Abstract: A drive mechanism (101) for a portable electronic device (102), such as a mobile telephone or personal digital assistant, includes at least one wheel (113) engaging at least one track (103). In one embodiment, two tracks (103,104) are coupled to a first housing (105), while a pair of wheels (113,114) are coupled to a shaft (106) which is coupled to a second housing (107) by way of a shaft retaining member (111). The wheels (113,114), which may include wheel teeth (224,225) disposed about the perimeter (226,227) of the wheels that engage track teeth (112), pass along the tracks (103,104) to cause the first housing (105) to slide open or closed relative to the second housing (107). A preloaded tensioning device (108), which in one embodiment comprises to oppositely wound coiled springs disposed concentrically about the shaft (106) bias the first housing (105) and the second housing (107) towards an open position.

Abstract: This invention provides a graphical tool by which a person may quickly and efficiently check the relational information between elements of a computer model. The invention may be used to quickly validate the design rules, like minimum spacing requirements between the connections (or nets) in a schematic that exists in a computer aided design package. Since a designer must enter such design rules for each net, the invention first imports these design rules from the computer model and then imports a standard set of design rules. After comparing both the sets of design rules, the invention presents a graphical display (a matrix) to a user indicating where the model rules matched the standard set and, correspondingly, where they did not match.

Abstract: A portable electronic device, like a cellular telephone is capable of detecting collisions between vehicles and notifying the proper authorities. The device includes a microprocessor and memory, in addition to an accelerometer and global positioning systems receiver. The memory includes at least one filter for screening out false positives, which are false collision detections. In one embodiment, the device determines its velocity. It then checks to see if its velocity falls within a range associated with moving vehicles. If so, the device monitors the accelerometer. When acceleration values in excess of a predetermined threshold are detected, the device pauses and again checks its velocity. If the velocity has fallen from the range associated with moving vehicles to a range associated with a vehicle that has sustained a collision, the device notifies emergency personnel that a collision has occurred.