JPH10198291A - Double-sided display liquid crystal display and portable information terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the double-sided display liquid crystal display and portable information terminal device which eliminate inferiority in the display style of a conventional portable information terminal device and the operability of an input means and enables comfortable input operation. SOLUTION: This terminal device 1 can have a housing opened and closed around a shaft A as a fulcrum and on both the opened internal surfaces, right and left keyboards 7a and 7b are arranged which are divided and put together to constitute a full keyboard. Those arranged keyboards 7a and 7b are divided as the left and right parts although they constitute the full keyboard, so keys hit with respective fingers can be arranged to wide key width and key input can be done without any feeling of physical disorder.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a double-sided liquid crystal display and a portable information terminal using the same.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a double-sided display liquid crystal display and a portable information terminal device in which a small and lightweight portable information terminal device such as a PDA is provided with a double-sided display liquid crystal display and a full keyboard to improve user convenience.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electronic personal organizers have been widely used as personal information devices.
A portable information terminal device called “nal digital assistant” is also known. The PDA has a keyboard and a touch panel for input and control, and has a function of creating a message using a keyboard or a pen and storing the message in addition to functions of schedule management and a telephone directory. In addition, there are some devices that can communicate by facsimile (Fax) or electronic mail (E-Mail) through a telephone line by being equipped with a modem function.

[0003] However, the keyboard provided in the conventional portable information terminal device has many input modes using the dual-purpose keys due to space restrictions, and has poor operability. In general, input by a conventional touch panel is generally performed by inputting handwritten characters on the touch panel and recognizing the characters. This method depends on the recognition performance of alphanumeric characters, kana and kanji. However, despite having learning ability, the frustration of the operation and the low recognition rate hindered the spread of portable information terminal devices.

On the other hand, there is a method of constructing a full keyboard in a portable information terminal device. However, since key tops must be arranged in a narrow space, one button becomes very small, the key pitch is narrow, and the operation is extremely difficult. It is a difficult situation. Such a full keyboard may be a normal push button or a so-called touch panel key method in which an input is made by a touch panel formed on a liquid crystal display panel. In any case, the smaller the key pitch, the narrower the key pitch, and the key pitch cannot be used unless pressed with a pen tip, and the operability is far from comfortable blind touch.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to solve the problem of the display form of the conventional portable information terminal device and the poor operability of the input means.
An object of the present invention is to provide a double-sided liquid crystal display and a portable information terminal device that enable comfortable input operations.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a double-sided display liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal layer having a predetermined optical rotation structure, a transparent liquid crystal layer sandwiching the liquid crystal layer, and driving the liquid crystal layer. A pair of transparent glass provided with electrodes, and a pair of polarizing plates that are integrally laminated and disposed on the transparent glass,
One side of the polarizing plate, the first reflector disposed on the portion displaying the back side when displaying on both sides of the liquid crystal panel, and the other side of the polarizing plate, the front side when displaying on both sides of the liquid crystal panel. Like the second reflector placed on the part to display,
And a drive unit for displaying the back surface and the front surface in the correct orientation when displaying on both sides of the liquid crystal panel. Thereby, one liquid crystal panel can be used on both front and back sides, and the display space, volume, weight, and thickness can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the portable information terminal device is divided into two housings which can be opened and closed in a predetermined direction with a support shaft attached to a predetermined location as a fulcrum, and both inner surfaces of the two housings. And a keyboard arranged to be a full keyboard when the housing is expanded.
As a result, the information terminal can be opened in two, and the key can be pressed with both hands. In addition, since one of the divided surfaces occupies half the space for arranging full keyboards, the key pitch can be widened and the operability of key input can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the portable information terminal device is divided into two housings which can be opened and closed in a predetermined direction with a support shaft attached to a predetermined location as a fulcrum, and divided into two inner surfaces of the two housings. It is arranged so that the keyboard that becomes a full keyboard when the housing is opened and the back surface is displayed when the housing is opened, and the front surface is displayed when the housing is folded down A liquid crystal display, a keyboard, and an input means for performing input operations while viewing information displayed on the surface of the liquid crystal display in a state where the casing is folded. Storage means for storing the information content created by the means,
A control means for controlling these is provided. Thus, when the information terminal is opened in two, the input operation can be performed by tapping the keyboard with both hands while viewing the information displayed on the back surface of the double-sided liquid crystal display. Further, in a state where the information terminal is closed, the input operation can be performed by operating the input means while viewing the information displayed on the surface of the double-sided liquid crystal display, thereby improving the convenience of the user. Can be.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, a schematic configuration of a portable information terminal device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a four side view of the portable information terminal device of the present invention in a closed state, and is an example of application display while a new message of an e-mail is being read.

This terminal device 1 has a double-sided display liquid crystal display 2 having a structure in which a touch panel is integrally joined, and an infrared data communication interface (denoted as "IrDAi / f" in the figure) 3 enabling cordless digital access. , Jog dial (4, PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card Inter
national Association) It is configured to include a slot 5 and an input pen 6 for operating a touch panel. Note that the terminal device 1 of the present invention is an example of a design, and the overall shape and arrangement may be another design.

Next, the operation of the portable information terminal device of the present invention will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, for example, a portable telephone (not shown) is connected to the PCMCIA slot 5 of the terminal device 1,
An e-mail as shown on the double-sided liquid crystal display 2 is received. When replying to an e-mail received or writing a new message using the portable information terminal device of the present invention, the input pen 6 is operated to display a pull-down menu on the double-sided liquid crystal display 2.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an application displayed while writing a new electronic mail message on the double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention. Each item is clicked using the input pen 6 or the jog dial 4 from the pull-down menu as shown in FIG. Then, the terminal device 1 is opened, for example, right and left while confirming the displayed contents.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the terminal device 1 of the present invention is opened right and left.
As a feature of the present invention, the housing can be opened and closed with the support shaft A as a fulcrum, and keyboards 7a and 7b, which are divided on both opened inner surfaces and are left and right to form a full keyboard, are arranged. The keyboard 7a arranged in this way,
Since 7b is a full keyboard, it is divided into right and left, so that the width of the keys to be touched by each finger can be widened and the key input can be performed without discomfort.

This input mode is displayed on the front side of the double-sided display liquid crystal display 2 and on the back side in response to "new message", "reply", "forward", "re-send", etc. of the e-mail. Can be displayed. However, in this example, only the front surface is displayed, and no input is possible. Of course, the keyed-in content is displayed on both the front and back surfaces each time.

The right side of the terminal device 1 of the present invention in FIG.
That is, a double-sided liquid crystal display (rear surface) 2b is disposed as a second characteristic feature of the present invention in the upper right portion corresponding to the rear surface of the double-sided liquid crystal display 2 in FIG. It is displayed each time.

FIG. 4 shows a double-sided liquid crystal display (back side).
It is a display example which shows the whole image at the time of writing a new message of the electronic mail displayed on 2b, and is a state diagram in which the hatched part is scrolled and visible. That is, the entire image B is displayed on the double-sided liquid crystal display (front surface) 2a, but the partial image C is displayed on the double-sided liquid crystal display (rear surface) 2b as shown in FIGS. Will be displayed. By operating the jog dial 4, the partial image C can be scrolled up / down displayed at any part.

That is, the jog dial 4 is connected to the terminal 1
By pushing the cursor to the side, the cursor 8 (see FIG. 4) can be shifted to the right, and by rotating the jog dial 4, the cursor 8 can be moved up and down.
It goes without saying that the display on the double-sided display liquid crystal display (front surface) 2a and (back surface) 2b is driven so that the display is always correct from the viewpoint of the user.

Next, the details of the double-sided display liquid crystal display of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a basic structure of a double-sided display liquid crystal display of the present invention, FIG. 6 shows a display example of a double-sided display liquid crystal display of the present invention, and FIG. (B) is a figure which shows the example of a display of the surface.

The double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention as shown in FIG. 5 is generally constituted by a common glass 10 and a segment glass 11. Common glass 1
At 0, a transparent electrode 12 is formed. On the segment glass 11, a color filter 13 (in the case of a color liquid crystal display element), an intermediate film 14 such as a black matrix, and a transparent electrode 15 are formed.

The two glass substrates are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval, and are joined by a sealing material 16 with a spacer (not shown) interposed therebetween. That is, in the liquid crystal display element, after the cell gap is maintained by the spacer, the liquid crystal injection hole is secured, and the periphery is bonded with the sealing material 16. Then, a liquid crystal layer 17 is formed by injecting a liquid crystal 17 from an injection hole (not shown), and two polarizing plates 18 and 19 are integrally laminated on both surfaces of these glass substrates. Further, a reflecting plate 20 is adhered on the polarizing plate 18 at a portion corresponding to the back surface display (upper part in FIG. 5) of the common glass 10 and a reflecting plate is provided on the polarizing plate 19 at a portion corresponding to the front surface display (lower part in FIG. 5) of the segment glass 11. 21 is attached. A driving driver is connected to the liquid crystal cell thus completed to complete a double-sided display liquid crystal display having the above configuration. The driving driver may be provided inside the liquid crystal cell.

In place of the reflection plates 20 and 21, for example, a thin backlight of an EL (Electro Luminescent) or light guide plate type may be arranged so that identification in a dark place in a double-sided liquid crystal display is possible. it can.

A liquid crystal display device having such a structure is called a reflection type STN type. The liquid crystal display element targeted by the present invention is not limited to this structure, and may use a double panel structure DSTN, an FSTN using a film, and a TFT active matrix type using a thin film transistor (Thin Film Transistor). Any combination may be used as long as it can be seen from both sides.

Further, in the present embodiment, the color display on the front side and the monochrome display on the rear side are exemplified.
Of course, a double-sided color display or a double-sided monochrome display may be employed. However, when the color display is viewed from the back side, the color saturation and brightness may be deteriorated as compared with the case where the color display is viewed from the table. Further, when the front and back drivers are not separated, it is necessary to use a kana-kanji / alphanumeric character generator properly so that the display area on the back side is mirror-displayed.

To briefly explain an example of the operation of the liquid crystal display device having such a configuration, an alignment film (not shown) formed on the common glass 10 and the segment glass 11 described above.
Is subjected to a rubbing treatment by a predetermined means.
7 is oriented by being twisted about 270 degrees by the action of the rubbing. The liquid crystal 17 has an optical rotation, and a polarizing plate 18,
The plane of polarization rotates along 19. Information is displayed by this optical rotation.

FIG. 6A shows an example of the back side display in the double-sided display liquid crystal display of the present invention. Originally, VGA (Video
A 640 (H) × 480 (V) dot of the Graphics Array) is appropriately sized and a dot matrix is driven. However, in order to facilitate understanding, this is a diagram configured as a 16 × 16 dot matrix. . By driving corresponding pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions by a driver (decoder) 22 and a driver (clock) 23, the dots are turned on, and a Kana-Kanji character generator performs Kana-Kanji display.

Similarly, FIG. 6B is an example of a front surface display in the double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention. In this example, 1
/ 2 VGA, that is, 640 (H) × 240 (V) dot display, and a double-sided display liquid crystal display with a touch panel. Therefore, handwritten characters, pictures, and the like can be drawn, and can be applied as Fax. Depending on the application, it can be used as an electronic organizer, or by using the PCMCIA slot 5 as described above.
Naturally, it is possible to communicate with the Internet or a personal computer by using a Modem card or a mobile phone adapter card.

In the configuration of the present invention, the double-sided liquid crystal display is assumed to be a color TFT on the front surface and a simple 16 × 16 dot monochrome TFT on the rear surface for displaying one character. Further, the front surface driver is separated for the front surface and the back surface. In this case, the transparent electrode is exclusively used for the front surface and the back surface. Even if the LCD drive is separate from the front and back,
There is no particular change in the configuration of the surrounding interface control. Alternatively, the same liquid crystal panel may be used, and a mirror image character generator may be used in combination with the same liquid crystal drive so that only the 4th to 5th rows on the back side can be read correctly from the back side.

Next, the circuit configuration of the portable information terminal device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block circuit diagram showing a main part of the portable information terminal device of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the configuration is almost the same as that of the conventional notebook personal computer, and a jog dial is newly added.
Therefore, the operation of the present invention will be described only for the characteristic portions.

The circuit configuration of the portable information terminal device of the present invention is as follows.
Engine & Peripheral Control 30 for Image Processing
Infrared data communication interface (IrD
Ai / f) 3, jog dial 4, serial Bus3
1. Parallel Bus 32, amplifier 33 and speaker 3
4, a CPU 35 for controlling the entire terminal device, a ROM 36 storing a control program and the like, a RAM 37,
CCMIA control 38, RTC (Real Time Cloc
k) 39, a display driver & liquid crystal panel 40 for driving the double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention, and a keypad 41.

To explain the circuit operation of the main part of the portable information terminal device of the present invention, the engine & peripheral control 30 processes the image display signal to the liquid crystal panel and the peripheral circuit (infrared data communication interface (IrDA
i / f) 3, jog dial 4, serial bus 31,
Parallel bus 32, amplifier 33, PCMCIA control 38, RTC 39, etc.) and CPU 35
Interface control with the For example, the control command of the jog dial 4 is received and processed, and the operation of moving the display position of the double-sided liquid crystal display or the keypad 41 is performed.
The keyed-in content is processed each time and displayed on the display driver & liquid crystal panel 40. CP
The U35 controls various interrupts and executes various application programs in accordance with instructions written in the ROM 36 based on the real-time OS.

With the portable information terminal device of the present invention, the following specific effects can be obtained. That is, the first
To open the information terminal in two, and to arrange the keyboard approximately half each on both inner surfaces so that you can touch with both hands, on one side only half the space for arranging the full keyboard, so the key pitch is It can be widely used to improve key input operability. Secondly, at normal time, for example, an area of 4/5 of the entire area is used as the liquid crystal for surface display, and the reflection plate and the dot driver are divided into two according to the respective areas. When the information terminal is opened in two, the remaining 1/5 is used for character display at the time of key input on the back side. That is, by using one liquid crystal panel on both front and back sides, the display space, volume, weight, and thickness can be reduced, and the size of the information terminal can be reduced.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various other embodiments of the present invention are possible in addition to these embodiments. For example, as an application example of the present invention, by providing two drivers for the front surface and the back surface without using a reflection plate, characters and the like can be displayed from the front and back sides on the same liquid crystal screen. In that case, the liquid crystal area on the surface can be utilized to the maximum. The double-sided display liquid crystal display can be widely applied to FLC (ferroelectric liquid crystal) and all types of display devices expected to be developed in the future. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0035]

As described above, according to the portable information terminal device of the present invention, a keyboard which is divided and disposed on both inner surfaces of two housings and which becomes a full keyboard when the housing is opened, A double-sided liquid crystal display arranged so that the back surface is displayed when the housing is opened and the front surface is displayed when the housing is folded. The body can be opened in two and can be hit with both hands, improving the operability of key input. Further, since one liquid crystal panel can be used on both sides, it is easy to confirm necessary items at the time of input, and a comfortable input environment in the portable information terminal device can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the portable information terminal device of the present invention is closed.
It is a side view, and is an example of an application display during reading a new message of an electronic mail.

FIG. 2 is a display example of an application in which a new message of an electronic mail is being written on the double-sided display liquid crystal display of the portable information terminal device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the portable information terminal device of the present invention is opened right and left.

FIG. 4 is a display example showing the whole image of a new message of an e-mail displayed on the back side of the double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention when a hatched portion is scrolled.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a basic structure of a double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention.

6A and 6B show display examples of a double-sided liquid crystal display of the present invention, wherein FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a display example of the back surface, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing a display example of the front surface.

FIG. 7 is a block circuit diagram showing a main part of the portable information terminal device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Terminal device, 2 ... Double-sided display liquid crystal display, 3 ... Infrared data communication interface, 4 ... Jog dial, 5 ... PCMCIA slot, 6 ... Input pen, 7a,
7b: keyboard, 8: cursor, 10: common glass, 11: segment glass, 12, 15: transparent electrode,
13 ... color filter, 14 ... interlayer film, 16 ... sealing material,
17: Liquid crystal, 18, 19: Polarizer, 20, 21: Reflector, 22: Driver (decoder), 23: Driver (clock), 30: Engine and peripheral control, 31: Serial bus, 32: Parallel bus, 3
3 ... Amplifier, 34 ... Speaker, 35 ... CPU, 36 ... R
OM, 37 RAM, 38 PCMCIA control, 39 RTC, 40 Display driver & liquid crystal panel, 41 Keypad

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal layer having a predetermined optical rotation structure, a pair of transparent glasses sandwiching the liquid crystal layer and having a transparent electrode for driving the liquid crystal layer, and disposed integrally with the transparent glass. A pair of polarizing plates, one side of the polarizing plate, a first reflector disposed on a portion displaying a back surface, and the other side of the polarizing plate disposed on a portion displaying a front surface. A double reflector liquid crystal display, comprising: a second reflecting plate; and a driving means for displaying the back surface and the front surface in a correct direction. 2. The double-sided liquid crystal display according to claim 1, wherein a color filter capable of displaying a color is formed on at least one of the pair of transparent glasses. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a first backlight and a second backlight that enable identification in a dark place are arranged in place of the first reflector and the second reflector. Item 2. A double-sided liquid crystal display according to Item 1. 4. Two housings openable and closable in a predetermined direction with a support shaft attached to a predetermined location as a fulcrum, and are separately provided on both inner surfaces of the two housings, A portable information terminal device comprising: a keyboard configured to be a full keyboard when unfolded. 5. Two housings openable and closable in a predetermined direction with a support shaft attached to a predetermined location as a fulcrum, and are separately provided on both inner surfaces of the two housings, wherein the housing is A keyboard that becomes a full keyboard when unfolded, and is arranged so that the back surface is displayed when the housing is unfolded, and is arranged so that the front surface is displayed when the housing is folded. A double-sided display liquid crystal display, an input unit that enables an input operation while viewing information displayed on a surface of the double-sided display liquid crystal display in a state where the casing is folded, the keyboard and the input unit Storage means for storing the information content created by the computer, and control means for controlling the keyboard, the double-sided display liquid crystal display, and the input means. The information terminal device.