Touch pad for handheld device

• US 20070013671A1
• Filed: 03/21/2006
• Published: 01/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Zadesky, Stephen, Tan, Tang
• Granted Patent: US 7,348,967 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts

Abstract

A media player having a touch pad is disclosed.

Claims

1. A battery powered handheld music player, comprising:

a housing that supports various electrical components that provide computing operations for the music player;

a memory device disposed inside the housing and configured to store a plurality of songs in a digital format;

a display screen provided at a first portion of a front surface of the housing, and configured to present a list of songs from the plurality of stored songs and to present a visual indicator that is capable of linearly traversing through the list of songs in order to designate a specific song from the list of songs;

a touch pad assembly provided at a second portion of the front surface of the housing, the touch pad assembly being configured to track the motion of a finger sliding thereon, the touch pad assembly including a planar touch surface that is dimensioned to allow sliding movement of a finger thereon;

a controller disposed inside the housing and configured to acquire motion information from the touch pad assembly and to control various features of the music player based on motion information provided by the touch pad assembly, the features including at least moving the visual indicator through the list of songs, the direction and speed of the movement of the visual indicator being based at least in part on the direction and speed of the finger sliding across the planar touch surface of the touch pad assembly;

a button provided at the front surface of the housing, the button being configured to select the specific song designated by the visual indicator;

an audio feedback device disposed inside the housing, and configured to provide audio feedback in conjunction with movement of the visual indicator as it traverses through the song list; and

audio output components for outputting music associated with the selected specific song from the list of songs, the components including at least an amplifier and a headphone jack.

2. The music player as recited in claim 1 wherein the touch pad assembly is based on capacitance.

3. The music player as recited in claim 1 wherein the features further include controlling the volume of the music that is outputted by the music player.

4. The music player as recited in claim 1 wherein the planar touch surface is circular.

5. The music player as recited in claim 1 wherein the top of the planar touch surface is recessed.

6. The music player as recited in claim 1 further including a data port capable of receiving a data connector/cable assembly for the purpose of uploading or downloading songs to and from the music player, the data port being located at the bottom surface of the music player.

7. A battery powered handheld music player, comprising:

a housing that supports various electrical components that provide computing operations for the music player;

a memory device disposed inside the housing and configured to store a plurality of songs in a digital format;

a display screen provided at a front surface of the housing, and configured to present a list of songs from the plurality of stored songs and to present a visual indicator that is capable of linearly traversing through the list of songs in order to designate a specific song from the list of songs;

a touch pad assembly provided at the front surface of the housing, the touch pad assembly being configured to track the motion of a finger sliding thereon, the touch pad assembly including a planar touch surface that is dimensioned to allow sliding movement of a finger thereon;

a controller disposed inside the housing and configured to acquire motion information from the touch pad assembly and to control various features of the music player based on motion information provided by the touch pad assembly, the features including at least moving the visual indicator through the list of songs, the direction and speed of the movement of the visual indicator being based at least in part on the direction and speed of the finger sliding across the planar touch surface of the touch pad assembly;

audio output components for outputting music associated with the selected specific song from the list of songs, the components including at least an amplifier and a headphone jack.

8. The music player as recited in claim 7 wherein the touch pad assembly is formed from various interconnected layers including,

a label layer;

an electrode layer disposed below the label layer and having a shape that substantially coincides with the shape of the label layer, the electrode layer including a plurality of spatially separated electrodes for processing input from sliding finger motion;

a circuit board disposed below the electrode layer; and

control circuitry disposed below the circuit board and configured to detect capacitive changes at each of the electrodes.

9. The music player as recited in claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to transform angular motion of a finger sliding on the touch pad assembly to linear motion in the display screen.

10. The music player as recited in claim 7 wherein the media player further comprises:

at least one button provided at the front surface of the housing along with the planar touch surface.

11. The music player as recited in claim 10 wherein the button is visibly distinct from the planar touch surface.

12. The music player as recited in claim 10 wherein the button is configured to select the specific song designated by the visual indicator.

13. The music player as recited in claim 7 wherein the touch pad assembly is configured to select the specific song designated by the visual indicator.

14. The music player as recited in claim 7 further comprising an audio feedback device disposed inside the housing, and configured to provide audio feedback in conjunction with movement of the visual indicator as it traverses through the song list.

15. The music player as recited in claim 7 wherein the features further include controlling the volume of the music that is outputted by the music player.

16. The music player as recited in claim 7 wherein the display screen is visible to a user through an opening in the housing, and through a transparent wall that is disposed in front of the opening.

17. A media player for storing and playing media such as audio, video or images, the media player comprising:

a housing that encloses internally various electrical components that provide computing operations for the media player;

a touch pad supported at the housing and providing a first user input element for the media player, the touch pad including input areas for processing input from a finger sliding across any portion of the touch pad;

a button that is visibly distinct from the touch pad and providing a second user input element for the media player, the button processing input from a finger pressing thereon; and

one or more media delivery devices configured to output media.

18. The media player as recited in claim 17 wherein the touch pad includes angular input areas and wherein the angular input areas are configured to receive input from a swirling finger motion.

19. The media player as recited in claim 18 wherein the angular input areas are configured to receive input from a swirling finger motion.

20. The media player as recited in claim 17 wherein the button is disposed at a central portion of the touch pad.

21. The media player as recited in claim 17 wherein the button is disposed at the outer periphery of the touch pad.

22. The media player as recited in claim 17 wherein the touch pad is arranged to receive input from a finger on an extended touch surface of the touch pad in order to implement a control function with respect to operation of the media player.

23. The media player as recited in claim 22 further including a display screen configured to display text and graphics to a user of the media device, the display screen being supported by the housing.

24. The media player as recited in claim 23 wherein the control function corresponds to a scrolling feature that allows an object to move from one media item to another media item in a group of media items displayed on the display screen, the object designating a particular media item to be selected, the selection being performed by the button.

25. The media player as recited in claim 22 wherein the control function is associated with making selections or issuing commands for use by the media delivery device.

26. The media player as recited in claim 17,

wherein the touch pad includes angular input areas,

wherein the angular input areas are configured to receive input from a swirling finger motion, and

wherein the control function corresponds to a volume control feature, the volume being based on the amount of swirling finger motion.