PORTABLE INFORMATION TERMINAL APPARATUS, MOBILE WIRELESS TERMINAL APPARATUS, AND SENSOR CONTROL METHOD

• US 20090233650A1
• Filed: 01/13/2009
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Mobile Communications Limited (Fujitsu Limited)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: HOSONO, Masafumi
• Granted Patent: US 8,483,767 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• 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 1/169 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 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3259 Power saving in cursor control device, e.g. mouse, joystick, trackball
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• 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 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A touch sensor detects contact input by a finger or the like, and includes two sensor modules. Each of the sensor modules has many sensors arrayed linearly. The operation state of each sensor module is set under the control of a control unit. When a user touches a sensor of the sensor module, the control unit energizes only the sensor which the user has touched and neighboring sensors to detect an input from the user, and does not energize the remaining sensors on the same sensor module.

Claims

1. A portable information terminal apparatus comprising:

display means for displaying information;

a sensor module including an array of a plurality of sensors which detect user operation;

display control means for controlling information displayed by the display means in accordance with a result detected by the sensor; and

sensor control means for controlling operation of the sensors by controlling supply of power to the sensors and when there is a sensor which has detected an input from a user, continuing supply of power to the sensor and neighboring sensors and stopping supply of power to the remaining sensors.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor module comprises a plurality of sensors arrayed linearly.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display control means scrolls and displays information displayed by the display means when a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors sequentially detect user operation in a predetermined direction.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, which further comprises direction detection means for detecting a top/bottom orientation of the display means, and in which

the sensor module comprises at least two modules each having a plurality of sensors arrayed linearly, with the two modules being arrayed such that array directions thereof are perpendicular to each other, and

the display control means performs control to cause the display means to display information in a proper top/bottom orientation in accordance with a detection result obtained by the direction detection means.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display control means scrolls and displays information displayed by the display means when a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors sequentially detect user operation in a predetermined direction.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at least one module of the sensor modules is provided to be parallel to a display surface of the display means, and at least one module of the sensor modules is provided on a surface intersecting the display surface of the display means.

7. A mobile wireless terminal apparatus which wirelessly communicates with a base station apparatus accommodated in a mobile communication network, the apparatus comprising:

display means for displaying information;

a sensor module including an array of a plurality of sensors which detect user operation;

display control means for controlling information displayed by the display means in accordance with a result detected by the sensor; and

sensor control means for controlling operation of the sensors by controlling supply of power to the sensors and when there is a sensor which has detected an input from a user, continuing supply of power to the sensor and neighboring sensors and stopping supply of power to the remaining sensors.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the sensor module comprises a plurality of sensors arrayed linearly.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the display control means scrolls and displays information displayed by the display means when a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors sequentially detect user operation in a predetermined direction.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, which further comprises direction detection means for detecting a top/bottom orientation of the display means, and in which

the sensor module comprises at least two modules each having a plurality of sensors arrayed linearly, with the two modules being arrayed such that array directions thereof are perpendicular to each other, and

the display control means performs control to cause the display means to display information in a proper top/bottom orientation in accordance with a detection result obtained by the direction detection means.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the display control means scrolls and displays information displayed by the display means when a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors sequentially detect user operation in a predetermined direction.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein at least one module of the sensor modules is provided to be parallel to a display surface of the display means, and at least one module of the sensor modules is provided on a surface intersecting the display surface of the display means.

13. A sensor control method in a portable information terminal apparatus including display means for displaying information and a sensor module including an array of a plurality of sensors which detect user operation, the method comprising steps of:

controlling information displayed by the display means in accordance with a result detected by the sensor; and

controlling operation of the sensors by controlling supply of power to the sensors, and when there is a sensor which has detected an input from a user, continuing supply of power to the sensor and neighboring sensors while stopping supply of power to the remaining sensors.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the sensor module comprises a plurality of sensors arrayed linearly.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein in the display control step, information displayed by the display means is scrolled and displayed when a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors sequentially detect user operation in a predetermined direction.

16. The method according to claim 14, which further comprises a step of detecting a top/bottom orientation of the display means, and in which

the sensor module comprises at least two modules each having a plurality of sensors arrayed linearly, with the two modules being arrayed such that array directions thereof are perpendicular to each other, and

in the display control step, control is performed to cause the display means to display information in a proper top/bottom orientation in accordance with a detection result obtained in the direction detection step.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein in the display control step, information displayed by the display means is scrolled and displayed when a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors sequentially detect user operation in a predetermined direction.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein at least one module of the sensor modules is provided to be parallel to a display surface of the display means, and at least one module of the sensor modules is provided on a surface intersects the display surface of the display means.