JP2013038650A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus which is excellent in communication sensitivity.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus includes: a housing having a display region provided at a part of an outer surface; an antenna part provided at the inner surface side of a portion of the housing which encloses the display region; and a control part which uses the antenna part to communicate the information.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device.

  For example, Patent Document 1 is known as an electronic device such as a mobile phone or a portable information terminal. In an electronic apparatus as shown in Patent Document 1, a configuration in which a button is provided in an operation part is known. In such an electronic device, for example, as shown in Patent Document 2, a configuration in which an antenna is provided is known. Furthermore, with regard to the antenna, in recent years, a configuration in which a film antenna for communication is provided on the outer surface of a plate-like housing is known.

JP 2010-86089 A JP 2011-18988 A

  However, in the configuration in which the film antenna is provided on the outer surface of the casing as in the above configuration, for example, when the casing is held by the user, the user's hand touches the film antenna or the user's hand. As a result, the film antenna may be covered, resulting in a decrease in communication sensitivity.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device having excellent communication sensitivity.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a housing provided with a display area on a part of an outer surface thereof, an antenna part provided on an inner surface side of a portion surrounding the display area of the housing, and the antenna And a control unit for communicating information using the unit.

  According to the aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic device having excellent communication sensitivity.

The perspective view which shows the structure of the portable information terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of a part of portable information terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The top view which shows the structure of a part of portable information terminal which concerns on this embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of a part of portable information terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the control apparatus of the portable information terminal which concerns on this embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a portable information terminal 100 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the portable information terminal 100 includes a housing 10, a display unit 20, an operation unit 30, an antenna unit 40, and a control device CONT.

The housing 10 is formed in, for example, a rectangular plate shape. The housing 10 holds the display unit 20 and the operation unit 30.
The display unit 20 is provided substantially at the center of the first surface 11 of the housing 10. A surface of the housing 10 on which the display unit 20 is provided is hereinafter referred to as a display surface 11. The display unit 20 includes a display panel 21 having, for example, a liquid crystal device or an organic EL device. The display panel 21 displays information such as an image in the display area 21a. For example, a touch panel (not shown) is arranged in the display area 21 a of the display panel 21.

  The operation unit 30 is provided on four side surfaces 10 a to 10 d corresponding to four sides surrounding the display surface 11 in the housing 10. The operation unit 30 includes a side detection unit 31 provided on the side surface 10a, a side detection unit 32 provided on the side surface 10b, a side detection unit 33 provided on the side surface 10c, and a side detection provided on the side surface 10d. Part 34 is provided. The operation unit 30 detects the presence / absence of contact from the outside (for example, a user) and the contact position in the side detection units 31 to 34.

  The antenna unit 40 is a part that performs wireless communication with the outside of the portable information terminal 100. The antenna unit 40 is formed along the display area 21a on the display surface 11 side. Therefore, the antenna unit 40 is provided at a position away from the side detection units 31 to 34 (operation unit 30) disposed on the side surfaces 10a to 10d. The antenna unit 40 is provided on the inner surface side of the housing 10.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a partial configuration of the display panel 21.
As shown in FIG. 2, the display panel 21 includes a display element 22 that forms information such as an image to be displayed in the display area 21 a, and a protective substrate 23 that protects the display element 22. The display panel 21 has a configuration in which a protective substrate 23 protrudes around the display element 22. The overhang portion 26 is provided so as to surround the display area 21a. Hereinafter, of the protective substrate 23, a surface disposed outside the housing 10 is referred to as a first surface 23a, and a surface disposed inside the housing 10 is referred to as a second surface 23b.

  The first surface 23 a of the protective substrate 23 is exposed to the outside of the housing 10. A light shielding film 24 is provided on the second surface 23 b of the protruding portion 26 of the protective substrate 23. The light shielding film 24 is a thin film in a state where, for example, a resin material (for example, black particles such as carbon) is mixed with a resin material. By providing the light shielding film 24, an image or the like is not displayed outside the display area 21a.

  The antenna unit 40 is provided on the second surface 23 b side of the overhang portion 26 of the protective substrate 23. Specifically, the antenna unit 040 is disposed on the light shielding film 24. The antenna unit 40 is formed in a thin film shape, for example. The protective substrate 23 is connected to the housing 10 via an adhesive 25 provided on the antenna unit 40. The adhesive 25 is formed using, for example, polyimide.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the display panel 21.
As shown in FIG. 3, in FIG. 3, the antenna part 40 is arrange | positioned on the right side in the figure of the display area 21a, and the structure extended in the up-down direction in the figure is shown. In addition, as shown with the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 3, you may be the structure which has arrange | positioned the antenna part 40 to each of the upper side, left side, and lower side in the figure with respect to the display area 21a. Moreover, you may be the structure by which the antenna part 40 was provided in the some area | region among the four area | regions along each edge | side of the display area 21a. In this case, the antenna unit 40 may be integrated or may be divided.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a connection state of the antenna unit 40. In FIG. 4, a part of the configuration (for example, the adhesive 25 or the like) is omitted for easy illustration.
As shown in FIG. 4, a part of the antenna unit 40 is connected to a connector CN on a circuit board S provided inside the housing 10 via a solder unit 41 and a coaxial cable 42. The connector CN is connected to a control device CONT provided on the circuit board S via a wiring (not shown) on the circuit board S.

The control device CONT controls the operation of the portable information terminal 100 in an integrated manner.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control device CONT.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, the control device CONT includes a processing unit 51, an input unit 52, an output unit 53, a storage unit 54, a communication unit 55, and a power supply unit 56.

  The processing unit 51 performs general arithmetic processing of the portable information terminal 100. The input unit 52 is a part that inputs to the portable information terminal 100. As the input unit 52, the side detection units 31 to 34 and the display unit detection unit 52b described above are provided. As the input unit 52, for example, a sensor such as a posture detection unit 52c is provided. In addition, a voice input unit (not shown) such as a microphone may be provided as the input unit 52.

  The display part detection part 52b detects the presence or absence and the contact position of the touch in a touch panel. The posture detection unit 52 c is a sensor that detects the posture of the portable information terminal 100. For example, a triaxial acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or a geomagnetic sensor is provided as the posture detection unit 52c.

  The output unit 53 outputs images and sounds. Examples of the output unit 53 include the display unit 20 that displays an image, and an audio output unit 53b that controls output of audio. The sound output unit 53b can output sound from the side detection units 31 to 34, for example, by vibrating the piezoelectric elements provided in the side detection units 31 to 34. The audio output unit 53b can adjust the vibration amplitude and frequency of the piezoelectric element.

  The storage unit 54 stores the calculation result by the processing unit 51, input information to be input to the input unit 52, output information to be output by the output unit 53 (eg, image data, audio data), information to be communicated via the communication unit 55, and the like. Remember.

  The communication unit 55 includes the antenna unit 40 described above. The communication unit 55 is configured to be able to communicate information with the outside using the antenna unit 40 by a wireless method. The power supply unit 56 is provided with a power supply for supplying power to the portable information terminal 100. Examples of the power supply unit 56 include a battery and a battery.

Next, the operation of the portable information terminal 100 configured as described above will be described.
In the portable information terminal 100, image data stored in the storage unit 54 and image data communicated via the antenna unit 40 and the communication unit 55 are output to the display unit 20 and displayed as an image. Similarly, the audio data stored in the storage unit 54 is output under the control of the audio output unit 53b. Further, data including these image data and audio data is communicated with the outside.

  In the control device CONT, processing is performed so as to correspond to both input from a touch panel (not shown) and input from the side detection units 31, 33, and 34. At this time, the user performs the above input while holding the casing 10 of the portable information terminal 100 by hand. In this case, for example, in a configuration in which a film antenna is provided on the outer surface of the housing 10, for example, when the housing is held by a user, the user's hand touches the antenna or the user's hand covers the film antenna. In some cases, the communication sensitivity may decrease.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the antenna unit 40 is provided inside the housing 10, even when the user performs an input while holding the housing 10 by hand, It is possible to avoid the user's hand from touching the antenna unit 40. Moreover, in this embodiment, since the antenna part 40 is provided in the part along the display area 21a, the opportunity that the antenna part 40 is covered with a user's hand can be reduced. Thereby, the portable information terminal 100 excellent in communication sensitivity can be obtained.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration of the light shielding film 24 has been described by taking the configuration in which black particles such as carbon are mixed in the resin material as an example, but the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, an insulating material may be mixed so that the light shielding film 24 has a high dielectric constant. In this case, since the reception wavelength of the antenna unit 40 can be shortened, the dimensions of the antenna unit 40 can be shortened.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the antenna part 40 demonstrated and demonstrated as an example the structure provided in the 2nd surface 23b side of the protective substrate 23, it is not restricted to this. For example, the antenna unit 40 may be provided in a portion of the housing 10 that is bonded to the protective substrate 23 (a portion facing the protective substrate 23).

  Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the side detection units 31 to 34 are disposed on the side surfaces 10a to 10d of the housing 10 has been described as an example, but the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, the side part detection part may be configured to be provided on one or more of the side surfaces 10a to 10d.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although demonstrated taking the example of the structure by which the touchscreen was provided in the surface of the display part 20, it is not restricted to this, The structure by which a touchscreen is not provided may be sufficient. In this case, it becomes the structure operated using the side part detection parts 31-34 provided in the operation part 30. FIG. With this configuration, since high operability can be obtained without providing a touch panel, the cost of the portable information terminal can be reduced.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the attitude | position of the housing | casing 10 was detected by the attitude | position detection part 52c, and the aspect controlled to switch the display in the display part 20 based on the detection result was mentioned as an example, it demonstrated to this. There is no limit. For example, control may be performed so that a constant display is performed regardless of the detection result of the posture detection unit 52c. Further, a mode in which the user can set a mode for switching display based on the detection result of the posture detection unit 52c and a mode for performing constant display regardless of the detection result may be used.

  CONT ... Control device 100 ... Personal digital assistant 10 ... Case 20 ... Display unit 21 ... Display area 23 ... Protective substrate 23b ... Second surface 30 ... Operation unit 40 ... Antenna unit 11 ... Display surfaces 10a to 10d ... Side surfaces 31-34 ... Side detection part S ... Circuit board

Claims (7)

A housing having a display area on a part of the outer surface;
An antenna portion provided on the inner surface side of the portion surrounding the display area of the housing;
An electronic device comprising: a control unit that communicates information using the antenna unit. The housing includes a protective member that protects the display area,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is provided on the protection member. The display area is formed in a rectangular shape,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is provided along a side of the display area. The electronic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the antenna unit is provided along a plurality of the sides. On the inner surface of the portion surrounding the display area of the housing, a light shielding portion including an insulating material is provided,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is provided on the light shielding unit. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is formed in a thin film shape. Further comprising an operation unit provided in the housing,
The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the antenna unit is provided at a position away from the operation unit.

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