JPH04309109A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable utilization for a long time in the case of using a secondary battery by providing an operational anvironment detecting means and controlling a voltage impressed to the cold cathode ray tube of a liquid crystal display device according to the detected result. CONSTITUTION:An input cycle measuring instrument 5 measures the cycle of inputs from an input device. In the case of using the information processor, for example, the frequency of inputs from the input device such as a keyboard 4 is made high during the utilizing and the time for measuring the input cycle by the input cycle measuring instrument 5 is shortened. When an operator is away from the processor because of any reason later, the inputs from the input device such as the keyboard 4 are completely eliminated during a certain period, and the time for measuring the input cycle is prolonged. When the time for meaasuring the input cycle is short, the value of the voltage impressed to a cold cathode ray tube 6-1 built in a liquid crystal display device 6 is maintained at an initial value and when the time for the measurement is prolonged, the impressed voltage is decreased rather than the initial value. Thus, energy consumption is reduced for the entire processor, and utilization time in the case of using the secondary battery can be prolonged.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to information processing apparatuses such as word processors or personal computers, and more particularly to an apparatus for effectively controlling the power consumption of information processing apparatuses.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art When a conventional information processing device is configured with a transmissive or semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device that uses a certain type of light emitter, the power applied to the light emitter is controlled by
This is generally done manually using a control knob or the like. In other models, there is a device that changes the power applied to the light emitting body only when a device such as a floppy disk drive or printer operates.

0003

Generally speaking, in a device using a transmissive or semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device, the power consumption of the light emitting body often accounts for a considerable proportion. Therefore, although some of the above conventional technologies take into consideration improvements in power consumption, they are still insufficient, and if the device is operated with a secondary battery, it cannot be used for a long time. It had drawbacks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned problems and provide an information processing device that can be used for a long time even when the device is operated with a secondary battery.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object is to provide a control device for controlling an information processing device with an operating environment detection means for grasping the operating state and environmental state of the information processing device, and the detection means This is achieved by changing the power applied to the light emitter of the liquid crystal display device according to the detection result.

[0005]

[Operation] Hereinafter, an explanation will be given assuming that an input period measuring device is used as the operating environment detecting means. The input period measuring device built into the control device measures the input period from the input device. For example, assuming that an information processing device is used, the frequency of input from an input device such as a keyboard will be relatively high, and the measurement time by an input period measuring device will be short. After this, if the operator leaves the device for some reason, there will be no input from the input device for a certain period of time, and the measurement time by the input period measuring device will become longer. Therefore, when the measurement time with the input period measuring device is short, the power applied to the light emitting body of the liquid crystal display device is kept constant at the initial value, and when the measurement time with the input period measuring device is long, the power applied to the light emitting body of the liquid crystal display device is kept constant. By reducing the applied power from the initial value, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the entire device.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As an embodiment of the present invention, an example in which a word processor used in general offices and the like and an input period measuring device is used as the operating environment detection means will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a word processor according to the present invention. 2 is an external storage device for storing edited documents, for example, 5 inch or 3.5 inch.
This is an inch floppy disk device. 4 is an input device such as a keyboard or tablet for inputting desired characters or operation modes (in this embodiment, a keyboard is assumed); 6 is a character pattern corresponding to the character code input from the input device 4; This is a liquid crystal display device (in this example, a transmission type liquid crystal display device is assumed) for displaying images.
．． 1 and 3 is a printing device for outputting the edited document as a hard copy. The various devices described above are all connected to the control device 1, and the control device 1 controls the various devices so that it can operate as a word processor. Further, the control device 1 includes a floppy disk controller (FDC) 1.2 for controlling an FDD 2 that is an external storage device, a printing device controller 1.3 for controlling a printing device 3, and a keyboard that is an input device. a keyboard controller 1.4 for controlling the liquid crystal display device 6; a display device controller 1.6 for controlling the liquid crystal display device 6; an applied power controller 1.5 for controlling the power applied to the cold cathode tube inside the liquid crystal display device; Host CP that controls 1.2 to 1.6
The host CPU 1.1 includes a program memory 1.8 that stores programs executed by the host CPU 1.1, and a work memory 1.7 that is used to temporarily store a created document when creating a document. Also, host CPU1.
1 includes an input period measuring device 5 to enable the present invention.
is also connected. Furthermore, the various devices described above can be operated using either the secondary battery 8 or the AC adapter 7.

The word processor having the above configuration will be explained in detail below using FIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the input period measuring device 5 and keyboard 4 in FIG. 1. When a key 4.1 on the keyboard 4 is pressed, the row data and column data of the pressed key are sent to the sub CPU 4.4 via the row data input port 4.2 and column data input port 4.3. It is captured. The sub CPU 4.4 outputs the input data to the keyboard controller 1.4, and each time a key is pressed, it outputs a signal as shown in FIG. , is input to counter 5.3. Further, the clock pulse (CLK) generated by the clock generator 5.1 is input to the IN of the counter 5.3 via the NOR gate. counter 5
．． The count value of 3 is input to the output buffer 5.4, and when the counter 5.3 overflows, the overflow signal OVF is input to the output buffer 5.4 in the same way as the count value. The host CPU 1.1 sends the count value and overflow state to the output buffer 5.4.
It is monitored through.

The input period measuring device 5 having the above-described structure operates as shown in the operation timing chart shown in FIG. In other words, if a key input occurs at time to, the subCP
Pulse A1 is output from U4.4, and counter 5.3
The count value and overflow signal OVF are cleared. Thereafter, the counter is counted up by the clock pulse (CLK), and the count value is counted up from 0 to n. Then, when the key is input again at time t1 after time T has elapsed, the sub CPU 4.4 outputs a pulse A.
2 is output and the count value of counter 5.3 is cleared again. After this, if no key input occurs, the count value is counted up in response to the clock pulse (CLK), and at time t2, the counter reaches the maximum value No. When the overflow signal (OVF) is output to the output buffer 5.4. At the same time, it is output to the NOR gate 5.2 and inhibits clock input to the counter. The host CPU 1.1 constantly monitors the count value and the output of the OVF through the output buffer 5.4, and operates as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, in process 9, the count value and OVF are taken in, and in process 10, it is determined whether the OVF is 1 (whether the operator has not used the word processor for a long time), and the OVF is determined to be 0 (if the operator is not using the word processor). ), the process moves to process 11. In process 11, it is determined whether the counted value is larger than the set value NA (whether the operator has not used the word processor for an arbitrary set time), and if the counted value is NA
In the following cases (when a word processor is used), the process returns to step 9 and the above-described process is repeated. Also, processing 1
0, 11, if the OVF is 1 (the word processor has not been used for a long time) and the count value is greater than the arbitrary set value NA (the word processor has not been used for the arbitrary set time), perform processing 12 and later. do. In process 12,
The applied power controller 1.5 reduces the applied power to the cold cathode tube to control the initial screen to become darker. Thereafter, in process 13, it is monitored whether the OVF is 0 (whether the key has been input again), and if the OVF is 1 (the key has not been pressed), the process 13 is repeatedly executed again. Further, if a key is pressed (the key is pressed at time t3 in FIG. 3), in process 15, a pulse A is generated as shown in FIG.
3 is output, the count value and OVF both become 0, and in process 14, the applied power is returned to the initial state via the applied power controller 1.5, and processes 9 and subsequent steps are performed again.

Next, as another embodiment, an example in which a sensor for detecting whether or not an operator is present in the vicinity of a word processor is used as the operating environment detection means will be described below. FIG. 5 is an overview diagram of the entire word processor, and a sensor 15 (for example, an infrared sensor) that detects the presence of an operator.
is attached to the front of the main unit. FIG. 6 is an overall block diagram including the sensor 15, and the sensor controller 16 that monitors the sensor 15 and the measurement results of the sensor 15.
are connected as shown in the figure, and all other configurations are the same as in FIG. FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart when the sensor 15 is used. First, in process 17, the host CPU inputs the sensor measurement results from the sensor controller, and in process 18, determines whether or not an operator is present (whether the sensor output is ON or not), and if so, again Return to process 18. If no person is present in process 18 (or absent for a certain period of time), in process 19, the applied power controller 1.5 is
The power applied to the cold cathode tubes is reduced through the control to control the initial screen to become darker. After that, in step 20 again, it is determined whether the operator is present (whether the sensor output is ON or not).
If it exists, in step 21, the applied power is returned to the initial state via the applied power controller 1.5, and steps 17 and subsequent steps are executed again.

[0011]

As explained above, in the present invention, the operating state and operating environment of the information processing device are determined by the operating environment detection means, and the power applied to the light emitter of the liquid crystal display device is controlled. When using an information processing device with a secondary battery, it is possible to improve the usage time, and as a result, it provides the user with an information processing device that is easy to use and has a good man-machine interface. It makes it possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a word processor.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the keyboard 4 and the input period measuring device 5. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation timing chart of the input period measuring device 5. FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart.

FIG. 5 is an overview diagram of a word processor.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Control device, 4...Input device (keyboard), 5...Input period measuring device, 15...Sensor, 16...Sensor controller.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A word processor or personal computer comprising an input device for inputting data, a display device for displaying data, a storage device for storing data, and a control device for controlling the input device, display device, and storage device. In the information processing device such as the above, the display device is a transmissive or semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device comprising a light emitting body such as a cold cathode tube or a solid state light emitting device (EL: electroluminescence), An information processing device characterized in that the power applied to the light emitting body of the liquid crystal display device is changed by determining the operating state and operating environment of the information processing device. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the information processing device is provided with an operating environment detecting means for grasping the operating state and operating environment of the device, and the detection result of the operating environment detecting means is An information processing device characterized in that the power applied to the light emitting body of the liquid crystal display device is changed according to the display device. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the operating environment detection means is an input period measuring device that measures an input period of arbitrary data from an input device. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the operating environment detection means is a detector that detects whether or not a person is present in the vicinity of the information processing apparatus. . 5. In the information processing device according to claim 2, when changing the power applied to the light emitting body, the power applied to the light emitting body is changed only when an automatic operation mode is selected by the input device or a dedicated setting switch, and is not changed when not selected. An information processing device characterized by: 6. In the information processing device according to claim 2, when the information processing device is operable with a secondary battery or an AC power supply, the applied power is changed only when the information processing device is operated with a secondary battery. An information processing device characterized by: