How Phones Use Motion Sensors to Change Screen Orientation and Views
A patent describing how mobile devices use sensors to detect movement, allowing the screen to rotate or scroll through pages based on how you tilt or roll the device.
Original patent title: “USRE45559E1 - Portable computers”
A patent describing how mobile devices use sensors to detect movement, allowing the screen to rotate or scroll through pages based on how you tilt or roll the device. Granted to Apple Inc in 2015 with 62 claims and 4 forward citations.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a portable computer, such as a handheld phone, equipped with movement detection sensors like accelerometers. These sensors track the device's position relative to gravity and its physical movement. The processing unit interprets this movement to determine the user's intent, such as wanting to see more content or change the screen's orientation. For example, if a user laterally tilts the device, the system scrolls to display information stored to the side of the current view, effectively navigating through adjacent pages of data.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover software-based screen rotation that relies on user-triggered menu selections rather than physical movement sensors.
- Does not cover devices that lack a storage medium for holding multiple pages of displayable information.
- Does not cover static displays that do not adjust their orientation or content based on detected movement data.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The innovation lies in using the device's physical orientation as a direct input for navigation, specifically mapping 'rolling' or 'tilting' motions to the logical movement between adjacent pages of data.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Automatic screen rotation on smartphones when switching from portrait to landscape
Motion-based scrolling in early PDA interfaces
Tilt-to-scroll features in mobile document viewers
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This technology is a foundational element of modern mobile user interfaces. By enabling the device to 'feel' its orientation, it moved mobile computing away from rigid, fixed-screen layouts toward the fluid, intuitive interaction models we use today. It essentially defined the standard for how smartphones handle screen rotation and gesture-based navigation.
Filed
October 8, 1998
Granted
June 9, 2015
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Apple Inc. holds this patent and has integrated these motion-sensing capabilities across the entire iPhone and iPad product lines. Most major smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung and Google, utilize similar sensor-fusion technology to manage display orientation and navigation.
Market impact
This patent helped standardize the expectation that mobile devices should automatically adapt to the user's physical handling. It provided a framework for motion-based UI, which became a critical differentiator in the early smartphone market and remains a baseline requirement for mobile hardware today.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a portable computer, such as a handheld phone, equipped with movement detection sensors like accelerometers. These sensors track the device's position relative to gravity and its physical movement. The processing unit interprets this movement to determine the user's intent, such as wanting to see more content or change the screen's orientation. For example, if a user laterally tilts the device, the system scrolls to display information stored to the side of the current view, effectively navigating through adjacent pages of data.
The clever bit
The innovation lies in using the device's physical orientation as a direct input for navigation, specifically mapping 'rolling' or 'tilting' motions to the logical movement between adjacent pages of data.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover software-based screen rotation that relies on user-triggered menu selections rather than physical movement sensors.
- Does not cover devices that lack a storage medium for holding multiple pages of displayable information.
- Does not cover static displays that do not adjust their orientation or content based on detected movement data.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Moderate
Citation count
14/40
Early citations
Claim breadth
20/20
Very broad protection
Recency
5/20
Granted 10–20 years ago
Assignee scale
20/20
Major company or institution
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$14K – $43K
Midpoint $27K · expired or expiring · industry ×1.5
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
62 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Williams, H. L. (2015). How Phones Use Motion Sensors to Change Screen Orientation and Views (U.S. Patent No. RE45,559). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE45559/cover-flow
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Phones Use Motion Sensors to Change Screen Orientation and Views cover?
A patent describing how mobile devices use sensors to detect movement, allowing the screen to rotate or scroll through pages based on how you tilt or roll the device.
Who owns patent US RE45559?
Apple Inc owns this patent, granted in 2015.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on June 9, 2035, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US RE45559 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 4 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This technology is a foundational element of modern mobile user interfaces. By enabling the device to 'feel' its orientation, it moved mobile computing away from rigid, fixed-screen layouts toward the fluid, intuitive interaction models we use today. It essentially defined the standard for how smartphones handle screen rotation and gesture-based navigation.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover software-based screen rotation that relies on user-triggered menu selections rather than physical movement sensors.
Same assignee
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