Patent Application
20090085886
This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 096136789, filed in Taiwan on Oct. 1, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a touch screen, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for switching functions of a handheld electronic device with a touch screen.
2. Background of the Invention:
A handheld device comprises a user-interface, which has numbers, letters, phonetic notations, etymons, or other icons thereon, for inputting data and operating the device. Generally, the user-interface may include a keypad having a plurality of buttons or keys, or a touch sensitive screen.
In prior art, most of the inputting interfaces of the handheld devices are designed to have a plurality of buttons or keys. To get a bigger screen, some of the buttons or keys are omitted. Instead, a touch panel is attached to the liquid crystal screen or to the other buttons or keys, so that the users could input data more conveniently.
However, the user may need to press buttons or touch the touch screen several times before he can open a certain folder or perform a certain function, which causes inconvenience, especially when the user is driving a car.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a quick way to switch to a new function of the handheld electronic device.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an apparatus with a touch panel and an LCD panel, and the touch panel is larger in area than the LCD panel. Of the touch panel, the region which overlaps the LCD panel is set up as the main touch region, and the excessive region around the main region is set up as the assistant touch region.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method to operate the apparatus as mentioned above. The gesture of sliding from the main region to the assistant region or the gesture of sliding from the assistant region can cause the switch of views accordingly, without affecting the original operations of the main touch region.
When a user operates the handheld device, he may touch the touch screen with an object such as a finger, and the touch panel will detect the presence of the finger. The location of the finger will be monitored and it is determined whether the main touch region or the assistant touch region is touched.
If the main touch region is touched and the finger slides from the main touch region to the assistant touch region, the view corresponding to this gesture will be displayed. If the finger slides from the assistant touch region back to the main touch region, the previous view will be displayed.
If the main touch region is touched and the finger does not slide from the main touch region to the assistant touch region, the corresponding function of the main touch panel will be performed.
If the finger touches the assistant touch region and then slides to the main touch region, the view corresponding to this gesture will be displayed. If the finger slides back from the main touch region to the assistant touch region, the previous view will be displayed.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals will be used to identify the same or similar elements throughout the several views. It should be noted that the drawings should be viewed in the direction of orientation of the reference numerals.
Referring to
The surrounding region that surrounds the LCD panel 2 is defined as the assistant touch region 32, and the assistant touch region 32 is divided into a first touch region (top) 321, a second touch region (bottom) 322, a third touch region (left) 323, and a fourth touch region (right) 324. When a finger of a user touches any of the four touch regions 321-324, and slides across the borderline 311 to the main touch region 31, or vice versa, the screen of the electronic device will switch to a different view.
For example, as shown in
Referring to
If it is determined in step 102 that any of the four touch regions 321-324 of the assistant touch region is touched (as shown in step 116), then the system proceeds to step 118 and determines whether the finger slides to the main touch region 31. If the answer is yes, the operation of view switch will be performed (as shown in step 120). Then the system proceeds to step 122 and determines whether the finger slides from the main touch region 31 back to any of the four touch regions 321-324 of the assistant touch region 32. If the answer is yes, the previous view will be displayed (as shown in step 124).
The coordinates of the four corners of the assistant touch panel 32 are defined as, top left corner (−20, −20), top right corner (260, −20), bottom left corner (−20, 340), and bottom right corner (260, 340). The coordinates of the four corners of the main touch area 31 are defined as, top left corner (0, 0), top right corner (240, 0), bottom left corner (0, 320), and bottom right corner (240, 320).
Referring to
When 0□X□240 and 0□Y□320, the coordinate is in the main touch region 31. For example, the coordinate (1,1) is in the main touch region 31, because
X=1, and 0<1<240; and
Y=1, and 0<1<320.
When X<0 and 0□Y□320, the coordinate is in the third touch region 323 of the assistant touch region 32. For example, the coordinate (−5, 5) is in the third touch region 323, because
X=−5<0; and
Y=5, and 0<5<320.
When X>240 and 0<Y<320, the coordinate is in the fourth touch region 324 of the assistant touch region 32. For example, the coordinate (250, 5) is in the fourth touch region 324, because
X=250>240; and
Y=5, and 0<5<320.
When Y<0, the coordinate is in the first touch region 321 of the assistant touch region 32. For example, the coordinate (120, −5) is in the first touch region 321, because
Y=−5<0
When Y>320, the coordinate is in the second touch region 322 of the assistant touch region 32. For example, the coordinate (120, 325) is in the second touch region 321, because
Y=325>320
Referring to
When the finger 4 slides upwards to the point (120, 325), no event will be triggered because the coordinate (120, 325) is still in the second touch region 322.
When the finger 4 moves on upwards to the point (120, 319), according to the coordinate (120, 330) as the start point and the coordinate (120, 319) as the end point, the system will figure out that the finger 4 has slid to the main touch region 31, and therefore will perform the corresponding view switch.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 096136789 | Oct 2007 | TW | national |
