JP2012098132A - Portable terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of a portable terminal device.SOLUTION: The portable terminal device comprises: a plurality of oscillators 10 which are arranged in an array; a control section for controlling the plurality of oscillators 10; and a sonic detecting section 30 which is connected to the control section. The plurality of oscillators 10 includes an oscillator 14 for oscillating an ultrasonic wave 24 used for a sensor in a first direction and an oscillator 12 for oscillating an ultrasonic wave 22 used for a speaker in a second direction that is different from the first direction. The sonic detecting section 30 detects the ultrasonic wave 24 used for a sensor that has been reflected. The control section allows the oscillator 12 to emit a warning sound when the ultrasonic wave 24 used for a sensor that has been reflected is detected.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device.

  As a technique using an oscillating device that oscillates an ultrasonic wave, for example, a sensor and a speaker can be cited. Techniques using ultrasonic waves as sensors are described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, for example. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 includes a detection unit that measures the distance to an object by using an ultrasonic sensor in addition to the detection unit that compares the contrast between two crystal images and measures the distance to the object. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 is a vehicle surrounding state detection sensor in which an array of ultrasonic transducers is disposed at an appropriate height position around the outside of the vehicle to transmit and receive burst sound waves. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 arranges a plurality of transducers including at least one transmission element that transmits a transmission wave and a plurality of reception elements that reflect a reflected wave.

  Moreover, the technique using an ultrasonic wave as a speaker is described in patent documents 4, 5, for example. In Patent Document 4, the other surface of the diaphragm on which the piezoelectric vibrator is arranged on one surface is formed into a mortar-shaped concave shape. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228561 discloses a speaker using a parametric effect in which a vibration source is provided on the vibration film.

JP-A-9-287915 JP 7-333335 A JP 2009-264872 A JP 2006-165923 A JP 2004-282221 A

  In the portable terminal device, the multi-function is progressing. However, since many devices are mounted in a housing in order to achieve multiple functions, it has been difficult to reduce the size of the entire mobile terminal device.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the size of a portable terminal device.

According to the present invention, a plurality of oscillators arranged in an array,
A control unit for controlling the plurality of oscillation devices;
A sound wave detection unit connected to the control unit;
With
The plurality of transmitting devices are
A first oscillation device for transmitting ultrasonic waves for sensors in a first direction;
A second oscillation device for transmitting ultrasonic waves for a speaker in a second direction different from the first direction;
Including
The sound wave detection unit detects reflected ultrasonic waves for the sensor,
The control unit is provided with a portable terminal device that outputs a warning sound from the second oscillation device when detecting the reflected ultrasonic waves for the sensor.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the size of the mobile terminal device.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the operation | movement method of the portable terminal device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal device shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement method of the portable terminal device shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the oscillation apparatus shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the piezoelectric vibrator shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement method of the portable terminal device shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the vibrator | oscillator of the oscillation apparatus which comprises the portable terminal device which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation method of the mobile terminal device 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal device 100 shown in FIG. The mobile terminal device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of oscillation devices 10, a control unit 32, and a sound wave detection unit 30. The mobile terminal device 100 is a mobile phone, for example.

  The plurality of oscillation devices 10 are arranged in an array. The control unit 32 controls the plurality of oscillation devices 10. The sound wave detection unit 30 is connected to the control unit 32. The plurality of oscillation devices 10 includes an oscillation device 14 that oscillates sensor ultrasonic waves 24 (20) in a first direction, and an oscillation device 12 that oscillates speaker ultrasonic waves 22 (20) in a second direction. , Including. The sound wave detection unit 30 detects the reflected ultrasonic wave 24. The control unit 32 outputs a warning sound from the oscillation device 12 when detecting the reflected ultrasonic wave 24. Hereinafter, the configuration of the mobile terminal device 100 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mobile terminal device 100 further includes a housing 60. The oscillation device 10, the sound wave detection unit 30, and the control unit 32 are formed inside the housing 60. In the case 60, for example, a plurality of holes for allowing the ultrasonic waves 20 oscillated from the oscillation device 10 to pass therethrough are formed.

  The oscillation device 10 has a piezoelectric vibrator 40 as a vibrator (see FIG. 4). The control unit 32 is connected to the piezoelectric vibrator 40 via the signal generation unit 34. The signal generator 34 generates an electrical signal that is input to the piezoelectric vibrator 40. The control unit 32 controls the signal generation unit 34 based on information input from the outside, thereby controlling the oscillation of the oscillation device 10. When the oscillation device 10 is used as a speaker, the control unit 32 inputs a modulation signal as a parametric speaker via the signal generation unit 34. In this case, the piezoelectric vibrator 40 uses a sound wave of 20 kHz or more, for example, 100 kHz, as a signal transport wave. When the oscillation device 10 is used as a sound wave sensor, the signal input to the control unit 32 is a command signal for oscillating sound waves. When the oscillation device 10 is used as a sound wave sensor, the signal generator 34 causes the piezoelectric vibrator 40 to generate a sound wave having a resonance frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator 40.

  For example, a plurality of oscillation devices 12 are provided. Further, at least one oscillation device 14 is provided, and a plurality of oscillation devices 14 may be provided. In addition, the oscillation device 12 and the oscillation device 14 can be converted into each other by an input signal. The first direction in which the ultrasonic wave 24 is oscillated and the second direction in which the ultrasonic wave 22 is oscillated can be opposite to each other, for example. Further, the first direction and the second direction can be set at an arbitrary angle by providing a waveguide or a reflecting member. Furthermore, an acoustic lens can be provided at a point where the ultrasonic wave 24 passes, and the output range of the ultrasonic wave 24 can be widened. Thereby, the detection of the ultrasonic wave 24 reflected by the sound wave detection unit 30 is ensured, and the reliability of the mobile terminal device 100 can be improved.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the oscillation device 10 shown in FIG. The oscillation device 10 includes a piezoelectric vibrator 40, a support member 42, and a vibration member 44. The piezoelectric vibrator 40 is provided on one surface of the vibration member 44. The support member 42 supports the edge of the vibration member 44. As shown in FIG. 4, the oscillation device 10 oscillates ultrasonic waves on one surface side and the other surface side of the oscillation device 10. For this reason, the oscillation device 12 and the oscillation device 14 may be configured by one surface side and the other surface side of one oscillation device 10.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the piezoelectric vibrator 40 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the piezoelectric vibrator 40 includes a piezoelectric body 50, an upper electrode 52, and a lower electrode 54. The piezoelectric vibrator 40 has, for example, a circular shape or an elliptical shape. The piezoelectric body 50 is sandwiched between the upper electrode 52 and the lower electrode 54. The piezoelectric body 50 is polarized in the thickness direction. The piezoelectric body 50 is made of a material having a piezoelectric effect, for example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) or barium titanate (BaTiO ₃ ) as a material having high electromechanical conversion efficiency. The thickness of the piezoelectric body 50 is preferably 10 μm to 1 mm. When the thickness is less than 10 μm, the piezoelectric body 50 is made of a brittle material, and thus is easily damaged during handling. On the other hand, when the thickness exceeds 1 mm, the electric field strength of the piezoelectric body 50 is reduced. For this reason, the energy conversion efficiency is reduced.

  The upper electrode 52 and the lower electrode 54 are made of a material having electrical conductivity, for example, silver or a silver / palladium alloy. Silver is a low-resistance general-purpose material and is advantageous from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost and manufacturing process. Further, the silver / palladium alloy is a low resistance material excellent in oxidation resistance and excellent in reliability. The thickness of the upper electrode 52 and the lower electrode 54 is preferably 1 to 50 μm. When the thickness is less than 1 μm, it becomes difficult to form the film uniformly. On the other hand, when exceeding 50 micrometers, the upper electrode 52 or the lower electrode 54 becomes a restraint surface with respect to the piezoelectric material 50, and causes the fall of energy conversion efficiency.

  The vibration member 44 is made of a material having a high elastic modulus with respect to ceramic that is a brittle material, such as metal or resin, and is made of a general-purpose material such as phosphor bronze or stainless steel. The thickness of the vibration member 44 is preferably 5 to 500 μm. The longitudinal elastic modulus of the vibration member 44 is preferably 1 to 500 GPa. When the longitudinal elastic modulus of the vibration member 44 is excessively low or high, the characteristics and reliability as a mechanical vibrator may be impaired.

  For example, when the sound wave detection unit 30 specifies that the frequency of the detected sound wave is the frequency of the ultrasonic wave 24 oscillated from the second oscillating device and the intensity is equal to or higher than the reference value, the sound wave detection unit 30 supplies a certain amount of It is configured to send a signal. Thereby, the noise from the surrounding environment and the reflected ultrasonic wave 24 can be distinguished. When the mobile terminal device 100 is a mobile phone, the sound wave detection unit 30 can be configured by a microphone, for example.

  In this embodiment, sound reproduction is performed using the operation principle of a parametric speaker. The principle of operation of the parametric speaker is as follows. The principle of operation of a parametric speaker is the principle that audible sound appears due to the non-linear characteristics when ultrasonic waves that have been subjected to AM modulation, DSB modulation, SSB modulation, and FM modulation are emitted into the air and the ultrasonic waves propagate into the air. The sound reproduction is performed with Non-linear here means transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow when the Reynolds number indicated by the ratio of the inertial action and viscous action of the flow increases. That is, since the sound wave is slightly disturbed in the fluid, the sound wave propagates nonlinearly. In particular, when ultrasonic waves are radiated into the air, harmonics accompanying non-linearity are prominently generated. The sound wave is a dense state in which molecular groups in the air are mixed. When it takes time for air molecules to recover from compression, air that cannot be recovered after compression collides with continuously propagating air molecules, generating shock waves and producing audible sound. The parametric speaker can form a sound field only around the user, and is excellent from the viewpoint of privacy protection.

  Next, an operation method of the mobile terminal device 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation method of the mobile terminal device 100 shown in FIG. First, the ultrasonic wave 24 is oscillated from the portable terminal device 100 (S11). The ultrasonic wave 24 is oscillated around the user, for example, in the traveling direction when the user walks. When there is an obstacle around the user, the ultrasonic wave 24 is reflected by the obstacle. The reflected ultrasonic wave 24 is detected by the sound wave detection unit 30 (S12). When the ultrasonic wave 24 reflected by the sound wave detection unit 30 is detected, the control unit 32 oscillates the ultrasonic wave 22 from the oscillating device 12, thereby outputting a warning sound to the user (S13). Further, for example, when music is being reproduced from the oscillation device 12, the music may be switched to a warning sound when the reflected ultrasonic wave 24 is detected.

  Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described. The mobile terminal device 100 according to the present embodiment oscillates ultrasonic waves 24 for sensors and ultrasonic waves 22 for speakers from the oscillation devices 10 provided in an array. Thus, the oscillation device 10 has the functions of a sensor and a speaker, and there is no need to provide a sensor device and a speaker device separately. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the entire mobile terminal device while making the mobile terminal device multifunctional.

  When the mobile terminal device is a mobile phone or the like, the oscillation device and the microphone are already mounted. Therefore, it is possible to realize the multi-function of the mobile terminal device without mounting new parts.

  The oscillation device 12 constitutes a parametric speaker. For this reason, a sound field can be formed only around the user. Therefore, an excellent portable terminal device can be realized from the viewpoint of privacy protection.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile terminal device 102 according to the second embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 2 in the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation method of the mobile terminal device 102 shown in FIG. 6, and corresponds to FIG. 3 in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the mobile terminal device 102 has the same configuration as the mobile terminal device 100 according to the first embodiment except that the sound wave detection unit 30 has a function of measuring a distance.

  The operation method of the mobile terminal device 102 of this embodiment is as follows. First, the ultrasonic wave 24 is intermittently oscillated (S22). Next, the ultrasonic wave 24 reflected from the obstacle is detected by the sound wave detection unit 30 (S23). The sound wave detection unit 30 measures the distance between the user and the obstacle based on the time from when the ultrasonic wave for sensor 24 is oscillated by the oscillation device 14 until it is detected by the sound wave detection unit 30 (S24). . And the control part 32 outputs the sound for warning from the oscillation apparatus 12, when the distance of a user and an obstruction is below a reference value (S25Yes) (S26). The reference value may be set arbitrarily by the user.

  Also according to this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, by measuring the distance between the user and the obstacle, the user can grasp the distance from the obstacle. Thereby, it is possible to provide a mobile terminal device that is more convenient for the user.

  FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a vibrator of the oscillation device 10 constituting the mobile terminal device according to the third embodiment. The vibrator of the oscillation device 10 according to the third embodiment is configured by a MEMS actuator 70. Except for this point, the mobile terminal device according to the present embodiment is the same as the mobile terminal device 100 according to the first embodiment.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, the driving method of the MEMS actuator 70 is a piezoelectric method, and has a structure in which a piezoelectric thin film layer 72 is sandwiched between an upper movable electrode layer 74 and a lower movable electrode layer 76. The MEMS actuator 70 operates when signals are input from the signal generation unit 34 to the upper movable electrode layer 74 and the lower movable electrode layer 76. For example, an aerosol deposition method is used for manufacturing the MEMS actuator 70, but the method is not limited to this method. However, it is preferable to use the aerosol deposition method because the piezoelectric thin film layer 72, the upper movable electrode layer 74, and the lower movable electrode layer 76 can be formed on curved surfaces. The driving method of the MEMS actuator 70 may be an electrostatic method, an electromagnetic method, or a heat conduction method.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described with reference to drawings, these are the illustrations of this invention, Various structures other than the above are also employable.

10, 12, 14 Oscillators 20, 22, 24 Ultrasonic wave 30 Sound wave detection unit 32 Control unit 34 Signal generation unit 36 Distance measurement unit 40 Piezoelectric vibrator 42 Support member 44 Vibration member 50 Piezoelectric body 52 Upper electrode 54 Lower electrode 60 Housing Body 70 MEMS actuator 72 Piezoelectric thin film layer 74 Upper movable electrode layer 76 Lower movable electrode layer 100 Portable terminal device

Claims (4)

A plurality of oscillators arranged in an array; and
A control unit for controlling the plurality of oscillation devices;
A sound wave detection unit connected to the control unit;
With
The plurality of transmitting devices are
A first oscillation device for transmitting ultrasonic waves for sensors in a first direction;
A second oscillation device for transmitting ultrasonic waves for a speaker in a second direction different from the first direction;
Including
The sound wave detection unit detects reflected ultrasonic waves for the sensor,
The control unit is a portable terminal device that outputs a warning sound from the second oscillation device when detecting the reflected ultrasonic waves for the sensor. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1,
The sound wave detection unit measures a distance between a user and an obstacle based on a time from when the ultrasonic wave for the sensor is oscillated by the first oscillation device until it is detected by the sound wave detection unit. ,
The control unit is a portable terminal device that outputs the warning sound from the second oscillation device when a distance between the user and the obstacle is equal to or less than a reference value. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1 or 2,
The oscillation device is a portable terminal device having a piezoelectric vibrator as a vibrator. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1 or 2,
The oscillating device has a MEMS as a vibrator, and a driving method of the oscillating device is a piezoelectric method, an electrostatic method, an electromagnetic method, or a heat conduction method.

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