TOUCH SENSOR AND TOUCHSCREEN USER INPUT COMBINATION

• US 20110157029A1
• Filed: 12/31/2009
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tseng, Erick
• Granted Patent: US 8,988,356 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A swiping action between a touch sensor and a touchscreen of a computing device is identified. The identification includes determining, while the computing device is in a state that provides a first graphical display, that the touch sensor has been physically contacted by a user. The identification includes determining that the physical contact with the touch sensor has ended. The identification includes determining, within a predetermined time period of the end of the physical contact, that a dragging motion across the touchscreen has originated at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen. In response to the identifying, a predetermined computerized routine is invoked that replaces the first graphical display with a second graphical display, wherein user interaction with the touch sensor or touchscreen individually do not invoke the predetermined computerized routine.

Claims

1. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations, the operations comprising:

identifying a swiping action between a touch sensor and a touchscreen that are both coupled to a computing device, the identification of the swiping action including;

determining, while the computing device is in a state that provides a first graphical display on the touchscreen, that the touch sensor has been physically contacted by a user;

determining that the physical contact with the touch sensor has ended;

determining, within a predetermined time period of the end of the physical contact, that a dragging motion across the touchscreen has originated at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen; and

in response to identifying the swiping action, invoking a predetermined computerized routine that replaces the first graphical display with a second graphical display, wherein user interaction with the touch sensor or touchscreen individually do not invoke the predetermined computerized routine.

2. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the swiping action between the touch sensor and the touchscreen includes determining that a numerically positive delay between the end of the physical contact and an origination of the dragging motion across the touchscreen has occurred.

3. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined computerized routine that replaces the first graphical display is not otherwise invoked through (i) a physical contact with the touch sensor when the computing device is in the state that provides the first graphical display or (ii) a single physical user interaction with the touchscreen when the computing device is in the state that provides the first graphical display.

4. The computer storage medium of claim 3, wherein the single physical user interaction with the touchscreen includes a tap, dragging motion across the touchscreen, or a multi-touch user interaction.

5. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the swiping action between the touch sensor and the touchscreen further comprises:

determining a location of a point of release of the dragging from the touchscreen; and

wherein the invocation of the predetermined computerized routine is dependent on the location of the point of release.

6. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the swiping action between the touch sensor and the touchscreen further comprises:

determining that a termination point of the dragging is at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen;

determining that the termination point is within a region from among multiple regions along the peripheral edges of the touchscreen; and

wherein the invocation of the predetermined computerized routine is dependent on determining that the termination point is within the region in distinction to other regions.

7. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined computer routine invokes the computing device to enter a state in which a location of touchscreen contact from the dragging motion triggers audio cues that are not otherwise triggered through a single user interaction with the touchscreen display when the touchscreen display provides the first or second graphical display.

8. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a trajectory of the dragging on the touchscreen; and

determining that the touch sensor is an apparent initiation location of the dragging, the apparent initiation location external to the touchscreen and based on the determined trajectory of the dragging; and

wherein the predetermined computerized routine is invoked in response to determining that the touch sensor is the apparent initiation location of the lateral motion.

9. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein a portion of a face of a housing for the computing device that is visible to the user separates the touchscreen from the touch sensor.

10. A computing device comprising:

a housing;

a touchscreen display coupled to the housing so that a display surface of the touchscreen is visible to a user of the device;

a touch sensor coupled to the housing so that a user of the device can physically contact and activate the touch sensor;

one or more processors mounted in the housing; and

a computer-readable medium connected to the one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

determining, while the computing device is in a state that provides a graphical display on the touchscreen, that the touch sensor has been physically contacted by the user;

determining that contact with a surface of the touchscreen at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen has occurred;

determining that the physical contact with the touch sensor has ended, wherein the determination of the end of the physical contact occurs within a determined time interval following the determination that contact with the surface of the has occurred; and

invoking, in response to determining that the physical contact with the touch sensor has ended, a predetermined computerized routine that modifies the graphical display of the touchscreen, wherein user interaction with the touch sensor or touchscreen individually do not invoke the predetermined computerized routine.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the predetermined computerized routine is not otherwise invoked through (i) a physical contact with the touch sensor alone or (ii) a single physical user interaction with the touchscreen when the touchscreen is in the state that provides the graphical display.

12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the determining that contact with the surface of the touchscreen has occurred includes determining that the contact is with a surface of the touchscreen that is at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen that is adjacent to the touch sensor.

13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a location of a point of release from the touchscreen display, wherein the release from the touchscreen display terminates a dragging that originated with the contact with the surface of the touchscreen;

wherein the invocation of the predetermined computerized routine is dependent on the location of the point of release being within a region of the touchscreen from among multiple regions of the touchscreen, the multiple regions of the touchscreen associated with different predetermined computerized routines.

14. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the touch sensor is a capacitive touch switch.

15. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the touch sensor is a resistive touch switch.

16. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the touch sensor is a physical touch switch.

17. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising:

a backlight to illuminate a region of the computing device associated with the touch sensor;

wherein the operations further comprise;

in response to;

(i) determining that the touch sensor has been physically contacted, (ii) determining that the physical contact with the touch sensor has ended, or (iii) determining that contact with a surface of the touchscreen display has occurred, turning the backlight on; and

turning the backlight off upon determining that a release of the contact with the surface of the touchscreen has occurred.

20. The computer storage medium of claim 17, wherein the predetermined computerized routine replaces the first graphical display with a second graphical display.

18. A computing device comprising:

a housing;

a touchscreen display coupled to the housing so that a display surface of the touchscreen is visible to a user;

a touch sensor coupled to the housing so that a user may physically contact and activate the touch sensors;

one or more processors coupled to the housing;

means for (i) identifying a swiping user input that includes user interaction with the touch sensor and the touchscreen and for (ii) invoking a predetermined computerized routine that modifies a graphical display of the touchscreen in response to the identification of the swiping user input,

wherein user interaction with the touch sensor or touchscreen individually do not invoke the predetermined computerized routine.

19. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations, the operations comprising:

identifying a swiping action from a touchscreen display to a touch sensor of a computing device, the identification of the swiping action including;

determining, when the computing device is in a state that provides a first graphical display, a dragging across a surface of the touchscreen display that terminates at a peripheral edge of the touchscreen; and

determining, within a predetermined time window that includes time after the termination of the lateral motion, that the touch sensor has been physically contacted by a user; and

in response to identifying the swiping action, invoking a predetermined computerized routine that is not otherwise invoked when the computing device is in the state the that provides the first graphical display through physical contact with the touch sensor or a single physical user interaction with the touchscreen individually.