Electronic paper, copy controlling program and copy controlling method

• US 9,208,358 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2012
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Shiraishi, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Snyder, Adam J
• Application Number:
  US13/654,445
• Publication Number:
  US 20130106808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,146 Days
• Field of Search: 345/107
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/84 output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0245 Clearing or presetting the whole screen independently of waveforms, e.g. on power-on G09G2310/063 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2358/00 Arrangements for display data security
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/14 Electronic books and readers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/344 based on particles moving in a fluid or in a gas, e.g. electrophoretic devices electrophoretic devices per se G02F1/167
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092

Abstract

Disclosed is an electronic paper, which makes it possible to suppress inappropriate operations for copying images displayed and retained on the electronic paper. The electronic paper includes: a gyro sensor and a pressure sensor; a status detecting section to determine whether or not the electronic paper currently enters into a specific status; a counting section to count a number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status and a display controlling section to make an image display section display a document image thereon. When the status detecting section determines that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and the counting section determines that the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, is equal to or lower than the predetermined number of times, the display controlling section adds specific information, indicating that the document image is a copy, to the document image.

Claims

1. An electronic paper that is provided with an image display section having an image retaining property, comprising:

a sensor to detect a status of the electronic paper;

a status detecting section to determine whether or not the electronic paper currently enters into such a specific status that allows a user to perform a copying operation or a scanning operation on the image display section, based on an output signal outputted by the sensor;

a counting section to count a number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status, to determine whether or not the number of times exceeds a predetermined number of times established in advance, by comparing the number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status and the predetermined number of times established in advance; and

a display controlling section to make the image display section display a document image thereon;

wherein, when the status detecting section determines that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and when the counting section determines that the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, is equal to or lower than the predetermined number of times established in advance, the display controlling section adds specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section;

and wherein, when the status detecting section determines that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and when the counting section determines that the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, exceeds the predetermined number of times established in advance, the display controlling implements other image processing, different than adding specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section.

2. The electronic paper of claim 1,

wherein, the other image processing comprises erasing the document image currently displayed on the image display section.

3. The electronic paper of claim 1,

wherein at least one of setting items, including a kind of the document image serving as an object to which the specific information is added, a string of characters to be employed as the specific information, an arrangement of the specific information, a display contrast of the specific information, and the predetermined number of times, is settable as an adding condition by the user, and

wherein the display controlling section adds the specific information to the document image, according to the adding condition established by the user.

4. The electronic paper of claim 1,

wherein a gyro sensor and a pressure sensitive sensor, each serving as the sensor, are disposed at positions located on a displaying surface side of the electronic paper;

and

wherein the specific status represents such a state that the image display section of the electronic paper is directed downwards and the displaying surface side is pressed onto a certain object.

5. An electronic paper that is provided with an image display section having an image retaining property, comprising:

a sensor to detect a status of the electronic paper;

a status detecting section to determine whether or not the electronic paper currently enters into such a specific status that allows a user to perform a copying operation or a scanning operation on the image display section, based on an output signal outputted by the sensor;

a counting section to count a number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status, to determine whether or not the number of times exceeds a predetermined number of times established in advance, by comparing the number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status and the predetermined number of times established in advance; and

a display controlling section to make the image display section display a document image thereon;

wherein, when the status detecting section determines that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and when the counting section determines that the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, is equal to or lower than the predetermined number of times established in advance, the display controlling section adds specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section;

wherein a gyro sensor and a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors, each serving as the sensor, are disposed at positions located on a displaying surface side of the electronic paper, and

wherein the specific status represents such a state that the image display section of the electronic paper is directed upwards and a certain object is pressed onto the displaying surface side in such a manner that the pressure sensitive sensors are sequentially pressed one by one in a long side direction or a short side direction of the image display section.

6. A nontransitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer executable program to be executed in a display apparatus that is provided with an image display section having an image retaining property, the program being executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform a process comprising:

making the image display section display a document image thereon;

determining whether or not the display apparatus currently enters into such a specific status that allows a user to perform a copying operation or a scanning operation on the image display section, based on an output signal outputted by a sensor disposed in advance;

counting a number of times the display apparatus enters into the specific status, to determine whether or not the number of times exceeds a predetermined number of times established in advance, by comparing the number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status and the predetermined number of times established in advance;

adding specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section, when it is determined that the display apparatus currently enters in the specific status, and when it is determined that the number of times the display apparatus has entered into the specific status, is equal to or lower than the predetermined number of times; and

implementing other image processing, different than adding specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section, when it is determined that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, exceeds the predetermined number of times established in advance.

7. The nontransitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the other image processing comprises erasing the document image currently displayed on the image display section.

8. The nontransitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, the process further comprising:

setting at least one of setting items, including a kind of the document image serving as an object to which the specific information is added, a string of characters to be employed as the specific information, an arrangement of the specific information, a display contrast of the specific information, and the predetermined number of times, as an adding condition;

wherein the specific information is added to the document image, according to the adding condition.

9. The nontransitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6,

wherein a gyro sensor and a pressure sensitive sensor, each serving as the sensor, are disposed at positions located on a displaying surface side of the a display apparatus;

and

wherein the specific status represents such a state that the image display section of the display apparatus is directed downwards and the displaying surface side is pressed onto a certain object.

10. The nontransitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6,

wherein a gyro sensor and a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors, each serving as the sensor, are disposed at positions located on a displaying surface side of the display apparatus;

and

wherein the specific status represents such a state that the image display section of the display apparatus is directed upwards and a certain object is pressed onto the displaying surface side in such a manner that the pressure sensitive sensors are sequentially pressed one by one in a long side direction or a short side direction of the image display section.

11. A copy controlling method, employing an electronic paper that is provided with an image display section having an image retaining property, comprising:

making the image display section display a document image thereon;

determining whether or not the electronic paper currently enters into such a specific status that allows a user to perform a copying operation or a scanning operation on the image display section, based on an output signal outputted by a sensor disposed in advance;

a counting a number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status, to determine whether or not the number of times exceeds a predetermined number of times established in advance, by comparing the number of times the electronic paper enters into the specific status and the predetermined number of times established in advance;

adding specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section, when it is determined that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and when it is determined that the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, is equal to or lower than the predetermined number of times; and

implementing other image processing, different than adding specific information, indicating that the document image concerned is a copy, to the document image currently displayed on the image display section, when it is determined that the electronic paper currently enters in the specific status, and the number of times the electronic paper has entered into the specific status, exceeds the predetermined number of times established in advance.

12. The copy controlling method of claim 11, wherein the other image processing comprises erasing the document image currently displayed on the image display section.

13. The copy controlling method of claim 11, further comprising-setting comprising:

setting at least one of setting items, including a kind of the document image serving as an object to which the specific information is added, a string of characters to be employed as the specific information, an arrangement of the specific information, a display contrast of the specific information, and the predetermined number of times, as an adding condition;

wherein the specific information is added to the document image, according to the adding condition.

14. The copy controlling method of claim 11,

wherein a gyro sensor and a pressure sensitive sensor, each serving as the sensor, are disposed at positions located on a displaying surface side of the electronic paper;

and

wherein the specific status represents such a state that the image display section of the electronic paper is directed downwards and the displaying surface side is pressed onto a certain object.

15. The copy controlling method of claim 11,

wherein a gyro sensor and a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors, each serving as the sensor, are disposed at positions located on a displaying surface side of the electronic paper;

and

wherein the specific status represents such a state that the image display section of the electronic paper is directed upwards and a certain object is pressed onto the displaying surface side in such a manner that the pressure sensitive sensors are sequentially pressed one by one in a long side direction or a short side direction of the image display section.