JP2012238091A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately detect the presence state of a user without erroneous detection.SOLUTION: An information processor 1 comprises a main substrate-side cabinet 3, a display-side cabinet 2, a hinge part 4 for connecting between the main substrate-side cabinet 3 and the display-side cabinet 2 so as to make the display-side cabinet 2 openable/closable, and a presence state detection sensor part 10 with a sensor 12 capable of detecting a person. The presence state detection sensor part 10 is provided on the front face of the main substrate-side cabinet 3.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus having an optical sensor capable of detecting a person.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus in which an openable / closable notebook personal computer having a display-side casing and a main board-side casing is provided with an optical sensor for determining an open / closed state on an upper portion of the display-side casing. (See FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-169627 A

  Conventionally, various techniques for eliminating unnecessary power consumption related to an information processing apparatus have been proposed. With regard to the information processing apparatus, it may be left in a state where the user does not use it while being activated, and it has been proposed that the information processing apparatus detects this and shifts to the power saving mode.

  However, in the case of using the technology for detecting the user's absence and shifting to power saving as described above, it is inconvenient if the user shifts to power saving due to a false detection even though the user is not actually away. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately detect the presence state of the user without erroneous detection.

  As means for detecting the presence state, an LED (laser light emitting diode) that emits infrared light toward the front surface of the information processing apparatus on which the user sits and reflected light reflected by the user's body and clothes are received. It is conceivable to use an infrared reflection type sensor constituted by a sensor that performs the above. In a stationary type such as a desktop personal computer, there is a conventional example of realizing a power saving function using a away sensor utilizing an infrared reflective sensor.

  However, in a portable information processing apparatus such as a notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “notebook PC”), it is necessary to implement an away sensor that appropriately detects the presence of a user without erroneous detection. There is a problem that cannot be assumed in the stationary type.

  The away sensor is intended to detect the presence or absence of a person, but the optical sensor may pick up the reflected light from a desk other than the person or a keyboard that is usually placed in front of an information processing device. There is. Since a notebook PC is used by being placed on a desk or table, depending on the position where the away sensor is installed, the optical sensor picks up a lot of reflected light from the desk or table, and the reflected light from the person It may not be possible to achieve the purpose of detecting the presence of the user and appropriately detecting the presence state of the user.

  At the mounting position of the optical sensor disclosed in Patent Document 1 (upper part of the display-side housing), the sensor sensitivity of the away sensor is strongly influenced by the open / closed state of the display, and senses reflected light from the human face. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the presence state of the person with the weak reflected light as compared with the case where the reflected light from the entire upper body is received (see FIG. 6). In addition, it is necessary to make a signal connection with a long line length from the main board to the away sensor.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of appropriately detecting a user's presence state without erroneous detection.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides, as a first aspect, a main board side casing, a display side casing, the main board side casing, and the display side casing connected to each other. An information processing apparatus comprising: a hinge portion that enables opening and closing of a body; and an optical sensor capable of detecting a person, wherein the optical sensor is provided on a front surface of the main board-side casing. I will provide a.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to provide the information processing apparatus which can detect a user's attendance state appropriately, without performing misdetection.

It is an external view of embodiment by this invention. It is a figure which shows the information processing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 from the front. It is a schematic diagram which shows the permeation | transmission cross section of the seating state detection sensor part 10 of FIG. It is the schematic diagram which looked at FIG. 3 from the side. It is a schematic diagram which shows the sensor reaction area obtained by the structure of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the sensor reaction area obtained by the conventional structure. It is a schematic diagram which shows the sensor reaction area obtained by the conventional structure. It is a schematic diagram which shows the sensor reaction area obtained by the conventional structure. It is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a conventional away sensor.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Embodiments in which the invention is suitably implemented will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of this embodiment.
As illustrated, the information processing apparatus 1 is a notebook personal computer having a display-side casing 2 and a main board-side casing 3. The display-side casing 2 and the main board-side casing 3 are connected by a hinge portion 4 and are electrically connected. As the aspect of the hinge portion 4, a conventionally known one can be used and is not limited in the present embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the presence state detection sensor unit 10 is provided on the front side of the main board side housing 3. The main board side housing 3 incorporates a hardware device that is a core of the basic information input / output of the information processing apparatus 1 called a main board or a mother board. It is preferable to be disposed in the substrate side housing 3.

  For example, when the presence state detection sensor unit 10 is provided on the upper part of the display-side housing 2 as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1, from the two viewpoints of sensor sensitivity and ease of sensor mounting, Disadvantageous over position. At the mounting position of the arrow A (upper part of the display-side housing), the sensor sensitivity of the away sensor is strongly influenced by the open / closed state of the display, and the reflected light from the person's face is sensed. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the presence state of the person with the reflected light that is weaker than the case where the reflected light is received (see FIG. 6). In addition, it is necessary to make a signal connection with a long line length from the main board to the away sensor.

  On the other hand, for example, when it is provided in the lower part of the display-side housing 2 as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. 1, it is disadvantageous compared with the position of this embodiment from the two viewpoints of sensor sensitivity and ease of sensor mounting. is there. At the mounting position of the arrow B (lower part of the display-side casing), the sensor sensitivity of the away sensor is strongly influenced by the open / closed state of the display, similarly to the position of the arrow A. Further, it is necessary to face the sensor reaction area upward so as not to sense the reflected light from the keyboard (see FIG. 7). Further, since the wiring passes through the hinge portion 4, it is necessary to make a signal connection with a long line length from the main board to the away sensor.

  Therefore, when the seating state detection sensor unit 10 is disposed on the front side of the main board side housing 3 as in the present embodiment, the display is not affected by the open / close state of the display, and the distance to the user is also reduced. Since it is close, it can be expected that a lot of reflected light can be obtained. That is, the sensor performance does not depend on the display angle. Moreover, since it is the closest to a person, the reflection data is the largest. Therefore, the sensor sensitivity is good. Therefore, it becomes possible to appropriately detect the presence state of the user without erroneous detection. In addition, since the away sensor is close to the main board, the ease of mounting is improved.

  However, when the seating state detection sensor unit 10 is disposed on the front side of the main board side housing, there are the following problems. That is, the reflected light reflected by the infrared light is picked up on the desk or table on which the information processing apparatus 1 is placed, resulting in noise of reflected data (see FIG. 8). It is necessary to devise a method for mounting the presence state detection sensor unit 10. However, the sensor mounting space is extremely narrow due to the arrangement position on the front side of the main board side housing, which is difficult by a normal method. However, the present embodiment solves this problem with the configuration described below.

FIG. 2 shows the information processing apparatus 1 from the front.
FIG. 2 is a view of the display-side casing 2 standing substantially vertically with respect to the main board-side casing 3 and viewed from the front side (front side). As shown in the figure, the presence state detection sensor unit 10 includes an LED 11 that is a laser light emitting diode that emits infrared light, and a sensor 12 that is an optical sensor.

FIG. 3 shows a transmission cross section in a state where the seating state detection sensor unit 10 is looked down from above.
As shown in FIG. 3, the LED 11 and the sensor 12 are installed inside the main board side housing 3. In the present embodiment, the LED 11 and the sensor 12 are fixed to the sensor substrate 13, and the LED 11 emits light and the sensor 12 receives light under control from the sensor substrate 13. The sensor substrate 13 is fixed to the main substrate side housing 3 by the support member 15.

  The lens 14 is a cover member for the LED 11 and the sensor 12. Preferably, it is provided corresponding to each of the LED 11 and the sensor 12 as shown in FIG. 3 and transmits infrared light from the LED 11 and incident light incident on the sensor 12. The lens 14 is made of polycarbonate or the like that easily transmits infrared light.

  Incident light that enters from the outside through the lens 14 on the sensor 12 side may include reflected light that is reflected by the infrared light emitted from the LED 11 when it hits the clothes or face of a person sitting on the front surface of the information processing apparatus 1. is there. If the detection level of the sensor 12 is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the user is present, and if it is equal to or lower than another predetermined threshold, it is determined that the user is away.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of FIG. 3 viewed from the side.
As illustrated, in the present embodiment, the lens 14 and the sensor substrate 13 (or the sensor 12 or the LED 11 fixed integrally with the sensor substrate 13) are relatively tilted. Due to such a configuration, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the area where the reflected light of the sensor 12 is sensed (sensor reaction area) does not interfere with the desk or table, and the information processing apparatus 1 is It becomes the chest of the person who operates. Therefore, it becomes possible to appropriately detect the presence state of the user without erroneous detection.

  More specifically, the configuration in which the lens 14 and the sensor substrate 13 are relatively tilted is preferably such that the lens 14 is disposed flat and the sensor substrate 13 is tilted. Here, the lens 14 is flat, as shown in FIG. 4, in a state where a window formed by the lens 14 is provided in the horizontal direction. The tilt angle of the sensor substrate 13 is preferably about 21 degrees upward.

FIG. 9 shows a configuration of a conventional away sensor.
In order to obtain sufficient sensor sensitivity to appropriately determine the presence state of the user, a certain degree of away sensor is required (an example is shown in FIG. 9A). On the other hand, when increasing the radiation angle of infrared light, there are conventionally two methods as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C, for example. (B) is a method of mounting the seat-separation sensor diagonally. However, this method increases the thickness of the device. On the other hand, (c) is a method of cutting the lens and increasing the angle using refraction. In this case, it is necessary to change the lens shape.

  According to the configuration in which the lens 14 and the sensor substrate 13 are relatively tilted according to the present embodiment, the thickness of the away sensor can be made thinner than the conventional configuration as shown in FIG. In addition, it is advantageous in terms of ease of mounting the away sensor.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 2 Display side housing | casing 3 Main board side housing | casing 4 Hinge part 10 Seated state detection sensor part 11 LED
12 Sensor 13 Sensor substrate 14 Lens 15 Support member

Claims (3)

A main board side housing;
A display-side housing;
A hinge part that connects the main substrate side case and the display side case and enables the display side case to be opened and closed;
An optical sensor capable of detecting a person,
The optical sensor is provided on a front surface of the main board-side casing. An information processing apparatus. The optical sensor senses light passing through a lens of a transparent cover member provided on the front surface of the main board-side casing,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lens and the optical sensor are relatively tilted. A light source that emits infrared light tilted at the same tilt angle as the optical sensor with respect to the lens;
3. The optical sensor according to claim 1, wherein infrared light emitted from the light source is radiated to the outside of the information processing apparatus through the lens and reflected and returned. Information processing device.

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