening / closing detection part 14R ... Lock control part 15 ... Illuminance sensor 15a ... Illuminance detection part 20 ... Control part (CPU)
21 ... Storage device 22 ... RAM
22A ... Charge amount storage unit 22a1 ... Charge amount 22a2 ... Charge amount writing time 23 ... Time measuring unit 24 ... Power supply management unit 31 ... Charge amount estimation unit 32 ... Utilization time estimation unit 33 ... Optical charge time calculation unit 34 ... Optical charge execution Control unit

Claims (6)

An electronic device having a structure in which a keyboard having a key top character formed of a phosphorescent material and a display unit face each other and can be folded,
Illuminance measuring means for measuring ambient illuminance;
From the amount of charge of light energy to the phosphorescent material according to the ambient illuminance measured by the illuminance measuring means in a state where the keyboard and the display unit are opened, and the amount of charge reduced by light emission of the phosphorescent material, Charge amount calculating means for calculating the charge amount;
Charge amount storage means for storing the charge amount of the phosphorescent material calculated by the charge amount calculation means;
When it is determined that the ambient illuminance measured by the illuminance measuring means at the start of use is lower than the minimum illuminance at which the keyboard can be visually recognized, the required charge amount of the phosphorescent material for causing the keyboard to emit light is calculated. Necessary charge amount calculating means to
When it is determined that the required charge amount of the phosphorescent material calculated by the required charge amount calculation means is larger than the current charge amount calculated based on the charge amount stored by the charge amount storage means, according to the difference A photo charge time calculating means for calculating a photo charge time corresponding to the photo charge amount;
Light charge execution control means for turning on the display unit and light charging the phosphorescent material according to the light charge time calculated by the light charge time calculation means,
An electronic device characterized by comprising: Lock means for locking the keyboard and the display unit in a closed state;
During the light charging to the phosphorescent material by the light charge execution control means, the lock control means for maintaining the keyboard and the display unit in a closed state by the lock means,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: It has usage time estimation means for estimating the usage time of this electronic device,
The required charge amount calculating means calculates a required charge amount of the phosphorescent material for causing the keyboard to emit light during the usage time of the electronic device estimated by the usage time estimating means,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an electronic device. The usage time estimation unit includes a remaining battery level detection unit that detects a remaining battery level by a battery power source, and uses the operable time of the electronic device corresponding to the remaining battery level detected by the remaining battery level detection unit. Estimate as time,
The electronic device according to claim 3. The usage time estimation means has user schedule acquisition means for acquiring user schedule information corresponding to the current time, and estimates the time until the schedule end time of the schedule information acquired by the user schedule acquisition means as the usage time. To
The electronic device according to claim 3. The utilization time estimation unit includes a battery remaining amount detection unit that detects a remaining battery level by a battery power source, and a user schedule acquisition unit that acquires user schedule information corresponding to a current time. The shorter one of the operable time of the electronic device corresponding to the remaining battery level detected by the time and the time until the schedule end time of the schedule information acquired by the user schedule acquisition means is estimated as the usage time. ,
The electronic device according to claim 3.

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