Interface

• US 7,716,600 B2
• Filed: 05/17/2006
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sawano, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hassan; Rashedul
• Application Number:
  US11/436,464
• Publication Number:
  US 20060277500A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 715/810, 715/811, 715/812, 715/813, 715/828, 715/829, 715/830, 715/744, 715/745, 715/747, 715/764, 715/774, 715/778, 715/779, 715/784, 715/785, 715/786, 715/787, 715/792
• US Class Current: 715/813
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

An interface for displaying icons or input control portions corresponding to a plurality of functions on screen and pointing each icon or input control portion on screen selectively includes display control means which, along with repeatedly changing and displaying the icons or the input control portions in succession on screen, designates at least one icon or input control portion among the icons or the input control portions and displays the designated icon(s) or input control portion(s) on a permanent basis.

Claims

1. A computer comprising:

a display device with a screen;

an interface operatively connected with the screen, the screen displaying at least either of icons or input control portions respectively associated with each of a plurality of functions and, when one of the functions associated with one of the icons or the input control portions is selected by means of one of the icons or the input control portions displayed on the screen, reporting the selected function to a function processing section which activates the function,

wherein the screen has a first display region displaying one or more of the icons and a second display region displaying one or more of the input control portions, and

wherein the interface comprises display control means which allows the icons to be displayed in the first display region on the screen in a repeatedly changing manner by repeatedly moving each of the icons across the first display region automatically and which allows the input control portions to be displayed in the second display region on the screen on a permanent basis,

wherein the display control means is capable of deleting the icons displayed in the repeatedly changing manner in the first display region so as to display, in the second display region, the input control portions associated with the same functions as the deleted icons, and deleting the input control portions displayed in the second display region so as to display, in the first display region, the icons associated with the same functions as the deleted input control portions in the repeatedly changing manner,

wherein said deleting the icons and the input control portions is performed in response to a user selecting, from a displayed list of names of each of the plurality of functions, one or more checkboxes displayed in association with said names of the plurality of functions, to designate either the first display region or the second display region for one or more of the plurality of functions, and the display control means automatically determining in response to said selection, whether to display the associated icon in the first display region on the screen in the repeatedly changing manner or to display the associated input control portions in the second display region on the screen on a permanent basis for each of the plurality of functions by reading a data table that stores in correlated form identification numbers describing the plurality of functions, image data of the icons, image data of the input control portions, display region data describing the display regions as set by said user selection.

2. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the display control means allows both one of the icons and one of the input control portions associated with at least one of the plurality of functions to be displayed on the screen.

3. The computer according to claim 1, comprising selection means for selecting at least one mode of display for each function, the display mode being selected from permanent display of the input control portions or changing display of the icons.

4. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the interface comprises storage means for storing, for each displayed icon or input control portion, the frequency of selection obtained when the icon or the input control portion is selected and pointed in order to activate a function,

wherein the display control means selects a permanently-displayed designated input control portion based on the frequency of selection of the icons or the input control portions stored in the storage means.

5. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the interface comprises number entry means for entering and pointing a number of permanently-displayed designated input control portions, and

wherein the display control means permanently displays a number of designated input control portions based on the number entered and pointed by the number entry means.

6. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the interface comprises storage means for storing, for each icon or input control portion, the frequency of selection and the date and time of selection obtained when the icons or the input control portions are selected and pointed in order to activate a function,

wherein the display control means, by using the frequency of selection and the date and time of selection of the icons or the input control portions stored in the storage means, designates a date and time to obtain the frequency of selection after the designated date and time for each icon or input control portion, and selects a permanently-displayed designated input control portion based on the frequency of selection of the icons or the input control portions after the designated date and time.

7. The computer according to claim 6, wherein the interface comprises date/time entry means for entering a designated date and time.

8. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the interface comprises storage means for storing the designated input control portions in association with user information,

wherein the display control means acquires user information, reads an input control portion corresponding to the acquired user information as a designated input control portion from the storage means, and displays the read-out designated input control portion on a permanent basis.

9. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the interface comprises storage means for storing icons grouped,

wherein the display control means reads out the icons corresponding to an entered and pointed group from the storage means and repeatedly changes and displays the read-out icons in succession.

10. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the icons or the input control portions are moving images.