Portable information terminal and information scrolling method for use therewith

• US 6,201,524 B1
• Filed: 11/24/1998
• Issued: 03/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Aizawa, Masatoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kovalick, Vincent E.
• Application Number:
  US09/198,275
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 345/123, 345/146, 345/169, 345/352, 345/902, 455/312, 455/313, 455/90, 455/556, 455/566, 455/575
• US Class Current: 345/684
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/902 Menu display

Abstract

A portable information terminal and an information scrolling method for use therewith. The terminal is typically a pager including a receiver connected to an antenna, a demodulator, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a key input unit, a rotary dial, a rotary dial controller, an LCD panel, an LCD panel driver, an alarm sound output unit and a speaker. Operating the rotary dial in simplified steps allows information to be displayed in a preferred scroll mode and scrolled in a desired direction on the LCD panel.

Claims

1. A portable information terminal comprising:

displaying means for displaying information transmitted from a transmitting station in increments of one of a plurality of lines and a plurality of screens;

operation means for selecting a direction for scrolling through said information displayed on said displaying means; and

controlling means for controlling said direction of an information scrolling selected by said operation means, wherein said operation means includes a spring-loaded rotary dial rotated by a predetermined angle in one of clockwise and counterclockwise directions to generate a plurality of signals for selecting a display increment of one of said plurality of lines and said plurality of screens and for selecting said direction of said information scrolling, said spring-loaded rotary dial returning to a neutral position when released by a user and said controlling means processing said plurality of signals for performing a selection by said spring-loaded rotary dial.

3. The portable information terminal according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said portable information terminal is a pager.

2. A portable information terminal comprising:

displaying means for displaying information transmitted from a transmitting station in increments of one of a plurality of lines and a plurality of screens;

operation means for selecting a direction for scrolling through said information displayed on said displaying means; and

controlling means for controlling said direction of an information scrolling selected by said operation means, wherein said operation means includes a first control key, a second control key, and a third control key, said first control key and said second control key being pushed alternatively to generate a plurality of signals for selecting a display increment of one of said plurality of lines and said plurality of screens and for selecting said direction of said information scrolling, said third control key being pushed to generate a signal for performing a selection by said first control key and said second control key, and said controlling means processing said plurality of signals for performing a selection by said first control key and said second control key and processing said signal for performing a selection by said third control key.

4. An information scrolling method for use with a portable information terminal including displaying means for displaying information transmitted from a transmitting station in increments of one of a plurality of lines and a plurality of screens and operation means for selecting a direction for scrolling through said information, said information scrolling method comprising the step of:

controlling said direction of an information scroll selected by said operation means,

wherein said operation means includes a spring-loaded rotary dial rotated by a predetermined angle in one of clockwise and counterclockwise directions to generate a plurality of signals for selecting a display increment of one of said plurality of lines and said plurality of screens and for selecting said direction of said information scrolling, said spring-loaded rotary dial returning to a neutral position when released by a user, said information scrolling method further comprising the step of;

processing said plurality of signals for performing a selection by said spring-loaded rotary dial.

6. The information scrolling method for use with said portable information terminal according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein said portable information terminal is a pager.

5. An information scrolling method for use with a portable information terminal including displaying means for displaying information transmitted from a transmitting station in increments of one of a plurality of lines and a plurality of screens and operation means for selecting a direction for scrolling through said information, said information scrolling method comprising the step of:

controlling said direction of an information scroll selected by said operation means;

wherein said operation means includes a first control key, a second control key, and a third control key, said first control key and said second control key being pushed alternatively to generate a plurality of signals for selecting a display increment of one of said plurality of lines and said plurality of screens and for selecting said direction of said information scrolling, said third control key being pushed to generate a signal for performing a selection by said first control key and said second control key, said information scrolling method further comprising the steps of;

processing said plurality of signals for performing a selection by said first control key and said second control key and;

processing said signal for performing a selection by said third control key.