Portable electronic device

• US 8,421,707 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2010
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wistron Corporation
• Original Assignee: Wistron Corporation
• Inventors: Liao, Hung-Kai, Yang, Chia-Hua
• Primary Examiner(s): Leiby, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US12/767,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20100289763A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,086 Days
• Field of Search: 345 11- 13, 345/3.1, 345173-179
• US Class Current: 345/1.1
• 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 1/1643 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 1/1649 the additional display being independently orientable, e.g. for presenting information to a second user

Abstract

A portable electronic device includes: a computing device body including a main housing, a computing device disposed in the main housing, a keyboard and a touch control display disposed on the main housing and connected electrically to the computing device; a display screen body including a display housing and a flat panel display disposed on the display housing and connected electrically to the computing device; and a two-dimensional hinge connecting pivotally the display housing to the main housing such that the display screen body is pivotable relative to the main housing. The computing device is configured to output image signals to the touch control display and the flat panel display, respectively, the image signals being generated based on user operation of at least one of the touch control display and the keyboard and being output simultaneously to the touch control display and the flat panel display.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device comprising:

a computing device body including

a main housing having an upper surface,

a computing device disposed in said main housing,

a keyboard disposed on said upper surface of said main housing and connected electrically to said computing device, and

a touch control display disposed on said upper surface of said main housing and connected electrically to said computing device;

a display screen body including

a display housing, and

a flat panel display disposed on a side of said display housing and connected electrically to said computing device; and

a two-dimensional hinge connecting pivotally said display housing to one side of said main housing such that said display screen body is pivotable forward, rearward, leftward, and rightward relative to said main housing;

wherein said computing device is configured to output image signals to said touch control display and said flat panel display, respectively, the image signals being generated based on user operation of at least one of said touch control display and said keyboard and being output simultaneously to said touch control display and said flat panel display;

wherein said computing device includes;

a video signal memory;

a central processing unit coupled to said video signal memory for providing video signal data to said video signal memory for storage in said video signal memory;

a video signal processing unit coupled to said video signal memory, said touch control display and said flat panel display for accessing said video signal data from said video signal memory and outputting the image signals to said touch control display and said flat panel display;

a signal controller connected electrically to said touch control display for receiving a touch control signal from said touch control display;

a control unit coupled to said signal controller and said central processing unit for sending the touch control signal to said central processing unit, thus enabling said central processing unit to generate said video signal data in accordance with the touch control signal for subsequent output to said video signal memory;

wherein said control unit includes;

a northbridge controller connected electrically to said central processing unit; and

a southbridge controller connected electrically to said northbridge controller and said signal controller for receiving the touch control signal from said signal controller and sending the touch control signal to said central processing unit through said northbridge controller;

wherein said keyboard includes a hot key that,

when pressed, generates a first hot key signal that is transmitted to said central processing unit through said signal controller, said southbridge controller, and said northbridge controller and that causes said central processing unit to output a disable signal to said signal controller, said signal controller disabling a touch control function of said touch control display in response to said disable signal, and

when pressed again, generates a second hot key signal that is transmitted to said central processing unit through said signal controller, said southbridge controller, and said norhtbridge controller and that causes said central processing unit to output an enable signal to said signal controller, said signal controller enabling the touch control function of said touch control display in response to said enable signal.

2. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal controller is a keyboard controller.

3. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signal controller is a keyboard controller.

4. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flat panel display has touch control functionality, and said portable electronic device further comprises a pivot detecting component connected electrically to said signal controller for generating a detection signal that is transmitted to said central processing unit when said pivot detecting component detects that said display screen body is pivoted so as to form an angle greater than a predetermined value with respect to said main housing, said central processing unit disabling the touch control functionality of said flat panel display in response to said detection signal.

5. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said video signal memory stores full-screen video signal data therein, said video signal processing unit accessing said full-screen video signal data from said video signal memory and being operable to output a same image signal to both said touch control display and said flat panel display based on said full-screen video signal data.

6. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 5, wherein, when said video signal processing unit receives a scaling control command from said central processing unit, said video signal processing unit performs an appropriate scaling process on said full-screen video signal data according to said scaling control command to produce scaled video signal data, and outputs an image signal corresponding to said full-screen video signal data to said touch control display and another image signal corresponding to said scaled video signal data to said flat panel display.

7. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said scaling control command is one of a downscaling command and an upscaling command, said downscaling and upscaling commands corresponding to two touch control signals from said touch control display, respectively.

8. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said scaling control command is one of a downscaling command and an upscaling command, said downscaling and upscaling commands corresponding to two hot key signals generated by two hot keys of said keyboard, respectively.

9. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said video signal memory includes:

a first memory area for storing said full-screen video signal data; and

a second memory area for storing scaled video signal data that is generated by said central processing unit when said central processing unit receives a scaling control command;

wherein, in accordance with said scaling control command, said central processing unit accesses said full-screen video signal data from said first memory area, performs an appropriate scaling process on said full-screen video signal data to produce said scaled video signal data, and instructs said video signal processing unit to

access said full-screen video signal data from said first memory area and output an image signal corresponding to said full-screen video signal data to said touch control display, and

access said scaled video signal data from said second memory area and output another image signal corresponding to said scaled video signal data to said flat panel display.

10. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said scaling control command is one of a downscaling command and an upscaling command, said downscaling and upscaling commands corresponding to two touch control signals from said touch control display, respectively.

11. The portable electronic device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said scaling control command is one of a downscaling command and an upscaling command, said downscaling and upscaling commands corresponding to two hot key signals generated by two hot keys of said keyboard, respectively.