ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH BEZEL FEATURE FOR RECEIVING INPUT

• US 20060268560A1
• Filed: 08/04/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gettemy, Shawn R., Wong, Yoon Kean, Hanson, William Robert
• Application Number:
  US11/462,679
• Publication Number:
  US 20060268560A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 362/480
• 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 1/169 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 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

An electronic device includes a bezel feature, a connector and a processor. The bezel feature is rotatable amongst a plurality of positions on an arc length that defines a path of motion for the bezel feature. The plurality of positions are distributed along the entire arc length of the path of motion. An interface or connector couples the bezel feature to the processor of the electronic device.

Claims

1. A method for processing input on an electronic device, the method comprising:

identifying a change in position of an input device, the change corresponding to movement of the input device from an original position to any one of a plurality of new positions along an arc length that defines a path of motion for the input device;

determining an input value from the change in position; and

processing the input value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a change in position of an input device corresponds to identifying a new position that is at least 180 degrees apart from the original position along the arc length.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a change in position of an input device corresponds to identifying a new position that is up to 360 degrees apart from the original position along the arc length.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a change of an input device corresponds to identifying a change of a mechanical bezel rotatably to a segment of a housing of the electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a change of an input device corresponds to identifying a change of a virtual bezel appearing on a display of the electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an input value from the change in position includes detecting an analog value corresponding to the change in position.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising converting the analog value to a digital value for a processor of the electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the input value includes scrolling a plurality of entries that are designated to appear on the display, so that an entry designated to appear on the display when the input device is in the new position is ordered to appear in a sequence after a series of entries ordered to appear on the display after an entry corresponding to the input device being in the original position.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein scrolling a plurality of entries includes skipping entries designated to appear after the original entry so as to display the entry designated to appear on the display when the input device is in the new position.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the input value includes controlling an external device using the input value.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the input value includes selecting an application for a user based on the input value.

12. An electronic device comprising:

a bezel feature rotatable amongst a plurality of positions located on an arc length that defines a path of motion for the bezel feature, the arc length of the bezel feature extending 360 degrees, and the plurality of positions being distributed along the entire arc length of the path of motion;

an interface; and

a processor coupled to the bezel feature via the interface to detect any one of the plurality of positions of the bezel feature, and to perform one or more operations based on the detected position of the bezel feature.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, further comprising a display, and wherein the bezel feature is a housing segment that forms an exterior portion of the electronic device so as to at least partially circumvent the display on the exterior portion.

14. The electronic device of claim 12, further comprising a housing for the electronic device, and wherein the bezel feature is a display assembly that is rotatably coupled to the housing.

15. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the bezel feature is actuatable to cause an input to be entered into the electronic device, the input corresponding to a change in an arc length of the bezel feature.

16. The electronic device of claim 12, further comprising a housing for the electronic device, and wherein the bezel feature is partially embedded with the housing of the electronic device.

17. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the bezel feature includes a lid that is rotatable about a first axis, and wherein the lid is moveable about an end so as to lift up and away from the electronic axis along a direction of the first axis.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the lid is opaque.

19. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the electronic device further includes a display assembly, the display assembly including a display material combined with a touch-sensitive material, and wherein the bezel feature is included with the touch-sensitive material.

20. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein a diameter length of the bezel feature is greater than a length of the electronic device.