Method and apparatus for controlling information scrolling on touch-screen

• US 8,253,704 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2009
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Jang, Won Chang
• Primary Examiner(s): Olson, Jason
• Application Number:
  US12/409,858
• Publication Number:
  US 20100039400A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,253 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A method and apparatus to control information scrolling on a touch screen, the method including: displaying an information scroll controlling region on the touch screen; sensing a touch for a scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region and performing a dragging operation from the touched location; in response to a dragged location of the touch being out of a moving region of the scroll pointer, changing the information scroll controlling region; and adjusting a location to display information in response to the change of the information scroll controlling region.

Claims

1. A method of controlling information scrolling on a touch screen, of a computing device, having an information scroll controlling region and a scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region, the method comprising:

displaying the information scroll controlling region on the touch screen;

sensing a touch for the scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region and performing a dragging operation at a location of the touch on the touch screen;

in response to a dragged location of the touch being out of a moving region of the scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region, changing the information scroll controlling region; and

adjusting a location to display information on the touch screen in response to the changing of the information scroll controlling region.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information scroll controlling region is a scroll bar and/or a slider.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing of the touch comprises:

in response to sensing the touch on the touch screen, determining whether the touched location is in the information scroll controlling region; and

in response to determining the touched location to be in the information scroll controlling region, generating a touch starting event.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the performing of the dragging operation comprises:

determining whether the touched location on the touch screen is in a scroll pointer region;

in response to determining the touched location to not be in the scroll pointer region, moving the scroll pointer to the touched location; and

calculating a dragged direction and/or a dragged distance of the touch from the scroll pointer.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the performing of the dragging operation comprises moving the scroll pointer and performing the dragging operation simultaneously.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises changing the information scroll controlling region in response to a dragging direction of the touch to the dragged location being perpendicular to a moving direction of the scroll pointer in the moving region or a diagonal direction as compared to the moving direction of the scroll pointer.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding or reducing the information scroll controlling region.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the expanding or reducing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding or reducing the information scroll controlling region in proportion to a dragging distance of the touch.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the expanding or reducing of the information scroll controlling region comprises:

expanding the information scroll controlling region in response to a dragged direction of the touch being a first direction; and

reducing the information scroll controlling region in response to the dragged direction of the touch being a second direction, opposite the first direction.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding the moving region of the scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region along a moving direction of the scroll pointer.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises changing locations and/or numerical values of standard values for the moving region of the scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding the information scroll controlling region in left, right, upper, and lower sides.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

the touch screen comprises an expansion region and a reduction region for the scroll controlling region in a first side and a second side, respectively, of the touch screen; and

the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding or reducing the scroll controlling region when the dragged location of the touch is in the expansion region or the reduction region, respectively.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first side of the touch screen is an upper side of the touch screen, and the second side of the touch screen is a lower side of the touch screen.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising changing a location of the scroll pointer according to a finger performing dragging on the touch screen.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising moving the scroll pointer with an object performing dragging and representing the dragged location with a line on the touch screen.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjusting of the location to display information comprises changing the location of information on the touch screen and/or changing information numerical value according to the changing of the information scroll controlling region.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising returning the information scroll controlling region to an original scale when a termination of the touch is sensed on the touch screen.

19. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the computing device is a portable terminal.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing the method of claim 1, and implemented by at least one computer.

20. An apparatus to control information scrolling, the apparatus comprising:

a touch screen unit to display an information scroll controlling region and a scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region, and to sense a touch thereon;

a control unit to detect the touch for the scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region displayed on the touch screen unit, and to change the information scroll controlling region in response to a dragged location of the touch being out of a moving region of the scroll pointer.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein:

the touch screen unit displays information; and

the control unit adjusts a location of the information according to the change to the information scroll controlling region.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the touch screen unit comprises a graphic user interface to control the information scroll controlling region.

23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein:

the control unit determines whether a location of the touch in the information scroll controlling region is in a scroll pointer region of the information scroll controlling region; and

in response to determining the touched location to not be in the scroll pointer region, moving the scroll pointer to the touched location in the information scroll controlling region.

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the control unit changes the information scroll controlling region in response to a dragging direction of the touch to the dragged location being perpendicular to a moving direction of the scroll pointer in the moving region or a diagonal direction as compared to the moving direction of the scroll pointer.

25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the control unit expands or reduces the information scroll controlling region in response to the dragged location of the touch being out of the moving region of the scroll pointer.

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the control unit expands or reduces the information scroll controlling region in proportion to a dragging distance of the touch.

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the control unit:

expands the information scroll controlling region in response to a dragged direction of the touch being a first direction; and

reduces the information scroll controlling region in response to the dragged direction of the touch being a second direction, opposite the first direction.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the apparatus is a portable terminal.

30. A method of controlling information scrolling on a touch screen, of a computing device, having an information scroll controlling region and a scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region, the method comprising:

sensing a dragging touch in the information scroll controlling region; and

in response to a dragged location of the dragging touch being out of a moving region of the scroll pointer in the information scroll controlling region, changing the information scroll controlling region.

31. The method as claimed in claim 30, wherein the changing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding or reducing the information scroll controlling region.

32. The method as claimed in claim 31, wherein the expanding or reducing of the information scroll controlling region comprises expanding or reducing the information scroll controlling region in proportion to a dragging distance of the dragging touch.

33. The method as claimed in claim 31, wherein the expanding or reducing of the information scroll controlling region comprises:

expanding the information scroll controlling region in response to a dragged direction of the dragging touch being a first direction; and

reducing the information scroll controlling region in response to the dragged direction of the dragging touch being a second direction, opposite the first direction.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing the method of claim 30, and implemented by at least one computer.

35. A method for controlling information scrolling on a touch screen of a computing device, comprising:

displaying an information scroll controlling bar on the touch screen;

sensing a dragging of a touch point in a direction substantially perpendicular to a moving direction of a scroll pointer on the information scroll controlling bar after a touch is sensed for the scroll pointer; and

if at least a part of the dragging is performed in a region out of an information scroll controlling region, setting a scrolling rate of the information scrolling with the scroll pointer on the information scroll controlling bar based on dragged location.

36. The method in claim 35, wherein the set scrolling rate is a plurality of different rates corresponding to a plurality of different dragged locations, respectively.

37. The method in claim 35, wherein the set scrolling rate is lower than an original scrolling rate while the scroll pointer is dragged along the information scroll controlling bar.

38. A method for controlling information scrolling on a touch screen of a computing device, comprising:

displaying an information scroll controlling region on the touch screen;

sensing a dragging in a direction substantially perpendicular to a moving direction of a scroll pointer on the information scroll controlling region after a touch is sensed for the scroll pointer; and

if at least a part of the dragging is performed on a region out of the information scroll controlling region, changing a numerical value displayed on the touch screen in relation with the information scrolling.

39. The method for claimed in claim 38, wherein the changing comprises expanding gaps between points on the information scroll controlling region, the points corresponding to numerical values, respectively, the numerical values indicating a scrolling speed of the information scrolling.