TOUCH PAD CHARACTER ENTERING SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20110316791A1
• Filed: 06/27/2010
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Jiang, Peigen
• Original Assignee: Jiang, Peigen
• Inventors: Jiang, Peigen
• Application Number:
  US12/824,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20110316791A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0233 Character input methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A touch pad character entering system and method are disclosed. The system comprises a touch pad configured to detect contacts by an object thereon, a coordinate extraction module configured to extract coordinates of the contact locations detected by the touch pad, and a processing unit configured to obtain an initial contact coordinate and a subsequent movement by the object in contact with the touch pad from the extracted contact coordinates, select a predetermined group of characters based on the initial contact coordinate, and select a predetermined character from the predetermined group of characters based on the subsequent movement.

Claims

1. A system for entering characters into an electronic device, the system comprising:

a touch pad configured to detect contacts by an object thereon;

a coordinate extraction module configured to extract coordinates of the contact locations detected by the touch pad; and

a processing unit configured to obtain an initial contact coordinate and a subsequent movement by the object in contact with the touch pad from the extracted contact coordinates, and combine the initial contact coordinate and the subsequent movement to determine a unique character value based on a predetermined criterion.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the touch pad has a touch sensitive surface and an overlaying display.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each contact location is represented by one or two coordinates.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the object is a user finger or a magnetic stylus.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the touch pad is divided into certain regions with displays showing characters the regions are used for entering the respective characters.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the subsequent movement is a slide direction of the object in contact with the touch pad.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the subsequent movement is a no-motion by the object in contact with the touch pad before the object being lifted off the touch pad.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the subsequent movement is a movement by the object immediately subsequent to the initial contact.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the predetermined criterion includes using the initial contact coordinate to select a predetermined group of characters, and using the subsequent movement to select a predetermined character from the predetermined group of characters.

10. A system for entering characters into an electronic device, the system comprising:

a touch pad configured to detect contacts by an object thereon;

a coordinate extraction module configured to extract coordinates of the contact locations detected by the touch pad; and

a processing unit configured to obtain an initial contact coordinate and a subsequent movement by the object in contact with the touch pad from the extracted contact coordinates, select a predetermined group of characters based on the initial contact coordinate, and select a predetermined character from the predetermined group of characters based on the subsequent movement.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the subsequent movement is a slide direction of the object in contact with the touch pad.

12. A method for entering characters into an electronic device, the method comprising:

detecting contact locations of an object in contact with a touch pad;

extracting coordinates of the contact locations;

obtaining an initial contact coordinate and a subsequent movement of the object in contact with the touch pad; and

determining a character value based on a combination of the initial contact coordinate and the subsequent movement according to a predetermined criterion.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the touch pad has a touch sensitive surface and an overlaying display.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein each contact location is represented by one or two coordinates.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the object is a user finger or a magnetic stylus.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the touch pad is divided into certain regions with displays showing characters the regions are used for entering the respective characters.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the subsequent movement is a slide direction of the object in contact with the touch pad.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the subsequent movement is a no-motion by the object in contact with the touch pad before the object being lifted off the touch pad.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the subsequent movement is a movement by the object immediately subsequent to the initial contact.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the predetermined criterion includes using the initial contact coordinate to select a predetermined group of characters, and using the subsequent movement to select a predetermined character from the predetermined group of characters.