JP2012175250A - Portable terminal with power generation function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal with a power generation function which performs sufficient power storage in a battery by increasing power generation opportunities than conventional ones, and can achieve compact and lightweight without increasing restrictions for designing the portable terminal.SOLUTION: A portable telephone 1 with a power generation function includes a power supply section 14 for supplying an electric signal; an oscillating piezoelectric element 11 that oscillates according to the electric signal supplied from the power supply section 14; a power generating piezoelectric element 12 which is installed integrally with but electrically insulated from the oscillating piezoelectric element 11, and generates power by oscillating under the oscillation of the oscillating piezoelectric element 11; and a power storage section 16 for storing electric power generated by the power generating piezoelectric element 12 in a battery 17.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and more particularly to a mobile terminal with a power generation function.

  In recent years, a technique for extending the duration of a battery mounted on a mobile terminal by providing the mobile terminal with a power generation function has been developed. Patent Document 1 below discloses a portable terminal including a piezoelectric element as a configuration of a power generation function. This portable terminal is provided with a piezoelectric element in the pressing direction of an operation key that accepts a user's operation, and the piezoelectric element generates electricity by transmitting a pressing force applied to the operation key when the operation key is pressed. The generated power is stored in a battery.

JP 2010-171554 A

  However, since the piezoelectric element provided in the portable terminal generates power only when the user presses the operation key, there is little opportunity for power generation, and the battery cannot be charged sufficiently. was there. In addition, the mobile terminal has a problem in that, in order to realize a reduction in size and weight by adding a power generation function, restrictions on the design of the mobile terminal increase.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and increases the opportunity to generate electric power more than the conventional one to perform sufficient power storage in the battery, while reducing the size and weight without increasing restrictions on the design of the mobile terminal. An object is to provide a portable terminal with a power generation function that can be realized.

A portable terminal with a power generation function according to the present invention,
A power supply for supplying electrical signals;
A vibrating piezoelectric element that vibrates in accordance with the electrical signal supplied from the power supply unit;
A piezoelectric element for power generation that is electrically insulated and integrated with the piezoelectric element for vibration, and generates power by vibrating with the vibration of the piezoelectric element for vibration;
A power storage unit that stores power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element in a battery,
It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, since there are more opportunities for power generation than the conventional one, it is possible to sufficiently store the battery, and it is possible to realize a reduction in size and weight without increasing restrictions on the design of the portable terminal.

(A) It is a top view of the portable terminal which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. (B) It is sectional drawing of the portable terminal cut | disconnected by the A-A 'line | wire of Fig.1 (a). It is the figure which showed the piezoelectric element for vibration and the piezoelectric element for electric power generation provided integrally in the portable terminal which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structure of the portable terminal which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed a mode when the piezoelectric element for vibration with which the portable terminal which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention was used was used as a vibration function. It is the figure which showed a mode when the piezoelectric element for vibration with which the portable terminal which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention was provided was used as a sound generation function. (A) It is the figure which showed a mode when the piezoelectric element for vibration and electric power generation with which the portable terminal which concerns on the modification of this invention was equipped was used as a piezoelectric element for electric power generation. (B) It is the figure which showed a mode when the piezoelectric element for vibration and electric power generation was used as a piezoelectric element for vibration. It is the figure which showed the piezoelectric element for vibration and the piezoelectric element for electric power generation provided integrally in the portable terminal which concerns on the modification of this invention. It is the figure which showed the piezoelectric element for vibration provided in the portable terminal which concerns on the other modification of this invention, and the several piezoelectric element for electric power generation.

  Hereinafter, a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, a mobile phone (including a smartphone) will be described as an example.

  First, a mobile phone will be described with reference to FIGS. The mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which an operation unit 13 (touch panel) and piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 are built in a housing 22. The operation unit 13 displays various screens to the user and accepts user operations. The piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 are disposed on the back surface of the operation unit 13. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 are provided on the back surface of the operation unit 13 for each region obtained by dividing the screen of the operation unit 13 into 12 parts (4 parts in the vertical direction and 3 parts in the horizontal direction). It has been. As shown in FIG. 1B, the piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 are both formed in a flat plate shape and are provided so as to overlap each other in the pressing direction of the operation unit 13. Here, one surface of the piezoelectric element 11 is bonded to the back surface of the operation unit 13 with an adhesive. Bonding is performed by a thermal or chemical method.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 are electrically insulated and integrated with each other through an insulating material such as a synthetic resin (corresponding to a thick line portion shown in the figure). One of the piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 is used for vibration and the other is used for power generation.

  The vibration piezoelectric element 11 (hereinafter referred to as a vibration piezoelectric element) vibrates in accordance with an electric signal supplied from a power supply unit (power supply unit 14 in FIG. 3). Specifically, the vibration piezoelectric element 11 vibrates as a vibration function (vibrator) when the supplied electric signal is a vibration signal, and generates a sound generation function (receiver or speaker) when the supplied electric signal is a sound generation signal. Vibrates as.

  On the other hand, the piezoelectric element 12 for power generation (hereinafter referred to as a piezoelectric element for power generation) generates power when vibration or pressure is applied. The power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power by vibrating with the vibration of the integrally configured vibration piezoelectric element 11. Further, the power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power by vibration applied from the outside such as when the user carries the mobile phone 1. Further, the power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power also by a pressing force transmitted when the operation unit 13 is pressed by the user.

  As described above, the cellular phone 1 is integrated with the three functions of the vibration function (vibrator), the sound generation function (receiver and speaker), and the power generation function, and is small and light without increasing the design restrictions of the cellular phone 1. Can be realized. In addition, since the power generation function is used more frequently than the conventional one, the battery 17 can be sufficiently charged.

  Next, each function of the mobile phone 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The mobile phone 1 includes a vibration piezoelectric element 11, a power generation piezoelectric element 12, an operation unit 13, a power supply unit 14, a signal amplification unit 15, a power storage unit 16, a battery 17, a diaphragm 18, and a control. A unit 19 and a receiving unit 20 are provided.

  The vibration piezoelectric element 11 and the power generation piezoelectric element 12 are made of, for example, crystal, zinc oxide, lead zirconate titanate, etc., and are bonded to both sides of the piezoelectric body formed in a flat plate shape and the piezoelectric body, respectively. It is comprised by what is called a monomorph structure provided with two electrodes.

  The vibrating piezoelectric element 11 vibrates in accordance with the electric signal supplied from the power supply unit 14 and amplified by the signal amplification unit 15.

  The power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power in proportion to the magnitude of applied vibration or pressure, and supplies the generated power to the power storage unit 16.

  The operation unit 13 includes a touch panel, operation keys such as a call key and a numeric keypad, and the like. The operation unit 13 is configured to have flexibility so that a pressing force applied to the operation unit 13 is transmitted to the power generation piezoelectric element 12 when a pressing operation is performed by the user. The operation unit 13 receives a user operation and supplies an operation signal corresponding to the user operation to the control unit 19. The control unit 19 performs various processes in accordance with operation signals from the operation unit 13.

  The power supply unit 14 supplies an electric signal that vibrates the vibrating piezoelectric element 11 to the signal amplification unit 15 under the control of the control unit 19. Specifically, under the control of the control unit 19, the power supply unit 14 has two types of electric signals depending on whether the vibration piezoelectric element 11 is used as a vibration function (vibrator) or a sound generation function (receiver or speaker). One of (vibration signal, sound generation signal) is supplied to the signal amplifier 15.

  The signal amplifying unit 15 includes an amplifier circuit. Under the control of the control unit 19, the signal amplification unit 15 amplifies the electric signal supplied by the power supply unit 14 with a predetermined amplification degree, and supplies the amplified electric signal to the vibration piezoelectric element 11.

  The power storage unit 16 includes a rectifier circuit and a charging circuit. The electric power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is rectified by the rectifier circuit and stored in the battery 17 by the charging circuit.

  The battery 17 includes a storage battery generally mounted on the mobile phone 1 such as lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, nickel / hydrogen, nickel / cadmium.

  The vibration plate 18 is bonded to or supported by at least one of the vibration piezoelectric element 11 and the power generation piezoelectric element 12 (here, the power generation piezoelectric element 12), and vibrates as the vibration piezoelectric element 11 vibrates. When a vibration signal is supplied to the vibration piezoelectric element 11, the diaphragm 18 physically vibrates the operation unit 13 and the mobile phone 1 (the entire housing 22) by the vibration of the vibration piezoelectric element 11. On the other hand, when a sound generation signal is supplied to the vibration piezoelectric element 11, the vibration plate 18 vibrates and sounds as the vibration piezoelectric element 11 vibrates. The sound generated by the vibration unit 18 is output from the sound generation hole 23 (see FIG. 1).

  The control unit 19 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like. The control unit 19 controls each unit (particularly, the operation unit 13, the power supply unit 14, the signal amplification unit 15, and the power storage unit 16) of the mobile phone 1 and the entire mobile phone 1.

  The incoming call unit 20 detects incoming calls from the outside (mobile communication network) such as incoming calls and incoming mails. The incoming unit 20 supplies an incoming signal to the control unit 19 when there is an incoming call.

  The operation of the mobile phone 1 when the operation unit 13 is pressed by the user using the mobile phone 1 configured as described above will be described. When the user of the mobile phone 1 selects and decides an icon indicating various applications or files displayed on the display screen of the operation unit 13 constituting the touch panel, as shown in FIG. Perform the pressing operation. By the pressing operation of the operation unit 13, a pressing force is transmitted to the power generation piezoelectric element 12 arranged in the pressing direction, whereby the power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power. The power generating piezoelectric element 12 generates power in proportion to the magnitude of the applied pressing force. The electric power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is supplied to the power storage unit 16. The power storage unit 16 rectifies the power supplied from the power generation piezoelectric element 12 and stores it in the battery 17.

  Further, the operation unit 13 supplies an operation signal corresponding to the pressing operation of the user to the control unit 19. The control unit 19 executes an application corresponding to the icon selected by the user and opens a file in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 13. In addition, the control unit 19 vibrates the vibration piezoelectric element 11 provided on the back surface of the operation unit 13 in a region corresponding to the pressing operation position (display position of the selected icon) of the operation unit 13 as a vibration function (vibrator). Take control. Specifically, the control unit 19 causes the vibration piezoelectric element 11 to supply a vibration signal from the power supply unit 14 via the signal amplification unit 15.

  Accordingly, the vibrating piezoelectric element 11 vibrates. At this time, the operation unit 13 and the mobile phone 1 (the entire housing 22) also physically vibrate due to the vibration of the vibrating piezoelectric element 11. Thereby, the vibration is also transmitted to the finger of the user who is performing the pressing operation, and it is possible to recognize that the pressing operation has been performed by giving the user a feeling of operation.

  At this time, the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is vibrated by the vibration of the vibration piezoelectric element 11 to generate power. The electric power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is stored in the battery 17 in the same manner as described above.

  Furthermore, when the icon selected by the pressing operation of the operation unit 13 is an application or a file that generates sound, the control unit 19 uses each vibration piezoelectric element 11 provided on the back surface of the operation unit 13 to generate a sound function (receiver or speaker). ) Control to vibrate. Specifically, the control unit 19 causes the vibration piezoelectric element 11 to supply a sound generation signal from the power supply unit 14 via the signal amplification unit 15.

  Accordingly, the vibrating piezoelectric element 11 vibrates. At this time, the diaphragm 18 generates a sound along with the vibration of the vibrating piezoelectric element 11. As shown in FIG. 5, the sound generated by the diaphragm 18 is output from the sound generation hole 23.

  At this time, the power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power by vibrating due to the vibration of the vibration piezoelectric element 11, and the generated power is stored in the battery 17.

  The power generation piezoelectric element 12 is not limited to when the operation unit 13 is pressed or when various electric signals are supplied to the vibration piezoelectric element 11 (during vibration or sound generation). Power is also generated by externally applied vibrations such as when carrying the car.

  On the other hand, when the mobile phone 1 receives an incoming call or incoming mail, the incoming unit 20 supplies an incoming signal to the control unit 19. When receiving an incoming signal from the incoming unit 20, the control unit 19 supplies various electrical signals (vibration signals, sound generation signals) to the vibration piezoelectric element 11 according to whether or not the cellular phone 1 is set to the manner mode. Also in this case, the power generation piezoelectric element 12 generates power in accordance with the vibration of the vibration piezoelectric element 11, and the power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is stored in the battery 17 in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

  As described above, according to the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment, the vibration piezoelectric element 11 and the power generation piezoelectric element 12 are integrally formed via the insulating material, so that the vibration function (vibrator) and the sound generation function are obtained. The three functions of the (receiver and speaker) and the power generation function can be integrated, and a reduction in size and weight can be realized without increasing the restrictions on the design of the mobile phone 1. In addition, since the power generation function is used more frequently than the conventional one, the battery 17 can be sufficiently charged.

  In addition to the touch panel, the operation unit 13 may be an operation key such as a call key or a numeric keypad. Also in this case, the piezoelectric elements 11 and 12 are provided on the back side of the operation key so as to overlap with the pressing direction of the operation key.

  Even when the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is bonded to the operation unit 13 instead of the vibration piezoelectric element 11, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

  Further, the vibration piezoelectric element 11 may be used for both vibration and power generation (hereinafter referred to as a vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the connection between the power supply unit 14 and the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′ via the signal amplifier 15, and the connection between the power storage unit 16 and the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′. A switch 21 for switching the connection is provided. The control unit 19 performs control to switch the switch 21 depending on whether or not an electric signal (vibration signal, sound generation signal) is supplied to the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′. As a result, when no electrical signal is supplied to the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′, as shown in FIG. 6A, the power storage unit 16 and the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′ are connected by the switch 21. Thus, the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′ can supply the power storage unit 16 with the power generated by the externally applied vibration (including the pressing force transmitted from the operation unit 13). That is, when an electric signal is not supplied to the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′, power can be generated using the two piezoelectric elements of the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′ and the power generation piezoelectric element 12. 17 can be charged. On the other hand, when an electric signal is supplied to the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′, as shown in FIG. 6B, the switch 21 and the power / power generation piezoelectric element 11 via the signal amplification unit 15 by the switch 21. , The power generation piezoelectric element 12 vibrates with the vibration of the vibration / power generation piezoelectric element 11 ′ to generate power, and the power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element 12 is stored in the battery 17. Is done.

  Further, the shape and combination of the vibration piezoelectric element 11 and the power generation piezoelectric element 12 can be appropriately changed. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a disk-shaped power generation piezoelectric element 12 may be fitted into a hollow portion of a vibrating piezoelectric element 11 formed in a donut shape and integrally provided. Thereby, the piezoelectric element 11 for vibration and the piezoelectric element 12 for electric power generation can be integrally formed with a single layer structure, and the thickness can be reduced.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality (two in this case) of power generation piezoelectric elements 12 may be provided, and the vibration piezoelectric element 11 and the plurality of power generation piezoelectric elements 12 are electrically insulated from each other. And may be provided integrally. Thereby, the amount of electric power stored in the battery 17 can be increased according to the number of piezoelectric elements 12 for power generation.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the mobile telephone was mentioned as an example of a portable terminal, it is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to a portable terminal equipped with a battery, such as a notebook or tablet personal computer, PHS, or PDA.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited by the description of the above-described embodiment and the drawings, and appropriate modifications and the like can be added to the above-described embodiment and the drawings.

1 Mobile phone (mobile terminal)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Piezoelectric element for vibration 11 'Piezoelectric element for vibration / power generation 12 Piezoelectric element for power generation 13 Operation part 14 Power supply part 15 Signal amplification part 16 Power storage part 17 Battery 18 Diaphragm 19 Control part 20 Incoming part 21 Switch 22 Case 23 Sound generation hole

Claims (7)

A power supply for supplying electrical signals;
A vibrating piezoelectric element that vibrates in accordance with the electrical signal supplied from the power supply unit;
A piezoelectric element for power generation that is electrically insulated and integrated with the piezoelectric element for vibration, and generates power by vibrating with the vibration of the piezoelectric element for vibration;
A power storage unit that stores power generated by the power generation piezoelectric element in a battery,
A portable terminal with a power generation function. The vibration piezoelectric element vibrates as a vibration function or a sound generation function according to the type of electric signal supplied.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1. It has an operation unit that accepts user operations,
The power generation piezoelectric element is provided at a position to which a pressing force applied to the operation unit is transmitted by a pressing operation of the operation unit by the user, and generates power according to the transmitted pressing force.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal. The vibration piezoelectric element vibrates as the vibration function in accordance with the electric signal supplied from the power supply unit when the user presses the operation unit.
The operation unit vibrates with the vibration of the vibrating piezoelectric element.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal. The power generation piezoelectric element generates power by vibration applied from the outside.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal. The vibration piezoelectric element is a piezoelectric element for both vibration and power generation,
A switch for switching connection between the power supply unit or the power storage unit and the piezoelectric element for vibration;
The switch switches the connection between the power supply unit or the power storage unit and the piezoelectric element for vibration according to whether the power supply unit supplies the electrical signal.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal. A plurality of the piezoelectric elements for power generation are provided, and the piezoelectric elements for vibration and the plurality of piezoelectric elements for power generation are respectively electrically insulated and integrally provided.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal.

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