MOVEABLE DISPLAY PORTION OF A COMPUTING DEVICE

• US 20120162889A1
• Filed: 12/28/2010
• Published: 06/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Han, Amy
• Granted Patent: US 9,001,504 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/679.09
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/162 changing, e.g. reversing, the face orientation of the screen with a two degrees of freedom mechanism, e.g. for folding into tablet PC like position or orienting towards the direction opposite to the user to show to a second user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1624 with sliding enclosures, e.g. sliding keyboard or display
• 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

Abstract

In one general aspect, a computing device can include a base portion including a keyboard, and a guide included in the base portion. The computing device can also include a display portion including a display and having a bottom portion coupled to the base portion via a hinge. The display portion can be configured to rotate about an axis using the hinge. The bottom portion of the display portion can be configured to slidably move along the guide over the keyboard of the base portion in a translational direction orthogonal to the axis.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

a base portion including a keyboard; and

a display portion operably coupled to the base portion and including a display, wherein the display includes a viewable surface facing in a first direction away from the base portion when the computing device is in a tablet configuration with a primary plane of the display portion being substantially parallel to a primary plane of the base portion, and wherein the display portion is configured to cover the keyboard when the computing device is in the tablet configuration,

wherein the viewable surface of the display faces in a second direction towards the base portion when the computing device is in a closed configuration with a primary plane of the display portion being substantially parallel to a primary plane of the base portion, the display portion is configured to cover the keyboard when the computing device is in the closed configuration.

2. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a guide included in the base portion,

wherein the display portion includes a bottom portion operably coupled to the guide and configured to slidably move along the guide to move the computing device between the tablet configuration and the closed configuration.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the display portion includes a bottom portion configured to slidably move over the keyboard of the base portion in a translational direction orthogonal to an axis around which the display portion rotates when the computing device is moved between the tablet configuration and the closed configuration.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein:

the keyboard is exposed when the computing device is in a laptop configuration,

the keyboard is in a deactivated state when the computing device is in the tablet configuration and in the closed configuration, and

the keyboard is in an activated state when the computing device is in the laptop configuration.

5. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a guide included in the base portion; and

a connector operably coupled to a bottom portion of the display portion and to the guide, the display portion being configured to rotate about an axis passing through the connector, the bottom portion of the display portion being configured to slidably move along the guide over the keyboard of the base portion in a translational direction substantially orthogonal to the axis.

6. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a guide included in the base portion, wherein the display portion includes a bottom portion configured to slidably move along the guide to move the computing device between the tablet configuration and the closed configuration,

the display portion being configured to rotate about an axis substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the guide to move the computing device from the tablet configuration or from the closed configuration to a laptop configuration or to an easel configuration.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the display portion includes a hinge portion, the hinge portion of the display portion being positioned proximal to the keyboard when the computing device is in the tablet configuration, the hinge portion of the display portion being positioned distal to the keyboard when the computing device is in the closed configuration.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the display portion is configured to be translated so that at least a portion of the keyboard is exposed when the display portion is moved from the tablet configuration of the computing device to a partial tablet configuration, wherein the viewable surface of the display faces in the first direction away from the base portion when the computing device is in the partial tablet configuration.

9. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a guide included in the base portion; and

a connector operably coupled to the display portion and operably coupled to the base portion via the guide, wherein the display portion includes a bottom portion configured to slidably move along the guide using the connector to move the computing device between the tablet configuration and the closed configuration, the connector being configured to be removably locked in a first position along the guide and to be removably locked in a second position along the guide.

10. A method, comprising:

determining that a computing device has been moved from a laptop configuration to a tablet configuration,

the computing device has a display portion with a viewable surface non-parallel to a plane aligned along a base portion of the computing device when the computing device is in the laptop configuration, the display portion of the computing device has a bottom portion distal to the input device region when the computing device is in the laptop configuration,

the bottom portion of the display portion is proximal to the input device region and the viewable surface is parallel to the plane aligned along the base portion of the computing device when the computing device is in the tablet configuration; and

changing an activation state of an input device included in the input device region in response to the computing device changing from the laptop configuration to the tablet configuration.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining that the computing device has moved from the tablet configuration to a closed configuration,

the viewable surface facing toward the input device region included in the base portion of the computing device when the computing device is in the closed configuration, the display portion of the computing device has a bottom portion positioned distal to the input device region and has a top portion positioned proximal to the input device region when the computing device is in the closed configuration, and

the viewable surface facing away from the input device region included in the base portion of the computing device when the computing device is in the tablet configuration.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the input device is a first input device,

the method further comprising:

determining that the computing device has moved from the tablet configuration to an easel configuration, the bottom portion of the display portion is positioned proximal to the input device region when the computing device is in the easel configuration, the viewable surface of the display portion of the computing device has a rotational position that is non-parallel to the plane aligned along the base portion when the computing device is in the easel configuration; and

changing an activation state of a second input device included in the input device region in response to the computing device moving from the tablet configuration to the easel configuration.

13. A computing device, comprising:

a base portion including a keyboard;

a guide included in the base portion; and

a display portion including a display and having a bottom portion coupled to the base portion via a hinge, the display portion configured to rotate about an axis using the hinge, the bottom portion of the display portion configured to slidably move along the guide over the keyboard of the base portion in a translational direction orthogonal to the axis.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the bottom portion of the display portion is configured to move from a first position distal to the keyboard of the base portion in a translational direction orthogonal to the axis to a second position proximal to the keyboard of the base portion.

15. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the display portion is configured to rotate about the axis using the hinge when the bottom portion of the display portion is disposed over the keyboard included in the base portion.

16. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the display of the display portion has a viewable surface that is exposed when the computing device is in a tablet configuration, the display portion is substantially parallel to the base portion when the computing device is in the tablet configuration.

17. The computing device of claim 13, wherein:

the bottom portion of the display portion is configured to slidably move over the keyboard when a viewable surface of the display is included in a plane that is non-parallel to a plane aligned along a surface of the keyboard; and

the bottom portion of the display portion is configured to slidably move over the keyboard when the viewable surface of the display is aligned along a plane that is non-parallel to the plane aligned along the surface of the keyboard.

18. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the display portion is configured to rotate from a rotational first position to a rotational second position,

the display portion is configured to cover the keyboard included in the base portion when in the rotational first position, the display has a viewable surface facing in a direction opposite the keyboard when the display portion is in the first rotational position,

the display portion is configured to expose the keyboard included in the base portion when in the second rotational position.

19. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the keyboard is in a fixed position with respect to the guide, the guide is aligned along a line orthogonal to the axis.

20. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the bottom portion of the display portion is configured to move in a translational direction orthogonal to the axis from a first translational position distal to the keyboard of the base portion to a second translational position proximal to the keyboard of the base portion,

the display portion is configured to rotate about the axis when in the first translational position and configured to rotate about the axis when in the second translational position.

21. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the bottom portion of the display portion is configured to move in a translational direction orthogonal to the axis from a first removably lockable position distal to the keyboard of the base portion to a second removably lockable position proximal to the keyboard of the base portion.