Portable display device with at least two display screens controllable collectively or separately

• US 5,467,102 A
• Filed: 03/28/1995
• Issued: 11/14/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kuno, Yoshinori, Hasebe, Koichi, Tanabe, Noboru
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Luu, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US08/411,924
• Time in Patent Office: 231 Days
• Field of Search: 345/1, 345/2, 345/3, 345/173, 345/179, 345/901, 345/903, 358/449
• US Class Current: 345/1.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1618 the display being foldable up to the back of the other housing with a single degree of freedom, e.g. by 360° rotation over the axis defined by the rear edge of the base enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• 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 1/1692 the I/O peripheral being a secondary touch screen used as control interface, e.g. virtual buttons or sliders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/0283 for data storage and retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/04 Display device controller operating with a plurality of display units
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/901 Electronic book with display
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/903 Modular display

Abstract

A portable display device capable of presenting a document in an easy to read format, in which a simultaneous display of different parts of the document in reasonable sizes can be made, by a simple operation of the device. The display device comprises a document memory for storing documents to be displayed, at least two display screens for displaying the documents stored in the document memory means, and a display control unit for controlling displays of the documents on the display screens to be in a linked mode in which the displays on the display screens are linked together and in a separate mode in which the displays on the display screens are independent from each other.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

document memory means for storing documents to be displayed;

at least two display screens for displaying the documents stored in the document memory means; and

display control means for controlling displays of the documents on the display screens to be in a predetermined linked mode in which the displays on the display screens are linked together to display consecutive pages of a document and in a predetermined separate mode in which the displays on the display screens are independent from each other such that any page of the document can be displayed on any display screen,

wherein the linked mode further includes an all sides switching mode in which each page displayed on each one of the display screens is simultaneously switched to another page and a one side switching mode in which only one page displayed on one of the display screens is switched at a given time while other displayed pages are unchanged.

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein the display control means also controls the display screens to make a widened display in which a single display is displayed by the display screens collectively.

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the display control means automatically controls the display screens to make the widened display In response to a code requiring the widened display provided on a page of the documents displayed on the display screens.

4. The display device of claim 2, wherein the display control means shifts a displayed content of one of the display screens to displace letters in the displayed content from a border of the display screens.

5. The display device of claim 4, wherein the display control means shifts the entire displayed content parallely to displace a line of the letters in the displayed content from the border.

6. The display device of claim 4, wherein the display control means shifts an isolated letter series in the displayed content to displace every letter of the isolated letter series from the border.

7. The display device of claim 4, wherein the display control means shifts the displayed content of said one of the display screens only when each of the letters displaced from the border by a shifting of the displayed content is smaller than a prescribed size.

8. The display device of claim 4, wherein the displayed content shifted by the display control means is recorded in the document memory means in a state of being shifted.

9. The display device of claim 1, wherein the display screens are attached with each other to be foldable face to face as well as back to back.

10. The display device of claim 9, further comprising a switch means for inactivating one of the display screens when the display screens are folded back to back.

11. The display device of claim 1, wherein each one of the display screens is capable of being activated/inactivated separately.

12. The display device of claim 1, further comprising mode selection means for allowing a user to select one of the linked mode and the separate mode on the display screens.

13. The display device of claim 12, wherein the mode selection means also allows a user to select the linked mode to be in one of the all sides switching mode and the one side switching mode.

14. The display device of claim 1, further comprising secret protection means for attaching a pass word to a document to be displayed when the document is stored in the document memory means, and checking a matching of the pass word attached to the document with a pass word input made by a user at a time of displaying of the document on the display screens.

15. The display device of claim 1, further comprising command input means for allowing a user to enter commands for operating the display device in forms of keys displayed on the display screens.

16. The display device of claim 1, wherein one of the display screens displays an enlargement of a part of a displayed content displayed on another one of the display screens.

17. The display device of claim 1, wherein one of the display screens displays a number of pages of the documents in a contracted size and another one of the display screens displays a selected one of the pages in a full size.

18. The display device of claim 1, further comprising handwriting input means for allowing a user to enter a handwriting input with respect to a document displayed on the display screens.

19. The display device of claim 18, wherein the handwriting input entered by the user using the handwriting input means is recorded in the document memory means, in relation to displayed contents of the document displayed on the display screens.

20. The display device of claim 18, wherein the display control means also controls the display screens to display a handwriting input indication mark indicating a presence of the handwriting input entered by the user using the handwriting input means on the document displayed on the display screens.

21. A display device comprising:

a memory for storing documents;

at least two display screens coupled to the memory, the display screens displaying documents stored in the memory; and

a display control unit coupled to the memory and the display screens, the display control unit controlling the display screens such that the display screens are in one of a predetermined linked mode and a predetermined separate mode, the display screens being linked together when in the linked mode to display consecutive pages and the display screens changing independently when in the separate mode such that any page of the document can be displayed on any display screen,

wherein the control unit further controls the display screens when in the linked mode such that the display screens are in one of an all sides switching mode and a one side switching mode, all of the display screens changing simultaneously when in the all sides switching mode and only one display screen changing at any given time when in the one side switching mode.

22. A method of displaying stored documents on a plurality of display screens comprising the steps of:

controlling the display screens, via a control unit, such that the display screens are in one of a predetermined linked mode and a predetermined separate mode, the linked mode corresponding to all of the display screens being linked together to display consecutive pages and the separate mode corresponding to the display screens changing independently such that any page of the document can be displayed on any display screen;

controlling the display screens, via the control unit, when the display screens are in the linked mode, such that the display screens are further in one of an all sides switching mode and a one side switching mode, the all sides switching mode corresponding to all of the display screens changing simultaneously and the one side switching mode corresponding to only one display screen changing at a given time;

displaying the stored documents on the display screens; and

changing the displays on the display screens in accordance with the mode of the display screens.