JPH06301443A - Portable information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily obtain a hard copy of output data by the portable information processor such as a notebook type personal computer and an electronic notebook. CONSTITUTION:A display panel part 14 consisting of a liquid crystal display unit is coupled with a device body 12 equipped with a keyboard 11 through a connection part 13 in a back and forth rotatable state. The display panel part 14 is rotatable by >=180 deg. on the device body 12. The display panel part 14 has none of members such as a stopper and a switch projecting from the display surface by >=5mm equivalent to the depth of focus of a copying machine and the difference between the maximum projection surface (frame surface) of a panel casing and the display surface is set to <=5mm. Consequently, the device body is placed on the original platen of the copying machine with the display surface down and data can easily be printed out through normal copying operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information processing device such as a notebook personal computer and an electronic notebook.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable information processing devices such as notebook type personal computers and electronic notebooks have become available at low cost due to high integration of LSIs and mounting of liquid crystal displays. It was In addition, this type of portable information processing device also includes an information terminal such as a touch panel type or a pen input type that is not equipped with a keyboard and is composed only of a liquid crystal display unit and a CPU unit.

[0003]

However, the conventional portable information processing device has no problem in data input and data processing, but has a problem in data output, that is, printout. That is, when printing out the data processed by the conventional portable information processing device, the data must be transferred by connecting to a dedicated printer with a cable or connecting with a network. Although the portable information processing device is characterized in that it can be used in any place, it is a big problem in use that it can be printed out only in a specific place.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information processing apparatus capable of easily obtaining a hard copy of output data.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, at least a display panel for displaying data, a keyboard and / or a touch panel for inputting data, and a microprocessor for processing data are provided. However, there is provided a portable information processing device characterized in that the difference between the panel display surface for displaying data and the maximum protruding surface of the panel casing is smaller than the depth of focus of the copying machine. Further, according to the present invention, at least a display panel for data display, a keyboard and / or a touch panel for data input, and a microprocessor for data processing are provided, and the display panel unit is a device main body unit or another device configuration. It has a structure in which it is rotatably connected to an element through a connecting portion, the difference between the panel display surface for data display and the maximum protruding surface of the panel casing is smaller than the focal depth of the copying machine, and the display panel portion is a device. There is provided a portable information processing device characterized by being capable of rotating forward or backward or left and right by 180 degrees or more with respect to a main body part or other device components.

The portable information processing apparatus of the present invention has its panel display surface placed directly on a copying machine so that data can be printed out by a normal copying operation, which will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional notebook type personal computer, which is one of portable information processing devices, and is composed of a liquid crystal display via a connecting portion 3 to a device main body 2 having a keyboard 1. The display panel unit 4 is rotatably connected to the front and back. On the other hand, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional electronic notebook which is also one of portable information processing apparatuses, in which a display panel section 6 made of a liquid crystal display is provided in a part of the apparatus main body 5, A touch panel 7 is attached to the display panel unit 6, and other device components (cover) 8 are attached to the device body 5 via a connecting member (not shown).
Are rotatably connected in the left-right direction.

In the conventional portable information processing apparatus as shown in these figures, the display panel section is placed directly on the copying machine,
Even if you try to print out the data in normal operation, the projections such as frames and stoppers interfere and the display panel section cannot be placed in close contact with the original table of the copying machine. The degree of freedom of connection with the main body of the apparatus or other apparatus components is small (rotational freedom in the front-back or left-right direction is less than 180 °), and this also means that the display panel section should be brought into close contact with the original table of the copying machine. It was preventing me from putting it. Therefore, the conventional portable information processing device cannot print out the data by the normal copy operation.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a notebook type personal computer according to one configuration example of the present invention. As in the case of FIG. 1, via the connecting portion 13 to the device main body 12 provided with the keyboard 11,
The display panel unit 14 formed of a liquid crystal display is rotatably connected to the front and rear, but in the present example, the display panel unit 14 is configured to be rotatable by 180 degrees or more with respect to the apparatus body 12. Further, the display panel unit 14 is not provided with members such as stoppers and switches that protrude from the display surface by 5 mm or more, and the difference between the maximum protruding surface (frame surface) of the panel casing and the display surface is less than 5 mm. Is set to. The value of 5 mm corresponds to the depth of focus of the copying machine. With such a structure, it is possible to place the display surface downward on the original placing table of the copying machine and easily print out the data by a normal copying operation.

FIG. 4 shows a notebook type personal computer according to another configuration example of the present invention. In the case of this example, the display panel unit 14
Is configured to be rotatable 180 degrees or more in the left-right direction via the connecting portion 13. Further, as in the case of FIG. 3, the display panel portion 14 is not provided with members such as stoppers and switches that protrude by 5 mm or more from the display surface, and the maximum protruding surface (frame surface) of the panel casing and the display surface are not provided. 5mm difference from
It is set to be smaller. Even with such a structure, it is possible to place the display surface downward on the original placing table of the copying machine and easily print out the data by a normal copying operation.

Although a notebook personal computer is taken as an example here,
By adopting the above-mentioned configuration also in a notebook type word processor, an electronic notebook, various portable information terminals, etc., it becomes possible to easily print out data by a normal copying operation.

Next, a liquid crystal panel preferably used in the portable information processing device of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5A shows the configuration of a reflective liquid crystal panel used in a conventional portable information processing device. This reflective liquid crystal panel has a configuration in which a liquid crystal layer 23 sandwiched between a pair of glass substrates 21 and 22 is sandwiched between a polarizing plate 24 and a polarizing plate 25 with a reflector. However, in the case of a portable information processing device equipped with this liquid crystal panel, when the image is displayed and copied using a copying machine as shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. A double image is copied and a good image cannot be obtained. On the other hand, such inconvenience can be solved by using the reflection type liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG. That is, a polymer film substrate 22 ′ having a thickness of 50 to 200 μm is used instead of the glass substrate 22 which is the lower substrate. In this case, the substrate thickness becomes smaller than the pixel size, and the double image is not noticeable. Since the double image is generated by the substrate on the reflector side, the substrate only on the reflector side may be the polymer film substrate, but both substrates may be the polymer film substrate.

Further, when the liquid crystal panel of the portable information processing device of the present invention is constructed as shown in FIG. 6, the contrast of the displayed image becomes better and the contrast of the image printed out becomes better. That is, the glass substrate 3
1 and a polymer film substrate 32 having a thickness of 50 to 200 μm
And a guest-host type polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer 33 mixed with a black dichroic dye, and a reflection plate 34 for scattering (reflecting) light is provided on the non-display surface side.
That is, a film in which a black dichroic dye is added to a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer in which a particulate liquid crystal is dispersed in a polymer matrix is used. FIG. 6A shows a black display state,
(B) shows the state of white display.

Further, in the portable information processing apparatus of the present invention, even if the liquid crystal panel is configured as shown in FIG. 7, the contrast of the displayed image becomes better and the contrast of the printed image becomes better. That is, the guest-host type polymer network type liquid crystal layer 35 in which a black dichroic dye is mixed is used instead of the polymer dispersed type liquid crystal layer 33 in the configuration of FIG. That is, a film in which a black dichroic dye is added to a polymer network type liquid crystal layer in which liquid crystal is dispersed so as to be surrounded by a three-dimensional network structure formed of a polymer is used. 7A shows a black display state, and FIG. 7B shows a white display state.

Further, when the liquid crystal panel of the portable information processing device of the present invention is constructed as shown in FIG. 8, a glass substrate which is easy to handle is used in manufacturing the liquid crystal panel without using a polymer film substrate. The desired display characteristics can be obtained even by a relatively simple manufacturing process. That is, a scattering type polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer 43 or a scattering type polymer network type liquid crystal layer 44 is sandwiched between a pair of glass substrates 41, 42, and an absorption layer (black plate or the like) for absorbing light on the non-display surface. ) 45 is provided.
In this case, since the light is reflected (scattered) by the liquid crystal layer 43 or 44, the substrate does not have to be thin like a polymer film substrate, and since it is normally white, a bright output ( "White") is obtained.

Further, the liquid crystal panel of the portable information processing device of the present invention may have a structure as shown in FIG. That is,
A transmission type panel in which a scattering type polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer 53 or a scattering type polymer network type liquid crystal layer 54 is sandwiched between a pair of glass substrates 51 and 52 has a structure in which an image can be recognized from both sides. Display surface (surface viewed by human)
From the above, it is recognized as "white" because light is scattered when no voltage is applied, and when the voltage is applied, light is transmitted and the background (dark) is visible, so that it is recognized as "black". On the other hand, from the non-display surface (the surface used for copying), the light is recognized as “white” because light is scattered when electricity is not applied, and when voltage is applied, the light is transmitted and the light is reflected. Instead, it is recognized as “black”. That is, the display surface viewed by humans and the copy surface used in the copying machine are separated. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a protrusion such as a switch, a frame, or the like on the display surface side, and the connection portion with the main body such as the keyboard portion may have a conventional configuration. However, since the image on the copy surface is horizontally inverted, an inverted image must be output during copying, but a normal image can be obtained by reversing the data shift of the liquid crystal driving IC.

Further, the liquid crystal panel of the portable information processing device of the present invention can be configured as shown in FIG.
That is, a guest-host type polymer dispersion type or polymer network type liquid crystal layer 64 in which a black dichroic dye is mixed is provided between the glass substrate 61 and the polymer film substrate 62, and another one is provided on the non-display surface side substrate 62. Glass substrate 6
A scattering type liquid crystal layer 65 is provided between the above and 3. The former liquid crystal layer 6
4, the brightness changes according to the image signal, and the latter liquid crystal layer 6
In 5, the brightness changes depending on the mode. In this example, the reason why the polymer film substrate is used for the central substrate 62 is to prevent the occurrence of double images. The liquid crystal panel with this structure
Normally, the backlight 66 is turned on, a voltage is applied to the scattering type liquid crystal layer 65 to make it transparent, and it operates as a transmission type liquid crystal display. When copying, the backlight 66 is turned off and the scattering type liquid crystal layer 65 is turned on. It operates as a scattering layer without applying a voltage. In this way, since a backlight can be used, data can be easily printed out by using a copying machine even with a bright transmissive liquid crystal display. Although the substrate is composed of one thin polymer film substrate and two glass substrates here,
It may be composed of three thin polymer film substrates. Further, the scattering type liquid crystal layer and the guest-host liquid crystal layer may be prepared and combined. Further, a normal TN type liquid crystal may be used instead of the guest-host type liquid crystal for the liquid crystal layer.

[0018]

EXAMPLES Next, examples of the present invention will be described.

Example 1 An ITO film was formed as a liquid crystal individual electrode on a glass substrate by a sputtering method and then patterned. Then, an aluminum film is formed thereon as an upper electrode of the MIM element, and after patterning, a hard carbon film (i-C film) is formed as an insulating film of the MIM element, and a Ni film is formed as a data signal line. After forming the film, the Ni film, the insulating film, and the aluminum film were patterned by using a photolithography method to manufacture an active matrix side substrate. Next, an ITO film was formed as a transparent electrode for liquid crystal on a polymer film substrate having a thickness of 100 μm by a sputtering method and patterned in a stripe shape to prepare a common electrode side substrate. After applying a polyimide orientation agent on these two substrates and rubbing them, a sealant is printed on the common electrode side, a gap agent is sprinkled on the active matrix side substrate, and then the two substrates are bonded together. , And liquid crystal (ZIL-2293; manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc.) were enclosed to prepare a TN type liquid crystal panel. A polarizing plate was attached to the glass substrate side of the panel, and a reflection plate with a polarizing plate was attached to the polymer film substrate side to prepare a reflective TN type liquid crystal panel. After mounting the driver on this TN type liquid crystal panel,
A liquid crystal panel unit was manufactured by connecting to a drive circuit board. This liquid crystal panel unit was mounted on a POS terminal without a keyboard, and the device shown in FIG. 11 was obtained. In the figure,
Reference numeral 71 is an apparatus main body, 72 is a liquid crystal panel portion, 73 is a flat casing, and 74 is a switch. The protrusions such as switches of the POS terminal were arranged on the side of the casing, and the step between the liquid crystal display surface and the casing member was 3 mm. A hard copy of the display screen was easily obtained by placing this display unit face down on a copying machine and performing a normal copy operation.

Example 2 Upper and lower substrates were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. Next, a guest-host type polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer was sandwiched between the upper and lower substrates as follows. A cyanobiphenyl nematic liquid crystal was mixed at a ratio of 4: 1 by weight to a liquid prepared by mixing a predetermined amount of an epoxy resin and a curing agent, and homogenized by a homogenizer. Add 5 black dichroic dyes to this liquid crystal dispersion.
% Was added to the transparent electrode of the common electrode side substrate, and then heated and cured at 80 ° C. to form a liquid crystal layer having a thickness of about 15 μm. Next, the common electrode side substrate on which the liquid crystal layer was formed and the active matrix side substrate were bonded together to produce a liquid crystal panel. Next, after attaching the reflector to the non-display surface,
A driver was mounted and connected to a drive circuit board to produce a liquid crystal panel unit. This liquid crystal panel unit was mounted on a notebook computer to obtain the device shown in FIG. Figure 1
2 shows a state in which the apparatus is placed on a copying machine. In the figure, 75 is a main body of the apparatus, 76 is a keyboard, 77 is a liquid crystal panel section, 78 is a display surface (copying surface), 79 is a connecting section, and 80 is It is a copier. The casing member of the liquid crystal panel unit is
Adjust the brightness of the LCD panel so that there are no protrusions on the display side.
A switch for contrast adjustment was provided on the case side. The liquid crystal panel section is connected to the apparatus main body at two connecting sections, and the liquid crystal panel section is tilted from 0 degree (closed state) to 300 degrees (state mounted on the copying machine). With this configuration, the display surface faces down and is placed on the copier.
A hard copy of the display screen was easily obtained by performing a normal copy operation.

Example 3 Upper and lower substrates were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. Next, a scattering mode polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer was sandwiched between the upper and lower substrates as follows. A cyanobiphenyl nematic liquid crystal was mixed at a ratio of 4: 1 by weight to a liquid prepared by mixing a predetermined amount of an epoxy resin and a curing agent, and homogenized by a homogenizer. This liquid crystal dispersion was applied on the transparent electrode of the common electrode side substrate and then heat-cured at 80 ° C. to form a liquid crystal layer having a thickness of about 15 μm. Next, the common electrode side substrate on which the liquid crystal layer is formed and the active matrix side substrate are bonded together,
A liquid crystal panel was produced. Next, after a reflection plate was attached to the non-display surface, a driver was mounted and connected to a drive circuit board to produce a liquid crystal panel unit. This liquid crystal panel unit was mounted on a notebook computer to obtain the device shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 81 is an apparatus main body, 82 is a keyboard, 83 is a liquid crystal panel section, and 84 is a connecting section. In the casing member of the liquid crystal panel unit, switches for adjusting the brightness and contrast of the liquid crystal panel are provided on the case side so that there is no protrusion on the display unit side. The liquid crystal panel unit is connected to the main body of the apparatus at a central connecting unit, and the liquid crystal panel unit has a structure in which the liquid crystal panel unit can rotate clockwise by 180 degrees in an open state. With this configuration, a hard copy of the display screen can be easily obtained by closing the panel with the display surface of the liquid crystal panel facing outward, placing it on the copier with the display surface facing down, and performing a normal copy operation. It was

Example 4 Upper and lower substrates were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. Next, a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer was sandwiched between the upper and lower substrates as follows. A cyanobiphenyl nematic liquid crystal was mixed at a ratio of 4: 1 by weight to a liquid prepared by mixing a predetermined amount of an epoxy resin and a curing agent, and homogenized by a homogenizer.
This liquid crystal dispersion was applied on the transparent electrode of the common electrode side substrate and then heat-cured at 80 ° C. to form a liquid crystal layer having a thickness of about 15 μm. Next, the common electrode side substrate on which the liquid crystal layer was formed and the active matrix side substrate were bonded together to produce a liquid crystal panel. Next, after attaching the reflector to the non-display surface,
A driver was mounted and connected to a drive circuit board to prepare a liquid crystal panel unit with transparent surfaces. This liquid crystal panel unit was mounted on a notebook computer to obtain the device shown in FIG. In FIG. 14, reference numeral 91 is a main body of the apparatus, 92 is a keyboard, 93 is a liquid crystal panel section, 94 is a connecting section, 95 is a display surface, 96 is a copying surface, 97 is a copying machine, 98 is a switch, and 9 is a switch.
Reference numeral 9 is a convex portion of the casing. The liquid crystal panel of this device has a structure in which no protrusion is provided on the non-display side (back side). After checking the output image on the display surface in this device,
A hard copy of the display screen can be easily made by placing the image on the copying machine with the non-display surface (copying surface) facing down, with the data transfer direction reversed by the switch and displaying the reverse image, and performing the normal copy operation. was gotten.

Example 5 An active matrix side substrate (glass) was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. Next, an ITO film was formed on both surfaces of the polymer film substrate by a sputtering method, and one surface was patterned into a stripe shape to prepare a common substrate. A guest-host type liquid crystal layer was sandwiched between these substrates in the same manner as in Example 2. On the other hand, an ITO film was formed on a glass substrate by a sputtering method to prepare a substrate for a scattering layer. A liquid crystal panel was manufactured by sandwiching a scattering liquid crystal layer between the substrate for the scattering layer and the common substrate in the same manner as in Example 3. Next, a driver was mounted, a backlight was attached with the scattering liquid crystal layer side facing down, and the backlight was connected to a drive circuit board to fabricate a liquid crystal panel unit. This liquid crystal panel unit was mounted as a display panel for a notebook computer as in Example 2. The device became a transmissive display when viewed by eye and a reflective display when printed out. Also with this configuration, a hard copy of the display screen can be easily obtained by performing a normal copy operation, as in the above case.

[0024]

According to the present invention, the difference between the display surface and the maximum protruding surface of the panel casing is smaller than the focal depth of the copying machine, and the image display surface can be placed downward.
It is possible to easily obtain a hard copy of the display screen by placing it on a copying machine and performing a normal copying operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional notebook computer.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional electronic notebook.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a notebook type personal computer according to one configuration example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a laptop computer according to another configuration example of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a reflective liquid crystal panel used in a conventional portable information processing device, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a reflective liquid crystal panel used in the portable information processing device of the present invention.

6A and 6B are cross-sectional views schematically showing the configuration of a liquid crystal display panel using polymer-dispersed liquid crystal, in which FIG. 6A shows black display and FIG.
Indicates white display.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a liquid crystal display panel using a polymer network type liquid crystal, in which (a) shows black display and (b) shows white display.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a liquid crystal display panel using a liquid crystal in a scattering mode, where (a) is a case where a polymer dispersed liquid crystal is used and (b) is a case where a polymer network type liquid crystal is used. Indicates.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a configuration of a transmission type liquid crystal display panel using a scattering mode liquid crystal, where (a) is a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal and (b) is a polymer network type liquid crystal. The case where it is used is shown.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a backlight-installed liquid crystal display panel in which a guest-host liquid crystal layer and a scattering liquid crystal layer are sandwiched between three substrates.

11 is a perspective view schematically showing the device manufactured in Example 1. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view schematically showing the device manufactured in Example 2.

13A and 13B are perspective views schematically showing the device manufactured in Example 3, where FIG. 13A shows a normal use state, and FIG. 13B shows a data printout state.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view schematically showing the device manufactured in Example 4, where (a) is a normal use state, (b) is a non-display surface (back surface) side, and (c) is a data printout. Indicates the state of.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 keyboard 12 device body 13 connection part 14 display panel part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A display panel for displaying data, a keyboard and / or a touch panel for inputting data, a microprocessor for processing data, and a panel display surface for data display and a maximum protruding surface of a panel casing. Is smaller than the depth of focus of the copying machine. 2. A display panel for displaying data, a keyboard and / or a touch panel for inputting data, and a microprocessor for processing data, wherein the display panel section is connected to the apparatus main body section or other apparatus constituent elements. Has a configuration in which the panel display surface for data display and the maximum projecting surface of the panel casing are smaller than the depth of focus of the copying machine, and the display panel portion is 1 in front or back or left or right with respect to other device components
A portable information processing device, which is capable of rotating 80 degrees or more.