{
  "patent_number": "US RE45559",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Phones Use Motion Sensors to Change Screen Orientation and Views",
  "original_title": "USRE45559E1 - Portable computers",
  "summary": "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.",
  "what_it_does": "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.",
  "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."
  ],
  "filed": "1998-10-08",
  "granted": "2015-06-09",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Apple Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/apple-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Hilary Lyndsay Williams",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/hilary-lyndsay-williams"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 4,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software",
    "telecommunications"
  ],
  "abstract": "A portable computer hand held cellular telephone arranged to rest comfortably in the hand has a small display screen. Accelerometers capable of detecting movement of the pen cellular telephone with respect to gravity provide input to a microcontroller which selects a response from a number of viewing modes. The pen cellular telephone may be held in either hand and the output message to the screen will be oriented according to the location of the pen cellular telephone. Full personal digital assistance functionality may be incorporated in a relatively small plastics casing and functions, such as calendar, contracts contacts and the like may be incorporated.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE45559/cover-flow",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE45559/cover-flow/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE45559",
  "relatedPatents": []
}