Method for scroll bar control on a touchpad and touchpad with scroll bar control function

• US 20090009366A1
• Filed: 09/08/2008
• Published: 01/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elan Microelectronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Elan Microelectronics Corporation
• Inventors: Chien, Yung-Lieh, Wu, Zhi-Long, Chiu, Yen -Chang
• Granted Patent: US 8,643,606 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 341/20
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A touchpad includes a controller connected to a touch sensor. The controller detects the fingers touching on the touch sensor to determine to start up and terminate a scroll bar control function. In the scroll bar control function, the movement of the finger or fingers touching on the touch sensor is detected for scrolling on a window, and the vertical distance and the horizontal distance of the movement are evaluated for determining the scrolling amount of a vertical scroll bar or a horizontal scroll bar of the window.

Claims

1. A touchpad with a scroll bar control function, comprising:

a touch sensor; and

a controller connected to the touch sensor, for detecting a number of fingers touching on the touch sensor;

wherein if the number is equal to or larger than a threshold, the controller will start up the scroll bar control function, and detect a movement of the one or more fingers slipping on the touch sensor for scrolling on a window accordingly in the scroll bar control function.

2. The touchpad according to claim 1, wherein the threshold is two.

3. The touchpad according to claim 1, wherein the controller continues the scroll bar control function during the fingers touching on the touch sensor is not less than a second threshold.

4. The touchpad according to claim 1, wherein the controller terminates the scroll bar control function once the fingers touching on the touch sensor are equal to or less than a second threshold.

5. The touchpad according to claim 4, wherein the second threshold is zero.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller evaluates a vertical distance and a horizontal distance of the movement for scrolling a vertical scroll bar and a horizontal scroll bar on the window, respectively.

7. The touchpad according to claim 1, wherein the controller evaluates a vertical distance and a horizontal distance of the movement for scrolling a vertical scroll bar on the window if the vertical distance is larger than the horizontal distance over a reference, or scrolling a horizontal scroll bar on the window if the horizontal distance is larger than the vertical distance over the reference.

8. The touchpad according to claim 7, wherein the controller determines a scrolling amount for the vertical scroll bar in proportion to a difference between the vertical distance and the horizontal distance.

9. The touchpad according to claim 7, wherein the controller determines a scrolling amount for the vertical scroll bar in proportion to the vertical distance.

10. The touchpad according to claim 7, wherein the controller determines a scrolling amount for the horizontal scroll bar in proportion to a difference between the horizontal distance and the vertical distance.

11. The touchpad according to claim 7, wherein the controller determines a scrolling amount for the horizontal scroll bar in proportion to the horizontal distance.