JPH10171620A - Electronic paper - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To enable high-speed printing without the need for a mechanical mechanism, to be able to use repeatedly as many times as possible without deteriorating the character quality of printing, and to use electronic paper as if it were a conventional foldable paper. Electronic paper on which information can be printed. SOLUTION: A means for receiving print information from a host terminal by an optical transmitting / receiving element, and displaying (printing) the received print information.
Means for storing the information in a non-volatile display memory, and means for controlling the display as long as the power is supplied at all times, so that the thickness of the electronic paper is 1 mm or less, and the vertical and horizontal size is A4 size or less. It can be used as if it were paper. The power supply is performed using light energy such as a solar cell, eliminating the need for the user to be conscious of the power supply. Also, attach a pen writing panel,
A freehand overwriting means is also provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a PDA (Personal
The present invention relates to an electronic paper that realizes an electronic print medium that does not require a mechanical printer mechanism as a print information output device such as a digital assistant), a personal computer, and a work station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a PDA (Personal Digital Assist) has been used.
Hard copy of print information such as ant), personal computer, work station, etc., is printed and output on print paper set in a printer having a mechanism.

[0003] Printers related to this and paper as a print medium thereof are commercially available from many manufacturers. When giving a printed matter to another person, the printed matter printed on the printer paper is given.

[0004]

The conventional printer having the above-described mechanism always requires a mechanical printing mechanism for printing paper, a printer paper case, a printer paper feed mechanism, etc., and is compact and lightweight. Difficult to
It was difficult to mount it on portable information devices. Generally, for reasons such as wanting to lower the price and making it easier to carry around,
Many portable information devices do not include a printer mechanism, and it is not possible to use a portable information device to hand out hard copy, which is print information, to another person anytime and anywhere. In addition, because of the mechanical structure, cost performance was good and satisfactory printing speed could not be obtained. In addition, there is a problem with paper resources, and there is a limit to recycling.

Further, the user cannot basically reuse the paper repeatedly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper-like flexible electronic paper which does not require a printing mechanism, can be printed many times, and can be reused by anyone. .

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a thin-film liquid crystal display element is mounted on an ultra-thin Si substrate to receive character / image information as digital information and display it. An electronic paper having a structure in which a control circuit, a circuit for transmitting and receiving information, and a solar cell are integrally housed in an ultra-thin Si substrate.

[0008] An infrared signal is used as a means for transmitting information.
Uses means that can send and receive character information and image information from a host terminal such as a personal computer or PDA, means that can supply power using light such as sunlight, and a display that can be folded like paper. Means for receiving character information and image information from the host terminal and displaying the information on the display by the power supply, and further comprising an energy source of a power supply such as sunlight. In the state of receiving the light, a means for always displaying the received information is provided. The appearance was configured without any power switch, operation switch, or connector.

A light transmitting / receiving element for transmitting / receiving information includes:
It is mounted somewhere on the exterior so that infrared signals can be transmitted and received with the host terminal. The light energy-light receiving surface serving as a power supply source is mounted on the same surface as the display.
The display area occupies 50% or more of the external surface area so as not to impair the image of conventional paper printing. The display surface may be mounted on either the front surface or the back surface of the electronic paper, or both surfaces may have a display surface. Conventionally, for example, a liquid crystal display was covered with quartz glass or reinforced resin in order to have a paper-like flexible structure.
Here, it is covered with a bendable flexible resin. Here, since it is bendable, the mounting position of the control controller chip is set to a position other than the middle when the electronic paper is divided into three parts in consideration of reliability such as chip peeling.

[0010] The display surface is also provided with means for enabling pen input, and enables overwriting after printing.

Further, even if there is no host terminal, the electronic paper itself is provided with a means for allowing only the transmission and reception of information between the electronic papers. This is because the information flow of the electronic paper is unidirectional by selecting the “output mode or input mode selection switch” provided on the upper surface or the side surface of the electronic paper on one side. The information can be transmitted from the electronic paper selected for the output mode to the electronic paper selected for the input mode. At this time, the electronic paper selected in the output mode operates in the same manner as the host terminal such as the host computer or PDA.

As described above, the above object is achieved.

In the case where the display information is compressed data, a means for expanding the data is also provided.

Thus, the personal computer, P
If a host terminal such as a DA has a means capable of transmitting print information by an optical signal, the information can be wirelessly received from the optical terminal and electronically printed on the electronic paper. Since this printing is electronic, it can be used over and over again, and the printing speed is higher than that of a conventional printer having a mechanical structure. If information has attribute information,
Even if it is image information, code information, or it is compressed information, the receiving side can cope with it, so that the content of the information is flexible. There is.

In order to send different information to a plurality of electronic papers, a unique number is assigned to each electronic paper, and the transmission destination is individually controlled using the attribute information. Information stored in information devices has many forms such as images, sounds, and characters.
The contents are stored in various storage media such as a hard disk and a floppy disk. On the other hand, the content of the stored information can be confirmed by displaying it on a CRT cathode-ray tube, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like attached to the information equipment.
Also, when giving information to another person, the above-mentioned storage contents of the storage medium may be given via a communication network, or may be given directly to a person who wants to give up the removable storage medium. However, there are many cases where it is absolutely necessary to leave a hard copy as a confirmation of the contents. Further, even if a removable storage medium is transferred to another person, it does not always have a display capable of displaying the contents of the storage medium, and the contents cannot be immediately confirmed. Also, when information is given to another person, the other party does not necessarily own the same information device.
There are many cases that pass. For the above reasons, the printer function for connecting to the information equipment always exists and does not disappear. If the above-mentioned electronic paper is used, rewriting can be performed more easily and more than conventional paper, and it is not necessary to use conventional paper. In addition, it can be given to another person in the same manner as a conventional printed matter.

[0016]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5.

FIG. 1 shows a block configuration of an electronic paper according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an electronic paper according to the present invention.
The appearance of the package is shown, and (c) is a sectional view thereof.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which a personal computer (a) or a portable information terminal (b) prints on an electronic paper.

FIG. 4 shows a control system built in the present invention.
4 shows a normal basic control flow of the vehicle.

FIG. 5 shows a personal computer or a PDA.
5 shows an example of the content of information transmitted from the host terminal, such as the following.

First, how to print will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, IrDA (Infrared Data)
The electronic paper 1 of the present invention is directed to the data transmission / reception window 10 in which the light transmission / reception element of the host terminal 13 with the standard data input / output interface is mounted. Then, for example, by issuing an instruction to print out the contents 11 of the CRT screen, printing can be performed. At this time, electronic printing is performed on the bendable liquid crystal display 4 of the electronic paper 1 as shown in FIG. The structure will be described with reference to the sectional structure (c). The liquid crystal display 4, the solar cell 3, which is composed of a foldable flexible resin 9 for protecting the liquid crystal, a solar cell 3, a light transmitting / receiving element 2, control ICs 6, 7, 8, etc.
Only the light transmitting / receiving window 2 is provided.

The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5.

The control controller 21 shown in FIG. 1 usually has the host terminal 13 as described in 31, 32 and 33 in FIG.
If no information is received from the printer, control is performed so as to display the print information transmitted in the past, that is, the contents of the character information or image information already stored in the nonvolatile display memory 22 in FIG. I'm just there. Naturally, at this time, energy and light for activating the solar cell must be supplied to the electronic paper.

On the other hand, when a print command is issued to the host terminal 13 shown in FIG. 3, the information shown in FIG. 5 passes through the infrared signal transmitting / receiving unit 2 in FIG. 1, further passes through the interface circuit 20, and The print information is transmitted to the control controller 21. At that time, first, the contents of the data 44 are known by looking at the attribute information 41 of FIG. For example, if the information is image information such as monochrome and raw data (uncompressed data), it is stored in the nonvolatile memory 22 and displayed on the display 4 in accordance with the procedure. . At this time,
The data amount is the number of data (high byte (H), 42) shown in FIG.
Judge by middle byte (M), low byte (L)).

The display data once stored in the electronic paper does not change until the next printout. That is, as long as there is light energy supplied to the solar cell, it is displayed semi-permanently, that is, remains printed.
Generally, when viewing the contents of electronic paper with human eyes,
In the point that light is required, light supply is inevitable, and in use there is always light, so there is also energy light. The thickness of the electronic paper 1 is 1 mm or less, with emphasis placed on ease of use and paper feeling.
The vertical and horizontal sizes are A4 or smaller. further,
As shown in FIG. 2, it has a bendable structure.

At this time, even if the electronic paper is bent, in order to output characters or images on the display screen without distortion, a substrate having substantially the same bending ratio as the flexible substrate and the liquid crystal display substrate is used. Select and attach. As a result, the rate of occurrence of distortion when the electronic paper is bent is reduced, and practical use can be provided.

In addition to the write-only electronic paper, there is also an electronic paper that can be overwritten by an electronic pen. For example, use a write-only electronic paper that cannot be overwritten when giving the printed contents to others, and use an electronic paper that can be overwritten with an electronic pen when using it as your own electronic note. Just use it.

There are various ways of transferring information to another person.
In addition to a method of passing necessary information via a communication network connected to an information device, there is a method of storing and passing necessary information to a removable storage medium such as a floppy disk. However, usually, information is created in order to make the information visible, in order to confirm its contents, whether it is information obtained through a communication network or information passed directly on a storage medium. It requires the same type of information equipment as the equipment and displays it on a display attached to it. But at the lowest cost,
In addition, a method of easily passing information to another person is to print out the information on a printed material such as paper and pass the information.
This method is considered the cheapest and easiest method now and in the future. The information once printed can be passed to anyone at any time.

On the other hand, multimedia portable information devices are usually in the direction of miniaturization, and accordingly, the display is also required to be miniaturized. At this time, for example, when the information corresponding to the A4 size is stored as the character information size, there is an inconvenience that the contents cannot be displayed and confirmed at once on the small display attached to the portable information device. Therefore, also in this case, the printed matter is often printed.

In the above case, the use of the electronic paper of the present invention does not require any printer mechanism, so that printing can be performed at high speed, and it can be rewritten electronically as many times as possible. Since no operation function is required, the user can simply print the electronic paper over the information device, and there is the convenience that the printing can be performed in exactly the same manner as printing on conventional paper. In addition, being a conventional paper-like device has the convenience that it can be easily transferred to another person even though it is an electronic information device. The electronic paper of the present invention can be used in electronic eras and other fields where mail is sent to communication partners using conventional paper, such as self-written letters, postcards, congratulatory calls, condolence calls, etc. It is in line with the original electronic information age in that it can be migrated.

In the embodiment, the information transmission between the host terminal and the electronic paper is exemplified by light modulation transmission. However, even if the transmission method is a modulation transmission method using an electromagnetic wave signal, the same applies. It is.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Since it is a bendable, light and flexible electronic paper, the printed electronic paper
(Electronic printed matter) can be handled like a conventional paper, so that it can be freely given to others and is easy to use.

(2) Once the write-only electronic paper is written, it will remain in the host terminal until it is rewritten next time.
It does not disappear semipermanently. In addition, since the power supply is a method using light energy containing a solar cell or the like, the power supply can be used without a battery and there is no need to worry about the power supply.

(3) Unlike the conventional paper, the scanner for reading the print information is not prepared again, and the information can be transferred to another information device having an IrDA standard interface, for example.
The information on the electronic paper can be read immediately.

(4) In the case of an electronic paper provided with a pen writing panel, the contents printed out can be freely written with an electronic pen like a conventional paper.

(5) Since the information is electronically written on the electronic paper, when the information becomes unnecessary, the host terminal can immediately rewrite the next information and use it repeatedly. it can. Reuse of electronic paper does not degrade print quality compared to conventional paper.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a block configuration of an electronic paper according to the present invention.

2 (a) and 2 (b) show the appearance of an electronic paper according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 (c) shows a sectional view thereof.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which printing is performed on an electronic paper from a personal computer (a) or a portable information terminal (b).

FIG. 4 shows a normal control flow of a control controller built in the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the content of information transmitted from a host terminal such as a personal computer or a PDA.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic paper, 2 ... Infrared signal transmission / reception part, 3 ... Solar cell, 4 ... Liquid crystal display, 5 ... Electronic paper side display information, 6-
8: IC part with built-in electronic paper, 9: Flexible cover for liquid crystal display, 10: IrDA transmitter / receiver on host terminal side, 11 ...
Host terminal display screen (print screen), 12: Host terminal display, 13: Host terminal, 20: Infrared light transmitting / receiving element transmitter / receiver interface circuit, 21 ...
Electronic paper built-in control controller, 22: nonvolatile display memory, 23: liquid crystal display control circuit, 24: pen writing panel, 25: input / output mode switch, 30-35: control of control controller Example of procedure, 40 ... Example of information transmitted from host terminal, 41 ... Attribute information, 42 ... Command information, 44 ... Compressed data attribute information.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tadashi Onishi 1-280 Higashi Koigakubo, Kokubunji City, Tokyo Inside the Central Research Laboratory of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Aiki 1-280 Higashi Koigakubo Kokubunji City, Tokyo Hitachi, Ltd. Inside the Central Research Laboratory of the Works (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Akiyama 1-280 Higashi Koikekubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo Inside the Central Research Laboratory of Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (21)

[Claims] A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside and transmitting said information to the outside by using an infrared signal as transmission means; and a second means capable of supplying necessary power by using light as an energy source. The second means, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the first means for receiving character information and image information from the outside, and the third means by the power supply by the second means A fourth means for displaying the information on the display using a means, and a fifth means for constantly displaying the information in a state of receiving light serving as an energy source of power supply. An electronic paper characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein
An electronic paper wherein the light transmitting / receiving element described in the above means is mounted and arranged such that the viewing direction of the light transmitting / receiving element for transmitting information by an infrared signal is outward from the surface in the thickness direction. 3. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein:
An electronic paper characterized in that the information transmitting / receiving means described in the above means is only the receiving means. 4. An electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein said light receiving surface of said second means is mounted on the same surface as said display. 5. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the mounting position of the display used in the third means is provided on both the back surface and the front surface. -Pa. 6. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the display area of the display used by the third means occupies at least 50% of the surface area of the front surface or the back surface of the electronic paper. An electronic paper, comprising: 7. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside and transmitting said information to the outside by using an infrared signal as a transmission means, and a first means capable of supplying necessary power by using light as an energy source. The second means, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the first means for receiving character information and image information from the outside, and the third means by the power supply by the second means Fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the means, fifth means for constantly displaying the information in a state of receiving light serving as an energy source of power supply, and the display Electronic paper comprising: a sixth means capable of writing with a pen on a display surface of the electronic paper. 8. The electronic paper according to claim 7, wherein
An electronic paper wherein the visual direction of a light transmitting / receiving element for transmitting information by an infrared signal described in the above means is mounted so as to extend outward from a surface in a thickness direction. 9. The electronic paper according to claim 7, wherein
An electronic paper characterized in that the information transmitting / receiving means described in the above means is only the receiving means. 10. An electronic paper according to claim 7, wherein said light receiving surface of said second means is mounted on the same surface as said display. 11. An electronic paper according to claim 7, wherein the mounting position of the display used in the third means of claim 1 is provided on both the back surface and the front surface. −
Pa. 12. The electronic paper according to claim 7, wherein the display area of the display used in the third means occupies at least 50% of the surface area of the front or back surface of the electronic paper. An electronic paper characterized by the above. 13. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein when the outer shape is divided into three equal parts in the longitudinal direction, one or both of the two parts other than the center part control the whole. -An electronic paper characterized by mounting a chip. 14. The electronic paper according to claim 7, wherein when the outer shape is divided into three equal parts in the longitudinal direction, one or both of the two parts other than the center part control the whole. -An electronic paper characterized by mounting a chip. 15. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside using infrared signal as transmission means and transmitting the information to outside, and a second means capable of supplying necessary power using light as an energy source. The second means, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the first means for receiving character information and image information from the outside, and the third means by the power supply by the second means A fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the means, a fifth means for constantly displaying the information in a state of receiving light serving as an energy source of power supply, Means for transmitting and receiving information between the papers. 16. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside and transmitting said information to the outside using an infrared signal as a transmission means, and a second means capable of supplying necessary power using light as an energy source. The second means, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the first means for receiving character information and image information from the outside, and the third means by the power supply by the second means Fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the means, fifth means for constantly displaying the information in a state of receiving light serving as an energy source of power supply, and the display 6. An electronic paper comprising: a sixth means capable of writing with a pen on the display surface, and a means capable of transmitting and receiving information between the electronic papers of the present invention. 17. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside and transmitting the information to the outside by using an electromagnetic wave modulation signal as transmission means, and a necessary power source by using the electromagnetic wave modulation signal as an energy source. The second means capable of supplying the information, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the character information and image information received from the outside by the first means, and the power supply by the second means, A fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the third means, and a fifth means for constantly displaying the information while receiving an electromagnetic wave modulation signal serving as an energy source for power supply. An electronic paper comprising: 18. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside and transmitting the information to the outside using an electromagnetic wave modulation signal as transmission means, and a necessary power source using the electromagnetic wave modulation signal as an energy source. The second means capable of supplying the information, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the character information and image information received from the outside by the first means, and the power supply by the second means, A fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the third means, and a fifth means for constantly displaying the information while receiving an electromagnetic wave modulation signal serving as an energy source for power supply. And an electronic paper comprising: a sixth means capable of writing with a pen on a display surface of the display. 19. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside using an electromagnetic wave modulation signal as transmission means and transmitting the information to the outside, and a required power source using the electromagnetic wave modulation signal as an energy source. The second means capable of supplying the information, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the character information and image information received from the outside by the first means, and the power supply by the second means, A fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the third means, and a fifth means for constantly displaying the information while receiving an electromagnetic wave modulation signal serving as an energy source for power supply. And a means for transmitting and receiving information between the electronic papers of the present invention. 20. A first means capable of receiving character information and image information from outside using an electromagnetic wave modulation signal as transmission means and transmitting the information to the outside, and a required power source using the electromagnetic wave modulation signal as an energy source. The second means capable of supplying the information, the third means capable of displaying by using a bendable display, and the character information and image information received from the outside by the first means, and the power supply by the second means, A fourth means for displaying the information on the display using the third means, and a fifth means for constantly displaying the information while receiving an electromagnetic wave modulation signal serving as an energy source for power supply. An electronic paper, comprising: a sixth means capable of writing with a pen on the display surface of the display; and a means capable of transmitting and receiving information between the electronic papers of the present invention. 21. The electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the electronic paper is bendable with an outer dimension of 30 cm or less in length and width and a thickness of 1 mm or less.