JP2002314667A - Portable terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a portable terminal device which controls a back light of a display part in accordance with the use stat of the device. SOLUTION: When the distance to an obstacle in the front of a display part 5, which is the detection result of a distance sensor 7 which detects this distance, is shorter than a first prescribed value, a control part omitted in figure extinguishes the back light of the display part 5 because it can be judged that a portable telephone set 1 is not in such state that a user can see the display part 5. When the distance is longer than the first prescribed value and is shorter than a second prescribed value, the control part lights the back light because it can be determined that the user is seeing the display part 5 of the portable telephone set 1. When the distance is longer than the second prescribed value, the control part extinguishes the back light because it can be judged that the portable telephone set 1 is left.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable terminal device, and more particularly to a portable terminal device including a display for displaying information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable telephones have become very important not only as telephones but also as information terminals for transmitting information such as characters and images, and it is necessary to display clearer and easier-to-view images. Is getting higher.
Along with this, the display of the mobile phone has changed from black and white to color,
In addition, the screen has been changed to a large screen, and the power consumed by the display unit has been increasing. Therefore, when using a mobile phone, it is an issue of the mobile phone to recognize whether or not it is necessary to turn on the backlight of the display unit and to turn off the backlight of the display unit when it is not necessary to suppress power consumption. there were.

As one of the countermeasures, when a mobile phone is conventionally used as an information terminal that needs to be lit, it is assumed that the user uses the operation unit of the mobile phone. A time is set, and the backlight is turned off when the operation unit is not used for a certain period of time.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional portable telephone, the backlight is turned off after a certain period of time, even when the user is looking at the display without performing any particular operation. Therefore, the user must perform an unnecessary operation to turn on the backlight again, which is complicated and may cause an erroneous operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal device capable of controlling a backlight of a display unit in accordance with a use state of the device.

[0006]

A portable terminal device according to the present invention is a portable terminal device including a display unit for displaying information, wherein a distance sensor for detecting a distance to an obstacle in front of the display unit; Control means for controlling a backlight of the display unit according to the distance detected by a distance sensor.

Further, in the portable terminal device, the distance sensor is provided on the same surface as the surface of the device housing on which the display unit is provided.

Further, in the portable terminal device, the control means turns off a backlight of the display unit when the distance is smaller than a first predetermined value. Still further, in the portable terminal device, the control unit turns on a backlight of the display unit when the distance is larger than the first predetermined value and smaller than a second predetermined value. It is characterized by the following. Further, in the portable terminal device, the control unit includes:
When the distance is larger than the second predetermined value, the backlight of the display unit is turned off.

The operation of the present invention is as follows. The distance to the obstacle in front of the display unit is detected by the distance sensor,
The control means controls the lighting state of the backlight of the display unit according to the obtained distance. Specifically, if the distance, which is the detection result of the distance sensor, is smaller than a first predetermined value, it can be determined that there is no portable terminal device in a state where the user can see the display unit. Turns off the backlight, and if the distance is larger than the first predetermined value and smaller than the second predetermined value, it is determined that the portable terminal device is in a state where the user is currently looking at the display unit. The control means turns on the backlight, and if the distance is larger than the second predetermined value, the control means can determine that the portable terminal device is in a state of being abandoned, and the control means turns off the backlight. I try to make it.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. In all the drawings described below, equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, a foldable mobile phone 1 which is a mobile terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an antenna 2 capable of transmitting and receiving radio waves, a receiver 3 for emitting sound using a built-in receiver and the like, and a built-in receiver. A transmitter 4 for picking up voice using a microphone or the like, and a backlight type L using a backlight.
A display unit 5 which is a CD (liquid crystal display) and displays information such as telephone numbers, time, characters, images, etc .;
Operation unit 6 on which various keys necessary for using
A distance sensor 7 provided on the same surface as the display unit 5 of the housing of the mobile phone 1 and capable of transmitting and receiving signals such as infrared rays or ultrasonic waves, and displaying according to a detection result of the distance sensor 7 And a control unit (not shown) for controlling the lighting state of the backlight of the unit 5.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the distance sensor of FIG. 1 and 2, the distance sensor 7
Transmits a signal such as an infrared ray or an ultrasonic wave in front of the obstacle, receives a signal reflected by the obstacle 8 located in front of the obstacle, and calculates a time until the transmitted signal is received. It is possible to calculate the distance X between the distance sensor 7 and the distance sensor 7 (the distance between the obstacle 8 and the mobile phone 1). Note that the signal transmitted by the distance sensor 7 may be any signal that enables the distance X to be calculated by the above-described method, and is not limited to only infrared light or the like.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the portable telephone of FIG. 1 in a folded state. 1 to 3, a mobile phone 1
Is folded, that is, when the lower housing of the mobile phone 1 is in front of the distance sensor 7,
The distance sensor 7 indicates a distance X from a front obstacle 8 (the obstacle 8 is a lower housing of the mobile phone 1), for example,
It is calculated as 0 to about 1 [cm]. In this case, the user of the mobile phone 1 does not see the display unit 5 (cannot).
Therefore, the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned off under the control of the control unit.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing a state in which the portable telephone of FIG. 1 is used as a telephone. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, when the mobile phone 1 is used as a telephone, that is, the earpiece 3 is put on or approached to the user's ear and the user is in front of the distance sensor 7. When there is a side surface of the head 9 of the user, the distance sensor 7 indicates the distance X to the front obstacle 8 (the obstacle 8 here is the head 9 of the user), for example, from 0 to about 10 [Cm] is calculated. In this case, since the user uses the mobile phone 1 as a telephone and does not see the display unit 5 (cannot), the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned off under the control of the control unit.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing a state in which the portable telephone of FIG. 1 is used as an information terminal. Figures 1, 2 and 5
In the state, the mobile phone 1 is used as an information terminal, that is, the front (face) of the user's head 9 is in front of the distance sensor 7 because the user is looking at the display unit 5. In the state, the distance sensor 7 calculates the distance X from the front obstacle 8 (here, the obstacle 8 is the user's head 9) to, for example, about 10 to about 50 [cm]. I have. In this case, since the user is using the mobile phone 1 as an information terminal and looking at the information displayed on the display unit 5, the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned on under the control of the control unit.

Further, although not particularly shown, when there is nothing in front of the distance sensor 7, the distance sensor 7 recognizes the distance to an obstacle 8 (ceiling, wall, etc.) located at a distance, The distance X is calculated, for example, from about 50 [cm] to infinity. In this case, since the mobile phone 1 is left open (unfolded), the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned off under the control of the control unit.

The distance X obtained by each distance sensor 7 in the state shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 and the state where there is nothing in front of the distance sensor 7, the state of use of the portable telephone 1, the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned on. The relationship between the states is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the numerical values listed as the calculated distance X of the distance sensor 7 are only examples, and are not limited to these numerical values.

As described above, in the mobile phone 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the control is performed in accordance with the detection result of the distance sensor 7 without the user inputting information for recognizing the use state of the mobile phone 1. Since the unit recognizes the use state of the mobile phone 1 and controls the backlight of the display unit 5, the backlight is turned on only when necessary, and the backlight is turned off when unnecessary.
It is possible to easily turn on / off the backlight according to the usage state of the backlight.

Further, the mobile phone 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
In this case, the backlight can be turned on / off in accordance with the use state of the mobile phone 1, so that the backlight lighting time can be kept to a necessary minimum, and as a result, power consumption can be reduced. it can.

In FIG. 1, when the user looks at the display unit 5, it is easiest to see the display unit 5 from directly in front. Go. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, if an angle Y at which the user can easily view the display unit 5 is determined in advance, and a signal is transmitted forward from the distance sensor 7 within the predetermined angle Y, the distance When the user attempts to look at the display unit 5 from a position outside the angle Y at which the signal from the sensor 7 is output, the distance sensor 7 does not recognize the user's head as an obstacle. The light is turned off. Therefore, the user sees the display unit 5 only at a position where the display unit 5 is easy to see so that the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned on.

Further, the mobile phone 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Has been described as a foldable mobile phone, but may be an integrated mobile phone instead of a foldable mobile phone. That is,
In this case, the calculated distance X of the distance sensor 7 is 0 to 10 [c
m], the control unit recognizes that it is in the state B shown in FIG. 6 (there is no state A because it is an integrated mobile phone), and the control unit turns off the backlight. If the calculated distance X of the distance sensor 7 is 10 to 50 [cm], the control unit recognizes the state C shown in FIG. 6 and turns on the backlight. Then, the calculated distance X of the distance sensor 7 is 50 [cm].
If it is infinite, the control unit recognizes the state D shown in FIG. 6 (however, the state of use is not the state of being left open but the state of being left), and the control unit turns on the backlight. Turn off the light.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A mobile phone according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a mobile phone 1 shown in FIG.
ice) camera module, C-MOS (Complementary Met)
al Oxide Semiconductor) Camera module etc.
When these are collectively referred to as a camera module), an optical sensor function for sensing the brightness of the outside of the camera module is used instead of the distance sensor 7, and the other components are shown in FIG. Mobile phone 1
Is equivalent to

In the case of the states A and B shown in FIG. 6, the amount of light reaching the camera (optical sensor) is reduced, and the fact that the optical sensor detects that it is dark is used. According to the detection result of the optical sensor in this case, the control unit determines that the use state of the mobile phone according to another embodiment of the present invention is the state A or the state B in which the backlight of the display unit 5 does not need to be turned on. Upon recognition, the backlight of the display unit 5 is turned off. But,
In the mobile phone according to another embodiment of the present invention, it is difficult to distinguish between the state C and the state D shown in FIG. 6, and even when the mobile phone is used outside at night,
It is difficult to determine the states A to D.

In each of the above embodiments, a functional block diagram showing the relationship between the control unit and the distance sensor or the backlight for display is not disclosed.
These functional block diagrams are omitted because they can be easily disclosed and are very simple.

[0024]

A first effect of the present invention is that the backlight can be turned on / off in accordance with the use state of the portable terminal device. The reason is that the distance sensor detects the distance to an obstacle ahead of the vehicle, and the control means recognizes the use state of the portable terminal device and controls the lighting state of the backlight of the display unit according to the distance. Because he did.

A second effect of the present invention is that power consumption can be reduced. The reason is that the control unit can recognize the use state of the portable terminal device and turn on / off the backlight according to the use state of the portable terminal device, so that the backlight lighting time can be minimized. Because it can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a distance sensor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the mobile phone of FIG. 1 in a folded state.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a state in which the mobile phone of FIG. 1 is used as a telephone.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a state in which the mobile phone of FIG. 1 is used as an information terminal.

6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a distance X obtained by a distance sensor 7, a use state of the mobile phone 1, and a lighting state of a backlight of a display unit 5. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example in which a signal is transmitted from the distance sensor 7 within an angle Y at which the display unit 5 is easy to see.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 2 Antenna 3 Receiver 4 Transmitter 5 Display 6 Operation part 7 Distance sensor 8 Obstacle 9 Head of user

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5K023 AA07 BB11 DD08 HH07 MM07 MM23 5K027 AA11 BB02 BB17 EE11 FF22 MM17 5K067 AA34 BB04 EE02 FF24 FF32 HH21

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A portable terminal device including a display unit for displaying information, comprising: a distance sensor for detecting a distance to an obstacle in front of the display unit; and a mobile terminal device according to the distance detected by the distance sensor. Control means for controlling the backlight of the display unit. 2. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the distance sensor is provided on the same surface of the device housing as the surface on which the display unit is provided. 3. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit turns off a backlight of the display unit when the distance is smaller than a first predetermined value. 4. The control unit turns on the backlight of the display unit when the distance is larger than the first predetermined value and smaller than a second predetermined value. The mobile terminal device according to claim 3. 5. The portable terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit turns off a backlight of the display unit when the distance is larger than the second predetermined value. 6. A portable terminal device including a display unit for displaying information, comprising: an optical sensor for detecting light outside the device; and control for controlling a backlight of the display unit according to a detection result of the optical sensor. And a mobile terminal device.