Electronic device having display and surrounding touch sensitive surfaces for user interface and control

• US 10,386,980 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2018
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: King, Nicholas, Kerr, Duncan Robert, Herbst, Paul, Hotelling, Steven P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hicks, Charles V
• Application Number:
  US15/970,571
• Publication Number:
  US 20180253172A1
• Time in Patent Office: 474 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1612 Flat panel monitor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• 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

An electronic device has a display and has a touch sensitive bezel surrounding the display. Areas on the bezel are designated for controls used to operate the electronic device. Visual guides corresponding to the controls are displayed on the display adjacent the areas of the bezel designated for the controls. Touch data is generated by the bezel when a user touches an area of the bezel. The device determines which of the controls has been selected based on which designated area is associated with the touch data from the bezel. The device then initiates the determined control. The device can have a sensor for determining the orientation of the device. Based on the orientation, the device can alter the areas designated on the bezel for the controls and can alter the location of the visual guides for the display so that they match the altered areas on the bezel.

Claims

1. A handheld computing device, comprising:

a touch screen;

a housing supporting the touch screen and having a plurality of surfaces surrounding the touch screen, the plurality of surfaces non-planar with respect to the touch screen;

a plurality of sensors, including one or more sensors located along each of at least two different surfaces on opposite sides of the touch screen; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the plurality of sensors, the processor capable of

detecting a presence of at least one object at one or more of the sensors located along at least one of the two different surfaces on opposite sides of the touch screen, and

initiating an operation based on the detected object.

2. The handheld computing device of claim 1, wherein detecting the presence of the at least one object comprises detecting a force of the at least one object upon at least one of the two different surfaces, and wherein initiating the operation comprises initiating the operation when the detected force exceeds a threshold.

3. The handheld computing device of claim 2, the processor further capable of:

detecting the force of at least two objects upon both of the two different surfaces at least partially overlapping in time; and

initiating the operation based on the detected force of the at least two objects.

4. The handheld computing device of claim 2, wherein the at least two different surfaces on opposite sides of the touch screen are located on different sides of the housing.

5. The handheld computing device of claim 2, wherein the plurality of sensors are force sensors.

6. The handheld computing device of claim 2, the processor further capable of initiating different operations when the detected force exceeds different thresholds.

7. The handheld computing device of claim 2, the processor capable of generating a visual guide on the touch screen associated with one or more of the plurality of sensors.

8. The handheld computing device of claim 7, wherein the visual guides are superimposed over images on the touch screen.

9. The handheld computing device of claim 7, wherein the visual guides appear only when the force of the at least one object is detected upon at least one of the two different surfaces.

10. The handheld computing device of claim 1, wherein detecting the presence of the at least one object comprises detecting a touch of the at least one object upon at least one of the two different surfaces, and wherein initiating the operation comprises initiating the operation upon detecting the touch.

11. The handheld computing device of claim 10, the processor further capable of determining a duration of the detected touch, and initiating a particular operation based on the determined duration.

12. The handheld computing device of claim 10, the processor further capable of determining motion of the at least one object across at least one of the two different surfaces, and initiating the operation based on the determined motion.

13. The handheld computing device of claim 10, the processor capable of generating a visual guide on the touch screen associated with one or more of the plurality of sensors.

14. The handheld computing device of claim 13, wherein the visual guides are superimposed over images on the touch screen.

15. The handheld computing device of claim 13, wherein the visual guides appear only when the touch is detected upon at least one of the two different surfaces.

16. A method of controlling a handheld computing device, comprising:

detecting a presence of at least one object at one or more sensors located along each of at least two different surfaces on opposite sides of a touch screen and non-planar with respect to the touch screen; and

initiating an operation based on the detected object.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

detecting a force of the at least one object upon at least one of the two different surfaces; and

initiating the operation when the detected force exceeds a threshold.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

detecting the force of at least two objects upon both of the two different surfaces at least partially overlapping in time; and

initiating the operation based on the detected force of the at least two objects.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

detecting a touch of the at least one object upon at least one of the two different surfaces; and

initiating the operation upon detecting the touch.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining a duration of the detected touch, and initiating a particular operation based on the determined duration.