The present invention generally relates to an electronic apparatus and a data transmission method thereof, in particular, to a magnetically attached multi-part apparatus and a data transmission method thereof.
Due to high demand on mobile apparatuses with a small, thin, short, and lightweight form factor in the recent consumer market, the volume of the mobile apparatuses are considerably restricted. In terms of a cellular phone and a tablet computer, if a keypad and a screen are required to be disposed on the apparatus, reduction of the dimension of the screen is inevitable. In order to configure a larger screen within a limited area, a touch screen has been developed recently. Such touch screen can simultaneously serves as a display and input interface of the mobile apparatus, so as to save the cost for configuring the conventional keypad and reduce the occupied area.
To satisfy operation requirements of various applications, the mobile apparatus may display a corresponding operating interface on the touch screen based on the requirements of each application during execution for a user to operate the features of the application through touching. For example, when the user activates a document editing application, the mobile apparatus displays a virtual keypad on the touch screen for the user to input text; when the user activates a multimedia player, the mobile apparatus displays control buttons such as a PLAY button, a PAUSE button, a STOP button, a FAST-FORWARD button, and a REVERSE button on the touch screen for the user to operate the multimedia playing feature.
Nonetheless, user interfaces such as a keypad or control buttons displayed on the touch screen may still occupy a considerably large display area, and thus other contents may be compressed into a smaller area and be quite difficult to read. Additionally, when the user listens to a phone call, he/she may not be able to further control the mobile apparatus since the touch screen is closed for preventing from the user inadvertently contacting with the touch screen.
In this connection, mobile apparatuses with a larger display screen area and flexibility in usage should be developed with necessity for adapting to different usages.
Based on the above, the present invention is directed to a multi-part apparatus and a data transmission method thereof, in which two apparatuses are attached to each other through magnetism, and their positions are determined based on a variation of the magnetism thereby changing a way of data transmission and display.
The present invention is directed to a data transmission method of a multi-part apparatus suitably adapted to a multi-part apparatus having a master apparatus and a separable slave apparatus. The master apparatus and the slave apparatus are attached to each other through magnetism and each of them has a wireless transmission module and a plurality of pins disposed on a side. In this method, a variation of the magnetism is detected, so as to determine a relative position between the master apparatus and the slave apparatus. When the master apparatus and the slave apparatus are attached to each other with a shift, a wireless connection set up by the wireless transmission modules is used for data transmission; and when the master apparatus and the slave apparatus are connected to each other with the sides thereof, both the wireless connection and the pins are used for data transmission.
The present invention is directed to a multi-part apparatus including a master apparatus and a slave apparatus. The master apparatus includes a first touch screen disposed on a front of the master apparatus, a first wireless transmission module, a plurality of first pins disposed on a side of the master apparatus, a plurality of first magnetic objects disposed on a back of the master apparatus, and a first controller coupled to the first touch screen, the first wireless transmission module, and the first pins. The slave apparatus includes a second touch screen disposed on a front of the slave apparatus, a second wireless transmission module configured to set up a wireless connection with the first wireless transmission module, a plurality of second pins disposed on a side of the slave apparatus and configured to correspondingly connect to the first pins of the master apparatus, a plurality of second magnetic objects disposed on the front of the slave apparatus, and a second controller coupled to the second touch screen, the second wireless transmission module, and the second pins. The second magnetic objects are disposed on the front of the slave apparatus corresponding to positions of the first magnetic objects on the master apparatus and configured to attract the first magnetic objects through magnetism, so as to enable the master apparatus and the slave apparatus to be attached to each other with an overlay or a shift. Moreover, the first controller and the second controller transmit data via the wireless connection when the master apparatus and the slave apparatus are attached to each other with the shift; and the first controller and the second controller transmit data via the wireless connection and a wired connection between the first pins and the second pins when the master apparatus and the slave apparatus are connected to each other with the sides thereof.
Based on the above, a multi-part apparatus and a data transmission method thereof in the present invention attach two apparatuses through magnetism. When the two apparatuses are attached to each other with a shift, a wireless connection set up by wireless transmission modules is used for data transmission; and when the two apparatuses are connected to each other with the sides thereof, both the wireless connection and a plurality of the pins on the sides are used for data transmission. Through this, a larger display screen area and flexibility in usage may be provided.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
In order to increase a display area of a screen of an apparatus without changing its volume, in present invention, two thin apparatuses with an identical size are stacked with each other through magnetism to form a multi-part apparatus. Then, a disposition status between the two apparatuses including an overlaid, shifted, side-connected, or separated state is determined by detecting a variation of the magnetism and accordingly the contents of the display images of the two apparatuses and data transmission methods between the two apparatuses are changed. Through this, the present invention provides a user with a larger display screen area and a more convenient operating interface.
Referring to
The master apparatus 21 includes the first touch screen 211 disposed on a front, a first wireless transmission module 212, a plurality of first pins 213 disposed on a side, a plurality of first magnetic objects 214a˜214f disposed on a back, and a first controller 215 coupled to the first touch screen 211, the first wireless transmission module 212 and the first pins 213.
The slave apparatus 22 includes a second touch screen 221 disposed on a front, a wireless transmission module 222, a plurality of second pins 223 disposed on a side for correspondingly connecting to the first pins 213 of the master apparatus, a plurality of second magnetic objects 224a˜224f on a front, and a second controller 225 coupled to the second touch screen 221, the second wireless transmission module 222, and the second pins 223.
The first wireless transmission module 212 and the second wireless transmission module 222, for example, are devices supporting a communication protocol such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Bluetooth, or radio-frequency identification (RFID), wherein the two modules correspond to each other for allowing a wireless connection to be set up.
Additionally, the second magnetic objects 224a˜224f are disposed on the front of the slave apparatus 22 at positions correspond to the positions of the first magnetic objects 214a˜214f of the master apparatus 21 for attracting the first magnetic object 214a˜214f through magnetism, and therefore the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are able to be attached to each other with a shift or with an overlay. While the master apparatus 21 and the salve apparatus 22 are in an overlaid, shifted, or separated state, the first controller 215 and the second controller 225 transmit data via the wireless connection; while the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are in the overlaid state, the second touch screen 221 of the slave apparatus 22 is covered by the first apparatus 21.
Moreover, the first pins 213 and the second pins 223 include, for example, power pins, ground pins, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) pins, inter-integrated circuit (I2C) pins, and general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins. The number of the MIPI pins is, for example, four for transmitting display data of the touch screen; the number of the I2C pins is, for example, two for transmitting touch signal data detected by the touch screen; the number of the GPIO pins is, for example, one or two and the GPIO pins are used for transmitting status data, synchronization data, and other data of the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22. The type, number, and arrangement of the pins may be selected by manufacturers based on requirements, which are not limited herein.
It is noted that, in order to allow the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 of the multi-part apparatus 20 to communicate with each other and transmit data in the shifted or separated state, in the present invention, a wireless connection is adopted for transmitting control instructions between the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 so as to synchronize the status of the two apparatuses and enable the two apparatuses to cooperate to execute the programs run by the user and respectively display images corresponding to the executed programs on the touch screens thereof.
Additionally, when the master apparatus 21 is pushed toward the side of the slave apparatus 22 by the user until the two apparatuses are connected with the sides thereof, the first pins 213 and the second pins 223 on the sides are connected with each other for providing a wired connection between the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22. Such connection provides a higher data transmission bandwidth for transmitting data with larger sizes such as operation images or touch signals. An embodiment will be described in detail as follows.
First, the first controller 215 of the master apparatus 21 or the second controller 225 of the slave apparatus 22 detects a variation of the magnetism between the first magnetic objects 214a˜214f of the master apparatus 21 and the second magnetic objects 224a˜224f of the slave apparatus 22, and thereby determines a relative position between the first magnetic objects 214a˜214f and the second magnetic objects 224a˜224f and further determines a relative position between the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 accordingly (Step S302). A plurality of magnetic effect sensors, such as, but not limited to, Hall sensors and magnetic reed switches, may be disposed on the master apparatus 21 or the slave apparatus 22 for detecting the variation of the magnetism between the first magnetic objects 214a˜214f and the second magnetic objects 224a˜224f. Data of the variation of the magnetism detected by the magnetic effect sensors may be transmitted to the first controller 215 or the second controller 225 for determining the relative position between the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22.
If the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are attached to each other with a shift through magnetism, the first controller 215 and the second controller 225 may transmit data via the wireless connection set up by the first wireless transmission module 212 and the second wireless transmission module 222 (Step S304).
It is noted that, while the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are attached to each other with a shift through magnetism, a part of the second touch screen 221 of the slave apparatus 222 is covered by the master apparatus 21, and therefore while displaying, the second touch screen 221 only displays an operation image on the part not covered by the master apparatus 21. Additionally, as the number of the magnetic objects increases, the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 may provide a multi-stage shift therebetween and operation images correspond to different shifts.
In detail, the first controller 215 of the master apparatus 21 may, for example, change the operation images displayed on both the first touch screen 211 of the master apparatus 21 and the second touch screen 221 of the slave apparatus 22 based on a shifted distance between the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22. The operation image of the second touch screen 221 of the slave apparatus 22 may be determined based on a size of an exposed area of the second touch screen 221 after the shift. For example, a keypad, a scroll, a joystick, or a touch pad for operating the operation image on the master apparatus 21 may be displayed according to the size of the exposed area. Moreover, the operation images displayed on the first touch screen 211 and the second touch screen 221 according to the shifted distance may be preset upon manufacture or defined by the user, which are not limited herein.
As an example,
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It is noted that, based on cost evaluations, in the present invention, a processor with higher arithmetic ability may be selectively disposed on one of the master apparatus or the slave apparatus while a processor with basic arithmetic ability may be disposed on the other one. Furthermore, a main control of a multi-part apparatus may be selectively passed to the master apparatus or the slave apparatus, so as to control an overall operation of the multi-part apparatus.
For example, the master apparatus may be a feature phone on which a modem may be disposed for providing basic communication features such as phone calls and text messages. Since these features do not require high demands on the arithmetic ability from the processor, a single-core processor or a dual-core processor with lower arithmetic ability may be disposed on the master apparatus. On the other hand, the slave apparatus may be a personal digital assistant or a tablet computer in which a plurality of applications may be installed for providing a variety of features such as multimedia playing, web browsing, and gaming. Since these features require high demands on the arithmetic ability from the processor, a quad-core processor with higher arithmetic ability may be disposed on the slave apparatus. More details according to another embodiment are described as follows.
First, the first controller 215 of the master apparatus 21 or the second controller 225 of the slave apparatus 22 detects a variation of the magnetism between the first magnetic objects 214a˜214f of the master apparatus 21 and the second magnetic objects 224a˜224f of the slave apparatus 22, and thereby determines a relative position between the first magnetic objects 214a˜214f and the second magnetic objects 224a˜224f, and further determines a relative position between the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 accordingly (S502).
When the first controller 215 determines that the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are attached to each other with an overlay through the magnetism, it may transmit a standby instruction to the slave apparatus 22 via the wireless connection set up by the first wireless transmission module 212 and the second wireless transmission module 222, so as to control the slave apparatus 22 to switch to a standby mode (Step S504) for power saving.
When the first controller determines that the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are attached to each other with a shift through the magnetism, the first controller 215 and the second controller 225 may transmit data with each other via the wireless connection set up by the first wireless transmission module 212 and the second wireless transmission module 222 (Step S506).
When the first controller determines that the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are connected to each other with the sides (i.e. the side of the master apparatus 21 where the first pins 213 are disposed and the side of the slave apparatus 22 where the second pins 223 are disposed), the first controller 215 may transmit a switch instruction to the second controller 225 of the slave apparatus 22 via the wireless connection set up by the first wireless transmission module 212 and the second wireless transmission module 222 for passing the overall control of the multi-part apparatus 20 to the slave apparatus 22 (Step S508). Nonetheless, the present invention is not limited to transmitting the switch instruction via the wireless connection. In another embodiment, when the first pins 213 and the second pins 223 are wire-connected, the first controller 215 may transmit the switch instruction to the second controller 225 of the slave apparatus 22 via the wired connection for passing the overall control of the multi-apparatus 20 to the slave apparatus 22.
When the second controller 225 receives the switch instruction, for example, it may receive status data of the master apparatus 21 and data of touch operation detected by the first touch screen 211 of the master apparatus 21 via the wired connection formed by the first pins 213 and the second pins 223, and further transmit data of operation image to be displayed on the first touch screen 211 of the master apparatus 21 to the master apparatus 21 for display (Step S510).
The second controller 225 may continue executing features previously executed by the master apparatus 21 based on the received status data of the master apparatus 21. For example, the second controller 225 may execute a corresponding feature according to the data of touch operation detected by the first touch screen 211 of the master apparatus 21. Additionally, after the second controller 225 receives the overall control, it may, for example, integrate the second touch screen 221 and the first touch screen 211 of the master apparatus into a single operation image (i.e. an image divided into an upper and lower portion) for maximizing a display area of the touch screens.
For example, assuming that the user originally browses websites on the master apparatus 21, when the overall control of the multi-part apparatus 20 is passed to the slave apparatus 22, the second controller 225 of the slave apparatus 22 may, for example, receive an address of the browsed website on the master apparatus 21 via the wired connection or the wireless connection and reconnect to the same address for opening the same website. The second controller 225 may transmit, for example, image data of an upper portion of the website to the master apparatus 21 via the wired connection for displaying on the first touch screen 211 of the master apparatus 21, and simultaneously display a bottom portion of the websites directly on the second touch screen 221, and thereby the display area of the first touch screen 211 and the second touch screen 221 are integrated for providing the user with a larger display area for web browsing.
When the first controller 215 determines that the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are separated from each other, the first controller 215 and the second controller 225 may transmit data via the wireless connection set up by the first wireless transmission module 212 and the second wireless transmission module 222 (Step S512). In case the master apparatus 21 and the slave apparatus 22 are separated from each other, the user may, for example, control the slave apparatus 22 to execute features by using the master apparatus 21 via the wireless connection and request the slave apparatus 22 to return results of executions to the master apparatus 21 via the wireless connection. Through this, the user may be given flexibility in operating the multi-part apparatus 20.
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To sum up, a multi-part apparatus and a data transmission method thereof in the present invention attach two apparatuses through magnetism and determine a disposition status between the two apparatuses such as an overlaid, shifted, side-connected, or separated state by detecting a variation of the magnetism. In accordance with the determined disposition status, a suitable data transmission method is adopted. Accordingly, a larger display area and a greater flexibility in usage may be realized on mobile apparatuses.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101131221 | Aug 2012 | TW | national |
This application claims the priority benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/659,325, filed on Jun. 13, 2012 and Taiwan application serial no. 101131221, filed on Aug. 28, 2012. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61659325 | Jun 2012 | US |