ACCELERATED SCROLLING

• US 20020089545A1
• Filed: 09/29/1999
• Published: 07/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: LEVI MONTALCINI, ALESSANDRO
• Granted Patent: US 6,865,718 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/784
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A system and method for accelerating scrolling of a display is disclosed. When a wheel of a wheeled pointing device is actuated by a user at a first rotational rate, the display in a window scrolls up or down one line at a time. When the wheel is rotated at a second rotational rate, the display in the window scrolls up or down multiple lines at a time. In additional embodiments, the scrolling technique shifts from one line at a time/multiple lines at a time to a page or pages at a time when the wheel is rotated for at a rotational rate for a minimum period of time.

Claims

1. A system for controlling the scrolling of a display comprising:

an input device having a rotational member;

a control system that monitors a rate of rotation of said rotational member, said control system outputting at least one scroll signal for controlling the scrolling of said display in relation to said rate.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said input device is a mouse.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said control system outputs said at least one scroll signal to scroll one line when said rate is below a predetermined amount.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said control system outputs said at least one scroll signal to scroll a plurality of lines when said rate is above a predetermined amount.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said control system outputs said at least one scroll signal to scroll an increasing number of lines based on the continued rotation of said rotational member.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said control system outputs said at least one scroll signal to scroll in a page mode when said rate is above a predetermined amount.

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

said rotational member having notches, said input device outputting a signal to said control system with every rotation to another notch.

8. The system according to claim 1, said control system having at least two scrolling modes including a single line scrolling mode and a plural line scrolling mode, said control system switching between the at least two scrolling modes in relation to said rate.

9. The system according to claim 7, said control system having a timer that monitors a current time and the time of receipt of a previous signal indicative of a rotation of said rotational member to a notch.

24. The system according to claim 1, wherein said rotational member is a wheel and said input device is a mouse.

10. A method for controlling the scrolling of a display comprising the steps of:

receiving signals indicative of the operation of a rotational member on a computer input device;

processing said signals in accordance with the rate of rotation of said rotational member;

outputting scroll control signals in accordance with said processing step.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said processing step includes monitoring of a number of notches rotated by said rotational member.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll one line in relation to said rate.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll plural lines in relation to said rate.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll an increasing number of lines with the continued rotation of said rotational member.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll at least one page.

17. The computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said processing step includes monitoring of the duration of said rate of rotation of said rotational member.

18. The computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll one line when said rate is below a predetermined amount.

19. The computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll plural lines when said rate is above a predetermined amount.

20. The computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll an increasing number of lines with the continued rotation of said rotational member.

21. The computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said scroll control signals control said display to scroll at least one page based on the duration of said rotation.

25. The method according to claim 10, wherein said rotational member is a wheel and said computer input device is mouse.

26. The medium according to claim 16, wherein said rotational member is a wheel and said computer input device is a mouse.

16. A computer-readable medium having computer readable instructions for controlling scrolling of a display comprising the steps of:

receiving signals indicative of the operation of a rotational member on a computer input device;

processing said signals in accordance with the rate of rotation of said rotational member;

outputting scroll control signals in accordance with said processing step.

22. A user-interface for specifying preferences for scrolling of a display comprising:

a first field for receiving data indicative of the maximum time between notches so as to consider said notches to be in a series;

a second field for receiving the number of lines to add for each additional notch received in said series.

23. A user-interface for specifying preferences for scrolling of a display comprising:

a first data field for receiving data indicative of the number of notches required for entering a page scrolling mode;

a second data field for receiving data indicative of the maximum amount of time between a first notch and the last notch as determined by the entry in said first data field so as to enter in to said page scrolling mode.

27. A computer input device for controlling the scrolling of a display on a screen comprising:

a rotational member;

a sensing device for monitoring the rotation of said rotational member and outputting at least one signal;

wherein said at least one signal is monitored to determine a rate of rotation of said rotational member and the scrolling of said display is controlled based on said rate.