Display control for hand-held devices

• US 20020093483A1
• Filed: 11/30/2000
• Published: 07/18/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kaplan, Alan Edward
• Granted Patent: US 6,690,358 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer

Abstract

A special orientation sensor within a hand-held electronic computing device provides for movement of a screen cursor in response to changes in the spatial orientation of computing device. The sensor provides at least two output signals that are sensitive to gravitational force in at least two different directions, and those signals assist in determining the spatial orientation of the computing device and in determining the position of cursor 120. In one illustrative embodiment the force-sensing mechanism comprises a pair of accelerometers that provide a signal corresponding to the gravitational force applied to the accelerometers. A processor responsive to the signals of the accelerometer converts those signals to cursor position signals.

Claims

1. Apparatus adapted to be hand-held that includes a screen comprising:

orientation sensor, developing at least two signals representative of orientation of said sensor in three dimensional space; and

means for coupling said signals to a processor for controlling position of a cursor on said screen.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said orientation sensor comprises two tilt sensors, two accelerometers, or one of each.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said two signals developed by said sensor are responsive to gravitational force components along two non-parallel axes.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 where rates of change of said two signals are greatest at a selected spatial position of said apparatus that is selected to be a neutral position for viewing said screen.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said axes are orthogonal to each other.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 where a first of said two signals is proportional to sin θ

, where θ

is a rotation angle away from a neutral position of said apparatus about a first of said two non-parallel axes, and a second of said two signals is proportional to sin φ

, where φ

is a rotation angle away from a neutral position of said apparatus about a second of said two non-parallel axes.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 where said neutral position of said apparatus is a position that tilts said screen upwards from a horizontal plane.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 where the tilt of said screen upwards form said horizontal place is preselected.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 where said neutral position of said apparatus is a position that is adjustable by a user of said apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising said processor.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said orientation sensor comprises two tilt sensors, two accelerometers, or one of each.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said processor controls movement of said cursor in response to tilting of said apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a movement actuator coupled to said processor.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said processor controls said movement of said cursor in response to tilting of said apparatus when said actuator is activated.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said actuator is a push-button switch.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said actuator is a moveable from an initial position in response to an applied force and wherein rate of said movement of said cursor in response to said tilting is sensitive to movement of said actuator from said initial position.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said actuator is a spring-loaded push button that controls a potentiometer.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said processor controls said movement of said cursor in response to tilting of said apparatus following said actuator being activated.

19. The apparatus of claim 12 where said processor causes said cursor to move in directions that are related to tilting of said apparatus.

20. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a panning actuator or a scrolling actuator coupled to said processor.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said actuator is a push-button switch.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein an image depicted on said screen is panned in response to actuating said panning actuator and tilting said apparatus, or said image depicted on said screen is scrolled in response to actuating said scrolling actuator and titling said apparatus.

23. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a movement actuator and a panning actuator coupled to said processor.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein an image depicted on said screen is panned in response to actuating said panning actuator and said movement actuator, and tilting of said apparatus.

25. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a movement actuator and a scrolling actuator coupled to said processor

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein an image depicted on said screen is panned in response to actuating said scrolling actuator and said movement actuator, and tilting of said apparatus.

27. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a movement actuator, a panning actuator, and a scrolling actuator.

28. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising means for adjusting physical position of said orientation sensor within said apparatus.

29. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an actuator for homing said cursor to a preselected position on said screen.