JP2011237644A - Electronic paper and information display system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display system comprising electronic papers capable of exhibiting a display memory property and a driving device for overwriting information displayed on the electronic papers, which allows information in the plurality of electronic papers to be overwritten with one driving device and furthermore allows only the electronic papers to be freely carried.SOLUTION: The information display system comprises: an information display panel 12 having a display memory property; a driver IC 13 for controlling a driving voltage applied to the information display panel; a serial-parallel conversion means 15 for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal; and a connection terminal connector 16 for receiving a signal from an external device. An electronic paper 11 is configured so that the serial-parallel conversion means converts a serial signal from the external device into a parallel signal and transmits the converted parallel signal to the driver IC.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic paper used for displaying information, and an information display system for rewriting information displayed on the electronic paper by mounting the electronic paper on a driving device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an information display device in which a display medium having a display memory property is sealed between two substrates and the display medium is driven to display information such as an image (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this information display device, an information display panel, which is a panel structure enclosing a display medium, and elements such as a driver IC for driving, a CPU, a memory, and a power source are all integrated.

JP 2007-148302 A

  In the above-described conventional information display device (also referred to as an information display system), since the information display device and the drive device are integrated, the drive device mounted on the information display device is exclusively mounted on the information display device. The information on the information display panel is simply rewritten, in other words, the information on the plurality of information display panels cannot be rewritten with one driving device. In addition, there has been an attempt to configure the information display device and the drive device to be detachable, but electrical connection with many electrodes extending to the display pixels of the information display panel is required, and the information display device is driven. It was practically difficult to connect the device once and then remove and reconnect it.

  The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to divide an information display device (also referred to as an information display system) that has been integrated in the past into an information display (also referred to as electronic paper) and a drive device, A detachable configuration that allows for easy electrical connection with a large number of electrodes necessary for the mounting, and as a result, it is possible to rewrite information on a plurality of electronic papers with a single drive device. It is intended to constitute an information display system comprising an electronic paper that can sufficiently carry a display memory, and a driving device that rewrites information to be displayed on the electronic paper.

  An electronic paper according to the present invention includes an information display panel having display memory characteristics, a driver IC that controls a drive voltage applied to the information display panel, a serial-parallel conversion unit that converts a serial signal into a parallel signal, and an external And a connection terminal connector for receiving a signal from the device, wherein the serial-parallel conversion means converts the serial signal from the external device into a parallel signal and transmits the converted parallel signal to the driver IC. It is what.

  Further, as a preferred example of the electronic paper of the present invention, an information display panel is configured such that a display medium configured as a particle group including a chargeable particle is disposed in a space between panel substrates and controlled by a driver IC. In some cases, information is displayed by moving the display medium in accordance with the electric field generated by the voltage.

  Furthermore, the information display system of the present invention is composed of electronic paper and at least a parallel-serial conversion means and a connection device for connecting the electronic paper as an outlet for the serial signal, a CPU, a memory, and a drive device provided with power supply means. For displaying information on electronic paper, a terminal connector for connecting electronic paper is attached to a terminal for connecting to electronic paper including a signal line for transmitting a serial signal output from the parallel-serial conversion means of the driving device. The panel is configured to be driven.

  In the present invention, “parallel-serial conversion” reduces the number of bits of data transmitted synchronously by distributing synchronous data on the time axis with respect to a digital signal transmitted synchronously over 2 bits. This is implemented for the purpose, and there is a merit that the number of transmission lines is reduced. "Serial-parallel conversion" means reverse conversion of parallel-serial conversion. Furthermore, “parallel signal” means a digital signal transmitted in synchronization of 2 bits or more, and “serial signal” means a digital signal converted by parallel-serial conversion.

  According to the information display system of the present invention, the display-side unit and the drive-side unit in the information display device (also referred to as the information display system) are separated as electronic paper and the drive device, respectively, and each is connected using a terminal connector. Since the information is displayed on the electronic paper, when the displayed information is rewritten, the electronic paper is connected to the driving device, the information display panel mounted on the electronic paper is driven, and the display information is rewritten. Thereafter, the electronic paper can be removed from the driving device while maintaining the information displayed using the display memory property. In addition, since serial-parallel conversion means for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal is mounted on the electronic paper so that the signal sent from the driving device to the electronic paper is a serial signal, the electrical paper and the driving device are electrically connected. The point of connecting a large number of electrodes in connection is that only a small number of electrodes need to be connected, and the electronic paper can be freely attached to and detached from the driving device. Therefore, using a plurality of electronic papers that can be connected to one driving device, a plurality of electronic papers are sequentially connected to one driving device to display information, and then removed in a state where the information is displayed. The information can be displayed on a plurality of electronic papers with a single driving device, and the information displayed on the plurality of electronic papers is retained as it is until it is rewritten next. Now it can be carried around.

  Further, according to the information display system of the present invention, by adopting a configuration in which the communication unit is mounted on the drive device, the information received by the drive device can be displayed on the electronic paper connected to the drive device. Therefore, if the drive device having this communication means is a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, the drive device and the electronic paper can be carried together, and the information desired to be read and the information to be read can be carried. It can be displayed on electronic paper connected to the driving device. In a portable terminal having a display screen on the main body such as a mobile phone, the electronic paper of the present invention can be used as the second display screen, and in that case, an electronic paper that provides a large screen on which information is easy to see. It can also be.

  According to the electronic paper of the present invention, an information display panel using a display medium having a display memory property, serial-parallel conversion means for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal, and a connection terminal connector for a driving device are mounted. Therefore, it can be mounted on the drive device, and the information received as a serial signal from the drive device can be converted into a parallel signal and displayed on the information display panel. And after displaying information, it can remove from a drive device in the state which displayed information, and can carry the electronic paper which hold | maintained the displayed information as it is. Then, the display medium having a display memory property used for the information display panel is set as a particle group including a chargeable particle, and the information display panel applies an electric field to the particle group disposed between the panel substrates, and the particle group When the information is displayed by moving the display, the display memory property can be exhibited more effectively.

(A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating an example of the information display panel using the particle group containing a charging particle as a display memory property display medium used with the electronic paper of this invention, respectively. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating the other example of the information display panel using the particle group containing a charging particle as a display memory property display medium used with the electronic paper of this invention, respectively. is there. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the electronic paper of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the electronic paper of this invention shown in FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the information display system of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the other example of the information display system of this invention.

<About the information display panel constituting the electronic paper of the present invention>
First, an example of an information display panel using, as a display medium, a particle group including a chargeable particle among the information display panels constituting the electronic paper used in the information display system of the present invention will be described. In the information display panel, an electric field is applied to a display medium sealed in a space between two opposing substrates. Along with the applied electric field direction, the display medium is attracted by an electric field force or a Coulomb force, and the display medium is moved by a change in the electric field direction, whereby information such as an image is displayed. Therefore, it is necessary to design the display panel so that the display medium can move uniformly and maintain the stability when the display information is rewritten or when the display information is continuously displayed. Here, as the force applied to the particles constituting the display medium, in addition to the force attracting each other by the Coulomb force between the particles, an electric mirror image force between the electrode and the substrate, an intermolecular force, a liquid cross-linking force, gravity and the like can be considered.

  Among the information display panels constituting the electronic paper used in the information display system of the present invention, an example of an information display panel using a particle group containing chargeable particles as a display medium is shown in FIGS. Description will be made with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, at least two types of display media (in this case, including negatively charged white particles 3Wa) configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability are included. A white display medium 3W configured as a particle group and a black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including positively-charged black particles 3Ba) in each cell 7 formed of the partition walls 4 on the panel substrate on the back side By applying a voltage between a pair of pixel electrodes formed by an electrode 5 (stripe electrode) provided in 1 and a transparent electrode 6 (stripe electrode) provided on the transparent panel substrate 2 on the observation side facing and orthogonally crossing each other, The substrate is moved perpendicular to the substrates 1 and 2 in accordance with the generated electric field. Then, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 1A, or the white display is displayed by the observer, or the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. Is displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. In addition, in FIG. 1 (a), (b), the partition in front is abbreviate | omitted. Reference numeral 8 denotes an adhesive. Further, here, an example is shown in which cells and pixels (dots) have a one-to-one correspondence. Furthermore, although the inside of the cell is filled with air here, it may be filled with another gas or be evacuated. Moreover, you may fill with an insulating liquid. Furthermore, a transparent capsule may be used instead of the cell formed by the partition walls.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), at least two types of display media (here, including negatively charged white particles 3Wa) configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability are included. The electrode provided on the substrate 1 in each cell formed by the partition walls 4 is a white display medium 3W configured as a particle group and a black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including positively charged black particles 3Ba). 5 (pixel electrode with TFT (thin film transistor)) and the electrode 6 (common electrode) provided on the substrate 2 are moved vertically to the substrates 1 and 2 in accordance with an electric field generated by applying a voltage. Then, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 2A, or the white display is displayed by the observer, or the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. Is displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. In addition, in FIG. 2 (a), (b), the partition in front is abbreviate | omitted. Reference numeral 8 denotes an adhesive. Further, here, an example is shown in which cells and pixels (dots) have a one-to-one correspondence. Furthermore, although the inside of the cell is filled with air here, it may be filled with another gas or be evacuated. Moreover, you may fill with an insulating liquid. Furthermore, a transparent capsule may be used instead of the cell formed by the partition walls.

<About the electronic paper of the present invention>
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the electronic paper of the present invention. In this example, an information display panel having the structure shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is used, and the same members as those in the examples shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description is omitted. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the electronic paper 11 of the present invention drives the information to be displayed for each of the information display panel 12 functioning as an information display unit for displaying information and the plurality of stripe electrodes 5 in the row direction. A driver IC 13 for supplying a voltage; a driver IC 14 for supplying a driving voltage for information to be displayed for each of the plurality of stripe electrodes 6 in the column direction; and a serial-parallel conversion means 15 for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal; And a connection terminal connector 16 for receiving a serial signal transmitted from a separate drive device. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the driver IC is directly mounted on each of the two substrates. However, a flexible substrate on which the driver IC is mounted may be mounted on each of the two substrates.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the electronic paper of the present invention shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the same members as those in the example shown in FIG. The driver IC 13 and the driver IC 14 each have an output side terminal equal to or greater than the number of row side stripe electrodes and an output side terminal equal to or greater than the number of column side stripe electrodes. For the connection between the serial-parallel conversion means and the driver IC, electrode wires formed on the substrates are used on the same substrate, and a flexible cable or a flexible circuit board (FPC) is used for connection between the substrates.

  Between the plurality of driver ICs 13 and the plurality of driver ICs 14 and the parallel port of the serial-parallel conversion means 15, a parallel signal obtained by converting the serial signal received from the driving device side is transmitted. At this time, one serial-parallel conversion unit 15 is arranged for the plurality of driver ICs 13 and the plurality of driver ICs 14, and one connection terminal connector to the driving device is further provided at the end of the serial-parallel conversion unit 15. The serial-parallel conversion means 15 may be arranged for each of the plurality of driver ICs 13 and the plurality of driver ICs 14, and the drive device may be placed in front of the plurality of serial-parallel conversion means 15. A connection terminal connector can be arranged. In the former, only one serial-parallel conversion means 15 and one connection terminal connector are required, but the number of connection terminals of the connection terminal connector is at least the number of driver ICs. In the latter case, at least the number of driver ICs is required for the serial-parallel conversion means 15 and the connection terminal connectors, but the number of connection terminals of the connection terminal connector is 2 for data transmission and for ground connection. Just a book. Either one can be selected and adopted in consideration of the ease of attaching / detaching the electronic paper to / from the driving device and the rewriting speed at the time of rewriting information.

  In the above-described example, the information display panel mounted on the electronic paper is a passive drive type that transmits signals to the plurality of stripe electrodes shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Even when an active drive type using a TFT shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) is used as a panel, the signal transmitted to the electrode with TFT is processed in the same manner as in the above-described example. It can be suitably applied.

<About the information display system of the present invention>
FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the information display system of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the information display system is composed of an electronic paper 11 and a driving device 21. In this example, the electronic paper 11 has the same configuration as the example described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, and the description thereof is omitted here.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, the driving device 21 needs parallel-serial conversion means 22 for converting a parallel signal into a serial signal, a logic controller 23, a battery 24 as power supply means, and a data signal for driving a display medium. The booster circuit 28 boosts to a proper voltage level, the CPU 25, the memory 26 that stores various data, and the communication means 27 that can receive at least data from the outside. Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration without communication means. The power supply means may be configured not to be connected to a battery but to be connected to an external power supply and supplied with power from the outside.

  Data signals are exchanged in the drive device in parallel. On the drive device side, the data signal is converted from a parallel signal to a serial signal by parallel-serial conversion means 22 disposed at the data signal outlet. That is, the parallel-serial conversion means 22 converts a parallel signal input from the parallel port and sends it out as a serial signal from the serial port. On the other hand, on the electronic paper side, the serial signal entered from the serial port of the serial-parallel conversion means 15 arranged at the entrance of the data signal is converted and sent out as a parallel signal from the parallel port. The terminal connector for connecting the electronic paper and the driving device and connecting the data signal transmission line has one signal line and one signal line for transmitting a serial signal between the driving device side connector and the electronic paper side connector. Therefore, the number of signal line terminals that need to be connected can be reduced. For example, a connector having four terminals such as a commercially available USB connector can be used, and in an extreme example, a connector having two terminals, that is, a data signal line and a ground terminal line can be used. The smaller the number of terminals of the connector, the easier the connection is. On the other hand, since it takes time to transmit the data signal and it takes time to rewrite the display, the number of terminals is 4 to 16. In the range.

  FIG. 5 shows the basic configuration of the electronic paper of the present invention in which the serial-parallel conversion means 15 is arranged in front of the driver IC in the electronic paper. The function of the serial-parallel conversion means 15 is the driver IC. Can also be included. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, on the electronic paper side, the serial-parallel conversion means is not used independently, but the function is given to the electronic paper as a driver IC with the serial-parallel conversion means. It will be. A serial signal input from the input side of the driver IC is converted into a parallel signal by the serial-parallel conversion function of the driver IC and sent out from the output side of the driver IC.

  In the information display system shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a signal line used for connection between the electronic paper 11 and the driving device 21 is transmitted by transmitting a data signal as a serial signal between the electronic paper 11 and the driving device 21. Since the number can be reduced, a detachable connection between the electronic paper 11 and the driving device 21 can be achieved with a simple configuration. In addition, by replacing the electronic paper 11 using one driving device 21, information can be displayed on the plurality of electronic papers 11 with only one driving device 21.

  In the information display system of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a portable terminal represented by a cellular phone can be adopted as a driving device. In this case, the driving device (for example, a mobile phone) has a function of displaying information on the display screen of the mobile phone, but as a means necessary for connecting and driving the electronic paper of the present invention. Furthermore, it is necessary to add at least the logic controller, the booster circuit, and the parallel-serial conversion means described above. Since these functions are small and lightweight, the mobile phone can be made into a small and lightweight drive device and does not interfere with the portability of the mobile phone, so it is easy to carry around with electronic paper. Information that is difficult to see on a small screen, such as a screen, can be easily viewed on an electronic paper screen by connecting a separate large screen electronic paper. Also in this case, the necessary information is removed by removing the electronic paper displaying the necessary information from the mobile phone, connecting another electronic paper, displaying the necessary information, and then removing it. You can view all the information in a panoramic view by arranging a plurality of electronic papers that display, or you can see all the information as if you were paging the pages by overlaying a plurality of electronic papers that displayed the necessary information .

  The parallel-serial conversion means 22 provided in the driving device and the serial-parallel conversion means 15 provided in the electronic paper are each provided for each driver IC mounted on the electronic paper, and provided for each driver IC. It can be adopted within the range. In the configuration in which each driver IC is provided, the number of connection terminal connectors is required and the connection is somewhat difficult, but there is a merit that data signal can be transmitted quickly. In the configuration in which one driver IC is provided, Connection is easy, but there is a demerit that data signal transmission is slow.

  That is, in the information display system of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the comparison with the conventional information display device is as follows. When an information display panel having a memory property is used, once an image is displayed, the image is maintained until it is rewritten. Therefore, by changing the information display panel (also referred to as electronic paper) using a single driving device, display can be performed on a plurality of information display panels. However, conventionally, since the connection operation between the information display panel and the driving device is not easy, the information display panel and the driving device are usually used as one body. Therefore, even if there is a memory property, in reality, only one information display panel can be used with one drive device, and the memory property cannot be fully utilized. Furthermore, if a lightweight and thin information display panel is adopted as electronic paper, the merit of using a plurality of electronic papers is further increased, and the merit of replacing a plurality of electronic papers in one driving device is increased.

  Conventionally, attempts have been made to replace electronic paper with a driving device, but it has not been successful. The reason is that the number of signal lines for sending images to be displayed is large at the connection between the drive unit and electronic paper, making it difficult to connect, and in practice it is difficult to replace the drive unit with electronic paper. This is because. Therefore, in order to reduce the number of connections as much as possible and facilitate reconnection, in the present invention, the driver IC is first mounted on the electronic paper side, so that the output side of the driver IC is connected to the actual pixel electrode side. The input side having a smaller number of terminals than the output side is connected to the driving device, so that the number of electrodes to be connected between the electronic paper and the driving device is greatly reduced. By making the transmission signal a serial signal, the number of electrodes connected between the electronic paper and the driving device is further reduced. In this way, by integrating the function of the driver IC and the function of serial-parallel conversion into the electronic paper, it is extremely different from other driving devices (CPU, memory, power supply means, boosting means, input device, communication function). Electrical connection was made possible with a small number of terminals. As a result, when the displayed information is rewritten, it can be easily connected to the drive device to rewrite the information, and after rewriting, it can be easily removed from the drive device and can be carried around with the information displayed. An information display system composed of devices could be achieved.

  Since the electronic paper (information display device) of the present invention can be easily attached to and detached from the driving device (display information rewriting device), various uses are possible. As a driving device (display information rewriting device), a notebook personal computer, an electronic notebook, a PDA, a mobile phone, a handy terminal, a portable media player, or the like can be used. When the electronic paper of the present invention is used in connection with these devices, it can be used as a main display of these portable devices and can also be used as a sub display with low power consumption.

  In addition, since the electronic paper (information display device) of the present invention can be easily attached and detached and has a memory property, it is possible to use a plurality of pieces of information simultaneously by attaching and detaching a plurality of pieces. is there. Furthermore, when using electronic devices such as desktop PCs that are fixedly used as drive devices (display information rewriting devices), taking advantage of their memory properties, the display information can be rewritten and then removed to remove the printed paper. It can also be used as a rewritable paper. These driving devices (display information rewriting devices) include a parallel-serial conversion means, a logic controller and booster circuit for forming an image of information to be displayed on the information display panel, a CPU, a memory, and a power supply means (fixed power supply). It is preferable to have all the communication functions and the means for obtaining the power from the battery and the battery), but it is preferable to connect the devices having some of these functions and the relay devices having the insufficient functions, and then the present invention. The electronic paper (information display device) can be connected and used.

1, 2 Panel substrate 3W White display medium 3Wa White particles 3B Black display medium 3Ba Black particles 4 Partitions 5, 6 Electrode 7 Cell 8 Adhesive 11 Electronic paper (information display)
12 Information display panel 13, 14 Driver IC
15 serial-parallel conversion means 16 connection terminal connector 21 drive device (rewriting device)
22 Parallel-serial conversion means 23 Logic controller 24 Power supply means 25 CPU
26 memory 27 communication means 28 booster circuit

Claims (3)

  An information display panel having display memory characteristics, a driver IC for controlling a driving voltage applied to the information display panel, serial-parallel conversion means for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal, and a signal from an external device are received. An electronic device comprising: a terminal connector for connection, wherein the serial-parallel conversion means converts a serial signal from the external device into a parallel signal and transmits the converted parallel signal to the driver IC. paper.   The information display panel arranges a display medium configured as a particle group including a chargeable particle in a space between panel substrates, and moves the display medium according to an electric field formed by a driving voltage controlled by the driver IC. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein information is displayed.   The electronic paper according to claim 1 or 2, and at least a parallel-serial conversion means and a terminal for connection with the electronic paper serving as an outlet of the serial signal, and a drive device comprising a CPU, a memory and a power supply means, An information display of the electronic paper is provided by attaching a terminal connector for connecting the electronic paper to a terminal for connecting to the electronic paper including a signal line for transmitting a serial signal output from the parallel-serial conversion means of the driving device. An information display system configured to drive an operation panel.

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