Appliance and method for navigating among multiple captured images and functional menus

• US 20010009428A1
• Filed: 03/12/2001
• Published: 07/26/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Barry K. Hansen, Daniel Formosa, Dan L. Dalton, David J. Sims, Davin Stowell, James C. Dow, Karin C. Ruffatto, Michael J. Devries, Michael L. Rudd, Nancy Shepard, Paul Hamburger, Sandra Nieves, Scott Henderson, Steven Vordenberg, Thomas E. Berg
• Original Assignee: Barry K. Hansen, Daniel Formosa, Dan L. Dalton, David J. Sims, Davin Stowell, James C. Dow, Karin C. Ruffatto, Michael J. Devries, Michael L. Rudd, Nancy Shepard, Paul Hamburger, Sandra Nieves, Scott Henderson, Steven Vordenberg, Thomas E. Berg
• Inventors: Hansen, Barry K., Sims, David J., Dalton, Dan L., Stowell, Davin, Henderson, Scott, Vordenberg, Steven, Dow, James C., Formosa, Daniel, Nieves, Sandra, Shepard, Nancy, Rudd, Michael L., Hamburger, Paul, DeVries, Michael J., Ruffatto, Karin C., Berg, Thomas E.
• Granted Patent: US 6,784,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/854
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00127 Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00384 Key input means, e.g. buttons or keypads electromechanical details of key input means in general H01H13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00408 Display of information to the user, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00411 the display also being used for user input, e.g. touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00413 using menus, i.e. presenting the user with a plurality of selectable options H04N1/00464 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00472 using a pop-up window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00474 outputting a plurality of functional options, e.g. scan, copy or print
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00477 Indicating status, e.g. of a job for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N2201/3219
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00482 outputting a plurality of job set-up options, e.g. number of copies, paper size or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/107 with manual scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0081 Image reader H04N2201/0091 - H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/97 Instrumentation and component modelling, e.g. interactive control panel

Abstract

A capturing and viewing appliance and method are used for capturing and communicating images. The capturing and viewing appliance is an instrument used to capture and communicate images to other 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 menu/image navigation application program which allows the user to use navigation buttons to view multiple images as well as navigate menus. According to another aspect of the invention, the menu/image navigation interface provides a user-friendly interface for effective communication of functionality of an appliance or other device to the user through use of animated transitions. Through the use of icons, menus, navigation buttons and animated transitions used to communicate functionality to the user, the present invention presents a novel user interface which makes the menu/image navigation user interface and method a solution in devices with limited resources which need to be able to navigate among multiple images arranged in different orientations. The menu/image navigation appliance and method is designed for navigating among multiple captured images and operating the appliance using menus through instrument reuse which is especially useful in portable hand-held appliances or other devices which are capable of displaying images where space and compactness are a concern.

Claims

1. A hand-held image capturing and communication appliance, comprising:

a photoelement array for acquiring image data;

a memory for saving said image data;

a processor;

a control instrument;

a display for displaying said image data; and

a program stored in said memory and executed by said processor using said control instrument for navigating among a plurality of said image data, said program code further comprising a menu navigation software module for navigating a plurality of menus.

2. The appliance of

claim 1

, further comprising:

a menu interface for controlling the hand-held image capturing and communication appliance by navigating said plurality of menus using said control instrument.

3. The appliance of

claim 2

, wherein when at least one of said plurality of menus of said menu interface is activated and displayed on said display, said control instrument controls selection of at least one element of said menu.

4. The appliance of

claim 2

, wherein when none of said plurality of menus is active and said image data is stored in said memory, said control instrument controls navigation among said images stored in said memory.

5. The appliance of

claim 2

, wherein said control instrument comprises a set of navigational buttons.

6. The appliance of

claim 5

, wherein said set of navigational buttons comprise:

a left navigation button;

a right navigation button;

an up navigation button; and

a down navigation button.

7. The appliance of

claim 6

, wherein at least one of said plurality of menus is responsive to the activation of at least one of the set of navigational buttons when said menu interface is active.

8. The appliance of

claim 6

, wherein said left navigation button deactivates at least one of said plurality of menus which is displayed on said display when said menu interface is active.

9. The appliance of

claim 6

, wherein said up navigation button distinguishes each said element of said menu sequentially up a list of said menu elements when said menu interface is active;

and

wherein said down navigation button distinguishes each of said elements of said menu sequentially down a list of said menu elements when said menu interface is active.

10. The appliance of

claim 6

, wherein said up navigation button navigates among attached images grouped into a logical unit when said menu interface is not active and an image is displayed which is grouped into said logical unit, and displays the previous image grouped into said logical unit.

11. The appliance of

claim 10

, wherein said down navigation button navigates among attached images grouped into a logical unit when said menu interface is not active and an image is displayed which is grouped into said logical unit, and displays the next image grouped into said logical unit.

12. The appliance of

claim 6

, wherein said left navigation button navigates among said image data stored in said memory which is not in a current logically grouped unit, and displays the previous logically grouped unit of said image data stored in a previous contiguous memory location in said memory.

13. The method of

claim 12

, wherein said right navigation button navigates among said image data stored in said memory which is not in the current logically grouped unit, and displays the next logically grouped unit of said image data stored in a next contiguous memory location in said memory.

14. A method for navigating among a plurality of image data using a handheld image capturing and communication appliance, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring image data for said appliance;

saving said image data in a memory;

displaying said image data on a display;

providing a menu interface for navigating a plurality of menus of said menu interface, said menu interface using program code stored in said memory and executed by a processor; and

navigating among a plurality of said image data using said menu interface.

15. The method of

claim 14

, further comprising the step of:

selecting at least one element of said menu when at least one of said plurality of menus of said menu interface is activated and displayed.

16. The method of

claim 14

, further comprising the step of:

navigating among said images stored in said memory when said plurality of menus is inactive and said image data is stored in said memory.

17. The method of

claim 14

, further comprising the step of:

providing a plurality of navigation buttons, said plurality of navigation buttons including a left navigation button, a right navigation button, an up navigation button and a down navigation button.

18. The method of

claim 17

, further comprising the steps of:

distinguishing each element of said menu sequentially up a list of said menu elements when said menu interface is active and said up navigation button is selected; and

distinguishing each of said elements of said menu sequentially down a list of said menu elements when said menu interface is active and said down navigation button is selected.

19. The method of

claim 17

, further comprising the step of:

displaying a previous image among attached images if said image is grouped into a logical unit when said menu interface is inactive and said up navigation button is selected; and

displaying a next image among said attached images if said image is grouped into a logical unit when said menu interface is inactive and said down navigation button is selected.

20. The method of

claim 17

, further comprising the step of:

displaying a previous logically grouped unit of said image data stored in a previous contiguous memory location in said memory when said menu interface is inactive and said left navigation button is selected; and

displaying a next logically grouped unit of said image data stored in a next contiguous memory location in said memory when said menu interface is inactive and said left navigation button is selected.