JP2015099604A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus that can display information on an operating system and application continuously across a plurality of display screens.SOLUTION: When a first application is displayed on a first display area, and a second application different from the first application is displayed on a second display area, if drag operation is performed from a predetermined area in the first display area to the second display area, an electronic apparatus displays a plurality of pieces of information across the first display area to the second display area side by side along a direction of dragging in the drag operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device having a plurality of display screens, and more specifically to an electronic device that can improve operability.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an electronic device that is equipped with an operating system serving as a platform and that can display various types of information and start various applications (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this type of electronic device, a touch panel is provided on a display screen capable of displaying information, and various operations can be performed by a user touching the touch panel.

JP 2009-8925 A

  However, when there is a notification of various information from the operating system or application such as alarm notification or mail reception, the notified information is displayed on the display screen by the user's operation. Information is displayed only on the display screen.

  Therefore, the displayed range is narrow, and it may not be possible to display all, and when other applications are activated on other display screens, it is misunderstood that the notified information is information about the application. Sometimes it ends up.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of continuously displaying information notified to a user regarding an operating system, an application, and the like over a plurality of display screens.

  In order to solve the above problems, an electronic device of the present invention is capable of displaying information, and is a first display area capable of touch operation and an area different from the first display area, and displays information. A second display area that is displayable and capable of touch operation; and a control unit, wherein the control unit displays a first application in the first display area, and the second display area. When a second application different from the first application is displayed in the display area, a drag operation is performed from a predetermined area of the first display area to the second display area. Can be displayed side by side along the drag direction in the drag operation from the first display area to the second display area.

  According to the electronic device of the present invention, the information display means moves a predetermined area of the touch panel toward the other display screen by an operation such as flicking or dragging, and thereby stores a plurality of information stored in the information notification means. Can be displayed continuously over the screen.

  That is, since information to be notified to the user can be displayed over a wide range over other display screens, more information can be displayed, visibility is high, and information can be recognized accurately.

  In addition, even when other applications are displayed on other display screens, displaying the information over the other display screens hides the application, so that the user may mistake the information. Can be prevented.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and shows a flat approaching state in which display screens are located on substantially the same plane and approach each other. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic device showing a flat separated state in which the display screens are separated from the state of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electronic device showing a tilt state in which the first display screen is rotated with respect to the second display screen from the state of FIG. 2 and the first display screen is tilted with respect to the second display screen. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electronic device showing a folded state in which the display screens overlap each other. 5 is a side view of the electronic apparatus showing a process from the state of FIG. 1 to the state of FIG. 3. FIG. 5A is a flat approach state shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5C shows the flat separation state shown in FIG. 2, and the tilt state shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view of the electronic apparatus showing a process from the tilted state of FIG. 3 to the folded state of FIG. 4. FIG. 6A shows the first display screen with respect to the second display screen. FIG. 6B shows a state tilted so as to slide forward, FIG. 6B shows a state where the first display screen is further slid from the state shown in FIG. 6A, and FIG. 6C shows a folded state shown in FIG. Is shown. It is a block diagram of the electronic device of a present Example. It is a flowchart figure which shows operation | movement of the Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which started the application and displayed on the several display screen. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen which shows the state which is displaying the notification bar. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen which shows the state which is operating the notification bar by flicking. It is explanatory drawing of the display screen which shows the state which is dragging the notification bar to another display screen. It is explanatory drawing which is displaying the content of the information (notification) notified continuously on several display screens.

  The present invention relates to an electronic device (10) having an operation unit (50) such as a plurality of display screens (21) (31) and touch panels (22) (32), and can improve the operability. It relates to the device (10).

  Hereinafter, the electronic device (10) of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings by taking a portable electronic device as an example, but the specific structure and configuration of the electronic device shown below are for explanation. Of course, the present invention should not be limitedly interpreted.

  First, the structure of the portable electronic device (10) according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the electronic device (10) has a display screen (21) (31) capable of displaying information such as characters, figures, images, and moving images, and the user touches the surface of the display screen. A plurality of display units (20) and (30) having touch panels (22) and (32) that can be operated by being connected by a connecting mechanism (40) so as to be relatively movable by opening and closing, sliding, etc. Can do.

1 to 6 show a state in which the second display unit (30) is horizontally arranged so that the second display screen (31) is directed upward, both of which are the second display unit (30) in the figure. The direction facing is “up”, the back side is “down”, the front left is “front”, the right rear is “rear” in FIGS. 1 to 4, and the left side in FIG. 5 and FIG. Is called “front” and the right side is called “rear”. “Left” and “right” mean the left and right directions viewed from the “front” direction, respectively. Further, in the first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30), the front end portion shown in FIG. 1 is referred to as a “base end”, and the rear end portion is referred to as a “rear end”.

  As shown in the drawing, the first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30) display information on the housing (23) (33) whose one surface, that is, the upper surface in FIG. Possible display screens (21) and (31) are accommodated so as to be visible from the opening side. The display screens (21) and (31) can be exemplified by liquid crystal displays, and are electrically connected to a control means (60) (see FIG. 7), which will be described later, and can display various information. In FIG. 1, the display unit located on the rear side is referred to as a first display unit (20), and the display unit located on the front side is referred to as a second display unit (30).

  On the opening side of the display screens (21) and (31), touch panels (22) and (32) that can be operated by a user touching with a finger or the like are provided. The touch panels (22) and (32) are disposed so as to close the openings of the housings (23) and (33), and are formed to be transparent so that the display screens (21) and (31) are visible. Examples of the touch panels (22) and (32) include those of a capacitance type and a resistance film type.

The touch panels (22) and (32) are electrically connected to the control means (60) (see FIG. 7) via the touch panel control units (25) and (35), and the user touches the touch panels (22) and (32). By touching and operating with a finger or the like, the corresponding coordinate information is input to the control means (60) via the touch panel control units (25) and (35) and used for various operations.

  As a user operation using the touch panel (22) (32), a relatively short tap, a double tap touching the touch panel (22) (32), or a time when touching the touch panel (22) (32) is longer than these. , Flick, pinch and long touch.

  In addition, a plurality of operation buttons (51) (51) are arranged on the casing (23) (33) in the vicinity of the touch panel (22) (32) and on the peripheral surface of the casing (23) (33). ) (32) together with the operation portions (50) and (50). Examples of the operation buttons (51) and (51) include a power button. These operation buttons (51) and (51) are also electrically connected to the control means (60) (see FIG. 7), and various controls can be performed by operating the operation buttons (51) and (51).

  The first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30) are relatively movable by the coupling mechanism (40). In the electronic device (10) of the present embodiment, FIGS. As shown, the first display section (20) is slidable and rotatable with respect to the second display section (30).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the connection mechanism (40) connects the front-rear direction approximate center on the back side of the first housing (23) and the tip of the second housing (33). The connection mechanism (40) can be constituted by a plurality of arms and the like, and the description thereof will be omitted. However, as will be described later, the connection mechanism (40) causes the first display unit (20) to be second. The display unit (30) is slidable and rotatable in the approaching and separating directions.

  The connecting mechanism (40) may be configured to connect the first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30) only to slide or only to rotate.

  The relative positions of the first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30) can be detected by the movement detection sensor (70).

The movement detection sensor (70) is a contact type switch that detects the approach and separation of the first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30), and a non-contact made up of a magnet (72) and a magnet sensor (71). Examples of the type sensor include a first display unit (20) and a second display unit (30) or a potentiometer that detects a relative angle change between the display units (20) and (30) and the coupling mechanism (40). .

  The movement detection sensor (70) is also electrically connected to the control means (60) (see FIG. 7). As a movement detection sensor (70), in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 (a), a magnet (72) is embedded at the base end of the first display section (20), and in a flat approaching state. A magnet sensor (71) is accommodated at the tip of the second display part (30) that approaches the magnet (72) so that the approach and separation of the first display part (20) and the second display part (30) can be detected. I have to. Thereby, it is possible to detect whether the electronic device (10) is in the state shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 (a) or in any other state.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), a potentiometer (74) is provided at the connecting portion between the connecting mechanism (40) and the first display section (20), and the first display section (20) is connected to the connecting mechanism ( 40) Rotation is detected.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a block diagram of the electronic apparatus of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 7, all control of the electronic device (10) is performed by a control means (60) composed of a CPU or the like. The control means (60) can operate an operating system as a platform mounted on the electronic device (10), and can start one or more applications installed in the electronic device (10) simultaneously. It has become.

  The control means (60) is electrically connected to the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31) described above, and can display information relating to each application.

  The first touch panel (22) and the second touch panel (32) are electrically connected to the control means (60) via the first touch panel control unit (25) and the second touch panel control unit (35), respectively. The user input from the first touch panel (22) and the second touch panel (32) is transmitted to the control means (60) via the touch panel control units (25) and (35), and the control means (60) The information on the display screens (21) and (31) is edited and operated according to the input.

  The control means (60) includes the operation buttons (51) and (51) described above, a memory (61) for storing various operations of the electronic device (10), various data desired by the user, a timer (62), etc. Further, an information display means (63) described later is electrically connected.

  The 1st display part (20) and the 2nd display part (30) which were connected by the above-mentioned connection mechanism (40) are relatively movable in the following ways.

  For example, in FIG. 1, the first display unit (20) and the second display unit (30) have the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31) substantially in the same plane, and the first casing (23 ) And the distal end of the second housing (33) are close to each other. The side view of FIG. 1 is FIG. This state is referred to as a “flat approach state”.

  In the flat approaching state, the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31) are continuous and visible as one screen, and the first touch panel (22) and the second touch panel (32) are also continuous 1 It can be operated like two touch panels.

  That the display units (20) and (30) are in the flat approaching state can be detected by the magnet sensor (71) and transmitted to the control means (60).

  From the above flat approach state, as shown in FIG. 2, the user supports the back of the second housing (33) with the four fingers of the hand (P) and supports the second touch panel (32) with the thumb ball while holding both thumbs When the first touch panel (22) is pushed backward in (T), the first display unit (20) slides in the separating direction with respect to the second display unit (30). This state is referred to as a “flat separated state”, and a side view thereof is shown in FIG.

  The transition from the flat approaching state to the flat separation state can be detected by the magnet sensor (71) and transmitted to the control means (60).

  When the first display portion (20) is lifted so that the first display screen (21) is tilted forward by grasping the distal end side of the first display portion (20) from the flat separated state of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5 (c), the first display screen (21) can be tilted with respect to the second display screen (31). This state is referred to as a “tilt state”. This operation can be performed by holding the second housing (33) with one hand and picking and pulling up the first display section (20) with the thumb and index finger of the other hand.

  As described above, the rotation of the first display unit (20) can be detected by the potentiometer (74) and transmitted to the control means (60).

  In the tilted state, the first display screen (21) is tilted while keeping the second display screen (31) horizontal, so that the first display screen (21) is easily visible. For example, the first display screen ( 21) Display information such as characters, display a keyboard on the second display screen (31), and operate the second touch panel (32) to make the electronic device (10) excellent in operability. .

  As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the first display unit (20) is tilted backward from the tilted state around the connecting portion with the connecting mechanism (40). Further, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 (c), the first display unit (20) is pushed downward so that the tip of the first display unit (20) approaches the tip of the second display unit (30). The second display unit (30) can be in a folded state in which the first display unit (20) is on the upper side and the second display unit (30) is overlapped so as to be invisible.

  As described above, the rotation of the first display section (20) can be detected by the potentiometer (74) and transmitted to the control means (60).

  In the folded state, only the first display unit (20) is visible, and only the first touch panel (22) and the operation buttons (51) (51) exposed on the surface can be operated, and the second display unit (30 ) Cannot be visually recognized, and the second touch panel 32 cannot be operated.

  In this folded state, information is displayed only on the first display screen (21), and only the first touch panel (22) and the operation buttons (51) (51) exposed on the surface are operated. ) Can be made compact, so it is suitable for non-use and carrying.

  In order to shift from the folded state to the tilted state or the flat approaching state, an operation opposite to the above may be performed.

  In general operation, the control means (60) displays information on the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31), the first touch panel (22), the second touch panel (32), and the operation. Information displayed on the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31) can be switched based on various controls based on inputs from the buttons (51) and (51) and the movement detection sensor (70). .

  An information notification means (64) (see FIG. 7) is electrically connected to the control means (60). The information notification means (64) stores information (hereinafter referred to as “notification” as appropriate) to notify the user regarding the operating system or application.

  As a specific example, the contents of the notification (84) include an "Alarm" activated by the operating system, "New Message" received by the mail software, "Application Update Information (Application Upload)". ) ”, And“ display incoming call information ”and“ display missed call information ”on the phone.

  The control means (60) is electrically connected to information display means (63) (see FIG. 7). The information display means (63) displays the contents (84) of the notification stored in the information notification means (64) on the display means (21) (31), and its operation flow is shown in the flowchart of FIG. Show.

  As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 9, the control means (60) starts one or a plurality of applications and displays each application on the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31). The information display means (63) is in the first touch panel (22) and / or the second touch panel (32) with the display screen (21) (31) or the display screen (21) as a standby screen. When the user operates the predetermined area (80) (the upper area of the first touch panel (22) in FIG. 9) with a finger (90) or the like (step 1 in the flowchart of FIG. 8), the corresponding predetermined area (80 ) Displays a notification bar (81) as shown in FIG. 10 (step 2). The notification bar (81) corresponds to the tip of the area (83) (for example, see FIG. 11) where the notification is displayed.

The information display means (63) is configured such that the user displays the notification bar (81) on the other display screen from the state where the notification bar (81) shown in FIG. 10 is displayed in the predetermined area (80). 2 When flicking (F) as shown in FIG. 11 or dragging (D) as shown in FIG. 12 (step 3) toward the display screen (31) (step 3), a notification bar (81 ) Is moved to the lower end of the second display screen (31), and the contents (84) of the notification stored in the information notification means (64) are displayed in the display area (83) that is the moved locus part. indicate(
Step 4).

  Thereby, the contents (84) of the notification can be continuously displayed not only in the first display screen (21) but also in a wide area extending to the second display screen (31).

  Therefore, more information can be displayed, visibility is high, and information can be recognized accurately. Further, even when an application or the like is displayed on the second display screen (31), the contents (84) of the notification are displayed over the second display screen (31). There is no possibility of being mistaken for information relating to an application or the like previously displayed on the screen (31).

  When the user performs an operation corresponding to the content (84) of the “notification” displayed continuously over the first display screen (21) and the second display screen (31) (step 5), control is performed. The means (60) can execute the corresponding operation. User operations include “Stop alarm” for “Alarm” and “Display task (plan)” to be executed, “List of received mail” and “Display received mail” for mail software, In this case, “detailed display of incoming call information” and “detailed display of missed call information”, and in the case of application update information, detailed contents and downloads can be exemplified.

  When the operation is completed, the display may be returned to the application information displayed before the operation on the second display screen (31) (step 6).

In the above, an area for operating the notification bar (81) is provided on the first touch panel (22), but it can also be provided on the second display screen (31). In this case, the upper first display screen ( The content (84) of “Notification” may be displayed continuously to 21).

  In addition, the notification bar (81) is displayed to enhance the operability by visual recognition of the user, the notification bar (81) is not displayed on the display screen (21), and the touch panel (22) The notification content (84) is displayed by flicking, dragging, or the like directly to the other display screen (31) from the state where the user touches the region corresponding to the predetermined region (80). It may be.

  In the above example, the notification bar (81) is moved to the lower end of the second display screen (31) to display the contents of the notification (84), but the notification bar (81) is dragged. By stopping the operation halfway, the movement of the notification bar (81) can be stopped halfway to make the notification display area (83) have a desired size.

  Furthermore, in the operation of dragging the notification bar (81) described with reference to FIG. 12 to the second touch panel (32), there is a gap between the first touch panel (22) and the second touch panel (32). However, when the operation is performed with the finger (90), the area of contact with the touch panel (22) (32) is relatively large, so that the drag operation extending from the first touch panel (22) to the second touch panel (32) is continuous. It can be recognized as a drag operation. However, when the touch panel (22) (32) is wide, or when the touch panel (22) (32) is operated with a stylus, the drag operation signal is interrupted between the touch panels (22) (32). There is. In such a case, if the first touch panel control unit (25) receives the drag operation signal and then receives the drag operation signal to the second touch panel control unit (35) within a predetermined time, it is a continuous drag operation. May be determined.

  The present invention is not limited to an electronic device (10) having a plurality of display screens (21) and (31), and the display screens (21) and (31) are relatively slidable and rotatable. Can be applied. For example, the present invention can be applied to an electronic device in which the display screens (21) and (31) are relatively slid or rotated, and an electronic device in which a plurality of display screens (21) and (31) are provided side by side on one housing. Of course.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as an electronic device that can continuously display information related to an operating system, applications, and the like over a plurality of display screens and can improve operability.

(10) Electronic equipment
(20) First display section
(21) First display screen
(22) First touch panel
(30) Second display section
(31) Second display screen
(32) Second touch panel
(40) Coupling mechanism
(60) Control means
(63) Information display means
(64) Information notification means
(71) Notification bar

Claims (6)

A first display area capable of displaying information and capable of touch operation;
A second display area that is different from the first display area, is capable of displaying information, and allows a touch operation;
A control unit,
The controller is
When a first application is displayed in the first display area and a second application different from the first application is displayed in the second display area,
When a drag operation is performed from a predetermined area of the first display area to the second display area,
An electronic apparatus capable of displaying a plurality of pieces of information side by side in a drag direction in the drag operation from the first display area to the second display area.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pieces of information are not displayed side by side along a dragging direction in the drag operation before the drag operation. When the drag operation is stopped in the middle of the second display area from a predetermined area of the first display area while the touch operation is continued,
A plurality of information is displayed from the first display area to the middle of the second display area,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a part of the second application is left in the second display area where the drag operation is not performed.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of information includes information related to an alarm.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pieces of information includes information related to application updates. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pieces of information are information related to message reception.