Patent Application
20120127075
The present disclosure relates to electronic devices including but not limited to portable electronic devices having touch-sensitive displays and their control.
Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gained widespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, for example, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions. Portable electronic devices include several types of devices including mobile stations such as simple cellular telephones, smart telephones, wireless PDAs, and laptop computers with wireless 702.11 or Bluetooth capabilities.
Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones are generally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Smaller devices are generally desirable for portability. A touch-sensitive display, also known as a touchscreen display, is particularly useful on handheld devices, which are small and have limited space for user input and output. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive displays may be modified depending on the functions and operations being performed.
Improvements in devices with touch-sensitive displays are desirable.
The following describes an electronic device that includes a first segment including a first display and a second segment coupled to the first segment. The second segment includes a first input device on a first side of the second segment and a second display on a second side of the second segment. The second segment is rotatable relative to the first segment between a first orientation in which the first display is adjacent to the first input device, and a second orientation in which the first display is adjacent to the second display such that information is displayed continuously from the first display onto the second display.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the embodiments described herein. The embodiments may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the embodiments described. The description is not to be considered as limited to the scope of the embodiments described herein.
The disclosure generally relates to an electronic device, which is a portable electronic device in the embodiments described herein. Examples of portable electronic devices include mobile, or handheld, wireless communication devices such as pagers, cellular phones, cellular smart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants, wirelessly enabled notebook computers, and so forth. The portable electronic device may also be a portable electronic device without wireless communication capabilities, such as a handheld electronic game device, digital photograph album, digital camera, or other device.
A block diagram of an example of a portable electronic device 100 is shown in
The processor 102 interacts with other components, such as Random Access Memory (RAM) 108, memory 110, a keyboard 112, an input device 114, an upper touch-sensitive display 116, a lower touch-sensitive display 118, an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 124, a data port 126, a speaker 128, a microphone 130, short-range communications 132, and other device subsystems 134. The input device 114 may be, for example, a touch-sensitive track pad, a trackball, an optical joystick, and so forth, to receive an input. The input device 114 may be utilized, for example, for navigation of a cursor, highlighting or other indicator on the upper touch-sensitive display 116.
The processor 102 may interact with an accelerometer 136 that may be utilized to detect direction of gravitational forces or gravity-induced reaction forces. Optionally, the processor 102 may interact with one or more actuators 120 and/or one or more force sensors 122.
A sensor 140, which may be, for example, a Hall effect sensor, may be utilized to detect an orientation or alignment of the upper segment of the device 100 relative to the lower segment of the device 100. Alternatively, the sensor 140 may be, for example, a mechanical sensor, electrical sensor, or any other suitable sensor.
To identify a subscriber for network access, the portable electronic device 100 uses a Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable User Identity Module (SIM/RUIM) card 138 for communication with a network, such as the wireless network 150. Alternatively, user identification information may be programmed into memory 110.
The portable electronic device 100 includes an operating system 146 and software programs or components 148 that are executed by the processor 102 and are typically stored in a persistent, updatable store such as the memory 110. Additional applications or programs may be loaded onto the portable electronic device 100 through the wireless network 150, the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124, the data port 126, the short-range communications subsystem 132, or any other suitable subsystem 134.
A received signal, such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web page download, is processed by the communication subsystem 104 and input to the processor 102. The processor 102 processes the received signal for output to the display 112 and/or to the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124. A subscriber may generate data items, for example e-mail messages, which may be transmitted over the wireless network 150 through the communication subsystem 104. For voice communications, the overall operation of the portable electronic device 100 is similar. The speaker 128 outputs audible information converted from electrical signals, and the microphone 130 converts audible information into electrical signals for processing.
The upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may include, for example, a display and a touch-sensitive overlay operably coupled to an electronic controller such that the processor 102 interacts with the touch-sensitive overlay via the electronic controller. Information, such as text, characters, symbols, images, icons, and other items that may be displayed or rendered on the portable electronic device 100, may be displayed on the display of one or both of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 via the processor 102. The upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may each be any suitable touch-sensitive display such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth, as known in the art. Alternatively, a single controller may be utilized for the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118. Although the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may be substantially identical except as related to their orientation with respect to each other, the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may be different in other ways.
One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, may be detected by the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and/or the lower touch-sensitive display 118. The processor 102 may determine attributes of a touch, including a location of the touch. Touch location data may include an area of contact or a single point of contact, such as a point at or near a center of the area of contact. A signal is provided to one of the controllers in response to detection of a touch on the upper touch-sensitive display 116 or the lower touch-sensitive display 118. A touch may be detected from any suitable object, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or other items, for example, a stylus, pen, or other pointer, depending on the nature of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and/or the lower touch-sensitive display 118. The controller(s) and/or the processor 102 may detect a touch by any suitable contact member on the upper touch-sensitive display 116. Multiple simultaneous touches may be detected.
The optional actuator(s) 120 may be depressed by applying sufficient force to the upper touch-sensitive display 116 or to the lower touch-sensitive display 118 to overcome the actuation force of the actuators 120. The actuators 120 may be actuated by pressing anywhere on the upper touch-sensitive display 116 or on the lower touch-sensitive display 118. The actuators 120 may provide input to the processor 102 when actuated. Actuation of the actuators 120 may result in provision of tactile feedback.
The optional force sensor(s) 122 may provide force information related to a detected touch on the upper touch-sensitive display 116 or on the lower touch-sensitive display 118. The force information may be utilized to select information, such as information associated with a location of a touch. For example, a touch that does not meet a force threshold may highlight a selection option, whereas a touch that meets a force threshold may select or input that selection option. Selection options include, for example, displayed or virtual keys of a keyboard; selection boxes or windows, e.g., “cancel,” “delete,” or “unlock”; function buttons, such as play or stop on a music player; and so forth. Different magnitudes of force may be associated with different functions or input. For example, a lesser force may result in panning, and a higher force may result in zooming.
Views of an example of the portable electronic device 100 are shown in
The upper segment 202 includes a housing 206 and the upper touch-sensitive display 116 on one side of the housing 206. The lower segment 204 has a housing 208 that may be similar to housing 206 of the upper segment 202, and may, for example, be a mirror image of that housing 206. In this embodiment, the keyboard 112 and the input device 114 are located on one side of the housing 208, and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 is located on an opposite side of the housing 208. The keyboard 112 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 face opposite directions. The various components of the portable electronic device 100 may be distributed among the upper segment 202 and the lower segment 204. For example, the upper segment 202 may include a camera, a flash, and the speaker 128, and the lower segment 204 may include the microphone 130, accelerometer 136.
When the lower segment 204 is in the keyboard orientation as shown in
When the lower segment 204 is in the extended display orientation shown in
The processor 102 controls the display of information on the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 such that the information may be displayed continuously across the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118. The processor 102 also controls scrolling and panning of the information to perform a unified scrolling or panning in which the scrolling or panning of information on the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and on the lower touch-sensitive display 118 is synchronized. Information may be scrolled and/or panned across the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display. The controller(s) and/or the processor 102 may also control gesture detection such that a gesture may be detected continuously from one of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 to the other. Detection of a gesture that begins on one of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may be continued on the other of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118. A gesture across both of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may be identified as a single gesture based on, for example location and direction of the gesture.
The upper segment 202 and the lower segment 204 may be coupled together utilizing any suitable coupling to facilitate rotation of the lower segment 204 relative to the upper segment 202. Views of the portable electronic device 100 shown in
The components of the upper segment 202 may be electrically coupled to the components of the lower segment 204 utilizing, for example, electrical conductors that extend through the center of the shaft 602. The electrical conductors may be flexible to accommodate rotation and to inhibit cracking, breaking, or bunching. Stops may be utilized to limit rotation of the segments in one rotational direction.
Alternatively, an upper ring may extend around the shaft 602 in the upper segment 202 and a lower ring may extend around the shaft 602 in the lower segment 204, such that the upper ring and the lower ring contact each other to electrically couple the upper segment 202 and the lower segment 204 when the portable electronic device 100 is in the keyboard orientation and when the portable electronic device 100 is in the extended display orientation. Continuous electrical contact throughout rotation of the segments 202, 204 is provided with this example.
Alternatively, the sensors 140 may comprise electrical conductors that are located along the lower edge of the housing 206 and complementary electrical conductors located along an upper edge of the housing 208, illustrated in
The upper segment 202 and the lower segment 204 may have releasable locks in either or both of the orientations. For example, detents and complementary recesses may be utilized to lock the lower segment 204 in alignment with the upper segment 202. A nominal force may be utilized to release the locks, which force is sufficient to prevent inadvertent release. A release mechanism such as a sliding bar or rotating member may also be utilized to disengage the locks.
Alternatively, the sensors 140, which may simply be electrical conductors, may be utilized as releasable locks such that the sensors 140 on the lower edge of the housing 206 are coupled with the sensors 140 on the upper edge of the housing 208.
A flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an electronic device, such as the portable electronic device 100, is shown in
The method may be carried out in any suitable application, such as, email, text messaging, calendar, tasks, address book, or any other suitable application in which information is displayed. The upper touch-sensitive display 116 is utilized 802 to display information. When the lower segment 204 is in the extended display orientation at 804, the lower touch-sensitive display 118 is enabled 806. Information is displayed on the lower touch-sensitive display 118 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 is operable to detect a touch. The information may be displayed continuously from the upper touch-sensitive display 116 to the lower touch-sensitive display 118, such that information displayed on the upper touch-sensitive display 116 continues onto the lower touch-sensitive display 118, for example, as shown in
A single battery may be utilized in one segment and an electrical coupling included between the upper segment and the lower segment 204. Alternatively, a battery may be included in each of the upper segment 202 and the lower segment 204.
The orientation of the lower segment 204 relative to the upper segment 202 may be detected by the sensor 140. When a change in the orientation of the lower segment 204 is detected at 810, the process continues at 804.
Enabling and disabling of the lower display 118 may be based on the application executed by the processor 102 of the portable electronic device 100. For example, the lower display 118 may be enabled when in a camera, video, video call, or other suitable application, and may be disabled during composition of an email, calendar event record, or other suitable application.
The lower segment 204 is in the extended display orientation in the example shown in
Another example of a portable electronic device 100 is shown in
The upper touch-sensitive display 116 may be a flexible display that may comprise, for example electronic paper (e-paper), or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display that includes a flexible substrate to facilitate flexing or bending of the display. Touch-sensing layers may be deposited on the display to provide the flexible touch-sensitive display 116. The lower touch-sensitive display 118 may similarly be a flexible display as described herein. Although both displays are described as being touch-sensitive, one or neither of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may be a display with touch-sensing capability.
An exploded view of the upper segment 206 is shown in
The upper touch-sensitive display 116 has two folds 1108, 1110 that extend across the width of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and are generally parallel. The upper touch-sensitive display 116 is folded along one fold 1108 such that a second panel 1112 extends about 90 degrees from the main panel 1114 that includes the display area of the display 116 and along a lower end of the housing 206. A third panel 1116 extends about 90 degrees from the second panel 1112 and extends partially along the back of the housing 206. The folds 1108, 1110 may have a relatively small radius of curvature. The panels 1112, 1114, 1116 may alternatively be more or less than 90 degrees apart. The second and third panels 1112, 1114 include the non-display area from the bottom end of the upper touch-sensitive display 116, such that the non-display area from the bottom end is folded under and is non-coplanar with the display area on which information is displayed, i.e., the folded non-display area and the display area are in different planes. Thus, the non-display area at the bottom end of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 is folded out of view and under the cover 1104, and information may be displayed on the main panel 1114 of the display 116 up to the fold 1108 between the main panel 1114 and the second panel 1112. Although the non-display area illustrated in the figures is relatively small, the non-display area may be larger than shown.
The lower touch-sensitive display 118 also includes two folds 1118, 1120 similar to the upper touch-sensitive display 116. The second panel 1122 of the lower touch-sensitive display 118, however, extends from the main panel 1124, along an upper end of the housing 208. The third panel 1126 extends along the back of the housing 208. The non-display area from the top end of the lower touch-sensitive display 118 is folded out of view, and information may be displayed on the main panel 1124 of the touch-sensitive display 118 up to the fold 1118 between the main panel 1124 and the second panel 1122.
Utilizing flexible displays with folded edges, information may be displayed continuously from the upper touch-sensitive display 116 onto the lower touch-sensitive display 118, with a very small gap between the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118.
Utilizing flexible displays, the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 may be folded to reduce how much of the non-display area is visible. As a result, the gap between the display area of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the display area of the lower touch-sensitive display 118 is reduced. Each device has an available area for the display, and by folding the non-display area out of view, a larger area is available to display information. The folds 1108, 1110 of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 are near the folds 1118, 1120 of the lower touch-sensitive display 188. Information may be displayed continuously among separate displays with a very small gap in which information is not displayed, as shown in
In the example described above, the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 each include two folds. Any other suitable number of folds may be utilized. For example, one fold may be utilized in either or each of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the lower touch-sensitive display 118 to reduce the gap in which information is not displayed between the display area of the upper touch-sensitive display 116 and the display area of the lower touch-sensitive display 118.
The lower segment of the portable electronic device is movable relative to the upper segment between the keyboard orientation in which a keyboard such as a QWERTY keyboard may be utilized with the upper touch-sensitive display, and an extended display orientation in which information may be displayed continuously from the upper touch-sensitive display to the lower touch-sensitive display. Utilizing flexible displays, non-display areas between the upper touch-sensitive display and the lower touch-sensitive display in which information is not displayed, may be reduced to reduce the space between the display area of the upper touch-sensitive display and the display area of the lower touch-sensitive display, thereby eliminating areas where information is not displayed between the segments.
A portable electronic device includes a first segment including a first display and a second segment coupled to the first segment. The second segment includes a first input device on a first side of the second segment and a second display on a second side of the second segment. The second segment is rotatable relative to the first segment between a first orientation in which the first display is adjacent to the first input device, and a second orientation in which the first display is adjacent to the second display such that information is displayed continuously from the first display onto the second display. A method includes displaying information on a first display of a portable electronic device, and in response to receipt of an input, enabling a second display to display a continuation of the information, which second display is rotatable relative to the first display into an orientation in which the second display is adjacent to the first display.
The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
