Manual controlled scrolling

• US 20040150630A1
• Filed: 02/02/2004
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sinclair, Michael J., Bathiche, Steven N., Hinckley, Kenneth P., Cauthorn, James H.
• Granted Patent: US 7,202,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• 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 scrolling device for a computer may include a touch-sensitive surface, which may be elongated and/or have one or more active regions. Scrolling may be performed in manual as well as automated ways that may result in more accurate and efficient scrolling. Scrolling, as displayed on the screen, may further be rounded to the nearest document text line and/or distance unit, even though a more precise scrolling location value may be stored and/or tracked.

Claims

1. A method for scrolling a document, comprising the step of scrolling the document by an amount based on a difference between two positions of a pointer on a touch-sensitive surface, such that a speed of scrolling of the document is non-proportional to a speed of the pointer along the touch-sensitive surface.

2. The method for scrolling of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a first signal indicating a first location Y<sub>i−

1</sub> of a pointer on a touch-sensitive surface; and

receiving a second signal indicating a second location Y₁ of the pointer on the touch-sensitive surface, the pointer being at the second position at a time after the pointer is at the first position,

wherein the step of scrolling includes determining a scroll amount dy according to the following algorithm;

dy=K₁(Y_i−

Y<sub>i−

1</sub>)(e<sup>1+K₂(Y_i−

Y<sub>i−

1</sub>)</sup>−

e+1).

3. A method for providing absolute scrolling of a document, the method comprising the steps of:

sensing a pointer sliding along a touch-sensitive surface;

determining a location of the pointer while the pointer is sliding; and

scrolling the document to a location in the document that corresponds to the location of the pointer relative to the touch-sensitive surface.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the location in the document compared to a beginning point and end point of the document is proportional to the location of the pointer compared to a first end and a second end of the touch-sensitive surface.

5. A method for scrolling a document, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first scroll command;

determining a first virtual scroll position based on the first scroll command, the first virtual scroll position having a first numerical resolution;

determining a first actual scroll position based on the first virtual scroll position, the first actual scroll position having a second numerical resolution less than the first numerical resolution; and

scrolling the document to the first actual scroll position.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the first virtual scroll position includes determining the first virtual scroll position based on the first scroll command and also on a previous virtual scroll position.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the first actual scroll position includes rounding the first virtual scroll position.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the first actual scroll position includes truncating the first virtual scroll position.

9. The method of claim 5, further including the steps of:

receiving a second scroll command;

determining a second virtual scroll position based on the second scroll command and the first virtual scroll position, the second virtual scroll position having the first numerical resolution;

determining a second actual scroll position based on the second virtual scroll position, the second actual scroll position having the second numerical resolution; and

scrolling the document to the second actual scroll position.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the first actual scroll position includes determining the first actual scroll position to be a whole number of document text lines.

11. The method of claim 5, further including the steps of:

determining whether the first virtual scroll position is within a boundary; and

responsive to the first virtual scroll position not being within the boundary, adjusting the first virtual scroll position to be within the boundary.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the boundary is based on a boundary of the document.

13. A method for scrolling a document comprising the steps of:

receiving a scroll command;

determining a scroll position based on the scroll command;

determining an incremental scrolling position relative to the document; and

scrolling the document to the incremental scroll position.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the modifying step includes rounding the scroll position.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the incremental scrolling position is in increments of document text lines.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the incremental scrolling position is in increments of document pages.

17. A method of determining whether a pointer is moving on a touch-sensitive surface, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting movement of the pointer;

determining whether the movement exceeds a first threshold;

responsive to the movement exceeding the first threshold, determining that the pointer is moving;

detecting further movement of the pointer;

determining whether the further movement exceeds a second threshold different from the first threshold; and

responsive to the further movement exceeding the second threshold, determining that the pointer is still moving.

18. The method of claim 17, further including waiting for a predetermined amount of time between the steps of detecting the movement and detecting the further movement.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the second threshold is larger than the first threshold.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second thresholds are defined as distances.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second thresholds are defined as percentages of at least a portion of a length of the touch-sensitive surface.

22. A system for scrolling a document, the system comprising:

a touch-sensitive surface; and

a processor coupled to the touch-sensitive surface and configured to determine a scroll amount of the document based on a difference between two positions of a pointer on the touch-sensitive surface, such that a speed of scrolling of the document is non-proportional to a speed of the pointer along the touch-sensitive surface.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is part of a scrolling device, the scrolling device being configured to:

determine a first location Y<sub>i−

1</sub> of a pointer on a touch-sensitive surface, and

determine a second location Y_i of the pointer on the touch-sensitive surface, the pointer being at the second position at a time after the pointer is at the first position,

the processor being further configured to determine a scroll amount dy according to the following algorithm;

dy=K₁(Y_i−

Y<sub>i−

1</sub>)(e<sup>1+K₂(Y_i−

Y<sub>i−

1</sub>)</sup>−

e+1).

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is elongated along a longitudinal axis, the first and second locations being determined along the longitudinal axis.