Status display for remotely-located control panel

• US 5,523,774 A
• Filed: 08/18/1995
• Issued: 06/04/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Schwartz, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARVEY, MINSUN OH
• Application Number:
  US08/516,731
• Time in Patent Office: 291 Days
• Field of Search: 345/168, 345/158, 345/173, 345/2, 345/156
• US Class Current: 345/168
• 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

An additional status display of a touch panel on a CRT will maximize the operator'"'"'s eye contact with the CRT while retaining the ability to select from the panel even though it is removed from the CRT and possibly located in another plane.

Claims

1. A display and control system comprising:

an input control panel that includes a plurality of touch-sensitive control zones, each control zone corresponding to a predetermined function; and

a display means that includes a display region, which includes a main display zone and a status display zone, in which the status display zone includes a function status zone for each of the touch-sensitive control zones, the display means;

(i) for indicating which of the control zones a user selects by accentuating the corresponding status display zone; and

(ii) for indicating an activated function;

timing means for determining an elapsed predetermined validation time period, the timing means resetting upon selection of any one of the control zones, the display means indicating as the activated function, only the predetermined function corresponding to a most recently selected control zone as of expiration of the predetermined validation time period; and

in which the input control panel is operable by an arbitrary one of the fingers of the user;

the status display zone of the display means is separate from the control zones of the input control panel, but is sufficiently close to allow the user to continuously look at the display while simultaneously selecting functions via the input control panel.

2. A method for initiating one of a plurality of functions from a control panel, the control panel comprising a plurality of touch zones, the method comprising the steps of:

touching a first one of the plurality of touch zones, each one of the plurality of touch zones corresponding to a control function;

at a display device having a status display area comprising a plurality of status display zones corresponding to the plurality of control panel touch zones, accentuating the status display zone corresponding to the touched first one of the plurality of touch zones;

in response to the step of touching, starting a timer which times a predetermined time period;

after said step of starting, touching one or more of the plurality of touch zones;

accentuating, in turn, the most recently touched one of the plurality of touch zones while de-accentuating a previously accentuated touch zone;

resetting the timer in response to each touching of one of the plurality of touch zones; and

upon the expiration of the predetermined period, activating the control function corresponding only to the most recently touched one of the plurality of touch zones.