This patent application is based on and claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-209521, filed on Dec. 23, 2021, in the Japan Patent Office, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a display apparatus.
Some products, such as laptop personal computers and smartphones, include two screens and can be folded. For such products, a user interface such as a touch input or a pen input is often used as an input method instead of an external input device such as a keyboard or a mouse.
There is known a product having a configuration in which a hybrid touch sensor system including two types of detecting methods such as an electromagnetic induction method and a capacitance method is employed, and a touch input according to the capacitance method and a pen input according to the electromagnetic induction method are simultaneously detected on the same screen.
In one aspect, a display apparatus includes a first casing including a first screen including a first touch sensor to receive a finger input and a second casing including a second screen including a second touch sensor to receive a pen input. As the first casing and the second casing are overlapped with each other, the first screen and the second screen overlap with each other.
In another aspect, a display apparatus includes a first casing including a first screen including no touch sensor and a second casing including a second screen including an infrared touch sensor of an infrared scanning method. As the first casing is overlapped on the second casing, the first screen is overlapped on the second screen. The infrared touch sensor has a hovering amount larger than a thickness of the first casing in an overlapping direction.
A more complete appreciation of embodiments of the present disclosure and many of the attendant advantages and features thereof can be readily obtained and understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The accompanying drawings are intended to depict embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted. Also, identical or similar reference numerals designate identical or similar components throughout the several views.
In describing embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosure of this specification is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that have a similar function, operate in a similar manner, and achieve a similar result.
Referring now to the drawings, embodiments of the present disclosure are described below. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Hereinafter, descriptions are given in detail of an information processing apparatus, an image forming system, an information processing method, and a non-transitory recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings. The present disclosure, however, is not limited to the following one or more embodiments, and the constituent elements of the following one or more embodiments include elements that may be easily conceived by those skilled in the art, those being substantially the same ones, and those being within equivalent ranges. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, changes, and combinations of the constituent elements may be made without departing from the gist of the following one or more embodiments.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals in the respective drawings as much as possible, and redundant description is omitted.
A first embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
The CPU 201 controls entire operation of the display apparatus 1. The ROM 202 stores a program such as an initial program loader (IPL) used for driving the CPU 201. The RAM 203 is used as a work area for the CPU 201. The SSD 204 stores various data such as a program for a display apparatus. The network I/F 205 controls communication with an external device through a communication network. The external device I/F 206 is an interface for connection with various external devices. Examples of the external device include, but are not limited to, a universal serial bus (USB) memory 230 and external devices such as a microphone 240, a speaker 250, and a camera 260.
The display apparatus 1 also includes a capture device 211, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 212, a display controller 213, a contact sensor 214, a sensor controller 215, an electronic pen controller 216, a short-range communication circuit 219, an antenna 219a of the short-range communication circuit 219, a power switch 222, and a selection switch group 223.
The capture device 211 causes a display of an external personal computer (PC) 270 to display a still image or a video image based on image data. In addition, the capture device 211 (an electronic device) captures an input of a video signal from a connected device via a video terminal and displays an image on a display (display unit) such as the display 5 or 6 included in the display apparatus 1 based on the captured video signal. Examples of the video terminal include digital terminals such as a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), a display port (DP), and a digital visual interface (DVI), and analog terminals such as an analog red green blue (RGB) connector and a composite video terminal. Examples of the connected device serving as a source device of a video signal include video reproducing devices such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) recorder and a digital camera in addition to the external PC 270 illustrated in
The GPU 212 is a semiconductor chip dedicated to processing of a graphical image. The display controller 213 controls screen display to output an image processed by the GPU 212 to the displays 5 and 6. The contact sensor 214 detects a touch onto the displays 5 and 6 with the electronic pen 290 or a user's hand H. The sensor controller 215 controls processing of the contact sensor 214. The contact sensor 214 inputs and detects coordinates by using an infrared blocking system. More specifically, for inputting and detecting the coordinates, the display 5 is provided with two light receiving and emitting devices disposed on both upper side ends of the display 5, and a reflector frame surrounding the sides of the display 5. The light receiving and emitting devices emit a plurality of infrared rays in parallel to a surface of the display 5. Light-receiving elements receive lights passing in the direction that is the same as an optical path of the emitted infrared rays, which are reflected by the reflector frame. The same method is also used for the display 6 for inputting and detecting the coordinates. The contact sensor 214 outputs, to the sensor controller 215, an identifier (ID) of an infrared ray that is blocked by an object after being emitted from the two light receiving and emitting devices. Based on the ID of the infrared ray, the sensor controller 215 detects specific coordinates that are touched by the object. The electronic pen controller 216 communicates with the electronic pen 290 to detect a touch by the tip or bottom of the electronic pen to the displays 5 and 6. The short-range communication circuit 219 is a communication circuit in compliance with the near field communication (NFC), the BLUETOOTH (Registered Trademark), and the like. The power switch 222 turns on or off the power of the display apparatus 1. The selection switch group 223 is a group of switches for adjusting brightness, hue, etc., of display on the displays 5 and 6, for example.
Further, the display apparatus 1 includes a bus line 210. The bus line 210 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like that electrically connects each component illustrated in
The system of the contact sensor 214 is not limited to the infrared blocking system. The contact sensor 214 may include, as a detector, a capacitive touch panel that identifies a contact position by detecting a change in capacitance, a resistance film touch panel that identifies a contact position by detecting a change in voltage of two opposed resistance films, or an electromagnetic induction touch panel that identifies a contact position by detecting electromagnetic induction caused by contact of an object to the display. In addition to or alternative to detecting a touch by the tip or bottom of the electronic pen 290, the electronic pen controller 216 may also detect a touch by another part of the electronic pen 290, such as a part held by a hand of a user.
In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the display apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment may not include the microphone 240, the speaker 250, the camera 260, the human sensor 224, and the capture device 211. In a case where the display apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is implemented as a display apparatus that does not include a controller, the display apparatus 1 does not necessarily include the control unit 21. In this case, the sensor controller 215 is connected to the external PC 270 or the like, and the display apparatus 1 is controlled by the external PC 270.
As illustrated in
The display apparatus 1 includes a casing 2 (first casing), a casing 3 (second casing), and a connecting portion 4. Both of the casing 2 and the casing 3 are members that are rectangular and planar, and have principal surfaces of substantially the same shape and size.
The connecting portion 4 is fixed to one side of each of the rectangular casings 2 and 3. The connecting portion 4 is a rotatable member such as a hinge, and is disposed so that the one side of each of the rectangular casings 2 and 3 is rotatable around a rotating shaft of the hinge. Accordingly, as illustrated in parts (b) and (c) of
As used herein, the term “connected/coupled” includes both direct connections and connections in which there are one or more intermediate connecting elements.
As illustrated in part (a) of
The display 5 mounted on the casing 2 includes a touch sensor to receive a finger input. On the other hand, the display 6 mounted on the casing 3 includes a touch sensor to receive a pen input.
According to the first embodiment, the touch sensor to receive the finger input included in the display 5 is a capacitive touch sensor. The touch sensor to receive the pen input included in the display 6 is an inductive touch sensor employing electromagnetic induction.
As illustrated in part (c) of
Here, the “hovering amount” refers to the maximum distance at which a touch can be detected even when the touch is contactless with a surface of a screen of a touch panel as illustrated in
A hovering amount h1 of the capacitive touch sensor included in the display 5 is about several millimeters. On the other hand, a hovering amount h2 of the inductive touch sensor included in the display 6 is about several tens of millimeters. In other words, the hovering amount h2 of the touch sensor to receive the pen input included in the display 6 is larger than the hovering amount h1 of the touch sensor to receive the finger input included in the display 5 in the display apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.
Particularly in the present embodiment, as illustrated in
As described above, according to the first embodiment, even when each of the two displays 5 and 6 includes a single touch sensor of a different method, both the pen input and the finger input can be detected by the displays 5 and 6 being overlapped with each other, and the pen input and the finger input can be simultaneously detected with high accuracy. In addition, even when both the finger input and the pen input are used in combination, the display apparatus 1 does not need to include two touch sensors of different methods on one display, resulting in a cost reduction of touch sensor.
As illustrated in
The overlap detection unit 217 detects that the connecting portion 4 is being rotated to the overlapped state, and thereby detects a state in which the two displays 5 and 6 are overlapped with each other. An example of a method of detecting that the connecting portion 4 is being rotated to the overlapped state is, for example, measuring a rotation angle of the connecting portion 4. Alternatively, a contact detection part such as a contact sensor or a switch may be provided on either of the principal surfaces on the back sides, on which the display 5 or 6 is not mounted, among the principal surfaces of the casings 2 and 3. That is, the contact detection part is provided on either of the principal surfaces that face to each other and come into contact with each other in the overlapped state. When the contact detection part detects that the principal surfaces on the back sides of the casings 2 and 3 are in contact with each other, the display apparatus 1 may be determined to be in the overlapped state illustrated in
The detection direction switching unit 218 switches the detection direction of the inductive touch sensor in a reverse direction when the overlap detection unit 217 detects that the displays 5 and 6 are in the overlapped state. The detection direction switching unit 218 transmits, for example, a command to switch the detection direction of the inductive touch sensor to the electronic pen controller 216 illustrated in
Accordingly, the control unit 21 sets the detection direction of the touch sensor to receive the pen input to a display direction of the display 6 when the casings 2 and 3 are in the unfolded state, and switches the detection direction of the touch sensor to receive the pen input to the display direction of the display 5 when the casings 2 and 3 are in the overlapped state.
According to the first embodiment, such switching control enables reliable use of both touch sensors to receive the finger input and the pen input by using only the display 5 on the upper surface in a state in which the casings 2 and 3 are folded and the two displays 5 and 6 are overlapped with each other.
A second embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
As illustrated in
Similar to the first embodiment, assuming that the display apparatus 1A of the second embodiment is used with the casings 2 and 3 in the overlapped state and with the display 6 including the inductive touch sensor of the casing 3 positioned on a bottom side of the display apparatus 1A as illustrated in
A third embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
As illustrated in
The detachable portion 8 includes a first member 8A fixed to the casing 2 and a second member 8B fixed to the casing 3. The first member 8A and the second member 8B are fixed to one side of each of the rectangular casings 2 and 3, respectively. The first member 8A and the second member 8B are connectable to each other as illustrated in part (a) of
The casings 2 and 3 of the display apparatus 1B are detached as illustrated in part (b) of
Although the display apparatus 1B according to the third embodiment is configured such that the two displays 5 and 6 are not rotatably connected, the displays 5 and 6 can be overlapped with each other with the detachable portion 8. As a result, the display apparatus 1B of the third embodiment provides the same effects described in the first embodiment.
A fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
A display 9 mounted on the casing 2 of the display apparatus 1C according to the fourth embodiment includes no touch sensor. On the other hand, a display 10 mounted on the casing 3 includes an infrared touch sensor of an infrared scanning method. As illustrated in
The display apparatus 1C of the fourth embodiment is configured such that the display 9 is overlapped on the display 10 when the casing 2 is overlapped on the casing 3. A hovering amount h3 of the infrared touch sensor is set larger than a thickness T2 of the casing 2 in the overlapping direction.
The infrared touch sensor is a sensor that irradiates infrared rays in parallel with the surface of the display 10 and detects interruption of the infrared rays to determine a touch point. For this reason, as illustrated in
Accordingly, as illustrated in
Thus, according to a display apparatus including the two displays 9 and 10, such as the display apparatus 1C of the fourth embodiment, even in a configuration in which no touch sensor is included in the display 9 of the two displays 9 and 10, both touch sensors to receive the finger input and the pen input are used by using only the display 9 on the upper surface in a state in which the casings 2 and 3 are overlapped with each other. As a result, the display apparatus 1C of the fourth embodiment provides the same effects described in the first embodiment.
Note that the display apparatus 1C of the fourth embodiment preferably performs control so that the infrared touch sensor included in the display 10 does not recognize the display 9 as a foreign substance in a state in which the display 9 including no touch sensor is overlapped on the display 10. Thus, the detection accuracy of the infrared touch sensor is increased.
The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Those in which a person skilled in the art appropriately adds design modifications to these specific examples are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as the modified examples have the features of the present disclosure. The elements provided in each of the specific examples described above and the arrangement, conditions, shapes, and the like of the elements are not limited to those illustrated but can be changed as appropriate. The respective elements included in the above-described specific examples can be appropriately combined as long as there is no technical contradiction.
Although each single apparatus of the display apparatuses 1, 1A, 1B, and 1C includes two displays in the above embodiments, each single apparatus may include three or more displays in other embodiments.
The functionality of the elements disclosed herein may be implemented using circuitry or processing circuitry which includes general purpose processors, special purpose processors, integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), conventional circuitry and/or combinations thereof which are configured or programmed to perform the disclosed functionality. Processors are considered processing circuitry or circuitry as they include transistors and other circuitry therein. In the disclosure, the circuitry, units, or means are hardware that carry out or are programmed to perform the recited functionality. The hardware may be any hardware disclosed herein or otherwise known which is programmed or configured to carry out the recited functionality. When the hardware is a processor which may be considered a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or units are a combination of hardware and software, the software being used to configure the hardware and/or processor.
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