Abstract:
A terminal device is provided enabling automatic switching of an LCD display of a slave device to a touch panel manipulation screen when a master and the slave devices are unified; particularly, a compact, highly convenient terminal device and a method of controlling a terminal system that enables removal and attachment of a plurality of terminals. The terminal device has a structure in which a slave terminal having a unification/separation detection section, an LCD display screen, and a short range wireless communication section is inserted into a master terminal having a unification/separation detection section, a touch panel, and a short range wireless communication section, the compact touch panel being provided in the master terminal at a position where the compact touch panel overlaps the LCD display screen of the slave terminal, and short range wireless communication sections can perform linked communication control of the master and slave terminals.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a terminal device having a configuration in which two terminals, or a master device and a slave device, can be unified or separated from each other. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0002]    A hitherto available terminal device of this type having a configuration that enables unification and separation of two terminals is described in; for instance, Patent Literature 1. 
       CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
       [0003]    Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2003-8736 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
       [0004]    However, under the related art technique, combination of a master terminal with a slave terminal results in an increase in the size of the terminal device. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, a structure, such as a structure for inserting a slave device into a master device, is conceivable to miniaturize the terminal device. However, in the case of such a structure, since the slave device is included in the master device, a problem occurred at this time is that the slave device cannot be operated while the slave device is inserted in the master device. 
         [0006]    In order to solve the problem, the present invention aims at providing a compact, highly convenient terminal device while enabling removal attachment of a plurality of terminals. 
       Solution to Problem 
       [0007]    A terminal device of the present invention includes: 
         [0008]    a first terminal having a touch panel and 
         [0009]    a second terminal having a display screen, 
         [0010]    wherein the second terminal can be accommodated in the first terminal; 
         [0011]    the touch panel is positioned immediately above the display screen while the second terminal remains accommodated in the first terminal; and 
         [0012]    the second terminal displays a touch panel manipulation screen on the display screen when the second terminal is accommodated in the first terminal, and the first terminal transmits to the second terminal input information entered by way of the touch panel. 
         [0013]    As a result, the slave device can be readily operated while accommodated in the master device. 
       Advantageous Effects of the Invention 
       [0014]    The present invention can provide a compact, highly convenient terminal device and a method of controlling a terminal system while enabling removal attachment of a plurality of terminals. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic structural diagram of a unified state of a first embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 1B  is a schematic structural diagram of a separated state of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a hardware block diagram of a slave terminal of the embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a hardware block diagram of a master terminal of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is an operation processing flow chart of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a hardware block diagram of a master terminal of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is an operation processing flow chart of the second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is a diagram showing an example display of the slave terminal appeared when it is separated in the embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is a diagram showing an example display of the slave terminal appeared when it is unified in the embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    Embodiments of the present invention are hereunder described by reference to the drawings. 
       First Embodiment 
       [0024]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic structural diagram of a unified state of a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0025]    A master terminal  20  that is a first terminal is presumed to be a foldable mobile terminal. The master terminal  20  is equipped with a large screen display section  27  provided on a surface of an upper enclosure; and a key manipulation section (QWERTY key)  25 , a touch pad/click device  26  that are all provided on a surface of a lower enclosure. A slave terminal  10  that is a second terminal is accommodated in the lower enclosure of the master terminal  20 . In the present embodiment, the slave terminal  10  is inserted into the master terminal  20  from below. However, accommodation of the slave terminal is not limited to this structure. Any structure is fine, so long as the slave terminal is accommodated in the master terminal  20 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 1B  is a separation diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. A configuration of a cellular phone is taken as an example of the slave terminal  10 , and a configuration, and the like, of the slave terminal will be described later. 
         [0027]    A unification/separation detection section  11  and a unification/separation detection section  21  detect whether or not the slave terminal  10  is accommodated in the master terminal  20  (whether or not they are unified). The unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21  are disposed where they are physically connected together. Limitations are not necessarily imposed on a location where the unification/separation detection section  11  is placed. The essential requirement for the location is that the unification/separation detection section  11  be placed at any of an upper surface, a lower surface, and side surfaces of the slave terminal  10  and physically connected to the unification/separation detection section  21  of the master terminal  20 , to thus form a unified structure. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 1A , a compact touch panel  23  of the master terminal  20  is placed at a position overlapping a display section  13  of the slave terminal  10 . The display section  13  can be any device, so long as the display section corresponds to a display device, like an LCD and an organic EL. The compact touch panel  23  can be any device, so long as the touch panel is a pressure sensitive or an electrostatic device for detecting a user&#39;s contact. The compact touch panel  23  is built like a transparent window and makes it possible to visibly ascertain that the display section  13  is situated beneath the compact touch panel  23 . 
         [0029]    The slave terminal  10  has a short range wireless communication section  12 , and the master terminal  20  has a short range wireless communication section  22 . The short range wireless communication section  12  and the short range wireless communication section  22  conceivably include infrared communication, a wireless LAN, Bluetooth (Registered Trademark), and the like. 
         [0030]      FIG. 2  is a hardware block diagram of the slave terminal  10  of the embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0031]      FIG. 2  shows a configuration of a cellular phone that is an example of the slave terminal  10 . The slave terminal  10  has a mobile communication wireless section  16 , a signal processing section  17 , and a voice interface  18 . 
         [0032]    Further, the slave terminal  10  has the unification/separation detection section  11 , the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  12 , the display section (LCD)  13 , a control section  14 , and a key manipulation section  15 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a hardware block diagram of the master terminal  20  of the first embodiment of the present invention. The master terminal  20  includes the unification/separation detection section  21 , the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22 , the compact touch panel  23 , a control section  24 , the key manipulation section  25 , the touch pad/click device  26 , the large screen display section  27 , and a large screen touch panel  28 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is an operation processing flow chart of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0035]    When the slave terminal  10  is in a separated state, the display section (LCD)  13  displays, in step S 11 , a normal menu display screen, such as that indicated by an example display of the slave terminal shown in  FIG. 7 . The unification/separation detection section  11  detects and thereby determines whether or not the slave terminal  10  is in a unified state (step S 12 ), and the unification/separation detection section  21  detects and thereby determines whether or not the master terminal  20  is in a unified state (step S 12 ). When a determination result yielded by the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10  shows that detection of unification is No, there is made a return to processing pertaining to step S 11 . When detection of unification rendered in step S 12  is Yes, the slave terminal  10  is controlled by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22  under control of the control section  24  of the master terminal  20 . By means of the control information received by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  12  and under control made by the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10 , the display section  13  is automatically switched to a touch panel menu display screen for unification, such as that indicated by an example display of the slave terminal shown in  FIG. 8  (step S 13 ). In step S 13 , under control of the control section  24  of the master terminal  20 , the large screen display section (LCD)  27  can be switched to a display “Off” (a sleep mode). Information about coordinates of a point on the compact touch panel  23  of the master terminal  20  pressed by a finger (i.e., coordinates for the slave screen) is acquired, and the coordinate information is transmitted from the master terminal  20  to the slave terminal  10  under control of the control section  24  by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22  (step S 14 ). By means of the coordinate information received by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  12  and under control made by the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10 , a touch panel menu display screen of the display section  13  is controlled (step S 15 ). The unification/separation detection section  11  and the unit/separation detection section  21  detect and thereby determine whether or not the slave terminal  10  and the master terminal  20  stay continually unified (step S 16 ). When Yes is rendered to continued unification in step S 16 , a return to processing pertaining to step S 14  is made, and master-slave linked control of the touch panel menu display screen performed in the unified state is continued. When No is rendered to continued unification in step S 16 , the unification/separation detection section  11  and the control section  14  determine that the slave terminal  10  is in a separated state. A return to processing pertaining to step S 11  is made, and automatic switching is made to the normal menu display screen, such as that shown by the example display of the slave terminal shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0036]    By means of foregoing operation, there can be provided a unitable/separable terminal device that has a structure and a method of enabling control of linked communication between the master terminal and the slave terminal. 
         [0037]    When the master device and the slave device are unified into the cellular phone, the display of the slave device is thereby automatically switched to the touch panel manipulation screen. Thus, input information about the touch panel can be output from the master device to the slave device. While the slave device is accommodated in the master device, the slave device can be operated without being detached from the master device. Further, the slave device is operated by means of the touch panel, whereby the slave device can be intuitively operated. Moreover, since the slave device does not need to be provided with a touch panel, the slave device can be miniaturized, so that it becomes easy to accommodate the slave device in the master device. 
         [0038]    Although the compact touch panel  23  is equipped with a transparent window, any window is allowable, so long as the window makes presence of the display section  13  visible. 
         [0039]    Further, it is also possible to detect whether or not the slave terminal  10  is accommodated in the master terminal  20  by employing infrared sensing, an illuminance sensor, or the like, for the unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21 . 
         [0040]    Furthermore, the unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21  may also be a single section. In this case, a result of detection of unification/separation can also be reported to another terminal by means of the short range wireless communication section  12  or  22 . 
       Second Embodiment 
       [0041]      FIG. 2  is also common to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0042]      FIG. 5  is a hardware block diagram of a master terminal of the second embodiment of the present invention. The master terminal  20  includes the unification/separation detection section  21 , the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22 , the compact touch panel  23 , the control section  24 , the key manipulation section  25 , and the large screen display section  27 . 
         [0043]    A substantial structure of a unified terminal device of the second embodiment of the present invention is common to  FIG. 1 . However, the master terminal  20  is not equipped with the touch pad/click device  26  and the large screen touch panel  28 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  is an operation processing flow chart of the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0045]    When the unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21  respectively detect whether or not the slave terminal  10  and the master terminal  20  are unified and when detection results show that the unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21  are in a unified state, the slave terminal  10  is controlled by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22  under control of the control section  24  of the master terminal  20 . The display section  13  is brought into a “Display ON” state by means of the control information received by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  12  and under of the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10 , whereupon the display automatically switches to a touch panel menu display screen for unification, such as that represented by an example display of the slave terminal shown in  FIG. 8  (step S 21 ). In step  521 , the large screen display section  27  can be brought into a “Display Off (sleep)” state under control of the control section  24  of the master terminal  20 . The display of the slave terminal achieved at this time is in a touch UI mode. Next, information about coordinates of a point on the compact touch panel  23  of the master terminal  20  (coordinates for the screen of the slave device) pressed through finger manipulations is captured. Under control of the control section  24 , the coordinate information is transmitted from the master terminal  20  to the slave terminal  10  by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22  (step S 22 ). The touch panel menu display screen of the display section  13  is controlled by means of the coordinate information received by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  12  and under control of the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10  (step S 23 ). The unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21  detect and subsequently determine whether or not the slave terminal  10  and the master terminal  20  continually remain in a unified state, respectively (S 24 ). 
         [0046]    When No is rendered as to continued unification in step S 24 , the unification/separation detection section  11  and the control section  14  determines that the slave terminal  10  is in a separated state. The screen automatically switches to the normal menu display screen, such as that represented by the example display of the slave terminal shown in  FIG. 7 . Concurrently, by means of the unification/separation detection section  21 , the master terminal  20  also determines that the slave terminal  10  has been separated. Under control of the control section  24 , the large screen display section  27  of the master terminal  20  is brought into a “Display On” state, thereby switching the compact touch panel  23  such that the touch panel can be operated as a device for controlling and clicking a cursor for operating a large screen of the master device (step S 25 ). Next, information about coordinates of a point on the compact touch panel  23  of the master terminal  20  pressed through finger manipulations is acquired and thereafter reported to the control section  24  (step S 26 ). By means of operation induced through finger manipulations on the compact touch panel  23  and under control of the control block  24 , controlling and clicking of the cursor on the large screen display section  27  are performed (step S 27 ). The unification/separation detection section  11  and the unification/separation detection section  21  respectively determine and subsequently detect whether or not the slave terminal  10  and the master terminal  20  are in a unified state (step S 28 ). When, in step S 28 , the unification/separation detection section  21  of the master terminal  20  renders No as to detection of unification of the slave terminal  10 , a return to processing pertaining to step S 26  is made. When the unification/separation detection section  21  of the master terminal  20  renders, in step S 28 , Yes as to detection of unification of the slave terminal  10 , the slave terminal  10  is controlled under control of the control section  24  of the master terminal  20  by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22 , and a return to processing pertaining to S 21  is made. 
         [0047]    When Yes is rendered in relation to continued unification in step S 24 , the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10  determines whether or not switching has been made to master control by means of information about coordinates of a point on the compact touch panel  23  pressed through finger manipulations (step S 29 ). When No is rendered in step S 29 , a return to processing pertaining to step S 22  is made. When Yes is rendered in step S 29 , the display section  13  is brought into an off display state or a background color without a menu display under control of the control section  14  of the slave terminal  10 . A display switch is reported from the slave terminal  10  to the master terminal  20  by way of communication between the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  12  and the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22 . Under control of the control section  24 , the large screen display section  27  of the master terminal  20  is brought into a “display On” state, thereby switching the compact touch panel  23  such that the touch panel can operate as a device for controlling and clicking the cursor of the large screen of the master terminal (step S 30 ). Next, information about coordinates of a point on the compact touch panel  23  of the master terminal  20  pressed through finger manipulations is acquired, and controlling and clicking of the cursor on the large screen display section  27  are performed under control of the control section  24  (step S 31 ). By means of information about coordinates of a point on the compact touch panel  23  pressed through finger manipulations and controlling and clicking of the cursor on the large screen display section  27  of the master terminal  20  performed under control of the control section  24 , the control section  24  of the master terminal  20  determines whether or not switching the compact touch panel  23  from manipulation of the master device large screen to the touch panel menu display screen for the display section  13  has been selected (step S 32 ). When No is rendered in step S 32 , a return to processing pertaining to step S 31  is made. When Yes is rendered in step S 32 , the slave terminal  10  is controlled by way of the short range wireless communication section (Bluetooth (Registered Trademark))  22  under control of the control section  24  of the master terminal  20 , thereby making a return to processing pertaining to S 21 . 
         [0048]    Even a configuration in which the master device does not have any touch pad and any large screen touch panel for operating the master device, a compact touch panel can be switched from a touch panel manipulation screen for operating the slave device to a device which also doubles as a device for controlling and clicking a cursor for manipulating a large screen of the master device. 
         [0049]    Although the present invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, diverse modifications or corrections may be made by those of skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0050]    This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-045158 filed on Mar. 2, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
       [0051]    The present invention relates to a terminal device having a structure that enables unification and separation of a slave terminal having a display screen to and from a master terminal and is useful for an application for operating the slave device independently from the master device in a unified state. 
       DESCRIPTIONS OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS AND SYMBOLS 
       [0052]      10  SLAVE TERMINAL 
         [0053]      11  UNIFICATION/SEPARATION DETECTION SECTION 
         [0054]      12  SHORT RANGE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SECTION (Bluetooth (REGISTERED TRADEMARK)) 
         [0055]      13  DISPLAY SECTION (LCD) 
         [0056]      14  CONTROL SECTION 
         [0057]      15  KEY MANIPULATION SECTION 
         [0058]      16  MOBILE COMMUNICATION WIRELESS SECTION 
         [0059]      17  SIGNAL PROCESSING SECTION 
         [0060]      18  VOICE INTERFACE 
         [0061]      20  MASTER TERMINAL 
         [0062]      21  UNIFICATION/SEPARATION DETECTION SECTION 
         [0063]      22  SHORT RANGE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SECTION (Bluetooth (REGISTERED TRADEMARK)) 
         [0064]      23  COMPACT TOUCH PANEL 
         [0065]      24  CONTROL SECTION 
         [0066]      25  KEY MANIPULATION SECTION 
         [0067]      26  TOUCH PAD/CLICK DEVICE 
         [0068]      27  LARGE SCREEN DISPLAY SECTION 
         [0069]      28  LARGE SCREEN TOUCH PANEL