Input device

• US 7,626,570 B2
• Filed: 01/25/2006
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: ALPS Electric Company Limited (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ohshita, Kazuhito
• Primary Examiner(s): Mengistu; Amare
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, PREMAL R
• Application Number:
  US11/340,018
• Publication Number:
  US 20060170711A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,406 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/157, 345/163, 345/173, 345/184, 345/701, 345/747, 715/776, 715/808, 715810-845
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry

Abstract

An input device allowing an operator to select any one of selection items of a pop-up menu with an easy operation is provided. The input device includes two kinds of operation units configured to output a coordinate translation signal in at least one direction and a control unit configured to control display information on a display screen on the basis of the coordinate translation signal output from operation unit. When scrollable display information is displayed and the pop-up menu is not displayed on the display screen, the control unit scrolls the display information on the basis of the coordinate-translation signal, and, when the scrollable display information and the pop-up menu are both displayed on the display screen, the control unit controls sequentially high-lighting of a plurality of selection items of the pop-up menu on the basis of the coordinate-translation signal.

Claims

1. An input device comprising:

operation means for outputting a coordinate-translation signal in at least one direction through operation; and

control means for controlling a display state of display information on a display screen on the basis of the coordinate-translation signal output from the operation means,

wherein, on the basis of the display state, the control means determines whether a mode allowing any one of a plurality of selection items of a pop-up menu to be selected is set,

wherein when the mode is set, a notification of prohibiting a scrolling operation from scrolling character strings is supplied to the control means, and a flag adapted for prohibiting the scrolling operation is set in the control means,

wherein, on the basis of the coordinate-translation signal, the control means controls scrolling of the display information and highlighting of the plurality of selection items of the pop-up menu, respectively, when the pop-up menu is not displayed on the display screen and when scrollable display information and the pop-up menu are displayed on the display screen, and

wherein when scrollable display information and the pop-up menu are displayed on the display screen, the plurality of selection items are highlighted sequentially as a loop with the uppermost selection item following the lowermost selection item in a downward scroll operation and the lowermost selection item following the uppermost selection item in an upward scroll operation.

2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the operation means includes an output section configured to output a two-dimensional coordinate-translation signal or a one-dimensional coordinate-translation signal, and the control means performs a controlling operation on the basis of the corresponding coordinate-translation signal.

3. The input device according to claim 2, wherein the operation means is a mouse, and, by operating a wheel placed on the mouse, the coordinate-translation signal is generated.

4. The input device according to claim 3, wherein the mouse includes an operation-instructing section, and, wherein, on the basis of the two-dimensional coordinate-translation signal, the control means moves a pointer designed to move on the display screen onto a menu, and, upon operation of the operation-instructing section, displays the pop-up menu accompanying the menu pointed by the pointer.

5. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the operation means is a flat input device configured to output a two-dimensional coordinate-translation signal, and the control means serves for moving a pointer on the display screen on the basis of the two-dimensional coordinate-translation signal, and, wherein, when the pop-up menu is displayed and the pointer is not located on the pop-up menu, the control means controls sequentially highlighting of a plurality of selection items of the pop-up menu on the basis of a one-dimensional translation signal component of the two-dimensional coordinate-translation signal.

6. The input device according to claim 5, wherein, when the pop-up menu is not displayed, the control means controls scrolling of the display information on the basis of the one-dimensional translation signal component of the two-dimensional coordinate-translation signal.

7. The input device according to claim 1, wherein, when any one of the selection items is highlighted, the control means performs an operation of automatically moving a pointer onto the highlighted selection item.