Patent Application
20130221112
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 101106336, filed on Feb. 24, 2012. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to an electronic card, and more particularly to an electronic card having a display panel.
2. Related Art
Currently, electronic cards (e.g., credit cards, access cards, and easy cards) are being widely adopted, making them indispensable electronic products for the modern people. Moreover, as semiconductor technologies advance, the circuit complexities of a single chip has increased such that each chip has more and more integrated functions, and the chip area is trending towards compactness. Due to the multi-functionality of the single chip, the operational functions provided by the electronic card are also becoming diverse. Moreover, by configuring a display panel on the electronic card, a user interface is provided through the display panel. However, without knowing the operational functions of the electronic card, a user cannot comprehend the information provided by the display panel, thus affecting the usage convenience of the electronic card.
The invention provides an electronic card capable of indication according to the operational function of the electronic card.
The invention provides an electronic card, including a function indication area and a content display area. The function indication area indicates an operational function of the electronic card. The content display area displays a content corresponding to the operational function.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the function indication area includes a first display section of a display panel, and the content display area includes a second display section of the display panel, in which the first display section is different from the section display section.
In summary, in the electronic card according to embodiments of the invention, the operational function of the electronic card is indicated through the function indication area. Moreover, the information content corresponding to the operational function is displayed by the content display area of the electronic card. Accordingly, the user can rapidly comprehend the displayed information of the electronic card, thereby enhancing the usage convenience of the electronic card.
Several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below to further describe the disclosure in details.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In the present embodiment, the first display section 131 in the function indication area 110 indicates an operational function of the electronic card 100. The second display section 133 in the content display area 120 displays a content corresponding to the operational function. For example, when the electronic card 100 has an electronic wallet function, the user may be notified of a remaining balance displayed on the second display section 133 through the indication on the first display section 131. In the present embodiment, the first display section 131 and the second display section 133 of the display panel 130 are configured from left to right. However, in other embodiments, the first display section 131 and the second display section 133 of the display panel 130 may be configured up and down, or the first display section 131 can be configured at a corner of the display panel 130, and the second display section 133 is disposed on the rest of the display panel 130, so that the configuration is in accordance with a design requirement, and the embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto.
In the present embodiment, the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 100 may be represented through the patterns or text displayed by the first display section 131 of the function indication area 110. For example, when the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 100 is the electronic wallet function, the first display section 131 may display symbols (e.g., “+” or “$”), letters (e.g. “c”), or word strings (e.g., “NT” or “cash”) to indicate the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 100. Moreover, the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 100 may be represented through a variation of a display state of the first display section 131 in the function indication area 110, in which the display state includes a light emitting frequency, brightness, and color, for example. In other words, the first display section 131 may have a specific flicker frequency (i.e. the light emitting frequency), a specific light emitting brightness, or a specific light emitting color to indicate the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 100.
In other embodiments of the invention, a part or all of the display states of the first display section 131 may be combined, so that the function indication area 110 indicates the operational function of the electronic card 100. For example, the first display section 131 may display specific light emitting color, flicker frequency, and display specific word strings to indicate the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 100.
The button 160 is electrically connected to the control unit 150 to generate a trigger signal TR1. The antenna 170 is electrically connected to the control unit 150 to sense a trigger signal TR2 external to the electronic card 100, such as a trigger signal TR2 transmitted by a card reader. Moreover, the antenna 170 transmits the trigger signal TR2 to the control unit 150. The timer unit 180 is electrically connected to the control unit 150. Every time a timing of the timer unit 180 reaches a predetermined period, the timer unit 180 generates a trigger signal TR3 and transmits it to the control unit 150. The battery 191 is electrically connected to the display panel 130, the driving unit 140, the control unit 150, and the battery power detection unit 190 to provide a working voltage VDD to the display panel 130, the driving unit 140, the control unit 150, and the battery power detection unit 190. The battery power detection unit 190 is electrically connected to the control unit 150. When the battery power detection unit 190 detects a power level of the battery 191 is lower than a predetermined level, the battery power detection unit 190 generates a trigger signal TR4 and transmits it to the control unit 150.
In more specifics, when the button 160 is being pressed, the button 160 emits and transmits the trigger signal TR1 to the control unit 150. The control unit 150 switches the operational function of the electronic card 100 according to the trigger signal TR1, and simultaneously controls the driving unit 140 to drive the display panel 130 so the first display section 131 indicates the operational function of the electronic card 100, and the second display section 133 displays the content corresponding to the operational function. When the antenna 170 senses the trigger signal TR2 external to the electronic card 100, the antenna 170 transmits the sensed trigger signal TR2 to the control unit 150. The control unit 150 switches the operational function of the electronic card 100 according to the trigger signal TR2, and simultaneously controls the driving unit 140 to drive the display panel 130 so the first display section 131 indicates the operational function of the electronic card 100, and the second display section 133 displays the content corresponding to the operational function.
Every time the timing of the timer unit 180 reaches the predetermined period, the timer unit 180 generates the trigger signal TR3. The control unit 150 switches the operational function of the electronic card 100 according to the trigger signal TR3, and simultaneously controls the driving unit 140 to drive the display panel 130 so the first display section 131 indicates the operational function of the electronic card 100, and the second display section 133 displays the content corresponding to the operational function. The timer unit 180 may include circuitry having a timing function, such as a real time clock (RTC) circuit to determine whether the timing has reaches the predetermined period according to a timing result, for example. When the battery power detection unit 190 detects the power level of the battery 191 is lower than the predetermined level (e.g. battery capacity at 20%), the battery power detection unit 190 generates the trigger signal TR4. The control unit 150 switches the operational function of the electronic card 100 according to the trigger signal TR4, and simultaneously controls the driving unit 140 to drive the display panel 130 so the first display section 131 indicates the operational function of the electronic card 100, and the second display section 133 displays the content corresponding to the operational function.
In the present embodiment, the control unit 150 respectively switches the operational function of the electronic card 100 according to the trigger signals TR1-TR4, and controls the driving unit 140 to drive the display panel 130 so as to correspondingly adjust the display content. Since the conditions for generating the trigger signals TR2-TR4 are different, the operational functions corresponding to the trigger signals TR2-TR4 may be different. For example, the operational function corresponding to the trigger signal TR2 may be to display a credit card purchase amount, the operational function corresponding to the trigger signal TR3 may be to display a periodic information (e.g. time), and the operational function corresponding to the trigger signal TR4 may be to display the battery capacity. Furthermore, the operational function corresponding to the trigger signal TR1 generated by the button 160 may include the operational functions corresponding to the trigger signals TR2-TR4, which may be configured by one skilled in the art, and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto.
In one embodiment of the invention, the button 160 may be a single button, or a combination of a plurality of buttons. The trigger signal TR1 may be generated in response to a press of a corresponding specific button, or may be generated in response to a press of a corresponding combination of specific buttons, according to a circuit design requirement. Moreover, the control unit 150 may switch the operational function of the electronic card 100 according to a combination of the trigger signals TR1-TR4, and control the driving unit 140 to drive the display panel 130 to correspondingly adjust the display content. For example, a combination of the trigger signals TR1 and TR2 corresponds to an operational function, and a combination of the trigger signals TR1 and TR3 corresponds to another operational function.
In the present embodiment, the light emitting element 240 in the function indication area 210 indicates an operational function of the electronic card 200. The display panel 230 in the content display area 220 displays a content corresponding to the operational function. In the present embodiment, the light emitting element 240 is disposed on a left side of the display panel 230. However, in other embodiments, the light emitting element 240 may be disposed on a top side, bottom side, or right side of the display panel 230. Alternatively, the light emitting element 240 may be disposed at an observable area on the electronic card 200 according to a design requirement, and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 200 may be represented through a light emitting state of the light emitting element 240 in the function indication area 210, in which the light emitting state includes a light emitting frequency, brightness, and color, for example. In other words, the light emitting element 240 may have a specific flicker frequency (i.e. the light emitting frequency), a specific light emitting brightness, or a specific light emitting color to indicate the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 200.
In other embodiments of the invention, a part or all of the light emitting states of the light emitting element 240 may be combined, or a plurality of light emitting elements 240 may be provided on the electronic card 200, such that the light emitting states of the plurality of light emitting elements 240 may be combined so that the function indication area 210 indicates the operational function of the electronic card 200. For example, the light emitting element 240 may emit a specific light emitting color, brightness, and/or flicker frequency to indicate the operational function currently performed by the electronic card 200. Alternatively, the plurality of light emitting elements 240 may emit a combination of specific light emitting colors, brightness, and/or flicker frequencies to indicate the operational function currently performed.
In view of the foregoing, according to embodiments of the invention, the electronic card includes the function indication area and the content display area. The electronic card indicates the operational function of the electronic card through the display panel or the light emitting element of the function indication area. Moreover, the content corresponding to the operational function is displayed by the display panel of the content display area. Accordingly, the user can rapidly comprehend the displayed information of the electronic card, thereby enhancing the usage convenience of the electronic card.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101106336 | Feb 2012 | TW | national |
