The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 27, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 07, 1998
James C. Dow, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Dan L. Dalton, Greeley, CO (US);
Michael L. Rudd, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Karin C. Ruffatto, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Beth Moses, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Daniel Formosa, Montvale, NJ (US);
Sandra Nieves, New York, NY (US);
Paul Hamburger, New York, NY (US);
Michael J. DeVries, Loveland, CO (US);
Nancy Shepard, Arvada, CO (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An appliance and method are provided for capturing and viewing images. The capturing and viewing appliance is an instrument used to capture and communicate images to other appliances and devices with communication capabilities. The capturing and viewing appliance includes a processor for manipulating and viewing the images on a built-in display. Program code stored in internal memory includes a viewing application program which allows the user to view stored images in a variety of pixel resolutions. According to another aspect of the invention, the viewing system provides a user-friendly interface for effective graphical communication of the functioning of the appliance or other device to the user through use of animated transitions. Through the use of metaphorical icons, animated transitions between exploded and unexploded images and image magnification, the present invention presents a novel user interface which makes the viewing system and method a solution to devices in need of image viewing capabilities with limited resources. The viewing method is designed for viewing captured images through instrument reuse especially useful in portable hand-held appliances or other devices which are capable of displaying images where space and compactness are a concern.