INPUT DEVICE AND INPUT METHOD

• US 20120242594A1
• Filed: 09/22/2011
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company), Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: MATSUMOTO, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,952,870 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 1/1643 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 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An input device includes a body unit, a first touch type position detection unit which detects a first touch position of a human body on a first detection surface of the body unit, a second touch type position detection unit which detects a second touch position of the human body on a second detection surface of the body unit, the second detection surface being on an opposite side of the body unit as the first detection surface, and a detection area restriction unit which restricts an area, which can be detected by the second touch type position detection unit, on the second detection surface according to information of the first touch position and information determined in advance. The information determined in advance is data indicating a relation between the first touch position on the first detection surface and the restricted area on the second detection surface.

Claims

1. An input device comprising:

a body unit;

a first touch type position detection unit which detects a first touch position of a human body on a first detection surface of the body unit;

a second touch type position detection unit which detects a second touch position of the human body on a second detection surface of the body unit, the second detection surface being on an opposite side of the body unit as the first detection surface; and

a detection area restriction unit which restricts an area which can be detected by the second touch type position detection unit, on the second detection surface according to information of the first touch position and information determined in advance, wherein

the information determined in advance is data indicating a relation between the first touch position on the first detection surface and the restricted area on the second detection surface.

2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein

the information determined in advance is an average value of data of a large number of people, each data of the people being a relation between an operation area and a certain position where the operation area is acquired based on a touch position of a forefinger or a middle finger on the second detection surface when a thumb is touched on at least one position of the first detection surface in a case that the body unit is held with the thumb and the forefinger or the middle finger of same hand, and the certain position is the one position of the first detection surface.

3. The input device according to claim 1, wherein

the detection area restriction unit restricts in a manner that the restriction area on the second detection surface cannot be detected by the second touch type position detection unit.

4. The input device according to claim 1, wherein

the first touch type position detection unit detects two of the first touch positions on the first detection surface at the same time, and

the detection area restriction unit determines, based on one of the first touch positions, a first undetectable area on the second detection surface, and the detection area restriction unit determines, based on another of the first touch positions, a second undetectable area on the second detection surface, and the detection area restriction unit restricts in a manner that an area included in at least one area of the first undetectable area and the second undetectable area, cannot be detected by the second touch type position detection unit.

5. The input device according to claim 1, further comprising an acceleration sensor, wherein

the first touch type position detection unit detects a touch area of the human body on the first detection surface and determines the first touch position based on the detected touch area,

the information determined in advance includes a plurality of pieces of information determined in advance depending on a direction in which the body unit is held, and

the detection area restriction unit selects one of the pieces of information determined in advance based on the holding direction of the body unit determined by a direction of the touch area detected by the first touch type position detection unit and a direction of gravity detected by the acceleration sensor, and the detection area restriction unit restricts an area which can be detected by the second touch type position detection unit on the second detection surface according to the selected piece of information determined in advance.

6. The input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit; and

a display control unit which controls the display unit, wherein

the first touch type position detection unit detects a touch area of the human body on the first detection surface and determines the first touch position based on the detected touch area,

the first touch type position detection unit detects two of the touch areas on the first detection surface, and

the display control unit changes a direction of screen components displayed on the display unit based on each of a direction of the two touch areas detected by the first touch type position detection unit.

7. An input method comprising:

a detection step of detecting a first touch position of a human body on a first detection surface of a body unit; and

a detection area restriction step of restricting an area which can be detected a second touch position of the human body on a second detection surface of the body unit, according to information of the first touch position and information determined in advance, wherein

the second detection surface is on an opposite side of the body unit as the first detection surface, and

the information determined in advance is data indicating a relation between the first touch position on the first detection surface and the restricted area on the second detection surface.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a program stored thereon for causing a computer to execute the input method according to claim 7.