Portable electronic device including touch-sensitive display and method of controlling same

• US 9,483,085 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2011
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Griffin, Jason Tyler
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford, Jacinta M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wills, Diane
• Application Number:
  US13/150,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20120306903A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,980 Days
• Field of Search: 345/684
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A method of controlling a portable electronic device includes displaying a portion of information on a touch-sensitive display; detecting a touch on the touch-sensitive display at a touch location associated with the information; detecting a tilt of the portable electronic device; and in response to detecting the tilt, scrolling the information.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a portable electronic device comprising:

displaying a portion of first scrollable information within a first area on a touch-sensitive display;

displaying a portion of second scrollable information within a second area, outside of the first area on the touch-sensitive display;

detecting a touch on the touch-sensitive display at one of a first touch location within the first area where the portion of the first scrollable information is displayed and a second location within the second area where the second scrollable information is displayed;

in response to detecting a tilt of the portable electronic device within a period of time of detecting the touch on the touch-sensitive display, which period of time is less than a threshold period of time, wherein a tilt angle exceeds a threshold angle, the tilt angle being determined based on a rotation angle of a housing of the portable electronic device from a touched position of the housing of the portable electronic device, the housing being in the touched position when the touch is detected, the tilt being detected by an orientation sensor that is located within the housing of the portable electronic device, scrolling based on the touch by;

in response to detecting the touch in the first area and detecting the tilt, scrolling the first scrollable information in the first area by discontinuing displaying at least part of the portion of the first scrollable information and beginning displaying a further portion of the first scrollable information, and not scrolling the second scrollable information such that the second scrollable information remains unchanged, wherein the amount of first scrollable information that is scrolled is dependent on the duration of the tilt and the tilt angle;

in response to detecting the touch in the second area and detecting the tilt, scrolling the second scrollable information in the second area by discontinuing displaying at least part of the portion of the second scrollable information and beginning displaying a further portion of the second scrollable information, and not scrolling the first scrollable information such that the first scrollable information remains unchanged, wherein the amount of second scrollable information that is scrolled is dependent on the duration of the tilt and the tilt angle;

in response to detecting the touch and the period of time meeting the threshold period of time without detecting the tilt, performing a function when the function is associated with the touch.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first scrollable information is scrolled in a scrolling direction that corresponds to the tilt direction.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first scrollable information is one of:

a list, an electronic message content or a map.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scrolling direction is one of:

up, down, left and right.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the first scrollable information is a list and a list member is highlighted, the highlight is moved in a first direction and the first scrollable information is scrolled in a second direction when the first scrollable information is scrolled.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first direction is opposite to the second direction.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the tilt direction is away from a user, the scrolling direction is from a bottom of the touch-sensitive display to a top of the touch-sensitive display.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first scrollable information is one of:

a list, electronic message content or a map and the second scrollable information is one of;

a list, electronic message content or a map.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in response to detection of the tilt and the touch in the first area, moving a highlight from a selected selectable region of the first scrollable information to a next selectable region of the first scrollable information in a first direction;

and when a selectable region at a boundary is highlighted, scrolling the first scrollable information in a second direction.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first scrollable information is a list and the selectable regions are list members.

11. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first direction and the second direction are opposite to one another.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein an amount of the first scrollable information scrolled is determined based on one of:

the tilt angle and a duration of the tilt.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable on a processor of the portable electronic device for implementing the method of claim 1.

14. A portable electronic device comprising:

a touch-sensitive display configured to display a portion of first scrollable information within a first area and a portion of second scrollable information in a second area, outside of the first area, the touch-sensitive display being framed by a housing;

a processor connected to the touch-sensitive display to detect a touch on the touch-sensitive display at one of a first location within the first area where the portion of the first scrollable information is displayed and a second location within the second area where the portion of the second scrollable information is displayed; and

an orientation sensor in communication with the processor for detecting a tilt of the portable electronic device when a tilt angle exceeds a threshold angle, the tilt angle being determined based on a rotation angle of a housing of the portable electronic device from a touched position of the housing of the portable electronic device, the housing being in the touched position when the touch is detected; and

wherein in response to detecting, by the orientation sensor, the tilt of the portable electronic device within a period of time of detecting the touch on the touch-sensitive display, which period of time is less than a threshold period of time, the first scrollable information is scrolled in the first area by discontinuing displaying at least a portion of the first scrollable information and beginning displaying a further portion of the first scrollable information, and the second scrollable information is not scrolled, such that the second scrollable information remains unchanged, wherein the amount of first scrollable information that is scrolled is dependent on the duration of the tilt and the tilt angle;

wherein in response to detecting, by the orientation sensor, the tilt of the portable electronic device within the period of time of detecting the touch on the touch-sensitive display, which period of time is less than the threshold period of time, the second scrollable information is scrolled in the second area by discontinuing displaying at least a portion of the second scrollable information and beginning displaying a further portion of the second scrollable information, and the first scrollable information is not scrolled, such that the first scrollable information remains unchanged, wherein the amount of second scrollable information that is scrolled is dependent on the duration of the tilt and the tilt angle;

wherein, in response to detecting the touch and the period of time meeting the threshold period of time without detecting the tilt, performing a function when the function is associated with the touch.

15. A portable electronic device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first scrollable information is one of:

a list, electronic message content or a map.