JP4485339B2 - Electronics - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device capable of changing a design such as a color or a pattern of a housing.

  In recent years, for example, mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs and the like as portable electronic devices have spread worldwide, and for example, video projector devices and printer devices as stationary electronic devices have been installed in general homes.

  However, the supply manufacturers of such electronic devices are limited, and therefore there are not many variations in the design of the casings of portable electronic devices or stationary electronic devices.

  In particular, some users (users) of portable electronic devices dislike carrying portable electronic devices with the same housing design as others, and “customize” the design of their own portable electronic devices. There is a case to do.

  For example, customization by changing the design of the casing of a portable electronic device includes, for example, attaching a seal to an existing casing or painting a color on the casing, or selecting a part of the casing's exterior parts to a desired color It is conceivable to replace the casing with a different one or a pattern, or to replace the casing itself with another casing having a different color or pattern. In addition, the exterior parts and the separate casing are not only manufactured and sold by a mobile phone terminal supplier, but are often created and sold by other third parties. Further, in the case of customization by replacement of exterior parts, the portable electronic device can be attached and detached.

  However, in the case of customization by sticking a sticker to the casing or applying a color, there is a drawback that the sticker or color is easily peeled off. Moreover, once a sticker is applied or a color is applied, it is difficult to customize it again. In particular, it takes time to repaint the color, and it is difficult for the user to easily repaint the favorite color in the mood of the day.

  In the case of customization by replacing the exterior parts and casing, there are not always exterior parts and casings that suit the user's preference. Also, when replacing the housing with another one, it is necessary to disassemble the portable electronic device, and it is technically difficult for the user to do it himself. In particular, customization for replacing the housing with another one requires time and technology, and it is difficult for the user to easily replace it with the mood of the day.

In view of this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2004-62052 and 2004-64612 propose devices that can be freely customized by changing the housing design.
JP 2004-62052 A JP 2004-64612 A JP 2002-169190 A JP 2002-163257 A JP 2002-099221 A JP 2002-00949 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-024865 JP 2002-024570 A JP 2002-018362 A JP 2001-312250 A JP 2001-31227 A JP 2001-319331 A JP 2001-270145 A JP 2001-209760 A JP 2001-167285 A JP 2001-167180 A JP 2001-092387 A JP 2000-187253 A JP 2000-127478 A JP-A-11-327470

  However, the proposals in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2004-62052 and 2004-64612 both change the color or pattern of the housing based on color information or pattern information stored in advance in a memory or the like. Since the stored color information or pattern information is limited, for example, the housing cannot be customized to a color or pattern that matches the color or design of the clothes worn by the user of the portable electronic device. There's a problem. Further, even in a stationary electronic device, it is difficult to customize a housing with a design that matches the color tone of the interior or interior of a room to be arranged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the design of the color and pattern of the casing of the electronic device is optimally matched to the clothes used by the user, the interior of the room, the interior, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device that can be changed to a new design.

It aims to provide an easy.

The electronic device of the present invention is an electronic device in which at least a part of the housing is electronic paper.
An image data input means for inputting image data, and the electronic paper drive control means for driving and controlling the electronic paper, and a control means of the drive control by the electronic paper drive control means, the electronic paper drive control means the electronic paper display with the display image data to be generated from the image data, by comprising an electronic paper display image data generation means for generating the display image data by converting the repeated pattern image of the image of a predetermined size the image data Features.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily change the design such as the color and pattern of the casing of the electronic device to a design that is optimally matched to the clothes used by the user, the interior of the room, the interior, etc. effective.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 to FIG. 19 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of the front surface of the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of the rear surface of the camera-equipped cellular phone terminal, 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the control unit of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of mimic mode setting processing of FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the image processing of FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the processing for correcting distortion of the image data of the object of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is displayed on the electronic paper section by the processing of FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a first example of mimic display, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a second example of mimic display displayed on the electronic paper unit in the process of FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 11 shows a third example of the displayed mimicry display, and FIG. 11 shows the mimicry of FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a touch switch displayed on the electronic paper unit in the mimic display changing process of FIG. 11, and FIG. 13 is a circuit configuration of an active matrix circuit in the electronic paper unit of FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a modified example of the active matrix circuit of FIG. 13, and FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the front of a digital camera which is an electronic device replacing the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal of FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the back of the digital camera of FIG. 15, FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital camera of FIG. 15, and FIG. 18 is an illustration of a projector apparatus that is an electronic device replacing the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal of FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the projector apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 that is an electronic apparatus of the present embodiment has a housing 2 covered with an electronic paper unit 3, and a microphone 4, A speaker 5, a key SW unit 6, and an LCD 7 are provided, and an imaging unit 9 as an image data input unit is provided on the back surface of the housing 2.

  The electronic paper unit 3 is a non-volatile display medium that can hold an image displayed when power is supplied even after the power supply is stopped. No. 2002-169190 “Electrophoresis device, electronic paper using the same, electronic book device using electronic paper, and manufacturing method thereof”, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-163257 “Information presentation method, information presentation system, and information “Terminal”, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-099221 “Display Device, Electronic Paper and Electronic Paper File”, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-091749 “System, Method and Program for Document Reference”, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-024865 “ Information update system ", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-024570," Content information output device ", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-2002 No. 018362 “Destination Information Display”, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-312250 “Electronic Paper and Electronic Paper File”, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-31227 “Electronic Paper File”, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-311931 “Electronic Paper, "Electronic paper file and electronic pen", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-270145, "Printer and its head", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-209760, "Reusable electronic paper", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-167285, "Electronic paper surface creation system" And electronic paper creating method ", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-167180," Electronic Advertising Method and Electronic Advertising System ", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-092387," Image Display Method, Image Display Device, and Image Display Medium ", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000- No. 187253 "Ferrofluid Electric" Kupa ", JP 2000-127478" Electronic paper printer ", JP 11-327470" Multicolor sphere forming method for electronic paper display ", etc.).

  For example, E. Inc. in the US and Royal Philips Electronics in the Netherlands have succeeded in developing the world's first “high resolution active matrix drive color electronic paper” using electronic ink.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 includes a control unit 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, and a nonvolatile memory 24 inside the housing 2.

The control unit 21 executes various controls based on a control program stored in the ROM 22. That is, the control unit 21, for example, (1) performs an image processing function that performs signal processing on an imaging signal from the imaging unit 9 to generate image data and stores the image data in the nonvolatile memory 24. And an audio control function for controlling the audio signal processing unit 26 for outputting an audio signal to the speaker 5 (3) LCD for controlling the LCD drive unit 29 for displaying the image data captured on the LCD 7 or the image data stored in the nonvolatile memory 24 Control function (4) Key input function for inputting input from the key SW unit 6 via the key input unit 27 (5) Character data such as voice data, image data or mail is transmitted and received via the antenna 8 by radio. Data transmission / reception control function for controlling wireless transmission / reception unit 28 (6) Electronic paper drive control for controlling electronic paper drive unit 25 for driving electronic paper unit 3 Electronic paper control function as a means (7) Touch sensor input function for inputting a sensor output from a touch sensor 10 provided in a predetermined area of the electronic paper unit 3, for example, the lower front portion of the housing 2 (see FIG. 1) ( 8) Parameter setting function that is a condition setting means for setting parameters necessary for executing the electronic paper control function (9) The electronic paper control function displays the electronic paper unit 3 on the basis of the parameters set by the parameter setting function Electronic paper display image data generation function that is electronic paper display image data generation means for generating display image data (10) Various display editing functions for editing display image data displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 by the electronic paper control function Functions (1) to (10) are included.

  The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. The control functions of the main part of the present embodiment in the control section 21 of the present embodiment are the electronic paper control function, the touch sensor input function, the parameter setting function, and the electronic paper display image data generation function of the above functions (6) to (10). Since the other functions (1) to (5) are the same as the prior art and are publicly known, the electronic paper control function of the functions (6) to (10) and the touch sensor input are mainly used. A function, a parameter setting function, an electronic paper display image data generation function, and a display editing function will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 8 executes a mimic mode setting process, which will be described later, by a parameter setting function in step S1, and takes an image of the object by the imaging unit 9 by the image processing function in step S2, and the image data. Is stored in the nonvolatile memory 24.

  Then, based on the setting condition set in step S1, the display image data displayed on the electronic paper unit 3, for example, is displayed by the user carrying the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 by the electronic paper display image data generation function in step S3. Image processing to be described later for matching with the color tone of the clothes is executed.

  Next, in step S4, the display image data generated by the electronic paper display image data generation function is displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 by the electronic paper control function.

  In step S5, a mimic display change process (to be described later) for editing the density of the display image data mimicked on the electronic paper unit 3 by the display editing function is executed, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the mimic mode setting process of step S1 by the parameter setting function will be described with reference to FIG. In step S11, a mimic mode input screen (not shown) is displayed on the LCD 7 to wait for a mode setting input for setting the mimic mode in the electronic paper unit 3 to one of the one-color mode, the repeat pattern mode, or the live-action mode.

  In step S12, it is determined whether or not the mode setting input is the single color mode. If the mode setting input is the single color mode, the mimic mode is set to the single color mode in step S13, stored in the RAM 23, and the process is terminated. If the input is not in the single color mode, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14, it is determined whether or not the mode setting input is the repeated pattern mode. If the mode setting input is the repeated pattern mode, the mimic mode is set to the repeated pattern mode in step S15, stored in the RAM 23, and the process proceeds to step S17. If the setting input is not the repetitive pattern mode, the mimic mode is set to the live-action mode, stored in the RAM 23, and the process proceeds to step S17.

  In step S17, the minimum display size of the repetitive pattern or the live-action image is set in, for example, three levels (large, medium, and small), stored in the RAM 23, and the process ends.

  Subsequently, the image processing in step S3 by the electronic paper display image data generation function will be described with reference to FIG. In step S31, the mimic mode stored in the RAM 23 is read in the mimic mode setting process. In step S32, it is determined whether the mimic mode is the single color mode. If the mimic mode is the single color mode, the non-volatile memory 24 is read in step S33. The stored image data of the object is averaged to generate single-color image data, and the electronic paper display image data is stored in the nonvolatile memory 24 as the generated single-color image data.

  If the mimetic mode is not a one-color mode, it is determined in step S34 whether the mimetic mode is a live-action mode. If the mimetic mode is a live-action mode, the process is terminated. The processes of S35 and S36 are executed and the process is terminated.

  In the processes of steps S35 and S36, as shown in FIG. 7, a process of correcting the distortion of the image data of the object is executed. Specifically, first, the distortion of the upper and lower images of the repetitive pattern is corrected in step S35, and the correction of the left and right distortion of the repetitive pattern is corrected in step S35.

  When the processing up to step S3 is performed, the display image data generated by the electronic paper display image data generation function is displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 by the electronic paper control function in step S4 as described above. To do.

  FIG. 8 shows a state in which the monochromatic image data subjected to the averaging process in the one-color mode is displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 in a mimicry manner. In this case, for example, when the photographed object is a user's clothes, single-color image data having the same color tone is easily generated, and the display design color of the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 is imitated to a color that matches the color tone of the user's clothes. be able to.

  FIG. 9 shows a state in which image data of a repetitive pattern after distortion correction in the repetitive pattern mode is displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 in a mimicry manner. In this case, for example, when the photographed object has a lattice pattern on the user's clothes, repeated pattern image data having the same color tone and the same pattern is easily generated, and the display design of the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 is changed to the user. I can mimic the design of clothes.

  FIG. 10 shows a state in which repetitive real image data in the real image mode is displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 in a mimicry manner.

  In this way, in this embodiment, the design of the case 2 of the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 such as the color and pattern can be easily changed to a design that best matches the clothes used by the user.

  Next, the mimic display change process in step S5 by the display editing function, which is executed after the mimic display in the electronic paper unit 3 in step S4, will be described with reference to FIG. In step S51, as shown in FIG. 12, the touch switch 10a is displayed on the electronic paper unit 3 in the area where the touch sensor 10 is arranged. The touch switch 10a includes a “darker” switch, a “lighter” switch, and an OK switch for adjusting the density of electronic paper display image data mimicked on the electronic paper unit 3.

  Therefore, in step S52, it is determined whether or not the “dark” switch of the touch switch 10a is operated. If the “dark” switch of the touch switch 10a is operated, the display color of the electronic paper display image data is changed in step S53. When the density is increased and the process proceeds to step S56, and the “deep” switch of the touch switch 10a is not operated, it is determined whether or not the “thin” switch of the touch switch 10a is operated in step S54. If the “light” switch is operated, the density of the display color of the electronic paper display image data is decreased in step S55, and the process proceeds to step S56. If the “dark” switch of the touch switch 10a is not operated, the process proceeds to step S56. Proceed to

  In step S56, it is determined whether the OK switch of the touch switch 10a is operated. If the OK switch of the touch switch 10a is not operated, the process returns to step S52, and if the OK switch of the touch switch 10a is operated, In step S57, the display of the touch switch 10a is erased and the process is terminated.

  Thus, in the display editing function, the display state in the electronic paper unit 3 can be changed by using the touch sensor 10 while displaying the electronic paper unit 3 on the touch switch 10a. The display state of the electronic paper unit 3 can be changed at a low cost. The design of the casing and the like of the electronic device can be changed to a design desired by the user.

  An example of the active matrix circuit of the electronic paper unit 3 is shown in FIG. FIG. 13 shows a normal active matrix circuit that can display a picture or pattern inside a broken line 100 and a type that can display only one color outside. The electronic paper unit 3 realizes only one color mode. The active matrix circuit is as shown in FIG. 14, and can be configured at a low cost because it can be configured by one RGB signal line. Even when only the single color mode is realized by the electronic paper unit 3, the color of the housing 2 of the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 can be easily changed to a color that best matches the clothes used by the user. it can.

  Further, the camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 1 has been described as an example of the electronic apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present embodiment can be applied to, for example, a digital camera 1a as illustrated in FIGS. be able to.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the electronic device includes the imaging unit 9, the strobe light emitting unit 32, and the finder unit 33 on the front surface, the key SW 6 and the LCD 7 on the back surface, and the shutter 31 on the top. A digital camera 1 a in which the housing 2 is covered with the electronic paper unit 3 can be provided. The inside of the housing 2 of the digital camera 1a in this case is configured as shown in FIG.

  Further, as another example of the electronic apparatus, the present embodiment can be applied to a projector apparatus 1b as shown in FIG. 18, for example, and the same effect can be obtained.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 18, as an electronic device, the housing 2 is covered with an electronic paper unit 3 having a projection unit 41 on the front surface, an image data input unit 42 as an image data input unit, a key SW 6, and an LCD 7. In addition, the projector device 1b which is a stationary electronic device can be provided. In this case, the inside of the housing 2 of the projector apparatus 1b is configured as shown in FIG.

  For example, a wireless interface, a cable interface such as a LAN, a memory interface, or the like can be used as the image data input unit 42. The interior of the room in which the projector device 1b, for example, input from the image data input unit 42 is installed is used. The mimic display processing of the present embodiment is executed such as averaging the image data of the interior or the like.

  In addition, in this embodiment, as other electronic devices described above, for example, a portable information terminal such as a PDA, an audio device (CD player, MD player, DVD player, speaker, etc.), an electronic dictionary device, an electronic book device, a watch (a wristwatch, Wall clock, stationary clock), silver halide film camera, digital movie camera, fixed phone (home phone, office phone, public telephone), wearable computer, computer main body (regardless of stationary type or portable type), stationary computer CRT display devices, organic EL display devices, computer input devices (mouse, keyboard, stick, etc.), printers, television receivers (regardless of stationary type or wall-mounted type. CRT display, liquid crystal display, plasma display, organic EL) Display, field emission display Or a video game machine main unit, a video game machine controller, a refrigerator (including a freezer refrigerator and a freezer, including electronic cooling, laser cooling, and other cooling methods), a washing machine (single Regardless of tank type or double tank type, including those with drying function), clothes dryer, iron, air conditioning equipment, electric fan, toilet seat with anal cleaning function, electromagnetic cooker (including microwave and oven), remote controller Effectively applied to vehicle navigation devices, toys (robots, vehicles, building blocks, etc.), vehicles (private vehicles, buses, tanks, armored vehicles, etc.), flight devices (passenger aircraft, fighters, helicopters, etc.) Is possible.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The figure which shows the external appearance of the front surface of the mobile telephone terminal with a camera which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the external appearance of the back surface of the mobile phone terminal with a camera of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile telephone terminal with a camera of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the control part of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of the mimicry mode setting process of FIG. Flowchart showing the flow of image processing in FIG. The figure explaining the process which correct | amends the distortion of the image data of the target object of FIG. The figure which shows the 1st example of the mimic display displayed on the electronic paper part by the process of FIG. The figure which shows the 2nd example of the mimic display displayed on the electronic paper part by the process of FIG. The figure which shows the 3rd example of the mimicry display displayed on the electronic paper part by the process of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of the mimicry display change process of FIG. The figure which shows the touch switch displayed on an electronic paper part by the mimicry display change process of FIG. The figure which shows the circuit structure of the active matrix circuit in the electronic paper part of FIG. The figure which shows the circuit structure of the modification of the active matrix circuit of FIG. The figure which shows the external appearance of the front of the digital camera which is an electronic device replaced with the mobile telephone terminal with a camera of FIG. The figure which shows the external appearance of the back of the digital camera of FIG. FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital camera of FIG. The figure which shows the external appearance of the projector apparatus which is an electronic device which replaces the mobile telephone terminal with a camera of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the projector apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera-equipped mobile phone terminal 2 ... Housing 3 ... Electronic paper part 4 ... Microphone 5 ... Speaker 6 ... Key SW part 7 ... LCD
8 ... Antenna 9 ... Imaging unit 10 ... Touch sensor 21 ... Control unit 22 ... ROM
23 ... RAM
24 ... Nonvolatile memory 25 ... Electronic paper drive unit 26 ... Audio signal processing unit 27 ... Key input unit 28 ... Wireless transmission / reception unit 29 ... LCD drive unit Attorney Susumu Ito

Claims (5)

In electronic devices where at least part of the housing is electronic paper,
Image data input means for inputting image data;
Electronic paper drive control means for driving and controlling the electronic paper;
Control means for drive control by the electronic paper drive control means ;
Electronic paper display in which the electronic paper drive control means generates display image data to be displayed on the electronic paper from the image data and converts the image data into a repetitive pattern image of an image of a predetermined size to generate the display image data. Image data generating means;
An electronic device characterized by comprising: The electronic paper display image data generation means has distortion correction means for correcting distortion of the repetitive pattern image.
The electronic device according to claim 1 . Touch panel means is provided in a predetermined area of the electronic paper.
The electronic device according to claim 1 . The touch panel means is density changing means for changing the density of the display image data generated by the electronic paper display image data generating means.
The electronic device according to claim 3 . Density changing means for changing the density of the display image data generated by the electronic paper display image data generating means is provided.
The electronic device according to claim 1 .

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