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Method and apparatus for automatic power-up and power

1. 12B illustrate the cover hinge embodiment of the present invention In this embodiment slot 350 can receive a stylus shaped device 80 that is also connected to a cover and thereby acts as a hinge for the cover FIG 11 illustrates a perspective view ofthe system 100d The slot 350 is open in this embodiment see also FIG 13 and FIG 14 and more closely resembles a rail thereby allowing the cover 550 to extend outside the rail 350 and rotate about the axis of the rail 350 When the cover rotates clockwise 570 the hinge 80 also rotates and the cover 550 is rotated away from display 105 so that the user can use the computer Alternatively when the cover 550 rotates counter clockwise 560 the hinge 80 also rotates and the cover 550 is rotated such that it is laid over display 105 to protect the facing surface of computer 100 when the user is done working on the computer The cover 550 can be made of leather or any soft protective surface material It is appreciated that a stylus can be inserted into a slot similar to rail 350 that runs along the left hand edge of system 100d Inthis embodiment the hinge 80 is not generally removed from the rail 350 very often but it is rather rotated Therefore in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention when the cover 550 is rotated counter clockwise such that it is laid over screen 105 computer 100d automatically enters a power down state Alternatively when cover 550 is rotated clockwise
2. 12 United States Patent Nicolas et al US007626582B1 US 7 626 582 B1 Dec 1 2009 10 Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 75 73 21 22 63 51 52 58 56 4 857 916 4 897 873 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC POWER UP AND POWER DOWN OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE Inventors Regis Nicolas Jacou FR Neal Osborn Milpitas CA US Assignee Palm Inc Sunnyvale CA US Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 210 days Appl No 11 385 984 Filed Mar 20 2006 Related U S Application Data Continuation of application No 11 125 543 filed on May 9 2005 now Pat No 7 046 237 which is a continuation of application No 09 522 274 filed on Mar 9 2000 now Pat No 6 924 791 Int Cl G09G 5 00 2006 01 US Cl een 345 204 345 173 345 179 Field of Classification Search 345 156 345 158 169 173 179 178 18 01 18 03 178 18 09 19 01 19 07 20 01 455 90 455 556 572 574 708 107 109 140 713 321 See application file for complete search history References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 8 1989 1 1990 9 1991 11 1991 5 1992 1 1993 1 1994 1 1996 12 1996 Bellin Beutler et al Dao et al Uchida 5i 345 173 Mischenko Matsuda Reiff et al Izutani 345 179 Tyneski et al A A 5 049 862 A 5 067 573 A 5 117 073 A 5 1
3. 235 ofthe portable computer 100 FIG 3 and FIG 6 According to this embodiment of the present invention when the stylus 80 is inserted into slot 350 all the way its presence becomes detected by detector 420 which generates a signal to switch 410 The switch 410 via control signal 390 controls the com ponents of FIG 5 except the RAM such that they are placed into a power conservation mode thereby causing computer system 100 to power down FIG 14 illustrates a three dimensional perspective view of the detector 420 located within the slot 350 of the casing 235 inone embodiment ofthe present invention In the example of FIG 14 the slot is cut open on one side the facing side to US 7 626 582 B1 9 expose part of the stylus or cover hinge but could alterna tively be completely cylindrical in shape Alternatively when the stylus 80 of FIG 7 is removed from slot 350 its absence is detected by detector 420 which gen erates a signal to switch 410 The switch 410 via control signal 390 controls the voltage source such that power to the components of FIG 5 is established thereby causing com puter system 100 to power up for use The user typically inserts the stylus 80 into slot 350 when he she is done using computer 100 and the user typically removes the stylus 80 from slot 350 when he she is ready to use computer 100 By using the location of stylus 80 as a tool for automatically powering up and powering down computer 100 the u
4. Sheet 5 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 4 US 7 626 582 B1 Sheet 6 of 17 Dec 1 2009 U S Patent g AYNDIA 801 10 901 SIJAA NNO Lf difi TORINO ld NT LMdNI TENIS WOsany OTN AN YHATH NITHIS NO qua FIAT AVTASIC euondg DAI 95104 MEJA uoy JIVAOLS VINO NYU NON WOSSTIONd 0l 01 10 0l c U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 7 of 17 c 305 PILOT x New Memo N Delete Memo D Bill Davidson to study impact of time management programs as implemented by employees Michelle Baker to report on expanding career markets in the Dallas Fort Worth area j16 9g FIGURE 6 US 7 626 582 B1 350 s 510 US 7 626 582 B1 Sheet 8 of 17 Dec 1 2009 U S Patent 00 FIGURE 7 U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 9 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 8 U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 10 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 10 COMPUTER IN POWER DOWN STATE POWER CONSERVATION MODE 620 POWER ON IRQ 625 ON OFF KEY PRESSED AUTOMATIC POWER UP OF COMPUTER SYSTEM 640 FIGURE 9A U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 11 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 COMPUTER IN POWER UP STATE 645 TIME OUT 650 ON OFF KEY PRESSED AUTOMATIC POWER DOWN OF COMPUTER SYSTEM 665 FIGURE 9B U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 12 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 10 US 7 626 582 B1 Sheet 13 of 17 Dec 1 2009 U S Patent LL Se
5. button for placing said processor and said display into said power conservation mode when said electronic device is pow ered on and wherein said button is also for powering on said processor and said display when said electronic device is in said power conservation mode 13 The electronic device of claim 10 wherein said detec tor comprises an electrical detector 14 The electronic device of claim 10 wherein said detec tor comprises an optical detector 15 The electronic device of claim 10 wherein said detec tor comprises a mechanical detector 16 The electronic device of claim 10 further comprising a battery wherein said battery is operable to selectively supply power to said processor and said display based on a mode of said switch 17 The electronic device of claim 10 further comprising a hinge for rotatably coupling said cover to said housing 18 The electronic device of claim 17 wherein said detec tor is physically coupled to said hinge 19 A method of controlling power to an electronic device said method comprising 5 0 20 25 30 35 14 detecting a position of a cover of said electronic device with respect to a display of said electronic device wherein said cover is operable to rotate with respect to said display ifsaid display is covered by said cover automatically plac ing said display into a power conservation mode and if said display is uncovered automatically placing said disp
6. crystal device cathode ray tube CRT field emission device FED also called flat panel CRT or other display device suitable for creating graphic images and alphanumeric char acters recognizable to the user In the preferred embodiment display 105 is a flat panel display Signal communication device 108 also coupled to bus 99 can be a serial port for communicating with the cradle 60 Device 108 can also include an infrared communication port Each of the devices shown in FIG 5 receives power from a battery device or other voltage source This power can be interrupted via a switch device In one embodiment the switch is controlled by power on off button 95 FIG 3 When the switch is in power off mode the devices of FIG 5 are disabled except for the RAM 102 which continues to receive power to maintain the volatile data When the switch is on power is restored to all of the devices of FIG 5 As described in more detail below in the present invention the switch can be controlled by the position of stylus 80 with respect to a receiving slot and or by the rotation of a cover hinge within the receiving slot FIG 6 is a front view of the palmtop computer system 100 with a menu bar 305 open displaying a pull down window having several selections that can be made by the user But 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 tons on screen 105 can be selected by the user directly tapping on the screen location of the
7. then state 640 is entered because the computer is currently in the power down state otherwise step 635 is entered At step 635 if the switch either 410 or 375 generates a mode signal over 20 25 30 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 line 390 indicating that the stylus 80 has been removed from slot 350 then state 640 is entered otherwise state 620 is entered At state 640 the computer 100 automatically is placed into the power up state where nominal power is supplied to con sumed by the devices of FIG 5 At step 645 of FIG 9B the computer remains in the power up state At step 650 of FIG 9B if a time out occurs within computer 100 then state 665 is entered otherwise state 655 is entered A time out occurs whenever no user activity is detected by computer 100 for a predetermined period oftime At step 655 ifthe on offkey 95 is pressed then state 665 is entered because the computer is currently in the power up state otherwise step 660 is entered At step 660 if the switch either 410 or 375 generates a mode signal over line 390 indicating that the stylus 80 has been re inserted into slot 350 then state 665 is entered otherwise state 645 is entered At state 665 of FIG 9B the computer 100 automatically is placed into the power down or power conservation state where all devices of FIG 5 except forthe RAM 102 device are placed into a power conservation mode State 620 FIG 9A is then entered again FIG 10 FIG
8. 626 582 B1 Page 2 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 924 791 B1 8 2005 Nicolas etal 345 179 7 046 237 B1 5 2006 Nicolas etal 345 179 5 900 875 A 5 1999 Haitani et al 7 124 300 B1 10 2006 Lemke 6 016 476 A 1 2000 Maes et al 6 100 538 A 8 2000 Ogawa 250 559 29 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 6 101 608 A 8 2000 Schmidt et al 6 160 540 A 12 2000 Fishkin et al Kornbluh et al Electroelastomers Applications of Dielectric 6 233 464 B1 5 2001 Chmaytelli 455 556 2 Elastomer Transducers for Actuation Generation and Smart Struc 6 243 074 Bl 6 2001 Fishkin et al tures Mar 4 8 2001 6 243 075 Bl 6 2001 Fishkin et al pdQ Basics Handbook http www qualcomm com 1999 6 246 577 Bl 6 2001 Han et al Qualcomm Incorporated San Diego CA pp 1 96 6 392 639 BI 5 2002 Leeetal 345 179 Sprint PCS User Guide 1999 Sprint Spectrum pp 1 119 6 411 283 BL 6 2002 Murphy StarTAC 3000 User Manual 6 434 403 Bl 8 2002 Ausems et al 6 618 806 Bl 9 2003 Brown et al cited by examiner US 7 626 582 B1 Sheet 1 of 17 Dec 1 2009 U S Patent den9l3 JISILNdU Wal WiL0dlNO dOLdYT WiL dN0 CIIHONVH U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 2 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 2A i c c U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 3 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 2B 100b U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 4 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 3 U S Patent Dec 1 2009
9. 79 502 A 5 278 993 A 5 483 262 A 5 584 054 A 5 615 259 A 3 1997 Gilbert 5 646 649 A 7 1997 Iwata et al 5 750 939 A 5 1998 Makinwa et al 5 756 941 A 5 1998 Snell 178 19 01 5 796 827 A 8 1998 Coppersmith et al 5 838 138 A 11 1998 Henty 5 845 161 A 12 1998 Schrock etal 396 313 5 889 888 A 3 1999 Marianetti II et al 5 894 580 A 4 1999 Yoshida Continued OTHER PUBLICATIONS Pelrine et al Dielectric Elastomers Generator Mode Fundamentals and Applications Mar 4 8 2001 Proceedings of SPIE vol 4329 Continued Primary Examiner Richard Hjerpe Assistant Examiner Mansour M Said 57 ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for automatic power up and power down of an electronic device is disclosed More specifically an electronic device may be automatically powered up in response to removal of a user interface object from a portion of a housing of the electronic device The electronic device may be placed in a power conservation mode when the user interface object is placed in the portion of the housing of the electronic device The electronic device may include a cover operable to cover a display device of the electronic device where the electronic device may be automatically powered up in response to uncovering the display device The elec tronic device may be placed in a power conservation mode when the display device is covered by the cover 27 Claims 17 Drawing Sheets US 7
10. TER SYSTEM BASED ON THE POSITIONS OF AN ASSOCIATED STYLUS AND OR HINGE by Regis Nico las and Neal Osborn BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of computer sys tems that utilize a digitizer and stylus More specifically the present invention relates to power on and power off mecha nisms for portable computer systems that utilize a digitizer and an associated stylus or that have a cover 2 Related Art As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size new categories of computer systems have emerged One of the new categories of computer sys tems is the palmtop computer system A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand ofa user and can therefore be palm sized Most palm top computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management PIM applications such as an address book a daily organizer and electronic notepads to namea few Palmtop computers with PIM software have been know as Personal Digital Assistants PDAs Data entry on a palmtop computer has been a challenge Since palmtop computer systems are very small full sized keyboards are generally not efficient input devices Palmtop computers using keyboards have keyboard devices that are so small that a user cannot touch type Furthermore to use a keyboard device a user must either place the palmtop com puter sys
11. a small bit of infor mation and then turned off the process of pressing the on off button twice can be a substantial amount ofthe user s task just to obtain or amend the desired information thereby rendering tedious the use of the computer Users always want easier ways and mechanisms to access information on the palmtop computer Any improvement that reduces the user s repetitive tasks in obtaining information and making useof a palmtop computer system is open to wide consumer acceptance Therefore it would be advantageous to make easier and less tedious the user s tasks in accessing information from a palmtop computer system SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly what is needed is an improvement that reduces the number of repetitive tasks required of a user in order to obtain information and make use of a palmtop com puter system What is needed is a method and system that reduces the repetitive tasks required in turning on and turning off the palmtop computer system The present invention pro vides these advantages and others not specifically mentioned above but described in the sections to follow A method and system are described for automatic power up and automatic power down ofa computer system based on the position and or rotation of an associated stylus and or hinge In one embodiment the computer system is a portable computer having a logic board a display screen a digitizer and a receiving slot for an associated stylus The
12. al position of hinge 80 as a tool for automatically powering up and powering down computer 100d the user does not have to press any on off button This embodiment of the present invention therefore reduces the number of repeti tive tasks the user has to perform in order to use computer 1004 It is appreciated that in an alternative to the cover hinge embodiment the hinge is located between two parts of the system 100 where the system 100 actually folds in half In this case the cover is actually the other half ofthe system 100 and not merely a protective layer or surface In this case when the device is opened and fully extended the hinge automatically 0 an 5 30 40 45 50 65 12 powers up the system 100 On the other hand when the hinge is rotated such that the device is fully retracted and folded the hinge automatically causes the system 100 to enter the power conservation mode The preferred embodiment of the present invention a method and system for automatically powering up and auto matically powering down a computer system based on the position and or rotation of an associated stylus is thus described While the present invention has been described in particular embodiments it should be appreciated that the present invention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments but rather construed according to the below claims What is claimed is 1 An electronic device comprising a process
13. are those requiring physical manipulations of US 7 626 582 B1 5 physical quantities Usually though not necessarily these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored transferred combined compared and otherwise manipulated in a computer system It has proven convenient at times principally for reasons of com mon usage to refer to these signals as bits values elements symbols characters terms numbers or the like It should be borne in mind however that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physi cal quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions it is appreciated that throughout the present invention discussions utilizing terms such as accessing processing or computing or trans lating or calculating or determining or scrolling or displaying or recognizing or the like refer to the action and processes of a computer system or similar electronic computing device that manipulates and transforms data rep resented as physical electronic quantities within the com puter system s registers and memories into other data simi larly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information stor age transmission or display devices Exemplary Pal
14. bus 99 for storing informa tion and instructions for the central processor 101 and a non volatile memory 103 e g read only memory ROM coupled with the bus 99 for storing static information and instructions for the processor 101 Computer system 110 also includes an optional data storage device 104 e g memory stick coupled with the bus 99 for storing information and instructions Device 104 can be removable As described above system 100 also contains a display device 105 coupled to the bus 99 for displaying information to the computer user PC board 225 can contain the processor 101 the bus 99 the ROM 103 and the RAM 102 Also included in computer system 110 of FIG 5 is an alphanumeric input device 106 which in one implementation is a handwriting recognition pad digitizer having regions 106a and 1065 FIG 2A for instance Device 106 can com municate information spatial data and pressure data and command selections to the central processor 101 System 110 also includes an optional cursor control or directing device 107 coupled to the bus for communicating user input infor mation and command selections to the central processor 101 In one implementation device 107 is a touch screen device incorporated with screen 105 Device 107 is capable of reg istering a position on the screen 105 where the stylus makes contact and the pressure of the contact The display device 105 utilized with the computer system 110 may be a liquid
15. button with stylus 80 Also shown are two regions of digitizer 106a and 1065 Region 106a is for receiving user stroke data and pressure data for alphabet characters and typically not numeric characters and region 1065 is for receiving user stroke data and pressure data for numeric data and typically not for alphabetic char acters Physical buttons 75 are also shown Although different regions are shown for alphabetic and numeric characters the present invention is also operable within a single region that recognizes both alphabetic and numeric characters Also shown in FIG 6 is the position of the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 It is appreciated that while the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 is depicted on the left of the computer 100 it can also be deployed on the right or along the top edge or along the bottom edge It is appreciated that in one embodiment the digitizer region 106a and 1065 is separate from the display screen 105 and therefore does not consume any display area Automatic Power on and Automatic Power Off Using the Position of a Stylus and or Cover Hinge In accordance with embodiments of the present invention the electronics of FIG 5 are selectively placed into various power modes in response to a switch circuit However in one embodiment the RAM 102 is dynamic RAM and is con stantly refreshed to maintain the volatile data regardless ofthe power mode of the remainder of computer 100 For instance in the
16. cordance with an embodiment of the present invention FIG 6 is a front view of a palm top computer system illustrating the display screen digitizer regions and an exem plary menu of a text display application FIG 7 is across section of a stylus receiving slot incorpo rated within the casing of the portable computer system of an embodiment of the present invention and having a single proximity detector element FIG 8 is across section of a stylus receiving slot incorpo rated within the casing of the portable computer system of an embodiment of the present invention and having a pair of proximity detector elements FIG 9A and FIG 9B are steps performed by an embodi ment of the present invention for automatically powering up and automatically powering down a computer system based on the position of a stylus FIG 10 illustrates a three dimensional view of a stylus receiving slot and a stylus for use in the hinge embodiment of the present invention FIG 11 illustrates a perspective view of the portable com puter system with the hinge embodiment of the present inven tion FIG 12A and FIG 12B are steps performed by an embodi ment of the present invention for automatically powering up and automatically powering down a computer system based on the rotation of a hinge FIG 13 illustrates a casing used in one embodiment of the present invention having a slot or rail for receiving a stylus or a cover hinge FIG 14 illustrates t
17. e display screen and the digitizer the case having a slot located therein for receiving a hinge attached to a protective cover a detector for detecting the rotational positions of the hinge within the slot a switch coupled to said detector and for generating a signal to automatically power up the processor the display screen and the digitizer when the hinge is rotated such that the cover is not laid over the display screen and wherein the switch is also for generating a signal to automati cally place the processor the display screen and the digitizer into a power conservation mode when the hinge is rotated such that the cover is laid over the display screen BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is system illustration of a palmtop or palm sized computer system connected to other computer systems and the Internet via a cradle device FIG 2A is a top side perspective view of a palmtop com puter system that can be used as a platform for the automatic power up and power down embodiments of the present invention FIG 2B is a bottom side perspective view of the palmtop computer system of FIG 2A a 5 40 55 65 4 FIG 3 is an exploded view of the components of the palm top computer system of FIG 2A FIG 4 is a perspective view of the cradle device for con necting the palmtop computer system to other systems via a communication interface FIG 5 is a logical block diagram of the palmtop computer system in ac
18. e 80 is rotated clockwise 445 about turn e g the cover is closed and laid over display 105 metal area 4405 contacts metal detector 4505 and metal area 440a contacts metal detector 450a Therefore there is an electrical connec tion between detectors 450a and 4508 In this configuration switch 375 then generates a power down mode signal because the cover is in the closed position e g laid over display 105 In this manner switch 375 is able to detect the rotational position of hinge 80 and therefore of cover 550 FIG 12A and FIG 12B illustrate the logical states of a power state machine 710 implemented in accordance with the cover and hinge embodiment of the present invention It is appreciated that the mode signal generated at line 390 is only one piece of information that is used to either power up or power down the computer 100d At state 745 the computer 100d is in the power down state e g the devices of FIG 5 except for the RAM 102 which continuously receives power are placed into a power conservation mode At step 625 if an interrupt is received by the computer 100 then state 765 is entered otherwise state 755 is entered At step 755 if the on off key 95 is pressed then state 765 is entered because the computer is currently in the power down state otherwise step 760 is entered At step 760 if the switch either 410 or 375 generates a mode signal over line 390 indicating that the hinge 80 has been rotated e g cloc
19. e midframe and the rear cover 245 of FIG 3 The receiver transmitter device 240 is coupled to the antenna 85 and also coupled to communicate with the PC board 225 In one implementation the Mobitex wireless communication system is used to provide two way communication between system 100 and other networked computers and or the Inter net via a proxy server In other embodiments TCP protocol can be used US 7 626 582 B1 7 FIG 4 is a perspective illustration of one embodiment of the cradle 60 for receiving the palmtop computer system 100 Cradle 60 contains a mechanical and electrical interface 260 for interfacing with serial connection 108 FIG 2B of com puter system 100 when system 100 is slid into the cradle 60 in an upright position Once inserted button 270 can be pressed to initiate two way communication between system 100 and other computer systems coupled to serial communication 265 FIG 5 illustrates circuitry of computer system 100 some of which can be implemented on PC board 225 The computer system 100 can be used to perform character recognition processes and authentication of the present invention e g processes 600 and 640 FIG 13A and FIG 13B and process 650 FIG 14 Computer system 100 includes an address data bus 99 for communicating information a central processor 101 coupled with the bus 99 for processing information and instructions a volatile memory 102 e g random access memory RAM coupled with the
20. full power or power up mode each of the electronic devices receives consumes nominal power from a voltage source e g a battery In a power conservation mode also called power down mode certain electronic devices receive less than their nominal power in order to conserve power The power conservation mode also includes the scenario where the electronics devices are fully powered off except for RAM 102 The devices are commanded to be in either the power up mode or the power down mode by a mode signal generated by a switch circuit in accordance with the present invention FIG 7 illustrates a cut away cross sectional view of the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 of one embodiment of the present invention 510a FIG 7 also illustrates a switch device 410 that generates a mode signal over line 390 The mode of the switch 410 is controlled by a detector device 420 and the modes are stylus in and stylus out Stylus in corresponds to power down and stylus out corresponds to power up The detector device 420 is placed inside the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 that holds the stylus 80 when it is not in use The detector device 420 is coupled to the switch circuit 410 and can be implemented in one embodiment as a microswitch The devices of system 100 are commanded to be in either the power up mode or the power down mode by a mode signal generated by the switch circuit 410 The stylus receiving slot or rail 350 is a part ofthe case
21. he slot or rail for receiving a stylus or acover hinge and also illustrates a detector element in the slot DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the following detailed description of the present inven tion amethod and system for automatically powering up and automatically powering down a computer system based on the position and or rotation of an associated stylus numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention However it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details or with equivalents thereof In other instances well known methods procedures components and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention Notation and Nomenclature Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of procedures steps logic blocks processing and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits that can be performed on computer memory These descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art A procedure computer executed step logic block process etc is here and generally conceived to be a self consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result The steps
22. hese pen based palmtop computer systems provide some type of handwriting recognition system whereby the user can write words and letters on the digitizer pad with a stylus The palmtop computer system then converts the user s handwrit ing into a machine readable format such as ASCII code char acters Examples of pen based palmtop computer systems that provide handwriting recognition include the Apple New ton trademark device and the Tandy Zoomer trademark device Digitizers have eliminated the need for a mechanical key board device Therefore palmtop computer systems are readily portable and can easily be carried on or near the user e g ina pocket purse or briefcase Since they can be carried by a user the user has many opportunities to use the palmtop computer during the day Since the palmtop computer is typi cally battery operated it is recommended to turn off the computer at the completion of each separate use As such each time the palmtop is used an on off button is typically pressed to turn on power to the computer system including the display device Therefore each time the palmtop com puter is to be used the on off button is pressed and after use the on off button is pressed again to turn off the palmtop computer The more times the computer is used the more times the on off button needs to be pressed to gain access to the palmtop computer If the palmtop computer is being used merely to access or amend or transmit
23. kwise such that cover 550 is removed from the display 105 then state 765 is entered otherwise state 745 is entered At state 765 the computer 100d automatically is placed into the power up state where nominal power is supplied to consumed by the devices of FIG 5 At step 720 of FIG 12B the computer remains in the power up state At step 725 of FIG 12B if a time out occurs within computer 100d then state 740 is entered otherwise state 730 is entered A time out occurs whenever no user activity is detected by computer 1004 for a predetermined period of time At step 730 if the on off key 95 is pressed then state 740 is entered because the computer is currently in the power up state otherwise step 735 is entered At step 735 if the switch either 410 or 375 generates a mode signal over line 390 indicating that the hinge 80 has been rotated counter clockwise such that cover 550 1s laid over display 105 then state 740 is entered other wise state 720 is entered At state 740 of FIG 12B the computer 100d automatically is placed into the power down state where the devices of FIG 5 except for the RAM 102 device are placed into a power conservation mode State 745 FIG 9A is then entered again The user typically inserts the closes the cover 550 over display 105 when he she is done using computer 100d and the user typically opens the cover 550 exposing display 105 when he she is ready to use computer 100d By using the rotation
24. lay in a power up mode 20 The method of claim 19 wherein said automatically placing said display into a power up mode and said automati cally placing said display into a power conservation mode are implemented using a switch 21 The method of claim 19 wherein said detecting said position of said cover is implemented using an electrical detector 22 The method of claim 19 wherein said detecting said position of said cover is implemented using an optical detec tor 23 The method of claim 19 wherein said detecting said position of said cover is implemented using a mechanical detector 24 The method of claim 19 wherein said electronic device comprises a mobile phone 25 The method of claim 19 wherein said electronic device further comprises a button and wherein said method further comprises if said display is powered up powering down said display in response to an activation of said button and if said display is powered down powering up said display in response to an activation of said button 26 The method of claim 19 wherein said cover is rotatably coupled to a housing of said electronic device by a hinge 27 The method of claim 26 wherein said detecting said position of said cover is implemented using a detector wherein said detector is physically coupled to said hinge R0
25. mputer system 100 in accordance with one implementation System 100 contains a front cover 210 having an outline ofregion 106 and holes 75a for receiving buttons 75b A flat panel display 105 both liquid crystal display and touch screen fits into front cover 210 Any of a number of display technologies can be used e g LCD FED plasma etc for the flat panel display 105 The touch screen can be a digitizer A battery 215 pro vides electrical power The digitizer can be implemented using well known devices for instance using the ADS 7846 device by Burr Brown that provides separate channels for spatial stroke information and pressure information A con trast adjustment potentiometer 220 is also shown On off button 95 is shown along with an infrared emitter and detector device 64 A flex circuit 230 is shown along with a PC board 225 containing electronics and logic e g memory commu nication bus processor etc for implementing computer sys tem functionality The digitizer pad is also included in PC board 225 A midframe 235 is shown along with stylus 80 Position adjustable antenna 85 is shown The midframe 235 contains the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 and also anchors the automatic power on and automatic power off switch devices The automatic power on and automatic power off switch devices of the present invention are located in region 510 in one embodiment A radio receiver transmitter device 240 is also shown between th
26. mtop Computer System Platform FIG 1 illustrates a system 50 that can be used in conjunc tion with the automatic power on and power off features of the present invention System 50 comprises a host computer sys tem 56 which can either be a desktop unit as shown or alternatively can be a laptop system 58 Optionally one or more host computer systems can be used within system 50 Host computer systems 58 and 56 are shown connected to a communication bus 54 which in one embodiment can be a serial communication bus but could be of any of a number of well known designs e g a parallel bus Ethernet Local Area Network LAN etc Optionally bus 54 can provide commu nication with the Internet 52 using a number of well known protocols Importantly bus 54 is also coupled to a cradle 60 for receiving and initiating communication with a palm top palm sized portable computer system 100 of the present invention Cradle 60 provides an electrical and mechanical communication interface between bus 54 and anything coupled to bus 54 and the computer system 100 for two way communications Computer system 100 also contains a wire less infrared communication mechanism 64 for sending and receiving information from other devices FIG 2A is a perspective illustration of the top face 100a of one embodiment of the palmtop computer system of the present invention Thetop face 110a contains a display screen 105 surrounded by a bezel or cover A remo
27. nos U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 14 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 1 gt COMPUTER IN POWER DOWN STATE POWER CONSERVATION MODE 145 POWER ON IRQ 150 YES ON OFF KEY PRESSED 155 YES INGE ROTATED COVER OPEN 160 N0 AUTOMATIC POWER UP OF COMPUTER SYSTEM 165 FIGURE 12A U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 15 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 1 COMPUTER IN POWER UP STATE 120 ON OFF KEY PRESSED 130 YES HINGE ROTATED COVER CLOSED No FIGURE 12B U S Patent Dec 1 2009 Sheet 16 of 17 US 7 626 582 B1 FIGURE 13 US 7 626 582 B1 Sheet 17 of 17 Dec 1 2009 U S Patent vi JHANSI Och En nnm fa 2 US 7 626 582 B1 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC POWER UP AND POWER DOWN OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE This patent application is a Continuation of co pending commonly owned patent application Ser No 11 125 543 filed on May 9 2005 now U S Pat No 7 046 237 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC POWER UP AND POWER DOWN OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM BASED ON THE POSITIONS OF AN ASSOCI ATED STYLUS AND OR HINGE by Regis Nicolas and Neal Osborn which is incorporated herein by reference and which is a Continuation of U S patent application Ser No 09 522 274 now U S Pat No 6 924 791 filed on Mar 9 2000 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTO MATIC POWER UP AND POWER DOWN OF A COM PU
28. ook When rotated to cover the switch automatically powers down the computer When rotated out for computer use the switch automatically powers up the computer By using the position ofthe hinge to automatically perform power up and down functions the repetitive tasks required to access information from the palm top are reduced More specifically an embodiment ofthe present invention includes a computer system comprising a processor coupled to bus a memory unit coupled to the bus a display screen coupled to the bus a digitizer coupled to the bus a case for supporting the processor the memory unit the display screen and the digitizer the case having a slot located therein for receiving a stylus a detector for detecting a stylus within said slot and a switch coupled to the detector and for generating a signal to power up the processor the display screen and the digitizer when the stylus is removed from the slot and wherein the switch is also for generating a signal to place the proces sor the display screen and the digitizer into a power conser vation mode when the stylus is inserted into the slot Embodi ments include a power on and power off method implemented in accordance with the above Embodiments also include a computer system comprising a processor coupled to bus a memory unit coupled to the bus a display screen coupled to the bus a digitizer coupled to the bus a case for supporting the processor the memory unit th
29. or a memory coupled to said processor a display coupled to said processor a housing for enclosing said processor said memory and said display said housing comprising a portion for stor ing a user interface object a detector disposed within said housing and for detecting said user interface object in said portion and a switch coupled to said detector for generating a signal to power up said processor when said user interface object is removed from said portion said switch further for generating a signal to place said processor in a power conservation mode when said user interface object is placed in said portion 2 The electronic device of claim 1 wherein said portion comprises a slot and wherein said user interface object com prises a stylus 3 Theelectronic device of claim 1 wherein said detector is disposed within said portion 4 The electronic device of claim 1 wherein said detector comprises an electrical detector for detecting said user inter face object when a conductive portion of said user interface object comes into physical contact with a portion of said electrical detector 5 The electronic device of claim 1 wherein said detector is selected from a group consisting of an optical detector and a mechanical detector 6 The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a second detector coupled to said detector wherein said detector and said second detector are operable to deter mine movement of said u
30. rates a signal to switch 375 which enters the power down mode as represented by a mode signal over line 390 It is appreciated that detectors 380a and 3805 can also be implemented using optical detector elements mechanical detector elements inductive detector elements magnetic e g reed relay capacitive detector elements or electromag netic detector elements Itis further appreciated that the stylus detectors located with slot 350 can be implemented using the input output I O rail technology described in co pending US patent application Ser No 09 484 086 filed on Jan 18 2000 by Neal Osborn Francis Canova Jr and Nicholas Twyman entitled Connector for Handheld Computer which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and also hereby incorporated by reference FIG 9A and FIG 9B illustrate the logical states ofa power state machine 610 implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention It is appreciated that the mode signal generated at line 390 is only one piece of infor mation that is used to either power up or power down the computer 100 At state 620 the computer 100 is in the power down state e g the devices of FIG 5 are placed into a power conservation mode except for the RAM 102 which continu ously receives power At step 625 if an interrupt is received by the computer 100 then state 640 is entered otherwise state 630 is entered At step 630 ifthe on offkey 95 is pressed
31. ser does not have to press any on off button 95 This embodiment of the present invention therefore reduces the number of repeti tive tasks the user has to perform in order to use computer 100 It is appreciated that the detector device 420 can be imple mented using a number of well known technologies for detecting the presence of an object e g the detector device can be implemented as a mechanical detector device an inductive device a capacitive device an optical detector device an electrical device or an electro magnetic device FIG 8 illustrates a cut away cross sectional view of the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention 510b In this embodi ment the detector device is implemented using two different detector elements 380a and 3805 In this embodiment the detectors not only report that the stylus 80 has been inserted into slot 350 but also that the stylus 80 is in the process of being slid into or slid out of the slot 350 Both detector elements 380a and 3805 are coupled to the switch circuit 375 The mode of the switch 375 is controlled by detector device 380a 380 and the basic modes are stylus in and stylus out Stylus in corresponds to power down and stylus out corre sponds to power up In one embodiment the stylus 80 has a metal surface and when placed into slot 350 a circuit or connection is made through the stylus 80 between metal detectors 380a and 3805 This gene
32. ser interface object with respect to said portion 7 The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a battery wherein said battery selectively supplies power to said processor and said display based on a mode of said switch 8 The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a button for placing said processor and said display into said power conservation mode when said electronic device is pow ered on and wherein said button is further for powering on said processor and said display when said electronic device is in said power conservation mode 9 The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a digitizer coupled to said processor and operable to detect user inputs 10 An electronic device comprising a processor a memory coupled to said processor a display coupled to said processor a housing for enclosing said processor said memory and said display US 7 626 582 B1 13 a cover rotatably coupled to said housing and operable to cover said display a detector for detecting if said display is covered by said cover and a switch coupled to said detector and operable to generate a signal to automatically power up said display when said display is uncovered 11 The electronic device of claim 10 wherein said switch is further for generating a signal to automatically place said display in a power conservation mode when said display is covered 12 The electronic device of claim 11 further comprising a
33. stylus is used with the digitizer in well known character recognition modes When the stylus is removed from the receiving slot a switch automatically turns full power onto the computer system thereby allowing a user full use of the computer without requiring an on off button to be pressed When the stylus is inserted back into the receiving slot the switch automatically returns the computer to a power reduction mode where one or US 7 626 582 B1 3 all of the components of the computer are powered down Again the power reduction mode is entered without requiring the user to press the on off button The switch can be made of a single detector or a dual detector combination and can be of a mechanical electromagnetic optical inductive capacitive or electrical nature The switch and detector can also be implemented using a microswitch device By using the posi tion of the stylus to automatically perform power on and off functions the repetitive tasks required to access information from the palmtop are reduced In another embodiment the stylus based automatic power up and power down features work in concert with other power up and power down mechanisms of the computer such power on interrupts the on off button and time out power off modes In another embodiment the stylus is a hinge attached to a cover that can be rotated to protect the palmtop computer like a book cover or rotated away to use the palmtop computer like opening a b
34. such that it does not lay over screen 105 computer 100d automatically enters a power up state It is appreciated that the hinge 80 can be located on the left or right side of computer 100d or it can be located on the top or bottom edge of computer 100d FIG 10 illustrates a detector pair 450a and 4506 that can be used to detect the rotational position of the hinge 80 On the surface of the hinge 80 is laid a circular L shaped metal tracing 440a and 4405 Region 440b is a ring shaped metal piece Region 440a on the other hand does not extend all the way around hinge 80 Detector 4505 is a metal detector that is ring shaped Detector 450a is only semi ring shaped e g C shaped and does not extend all the away around rail 350 Although not shown in FIG 10 for clarity the left edge of cover 550 FIG 11 is connected to the right edge of hinge 80 When hinge 80 of FIG 10 is in the position shown but located inside rail 350 metal area 4404 contacts metal detector 4505 but metal area 440a does not contact metal detector 450a Therefore there is no electrical connection between detectors 450a and 450b In this configuration switch 375 then gener US 7 626 582 B1 11 ates a power up mode signal because the cover is in the open position e g not laid over display 105 The devices of system 100 are commanded to be in either the power up mode or the power down mode by a mode signal generated by the switch circuit 375 When hing
35. tem down onto a flat surface so the user can type with both hands or the user holds the palmtop computer system with two hands and types with thumbs only Instead of a mechanical keyboard device some palmtop computers utilize a touch screen and display an image of a small keyboard thereon When a particular button is pressed or tapped a small keyboard image is displayed on the display screen The user then interacts with the on screen small key board image to enter characters usually one character at a time To interact with the displayed keyboard image e g virtual keyboard the user taps the screen location of a character with a pen or stylus That corresponding character is then recognized and added to a data entry field also displayed on the screen However for experienced users the virtual keyboard input system can be a tedious input process Instead of using a mechanical keyboard device or a dis played keyboard many palmtop computers employ a pen and a digitizer pad as an input system The pen and digitizer pad combination works well for palmtop computers because the 20 25 30 45 50 55 60 65 2 arrangement allows a user to hold the palmtop computer system in one hand while writing with the pen onto the digi tizer pad with the other hand A number of palmtop computer systems that rely on the pen and digitizer pad combination as the primary means of input have been introduced to the market Most of t
36. vable stylus 80 is also shown The display screen 105 is a touch screen able to register contact between the screen and the tip ofthe stylus 80 The stylus 80 can be of any material to make contact with the screen 105 As shown in FIG 2A the stylus 80 is inserted into a receiving slot or rail 350 Slot or rail 350 acts to hold the stylus when the computer system 100a is not in use As described more fully below slot or rail 350 also contains switching devices for automatically powering down and auto matically power up computer system 100a based on the posi tion of the stylus 80 The top face 100a also contains one or more dedicated and or programmable buttons 75 for selecting information and causing the computer system to implement functions The on off button 95 is also shown FIG 2A also illustrates a handwriting recognition pad or digitizer containing two regions 106a and 1065 Region 0 an 5 40 45 50 60 65 6 106a is for the drawing of alpha characters therein for auto matic recognition and generally not used for recognizing numeric characters and region 1065 is for the drawing of numeric characters therein for automatic recognition and generally not used for recognizing numeric characters The stylus 80 is used for stroking a character within one of the regions 106a and 106d The stroke information is then fed to an internal processor for automatic character recognition Once characters are recogni
37. zed they are typically displayed on the screen 105 for verification and or modification The digitizer 160 records both the x y coordinate value of the current location of the stylus and also simultaneously records the pressure that the stylus exerts on the face of the digitizer pad The coordinate values spatial information and pressure data are then output on separate channels for sam pling by the processor 101 FIG 5 In one implementation there are roughly 256 different discrete levels of pressure that can be detected by the digitizer 106 Since the digitizer s channels are sampled serially by the processor the stroke spatial data are sampled pseudo simultaneously with the associated pressure data The sampled data is then stored in a memory by the processor 101 FIG 5 for later analysis FIG 2B illustrates the bottom side 1005 of one embodi ment of the palmtop computer system of the present inven tion An optional extendible antenna 85 is shown and also a battery storage compartment door 90 is shown A communi cation interface 108 is also shown In one embodiment ofthe present invention the serial communication interface 108 is a serial communication port but could also alternatively be of any ofa number of well known communication standards and protocols e g parallel SCSI Firewire IEEE 1394 Ether net etc In FIG 2B is also shown the stylus receiving slot or rail 350 FIG 3isan exploded view ofthe palmtop co

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