JPH05197444A - Portable information equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To validly utilize two display devices in the case of one operator, to easily recognize the display content by the operator and the other party, and to allow the other party at the opposed keyboard side to attain a key operation, when the other party is at the opposed keyboard side at the time of a negotiation or the like. CONSTITUTION:Display devices 4 and 5 are provided on the same information equipment. The display devices 4 and 5 display the divided same content in the same direction, or the display device 5 displays the display content of the display device 4 which is rotated by 180 degrees while the display contents of the display devices 4 and 5 are the same. And also, a sub-keyboard 7 is provided in addition to a keyboard 6. The two display screens can be utilized as a large screen by synchronizing them, and the screen of the same content can be recognized by sight from the both sides, and the key operation can be separately attained, at the time of the negotiation or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information device, and in particular, an image of characters, symbols and the like displayed on a display device is readable from two facing directions, whereby information exchange by a plurality of persons is possible. The present invention relates to a portable information device suitable for easily carrying out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-1319
There is the invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 13. The invention disclosed in the above publication is provided with a plurality of display devices and is configured to display the same content on each display device. It is characterized by being placed facing the keyboard. As a result, the operator visually checks the display device arranged facing the keyboard side, and the other party facing the other display device arranged facing the non-keyboard side observes the display device, so that a plurality of persons can be used in a business negotiation. Facilitates the exchange of information.

[0003]

The above-mentioned prior art has a problem that the display device on the side opposite to the keyboard is wasted without being utilized when there is only one operator.

In the case of business negotiations, there is a problem that the business partner on the side opposite the keyboard cannot operate the keyboard.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. In the case where there is only one operator, two display devices are effectively used, and when there is a partner on the non-keyboard side in business negotiations, etc. The display contents can be easily recognized by the operator and the partner, and the partner on the non-keyboard side can also perform the key operation.

[0006]

The present invention is a portable information equipment having a display device composed of liquid crystal or the like, in which two display devices are provided and the first and second display devices are aligned horizontally. In the state, the same display content is divided in the same direction, and the second display device is inverted to the keyboard side to make the display content the same as the first display content. The rotation processing for rotating the display content of the second display device by 180 degrees,
This is done by the user by switching the switch or automatically.

Further, the portable information equipment is provided with a sub-key which is connected to the portable information equipment by a cable and enables an operation similar to that of a keyboard.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when there is only one operator, the display contents of the first and second display devices are made to be in the same direction to form a composite screen, whereby two display devices can be used together. it can.

Further, when the other person faces the operator, the operator can see the screen of the first display device and the other person can see the screen of the second display device.

Furthermore, the other party can change the display contents of the first and second display devices by operating the sub-keys.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the portable information device according to the present embodiment when it is not in use. As shown in FIG. 2, when the portable information device 3 is not used, the latch 10 formed on the liquid crystal case 9 is locked to the bottom case 11. LCD case 9
Is fixed by the LCD case 8 and the hinge 12, and further the link 13
Are linked by. The hinge 12 is attached to the liquid crystal case 9 and the liquid crystal case 8 with screws or the like, and the link 1
Reference numeral 3 is attached to the liquid crystal case 9 and the liquid crystal case 8 with screws or the like. A hinge (not shown) is attached to the liquid crystal case 8 and the top cover 14, and the liquid crystal case 9 can be lifted by removing the latch 10 and lifting the liquid crystal case 9.
And the liquid crystal case 8 starts to rotate together. The liquid crystal case 9 can be gently rotated by appropriately setting the rotation torque of the hinge. Also, if the top cover 14 is used as a rotation stopper for the liquid crystal case 8,
The liquid crystal case 9 can be stopped at a predetermined position.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a first example of use of the portable information device of the present invention. In FIG. 3, 1 is an operator,
2 is a partner facing the operator 1, 3 is a portable information device, 4 and 5 are display devices, 6 is a keyboard, 7 is subkeys, 8 and 9 are liquid crystal cases, 14 is a top cover, 15
Is a knob for switching the display, and 16 is a connector for connecting the sub keyboard 7. As illustrated, the operator 1 visually checks the display device 4 of the portable information device 3 and is in a position where the keyboard 6 of the portable information device 3 can be used. Operator 1
The partner 2 in a position opposite to is visually inspecting the display device 5 of the portable information device 3 and is in a position where the sub keyboard 7 can be used. At this time, the display devices 4 and 5 display the same display contents upside down, as shown in FIG. Here, the display device 4 is attached to the liquid crystal case 8 with screws or the like, and the display device 5 is attached to the liquid crystal case 9 with screws or the like.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a second use example of the portable information device of the present invention, which is a liquid crystal case 8 and a liquid crystal case 9.
Shows the state in which it rotates to open and is stopped at a predetermined position. The rotation angle at this time is a little over a right angle, and the angle is set to a value at which the operator 1 can easily see the display devices 4 and 5. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the operator 1 visually checks the display devices 4 and 5 provided on the information device 3 and the keyboard 6 is usable. Here, as shown in the figure, the display devices 4 and 5 are integrated into one screen.

As shown in FIG. 5, the contents displayed on the display device 4 and the display device 5 are such that the continuation of the display contents on the display device 5 is displayed on the display device 4 by the same program. At this time, the home position of the cursor of the display device 5 is at the upper left end when viewed from the keyboard 6 side. That is, when the display starts from the upper left corner of the display device 5 and the lower right corner is displayed, the display starts from the upper left corner of the display device 4 and continues to the lower right corner as a continuation of the program (a, a in the figure).
b, c ... l, m, n ... o, p, q ... x, y, z). In other words, the same program is combined in the display device 5 and the display device 4 (letter A in the figure).

Next, a case where the state shown in FIG. 5 is changed to the state shown in FIG. 3 will be described as an example. That is, when the liquid crystal case 9 is further tilted from the state of FIG. 5, the rotation of the liquid crystal case 9 is started by the function of the link 13. By appropriately setting the frictional force of the link 13, the rotation speed of the liquid crystal case 9 can be moderated. The rotation of the liquid crystal case 9 stops when its tip hits the surface of a desk or the like holding the portable information device 3, and becomes stable at that position.

The screen display at this time will be described. Figure 5
The screen displayed as shown in (4) is automatically switched as follows when the rotation of the liquid crystal case 9 starts. That is, screens according to the same program are independently displayed on the display device 5 and the display device 4, and the display content of the display device 5 is the same as that of the display device 4.
It is rotated 0 degrees (A, A in FIG. 3). This automatic switching is performed by the action of an angle detection sensor (not shown) incorporated in the liquid crystal case 9 which will be described later.

Further, the display contents can be switched manually. That is, when the liquid crystal case 9 is stable in the state shown in FIG. 3, the same program is independently displayed on the display device 5 and the display device 4 by switching the knob 15 attached to a part of the information device 3. The display content of the display device 5 can be the display content of the display device 4 rotated by 180 degrees (A, A in FIG. 3). Note that FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the display contents of the display device 4 and the display device 5 after the display contents are switched as shown in FIG. 3 for easy understanding.

In FIG. 3, the opponent 2 who faces the operator 1
With the display device 5, the same content as the display content that the operator 1 is viewing can be viewed in the direction of the partner 2.
At this time, the operator 1 operates the keyboard 6 to change the display contents of the display device 4 and the display device 5 at the same time with the same contents. Further, the other party 2 can change the display contents of the display device 4 and the display device 5 at the same time by operating the sub-keyboard 7 with the same contents.

The sub-keyboard 7 is provided with a cable and has a connector at its tip. By inserting the connector into the connector 16 attached to the information device 3, the sub-keyboard 7 can communicate with the information device 3.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the portable information device 3 shown in FIGS. In FIG. 1, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, 17 is a CPU, 19 is a drawing processing unit, and 20 is an address conversion circuit. In addition, the display devices 4 and 5 have frame memories 41 and
51, display control circuits 42 and 52, and display devices 43 and 5
3 and 3. Here, the display device 43,
A liquid crystal device is used as 53.

The drawing processor 19 interprets the drawing command output from the CPU 17 and generates an image corresponding to the drawing command. For example, in the case of kanji display, the glyph pattern is read and the pattern is read by the frame memory 4 in the display device 4, 5.
Write to 1,51. The writing position is determined by the drawing command. The display data stored in the frame memories 41 and 51 are displayed on the display devices 43 and 53, respectively.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the coordinate relationship between the frame memories 41 and 51 and the display screens on the display devices 43 and 53 in the display state shown in FIG. In the figure, M
XA represents the X coordinate of the frame memory 51, MYA represents the Y coordinate of the frame memory 51, XA represents the X coordinate of the display screen of the display device 53, and YA represents the Y coordinate of the display screen of the display device 53. Similarly, MXA 'is a frame memory 4
X coordinate of 1, MYA 'is Y coordinate of the frame memory 41,
XA ′ represents the X coordinate of the display screen of the display device 43, and YA represents the Y coordinate of the display screen of the display device 43.

As shown in FIG. 6, in order to display the same image on the two display screens, the image drawn by the drawing processing section 19 is subjected to the address conversion as shown in the following equation in the address conversion circuit 20, It is necessary to store them in the frame memories 41 and 51.

[0024]

[Equation 1]

[0025]

[Equation 2]

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the coordinate relationship between the frame memories 41 and 51 and the display screens on the display devices 43 and 53 in the display state shown in FIG. In the figure,
MXA is the X coordinate of the frame memory 51, MYA is the Y coordinate of the frame memory 51, XA is the X coordinate of the display screen of the display device 53, and YA is the Y of the display screen of the display device 53.
It represents the coordinates. Similarly, MXA ′ is the X coordinate of the frame memory 41, MYA ′ is the Y coordinate of the frame memory 41, XA ′ is the X coordinate of the display screen of the display device 43, and YA.
A represents the Y coordinate of the display screen of the display device 43.

In order to change the display state of FIG. 6 to the display state of FIG. 7, it is necessary to perform address conversion as shown in the following equation in the address conversion circuit 20 and store it in the frame memories 41 and 51.

[0028]

[Equation 3]

[0029]

[Equation 4]

Here, MXmax means the maximum value of the frame memory 51 in the X-axis direction, and MYAmax means the maximum value of the frame memory 51 in the Y-axis direction.

Next, regarding the automatic switching of the display contents by the angle detection sensors provided in the liquid crystal cases 8 and 9, FIG.
Starting from FIG.

8 and 10 are side sectional views of the liquid crystal cases 8 and 9. Here, FIG. 8 is a side sectional view in the state shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 10 is a side sectional view in the state shown in FIG. 9 shows the liquid crystal case 8 in the state shown in FIG.
9 is a plan sectional view of FIG.

As shown in the figure, a protrusion 8 a is provided at the center of the tip of the liquid crystal case 8, and the protrusion 8 a has a structure to enter the inside of the liquid crystal case 9. As shown in FIG. 9, inside the tip portion of the liquid crystal case 9, an emitting diode 27 and a light receiving diode 28 are provided facing each other on both sides of the protrusion 8a. The issuing diode 27 is the printed circuit board 2
9 and the light receiving diode 28 is mounted on the printed circuit board 30. And the issuing diode 2
The light generated from 7 is received by the light receiving diode 28. In the state shown in FIG. 9, the light from the issuing diode 27 is blocked by the projection 8 a, and therefore the light receiving diode 28 cannot receive the light from the issuing diode 27.

Next, the operation of switching from the use state shown in FIG. 5 to the use state shown in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the liquid crystal cases 8 and 9 in the use state shown in FIG. 3, in which the projection 8a projects from the liquid crystal case 9 and the light from the issuing diode 27 is not blocked by the projection 8a. .. Therefore, the light of the issuing diode 27 changes from the blocking state to the non-blocking state, and the light receiving diode 28 receives the light of the issuing diode 27.

As described above, the light receiving diode 28 changes from the state of not receiving the light from the issuing diode 27 to the state of receiving the light, and receiving the light of the issuing diode 27 causes a voltage to be generated in the circuit of the printed circuit board 30. Then, this is input to the CPU 17. As a result, the CPU 17 recognizes that it is in the use state as shown in FIG. 3, and automatically switches to the display state as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9,
When the light receiving diode 28 does not receive the light from the issuing diode 27, no voltage is generated in the circuit of the printed circuit board 30, so that nothing is input to the CPU 17. As a result, the display state is automatically switched to the display state shown in FIG.

According to the above implementation, when there is only one operator, the two display screens can be combined and used, so that it can be used as a large screen and can be used as a face-to-face contact with the operator as in a business negotiation. When there is a partner, the operator and the facing partner can view different screens and operate with different keys. Therefore, while the usability is improved,
Since it can be realized with the same hardware, it is possible to provide low-priced information equipment.

[0038]

According to the present invention, when there is one operator,
Since two display screens can be combined and used, it can be used as a large screen, and when there is a partner in the face-to-face contact of the operator as in the case of business negotiations, the operator and the face-to-face partner have separate screens. Can be viewed and operated with different keys, which has the effect of improving usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a portable information device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the portable information device of the present invention when not in use.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a first usage state of the portable information device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display contents of two display devices in a use state of the portable information device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a second usage state of the portable information device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a frame memory 4 in the display state shown in FIG.
Explanatory drawing which shows the coordinate relationship of 1, 51 and the display screen on the display devices 43 and 53.

FIG. 7 is a frame memory 4 in the display state shown in FIG.
Explanatory drawing which shows the coordinate relationship of 1, 51 and the display screen on the display devices 43 and 53.

FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of two connected liquid crystal cases.

9 is a plan sectional view of the two liquid crystal cases in the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of two connected liquid crystal cases.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operator, 2 ... Opponent facing the operator, 3 ... Information equipment, 4 ... Display device, 4a ... Liquid crystal driver, 5 ... Display device, 5a ... Liquid crystal driver, 6 ... Keyboard, 7 ... Subkey, 8 ... Liquid crystal Case, 8a ... Protrusion, 9 ... Liquid crystal case, 1
0 ... Latch, 11 ... Bottom case, 12 ... Hinge, 13 ... Link, 14 ... Top cover, 15 ... Knob, 15a ... Changeover switch, 16 ... Connector, 17 ... CPU, 19 ... Drawing processing section, 20 ... Address conversion section , 27 ... Issuing diode, 28 ... Light receiving diode, 29, 30 ... Printed circuit board, 41, 51 ... Frame memory, 42, 52 ... Display control circuit, 43, 53 ... Display device.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A portable information device having a display device such as a liquid crystal, wherein two display devices composed of the liquid crystal or the like and the two display devices are horizontally aligned facing the keyboard side. When arranged, the contents displayed on the first and second display devices are divided into the same contents.
When the second display device is arranged facing the keyboard side and the second display device is arranged facing the keyboard side, the display contents of the first and second display devices are the same, and the second display device is the same. A portable information device comprising means for changing the display content of the device to the display content of the first display device. 2. A first display in which the same contents are divided into contents displayed on the first and second display devices, and the display contents on the first and second display devices are the same, The portable information according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching between the display content of the second display device and the second display in which the display content of the first display device is reversed. machine. 3. The portable information device according to claim 1, further comprising a sub-keyboard in addition to a normal keyboard.