Patent Application
20220171438
Information handling devices (“devices”) having a clamshell design, for example, laptops, notebooks, other hybrid/convertible devices, flip phones, and the like, are generally composed of two sections, i.e., a bottom section and a top section. Conventionally, the bottom section contains one or more input devices (e.g., a keyboard, a trackpad, etc.) whereas the top section contains a primary display screen. The two sections may be connected by at least one hinge mechanism that enables rotation of the top section with respect to the bottom section.
In summary, one aspect provides a method, comprising: detecting, using a sensor of an information handling device, a force event directed to a portion of a screen assembly of the information handling device; determining, based on information derived from the sensor, whether the force event exceeds a predetermined strain threshold; and disengaging, responsive to determining that the force event exceeds the predetermined strain threshold, a floating pin from within a hinge mechanism of the information handling device.
Another aspect provides an information handling device, comprising: a sensor; a screen assembly; a hinge mechanism; a processor; a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to: detect, using the sensor, a force event directed to a portion of the screen assembly of the information handling device; determine, based on information derived from the sensor, whether the force event exceeds a predetermined strain threshold; and disengage, responsive to determining that the force event exceeds the predetermined strain threshold, a floating pin from within the hinge mechanism of the information handling device.
A further aspect provides a product, comprising: a storage device that stores code, the code being executable by a processor and comprising: code detects a force event directed to a portion of a screen assembly of an information handling device; code that determines whether the force event exceeds a predetermined strain threshold; and code that disengages, responsive to determining that the force event exceeds the predetermined strain threshold, a floating pin from within a hinge mechanism.
The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting.
For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other and further features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.
It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations in addition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following more detailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, as claimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, et cetera. In other instances, well known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obfuscation.
Due to their portable nature, clamshell-style devices (“devices”) are often utilized by users in various travel settings. More particularly, it is not uncommon for a user to setup and interact with their laptop or notebook PC while riding on a bus or train or while flying in a plane. While generally not provided with much space in these situations, the slim profiles and adjustable characteristics of these devices enable users to effectively use them even in cramped settings.
Although convenient to have and use while traveling, devices may be more prone to damage in these use cases. For example, an opened laptop positioned on a user's lap while they are riding on a bus may be susceptible to damage when an individual sitting in front of the user reclines their seat back. More particularly, the reclining seat back may exert an undue amount of pressure and force on the screen assembly, thereby potentially causing damage to one or more components of the device (e.g., the screen assembly itself, a hinge mechanism joining the screen assembly to a bottom section of the device, another device component, etc.).
One existing solution may involve use of a sacrificial component (e.g., situated in the hinge mechanism, etc.) that is designed to break at a pre-fabricated weak portion to alleviate strain on the device. However, while effective, such a solution is limited in that it can work only once and may not be able to protect the device if a strain event occurs again. Other solutions are generally proactive in nature. More particularly, a user may caution an individual seated in front of them to lean back carefully because they are working on their device. Additionally or alternatively, a user may ensure that their screen is only opened up to a certain display angle (e.g., less than 90 degrees, etc.), such that damage to the device may be limited if strain is placed on the screen assembly. However, each of these solutions is burdensome and does not ultimately if a sudden strain event does occur.
Accordingly, a method is provided that dynamically implements a damage prevention function on a device responsive to strain detection. In an embodiment, a force event may be detected on a portion of a screen assembly on the device. The force event may correspond to a current or projected strain that is placed on the screen assembly that may cause one or more components associated with the screen assembly to break. An embodiment may then determine whether the force event exceeds a predetermined strain threshold and, responsive to determining that it does, may disengage a floating pin from a hinge mechanism, which thereby causes the screen assembly to lower or drop. Additional details regarding the disengagement process are further provided herein. Such a method may therefore provide certain protections to a device experiencing current or projected strain events.
The illustrated example embodiments will be best understood by reference to the figures. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain example embodiments.
While various other circuits, circuitry or components may be utilized in information handling devices, with regard to smart phone and/or tablet circuitry 100, an example illustrated in
There are power management chip(s) 130, e.g., a battery management unit, BMU, which manage power as supplied, for example, via a rechargeable battery 140, which may be recharged by a connection to a power source (not shown). In at least one design, a single chip, such as 110, is used to supply BIOS like functionality and DRAM memory.
System 100 typically includes one or more of a WWAN transceiver 150 and a WLAN transceiver 160 for connecting to various networks, such as telecommunications networks and wireless Internet devices, e.g., access points. Additionally, devices 120 are commonly included, e.g., an image sensor such as a camera, audio capture device such as a microphone, etc. System 100 often includes one or more touch screens 170 for data input and display/rendering. System 100 also typically includes various memory devices, for example flash memory 180 and SDRAM 190.
The example of
In
In
The system, upon power on, may be configured to execute boot code 290 for the BIOS 268, as stored within the SPI Flash 266, and thereafter processes data under the control of one or more operating systems and application software (for example, stored in system memory 240). An operating system may be stored in any of a variety of locations and accessed, for example, according to instructions of the BIOS 268. As described herein, a device may include fewer or more features than shown in the system of
Information handling device circuitry, as for example outlined in
Referring now to
In an embodiment, the detection of the force event may be facilitated using one or more different sensors integrated into the device. For example, one or more strain gauges (e.g., one or more resistive strain gauges, one or more piezeoelectric sensors, etc.) may be positioned on the top and/or upper portions of the screen assembly (e.g., around the top bezel of the screen assembly, etc.). These strain gauges may be able to detect and record a current strain that the screen assembly is experiencing. Additionally or alternatively, as another example, at least one camera and/or proximity sensor may be integrated into the device that may be able to detect an incoming strain to the screen assembly. For example, a proximity sensor may detect when an object is within a predetermined distance of the device and/or is approaching the device at a predetermined rate. In a similar example, a camera sensor (e.g., an always-on camera, etc.) may be able to determine that a particular object is approaching.
At 302, an embodiment may determine whether the force event will exceed a predetermined strain threshold based upon strain information derived from the sensors. In an embodiment, the predetermined strain threshold may correspond to a threshold at which an embodiment concludes that further strain directed to the screen assembly may damage one or more components of the device. In an embodiment, the predetermined strain threshold may originally be set by a manufacturer of the device. Additionally or alternatively, the predetermined strain threshold may later be manually (e.g., by a device user, etc.) or dynamically adjusted. Regarding the latter, an embodiment may dynamically adjust the threshold based upon one or more types of available context data (e.g., environmental data, ambient audio data, location data, movement data, activity data, etc.). For example, responsive to receiving an indication from a user's calendar that they are scheduled to travel on a plane during a particular time of day, an embodiment may increase the sensitivity of the threshold during that time period in order to provide strain protections for the device if it is used. As another example, an embodiment may increase the sensitivity of the threshold responsive to concluding from movement data (e.g., accelerometer data, gyroscopic data, etc.) that a device is being operated within a moving vehicle.
In an embodiment, the determination process may be based upon whether actual or projected strain is detected and also based upon the type of sensors utilized in the determination. For instance, if actual strain is detected by one or more strain gauges, an embodiment may record a strain value output by the relevant strain gauge and compare that value to a predetermined threshold value (e.g., located in an accessible storage database, etc.). Alternatively, as another example, if a camera sensor and/or proximity sensor is utilized to project incoming strain, an embodiment may be able to determine one or more characteristics of an approaching object (e.g., object identity, object size, object distance to screen assembly, object approach rate, etc.) and assign a strain value to the approaching object based upon at least one of these characteristics. An embodiment may thereafter compare the assigned strain value to a predetermined threshold value to determine whether the approaching object will produce a strain on the screen assembly that may demand a protective action to be taken.
Responsive to determining, at 302, that a value associated with the force event will not exceed a predetermined threshold value, an embodiment may, at 303, take no additional action. Conversely, responsive to determining, at 303, that a value associated with the force event will exceed a predetermined threshold value, an embodiment may, at 304, dynamically take a protective measure to minimize the potential damage to the screen assembly, another device component, or the device as a whole. The protective measure(s) employed by a system of the device will be described in the following paragraphs in more details.
In an embodiment, the screen assembly of the device may be connected to a bottom section of the device by at least one hinge mechanism. Referring now to
Undue stress placed on the screen assembly may break one or more of the previously described components within the hinge mechanism. Accordingly, responsive to determining that a value associated with a force event is greater than a predetermined threshold value, an embodiment may implement a process that disengages the floating pin from its locked position, thereby allowing the hinge mechanism to quickly fall/rotate down so that the stress placed on the screen assembly may be alleviated.
In an embodiment, responsive to receiving an indication that a value associated with the force event is greater than a predetermined threshold value, an embodiment may utilize a controller integrated into the device to transmit a state change indication to a shape-memory metal alloy (“memory metal”) actuator associated with the hinge mechanism. In an embodiment, the state change indication may correspond to one or more of a signal or a voltage. More particularly, the controller may send a signal or voltage to the memory metal actuator in response to a positive strain determination. Responsive to receiving this signal or voltage, the memory metal actuator may disengage the floating pin from its locked state, as further described below, and may therefore allow a downward rotation of the hinge mechanism.
In the context of this application, a memory metal corresponds to a metal alloy (e.g., copper-aluminum-nickel alloy, nickel-tin alloy, etc.) that may return to its original shape, subsequent to shape manipulation, in response to one or more of: a heating event or a cooling event. In an embodiment, the floating pin utilized in the hinge mechanism may be a memory metal and/or another component within the hinge mechanism in contact with the floating pin may be a memory metal. Regarding the former, when a signal or voltage is received at the memory metal actuator, the floating pin may be heated which may subsequently facilitate a shape transformation (e.g., to an original shape, etc.). This transformation may correspondingly adjust a position of the floating pin and unlock the floating pin from the hinge mechanism. For example, when heated the floating pin may contract in size (i.e., revert to its original shape), thereby unlocking the hinge mechanism. With respect to the ladder, another component within the hinge mechanism may be composed of a memory metal and its shape transformations may affect a positioning of the floating pin within the hinge mechanism.
Referring now to
In an embodiment, the floating pin may only be disengaged from the hinge mechanism if a screen angle of the screen assembly is greater than a predetermined screen angle (e.g., 90 degrees, etc.). The processes described above may not be implemented when the screen angle is determined to be less than the predetermined screen angle because those angles may generally be associated with “safe” screen angles to receive strain. In another embodiment, once disengaged the floating pin may be reset to its locked position to revert the hinge mechanism to its standard operation protocol. In an embodiment, resetting the floating pin may involve transmitting another state change indication to the memory metal actuator, which may thereafter affect a shape of the floating pin (e.g., elongate it, etc.) or affect a shape of another hinge component in contact with the floating pin that enables the floating pin to re-engage the hinge mechanism in a locked state.
The various embodiments described herein thus represent a technical improvement to conventional methods for alleviating strain on a device. Using the techniques described herein, an embodiment may detect a force event directed to a screen assembly that may place undue strain on the screen assembly and/or another component of the device. An embodiment may thereafter determine whether the force event will exceed a predetermined strain threshold and, responsive to determining that it will, may initiate a strain alleviation process in which a floating pin that secures a hinge mechanism disengages, thereby enabling the hinge mechanism to rotate downward and alleviate the strain placed on the screen assembly.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, various aspects may be embodied as a system, method or device program product. Accordingly, aspects may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or an embodiment including software that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects may take the form of a device program product embodied in one or more device readable medium(s) having device readable program code embodied therewith.
It should be noted that the various functions described herein may be implemented using instructions stored on a device readable storage medium such as a non-signal storage device that are executed by a processor. A storage device may be, for example, a system, apparatus, or device (e.g., an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device) or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a storage device/medium include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a storage device is not a signal and “non-transitory” includes all media except signal media.
Program code embodied on a storage medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, et cetera, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Program code for carrying out operations may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on a single device, partly on a single device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on single device and partly on another device, or entirely on the other device. In some cases, the devices may be connected through any type of connection or network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made through other devices (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider), through wireless connections, e.g., near-field communication, or through a hard wire connection, such as over a USB connection.
Example embodiments are described herein with reference to the figures, which illustrate example methods, devices and program products according to various example embodiments. It will be understood that the actions and functionality may be implemented at least in part by program instructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processor of a device, a special purpose information handling device, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via a processor of the device implement the functions/acts specified.
It is worth noting that while specific blocks are used in the figures, and a particular ordering of blocks has been illustrated, these are non-limiting examples. In certain contexts, two or more blocks may be combined, a block may be split into two or more blocks, or certain blocks may be re-ordered or re-organized as appropriate, as the explicit illustrated examples are used only for descriptive purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
As used herein, the singular “a” and “an” may be construed as including the plural “one or more” unless clearly indicated otherwise.
This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain principles and practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to be understood that this description is not limiting and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.
