Abstract:
The disclosure relates to a human figure toy. The toy includes a head with an aperture. A support member is placed within the head and a motor is secured to the support member. The motor includes a threaded motor shaft. A nose assembly, which is attached to the motor shaft, includes a first rod, an attachment means, a second rod, and a shock absorbing means. The first rod includes a threaded bore for engaging with the motor shaft. The second nose extends through the aperture on the head. The attachment means is used for slidably attaching the second rod to the first rod. The shock absorbing means is placed between the first rod and the second rod. Additionally, the toy includes rotation stop means on the attachment means and the support member for limiting a rotation of the first rod. The toy also includes a sensor means and a controller.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/496,222, filed on Feb. 1, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,816,894, issued on Nov. 9, 2004. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to display devices, and particularly to a display device with built-in USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Most computers are now configured with USB ports; the USB ports allow the computers to communicate with external USB devices. 
         [0006]    The power pins of the USB ports provide approximately +5V voltage. Recently, computers have been used to power or even charge external devices by utilizing the USB ports. The power supplied to an external device is typically obtained from internal components of the host computer. For example, a USB port, built into a display device of a computer, can supply power to or charge a connected USB device. However, the power supplied to the external device is practicable only when the host computer is in a normal working mode. Once the host enters into a power-saving mode or is powered off, the power supply to the external device is immediately cut off. 
         [0007]    However, most display devices have their own power supply independent from the host computer. As such, these display devices have the potential ability to power external devices. 
         [0008]    Therefore, there is a need for a display device with a USB port, whereby when a corresponding host computer is in a power-saving or power off mode, the display device can power or charge any connected USB devices. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    To solve the above-mentioned and other problems, a display device with USB connectivity (hereinafter “the display device) is provided. The display device includes a power module and one or more USB ports. The power module has batteries embedded therein as a power source or is connected to an external power source to obtain power therefrom. The USB ports have power pins through which the power module powers or even charge external USB devices. The display device further includes a switching circuit which positioned between the power module and the USB ports, to establish or cut off a connection between the power module and the USB ports, and a controller which controls the switching circuit to be on or be off, to establish or cut off the connection between the power module and the USB ports accordingly. The controller may be a display device which controls the switching circuit in accordance with a current status of a host, or a button, which controls the switching circuit in accordance with manual operations of a user. 
         [0010]    Further, a computer system which includes a display device with USB connectivity is also provided. The computer system further includes a host. The host has a plurality of statuses, including a normal mode, a plurality of power-saving modes and a power off mode. The display device includes a power module, a display controller, a switching circuit, an OR gate circuit, and one or more USB ports. The USB ports have power pins, which selectively couple the power module or the host to external USB devices to power or charge the USB devices. The OR gate circuit selectively couples the power pins with the power module or with the host. The display device detects what status the host stands, and controls the switching circuit on or off to establish or cut off a connection between the power module and the USB ports, in accordance with the status of the host. 
         [0011]    One of the advantages of the present invention is, in spite of what status the host may be in, whether a normal mode, a power-saving mode or a power off mode, after being connected to the display device via the USB ports of the display device, external USB devices are able to obtain power from the host or from the display device. 
         [0012]    Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a display device with at least one built-in USB port, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, together with a USB device which can interconnect with the display device via the USB port; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram showing how the display device with the built-in USB port of  FIG. 1  powers the USB device via the USB port, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view showing a display device with one or more built-in USB ports (hereinafter “the display device”) in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, together with a USB device which can connect with the display device via any one of the USB ports. The display device  20  may be a CRT (cathode ray tube), an LCD (liquid crystal display), or any other type of display apparatus known in the art. The USB ports  207  (only one is shown in  FIG. 1 ) may be positioned in any suitable part of the display device  20 , such as on a front panel or a rear panel of the display device  20 . Appropriate positioning facilitates users in connecting the USB device  30  with the display device  20 . In  FIG. 1 , an exemplary USB device  30  is shown as being a mobile phone. 
         [0016]    The USB devices  30  may be coupled to the display device  20  directly, or via an intermediate apparatus. For example, the coupling may be via a hub which can expand the number of USB devices  30  to be connected to the display device  20  when needed, or via charging cables. The USB devices  30  are not to be construed as being limited to mobile phones, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . On the contrary, the USB devices  30  may include all manner of various suitable electronic devices. Such electronic devices have one or more USB plugs  301 , or are configured with charging cables or chargers that have a USB plug  301 . Examples include mobile phones, MP3 (MPEG, audio layer  3 ) players, notebooks, PADs (Personal Digital Assistants), and so on. 
         [0017]    The USB devices  30  may be equipped with one or more embedded secondary batteries if needed. When equipped with embedded secondary batteries, and connected with the display device  20 , the USB devices  30  not only obtain power from the display device  20 , but also synchronously charge the embedded secondary batteries via charging circuits thereof. Generally, a standard USB port  207  provides (5±5%)V voltage and 100˜500 mA current, which are sufficient to power and charge most USB devices  30  and their embedded secondary batteries. Otherwise, an additional adaptor is needed to adjust the voltage and current obtained from the USB port  207 , in order to obtain a particular power level that is required by some specific USB devices  30 . 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram showing how the display device  20  powers a USB device  30  via a USB port  207 , in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The display device  20  interconnects with a host  10 , which together constitute a computer system  1 . The display device  20  includes at least one power module  201 , a display controller  202 , a switching circuit  203 , an adapting apparatus  204 , an OR gate circuit  205 , and the USB port  207 . The power module  201  powers all components of the display device  20 . Further, when necessary, the power module  201  can power the USB device  30  in addition to powering the components of the display device  20 . The power module  201  can supply the power from an intrinsic power source, (i.e., embedded batteries,) or from an external power source. 
         [0019]    The switching circuit  203  is series-connected between the power module  201  and the adapting apparatus  204 . The switching circuit  203  has two input terminals and one output terminal. The input terminals are respectively connected to the power module  201  and the display controller  202 , and the output terminal is connected to the adapting apparatus  204 . The display controller  202  is connected to the host  10 , and receives video signals from the host  10  via a video interface (not shown). The video interface can, for example, be a VGA (video graphics array) interface or a DVI (display visual interface) interface. Based on the state of video signals it receives, the display controller  202  determines what status the host stands in, and controls the switching circuit  203  on or off accordingly. Typically, the status can be a normal mode, a power-saving mode, or a power off mode. In the preferred embodiments, when the host  10  is detected to be in a power off mode or a power-saving mode, the display controller  202  controls the switching circuit  203  to be on, whereupon the power module  201  supplies power to the adapting apparatus  204  via the switch circuit  203 . When the host  10  is detected to be in a normal mode, that is, the host  10  is in a normal working status, the display controller  202  controls the switch circuit  203  to be off, so as to stop the supply of power from the power module  201  to the adapting apparatus  204 . The switching circuit  203  may include one or more transistors, or any other suitable switches that can switch on and off under the control of the display controller  202 , whereby the supply of power from the power module  201  to the adapting apparatus  204  is either passed or blocked. 
         [0020]    The adapting apparatus  204  is coupled to the USB port  207  via the OR gate circuit  205 . The OR gate circuit  205  has two input terminals and one output terminal. The input terminals are respectively connected with the adapting apparatus  204  and the host  10 . The output terminal is connected with a power pin (designated as  4   d  in  FIG. 2 ) of the USB port  207 . With such a connection, the OR gate circuit  205  selectively couples the adapting apparatus  204  or the host  10  to the USB port  207 . Accordingly, the source of power for the USB device  30  is either the power module  201  or the host  10 . In the preferred embodiment, if the host  10  is powered off or in a power-saving mode, the display controller  202  controls the switching circuit  203  to conduct current. Then a first power path is established, which includes the power module  201 , the switching circuit  203 , the adapting apparatus  204 , the OR gate circuit  205  and the USB port  207 . If the host  10  is in a normal mode, the display controller  202  controls the switching circuit  203  to cut off. Thus the first power path is correspondingly cut off. Then a second power path is established, which includes the host  10  and the USB port  207  adopted to transmit power to the USB device  30 . In the preferred embodiment, all of pins  4   a ,  4   b ,  4   c  (i.e., excluding the power pin  4   d ) of the USB port  207  are directly coupled to the host  10 . These other pins, including one ground pin (designated as  4   a ) and two data pins (designated as  4   b , and  4   c ), are directly coupled to the host  10 . Thus the USB device  30  is able to exchange data with the host  10  when receiving power from the host  10 . 
         [0021]    The OR gate circuit  205  may include two parallel-connected diodes or transistors or any other suitable elements, such as a chip with a firmware program, which implement the function of selectively coupling the adapting apparatus  204  or the host  10  to the USB port  207 . The adapting apparatus  204  includes a transformer (not shown), and converts the voltage and current from the power module  201  to match the USB port  207 . Furthermore, the adapting apparatus  204  may also include a current-limiting apparatus to limit the current output, and a short-circuit protection circuit to protect the display device  20 . In addition, instead of being placed between the switching circuit  203  and the OR gate circuit  205 , in other embodiments, the adapting apparatus  204  may be positioned between the OR gate circuit  205  and the USB port  207 , or in any other suitable place. 
         [0022]    The display controller  202  controls the switching circuit  203  on or off in accordance with the current status of the host  10 . In the preferred embodiment, the statuses of the host are defined pursuant to ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) specifications, which were co-developed by Hewlett-Packard (HP®), Intel (Intel®), Microsoft (Microsoft®), Phoenix (Phoenix®), and Toshiba (Toshiba®). The display controller  202  detects what status the host  10  stands in. If the host  10  is in any one of the power-saving modes, or in a power off mode, the display controller  202  controls the switching circuit  203  to be on. Meanwhile, the OR gate circuit  205  electrically couples the adapting apparatus to the USB port  207 . The first power path conducts, and the USB device  30  is powered or even charged by the power module  201 . If the host  10  is in a normal mode, the display controller  202  controls the switching circuit  203  to be off. Accordingly, the OR gate circuit  205  electrically couples the host  10  to the USB port  207 . The second power path conducts, and the USB device  30  is powered or even charged by the host  10 . 
         [0023]    The above description illustrates that the switching circuit  203  is controlled by the display controller  202 . However, in another embodiment, the switching circuit  203  can be manually controlled by a user via a button (not shown) installed on the display device  20 . The button electrically controls the switching circuit  203  according to known technology. This gives the user the discretion to select the display device  20  as a power source of the USB device  30 , even if the host  10  is in a normal mode. 
         [0024]    It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of type and arrangement of components within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.