Data/facsimile telephone subset apparatus incorporating electrophoretic displays

• US 5,459,776 A
• Filed: 01/21/1994
• Issued: 10/17/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AU Optronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Anixa Biosciences, Inc. (f/k/a ITUS Corporation)
• Inventors: Krusos, Denis A., Di Santo, Frank J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bowler, Alyssa H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark H.
• Application Number:
  US08/184,852
• Time in Patent Office: 634 Days
• Field of Search: 345/180, 345/168, 345/173, 345/16, 345/113, 345/107, 348/15, 358/85, 358/300, 358/471, 358/479, 358/442, 358/426, 358/400, 358/448, 358/452, 341/23, 341/34, 340/825.3, 340/825.31, 340/825.81, 379/53, 379/54, 379/96, 379/100, 379/94, 379/355, 379/364, 204/299 R, 235/462
• US Class Current: 379/93.19
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0295 Mechanical mounting details of display modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/23 Construction or mounting of dials or of equivalent devices; Means for facilitating the use thereof by improving visibility H04M1/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/247 Telephone sets including user guidance or feature selection means facilitating their use user interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones H04M1/724
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2478 Telephone terminals specially adapted for non-voice services, e.g. email, internet access centralized arrangements where telephones services are combined H04M7/0024; for recording text messages H04M3/5322; for accessing Internet H04M3/4938
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/673 the user being required to key in a code
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/066 Telephone sets adapted for data transmision
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0035 User-machine interface; Control console input or output arrangements for computers G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00384 Key input means, e.g. buttons or keypads electromechanical details of key input means in general H01H13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00411 the display also being used for user input, e.g. touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/916 Touch screen associated with telephone set

Abstract

There is disclosed a telephone subset which incorporates a high resolution electrophoretic display on the surface of a subset housing. The telephone subset includes a microprocessor which operates under the control of a mode selector. In this manner the display is employed to generate various keyboard formats and operates in conjunction with a position sensitive overlay to enable a subscriber to place telephone calls in a conventional manner when the keyboard display is implemented on the electrophoretic display. The telephone subset in conjunction with various subset buttons which control the mode selector is capable of operating in different modes. Due to the high resolution and large capacity of the display one can now present pages of stored telephone numbers which essentially enables a user to select any number by means of a movable cursor and by pressing another subset button can immediately dial that number. Other modes provide credit card storage which are accessible and displayed as well as other privacy operative modes which are implemented by means of the high resolution display, microprocessor and associated circuitry.

Claims

1. A telephone subset apparatus, comprising:

a telephone subset including a housing having a telephone handset coupled thereto;

an electrophoretic display panel mounted on said housing for displaying graphic data;

microprocessor means coupled to said display panel for preventing an unauthorized person from viewing from a remote location a number dialed from by a user;

a facsimile reception means, coupled to said microprocessor means, for receiving a facsimile transmission, said microprocessor means operative to convert the received facsimile transmission into graphics data to be displayed on said display panel; and

position sensitive means operative to produce a telephone number output signal as dialed by the user employing a random keyboard presentation as a guide for selecting said signal, said random keyboard presentation being randomly selected from stored data indicative of various graphic keyboard presentations.

2. A telephone subset apparatus for use in providing high quality graphics displays from a facsimile transmission, comprising;

a telephone subset including a housing having a telephone handset coupled thereto;

a high resolution electrophoretic display panel means mounted on a top surface of said housing which is accessed by an X-Y addressing means to display graphic data thereon;

microprocessor means operative to enable said display means to provide a graphics display and including random keyboard means for providing a substantially random graphic telephone keyboard presentation on said display panel means for preventing an unauthorized person from viewing from a remote location a number dialed by a user, said random keyboard means including first storage means coupled thereto and operative to store data indicative of various graphic keyboard presentations to enable a user to dial a telephone number based on any randomly selected one of said keyboard presentations; and

interface means coupled to said display panel means for coupling said display panel means to a telephone line, said interface means including a position sensitive means responsive to a user-indicated position on said high resolution display panel means for selecting a desired combination of numbers on said substantially random keyboard presentation, a dialing generator coupled to said position sensitive means and operative to provide telephone dialing signals to said to said telephone line, a fax modem for receiving a facsimile transmission on said telephone line and a modem control module coupled to said fax modem and adapted to receive instructions from said microprocessor and enable the facsimile transmission to be applied directly to said display panel means.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said interface means includes:

a fax graphics controller coupled to said fax modem for converting received a facsimile transmission into graphics data to be applied to said display panel means; and

a panel control module, including an X-Y addressing means, coupled to said fax graphics controller and to said display panel means for receiving said graphics data from said fax graphics controller and controlling the X-Y addressing means for addressing said display panel means in order to provide a graphics display thereon corresponding to the facsimile transmission.

4. A telephone subset apparatus for use in providing high quality graphics displays from a facsimile transmission, comprising:

a telephone subset including a housing having a telephone handset coupled thereto;

a high resolution electrophoretic display panel mounted on a top surface of said housing and capable of being accessed by an X-Y addressing means to display graphic data thereon;

microprocessor means operative to enable said display panel means to provide a graphics display; and

interface means coupled to said display panel means for coupling said display panel means to a telephone line;

wherein said microprocessor means includes random keyboard means for providing a substantially random graphic keyboard presentation on said display panel means for preventing an unauthorized person from viewing from a remote location a number dialed by a user, said random keyboard means including first storage means coupled thereto and operative to store data indicative of various graphic keyboard presentations to enable a user to dial a telephone number based on any randomly selected one of said keyboard presentations; and

wherein said interface means includes;

a telecommunications interface with a telephone line coupled to said telephone subset;

a fax modem coupled to said communications interface for receiving a facsimile transmission on said telephone line;

a modem control module coupled to said fax modem and to control bus of said microprocessor for receiving instructions from said microprocessor to control said fax modem to enable the facsimile transmission to be displayed on said display panel means;

a fax graphics controller coupled to said fax modem and to said control bus of said microprocessor for converting the received facsimile transmission into graphics data and applying said received facsimile transmission directly to said display panel means;

a panel control module, including an X-Y addressing means, coupled to said fax graphics controller and to said display panel means for receiving said graphics data from said fax graphics controller and controlling the X-Y addressing means for addressing said display panel means in order to provide a graphics display thereon corresponding to the facsimile transmission; and

a position sensitive means responsive to a user-indicated position on said high resolution display panel means for selecting one of a plurality of stored telephone numbers and a dialing generator coupled to said position sensitive means and operative to provide telephone dialing signals to said telephone line.

5. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said interface means further includes a modem selector coupled to said telecommunication interface and to said modem control module for determining the nature of the facsimile transmission in order to allow proper decoding thereof.

6. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said microprocessor means includes a X decoder means coupled to said high resolution display panel means addressed by said microprocessor means to generate X data for said high resolution display panel means and an X decoder means coupled to said high resolution display panel means and addressed by said microprocessor means to generate Y data for said display panel means.

7. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 6, further including means coupled to said handset and operative to provide a control signal when said handset is lifted off hook.

8. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 7, including means coupled to said microprocessor means and responsive to said control signal to cause said microprocessor means to generate any one of said various graphic keyboard presentations as stored.

9. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said interfacer means further includes a dialing generator coupled to said position sensitive means and operative to provide telephone dialing signals to said telephone line.

10. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, further including a plurality of actuatable keys mounted on the top surface of said housing and coupled to a mode selector means included in said microprocessor means for operating said microprocessor means in any one of a plurality of modes according to the selection of an associated key for said mode.

11. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 10, further including second storage means operative to store therein a plurality of telephone numbers indicative of called parties, said second storage means accessed by a first one of said mode keys to cause said high resolution display panel means to display a first plurality of stored numbers simultaneously thereon, and cursor means associated with said high resolution display panel means and operative to movably align adjacent each number as displayed under control if said user by at least a second one of said keys to enable a user to select any one of said displayed numbers, and means coupled to a third one of said keys to cause the number aligned with said cursor means to be dialed.

12. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said plurality of numbers as stored are displayed in consecutive display presentations to thereby store a large director of telephone numbers which are displayed in groups of numbers on a page-to-page basis.

13. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 12, further including third storage means coupled to said microprocessor means and operative to store therein a plurality of credit card numbers associated with a user of said subset and accessible by means of a fourth subset mode key to provide said user with a display indicative of said credit card numbers.

14. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 13, further including means coupled to said display and operative when said handset is on hook to provide an array of separate characters wherein a user can access said third storage means only by first selecting a given set of characters in said array of separate characters.

15. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said storage means includes a ROM and a RAM.

16. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, further including means coupled to said display means for generating a display of telephone usage.

17. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 16, further including ring-back detector means coupled to said telephone line and operative to provide a control signal when a connection is made between said subset and a called party by detecting ring-back, with said detector coupled to said microprocessor means to enable said microprocessor means to ready said subset for the receipt of data from said called party.

18. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said microprocessor means includes character generator means operative to convert digital data as stored to alpha numeric character data for addressing said high resolution display panel means.

19. The telephone subset apparatus according to claim 4, which further comprises random generator means coupled to said microprocessor means and operative to cause said microprocessor to cause said panel to provide a graphic presentation of a telephone keyboard arrangement which is a substantially random keyboard presentation.