Patent Application
20070076325
The present invention relates to apparatus or arrangement for indicating the state of a device, particularly, but not exclusively, included in, and for indicating the state of, a removable data storage device.
Removable data storage devices, such as universal serial bus (USB) flash drives (which are also known as “pen drives”, “thumb drives” and “flash drives”), are well known in art.
To find out how much memory is available in the removable data storage device, a user connects the device to a personal computer (or other similar data processing apparatus having a user interface, such as a mobile communications device) and reads data from the device or data describing the state of the device (usually known “properties”). However, this process is time-consuming and depends upon having access to a computer.
The present invention seeks to provide apparatus for indicating the state of a device.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for indicating a state of a device comprising a magnet and a coil configured such that one is moveable relative to the other such that, when the device is shaken, the coil generates electrical power, and a controller configured to be powered by the coil, to determine the state of the device and to selectively connect an impedance across the coil in dependence upon the state of the device.
Varying the impedance across the coil can change how the apparatus sounds and/or feels when shaken. This can be used to provide information about the state of the device to the user.
The device may be a data storage device. The controller may be operatively connected to non-volatile memory. The controller may be configured to determine an amount of available memory or a number of files stored in memory.
The apparatus may be included in the device.
The device may include an output device and the controller may be configured to set the output device in dependence upon the state of the device. The output device comprises a display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a bi-stable display, a light emitting diode (LED) or a device for producing sound.
The state of the device may be set before the controller is powered by the coil. The apparatus may be configured to prevent the user from setting the state of the device.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for indicating a state of a device comprising a magnet and a coil configured such that one is moveable relative to the other such that, when the device is shaken, the coil generates electrical power and a controller configured to be powered by the coil, to determine the state of the device and to set an output device so as to indicate the state of the device or a number of files stored in memory.
The device may be a data storage device and the controller may be operatively connected to non-volatile memory and configured to determine an amount of memory available in the non-volatile memory
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a removable data storage device comprising non-volatile memory for storing data, a magnet and a coil, the magnet configured to be slidably moveable through the coil such that, when the device is shaken, the coil generates electrical power and a controller operatively connected to the non-volatile memory and configured to be powered by the coil when the device is shaken, and further configured, when powered, to determine a state of the non-volatile memory and to selectively connect an impedance across the coil in dependence upon the state.
The device may be configured to determine an amount of memory available in the non-volatile memory
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method comprising determining a state of a data storage device and selectively connecting an impedance across a coil in dependence upon the state.
The method may further comprise receiving power from the coil.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing the method.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
The removable data storage device 1 is in the form of a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive and includes conventional USB flash device 4 which includes memory circuitry 5 and interface 6. However, the device 1 may be another type of removable data storage device 1, such as a memory card, for example a multimedia card (MMC), or hard disk drive. Furthermore, the device 1 need not be a removable data storage device, but may be any type of hand-held or smaller device about a state of which a user may be interested. The state may be a condition of the device, content of the device, a property of the device, a value stored in the device or other property of the device or part of the device. For example, the device may be an electronic key ring and the user may wish to determine whether the key ring has locked or unlocked a vehicle. In another example, the device may be smart card providing an electronic wallet and user may wish to find out how much cash is available. In a different example, the device may be a content rendering device, such as an MP3 player, and the user may wish to find out how many content files are stored without necessarily switching on the device. Other devices includes Image Memory Displays (IMDs) and mobile communications devices and personal data assistants (PDAs).
Referring also to
The tube 9 has a length, L, of about 20 mm and a diameter, D, of about 3 mm. However, the tube 9 may be longer or shorter and may be wider or narrower. For example, the tube 9 may have a length of 6 mm and a diameter of 2 mm. The tube 9 comprises a non-magnetic material. In this embodiment, the tube 9 comprises polyurethane, although other plastics materials can be used. An inner surface 15 of the tube 9 can be provided with an inner sleeve (not shown) comprising a material having a low coefficient of friction, such a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The tube 9 need not be circular in cross section, but can be oval or polygonal, for example rectangular, and the cross section of the magnet 7 and the coil 8 can be correspondingly shaped. The tube 9 is provided with a recess about its circumference at a midpoint between the ends 14 for receiving the coil 8. The inner surface 15 of the tube 9 may be ribbed so as to as to produce further noise as the magnet 7 rubs against it.
Openings 16 in the tube 9 are provided to help sound propagate out of the tube 9. The openings 16 are in the form of holes arranged either side of the coil 8. The arrangement and diameter of the holes 16 may be varied. The openings 16 may be circular. The openings may be slotted. The openings 16 may be omitted.
The magnet 7 comprises a ferromagnetic material. In this example, the ferromagnetic material is neodymium (Nd), although other ferromagnetic materials such as iron (Fe) can be used. Furthermore, the magnet 7 can be weighted with a dense, non-ferromagnetic material, such as lead (Pb), so as to have a given natural frequency, in other words to provide a given feel and/or to produce a given rattle when the user shakes the device 1. For example, a region of neodymium may be sandwiched between regions of lead.
The magnet 7 has a magnetic field strength of the order of 0.01 or 0.1 T. The magnet 7 has a length, LM, of about 4 mm and a diameter, DM, of about 2 mm. However, the magnet 7 may be longer or shorter and may be wider or narrower. Generally, the lengths of the magnet 7, coil 8 and tube 9 are arranged such that the magnet 7 can clear ends of the coil 8.
The coil 8 comprises about 5000 turns of magnet wire having a thickness of about 100 μm. The coil 8 can have additional or fewer turns and thinner or thicker magnet wire can be used. The coil 8 has a length, Lc, of about 10 mm and a diameter, Dc, of about 3 mm. However, the coil 8 may be longer or shorter and may be wider or narrower. For example, the coil 8 may have a length of 3 mm and a diameter of 1 mm.
The magnet 7 and tube 9 are arranged to be shaken at a frequency of about 1 to 5 Hz. The magnet 7 and coil 8 can produce about 2 to 10 mW of electrical power.
Electromagnetic shielding (not shown) may be provided to shield the rest of the device 1 from the magnet 7.
The length of the tube 9, the choice of material for the inner surface 15 of the tube 9 and/or the diameters of the magnet 7 and tube 9 can be adjusted to vary the way the device 1 feels and/or how it sounds, i.e. amplitude and frequency of the vibration or sound reaching the user, when shaken.
Furthermore, passage of the magnet 7 through the coil 8 will also be subject to a magneto-mechanical resistance which is dependent upon the current flowing through the coil 8. By varying the load across the coil 8, the magneto-mechanical resistance can be varied and so the sensation and/or sound (volume and/or pitch) of the vibration can also be varied. This can be used to provide information to the user and is described in more detail later. This is hereinafter referred to as a “passive mode” of communicating information to the user.
Thus, the magnet 7 and coil 8 not only provide electrical power, but also may also provide an output device for indicating the state of the device by the feel and/or noise with which the magnet 7 rattles when the device 1 is shaken.
The magnet 7 can generate a sound having a level of about 40 to 70 dB. Volume and/or pitch may be varied by adjusting the size of the tube 9 and the mass the magnet 7. Volume may also depend upon the frequency and force with which the device 1 is shaken and the impedance across the coil 8, as will be described in more detail later.
Referring to
Referring to
The power unit 19 provides power to the control unit 20 through lines 22. The control unit 20 is operatively connected to the memory 18 via bus 23, which may also provide power to memory 18. The control unit 20 provides a control signal to the impedance switching unit 21 via line 24 and, optionally, control signals to an output device and the power unit 19 via control lines 25, 26.
Referring also to
The storage cell 28 is in the form of an electric double layer capacitor (usually known as a “Gold capacitor”). However, other types of capacitor could be used. The capacitor 28 has an operating voltage of about 3 V (DC) and a capacitance of the order of 0.1 F. The cell 28 may be differently rated. The storage cell 28 supplies power to the control unit 20, optionally via a voltage protection circuit 29, for example comprising a resistor (not shown) and a zener diode (not shown) in series, arranged in parallel across the terminals of the capacitor 28.
The power unit 19 may be optional provided with a normally-closed switch 30 for isolating the coil 8 from the power unit 19. Once enough power has been generated, the switch 30 can be opened so that the power unit 19 does not load the coil 8.
Referring again to
In some embodiments, the control unit 20 may read a file or a flag stored within memory 18 or locally in the control unit 20 which is set while the storage device 1 is being accessed by a computer (not shown).
Referring also to
The impedance switching unit 21 can be implemented using transistors (not shown) in an integrated circuit (not shown)..
If the coil 8 is open circuit or has a high impedance across it, then the coil 8 generates a relatively small back emf which produces a magnetic field resulting in a relatively little magneto-mechanical resistance, in other words the magnet 7 can pass through the coil 8 relatively easily.
If the coil 8 is short-circuited or has a low resistance across it, then the coil 8 generates a relatively large back emf and produces a larger magnetic field resulting in a relatively high magneto-mechanical resistance, i.e. passage of the magnet 7 is more difficult.
As explained earlier, variations in magneto-mechanical resistance can change how the device sounds when shaken. For example, if the magnet 7 moves more slowly, then it will hit the elastic membranes 12 at a lower speed and so produce less noise. Furthermore, there may be more friction between the magnet 7 and the inside of the tube 9. Variations in magneto-mechanical resistance can change how the device feels, when shaken. For example, the faster the magnet 7 moves, the harder the magnet 7 hits the elastic membranes 12, i.e. produces a heavier bounce.
The feel and/or sound of the magnet 7 can be used to indicate a state of a device.
For example, for a memory device, a high magneto-mechanical resistance can be set to damp movement of the magnet 7 so that it moves more slowly and produces less noise so as to indicate that there is little space available in the memory device. A low magneto-mechanical resistance can be set to allow free movement of the magnet 7 so that the magnet 7 moves more quickly and produces more noise so as to indicate that there is a lot of space available in a memory device. The user may perceive that the magnet 7 tends to oscillate with a natural frequency and judge that a characteristic sound is produced.
Similarly, in the case of a smart card serving as a bankcard or electronic purse, sluggish movement of the magnet 7 can be used to indicate that there is little money (or credit) available, whereas relatively unhindered movement of the magnet 7 can be used to indicate a depleted account (or credit) or vice versa.
Likewise, for an electronic key, sluggish movement of the magnet 7 can be used to indicate that a vehicle (or door) is unlocked, whereas relatively unhindered movement of the magnet 7 can be used to indicate the vehicle (or door) is locked or vice versa.
Referring again to
The output device 11 may be an LED or piezoelectric speaker and the control unit 20 may be configured to control the output device 11 in different ways:
The control unit 20 may activate the output device 11 and time-dependently adjust the output, i.e. s=f(t), where f is a function and t is time. In the case of an LED, the output, s, may be light intensity or, in the case of the piezoelectric speaker, the volume or pitch of a tone.
For example, the control unit 20 may change the output exponentially using on a decay time, to, selected according to the state or condition of the device, which in this example is a memory-related parameter, for instance s =soe −t/t0, where so is an initial signal value. For example, if four levels are used, then the decay time to can be set to 0.2, 0.7, 1.2 and 2.0 s. Additional or fewer levels may be used and decay time may differ. The number of levels and/or decay times may be user-defined.
The control unit 20 may provide more detailed information by representing a number by a number of pulses, such as pulses of light, hereinafter referred to as “blinks”, or pulses of tone, hereinafter referred to as “beeps”. For example, the number “1” may be represented by a single pulse, the number “2” may be represented by two pulses and so on. Numbers larger than ten can be represented by using a set duration of time, such as 0.5 s, as a separator, i.e. as a pause. For example, a memory-related parameter may be the number of files stored. If the number of files is 135, then the control unit 20 causes the output device to output a sequence one blink, pause, three blinks, pause and then five blinks.
The memory related-parameter may be the proportion of available memory (x/xtotal), for example less than 0.05 (x/xtotal<0.05), between 0.05 and 0.25 (0.05 x/xtotal<0.25), between 0.25 and 0.5 (0.25 x/xtotal<0.50) and more than 0.5 (0.5 x/xtotal) of memory is available. The memory related-parameter may be the amount of available memory (x), for example less than 1 MB, between 1 MB and 10 MB, between 10 and 100 MB and more than 100 MB. The memory-related parameter may be the number of files. Other memory-related parameters may be used.
In some embodiments, the output device 11 may be a low-power bi-stable display, whereby power is needed to change the display to show a still image (not shown). Thus, the output device 11 may select one of a given number of portions of the display for presenting the information to the user. The information may be presented alphanumerically, for example “Empty” or “Full” or graphically, for example as a level indicator bar.
In other embodiments, the output device 11 may be a display, such as an LCD display.
Referring to
The removable data storage device 1 need not be connected to a computer (not shown). The user shakes the device 1 (step S71) until enough power has been generated to power the control unit 20 (step S81). Typically, between 2 and 20 shakes are needed, although the number of shakes can be higher.
While the user continues to shake the device 1, the control unit 20 determines the state of the device, in this case, the amount of available memory (step S82).
The control unit 20 sends a control signal 24 to the impedance switching unit 21 according to the available memory (step S83). Optionally, the control unit 20 may decouple the power unit 19 from the coil 8 by opening switch 30 (
The control unit 20 may also send a control signal 25 to the output device 11 (step S84). The user can view or listen to the output device 11 so as to ascertain the memory availability (step S73).
It will be appreciated that many modifications may be made to the embodiments hereinbefore described. The magnet 7 need not move linearly. Instead, the magnet 7 may be mounted on a pivoted arm. The apparatus may be provided as a separate device, connectable to and for use with conventional devices.
