System and method of switching viewing orientations of a display

• US 20030222848A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 12/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Homer, Steven S., Doczy, Paul J., Solomon, Mark C., Wolff, Stacy
• Granted Patent: US 7,542,052 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1601 Constructional details related to the housing of computer displays, e.g. of CRT monitors, of flat displays constructional details related to flat displays integrated in a portable computer, e.g. laptop, handheld computer G06F1/1637; constructional details related to television receivers H04N5/64
• 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 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/166 related to integrated arrangements for adjusting the position of the main body with respect to the supporting surface, e.g. legs for adjusting the tilt angle
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1669 Detachable keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1671 Special purpose buttons or auxiliary keyboards, e.g. retractable mini keypads, keypads or buttons that remain accessible at closed laptop G06F1/1666 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus

Abstract

The present technique provides a system and method for automatically switching viewing orientations of a display in response to physical rotation of the display. The display is rotatably coupled to a base structure via a rotatable mechanism, which has one or more angular switches/sensors that sense the physical orientation of the display and trigger a change in the viewing orientation of the display. The display may be a stand-alone flat-panel display or it may be incorporated into a portable electronic/computing devices, such as a tablet computer. Moreover, the base structure may embody a display support, a port replicator, a docking station, or any other suitable structure having a rotational adjustment mechanism.

Claims

1. A system for automatically switching viewing orientations of a display in response to physical rotation of the display, comprising:

a rotatable mount structure for the display; and

an automatic viewing orientation switch responsive to an angular position change of the rotatable mount structure, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises at least two viewing orientations for the display.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the rotatable mount structure comprises a rotatable display coupling disposed on a pivotal arm.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the display is disposed in a tablet portable computer.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the rotatable mount structure comprises a plurality of data communications ports.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the rotatable mount structure comprises a keyboard.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises an angular position sensor coupled to the rotatable mount structure.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises a switch mechanism coupled to the rotatable mount structure at a switching point associated with at least one of generally upright and horizontal physical orientations of the display.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises hardware and software switching mechanisms.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two viewing orientations comprise a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation.

10. A docking structure for a tablet computing device having a display, comprising:

a support base comprising a plurality of expansion components;

a rotatable display mount coupled to the support base; and

an automatic viewing orientation switch responsive to angular position changes of the rotatable display mount.

11. The docking structure of claim 10, wherein the support base comprises a pivotal arm extending to the rotatable display mount.

12. The docking structure of claim 10, wherein the expansion components comprise a plurality of communication ports.

13. The docking structure of claim 10, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises an angular position sensor.

14. The docking structure of claim 10, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises a switch mechanism coupled to the rotatable display mount at a switching point associated with at least one of generally upright and horizontal physical orientations of the display.

15. The docking structure of claim 10, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch triggers a viewing orientation switch algorithm.

16. The docking structure of claim 10, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises at least two viewing orientations for the display.

17. The docking structure of claim 16, wherein the at least two viewing orientations comprise a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation.

18. A portable computing system, comprising a tablet computing device having a display and a rotatable display mount adapted to couple the tablet computing device rotatably to a base structure, wherein the rotatable display mount comprises an automatic viewing orientation switch responsive to angular position changes of the display relative to the rotatable display mount.

19. The portable computing system of claim 18, wherein the base structure comprises a pivotal arm extending to the rotatable display mount.

20. The portable computing system of claim 18, wherein the base structure comprises a plurality of expansion components for the tablet computing device.

21. The portable computing system of claim 18, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises an angular position sensor.

22. The portable computing system of claim 18, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises a switch mechanism coupled to the rotatable display mount at a switching point associated with at least one of landscape and portrait physical orientations of the display.

23. The portable computing system of claim 18, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises at least two viewing orientations for the display.

24. A tablet computer system, comprising:

a tablet computing device, comprising;

a display; and

a first mount structure;

a docking structure, comprising;

an expansion component for the tablet computing device; and

a second mount structure rotatably intercoupleable with the first mount structure; and

an automatic viewing orientation switch for the display coupled to at least one of the first and second mount structures, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch is responsive to angular position changes of the display.

25. The tablet computer system of claim 24, wherein the display comprises a screen-activated user interaction mechanism.

26. The tablet computer system of claim 24, wherein the docking structure comprises a pivotal arm extending to the second mount.

27. The tablet computer system of claim 24, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises an angular position sensor.

28. The tablet computer system of claim 24, wherein the automatic viewing orientation switch comprises a switch mechanism coupled to at least one of the first and second mount structures at a switching point associated with at least one of generally upright and horizontal physical orientations of the display.

29. A method for mounting a display, comprising the acts of:

rotatably coupling the display to a base structure; and

automatically switching viewing orientations of the display between a plurality of viewing orientations in response to physical rotation of the display between a plurality of angular orientations of the display.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of rotatably coupling comprises the act of hingedly coupling the display to the base structure.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of hingedly coupling comprises the act of providing an elevational variation mechanism for the display.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of automatically switching viewing orientations of the display comprises the act of sensing the physical rotation.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of automatically switching viewing orientations of the display comprises the act of toggling at least one switch associated with at least one of the plurality of angular orientations.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the act of toggling the one switch comprises the acts of:

triggering a portrait-to-landscape orientation switch; and

activating a viewing orientation change mechanism to position a displayed image on the display in a user readable orientation.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the act of toggling the one switch comprises the acts of:

triggering a landscape-to-portrait orientation switch; and

activating a viewing orientation change mechanism to position a displayed image on the display in a user readable orientation.

36. A method for mounting a tablet computing device having a display, comprising the acts of:

rotatably coupling the tablet computing device to an expansion base;

sensing a plurality of angular orientations of the display relative to the expansion base; and

automatically switching viewing orientations of the display in response to a sensed physical orientation of the display.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the act of rotatably coupling comprises the act of hingedly coupling the tablet computing device to the expansion base.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the act of hingedly coupling comprises the act of providing an elevational variation mechanism for the tablet computing device.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the act of sensing the plurality of angular orientations of the display comprises the act of identifying substantially upright and horizontal orientations of the display.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein the act of automatically switching viewing orientations of the display comprises the act of triggering a view change algorithm.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein the act of automatically switching viewing orientations comprises the act of activating a viewing orientation change mechanism to position a displayed image on the display in a user readable orientation.

42. A method for automatically switching viewing orientations of a display in response to physical rotation of the display, comprising the acts of:

physically rotating the display about a rotatable mount structure between first and second angular positions, wherein the display has a first viewing orientation at the first angular position; and

automatically triggering a viewing orientation change from the first viewing orientation to a second orientation at the second angular position of the display.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the act of physically rotating the display comprises the act of selecting a desired one of the first and second angular positions, which comprise landscape and portrait viewing orientations.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the act of automatically triggering the viewing orientation change comprises the act of sensing the second angular position of the display.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein the act of automatically triggering the viewing orientation change comprises the act of positioning a displayed image on the display in a user readable orientation.