Patent Grant
7555322
The present application has been filed with claiming priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-059643, filed on Mar. 6, 2002. Disclosure of the above-identified Japanese Patent Application is herein incorporated by reference. The present invention is related to Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-059644, filed on Mar. 6, 2002 and U.S. Patent Application filed with claiming priority based Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-059644. Disclosure of the above-identified related applications are herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a foldable type portable information terminal, a condition notifying method used in the same and a program therefor. More particularly, the invention relates to a foldable type portable information terminal, in which an upper unit and a lower unit are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, among portable information terminals, particularly cellular telephone units, foldable type terminals or units have been widely preferred for capability of storage in compact and for capability of prevention of erroneous key operation on operating portions in comparison with straight type terminals or units to gain increasing demand.
On the other hand, in case of the cellular telephone units, terminals provided not only normal calling function but also browser function for browsing internet web page or the like, function as transmitting and receiving terminal of electronic mail, function of schedule management and so on. For the functions set forth above, enlarging of display is progressed for facilitating display of large amount of character information, graphic image and so on.
However, in case of the foregoing foldable type cellular telephone unit, shortcoming is encountered in vexatious complication in opening and closing the upper and lower units, constraint for vertically elongated display (constraint in number of display characters in lateral one line or in displaying laterally elongated image), constraint in design and so forth.
In order to solve these problem, there has been proposed a foldable type cellular telephone unit, in which the upper unit and the lower unit are coupled for providing capability not only for opening and closing of the upper unit and the lower unit and for pivoting relative to each other for convenience. For example, the foldable type cellular telephone unit of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 11(1999)-30226, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 11(1999)-215218, and so forth.
However, in the foregoing foldable type portable information terminal, convenience is improved by providing capability not only for opening and closing of the upper unit and the lower unit and for pivoting relative to each other, the upper and lower units are placed in various attitude relative to each other. Therefore, when the upper and lower units are pivoted with each other, difficulty is encountered in instantly checking whether the attitude condition of the upper and lower units is adapted to an operation mode desired to use by a user.
For example, when the foldable type portable information terminal is used in a mode where the upper and lower units are pivoted to place the display portion in laterally elongated attitude for watching browser, reading electronic mail or playing game and so forth, even if the upper and lower units are pivoted to transit to calling mode, it is not possible to instantly check whether the current attitude of the upper and lower units is adapted to calling mode. In such case, the upper unit and the lower unit have to be pivoted up to the attitude adapted to the calling mode with checking at respective pivoting positions.
The present invention has been worked out in view of the shortcoming set forth above. It is therefore an object of a foldable type portable information terminal, a condition notifying method used in the same and a program thereof, which can accurately recognize operation mode in a construction having various of functions and various relative attitudes.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a foldable type portable information terminal the upper unit having the display screen in either of the upper or lower surfaces and the lower unit having the operation surface in either upper or lower surfaces are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting, comprises:
The foldable type portable information terminal may further comprises operation mode judgment means for detecting variation of operation mode of own terminal, and the announcing means performs external announcement when variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit is detected by the detecting means and variation of operation mode is detected. The foldable type portable information terminal may further comprise battery remaining capacity detecting means for detecting remaining capacity of a battery of the own terminal, and the announcing means performs external announcement depending upon remaining capacity of the battery for the operation mode when variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit is detected by the detecting means and variation of operation mode is detected. The foldable type portable information terminal may further comprise electric field intensity detecting means for detecting communication condition of the own terminal, the announcing means performs external announcement depending upon the communication condition for the operation mode when variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit is detected by the detecting means and variation of operation mode is detected.
The foldable type portable information terminal may further comprises timer means for measuring a time, and the announcing means may perform announcement based on time information output by the timer means. The announcing means may perform announcement by at least one of light, sound and vibration.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a condition announcing method for a foldable type portable information terminal the upper unit having the display screen in either of the upper or lower surfaces and the lower unit having the operation surface in either upper or lower surfaces are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting, comprises:
The condition announcing method may further comprises operation mode judgment step of detecting variation of operation mode of own terminal, and in the announcing step, external announcement is performed when variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit is detected by the detecting means and variation of operation mode is detected. The condition announcing method may comprise battery remaining capacity detecting step of detecting remaining capacity of a battery of the own terminal, and in the announcing step, external announcement is performed depending upon remaining capacity of the battery for the operation mode when variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit is detected by the detecting means and variation of operation mode is detected. The condition announcing method may further comprise electric field intensity detecting step of detecting communication condition of the own terminal, in the announcing step, external announcement is performed depending upon the communication condition for the operation mode when variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit is detected by the detecting means and variation of operation mode is detected.
The condition announcing method may further comprises timer step of measuring a time, and in the announcing step, announcement is performed based on time information output by the timer step. In the announcing step, announcement may be performed by at least one of light, sound and vibration.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a program for condition announcing method for a foldable type portable information terminal the upper unit having the display screen in either of the upper or lower surfaces and the lower unit having the operation surface in either upper or lower surfaces are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting, comprises:
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a foldable type cellular telephone unit the upper unit having the display screen in either of the upper or lower surfaces and the lower unit having the operation surface in either upper or lower surfaces are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting, comprises:
Namely, the foldable type portable information terminal according to the present invention is characterized in that the upper unit and the lower unit are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting, and has the announcing means for detecting opening and closing or pivoting motion of the upper unit and the lower unit.
By this, in the foldable type portable information terminal according to the present invention, opening and closing or pivoting motion of the upper unit and the lower unit can be detected to announce whether the relative attitude is adapted to the desired operation mode to permit appropriate recognition of the operation mode in the construction having various functions and various conditions (attitudes)
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given hereinafter and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which, however, should not be taken to be limitative to the invention, but are for explanation and understanding only.
In the drawings:
The present invention will be discussed hereinafter in detail in terms of the preferred embodiment of a foldable type portable information terminal, a condition notifying method to be used in the same, and a program therefor, according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instance, well-known structures are not shown in detail in order to avoid unnecessary obscurity of the present invention.
The control portion 1 is constructed with an electric field intensity judgment means 11, a call incoming and call releasing control portion 12, an opening and closing detecting portion 13, a angular position detecting portion 14, an announcing control portion 16, an operation mode judgment portion 16, a battery remaining capacity judgment portion 17, a display control portion 18 and a time judgment portion 19. On the other hand, the control portion 1 is mainly constructed with a computer. Respective functions expressed in a form of function blocks will be realized by executing the program stored in the storage medium by the computer.
The electric field intensity judgment portion 11 makes judgment of a reception electric field intensity via the radio communication portion 3. The call incoming and call releasing control portion 12 enables call incoming control operation corresponding to opening and closing operation and pivoting operation of the upper unit.
The opening and closing detecting portion 13 detects opening and closing condition of the upper unit and discriminates normal state (surface) and reversed state (back) of the upper unit relative to the lower unit. The angular position detecting portion 14 makes judgment of angular position of the upper unit on the basis of outputs of various sensors (not shown).
The announcing control portion 15 can control announcing operation upon call incoming corresponding to opening and closing operation and pivoting operation of the upper unit. The announcing control portion 15 announces variation of relative position (relative attitude) of the lower unit and the upper unit by at least one of a display 54, an auxiliary display 55, a speaker 51 and the announcing portion 7 (vibrator, LED (light emitting diode), speaker and so forth) depending upon result of judgment by the electric field intensity judgment portion 11, the operation mode judgment portion 16, the battery remaining capacity judgment portion 17, the time judgment portion 19 and so forth when the relative position of the lower unit and the upper unit is detected by the opening and closing detecting portion 13 or the angular position detecting portion 14 via a magnetic sensor and magnet.
The operation mode judgment portion 16 makes judgment of operation mode (calling, playing game, contents reproduction and so forth) of own terminal. The battery remaining capacity judgment portion 17 makes judgment of battery remaining capacity of the battery portion 4. The display control portion 18 controls a display content and orientation of display content reflecting output of the angular position detecting portion 14 and opening and closing detecting portion 13.
The time judgment portion 19 makes judgment of a current time based on an output of the timer portion 5. In the alternative, the timer function may be provided in the control portion 1.
In the lower unit 40, the antenna 2, an RF circuit 31, a modulation and demodulation circuit 32, a base band processing circuit 33, a codec circuit 34, the control portion 1, a microphone 41, an operation key 43, the battery portion 4, the timer portion 5, the storage portion 6, the announcing portion 7, the storage medium 8 and three magnetic sensors 42a to 42c for detecting position of the upper unit 50 (attitude relative to the lower unit 40).
It should be noted that the RF circuit 31 has not shown receiver circuit, a transmitter circuit and a frequency synthesizer. Operation keys 43 forming the operating portion are consisted of known send key, character/figure conversion keys, power source ON/OFF key, crisscross key for performing cursor operation, end key and so forth.
On the other hand, in the upper unit 50, a speaker 51, a magnet 52a arranged corresponding to the magnetic sensors 42a and 42b, a magnet 52b corresponding to the magnetic sensor 42c, a display (liquid crystal display) 54 serving as primary display screen, a touch panel mechanism 53 incorporated on the surface of the display 54, an auxiliary display 55 and an auxiliary operation key 56 are provided. It should be noted that the speaker 51 functions as a telephone receiver and also serves as the announcing portion 7.
The lower unit 40 and the upper unit 50 may take various relative positions (relative attitudes) as required. The magnet sensor group consisted of magnetic sensors 42a to 42c and magnet group consisted of magnets 52a and 52b detect relative positions of the lower unit 40 and the upper unit 50.
In
The lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 are essentially elliptic shape of substantially equal size, flat and predetermined thickness, and are mechanically coupled via the biaxial hinge 300. Thus, the upper unit 200 is pivotable and rotatable relative to the lower unit 100 about the biaxial hinge 300. On the other hand, the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 are electrically connected across the biaxial hinge 300 by means of an appropriate connection means (not shown).
Within an outer casing 101 of the lower unit 100, a construction of the lower unit 40 shown in
On the other hand, in the vicinity of a base end portion of the operation surface 101a, a rotary shaft is rotatably secured at a substantially lateral center position distanced from an edge portion on the base end side of the lower unit 100 by a predetermined distance (substantially half of a thickness of the upper unit 200 and extended substantially perpendicular to the operation surface 101a with projecting a tip end thereof from the operation surface 101a.
Within an outer casing 201 of the upper unit 200, a construction of the upper unit 50 shown in
As set forth above, the cellular telephone unit 500 is constructed by coupling the upper unit 200 and the lower unit 100 at respective base end portions by the biaxial hinge 300 which has two rotary shafts orthogonally intersecting for rotation independently with each other.
On the other hand, while not illustrated, the upper unit 200 may be pivoted about 90° in counterclockwise direction along the plane parallel to the display plane from the normal calling position (normal raised position) shown in
Furthermore, upon closing the cellular telephone unit 500, it is possible to orient the upper unit 200 to externally expose the display 202 which is normally placed internally concealed position.
It is possible to detect the reversed condition of the upper unit 200 in folded condition shown in
In the cellular telephone unit 500, when variation of the relative position (relative attitude) between the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 is detected by the opening and closing detecting portion 13 or the angular position detecting portion 14 via the magnetic sensor group, i.e. magnetic sensors 42a, 42b, 42c and generally identified in the disclosure by reference numeral 42 and the magnet group, i.e. magnets 52a and 52b and generally identified in the disclosure by reference numeral 52, the announcing control portion 15 performs announcement by at least one of the display 202, the auxiliary display 206, the speaker 203 and the announcing portion 7 (vibrator, LED, speaker and so forth).
For example, as relative position of the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200, upon occurrence of change from one arbitrary position among
On the other hand, in the cellular telephone unit 500, variation of the relative position (relative attitude) of the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 is detected by the opening and closing detector 13 or the angular position detecting portion 14 through the magnetic sensor group 42 and the magnet group 52 (step S1 of
For example, when the initial relative position of the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 is the calling mode shown in
Upon transition from calling mode of
In this case, if the judgment value of the battery remaining capacity judgment portion 17 indicates large remaining capacity of the battery portion 4, the announcing control portion 15 makes judgment that the game can be played (step S6 of
On the other hand, upon transition from the game mode of
In this case, when the announcement control portion 15 makers judgment that the judgment value of the electric field judgment portion 11 indicates capability of calling (step S3 of
The announcement control portion 15 repeatedly performs the foregoing process operation until the power source of the own terminal is turned OFF (step 9 of
In the cellular telephone unit 500 set above, when variation of the relative position (relative attitude) between the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 is detected by the opening and closing detecting portion 13 or the angular position detecting portion 14 via the magnetic sensor group, i.e. magnetic sensors 42a, 42b, 42c and generally identified in the disclosure by reference numeral 42 and the magnet group, i.e. magnets 52a and 52b and generally identified in the disclosure by reference numeral 52, the announcing control portion 15 performs announcement by at least one of the display 202, the auxiliary display 206, the speaker 203 and the announcing portion 7 (vibrator, LED, Speaker and so forth) according to the output value of the timer portion 5.
For example, when the relative position of the lower unit 100 and the upper unit 200 is transited from one of positions shown in
As set forth above, by providing the announcement control portion 15 detecting opening and closing or pivoting motion of the units, the operation modes can be appropriately recognized with respect to the portable information terminal having biaxial hinge which permits various functions and various conditions (attitude).
It should be noted that the shown embodiment has been discussed in terms of the cellular telephone unit 500, it is also possible to apply the present invention even for other portable terminal, such as PDA (personal digital assistant) and so on. On the other hand, while the shown embodiment has been discussed to independently perform process operation shown in
As set forth above, the present invention achieves appropriate recognition of the operation mode in the construction having various functions and various conditions (attitudes) in the foldable type portable information terminal, in which the upper unit having the display screen in either of the upper or lower surfaces and the lower unit having the operation surface in either upper or lower surfaces are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting by externally announcing variation of relative attitude of the upper unit and the lower unit as detected.
Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to exemplary embodiment thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omission and additions may be made therein and thereto, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention should not be understood as limited to the specific embodiment set out above but to include all possible embodiments which can be embodied within a scope encompassed and equivalent thereof with respect to the feature set out in the appended claims.
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