JPH11184571A - Computer having display power consumption control function and display power consumption control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer which effectively controls power consumption of a display with a simple configuration by controlling the power that is supplied to a display through contact with a keyboard. SOLUTION: When a portable computer is operated through a keyboard, an electrostatic capacity measuring circuit 115 scans each key 110a of the keyboard and measures an electrostatic capacitance. In such a case, an operator repeatedly touches the keyboard, a changeover switch 125 is connected to a power-on side terminal 125a and a liquid crystal display performs normal display. When the operator takes his fingers away from the keyboard, the switch 125 is connected to a power-off side terminal 125b and the power supply to a liquid crystal display 105 is disconnected. In the above arrangement, the computer includes two electrodes in each key 110a of the keyboard and can detect a key operation of the operator correctly by measuring the change of electrostatic capacity between the electrodes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a computer with a display power consumption control function and a method for controlling the power consumption of a display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a computer of this kind, FIG.
4 is known. In the figure, a computer 900 has a built-in CPU for executing information processing, and a display connected to the processing device 910 and displaying, on a screen, information inputted and processing results in the processing device 910. 920, a keyboard 930 connected to the processing device 910 and performing an input operation, a proximity sensor 940 built in the keyboard 930 for detecting that an operator is near the computer, and control of the keyboard 930. And a control circuit 950 built in the keyboard 930 for controlling a detection signal from the proximity sensor 940.

In the above configuration, the proximity sensor 94
If the operator is within the sensing range of 0, the proximity sensor 9
40 outputs a predetermined signal and the control circuit 95
0 is notified of the presence of the operator. After receiving the notification, the control circuit 950 performs a predetermined calculation, and then transmits an operator presence signal to the processing device 910. The same processing device 91
0 indicates that the same signal is being received.
Switching to the screen protection function of No. 20 is not executed. Here, when the operator is no longer within the sensing range of the proximity sensor 940, the control circuit 950 sends the processing device 91
The operator presence signal to 0 is no longer transmitted. Here, when the signal is not transmitted within a predetermined time, the processing device 910 determines that there is no operator near the computer 900 and switches the display 920 to the screen protection function. By switching the screen protection function, the power consumption of the display 920 is suppressed.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional computer, a sensor is attached to a keyboard,
Since the presence / absence of an operator near the computer is detected by the sensor, there is a problem that the device becomes excessively large.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a computer capable of controlling the power consumption of a display with a simple structure and without waste.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a CPU having a CPU, a keyboard having a press-down key, a display controlled by the CPU to perform display, and a power supply required for the CPU are provided. A computer provided with a power supply circuit for supplying, a keyboard contact detecting means for detecting contact of the operator of the computer with the keyboard, a control circuit for controlling power supplied to the display by the keyboard contact detecting means, Is provided.

[0007] In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the control circuit detects through the keyboard contact detection means whether or not an operator of the computer has touched a key on the keyboard. The power supplied to the display is controlled accordingly. That is, since the control circuit controls the keyboard contact detection means to reduce the power of the display when the operator is not touching the keyboard,
It is effective for a portable computer or the like that operates with a built-in power supply, because it is possible to suppress useless power and prevent power discharge. At present, environmental issues have become a big topic, and it is desired to execute power saving by finely adjusting power consumption as described above, not limited to portable computers.

In the above control circuit, various methods can be considered as a method of suppressing the power supplied to the display. Here, as an example of the configuration of the control circuit, the invention according to claim 2 is the computer according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit includes a wiring for supplying a desired power to the display of the power supply circuit and the wiring. It has a changeover switch for switching between the power cutoff wiring and the power supply. The keyboard touch detection means detects the presence or absence of an operator touching the keyboard and controls the switch to control the power supply to the display to a desired level. It is configured to control to electric power.

In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, the control circuit determines that the computer is in use when the keyboard touch detection means detects a touch on the keyboard, and normally displays the computer. The switch is switched so that the power of the computer flows, and when the keyboard touch detection unit does not detect the touch on the keyboard, the computer is regarded as unused and the switch is set so that the power does not flow to the display. Switch.

As described above, the method of reducing the power consumption of the display can be realized by using a hardware circuit such as the switch. However, even if a screen saver which is currently used at present is used, the display can be reduced. Can be suppressed. Therefore, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the computer according to the first aspect, the control circuit is connected to the CPU via a bus line, and controls the keyboard contact detection means to cause an operator to contact the keyboard. If not detected, the CPU is notified that there is no operation involving touching a key on the keyboard, and the CPU activates a screen saver.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control circuit detects presence / absence of contact with the keyboard via the keyboard contact detection means, and detects the presence / absence of contact with the keyboard. Via the bus line connected to the CPU, the CPU is notified that there is no operation involving contact with the keyboard. Upon receiving the notification, the CPU activates the screen saver. Here, the screen saver basically has a function of preventing the burn-in of the display.However, if the program saves the screen output when the screen saver is executed, it is possible to suppress the power consumption of the display. is there.

Here, a specific method can be adopted as a method of detecting the presence or absence of contact with a key of the keyboard by the keyboard contact detection means. Therefore, as an example of a specific configuration of the keyboard contact detection means, the invention according to claim 4 is the computer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the keyboard contact detection means is a computer of the keyboard. It has two electrodes incorporated so that the capacitance changes when it touches the key surface,
The control circuit is configured to measure the capacitance between the electrodes and detect the presence or absence of the operator's contact with the keyboard based on the measured capacitance.

[0013] In the invention according to claim 4 configured as described above, the control circuit measures the capacitance between the two electrodes of the keyboard contact detection means, and measures the capacitance of the measured capacitance. The presence or absence of the operator's contact with the keyboard is detected based on the value. That is, the capacitance between the two electrodes is kept constant when no key is touched on the keyboard, and when a conductor such as the finger of the operator touches the key. The capacitance changes. Therefore, the control circuit detects the presence or absence of contact with the key by measuring the change in the capacitance. Here, the configuration composed of two electrodes applied to the keyboard contact detection means only needs to be able to detect a change in capacitance. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the keys of the keyboard, but may be a trackpad provided on the keyboard, or may be a device capable of detecting the presence or absence of contact with a trackball.

Further, as an example of a specific configuration of the keyboard touch detection means, the invention according to claim 5 is a computer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the keyboard touch detection means is The key surface of the keyboard is formed of a material having high light transmittance and has a photodetector incorporated in the key. The control circuit measures the light amount of the photodetector and performs the measurement. The presence or absence of the operator's contact with the keyboard is detected based on the amount of light.

[0015] In the invention according to claim 5 configured as described above, the control circuit measures an amount of light transmitted through a key formed of a material having a high transmittance in the photodetector of the keyboard contact detection means. Then, the presence or absence of the operator's contact with the keyboard is detected based on the measured light amount value. That is, a detector for detecting the amount of light transmitted through the key is installed inside the key of the keyboard formed of a material having a high light transmittance, and when a key is not touched at all, a certain level is maintained. The change in the amount of light in the range of
When a conductor such as an operator's finger touches the key, the amount of light significantly decreases and changes. The control circuit detects the presence or absence of contact with the key by measuring the change in the light amount described above.

Such a method of controlling the power supply of the display by detecting a touch on the keyboard is not necessarily limited to a physical device. As an example, the invention according to claim 6 controls electric power supplied to a display by detecting contact of an operator with a keyboard using the computer according to any one of claims 1 to 5. There is a way. That is, the present invention is not necessarily limited to a physical device, and is effective in the method.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a portable computer will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a portable computer 10 to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit of the portable computer 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a portable computer 100 has a computer circuit 101 having a CPU.
A liquid crystal display 105, a keyboard 110 having keys 110a for inputting by pressing down,
A capacitance measuring circuit 115 for measuring the capacitance of the key 110a, a power supply circuit 120 for supplying desired power to the computer circuit 101, the liquid crystal display 105, and the like; a liquid crystal display 105, the power supply circuit 120; The power-supply-side terminal 125a and the power-supply-side terminal 125 which are connected to
b.
It should be noted that the keyboard 110 is not provided with only the keys 110a, but the keys 110a are taken up as representatives for describing the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the key 110a. The key 110a has electrodes 111a, 11
1b, when a conductor such as an operator's finger does not contact the key 110a, as shown in FIG.
The value of the capacitance between 11a and 111b is held within a predetermined range Δx, though there is some variation.

Next, as shown in FIG.
When the finger 130 is brought into contact with the key 110a in order to depress a, a rapid change in capacitance occurs between the electrodes 111a and 111b. When this sudden change occurs, a change at time t1 shown in FIG. 6 is seen. It is determined that the finger 130 has touched the key 110a when the capacitance has changed to a capacitance measurement value that deviates from the predetermined range Δx.

Next, the capacitance measuring circuit 115 measures the capacitance of the electrodes 111a and 111b, and switches the switch 125 to switch the liquid crystal display 1 on.
The process of controlling the power consumption in step 05 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. To perform internal processing by associating numbers with all keys of the keyboard 110, the key numbers are first initialized (step S20).
0). When the key number is determined, the capacitance of the key corresponding to the key number is measured (step S205). The capacitance value of the measured value is determined (step S210). If the measured value is a predetermined value for detecting contact, the state of the changeover switch 125 is checked (step S21).
5) Connect the changeover switch 215 to the power-on terminal (step S225). After the switching, the key number is incremented to check the state of the next key (step S230). In step S235, it is determined whether or not the incremented key number exceeds the number of keys of the keyboard 110. If the number is within the number of keys, the process returns to step S205 to repeat the above-described processing.

If the measured value is not the predetermined value for detecting contact in step S210, the state of the changeover switch 125 is checked (step S2).
40), the changeover switch 215 is connected to the power-off side terminal (step S250).

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. The portable computer 100
When the operator is performing work using the keyboard 110, the capacitance measuring circuit 115 scans each key of the keyboard 110 to measure the capacitance (steps S200 to S235). Since the operator has repeatedly contacted the keyboard 110, the changeover switch 125 is connected to the power-on terminal 125a,
The liquid crystal display 105 performs a normal display. Here, when the operator releases his / her finger from the key of the keyboard 110, the changeover switch 125 is connected to the power-supply-side terminal 125b to cut off the power supply to the liquid crystal display 105 (steps S240 to S25).
0).

As described above, by incorporating two electrodes into each key of the keyboard 110 and measuring a change in the capacitance between the electrodes, the keyboard 11 of the operator can be measured.
A key operation for 0 can be detected frequently.
Further, even if the operator interrupts the input from the keyboard 110 to check the contents displayed on the liquid crystal display 105, the operator only touches a finger lightly on a key of the keyboard 110 to display the liquid crystal display. At 105, a normal display becomes possible.

Next, an internal circuit of the portable computer 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in a block diagram of FIG. In the figure, a portable computer 200
Is a computer circuit 201 having a CPU, a keyboard 210 having a key 210a for inputting by depressing, a computer circuit 201,
A light quantity measuring circuit 215 connected by the key 30a to measure the amount of light transmitted through the key 210a; and a liquid crystal display 205 connected to the computer circuit 201 by a bus line 230 in response to a command from the computer circuit 201.
And a display controller 240 for controlling the display of. It should be noted that the keyboard 210 is not provided with only the keys 210a, but the keys 210a are taken up as representatives for describing the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the key 210a. The key 210a includes a key housing 211a formed of a material that transmits light, and a light amount detector 250 located inside the key housing 211a and disposed at the bottom of the key 210a. Here, the same key 21
If the operator's finger or the like does not touch 0a, as shown in FIG. 11, the light amount measured by this light amount detector has a value within a predetermined range Δy, although there is some variation. Next, when the operator's finger 230 comes into contact with the key 210a as shown in FIG. 10, a sharp change in the light amount occurs in the light amount detector 250, so that the fluctuation at the time t2 shown in FIG. 12 is seen. . This predetermined range Δy
When the light amount measurement value deviates from
It is determined that the finger 230 has contacted a.

Next, a process in which the light quantity measuring circuit 215 measures the light quantity of the light quantity detector and controls the power consumption of the liquid crystal display 205 via the computer circuit 201 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In order to perform internal processing by associating numbers with all keys of the keyboard 210, the key numbers are first initialized (step S300). When the key number is determined, the light amount of the key corresponding to the key number is measured (step S305), and the light amount value of the measured value is determined (step S310). The measured value is a predetermined value for detecting contact. If so, the contact is notified to the computer circuit 201 (step S315), and the
In step S1, the screen saver program is canceled (steps S320 to S325), and the key number is incremented to check the state of the next key (step S320).
330). In step S335, it is determined whether the incremented key number exceeds the number of keys of the keyboard 210. If the number is within the number of keys, the process returns to step S305 to repeat the above-described processing.

If the measured value is not the predetermined value for detecting contact in step S310, the non-contact is notified to the computer circuit 201 (step S340), and the computer circuit 201 causes the display circuit to display the non-contact signal. The screen saver program is activated via the controller (steps S345 to S350).

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. The portable computer 200
When the operator is working using the keyboard 210, the light quantity measuring circuit 215 scans each key of the keyboard 210 and measures the light quantity (steps S300 to S335). Since the operator repeatedly touches the keyboard 210, the computer circuit 201 does not activate the screen saver program, and the liquid crystal display 205 performs a normal display. Here, when the operator removes his / her finger from the key of the keyboard 210, the computer circuit 201 activates a screen saver program and suppresses power supply to the liquid crystal display 205 (steps S340 to S350).

Here, the light amount for detecting that the operator is in contact with the key 210a is not only regarded as a contact with the key 210a when the light amount becomes less than a predetermined light amount, but also when a predetermined light amount is detected. The change rate may be used. As described above, if the contact with the key 210a is detected based on the rate of change of the light amount, the operator can work regardless of the brightness around the work.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the power supplied to the display by touching the keyboard is controlled, it is possible to provide a computer capable of finely suppressing power consumption. In particular, in a computer such as a portable small computer which obtains a drive current by a built-in power supply, the discharge of the built-in power supply can be prevented without wasting power. According to the second aspect of the present invention, power consumption can be suppressed with a simple configuration of a changeover switch. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, by utilizing the screen saver function which is usually used,
It is possible to suppress power consumption with a simpler configuration.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4,
Since the contact with the key on the keyboard is determined by measuring the capacitance, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the contact with the key by a method with a simple configuration and with a small malfunction. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the presence or absence of contact with a key on the keyboard is determined based on the amount of light transmitted through the key. Therefore, the presence or absence of contact with the key can be detected with a simpler configuration. become. Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 6, the display power consumption of the computer which has a simple configuration and can finely control the power consumption to control the power supplied to the display by touching the keyboard. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a portable computer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit of the portable computer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a keyboard key according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view when the keyboard key is depressed.

FIG. 5 is a time chart of a change in capacitance when the keyboard key is not touched.

FIG. 6 is a time chart of a change in capacitance when the keyboard key is touched.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the capacitance measuring circuit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit of the portable computer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a keyboard key according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view when the keyboard key is depressed.

FIG. 11 is a time chart of a change in light amount when the keyboard key is not touched.

FIG. 12 is a time chart of a change in light amount when the keyboard key is touched.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the light quantity measurement circuit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a conventional computer with a display power consumption control function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Portable computer 101 Computer circuit 105 Liquid crystal display 110 Keyboard 110a Key 115 Capacitance measurement circuit 120 Power supply circuit 125 Switch 125a Power supply side terminal 125b Power supply cutoff terminal

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A computer with a display power consumption control function including a CPU, a keyboard having a press-down key, a display controlled by the CPU to perform display, and a power supply circuit for supplying necessary power to the display. A display power consumption comprising: a keyboard touch detection unit that detects a touch of the operator of the computer on the keyboard; and a control circuit that controls power supplied to the display by the keyboard touch detection unit. Computer with control function. 2. The computer with a display power consumption control function according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit switches between wiring for supplying desired power to the display and wiring for cutting off the desired power in the power supply circuit. It has a changeover switch, and detects the presence or absence of an operator's contact with the keyboard by the keyboard contact detection means, and controls the switch to control the power supplied to the display to a desired power. Computer with display power consumption control function. 3. The computer with a display power consumption control function according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is connected to the CPU via a bus line, and the control circuit is connected to the keyboard of the operator by the keyboard contact detection means. A computer with a display power consumption control function, wherein, if no touch is detected, the CPU notifies the CPU that there is no operation involving touching a key on the keyboard, and the CPU activates a screen saver. 4. The computer with a display power consumption control function according to claim 1, wherein said keyboard contact detection means changes the capacitance when the keyboard touches a key surface of said keyboard. The control circuit measures the capacitance between the electrodes and detects whether or not an operator touches the keyboard based on the measured capacitance. Computer with display power consumption control function. 5. The computer with a display power consumption control function according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the keyboard contact detecting means is formed by forming a key surface of the keyboard with a material having high light transmittance. And a photodetector incorporated inside the key.The control circuit measures the light amount of the photodetector and determines whether or not the operator touches the keyboard based on the measured light amount. A computer with a display power consumption control function characterized by detecting. 6. The display power consumption control method using a computer according to claim 1, wherein the power supplied to the display is controlled by detecting the presence or absence of an operator touching the keyboard.