Coordinate processor for a computer system having a pointing device
First Claim
1. A coordinate processor for distinguishing between cursor movement commands for a display and button click commands for a relative displacement pointing device comprising:
- stimulus detection means (200) for detecting a single tactile stimulus of an absolute position pointing device (10) exceeding a force threshold within a preselected time period and directed to a point within a data display area (610) of a computer system for forming a pushbutton within a subarea of the display area at the point of the stimulus;
characterized in that the processor further comprises;
coordinate locking means (210-320) for locking a current cursor position to the point within the display area corresponding to the tactile stimulus in response to said stimulus exceeding a predetermined threshold value;
command distinguishing means responsive to the stimulative detection means to distinguish a stimulus of the pointing device for repositioning the cursor within the data display area from a stimulus of the pointing device for issuing a button click command to the computer system;
means for issuing one or more button click commands;
means for counting button click commands to lock the cursor position when a prescribed number of clicks identifying the command is detected; and
means for comparing the counted click commands to a present number for release of the cursor when the counted clicks equal the present number.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A coordinate processor for a computer system having an absolute position pointing device (10) such as a touch sensitive display screen comprises stimulus detection means (200) for detecting a tactile stimulus of an absolute position pointing device (10) and directed to a point within a data display area (610) of a computer system. The processor further comprises coordinate locking means (210-320) for locking a current cursor position to the point within the display area corresponding to the tactile stimulus in response to said stimulus exceeding a predetermined threshold value. The processor permits the computer system to distinguish a stimulus of the pointing device (10) for repositioning the cursor within the data display area (610) from a stimulus of the pointing device (10) for issuing a button click command to the computer system. The processor may be embodied in an electronic logic circuit within a pointing device adapter portion of the computer system. Equally, the coordinate processor may be in the form of a central processing unit operating under the control of a computer program.
130 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A coordinate processor for distinguishing between cursor movement commands for a display and button click commands for a relative displacement pointing device comprising:
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stimulus detection means (200) for detecting a single tactile stimulus of an absolute position pointing device (10) exceeding a force threshold within a preselected time period and directed to a point within a data display area (610) of a computer system for forming a pushbutton within a subarea of the display area at the point of the stimulus; characterized in that the processor further comprises; coordinate locking means (210-320) for locking a current cursor position to the point within the display area corresponding to the tactile stimulus in response to said stimulus exceeding a predetermined threshold value; command distinguishing means responsive to the stimulative detection means to distinguish a stimulus of the pointing device for repositioning the cursor within the data display area from a stimulus of the pointing device for issuing a button click command to the computer system; means for issuing one or more button click commands; means for counting button click commands to lock the cursor position when a prescribed number of clicks identifying the command is detected; and means for comparing the counted click commands to a present number for release of the cursor when the counted clicks equal the present number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of operating an absolute position pointing device as a relative displacement pointing device in a computer system including a coordinate processor (200'"'"'), a display area (610) and a touch screen (10) using a single tactile stimulus exceeding a force threshold within a preselected time period to form a pushbutton within a sub area (600) of the display area (610) at the point of the stimulus, comprising the steps of:
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a) supplying predetermined values of TIMEOUT, AREA, THOLD, NCLICK to an input (200) for installation in signal processing elements (220), (230), (260), (280), respectively; b) setting a button click counter (210) to zero "0" for button clicks BCNT; c) setting and storing a predetermined number of clicks and comparing the counted clicks with the predetermined number for release of a cursor when the counted clicks equal the predetermined number; d) sequentially sampling an input signal (400), (500) definitive of tactile contact and location on a touch screen (10) in terms of signal magnitude;
orthogonal coordinates x, y, and time periods 1 . . . j, where j is the last sample in signal (400), (500);e) passing the input signal to element (280) if BCNT in counter (210) is zero;
the element (280) comparing the signal magnitude at n=1 to a signal threshold THOLD;f) passing the input signal to a timer stage (220), if BCNT is greater than 0 in counter (210)|x, y|n=1 , the timer stage (220) indicating whether the time out period has been exceeded;
if exceeded and a predetermined number of clicks have been counted, a reset stage (270) resets BCNT to 0 in elements (210) and (310) before passing the coordinates to element (280) for processing in accordance with steps d and e; andg) processing succeeding process signal input sample |x'"'"', y'"'"'|n=j in accordance with steps e) through f). - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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Specification