Patent Publication Number: US-2013241836-A1

Title: Keyboard and computing device

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosed embodiments relate to keyboards, and particularly to a keyboard with a numerical calculation function for a computer and a computing device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A contemporary keyboard as an input device for a computer has very simple functions. Often, people using a computer may like to perform numerical calculations. However, contemporary computers are not capable of processing numeral calculations via the keyboard directly. Therefore, it is necessary for people to get a calculator or open a program in the computer to perform calculations. 
     What is needed, therefore, is a keyboard for a computer and a computing device which can overcome the above problems. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout one view. 
       The FIGURE is a block diagram of a keyboard in accordance with one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to the FIGURE, a computing device  900  of the embodiment is shown. The computing device  900  includes a keyboard  100  and a computer  200 . The computer  200  is a standard unit known in the art. The keyboard  100  is connected to the computer  200  via a bi-direction communications interface (not shown), such as a standard PC/AT computer cable, as is used in many personal computer configurations. Other known interfaces can be used, such as a PS/2 interface or an infrared interface for wireless communication, which are not shown. 
     The keyboard  100  includes a main keypad  10 , a numerical keypad  14 , a processor  17 , a display  18 , and a detector  20 . The processor  17  is capable of switching between an input mode and a calculator mode. In the input mode, the processor  17  is capable of processing input information of the main keypad  10  or input information of the numerical keypad  14  and outputting the processed input information of the main keypad  10  or the processed input information of the numerical keypad  14  to the computer  200 . In the calculator mode, the processor  17  is capable of performing a numerical calculation upon the input information of the numerical keypad  14 . The display  18  is used for displaying the input information of the numerical keypad  14  and a result of the numerical calculation. 
     The detector  20  detects operation states of the computer  200  according to a supply voltage of the computer  200 , and controls the processor  17  to switch between the input mode and the calculator mode according to the detected operation states. In this embodiment, the operation states of the computer  200  include a power off state in which the computer  200  is powered off, a power on state in which the computer  200  is powered on, and a document editing state in which the computer  200  edits a document. The detector  20  is a voltage detector. When the supply voltage of the computer  200  is detected by the detector  20 , the computer  200  is in the power on state. When the detector  20  detects that there is no supply voltage of the computer  200  (e.g., about zero voltage in one example), the computer  200  is in the power off state. The determination of whether the computer  200  is in the document editing state is explained as follows. 
     In a first situation, the detector  20  generates a command when detecting that the computer  200  is in the power on state. In a first embodiment, the computer  200  includes a detecting unit  202  that detects whether the computer  200  is in the document editing state according to the command from the detector  20 , and generates a feedback signal when detecting that the computer  200  is in the document editing state. The detector  20  controls the processor  17  to be switched to the calculator mode in response to the feedback signal. In the document editing state, the computer  200  edits the document, such as WORD document, POWERPOINT document, or EXCEL document, etc., in response to user&#39;s input operations. In a second embodiment, the processor  17  is switched to the input mode according to the command from the detector  20 . 
     In detail, in a second situation, the keyboard  100  further includes a battery  30 . When the detector  20  detects that the computer  200  is in the power off state, the processor  17  is switched to the calculator mode. The battery  30  powers the keyboard  100  when the keyboard  100  is in the calculator mode. 
     Furthermore, the processor  17  includes a control unit  12  connected to the main keypad  10 , a switch  15 , and a calculator unit  16 . The calculator unit  16  is connected to the control unit  12 . The numerical keypad  14  is connected to the control unit  12  and the calculator unit  16  via the switch  15 . The detector  20  controls the switch  15  to establish an electrical connection between the numerical keypad  14  and the control unit  12  and cutoff the electrical connection between the numerical keypad  14  and the calculator unit  16  or controls the switch  15  to establish the electrical connection between the numerical keypad  14  and the calculator unit  16  and cutoff the electrical connection between the numerical keypad  14  and the control unit  12  according to the detected operation states. 
     For example, when the detector  20  detects that the computer  200  is powered on, the detector  20  controls the switch  15  to establish the electrical connection between the numerical keypad  14  and the calculator unit  16  and cutoff the electrical connection between the numerical keypad  14  and the control unit  12 . Therefore the calculator unit  16  performs the numerical calculation upon the input information of the numerical keypad  14 . The control unit  12  processes a result of the numerical calculation and outputs the processed result of the numerical calculation to the computer  200 . 
     In detail, the display  18  is connected to the calculator unit  16 , the display  18  is configured for displaying the input information of the numerical keypad  14  and a result of the numerical calculation. 
     Because the keyboard  100  can be switched to the calculator mode, the computer  200  is capable of processing numeral calculations via the keyboard  100  directly, and is convenient for the users. 
     Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of what is claimed. Accordingly, the present disclosure should not be deemed to be limited to the above detailed description, but rather only by the claims that follow and the equivalents thereof.