Method of transition between window states

• US 9,508,320 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ording, Bas
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow, Doon
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LE V
• Application Number:
  US11/892,154
• Publication Number:
  US 20070288862A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,389 Days
• Field of Search: 715/788, 715/711, 715/752, 715/808
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for moving objects within the graphical user interface (GUI) of an operating system in a manner that provides a transitional effect between window states, which is pleasing to the user. This transitional effect includes changing the shape of a window while scaling and moving the window between two different sizes and positions. In one embodiment of the present invention, the transitional effect may be employed as a window is minimized into an icon, or restored from an icon. In another embodiment of the present invention, the transitional effect is employed as a window is minimized within its title bar, or restored therefrom. The rate of movement of objects is controlled in a non-linear manner, to further enhance the pleasing effect.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at an electronic device with a display and one or more input devices;

displaying a window in an open state at a first location on the display;

while displaying the window in the open state at the first location on the display, receiving, via the one or more input devices, a request to minimize the window;

in response to receiving the request to minimize the window, displaying an animated transition of the window from the open state to a minimized state at a second location on the display, wherein;

displaying the animated transition includes displaying a scaled a plurality of transition representations of the window at successively smaller sizes at successive locations along a path from the first location to the second location, the plurality of transition representations including a first transition representation, and a second transition representation that is displayed after the first transition representation and is smaller than the first transition representation;

a first portion of the animated transition from the open state to the first transition representation includes reducing said scaled representation from the first size associated with said first location to one of the successively smaller sizes associated with one of the successive locations by reducing a length of a bottom edge of the sealed first transition representation during the first portion of the animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of reduction in length of a top edge of the sealed first transition representation that occurs during the first portion of the animated transition; and

a second portion of the animated transition from the first transition representation to the second transition representation includes reducing a length of the top edge of the second transition representation during the second portion of the animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of reduction in length of the bottom edge of the second transition representation that occurs during the second portion of the animated transition, wherein the second portion of the animated transition occurs after the first portion of the animated transition occurs; and

after displaying the animated transition of the window from the open state to the minimized state at the second location on the display, receiving selection of a representation of the window in the minimized state; and

in response to receiving selection of the representation of the window in the minimized state, restoring the window to the open state that was displayed prior to displaying the animated transition wherein in the open state a respective side of the window is a straight line, and during the animated transition of the window from the open state to the minimized state at the second location on the display, the respective side transitions from the straight line to a curved line, wherein the curvature of the curved line changes as the animated transition progresses.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the animated transition includes fixing the length of the top edge of the first transition representation while reducing the length of the bottom edge of the first transition representation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to minimize the window comprises actuation of a control element on said window.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the path between the first location and the second location is defined by a pair of lines that connect corresponding points of the window and the miniaturized representation of the window at the first and second locations respectively.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said lines have a curvature defined by a function.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said function is a sinusoidal function.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the first portion of the animated transition includes an initial animation shifting a bottom edge and curving vertical sides of said window to align the bottom edge within the pair of lines and to conform the vertical sides to the shape of the pair of lines, while fixing a top edge of said window.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the miniaturized representation of the window at the second location is a scaled image of the window in the open state at the first location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein restoring the window to the open state includes displaying a window-restore animated transition of the window from the minimized state to the open state, wherein:

displaying the window-restore animated transition includes displaying a plurality of transition representations of the window at successively larger sizes at successive locations along a path from the second location to first second location, the plurality of transition representations including a third transition representation, and a fourth transition representation that is displayed after the third transition representation and is larger than the third transition representation;

a first portion of the window-restore animated transition from the minimized state to the third transition representation includes increasing a length of a top edge of the third transition representation during the first portion of the window-restore animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of increase in length of a bottom edge of the third transition representation that occurs during the first portion of the window-restore animated transition; and

a second portion of the window-restore animated transition from the third transition representation to the fourth transition representation includes increasing a length of the top edge of the fourth transition representation during the second portion of the window-restore animated transition by an amount less than an amount of increase in length of the bottom edge of the fourth transition representation that occurs during the second portion of the window-restore animated transition, wherein the second portion of the window-restore animated transition occurs after the first portion of the window-restore animated transition occurs.

10. A computer system, comprising:

a display device;

a processor that causes a user interface to be displayed on said display device, said processor causing said user interface to perform operations comprising;

while displaying a window in an open state at a first location on the display, receiving, via the user interface, a request to minimize the window;

in response to receiving the request to minimize the window, displaying an animated transition of the window from the open state to a minimized state at a second location on the display, wherein;

displaying the animated transition includes;

display a scaled representation displaying a plurality of transition representations of the window at successively smaller sizes at successive locations along a path from the first location to the second location, the plurality of transition representations including a first transition representation, and a second transition representation that is displayed after the first transition representation and is smaller than the first transition representation;

a first portion of the animated transition from the open state to the first transition representation includes reducing a length of a bottom edge of the sealed first transition representation during the first portion of the animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of reduction in length of a top edge of the sealed first transition representation that occurs during the first portion of the animated transition; and

a second portion of the animated transition from the first transition representation to the second transition representation includes reducing a length of the top edge of the second transition representation during the second portion of the animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of reduction in length of the bottom edge of the second transition representation that occurs during the second portion of the animated transition, wherein the second portion of the animated transition occurs after the first portion of the animated transition occurs; and

after displaying the animated transition of the window from the open state to the minimized state at the second location on the display, receiving selection of a representation of the window in the minimized state; and

in response to receiving selection of the representation of the window in the minimized state, restoring the window to the open state that was displayed prior to displaying the animated transition wherein in the open state a respective side of the window is a straight line, and during the animated transition of the window from the open state to the minimized state at the second location on the display, the respective side transitions from the straight line to a curved line, wherein the curvature of the curved line changes as the animated transition progresses.

11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the animated transition includes fixing the length of the top edge of the first transition representation while reducing the length of the bottom edge of the first transition representation.

12. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the request to minimize the window comprises actuation of a control element on said window.

13. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the path between the first location and the second location is defined by a pair of lines that connect corresponding points of the window and the miniaturized representation of the window at the first and second locations respectively, said lines have a curvature defined by a function.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein said function is a sinusoidal function.

15. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the first portion of the animated transition includes an initial animation shifting a bottom edge and curving vertical sides of said window to align the bottom edge within the pair of lines and to conform the vertical sides to the shape of the pair of lines, while fixing a top edge of said window.

16. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the representation of the window at the second location is a scaled image of the window in the open state at the first location.

17. The computer system of claim 10, wherein restoring the window to the open state includes displaying a window-restore animated transition of the window from the minimized state to the open state, wherein:

displaying the window-restore animated transition includes displaying a plurality of transition representations of the window at successively larger sizes at successive locations along a path from the second location to first second location, the plurality of transition representations including a third transition representation, and a fourth transition representation that is displayed after the third transition representation and is larger than the third transition representation;

a first portion of the window-restore animated transition from the minimized state to the third transition representation includes increasing a length of a top edge of the third transition representation during the first portion of the window-restore animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of increase in length of a bottom edge of the third transition representation that occurs during the first portion of the window-restore animated transition; and

a second portion of the window-restore animated transition from the third transition representation to the fourth transition representation includes increasing a length of the top edge of the fourth transition representation during the second portion of the window-restore animated transition by an amount less than an amount of increase in length of the bottom edge of the fourth transition representation that occurs during the second portion of the window-restore animated transition, wherein the second portion of the window-restore animated transition occurs after the first portion of the window-restore animated transition occurs.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a program containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

display a window in an open state at a first location on a display, the window having a first size at said first location;

while displaying the window in the open state at the first location on the display, receiving, via the one or more input devices, a request to minimize the window;

in response to receiving the request to minimize the window, displaying an animated transition of the window from the open state to a minimized state at a second location on the display, wherein;

displaying the animated transition includes displaying a plurality of transition representations of the window at successively smaller sizes at successive locations along a path from the first location to the second location, the plurality of transition representations including a first transition representation, and a second transition representation that is displayed after the first transition representation and is smaller than the first transition representation;

a first portion of the animated transition from the open state to the first transition representation includes reducing a length of a bottom edge of the first transition representation during the first portion of the animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of reduction in length of a top edge of the first transition representation that occurs during the first portion of the animated transition; and

a second portion of the animated transition from the first transition representation to the second transition representation includes reducing a length of the top edge of the second transition representation during the second portion of the animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of reduction in length of the bottom edge of the second transition representation that occurs during the second portion of the animated transition, wherein the second portion of the animated transition occurs after the first portion of the animated transition occurs; and

after displaying the animated transition of the window from the open state to the minimized state at the second location on the display, receiving selection of a representation of the window in the minimized state; and

in response to receiving selection of the representation of the window in the minimized state, restoring the window to the open state that was displayed prior to displaying the animated transition wherein in the open state a respective side of the window is a straight line, and during the animated transition of the window from the open state to the minimized state at the second location on the display, the respective side transitions from the straight line to a curved line, wherein the curvature of the curved line changes as the animated transition progresses.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first portion of the animated transition includes fixing the length of the top edge of the first transition representation while reducing the length of the bottom edge of the first transition representation.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the request to minimize the window comprises actuation of a control element on said window.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the path between the first location and the second location is defined by a pair of lines that connect corresponding points of the window and the miniaturized representation of the window at the first and second locations respectively, said lines have a curvature defined by a function.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein said function is a sinusoidal function.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the first portion of the animated transition includes an initial animation shifting a bottom edge and curving vertical sides of said window to align the bottom edge within the pair of lines and to conform the vertical sides to the shape of the pair of lines, while fixing a top edge of said window.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the representation of the window at the second location is a scaled image of the window in the open state at the first location.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein restoring the window to the open state includes displaying a window-restore animated transition of the window from the minimized state to the open state, wherein:

displaying the window-restore animated transition includes displaying a plurality of transition representations of the window at successively larger sizes at successive locations along a path from the second location to first second location, the plurality of transition representations including a third transition representation, and a fourth transition representation that is displayed after the third transition representation and is larger than the third transition representation;

a first portion of the window-restore animated transition from the minimized state to the third transition representation includes increasing a length of a top edge of the third transition representation during the first portion of the window-restore animated transition by an amount greater than an amount of increase in length of a bottom edge of the third transition representation that occurs during the first portion of the window-restore animated transition; and

a second portion of the window-restore animated transition from the third transition representation to the fourth transition representation includes increasing a length of the top edge of the fourth transition representation during the second portion of the window-restore animated transition by an amount less than an amount of increase in length of the bottom edge of the fourth transition representation that occurs during the second portion of the window-restore animated transition, wherein the second portion of the window-restore animated transition occurs after the first portion of the window-restore animated transition occurs.