Display assistant device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11874707-B2
Application number	US-202318117311-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2023
Priority date	Sep 18, 2018
Publication date	Jan 16, 2024
Grant date	Jan 16, 2024

Abstract

This application is directed to a display assistant device that acts as a voice-activated user interface device. The display assistant device includes a base, a screen and a speaker. The base is configured for sitting on a surface. The screen has a rear surface and is supported by the base at the rear surface. A bottom edge of the screen is configured to be held above the surface by a predefined height, and the base is substantially hidden behind the screen from a front view of the display assistant device. The speaker is concealed inside the base and configured to project sound substantially towards the front view of the display assistant device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display assistant device comprising:
a base having a housing configured for sitting on a surface, wherein the housing has a front surface and a rear surface, a height of the front surface being shorter than the rear surface such that the housing has a tilted surface on its top;
a screen having a rear surface, where the screen is configured to be couplable to the base so that, when the screen is coupled to the base: the screen is supported at the rear surface by the housing of the base at the tilted surface, a bottom edge of the screen is held in front of the front surface and above the surface by a second height, and the base is hidden behind the screen from a front view of the display assistant device such that the screen appears to float in air from the front view of the display assistant device; and
a speaker that is concealed inside a speaker waveguide of the housing of the base, wherein the speaker waveguide is configured to guide sound generated by the speaker towards a space of the second height separating the bottom edge of the screen and the surface on which the base is configured to sit.

2. The display assistant device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the second height is less than a predetermined threshold.

3. The display assistant device as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a privacy switch arranged on the rear surface of the screen, the privacy switch being configured to enable one of a group of privacy operations.

4. The display assistant device as recited in claim 3 , wherein the display assistant device is configured to associate the privacy switch that is turned on for privacy protection with one of the group of privacy operations dynamically based on a user profile of a user who is associated with the display assistant device in real time.

5. The display assistant device as recited in claim 4 , wherein the display assistant device has an owner mode, a family mode and a stranger mode each of which is associated with a unique subset of the group of privacy operations, and the user profile is associated with one of the owner mode, the family mode, and the stranger mode.

6. The display assistant device as recited in claim 4 , wherein, in accordance with the user profile of the user, the one of the group of privacy operations associated with the display assistant device varies according to a time of a day.

7. The display assistant device as recited in claim 4 , further comprising a camera or a microphone configured to collect information of the user, wherein the collected information is used to identify the user who is associated with the display assistant device in real time and retrieve the user profile of the user.

8. The display assistant device as recited in claim 1 , wherein the speaker faces the space of the second height that is configured to separate the bottom edge of the screen and the surface on which the base is configured to sit.

9. The display assistant device as recited in claim 8 , wherein:
the space between the bottom edge of the screen and the surface has the second height; and
the speaker has a speaker opening, the speaker opening having a dimension greater than the second height of the space, the speaker opening facing forward and being tilted downward with a tilting angle.

10. The display assistant device as recited in claim 8 , wherein the base has a housing that encloses the speaker, and the housing includes a plurality of speaker grill portions that permit sound generated by the speaker to exit the housing of the base.

11. The display assistant device as recited in claim 10 , wherein the plurality of speaker grill portions are distributed on at least a front side, a rear side, a left side, and a right side of the housing, and the sound generated by the speaker is guided inside the housing to exit the housing from the front side, the rear side, the left side, and the right side of the housing.

12. The display assistant device as recited in claim 11 , wherein the base extends along a central axis, and the screen and the central axis of the base are not perpendicular to the surface when the base sits on the surface.

13. The display assistant device as recited in claim 12 , wherein the display assistant device is configured so that when the base sits on the surface that is flat, the central axis of the base leans forward by a base angle, and the screen leans backward by a screen angle and faces slightly upward.

14. The display assistant device as recited in claim 11 , wherein the base includes a base mount plate that is mechanically coupled to a body of the base via at least an edge of the base mount plate.

15. The display assistant device as recited in claim 14 , wherein the base mount plate further includes a top surface opposing a bottom surface, and the top surface includes a plurality of stud fasteners configured to mate with a plurality of receiving fasteners on the bottom surface of the body of the base.

16. The display assistant device as recited in claim 11 , wherein only a central portion of the rear surface of the screen is covered by the base.

17. The display assistant device as recited in claim 11 , wherein the screen is attachable to the base.

18. The display assistant device as recited in claim 11 , wherein the screen is detachable from the base.

19. The display assistant device as recited in claim 11 , wherein the screen includes a display panel, a middle frame, and a back cover.

20. The display assistant device as recited in claim 19 , wherein the middle frame includes a metallic insert configured to provide mechanical rigidity to the middle frame.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Castro James
• Davidson Marc
• Chien Chih-Min
• Corbalan Daniel
• Cepress Carl
• Tseng Liang Ching

Classifications

• G06F1/166 Primary

  related to integrated arrangements for adjusting the position of the main body with respect to the supporting surface, e.g. legs for adjusting the tilt angle · CPC title

• G02F1/133308

  Support structures for LCD panels, e.g. frames or bezels · CPC title

• G02F1/133753

  with different alignment orientations or pretilt angles on a same surface, e.g. for grey scale or improved viewing angle · CPC title

• G06F1/1605 Primary

  Multimedia displays, e.g. with integrated or attached speakers, cameras, microphones · CPC title

• G06F1/1626

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title