System and method of switching between multiple viewing modes in a multi-head computer system

• US 20040039862A1
• Filed: 08/08/2002
• Published: 02/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Wang, Lan, Hunt, Peter D., Salazar, Pablo J., Baerenstecher, Mark E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,952,569 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/304
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

The present technique provides a system and method for automatically switching a computer system between multiple display profiles in response to a system event, such as a hardware event. The present technique detects the system event, identifies the hardware configuration of the computer system, and automatically reconfigures the computer system to accommodate the hardware configuration in real-time. The system event may be a physical rotation of a display between landscape and portrait orientations or between viewing and writing orientations. The system event also may be a physical docking or undocking of a first computing device with a second device in a variety of mounting positions. Any suitable sensor, switch, or hardware/software detection mechanism may be used for the foregoing event detection.

Claims

1. A method for automatically switching profiles of a computer system, comprising:

detecting a hardware event of the computer system during operation of the computer system; and

automatically reconfiguring a viewing configuration of the computer system to a desired viewing profile in response to the hardware event in real-time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of detecting the hardware event comprises the act of identifying a coupling event between first and second devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the act of identifying the coupling event comprises the act of sensing an undock event of the first device from the second device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the act of sensing the undock event comprises the act of signaling the undock event of a tablet computing device from a multi-positionable docking station.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the act of identifying the coupling event comprises the act of sensing a dock event of the first device with the second device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the act of sensing the dock event comprises the act of signaling the dock event of a tablet computing device with a multi-positionable docking station.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of detecting the hardware event comprises the act of acquiring a positional state of at least one display of the computer system.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of acquiring the positional state comprises the act of analyzing whether the at least one display is disposed in an upright position or in a writing position.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of detecting the hardware event comprises the act of acquiring an orientational state of at least one display of the computer system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the act of acquiring the orientational state comprises the act of analyzing whether the at least one display is disposed in a landscape orientation or in a portrait orientation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of automatically reconfiguring the viewing configuration comprises the act of switching at least one display of the computer system between landscape and portrait orientations.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of automatically reconfiguring the viewing configuration comprises the act of switching at least one display of the computer system between viewing and writing configurations.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of automatically reconfiguring the viewing configuration comprises the act of changing display properties of at least one display of the computer system to the desired viewing profile from a plurality of display profiles.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of automatically reconfiguring the viewing configuration comprises the act of assigning software applications to at least one display of the computer system.

15. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of creating a plurality of viewing configuration profiles for different configurations of the computer system.

16. The method of claim 15, comprising the act of providing a hardware trigger for each of the different configurations.

17. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of comparing the hardware event against a previous hardware state of the computer system.

18. A method for automatically switching display profiles of a computer system, comprising:

detecting a docking event between first and second computing devices; and

automatically selecting a display viewing profile for the first and second computing devices based on the docking event; and

reconfiguring view settings in real-time for at least one of the first and second computing devices based on the display viewing profile.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of detecting the docking event comprises the act of sensing a decoupling of the first and second computing devices.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the act of sensing the decoupling comprises the act of signaling an undock event of a tablet computing device from a multi-positionable docking station.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of detecting the docking event comprises the act of sensing a coupling of the first and second computing devices.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the act of sensing the coupling comprises the act of signaling a dock event of a tablet computing device with a multi-positionable docking station.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of detecting the docking event comprises the act of identifying a positional state of at least one of the first and second computing devices as either an upright or writing position.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of detecting the docking event comprises the act of identifying an orientational state of at least one of the first and second computing devices as either a landscape or portrait orientation.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of automatically selecting the display viewing profile comprises the act of choosing either a landscape or portrait viewing orientation for at least one video display of the first and second computing devices.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of automatically selecting the display viewing profile comprises the act of choosing a writing configuration for at least one video display of the first and second computing devices.

27. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of reconfiguring view settings comprises the act of launching at least one software application on at least one of the first and second computing devices.

28. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of reconfiguring view settings comprises the act of reinitializing viewing properties of at least one display of the first and second computing devices.

29. A method for changing configurations of a computer system having a mobile device and a dockable device, comprising the acts of:

changing a physical configuration of the computer system; and

triggering an automatic reconfiguration of view settings for at least one display of the mobile device and the dockable device during operation of the computer system.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of changing the physical configuration comprises the act of docking the mobile device with the dockable device.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of changing the physical configuration comprises the act of undocking the mobile device from the dockable device.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of changing the physical configuration comprises the act of rotating the at least one display between landscape and portrait viewing orientations.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the act of changing the physical configuration comprises the act of moving the at least one display between viewing and writing orientations.

34. The method of claim 29, comprising the act of selecting a view profile for at least one of a plurality of different physical configurations of the computer system.

35. The method of claim 29, comprising the act of creating a view profile for a tablet computing device in each of a plurality of docked and undocked positions.

36. A computer system, comprising:

a docking device;

a portable computing device dockable with the docking device;

a docking event detection mechanism disposed on at least one of the docking device and the portable computing device; and

an automatic view reconfiguring mechanism responsive to the docking event detection mechanism in real-time and disposed on at least one of the docking device and the portable computing device.

37. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the docking device comprises a video display.

38. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the docking device comprises a multi-positionable dockable structure.

39. The computer system of claim 38, wherein the multi-positionable dockable structure is mountable in an upright orientation and in a generally horizontal orientation.

40. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the portable computing device is a tablet computer.

41. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the portable computing device comprises a screen orientation switching mechanism adapted to switch screen views between portrait and landscape orientations.

42. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the automatic view reconfiguring mechanism comprises a multi-display viewing rearrangement mechanism adapted to alter viewing profiles in response to configuration changes in one or more displays of a multi-display system.

43. A computer system, comprising:

a tablet computing device comprising a display;

a multi-positionable dockable device comprising a communications connector dockable with the tablet computing device; and

a real-time display profile switching mechanism responsive to at least one hardware event of the computer system.

44. The computer system of claim 43, wherein the multi-positionable dockable device comprises a video display.

45. The computer system of claim 43, wherein the multi-positionable dockable device is mountable in at least one viewing orientation and at least one writing orientation.

46. The computer system of claim 43, wherein the real-time display profile switching mechanism comprises a plurality of display configuration profiles.

47. The computer system of claim 46, wherein the plurality of display configuration profiles comprises screen orientation settings.

48. The computer system of claim 46, wherein the plurality of display configuration profiles comprises screen visual settings.

49. The computer system of claim 46, wherein the plurality of display configuration profiles comprises software application settings.

50. The computer system of claim 46, wherein the plurality of display configuration profiles comprises configuration settings for the display and at least one other display of the multi-positionable dockable device.

51. The computer system of claim 46, wherein the real-time display profile switching mechanism comprises a profile editing interface for the plurality of display configuration profiles.

52. The computer system of claim 43, wherein the real-time display profile switching mechanism comprises a display view rearrangement mechanism for a multi-display system.