JP2012243030A - Electronic paper, control program therefor, and display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce time and effort required for distribution in distributing display content of a document to plural display devices in a document display system.SOLUTION: In an image display system, display of a document using plural electronic paper sheets is realized. When display of a certain portion of the document is instructed, the instructed portion is displayed on an electronic paper sheet 1A. Then, a portion related to the instructed portion is displayed on other electronic paper sheets (electronic paper sheets 1B, 1C).

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic paper and a display system including a plurality of electronic papers.

  Conventionally, a technique for displaying an image such as a Web page separately on a plurality of display devices has been proposed.

  For example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-333797), in a system that displays an image on a plurality of electronic display sheets, an index of the image is generated from the entire image to be displayed and corresponds to the first page. A technique for displaying the index on an electronic display sheet is disclosed.

  Further, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-039834), in a folder-type data processing apparatus that communicates with a plurality of electronic papers, thumbnail images of content data acquired from each electronic paper are generated, and thumbnail images are used. A technique for transferring content data by selecting displayed content and a transfer destination is disclosed.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-110525 discloses a technique for managing a plurality of image data created by different applications as one electronic binder system.

JP 2007-333797 A JP 2006-039834 A JP 2004-110525 A

  However, when images such as content are distributed and displayed on a plurality of display devices such as electronic paper, there is a problem that the operation of the distribution requires time.

  The present invention has been conceived in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the time and effort required to distribute the display contents of a document to a plurality of display devices in a document display system.

  An electronic paper according to the present invention is an electronic paper that constitutes a display system composed of a plurality of electronic papers, and stores storage means for storing a document and an analysis result for the document, and accepts an instruction related to display of the document. When the input unit and the input unit receive an instruction to display a part of the document, the other electronic paper in the display system is instructed to display the part of the document associated with the part in the analysis result. And an instruction means for

  Preferably, the analysis result is index data of the document, and a part associated with a part is a chart referenced in part.

  Preferably, the apparatus further includes a control unit that displays the analysis result, and the instruction unit accepts an instruction to display a part of the document with respect to the first electronic paper in the display system. A part of the display is instructed, and the second electronic paper in the display system is instructed to display a part associated with the part in the analysis result.

  Preferably, the analysis result includes, in the document, information for specifying a location for providing the reference material in the document, and the instruction unit acquires the reference material by communicating with the location for providing the reference material in the display system. Send to other electronic paper.

  Preferably, the first position, which is a position along the display surface of the display device, of the display device of each electronic paper constituting the display system, and the position in the direction intersecting the display surface of the display device. Acquisition means for acquiring the second position, and the indicating means is based on the position of the display device of each electronic paper acquired by the acquisition means, the position of the display device than the display device of other electronic paper The electronic paper that is determined to be positioned on the front side related to display is instructed to perform display in the transmission mode.

  A control program according to the present invention is a control program executed in a computer of electronic paper constituting a display system composed of a plurality of electronic papers, and the computer stores storage means for storing documents and analysis results for the documents. Input means for receiving an instruction relating to the display of the document, and when the input means receives an instruction to display a part of the document, the analysis result of the document is compared with other electronic paper in the display system. It functions as an instruction means for instructing display of a part associated with a part.

  A display system according to the present invention is a display system including a plurality of electronic papers and an image processing device, and the image processing device is based on an analysis unit for analyzing a document, and an analysis result by the analysis unit, Dividing means for dividing the document into a plurality of parts, the analysis result by the analysis means associates the plurality of parts with each other, and the image processing device is configured to associate each part with each electronic paper based on the association in the analysis result. For assigning correspondence information, which is information for associating with each other, to each electronic paper, correspondence information, and a part associated with the electronic paper in the correspondence information The electronic paper includes a display unit for displaying information, and a reception unit for receiving an instruction to display a portion transmitted from the transmission unit. When the accepting unit accepts an instruction to display a part, the display unit displays the part, and the display of the part associated with the part in the analysis result corresponds to the electronic part to which the associated part corresponds in the correspondence information. Control means for instructing the paper.

According to the present invention, information related to each other is displayed in a plurality of electronic papers.
Thereby, it is possible to display information related to a plurality of electronic papers without imposing the user the task of distributing the display contents of the contents to the plurality of display devices.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the document display system which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) of FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a functional configuration of the MFP of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the electronic paper of FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the electronic paper of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of a document typically. 5 is a flowchart of processing for generating table of contents information executed in the MFP. 6 is a flowchart of processing for distributing a document portion to electronic paper, which is executed in the MFP. 5 is a flowchart of processing executed to perform display linked with a plurality of electronic papers in the document display system of the present embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the display content in the electronic paper of this Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a document display system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Outline of document display system>
In the document display system according to the present embodiment, the structure of the content is analyzed, the content is divided based on the analysis result, and the divided content is converted into electronic paper having different parts associated with each other in the analysis result. It is distributed to a plurality of electronic papers so as to be accumulated.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a document display system.
The document display system includes a PC 3 functioning as a content server, an MFP 100 as an example of an image processing device, and electronic papers 1A, 1B, and 1C as examples of a portable display device. In this specification, the electronic papers 1A, 1B, and 1C are collectively referred to as “electronic paper 1” as appropriate.

  The electronic paper 1 can be displayed semi-permanently without power, and is a device that uses a small amount of power only at the time of rewriting (in contrast to the other thin display (PDP) that consumes about 300 to 350 watts, 40 3 watts for a single rewrite). In addition, electronic paper can be rewritten wirelessly using weak radio wave energy.

  Electronic paper is thin and light (thickness is about 0.8 mm, 40-type weight is about 480 g) and has a characteristic that it can be bent.

  The MFP 100 is an image forming apparatus that integrates functions such as copying, network printing, a scanner, a FAX, and a document server, and is sometimes called a multifunction peripheral. The MFP 100 includes an operation unit 11, a display unit 12, a document feeder 17, and a paper discharge tray 19. In addition, the HDD 23 and the communication interface 16 are incorporated.

  Each of the electronic papers 1A to 1C includes an operation unit 50 including operation switches, a liquid crystal display device 55 using a liquid crystal having a memory property, and a control unit described later with reference to FIG. In addition, each of the electronic papers 1A to 1C has a built-in storage unit 53 (IC tag or the like) that stores the ID unique to each terminal and file information of a file stored in the memory 9 (see FIG. 4). Yes.

  The server 3 is an information processing apparatus that functions as a content server, and is realized by, for example, a general-purpose computer having a communication function.

<Hardware configuration of MFP>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the MFP 100.

  The MFP 100 includes an operation unit 11, a display unit 12, a scanner unit 13, a printer unit 14, a communication interface 16, a document feeder 17, a paper feeder 18, a CPU 20, a ROM 21, a RAM 22, a hard disk 23, a user authentication unit 24, and a wireless communication control. The unit 26 is configured.

  The operation unit 11 includes a plurality of keys for inputting numbers, characters, symbols, and the like, a sensor that recognizes the pressed key, and a transmission circuit that transmits a signal indicating the recognized key to the CPU 20. .

  Display unit 12 displays a screen for displaying a message to the user, a screen for the user to input setting content and processing content, a screen showing a result of processing executed by MFP 100, and the like. In the present embodiment, a touch panel is used for the display unit 12, which is included in the operation unit 11. The touch panel has a function of detecting the position on the touch panel touched by the user with a finger and transmitting a signal indicating the detection result to the CPU 20.

  The scanner unit 13 photoelectrically reads an image drawn on a document and generates digital image data (here, density data representing the density of RGB or black). The image data obtained in this way is used for printing in the printer unit 14 and is converted into a file in a format such as TIFF, PDF, JPEG, etc., and stored in the hard disk 23. These data may be converted into FAX data and used for FAX transmission.

  The document feeder 17 is provided on the upper part of the main body of the MFP 100 and is used to sequentially send one or more originals to the scanner unit 13.

  The printer unit 14 is an image read by the scanner unit 13, an image of data transmitted from an external device such as a PC (personal computer) connected via a network such as a LAN (local area network), or The image of the FAX data received by FAX is printed on a recording sheet such as paper or film.

  The paper feeding device 18 is provided in the lower part of the MFP 100 main body and is used to supply a recording sheet suitable for an image to be printed to the printer unit 14. The recording sheet on which the image is printed by the printer unit 14 is discharged to the tray 19.

  The communication interface 16 is a device for communicating with an external device such as a PC via a network or performing FAX transmission / reception via a telephone line. As the communication interface 16, a NIC (network interface card), a modem, a TA (terminal adapter), a wireless communication (such as Bluetooth) device, or the like is used.

  The ROM 21 stores programs and data for realizing basic functions of the MFP 100 such as image reading (scanning), document copying (copying), FAX data transmission / reception, network printing, and a document server (box function). ing. The ROM 21 stores a program and data for realizing functions for carrying out the present invention. Some or all of these programs or data may be installed in the hard disk 23. In this case, the program or data installed in the hard disk 23 is loaded into the RAM 22 as necessary.

  The functions described in the present embodiment are not necessarily limited to the CPU 20, but can be realized by using dedicated hardware or a part of the functions of a general-purpose program such as an operating system (OS). A nonvolatile semiconductor memory can be used as the ROM 21 or the RAM 22.

<Functional configuration of MFP>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for describing an example of a functional configuration of MFP 100.

  The MFP 100 includes a network interface unit 105 that functions as an interface for communicating with the PC 3 and the electronic paper 1 via a network, a document / data storage unit 103 that stores documents such as content and various data, and a document structure. A document analysis unit 101 to be analyzed, an analysis result storage unit 102 for storing an analysis result by the document analysis unit 101, and a data distribution unit 104 are included. The data distribution unit 104 divides the document based on the analysis result, and generates information for distributing and storing the divided document in the plurality of electronic papers 1 constituting the document display system.

  The network interface unit 105 is realized by the communication interface 16. Further, the document analysis unit 101 and the data distribution unit 104 are realized, for example, when the CPU 20 executes a program stored in the ROM 21. The analysis result storage unit 102 and the document / data storage unit 103 are realized by the hard disk 23, for example.

<Hardware configuration of electronic paper>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the electronic paper 1. Note that the hardware configurations of the electronic papers 1A, 1B, and 1C can all be as shown in FIG.

  The electronic paper 1 has a CPU 7, a memory 9, a display device 4, a sensor control unit 5, an operation switch 6, a clock circuit 8, an external interface 10, a cable communication unit 31, and wireless communication as control units. A unit 32, a timer control unit 33, and various sensors 38 including an acceleration sensor are provided.

  The CPU 7 controls each unit based on an instruction from the operation switch 6 and an input command from the external interface 10 (including the cable communication unit 31 and the wireless communication unit 32). The display device 4 performs control for displaying an image on the liquid crystal display device 55 (FIG. 1). The memory 9 stores display data for at least one image. The memory 9 further stores an operation program of the CPU 7 and the like.

  The sensor control unit 5 controls, for example, an acceleration sensor. The timer control unit 33 performs control such as counting up the timer counter to the set value set in the memory 9 or clearing the count value.

  The external interface 10 and the cable communication unit 31 establish a connection with a network such as a LAN, an external device such as an expansion card, or an information storage medium. The wireless communication unit 32 performs data transmission / reception in response to a read / write command of the wireless IC tag and data transmission / reception in response to a read / write command to electronic paper by wireless communication using BlueTooth or the like.

  In the electronic paper 1, the operation switch 6 may include a sheet-like touch sensor provided on the liquid crystal display device 55. In this case, the touch sensor and the liquid crystal display device 55 constitute a touch screen.

<Functional configuration of electronic paper>
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the electronic paper 1.

  The electronic paper 1 includes a communication unit 64 that is an interface for communicating with the MFP 100, the PC 3, or other electronic paper, an operation unit 65 that accepts input of information from the outside, a document such as content, and various data. A document / data storage unit 63 to be stored, a display selection unit 62 for selecting a document to be displayed, and a display unit 61 for displaying information are included. The display selection unit 62 selects a document based on the information received by the operation unit 65.

  The display unit 61 is realized by the display device 4. The communication unit 64 is realized by the external interface 10, the wireless communication unit 32, and / or the cable communication unit 31. The operation unit 65 is realized by the operation switch 6. The display selection unit 62 is realized, for example, when the CPU 7 executes a program stored in the memory 9.

<Contents information>
In the present embodiment, the document structure is analyzed. The analysis is realized by a known parsing technique for an XML file when the document is described in, for example, an XML (Extensible Markup Language) format. Further, when the document is a PDF (Portable Document Format), it is realized by a structural analysis technique based on a known technique such as considering a character having a large font as a headline.

  In this specification, the hierarchical structure obtained as a result of the structural analysis of a document is represented by brackets, such as [1] and [2]. Specifically, the first layer (such as a so-called “chapter”) in a document is represented by a single character such as [1] and [2], and the second layer (such as a so-called “section”). 1), [1-2], [2-1], and so on, so as to include characters representing the second layer next to the characters representing the first layer. In the present embodiment, the second hierarchy includes a chart referred to in the text of the first hierarchy. Further, in this specification, the elements of each hierarchy are referred to as “index”.

  In the present embodiment, after the document structure analysis is performed, the document data is divided for each index. Each index is associated with the title and data of a portion corresponding to the index. In this specification, such association is referred to as “table of contents information”. Here, an example of the table of contents information will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a document structure. An example of the table of contents information for the document having the structure shown in FIG. 6 is schematically shown in Table 1.

  First, referring to FIG. 6, a document 700 includes a part 701 corresponding to the text of the first chapter, a part 702 corresponding to the figure referred to by the text of the first chapter, and a part 703 corresponding to the text of the second chapter. Including. The part 703 includes the location (URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) of the document referred to by the text of Chapter 2.

  In Table 1, an index is associated with a title and a data storage location. The index [1] in Table 1 corresponds to the portion 701. Also, the indexes [1-1] and [2] correspond to the portions 702 and 703, respectively. The indexes [2-1] and [2-2] correspond to the URL referred to in the portion 703. In addition, when an index is generated, a character string indicating a reference destination of a material such as “http: //” or a character string indicating reference to a table such as “reference diagram” is included in a document. When detected, an index with a title of a reference diagram or reference material is generated as an independent index.

  The title of each index is generated, for example, by extracting a character string described in the first line of the portion corresponding to each index. Further, when the index portion is a chart, for example, a title obtained by performing a predetermined process on a title of a hierarchy one level higher than the index is set as the title. Specifically, for the index [1-1], which is the first chart referred to in the first hierarchy [1], for the “text (1)” of the index [1], “text” The character string “reference diagram” is attached instead of the character string “” to generate the title “reference diagram (1)”.

  The data storage location of each index (in Table 1, expressed as “loc01”, “loc02”, “loc03”, “loc04”, “loc05”) stores the divided data when the document data is divided as described above. It is said to be a place. When the index corresponds to a URL, the storage location may be a URL or a storage location when data is acquired from the URL.

<Related information>
In the present embodiment, a plurality of electronic papers are used for displaying one document.

  Specifically, when one electronic paper is instructed to display one index in one document, a portion corresponding to the instructed index is displayed on the one electronic paper, and In other electronic paper, a part related to the part is displayed. In this specification, information representing the relationship between parts is referred to as related information. An example of related information is shown in Table 2.

  In Table 2, the index indicated is displayed in association with the index to be displayed in each of the first electronic paper, the second electronic paper, and the third electronic paper when the instruction is given. .

  For example, when display of index [1] is instructed, “bookmark” is displayed as the index to be displayed on the first electronic paper, and index [1] is displayed as the index to be displayed on the second electronic paper. Index [1-1] is associated as an index to be displayed on the paper.

  The “bookmark” is a content for displaying each index as information including its title (Table 1).

  In the related information, an index displayed on each electronic paper is registered so that information related to each other is displayed on the plurality of electronic papers.

  Specifically, in Table 2, when an instruction to display index [1] is input, the index [1] portion is displayed on the second electronic paper, and the index [1] is displayed on the third electronic paper. 1], a lower index [1-1] of one hierarchy is displayed. The index [1-1] corresponds to the drawing referred to in the text of the index [1] in the example of Table 1. That is, in the example of Table 2, when the first chapter (index [1]) of the document is displayed on the second electronic paper, the third electronic paper is referred to in the first chapter at the same time. A drawing (index [1-1]) is displayed.

  When the display instruction for the index [2] is input, the index [2] portion is displayed on the second electronic paper, and one index for the index [2] is displayed on the third electronic paper. The lower hierarchy index [2-1] is displayed. In the example of Table 1, the index [2-1] corresponds to the material acquired from the URL described in the text of the index [2]. That is, in the example of Table 2, when the second chapter of the document (index [2]) is displayed on the second electronic paper, it is simultaneously referenced in the second chapter of the third electronic paper. The reference material acquired from the URL (the material corresponding to the first URL listed in part 3 of FIG. 5 and corresponding to the index [2-1]) is displayed.

  As can be understood from Table 2, the second electronic paper is displayed by combining the portion corresponding to the index [2] and the index [2-2]. Since the display area corresponding to the index [2] is smaller than the predetermined area, the index [2] is the material in the same chapter as the index [2] (the material corresponding to the subordinate to the index [2]). 2-2] and displayed. That is, in the present embodiment, whether or not data is displayed in combination with another index is determined depending on whether or not the display area of data corresponding to the index is smaller than a predetermined area.

  In Table 2, “[2] + [2-2]” indicates that the index [2] and the index [2-2] are displayed in combination.

<Display document>
Hereinafter, processing for displaying a document using a plurality of electronic papers in the document display system of the present embodiment will be described.

(Generation of table of contents information)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing for generating table of contents information executed in MFP 100. The processing of FIG. 7 is realized by the CPU 20 executing a program stored in the ROM 21, for example.

  Referring to FIG. 7, first, in step SA 10, document analysis unit 101 receives input of information for selecting a document to be analyzed among documents stored in MFP 100. When information to be selected is input to the operation unit 11, the process proceeds to step SA20.

  In step SA20, the document analysis unit 101 acquires (reads) the selected document from the document / data storage unit 103, and advances the process to step SA30. The document may be downloaded from another device via a network and stored in the document / data storage unit 103, or data such as PDF data generated by reading a document in the scanner unit 13. May be stored in the document / data storage unit 103.

  In step SA30, the document analysis unit 101 analyzes the structure of the document acquired in step SA20, and proceeds to step SA40. Thereby, an index of the document to be processed is generated.

  In step SA40, the document analysis unit 101 generates table of contents information of the document to be processed using the index generated in step SA30, and advances the process to step SA50. The generated table of contents information is stored in the analysis result storage unit 102.

  In step SA50, if the storage location of the index is information indicating the reference destination of data such as a URL, the document analysis unit 101 downloads and acquires data from the reference destination from the server 3 or the like, and proceeds to step SA60. To proceed. The acquired data is stored in the document / data storage unit 103. When the data is acquired in this way, the document analysis unit 101 changes the data storage location of the index to the storage location of the downloaded data in the table of contents information.

  Note that the MFP 100 may download reference chart data in step SA140, which will be described later, depending on the setting. In this case, step SA50 is omitted. Further, the process of step SA140 described later may be executed as a preliminary process in the case where the download fails in step SA50.

  As described above, according to the processing described with reference to FIG. 7, structural analysis is performed on the selected document, table of contents information is generated, and other reference materials are downloaded.

(Distribution of document part)
As described with reference to FIG. 7, after the table of contents information about the document is generated in MFP 100, when an operation for displaying on electronic paper 1 is performed, MFP 100 stores a plurality of parts about the document. Sort and send to electronic paper. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of processing executed in MFP 100 for distributing a document portion to electronic paper. Note that the processing in FIG. 8 is realized by the CPU 20 executing a program stored in the ROM 21, for example.

  Referring to FIG. 8, first, in step SA <b> 110, data distribution unit 104 accepts input of information for selecting a document to be displayed on electronic paper among documents stored in MFP 100. When information to be selected is input to the operation unit 11, the process proceeds to step SA120.

  In step SA120, the data distribution unit 104 acquires (reads) the table of contents information of the document accepted in step SA110 from the analysis result storage unit 102, and advances the process to step SA130.

  In step SA130, the data distribution unit 104 acquires a material referred to in the document, and proceeds to step SA140. In step SA 130, when a URL is stored as the storage location of the table of contents information, the data distribution unit 104 downloads the file stored in the URL and stores it in the document / data storage unit 103. At this time, in the table of contents information, the data storage location of the corresponding index is rewritten to the storage location of the downloaded file.

  In step SA140, the data distribution unit 140 acquires information about the electronic paper used for displaying the document, and proceeds to step SA150. Examples of the information acquired here include the number of electronic papers used for display and the resolution of the liquid crystal display device 55. The information is input to MFP 100 by an operation on operation unit 11, for example.

  In step SA150, the data distribution unit 140 generates related information (see Table 2) based on the table of contents information acquired in step S120 and the information on the electronic paper received in step SA140, and the process proceeds to step SA160. Proceed. The generated related information is stored in the analysis result storage unit 102.

  In MFP 100, settings related to related information are registered. For example, when the number of electronic papers used for display is three or more, the registered “setting” is displayed on one of the electronic papers. If the corresponding display area is small, it may be displayed in combination with another index as appropriate (for example, “[2] + [2-2]” in Table 2).

  In step SA160, the data distribution unit 140 divides the document data according to the distribution in the related information. For example, when the generated related information is as shown in Table 2, the data of “bookmark”, the index [1], the index [2], the index [2], and the index [2-2] , Index [1-1], index [2-1], and data for displaying pages corresponding to the index [2-2] are generated. The generated data is stored in the document / data storage unit 103. Bookmark data is information for displaying an index in the table of contents information with a title. Note that after the generation of such display data, the original document data stored in the document / data storage unit 103 may be deleted or left as it is.

  In step SA160, the data distribution unit 140 transmits each piece of generated data to each electronic paper according to the distribution in the related information. For example, when the related information is determined as shown in Table 2, bookmark data is transmitted to the first electronic paper (for example, electronic paper 1A). The second electronic paper (e.g., electronic paper 1B) includes an index [1], an index [2] and an index [2-2], an index [1-1], an index [2-1], and an index [2]. -2] is transmitted. On the third electronic paper (for example, electronic paper 1C), pages corresponding to each of the index [1-1], the index [2-1], the index [1], and the index [2] are displayed. Data is sent.

  In step SA160, the data distribution unit 140 also transmits related information to each electronic paper 1.

(Document display processing)
With the above processing, in the document display system, data for displaying a document in conjunction with other electronic papers is distributed to each electronic paper. Therefore, when an instruction for displaying a document is input to one electronic paper, interlocked display is realized among a plurality of electronic papers constituting the document display system. A part of the document transmitted from MFP 100 (such as data for displaying index [1] transmitted in step SA 160) is stored in document / data storage unit 63 in each electronic paper 1. The related information is also stored in the document / data storage unit 63.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing executed to perform display linked with a plurality of electronic papers in one electronic paper. Hereinafter, the contents of processing executed in one electronic paper in order to realize linked display between the electronic papers will be described. The processing shown in FIG. 9 is realized in the document display system by, for example, executing the program stored in the memory 9 by the CPU 7 in the electronic paper 1 that is “first electronic paper” in the related information. The

  Referring to FIG. 9, in step SB10, operation unit 65 receives input of information for selecting a document to be displayed from documents stored in document / data storage unit 63, and proceeds to step SB20. Proceed with the process.

  In step SB20, the display selection unit 62 reads the stored document and related information for the document selected in step SB10 from the document / data storage unit 63, and advances the process to step SB30.

  In step SB30, the display selection unit 62 displays an initial screen for the document, and proceeds to step SB40. Here, the initial screen may be, for example, a screen that is predetermined for an initial screen when a document is displayed and is stored in the document / data storage unit 63, or bookmark data is stored therein. In some cases, it may be a bookmark screen. Further, when bookmark data is not stored, for example, the image of the first chapter (index [1]) may be used.

  In step SB40, the display selection unit 62 determines whether or not an instruction to change the display contents is input to the operation unit 65. If it is determined that the instruction is input, the process proceeds to step SB50.

  In step SB50, the display unit 61 updates the display screen of the own device according to the content input to the operation unit 65, and proceeds to step SB60. The update of the display screen here is performed according to related information, for example. Specifically, for example, when this process is executed in the first electronic paper, a bookmark is displayed regardless of any display instruction.

  In step SB60, the display selection unit 62 determines whether or not the other electronic paper can be used by communicating with the other electronic paper via the communication unit 64, and if it determines that the other electronic paper can be used, the step The process proceeds to SB70, and if not, the process proceeds to step SB80.

  Here, the other electronic paper refers to the electronic paper associated with the display content instructed in step SB40 in the related information. For example, when an instruction to display the index [1] is given for the related information in Table 2, in Table 2, the second electronic paper displays an index for the index [1] so that the first electronic paper displays a bookmark. It is defined that the third electronic paper displays the index [1-1] so as to display [1]. In this case, all of the first to third electronic papers are associated with the instructed display contents.

  In step SB70, the display selection unit 62 instructs other electronic paper to display the content associated with the display content instructed in step SB40 via the communication unit 64 according to the related information, and proceeds to step SB90. Proceed with the process. For example, if this process is being executed on the first electronic paper and the display of the index [1] is instructed, in step SB70, the display of the index [1] is instructed to the second electronic paper. Information (command, etc.) to be transmitted is transmitted, and information (command, etc.) for instructing display of the index [1-1] is transmitted to the third electronic paper.

  On the other hand, in step SB80, display selection unit 62 requests MFP 100 to transfer, to the other electronic paper, data to be displayed on the electronic paper determined to be unusable in related information, in step SB90. Proceed to the process. For example, if it is determined that the third electronic paper is unusable, the data displayed on the second electronic paper by the third electronic paper and not transmitted to the second electronic paper (Table 2). In this example, information instructing transmission of data for displaying each of the index [2] and the index [2-2] independently is transmitted.

  In step SB90, the display selection unit 62 determines whether or not an instruction to end the display of the document being displayed has been input to the operation unit 65. If it is determined that the instruction has not been input, the process returns to step SB40. If it is determined that the input has been made, the processing in FIG. 9 is terminated.

  According to the process described above, the screen shown in FIG. 10A is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the first electronic paper as the initial screen. FIG. 10A shows a display example of a bookmark.

  When an instruction to display the index [1] is input to the first electronic paper, the display content of the second electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of the index [1] in Table 2 is the index [1]. Based on this, an instruction to display the index [1] is sent from the first electronic paper to the second electronic paper. Accordingly, on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the second electronic paper, a screen corresponding to the index [1] is displayed as shown in FIG. Note that the screen shown in FIG. 10B corresponds to a portion 701 in FIG.

  Further, when the above instruction is input to the first electronic paper, the display content of the third electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of the index [1] in Table 2 is the index [1-1]. An instruction to display the index [1-1] is sent from the electronic paper to the third electronic paper. Accordingly, on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the third electronic paper, a screen corresponding to the index [1-1] is displayed as shown in FIG. Note that the screen shown in FIG. 10B corresponds to a portion 702 in FIG.

  The display contents when an instruction to display the index [2] is input to the first electronic paper will be described.

  In Table 2, the display content of the first electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of the index [2] is “bookmark”. Based on this, when the instruction is input, a bookmark is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the first electronic paper as shown in FIG.

  In Table 2, the display contents of the second electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of index [2] are index [2] and index [2-2]. Based on this, when the instruction is input, an instruction to display a screen in which the index [2] and the index [2-2] are combined is sent from the first electronic paper to the second electronic paper. In response to this, such a screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the second electronic paper as shown in FIG. The screen shown in FIG. 11B includes the portion 703 in FIG. 6 and the material (reference material (2-2)) stored in the URL (2) in the portion 703.

  In Table 2, the display content of the third electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of index [2] is index [2-1]. Based on this, when the instruction is input, an instruction to display the index [2-1] is sent from the first electronic paper to the third electronic paper. Accordingly, such a screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the third electronic paper as shown in FIG. The screen shown in FIG. 11C includes the material (reference material (2-1)) stored in the URL (1) in the portion 703 of FIG.

  As described above, in the example described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, when the display of the text (the first layer part in the document) is instructed, the part is displayed on the second electronic paper, and the third paper The charts and materials referenced by the relevant part were displayed. When the display of a chart or document is instructed, the chart or document is displayed on the second electronic paper, and the text referring to the chart or document is displayed on the third electronic paper. It may be displayed as related information.

  The display contents when an instruction to display the index [1-1] is input to the first electronic paper will be described.

  In Table 2, the display content of the first electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of the index [1-1] is “bookmark”. Based on this, when the instruction is input, the bookmark is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the first electronic paper as shown in FIG.

  In Table 2, the display content of the second electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of the index [1-1] is the index [1-1]. Based on this, when the instruction is input, an instruction to display the index [1-1] is sent from the first electronic paper to the second electronic paper. In response to this, such a screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the second electronic paper as shown in FIG.

  In Table 2, the display content of the third electronic paper corresponding to the display instruction of the index [1-1] is the index [1]. Based on this, when the instruction is input, an instruction to display the index [1] is sent from the first electronic paper to the third electronic paper. In response to this, such a screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the third electronic paper as shown in FIG.

  The screen in FIG. 12B corresponds to the portion 702 in FIG. On the other hand, the screen in FIG. 12C corresponds to a portion 701 in FIG. When the display of the portion 702 is instructed, in the document display system, the portion 702 is displayed on a certain electronic paper, and the portion 701 that is a text that refers to the portion 702 is displayed on another electronic paper. .

<Modification (1)>
In the present embodiment described above, document display using a plurality of electronic papers is realized in the document display system. When display of a certain part of a document is instructed, the instructed part is displayed on a certain electronic paper. And the part relevant to the instruct | indicated part is displayed on another electronic paper. The related part may be a part of the same document content, such as index [1-1] (part 702 in FIG. 6) with respect to index [1] (part 701 in FIG. 6). [2] Like the index [2-1] with respect to (the part 703 in FIG. 6), it may be a material referred to in the document and a part outside the document.

  In the example described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12, a bookmark is always displayed on at least one of the plurality of electronic papers. However, the document display system according to the present invention is not limited to such display examples.

  For example, Table 3 shows another example of related information.

  In the example shown in Table 3, on the first electronic paper, an index corresponding to the display instruction is displayed. And in Table 3, the display content relevant to the part displayed in 1st electronic paper is designated with respect to 2nd electronic paper and 3rd electronic paper. In Table 3, “related information” is designated as the content displayed in each electronic paper in addition to the index generated for the document. The related information can be, for example, a search result of information stored on the network using a keyword extracted from the content instructed to be displayed on the first electronic paper.

FIG. 13 shows an example of display based on the related information shown in Table 3.
When the display instruction of the index [1] is given to the first electronic paper, the liquid crystal display device 55 of the first electronic paper has contents corresponding to the index [1] as shown in FIG. That is, the content corresponding to the portion 701 in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  In Table 3, when an instruction to display index [1] is given, the content to be displayed on the second electronic paper is index [1-1]. Accordingly, the first electronic paper instructs the second electronic paper to display the index [1-1]. Accordingly, in the liquid crystal display device 55 of the second electronic paper, as shown in FIG. 13B, the content corresponding to the index [1-1], that is, the content corresponding to the portion 702 in FIG. Is displayed.

  In Table 3, when an instruction to display index [1] is given, the content to be displayed on the third electronic paper is “related information”. In accordance with this, the first electronic paper obtains related information for the content displayed on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the first electronic paper from the server 3 or the like, and displays the obtained content on the third electronic paper. Instruct. Acquisition of related information is realized, for example, by acquiring a keyword from the displayed text or image, performing a search using the keyword, and acquiring the search result as described above. In response to this, on the liquid crystal display device 55 of the third electronic paper, the related information as described above is displayed as shown in FIG.

<Modification (2)>
In the document display system of this embodiment, the index information can be updated.

  For example, in the electronic paper, when an operation for replacing the first chapter and the second chapter is performed on the bookmark screen shown in FIG. 10A, the first and second chapters are displayed in the document display system. The table of contents information and the related information are updated so that the two chapters are replaced.

  Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, the range of Chapter 2 is designated on the bookmark screen. In FIG. 14, a region whose range is specified is indicated by a region 901. Then, the destination of the range is specified. FIG. 14 shows a state where the part before the first chapter is designated. Specifically, a cursor 902 is shown at the designated position. In this state, when an operation for determining replacement is performed on the electronic paper, as illustrated in FIG. 15, a state where the replacement is temporarily performed is shown. In FIG. 15, the contents of the area 901 designated in FIG. 14 are moved and displayed at the position designated in FIG.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the display on the screen is updated so that the moved chapter number and the like are displayed. In FIG. 7, the display is changed so that the second chapter before the movement is the first chapter, and the first chapter before the movement is the second chapter.

In response to this, the relevant information is updated in the electronic paper.
Table 4 shows the related information in Table 2 after the first chapter and the second chapter are exchanged.

  In Table 4, the contents corresponding to the first chapter in Table 2 (contents corresponding to the index [1]) are shown as the contents corresponding to the second chapter. The content corresponding to Chapter 2 (the content corresponding to Index [2]) is shown as the content corresponding to Chapter 1.

  Specifically, the indexes [1] and [1-1] in Table 2 are changed to indexes [2] and [2-1] in Table 4, respectively. Also, the indexes [2], [2-1], and [2-2] in Table 2 are changed to indexes [1], [1-1], and [1-1] in Table 4, respectively. Thereby, only the chapter number is changed without changing the relationship between the parts displayed in association with each other in the plurality of electronic papers.

  When such an update is made, the electronic paper transmits the content to another electronic paper. Thereby, the related information is updated in all the electronic papers of the document display system.

  Also, the electronic paper transmits the contents of such changes to the MFP 100. In response to this, MFP 100 updates related information and table of contents information. In response to the update of the related information from Table 2 to Table 4, the table of contents information in Table 1 is updated as shown in Table 5, for example.

  In the table of contents information in Table 5, the table of contents information is updated with respect to Table 1 so that the corresponding titles and data storage locations are interchanged between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

<Modification (3)>
In the present embodiment, as described above, a plurality of electronic papers are controlled to display contents related to each other.

  However, information that the user desires to display at that time can be displayed on each electronic paper in an interrupt process.

  For example, as described with reference to FIGS. 10A to 10C, when the display of the index [1] is instructed to the first electronic paper, the first electronic paper is bookmarked. Is displayed (FIG. 10A), the screen of index [1] is displayed on the second electronic paper (FIG. 10B), and the screen of index [1-1] is displayed on the third electronic paper. It was displayed (FIG. 10C). From this state, when an instruction to display the index [2-1] on the second electronic paper without changing the display of another electronic paper is given, the instruction is given in the document display system as shown in FIG. The display is changed only with the electronic paper.

  FIG. 17A, FIG. 17B, and FIG. 17C show display contents on the first, second, and third electronic papers after the above instruction, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 17A and 10A, there is no change in the display contents in the first electronic paper, and as shown in FIGS. 17C and 10C, the third electronic paper is not changed. There is no change in the display contents of electronic paper. As can be understood from FIGS. 17B and 10B, the display content is changed only in the second electronic paper instructed to change the display content.

  When any one of the first to third electronic papers is instructed to display in conjunction with each other again, the interlocked display between the plurality of electronic papers according to the related information is resumed. The

<Modification (4)>
As display modes of electronic paper, each mode of transmission, reflection, and semi-transmission mode is known.

  In this embodiment, all the electronic papers are provided with means for detecting their positions, and one electronic paper detects the positions of all the electronic papers in the document display system. When the display mode of the liquid crystal display device 55 of another electronic paper is overlapped in the direction intersecting the display surface, the display mode of the liquid crystal display device 55 of the electronic paper is changed from the reflection mode or the semi-transmission mode to the transmission mode. An instruction to switch can be issued.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B, the display is performed on the electronic paper 1A and the electronic paper 1B, and as shown in FIG. When the liquid crystal display device 55 of the paper 1B is positioned in front of the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 55 of the electronic paper 1A, the display mode of the liquid crystal display device 55 is switched to the transmission mode with respect to the electronic paper 1B. Instructions are given. The display unit 61 of the electronic paper 1B switches the display mode of the liquid crystal display device 55 to the transmission mode in response to the instruction.

  In this case, one electronic paper among the electronic papers constituting the document display system may detect the position information of all the electronic papers. Therefore, when the electronic paper to be detected is the electronic paper 1B, the instruction is given in the electronic paper 1B.

  The detection of the position information in each electronic paper 1 is realized by detecting the position of the plane along the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 55 and the position in the direction perpendicular to the display surface, for example. Is done.

  In addition, when such an overlap is cancelled | released, it is preferable to return a display mode to a reflection mode or a semi-transmission mode again.

<Modification (5)>
In the present embodiment described above, document structure analysis, table of contents information generation, and related information generation are performed in MFP 100. In the document display system according to the present invention, these processes need to be executed in MFP 100. There is no.

  For example, when at least one piece of information is attached to a document in advance, it is not necessary to perform the above analysis or information generation in the components of the system. Further, the electronic paper 1 may be provided with corresponding functions, and at least a part of these processes may be executed in the electronic paper 1. For example, when information instructing display of a document is input in the electronic paper 1, and document structure analysis is performed in the MFP 100, the document data and the result of the structure analysis are transmitted to the electronic paper 1. The In response to this, the electronic paper 1 generates table of contents information (see FIG. 7), generates related information (see FIG. 8), divides document data according to the related information (see FIG. 8), and The transmitted data is transmitted to the other electronic paper 1 in the system according to the related information.

<Other variations, etc.>
In the present embodiment described above, ROM 21 of MFP 100 may be configured by a storage medium that can be attached to and detached from the main body of MFP 100. The memory 9 of the electronic paper 1 may also be configured by a storage medium that can be attached to and detached from the electronic paper 1 main body. Storage media include CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory), USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, memory card, FD (Flexible Disk), hard disk, magnetic Tape, cassette tape, MO (Magnetic Optical Disc), MD (Mini Disc), IC (Integrated Circuit) card (excluding memory card), optical card, mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM (Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), etc. And a medium for storing the program in a nonvolatile manner.

  Each embodiment and its modification disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims. In addition, each embodiment and each modification are intended to be carried out independently or in combination as much as possible.

  1, 1A, 1B, 1C Electronic paper, 3 servers, 7, 20 CPU, 100 MFP.

Claims (7)

An electronic paper constituting a display system comprising a plurality of electronic papers,
Storage means for storing a document and an analysis result for the document;
Input means for accepting an instruction relating to display of the document;
When the input unit receives an instruction to display a part of the document, the display of the part of the document associated with the part in the analysis result is displayed on another electronic paper in the display system. Electronic paper, comprising: instruction means for instructing The analysis result is index data of the document,
The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the part associated with the part is a chart referred to in the part. It further comprises control means for displaying the analysis result in its own machine,
The instruction means, when the input means receives an instruction to display a part of the document,
Instructing the first electronic paper in the display system to display the part,
The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the second electronic paper in the display system is instructed to display a part associated with the part in the analysis result. The analysis result includes, in the document, information for specifying a location for providing reference material in the document,
The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the instructing unit acquires the reference material by communicating with the providing place, and transmits the reference material to another electronic paper in the display system. The first position, which is the position along the display surface of the display device, and the second position, which is the position that intersects the display surface of the display device, of the display device of each electronic paper constituting the display system. And an acquisition means for acquiring the position of
The instruction means is based on the position of the display device of each electronic paper acquired by the acquisition means on the electronic paper determined that the position of the display device is overlapped with the front side related to display from the display device of other electronic paper The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the electronic paper is instructed to perform display in a transmissive mode. A control program executed in a computer of electronic paper constituting a display system composed of a plurality of electronic papers,
The computer,
Storage means for storing a document and an analysis result for the document;
Input means for accepting an instruction relating to display of the document; and
When the input unit receives an instruction to display a part of the document, the display of the part of the document associated with the part in the analysis result is displayed on another electronic paper in the display system. Electronic paper control program that functions as an instruction means for instructing A display system comprising a plurality of electronic papers and an image processing device,
The image processing apparatus includes:
An analysis means for analyzing the document;
Dividing means for dividing the document into a plurality of parts based on the analysis result by the analyzing means;
The analysis result by the analyzing means associates the plurality of parts with each other,
The image processing apparatus includes:
Based on the association in the analysis result, a distribution means for generating correspondence information that is information for associating each part with each electronic paper;
Each electronic paper includes transmission means for transmitting the correspondence information and the portion associated with the electronic paper in the correspondence information,
The electronic paper is
Display means for displaying information;
Accepting means for accepting an instruction to display the part transmitted from the transmitting means;
When the receiving unit receives an instruction to display the part, the display unit displays the part, and further, the display of the part to which the part is associated in the analysis result is associated with the correspondence information. Control means for directing the electronic paper corresponding to the part.

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