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Seamless user interactions for portable storage devices

1. US 7 234 014 B2 5 from the host device As used herein safely removed includes the instances wherein removal will not damage hardware or software in either the host computer or the portable device 10 or cause lost or corrupted data Depend ing upon the particular operating system of the host device safely removed is evidenced by the operating system grant ing permission to remove the portable device The indicator 18 preferably uses a visual indication such as a change in illumination e g changing color changing from steady to blinking changing from illuminated to not illuminated a tactile indication e g a pop out or retracting button a vibration an aural indication e g a specific sound or any indication on or emanating directly from the portable device 10 that is able to be sensed by a user One preferable color indicator scheme is the IBMQ standard for hardware user touch point colors a blue color indicates a device 10 is not dynamically removable and a terra cotta color indicates that it is safe to dynamically remove or unplug the device 10 Dynamically refers to the host device being powered and running and the IBM touch points are not merely LEDs but a changeable color display integrated into a button or other actuator A tactile indication of the status of the portable storage device 10 can be achieved by providing an indicator 18 that pops out when it is safe to remove the storage device 10 which the user c
2. 12 The system of claim 8 wherein said indicator com prises an aural indicator for indicating as in claim 8 13 The system of claim 8 wherein said indicator com prises a tactile vibrating indicator for indicating as in claim 8 US 7 234 014 B2 11 14 The system of claim 8 wherein said indicator com prises a visual indicator that is integrated into the actuator for indicating as in claim 8 15 The system of claim 8 wherein said indicator com prises a visual indicator that changes between blinking and steady for indicating as in claim 8 16 The system of claim 8 wherein said indicator uniquely indicates each of four states normal active nor mal inactive error and ready for removal 17 The system of claim 8 wherein said portable memory device further comprises a power source independent of said host device 18 The system of claim 8 wherein the portable storage device further comprises a circuit light controller coupled between the micro controller and the indicator for effecting varied states of the indicator 19 The portable storage device of claim 7 wherein said varied states effected at the indicator by the light controller comprise a normal inactive state whereby no transfer of computer instructions is ongoing between said portable storage device and said host device 10 20 12 a normal active state whereby a transfer of computer instructions is ongoing between said portable storage device and sa
3. 12 United States Patent Molander et al US007234014B2 US 7 234 014 B2 Jun 19 2007 10 Patent No 45 Date of Patent 54 75 73 Q1 Q2 65 51 52 58 56 SEAMLESS USER INTERACTIONS FOR PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICES Inventors Mark E Molander Cary NC US Vincent Charles Conzola Raleigh NC US Elizabeth Hatfield Cary NC US Assignee International Business Machines Corporation Armonk NY US Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 225 days Appl No 10 757 884 Filed Jan 14 2004 Prior Publication Data US 2005 0154815 A1 Jul 14 2005 Int CI G06F 13 00 2006 01 GOGF 12 00 2006 01 USCh nes 710 302 710 266 711 115 Field of Classification Search 710 300 304 710 266 13 711 115 See application file for complete search history References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 3 623 064 A 11 1971 Kagan ererererrrereveer 340 7 6 4 731 603 A 3 1988 McRae et al 340 407 1 5 172 092 A 12 1992 Nguyen et al 340 7 58 5 293 161 A 3 1994 MacDonald et al 340 7 6 5 386 567 A 1 1995 Lien et al 713 100 5 436 622 A 7 1995 Gutman et al 340 7 6 5 579 491 A 11 1996 Jeffries et al 710 302 5 680 579 A 10 1997 Young et al 711 157 5 758 101 A 5 1998 Pemberton 710 302 5 818
4. 182 A 10 1998 Viswanadham et al 318 116 5 862 349 A 1 1999 Cho et al 395 283 6 038 612 A 3 2000 Liow seem 710 1 6 098 119 A 8 2000 Surugucchi et al 710 10 Continued FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP 1310908 A2 5 2003 Continued OTHER PUBLICATIONS Cyber Snipa Cyber Snipa Dog Tags User s Manual http www cybersnipa com downloads download home htm Continued Primary Examiner Mark H Rinehart Assistant Examiner Matthew Spittle 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Harrington amp Smith PC 57 ABSTRACT A portable storage device 10 includes a body 12 an actuator 16 and an indicator 18 When coupled to a host device 22 a user depressing the actuator 16 causes an interrupt mes sage to be sent to the host device which initiates shutdown of the portable device by removing it from a host device list of available storage media and de powers the portable device The indicator then changes to signify that it is safe to remove the portable device from the host The indicator may be visual aural or tactile Preferably the indicator uniquely identifies four states regarding the status of com puter instruction exchange between the portable and host devices including normal and inactive normal and active error and ready to be removed states The latter 1s available only after actuating the actuator Removal of the portable device is thereby effected by a single user action at
5. a 5 20 35 40 45 65 8 transferred as requested though that is a preferred embodi ment Specifically certain alternative embodiments may include actuation of the button 16 to cause uncompleted transfers to abort and to exchange further computer instruc tions whereby the OS removes the portable device 10 from its file system Other actions directed by the OS may also be performed to remove the portable device from the host computer s file system For many OSs removing the por table device from the host s file system includes removing the portable device from a listing of available drives or storage locations to which the host computer may read files from or write files to While such a listing 24A of available drives is shown on the display 24 of FIG 3 the listing referred to in the claims is that maintained in the OS or host computer whether or not displayed to a user on a computer screen 24 The OS then disables the portable device 10 which includes disconnecting power to it Except for non preferred embodiments in which the portable device 10 includes an independent power source this loss of power causes a lighted indicator 18 to extinguish or other indicator 18 to return to a non powered state such as causing a pop up button to enter a de powered state which may be extended or depressed This serves as an indication on the portable storage device 10 to the user that the device 10 may be safely removed fro
6. a host computer via a USB or similar port is that current USB ports do not provide a physical retaining means or locking mechanism to prevent removal of the portable device before all software related transactions between the portable storage device and the host computer are complete Older storage devices such as magnetic disks or tapes and CDs include retention means to physically prevent the user from removing the devices enabling the OS to complete any file transfer and device drive shutdown procedure prior to the user being allowed to remove the portable storage media or device Whether inadvertently as where the user is unaware of computer on screen warnings or on purpose as where the user is unwilling to wait for permission from the host computer the user may remove a portable device coupled to the host via a USB or similar non locking connector prior to the host computer complet ing its normal shutdown tasks e g transferring files asso ciated exchange of computer program instructions between the host computer and the portable device The present invention is directed to streamlining the above multi step process SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the limitations of cur rent portable storage devices by eliminating the need for user interaction with both the hardware and the OS of a host device when removing the storage device from a host device Furthermore there is a positive indication on the portable
7. from the portable device or may originate from the host device itself but activated in response to the manual input at the portable device In accordance with the teachings of the present invention a portable storage device includes a body a connector an intrinsic computer readable storage medium within the body such as a flash memory a manual actuator and an indi cator The connector is for coupling to a host device Actuation of the manual actuator initiates a removal sequence for enabling removal of the portable storage device from the host device enabling referring to software enabled rather than physically enabled Upon completion of the removal sequence the indicator indicates to a user that the portable storage device may be safely removed from the host device safely meaning with no adverse or expected adverse effects to any ofthe host computer hardware or software or the portable device and no lost or corrupted data That is following actuation of the actuator the indicator indicates that the host device e g its operating system permits removal of the portable storage device The indicator pref erably indicates three or four states uniquely by different illuminations Another aspect of the present invention includes a system for transferring a file the file being embodied on a computer storage medium such as an electronic magnetic or optical storage means The system includes a host device and a portable storage devi
8. portable storage device may be safely removed from the host device after the user actuates the actuator 16 the indicator 18 indicates a first state Preferably an illumi nating indicator 18 informs of the first state by an extin guished LED indicator 18 When the portable storage device 10 is connected to a host device and the actuator 16 has not been depressed the indicator 18 indicates a second state Preferably an illuminating indicator 18 informs of the second state by an illuminated light as depicted in FIG 2 In a preferred embodiment the indicator 18 of the por table storage device 10 provides unique indications for each of four distinct states a normal inactive state a normal active state an error state and a ready for removal state The normal inactive state exists when the portable device 10 is electronically coupled to the host device 22 and prefer ably powered from it and no transfer of files e g moving 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 copying or remote execution of computer instructions or exchange of computer instructions is ongoing between them and may be indicated to a user by a steadily illuminated LED An exchange of computer files or instructions is ongoing if a series of related instructions intended to be exchanged by the internal logic of the host 22 or portable 10 device remains incomplete regardless of momentary pauses between exchanges of individual instructions
9. the portable device depressing the actuator 20 Claims 2 Drawing Sheets US 7 234 014 B2 Page 2 6 141 711 6 247 079 6 311 242 6 549 969 6 752 321 6 754 725 6 795 327 6 883 055 6 892 263 6 906 961 6 990 545 2002 0073340 2002 0159304 U S PATENT DOCUMENTS A B1 Bl Bl B1 B1 B2 B2 BL B2 B2 Al Al 10 2000 6 2001 10 2001 4 2003 6 2004 6 2004 9 2004 4 2005 5 2005 6 2005 1 2006 6 2002 10 2002 Shah et al 710 302 Papa et al 710 302 Falkenburg et al 710 103 Hsu et al 710 304 Leaming 235 492 Wright et al 710 8 Deng et al 365 63 Chen et al 26s 710 302 Robertson 710 301 Eggleston et al 365 185 29 Arimilli et al 710 302 Mambakkam et al 713 202 Morita et al 365 200 2003 0023410 Al 1 2003 702 188 2003 0110371 Al 6 2003 713 100 2003 0161193 A1 8 2003 Moran et al 365 200 2005 0250536 Al 11 2005 Deng et al 455 558 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS JP 200305676 2 2000 OTHER PUBLICATIONS HANBIT Electronics Co LTD STORIUM USB 1 1 Combo MP3 N Drive Portable Flash Memory Disk Drive User s Manual Feb 20 2003 cited by examiner U S Patent Jun 19 2007 Sheet I of 2 US 7 234 014 B2 14 14 18 c 18 16 16 12 12 10 107 FIG 1 FIG 2 List of Available
10. Drives C hard drive 24A D CD RW ROM 16 F portable flash device 10 20 US 7 234 014 B2 Sheet 2 of 2 Jun 19 2007 U S Patent 9I cl 8l M av Sls No E 77 9 N 9C 0 get e 91 ol Vv Old US 7 234 014 B2 1 SEAMLESS USER INTERACTIONS FOR PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to portable storage devices and more specifically to portable storage devices having an actuator for enabling a user to initiate removal of the storage device from a host device and an indicator to inform the user when it is safe to remove the storage device from the host device BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Personal computers have become everyday necessities for people conducting business and managing their lives whether at the oflice at home or on the road Many people now use more that one computer to conduct their everyday business and individuals often do similar work on multiple computers e g home office portable some of which may even be publicly accessible computers that any particular user accesses only once or infrequently e g at airports hotels schools libraries and the like People now often prepare material for a presentation on one or more comput ers and then store it on another computer for presentation to others at a different location Traditionally users will save backup or copy computer files or data
11. Where vari ous clean up instructions remain incomplete after the intended file is copied moved executed the transfer is not yet complete so long as those clean up instructions are automatically executed by the host device in conjunction with the intended copying moving executing Examples of a clean up instructions include deletion of a desktop shortcut following moving a file from a host device desktop to the portable device re ordering a listing of files remaining in the storage medium drive losing the moved file re addressing a residual copy of a moved file to a recycle bin and the like Any of these may occur following moving the intended file to a new location in another device The normal active state exists when the portable device 10 is electronically coupled to the host device and transfer of files or exchange of computer instructions is ongoing between them Preferably a blinking LED indicates the normal active state In one embodiment a substate of the normal active state may be indicated where a file is in a locked state in the portable storage device 10 but remains open in the host device For example a multi tasking user of the host device may open a document file located in the portable device which causes a temporary copy of the document file to be made in the host device minimize it on the host desktop and continue working on a second file such as a graphical presentation After a time the user may close the s
12. an feel if a finger is kept on the indicator 18 until it is safe to remove the storage device The tactile indicator may be the actuator 16 itself or a separate tactile device such as a pop up button Preferably such a pop up button would further include visual indications such as colored striations along the side of the pop up button where a certain colored layer is exposed above the body 12 only when the button is popped up In an alternative embodiment of the portable storage device 10 the actuator 16 can be illuminated to also serve the function of the indicator 18 A portable device including such an illuminating actuator comprises both an actuator and indicator though the separate functions are performed by the same component Alternatively multiple indicators may be employed such as light emitting diodes LEDs of various colors preferably labeled so that a user can readily ascertain whether the portable device 10 may be safely removed The indicator 18 uniquely identifies to the user at least two and preferably four different states as detailed below though more or less may be desirable in particular embodiments The portable storage device 10 preferably communicates with the OS platform of the host device via an API appli cation programming interface of the particular OS The storage device 10 preferably can be implemented for OS platforms such as Windows Linux or other OS s in the art by using the relevant APIs When the
13. ce between which the stored file is transferred the term transferring a file includes moving a file copying a file and executing a file that is stored on the portable device through the use of the host device such as via the host device OS and user interface In such a system the host device has a host storage medium a host operating system of computer instructions and a receptacle for receiv ing a connector Further in the system the portable storage device includes a body a connector for mating with the host device receptacle an intrinsic computer readable storage medium within the body a manual actuator and an indicator Both the host storage medium and the intrinsic computer readable storage medium of the portable storage device may be electronic optical magnetic or any other means for storing digital data such as computer files and the like and the two storage media need not be of the same type The indicator indicates after actuation of the actuator that the 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 portable storage device may be removed from the host computer without causing loss or corruption of data Pref erably the indicator further indicates additional states of the portable storage device and its exchange of computer instructions with the host Preferably the entire sequence resulting in the operating system OS of the host device removing the portable storage device and the portable storage
14. device when it is safe or permissible to remove the US 7 234 014 B2 8 portable storage device As used herein a portable storage device has a storage medium intrinsic to the device as opposed to a commonly known external drive that reads a storage medium that itself is not an inherent part of the external drive An intrinsic storage medium is therefore not removable from the portable device to which it is intrinsic except perhaps under abnormal circumstances such as destructive removal disassembly and repair etc In one embodiment of the present invention is a computer program embodied on a storage medium for obtaining permission to remove a portable storage device from a host device The storage medium may be disposed in either the host or portable device The computer program includes computer program instructions that are initiated in response to a manual input at an actuator of a portable storage device that is coupled to a host device Upon being so initiated the computer program instructions cause the host device to remove from its list of currently available storage locations a computer readable storage medium that is intrinsic to the portable storage device Preferably the computer program instructions includes an interrupt command directing the host device to remove the portable device which the host sees as an additional drive from a list of available drives maintained by the host device The interrupt command may originate
15. econd graphical presentation file and forget that the document file remains open The document file in the portable device 10 remains locked but the corresponding document on the host desktop which is possibly changed but not yet formally saved remains open A file in use substate of the normal active state may be indicated where a file present in both devices remains open in at least one of the devices without being acted upon by the user for a specified minimum time e g for the minimum time the file remains minimized is not changed or scrolled etc While no active transfer is occurring between the devices a file remains open and an indication of the file in use state may aid in preventing a user from misinterpreting other indica tions ofthe indicator 18 Using two indicators the file in use state may be indicated simultaneously with and only in conjunction with the normal active state The error state exists when the portable device 10 is electronically coupled to the host device and some malfunc tion has occurred such as a failure to completely transfer a file an inability to locate a complete requested file a lack of sufficient available storage capacity within one of the host computer 22 or portable device 10 depending upon direc tion of file transfer and the like The error state is preferably announced by the indicator 18 blinking at a different rate than the blink rate for the normal active state Alternatively a di
16. fferent color LED which may be the same as or separate from another color indicating LED or other indication unique from the remaining three states may be used The ready to be removed state exists after user actuation of the actuator 16 when an exchange of computer instruc tions between the portable 10 and host 22 devices has been completed Depression of the actuator 16 initiates such an exchange described below This state is distinguished from the normal inactive state noted above by the user s US 7 234 014 B2 7 employment of the actuator 16 prior to the indication Preferably the indication for the ready to be removed state differs from that of the normal inactive state without regard to chronological proximity to depressing of the actuator 16 The ready to be removed state is preferably indicated by an LED that is not illuminated after actuation of the button 16 or alternatively by any change in the indicator 18 following depression of the actuator 16 Extinguishing an illuminated light to indicate a ready to be removed state is preferable as many OSs currently indicate permission to remove a storage medium e g a CR ROM or a floppy diskette by powering off the storage medium itself or its drive However software changes to existing OSs which may or may not be made applicable only to the inventive portable storage device discussed herein or a power source independent of the host computer would enable a positive indicati
17. g following actuation of said actuator that said portable flash memory device may be safely removed from a host device to which it is coupled and a micro controller within said body coupled between said actuator and said connector responsive to an input at the manual actuator to select one message that is specific to the operating system of the host device from the plurality of interrupt messages and to send said one message to said host device 2 A portable storage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said indicator comprises an aural indicator for indicating as in claim 1 3 The portable flash memory of claim 1 further com prising a power source independent of the host device 4 The portable flash memory device of claim 1 wherein said indicator comprises a vibrating indicator for indicating as in claim 1 5 The portable flash memory device of claim 1 wherein the indicator comprises a visual indicator integrated into the actuator for indicating as in claim 1 6 The portable flash memory device of claim 1 wherein said indicator comprises a visual indicator that changes between blinking and steady for indicating as in claim 1 7 The portable flash memory device of claim 1 further comprising a circuit light controller coupled between the micro controller and the indicator for effecting varied states of the indicator 8 A system for transferring a file embodied on a computer storage medium comprising a host device and a
18. id host device and a ready to be removed state whereby following actuation of said actuator the portable storage device may be removed from the host device to which it is coupled without loss or corruption of data 20 The system of claim 18 wherein said varied states effected at the indicator by the light controller comprise a normal inactive state whereby no transfer of computer instructions is ongoing between said portable storage device and said host device a normal active state whereby a transfer of computer instructions is ongoing between said portable storage device and said host device and a ready to be removed state whereby following actuation of said actuator the portable storage device may be removed from the host device to which it is coupled without loss or corruption of data
19. layer a server a mobile phone a personal digital assistant or any other entity having digitally stored information a power source and an adapter for interfacing with the connector 12 of the portable device 10 When a user depresses the actuator 16 the portable storage device 10 sends a computer instruction preferably an inter rupt message to the host computer 22 The host computer 22 which includes a processor 22A a memory 22B and a display 24 receives the interrupt message or other instruc tion and begins its own shutdown sequence for the portable device 10 Recognizing that the host computer OS logically sees the portable storage device 10 as a drive similar to its own internal storage media it begins removing the portable device 10 from its file system The particular details of this removal depend upon the particular OS but generally include the OS ensuring no files of the portable device 10 are open closing any files that are open and preferably com pleting or alternatively aborting a file transfer that may be in progress between the host and portable devices Preferably any exchange of files directed by the user via an on screen command or a pre programmed instruction to be transferred between the portable 10 and host 22 devices is completed prior to the portable device 10 being removed form the file system of the host device 22 Completed exchange of computer instructions does not necessarily mean all files are
20. m the host computer Preferably the user is redundantly informed via a display on a screen 24 of the host computer 22 that the portable device 10 may be removed such a message being redundant to the indicator 18 Preferably computer instructions generated from within the portable storage device 10 initiates the redundant mes sage displayed on the computer screen 24 Immediately prior to losing power from the host computer the portable storage device 10 may send an instruction to the host computer to display the redundant message which is arranged and displayed by a computer program already resident on the host computer Alternatively computer instructions such as a program may be downloaded onto the host computer that initiates generation of the redundant message on the computer screen based on the actions of the OS itself in disconnecting the portable device 10 Preferably such instructions are downloaded directly from the portable device 10 itself but may alternatively be downloaded from other sources such as a website or a computer assembler programmer when the inventive portable device 10 becomes more ubiquitous Both the host 22 and portable 10 devices include storage media for storing files data computer instructions and the like Such storage media may be of a magnetic optical or electronic type or combinations thereof The storage media of the portable storage device 10 is intrinsic that is not normally removable from
21. media from its list of available storage media that the OS maintains is initiated by the single user action of actuating the actuator Once the indicator indicates a ready to be removed state following actuation of the manual actuator such as by changing from a powered state to a de powered state when an operating system of the host computer completes removing the portable storage device from a list of storage media available to its operating system it is safe to remove the portable device from the host device These and other aspects of the claimed invention will become more clearly apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a perspective view of a portable storage device comprising an embodiment of the present invention prior to initiation of the removal sequence FIG 2 is a perspective view of a portable storage device immediately after initiation of the removal process FIG 3 is a perspective view of a portable storage device in combination with a host computer FIG 4A is a cutaway view of a portable storage device according to a first embodiment FIG 4B is a cutaway view of a portable storage device according to a second embodiment DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the figures and to FIG 1 in particular there is shown a portable storage device 10 including a body 12 and a connector 14 for cou
22. on versus the removal of a positive indication to a user that it is safe to remove the portable storage device 10 form the host In addition to the use of an indicator 18 on the storage device 10 a visual operating system confirmation message or box can appear on the screen of the host device 22 Many UNIX based operating systems do not have a graphical user interface and would therefore not be capable of showing a confirmation message In those instances an indication provided by the portable storage device 10 whether a visual aural or tactile indication would be necessary to inform a user that it is safe to remove the portable storage device 10 The invention may further include a physical retention mechanism within the connector 12 that prevents removal of the portable storage device 10 before it is safe to do so Such a physical retention mechanism can be used in conjunction with the indicator 18 as a failsafe system to prevent potential damage to software or data within either the host computer or portable device in the event a user does not heed the indicator 18 The above relate in general to physical aspects of the inventive portable storage device 10 Aspects of the inven tion that relate to the portable storage device 10 interacting with the host device 22 as an overall system 20 are now described with reference to FIG 3 The host device 22 may be a personal computer a digital camera a digital musical device such as an MP3 p
23. onto a storage device such as a diskette or CD ROM Certain computer program applications may be stored in a portable storage device and executed on a host device and the program may or may not be copied and temporarily stored within the host device More recently portable storage devices such as pocket sized USB univer sal serial bus flash memory devices USB drives have become increasingly popular for transferring e g copying moving executing files from one computer to another When properly configured such a portable storage device is functionally treated as an additional drive by the operating system of the host computer or host device to which the portable device is connected The host computer then pre sents the portable device as an additional available storage location to the user for moving and or copying files between drives Such portable storage devices offer certain advan tages over more dated portable storage media such as magnetic or optical disks They are generally small typi cally approximately 1 inch by 3 inches by inch 2 5 cmx7 5 cmx1 25 cm They further provide increased speed and capacity as compared to older multi track magnetic media such as diskettes or magnetic tapes and are more resistant to physical breakage than optical devices such as CD ROMs Portable external drives such as an external CD ROM drive commonly used to supplement an ultra compact laptop computer are known but differ from portable s
24. pling the storage device 10 to a host device The portable storage device is preferably a pocket sized USB universal serial bus flash memory device The body 12 of the portable storage device 10 is generally rectangular or elliptical in shape but can be of any configuration that is generally simple to grasp and hold in a human hand The connector 14 is preferably a rectangular USB connector intrinsic to the portable device and rigidly extending from the body 12 but it may be any conventional or proprietary connector for coupling the storage device 10 to a host device having a compatible receptacle The host device is preferably a computer but may be any device capable of transferring files including data files with an external storage device The portable storage device also includes an actuator or button 16 and an indicator 18 The function of the actuator 16 is described below The indicator 18 is preferably an LED but can be any visual tactile or aural device that is capable of alerting a user of the status of the portable storage device 10 The indicator 18 can be used to inform the user of the current status of the portable storage device 10 such as the device is in use is transferring files or is in a safe mode for removal of the device This is accomplished by providing an indicator 18 that exhibits different indications that may be sensed by a user to inform the user at least whether or not the portable device may be safely removed
25. portable flash memory device said host device comprising a host storage medium a host operating system of computer instructions that logi cally recognizes the portable flash memory device as additional local memory and a receptacle for receiving a connector said portable flash memory device comprising a pocket sized body a connector for mating with said receptacle an intrinsic computer readable storage medium within said body that is not normally removable from said body and storing a plurality of interrupt messages a manual actuator for initiating computer instructions to remove said portable flash memory device from said host device an indicator for indicating to a user at least that said portable flash memory device may be removed from said host device following actuation of said actuator without loss of data and without corruption of data and a micro controller within said body coupled between said actuator and said connector responsive to an input at the manual actuator to select one message that is specific to the operating system of the host device from the plurality of interrupt messages and to send said one message to said host device 9 A system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said indicator comprises an aural indicator for indicating as in claim 8 10 The system of claim 8 wherein said host device comprises a digital camera 11 The system of claim 8 wherein said host device comprises a mobile phone
26. ressing the actuator 16 may cause the switch 32 that is normally closed to open the circuit Regardless the change in the circuit causes the host device to initiate its procedure to shut down the portable storage device 10 from its list of available storage devices as described above Once removed power is disconnected from the portable storage device 10 and the lighted indicator 18 is extinguished Where the indicator announces more than on and off states e g flashing or multi color as above the indicator 18 may be controlled by a light controller 28 to effect such varied states though said light controller 28 is preferably a circuit rather than a logical processing unit FIG 4B is a cutaway view of a more complex embodi ment of the present invention wherein the intrinsic memory 26 is coupled to the connector 14 via a micro controller MCU 30 Actuation of the actuator 16 closes or opens the switch 32 and the circuit in which the switch 32 lies is within the MCU 30 rather than in the host device The MCU 30 then directly sends an interrupt message to the host through the connector 14 The interrupt message itself may be stored within a separate portion 26A of the memory 26 that may be a segregated from the memory available for file transfer or a separate type of memory such as EEPROM or EAPROM or may be within the host device and activated by a separate computer instruction stored in the memory 26 of the portable device 10 and sen
27. t by the MCU 30 In the former instance preferably the portable storage device 10 stores in its memory 26 a plurality of interrupt messages each specific to a particular OS and sends the appropriate interrupt message when the actuator 16 is depressed Where the portable storage device 10 of FIG 4A has no processing capability of its own and is under the command of the host device the embodiment of FIG 4B includes its own pro cessor and sends as well as receives instructions to the host device While there has been described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention and several variations and modifications thereof it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that further modifications and variations are possible without deviating from the broad teachings and spirit of the present invention which shall be limited solely by the scope of the claims appended hereto What is claimed is 1 A portable flash memory device comprising a pocket sized body an intrinsic computer readable storage medium within said body said storage medium not normally remov able from said body and storing a plurality of interrupt messages a connector for removably coupling to a host device such that an operating system of the host device may logi cally recognize the portable storage device as addi tional local memory a manual actuator 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 an indicator for indicatin
28. the portable device 10 as an optical disk is normally removable from a CD R W drive Preferably the storage media within the body 12 of the portable device 10 is an electronic flash media The con nector 12 is preferably a USB type connector that extends rigidly from the body but may alternatively be other types in order to interface with host devices such as mobile phones PDAs MP3 digital music players and digital cam eras that may not themselves include a USB port Such alternative connectors vary widely and are often unique to particular host device manufacturers to enable those host devices to be connected to a personal computer or testing apparatus for downloading of data stored thereon Such data may be preferably downloaded by a retail user of the host devices onto a portable storage device of the present inven US 7 234 014 B2 9 tion for transferring the downloaded files en masse to a newer generation host device without having to manually re enter each file An adapter may also be provided to mate a USB connector 12 of the inventive portable storage device 10 to one of the non USB receptacles in the above alterna tive host devices FIG 4A is a cutaway view of the portable storage device 10 having an intrinsic memory 26 and a light control unit 28 coupled to the indicator 18 Depressing the actuator 16 closes a switch 32 so that a circuit from the host device and passing through the connector 14 is closed Alternatively dep
29. torage devices in a fundamental way Portable drives do not them selves include an intrinsic memory but rather read memory media such as an optical disk that is separately input by the user The bulkiness of such portable drives and the need to carry additional storage media especially when only one or two is typically needed when traveling has limited con sumer adoption of portable drives In contrast portable storage devices have an intrinsic memory and typically an intrinsic connector so the bulkiness is reduced as well as the need for adaptor cords and additional media One drawback with the current methods of removing a portable storage device from a host device is that the user must manually intervene in a multi step process before a 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 portable device can be removed generally requiring the user to interact with both the hardware and the operating system OS platform of the host device For example to remove a portable storage device from a host computer the user first identifies the portable device to the host requests permission to remove it or commands the OS to remove it and then awaits permission from the host device Generally multiple steps are required to even identify the portable device to the host computer The multi step hardware software task flow between host computer and portable storage device is additionally com plicated by the in the background na
30. ture of how devices are typically integrated in the operating system For example before removing a portable storage device from a computer a user of a Windows based system must first locate and recognize the storage device in the OS via an abstract and small icon in the status tray or control panel on the computer screen among other small icons representing other drives or programs Then the user typically follows several software dialogs before physically removing the portable storage device from the host computer On occasion a user might remove the portable storage device without OS permission which can cause problems for the operating system For example removing a portable storage device while the host is using a file on the portable device could cause lost data e g a change was not saved or a hanging applica tion an operation moving a file may be interrupted leading to failure of the file moving and potential loss of data from the incompletely moved file and an operating system of the host may not properly recover from a low power or sleep state requiring rebooting of the host computer Where a portable device is repeatedly removed prior to the host device granting permission power damage may occur to the portable device its connector and or the connector recep tacle on the host device possibly requiring replacement of the damaged component An additional problem with portable storage devices that interface with

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