Methods and systems for operating a touch screen display

• US 9,347,791 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2011
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Sia, Salvatore
• Primary Examiner(s): Mengistu, Amare
• Assistant Examiner(s): MATHEWS, CRYSTAL
• Application Number:
  US13/269,146
• Publication Number:
  US 20130088435A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,691 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3664 Details of the user input interface, e.g. buttons, knobs or sliders, including those provided on a touch screen; remote controllers; input using gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration

Abstract

A method for operating a touch screen display for a cartographic device is described. The method includes sensing a touch on the touch screen display of the cartographic device, the cartographic device operable to display a map, causing at least one toolbar to be displayed at an edge of the touch screen display in response to the sensed touch, sensing a finger movement along one of the displayed toolbars on the touch screen display, and changing a configuration of the displayed map based on the sensed finger movement.

Claims

1. A method for operating a touch screen display for a cartographic device in an aircraft, said method comprising:

sensing a touch on an edge of a plurality of edges of the touch screen display of the cartographic device, the cartographic device operable to display a map;

causing a plurality of toolbars to be displayed, each toolbar displayed along an entire respective edge of the plurality of edges of the touch screen display in response to the sensed touch, wherein each toolbar enables numerical scaling of at least one respective parameter associated with the map between a minimum numerical scale value and a maximum numerical scale value;

sensing a finger movement along a touched toolbar on the touch screen display;

displaying the minimum numerical scale value, the maximum numerical scale value, and a current numerical scale value within the touched toolbar;

changing a configuration of the displayed map based on the sensed finger movement; and

removing the plurality of displayed toolbars when the touch is no longer sensed.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein causing a plurality of toolbars to be displayed comprises causing at least one of a zoom toolbar, a rotation toolbar and a tilt toolbar to be displayed at one or more edges of the touch screen display.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein sensing a finger movement along one of the touched toolbars comprises causing a cursor associated with the corresponding toolbar to move along with the finger.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein changing a configuration of the displayed map comprises setting a scale of one or more of zoom, rotation, and tilt on the displayed map based on the sensed finger movement.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein causing a plurality of toolbars to be displayed comprises providing scale information within at least one toolbar.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein causing a plurality of toolbars to be displayed comprises configuring a portion of at least one toolbar as a reset button.

7. The method according to claim 6 further comprising:

sensing a touch of the reset button; and

changing at least one of a zoom, rotation, and tilt to a default orientation on the displayed map.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein causing a plurality of toolbars to be displayed comprises causing each of a zoom toolbar, a rotation toolbar and a tilt toolbar to be displayed on corresponding edges of the touch screen display.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein causing a plurality of toolbars to be displayed comprises configuring a portion of at least one toolbar as a PAN button.

10. The method according to claim 9 further comprising:

sensing a touch of the PAN button; and

causing a pop up type screen to be displayed on a portion of the touch screen which shows the boundaries of the displayed map on a lower resolution map.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein sensing a touch on an edge of a plurality of edges of the touch screen display further comprises sensing a touch on an edge of a plurality of edges of at least one of an aircraft cockpit touch screen display and a marine cockpit touch screen display.

12. An aircraft navigation system comprising:

a processing device;

a memory communicatively coupled to said processing device, said memory comprising cartographic data;

a display communicatively coupled to said processing device; and

a touch screen interface associated with said display and communicatively coupled to said processing device, said touch screen interface operable to sense a touch on an edge of a plurality of edges of said touch screen interface and communicate that a touch has occurred to said processing device, said processing device operable to cause a plurality of toolbars to be displayed, each toolbar displayed along an entire respective edge of the plurality of edges of said display in response to the touch, wherein each toolbar enables numerical scaling of at least one respective parameter associated with the map between a minimum numerical scale value and a maximum numerical scale value, said touch screen interface operable to sense a finger movement along a touched toolbar and communicate the finger movement to said processing device, said processing device operable to display the minimum numerical scale value, the maximum numerical scale value, and a current numerical scale value based on the sensed finger movement within the touched toolbar, said processing device operable to change a configuration of a displayed map on said display based on the sensed finger movement, said processing device operable to remove the plurality of displayed toolbars when the touch is no longer sensed.

13. The system according to claim 12 wherein to cause a plurality of toolbars to be displayed at an edge of said display, said processing device is programmed to cause each of a zoom toolbar, a rotation toolbar and a tilt toolbar to be displayed on corresponding edges of said display.

14. The system according to claim 13 wherein said processing device is programmed to cause said display to display a cursor within each of the zoom toolbar, the rotation toolbar and the tilt toolbar, the cursor for each at a current scale setting for cartographic information associated with a corresponding toolbar.

15. The system according to claim 14 wherein, in combination, said processing device, said display, and said touch screen interface are configured to:

move the cursor along the scale of the touched toolbar in response to sensed finger movement within the corresponding touched toolbar; and

set the scale of one of zoom, rotation, and tilt on the displayed map based on the sensed finger movement.

16. The system according to claim 15 wherein said processing device is further configured to cause said display to display a current value of cartographic information associated with the cursor.

17. The system according to claim 13 wherein said processing device is further configured to cause said display to display scale information for each toolbar.

18. The system according to claim 12 wherein to cause a plurality of toolbars to be displayed at an edge of said display, said system is programmed to configure a portion of at least one toolbar as a reset button, said system programmed to, in response to a sensed touch of the reset button, change the corresponding one of zoom, rotation, and tilt to a default orientation on said display.

19. The system according to claim 12 wherein to cause a plurality of toolbars to be displayed at an edge of said display, said system is programmed to configure a portion of at least one toolbar as a PAN button, said system programmed to, in response to a sensed touch of the PAN button, cause a pop up type screen to be displayed on a portion of said display which shows boundaries of the displayed map on a lower resolution map.

20. The system according to claim 12, wherein said display comprises an aircraft cockpit display.

21. The system according to claim 12, wherein said display comprises a marine cockpit display.

23. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon according to claim 19, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

cause a cursor within the touched toolbar to be moved along a scale associated with the touched toolbar in response to signals indicative of sensed finger movement within the corresponding toolbar; and

set the scale for the displayed map based on the sensed finger movement within the corresponding toolbar.

22. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

receive signals indicating a touch has been sensed on an edge of a plurality of edges of a touch screen display displaying a cartographic map in an aircraft;

cause a plurality of toolbars to be displayed, each toolbar displayed along an entire edge of the plurality of edges of the touch screen display in response to the received signals, wherein each toolbar enables numerical scaling of at least one parameter associated with the map between a minimum numerical scale value and a maximum numerical scale value;

receive signals indicating a finger movement has been sensed along a touched toolbar;

display the minimum numerical scale value, the maximum numerical scale value, and a current numerical scale value based on the sensed finger movement within the touched toolbar;

cause a configuration of the displayed map to be changed based on the sensed finger movement; and

remove the plurality of displayed toolbars when a signal is received indicating that the touch is no longer sensed.