JPH04348384A - Input/output controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the power consumption by providing the panel of a portable computer, etc., with an input function and controlling the power consumption of a back light which lights up the panel from behind according to the state of the power source. CONSTITUTION:A tablet and a liquid crystal display part are lighted with the light that a fluorescent plate (EL) 26 outputs. The brightness of the EL 26 is controlled by a brightness control circuit 915 and an inverter circuit 63 according to the state of a supplied voltage source and reduced to half when a primary battery is loaded as a battery 19 to suppress the power consumption.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input/output control device for an input/output panel suitable for use in electronic devices such as portable personal computers (electronic notebook devices, personal computers) and word processors.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, portable electronic notebook devices, personal computers, word processors, etc. have used liquid crystal display sections as display means on their panels. A backlight (sidelight) is provided behind (on the sides) of the liquid crystal display section to brightly illuminate the display surface to make it easier for the user to see.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the liquid crystal panels of conventional electronic notebook devices, personal computers, word processors, etc. only have a display function, and it is not possible to directly input information onto the panel. There is also a device that combines a liquid crystal display and a tablet and allows input directly on the panel, but since this device uses external light as it is, the screen is dark, making it difficult to input. .

[0004] Furthermore, portable personal computers and the like are equipped with a battery pack in addition to a commercial power source so that they can be used outdoors. However, when using a battery pack, the usage time is limited by its capacity.

[0005] The present invention has been made in order to overcome such conventional problems, and it is possible to brighten the panel to make inputting easier, and to suppress unnecessary power consumption when a battery pack is attached. The purpose is to provide an output control device.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] An input/output control device according to claim 1 comprises: a tablet that determines the contact position of a pen in contact with a surface; a liquid crystal display section that displays a predetermined display; the tablet and the liquid crystal display. and a light source section that illuminates the area.

[0007] The input/output control device according to claim 2 is an AC
A device that uses either a first voltage obtained by converting a power source to direct current or a second voltage obtained from a battery as a voltage source, and drives a light source section with the voltage supplied from the voltage source, the voltage source The present invention is characterized by comprising a detection means for detecting the state of the detection means, and a brightness control means for controlling the brightness of the light source section according to the detection output of the detection means.

[0008]

[Function] The input/output control device configured as claimed in claim 1 has a tablet for determining the contact position of the pen, a liquid crystal display section, and a light source section stacked together, so that it functions not only as a display function but also as an input means. Since it is illuminated by a light source, the user can specify the touch position on the tablet without making a mistake.

In the input/output control device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the detection means detects the state of the voltage source, and the brightness control means turns off the light source section or lowers the brightness depending on the detected output.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an embodiment in which the input/output control device of the present invention is applied to an electronic notebook device (portable computer). The main body 1 is provided with a power switch 2, which is turned on when the device is used and turned off when the device is discontinued. A brightness adjustment switch 3 is provided to the left of the power switch 2 to adjust the brightness of the screen 8 (brightness of the LCD 22, which will be described later). Further, a case 4 is provided on the side of the main body 1. In this case 4,
A pen 6, which has a switch 7 at its tip and is connected to the main body 1 via a cord 5, is accommodated when not in use. When the pen 6 is removed from the case 4, it can be placed in a groove 10 formed horizontally in the upper part of the main body 1. A speaker 9 is provided on the left side of the groove 10 to output a predetermined sound.

There are two switches 11 on the upper right side of the main body 1.
, 12 are provided. The switch 11 is a change-over switch that changes the brightness of the backlight, which will be described later, into, for example, two levels, and the switch 12 is a volume change-over switch that changes the volume of the sound output from the speaker 9 into, for example, three levels. The switch 13 provided on the left side of the main body 1 is
This is a stop switch that is operated when stopping a predetermined operation midway (for example, when stopping the sound being emitted). There is also a memory (IC) card 70 (Fig. 5) on the left side of the main body 1.
A socket 14 is arranged in which a device (see above) is attached. A socket 15 is provided on the rear side of the main body 1. A socket 16 is also provided inside a battery mounting section 1a on the rear side of the main body 1 into which a battery 19 is mounted. For example, RS232C cables, modems, and other adapters are connected to these sockets 15 and 16. Furthermore, on the upper left side of main body 1, there is an
A connection terminal 18 of the adapter 17 is provided.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed example of the configuration of the screen 8. As shown in FIG. In this example, tablet 21 (X
A tablet 21a for detecting the position in the axial direction and a tablet 21b for detecting the position in the Y-axis direction are provided at the top. An LCD 22 is provided below the tablet 21. The LCD 22 is composed of glass plates 22a and 22b provided above and below, and a liquid crystal 23 inserted between the glass plates 22a and 22b. A fluorescent screen (EL) 26 is arranged below the LCD 22. When the fluorescent screen 26 as a backlight generates light, the light is transmitted to the LCD.
22. Since the tablets 21a and 21b are formed of transparent members, the image displayed on the liquid crystal 23 can be observed from above in the figure. Printed circuit board (PCB)
) 25 is loaded with parts (not shown) and is electrically connected to the LCD 22 via a rubber connector 24. It is also electrically connected to the tablet 21 through a conductive film 27 .

FIG. 3 shows a more detailed example of the structure of the fluorescent screen 26. In this embodiment, an insulating film 33 is placed between the electrode 31 and the light emitting section (the other electrode) 32. By applying a predetermined voltage between the electrode 31 and the light emitting section 32, the light emitting section 32 emits light. The electrode 31 and the light emitting section 32 are formed in a plate shape, and can illuminate the screen 8 uniformly.

[0014] In addition to this, it is also possible to use a fluorescent tube as the backlight. In addition, a fluorescent tube is installed on the side of the main body as a side light, and the light is transmitted to the LC using a light transmission member.
It is also possible to transmit the light to the rear of the D22 so that it can be illuminated.

FIG. 4 shows position detection using a tablet and LC
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the principle of display by D. tablet 2
1 has, for example, 512 electrodes in the X-axis direction,
It has 342 electrodes in the Y-axis direction. This results in
It becomes possible to detect 512×342 pixels. The tablet controller 46 controls the clock generation circuit 45a and sequentially applies a predetermined voltage to each of the 342 electrodes. Next, the clock generation circuit 45b is controlled, and the clock generation circuit 45b is controlled.
A voltage is sequentially applied to the 12 electrodes. That is, the tablet 21 is scanned by the clocks generated by the clock generation circuit 45a and the clock generation circuit 45b. When the pen 6 approaches a predetermined position on the tablet 21, a predetermined capacitance is formed between the tablet 21 and the pen 6. When the pen 6 is pressed against the tablet 21, the switch 7 at the tip of the pen 6 is turned on, so that the electric charge generated between the pen 6 and a predetermined electrode on the tablet 21 is detected, and the electric charge is transmitted to the tablet via the amplifier 47. The signal is supplied to the controller 46. Since the tablet controller 46 manages the clock generation timing of the clock generation circuits 45a and 45b, it is possible to detect the pressed position by the pen 6 on the tablet 21 from the detection signal supplied from the pen 6 and the clock generation timing. can. The tablet controller 46 supplies the thus detected operation coordinates of the pen 6 to the CPU 41.

On the other hand, the CPU 41 is connected to the LCD controller 4.
3 and writes data corresponding to the image to be displayed in the memory (V-RAM) 44. LCD controller 4
3 reads data from the memory 44 and supplies a signal corresponding to the data to the drive circuit 42b. LCD22 is
It has 512 electrodes in the horizontal direction and 342 electrodes in the vertical direction, corresponding to the tablet 21. The drive circuit 42a applies a predetermined voltage to each of the 342 electrodes one by one. Further, the drive circuit 42b sequentially applies voltages corresponding to image data to the 512 electrodes. In this way, each pixel on the LCD 22 is scanned, and the LCD
A predetermined image will be displayed on 22.

FIG. 5 shows a more detailed electrical configuration of the main body 1. The CPU 41 is connected to various ICs via a bus line 57. In addition to the system program for the entire device, the ROM 51 has written therein, for example, a kana-kanji conversion program for the word processor function, a dictionary table therefor, a recognition program for handwritten input, a dictionary table therefor, and the like. The working RAM 52 stores data necessary for operation as needed. A backup battery 54 (separate from the battery 19) is connected to the backup RAM 53, so that necessary data is backed up even when the power to the main body of the apparatus is turned off. The timer IC 55 is connected to the battery 54, counts the clock from the crystal oscillator 56, and outputs the date and time data at that point in time. The above LCD
The controller 43 and tablet controller 46 are also connected to the CPU 41 via a bus line 57.

The audio processing circuit 58 connects the sockets 14 to 1.
A predetermined audio signal is generated in response to an input from 6 or a command from CPU 41, and is output to adder 59. The sound memory 61 is controlled by the CPU 41 and outputs a pre-stored predetermined sound (for example, a warning sound "eh?") to the adder 59. The adder 59 adds the output of the audio processing circuit 58 and the output of the audio memory 61, and outputs the result to the speaker 9 via the audio volume controller 60. A volume changeover switch 12 is connected to the volume controller 60, and the volume can be controlled by operating the switch 12.

The fluorescent screen (backlight section) 26 includes a power circuit 64 (when the power switch 2 is turned on, the battery 1
9 or an AC adapter 17) is supplied via an inverter circuit 63. The brightness of the fluorescent screen 26 can be adjusted to two levels via the inverter circuit 63 by switching the selector switch 11 (for example, a brightness suitable for a bright room and a brightness suitable for a dark room).
can be switched to Separately, by controlling the brightness adjustment switch 3, the brightness of the LCD 22 can be controlled to a desired value in multiple stages. The switch 65a is turned on/off depending on whether the battery 19 attached to the main body 1 is a primary battery or a secondary battery. The switch 65b is connected to the battery 19.
The capacitance of the capacitor is detected and the device is turned on/off depending on the size of the capacitance. These switches 65a, 65b, etc. are connected to the key interface 62 via a power supply circuit 64. The key interface 62 is also connected to the brightness adjustment switch 3, the changeover switch 11, the stop switch 13, and the like. The key interface 62 supplies signals corresponding to on/off of these switches to the CPU 41.

An IC card 70 is connected to the socket 14, and the CPU 41 can exchange data, programs, etc. with the IC card 70 via an IC card interface 66. In addition, sockets 15, 1
6 is connected to an adapter 71, and is connected to the CPU 41 via an expansion interface 68.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the battery 19 is attached to the main body 1.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the main body 1 shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the back side with the battery 19 removed, and shows that the back surface of the main body 1 is provided with a mounting section 1a for mounting the battery.
An attachment opening 54a for attaching a backup battery 54 is provided. The socket 14 into which the memory card 70 is inserted is covered by a cover 14a. Also,
There is a connector (not shown) near the socket 15.
An attachment/detachment button 15a is provided which is operated when attaching/detaching.

FIG. 7B is an enlarged perspective view of the mounting portion 1a.
An electrode 1a2 for electrically connecting the battery 19 and a detection pin 1a3 for detecting the type of battery 19 are disposed within the mounting portion 1a. Furthermore, a locking pawl 1a1 is provided on the side surface of the mounting portion 1a to engage with a locking portion 19a of a battery 19, which will be described later, to prevent the battery from falling off.

FIG. 8 shows the battery 19 removed from the main body 1, and locking portions 19a that engage with the locking claws 1a1 of the mounting portion 1a are provided at the four corner ends of the bottom surface of the battery 19. ing.

FIG. 9 shows the back side (bottom side) of the battery 19. Locking portions 19a are formed at the four corners, and electrodes 19b are arranged at positions corresponding to the electrodes 1a2 of the mounting portion 1a. These electrodes 19b and 1a2 are in contact with each other, and power is supplied from the battery 19 to the main body 1. Further, a detection hole 19c is formed near the electrode 19b. This detection hole 19c is formed in the case of a rechargeable secondary battery, but is not formed in the case of a non-rechargeable primary battery. Further, a detection hole 19d is formed on the right side of the detection hole 19c in the figure when the capacitance is large. Since the battery 19 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is a secondary battery, a detection hole 19c is formed therein, but since the battery 19 has a small capacity, a detection hole 19d is not formed therein. These detection holes 19c and 19d are connected to the detection pin 1a3 of the mounting portion 1a.
Detected by 1b is a button operated when attaching or detaching the battery 19.

Batteries that can be attached to the main body 1 include a non-rechargeable primary battery (shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, which will be described later) that stores a normal dry battery inside, and a secondary battery that has a charging function. (shown in FIGS. 8 and 9) are prepared. All batteries have the same external shape (particularly the shape of the bottom surface) and can be mounted on the main body 1.

FIG. 10 shows a battery 19' as a primary battery.
It houses 19K primary batteries (for example, 6 AA batteries) inside. Therefore, the battery 19' is composed of a lower case 19F and an upper case 19E that is rotatable about a fulcrum 19G relative to the lower case 19F. The lower case 19F has a tongue-shaped portion 19H with grooves formed on both sides so as to be elastically deformable, and a slit 19I is formed in the tongue-shaped portion 19H. Further, a protrusion 19J is formed on the upper case 19E so as to engage with the slit 19I of the tongue portion 19H.

FIG. 11 shows the bottom surface of the battery 19' (primary battery), and when compared with the battery 19 (secondary battery) shown in FIG. A portion 19A and an electrode 19B are formed. Also, 1
Since it is a secondary battery, detection holes 19C and 19D are not formed.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the input/output control device of the present invention. In the figure, a power supply detection circuit 902 detects whether the power switch 2 of the main body 1 is turned on, and a battery detection circuit 90
3 detects whether the attached battery 19 is a primary battery or a secondary battery using a detection pin 1a3. Furthermore, the capacity detection circuit 904 detects whether the capacity of the attached battery is large or small using the detection pin 1a3. The detection outputs of these detection circuits are supplied to the CPU 41.

On the other hand, the voltage converted to direct current by the AC adapter 17 is supplied to a terminal 18 provided on the main body 1. Here, the voltage applied to the terminal 18 is referred to as an AC voltage in order to be compared with the battery voltage supplied from the battery 19. The supplied AC voltage is compared with a predetermined reference voltage by an AC voltage detection circuit 905. This comparison result is CP
Given to U41.

Further, the voltage supplied from the battery 19 via the electrode 1a2 is compared with a predetermined reference voltage by a battery voltage detection circuit 914, and the comparison result is provided to the CPU 41.

Either the AC voltage obtained from the socket 18 or the battery voltage obtained from the electrode 1a2 is selected by a power supply circuit 64 having a built-in selector, and is supplied from the power supply circuit 64 to the entire apparatus. The power supply voltage is supplied to an inverter circuit 63 for driving a fluorescent screen (EL) 26 as a backlight via a switch SW6 as one of the brightness control means. The inverter circuit 63 controls the brightness of the fluorescent screen 26 according to a command from a brightness control circuit 915, which is one of the brightness control means.

Furthermore, AC voltage is supplied to the attached battery 19 via a switch SW1, and this switch SW1 receives a 4-hour (H) timer 909, 8H supplied via a switch SW2. timer 911
, 16H timer 913 is controlled to be turned on or off according to the timer output.

4H timer 909, 8H timer 911, 1
Each of the 6H timers 913 is constituted by a counter that counts up the clock supplied from the clock generation circuit 910, and outputs a control signal indicating timer count-up after 4 hours, 8 hours, and 16 hours, respectively. The clock from the clock generation circuit 910 is supplied to any of the above-mentioned timers via switches SW4 and SW3, or SW4 and SW5, which are turned on and off under the control of the CPU 41. Note that the above-mentioned set times for each timer are merely examples, and are not limited to these numerical values.

Next, the operation of the input/output control device having the above configuration will be explained. First, the power supply circuit 64 connects the terminal 18 to the AC
If a voltage is being supplied, this is selected with priority and the voltage generated based on this is supplied to the switch SW6. When there is no AC voltage and only battery voltage exists, a voltage generated from the battery voltage is supplied to switch SW6. Note that the power supply circuit 64 is under the control of the CPU 41.
The larger of the AC voltage and the battery voltage may be selectively output.

The switch SW6 is controlled on and off by the CPU 41, and when it is detected by the AC voltage detection circuit 905 and the battery voltage detection circuit 914 that both voltages are lower than a predetermined reference voltage, the CPU 41 turns on and off the switch SW6. The switch SW6 is turned off to prevent power from being supplied to the inverter circuit 63 for driving the fluorescent screen 26. That is, the fluorescent screen 26 is turned off.

On the other hand, when at least one of the AC voltage or the battery voltage is equal to or higher than the reference voltage, the CPU 41 controls the inverter circuit 63 via the brightness control circuit 915 in accordance with the switching state of the brightness changeover switch 11.
The brightness of the fluorescent screen 26 is adjusted so that it is lit at full brightness or half brightness, for example. Further, the CPU 41 controls the brightness control circuit 915 so that the brightness is at full brightness when the AC voltage exceeds the reference voltage, or when the secondary battery is installed even if there is no AC voltage, and when there is no AC voltage When the primary battery is installed, the brightness is set to half.

By controlling the brightness by the switch SW6 and the brightness control circuit 915 in this way, the backlight is turned off when the supply voltage is lower than the reference voltage, and when the supply voltage is from the primary battery, the backlight is turned off. Since the backlight is set at half brightness, the power consumption of the non-rechargeable primary battery can be minimized.

Next, the operation of charging the secondary battery will be explained. First, if the battery detection circuit 903 detects that the installed battery is a primary battery, the CP
U41 opens switch SW2. On the other hand, when the battery detection circuit 903 detects that the secondary battery is attached, the CPU 41 turns on the switches SW1 and SW2. In this state, timer 909, 911 or 9
13 is outputting a signal indicating that the timer is in operation, the switch SW1 remains on and charging continues.

[0040] The charging time depends on the capacity of the attached secondary battery,
and the 4H timer 90 depending on the on/off state of the power supply of the main body 1.
9, 8H timer 911, or 16H timer 913 is selected and determined. That is, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the power of the main body 1 is on based on the detection output of the power supply detection circuit 902, and if the power of the main body 1 is on, the switches SW3 and SW5 are set to terminals ON and the power is turned off. If so, switch the terminal OFF. Furthermore, a capacity detection circuit 904 determines whether the installed secondary battery is of large capacity or small capacity.
If the capacity is large, set switch SW4 to terminal a.
If the capacity is small, switch to terminal b.

[0041] When the main body 1 is powered on, the AC
Since the voltage is also supplied to other circuits in the main unit 1, a relatively long charging time is required, whereas if the main unit 1 is powered off, the AC voltage is used exclusively to charge the secondary battery. This allows for a short charging time. Therefore, using switches SW3 and SW5, in the combination of 4H timer 909 and 8H timer 911, and the combination of 8H timer 911 and 16H timer 913, the short timer of each set is selected when the power is turned off, and the long timer is selected when the power is turned off. is selected when the power is turned on. Also, if the secondary battery has a large capacity, it will require a long charging time, so when the capacity is small, the 4H timer 909 or 8H timer 911 is used, and when the capacity is large, the 8H timer 909 is used.
The switch SW4 is used to switch to use the 11 or 16H timer 913.

When the clock from the clock generation circuit 910 is supplied to any of the timers via switches SW4 and SW3 or switches SW4 and SW5, the timer starts counting up, and the time set for each timer starts counting up. When the up value is reached, a control signal indicating timer count up is sent to switch SW1 via switch SW2.
The switch SW1 is opened by this control signal to prevent overcharging of the secondary battery.

[0043]

As described above, according to the input/output control device according to claim 1 of the present invention, since the tablet is illuminated together with the liquid crystal display section by the light source section, the input screen becomes bright and can be used even in dark places. This also makes inputting easier.

According to the input/output control device according to claim 2, the voltage source is an AC power source or a battery, or the voltage supplied from these is sufficient to exceed the reference voltage. Since the brightness of the light source section is controlled according to this detection output, power consumption in the light source section can be suppressed when a battery is used as a voltage source, and the battery can be used for a long time. becomes possible to use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of a portable computer to which an input/output control device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a screen in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of one embodiment of the fluorescent screen in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection relationship between the LCD and the tablet in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the overall electrical configuration in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of the main body in the vicinity of the battery mounting portion in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the structure of the main body in the vicinity of the battery mounting part in the embodiment of FIG. 1 with the battery removed.

8 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the battery in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

9 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the battery in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

10 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a battery made of a primary battery in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

11 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of a battery made of a primary battery in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

12 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection relationship between a battery and a fluorescent screen in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Main body 1a Mounting part 1a1 Locking claw 1a2 Electrode 1a3 Detection pin 2 Power switch 6 Pen 7 Switch 8 Screen 19, 19' Battery 19a, 19A Locking part 19b, 19B Electrode 19c, 19C, 19d, 19D Detection hole 21 Tablet 22 LCD 23 Liquid crystal 26 Fluorescent screen 41 CPU 42a, 42b Drive circuit 43 LCD controller 44 V-RAM 45a, 45b Clock generation circuit 46 Tablet controller 51 ROM 52 RAM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An input device comprising: a tablet that determines the contact position of a pen in contact with a surface; a liquid crystal display that displays a predetermined display; and a light source that illuminates the tablet and the liquid crystal display. Output control device. 2. A voltage source is either a first voltage obtained by converting an AC power source to a direct current or a second voltage obtained from a battery, and the light source section is driven by the voltage supplied from the voltage source. An input/output control device comprising: a detection means for detecting a state of the voltage source; and a brightness control means for controlling the brightness of the light source section according to a detection output of the detection means. .