Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-09
2003-11-04
Datskovsky, Michael (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S689000, C361S689000, C312S223100, C312S223600, C345S169000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06643124
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to computing devices. In particular, this invention relates portable computing devices, and to computer output display devices.
1. Baclground of the Invention
Personal computers have made huge strides in processor speed and static and dynamic memory costs in the last decade. Computer display technology however, while enjoying incremental improvements and a gradual decline in price, has not yet followed suit. Large high quality flat screen displays remain prohibitively expensive to manufacture because of residual manufacturing defect concentration and a simple mathematical relation which makes a mean number of expected defects per screen proportional to an area of that screen, meaning that a chance of manufacturing a defect-free display steadily declines with an area of that display. Large area CRT displays are less expensive, though still not having declined in cost in proportion to other computer resources, but are also bulky and occupy a volume which grows roughly as a cube of a linear display dimension. Large CRT displays are definitely not portable. Even high-end CRT displays leave something to be desired in ease of use and configuration, becoming essentially immovable appliances rather than an item of the physical desktop which can be arranged to suit the operator.
2. Summary of the Invention
In the description which follows, the term “computing device” shall mean any device capable of performing computations or logical operations on an instruction set at least partially by electronic means, while the word “portable” means capable of being carried by a man, including but not limited to devices intended for routine movement from place to place, and also devices intended for semi-permanent installation on a desktop or work surface, which may be moved from time to time. The term “input panel” is used herein to denote any generally flat device which enables a user to make inputs to a computing device, including but not limited to keyboards, keyboards equipped with “track balls”, touch sensitive screens and numeric entry pads. The term “portable computing devices” is used herein to designate generally laptop and “palm top” personal computers, “personal digital assistants”, and also special purpose portable electronics, including but not limited to surveying assistance devices and portable communications equipment at least partially embodying electronic logic or digital signal processing functions, including cellular telephones, and in particular cellular telephones with Internet access. The term “display panel” denotes herein any generally flat device for the transient representation of data, including LED and electroluminescent display screens. The term “output panel” as used in this disclosure is generally synonymous with a display panel, but may also include speakers or other output devices. Generically, both input panels and output panels found in a hinged or multiple leaved portable computing device are called “functional panels”. A single functional panel may serve as both an input and output panel in some applications. When it is advantageous to emphasize this dual functionality, a panel may be referred to as a “multi-function panel”. A multi-function panel may comprise two functions on a single face thereof, or show functionality on both an obverse and a reverse, that is, on both a front face and a rear face respectively. The “face” of a display panel will be understood to be a side showing primarily a display function, if not otherwise specified.
In a context of computer display devices, a “window” shall have a customary meaning in this application, namely a defined area of output generated by a given program or process, with a peripheral appearance and standardized behavior controlled by an operating system common to a set of such windows.
Pursuant to the present invention, a portable computing device is equipped with multiple functional panels, at least two of which have a display function. The display panels are hinged, jointed or otherwise disposed to rotate or slide with respect to one another in a transition from a compact, transportable, configuration to an expanded use configuration. Several significant advantages accrue from using multiple movable display panels as opposed to a single rigid panel of equivalent display area.
First of all, flat display pricing is not linear in surface area. Manufacturing defects are more likely to result in rejected display devices the larger a surface area of the device. If a particular manufacturing technology results in 50% of all display panels of area A being discarded at the factory, then a simple scaling of the identical manufacturing technique to panels of area
2
A is expected to result in rejection of 75% of the panels. Accordingly, all other cost factors being equal, productivity of the larger panels per pixel, that is, per display area, is half that of the smaller panels, and the cost of the larger panel is twice that of using two smaller displays.
Second, large displays may defeat the purpose of portability. Flat displays are rigid and a large single panel display places a lower limit on dimensions of the portable device. A multiple display device of equivalent total display area may be folded into a more nearly cubical shape with smaller maximum dimension than a single display device. A multiple display device with foldable or otherwise disposable display panels may also be adapted to a limited available space for use by a selective deployment of the display panels as needed or as possible.
Third, multiple display panels of a total effective surface area equivalent to that of a large single panel generally present information more effectively and attractively than a single display. A window of ⅓ the total area of a single display has linear dimensions 0.577 of those of the parent display. There is no way to tile three such windows of the same aspect ratio as a parent screen on the parent, and centering a single such window leaves a border of less than ¼ of the original screen dimensions, which is difficult to effectively use for the display of information. Information on a single screen is also more difficult to visually differentiate than when presented on multiple adjacent displays and results more quickly in eye fatigue when repeatedly shifting attention between windows, as the eye may lack sufficient cues to enable an effortless shifting of attention.
Fourth, a single flat display panel necessarily involves a greater variation in angle of gaze relative to a surface normal of the panel compared to a multiple panel display, which may be angled inward towards the viewer or user in a “wrap-around” configuration.
Fifth, multiple displays allow an adaptation of display type to intended function, with a consequent cost reduction. A multiple display device may provide a single high-resolution color display panel for viewing of digital images and one or more less expensive monochromatic displays for data and word processing. Lower resolution may also be comfortably accepted in a display intended only to present legible alphanumeric characters rather than color or gray scale images. A text-only screen may also take advantage of simplified and hence faster video drivers. In general, an economic principle of division of labor is tapped by adapting device capabilities to function rather than providing a sufficient amount of a highest priced and most versatile resource to cover all required functions.
In summary, when presenting multiple blocks or windows of information multiple display screens or panels are often less expensive, more transportable, and more readable than a single display screen of equivalent area. A single display is preferred on the other hand when a large image is required to be displayed contiguously.
In a portable computing device according to the present invention, a multiplicity of flat display panels are movably joined to an input panel to form a collapsible multiple screen device. In a basic embodiment three screens take a form of a tript
Coleman Henry D.
Datskovsky Michael
Sapone William J.
Sudol R. Neil
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