APPLICATION FOR INDIA LETTERS OF PATENT FOR AN INTEGRATED COMPUTING SYSTEM

INVENTORS SANJAY PARTHANATH SHYAMANUR AND SRIDHAR RAMANATH SHYAMANUR

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present invention in general relates to a computing system and in particular relates to a portable integrated computing system.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[0002] Typically, while installing a computing system in an office or residence, a computing system occupies larger space as such a computing system has to accommodate a monitor, a computer, a keyboard, a mouse, a printer and a scanner. To connect different devices of the computing system such as the monitor, computer, keyboard, mouse, printer and the scanner (referred as accessories, hereafter) to work together, it is required to interconnect each of these devices using cables/wires/chords. Also, while interconnecting the devices the software and hardware compatibility is to be checked before all these devices can be made to work together as intended. In addition to connect the computing system to a power source number of power sockets and power chords are required to connect each of said accessories to provide power to the computing system. Also, it requires a skilled person to interconnect the devices and install the software applications and software drivers required to make all these devices work together.

[0003] The manufacturers of these devices generally provide user guides to help the customer or the user to interconnect these devices and install the required software applications, software drivers and such other packages. However, such an approach assumes that the user needs to have some technical training.

Unfortunately, often the users may not have adequate technical training to interconnect all these accessories and making them work together.

[0004] Some of the present computer manufacturers have integrated some of the above said devices and examples of such systems are laptops, palmtops, and tablet pc's (in which a display unit is integrated to the computer). However, such systems occupy more space and require chords to interconnect the devices. For example, it would still be required to interconnect a laptop to the printer and scanner and installation of software applications and software drivers would still need skilled personnel. Also, it is difficult to route all the chords appropriately and maintain these chords. Though some of the problems associated with physically interconnecting the devices may be overcome using wireless technology, the requirement of a skilled person to install the software applications and software drivers cannot be substituted.

[0005] Also, presently, most of the computing systems use a cooling fan to cool the processor and other electronic components present in the computer, which consumes more power from the power source (AC or battery). The printers available in the current market place comprise more mechanical moving parts, which results in consumption of more power. Due to the moving parts, the wear and tear and the noise level in the current accessories, especially, the printer is high.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0006] The invention herein described is by the way of example and the figures are used for illustrating embodiment(s) of the invention and by no means should be construed as limiting. For clarity and simplicity of illusion, the elements in the figure(s) are not necessarily drawn to the scale. For instance, dimension of some of the elements may be magnified when-compared to other elements for clarity.

[0007] Fig.1 illustrates a prior art computing system 100.

[0008] Fig. 2 illustrates an integrated computing system 200, in which printing,
scanning and computing techniques may be integrated in accordance with an
embodiment.

[0009] Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram 300 of the integrated computing system,
in which several accessories/devices may be plugged into a printed circuit board
(PCB) enabling seamless integration of multiple devices in accordance with an
embodiment.

[00010] Fig. 4 illustrates a block 330, in which display and printing technique is
integrated in accordance with an embodiment.

[00011] Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a printing method that may be employed
by a user of the integrated computing system in accordance with an embodiment.

[00012] Fig. 6 is a flow chart, which illustrates a printing operation that may be performed by the integrated computing system in accordance with an
embodiment.

[00013] Fig. 7 illustrates a logic diagram 700, in which the master controller coupled to the PCB may control a slave or child control unit of the integrated computing system in accordance with an embodiment.

[00014] Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a scanning operation, which may be used
in the integrated computing system in accordance with an embodiment.

[00015] Fig. 9 illustrates an arrangement 900, in which the display screen is used to print on the medium in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00016] The following description describes an integrated computing system. In the following description, numerous specific details and choices are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be appreciated, however, by one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, constructional details and other such details have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art, with the included descriptions, will be able to implement appropriate functionality without undue experimentation.

[00017] References in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "an example embodiment", etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that, it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[00018] In one embodiment, an integrated computing system may include a monitor, a computer, keyboard, mouse, printer and scanner integrated into a single portable unit. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may further comprise a touch panel as input device instead of physical keyboard and mouse. In one embodiment, the document displayed on the screen of the integrated computing system may be printed on a medium such as a paper by placing the integrated computing device in close proximity to the medium. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may use less movable mechanical elements in the system so that the power consumed by the integrated computing system may be substantially less.

[00019] In one embodiment, the integrated computing system (ICS) may be used as a computer, a printer, a scanner, a fax machine, a phone device, a GPS device, a music system and such other devices. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may comprise a Graphic User Interface (GUI) that prevents a user to enhance user experience. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may enable the user to use the installed applications without having to interconnect the devices and install the software applications and software drivers. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may be portable and may be carried with ease to enable a user to use the ICS as a mobile office. In one embodiment, the ICS may be used for preparing, modifying, authenticating, and storing a repository of documents. In one embodiment, using the ICS as a document management system may avoid maintaining and carrying physical medium(s) such as paper copies.

[00020] In one embodiment, while using the integrated computing system as a printer, the display unit along with the touch panel may be used as an electro- static printing screen. In one embodiment, the high intensity lamp may be activated to convert the image or the text (pattern in general) displayed on the electro-static printing screen into negatively charged portions, while the remaining spaces may be represented as positively charged portions. In one embodiment, a positively charged toner-sheet may be slide (or moved) along the electro-static printing screen. In one embodiment, the positively charged toner particles may be attracted by the negatively charged portions of the electro-static printing screen. Due to attraction of the positively charged toner particles, the positively charged toner particles get deposited on the electro-static printing screen. Afterwards, the toner sheet may be rolled back or slid back or moved back to its original position. In one embodiment, a more negatively charged (as compared to the electro-static printing screen) medium may be placed in close proximity to the electro-static printing screen. As a result, the positively charged toner particles deposited on the electro-static printing screen may be attracted to the more negatively charged medium. In one embodiment, the positively charged toner particles deposited on the electro-static printing screen may represent the pattern displayed on the electro-static printing screen. In one embodiment, the printing techniques used in the integrated computing system to print the documents or the text/image (pattern) may include ink jet printing, laser printing, belt or flat belt printing technique and such other printing techniques.

[00021] In one embodiment, a heater element may be provisioned at one or more edges of the integrated computing system and the heater element may be activated. In one embodiment, the heat generated by the heater element may be beamed on the printed medium to firmly affix the particles to the physical medium. In one embodiment, the electro-static printing screen may be wiped off or cleaned to remove the remaining toner particles after completing the printing operation. In one embodiment, a wiper may be moved automatically using a technique such as maglev, electrostatic attraction, or physical moving devices or manual operation.

[00022] In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may be compact, portable and may utilize less energy. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may be easily carried and used with ease in any place. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may support Global Positioning System (GPS), internet and may support wired and wireless connectivity, Bluetooth, and telephone connectivity based on Coded Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and/or Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) technology and/or any other such technologies. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system may be coupled to the power source to charge the battery pack. In one embodiment, by using integrated computing system, space, time and power may be conserved and the user may use ICS as a mobile office.

[00023] An arrangement 100 of a prior art computing system is illustrated in Fig.1. The arrangement 100 may comprise a monitor 101, a computer 105, a printer/scanner 110, a keyboard 115 and a mouse 120. At least some of the devices such as the monitor 101, the printer/scanner 110, the keyboard 115 and the mouse 120 may have to be connected to the computer 105 through the connecting chords 130-A, 130-D, 130-B and 130-C respectively. At least some of the devices such as the monitor 101, the computer 105 and the printer/scanner 110 may be connected to a power source 125 through power cords 140-A, 140-B and 140-C separately. The computing system 100 may be arranged on the computing table 150. The printer/scanner 110 may be in the combined form along with the copier or each printer, scanner and the copier may be arranged separately.

[00024] The computing system 100 arranged on the computing table 150 may occupy more space. It is required to interconnect each of these devices by cables. Also, after interconnecting the devices the software applications and software drivers may have to be installed and hardware compatibility is to be checked before all these devices can be made to work together as intended. However, to connect the computing system to the power source a number of power sockets and power chords are required at the place where the computing system is physically placed. Also, it requires a skilled person to interconnect the devices and install the software applications and software drivers required to make all these devices work together. The printer/scanner 110 may comprise mechanical moving parts resulting in consumption of more power and the noise generated may be high as well and the mechanical moving parts may also undergo wear and tear. Time taken to compute, scan and print the documents using the computing system 100 may demand more physical movements and time of the user (time-motion values) decreasing the productivity of the user.

[00025] An embodiment of an arrangement of an integrated computing system (ICS) 200, in which multiple devices such as a printer, a scanner and a computer may be integrated into a single portable device is illustrated in Fig. 2. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may comprise a display screen 210, a battery pack 215, a computer 220, a screen wiper 235, a heater element 240, a scanner 245 and a toner 250. In one embodiment, the computer 220 may further comprise a power switch 230, USB slots 225, a ROM drive 255, connectivity slots 260 (may include Bluetooth, WLAN and such other connectivity slots), an audio input/output 265 (including control), other network connectivity slots 270-A and 270-B (LAN and telephone), CDMA and GSM slots 280. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may further comprise guide ways 275-A and 275-B for a toner screen to slide along the display screen 210. In one embodiment, a power chord 285 may be coupled to a power source to charge the battery pack 215. In one embodiment, before starting the operation, the power switch 230 may be switched ON.

[00026] In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may be used as a computer to perform computing, as a printer to copy or print the electronic format of a document onto a physical medium such as paper, and as a scanner to scan the pattern on a physical medium into an electronic format. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may be used as a printer as described below. In one embodiment, the printing operation may be integrated with the display screen 210 along with the touch screen panel. In one embodiment, the display screen 210 may be used as an electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, the image or the text ("pattern" in general) displayed on the electro-static printing screen 210-A may get negatively charged and the remaining space (white space) on the display screen 210 may be positively charged after a high intensity lamp is activated, which may make the light to fall on the electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, the positively charged toner sheet may be slid out from the toner 250 in front of or along the electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, the toner sheet may be moved back to its original position after the toner particles may transferred to the electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, after the toner sheet positioned in parallel to the electrostatic-printing screen 210-A the positively charged toner particles may be attracted to the negatively charged portion (i.e., pattern) of the electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, the more negatively charged physical medium (such as paper) may be placed in close proximity to the electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, as the toner sheet is moved back to its original position, there may be electro-static coupling between the electro-static printing screen 210-A and the physical medium. In one embodiment, the more negatively charged medium (as compared to electro-static printing screen 210-A) may attract the toner particles, which may be deposited on the electro-static printing screen 210-A. As a result, the toner particles deposited on the display screen 210 in the form of a pattern (displayed on the display screen 210) may be transferred to the physical medium. In one embodiment, the heater element 240 provisioned in one of the edges of the integrated computing system 200 may be activated to emit heat on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the heat emitted by the heater element 240 on the printed medium may cause the toner particles in the form of the pattern to be fixed firmly on the physical medium.

[00027] In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may be compact, portable and may utilize less power due to decreased number of moving parts. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may be easily carried and used with ease in any place allowing a user to have a mobile office. In one embodiment, a "Thermal Electro Cooling" technique may be used for cooling the ICS 200. In one embodiment, the thermal electro cooling technique may use two dissimilar materials, in which one material may have higher heat emitting ability while the other may have higher heat absorbing ability. As a result of the thermal gradient between the two dissimilar materials heat may be transferred from inside the ICS 200 to outside atmosphere cooling the electronic parts of the ICS 200.

[00028] In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may further comprise a projecting device and a web camera. In one embodiment, the ICS 200 may be used as a projector to project a document, or a text, or a pattern or a picture, or a presentation on a surface such as a screen. In one embodiment, the ICS 200 may be used for video conferencing and may also be used as a camera to capture the picture (may include motion and still picture).

[00029] An embodiment of a block diagram of an integrated computing system 300, in which several devices may be plugged into a base printed circuit board (PCB) enabling seamless integration of multiple devices, is illustrated in Fig. 3. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 300 may be created by integrating multiple devices such as a master controller cord 310, a display and printing screen 320 and a scanner 330 as pluggable components into a single base PCB 301. In one embodiment, the printed circuit board 301 further comprises a plurality of interconnect slots to allow one or more add-on cards to be plugged into the plurality of interconnect slots. In one embodiment, a battery pack 340 may be used to supply required power to the integrated computing system 300. In one embodiment, the battery pack 340 may be coupled to a power source 350.

[00030] In one embodiment, the PCB 301 may include a master processor cord 310, which may control the operation of multiple devices together. In one embodiment, the master processor cord 310 may control child/slave processors of each pluggable device to perform respective operations. In one embodiment, the devices such as the master processor cord 310, the display and printing screen 320 and the scanner 330 may be detached from the integrated computing system 300. In one embodiment, the detached individual devices or add-on may be serviced separately or may be replaced if major problem with any of the pluggable cords/devices may be detected or on failure. In one embodiment, the devices such as the master processor cord 310, the display and printing screen 320, and the scanner 330 may be plugged into plug-in sockets coupled to the PCB 301. In one embodiment, a "Thermal Electro Cooling" technique may be adapted, which may avoid the use of fan required to cool the pluggable cords.

[00031] In one embodiment, the scanner 330 may further comprise a high intensity lamp, mirrors inclined at specified angles, a lens, a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) sensor, a scanning slot and a child/slave controller. In other embodiment, the scanner 330 may be a pen scanner or a slide scanner. In one embodiment, the scanner 330 may convert the image on the physical media into a digital image. In one embodiment, the master processor cord 310 may control the scanning operation through child/slave controller(s) embedded on each of the pluggable cords in response to a user selecting the scan option. In one embodiment, the scanner 330 may be associated with a biometric sensor and may be capable of reading for example, finger print, or DNA, or eye detection unit of an individual person. In one embodiment, the scanner 330 may be associated with bar code reader as well.

[00032] In one embodiment, the battery pack 340 may be used to provide the power backup to the integrated computing system 300. In one embodiment, the battery pack 340 may include lithium or nickel-cadmium or any such battery devices. The battery pack may supply power to all the devices of the integrated computing system 300 to perform the operations such as computing, printing, scanning and such other similar operations. In one embodiment, the battery pack 340 may be coupled to the power source 350 to charge the battery pack 340.

[00033] An embodiment of integrating the display and the printing tasks performed by display and printing screen 320 of Fig. 3 is illustrated in Fig. 4. In one embodiment, the display and printing screen 320 may further comprise a child/slave controller 410 to control the operations of the devices such as a toner 420, a guide way 425, a stepper motor 430, a display screen 435, a touch screen 440, a high intensity lamp 450, a heating element 460, an electro-static printing screen 465, and such other units integrated with the display and printing screen 320.

[00034] In one embodiment, the child/slave controller 410 of the display and printing screen 320 may receive a command 412 from the master process cord 310 and in response may perform printing operations described below. In one embodiment, the control operations performed by the child/slave controller 410 may include control of the display screen 435, activation of the high intensity lamp 450, enabling of the touch screen 440, activation of the motion actuator device 430, use the display screen 435 as the electro-static printing screen 465, activate the heater element 460, movement of the toner sheet 470 and such other similar operations. In one embodiment, the display screen 435 may be used to visualize the computing operations, the documents and the images. In one embodiment, the display screen 435 may be horizontally placed, or vertically placed, or the display screen 435 may be tilted to any angle or position to facilitate convenience of viewing to a user of the ICS 300. In one embodiment, the display screen 435 may support touch sensors (forming a touch screen 440) to allow the user to interact with the ICS 300. Such an approach may avoid the usage of a physical keyboard and mouse to provide the input to the integrated computing system 300. In one embodiment, the display screen 435 may be used as the electro-static printing screen 465. In one embodiment, the child/slave controller may activate the high intensity lamp 450, which may emit high intensity light on the display screen. As a result of the light incident on the display screen 435, the pattern of the document displayed on the display screen may be negatively charged and the remaining portion (white space) may be positively charged. In one embodiment, the display screen 435 may act as a electro-static printing screen 465 due to such distribution of charges on the display screen 435.

[00035] In one embodiment, the child/slave controller 410 may activate the motion actuator device 430, which may slide the toner sheet 470 from the toner 420 along the electro-static printing screen 465 using the guide way(s) 425-A and 425-B. In one embodiment, the positively charged toner particles present on the toner sheet 470 may get attracted to the negatively charged portion of the electro-static printing screen 465. As a result, the positively charged toner particles may get deposited on the electro-static printing screen 465 in the form of the pattern displayed on the display screen 435. After depositing the positively charged toner particles on the electro-static printing screen 465, the toner sheet 470 may be rolled/slid back into the toner 420. In one embodiment, the more negatively charged physical medium (e.g., paper) may be placed in close proximity to the electro-static printing screen 465. In one embodiment, the more negatively charged physical medium may attract the toner particles deposited on the electro-static printing screen 465. As a result, the toner particles, which are in the form of a pattern of the document may be transferred to or deposited on the more negatively charged physical medium. Further, as a result of transfer of such toner particles to the physical medium, in one embodiment, the pattern of the document is replicated on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the heating element 460 may be activated and the heat generated by the heating element 460 may be incident over the physical medium. As a result, the toner may get firmly fixed on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the printer may be designed such that the electro-static printing screen 465 may be capable of printing the finger prints of individual person (signing authority or owner of the document) and an invisible bar code on the physical medium, while printing the document displayed on the display screen 435.

[00036] In one embodiment, the printing techniques may include laser printing, or ink jet printing, or flat belt printing or any such other printing techniques may be used to print the document or text/image (pattern) displayed on the display screen 435 on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the above mentioned printing techniques may also be capable of printing the finger prints of individual person (signing authority or owner of the document) and an invisible bar code on the physical medium, while printing the document displayed on the display screen 435.

[00037] A flowchart illustrating a printing method that may be employed by a user of the integrated computing system 200 is depicted in FIG. 5. In block 510, the integrated computing system 200 may be started by pressing the power button 230. In one embodiment, the power to start the integrated computing system 200 may be supplied by the battery pack 215, which may be coupled to the power source.

[00038] In block 520, the user may open the document or the image or the text (pattern) in the integrated computing system 200, which may be displayed on the display screen 210 that may be printed on the printable physical medium. In one embodiment, the pattern may be directly scanned or may be opened from a file stored in the hard drive of the integrated computing system 200 or may generated by a user as and when required. In one embodiment, the document may be edited to the required format and the user may also include any other details that may have to be printed on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the other details may include digital signatures, watermarks, and such other marks.

[00039] In block 530, the user may select the option "print" from the menu after editing the document that is to be printed on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the user may select the print option and may place the integrated computing system 200 in close proximity to the physical medium, on which print is to be taken as depicted in block 540.

[00040] In block 550 the master processor may determine whether the printing process is complete or not. In one embodiment, if the printing process is complete an audio and/or a visual alert may be providing by the integrated computing system 200. If the printing process is still in progress the user may wait until the integrated computing system 200 may provide an audio and/or a visual alert. In one embodiment, the audio alert may be a beep and the visual alert may be a LED glowing red or any such other similar alerts. In one embodiment, after receiving such alert signals, the user may take out the printed medium to end the process, which is as depicted in the block 560.

[00041] A flowchart illustrating a printing operation performed by the integrated computing system 200 is depicted in FIG. 6. In block 610, the user may start the integrated computing system 200 by pressing the power button 230. In one embodiment, the power to start the integrated computing system 200 may be supplied by the battery pack 215, which may be coupled to the power source.

[00042] In block 615, the user may open the document or the image (pattern), which may be displayed on the display screen 210 of the integrated computing system 200. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may generate a message to the user to select the option whether the document opened is to be printed on the physical medium as depicted in block 620. In one embodiment, if the user selects the option "no" (not to print the document) control passes to edit the document, which is as depicted in block 621. In other embodiment, if the user selects the option "print" the control passes to block 635.

[00043] In block 622, the user may be given an option to save the document after editing. In one embodiment, if the user selects the option not to save the edited document, the operation may be halted by closing the document without saving. If the user selects the option "save", control passes to block 625 to save the document. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 200 may again generate a message to the user to select the option whether the edited document is to be printed on the physical medium as depicted in block 630. In one embodiment, if the user selects the option not to print the document, the application may be closed without printing the document. In one embodiment, if the user selects the option "print", control passes to block 635, which may activate the printing operation.

[00044] In block 640, a high source lamp may be activated in response to the user selecting the "print" option. In one embodiment, the high intensity lamp may be located below the display screen 210. In one embodiment, the display screen 210 may be used as the electro-static printing screen 210-A (while the display is also active). In one embodiment, as a result of the light incident on the electrostatic printing screen 210-A, the text/letters or the image (pattern) displayed on the electro-static printing screen 210-A may get negatively charged and the remaining space (white space) on the electro-static printing screen 210-A may be positively charged, which is as depicted in block 645.

[00045] In block 650, a motion actuator may be activated in response to deactivation of high intensity lamp. In one embodiment, the motion actuator may be used to automate the sliding/moving motion of the toner sheet along the electro-static printing screen 210-A from the toner 250. In one embodiment, the toner sheet may be moved along the electro-static printing screen 210-A of the integrated computing system 200 in a pre-determined path (the guide way 275-A and 275-B) as depicted in block 655. The toner sheet may occupy a position in front of the display screen 210 that may be parallel to the electro-static printing screen 210-A as a result of sliding the toner sheet along the electro-static printing screen 210-A.

[00046] In block 660, the negatively charged portion of the electro-static printing screen 210-A may attract the positively charged toner particles from the toner sheet. As a result, the positively charged toner particles may be deposited on the negatively charged portion (pattern) of the electro-static printing screen 210- A. In one embodiment, the toner sheet may be slid back into the toner 250 after the toner particles are deposited on the electro-static printing screen 210-A. In one embodiment, the toner sheet may be slid backwards into the toner 250 using the motion actuator as depicted in block 665. In one embodiment, a more negatively charged physical medium may be placed in close proximity to the electro-static printing screen 210-A. .In one embodiment, the electro-static printing screen 210-A, which is less negatively charged compared to the negative charge on the physical medium, may act as positive electrode and the more negatively charged physical medium may act as negative electrode. In one embodiment, the positively charged toner particles deposited on the electro-static printing screen 210-A in form of the pattern displayed on the electro-static printing screen 210-A may get transferred the more negatively charged physical medium (e.g., paper) in form of the pattern that is as depicted in block 670.

[00047] In block 675, the heating element 240 may be activated. In block 680, the integrated computing system 200 may be moved over the physical medium such that the heat generated by the heater element 240 may be incident on the physical medium allowing the toner particles to be firmly fixed on the physical medium. In one embodiment, the printed medium may be taken out, which is as depicted in block 685 to end the printing process.

[00048] An embodiment of a logic diagram 700, in which a master controller 710 may control a slave or child controllers of the pluggable cards 715-790 of the integrated computing system 200 is illustrated in Fig. 7. In one embodiment, the master controller 710 may send the instructions to the child/slave controllers of the individual pluggable cards to perform the respective tasks such as printing and scanning. In one embodiment, the various interfaces or pluggable cards (or add-on) that the master controller 710 may control includes, a RAM interface 715, a power distribution unit 720, a GPS interface 725, a scanner interface 730, a printer interface 735, a heater interface 740, a Read Only Memory (ROM) interface 745, an alert interface 750, a storage interface 755, a network adapter interface 760, a barcode scanner and printer interface 765, an authentication interface 770, a touch screen interface 775, an audio-video interface 780, a display interface 785, a USB interface 790 and such other similar interfaces, which may be integrated within the integrated computing system 200.

[00049] In one embodiment, the master controller 710 may be programmed such that the operations of the printer included or coupled to the printer interface 735. In one embodiment, a scanner included or coupled to the scanner interface 730 and the display included or coupled to the display interface 765 may be integrated into a single portable device. In one embodiment, the pluggable cards 715-790 may be coupled to the master controller 710 via a bus 795. In one embodiment, the bus 795 may include shared buses or point to point buses. In one embodiment, USB, PCI-e, PCMCIA, and other such protocols may be used to design the pluggable cards 715-790. In one embodiment, the master controller 710 and the PCB 301 may be designed to support coupling of such pluggable cards 715-790 to the master controller 710. In one embodiment, the authentication interface 770 may be used by a user to affix a signature on a document displayed on the display interface 765. In one embodiment, the signature may be one or more of a bio-metric signature, a digital signature, or a physical signature. In other embodiment, the authentication interface 770 may be used by the user to affix a barcode on the document displayed on the display interface 765.

[00050] A flowchart 800 illustrating a scanning method and operation using the integrated computing system 200 is depicted in FIG. 8. In block 810, the integrated computing system 200 may be started by pressing the power button 230. In one embodiment, the power to start the integrated computing system 200 may be supplied by the battery pack 215, which may be coupled to the power source.

[00051] In block 820, the user may select the scanning option to activate the scanner 245. In one embodiment, the user may insert the document into the scanning slot of the scanner 245, which is as depicted in block 830. In one embodiment, the high intensity lamp may get activated in response to the user selecting the scanning option that is as depicted in block 840. In one embodiment, the light generated by the high intensity lamp may be reflected and focused, respectively, by a series of mirrors arranged inside the scanner 245 at pre-specified angles to create an image of the document as depicted in block 850.

[00052] In block 860, the image may be provided to a sensor such as Charged Coupled Device (CCD sensor) to convert the image into a digital form. In one embodiment, the digital form may be stored in a memory within the ICS 200. In one embodiment, after generating the scanned image of the original document the original document may be taken out of the scanning slot to end the process, which is as depicted in block 870.

[00053] An embodiment of an integrated computing system 900 used to print an electronic document on a physical medium is illustrated in Fig 9. In one embodiment, the printing arrangement 900 may comprise a display screen 910-A, which may be used as an electro-static printing screen 910-B, a high intensity lamp 950-A, a heating element 970-A, a toner sheet 920-A and a physical medium 930-A. In one embodiment, the display screen 910-A may be used to open a document, which may include text/letters or images (pattern) that may be printed on the physical medium 930-A. In one embodiment, the display screen 910-A may be used as the electro-static printing screen 910-B. In one embodiment, in response to the user selecting the print option displayed on the display screen 910-A the high intensity lamp 950-A may be activated. In one embodiment, by activating the high intensity lamp 950-A and making the light to fall (incident) on the display screen 910-A the text or image (a document) portion of the electro-static printing screen 910-B may be negatively charged and the remaining portion (white portion) of the electro-static printing screen 910-B may be positively charged.

[00054] In one embodiment, the toner sheet 920-A may be slid/moved along the electro-static printing screen 910-B in the direction depicted by an arrow 975-A. As a result, of moving the toner sheet 920-A, the toner sheet 920-A may be interposed between the electro-static printing screen 910-B and the physical medium 930-A. In one embodiment, the negatively charged portion of the electro-static printing screen 910-B may attract the positively charged toner particles 960-A present on the toner sheet 920-A. As a result, the toner particles 960-A may get deposited on the negatively charged portion of the electro-static printing screen 910-B. In one embodiment, the toner sheet 920-A may be slid backwards along the display screen 910-A in the direction 975-B. As a result a more negatively charged physical medium 930-A may be placed in close proximity to the electro-static printing screen 910-B. In one embodiment, the more negatively charged physical medium 930-A may attract the positively charged toner particles 960-B deposited in the form of the pattern on the electrostatic printing screen 910-B. In one embodiment, the positively charged toner particles 960-B may get deposited on the more negatively charged physical medium 930-A. In one embodiment, the electro-static printing screen 910-B, which is less negatively charged, compared to the negative charge on the physical medium 930-A, may act as a positive electrode and the physical medium 930-A may act as negative electrode.

[00055] In one embodiment, the heating element 970-A may be activated. In one embodiment, the integrated computing system 900 may be moved over the physical medium 930-A. As a result, the heat generated by the heating element 970-A may fall on the toner particles deposited on the physical medium 930-A as shown by arrows 980-B. As a result, the toner particles deposited on the physical medium 930-A may be fixed firmly.

[00056] While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition many modifications may be made to adopt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all of the embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

[00057] The examples demonstrated in the figures and the description above is set forth to help a reader to understand the invention and by no means limit the scope of the invention. Various features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed Is:

1. An integrated computing system, comprising:

a computer,

a printer, wherein the printer is coupled to the computer,

a scanner, wherein the scanner is coupled to the computer and the printer, and

a display screen, wherein the display screen is coupled to the computer, the printer, and the scanner,

wherein the display screen is used as an electro-static printing screen while printing a document displayed on the display screen,

wherein the computer, the printer, the scanner, and the display screen are integrated into the integrated computing system, wherein the integrated computing system is a single portable unit,

wherein a pattern portion of a document displayed on the display screen is negatively charged and a remaining portion of the display screen is positively charged in response to a light incident on the display screen,

wherein positively charged toner particles are deposited on the negatively charged pattern portion of the display screen in response to moving a toner sheet along the display screen,

wherein the positively charged toner particles are deposited on a more negatively charged physical medium placed in close proximity to the display screen after moving the toner sheet backwards into a toner.

2. The integrated computing system of claim 1 further comprises guide ways to
support movement of the toner sheet along the display screen.

3. The integrated computing system of claim 1 includes a printed circuit board, wherein the printed circuit board comprises a plurality of interconnect slots to allow one or more add-on cards to be plugged into the plurality of interconnect slots.

4. The integrated computing system of claim 1 further comprises a high intensity lamp, wherein the light emitted by the high intensity lamp that is incident on the electro-static printing screen is to create a negative charge on the pattern portion of the electro-static printing screen.

5. The integrated computing system of claim 4, wherein the light emitted by the high intensity lamp that is incident on the electro-static printing screen is to create a positive charge on the remaining portion' of the electro-static printing screen.

6. The integrated computing system of claim 1, wherein the document is printed using flat belt printing technique.

7. The integrated computing system of claim 1 further comprises a screen wiper, wherein the screen wiper is moved across the surface of the display screen to clean the toner particles left out on the display screen after the printing of the document is complete.

8. The integrated computing system of claim 1 further comprises a heating element, wherein the heating element is used to firmly fix the toner particles, which are transferred to the physical medium.

9. The integrated computing system of claim 3, wherein the printer, plugged into one of the plurality of interconnect slots, is in the form of a printer add-on card.

10. The integrated computing system of claim 9, wherein the printer add-on card is individually serviced or replaced on failure.

11. The integrated computing system of claim 1 further comprises an authentication interface, wherein the authentication interface is used by a user to affix signature the document displayed on the display screen.

12. The integrated computing system of claim 11, wherein the signature is one or more of a bio-metric signature, digital signature, or a physical signature.

13. The integrated computing system of claim 11, wherein the authentication interface is used by the user to affix a barcode on the document displayed on the display screen.

14. The integrated computing system of claim 3, wherein the scanner, in the form of a scanner add-on card is plugged into one of the interconnect slots to couple the scanner to the computer.

15. The integrated computing system of claim 14, wherein the scanner is used to generate digital form of a physical document before storing the digital form of the physical document in a memory.

16. The integrated computing system of claim 1, wherein the computer is to support a graphic user interface, which is used by a user to print the document displayed on the display screen and to scan the physical document.