JP4525068B2 - Reflective display device, reflective display member used therefor, and connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reflective display device having display memory properties.

Conventionally, the light emitting / receiving means for detecting the amount of light reflected from the reflective display unit is installed in the reflective display unit, and the reflective display device is detected by the light emitting / light receiving means as described in Patent Document 1 below. The display characteristics of the reflective display element are obtained from the reflected light quantity, and the display driving conditions of the reflective display element are optimized based on the display characteristics.

JP-A-2-301718

However, in the above apparatus, since the light emitting / receiving means for detecting the amount of light reflected from the reflective display unit is integrally installed on the opposite side of the display surface of the reflective display unit, the display unit becomes thick and the display unit becomes thicker. There was a problem that it was difficult to reduce the thickness and weight.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a reflective display device of the present invention is configured so that a reflective reflective display unit capable of holding display contents on a display screen when power is not supplied, and the reflective display unit being detachable. And the amount of light that is provided in the connector portion and emits light to the display surface at a position different from the display screen of the reflective display portion and is reflected by the display surface of the reflective display portion And a light emitting / light receiving means for detecting.
Furthermore, in the above-described reflective display device of the present invention, the connector section includes a connection section that supplies a display signal to the reflective display section.

According to the above configuration, since the light emitting / receiving unit for detecting the amount of light reflected from the reflective display unit is provided in the connector unit to which the reflective display unit is detachable, the light emitting / receiving unit is integrated in the reflective display unit. The reflective display unit can be made thinner and lighter.

In the reflective display device of the present invention described above, the connector portion includes a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the display surface of the reflective display portion, and the light emitting / receiving unit is in the sandwiching portion, It is preferable that the display portion faces the display surface of the reflective display portion sandwiched between the portions.
Furthermore, the connector of the present invention described above includes a display screen that displays display content, and a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the display surface of a display member that is provided at a position different from the display screen and reflects light, and It is preferable to include a light emitting / receiving unit that is provided in the sandwiching unit and detects the light amount of the light that is emitted and reflected by the display surface.

According to the above configuration, the light emitting / receiving means for detecting the amount of light reflected from the reflective display unit is located in the sandwiching unit that sandwiches the reflective display unit, and is provided facing the display surface of the reflective display unit. Therefore, it is possible to block light incident on the light emitting / receiving unit from the outside, so that it is possible to detect the amount of light reflected from the reflective display unit without being affected by the light from the outside.

  In the reflective display device of the present invention described above, the light used in the light emitting / receiving means is preferably light in the near infrared region.

According to the above configuration, since the amount of reflected light from the reflective display unit is detected using light in the near infrared region, it is difficult to be affected by disturbance light such as a fluorescent lamp, so detection with high accuracy is possible. Can do.

  In the above-described reflective display device of the present invention, it is preferable that the light used in the light emitting / receiving means is modulated.

According to the above configuration, since the reflected light from the reflective display unit is modulated, it can be easily distinguished from disturbance light and can be detected with high accuracy.

In the above-described reflection type display device of the present invention, the display surface of the reflection type display unit is divided into a plurality of parts, and the light emitting / receiving unit is configured to reduce the amount of light reflected by at least one of the divided display surfaces. It is preferable to detect.
Furthermore, the above-described reflective display member of the present invention has a display screen having a storage property capable of holding display content when power is not supplied, and a display surface arranged at a position different from the display screen, It is preferable to have a function of reflecting light emitted from the outside.

According to the above configuration, separately from the display screen for displaying the image display signal, the display surface for detecting the amount of light by the light emitting / receiving means in the connector portion is divided and provided on the reflective display portion. The display screen for displaying the signal does not need to be provided beyond the image display area to the area where the connector part on the reflective display part is attached and detached, and the manufacturing cost of the reflective display part can be reduced.

In the reflective display device of the present invention described above, the display characteristic signal is generated by calculating the display characteristic of the reflective display unit from the signal of the light emitting / receiving unit, and the reflective display is based on the display characteristic signal. It is preferable to include a control unit that generates a drive signal for driving the display signal of the unit and supplies the display signal of the reflective display unit to the connector unit based on the drive signal.

According to the above configuration, the display characteristics of the reflective display unit are obtained from the signals of the light emitting / receiving means, and the display drive of the reflective display unit is controlled based on the display characteristics, so that the display characteristics of the reflective display unit are adjusted. High quality display.

  In the above-described reflective display device of the present invention, the reflective display element is preferably an electrophoretic display element.

  According to the above configuration, the electrophoretic display element is necessary for a liquid crystal display element as compared with a liquid crystal display element that has been widely used as a display element in addition to having a memory property for display contents. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the thickness and weight.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described using a reflective display device including an electrophoretic display element as an example of a reflective display device.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a reflective display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reflective display device 1 includes a reflective display unit 10, a connector unit 20, and a control unit 40. Here, the reflection type display unit 10 and the connector unit 20 are detachable, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the reflection type display unit 10 is attached to the connector unit 20 in a schematic sectional view. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The reflective display unit 10 is a display unit using a substantially plate-like electrophoresis method. The electrophoretic display unit is a display unit having a storage property that retains display contents when power is not supplied. A display screen 11 that displays a display signal, a display surface 12, and the display surface Is provided. Moreover, the connection part 13 is provided in the surface opposite to the surface of the display side.
The display screen 11 and the display surface 12 are provided by separating the display surface of the reflective display unit 10 into two. One display screen 11 is input from the outside and is connected via the connector unit 20. Information is displayed based on a given display signal. The other display surface 12 displays a display pattern based on a display signal stored in the control unit 40 and given through the connector unit 20, and light from the light emitting unit 21 provided in the connector unit 20. Is reflected by the display surface 12 and the reflected light is returned to the light receiving unit 22. The connection unit 13 receives signals to be displayed on the display screen 11 and the display surface 12 by connecting to the connection unit 23 of the connector unit 20.

Here, the electrophoretic display unit will be outlined with illustration omitted. In the electrophoretic display unit, microcapsules in which organic or inorganic particles (electrophoretic particles) having a property of being moved by electrophoresis due to a potential difference are enclosed are colored in two different colors, respectively. It is manufactured by mixing between substrates having transparent electrodes. When a voltage is applied from the transparent electrode to the manufactured display portion, the electrophoretic particles are deposited on one electrode, so that the microcapsules are aligned in the same direction. Therefore, the observer of the display unit sees one color colored on the microcapsule. Further, since the microcapsule is oriented in the other direction by setting the applied voltage of the transparent electrode to the opposite polarity, the observer of the display unit sees the other color colored on the microcapsule. Furthermore, since the microcapsules aligned by voltage application are stably maintained in both alignment directions even when the applied voltage is released, the display content in the display unit is maintained.
Therefore, an electrophoretic display unit is supplied with a display signal and a drive voltage to display according to the display signal. Thereafter, the display content of the display unit is given the display signal and the drive voltage. Retained even without.

The connector part 20 has a substantially concave shape when viewed from the side, and a sandwiching part 24 that sandwiches the display side surface of the reflective display unit 10 and the opposite side of the display side surface with two surfaces, and one sandwiching part The light-emitting part 21 and the light-receiving part 22 in 24, and the connection part 23 in the other clamping part 24 are provided.
The light emitting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22 are in one sandwiching unit 24 facing the display side surface of the sandwiched reflective display unit 10, and located at a position facing the display surface 12 of the reflective display unit 10. The light emitted from the light emitting unit 21 is reflected by the display surface 12 of the reflective display unit 10, and the reflected light enters the light receiving unit 22.
The light emitting unit 21 emits light modulated at a frequency that avoids the frequency of the household AC power supply and the vicinity of an integer multiple thereof in the near-infrared region where the wavelength is near 800 nm.
The light receiving unit 22 selects and detects light that has been frequency-modulated with the same wavelength as the light emitted from the light emitting unit 21, and converts the detected light amount into a signal.
The connection part 23 is in the other sandwiching part 24 facing the surface opposite to the display side surface of the sandwiched reflective display part 10 and is located at a position facing the connection part 13 of the reflective display part 10; A signal to be displayed on the display screen 11 and the display surface 12 is sent to the reflective display unit 10 by being electrically connected to the connection unit 13 of the reflective display unit 10.

  The control unit 40 generates a drive signal for displaying the reflective display unit 10 by inputting a power source, a display signal given from the outside, and a signal generated by the light receiving unit 22 described above, and generates a connector signal 20. To the reflective display unit 10 via Details of the control unit 40 will be described later. The control unit 40 and the connector unit 20 are connected by a cable 30.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the control unit 40. The control unit 40 includes a display signal storage unit 48, a display signal selection unit 43, a drawing processing unit 44, a drive signal generation unit 45, a drive signal correction unit 46, a connection control unit 47, and a display characteristic calculation unit 41. And display characteristic storage means 42.
The display signal storage means 48 is a read-only storage device (ROM) and stores a display signal to be displayed on the display surface 12. The display signal selection means 43 selects either the display signal stored in the display signal storage means 48 or the display signal given from the outside. The drawing processing unit 44 generates drawing data for displaying the display signal selected by the display signal selecting unit 43 on the reflective display unit 10. The drive signal generation unit 45 generates a drive signal for driving the reflective display unit 10 from the drawing data generated by the drawing processing unit 44.
Further, the display characteristic calculation means 41 calculates the display characteristic of the reflective display unit 10 based on the signal related to the light amount sent from the light receiving unit 22 in the display pattern displayed on the display surface 12, and the signal related to the display characteristic. Convert to The display characteristic storage means 42 is a volatile readable / writable storage device (RAM), and stores a signal related to the display characteristics of the reflective display unit 10 calculated by the display characteristic calculation means 41.
Here, the drive signal correction unit 46 corrects the drive signal generated by the drive signal generation unit 45 with reference to the signal related to the display characteristics of the reflective display unit 10 stored in the display characteristic storage unit 42.
The connection control unit 47 sends the drive signal corrected by the drive signal correction unit 46 to the reflection type display unit 10 via the connection unit 23 of the connector unit 20 and the connection unit 13 of the reflection type display unit 10.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow from when the reflective display unit 10 is attached to the connector unit 20 until a display signal from the outside is displayed on the reflective display unit 10. Hereinafter, description will be given based on the above-described configuration.

  The reflective display unit 10 is attached to the connector unit 20, and the connection unit 23 of the connector unit 20 and the connection unit 13 of the reflective display unit 10 are electrically connected (step S100).

  When transitioning to the connection state, first, the display signal selection unit 43 of the control unit 40 selects the display signal of the display signal storage unit 48. The drawing processing unit 44 and the drive signal generation unit 45 generate a drive signal based on the selected display signal. The generated drive signal passes through the drive signal correction unit 46 and is sent from the connection control unit 47 to the display surface 12 of the reflective display unit 10, whereby the display surface 12 is stored in the display signal storage unit 48. The pattern is displayed (step S101).

  The light emitting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22 are activated. That is, light emitted from the light emitting unit 21 and reflected by the display surface 12 of the reflective display unit 10 is detected by the light receiving unit 22. Here, the light receiving unit 22 generates a signal indicating a change in the light amount (reflected light amount) of the light corresponding to the pattern displayed on the display surface 12, and sends the signal to the display characteristic calculation unit 41 of the control unit 40 (step). S102).

  The display characteristic calculation unit 41 calculates the display characteristic of the reflective display unit 10 based on a signal indicating a change in the amount of reflected light. That is, the display characteristic calculation unit 41 calculates the reflectance of the reflective display unit 10 from the amount of reflected light in the pattern displayed on the display surface 12 and changes the pattern displayed on the display surface 12. The response speed of the reflective display unit 10 is calculated from the change in the amount of reflected light. The calculated reflectance and response speed are converted into signals and stored in the display characteristic storage means 42 (step S103).

The display signal selection unit 43 of the control unit 40 selects a display signal given from the outside, so that the display signal is inputted from the outside (step S104).
The drawing processing unit 44 and the drive signal generation unit 45 generate a drive signal based on the input display signal (step S105).

  The drive signal correction means 46 of the control unit 40 corrects the drive signal based on the stored signal relating to the display characteristics of the reflective display unit 10. For example, if it is determined that the response speed has decreased due to a change in the viscosity of the reflective display unit 10 due to temperature fluctuation, the voltage written on the display screen 11 of the reflective display unit 10 is increased, or The drive signal is corrected so that the writing time becomes longer (step S106).

  By sending the corrected drive signal to the reflective display unit 10, all the display contents displayed on the display screen 11 of the reflective display unit 10 are erased, and an image generated by a display signal input from the outside Is displayed on the display screen 11 of the reflective display unit 10 (step S107).

The embodiment described above has the following effects.
(1) The reflective display unit 10 is provided with the light emitting unit 21, the light receiving unit 22, and the control unit 40 that detect the amount of reflected light on the display surface 12 on the connector unit 20 side, and thus can be reduced in thickness and weight. Excellent portability.
(2) Since the light emitting part 21 and the light receiving part 22 are provided in the sandwiching part 24 of the connector part 20, the sandwiching part 24 blocks light incident on the light emitting / receiving means from the outside. The amount of reflected light can be detected without being affected by the light.
(3) Since the light used in the light emitting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22 is frequency-modulated in the near infrared region, the light is hardly affected by disturbance light such as a fluorescent lamp, and can be detected with high reliability.
(4) Since the display screen 11 for displaying a display signal given from the outside and the display surface 12 for detecting the display characteristics of the reflective display unit 10 are formed separately, the reflective display unit Compared with the case where display screens are provided in the entire area of 10, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned Example, The deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. in the range which can achieve the objective of this invention are included in this invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the connector unit 20 and the control unit 40 may have a structure in which the connector unit 20 and the control unit 40 are integrated instead of the separated structure.
Further, the display characteristic calculation means 41 provided in the control unit 40 may be a structure integrated with the light emitting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22 of the connector unit 20 in the connector unit 20.
Further, the connection between the connection part 13 of the reflective display unit 10 and the connection part 23 of the connector part 20 may be a non-contact method as long as it is a connection method that can send and receive electrical signals.
Further, the modulation of light used in the light emitting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22 is not limited to frequency modulation. Any modulation method may be used as long as the modulation method can be easily distinguished from ambient light.
The reflective display element is not limited to the electrophoretic type. A display element such as a cholesteric liquid crystal may be used as long as it is a reflective display element having a memory property for display contents.

Schematic which shows the structure of the reflection type display apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. The schematic sectional drawing which shows the state in which the reflection type display part was mounted | worn with the connector part in an Example. Schematic which shows the structure of the control part in an Example. The flowchart which shows the flow until the display signal from the outside in an Example is sent to a reflection type display part, and is displayed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reflective type display apparatus, 10 ... Reflective type display part, 11 ... Display screen, 12 ... Display surface, 13 ... Connection part, 20 ... Connector part, 21 ... Light emission part, 22 ... Light receiving part, 23 ... Connection part, 24 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Clipping part, 40 ... Control part, 41 ... Display characteristic calculation means, 42 ... Display characteristic storage means, 43 ... Display signal selection means, 44 ... Drawing processing means, 45 ... Drive signal generation means, 46 ... Drive signal correction means 47, connection control means, 48 ... display signal storage means.

Claims (8)

A memory-type reflective display unit capable of retaining the display content of the display screen when power is not supplied;
A connector configured to be detachable from the reflective display unit;
Light emission / light reception that is provided in the connector unit and emits light to a display surface at a position different from the display screen of the reflective display unit and detects the amount of light reflected by the display surface of the reflective display unit Means and
The connector part includes a sandwiching part that sandwiches a display surface of the reflective display part,
A reflection type display device characterized in that external light incident on the light emitting / receiving unit is shielded by the sandwiching unit. The reflective display device according to claim 1,
The reflection type display device, wherein the connector part includes a connection part for supplying a display signal to the reflection type display part. The reflective display device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The reflection type display device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting / receiving unit is in the sandwiching portion and is opposed to a display surface of the reflective display portion sandwiched by the sandwiching portion. The reflection type display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The light used for detecting the amount of light by the light emitting / receiving means is a light having a wavelength in the near infrared region. The reflective display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The reflection type display device, wherein the light used for detecting the amount of light by the light emitting / receiving means is modulated at a predetermined frequency . The reflective display device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The reflective display surface of the display unit is divided into a plurality of light emitting and receiving means reflective display device characterized by detecting the amount of light reflected by at least one of said divided display surface . The reflection type display device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A display characteristic signal is generated by calculating a display characteristic of the reflective display unit from a detection signal of the light amount by the light emitting / receiving unit, and generated based on the display signal of the reflective display unit based on the display characteristic signal It has been corrected driving signal, based on the corrected the driving signal, the reflection type display device a display signal of the reflective display unit, characterized in that it comprises a control unit for supplying to said connector portion. The reflection type display device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The reflection type display device is an electrophoretic display element.

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