Method of sensing flip cover

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9742456-B2
Application number	US-201414195191-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2014
Priority date	Aug 22, 2013
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

Provided is a method and devices for sensing a flip cover including determining an angle of the flip cover. A Hall sensor may be included in a mobile terminal (or display terminal) and may include at least one Hall element for collecting a magnetic field intensity generated from a magnet of the flip cover.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of sensing a flip cover coupled to an electronic device having a processor, comprising:
collecting, with the processor, a magnetic field intensity generated between a magnet of the flip cover and a Hall sensor in the electronic device, the Hall sensor being configured to be covered by the flip cover; and
determining, with the processor, an opening angle of the flip cover, wherein the electronic device is responsive to the angle of the flip cover,
wherein the determining the opening angle of the flip cover further comprises:
calculating an arithmetic mean value of the magnetic field intensity being collected;
calculating an angle weight based on the arithmetic mean value; and
determining the opening angle based on the calculated angle weight, and
wherein the opening angle is obtained by using a logarithmic function, and

wherein the opening angle is determined by the following:
Y =log a (Intensity N )
a =Exp [{Ln(Intensity 90)}/90],
wherein Y denotes an opening angle of the flip cover;
Intensity N denotes an angle weight at an N degree;
a denotes a base of the logarithmic function;
Exp denotes an exponential function; and
Ln denotes a natural logarithmic function.

2. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein
the Hall sensor comprises at least one Hall element;
the magnetic field intensity is collected using the at least one hall element; and
the opening angle of the flip cover based on the collected magnetic field intensity.

3. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 2 , wherein the collecting a magnetic field intensity further comprises collecting a magnetic field direction of the magnet from the at least one Hall element.

4. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the opening angle is calculated based on an arithmetic mean value of the magnetic field intensity being collected.

5. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the angle weight decreases from a largest magnetic field intensity in response to the opening angle of the flip cover increasing.

6. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 ,
wherein a base of the logarithmic function is calculated based on the angle weight.

7. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 6 , wherein the base of the logarithmic function is calculated based on log (X)/90 and X is a smallest angle weight.

8. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the opening angle is calculated based on an arithmetic mean value of magnetic field intensities for each of first and second Hall element clusters being classified according to a distance from the magnet.

9. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the opening angle is calculated based on an arithmetic mean value of magnetic field intensities for each of first, second, and third Hall element clusters being classified according to a distance from the magnet.

10. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the opening and closing thresholds are determined based on opening and closing data related with a distance from the magnet.

11. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is configured to stay off in response to the determined opening angle of the flip cover.

12. The method of sensing the flip cover of claim 1 , wherein the Hall sensor comprises a plurality of Hall elements, and
wherein the plurality of Hall elements are respectively arranged in each corner of the Hall sensor, and each of the Hall elements senses a different magnetic field intensity based on its distance from the magnet of the flip cover, and
wherein an arithmetic mean value of the different magnetic field intensities is used for determining the opening angle of the flip cover.

13. A Hall sensor included in a terminal coupled to a processor, the Hall sensor comprising:
at least one Hall element; and
an angle determination unit configured by the processor to determine an opening angle of a flip cover covering the terminal, the opening angle being calculated based on a magnetic field generated between a magnet of the flip cover and the Hall element,
wherein the opening angle is determined by the following:
Y =log a (Intensity N ),
a =Exp [{Ln(Intensity 90)}/90],

wherein Y denotes an opening angle of the flip cover, Intensity N denotes an angle weight at an N degree, the angle weight is calculated based on an arithmetic mean value of the magnetic field intensity, a denotes a base of the logarithmic function, Exp denotes an exponential function, and Ln denotes a natural logarithmic function.

14. The Hall sensor of claim 13 , wherein
the at least one Hall element is configured to collect a magnetic field intensity which is generated from the magnet; and
the angle determination unit is configured to determine the angle of the flip cover based on the collected magnetic field intensity.

15. The Hall sensor of claim 13 , wherein the opening angle is calculated based on the arithmetic mean value of magnetic field intensities for each of first and second Hall element clusters.

16. A terminal, having a processor, configured to be covered by a flip cover, the terminal comprising:
a Hall sensor, comprising at least one Hall element, the Hall sensor being configured by the processor to determine an opening angle of the flip cover responsive to a magnetic field generated between a magnet of the flip cover and the at least one Hall element,
wherein the opening angle is determined by the following:
Y =log a (Intensity N ),
a =Exp [{Ln(Intensity 90)1}/90],

wherein Y denotes an opening angle of the flip cover, Intensity N denotes an angle weight at an N degree, the angle weight is calculated based on an arithmetic mean value of the magnetic field intensity, a denotes a base of the logarithmic function, Exp denotes an exponential function, and Ln denotes a natural logarithmic function.

17. The terminal of claim 16 , wherein
the at least one Hall element is configured to collect a magnetic field intensity which is generated from the magnet; and
the Hall sensor is configured to determine the opening angle of the flip cover based on the collected magnetic field intensity.

18. The terminal of claim 16 , wherein the opening angle is calculated based on the arithmetic mean value of magnetic field intensities for each of the first, the second, and the third clusters.

Assignees

• Magnachip Semiconductor Ltd

Inventors

• Park Seung-Hwan
• Jin Hyung-Nam

Classifications

• H04M1/0243 Primary

  using the relative angle between housings · CPC title

• H04B1/3888 Primary

  Arrangements for carrying or protecting transceivers · CPC title

• H04B1/38 Primary

  Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving · CPC title