Electronic device

• US 9,558,376 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2012
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Katae, Takeshi, Myoi, Tomoki
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Nicholas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hong, Richard
• Application Number:
  US13/535,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20130002582A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/84 output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An electronic device includes a display unit configured to display characters, a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact, a tactile sensation providing unit configured to provide a tactile sensation to an object contacting the contact detection unit, and a control unit configured to control such that predetermined characters are displayed as turned characters on the display unit, wherein the control unit, when the contact detection unit detects the contact at a position corresponding to the turned characters displayed on the display unit, controls the tactile sensation providing unit such that a tactile sensation associated with the characters corresponding to the turned characters is provided to the object.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a display configured to display characters;

a contact detector configured to detect a contact;

a tactile sensation provider configured to provide a tactile sensation to an object contacting the contact detector; and

a controller configured to control the display such that a plurality of predetermined characters entered by an operator are displayed as a corresponding plurality of respective turned characters on the display such that a person viewing the plurality of respective turned characters on the display is unable to read the plurality of predetermined characters corresponding to the plurality of respective turned characters, wherein

the controller, when the contact detector detects the contact by the object at a position corresponding to one of the plurality of respective turned characters displayed on the display, controls the tactile sensation provider such that a tactile sensation associated with a one of the plurality of predetermined characters that has been inputted by the operator and corresponding to the one of the respective turned characters is provided to the object, and wherein when the contact detector detects the contact by the object at a position not corresponding to one of the plurality of respective turned characters displayed on the display, controls the tactile sensation provider such that the tactile sensation associated with the one of the plurality of predetermined characters that has been inputted by the operator is not provided to the object.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls such that a magnitude of the tactile sensation provider for providing the tactile sensation when the contact detector detects the contact at the position corresponding to the one of the plurality of respective turned characters displayed on the display is smaller than the magnitudes of vibrations of the tactile sensation provider for providing the tactile sensation for other operations.