Portable touch screen device

• US 20040051700A1
• Filed: 07/29/2003
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Pensjo, Tomas
• Application Number:
  US10/470,983
• Publication Number:
  US 20040051700A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1632 Pen holder integrated in the computer

Abstract

A portable electronic device (101) comprising a touch screen (103) for displaying a user interface, a pen (105) for entering commands and/or data to the touch screen (103), and a holder (107) for storing the pen (105). In order to facilitate the operation of the device by a user, the device further comprises a pen detecting mechanism (109) for detecting whether the pen (105) is located in the holder (107), and a control unit (111) for changing the appearance of the user interface in response to signals from the pen detecting mechanism (109).

Claims

1. A portable electronic device comprising a touch screen (103) for displaying a user interface, a pen (105) for entering commands and/or data to the touch screen (103), and a holder (107) for storing the pen (105), characterized by

a pen detecting mechanism (109) for detecting whether the pen (105) is located in the holder (107), and

a control unit (111) connected to the pen detecting mechanism (109) for changing the appearance of the user interface in response to signals from the pen detecting mechanism (109).

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit (111) is arranged to change the layout of the user interface.

3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control unit (111) is arranged to change the illumination characteristics of the user interface.

4. A device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the control unit (111) is arranged to change the layout from a passive first mode to an active second mode in response to signals from the pen detecting mechanism (109) indicating that the pen (105) has been removed from the holder (107).

5. A device according to claim 4, characterized in that in the passive first mode, the touch screen (103) is non-responsive to input, and in the active second mode, the touch screen (103) is responsive to input.

6. A device according to any of the claims 2-5, characterized in

that the layout of the user interface is in a portrait format in the passive first mode, and in a landscape format in the active second mode.

7. A device according to any of the claims 4-6, characterized in

that in the active second mode, the layout of the user interface includes a keyboard.

8. A device according to any of the claims 1-7, characterized in

that the control unit (111) operates to change the appearance of the user interface based on an application used by the device.

9. A device according to any of the claims 1-8, characterized in

that the device is capable of wireless communication.

10. A device according to any of the claims 1-9, characterized in

that the pen detecting mechanism (109) is a switch.

11. A method of controlling a portable electronic device (101) comprising a touch screen (103) for displaying a user interface, a pen (105) for entering commands and/or data to the touch screen (103), and a holder (107) for storing the pen (105), characterized by the steps of:

detecting whether the pen (105) is located in the holder (107), and

changing the appearance of the user interface in response to the detecting step.

12. A method according to claim 11, characterized in that the detecting step includes sending signals from a pen detecting mechanism (109), indicating presence or absence of the pen (105) in the holder (107), to a control unit (111).

13. A method according to claim 11, characterized in that the appearance changing step includes switching the layout of the user interface from a passive first mode to an active second mode in response to signals from a pen detecting mechanism (109) indicating that the pen (105) has been removed from the holder (107).

14. A method according to claim 13, characterized in that in the passive first mode, the touch screen (103) is non-responsive to input, and in the active second mode, the touch screen (103) is responsive to input.

15. A method according to claim 11, characterized in that the appearance changing step includes switching the layout of the user interface based on an application used by the device (101).

16. A method according to any of the claims 11-15, characterized in

that the device is capable of wireless communication.