Radiotelephones having contact-sensitive user interfaces and methods of operating same
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A radiotelephone, comprising:
- a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm;
a radiotelephone communications transceiver, supported by the housing;
a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at the front surface of the housing;
a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing and having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces said front surface, which produces an output signal that characterizes in response to moving contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and
a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver, which controls at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver according to and which scrolls displayed rows along an axis of the display based upon the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer, the controller having a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to an input from a user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A radiotelephone includes a housing, and a radiotelephone communications transceiver and display are attached to the housing. A contact-sensitive transducer such as a resistive transducer, a capacitive transducer or a semiconductive transducer, is attached to the housing and produces an output signal that characterizes contact with a contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer. A controller is responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver, and controls at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver according to the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer. The controller, responsive to the contact-sensitive transducer, may determine a position of contact along an axis of the contact-sensitive transducer. A graphical object is selectively displayed based on the determined position of contact to thereby identify the graphical object, e.g., by highlighting one of a plurality of displayed graphical objects or by displaying a cursor that indicates one of a plurality of displayed graphical objects. In yet another embodiment, the controller is configured to cause the display or the radio-telephone communications transceiver to perform a plurality of actions. An action of the plurality of actions may be associated with an identified graphical object, and the controller may initiate the action associated with the identified graphical object in response to, for example, detection of a momentary contact of an object with the contact-sensitive transducer.
63 Citations
69 Claims
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1. A radiotelephone, comprising:
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a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm; a radiotelephone communications transceiver, supported by the housing; a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at the front surface of the housing; a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing and having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces said front surface, which produces an output signal that characterizes in response to moving contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver, which controls at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver according to and which scrolls displayed rows along an axis of the display based upon the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer, the controller having a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to an input from a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus, comprising:
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a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm; a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at the front surface of the housing; a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing and having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces on said front surface, which produces an output signal that characterizes moving contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and a controller, selectively responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display, which is configured to control scroll displayed rows along an axis of the display according to based on the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer, the controller having a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to an input from a user. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An apparatus, comprising:
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a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite sides of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite sides of the front surface to respective opposite sides of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm; a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at a front surface of the housing; a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing, which produces an output signal that characterizes in response to moving contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display, which scrolls displayed rows along an axis of the display based on the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer, the controller having a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to an input from a user. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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33. In an apparatus including a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, a display that displays an image at the front surface, and a controller that controls the display, a method of providing user input comprising the steps of:
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holding the housing in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm and the display projects away from the user'"'"'s palm;
andproviding user input to the controller using a contact-sensitive transducer having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces said front surface of the housing, the transducer being operable to produce an output signal that characterizes contact with the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and providing user input to the controller to select a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to a user input. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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58. An apparatus for providing user input to a hand-held electronic device, comprising:
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a housing for containing the electronics for performing the intended user functions of the device, said housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite sides of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite sides of the front surface to respective opposite sides of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm; a display located on the front surface of the housing for displaying user-interface information for the electronic device, said information including an image of rows of menu selectable items; a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the front surface of the housing, which produces an output signal that characterizes moving contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display, which scrolls displayed rows of said menu selectable items along an axis of the display based upon the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer to enable selection of a particular item by the user to provide input to the electronic device, the controller having a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to an input from a user. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. An apparatus, comprising:
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a housing having a front surface and a rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm; a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at a front surface of the housing; a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by a front surface of the housing, which produces an output signal that characterizes moving contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display which scrolls displayed rows along an axis of the display based on the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer, the controller having a first mode wherein the controller is responsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer and a second mode wherein the controller is unresponsive to contact with the contact-sensitive transducer, the second mode being entered in response to user input. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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Specification