JP2008054103A - Mobile electronic device, and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a sophisticated folded mobile telephone is desired to be thinned or reduced in size and weight, there is no room for newly setting key buttons for new functions in a side or a lateral face of a back surface liquid crystal of a cabinet, an arrangement of the key buttons does not only reduce a degree of freedom of a design but also makes a cabinet size large, and merchantability as a mobile telephone is reduced. <P>SOLUTION: A mobile electronic device, in which a voice input microphone detects a contact sound of a cabinet and an external object, has a control another portion which determines whether or not the contact sound detected by the voice input microphone satisfies a predetermined condition, and a control portion which performs a predetermined operation when the predetermined condition is satisfied. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device that is easy to operate, and more particularly to a mobile phone that is easy to operate.

  FIG. 1 shows a front view of a folding mobile phone, which is the mainstream of conventional mobile phones. The folding cellular phone 1 is divided into a liquid crystal side housing 2 on which a liquid crystal screen 4 on which information is displayed is mounted, and a key side housing 3 in which a key operation unit 5 for inputting a telephone number and characters is mounted. It is done. When a user of the folding mobile phone 1 makes a call, a microphone for converting sound into an electric signal is mounted inside the key-side housing 3 and provided with a microphone hole 6 for transmitting the sound to the inside of the housing. ing. On the other hand, a speaker for converting an electrical signal into sound is mounted inside the liquid crystal side housing 2, and a speaker hole 7 for transmitting sound to the outside of the housing is provided.

  In this folding cellular phone 1, a liquid crystal side housing 2 and a key side housing 3 are coupled by a hinge mechanism. FIG. 2 is a front view in the closed state. A camera 8 and a rear liquid crystal screen 9 are provided on the rear surface of the liquid crystal casing 2.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of the folded cellular phone 1 in a closed state. Recent mobile phones have many functions such as camera photography and music playback. In order to easily execute these functions, a plurality of key buttons 10 are mounted on the side surface of the casing. For example, the key button 10 is used for the camera shooting function, such as activation or shooting or zoom function, and for the music playback function, volume adjustment or song change.

  As a related technique that replaces the key button, Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic device that detects a contact sound between a casing and an external object and executes a predetermined process.

  Patent Document 2 shows a portable information terminal that recognizes an impact or vibration pattern when a case is hit and calls registered information when they match.

JP-A-7-334185 JP 2000-165477 A

  In recent folding mobile phones, functions such as camera shooting and music playback are often performed in a closed state. In order to be able to perform these operations in a closed state, it is necessary to mount a key button on the side or side of the rear liquid crystal of the housing. However, mobile phones are required to be thinner or lighter while having higher functions, and there is no room for newly installing key buttons for new functions. In addition, the arrangement of the key button not only reduces the degree of freedom in design, but also increases the size of the housing, which may reduce the merchantability as a mobile phone.

  The portable electronic device of the present invention includes an audio input microphone that detects contact sound between the housing and an external object, a control separate unit that determines whether the contact sound detected by the audio input microphone satisfies a predetermined condition, and a predetermined condition. A control unit that performs a predetermined operation when the above is satisfied.

  The mobile electronic device of the present invention can be a mobile phone, and the voice input microphone can be a transmission microphone of the mobile phone.

  In addition, a user of the portable electronic device can set a predetermined condition or a predetermined operation.

  Further, when the detection start setting is made, the contact sound can be detected.

  Moreover, the specific site | part for forming a contact sound can also be provided in one or several area | regions.

  The specific part may have a concave or convex portion, and the contact sound may be a contact sound between the concave or convex portion and the external object.

  The specific part may be provided with a different material with respect to the casing, and the contact sound may be a contact sound between the different material and the external object.

  The method for controlling a portable electronic device of the present invention detects a contact sound between a housing and an external object with an audio input microphone, determines whether the contact sound detected by the audio input microphone satisfies a predetermined condition, and When the above condition is satisfied, a predetermined operation is performed.

  The portable electronic device of the present invention may be a mobile phone, and the voice input microphone may be the transmission microphone.

  In addition, the user can set a predetermined condition or a predetermined operation.

  Further, when the detection start setting is made, the contact sound can be detected.

  In the present invention, a voice input microphone provided in a portable electronic device detects a contact sound between the casing and an external object and performs a predetermined operation, thereby maintaining a size of the casing and a predetermined predetermined value. Functional operation can be easily performed. In addition, since the number of key buttons is not reduced or installed, the degree of freedom in designing the entire mobile phone is increased. In addition, it is possible to reduce the component cost required for mounting the key button.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, such a form does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

  A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 to 6. FIG. 1 is a front view of a conventional folding cellular phone, but it is also applicable to the embodiment of the present invention.

  An enlarged view of the cross section A- in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. The key-side housing 3 is composed of a front case 11 and a rear case 12 that are mainly molded from plastic, and is fastened by screws 13. In addition, a board 19 on which an electrical component such as an IC (Integrated Circuit) is mounted is fixed to the front case 11 with screws 13 inside the key-side casing 3. The microphone 14 for converting the voice of the user of the folding cellular phone 1 into an electric signal is fixed by being sandwiched between the front case 11 and the substrate 19, and the voice is transmitted to the microphone 14 through the microphone hole 6. The key-side housing 3 also includes a key top 15, a rubber sheet 16, an adhesive sheet 17, and a dome contact 18 as elements constituting a key operation unit.

  In the closed state, the user of the folding mobile phone 1 taps the front case 11 and the rear case 12 near the microphone 14 with a nail or a finger joint to make a contact sound. FIG. 5 is a front view of the folded cellular phone 1 in a closed state, and the position where the contact sound is produced is, for example, a range 20 surrounded by a dotted circle in FIG. However, the position is not limited to this position as long as the microphone 14 can detect the contact sound.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment. In a conventional mobile phone, a signal from the key input unit 30 is transmitted to the control unit 25, and a predetermined operation is performed on the display unit 27 or the function unit 28. In this embodiment, the microphone 14 detects the contact sound, and the signal is sent to the control separate unit 21 of the folded mobile phone 1. The control separate unit 21 includes a recognition unit 22 and a determination unit 23. The contact sound signal sampled by the recognition unit 22 is determined by the determination unit 23 to satisfy a predetermined condition. Since the determination unit 23 includes the storage unit 24, the user of the folding mobile phone 1 can register predetermined conditions such as a contact sound signal and a sensitivity level. When the condition is satisfied, the result is transmitted to the control unit 25 and the display unit 27 or the function unit 28 performs a predetermined operation. Since the control unit 25 includes the storage unit 26, the user of the folding mobile phone 1 can also register the functional operation for the contact sound. Further, the microphone 14 is common to the transmission microphone of the folded mobile phone 1, and is also connected to the voice transmission unit 29 via the control separate unit 21.

  In the present invention, the microphone 14 conventionally mounted on the mobile phone senses a contact sound with an external object and executes a function. For example, when the contact sound forming unit 20 is tapped three times, the camera is activated, and when tapped four times, music reproduction can be started.

  The functions to be executed are not limited to camera shooting and music playback. It is possible to execute various functions provided in the mobile phone according to user settings.

  Next, Example 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, in addition to the form of the first embodiment, a recognition start button 31 is mounted. In the first embodiment, when the mobile phone 1 is unexpectedly folded and hit, the contact sound may be detected and the function may be activated. Therefore, the touch sound is detected only after the recognition start button 31 is pressed or in a pressed state. This makes it possible to prevent unintended functional operations.

  Next, Example 3 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, in addition to the form of the first embodiment, small irregularities called “wrinkles” are molded by a mold at the lower part of the opening / closing surface of the front case 11 near the microphone. When a place with a wrinkle is folded and the user of the mobile phone 1 rubs it with a hard pointed object such as a nail, a sound is produced. The sound can be detected and transmitted to the control unit of the folding mobile phone 1 to perform a functional operation. For example, in this case, if the functions to be operated are stored in accordance with the length of the rubbed distance and the number of times when the rubbing direction is reciprocated, the functional operation can be varied accordingly.

  Next, Example 4 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, in addition to the form of the first embodiment, a large uneven portion is provided in the vicinity of the microphone as compared with the texture, and a plurality of uneven portions are arranged. When the user of the cellular phone 1 is folded and rubbed in the horizontal direction with a pointed hard object such as a nail, one sound is produced per unevenness. For this reason, the number of times the sound is generated changes depending on which position is rubbed. If functions that operate with respect to the number of sounds are memorized, it is possible to make variations in functional operation accordingly.

  Next, Example 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the same uneven portion as in the fourth embodiment is provided in a plurality of regions. Here, not only the lower part of the key operation casing 3 but also the side of the rear liquid crystal screen 9 of the liquid crystal side casing 2 is provided. As long as it is in an area that can be detected by the microphone 14, the uneven portion may be present in any part of the housing. Therefore, it is possible to perform a function operation by generating a sound at a position according to the user's preference.

  Next, Example 6 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, in addition to the form of the fourth embodiment, the lower part of the open / close surface of the front case 11 in the vicinity of the microphone is formed of a material different from that of the housing. The use of a material that is easy to sound or can easily transmit sound increases the volume that reaches the microphone 14 and improves the recognition rate. Moreover, durability can be improved by using a hard material. For example, the casing is made of plastic, and only the uneven portion is made of metal. The part formed of this different material may be provided not only in one place as shown in FIG. 11 but also in a plurality of places. In this case, a sound is produced at a position according to the user's preference as in the fifth embodiment. It is possible to function.

  The above description has been made by taking a folded mobile phone as an example. However, if it is a mobile electronic device, there is no problem in the implementation of the present invention.

It is a front view of the state in which the folding cellular phone of the conventional example or Example 1 was opened. It is a front view of the closed state of the folding portable telephone of a prior art example. It is a side view in the closed state of the folding portable telephone of a prior art example. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a key-side casing of the folding mobile phone according to the first embodiment. It is a front view of the folding portable telephone which shows the area | region which produces the contact sound of Example 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a folding mobile phone according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a front view of a folding mobile phone in which a recognition start button is provided at the lower part of the key-side casing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a front view of a folding mobile phone in which a wrinkle is provided at the lower part of the key-side casing according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a front view of a folding mobile phone in which a concavo-convex portion is provided in the lower part of the key-side casing of the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a front view of a folding mobile phone in which concave and convex portions are provided on the lower side of the key-side casing and the side of the rear liquid crystal screen according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a front view of a folded mobile phone in which a concave and convex portion is formed of a material different from that of the casing at the lower part of the key-side casing of the sixth embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Folding mobile phone 2 Liquid crystal side case 3 Key side case 4 Liquid crystal screen 5 Key operation part 6 Microphone hole 7 Speaker hole 8 Camera 9 Back surface liquid crystal 10 Side key button 11 Front case 12 Rear case 13 Screw 14 Microphone 15 Key top 16 Rubber sheet 17 Adhesive sheet 18 Dome contact 19 Substrate 20 Contact sound formation unit 21 Control-specific unit 22 Recognition unit 23 Discrimination unit 24 Storage unit 25 Control unit 26 Storage unit 27 Display unit 28 Function unit 29 Voice transmission unit 30 Key input unit 31 Detection Start button 32 Wrinkle forming portion 33 Concavity and convexity forming portion 34 Back LCD screen horizontal unevenness forming portion 35 Dissimilar material uneven portion

Claims (11)

A housing,
A voice input microphone for detecting a contact sound between the housing and an external object;
A control separate unit that determines whether the contact sound detected by the voice input microphone satisfies a predetermined condition;
And a control unit that performs a predetermined operation when the predetermined condition is satisfied. The mobile electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the mobile electronic device is a mobile phone, and the voice input microphone is a transmission microphone of the mobile phone. 3. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a user of the portable electronic device can set the predetermined condition or the predetermined operation. The portable electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the contact sound is detected when a detection start setting is made. The portable electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising one or a plurality of specific parts for forming the contact sound. 6. The portable electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the specific part has a concave or convex portion, and the contact sound is a contact sound between the concave or convex portion and the external object. 6. The portable electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the specific portion is provided with a different material with respect to the housing, and the contact sound is a contact sound between the different material and the external object. A method for controlling a portable electronic device, comprising:
The contact sound between the case and the external object is detected by the voice input microphone,
Determining whether the contact sound detected by the voice input microphone satisfies a predetermined condition;
A control method for a portable electronic device, wherein a predetermined operation is performed when the predetermined condition is satisfied. The mobile electronic device is a mobile phone;
The control method according to claim 8, wherein the voice input microphone is the transmission microphone. 10. The control method according to claim 8, wherein a user of the mobile electronic device or the mobile phone sets the predetermined condition or the predetermined operation. The control method according to claim 8, wherein the contact sound is detected when detection start setting is made.

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