JP4282455B2 - Portable terminal device and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device typified by a mobile phone in which a lower housing is rotatably connected to an upper housing in a state where a display screen of a display section of the upper housing is visible. is there.

  The shape of a conventional mobile phone is generally a straight type or a folded type. However, recently, the display on the main surface of the upper housing is always exposed to the front, and the upper housing is slid 180 degrees with respect to the lower housing via the hinge from the state where the upper housing is overlapped with the lower housing. There is a type (so-called 180 degree open style type) in which a key input unit on the lower housing appears by rotating (see Patent Document 1). Hereinafter, such a mold is referred to as a slide rotation mold for convenience. Further, there has also been proposed one that can rotate between the upper and lower housings by two axes, that is, an opening / closing hinge part and a pivotal support shaft (see Patent Document 2). The latter portable terminal has a high degree of freedom of movement between the upper and lower housings, and can operate in a manner similar to the slide rotation type. Therefore, in this specification, the latter portable terminal is also included in the slide rotation type.

  In a slide rotation type portable terminal device (hereinafter simply referred to as a portable terminal or a terminal), in particular, with one case held in one hand, the other case is placed in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The type that can be rotated has the advantage of being able to handle both depending on the user's dominant hand and preference.

In addition to personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), and game terminals, it has recently become possible to enjoy various games on mobile phones.
JP 2002-135380 A JP 2003-69676 A

  In a portable terminal such as a cellular phone, the types and functions of input devices for operation are limited, such as keys (or buttons) such as a numeric keypad and direction instruction keys, and a jog dial. On the other hand, depending on the application such as a game, there may be a need for an input device that can perform continuous variable operation as obtained with an operation lever or a joystick. Even if it is possible to perform such operations by using the keys of the portable terminal, there is a problem in terms of operability because the control is only binary control. The jog dial can be used for continuous variable operation, but the operation is different from the operation of the operation lever, and it is not always necessary to perform subtle operations within a relatively wide operating range. It was not easy and not satisfactory.

  The present invention has been made in such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a portable terminal and a computer program capable of continuously and variably controlling a controlled object without adding a special input operation member. There is.

  A portable terminal device according to the present invention has at least an upper casing having a display section and at least a key input section, and is attached to the upper casing in a state where the display screen of the display section of the upper casing is maintained visible. And a rotation angle detecting means for continuously detecting an angle of rotation of the lower case relative to the upper case within at least a predetermined rotation operation range. And

  The rotation angle detection means continuously detects the rotation angle of the lower casing relative to the upper casing within at least a predetermined rotation operation range when the lower casing is rotated with respect to the upper casing. Here, “continuously detected” means detection in angular units according to a predetermined resolution.

  The portable terminal device may further include a control unit that controls a display screen of the display unit according to an output of the rotation angle detection unit. Thereby, in various applications, it is possible to reflect the rotation operation of the housing on the display content of the display screen.

  The target for reflecting the rotation operation of the housing is not limited to the display screen, and the control unit can continuously variably control an arbitrary control target according to the output of the rotation angle detection unit.

  When executing an application that uses the screen of the display unit in landscape orientation, the control unit watches the lower casing with respect to the upper casing from the state where the lower casing is superimposed on the upper casing. The image displayed on the display unit may be switched between upright / inverted depending on whether the image is rotated counterclockwise or counterclockwise. Thus, an appropriate image state can be automatically obtained according to the direction of operation without the user being aware of it.

  The control means may include means for setting a start angle and an end angle of a rotation operation range using a rotation operation of the lower housing in accordance with a user instruction. Thereby, the rotation operation range suitable for each user is set.

  The control means may adjust the operation sensitivity by multiplying the output of the rotation angle detection means by a coefficient corresponding to the size of the rotation operation range for weighting. Accordingly, a rotation operation range suitable for each user is set more reliably according to the purpose.

  The present invention can also be understood as a computer program executed in a mobile terminal device in order to realize the mobile terminal device as described above. For example, the computer program of the present invention has an upper casing having at least a display section and at least a key input section, and the upper casing is maintained in a state in which the display screen of the display section of the upper casing is kept visible. A portable terminal comprising: a lower casing rotatably connected to the upper casing; and a rotation angle detecting means for continuously detecting an angle of rotation of the lower casing with respect to the upper casing within at least a predetermined rotation operation range. A computer program executed in the apparatus, comprising: confirming an output of the rotation angle detection unit; and changing a display on the display unit in accordance with the confirmed output of the rotation angle detection unit. . The computer program of the present invention can include both application programs and system programs.

  According to the present invention, by using an existing slide rotation type casing, it is possible to continuously and variably control a control target without adding a special input operation member. This also provides an operational feeling like a one-dimensional joystick.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, a mobile phone will be described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to an arbitrary mobile terminal such as a small PC, a PDA, a game terminal, etc., as long as it has a slide rotation type configuration.

  FIG. 1 shows an external appearance of a portable terminal 100 that is a slide rotation type portable telephone according to the present embodiment. A hinge portion is provided at a position where the lower end of the upper casing 102 and the upper end of the lower casing 202 overlap. The upper housing 102 slides and rotates in the clockwise direction A or the counterclockwise direction B with respect to the lower housing 202 around the hinge portion. The rotation axis is in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main surfaces of both housings. When the lower casing 202 is rotated with respect to the upper casing 102 from the state of FIG. 1, the two casings are mutually connected such that the back surface of the upper casing 102 overlaps the main surface of the lower casing 202. Overlapping.

  In the present specification, the phrase “rotate the upper housing relative to the lower housing” is relative, and the rotation operation for opening the housing is relatively relative to the lower housing and the upper housing. It is sufficient if the other is rotated with respect to one of the two, and any of them may be used as a reference. When the mobile terminal of the present embodiment rotates from 0 degrees to the positive side, it cannot move to the negative side beyond +180 degrees, and when it rotates from 0 degrees to the negative side, it exceeds -180 degrees. It is assumed that it cannot move to the positive side. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to such a configuration.

  The display unit 103 occupies most of the area on the main surface of the upper housing 102. The display unit 103 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal or an organic EL, and the display screen is always exposed to the outside. Above the display unit 103, a speaker 101, which is a device that converts an electrical signal into audible sound, is disposed. In the lower area of the display unit 103, an operation unit 105 for performing limited operations is arranged. The operation unit 105 includes various keys such as a call key, a power / end key, a clear key, and a jog dial (disk type in the illustrated example) that can be used for cursor operations.

  A key input unit 201 to be pressed is disposed on the main surface of the lower housing 202. The key input unit 201 is hidden behind the upper housing 102 in the closed state. The key input unit 201 includes a numeric keypad (including numerals 0 to 9 as well as * and # symbols), a manner key, a memo key, and the like. A microphone 118 is disposed at the lower end of the lower housing 202.

  Next, the configuration of a general mobile phone will be described using the block diagram (example) of the mobile phone shown in FIG. A reception signal input from the antenna 301 is guided to the reception RF unit 303 by the selector 302. Here, processing such as band limitation and automatic gain control necessary for the received signal to be at an appropriate level is performed. Next, in order to convert a desired reception frequency into a constant frequency, the process proceeds to a mixer 304 that mixes the signal from the local oscillator 311 whose frequency is controlled and the output of the reception RF unit 303. This output is input to the reception IF unit 305, A / D converted, and becomes IQ digital data having a constant bit rate. The IQ digital data is appropriately decoded by the reception demodulating unit 306 by removing influences such as fading, determining the type of received signal, deinterleaving, and correcting errors. To be separated. Since the audio data is usually compressed and sent in blocks for each received burst, it is decompressed and decoded by the audio decoding unit 307, and then D / A converted according to the audio sampling rate. Thereafter, the D / A converted analog signal is amplified in power by the speaker amplifier 308 and emitted to the speaker 109. On the other hand, the communication data is also separated by the reception demodulating unit 306 and returned to the final original data by the communication data decoding unit 310. The received data is sent from the I / O 310 via the CPU bus 325 to the external device via the data I / F 320c.

  On the other hand, on the transmission side, the sound is changed into an analog sound signal through the microphone 118. Since the output of the microphone 118 is small, it is amplified to a necessary voltage by the microphone amplifier 317. The amplified audio signal is first A / D converted and digitized by the audio encoding unit 316 at an appropriate sampling rate. This is encoded and compressed, and is combined into blocks suitable for burst signals in RF. On the other hand, the digital data input from the data I / F 320 c of the I / O 320 is collected into an appropriate block by the communication data encoding unit 319. Data from the voice encoding unit 316 and the communication data encoding unit 319 are combined by the transmission modulation unit 315 to be IQ digital data having a constant data rate. This signal is D / A converted by the transmission IF unit 314 and converted to an analog modulation signal, and then mixed by the mixer 313 with the signal for conversion from the local oscillation unit 311 in order to convert the signal to a desired transmission frequency. The signal converted to a desired frequency is amplified in power by the transmission RF unit 312 so as to have a necessary transmission power, and is radiated from the antenna 301 via the selector 302.

A central processing unit (CPU) 324 constitutes control means for controlling the cellular phone. A ROM 321 which is a read-only memory stores a program executed by the CPU 324 in advance, and stores data such as a display font. Further, the RAM 322, which is a read / write memory as needed, stores data in the middle of calculation as needed while the CPU 324 is executing a program, or once when data is moved to or from the reception unit or transmission unit. Used in such cases. The EEPROM 323, which is an electrically erasable memory, stores, for example, the previous setting conditions even when the power of the mobile phone is turned off, and adopts a method of use in which the same setting is made when the power is turned on next time. By storing those setting parameters, convenience is provided to the user. A timekeeping real-time clock (RTC) 326 is a part that provides date and time data, and is used, for example, for a time stamp of data, a clock display of a mobile phone, an alarm, and the like. Here, the I / O 320 that is an input / output interface with an external device is connected to the display unit 131 via the I / F 320a, and the keyboard 232 (to the key input unit 201 and the operation unit 105 in FIG. 1) via the I / F 320b. And the rotation angle detector 327. The rotation angle detector 327 is a device such as a rotary encoder as means for detecting the rotation angle (opening angle) of the upper and lower casings. As another means for detecting the rotation angle of the upper and lower casings, for example, a voltage is applied to an element whose resistance value changes in proportion to the angle, and the output is digitized by , for example, an A / D converter and processed. There are also means to do this. In any case, the rotation angle detector 327 detects the rotation angle continuously within a predetermined rotation angle range, that is, in units of angles according to a predetermined resolution. In the present invention, any specific means may be used as long as the opening angle can be detected continuously over the whole or part of the range of the opening and closing angles of the upper and lower casings. The external storage I / F 320d is used to store data when the data from the memory stick is used in the main body or when data is downloaded from a service provider (not shown) on a communication network such as the Internet. When the interface. The SIM I / F 320e is an interface for interfacing with a subscriber identification module (SIM).

  By the way, as described above, recent cellular phones are equipped with various applications to provide various conveniences to users. For example, one category of application is a game. With the improvement in the performance of CPUs and the like built in mobile phones, it has become possible to enjoy complex games. However, when a keyboard pre-installed in a mobile terminal is used as a user interface, most of the control is binary, and an environment for enjoying a game by performing smooth control such as a joystick is not provided. Is the reality.

  In the present invention, in a portable terminal having a slide rotation type upper and lower casing, a pseudo lever operation using the casing (that is, one-dimensional) is performed by rotating one casing with respect to the other casing. Joystick continuous input operation).

  FIG. 3 shows the rotation range on the negative side in the present embodiment. In this example, the upper housing 102 having the display unit 131 is held vertically, and the lower housing 202 is opened with respect to the upper housing 102 from 0 degrees (e) to −45 degrees (d), −90. The rotation operation is performed within a range reaching -180 degrees (a) through degrees (c) and -135 degrees (b). In this case, the opening angle is 0 degree in the closed state of (e), and the angle when the lower casing 202 is rotated clockwise relative to the upper casing 102 is positive and counterclockwise. The angle is negative. In the illustrated example, it is assumed that the upper housing 102 is held from the back side with the right hand and the lower housing 202 is rotated with the left hand. Calls during game execution can be made at any angle.

  4 (a) to 4 (e) show the rotation range on the positive side by reversing the left and right relationship with FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (e). In this case, when the upper housing 102 is held vertically with the left hand and the lower housing 202 is operated with the right hand, the opening angle is a positive rotation range from 0 degree to +180 degrees (in the drawing, the right side of the upper housing 102). ) Can be set as the rotation operation range.

  In both the rotation operation ranges of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, it is possible to obtain angle data that continuously changes in angle units according to the resolution of the rotation angle detector 327 (FIG. 2).

  FIG. 5A shows that the upper housing 102 is held horizontally with the left hand so that the screen of the display unit 131 is horizontally long, and the lower housing 202 is rotated within the range of −90 degrees to −180 degrees with the right hand. Shows when to do. FIG. 5B similarly shows a case where the operation is performed within the range of −45 degrees to −135 degrees.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram obtained by reversing the left-right relationship with FIG. 5. FIG. 6A shows that the upper housing 102 is held horizontally with the right hand and the lower part with the left hand so that the screen of the display unit 131 is horizontally long. The case where the housing 202 is rotated within the range of +90 degrees to +180 degrees is shown. FIG. 6B similarly shows a case where the operation is performed within the range of +45 degrees to +135 degrees. The image on the display unit 131 does not change before and after switching between FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, but before and after switching between FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, it is necessary to flip the image upside down (rotate 180 degrees). This switching can be performed manually by the user, but in an application using a horizontally long screen, it is possible to automatically invert an image by determining whether the opening angle of the upper and lower cases is positive or negative.

  Although the angle range of the rotation operation shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is 90 degrees, it is not limited to this. Further, the start angle and end angle of the angle range are not limited to those shown in the drawing. Furthermore, the angle range (start angle and end angle) can be freely determined by the user within a possible range prior to execution of the application. It is also possible to change the sensitivity of the operation within the specified angle range. For example, even if the actual angular range on the mechanism is 90 degrees, an output of an angular range larger than 90 degrees may be obtained by setting a weighting coefficient (operation sensitivity coefficient) larger than 1. it can. Of course, on the contrary, the operation sensitivity coefficient can be made smaller than 1.

  With reference to FIG. 7, a first example of a processing procedure related to a pseudo lever operation using a casing when executing an application in the present embodiment will be described. In this example, it is assumed that the operation angle range and its operation sensitivity are set prior to starting execution of the application.

  First, when parameters such as operation sensitivity correction for angle detection during normal use of the portable terminal are set, the current data is saved by saving the data (S701). Next, in order to determine what position of the start angle and end angle the user wants as the operation angle range, the lower housing 202 is positioned at a desired angle by instructing the user on the display screen, This angle is set as the start angle (S702). Next, the user places the lower housing 202 at another angle and sets this angle as the end angle (S703). Further, sensitivity adjustment is performed to set the operation sensitivity for this angle range (S704). This sensitivity adjustment can be automatically performed using the operation sensitivity coefficient described above so that an output in a predetermined angle range can be obtained with respect to the angle range set by the user. Alternatively, depending on the application, for example, a sample screen corresponding to this operation of the game to be started will be displayed on the display unit, and for example, it may be associated with a change amount in the moving direction of the moving object, a speed change in the moving object, a change amount in the display area, etc. It is also possible to adjust the operation sensitivity. When the basic operation setting is completed in this way, execution of an actual game or the like is started (S705). A determination is made as to whether or not to end the running program such as when the game ends or when there is an incoming call (S706). When it is determined not to end, the event detection is repeated until an event determined to end is generated. When it is determined that the process is finished, the current state is restored to restore the parameter saved in step S701, thereby returning to the normal setting (S707), and the process of FIG. 7 is finished.

  As described above, a function such as a one-dimensional joystick can be provided by using the casing as an operation unit when a game or the like is executed on the portable terminal. 7 may be performed in the application program, or the system program may be performed alone or in cooperation with the application program.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart including a processing procedure for reversing an image according to the sign of the angle range selected by the user in addition to the processing of FIG. 7 when the application uses a landscape screen.

  Similar to the processing in FIG. 7, first, when parameters such as sensitivity correction for angle detection during normal use of the portable terminal are set, after saving the current state to save those data (S801) Then, start angle setting, end angle setting, and sensitivity adjustment are performed on the user (S802, S803, S804).

Therefore, it is determined whether the operation angle range is positive or negative (S805). In this example, if negative, the image is left as it is (upright), and if positive, the image is inverted (rotated 180 degrees). Thereby, in any case of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, an image upright for the user can be viewed without the user being conscious.

  Thereafter, as in the case of FIG. 7, execution of an actual game or the like is started (S807). When the game is finished (S808), the current state is restored (S809), and this process is finished.

  FIG. 9 shows a screen example of a train driving simulation game in which the casing of the mobile terminal of this embodiment can be used as a controller. This screen includes a landscape including a track viewed from the driver's seat of the train, an operation lever 91 called a mascon (master controller) for acceleration / deceleration operation, a G meter 92 representing deceleration G when the brake (braking) is pressurized, A speed meter 93 indicating a train speed, a traffic light 94, and the like are displayed. In this embodiment, the operation angle range set by the user (or predetermined) can be divided into two, and one can be used for acceleration / deceleration, the other for braking, and the boundary for neutral. In this case, the angle range may be divided into three to give the boundary a slight width. Alternatively, the above-described 0 degree position may be neutral, and positive and negative ranges may be used for acceleration / deceleration and braking, respectively. In the illustrated example, in the acceleration / deceleration area, the output level of the angle detection unit 327 is judged in light of a predetermined threshold value, so that the opening angle of the lower housing is divided into five levels of 1, 2, 3, 4 Is detected. In the brake range, the brake pressure is continuously variably controlled according to the output of the rotation angle detector 327. Such a rotation operation of the lower housing is reflected in the display of the operation lever 91, the G meter 92, the speed meter 93, the scenery, and the like on the screen. For other operations such as opening and closing the door, a predetermined key of the operation unit 105 or the key input unit 201 can be used together.

  As described in the application example of FIG. 9, it is not necessary to use the same operation function for the entire operation angle range shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, and the operation angle range is divided into a plurality of parts. Different operation functions may be assigned. Further, the rotation operation of the housing can be used together with other operation keys.

  Applications that use the present invention are not limited to driving simulations, and are not limited to games. The rotation operation of the housing of the present invention is suitable for application to an object that is continuously variably controlled. For example, it is suitable for variable control of various objects such as speed, direction, intensity, size, angle, and the like. Furthermore, in response to a change in the opening angle of the upper and lower cases, it is possible to change the output of sound, infrared rays, etc. instead of / in addition to changing the display. A mobile terminal in which the lower housing slides with respect to the upper housing has been described. However, if the rotation angle of the lower housing relative to the upper housing can be continuously detected within a range in which the display screen can be visually recognized, the mobile device is not necessarily rotated. It does not have to be.

It is the top view which showed the external appearance of the open state of the portable terminal which is a slide rotation type portable telephone apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal of FIG. It is the figure which showed the rotation range of the negative side of the portable terminal of FIG. It is the figure which showed the rotation range of the positive side of the portable terminal of FIG. It is explanatory drawing in the case of hold | maintaining an upper housing | casing so that the screen of the display part of the portable terminal of FIG. 1 may become horizontally long, and rotating a lower housing | casing within a negative angle range. It is explanatory drawing in the case of hold | maintaining an upper housing | casing so that the screen of the display part of the portable terminal of FIG. 1 may become horizontally long, and rotating a lower housing | casing within a positive angle range. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st example of the process procedure relevant to the pseudo lever operation using the housing | casing at the time of application execution in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart including a processing procedure for reversing an image according to the sign of an angle range selected by a user in addition to the processing of FIG. 7 when an application uses a landscape screen in the embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the example of a screen of the train driving simulation game which can utilize the housing | casing itself of the portable terminal of embodiment of this invention as a controller.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Mobile phone (mobile terminal), 102 ... Upper housing, 105 ... Operation part, 131 ... Display part, 201 ... Key input part, 202 ... Lower housing, 321 ... ROM, 322 ... RAM, 323 ... EEPROM, 324 ... CPU, 327 ... rotation angle detector

Claims (8)

An upper housing having at least a display unit;
A lower casing that has at least a key input section and is rotatably connected to the upper casing in a state in which the display screen of the display section of the upper casing is maintained visible;
A rotation angle detecting means for continuously detecting an angle of rotation of the lower housing with respect to the upper housing within a rotation operation range between at least a start angle and an end angle ;
And a control unit that continuously and variably controls a control target of the application in accordance with an output of the rotation angle detection unit when executing an application that uses the screen of the display unit. apparatus. 2. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit assigns the same operation function over the entire rotation operation range of the rotation angle detection unit. 2. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control means divides the rotation operation range of the rotation angle detection means into a plurality of parts and assigns different operation functions. When executing an application that uses the screen of the display unit in landscape orientation, the control unit watches the lower casing with respect to the upper casing from the state where the lower casing is superimposed on the upper casing. in the case of operation in a negative range of rotation rotated counterclockwise and when operating in positive rotation range is rotated in a direction, characterized Rukoto is rotated 180 degrees from each other the image to be displayed on said display unit The portable terminal device according to claim 2.   2. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control means includes means for setting a start angle and an end angle of a rotation operation range using a rotation operation of the lower housing in accordance with a user instruction.   The control means adjusts the operation sensitivity by multiplying the output of the rotation angle detection means by a coefficient corresponding to the size of the rotation operation range for weighting. The mobile terminal device according to 1 or 5. An upper casing having at least a display section, and a lower section having at least a key input section and rotatably connected to the upper casing in a state where the display screen of the display section of the upper casing is maintained visible Executed in a portable terminal device comprising a housing and rotation angle detection means for continuously detecting the rotation angle of the lower housing relative to the upper housing within a rotation operation range between at least a start angle and an end angle A computer program,
Confirming the output of the rotation angle detection means when executing an application using the screen of the display unit;
Continuously variably controlling the controlled object of the application according to the confirmed output of the rotation angle detecting means;
A computer program that executes. When executing an application that uses the screen of the display unit horizontally,
Identifying whether the lower housing is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise with respect to the upper housing from the state where the lower housing is overlaid on the upper housing;
Depending on the result of this identification, the upper casing is operated in the positive rotation range in which the lower casing is rotated in the clockwise direction and the negative rotation range in which the lower casing is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. If the in the steps you want to rotate. image together 180 degrees to be displayed on said display unit,
The computer program according to claim 7, wherein:

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