Abstract:
A user terminal combining touch-screen and keyboard functionality, and also combining laptop and flat-pad layouts. The flat-pad layout can be locked into place using sliding pieces. The terminal comprises a base including a keyboard, a first display screen attached to the base along a primary fold line, a second display screen included in the base and located between the keyboard and the primary fold line, and at least one sliding piece for fixing the second display screen in a substantially flat configuration with the first display screen and/or with another part of the base. The first display screen, the second display screen, and the keyboard have substantially the same width, in order to fully utilize the width of the entire user terminal. This user terminal has a simple mechanical structure, having less than three fold lines, and the keyboard may be detached to reveal additional screen space.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of computer terminals, and more particularly to computer terminals arrangeable for portable use and communication, commonly known as laptops. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Existing laptop-style computers or communication terminals are convenient to carry if they are small, but such devices can become difficult to use when they are too small. Typically, one of these devices includes a screen part that folds down on a keyboard part, along a primary fold line. If the screen is too small, the screen becomes difficult to read and can be harmful to eyesight. This problem of size reduction without visual drawbacks is a major challenge for makers of portable computers or terminals. One recent contribution to this field is the pocket computer of Katz (U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,220), wherein both the keyboard and the display screen have fold lines. However, a device with multiple fold lines, such as the Katz invention, is more difficult and expensive to construct than a device having only one or two fold lines. So, the problem remains how to make a small laptop-type device with only one or two fold lines, without jeopardizing the user&#39;s eyesight. 
     It is well-known that portable computers or terminals can operate in a touch mode, for example using a finger or stylus to directly contact the screen, in which case the screen is responsive to touch. Such a device is described by Hawkins et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,366,935), and may operate in touch mode, or in a more conventional laptop mode requiring a keyboard. The combination of keyboard and touch mode presents some problems that are not solved by Hawkins. Especially when using the device in touch mode, it is often desirable for the device to be in a flat position, much like a conventional writing pad, and Hawkins describes such a configuration in which the screen lies on top of the keyboard in the pad mode—Hawkins&#39; screen faces up instead of facing down as is usual with laptops in the folded position. Hawkins&#39; computer in its folded position provides no protection for the screen, because the screen is facing up. Also, Hawkins&#39; screen can be no bigger than the keyboard piece upon which the screen lies, and again this can make the screen difficult to read and look at, unless the keyboard piece is sufficiently large. 
     Some existing laptop devices have been designed in such a way that the laptop&#39;s keyboard can be detached. For example, Kornmayer (U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,773) features a detachable keyboard. This serves two purposes in Kornmayer: first, removal of the keyboard from the housing allows easy access to the housing for maintenance purposes; second, operation of the keyboard at a greater distance from the display may be advantageous from an ergonomic viewpoint. Similarly, Horiuchi (U.S. application Ser. No. 20020047832) discloses a detachable keyboard, so that a user having no special skills can remove or insert the keyboard. This feature may be useful, for example, when a keyboard having foreign characters is desired, or when a keyboard becomes damaged and needs to be replaced; e.g. a user may spill coffee on the keyboard and therefore order a replacement keyboard. A problem with these prior art detachable keyboards is that they do not offer the user additional functionality, tools, or resources using the area of the terminal that becomes exposed when the keyboard is removed. Katz, Hawkins, Kornmayer, and Horiuchi are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, in order to facilitate a fuller understanding and enablement of the present claimed invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a folding computer device that has a screen bigger than the device in its folded position, and thus solves the problem of reducing size without causing visual problems. This is accomplished by having a screen split into two parts that are joined at the device&#39;s primary fold line. The keyboard and one of the screens are on the same piece of the device, and thus are not separated by the primary fold line. 
     The present invention provides a helpful way to combine keyboard with touch mode functionality. Because touch mode functionality renders a flat device configuration desirable, the present invention discloses a flat configuration, and sliding pieces for fixing the device in that flat configuration. Thus, the two screens unite in the flat configuration. When the sliding pieces slide away to allow the device to be closed, no screen faces outward in an unprotected folded position. 
     The user terminal of the present invention comprises a base including a keyboard, a first display screen attached to the base along the primary fold line, a second display screen included in the base and located between the keyboard and the primary fold line, and at least one sliding piece for fixing the base and the first display screen in a substantially flat configuration in which the first display screen, the second display screen, and the keyboard form a substantially flat surface. In this invention, the first display screen, the second display screen, and the keyboard have substantially the same width, in order to fully utilize the width of the entire user terminal. This user terminal has a relatively simple and economical layout, having only one or two fold lines. 
     Each of the sliding pieces is for sliding along a side of the portable folding user terminal, and for fixing the portable folding user terminal in a flat unfolded configuration. The sliding piece comprises at least one finger contact surface, and at least one terminal contact surface. 
     In some embodiments, the keyboard of the present invention is detachable by the user. This provides the advantages of prior art detachable keyboards, plus detachment of the present keyboard would optionally reveal an exposed area of the base that includes at least one feature available to the user when the terminal is operable. For example, removal of the keyboard may expose a larger display screen. Likewise, another embodiment of the present invention has a primary fold line that is also a detachment line, so that the user is able to carry only the base which includes the keyboard and the second display screen. In this case, a secondary fold line advantageously separates the keyboard from the second display screen, and the sliding piece has sufficient length to cover both fold lines at once. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description and drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a laptop device according to the present invention, with two screens separated by a primary fold line, and two sliding pieces; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the device of the present invention in a flat unfolded configuration that is secured by the two sliding pieces; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the present invention in the flat configuration, showing the QWERTY keyboard; 
         FIG. 4A  is a top view of a sliding piece in the flat configuration; 
         FIG. 4B  is a perspective view of a sliding piece in the flat configuration; 
         FIG. 4C  shows a sliding piece gripping a side of the user terminal of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5A  shows a sliding piece anchored to the user terminal of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5B  shows two connected sliding pieces attached to opposite sides of the user terminal. 
         FIG. 6  shows a laptop device according to the present invention, in a perspective view, with keyboard detached. 
         FIG. 7A  shows a laptop device according to the present invention, having two fold lines and one slider, in a folded configuration. 
         FIG. 7B  shows a laptop device according to the present invention, having two fold lines and one slider, in a flat configuration. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Turning now to the drawings and considering  FIG. 1  in particular, we see that the user terminal  100  has a base  105  including a keyboard  110 . The terminal also has a first display screen  115 , and a primary fold line  120 . In these respects, the user terminal of  FIG. 1  is similar to typical laptop computers. The primary fold line typically operates by means of hinges, or some other flexible device or material. 
       FIG. 1  also shows a second display screen  125  included in the base  105 , between the keyboard  110  and the primary fold line  120 . This second screen  125  is available for tools, phone status, mini-desktop applications, et cetera.  FIG. 1  furthermore shows a right sliding piece  130  for fixing the base  105  and the first display screen  115  in a substantially flat configuration, although the sliding piece  130  in  FIG. 1  is not positioned for the flat configuration.  FIG. 1  also shows a left sliding piece  135 . 
     The flat configuration is shown in  FIG. 2 , in which the right sliding piece  130  and the left sliding piece  135  straddle the primary fold line  120 , and in which the user terminal is fully unfolded to 180 degrees forming a pad. The two sliders  130  and  135  are shown slid into positions at opposite ends of the primary fold line  120  so as to fix the base  105  and the first display screen  115  in the substantially flat configuration. The two sliders slide along lines parallel to each other, and perpendicular to the primary fold line, and these sliders are preferably decorative in design. 
     The user terminal in the substantially flat configuration of  FIG. 2  has at least a touch mode option in which the first display screen  115  and the second display screen  125  appear as one big screen responsive to touch, and a pointer or cursor is freely movable between the first display screen and the second display screen. The user terminal in the flat configuration of  FIG. 2  also has a laptop mode option requiring use of the keyboard  110 , and a mouse, trackball, finger pad or similar device for moving the pointer or cursor. 
     The functionality of the additional screen  125  may advantageously be different from that of the first screen  115 . For example, the additional screen  125  accommodates a tool zone, so as to join certain functions closer to the keyboard, while reducing clutter in the first screen  115 . The additional screen  125  preferably includes items such as a status zone indicating things like connectivity and inbox condition, and such as a news ticker, shortcuts to programs, documents, particular web sites, space for additional opened applications like a music player or calendar, screen notes that can be seen while presenting content of the main screen  115 , and yellow “stickies.” The additional screen  125  can also be used as an extension to the big screen  115 , for example to scroll web page lists. 
     The dual screens  115  and  125  allow the biggest possible screen area on the smallest feasible dimensions. In the flat configuration, the user terminal  100  may be as large as a piece of A4 or A5 paper, and in that case does not look like a tiny toy resembling prior art subnotebooks. In the flat configuration, when the touch mode option is active instead of (or in unison with) the keyboard option, the visibility of the screens will be virtually as good as the visibility without the touch mode, due to advances in screen technology. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the keyboard is a QWERTY keyboard having only one button to the left of the Q button and having only one button to the right of the P button, and wherein the button to the left of Q and the button to the right of P have respective widths less than or equal to the width of the Q button.  FIG. 3  illustrates that the first display screen  115 , the second display screen  125 , and the keyboard  110  have substantially the same width, which takes full advantage of the width of the user terminal  100 . Prior art laptops typically have a total of 14 characters on the same line with the Q button, but, according to this embodiment of the present invention, there are only 12 buttons, which allows the user device  100  to be more narrow. Of course, narrowness could also be achieved by using characters having a shrunken size, whether the number of characters per line is 14 or less. 
     The remaining figures show more detail of the sliding piece according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4A , the sliding piece  130  is for sliding along a side  400  of the portable folding user terminal, and for fixing the portable folding user terminal in a flat unfolded configuration. The sliding piece comprises at least one finger contact surface  410 , and at least one terminal contact surface  420  where the sliding piece makes contact with the rest of the terminal.  FIG. 4A  shows the flat configuration in which the sliding piece straddles the primary fold line  120 ; the user can exit the flat configuration by sliding the slider  130  so that it no longer straddles the primary fold line, for example into a position such as that shown by  FIG. 1 . The user does this by putting a finger on the contact surface  410  and exerting pressure sufficient to overcome the resistance at the terminal contact surface  420 . 
       FIG. 4B  is a perspective view of what is already shown in  FIG. 4A , further showing a ridge or slide  430  that protrudes from the side  400  of the user terminal. Such a ridge provides one way by which the slider  130  may attach to the side  400 , and this type of attachment is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 4C . The ridge may extend along the entire side  400  of the user terminal, or over only part of the side  400 ; the latter case would be adequate, because the slider  130  need not slide along the entirety of the side  400 . 
     Unlike the gripping structure shown in  FIG. 4C ,  FIG. 5A  alternatively shows the slider  130  anchored to the side  400  of the user terminal. Regardless of whether the slider  130  is attached to the side  400  by a gripping structure or an anchor structure, or by some other equivalent structure, the other slider  135  would be attached in the same way. Each slider is preferably symmetric with respect to a plane of symmetry  500 , and thus the slider  135  and the slider  130  do not require a separate manufacture, since they are substantially the same. If the user terminal is small enough, only one slider will be sufficient to provide the required stability. 
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a connector or bridging piece  510  connecting the sliders  130  and  135  to each other. This connector  510  is an option that would provide greater stability to the flat configuration, for example by ensuring that if the right slider  130  is straddling the primary fold line  120  then the left slider  135  must also be straddling the primary fold line  120 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , that figure shows an embodiment of the present invention in a laptop configuration, with the keyboard  110  removed. In this embodiment, removal of the keyboard exposes a bigger display screen  125 , as compared to the relatively small portion of the screen  125  shown in  FIG. 1 . However,  FIG. 6  is merely illustrative, and alternatively removal of the keyboard  110  could instead expose other features instead of a supplementary portion of the screen  125 , or could merely make the base  105  more easily accessible for maintenance or repairs, without exposing any other useful user features. Preferably, the keyboard  110  can still be used even when detached, and therefore would be connected to the rest of the user terminal by wire or by an invisible connection such as an infrared signal, as is well known in the art. 
     In  FIG. 7A , a laptop configuration is shown, in which the apparatus has a second fold line  710  in addition to the primary fold line  120 . The slider  700  is sufficiently long so that it can cover both fold lines at once, as seen in  FIG. 7B . The primary fold line  120  is also a line of detachability, so that the base  105  can be separated from the first screen  115 , allowing the user to carry around the base, and to fold the base along the secondary fold line  710 . The line  120  can be implemented in a number of ways that are obvious to persons skilled in the art (e.g. using loops as in a loose-leaf notebook). 
     In addition to the slider  700  on the right, a slider on the left, such as slider  135  in  FIG. 2 , becomes more advisable and necessary as the device becomes bigger or heavier. Even if the device is small and light, there are still advantages to having a short slider on the other side of the device from the long slider  700 , because the slider  700  will remain with the first screen  115  when the first screen is detached along the fold line  120 . Thus, the short slider on the other side remains with the base  105 , and is available for straddling the second fold line  710 , for example if the keyboard is detached (as described above) to reveal an additional display area. 
     An apparatus  100  for altering a portable terminal&#39;s configuration into a more stable alternative configuration has been described above in several preferred embodiments employing at least one slider to provide the stability. Two screens are separated by a primary fold line so that they unite as one big surface in the stabilized configuration. However, numerous modifications may be incorporated as is known to those skilled in the art of mobile terminals such as portable telephones, and therefore the invention has been described by way of illustration rather than limitation.