JPH09106386A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the operation of inputting on a touch panel even in the state of folding a casing as needed by providing a touch panel part and a turning mechanism. SOLUTION: When a liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 opens an upper case 11 and a lower case 12 at 180 deg. by a hinge mechanism 15 as shown in figure (5), a section, which becomes one part of the outer surface cover of the upper case 11 in a non-use state A, on the rear side of the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is turned into the same plane as a keyboard 14 as shown in figure (6). When the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are closed again by the hinge mechanism 15 from the state of figure (5) or (6), the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 faces the outside of a main body 10 of casing as shown in figure (7) and display and touch input can be performed in the state of folding the casing similarly to figure (1).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device, such as an electronic notebook or a palmtop computer, which can be used by opening a main body housing that is folded when being carried.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A foldable electronic device with a touch panel typified by a general electronic notebook and palmtop computer has a housing body folded in two, and when the housing is open, one of the inner surfaces is a touch panel or a touch panel. A display unit such as a liquid crystal display panel integrated with a touch panel and a keyboard having a large number of keys on the other side are adopted.

[0003]

However, in the electronic device as described above, when considering a situation in which input operation can be performed using only the touch panel without using the keyboard, it cannot be used unless the housing is opened. , Half of the open housing, the keyboard side is completely unnecessary.

Therefore, when the housing is used by placing it on a desk or the like, it does not cause much problem, but especially when it is held by hand, the flat area of the housing unnecessarily increases and it is difficult to grip. It becomes difficult to perform stable input operation for a long time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a foldable electronic device with a touch panel, in which the input on the touch panel is possible even when the housing is folded as necessary. An object is to provide an electronic device that can be operated.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems To be more specific, the present invention provides (1) an electronic device having a foldable housing, wherein a touch panel portion and either one of the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the housing when the touch panel portion is folded. And a rotation mechanism that is attached to each central portion of a pair of opposite sides of the touch panel portion and a housing side position corresponding to each central portion to rotate the touch panel portion approximately 180 ° with respect to the housing. And is provided.

With such a structure, the touch panel portion of the device housing is selectively rotated by 180 ° between the folded state and the open state, so that the input operation on the touch panel is performed in either state. Will be able to.

(2) In an electronic device having a foldable housing, the housing is attached so as to be rotatable by 180 ° with respect to a part of the housing, and either the inner surface side or the outer surface side of the housing at the time of folding is selected. And a detection means for detecting whether the touch panel portion is facing the inner surface side or the outer surface side of the housing at the time of folding, and the touch panel portion at the time of folding the housing according to the detection result of this detection means. A control means for controlling power supply to an input other than the touch panel section is provided.

With such a structure, it is possible to perform an input operation on the touch panel even when the housing is folded, if necessary, and it is possible to avoid power consumption for unnecessary input processing.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a portable electronic device such as an electronic notebook will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 illustrates the external configuration and the open / closed state in stages. FIG. 1 (1) shows an unused state in which the housing body 10 is folded, and the housing body 10 is an upper case 1.
1 and the lower case 12.

FIG. 1 (2) shows a state in which the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are opened 90 °, and the inner surface of the upper case 11 has a liquid crystal display panel and a transparent touch panel integrated with each other. 1, a keyboard 14 composed of a large number of key switches is arranged on the inner surface of the lower case 12, and the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are connected by a hinge mechanism 15, as shown in FIG.
It can be opened up to 180 ° as shown in.

The mechanism of the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 of the upper case 11 will be described later in detail.
As shown in (4), the upper case 11 is rotatably mounted with the outer frame, and the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is rotated 180 ° which is the maximum rotation range in FIG. Indicates the status.

That is, the rear surface of the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 shown in FIG. 1 (5) is the upper case 11 in the unused state in which the housing body 10 shown in FIG. 1 (1) is folded.
It constitutes a part of the outer surface cover.

When the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is turned upside down 180 ° with respect to the upper case 11 as shown in FIG. 1 (5), the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are opened 180 ° by the hinge mechanism 15. , Fig. 1 (6)
As shown in FIG. 2, the back surface of the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13, and the portion which has been a part of the outer surface cover of the upper case 11 in the unused state of FIG. 1 (1) are flush with the keyboard 14.

Then, FIG. 1 (5) or FIG.
When the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are closed again by the hinge mechanism 15 from the state of (6), the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is exposed to the outside of the housing body 10 as shown in FIG. As in the case of 1 (1), display and touch input can be performed in the folded state.

FIG. 2 (a) shows the assembled structure of the housing body 10, particularly the upper case 11. As shown in the figure, the upper case 11 includes a pair of case outer peripheries 21a and 21b.
And a pair of panel covers 22a and 22b, and a liquid crystal display panel integrally formed and a liquid crystal touch panel 23 which is a transparent touch panel itself.

The case outer peripheries 21a and 21b both form rotary shafts 24a and 24b at the center of a pair of inner wall surfaces facing each other of the frame portion, and one of them 24a has a tubular shape for passing a connection.

A pair of rotary shafts 15a (one of which is not shown) is formed on one end surface of the panel cover 22a, and is coaxially attached to the rotary shaft 15b formed on the lower case 12 side. And constitutes the hinge mechanism 15.

The panel covers 22a and 22b are for forming the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 by sandwiching the liquid crystal touch panel 23, and one of them 22a has an opening 25 for the liquid crystal touch panel 23, and both of them have an opening 25. The rotation shaft 24 of the case outer peripheries 21a and 21b
Circular notches 26a and 26b corresponding to a and 24b are formed.

The panel cover 22 on the side not having the opening 25
As shown in FIG. 2B, b is the upper case 1 in an unused state in which the housing body 10 shown in FIG. 1A is folded.
1, which constitutes a part of the outer cover of the liquid crystal touch panel 23.
Is to protect.

FIG. 3 shows the outer circumference 2 of the case in the upper case 11.
1 shows a connection structure between the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 and 1a and 21b. In the figure, the flexible substrate 31 for connection, which is connected to an electronic circuit, is twisted at the rotating shaft 15a portion of the outer circumference 21a of the case, and then the panel cover 22a (not shown) is provided through the rotating shaft 24a. Two
The liquid crystal touch panel 2 is installed in the space sandwiched by 2b.
3 is connected.

Here, the flexible substrate 31 is the rotary shaft 2
In the portion 4a, considering the rotation of the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 with respect to the upper case 11 at a maximum of 180 °, the length is made to have a margin and a slight twist is added.

Next, the structure of the electronic circuit provided in the housing body 10 having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. In the same figure, a transparent touch panel 41 and a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) that constitute the liquid crystal touch panel 23.
Numeral 42 is driven by a tablet controller 43 and a liquid crystal controller 44, respectively, and these tablet controller 43 and liquid crystal controller 44 are both connected to the CPU 45 via the flexible board 31 in FIG. 3, and under the control of this CPU 45. Operate.

The CPU 45 also includes the keyboard 14, a detection switch 46, a power switch 47, a ROM 48, and a RAM.
It is connected to the CPU 49 and controls the operation of each part of the circuit while appropriately storing various data in the RAM 49 based on a system program stored in the ROM 48 in advance.

Although not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the detection switch 46 is, for example, the case outer circumference 21a or 21.
It is a switch having, for example, a mechanical contact provided at one position on the inner wall surface of the frame b, and the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 shown in FIGS. 1 (1) to (3) is directed to the inner surface with respect to the upper case 11. Turned off, the above Fig. 1 (5) ~
The liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 shown in (7) is turned on with the upper case 11 facing outward.

The power switch 47 is, for example, the lower case 1.
It is provided on the side surface of No. 2 and turns on / off the power. In the above-mentioned configuration, when the power switch 47 is operated to turn on the power, the CPU 45 performs the setting process regarding the input as shown in FIG.

That is, when the power switch 47 detects that the power is turned on, the CPU 45 first determines whether or not the signal from the detection switch 46 is on at that time (step S1).

When it is determined that the signal from the detection switch 46 is turned on, it is assumed that the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is facing the outer surface of the upper case 11, and the key sampling for the keyboard 14 is performed. The above processing is not performed (step S2), and only the input from the transparent touch panel 41 based on the driving of the tablet controller 43 is accepted (step S3), and the input mode is set.

In step S1, the detection switch 4
When it is determined that the signal from 6 is turned off instead of on, the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is placed in the upper case 1.
Assuming that it is facing inward with respect to 1,
The input mode is set assuming that inputs from both the keyboard 14 and the transparent touch panel 41 are accepted (step S4).

As described above, by appropriately disabling the input from the keyboard 14 according to the signal from the detection switch 46, it is possible to perform the input operation using only the touch panel without using the keyboard. Then, Fig. 1 (7)
As shown in FIG. 5, the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 is rotated so that the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13 faces the outer surface so that the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are folded and displayed on the liquid crystal touch panel unit 13. In response to this, writing and touch input with a pen, fingertip, or the like can be performed, and further, the power consumption of the keyboard 14 is not wasted, and the capacity of the battery serving as a power source is limited. The battery can be effectively used in the device. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a foldable electronic device with a touch panel, which is capable of performing an input operation on the touch panel even when the housing is folded as necessary. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an external configuration and an open / closed state according to an embodiment of the present invention in a stepwise manner.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an assembled configuration according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a connection structure between a case outer periphery and a liquid crystal touch panel unit in the upper case 11 according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an input setting process corresponding to the detection switch when the power is turned on according to the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 10 ... Housing main body 11 ... Upper case 12 ... Lower case 13 ... Liquid crystal touch panel unit 14 ... Keyboard 15 ... Hinge mechanism 21a, 21b ... Case outer circumference 22a, 22b ... Panel cover 23 ... Liquid crystal touch panel 24a, 24b ... Rotating shaft 25 ... Opening 26a , 26b ... Notches 31 ... Flexible substrate for connection 41 ... Transparent touch panel 42 ... Liquid crystal display panel 43 ... Tablet controller 44 ... Liquid crystal controller 45 ... CPU 46 ... Detection switch 47 ... Power switch 48 ... ROM 49 ... RAM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device having a foldable housing, comprising: a touch panel portion; and a touch panel portion selectively facing one of the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the housing when the housing is folded,
A pair of opposite sides of the touch panel portion, and a rotating mechanism attached to each central portion of the pair of opposite sides and a housing side position corresponding to each central portion, and rotating the touch panel portion by about 180 ° with respect to the housing. Electronic equipment to do. 2. An electronic device having a foldable housing, which is rotatably attached to a part of the housing by 180 ° and is selectively attached to either the inner surface side or the outer surface side of the housing when folded. And a detection unit that detects whether the touch panel unit faces the inner surface side or the outer surface side of the housing when the housing is folded, and the above-mentioned detection method when the housing is folded according to the detection result of the detection means. An electronic device comprising: a control unit that controls a power supply for an input other than a touch panel unit.