ELECTRONIC DEVICE EQUIPPED WITH TOUCH PANEL

• US 20150148010A1
• Filed: 11/25/2014
• Published: 05/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions, Inc. (Kyocera Corporation)
• Original Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions, Inc. (Kyocera Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakazato, Yosuke, Matsuki, Yoshitaka, Kowaka, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 9,696,836 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 Continuous authentication

Abstract

An electronic device includes a touch panel, an operation position detecting unit that detects an operation position, in a locked state, at which a touch operation has been made on the touch panel, an ear pinna determining unit that determines whether the touch operation has been made by a user'"'"'s ear pinna, according to the detected operation position, and an ear pinna operation accepting unit that, if the touch operation is determined to have been made by the user'"'"'s ear pinna, accepts an operation input made by the touch operation by the ear pinna.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a touch panel;

an operation position detecting unit that detects an operation position at which a touch operation has been made on the touch panel;

an ear pinna determining unit that determines whether the touch operation has been made by a user'"'"'s ear pinna, according to the detected operation position; and

an ear pinna operation accepting unit that, if the touch operation is determined to have been made by the user'"'"'s ear pinna, accepts an operation input made by the touch operation by the ear pinna.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising:

an authentication information storing unit that stores operation position information about a touch operation by a user'"'"'s ear pinna as ear pinna authentication information about the user;

an ear pinna authentication unit that, if the touch operation is determined to have been made by the ear pinna, authenticates the user who has made the touch operation by the ear pinna according to the detected operation position and the operation position information; and

if the user is authenticated, the ear pinna operation accepting unit accepts the operation input made by the touch operation by the ear pinna.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising a locking unit that locks an operation of the electronic device, the operation being based on an operation input made by the user for the electronic device but not accepted by the ear pinna operation accepting unit.

4. The electronic device according to claim 3, comprising an unlocking unit that, if the ear pinna operation accepting unit accepts the operation input, releases the lock.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, comprising a call enabling unit that, if the ear pinna operation accepting unit accepts the operation input, enables a call for an incoming call.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5, comprising a vibrator that can vibrate, the vibrator being attached to the touch panel;

and

a vibration control unit that transmits a vibration of the vibrator during the call to have the touch panel function as a speaker.

7. An operation accepting method comprising:

detecting, via an operation position detecting unit, an operation position at which a touch operation has been made on a touch panel;

determining, via an ear pinna determining unit, whether the touch panel has been made by a user'"'"'s ear pinna, according to the detected operation position; and

accepting, if the touch operation is determined to have been made by the ear pinna, an operation input made by the touch operation by the ear pinna via an ear pinna operation accepting unit.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that stores an operation accepting program executable by a computer, the operation accepting program comprising:

first program code that causes the computer to detect an operation position at which a touch operation has been made on a touch panel;

second program code that causes the computer to determine whether the touch operation has been made by a user'"'"'s ear pinna, according to the detected operation position; and

third program code, if the touch operation is determined to have been made by the ear pinna, causes the computer to accept an operation input made by the touch operation by the ear pinna.