Patent Publication Number: US-2016239110-A1

Title: Method for automatically transferring control right of mouse between personal computer and handheld computer

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The invention relates to combination of a personal computer and a handheld computer, particularly to cursor control between a personal computer and a handheld computer. 
     2. Related Art 
     Handheld computers, such as smartphones and tablets, have become an essential for most modern people. Many users of handheld computers like to connect their handheld computers to a personal computer (for example, a desktop or laptop computer) to serve as a second computer. Usually, a personal computer must be equipped with a mouse and a keyboard as input devices. Although most handheld computers are provided with a touchscreen, a mouse and keyboard are still much more convenient then a touchscreen in operation. When a user wants to use a mouse of a personal computer to operate his or her handheld computer connected to the personal computer, the user must proceed with a series of manual operations to transfer a control right of the mouse to the handheld computer so as to transfer a cursor of the mouse to the handheld computer. When the user wants to transfer the cursor from the handheld computer back to the personal computer, he or she must proceed a series of manual operations again. In other words, the cursor and the control right of the mouse cannot be automatically transferred between the handheld computer and the personal computer. The user cannot directly and automatically transfer the cursor of the mouse between the personal computer and the handheld computer without such a series of manual operations. This is not very easy for general users. However, there is no solution in the market yet. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to provide a method for automatically transferring control right of mouse between personal computer and handheld computer, which can automatically transfer a control right and a cursor of a mouse between a personal computer and a handheld computer without any manual operation. 
     To accomplish the above object, the method of the invention includes the steps of: a) displaying a cursor of the mouse on a screen of the personal computer; b) operatably connecting the handheld computer to the personal computer; c) creating an edge bar on an edge of a screen of the handheld computer; d) the handheld computer monitoring an event of the personal computer; e) transferring the control right of the mouse from the personal computer to the handheld computer and transferring the cursor from the screen of the personal computer to the screen of the handheld computer when the cursor exceeds an edge of the screen of the personal computer; and f) transferring the control right of the mouse from the handheld computer to the personal computer and transferring the cursor from the screen of the handheld computer to the screen of the personal computer when the cursor touches the edge bar of the screen of the handheld computer. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of connection of a handheld computer and a personal computer; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of the invention; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are schematic views showing transfer of the cursor between the handheld computer and the personal computer according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 . A personal computer  1 , which may be a desktop computer or a laptop computer, is equipped with a mouse  21 , a keyboard  22  and a monitor  14 . The mouse  21  and keyboard  22  are separately connected to the personal computer  1  through two USB (universal serial bus) ports  11 ,  12 . A handheld computer  3 , such as a smartphone or a tablet computer, is connected to the personal computer  1  through another USB port  13 . Of course, the handheld computer  3  has a touchscreen  31 . When the invention is adopted, the mouse  21  can be automatically transferred to either operate the personal computer  1  or the handheld computer  3  without any manual operation. In other words, the control right of the mouse  21  will be automatically transferred between the personal computer  1  and the handheld computer  3 . 
     The method of the invention is performed by a software application installed in the handheld computer  3 . So far, the software application only applies to the handheld computer  3  with the ANDROID operating system. However, it will be possible that the invention can be applied to handheld computers with operating systems other than ANDROID in the future. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 , which shows a flowchart of the invention. First, in step S 1 , a cursor  141  of the mouse  21  is displayed on a screen of the monitor  14  of the personal computer  1  as shown in  FIG. 1 . In step S 2 . the handheld computer  3  is operatably connected to the personal computer  1  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Such a connection may be implemented by USB. In step S 3 , an edge bar  311  is created on an edge of a screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3 . The step S 3  is implemented by the “WindowManager.LayoutParams” function of the ANDROID Software Development Kit (SDK). The edge bar  311  may be visible or invisible and may be located at the right, left, top or bottom edge of the touchscreen  31 . Usually, left and right edges are preferred because they correspond with operational instinct under a normal arrangement of the handheld computer  3  being on the left or right side of the personal computer  1 . For example,  FIG. 3  shows the edge bar  311  on the left edge of the screen of the handheld computer  3  which is located on the right side of the personal computer  1 . The edge bar  311  is a bold line created by the software application and shown on the screen but not a tangible matter. Preferably, the length of the edge bar  311  is equal to that of the side of the touchscreen  31  on which the edge bar  311  resides. 
     In step S 4 , the handheld computer  3  monitors an event of the personal computer  3 . The step S 4  may be performed by the handheld computer  3  calls the Broadcast Receiver function of the ANDROID SDK. The personal computer  1  will inform the handheld computer  3  through the ADK (Accessory Development Kit) once the cursor  141  exceeds one or more edges of the screen of the monitor  14 . In step S 5 , the control right of the mouse  21  is transferred from the personal computer  1  to the handheld computer  3  and the cursor  141  is transferred from the screen of the monitor  14  of the personal computer  1  to the screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3  when the cursor  141  is moved to exceed an edge of the screen of the monitor  1  of the personal computer  1 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the cursor  141   a  is shown on the screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3 . In other words, the cursor  141   a  can be used to operate the handheld computer  3 . In step S 6 , the control right of the mouse  21  is transferred from the handheld computer  3  to the personal computer  1  and the cursor  141   a  is transferred from the screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3  to the screen of the monitor  14  of the personal computer  1  when the cursor  141   a  is moved to touch the edge bar  311  of the screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3 . After that, the cursor  141   a  will jump to the screen of the monitor of the personal computer  1 . In detail, when the cursor  141   a  touched the edge bar  311 , this event will be detected by the View.OnClickListener function, and the handheld computer  3  will inform the personal computer  1  through the Manage mechanism of the ADK. 
     Alternatively, a new step S 5   a  may be added. As shown in  FIG. 5 , steps S 1 -S 5  are the same as mentioned above and step S 6   a  is substantially the same as step S 6 . Step S 5   a  is added between step S 5  and S 6   a.  In step S 5   a,  the handheld computer  3  informs the personal computer  1  to be ready for accepting the control right of the mouse  21  when the cursor  141   a  touches the edge bar  311  of the screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3 . Finally in step S 6   a,  the control right of the mouse  21  is transferred from the handheld computer  3  to the personal computer  1  and the cursor  141   a  is transferred from the screen of the touchscreen  31  of the handheld computer  3  to the screen of the monitor  14  of the personal computer  1  after the step S 5   a.  After that, the cursor  141   a  will jump to the screen of the monitor of the personal computer  1 . 
     It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.