JP3655837B2 - Mobile phone and time notification method using mobile phone - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mobile phone and a time notification method using the mobile phone.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, mobile phones are equipped with a function to notify incoming calls with light or vibration other than voice, and in places where it is not desirable to ring a quiet place or ringtones, such as during meetings, business talks, and conversations, The incoming call notification by sound is switched to the incoming call notification by vibrator vibration. In general, a cellular phone also has a clock function, and even when the cellular phone does not have a clock, the current time can be known by looking at the display unit of the cellular phone.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional mobile phone, an incoming call can be notified by vibrator vibration. However, in order to check the time using the clock function provided in the mobile phone, the time is announced by looking at the display unit or by voice. You must confirm by ringing.
[0004]
In such a method of confirming time by display or voice announcement, it is necessary to recognize the time by looking at the display on a small screen, and voice announcements may be difficult to hear in places where the surrounding noise is large, especially For users who are blind or deaf, it is not easy to check the time by such a method. Also, during a meeting or test, or during a conversation with a customer, you may not be able to see the display on your mobile phone or make an audio announcement. In such cases, check the time on your mobile phone. I can't.
[0005]
For checking the time, there is a method in which a vibrator such as a wristwatch, not a mobile phone, has a vibrator function and the vibrator is vibrated when a predetermined time arrives or when a predetermined time elapses. No. 2-24591 and JP-A-11-194186. According to this method, it is possible to know the current time without directly looking at the watch, but normally, the watch does not have a built-in vibrator function. For this purpose, a separate vibrator function is provided. There arises a problem that the watch itself becomes heavier or larger in size.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to provide a mobile phone and a mobile phone that can easily and reliably know the time without visually recognizing the display screen or sounding an audio announcement. It is to provide a time notification method in a telephone.
[0007]
[Means for solving problems]
To achieve the above object, the time notification method for a portable telephone of the present invention is a time notifying method definitive in the mobile phone having at least a timing means and a vibrator, have a switching means to the time confirmation mode in the mobile phone When the time confirmation mode is set , the time measuring means is operated by pressing an operation switch provided at any position on the back surface, top surface, or side surface that is separated from the main operation unit on the front surface of the mobile phone. into a predetermined vibration pattern I read the current time counted, the vibrator vibrates based on the predetermined vibration pattern, if not set to the time confirmation mode, pressing the operation switch Due to this, other functions operate .
[0013]
As described above, according to the present invention, even with a blind person or a hearing-impaired person, the time is notified by vibrating the vibrator at a predetermined time or number of times according to the time. can do. Since the time can be known simply by pressing a switch provided at an easy-to-handle position, the time can be known without removing the mobile phone from the pocket. Furthermore, in the announcement by voice, it may be difficult to hear due to ambient noise or the like, but by notifying the time by vibration, the time can be surely known without being affected by ambient noise.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The mobile phone according to the present invention, in a preferred embodiment thereof, reads the current time from a key operation unit, a vibrator, and a time generation circuit provided at a predetermined position such as the back of the housing that is easy to operate, It is equipped with a time / conversion circuit that converts to a predetermined vibration pattern and a control unit that controls the vibration of the vibrator based on the vibration pattern. By pressing the key operation unit, it responds to the vibration pattern and minutes corresponding to the time. The vibrator vibrates with a vibration pattern composed of the vibration pattern and the current time is notified, and the time can be known by the mobile phone without looking at the display or listening to the voice announcement.
[0015]
【Example】
In order to describe the above-described embodiment of the present invention in more detail, a mobile phone and a time notification method using the mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a rear view. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile phone of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence relationship between time and vibration pattern, which is a characteristic part of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a time notification procedure by the vibrator of the present embodiment.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 7 of this embodiment includes a housing 8, a display unit 9 installed in front of the housing 8, a main operation unit 10 that performs basic operations of the mobile phone, and an antenna. 11 and the vibrator 1 installed inside the housing 8, the key operation unit 2 is installed at an easy-to-understand position such as the back side opposite to the main operation unit 10. Then, by operating the key operation unit 2, the vibrator 1 operates in a predetermined vibration pattern.
[0017]
1 illustrates an example in which the key operation unit 2 is provided on the back surface of the housing 8 of the mobile phone 7, the place where the key operation unit 2 is installed is not limited to the back surface of the housing 8, It can also be provided at a location away from the main operation unit 10 and easy to operate, for example, at the top or side of the housing 8.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 7 of this embodiment includes a reference oscillator 3 that is a reference for time, a time generation circuit 4 that receives a frequency signal from the reference oscillator 3 and generates time, and a time generator. A time / vibration conversion circuit 5 for converting a time signal received from the circuit 4 into a vibration pattern of the vibrator 1; a key operation unit 2 for performing time confirmation; a vibrator 1 for transmitting time by vibration; And a control unit 6 for controlling the circuit.
[0019]
When the key operation unit 2 is set in the clock confirmation mode in advance, when the key operation unit 2 installed at an easy-to-understand position on the mobile phone is pressed, the control unit 6 recognizes that the key has been pressed. Then, the time generation circuit 4 outputs the time Ta when the key operation 2 is pressed to the time / vibration conversion circuit 5 based on the frequency fa oscillated by the reference oscillator 3. The time / vibration conversion circuit 5 converts the time Ta into a predetermined vibration time and number of vibrations, and outputs a vibration pattern signal Vs. Upon receiving the signal Vs, the control unit 6 vibrates the vibrator 1 with a predetermined vibration time and number of vibrations according to the signal Vs.
[0020]
FIG. 3 shows an example of a specific method for converting time into vibration. For example, to express the time unit, continuously vibrate for T1 seconds, and to express the time in minutes, continuously vibrate for T2 (T1 ≠ T2) seconds. Then, after the vibration representing the time is finished, the vibration is stopped for T3 time until the vibration representing the minute starts. Here, assuming that T1 = 2 seconds, T2 = 1 second, T3 = 0.5 seconds and the time when the key operation unit 2 is pressed is 8:15, after performing continuous vibration for 2 seconds 8 times, It is possible to notify that the current time is 8:15 by performing the continuous vibration for 1 second 15 times after 0.5 seconds.
[0021]
Note that T1, T2, and T3 can be arbitrarily set by the user of the mobile phone, and the vibration pattern can be any pattern that can correspond to time and vibration. For example, when the value of the minute is large, the number of vibrations of T2 becomes too large and it is complicated to count the number of times. Therefore, the vibration time is divided into three stages of time unit, 10 minute unit, and 1 minute unit, It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which vibration corresponding to 10 minutes is performed after vibration corresponding to time is performed, and then vibration corresponding to 1 minute is performed. In addition, when the time unit is known, the vibration of the hour unit is omitted, or conversely, the vibration of the unit of 10 minutes or the minute unit is omitted when the minute time is not required. You can also.
[0022]
Next, the operation procedure of the vibrator using the mobile phone 7 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S101, it is confirmed whether or not the current state of the mobile phone 7 is the time confirmation mode. In the time confirmation mode, if the key operation unit 2 on the back is pressed in step S102, the vibrator is turned on in step S104, and the vibrator 1 is vibrated by the vibration pattern formed by a predetermined method in step S105. After notifying the time, the vibrator is turned off. On the other hand, if the state of the mobile phone 7 is not the clock confirmation mode in step S101, pressing the key operation unit 2 in step S103 activates other functions such as a predetermined message memo. As described above, by setting the key operation unit 2 to operate by pressing the key operation unit 2 when not in the clock confirmation mode, the key operation unit 2 can be effectively used.
[0023]
As described above, according to the cellular phone 7 of the present embodiment, when the key operation unit 2 is provided in an easily operable place away from the main operation unit 10 and the key operation unit 2 is pressed, the time generation circuit 4 causes the current time to be displayed. The time / vibration conversion circuit 5 converts the time into a predetermined vibration pattern by a predetermined method, and the vibrator 1 is vibrated according to the vibration pattern, so that the display unit is not seen and a sound announcement is not sounded. , You can know the time accurately.
[0024]
In the above embodiment, the integrated mobile phone has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the key operation unit 2 is installed in a place where it can be easily operated even in a folding mobile phone. Then, by providing the time / vibration conversion circuit 5 and the control unit 6, the time can be similarly notified by vibration.
[0025]
In addition to notifying the current time by vibrator vibration, by inputting the time in advance using the main operation unit 10 or the key operation unit 2, an elapsed time after a predetermined time has elapsed since the key operation unit 2 was pressed. It is also possible to vibrate the vibrator 1 corresponding to the above, or to vibrate the vibrator at a predetermined time.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the mobile phone of the present invention, it is possible to know the time from the vibration time and the number of vibrations of the vibrator. Even in the situation where a voice announcement is difficult to hear due to noise, a hearing-impaired person, and ambient noise, the time can be known by the mobile phone.
[0027]
The reason is that the vibrator can be vibrated by converting the current time into a predetermined vibration pattern simply by pressing a key operation unit provided in an easy-to-operate place.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views showing a structure of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a front view and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a time notification method for a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a time notification procedure of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vibrator 2 Key operation part 3 Reference oscillator 4 Time generation circuit 5 Time / vibration conversion circuit 6 Control part 7 Mobile telephone 8 Case 9 Display part 10 Main operation part 11 Antenna

Claims (1)

A time notification method in a mobile phone having at least time measuring means and a vibrator,
The mobile phone has means for switching to a time confirmation mode,
When the time confirmation mode is set, the time is counted by the operation switch provided at any position on the back surface, top surface, or side surface that is separated from the main operation unit on the front surface of the mobile phone. The current time is read and converted into a predetermined vibration pattern, and the vibrator vibrates based on the predetermined vibration pattern,
When the time confirmation mode is not set, another function is activated by pressing the operation switch.

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