Electronic paper and information display system using the same

The present invention relates to an electronic paper used for displaying information and an information display system in which the electronic paper is attached to a driving device to rewrite the information displayed on the electronic paper.

Conventionally, there is known an information display device in which a display medium having a display memory property is enclosed between two substrates and the display medium is driven to display information such as an image (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this information display device, an information display panel, which is a panel structure in which a display medium is enclosed, and elements such as a driver IC for driving, a CPU, a memory, and a power supply are all integrated.

<p><patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-148302</text></patcit></p>

<p> In the conventional information display device (which can be said to be an information display system) described above, since the information display device and the drive device are integrated, the drive device mounted on the information display device is exclusively mounted on the information display device. It only rewrites the information on the information display panel, in other words, it is not possible to rewrite the information on multiple information display panels with one drive unit. There has also been an attempt to make the information display device and the drive device removable, but it requires electrical connection with a large number of electrodes extending to the display pixels of the information display panel, and drives the information display device. It was practically difficult to connect the device once, then disconnect it and then reconnect it.</p><p> An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to divide the conventionally integrated information display device (also called an information display system) into an information display (also called electronic paper) and a drive device. It has a removable configuration that allows electrical connection with a large number of electrodes required when mounting it, and as a result, it is possible to rewrite information on multiple electronic papers with one drive device, and only electronic papers. This is an attempt to construct an information display system composed of an electronic paper capable of fully exhibiting display memory and a drive device for rewriting the information to be displayed on the electronic paper.</p>

<p> The electronic paper of the present invention includes an information display panel having display memory, a driver IC for controlling a drive voltage applied to the information display panel, a serial-parallel conversion means for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal, and an external device. It is characterized in that the serial-parallel conversion means is configured to convert the serial signal from the external device into a parallel signal and transmit the converted parallel signal to the driver IC, including the connection terminal connector that receives the signal from the device. Is to be.</p><p> Further, as a preferable example of the electronic paper of the present invention, the information display panel arranges a display medium configured as a particle group containing chargeable particles in the space between the panel substrates, and drives the information display panel controlled by a driver IC. Information may be displayed by moving the display medium according to the electric field formed by the voltage.</p><p> Further, the information display system of the present invention comprises an electronic paper, at least a parallel-serial conversion means, a terminal for connecting the electronic paper as an outlet of the serial signal, and a drive device including a CPU, a memory, and a power supply means. The terminal for connecting the electronic paper is attached to the terminal for connecting to the electronic paper including the signal line that transmits the serial signal output by the parallel-serial conversion means of the drive device, and the information is displayed on the electronic paper. It is characterized in that it is configured to drive a panel.</p><p> In the present invention, the "parallel-serial conversion" reduces the number of bits of data transmitted synchronously by distributing the synchronized data on the time axis with respect to the digital signal transmitted synchronously by 2 bits or more. It is implemented for the purpose of this, and has merits such as a reduction in the number of transmission lines. Further, "serial-parallel conversion" means an inverse conversion of parallel-serial conversion. Further, the "parallel signal" means a digital signal transmitted in synchronization of 2 bits or more, and the "serial signal" means a digital signal converted by parallel-serial conversion.</p>

<p> According to the information display system of the present invention, the display side unit and the drive side unit in the information display device (which can also be said to be an information display system) are separated as electronic paper and a drive device, respectively, and each is connected by using a terminal connector. Since the information is displayed on the electronic paper, when rewriting the displayed information, the electronic paper is connected to the drive device, and the information display panel mounted on the electronic paper is driven to rewrite the display information. After that, the electronic paper can be removed from the drive device while maintaining the displayed information by utilizing the display memory property. In addition, the electronic paper is equipped with a serial-parallel conversion means that converts the serial signal into a parallel signal, and the signal sent from the drive device to the electronic paper is used as the serial signal. The point of connecting a large number of electrodes in the connection can be changed by connecting only a small number of electrodes, and the electronic paper can be freely attached to and detached from the drive device. Therefore, using a plurality of electronic papers that can be connected to one drive device, a plurality of electronic papers are sequentially connected to one drive device to display information, and then the information is displayed and then removed. With one drive device, information can be displayed on multiple electronic papers, and the information displayed on these multiple electronic papers is retained as it is until the next rewrite, so only the electronic papers can be displayed. You can now carry it around.</p><p> Further, according to the information display system of the present invention, the information received by the drive device can be displayed on the electronic paper connected to the drive device by configuring the drive device with the communication means. Therefore, if the drive device having this communication means is a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, the drive device and the electronic paper can be carried together, and the information to be seen and the information to be read can be carried by this portable type. It can be displayed on electronic paper connected to the drive device. In a portable terminal having a display screen in the main body such as a mobile phone, the electronic paper of the present invention can be used as a second display screen, and in that case, an electronic paper that provides a large screen in which information is easy to see. It can also be.</p><p> According to the electronic paper of the present invention, an information display panel using a display medium having display memory, a serial-parallel conversion means for converting a serial signal into a parallel signal, and a connection terminal connector for a drive device are mounted. Therefore, the information received from the drive device as a serial signal can be converted into a parallel signal and displayed on the information display panel by being attached to the drive device. Then, after displaying the information, the information can be removed from the drive device in the displayed state, and the electronic paper holding the displayed information as it is can be carried. Then, the display medium having the display memory property used for the information display panel is a particle group containing chargeable particles, and the information display panel applies an electric field to the particle group arranged between the panel substrates to obtain the particle group. When the information is displayed by moving the display memory, the display memory property can be more effectively exhibited.</p>

<figref num="1">(a) and (b) are diagrams for explaining an example of an information display panel using a particle group containing chargeable particles as a display medium having a display memory property used in the electronic paper of the present invention, respectively.</figref><figref num="2">(a) and (b) are diagrams for explaining another example of an information display panel using a particle group containing chargeable particles as a display medium having display memory used in the electronic paper of the present invention, respectively. is there.</figref><figref num="3">It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the electronic paper of this invention.</figref><figref num="4">It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the electronic paper of this invention shown in FIG.</figref><figref num="5">It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the information display system of this invention.</figref><figref num="6">It is a block diagram for demonstrating another example of the information display system of this invention.</figref>

&lt;About the information display panel constituting the electronic paper of the present invention&gt; First, among the information display panels constituting the electronic paper used in the information display system of the present invention, an example of an information display panel using a particle group containing chargeable particles as a display medium will be described. In the information display panel, an electric field is applied to the display medium enclosed in the space between the two opposing substrates. The display medium is attracted by the force due to the electric field, the Coulomb force, or the like along the applied electric field direction, and the display medium moves due to the change in the electric field direction, so that information such as an image is displayed. Therefore, it is necessary to design the display panel so that the display medium can move uniformly and maintain stability when the display information is repeatedly rewritten or the display information is continuously displayed. Here, as the force applied to the particles constituting the display medium, in addition to the force attracted by the Coulomb force between the particles, an electromirror image force with an electrode or a substrate, an intermolecular force, a liquid cross-linking force, gravity, and the like can be considered.

Among the information display panels constituting the electronic paper used in the information display system of the present invention, examples of the information display panel using a particle group containing chargeable particles as a display medium are shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). ~ The explanation will be based on FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).

In the examples shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), at least two types of display media (here, negatively charged white particles 3Wa) formed as a particle group containing particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability are included. The white display medium 3W configured as a particle group and the black display medium 3B configured as a particle group containing positively charged black particles 3Ba) are mounted on the panel substrate on the back side in each cell 7 formed by the partition wall 4. By applying a voltage between the pixel electrode pair formed by the electrode 5 (striped electrode) provided in 1 and the transparent electrode 6 (striped electrode) provided in the transparent panel substrate 2 on the observation side intersecting and orthogonally intersecting each other. It is moved perpendicular to the substrates 1 and 2 according to the generated electric field. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer to display white, or as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer to be black. Is displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. In addition, in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the partition wall in front is omitted. Also, 8 is an adhesive. Further, here, an example in which cells and pixels (dots) have a one-to-one correspondence is shown. Furthermore, although the inside of the cell is filled with air here, it may be filled with another gas or a vacuum may be created. It may also be filled with an insulating liquid. Furthermore, a transparent capsule may be used instead of the cell formed by the partition wall.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), at least two types of display media (here, negatively charged white particles 3Wa) formed as a particle group containing particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability are included. A white display medium 3W configured as a particle group and a black display medium 3B configured as a particle group containing positively charged black particles 3Ba) are provided on the substrate 1 in each cell formed by the partition wall 4. It is moved perpendicular to the substrates 1 and 2 according to the electric field generated by applying a voltage between 5 (pixel electrode with TFT (thin film)) and electrode 6 (common electrode) provided on the substrate 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer to display white, or as shown in FIG. 2B, the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer to be black. Is displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. In addition, in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the partition wall in front is omitted. Also, 8 is an adhesive. Further, here, an example in which cells and pixels (dots) have a one-to-one correspondence is shown. Furthermore, although the inside of the cell is filled with air here, it may be filled with another gas or a vacuum may be created. It may also be filled with an insulating liquid. Furthermore, a transparent capsule may be used instead of the cell formed by the partition wall.

&lt;About the electronic paper of the present invention&gt; FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the electronic paper of the present invention. In this example, the information display panel having the structure shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) is used, and the same members as those shown in the examples shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) have the same reference numerals. Is added, and the description thereof will be omitted. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the electronic paper 11 of the present invention drives the information to be displayed for each of the information display panel 12 that functions as an information display unit for displaying information and the plurality of striped electrodes 5 in the row direction. A driver IC 13 that supplies a voltage, a driver IC 14 that supplies a driving voltage for information to be displayed for each of a plurality of striped electrodes 6 in the column direction, a serial-parallel conversion means 15 that converts a serial signal into a parallel signal, and It is configured to include a connection terminal connector 16 that receives a serial signal transmitted from a separate drive device. Although FIG. 3 shows an example in which the driver IC is directly mounted on each of the two boards, a flexible board on which the driver IC is mounted can be mounted on each of the two boards.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the electronic paper of the present invention shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the same members as those in the example shown in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. As the driver IC 13 and the driver IC 14, one having an output side terminal having a number of row side stripe electrodes or more and an output side terminal having a column side stripe electrode number or more, respectively, is used. For the connection between the serial-parallel conversion means and the driver IC, an electrode wire formed on the substrate is used if it is on the same substrate, and a flexible cable or a flexible circuit board (FPC) is used for the connection between the substrates.

A parallel signal converted from a serial signal received from the drive unit side is transmitted between the plurality of driver ICs 13 and the plurality of driver ICs 14 and the parallel port of the serial-parallel conversion means 15. At this time, one serial-parallel conversion means 15 is arranged for the plurality of driver ICs 13 and the plurality of driver ICs 14, and one connection terminal connector for the drive device is further arranged ahead of the serial-parallel conversion means 15. It is possible to arrange them, or to arrange the serial-parallel conversion means 15 for each of the plurality of driver ICs 13 and the plurality of driver ICs 14, and further, the drive device is placed ahead of the plurality of serial-parallel conversion means 15. It is also possible to arrange the connection terminal connectors with each other. In the former case, only one serial-parallel conversion means 15 and one connection terminal connector are required, but at least the number of connection terminals of the connection terminal connector is required for the number of driver ICs. In the latter case, serial-parallel conversion means 15 and connection terminal connectors are required at least as many as the number of driver ICs, but the number of connection terminals of the connection terminal connector is 2 for data transmission and 1 for ground connection. All you need is a book. Considering the ease of attaching and detaching the electronic paper to and from the drive device and the rewriting speed when rewriting the information, either one can be selected and adopted.

In the above-mentioned example, as the information display panel mounted on the electronic paper, a passive drive system for transmitting signals to the plurality of stripe electrodes shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) was used, but for information display. Even when an active drive system using the TFT shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) is used as the panel, the present invention can be obtained by processing the signal transmitted to the electrode with the TFT in the same manner as in the above example. It can be preferably applied.

&lt;About the information display system of the present invention&gt; FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the information display system of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the information display system is composed of the electronic paper 11 and the driving device 21. In this example, the electronic paper 11 has the same configuration as the example described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the drive device 21 requires a parallel-serial conversion means 22 for converting a parallel signal into a serial signal, a logic controller 23, a battery 24 as a power supply means, and a data signal for driving a display medium. It is composed of a booster circuit 28 that boosts the voltage to a high voltage level, a CPU 25, a memory 26 that stores various data, and a communication means 27 that can receive at least data from the outside. , It is also possible to have a configuration that does not have a communication means. The power supply means may be configured such that power is supplied from the outside by connecting to an external power source instead of the battery.

Data signals are exchanged in the drive device in parallel, and on the drive device side, the parallel-serial conversion means 22 arranged at the outlet of the data signal converts the data signal from the parallel signal to the serial signal. That is, in the parallel-serial conversion means 22, the parallel signal input from the parallel port is converted and sent out as a serial signal from the serial port. On the other hand, on the electronic paper side, the serial signal input from the serial port of the serial-parallel conversion means 15 arranged at the entrance of the data signal is converted and sent out as a parallel signal from the parallel port. The connection terminal connector that attaches the electronic paper and the drive device and connects the data signal transmission line is the number of signal lines and one for transmitting the serial signal between the connector on the drive device side and the connector on the electronic paper side. Since it is sufficient to have the ground signal line of, the number of signal line terminals that need to be connected can be reduced. For example, a connector with four terminals, such as a commercially available USB connector, can be adopted, and in an extreme example, a connector with two terminals, a data signal line and a ground terminal line, can also be used. The smaller the number of terminals on the connector, the easier it is to connect, but on the other hand, it takes time to transmit the data signal and it takes time to rewrite the display, so the number of terminals is 4 to 16. To the range of.

FIG. 5 shows the basic configuration of the electronic paper of the present invention in which the serial-parallel conversion means 15 is arranged in front of the driver IC in the electronic paper. The function of the serial-parallel conversion means 15 is shown in the driver IC. It can also be included in. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the serial-parallel conversion means is not used independently on the electronic paper side, but the function is given to the electronic paper as a driver IC with the serial-parallel conversion means. It will be. The serial signal input from the input side of the driver IC is converted into a parallel signal by the serial-parallel conversion function of the driver IC, and is sent out from the output side of the driver IC.

In the information display system shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the data signal is transmitted as a serial signal between the electronic paper 11 and the driving device 21, so that the signal line used for connecting the electronic paper 11 and the driving device 21 can be obtained. Since the number can be reduced, a detachable connection between the electronic paper 11 and the drive device 21 can be achieved with a simple configuration. Further, by replacing the electronic paper 11 with one drive device 21, information can be displayed with only one drive device 21 for a plurality of electronic paper 11.

In the information display system of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a portable terminal represented by a mobile phone can be adopted as a drive device. In this case, the drive device (for example, a mobile phone) is provided with a function of displaying information on the display screen of the mobile phone, but as a means necessary for connecting and driving the electronic paper of the present invention. Further, at least the above-mentioned logic controller, booster circuit and parallel-serial conversion means need to be added. Since these functions are small and lightweight, the mobile phone can be used as a small and lightweight drive device, and since it does not interfere with the portability of the mobile phone, it is easy to carry with electronic paper and display the mobile phone. Information that is difficult to see on a small screen such as a screen can be made easier to see on the electronic paper screen by connecting a separate large-screen electronic paper. Also, in this case as well, the necessary information is removed by removing the electronic paper displaying the necessary information from the mobile phone, connecting another electronic paper, displaying the necessary information separately, and then removing the necessary information. You can see all the information at a glance by arranging multiple electronic papers that display the information, or you can see all the information by stacking multiple electronic papers that display the necessary information as if you were turning pages. ..

The parallel-serial conversion means 22 provided in the drive device and the serial-parallel conversion means 15 provided in the electronic paper are configured so that one driver IC is provided for each driver IC mounted on the electronic paper, and one is provided for all the driver ICs. Can be adopted within the range of. In the configuration where only the number of each driver IC is provided, the number of connection terminal connectors is required and the connection becomes a little difficult, but there is an advantage that the data signal can be transmitted quickly, and in the configuration where one is provided for all driver ICs. , The connection becomes easy, but there is a demerit that the transmission of the data signal becomes slow.

That is, in the information display system of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a comparison with the conventional information display device is as follows. When an information display panel having a memory property is used, once an image is displayed, the image is maintained until it is rewritten. Therefore, by replacing the information display panel (also referred to as electronic paper) with one drive device, it is possible to display on a plurality of information display panels. However, conventionally, since the connection work between the information display panel and the drive device is not easy, the information display panel and the drive device are usually used as one. Therefore, even if there is a memory property, in reality, only one information display panel can be used with one drive device, and the memory property cannot be fully utilized. Furthermore, if a lightweight and thin information display panel is adopted as the electronic paper, the merit of using a plurality of electronic papers will be further increased, and the merit of replacing a plurality of electronic papers with one drive device will be increased.

Further, in the past, attempts have been made to replace the electronic paper with the drive device, but this has not been successful. The reason is that it is difficult to connect the connection part between the drive device and the electronic paper because the number of signal lines for sending the image to be displayed is large, and it is practically difficult to replace the drive device and the electronic paper. This is because of the fact. Therefore, in order to reduce the number of connections as much as possible and facilitate reconnection, in the present invention, the driver IC is first mounted on the electronic paper side to connect the output side of the driver IC to the electrode side of the actual pixel. However, the input side, which has fewer terminals than the output side, is connected to the drive device to significantly reduce the number of electrodes connected between the electronic paper and the drive device. By converting the transmission signal to a serial signal, the number of electrodes connected between the electronic paper and the drive device is further reduced. In this way, by integrating the driver IC function and the serial-parallel conversion function into electronic paper, it is extremely compatible with other drive devices (CPU, memory, power supply means, boost means, input device, communication function). It is possible to make an electrical connection with a small number of terminals. As a result, when rewriting the displayed information, it can be easily connected to the drive unit to rewrite the information, and after rewriting, it can be easily removed from the drive unit and made into an electronic paper that can be carried with the information displayed. It was possible to make an information display system composed of devices.

Since the electronic paper (information display device) of the present invention can be easily attached to and detached from the drive device (display information rewriting device), various uses are possible. As a drive device (display information rewriting device), a laptop computer, an electronic organizer, a PDA, a mobile phone, a handy terminal, a portable media player, or the like can be used. When the electronic paper of the present invention is used in connection with these devices, it can be used as a main display of these portable devices and also as a sub-display with low power consumption.

Further, since the electronic paper (information display) of the present invention is easily removable and has a memory property, it can be used to display a plurality of information at the same time by using a plurality of sheets while attaching and detaching them. is there. Furthermore, when a fixed electronic device such as a desktop personal computer is used as a drive device (display information rewriting device), the printed paper can be removed by removing the display information after rewriting the display information, taking advantage of its memory property. It can also be used as a rewritable paper. These drive devices (display information rewriting devices) include a parallel-serial conversion means, a logic controller and a booster circuit for forming an image of information to be displayed on an information display panel, a CPU, a memory, and a power supply means (fixed power supply). It is preferable to have all the communication functions (means for obtaining power from) and communication functions, but the present invention is made by connecting a device having some of these functions and a relay device having insufficient functions. It can also be used by connecting the electronic paper (information display device) of.

1 or 2 panel board 3W white display medium 3Wa white particles 3B black display medium 3Ba black particles 4 bulkhead 5, 6 electrodes 7 cells 8 glue 11 Electronic paper (information display) 12 Information display panel 13, 14 driver IC 15 Serial-parallel conversion means 16 Connection terminal connector 21 Drive device (rewriting device) 22 Parallel-serial conversion means 23 logic controller 24 Power supply means 25 CPU 26 memory 27 means of communication 28 Booster circuit