VARIABLY DISPLAYABLE MOBILE DEVICE KEYBOARD

• US 20080301575A1
• Filed: 03/12/2008
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yoram Ben-Meir
• Original Assignee: Yoram Ben-Meir
• Inventors: Fermon, Israel
• Granted Patent: US 8,959,441 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/773
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1692 the I/O peripheral being a secondary touch screen used as control interface, e.g. virtual buttons or sliders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0238 Programmable keyboards key guide holders G06F3/0224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A variably displayable mobile device keyboard includes a display for presenting two or more groups of basic images, such that a different keyboard display can be generated by each of these groups of basic images, a filter for filtering one or more groups of basic images so that a single group of basic images will be displayed; and a touch screen transparent to ambient light for selecting a key of the displayed single group of basic images.

Claims

1. A variably displayable mobile device keyboard, comprising means for presenting two or more groups of basic images, wherein a different keyboard display can be generated by means of each of said groups of basic images;

filter means transparent to ambient light for filtering one or more groups of basic images so that a single group of basic images will be displayed; and

touch screen means transparent to ambient light for selecting a key of said displayed single group of basic images.

2. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the filter means is adapted to vary the keyboard display while a mobile device rear face remains in substantially the same plane.

3. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the means for presenting two or more groups of basic images consists of a first basic image by which a first keyboard display for displaying an alphabetic display exclusively can be generated and a second basic image by which a second keyboard display for displaying a numeric display exclusively can be generated.

4. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the means for presenting two or more groups of basic images preferably consists of a first basic image by which a first keyboard display for displaying a numeric display exclusively can be generated and a second basic image by which a second keyboard display for displaying an alphanumeric display can be generated.

5. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the means for presenting two or more groups of basic images preferably consists of a first basic image by which a first keyboard display for displaying a numeric display exclusively can be generated and a second basic image by which a second keyboard display for displaying game functions exclusively can be generated.

6. The keyboard according to claim 3, wherein the means for presenting the two or more groups of basic images is an indicia carrier.

7. The keyboard according to claim 6, wherein the two or more groups of basic images are two or more interlaced basic images.

8. The keyboard according to claim 3, wherein the first and second keyboard displays comprise function keys and a key for toggling from a first to a second mode of operation.

9. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the filter means is an optical filter.

10. The keyboard according to claim 9, wherein the optical filter comprises an LC layer and interlaced strips of electrode strip sets, strips of each of said sets overlying strips of a corresponding underlying basic image, the opacity of the LC regions underlying the electrode strips are adapted to increase in response to a corresponding excitation voltage that changes the polarization of the underlying LC regions, to optically filter said corresponding underlying basic image.

11. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the filter means is a mechanical filter.

12. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the means for presenting two or more groups of basic images consists of two orthogonal hologram groups arranged such that the first keyboard display can be toggled to the second keyboard display or vice versa by rotating a mobile device housing the keyboard approximately 90 degrees while a mobile device rear face remains in substantially the same plane.

13. The keyboard according to claim 12, wherein each hologram is a surface relief pattern embossed in a plastic film and is adapted to project a unique key display.

14. The keyboard according to claim 3, wherein the shape or color of a key generated by the first basic image is different from that generated by the second basic image.

15. A variable image display for presenting alternatively one of a group of two or more basic images, comprising:

a. a composite image comprising two or more basic images printed in an interlaced or overlay fashion each in its own color ink;

b. narrow spectral band illuminators for illuminating the composite image, selected such that only one of the basic color images is responsive to each illuminator; and

c. a switch for toggling between the images by switching on an individual spectral illuminator appropriate to the color image that is selected to be shown, with the illumination working either in transmission or in reflection mode.

16. A variable image display according to claim 15 wherein the light emitted from the selected color image is used to excite a fluorescent layer, for allowing all the images to be displayed in the same color.

17. A variably displayable mobile device keyboard comprising the variable image display according to claim 15.

18. A variably displayable keyboard according to claim 17, wherein the spectral illuminators are an interlaced array of LEDs of different wavelengths.

19. The keyboard according to claim 17, where the spectral illuminators are an interlaced array of laser diodes of different wavelengths.

20. The keyboard according to claim 17, wherein the spectral illuminators are any wide-area light sources of narrow spectral bands.

21. The keyboard according to claim 17, wherein the switching on and off of the individual spectral illuminators is performed by electronical or mechanical means.