Selective touch scan area and reporting techniques

• US 10,152,175 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2017
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nook Digital, LLC (f/k/a Barnesandnoble.com LLC) (Bahwan CyberTek Pvt Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Nook Digital, LLC (f/k/a Barnesandnoble.com LLC) (Bahwan CyberTek Pvt Ltd.)
• Inventors: Chang, Songan Andy
• Primary Examiner(s): Sitta, Grant
• Application Number:
  US15/830,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20180088730A1
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for selective area scanning, touch scanning, and/or reporting of touch screen contacts in electronic touch sensitive devices. The selective area scanning can be used to only scan a specific section of a touch screen area, the selective touch scanning can be used to scan only for specific touches or input sources on a touch screen, and the selective reporting can be used to selectively report only desired contacts to a device processor and reject all other contacts. Multiple selective scan areas can be provisioned, with each discrete area customizable with respect to location, size, accepted touch types and/or reporting criteria. In some cases the user can configure some or all of these selective screen features.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a touch screen display for displaying content to a user and having an input detecting area configured to receive user inputs; and

a touch screen controller having a selective touch screen mode configured to selectively scan the touch screen display by scanning for user input from a preselected portion of the input detecting area that is not all of the input detecting area of the touch screen display; and

a user interface configured to present a set of adjustable boundary markers, that once engaged, allows for user-customization of the preselected portion of the input detecting area with respect to size and location of the preselected portion.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the user interface further includes a custom scan area ruler to indicate position of the set of adjustable boundary markers on the input detecting area, which in turn indicates the position of the preselected portion.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the touch screen display includes multiple preselected portions of the input detecting area, each of the multiple preselected portions being associated with a set of adjustable boundary markers.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the touch screen display includes a no-scan area, the no-scan area being a portion of the input detecting area that is outside of the preselected portion and where scanning for user input is not performed.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the preselected portion of the input detecting area is configured for use with an application, such that a text entry area and/or a user interface control feature of the application is presented within the preselected portion.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein inputs received outside the preselected portion are ignored.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein only a subset of inputs detectable via the touch screen display and that are received within the preselected portion of the display are reported, such that one or more of the inputs detectable via the touch screen display that are received within the preselected portion of the display are not reported.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the preselected portion is a first preselected portion, and the input detecting area further includes a second preselected portion.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the second preselected portion of the input detecting area is associated with one or more of a selective scan function, a selective reporting function, and/or a no-scan function.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the touch screen controller is further configured to selectively scan the second preselected portion for an input gesture or input source that is not scanned for in the first preselected portion.

11. A system, comprising:

a processor;

a touch screen display for displaying content to a user and having an input detecting area, the touch screen display allowing a plurality of user input gesture types from a plurality of user input sources, and the input detecting area including a preselected portion;

a user interface configured to present a set of adjustable boundary markers, such that movement of at least one of the adjustable boundary markers allows for user-customization of the preselected portion of the input detecting area with respect to size and location of the preselected portion; and

a touch screen controller having a selective touch screen mode configured to at least one of selectively scan or report a subset of inputs detectable via the touch screen display and that are received within the preselected portion of the display, such that one or more of the inputs detectable via the touch screen display that are received within the preselected portion of the display are not scanned for or reported to the processor.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the subset of inputs that are selectively scanned for or reported include an unlock screen gesture or an unlock user interface gesture.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein inputs received outside the preselected portion are ignored.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the preselected portion is a first preselected portion, and the input detecting area further includes a second preselected portion, wherein the second preselected portion is associated with one or more of a selective scan function, a selective reporting function, and/or a no-scan function.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the subset of inputs selectively scanned for or reported to the processor is user-configurable with respect to one or more of input source and/or gesture type.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that when executed by one or more processors, cause a process to be carried out in a system having a touch screen display, the touch screen display having an input detecting area and configured for detecting user input, the process comprising:

presenting a user interface configured to present a set of adjustable boundary markers, that once engaged, allows for user-customization of a preselected portion of the input detecting area with respect to size and location of the preselected portion, wherein the preselected portion is not all of the input detecting area of the touch screen display; and

selectively scanning the touch screen display by scanning for input from the preselected portion of the input detecting area, such that there is a portion of the input detecting area where scanning for input is not performed.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the preselected portion is a first preselected portion, and the input detecting area further includes a second preselected portion, and wherein selectively scanning the touch screen display further includes scanning for input from the second preselected portion different than input scanned for in the first preselected portion.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein prior to selectively scanning, the process further comprises:

receiving boundary input based on manipulation of the adjustable boundary markers, the boundary input specifying the size and the location of the preselected portion; and

establishing the preselected portion of the input detecting area at the specified location.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein only a subset of inputs detectable via the touch screen display and that are received within the preselected portion of the display are reported, such that one or more of the inputs detectable via the touch screen display that are received within the preselected portion of the display are not reported.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein inputs received outside the preselected portion are ignored.