U.S. patent application number 13/117087 was filed with the patent office on 2011-12-01 for apparatus and method for right/left hand orientation of a dual panel electronic device.
This patent application is currently assigned to KNO, INC.. Invention is credited to Babur Habib, Bradley S. Hochberg, Osman Rashid, Kyrie Robinson, Shailesh Silwant, David M. Straus, Ann Sydeman.
Application Number | 20110291969 13/117087 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45021681 |
Filed Date | 2011-12-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110291969 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rashid; Osman ; et
al. |
December 1, 2011 |
Apparatus and Method for Right/Left Hand Orientation of a Dual
Panel Electronic Device
Abstract
An electronic device includes a processor, a first touch screen
displaying a page for reading and a second touch screen displaying
a pad for writing. An object transition module is executed by the
processor. The object transition module includes executable
instructions to detect a rotational input applied to the pad. The
pad is rotated in accordance with the rotational input, while the
original orientation of the page is maintained.
Inventors: |
Rashid; Osman; (Fremont,
CA) ; Habib; Babur; (San Francisco, CA) ;
Straus; David M.; (Los Altos, CA) ; Sydeman; Ann;
(Woodside, CA) ; Robinson; Kyrie; (Palo Alto,
CA) ; Silwant; Shailesh; (Milpitas, CA) ;
Hochberg; Bradley S.; (San Jose, CA) |
Assignee: |
KNO, INC.
Santa Clara
CA
|
Family ID: |
45021681 |
Appl. No.: |
13/117087 |
Filed: |
May 26, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61396789 |
Jun 1, 2010 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
345/173 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/1616 20130101;
G06F 3/0488 20130101; G06F 1/1643 20130101; G06F 3/04883 20130101;
G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 3/0483 20130101; G06F 3/04842 20130101;
G06F 1/1647 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
345/173 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/041 20060101
G06F003/041 |
Claims
1. An electronic device, comprising: a processor; a first touch
screen displaying a page for reading; a second touch screen
displaying a pad for writing; and on object transition module
executed by the processor, the object transition module including
executable instructions to: detect a rotational input applied to
the pad, rotate the pad in accordance with the rotational input,
and maintain the orientation of the page.
2. The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising executable
instructions to accept input that modifies the pad to form modified
pad content.
3. The electronic device of claim 2 further comprising executable
instructions to store the modified pad content.
4. The electronic device of claim 1 wherein the rotational input is
a touch gesture formed with a multiple finger rotation.
5. The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a handedness
setting specifying a degree of rotation.
6. The electronic device of claim 5 further comprising executable
instructions to rotate the pad in accordance with the degree of
rotation.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application 61/396,789 filed Jun. 1, 2010, entitled "Electronic
Device for Education", the contents of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to generally to electronic devices.
More particularly, the invention relates to a dual panel electronic
device configurable for right/left handed writing in one panel and
constant orientation reading in a second panel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The use of electronic devices for both reading and writing
has become increasingly popular. Electronic devices with dual
displays are known. When such a device is used as a reader, the
screen is typically positioned vertically for comfort and ease of
use. When the same electronic device is used for writing, however,
the most comfortable position may not be vertical. For example,
when writing on paper, a writer commonly places the paper at an
angle. For a single display device this may not pose a problem
since the entire device can be rotated to the most comfortable
position. However, for a dual display device, it is less convenient
to rotate the entire device for several reasons. First, the larger
size of the device may make it uncomfortable to use in a rotated
position. In addition, it is possible that one screen of the
display may be utilized for reading at the same time that the other
screen is utilized for writing. In this situation, it would be
desirable to keep the screen utilized for reading in a vertical
orientation, while the screen utilized for writing is at an angle.
Another complication is that user preference, included handedness,
will determine the desirable rotation for writing.
[0004] Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dual panel
electronic device that addresses the foregoing issues.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] An electronic device includes a processor, a first touch
screen displaying a page for reading and a second touch screen
displaying a pad for writing. An object transition module is
executed by the processor. The object transition module includes
executable instructions to detect a rotational input applied to the
pad. The pad is rotated in accordance with the rotational input,
while the original orientation of the page is maintained.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0006] The invention is more fully appreciated in connection with
the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a view of an electronic device with a dual
display.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a view of a dual display electronic device
configured for right-handed writing.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a view of a dual display electronic device
configured for left-handed writing.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a view of a dual display electronic device
responsive to a twist gesture to orient a page for writing.
[0011] FIG. 5 is an electronic device configured in accordance with
an embodiment of the invention.
[0012] Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts
throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device 100 with a first
touch screen 102 and a second touch screen 104. The screens are
attached by at least one hinge 106. In this example, the first
touch screen 102 displays a page 108 for reading, while the second
touch screen 104 displays a notepad or pad 110 that can accept
input from a stylus, finger pen or the like.
[0014] In the default orientation of the device in FIG. 1, writing
on notepad 110 can be uncomfortable. If the entire device shown in
FIG. 1 is rotated to a position comfortable for writing, it may no
longer be comfortable to read page 108.
[0015] To allow for both comfortable reading of the page 108 on
screen 102 and writing on pad 110 of screen 104, the pad 110 can be
rotated independent of the device. For example, for a right-handed
user, the most comfortable position may be the page 110 rotated 15
degrees counter clockwise, as shown in FIG. 2. For a left-handed
user, the most comfortable position may be the pad 110 rotated 15
degrees clockwise, as shown in FIG. 3. Observe in FIG. 3 that the
pad 110 is on the first screen 102 for the convenience of the
left-handed user. A user setting for handedness on the device can
make the appropriate rotated position the default for writing
applications. Similarly, a user setting may establish whether the
pad 110 appears on the first screen 102 or the second screen
104.
[0016] In one embodiment of the invention, the amount of rotation
of the page of an application that accepts input from a stylus,
finger, pen or the like can be controlled by a gesture, such as a
twisting motion shown in FIG. 4. In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates
a hand 400 making a counter-clockwise gesture, as shown with arrow
402. The page 108 rotates with the twisting gesture. The amount of
the twist corresponds to the amount of rotation of the page. A
release of the twist gesture leaves the page at the rotated
position. When using a gesture to return to a default position, a
tolerance can be used such that releasing the twist gesture within
the tolerance of the default position returns the page to the
default position. Other gestures besides the twist gesture can be
used to rotate the page. Consequently, the invention is not limited
to any particular gesture. In addition, the amount of rotation can
be controlled through a manual input such as through a menu
control, system setting or other touch or non-touch input.
[0017] Once the pad has been rotated, the user can comfortably
modify and store the modified version of the pad. For example, a
user could use a stylus or other device to write notes on the pad
108. The annotated pad could then be saved for reading at a later
time.
[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates an electronic device 500 configured in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The electronic
device 500 includes a processor 510 connected to a set of
input/output devices 512 via a bus 514. The input/output devices
512 include at least two touch screens. In addition, the
input/output devices 512 may include a keyboard, mouse, speaker,
printer and the like. A network interface circuit 516 is also
connected to the bus 514 so that the electronic device 500 may
operate in a networked environment. A memory 520 is also connected
to the bus. The memory 520 includes executable instructions to
implement operations of the invention. For example, an object
transition module 522 includes executable instructions to implement
operations described throughout this specification and accompanying
figures.
[0019] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer
storage product with a computer readable storage medium having
computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented
operations. The media and computer code may be those specially
designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention,
or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having
skill in the computer software arts. Examples of non-transitory
computer-readable media include: magnetic media such as hard disks,
floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs,
DVDs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media; and hardware
devices that are specially configured to store and execute program
code, such as application-specific integrated circuits ("ASICs"),
programmable logic devices ("PLDs") and ROM and RAM devices.
Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by
a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are
executed by a computer using an interpreter. For example, an
embodiment of the invention may be implemented using JAVA.RTM.,
C++, or other object-oriented programming language and development
tools. Another embodiment of the invention may be implemented in
hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combination with,
machine-executable software instructions.
[0020] The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used
specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the
invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art
that specific details are not required in order to practice the
invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments
of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and
description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
invention to the precise forms disclosed; obviously, many
modifications and variations are possible in view of the above
teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to
best explain the principles of the invention and its practical
applications, they thereby enable others skilled in the art to best
utilize the invention and various embodiments with various
modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It
is intended that the following claims and their equivalents define
the scope of the invention.
* * * * *