Patent Publication Number: US-2011070923-A1

Title: Handheld apparatus and method of examining and driving a detachable screen of a handheld apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of Taiwan Patent Application No. 098131911, filed on Sep. 22, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a handheld apparatus and a method of examining and driving a detachable screen of a handheld apparatus, and more particularly to a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen, and a method for examining and driving the detachable screen of the handheld apparatus. 
     2. Related Art 
     Conventionally, when a handheld apparatus is assembled, the screen of the handheld apparatus is securely disposed in a housing therein. For safety reasons, electrical components and connection wires thereof are mounted on a circuit board by means of soldering. In addition, for the sake of portability, the manufacturer may reduce the size of the handheld apparatus according to customer requirements, so as to reduce the volume of the handheld apparatus. 
     However, the portability of the handheld apparatus may possibly accompany with a low durability of the handheld apparatus. For example, the screen of the handheld apparatus may damage due to falling, external impact, or moisture factors, and require for repairing. However, since the screen has been securely disposed in the housing of the handheld apparatus and the wirings of the electrical components of the handheld apparatus are associated with one another, the screen may not be able to be repaired or displaced once it is damaged, such that the handheld apparatus has to be scraped. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the invention is directed to a handheld apparatus which includes a detachable screen and a main body, so that the screen can be displaced on occasion by or with another screen or a new screen, which can function normally. 
     The detachable screen includes a screen control module and a screen line interface. The screen control module is used for storing screen configuration data, and the screen line interface is electrically coupled to the screen control module. 
     The main body includes a main body control module, a containing portion, and a main body line interface. The main body control module includes a screen identification unit, the containing portion is used for containing the detachable screen. In an embodiment, the containing portion is also used for fixing the detachable screen. The main body line interface is electrically coupled to the main body control module, and configured to be electrically coupled to the screen line interface. And the main body control module has functions of using the screen identification unit to access the screen configuration data so as to produce a screen configuration parameter, and driving the screen control module according to the screen configuration parameter. 
     The invention is also directed to a method of examining and driving a detachable screen of a handheld apparatus, which is applicable to a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen to enable a substitute screen to function normally. The method includes the steps as follows: accessing screen configuration data stored in the detachable screen; examining the screen configuration data to produce a screen configuration parameter; and driving the detachable screen according to the screen configuration parameter. 
     The invention is characterized in that the handheld apparatus includes two members, that is, the main body and the detachable screen. Once the detachable screen is damaged, the damaged screen can be easily detached from the handheld apparatus and displaced by or with a new one, and the main body and related wirings are not affected at all during the attaching and detaching process. Therefore, a repair failure rate and a screen repair cost of the handheld apparatus may greatly be reduced. In addition, as long as the detachable screens are compatible with the main body in the specification, different styles of screens can be used according to user&#39;s requirements, thereby improving a diversity of the screen disposition of the handheld apparatus. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a method of examining and driving a detachable screen of a handheld apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a step of examining and driving the detachable screen according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen according to an embodiment of the invention. Examples of the handheld apparatus according to embodiments of the invention may be a cell phone or a mobile communication device. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the handheld apparatus in this embodiment includes a detachable screen  10  and a main body  20 . The detachable screen  10  includes a screen control module  11  and a screen line interface  13 . The screen control module  11  is used for storing screen configuration data  12 . The screen control module  11  may store the screen configuration data  12 . The screen line interface  13  is electrically coupled to the screen control module  11 , wherein the screen line interface  13  may be an interface allowing passage of lines, wires, or circuits, or accommodating connection between them. The main body  20  includes a main body control module  21 , a containing portion  24  and a main body line interface  23 . The main body control module  21  includes a screen identification unit  22 . The containing portion  24  is used for containing the detachable screen  10 . The containing portion  24  may contain the detachable screen  10 , and may even be used for fixing the detachable screen  10 .—The main body line interface  23  is electrically coupled to the main body control module  21 , and configured to be electrically coupled to the screen line interface  13 . The main body line interface  23  also may be an interface allowing passage of lines, wires, or circuits, or accommodating connection between them. 
     In an embodiment, a butt joint is capable of being formed between the main body line interface  23  and the screen line interface  13  which correspond to each other in structure. When the main body line interface  23  is electrically coupled to the screen line interface  13 , the main body  20  and the detachable screen  10  are electrically coupled to each other, such that the main body  20  is enabled by the interfaces  23 ,  13  to control the detachable screen  10 . The interfaces  23 ,  13  accommodate a pair of electrically coupled screen data lines ( 131 ,  231 ), a pair of electrically coupled screen control lines ( 132 ,  232 ), a pair of electrically coupled screen power control lines ( 133 ,  233 ), and a pair of electrically coupled device attribute reading units ( 134 ,  234 ). 
     The screen data lines ( 131 ,  231 ) may include 4-pin, 8-pin, 16-pin, or higher-pin-count specifications. According to the screen data lines ( 131 ,  231 ) of different specifications, the main body  20  can be connected to detachable screens  10  with different resolutions. For example, if the main body  20  has a screen data line specification of 8-pin, the main body  20  can be mounted with a 4-pin or an 8-pin detachable screen  10 , and so on. 
     Through the screen control lines ( 132 ,  232 ), the main body  20  may control an operating clock and a timing characteristics (timer; including line-synchronizing and field-synchronizing screen display signal control) of the detachable screen  10 , as well as electrical lines for controlling enabling of the screen. 
     The main body  20  may provide an operating bias required by an operation of the detachable screen  10  through the screen power control lines ( 133 ,  233 ). According to types of the connected detachable screens  10 , the main body  20  provides different operating biases to meet power requirements of the detachable screens  10  for displaying images. 
     When the main body line interface  23  and the screen line interface  13  are electrically coupled, the main body control module  21  and the screen control module  11  are electrically coupled and can communicate with each other, and the two device attribute reading units ( 134 ,  234 ) are also electrically coupled to each other. The main body control module  21  has a function of using the screen identification unit  22  to access the screen configuration data  12 , and the main body control module  21  then analyzes a content of the screen configuration data  12  to produce a screen configuration parameter. Herein, the screen identification unit  22  may have a function of comparing screen specification parameters with the screen configuration data  12 , so as to obtain a qualified parameter serving as the screen configuration parameter. The main body control module  21  then has a function of driving the screen control module  11  of the detachable screen  10  according to the screen configuration parameter. The screen configuration parameters may contain device specifications of the detachable screen  10 , which may include a resolution, a color depth, a data transmission format, an operating clock, an operating bias, or signal-synchronizing timing and frequency of the detachable screen  10 . 
     The main body  20  may use the screen data lines ( 131 ,  231 ), the screen control lines ( 132 ,  232 ), and the screen power control lines ( 133 ,  233 ) to set the resolution, the color depth, the data transmission format, the operating clock, the operating bias, or the signal-synchronizing timing and frequency of the detachable screen  10 , so as to effectively drive and control the operation of the detachable screen  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the screen data line  231 , the screen control line  232 , and the screen power control line  233  of the main body line interface  23  are all connected to a main body bus interface  235 . Likewise, the screen data line  131 , the screen control line  132 , and the screen power control line  133  of the screen line interface  13  are all connected to a screen bus interface  135 . A butt joint is capable of being formed between the screen line interface  13  and the main body line interface  23  which correspond to each other in structure, such as a male and a female connector, or metal pin structures capable of being in contact to electrically couple the screen line interface  13  and the main body line interface  23 . Lines of the two device attribute reading units ( 134 ,  234 ) are jointed to form a 1-Wire, Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C), or other similar universal bus interfaces. However, in the physical structures, the male and female connector structures or the metal pin structures are often adopted so as to simplify the joint design of the main body line interface  23  and the screen line interface  13 , but is not limited to. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a method of examining and driving a detachable screen of a handheld apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the method is applied to a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen  10 .  FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a handheld apparatus with a detachable screen according to an embodiment of the invention. Reference is made to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 , for the convenience of understanding. The method of examining and driving a detachable screen of a handheld apparatus is illustrated as follows. 
     Screen configuration data  12  stored in the detachable screen  10  is accessed (Step S 110 ). In addition to the detachable screen  10 , the handheld apparatus may also include the main body  20 . In this embodiment of the method, the detachable screen  10  includes a screen control module  11  and a screen line interface  13 . The screen configuration data  12  may be stored in the screen control module  11 . The screen line interface  13  may be disposed on an external surface of the detachable screen  10 , and have lines extending into the detachable screen  10 , such that the screen line interface  13  may be electrically coupled to the screen control module  11 . 
     In this embodiment of the method, the main body  20  may include a main body control module  21 , a containing portion  24  and a main body line interface  23 . The main body line interface  23  may be disposed inside of the containing portion  24 , and have lines extending into the main body  20 , such that the main body line interface  23  may be electrically coupled to the screen line interface  13 . The containing portion  24  is used for containing the detachable screen  10 , and may be disposed on a surface of the main body  20 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the containing portion  24  may comprise a groove having an inside shape matching a shape of the detachable screen to enable the containing portion  24  to contain the detachable screen therein. The detachable screen  10  may be fixed in the containing portion  24  by a common fixing means. 
     In addition, the screen line interface  13  is disposed at a bottom position of the detachable screen  10 , and the main body line interface  23  is disposed inside of the containing portion  24  at a position corresponding to the screen line interface  13 . Moreover, the screen line interface  13  and the main body line interface  23  may have metal pin structures capable of being in contact to electrically couple the screen line interface  13  and the main body line interface  23 . When the detachable screen  10  is fixed in the main body  20 , the main body line interface  23  and the screen line interface  13  are connected, such that the main body control module  21  and the screen control module  11  are electrically coupled to each other. It should be noted that, the screen line interface  13  may be disposed at any external position of the detachable screen  10 , as long as the position of the screen line interface  13  is corresponding to the position of the main body line interface  23 . 
     When the handheld apparatus is turned on, the main body  20  initializes and boots the apparatus. After the two device attribute reading units ( 134 ,  234 ) are electrically coupled, a data transmission path is formed, so as to enable the main body control module  21  to communicate with the screen control module  11 . The main body control module  21  has functions of using the screen identification unit  22  to access the screen configuration data  12  stored in the screen control module  11 . 
     The screen configuration data  12  is examined to produce a screen configuration parameter (Step S 120 ). The main body control module  21  examines the contents of the screen configuration data  12  so as to obtain a device attribute and a specification of the detachable screen  10 , and produces the screen configuration parameter. Besides, the main body control module  21  drives and controls the operation the screen control module  11  of the detachable screen  10  according to an examined result. The screen configuration data  12  may include data about an image resolution, a color depth, a data transmission format, an operating clock, an operating bias, or signal-synchronizing timing and frequency of the detachable screen  10 , as well as required data. 
     The detachable screen  10  is driven according to the screen configuration parameter (Step S 130 ). The main body control module  21  transmits the screen configuration parameter to the detachable screen  10  through control lines formed by the main body line interface  23  and the screen line interface  13 , so as to enable the screen control module  11  to configure and initialize the screen according to the screen configuration parameter. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the step of examining and driving the detachable screen  10  includes: (1) the main body control module  21  configures a display buffer of the detachable screen  10  through the screen data lines ( 131 ,  231 ) (Step S 131 ). For example, for a pixel buffer, a frame buffer, and a display resolution buffer space of the detachable screen  10 , a buffer memory required by the display resolution buffer space is “Resolution×(Color Depth/8)”. For example, if the detachable screen  10  has an image resolution of 320×240 and a color depth of 32 bits, the display resolution buffer space requires (320×240)×(32/8)=307200 bytes. 
     (2) The main body  20  sets an operating bias of the detachable screen  10  through the screen power control lines ( 133 ,  233 ) (Step S 132 ). According to types of the connected detachable screens  10 , the main body  20  provides different operating biases to meet power requirements of the detachable screens  10  for displaying images. 
     (3) Through the screen control lines ( 132 ,  232 ), the main body  20  sets an operating clock of the detachable screen  10  (Step S  133 ), and configures timing characteristics of the detachable screen  10  (Step S  134 ) (including line-synchronizing and field-synchronizing screen display signal control), as well as electrical lines for controlling enabling of the screen. Thus, the main body  20  completes the setting of the fixed detachable screen  10 . Afterward, the main body  20  initializes other elements. 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.