Programmable mobile device with thumb wheel
First Claim
1. A hand held mobile device, the mobile device comprising:
- a housing;
a user programmable processor within the housing;
a display operatively coupled to the processor, the display being controlled by the processor to display a plurality of functions relating to operation of the mobile device;
a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel including;
a wheel portion rotatable about an axis, the wheel portion being selectably rotatable about the axis to facilitate a user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the wheel portion being transaxially moveable and wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; and
a control circuit operatively coupled to the thumb wheel, wherein the control circuit provides at least one signal to the processor in response to movement of the wheel portion, the processor executing a predetermined routine corresponding to the at least one signal.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A programmable mobile terminal which includes a thumb wheel for selecting among a plurality of functions executable by the mobile terminal. The programmable mobile terminal allows a user to employ the same hand that is holding the mobile terminal to scroll through and select a function among a plurality of functions via the thumb wheel. The wheel portion of thumb wheel is rotated either clockwise or counter clockwise by the user'"'"'s thumb or other finger to scroll a screen cursor through the functions and once the screen cursor of the mobile terminal is positioned at a desired function, the user can depress the wheel portion in a transaxial direction with the same thumb or finger to select the desired function. Also, the programmable mobile terminal allows a user to scan bar code information and use the thumb wheel for selecting among a plurality of functions relating to the scanned bar code information.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. A hand held mobile device, the mobile device comprising:
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a housing; a user programmable processor within the housing; a display operatively coupled to the processor, the display being controlled by the processor to display a plurality of functions relating to operation of the mobile device; a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel including;
a wheel portion rotatable about an axis, the wheel portion being selectably rotatable about the axis to facilitate a user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the wheel portion being transaxially moveable and wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; anda control circuit operatively coupled to the thumb wheel, wherein the control circuit provides at least one signal to the processor in response to movement of the wheel portion, the processor executing a predetermined routine corresponding to the at least one signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of selecting among a plurality of functions executable by a user programmable mobile terminal, comprising the steps of:
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using an interrupt generator to monitor a thumb wheel for movement of a wheel portion of the thumb wheel; using the interrupt generator to generate an interrupt request upon movement of the wheel portion, and sending the interrupt request to an interrupt handler; using the interrupt handler to inform a processor that an interrupt relating to movement of the wheel portion has occurred; using the processor to determine what type of wheel portion movement has occurred, wherein the processor relates a particular wheel portion movement to at least one of the plurality of functions executable by the programmable mobile terminal; and using the processor to perform a routine corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of functions executable by the programmable mobile terminal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A mobile device, comprising:
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a housing; a user programmable processor within the housing, wherein the processor can receive, store and execute programs input thereto by the user; a display coupled to the housing for displaying a plurality of programs executable by the mobile device; and a thumb wheel received within the housing, the thumb wheel being employable to select at least one function among the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the thumb wheel including a wheel portion, an encoding device and a control circuit, wherein;
the wheel portion is rotatable about an axis and transaxially moveable, wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function;the encoding device produces at least one signal indicative of movement of the wheel portion; and the control circuit is coupled to the encoding device for receiving the at least one signal from the encoding device and outputting a signal to the processor in response thereto, wherein the processor performs a particular routine among a plurality of routines executable by the processor in response to the signal output by the control device.
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16. A hand held mobile device, the mobile device comprising:
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a portable housing; a user programmable processor within the housing; a display for displaying a plurality of functions executable by the mobile device; a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel facilitating selection of at least one function of the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the thumb wheel including; a wheel portion rotatable around an axis and transaxially moveable, wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; and a control circuit operatively coupled to the thumb wheel, wherein the control circuit provides a particular signal to the processor in response to a particular movement of the wheel portion, the processor executing a predetermined routine corresponding to the particular signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A programmable mobile terminal comprising:
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a housing; a user programmable processor within the housing; a display operatively coupled to the processor, the display being controlled by the processor to display a plurality of functions executable by the programmable mobile terminal; a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel including;
a wheel portion rotatable about an axis, the wheel portion being selectably rotatable about the axis to facilitate a user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the wheel portion being transaxially moveable and wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; anda control circuit operatively coupled to the thumb wheel, wherein the control circuit provides at least one signal to the processor in response to movement of the wheel portion, the processor executing a predetermined routine corresponding to the at least one signal. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A programmable mobile terminal comprising:
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a housing; a user programmable processor within the housing; a touch sensitive display operatively coupled to the processor, the touch sensitive display being controlled by the processor to display a plurality of functions executable by the programmable mobile terminal and receive information from a user; a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel including;
a wheel portion rotatable about an axis, the wheel portion being selectably rotatable about the axis to facilitate the user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the wheel portion being transaxially moveable and wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; anda control circuit operatively coupled to the thumb wheel, wherein the control circuit provides at least one signal to the processor in response to movement of the wheel portion, the processor executing a predetermined routine corresponding to the at least one signal.
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47. A hand held inventory control device comprising:
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a housing; a user programmable processor within the housing; a display operatively coupled to the processor, the display being controlled by the processor to display a plurality of functions executable by the hand held inventory control device; a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel including;
a wheel portion rotatable about an axis, the wheel portion being selectably rotatable about the axis to facilitate a user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the wheel portion being transaxially moveable and wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; anda control circuit operatively coupled to the thumb wheel, wherein the control circuit provides at least one signal to the processor in response to movement of the wheel portion, the processor executing a predetermined routine corresponding to the at least one signal, wherein the hand held inventory control device communicates via at least one of a narrow band and a radio communication system including multiple mobile terminals and base stations.
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48. A programmable mobile terminal comprising:
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a housing; a user programmable processor within the housing; a display operatively coupled to the processor, the display being controlled by the processor to display a plurality of functions executable by the programmable mobile terminal; a thumb wheel extending from the housing, the thumb wheel including;
a wheel portion rotatable about an axis, the wheel portion being selectably rotatable about the axis to facilitate a user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, the wheel portion being transaxially moveable and wherein transaxial movement of the wheel portion initiates selection of the at least one function; and
,a keypad having up and down cursor keys and a select key to additionally facilitate the user selecting at least one function from the plurality of functions displayed on the display, wherein movement of the select key initiates selection of the at least one function.
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Specification