METHOD FOR ENLARGING CHARACTERS DISPLAYED ON AN ADAPTIVE TOUCH SCREEN KEY PAD

• US 20120240069A1
• Filed: 03/16/2011
• Published: 09/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Kawalkar, Amit Nishikant
• Granted Patent: US 8,719,724 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/767
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• 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

Selected adaptive touch screen key pad characters not existing in a list of possible available character strings are removed from the touch screen key pad and the space occupied by the remaining characters on the key pad and their character size (font) are enlarged, making their recognition and selection by a user much easier. The method includes detecting selection of a button displaying at least one of the selectable characters; creating at least one character substring, one for each of the one or more selectable characters displayed on the selected button; identifying selectable characters on the touch screen not included in the one or more character strings; removing the identified selectable characters from the touch screen; and enlarging the selectable characters remaining on the touch screen.

Claims

1. A method for enlarging a plurality of selectable characters displayed on a plurality of buttons on an adaptive touch screen key pad, comprising:

detecting a touch of a button displaying at least one of the selectable characters;

creating at least one character substring, one for each of the at least one selectable characters displayed on the selected button;

comparing the at least one character substring with a plurality of character strings;

identifying the character strings as invalid that do not contain the at least one character substring;

removing selectable characters on the touch screen included in the invalid character strings; and

displaying in an enlarged format at least some of the selectable characters remaining on the touch screen.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the enlarging step comprises displaying a button in an enlarged format.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the creating step comprises appending the selectable characters to an already existing substring.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the buttons each comprise a unique plurality of the selectable characters, the removing step comprising removing at least one selectable character from at least one button;

and the enlarging step comprising enlarging the selectable characters remaining on the button.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each button comprises at least one touch sensitive region, each of the touch sensitive regions unique to one of the selectable characters, further comprising:

highlighting the touch sensitive regions for a period of time for the selected characters included in the invalid character string prior to the removing step.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the button displays one character, wherein the removing step comprises removing the button, and wherein the displaying step comprises displaying at least one of the remaining plurality of buttons in an enlarged format.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein X is the total width of the touch screen, Y is the width of inter-button space, L is the width of individual buttons, H is the height of individual buttons, and T is the height of the touch screen, and wherein the enlarging step comprises determining sizes to which the format of the remaining buttons are enlarged by the steps comprising:

(a) if no buttons are removed from any rows, go to (c);

(b) if at least one button is removed from any row, let L=(X−

((number of remaining buttons−

1)Y))/number of remaining buttons, and increase the width of the remaining buttons in each row to a new value L for that row;

(c) if not all buttons are removed from at lease one row, go to step (d);

(c) if all buttons are removed from at lease one row, for each remaining row, let H=(T−

((number of remaining rows−

1)Y))/number of remaining rows, and increase the height of the remaining individual buttons to the new value H; and

(d) repeating from the detecting step.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the removing step comprises removing a button from a row of buttons and the enlarging step comprises increasing widths of remaining buttons in the row.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the removing step comprises removing a row of buttons containing the identified selectable characters from a plurality of rows of buttons, and the enlarging step comprises enlarging heights of remaining buttons.

10. A method for enlarging selectable characters displayed on an adaptive touch screen key pad, comprising:

determining at least one character selected from the touch screen by a touch;

creating at least one character substring, one for each of the at least one selectable character displayed on the selected button;

identifying characters on the touch screen included in a list of strings not beginning with the at least one character substring;

removing the identified characters from the touch screen key pad; and

displaying in an enlarged format at least some of the characters remaining on the touch screen.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the buttons each comprise a unique plurality of the selectable characters;

the removing step comprising removing at least one selectable character from at least one button; and

the enlarging step comprising enlarging the selectable characters remaining on the button.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein each button comprises at least one touch sensitive region, each of the touch sensitive regions unique to one of the selectable characters, further comprising:

highlighting the touch sensitive regions containing the identified characters on the touch screen for a period of time prior to the removing step.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the button displays only one character, wherein the removing step comprises removing the button, and wherein the enlarging step comprises enlarging at least one of the remaining plurality of buttons.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein X is the total width of the touch screen, Y is the width of inter-button space, L is the width of individual buttons, H is the height of individual buttons, and T is the height of the touch screen, and wherein the enlarging step comprises determining sizes to which the format of the remaining buttons are enlarged by the steps comprising:

(a) if no buttons are removed from any rows, go to (c);

(b) if at least one button is removed from any row, let L=(X−

((number of remaining buttons−

1)Y))/number of remaining buttons, and increase the width of the remaining buttons in each row to a new value L for that row;

(c) if not all buttons are removed from at lease one row, go to step (d);

(c) if all buttons are removed from at lease one row, for each remaining row, let H=(T−

((number of remaining rows−

1)Y))/number of remaining rows, and increase the height of the remaining individual buttons to the new value H; and

(d) repeating from the detecting step.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the removing step comprises removing a button from a row of buttons and the enlarging step comprises increasing widths of the remaining buttons in the row.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the removing step comprises removing a row of buttons containing the identified selectable characters from a plurality of rows of buttons, and the enlarging step comprises enlarging heights of the remaining buttons.

17. An system for displaying characters on a key pad, comprising:

a touch screen configured to display the key pad;

a processor configured to;

display a plurality of buttons in the key pad, each button containing at least one touch sensitive region, each touch sensitive region displaying at least one character;

sense the selection of one of the touch sensitive regions;

determine which character strings in a list of stored character strings include the character displayed on the selected touch sensitive region selected;

remove touch sensitive regions displaying characters not included in the character strings; and

display other touch sensitive regions remaining on the touch screen in an enlarged format.

18. The adaptive touch screen key pad of claim 17 wherein the buttons each comprise a plurality of touch sensitive regions, each of the touch sensitive regions displaying a unique character, wherein the processor is further configured to:

display the remaining touch sensitive regions on the button in an enlarged format.

19. The adaptive touch screen key pad of claim 17 wherein each button displays one of the plurality of characters, and the processor is further configured to:

remove buttons displaying characters not included in the character strings; and

display the remaining buttons in an enlarged format.