Abstract:
An adapter that fits to a touchscreen of a tablet computer or mobile phone enabling input and output to and from the device. Output is achieved by a plurality of phototransistors arranged in a matrix which interpret a plurality of video image dots, squares or groups of pixels on the tablet computer or mobile phone touchscreen converting them to 1s (ones) or 0s (zeroes). 
     Input is achieved by a plurality of conductors which are selectively electrified by control electronics to a charge sufficient to disrupt the field or capacitance of the touchscreen finger tip sense at a plurality of locations on the screen. A program(s) on the tablet computer or mobile phone interprets the electronically controlled touches as data.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an input and output adapter for tablet computer touchscreens and mobile phone touchscreens and more particularly to allow tablet computers and mobile phones to be used as continuous monitoring and control devices. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In general commercially available off the shelf computers, tablets and mobile phones have increasingly less input and output (I/O) capability aside from wireless. Increasingly parallel printer ports, serial ports, mini-card slots (such as SD, SD-micro), and bus or I/O card slots have been eliminated with the exception of USB (Universal Serial Bus) and HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface). The USB available on many hand held computers and smart phones does not provide host capability. 
     Despite the fact that mobile phones and tablet computers have become multiprocessor platforms well suited to be real-time monitoring and control devices individually or in a larger system with real-time constraints these devices have been increasingly limited by limited input and output. 
     In particular it is more difficult to use a tablet computer or mobile phone in a monitoring and control system as was done prior with computers such as the desktop personal computer which had bus slots (such as the ISA, VESA, PCI to name a few) or parallel ports which could be used for input and output found on the earliest desktop units. VME was also widely used as a bus wherein I/O could be customized in various combinations of discrete inputs and outputs and analog inputs and outputs via cards. Other customized cards for motion control (motor control), robotics and many other applications existed. 
     In view of these disadvantages, it is the object of this invention to make new increasingly restricted tablet computers and mobile phones more general purpose by this converter as an angled surface, enclosure, magnetic stick on shape, slot, rack, sleeve, clear material which uses the tablet computer or mobile phone&#39;s existing human interface (touchscreen) and software (EG MP4 player application, PNG image viewer application) and customized software to provide input and output (I/O) to the tablet computer or mobile phone used in the same manner as older PCI bus cards or VME bus cards to provide digital and analog I/O. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A digital input and output converter for tablet computers and mobile phones that overcomes disadvantages of prior art by using the common touchscreen found on most tablet computers and mobile phones to provide input and output allowing tablet computers and mobile phones to be used for monitoring and control. For the input converter: a grid overlays the touchscreen and has a plurality of conductors electrically charged such that an electric field disturbs the touchscreen to trigger the mobile phone or tablet computer touchscreen. 
     A plurality of locations on the screen are used to receive input data. Software on the mobile phone or tablet computer relies on one of the signals (touch location) as a clock. this allows a stream of ones and zeros to be interpreted serially or in parallel in a bus cycle. A lack of touch sense during data transfer indicates a 1 with the reverse, a touch sensed, indicating a 0. The inverse logic is also available wherein a lack of touch sense during data transfer indicates a 0 and a touch sensed indicating a 1. 
     The output converter is achieved by a plurality of phototransistors arranged in a matrix which interpret a plurality of video image dots, squares or groups of pixels on the tablet computer or mobile phone screen converting them to 1s (ones) or 0s (zeroes). 
     Where wireless communication is not suitable for many systems such as automotive applications (eg driver assisted or computer driven automobiles), automated rail, flight applications, refinery controls, and semiconductor capital equipment gas control where immunity from hackers is paramount to safety. The converter offers the advantage of not being vulnerable to jamming of wireless or spoofing of wireless signals since the converter is a closed system and can be utilized without wireless to generate or receive signals. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more clear with reference of the following detailed description as illustrated by the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a tablet computer and mobile phone input and output converter enclosure type system according to this invention 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the input and output converter enclosure type system of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a rack system and including a plurality of tablet computer and or mobile phone converters including the combined input and output converters according to this invention 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the input and output converter combination showing one of a plurality of slots of  FIG. 3   
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an angled tablet computer and mobile phone input and output converter system according to this invention 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the input output converter combination of  FIG. 5   
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an ornamentally shaped tablet computer and mobile phone input and output converter system according to this invention 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a sleeve tablet computer and mobile phone input and output converter system according to this invention 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram illustrating the control of the input and output converter according to the embodiment of this invention 
         FIG. 10  is a multiple tablet computer/mobile phone schematic diagram illustrating the control of the input and output converters according to the embodiment of this invention 
         FIG. 11  is a flow diagram of the procedure for producing digital output of  FIG. 9   
         FIG. 12  is a flow diagram of the procedure for producing digital input of  FIG. 9   
         FIG. 13  is an embodiment of the invention to interface with vehicles 
         FIG. 14  is an embodiment of the invention to allow the mobile phone or tablet computer to be a an instrumented sensor and diagnostic platform 
         FIG. 15  is an inflatable tubing skeletal sleeve 
         FIG. 16  is a second view of an inflatable tubing skeletal sleeve 
         FIG. 17  is an embodiment of the invention which interfaces to a control stick 
         FIG. 18  is an embodiment of the invention in an easy to use enclosure 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1 through 8  detail a monitoring and control system according to this invention. Nevertheless, this description should be considered to apply to any type of data that requires I/O signals to and/or from a tablet computer or mobile phone. Thus, while this embodiment details input and output converters for monitoring and control using a single tablet computer or mobile phone and this embodiment details a monitoring and control system with a plurality of mobile phones/tablet computers, the system herein can be adapted to a variety of other data, data I/O, and data monitoring such as telemetry, pharmaceutical delivery, entertainment, games, pattern recognition, encryption, industrial controls, wireless probe devices, security devices, process controls, manufacturing facilities, robots, automated guided vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, food and beverage automation, boiler control, furnace control, avionics, aircraft/watercraft/spacecraft navigation, aircraft flight control, watercraft/spacecraft control, watercraft/spacecraft displays, aircraft flight displays, vehicle control, sound transmission, automotive displays, engine control, climate control, home automation, medical, wireless hand held data acquisition, optical controls, photography, electric generator coil manipulation, electric motor control, musical instrument, musical amplification, musical instrument sound manipulation, radar control and signal processing and display, cash register, weather instrumentation, sewage processing, water treatment, data acquisition, construction equipment, hydraulic controls, automatic teller machines. 
       FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  detail a single slot hinged or unhinged enclosure system  7  wherein the mobile phone or tablet computer  1  slides into position and secures with a latch  4  so that the touchscreen  6  is aligned with an input converter  2  and output converter  5  and any other interface electronic connection and back-plane  3 . 
       FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  detail a rack  9  system consisting of a plurality of mobile phones or tablet computers  1  wherein each slot  10  contains an input converter  2  and an output converter  5  aligning with the touchscreen  6 , and any other interface electronic connection and back-plane  3 . 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  detail an angled converter  11  system wherein a tablet computer or mobile phone  14  touchscreen faces toward an input converter  2  and an output converter  5  and held in place by  53  recessed vacuum channels with vacuum orifices and a stop  12  with enclosed electronics  13 . 
       FIG. 7  details an ornamentally shaped output converter  5  and input converter  2  which have neodinium composition for clamping force along with a garter  15  which fits around or over a touchscreen  6 . For alignment to the mobile phone or tablet computer  1  software displays a fiducial like marker  30  on the screen or touch pad/sense area  31  to allow the user to correctly align the converters. 
       FIG. 8  details a sleeve tablet computer and mobile phone input and output converter elastic sleeve wherein the mobile phone or tablet computer  1  slides into the sleeve converter  34  which is comprised of elastic material  33  that secures the touchscreen  6  into proper alignment with the input converter and output converter with enclosed electronics  13 . 
       FIG. 9  details a single tablet computer/mobile phone monitoring and control system  16 . Input is received from a bus or digital and analog inputs  18 . Field disrupter charge placement electronics  22  send data to the input converter  2 . The tablet computer/mobile phone  1  has an input handler  24 , data monitoring  26 , control  28 , wireless communication  27 , and an output handler  25 . An output converter  5  and light to digital conversion electronics  23  produce bus, or digital or analog output  20 . 
       FIG. 10  The monitoring and control system shown comprises a larger scalable  50  system  8 . A rack mount unit facilitates a larger system  51  more readily via a common back-plane or bus  17 . Other units can coalesce via wireless communication to obtain multiprocessing or parallelism embodied in  51 . A plurality of individual systems  16  embodied as an individual enclosure, sleeve, rack, angled surface, elastic band, combine into a larger system  51 . The detail of each individual system  16  is as follows: Input is received from a bus or digital and analog inputs  18 . Field disrupter charge placement electronics  22  send data to an input converter  2 . The tablet computer/mobile phone  1  has an input handler  24 , data monitoring  26 , control  28 , wireless communication  27 , and an output handler  25 . An output converter  5  and light to digital conversion electronics  23  produce bus, or digital or analog output  20 . 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a flow chart describing a procedure for generating digital output from a mobile phone or tablet computer. In step  45  the control application on the tablet or phone itself is issuing a write command or is doing so in response to a wireless request to write or a bus request to write. At this point the program has reached a barrier  55  to facilitate other output converters in a parallel system to synchronize for real-time parallel computing. An image is either generated or acquired  35  to present to the phototransistor matrix to convert to output. It is important to see that in many cases it is not necessary to write special software for displaying the images since most mobile phones and tablets are designed just for that purpose and existing applications can be utilized saving software engineering cost and taking advantage of the universal image and video formats  36 . The image is displayed with a custom output handler application  37  or with an existing application  38 . Each frame of video or an image has a change state bit (region of pixels, dot, or square) when this changes  39  it causes the data to be latched and converted to digital output data or analog output  40  to be placed on a bus  47  wherein a bus input or output write command is issued  48  or the digital or analog input or output point is connected to a larger system  46 . 
       FIG. 12  illustrates a flow chart describing the procedure for input  41  from digital or analog I/O signals from the larger system  46 . An input list is scanned or a maskable (allowing prioritized culling) list of interrupts for input  44  indicates a new input is available. Fragments of 1 bit, 2 bit . . . n bits of data are placed on the lattice  42 . The input handler reads the touch screen and converts fragments to data blocks  43 . Input that has changed and is not culled or masked off is read in  52  The specific parts of the lattice are read for the input and at this point a software barrier is reached  55  to allow for synchronization of other mobile phone or tablet computer input converters when used in a parallel system and when all input converters are at the barrier the control application makes use of the input or passes it on to a wireless or bus output  49 . 
       FIG. 13  shows a mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter for use in an vehicular application secured with bristles  56  which push the mobile phone or tablet computer  1  touchscreen  6  into the input converter  2  and the output converter  5  but allows for easy insertion and removal. This facilitates the mobile phone or tablet computer to interface with the vehicle computer to display the automobiles parameters with for example bar charts  54  showing speed, tach, oil pressure, temperature . . . . Screens for climate control and radio or media, gps and robotic control of the vehicle can also be applications. This system allows for interfacing any number of brands of tablets and mobile phones to a vehicle without using wireless offering immunity from wireless hacking. 
       FIG. 14  shows an embodiment of the invention as a sensor platform (herein-after referred to as a muli-corder) with the mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter secured with a ferrous ear  58  that hinges onto a neodymium magnet fixed inside a blister or ear appendage of a case to clamp the mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter  61  to the touchscreen  6  which also at its top houses a sensor array  59  and on its side probes/probe storage  62  or a mechanical clamping method which uses lever action  60  to press mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter against the touchscreen  6  where springs  57  mounted in the back casing allow a clamping of the mobile phone or tablet. Applications for data logging, trend analysis and diagnostics can be utilized  63 . 
       FIG. 15  is an inflatable tubing skeletal sleeve with the mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter mounted such that the inflatable tubing expands to allow the tablet to be inserted or removed but when deflated clamps the mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter to the touchscreen. 
       FIG. 16  is an inflatable tubing  64  skeletal sleeve with the tablet computer and mobile phone input and output converter  61  mounted such that the inflatable tubing expands to allow the mobile phone or tablet computer  1  to be inserted or removed but when deflated clamps the mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter to the touchscreen. 
       FIG. 17  is an embodiment of the invention where the mobile phone and tablet computer input converter and output converter  61  is used to connect to a control stick via the touchscreen  6 . 
       FIG. 18  is an embodiment of the invention where the mobile phone and tablet computer input converter and output converter  61  are inside of an enclosure with a spring loaded clamping mechanism with mechanical lever action  60  used to clamp at least one touchscreen  6  against the mobile phone and tablet computer input and output converter.