Attachable article with signaling, split display and messaging features
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile electronic devices with rigid flat displays are cumbersome and inaccessible in situations requiring hands-free use, as they often require two hands to operate and are not easily viewable when engaged in activities like running or biking.
Innovation Solution
An attachable article, such as a wristband or belt, featuring a flexible electronic display that can be bent to conform to body surfaces or attached to items like mugs and computers, enabling hands-free viewing and operation through a flexible substrate with integrated electronics, including a display driver, processor, memory, and communications module, and optionally a touch screen interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a rigid flat display is used in conventional mobile devices, then the display structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but the device becomes cumbersome and inaccessible when hands are occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The display device transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can adapt its form. The flexible display and substrate allow the device to be bent, folded, or rolled into different configurations, enabling hands-free viewing positions while maintaining operational functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flexible substrates and thin-film display structures that replace traditional rigid glass or plastic panels. This flexibility allows the display to conform to various surfaces and positions, enabling the device to be attached to bodies, objects, or surfaces for hands-free operation.
2Ease of operation
If a flexible display is incorporated into attachable articles, then hands-free viewing and operation is enabled, but the display surface becomes discontinuous at overlapping portions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses the discontinuity problem by utilizing the third dimension (depth/layering). Multiple display surfaces are positioned at different depths or orientations around the overlapping region, allowing the display to wrap around corners or edges. This enables continuous visual information flow across what would traditionally be discontinuous flat surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The display is designed to follow curved or rounded paths around overlapping portions rather than attempting to maintain a flat continuous surface. By allowing the display to curve around corners and edges, the patent creates visually continuous information flow while accommodating the physical constraints of flexible display geometry.
3Area of stationary object
If the display is positioned to be visible when palm faces downward, then maximum display surface is visible in that position, but the display is not easily viewable when hands are occupied in other positions
Solution Approach 1:
The display device is designed to perform multiple viewing functions simultaneously. By positioning display surfaces at various orientations and utilizing flexible configurations, the same display can serve users in multiple positions (palm down, palm up, wrist-mounted, object-attached) without requiring separate devices or configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The display system dynamically adapts to different usage scenarios through its flexible nature. The display can be bent, folded, or positioned in different configurations depending on whether the user needs palm-down viewing, palm-up viewing, or has the device attached to their body or an object, providing universal accessibility across diverse situations.
Data Source
AI summary
An attachable article or device, such as a wristband, includes a flexible electronic display disposed thereon in a manner that is bendable or conformable to a user's wrist or other curved surface, and that enables various images to be displayed on the electronic display in a manner that is easily viewable to the user. The attachable article implements a messaging routine that enables a user or wearer to receive notifications of incoming messages and to selectively view incoming messages or indications thereof. Upon receipt of a message, the attachable article may activate one or more vibrational or other tactile signal generating element elements disposed at various locations on the article to inform the wearer that a new message exists and may present the contents of a message in a split display screen format or using a natural messaging methodology that waits for the user to take some specific natural action before displaying the message. Different vibrational patterns across the plurality of vibrational elements may signify different types of messages, and associations between vibrational patterns, message types, and locations on the flexible display at which different message indicators are displayed may be configurable.