Page flicking mechanism for electronic display devices that paginate content

• US 20020167481A1
• Filed: 05/11/2001
• Published: 11/14/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Palm, Inc. (TCL Technology Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Wong, Yoon Kean, Comstock, Kenneth Dean, Andress, Scott Richard
• Granted Patent: US 6,943,773 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• 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 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

A computing device is provided that includes a display comprising a plurality of discrete elements. A memory is used to store a data collection of paginated content. A processor of the computing device is configured to retrieve each of the pages from the memory. The processor signals the display to individually present each of the pages. A sensor device is coupled to the processor. The sensor device is deflectable to signal the processor a deflection value that causes the processor to sequentially present at least portions of multiple pages on the display.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

a display;

a memory to store a data collection, the data collection being segmented into a plurality of pages, each page being presentable on the display;

a processor coupled to the display and the memory, the processor being configured to present the pages on the display by retrieving the pages from the memory and by signaling the display to present the plurality of pages; and

a sensor device coupled to the processor, the sensor device sensing a deflection of a member to signal the processor a deflection value, the deflection value causing the processor to sequentially present at least portions of multiple pages on the display over an interval of time.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the display is deflectable and coupled to the sensor device so as to deflect with the sensor device.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the member is a component of the sensor device.

4. The computing device of claim 2, wherein the sensor device measures an analog value corresponding to a deflection of the sensor device.

5. The computing device of claim 2, wherein the sensor device is integrated with the display.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein at least a first area of the display is overlaid on the sensor device to deflect with the sensor device.

7. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the display is deflectable to be able to cantilever with the sensor device.

8. The computing device of claim 3, wherein the analog value correlates to a magnitude of the deflection.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the magnitude of the deflection determines a frequency at which the portions of the multiple pages are presented on the display.

10. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor displays during the interval at least portions of a current page and a subsequent page, the subsequent page having a proximity to the current page in a predetermined order of the data collection, and wherein the analog value determines the subsequent page by determining the proximity of the subsequent page to the current page.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein a length of the interval is determined by the analog value.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the interval corresponds to when the sensor device is deflected.

13. The computing device of claim 3, further comprising an analog to digital converter to signal the processor a digital value corresponding to the analog value measured by the sensor device.

14. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising a digitizer coupled to the display.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the sensor device is unitarily formed with the digitizer.

16. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the display is overlaid on the digitizer, and the sensor device is connected to the digitizer and positioned underneath the digitizer.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein a current page is presented on the display when the sensor device detects the deflection of the display, and wherein the processor identifies the set of pages using the deflection value.

19. The computing device of claim 18, wherein the display includes a plurality of discrete elements, and wherein for each page, the memory stores a value to the discrete elements of the display when that page is presented on the display.

20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein the first area of the display includes discrete elements that are sequentially assigned values from the select pages in the set of pages.

21. The computing device of claim 20, wherein a second area of the display includes discrete elements that are assigned values from a current page while the discrete elements of the first area are sequentially assigned values from the select pages in the set of pages.

22. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the select pages in the identified set appears sequentially on the first portion of the display according to a predetermined order of the plurality of pages.

23. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to sequentially assign the discrete elements in the first area of the display corresponding values stored for select pages in the data collection so that the discrete elements are sequentially assigned values from one of the select pages in the identified set of pages.

24. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor sequentially assigns values to each of the discrete elements in the first area of the display while the display is being deflected, the value assigned to each discrete element corresponding to one of the select pages in the identified set of pages.

25. The computing device of claim 17, wherein for each of the select pages, the processor signals only some of the discrete elements in the first area of the display values from that page.

26. The computing device of claim 25, wherein the plurality of discrete elements are arranged into rows and columns to form the display, and the processor assigns only some of the rows in the first area of the display values stored with each of the multiple pages.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein measuring the deflection of the surface includes measuring a deflection of a display for the computing device.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein measuring the deflection of the surface includes measuring a deflection of a sensor device integrated with the surface.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising implementing a frequency at which each of the multiple pages are sequentially displayed, wherein the frequency is based on the measured deflection.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the plurality of pages are arranged into an order, and wherein the method includes displaying at least portions of the multiple pages sequentially according to the order of the plurality of pages.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the frequency is proportional to the measured deflection.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the predetermined order indicates a position of each page relative to the other pages, and wherein displaying at least portions of the multiple pages includes displaying portions of selected pages that are separated by other pages in the predetermined order.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein displaying at least portions of selected pages includes displaying the selected pages sequentially according to a direction of the selected pages in the predetermined order.

35. The method of claim 33, including displaying portions of the multiple pages sequentially according to a decreasing direction of the numbers for the multiple pages

36. The method of claim 27, wherein measuring a deflection includes determining an analog value corresponding to a magnitude of the deflection.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein displaying at least portions of the multiple includes selecting the multiple pages based on the value of the analog input.

41. The method of claim 39 where displaying at least portions of the multiple includes displaying the pages sequentially at a frequency that is based on the value of the analog input.

42. The method of claim 39 wherein the multiple pages are arranged into a predetermined order, and the method includes displaying at least portions of the multiple pages in a sequenced based on the predetermined order.

17. A computing device comprising:

a deflectable display;

a memory to store a data collection, the data collection being segmented into a plurality of pages;

a processor coupled to the display and the memory, the processor configured to present the pages on the display by retrieving the pages from the memory and by signaling the display to individually present each of the plurality of pages; and

a sensor device coupled to the display to detect a deflection of the display, the sensor device being coupled to signal the processor a deflection value corresponding to the deflection of the display;

wherein in response to being signaled by the sensor device, the processor uses the deflection value to identify a set of pages in the plurality of pages, and signals at least a first area of the display to sequentially present at least portions from select pages in the identified set of pages.

27. A method for displaying information on a computing device assembly, the method comprising:

measuring a deflection of a surface of the computing device assembly;

accessing a data collection, the data collection being segmented into a plurality of pages;

in response to measuring the deflection, selecting multiple pages from the plurality of pages using the measured deflection;

then

displaying at least portions of the multiple pages sequentially over an interval of time.

37. A handheld computing assembly comprising:

a handheld computer comprising a display, a processor coupled to the display, and a memory, the memory storing a data collection segmented into a plurality of pages, the processor being configured to access the data collection stored in the memory and to signal the display to individually present each page of the data collection; and

an analog input device coupled to the handheld computer, the analog input device including a deflectable sensor device that signals a deflection value to the processor when deflected;

wherein the deflection value signals the processor to sequentially display at least multiple pages from the plurality of pages on at least a portion of the display.

38. A peripheral device for a handheld computer, the handheld computer comprising a display, a processor coupled to the display, and a memory, the memory storing a data collection arranged into a plurality of pages, the processor being configured to access the memory and to signal the display to individually present each of the pages, the peripheral device comprising:

a communication port to extend communications between the peripheral device and the handheld computer; and

an analog input device coupled to the processor of the handheld computer via the communication port, the analog input device including a deflectable sensor device that signals a deflection value to the processor when deflected, the deflection value causing the processor to sequentially display at least portions of multiple pages from the plurality of pages on at least a portion of the display of the handheld computer.

39. A method for displaying information on a computing device assembly, the method comprising:

measuring an analog input from a user;

accessing a memory to identify a plurality of pages from a data collection;

in response to receiving the analog input;

selecting multiple pages from the plurality of pages based on a value of the analog input;

then

sequentially displaying at least portions of the multiple pages.

43. A computing device comprising:

a display;

a processor configured to signal the display to sequentially present a plurality of pages; and

an input mechanism that deflects to signal the processor to repaginate the content presented on the display.

44. The computing device of claim 43, wherein the processor is configured to present individual pages of the content on the display, and wherein the input mechanism deflects to signal the processor to present another page of the paginated content on the display.

45. The computing device of claim 44, wherein the input mechanism deflects to signal the processor to present a series of pages of the paginated content on the display.

46. The computing device of claim 43, wherein the input mechanism deflects to detect an analog value.