Apparatus and method for touch screen user interface for handheld electronic devices part I
First Claim
1. A handheld electronic device comprising:
- a. a touch screen control surface placed on a part of the handheld electronic device, the control surface is positioned on the part of the device in an orientation that is used by placing a thumb tip on top of the control surface;
b. the touch screen control surface is over-sized to the thumb-tip for operation by a thumb-tip touch action on the control surface, the control surface is sized to include one of a size of, an inch by inch, 15/16 by 15/16 inch, ⅞
by ⅞
inch, 13/16 by 13/16 inch, ¾
by ¾
inch, 11/16 by 11/16 inch, ⅝
by ⅝
inch, 9/16 by 9/16 inch, or ½
by ½
inch or less than or equal to one square inch and greater than or equal to ¼
square inch in area;
c. the touch screen control surface is partitioned for detecting touch inputs into touch areas, where a sliding touch action on the touch areas creates a set of navigation control commands and a touch screen detection logic in the handheld electronic device receives a plurality of touch and or slide-touch inputs from the control surface and provides a user interface for controlling and navigating the functions of the handheld device.
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Abstract
A user interface in handheld devices has a bounded touch screen control surface that is operable by a thumb tip and is oversized to the size of a thumb tip. The touch screen control surface is approximately sized to be around a ¾ inch square less or more and is partitioned into touch areas. The touch areas may include five overlapping areas of a top area, a bottom area, a left area, a right area and a center area for a simpler user interface control surface. There may be nine separate areas, including one center area and eight surrounding areas. When the thumb tip is placed on any one of these area and moved in a straight line or in a circular line by sliding action between different areas of these nine areas can provide a large number of navigation control functions.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A handheld electronic device comprising:
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a. a touch screen control surface placed on a part of the handheld electronic device, the control surface is positioned on the part of the device in an orientation that is used by placing a thumb tip on top of the control surface; b. the touch screen control surface is over-sized to the thumb-tip for operation by a thumb-tip touch action on the control surface, the control surface is sized to include one of a size of, an inch by inch, 15/16 by 15/16 inch, ⅞
by ⅞
inch, 13/16 by 13/16 inch, ¾
by ¾
inch, 11/16 by 11/16 inch, ⅝
by ⅝
inch, 9/16 by 9/16 inch, or ½
by ½
inch or less than or equal to one square inch and greater than or equal to ¼
square inch in area;c. the touch screen control surface is partitioned for detecting touch inputs into touch areas, where a sliding touch action on the touch areas creates a set of navigation control commands and a touch screen detection logic in the handheld electronic device receives a plurality of touch and or slide-touch inputs from the control surface and provides a user interface for controlling and navigating the functions of the handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A user interface for navigation control in a handheld electronic device with a display screen, comprising:
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a. a touch sensitive control surface on a front part of the handheld device, positioned next to the display screen, the control surface is oversized to a thumb tip; and b. the control surface is visually marked and functionally partitioned into overlapping a top area, a bottom area, a left area, a right area, and a center area for detecting touch control actions. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A method of user interface navigation on an electronic handheld device, comprising the steps of:
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a. enabling a bounded touch screen control surface that is oversized to a thumb tip and visually marking and functionally partitioning the surface into a center area and four surrounding areas in four directions; b. enabling positioning a thumb tip in the center area and sliding on the control surface in any one of four directions causing a corresponding movement of a cursor on the display screen, and sliding the thumb tip back to the center area to stop the cursor movement; c. enabling tapping the center area to activate a function highlighted by the cursor. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A touch screen control surface comprising:
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a. a touch control surface limited in size for operation by a thumb tip, and for positioning on a handheld electronic device in an orientation that is used by placing a thumb tip on top of the control surface; b. the control surface is visually marked and functionally partitioned into a left and a right touch area and an overlapping a top and a bottom touch area, that enable a thumb tip slide movement from the left area to the right area and vice versa and from the top area to the bottom area and vice versa for corresponding function controls in the handheld electronic device; c. a quick touch for a tap action on the control surface is used for controlling the functions of the handheld device and thereby, that obviate the need for mechanical switch controls. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A touch sense control device comprising:
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a. a capacitive touch sense surface module that includes a substrate, a conducting and a non-conductive layer, and a protective layer; b. the module is exclusively used in a handheld electronic device with a display screen for controlling the functions of the device by placing the touch sense surface module next to the display screen of the device and the touch sense surface size in one of its dimensions is a maximum of 1.00 inches; c. a touch screen detection logic in the handheld device receives a plurality of touch and or slide-touch inputs from the control surface and provides a user interface for controlling and navigating the functions of the handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An electronic device with a touch screen control surface, comprising:
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a. the touch screen control surface placed on a part of the electronic device, in an orientation that is to be used by placing a thumb tip on top of the control surface; b. the touch screen control surface is visually marked and functionally partitioned for detecting touch inputs into nine separate touch areas, with a center area and eight surrounding areas, where a sliding thumb-tip movement from any one area to any of the other areas create a set of unique control command for control and navigation functions for the device; c. a touch screen detection logic in the electronic device receives touch inputs from the control surface and provides a user interface for controlling and navigating the functions of the device. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification