Patent Application
20110102344
(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a portable electronic device having a separate wireless input unit.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, in an information explosion era, everyday life becomes inseparable from electronic products. Accompanying with the advance of electronic technology, new electronic products being user-friendly and having good functionality are unceasingly announced. For example, a tablet computer has great convenience in use and can be operated by a stylus on a table or one's lap. However, when some additional function is needed, a user should install the tablet computer on a docking station that is provided with a keyboard and an external mouse to operate the tablet computer through the keyboard and the mouse. Therefore, under certain circumstances, a tablet computer is inconvenient in use.
Further, in order to perform direct touch selections on the screen of a tablet computer, a portion of the screen area of the tablet computer should be reserved for displaying operation windows or control patterns. Thus, a user's viewing area may be blocked by the operation windows or control patterns to thereby affect the viewing comfortableness.
The invention provides a portable electronic device and a tablet computer having a separate wireless input unit. The wireless input unit has multiple functions and provides great convenience in use.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a portable electronic device includes a main body and a wireless input unit. The main body has a display surface and an accommodating portion opposite the display surface. The accommodating portion defines an accommodating space substantially parallel to the display surface. The wireless input unit is placed inside the accommodating space and capable of being extracted from the accommodating space, and the wireless input unit is separate from the main body. The wireless input unit includes a touch panel, a pattern layer, and a control circuit. The touch panel has an operation surface and a back surface opposite the operation surface. The pattern layer is disposed on the back surface of the touch panel and has a plurality of control area patterns. The control circuit is disposed on the touch panel.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a tablet computer includes a computer main body and a wireless input unit. The computer main body has a display surface and an accommodating portion opposite the display surface. The accommodating portion defines an accommodating space substantially parallel to the display surface. The wireless input unit is placed inside the accommodating space and capable of being extracted from the accommodating space, and the wireless input unit is separate from the computer main body. The wireless input unit includes a touch panel, a pattern layer, and a control circuit. The touch panel has an operation surface and a back surface opposite the operation surface. The pattern layer is disposed on the back surface of the touch panel and has a plurality of control area patterns. The control circuit is disposed on the touch panel.
In one embodiment, the touch panel is electrically connected to the main body of the portable electronic device or the computer main body through the control circuit.
In one embodiment, the touch panel is electrically connected to an external electronic apparatus through the control circuit. For example, the external electronic apparatus is a mobile phone, a display, or a player.
In one embodiment, each of the above control area patterns is a keyboard area pattern, a numeral area pattern, a mouse area pattern, a function-switching area pattern, or a playing area pattern.
In one embodiment, the control circuit is a wireless transmitting controller.
In one embodiment, the wireless input unit further includes a flexible circuit board connected to the touch panel and the control circuit. In one embodiment, the control circuit is disposed on the flexible circuit board and positioned on the back surface of the touch panel. On the other hand, the wireless input unit further includes a printing circuit board. The printing circuit board is disposed on the back surface of the touch panel, and the control circuit is disposed on the printing circuit board. The flexible circuit board is connected between the touch panel and the printing circuit board.
In one embodiment, the pattern layer is attached to the back surface of the touch panel.
In one embodiment, the pattern layer is coated on the back surface of the touch panel.
The embodiment or the embodiments of the invention may have at least one of the following advantages. First, since a separate wireless input unit is used as an input interface of a portable electronic device or a tablet computer, it is not necessary to place a display screen and an input unit together at an identical viewing direction, and thus it is more convenient to use them. Besides, the wireless input unit is directly accommodated on the back surface of the main body and the tablet computer to provide better portability, and the wireless input unit is allowed to control an external electronic apparatus outside the portable electronic device and the tablet computer. Further, the wireless input unit is controlled without a docking station and a connecting wire. Therefore, the number of components in a device is reduced to further increase convenience in use.
In order to further illustrate the above characteristics and advantages of the invention, the following uses embodiments accompanying with figures to describe the invention in details.
In the past, the design of a tablet computer integrates touch control elements into a display screen to, for example, perform direct touch selections or open windows on the screen. However, the window corresponding to current operations may occupy some portion of a viewing area of the display screen to thereby affect the viewing comfortableness. In addition, according to the conventional design, a tablet computer may be placed only on a table or user's lap. Thus, a user has to view the screen at a relatively slanted direction to thereby feel uncomfortable due to a large viewing angle.
In this embodiment, a separate wireless input unit 120 is used as an input element of the portable electronic device 100. Thus, when a user uses the portable electronic device 100, the main body 110 may be placed vertically on the table for viewing convenience. At the same time, the user may place the wireless input unit 120 on a position along with his preference to control the main body 110. For example, the wireless input unit 120 may be placed on user's lap or on a table. Therefore, the portable electronic device 100 is operated conveniently like a desktop computer. Besides, in this embodiment, the wireless input unit 120 may be directly accommodated in the main body 110 without any transmission wires connected to the main body 110. Thus, the portable electronic device 100 may possess portability like a tablet computer.
Referring to both
In addition, the control circuit 126 may be provided with a decoder (not shown). Therefore, the touch panel 122 may be electrically connected to an external electronic apparatus (not shown) through the control circuit 126. For example, the external electronic apparatus may be a mobile phone, a display, or a player. In other words, the wireless input unit 120A in this embodiment may be used to control not only the main body 110 but also other electronic apparatus. Thus, the wireless input unit 120A may serve as a universal remote controller to bring great convenience in use.
Referring to
Besides, in the above wireless input units 120A-120D, the pattern layer 124 may be adhered to or coated on the touch panel 122. That is, the pattern layer 124 may be a coating layer formed by various pigments or a film like a sticker.
More specifically,
For example, when the wireless input unit 120 is used to control the main body 110, a user, for example, may perform the operations of inputting, selecting, dragging, etc. on the keyboard area pattern 142, the numerical area pattern 144, and the mouse area pattern 146. When the wireless input area 120 is used to control a video player, a user may perform the operations of play, pause, fast forward, or fast backward, etc. by selecting corresponding blocks in the playing area pattern 150. Of course, the above patterns are illustrated as an example. The patterns in the pattern layer 124 are arbitrary designed according actual demands and functional requirements.
According to the above embodiments, the pattern layer 124 provides different input areas for respective functions, so the wireless input unit 120 can be operated by a user without being provided on a display screen. Therefore, it does not need to make sacrifices in the screen viewing area to show operation windows or control patterns.
The embodiment or the embodiments of the invention may have at least one of the following advantages. First, since a separate wireless input unit is used as an input interface of a portable electronic device or a tablet computer, it is not necessary to place a display screen and an input unit together at an identical viewing direction, and thus it is more convenient to use them. Besides, the wireless input unit is directly accommodated on the back surface of the main body and the tablet computer to provide better portability, and the wireless input unit is allowed to control an external electronic apparatus outside the portable electronic device and the tablet computer. Further, the wireless input unit is controlled without a docking station and a connecting wire. Therefore, the number of components in a device is reduced to further increase convenience in use.
Although the present invention has been fully described by the above embodiments, the embodiments should not constitute the limitation of the scope of the invention. Various modifications or changes can be made by those who are skilled in the art without deviating from the spirit of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 098220010 | Oct 2009 | TW | national |
