Portable terminal

The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly to a portable terminal provided with means capable of enlarging and projecting an image on an external wall surface or the like.

In recent years, with the development of wireless communication technology and the development of miniaturization technology of components, portable terminals represented by mobile phones have become widespread. These portable terminals are generally composed of a housing that can be held by the user, and generally have a menu screen and a display for displaying an image prepared by the user. However, due to the miniaturization of portable terminals, the size of the display for display is limited, and it is not possible to adopt a display with a large display area, which makes it impossible to obtain sufficient visibility depending on the displayed image. There was a problem.

For example, Patent Document 1 is disclosed as a technique for solving the above problems. The portable terminal disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an image display, an image projection projector, and control means thereof. This image projection projector is composed of a projection light source, a transmissive display element, and a lens, and the projected light from the projection light source that has passed through the transmissive display element is magnified by the lens and projected onto an external wall surface or the like. As a result, at least a part of the image displayed on the image display is displayed on the transmissive display element in the image projection projector, so that the image originally viewed on the image display is displayed for image projection. It is possible to magnify and project on an external wall surface or the like via a projector. As a result, the visibility of the image is improved without increasing the size of the image display.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-21992</text></patcit>

<p> In general, a portable terminal is driven by a small capacity battery, so the lower the power consumption of the portable terminal, the more desirable it is. In the technique shown in Patent Document 1, the power consumption of the projector projection light source during operation of the projector is always constant regardless of the distance to the projection surface. Therefore, even if the distance to the projection surface is short and the projected image can be sufficiently visually recognized even if the amount of light emitted from the projector projection light source is reduced, the projection light source consumes more power than necessary, and as a result, the projected image is consumed. There is a problem of hindering the reduction of power consumption of the entire portable terminal.</p><p> Further, in a portable terminal equipped with a projector as described above or a portable terminal equipped with a camera for imaging, if the projection focus control of the projector and the imaging focus control of the camera can be realized with a simple configuration, the power consumption is low and the image is captured. High quality imaging and projection images can be obtained.</p><p> The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned actual conditions, and in a mobile terminal equipped with a projector, when the projection distance of the projector is short, the power consumption is reduced by suppressing unnecessary power consumption in the projection light source. The purpose is to provide a portable terminal designed to be used. Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal that realizes projection focus control of a projector and imaging focus control of a camera and enables high-quality imaging and projection images to be obtained.</p>

<p> The first technical means of the present invention comprises a projection light source, a display element that displays a projected image that modulates the light from the projection light source, and a projection optical system that projects the light modulated by the display element onto a projected surface. In the portable terminal provided, the portable terminal has a distance measuring means for measuring the projection distance from the portable terminal to the projected surface projected by the projection optical system, and a projection distance measured by the distance measuring means. Based on this, it is characterized by having a projection light source control means for controlling the amount of light emitted from the projection light source.</p><p> The second technical means of the present invention is the projection focus control means in which the portable terminal adjusts the projection focus of the projection optical system based on the projection distance measured by the distance measuring means in the first technical means. It is characterized by having.</p><p> In the third technical means of the present invention, in the second technical means, the projection optical system has a projection lens for projecting an image modulated by a display element, and the portable terminal has a projection lens. It has a projection lens moving means for moving in the optical axis direction, and the projection focus control means projects the projection lens by driving the projection lens moving means based on the projection distance measured by the distance measuring means. It is characterized by adjusting the focus.</p><p> The fourth technical means of the present invention is the imaging in any one of the above 1 to 3 in which the portable terminal includes an image pickup element and an image pickup optical system for incidenting the image light of the image pickup target on the image pickup element. It is characterized by having a unit and an image pickup focus control means for adjusting the image pickup focus of the image pickup optical system.</p><p> In the fifth technical means of the present invention, in the fourth technical means, the imaging optical system has an imaging lens for concentrating the input image light on the imaging element, and the imaging unit uses the imaging lens. It has an image pickup lens moving means for moving in the optical axis direction, and the image pickup focus control means drives the image pickup lens moving means based on the projection distance measured by the distance measuring means, thereby causing the image pickup focus of the image pickup lens. It is characterized by adjusting.</p><p> The sixth technical means of the present invention is the technical means of any one of 1 to 5 above, characterized in that the portable terminal is a mobile phone.</p>

<p> Since the portable terminal according to the present invention can control the amount of light emitted from the projector projection light source according to the projection distance detected by the distance measuring means, it is possible to suppress unnecessary power consumption of the projection light source when the projection distance is short. This makes it possible to provide a portable terminal with low power consumption. Further, by using the above-mentioned distance measuring means, it is possible to perform projector projection focus control and camera imaging focus control, and it is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of performing high-quality imaging and image projection. ..</p>

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the portions having the same functions, and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the portable terminal of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (A) is a view of a mobile phone according to the first embodiment of the portable terminal of the present invention. The front schematic view, FIG. 1 (B) is a rear schematic view of the mobile phone, and FIG. 1 (C) is a side schematic view for explaining the operation when the projector included in the mobile phone is used. In FIG. 1, 10 is a mobile phone, 20 is a projector unit provided on the back surface of the mobile phone, 30 is an image display displayed on the front surface of the mobile phone 10, and 40 is a screen.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the projector unit 20 can project an image displayed on the image display display 30 onto an arbitrary projected surface such as a screen 40. The projector unit 20 has a distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the screen 40, and at least the image displayed on the image display 30 with the amount of projected light controlled according to the distance measurement result by the distance measuring means. A part is enlarged and projected on the screen 40.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram for explaining the operating principle of the projection light source emission amount control in the projector unit 20 shown in FIG. The projector unit 20 measures the distance to the projector control unit 21 that controls the entire system, the projection distance that stores the required light emission amount information of the projection light source corresponding to the projection distance in advance, the information storage unit 22 that corresponds to the light emission amount of the projection light source, and the screen 40. A distance measuring unit 23 that realizes the above distance measuring means, a projection light source 24 composed of a white LED (Light Emitting Diode) 24a and a diffuser plate 24b, and a light source driving unit 25 that controls the amount of light emitted from the projection light source 24. , A transmissive liquid crystal plate 26 that is a display element that modulates the light from the projection light source 24, a liquid crystal drive unit 27 that sets an image on the transmissive liquid crystal plate 26, and a screen 40 that displays an image displayed on the transmissive liquid crystal plate 26. It has a projection lens 28 that constitutes a projection optical system for forming an image on the top.

In the portable phone 10, when the projector unit 20 and the screen 40 are set to a specific distance and the operation of the projector unit 20 is started, the distance measuring unit 23 is activated and the distance measuring unit 23 is moved from the projector unit 20 to the screen 40. The distance to the projector is measured, and the result is notified to the projector control unit 21.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the distance measuring unit 23 shown in FIG. 2. In the figure, 23a is a light emitting element, 23b is a position detecting element, 23c is a light emitting lens, 23d is a light receiving lens, and 23e is. It is a triangular ranging control unit. The triangular distance measuring control unit 23e of the distance measuring unit 23 irradiates the infrared light beam forward from the light emitting element 23a via the light projecting lens 23c, and sets the light receiving incident angle of the infrared light reflected by the screen 40 to the light receiving lens 23d. And by detecting with the position detection element 23b, the distance to the screen 40 is calculated by the triangular ranging method.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an information table that determines the required light emission amount of the projection light source according to the projection distance range. The projector control unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 searches for a light emission amount to be set in the projection light source 24 from the projection distance-projection light source light emission amount correspondence information storage unit 22 based on the measurement distance notified from the distance measurement unit 23. As shown in FIG. 4, the projection distance-projection light source light emission amount correspondence information storage unit 22 stores in advance the light emission amount information of the projection light source 24 required for visually recognizing the projected image of the projector unit 20 for each projection distance range. By searching this information, the projector control unit 21 can obtain the required light emission amount information of the projection light source corresponding to the projection distance.

For example, when the measurement distance measured by the distance measuring unit 23 corresponds to the range of L1 to L2 in FIG. 4, the projector control unit 21 searches for the projected distance-projected light source emission amount correspondence information storage unit 22. Obtain P2 as the required light emission amount information of the projection light source 24. Then, when the above search is completed, the projector control unit 21 sets the searched required light emission amount information in the light source driving unit 25. As a result, the light source driving unit 25 drives the projection light source 24 with the amount of light emitted from the projector control unit 21. After that, the projector control unit 21 sets the image to be projected on the transmissive liquid crystal plate 26 on the liquid crystal drive unit 27, and projects the image on the screen 40. In the present embodiment, the projected light control means of the present invention is realized by the projector control unit 21 and the light source drive unit 25 described above. It is needless to say that the required light emission amount of the projection light source 24 shown in FIG. 4 decreases as the projection distance becomes shorter.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example of the projection light source emission amount control in the projector unit 21 of the portable telephone 10 described above. First, when the projector unit 20 and the screen 40 are set to a specific distance and the operation of the projector unit 20 is started, the distance measuring unit 23 is activated and the distance measuring unit 23 starts the projection distance from the projector unit 20 to the screen 40. Is measured (step S1).

Then, the projector control unit 21 searches for the required light emission amount information to be set in the projection light source 24 from the projection distance-projection light source light emission amount correspondence information storage unit 22 based on the measurement distance information notified from the distance control unit 23 ( Step S2). Then, the projector control unit 21 controls the light emission amount of the projection light source 24 by setting the required light emission amount information obtained by searching the projection distance-projection light source light emission amount correspondence information storage unit 22 in the light source drive unit 25. Do (step S3). As a result, the light source driving unit 25 drives the projection light source 24 with the amount of light emitted from the projector control unit 21.

As described above, in the portable telephone 10 of the present embodiment, since the light emission amount of the projection light source 24 of the projector can be controlled according to the projection distance, the light emission amount of the projection light source 24 is reduced when the projection distance is short. This makes it possible to suppress unnecessary power consumption in the projection light source 24.

In the present embodiment, the triangular distance measuring method using infrared rays is adopted as the distance measuring method of the distance measuring unit 23, but various other methods such as the ultrasonic method may be used instead. Good. Further, as for the projection light source 24, various other light emitting means such as a laser may be used instead of the white LED.

(Second Embodiment) The portable terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the portable telephone shown in the first embodiment is further provided with a projector projection focus control means. The mobile phone 10 of the present embodiment includes an image display display 30 and a projector unit 20 as in the first embodiment, and the projector unit 20 displays an image displayed on the image display 30 on an arbitrary screen 40 or the like. Can be projected onto the projected surface of.

FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram for explaining the operating principle of the projection light source emission amount control and the projection focus control in the projector unit 20 of the present embodiment. In addition to the elements shown in the first embodiment, the projector unit 20 includes a lead screw unit 51 for moving the projection lens 28, a motor 52, and a motor driver 53.

As described in the first embodiment, when the projector unit 20 and the screen 40 are set to a specific distance and the operation of the projector unit 20 is started, the distance measuring unit 23 measures the distance to the screen 40, and the distance is measured. Notify the projector control unit 21 of the result. Similar to the first embodiment described above, the projector control unit 21 searches for information in the projection distance-projection light source light emission amount correspondence information storage unit 22, and controls the light emission amount of the projection light source 24 based on the search information. .. The details of this operation will be omitted.

Further, in the present embodiment, the projector control unit 21 calculates the focusing position of the projection lens 28 by using the measurement distance information notified from the distance measurement unit 23 and the focal length information of the projection lens 28, and this calculation is performed. The movement amount information of the projection lens 28 based on the result is calculated, and the movement amount information is set in the motor driver 53.

The motor driver 53 drives the motor 52 based on the movement amount information of the projection lens 28 described above. As a result, the motor 52 and the reed screw portion 51 rotate, and the projection lens 28 moves in the optical axis direction in accordance with the rotation of the reed screw portion 51, and is set to the in-focus position between the transmissive liquid crystal plate 26 and the screen 40. Will be done. In the present embodiment, the projection focus control means of the present invention is realized by the projector control unit 21, and the projection lens moving means is realized by the lead screw unit 51, the motor 52, and the motor driver 53.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example of movement control of the projection lens in the projector unit 21 of the portable telephone 10 described above. First, when the projector unit 20 and the screen 40 are set to a specific distance and the operation of the projector unit 20 is started, the distance measuring unit 23 is activated and the distance measuring unit 23 determines the distance from the projector unit 20 to the screen 40. Measure (step S11).

Then, the projector control unit 21 calculates the focusing position of the projection lens 28 based on the measurement distance information notified from the distance control unit 23 (step S12), and calculates the movement amount information of the projection lens 28 based on the calculation result. By calculating and setting the movement amount information in the motor driver 53, the movement control of the projection lens is performed (step S13). The motor driver 53 drives the motor 52 based on the movement information of the projection lens 28, so that the projection lens 28 is set to the in-focus position between the transmissive liquid crystal plate 26 and the screen 40.

As described above, in the portable telephone of the present embodiment, it is possible to control the amount of light emitted from the projection light source 24 and the projector projection focus control according to the projection distance of the projected image by the projector unit 20. In the present embodiment, the one using the lead screw portion 51 as the moving means of the projection lens 28 has been described, but instead of this, various moving means for moving the lens may be used.

(Third Embodiment) The portable terminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the portable telephone shown in the second embodiment is further provided with a camera having a focus control means. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the portable terminal of the present invention, and FIG. 8 (A) is a front schematic view of the mobile phone according to the third embodiment of the portable terminal of the present invention, FIG. (B) is a schematic rear view of the mobile phone, FIG. 8 (C) is a schematic side view for explaining the operation when the projector provided in the mobile phone is used, and FIG. 8 (D) is a side view for explaining the operation when the camera is imaged. It is a side view of the portable telephone of.

The portable telephone 10 is provided with an image display 30 on the front surface, and is provided with a projector unit 20 and a camera 60 adjacent thereto on the back surface. The projector unit 20 has a distance measuring means to the screen 40, and at least a part of the image displayed on the image display 30 is displayed in FIG. 8 (C) with the projected light emission amount controlled according to the measured distance. ) Is magnified and projected on the screen 40. Further, the camera 60 measures the distance to the subject 70 by using the distance measuring means provided in the projector unit 20, controls the imaging focus according to the measured distance, and controls the subject 70 as shown in FIG. 8 (D). To take an image of.

FIG. 9 is a block configuration diagram showing a projector unit 20 in the portable telephone 10 of the present embodiment and an image pickup focus control processing unit 60a in the camera 60. The projector unit 20 has the same configuration as that shown in the second embodiment, has a distance measuring unit 23 that realizes the above-mentioned distance measuring means, and has a projector unit 20 and a screen (FIG.) measured by the distance measuring unit 23. The amount of light emitted from the projection light source 24 and the projection focus of the projector lens 28 can be controlled according to the distance from (not shown). The detailed operation of these controls will not be described repeatedly.

In the present embodiment, the imaging focus control processing unit 60a includes a lead screw unit 61, a motor 62, a motor driver 63, an imaging focus lens position control unit 64, and an imaging focus lens 66, and is used for imaging focus on the imaging element 65. It is configured so that the relative position of the lens 66 can be adjusted.

At the start of imaging of the subject 70, the imaging focus lens position control unit 64 activates the distance measuring unit 23 of the projector unit 20. The distance measuring unit 23 measures the distance to the subject 70 and notifies the image pickup focus lens position control unit 64 of the result. The image pickup focus lens position control unit 64 calculates the focusing position of the image pickup focus lens 66 based on the measurement distance information notified from the distance measurement unit 23 and the focal length information of the image pickup focus lens 66, and this calculation is performed. The movement amount information of the imaging focus lens 66 is calculated based on the result, and the movement amount information is set in the motor driver 63.

The motor driver 63 drives the motor 62 based on the movement amount information of the shooting focus lens 66 described above. As a result, the lead screw portion 61 rotates, and the image pickup focus lens 66 moves in the optical axis direction in accordance with the rotation of the lead screw portion 61, and is set at the in-focus position between the subject 70 and the image sensor 65. In the present embodiment, the image pickup unit of the present invention is realized as a camera 60, the image pickup lens constituting the image pickup optical system is realized by the image pickup focus lens 66, and the image pickup focus control means is the image pickup focus lens position control unit 64. Realized by.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the image pickup focus control process in the image pickup focus control processing unit 60a of the portable telephone 10 described above. First, at the start of imaging of the subject 70, the imaging focus lens position control unit 64 activates the distance measuring unit 23 of the projector unit 20, and the distance measuring unit 23 measures the distance to the subject 70 (step S21). Then, the imaging focus lens position control unit 64 calculates the focusing position of the imaging focus lens 66 based on the measurement distance information notified from the distance measuring unit 23 and the focal length information of the imaging focus lens 66 (step). S22), the movement amount information of the imaging focus lens 66 is calculated based on the calculation result, and the movement amount information is set in the motor driver 63 to control the movement of the imaging focus lens 66 (step S23). .. The motor driver 63 drives the motor 62 based on the movement amount information of the shooting focus lens 66, so that the image pickup focus lens 66 is set at the in-focus position of the subject 70 and the image sensor 65.

As described above, in the portable telephone 10 of the present embodiment, when the projector unit 20 is operating, it is possible to control the amount of light emitted from the projection light source 24 and the projector projection focus according to the projection distance of the projector unit 20, and the camera 60. It is possible to control the image pickup focus of the camera according to the subject distance during the operation of the above. In the present embodiment, the lead screw portion 61 is used as the moving means of the image pickup focus lens 66. Instead of this, various moving means for moving the lens may be used.

<figref num="1">It is a figure which shows the 1st Embodiment of the portable terminal of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">It is a block block diagram for demonstrating the operation principle of the projection light source light emission amount control in the projector part shown in FIG.</figref><figref num="3">It is a figure for demonstrating the structural example of the distance measuring part shown in FIG.</figref><figref num="4">It is a figure which shows an example of the information table which determines the required light emission amount of a projection light source according to a projection distance range.</figref><figref num="5">It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing example of the projection light source light emission amount control in the projector part of a portable telephone.</figref><figref num="6">It is a block block diagram for demonstrating the operation principle of the projection light source light emission amount control and the projection focus control in the projector part of this embodiment.</figref><figref num="7">It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing example of the movement control of a projection lens in the projector part of a portable telephone.</figref><figref num="8">It is a figure which shows the 3rd Embodiment of the portable terminal of this invention.</figref><figref num="9">It is a block block diagram which shows the projector part in the portable telephone of this embodiment, and the image pickup focus control processing part in a camera.</figref><figref num="10">It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing of the image pickup focus control in the image pickup focus control processing part of a portable telephone.</figref>

Code description

10 ... Mobile phone, 20 ... Projector unit, 21 ... Projector control unit, 22 ... Projection distance-Projection light source Emission amount compatible information storage unit, 23 ... Distance measurement unit, 23a ... Light emitting element, 23b ... Position detection light receiving element, 23c ... Floodlight lens, 23d ... Light receiving lens, 23e ... Triangular distance measuring control unit, 24 ... Projection light source, 24a ... White LED , 24b ... diffuser, 25 ... light source drive, 26 ... transmissive liquid crystal plate, 27 ... liquid crystal drive, 28 ... projection lens, 30 ... image display, 40 ... screen, 51,61 ... lead screw, 52,62 ... motor, 53,63 ... motor driver, 60 ... camera, 60a ... camera imaging focus control processing unit, 64 ... Imaging focus lens position control unit, 65 ... Imaging element, 66 ... Imaging focus lens, 70 ... Subject.