Rotational input area for information handling device
View Patent ↗An aspect provides an information handling device, including: a housing; an input element connected at an end to the housing in a rotatable fashion, the input element having an input surface and another surface that is opposite to the input surface; one or more processors; and a memory device accessible to the one or more processors and storing code executable by the one or more processors to: detect that the input element has been rotated from a resting position, wherein, in the resting position, the input surface of the input element is fit in a cavity of the housing and the another side of the input element forms a part of the housing exterior surface; and responsive to detecting that the input element has been rotated from the resting position, accept one or more user inputs via the input surface. Other aspects are described and claimed.
1. An information handling device, comprising:
a housing;
an input element connected at an end to the housing in a rotatable fashion, the input element having an input surface and another surface that is opposite to the input surface;
one or more processors; and
a memory device accessible to the one or more processors and storing code executable by the one or more processors to:
detect that the input element has been rotated from a resting position, wherein, in the resting position, the input surface of the input element is fit in a cavity of the housing and the another side of the input element forms a part of the housing exterior surface; and
responsive to detecting that the input element has been rotated from the resting position, accept one or more user inputs via the input surface.
2. The information handling device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more hinges;
wherein the one or more hinges connect the end of the input element to the housing in a rotatable fashion.
3. The information handling device of claim 1 , wherein the input surface of the input element comprises a keyboard having physical keys disposed therein.
4. The information handling device of claim 3 , wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY keyboard.
5. The information handling device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensors to detect that the input element has been rotated from a resting position.
6. The information handling device of claim 1 , wherein, in the resting position, the another side of the input element is substantially flush with the housing exterior surface.
7. The information handling device of claim 1 , further comprising a display screen disposed in the housing on an opposite side of the cavity of the housing.
8. The information handling device of claim 7 , wherein the code is further executable by the one or more processors to, responsive to detecting that the input element has been rotated from the resting position, resize content displayed on the display screen.
9. The information handling device of claim 8 , wherein the content is resized to substantially accommodate the input element overlaying a portion of the display screen.
10. The information handling device of claim 8 , wherein the portion of the display screen is collocated with an area of the display screen occupied by a virtual keyboard.
11. A method, comprising:
detecting that an input element connected at an end to a housing of an information handling device in a rotatable fashion has been rotated from a resting position wherein, in the resting position, an input surface of the input element is fit in a cavity of the housing and another side of the input element forms a part of the housing exterior surface, the input element having the input surface and the another surface that is opposite to the input surface; and
responsive to detecting that the input element has been rotated from the resting position, accepting one or more user inputs via the input surface.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein detecting that an input element has been rotated from a resting position comprises detecting that the input element has been rotated about one or more one or more hinges connecting the end of the input element to the housing in a rotatable fashion.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the input surface of the input element comprises a keyboard having physical keys disposed therein.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY keyboard.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein detecting that an input element has been rotated from a resting position comprises further comprises using one or more sensors to detect that the input element has been rotated from a resting position.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein, in the resting position, the another side of the input element is substantially flush with the housing exterior surface.
17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, responsive to detecting that the input element has been rotated from the resting position, resizing content displayed on a display screen of the information handling device.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the content is resized to accommodate the input element overlaying a portion of the display screen.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the portion of the display screen is collocated with an area of the display screen occupied by a virtual keyboard.
20. A program product, comprising:
a storage device having computer readable program code stored therewith, the computer readable program code comprising:
computer readable program code configured to detect that an input element connected at an end to a housing of an information handling device in a rotatable fashion has been rotated from a resting position;
the input element having an input surface and another surface that is opposite to the input surface; and
computer readable program code configured to, responsive to detecting that the input element has been rotated from the resting position, accept one or more user inputs via the input surface;
wherein, in the resting position, the input surface of the input element is fit in a cavity of the housing and the another side of the input element forms a part of the housing exterior surface.