Patent Publication Number: US-2012034953-A1

Title: Wireless handset having combined multiple displays

Description:
FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a wireless handset having multiple displays. More particularly, the invention relates to a wireless handset with multiple displays that which form a combined display when a second component is deployed relative to a base component. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Wireless handsets typically require displays having a small footprint to promote the portability of the device. However, the small display size limits the utility of the handset. While many handsets now provide access to the Internet and allow viewing of images and videos, the small screen size may inhibit use of these features. 
     A wireless handset having multiple displays that are simultaneously viewable would allow content requiring a large display to be viewed on a compact device. Wireless handsets having multiple displays are typically configured such that the displays are not simultaneously viewable. For example, a mobile phone having a clamshell configuration may have a first display visible only when the phone is closed and a second display visible only when the phone is opened. Existing wireless handsets having simultaneously viewable multiple displays have multiple display panels coupled to a base component. Thus, it is thus desirable to have wireless handset comprising a display on a base component and a display on a second component coupled to the base component that would be more economical and compact than a wireless handset with multiple display panels coupled to a base component. 
     SUMMARY 
     A wireless handset having combined multiple displays is described. The wireless handset comprises a base component and a sliding panel slidably coupled to the base component. A first display is located on the base component and a second display is located on the sliding panel. When the sliding panel is extended, the first display is located adjacent to the second display. 
     In one embodiment, the first display and the second display are configured to show two parts of the same content. In another embodiment, the first display and the second display are configured to show different content. In yet another embodiment, a user interface is configured to toggle between a first mode, in which the first display and the second display show different parts of the same content, and a second mode, in which the first display and the second display show different content. 
     In another embodiment, the wireless handset comprises a base component and a second component movably coupled to the base component and a means for positioning the first display adjacent to the second display. The first display is located on the base component and a second display is located on the second component. 
     A method for simultaneous viewing of multiple displays on a wireless handset is also described. The method comprises moving a sliding panel having a second display relative to a base component having a first display such that the first display is located adjacent to the second display. In a first mode, two parts of the same content are presented on the first display and the second display. In a second mode, different content on the first display and the second display is presented. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings which are for illustrative, not limiting, purposes. 
         FIG. 1  shows a side view of an illustrative wireless handset having a keypad interface. 
         FIGS. 2A-2B  show front views of an illustrative wireless handset having keypad interfaces. 
         FIG. 3  shows a side view of an illustrative wireless handset having a touch screen interface. 
         FIG. 4  shows a front view of an illustrative wireless handset having a touch screen interface. 
         FIG. 5  shows an illustrative communication system. 
         FIG. 6A  shows an illustrative wireless handset showing two parts of the same content on a first display and a second display. 
         FIG. 6B  shows an illustrative wireless handset showing different content on the first display and the second display. 
         FIG. 6C  shows an illustrative wireless handset showing text on the first display and the second display. 
         FIGS. 7A-7C  show illustrative wireless handsets in a second display mode associated with a second orientation of the wireless handset. 
         FIG. 8  shows an illustrative flowchart of the method for changing the orientation of the display in response to a change in the orientation of the handset. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Persons of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative and not in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the claimed subject matter will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. It shall be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the wireless handset, systems, and methods described hereinafter may vary as to configuration and as to details. 
     A wireless handset having a combined internal and external display is described. A first display is located on a base component of the wireless handset. A second component having a second display is coupled to the base component. When the second component is deployed, the first display is located adjacent to second display, such that both displays are simultaneously visible. 
     In an illustrative embodiment, the second component is slidably coupled to the base component, in which case the second component is referred to as a sliding panel. It will be recognized that other coupling means may be used to movably couple the second component to the base component. For example, the second component may be coupled to the base component with a hinge. The hinge may be located at the top of the device, such that the second panel is opened by flipping it upward. Alternatively, the hinge may be located at the left or right side of the device so that the second panel is opened by flipping it to the left or to the right, respectively, relative to the base component. In an embodiment having a hinge coupling, the second display is located on the interior face of the second panel, such that it is visible when the second panel is flipped to the open position. The second panel may additionally have a third display visible when the second panel is closed. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a side view of an illustrative wireless handset  100  having a keypad interface and a base component slidably coupled to a sliding panel is shown. Base component  102  has recessed area  104  to receive sliding panel  106 . The sliding panel  106  is extended until the sliding panel is fully deployed, as illustrated by the sliding panel shown in a dotted outline at  110 . 
     In the illustrative embodiment, a first display  120  is disposed on the base component  102 . A second display  122  is housed by the sliding panel  106 . 
     The slidable coupling may be a track system in which rails coupled to the posterior face of the sliding panel slide along grooves in the anterior face of the base component. In an embodiment in which the lower edge  108  of sliding panel  106  couples to upper edge  112  of base component  102 , as shown at  110 , lower edge  108  may be coupled to upper edge  112  by a spring-loaded mechanism with posts that extend into the sliding panel when the sliding panel is fully deployed. It will be recognized that other fastening means may be used to secure the sliding panel to the base panel when the sliding panel is fully deployed. 
     In  FIG. 1 , the sliding panel is shown sliding vertically relative to the base component. In an alternative embodiment, the sliding panel slides horizontally relative to the base component. The sliding coupling may be configured to allow the sliding panel to slide to the left of the base component or to allow the sliding panel to slide to the right of the base component. Alternatively, the sliding coupling may be configured to allow the sliding panel to slide to the right and to the left of the base component. In some embodiments, the coupling between the sliding component and the base component comprises both a sliding mechanism and a swivel mechanism. The swivel mechanism allows the sliding component to swivel clockwise and counterclockwise relative to the base component. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2A , a front view of an illustrative wireless handset  200  with sliding panel  202  fully deployed is shown. In  FIG. 2B , a top view of an illustrative wireless handset  250  with sliding panel  252  retracted is shown. Sliding panel  202  is slidably coupled to base component  204 . A first display  210  is located on the base component  204 . A second display  212  is located on the sliding panel. When the sliding panel is fully deployed, as shown in  FIG. 2A , the first display  210  is adjacent to the second display  212 . In this manner, a large display comprised of the first display  210  and the second display  212  is formed. 
     The first display  210  and the second display  212  may share the same display area and show two parts of the same content. Additionally, the first display  210  and the second display  212  may be associated with different display areas so that the first display and configured to show two parts of the same content. Furthermore, a user interface is configured to toggle between a first mode, in which the first display and the second display show different parts of the same content, and a second mode, in which the first display and the second display show different content. 
     The illustrative wireless handset  200  is shown with a user interface comprising a keypad  214 . The keypad user interface may be, for example, an alphanumeric or QWERTY keypad, and may comprise additional function keys. The user interface may further comprise a touch screen display. In some embodiments, first display  210 , second display  212 , or both of the first and second displays are touch screen interfaces. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2B , illustrative wireless handset  200  has base component  204  and sliding component  202 . Sliding panel  202  is shown partially retracted. In some embodiments, the top of the sliding panel will be flush with the top of the base component when the sliding panel is fully retracted. The sliding panel may be locked into place when fully retracted. The first display is behind sliding panel  202  and is no longer visible to the user of the wireless handset. When sliding panel  202  is fully retracted, the first display (not visible) is disabled and second display  212  remains enabled as the main display for the handset. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a side view of an illustrative wireless handset  300  having a touch screen interface is shown. Base component  302  has recessed area  304  to receive sliding panel  306 . The sliding panel  306  is extended until the sliding panel is fully deployed, as illustrated by the sliding panel shown in a dotted outline at  310 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a front view of an illustrative wireless handset  400  having a touch screen interface is shown. A first display  410  is located on the base component  404 . A second display  412  is located on the sliding panel  402 . Sliding panel  402  is shown partially deployed. When the sliding panel is fully deployed, as indicated at  310 , the first display is adjacent to the second display. In this manner, a large display comprised of the first display and the second display is formed. The first display  410  and the second display  412  may have the same display area. Alternatively, the first display and the second display may have different display areas. A virtual keypad may be displayed on the first display  410  when the sliding panel is fully deployed. Illustrative wireless handset  400  has a user interface comprising a touch screen display. First display  410 , second display  412 , or both of the first and second displays may be touch screen interfaces. 
     In some embodiments, the top of sliding panel  402  will be flush with the top of base component  404  when the sliding panel is fully retracted. The sliding panel may be locked into place when fully retracted. When the sliding panel is fully retracted, first display  410  is located behind sliding panel  412  and is no longer visible to the user of the wireless handset. The first display is disabled and the second display remains enabled as the main display for the handset. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a plurality of components associated with an illustrative wireless handset. The illustrative wireless handset  500  comprises a first antenna element  502  that is operatively coupled to a duplexer  504 , which is operatively coupled to a transmitter module  506 , and a receiver module  508 . 
     An illustrative control module  510  comprises a digital signal processor (DSP)  512 , a processor  514 , and a CODEC  516  that are communicatively coupled to the transmitter  506  and receiver  508 . It shall be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the transmitter module and receiver module are typically paired and may be embodied as a transceiver. The DSP  512  may be configured to perform a variety of operations such as controlling the antenna  502 , the transmitter module  506 , and the receiver module  508 . 
     The processor  514  is operatively coupled to a keypad  518 , memory  520 , first display  522  and second display  524 . In some embodiments, the processor is operatively coupled to a touch screen interface  526 . The processor may also be operatively coupled to an accelerometer  530 . Additionally the processor  514  is operatively coupled to a CODEC module  516  that performs the encoding and decoding operations and is communicatively coupled to microphone  532  and a speaker or ringer  534 . The CODEC module  516  is also communicatively coupled to the first display  522  and the second display  524  and provides the encoding and decoding operations for video. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6A , an illustrative wireless handset  600  showing two parts of the same content on a first display and a second display is shown. Content shown on the first display and the second display includes images, text, and video. In  FIG. 6A , a single image is shown on first display  602  and second display  604 . The lower half of the image appears on the first display and the top half of the image appears on the second display. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6B , an illustrative wireless handset  630  showing different content on a first display and a second display is shown. An image is shown on second display  634  and explanatory text for the image is shown on first display  632 . The content shown on the first display may or may not relate to the content shown on the second display. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6C , an illustrative handset  660  showing text on a first display and a second display is shown. A first portion of the text is shown on second display  664  and a second portion of the text, continuing from the first portion of the text, is shown on first display  662 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , illustrative wireless handsets in a second display mode associated with a second orientation of the wireless handset are shown. In  FIG. 6A , illustrative wireless handset  600  is shown in a first orientation in which the first display  602  and the second display  604  are aligned vertically. In  FIG. 7A , the wireless handset  700  has been rotated to a second orientation in which the first display  702  and the second display  704  are aligned horizontally. In  FIG. 6A , the content is shown on the first display and the second display in a first mode, which may be referred to as “portrait” mode. In  FIG. 7A , the content is shown in a second mode, which may be referred to as “landscape” mode. 
     The orientation of the wireless handset is detected by an accelerometer  530 . The accelerometer senses non-gravitational acceleration imparted to the device in one or more axes. The change in the position of the wireless handset may be derived from the acceleration signal produced by the accelerometer. The accelerometer comprises a sensing element that is used to determine the acceleration to which the wireless handset is exposed. The sensing element may utilize, by way of example, capacitive, piezoelectric, piezoresistive, or MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical System) technology. It will be recognized that other technologies may be utilized to provide data regarding changes in the position of the handset to the processor. 
     When the phone is rotated from a first orientation to a second orientation, the accelerometer  530  senses the change in orientation. The processor  514  receives the accelerometer signal and determines whether the change in orientation requires a change in display mode. For example, if the rotation of the handset results in an orientation in which the first display and the second display, which were previously aligned vertically, are subsequently aligned horizontally, the processor may determine that a change from a first display mode to a second display mode is required. 
     The processor  514  may adjust the size of the displayed content to fit on the combined display in the second mode. The processor may preserve the aspect ratio of the image when the image size is increased or decreased. In one embodiment, the processor may apply letterbox formatting to the content, as shown in  FIG. 7A . Letterbox formatting involves resizing the content to fit a different format, preserving the aspect ratio of the content, and placing mattes  706  and  708 , which may be black bars, in the space left unoccupied on the display surrounding the downsized content. 
     In  FIG. 6B , illustrative wireless handset  630  is shown in a first orientation in which the first display  632  and the second display  634  are aligned vertically. In  FIG. 7B , the wireless handset  700  has been rotated to a second orientation in which the first display  732  and the second display  734  are aligned horizontally. In  FIG. 6B , different content is shown on the first display and the second display. In  FIG. 7B , the content of first display  632  is shown rotated on first display  732  and the content shown on second display  634  is shown rotated on second display  734 . 
     In  FIG. 6C , illustrative wireless handset  660  is shown in a first orientation in which the first display  632  and the second display  634  are aligned vertically. In  FIG. 7C , the wireless handset  760  has been rotated to a second orientation in which the first display  762  and the second display  764  are aligned horizontally. In  FIG. 6C , text is shown on the first display and the second display. In  FIG. 7C , the text is shown wrapping horizontally across first display  732  and second display  734 . Documents, websites, and other content having text may be displayed with text wrapping adjusted according to the orientation of the handset. 
     In some embodiments, the display mode will be prevented from changing when the orientation of the wireless handset changes. For example, when the first display and the second display show the same content, as illustrated in  FIG. 6A , the processor  514  may be configured to prevent a change to a second display mode. In accordance with the example, when the handset is rotated as shown in  FIG. 7A , the display remains unchanged from the display mode shown in  FIG. 6A . The processor may be configured to allow a change to the second display mode shown in  FIG. 7B  when the first display and the second display show different content as shown in  FIG. 6B . The processor may also be configured to allow a change to the second display mode shown in  FIG. 7C  when the first display and the second display show text as shown in  FIG. 6C . 
     In another illustrative embodiment, the user may lock the display mode. For example, keypad  214  may comprise a key allowing the user to access a lock function. Alternatively, a specialized button or other physical interface device may be provided on the handset to allow the user to lock the display mode. In a wireless handset having a touch screen interface, the touch screen may display an icon or menu option corresponding to a lock function. The lock function allows the user to lock and unlock the display. When the display is locked, the processor  514  is configured to prevent a change in the display mode when the user rotates or otherwise changes the orientation of the handset. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , an illustrative flowchart of the method for changing the orientation of the display in response to a change in the orientation of the handset is shown. The method begins at decision diamond  802 , in which processor  514  determines whether sliding panel  202  of the wireless handset is deployed. If the sliding panel is deployed, as shown in  FIG. 2A , the method proceeds to decision diamond  804 , in which the processor interprets input received from accelerometer  530  to determine whether a change in the orientation of the wireless handset has occurred. If a change in orientation has occurred, such as the change in orientation that occurs between  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 7A , the method proceeds to decision diamond  806 , in which the processor determines whether the same content is shown on the first display and the second display, as illustrated in  FIG. 6A . If the same content is not shown on the first display and the second display, then the first display and the second display show different content, as illustrated in  FIG. 6B , and the method proceeds to block  808 . At block  808 , the content on the first display and the content on the second display is rotated to a second display mode, as illustrated in  FIG. 7B . If the same content is shown on the first display and the second display, the method proceeds to decision diamond  810 , in which the processor determines whether, in the new wireless handset orientation, the displays are aligned horizontally, as illustrated in  FIG. 7A . If the displays are aligned horizontally, the method proceeds to block  812 , in which the processor displays the content in landscape mode. If the displays are aligned vertically, as illustrated in  FIG. 6A , the method proceeds to block  814 , in which the processor displays the content in portrait mode. 
     A wireless handset having multiple displays which may be positioned adjacent to each other to form a combined display has been described above. A first display is located on a base component and a second display is located on a second component movably coupled to the base component. When the second component is retracted, only the second display is visible. The first display and the second display are simultaneously visible and form a combined display when the second component is deployed. 
     It is to be understood that the detailed description of illustrative embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes. The scope of the claims is not limited to these specific embodiments or examples. Therefore, various process limitations, elements, details, and uses can differ from those just described, or be expanded on or implemented using technologies not yet commercially viable, and yet still be within the inventive concepts of the present disclosure. The scope of the invention is determined by the following claims and their legal equivalents.