INFORMATION TERMINAL DEVICE

• US 20100033444A1
• Filed: 08/04/2009
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: KOBAYASHI, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,259,085 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An information terminal device has a touch panel and a display unit which are integrally configured, and an operation button provided around the display unit, and the information terminal device includes: a touch number counting unit operable to count number of times of touching the operation button; a touch number storing unit operable to store the number of times counted by the touch number counting unit; and a control unit operable to control the information terminal device by switching an operation mode between a normal mode for working the information terminal device according to operations of the touch panel and the operation button and a cleaning mode for cleaning the touch panel, wherein in the cleaning mode, the control unit prohibits an application from being executed according to operations of the touch panel and the operation button, and terminates the cleaning mode when the number of times of touching the operation button counted by the touch number counting unit reaches a predetermined number.

Claims

1. An information terminal device that has a touch panel and a display unit which are integrally configured, and an operation button provided around the display unit, the information terminal device comprising:

a touch number counting unit operable to count number of times of touching the operation button;

a touch number storing unit operable to store the number of times counted by the touch number counting unit; and

a control unit operable to control the information terminal device by switching an operation mode between a normal mode for working the information terminal device according to operations of the touch panel and the operation button and a cleaning mode for cleaning the touch panel, wherein

in the cleaning mode, the control unit prohibits an application from being executed according to operations of the touch panel and the operation button, and terminates the cleaning mode when the number of times of touching the operation button counted by the touch number counting unit reaches a predetermined number.

2. The information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein

a plurality of operation buttons are provided,

the touch number counting unit counts the number of times of touching each operation button, and

the control unit terminates the cleaning mode when the number of times of touching the operation buttons counted by the touch number counting unit reach corresponding predetermined numbers in the cleaning mode.

3. The information terminal device according to claim 2, wherein

the touch number counting unit counts the number of times of touching each operation button in the normal mode, and

the predetermined number for each operation button is determined when the cleaning mode starts, based on the number of times of touching each operation button counted in the normal mode and stored in the touch number storing unit.

4. The information terminal device according to claim 2, wherein

in the cleaning mode, the control unit displays, on the display unit, a name of the operation button of which number of times of touching is below the predetermined number when and after the number of times of touching at least one of the plurality of operation buttons reaches the predetermined number.

5. The information terminal device according to claim 2, wherein

the control unit terminates the cleaning mode, when two or more of the plurality of operation buttons are pressed at the same time after the numbers of times of touching the operation buttons counted by the touch number counting unit reach the corresponding predetermined number.