Abstract:
In the electronic apparatus according to the present invention, two display units differ in size are coupled so that an edge part of one of the display units is exposed from the other display unit when the electronic apparatus is folded. An index unit is installed on the edge part and displays index tabs of data recorded in the electronic apparatus. When a user opens the folded electronic apparatus while pressing one of the index tabs, data corresponding to the designated index are extracted from the recorded data and are displayed on the display units.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus which displays text, images, etc. on a monitor. More particularly, it relates to an electronic apparatus which has an index function.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Known electronic apparatus which display text, images, etc. on a monitor include electronic paper type, electronic book type, and electronic addressing type apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003-140574, 2003-076354, and 2002-108254; and Japanese Publication of International Patent Application Nos. 2001-525096 and 11-502950).  
         [0005]     In spite of recent increases in the capacity of recording media used for such electronic apparatus, electronic apparatus often cannot display a series of data at once due to a limited display area. To deal with this situation, such electronic apparatus are designed to display part of data at once and display a series of data by switching screens one after another.  
         [0006]     To switch screens, the user should operate scroll bars or cursor keys on the monitor, rotate the electronic apparatus itself, or the like.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     However, with conventional electronic apparatus such as those described above, the user must perform such special operations that are not performed usually or perform similar operations repeatedly, spending time and effort to refer to necessary data.  
         [0008]     The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and has an object to provide an electronic apparatus which allows the user to refer to necessary data quickly and easily.  
         [0009]     To achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention provides an electronic apparatus which is foldable, comprising: a recording unit which contains recorded data; a first equipment unit; a second equipment unit which does not cover the first equipment unit completely when the electronic apparatus is folded; a display unit which is installed on at least one of the first equipment unit and the second equipment unit and displays the recorded data; and a folding unit which foldably couples the first equipment unit and the second equipment unit with the display unit facing inward, an index unit which is installed on an end of the first equipment unit or the second equipment unit, is exposed from the first equipment unit or the second equipment unit when the electronic apparatus is folded, and displays index tabs of the recorded data; a sensor device which senses an index tab specified by a user out of the displayed index tabs when the electronic apparatus remains folded; a extraction device which extracts data corresponding to the sensed index tab out of the recorded data; and a display device which displays the extracted data on the display unit when the electronic apparatus is unfolded.  
         [0010]     The electronic apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention displays index tabs when it remains folded, and thereby allows the user to refer to necessary data quickly and easily by unfolding the electronic apparatus with an index tab specified.  
         [0011]     To achieve the above object, the second aspect of the present invention provides an electronic apparatus, comprising: a recording unit which contains recorded data; a first display unit which displays the recorded data; a second display unit which displays the recorded data and is larger than the first display unit; and a folding unit which foldably couples the first display unit and the second display unit with the display unit facing inward, an index unit which is installed on an end of the second display unit and is exposed from the first display unit when the electronic apparatus is folded, and displays index tabs of the recorded data; a sensor device which senses an index tab specified by a user out of the displayed index tabs when the electronic apparatus remains folded; a extraction device which extracts data corresponding to the sensed index tab out of the recorded data; and a display device which displays the extracted data on the first and the second display unit when the electronic apparatus is unfolded.  
         [0012]     The electronic apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention displays index tabs when it remains folded, and thereby allows the user to refer to necessary data quickly and easily by unfolding the electronic apparatus with an index tab specified.  
         [0013]     The third aspect of the present invention provides the electronic apparatus set forth in the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the index unit has a tactile sensing function and allows the user to specify any of displayed index tabs by touching the given index tab.  
         [0014]     The electronic apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention allows the user refer to necessary data even more quickly and easily.  
         [0015]     The electronic apparatus according to the present invention allows the user to refer to necessary data quickly and easily. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a diagram showing an electronic book in a closed state, according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the electronic book in an open state, according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a diagram showing an example of how to operate the electronic book according to the embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a diagram showing another example of how to operate the electronic book according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     A preferred embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0023]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of an electronic book  10  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The electronic book  10  comprises a first monitor unit  20  which has a monitor  22 , a second monitor unit  30  which has a monitor  32 , and an axial unit  50  which makes the monitors foldable. The electronic book  10  is folded with the monitor  22  and monitor  32  facing inward.  
         [0024]     The second monitor unit  30  is larger than the first monitor unit  20 , so that its end is exposed when the electronic book  10  is folded. The exposed part is equipped with a tactile (touch-panel type) index panel  34 , allowing the user to operate index tabs. The second monitor unit  30  is also equipped with a control circuit  36 .  
         [0025]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the control circuit  36  is equipped with a CPU  40 , which performs various processes by controlling various components described below. A ROM  42  stores programs and data for processing and a RAM  44  is used as a temporary storage area during processing. A memory  46  comprises devices such as EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) or other memory cards and stores text data, image data, etc. The electronic book  10  can be used for phone directory, electronic dictionary, electronic album, and various other applications by adding and editing the contents of the memory  46 .  
         [0026]     The control circuit  36  is also equipped with a monitor control circuit  48  and index panel control circuit  49 . The monitor control circuit  48  controls display of the monitor  22  and monitor  32  while the index panel control circuit  49  controls display of the index panel  34  (switches the display according to the usage of the electronic book  10 ) and senses the index tab pressed by the user on the index panel  34 . When the index panel control circuit  49  senses the index tab, data corresponding to the index tab is extracted from the memory  46 .  
         [0027]     Incidentally, the axial unit  50  is equipped with an axial sensor  52  to detect fold status (open or closed) of the electronic book  10 .  
         [0028]     Next, a usage type of the electronic book  10  will be described. Here description will be given of a case in which the electronic book  10  is used as a phone directory.  
         [0029]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , when the electronic book  10  is folded, the first monitor unit  20  and the second monitor unit  30  do not overlap completely and part of the second monitor unit  30  is exposed (for a schematic view of the unfolded electronic book  10 , see  FIG. 4 ). The tactile index panel  34  is mounted on the exposed part. In this state, “A,” “B,” “C,” . . . “Z” are visible.  
         [0030]     To look up the phone number of “David,” the user opens the electronic book  10  while pressing the index tab “D.” Then, the axial sensor  52  senses that the electronic book  10  is opened while the index panel  34  and index panel control circuit  49  sense that the user pressed the index tab “D.” Consequently, the phone numbers of people whose first names begin with “D” are extracted from the phone number data stored in the memory  46  and are displayed on the monitor  22  and monitor  32  (see  FIG. 5 ).  
         [0031]     Similarly, to look up the phone number of “Charles,” the user opens the electronic book  10  while pressing the index tab “C.” Then, the phone numbers of people whose first names begin with “C” are displayed (see  FIG. 6 ).  
         [0032]     In this way, the electronic book  10  according to the present embodiment displays index tabs on the index panel  34  when it is folded. By opening the electronic book  10  while pressing an index tab, the user can refer to necessary data quickly and easily.  
         [0033]     Incidentally, by changing the display of the index panel  34 , the electronic book  10  according to the present embodiment can be used as an address book, notebook with bookmark functions, etc. The electronic book  10  may also be used as an electronic album which displays images taken by digital cameras and the like.  
         [0034]     In that case, shooting dates/times will be displayed as index tabs on the index panel  34  and when the user opens the electronic book  10  while pressing a desired index tab, images corresponding to the index tab will be displayed. The images may be displayed in full size or thumbnail size. When thumbnail images are displayed, the user can enlarge any of them to its full size by touching it. It is also possible to allow the user to touch that part of an image around which the user wants to enlarge the image.  
         [0035]     If the electronic book  10  is used as an electronic album, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format) data of images, annotation data about locations of photo shooting, or other data may be displayed as index tabs on the index panel  34  and when the user opens the electronic book  10  while pressing a desired index tab, images corresponding to the index tab may be displayed.  
         [0036]     The electronic book  10  according to the present embodiment may have a touch-panel type display area installed on a part which corresponds to the cover or spine of a paper book. In that case, preferably, functions (e.g., Japanese Dictionary, English-Japanese Dictionary, Japanese-English Dictionary, Encyclopedia) of the electronic book  10  can be switched by operating the touch panel on the cover or spine.  
         [0037]     For example, the user changes the display from “Japanese-English Dictionary” to “English-Japanese Dictionary” by operating an index tab displayed on the touch panel on the spine and the display on the index panel  34  changes from hiragana (Japanese cursive syllabary) to the alphabet accordingly. If the user wants to look up, for example, the meaning of “apple,” the user opens the electronic book  10  while pressing the index tab “A.” Then, the monitor  22  and monitor  32  display “Apple: Ringo.” The electronic book  10  may be designed so as to display an image of an apple at the same time. incidentally, the electronic book  10  according to the present embodiment may display data using the monitor  22  and monitor  32  as a single display area or separate display areas.  
         [0038]     Also, the electronic book  10  according to the present embodiment may employ liquid crystal monitors or a device such as so-called electronic paper as the monitor  22  and monitor  32 .  
         [0039]     Also, the electronic book  10  according to the present embodiment is not specifically limited in size and may be scaled to any desired size to suit the application. For example, the electronic book  10  may be approximately A4-size to secure a wide display area or approximately A6 odd size to secure portability. In so doing, the size of the monitor  22  and monitor  32  or the index panel  34  may be changed according to the size of the electronic book  10 .