HAND-HELD DEVICES AND METHODS OF INPUTTING DATA

• US 20130038538A1
• Filed: 03/20/2012
• Published: 02/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Acer, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Acer, Inc.
• Inventors: WANG, Wei-Tong
• Application Number:
  US13/425,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20130038538A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• 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 hand-held device comprises a touch unit detecting a drag action of a user and outputting a gesture signal corresponding to the drag action. A display unit having a first display area is configured to display a partial portion of a virtual keyboard and display another partial portion of the virtual keyboard by a scrolling function according to a control signal, and a process unit outputting the control signal according to the gesture signal.

Claims

1. A hand-held device comprising:

a touch unit detecting a drag action of a user and outputting a gesture signal corresponding to the drag action;

a display unit having a first display area, configured to display a partial portion of a virtual keyboard and display another partial portion of the virtual keyboard by a scrolling function according to a control signal; and

a process unit outputting the control signal according to the gesture signal.

2. The hand-held device of claim 1, wherein the touch unit further detects an input action on the virtual keyboard corresponding to the user and outputs an input signal corresponding to the input action, and the display unit further comprises a second display area and displays related words or symbols according to the input signal.

3. The hand-held device of claim 1, wherein the process unit further controls the display unit to display the entire virtual keyboard or a partial portion of the virtual keyboard on the first display area according to a mode select signal.

4. The hand-held device of claim 3, wherein when the touch unit detects that the input action of the user corresponds to a determined button of the virtual keyboard, the touch unit generates the mode select signal.

5. The hand-held device of claim 3, further comprising:

a state sensor, wherein when the state sensor detects that the hand-held device is horizontal and when the touch unit detects that the input action of the user corresponds to a determined button of the virtual keyboard, the state sensor generates the mode select signal.

6. The hand-held device of claim 3, further comprising:

a state sensor, wherein when the state sensor detects that the hand-held device is horizontal, the state sensor generates the mode select signal, and the process unit indicates the display unit to display the entire virtual keyboard on the first display unit according to the mode select signal, and when the state sensor detects that the hand-held device is vertical, the state sensor generates the mode select signal, and the process unit indicates the display unit to display the entire virtual keyboard on the first display unit according to the mode select signal.

7. The hand-held device of claim 1, wherein the drag action of the user is a vertical shift or a horizontal shift according to an allocation method of buttons of the virtual keyboard.

8. A method of inputting data, applied to a hand-held device with a display unit, comprising:

displaying a partial portion of a virtual keyboard on a first display area of the display unit;

detecting a drag action of a user by a touch unit, and outputting a gesture signal corresponding to the drag action;

displaying another partial portion of the virtual keyboard on the first display area by a scrolling function according to the gesture signal;

detecting an input action of the user by the touch unit, and outputting an input signal corresponding to a virtual button which is selected from the virtual keyboard according to the input action; and

recording words or symbols according to the input signal.

9. The method of inputting data of claim 8, wherein the display unit further comprises a second display area and displays the words or symbols according to the input signal.

10. The method of inputting data of claim 8, further comprising:

indicating the display unit to display the entire virtual keyboard or a partial portion of the virtual keyboard on the first display area according to a mode select signal.

11. The method of inputting data of claim 8, wherein the drag action of the user is a vertical shift or a horizontal shift according to an allocation method of buttons of the virtual keyboard.

12. The method of inputting data of claim 10, further comprising:

generating the mode select signal when the input action of the user corresponds to a determined button of the virtual keyboard.

13. The method of inputting data of claim 10, further comprising:

using a state sensor, wherein when the state sensor detects that the hand-held device is horizontal and when the touch unit detects that the input action of the user corresponds to a determined button of the virtual keyboard, the state sensor generates the mode select signal.

14. The method of inputting data of claim 10, further comprising:

using a state sensor, wherein when the state sensor detects that the hand-held device is horizontal, the state sensor generates the mode select signal, and the process unit indicates the display unit to display the entire virtual keyboard on the first display unit according to the mode select signal, and when the state sensor detects that the hand-held device is vertical, the state sensor generates the mode select signal, and the process unit indicates the display unit to display the entire virtual keyboard on the first display unit according to the mode select signal.