KEYBOARD SPANNING MULTIPLE SCREENS

• US 20120081315A1
• Filed: 09/28/2011
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Z124 LLC (Flexis)
• Original Assignee: IMERJ LLC (Flex, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sirpal, Sanjiv
• Application Number:
  US13/247,741
• Publication Number:
  US 20120081315A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/16 Constructional details or arrangements
• 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 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1641 the display being formed by a plurality of foldable display components G06F1/1647 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1677 for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 : Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 : Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 : for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 : Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 : for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 : Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 : Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 : using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 : for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 : controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 : display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/02 : Affine transformations for image registration G06T3/147; for image mosaicing G06T3/4038
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 : Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2356/00 : Detection of the display position w.r.t. other display screens
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 : Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 : Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation

Abstract

Methods and devices for presenting a virtual keyboard are provided. More particularly, in connection with a multiple screen device, a virtual keyboard can be presented using portions of both of the screens. More particularly, with the screens of the device in a portrait orientation, the virtual keyboard can span the two screens, such that a first portion of the first screen and a first portion of the second screen operate cooperatively to present the virtual keyboard.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing a device having first and second touch screens;

in a first operating mode, first presenting a virtual keyboard, wherein a first portion of the virtual keyboard is presented using a first portion of the first touch screen, and wherein a second portion of the virtual keyboard is presented using a first portion of the second touch screen.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in a second operating mode, second presenting a virtual keyboard, wherein all of the virtual keyboard is presented using one of the first touch screen and the second touch screen.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first operating mode is a dual portrait mode, and wherein the second operating mode is a dual landscape mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein in the first operating mode the method further comprises:

presenting using a second portion of the first touch screen first information.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

presenting using a second portion of the second touch screen second information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein in the second operating mode the method further comprises:

presenting using the second touch screen the first information and the second information.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein in the first operating mode the presentation of the virtual keyboard is modified as compared to the presentation of the virtual keyboard in the second operating mode, and wherein the modification includes aligning keys included in the virtual keyboard to accommodate a gap between a first group of the keys included in the virtual keyboard that are presented by the first touch screen and a second group of keys included in the virtual keyboard that are presented by the second touch screen.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the virtual keyboard has at least one dimension that is the same in the first operating mode as in the second operating mode.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the first operating mode is entered when the device is in a first orientation, and wherein the second operating mode is entered when the device is in a second orientation.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual keyboard is a virtual alphanumeric keyboard.

11. A device, comprising:

a first screen, the first screen including a touch sensitive display area;

a second screen, the second screen including a touch sensitive display area;

memory;

a processor;

application programming stored in the memory and executed by the processor, wherein the application programming is operable to;

in a first operating mode, display a virtual keyboard using a portion of the touch sensitive display area of the first screen and using a portion of the touch sensitive display area of the second screen.

12. The device of claim 11, further comprising:

an accelerometer, wherein the accelerometer is operative to provide an indication of an orientation of the first and second touch screens to the application programming, and wherein the first operating mode is entered while first screen is in a portrait orientation and while the second screen is in a portrait orientation.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the application programming is further operable to:

in a second operating mode, display the virtual keyboard using at least a portion of a first one of the touch sensitive display area of the first screen and the second screen, and without using any portion of a second one of the touch sensitive display area of the first screen and the second screen.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the virtual keyboard is in a first configuration in the first operating mode, and wherein the virtual keyboard is in a second configuration in the second operating mode.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the virtual keyboard presents a QWERTY keyboard to a user, and wherein in the first operating mode a line between the first screen and the second screen extends between the T and the Y key, the G and the H key, and the V and the B key.

16. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, the computer executable instructions causing a processor to execute a method for providing a virtual keyboard, the computer-executable instructions comprising:

instructions to display a first portion of a virtual keyboard using a first portion of a first touch screen and to display a second portion of the virtual keyboard using a second portion of a second touch screen.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, further comprising:

instructions to determine an orientation of the first and second touch screens, wherein the instructions to display a first portion of a virtual keyboard using a first portion of a first touch screen and to display a second portion of the virtual keyboard using a second portion of a second touch screen are operative when the first and second touch screens are determined to be in a portrait mode.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:

instructions to display a portion of first information using a second portion of the first touch screen and to display a portion of the first information using a second portion of the second touch screen while the first and second touch screens are determined to be in the portrait mode.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

instructions to display all of the virtual keyboard using a first one of the first touch screen and the second touch screen in response to a determination that the first and second touch screens are in a first landscape orientation.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein at least some keys of the virtual keyboard with the first and second touch screens determined to be in the portrait orientation are shifted to accommodate a border between the first and second touch screens as compared to the keys of the virtual keyboard with the first and second touch screens determined to be in the landscape orientation.