JP2012242851A - Portable electronic device having touch screen and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch screen type electronic device having excellent operability.SOLUTION: A smartphone has a front-face touch panel 119 disposed on the front face of a housing and a back-face touch panel 133 disposed on the back face thereof. An operation area setting unit 207 sets a both-face operation mode to enable in accordance with output from an acceleration sensor 135, and sets for an input control unit 205 an operation area that is for the back-face touch panel and is configured with an operation permission area where touch operation is permitted and an operation restriction area where touch operation is restricted. The input control unit enables touch operation on the front-face touch panel and touch operation in the operation permission area of the back-face touch panel, and disables touch operation in the operation restriction area of the back-face touch panel.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for improving the operability of a portable electronic device having a touch screen, and more particularly, facilitates a touch operation on a touch screen by a finger of a hand holding the portable electronic device while holding the portable electronic device with one hand. Related to technology.

  In recent years, various portable electronic devices such as a tablet computer (also referred to as a slate computer), a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a high-performance mobile phone (smart phone) have been developed. A PDA can be said to be an electronic device from which a telephone function is removed from a smartphone. In addition, the tablet computer can be said to be an electronic device in which input is performed exclusively on a touch screen even when a keyboard as hardware is removed from a notebook personal computer.

  Some of such portable electronic devices include a display such as an organic EL or a liquid crystal and a touch panel for inputting with a finger or a stylus pen. In the touch panel, a panel formed of transparent electrodes is placed on the display so as to be overlapped, or is incorporated into a liquid crystal panel as an in-cell touch panel. Hereinafter, a complex in which a display and a touch panel are combined is referred to as a touch screen.

  In smartphones with touch screens, characters are generally entered from the software keyboard displayed on the display, application startup and operation, display screen changes such as scrolling and scaling, and operation of devices such as cameras and microphones Is performed by touching an object on the display. Here, the objects displayed on the display include icons, character strings, graphics, software keyboard keys or windows. When a touch operation is performed on an object with a finger or a dedicated pen, the coordinates of the position touched by the touch panel driver are calculated, and input information is input to an application program (application), firmware, or operating system (OS). Notify as.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses an invention in which a cursor movement and a click operation are easily performed without changing the information processing apparatus when operated with one hand. In this invention, a liquid crystal display is provided on the surface of the housing, a selection switch is provided on the side surface, and a tablet is provided on the back surface. The information processing apparatus is held with one hand, the cursor is moved by operating the tablet with a finger (for example, the index finger) of the held hand, and the selection switch is pushed with another finger (for example, the thumb). The cursor position can be selected.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a PDA that can be operated with a touch sensor provided on the back side so that a finger does not touch the display panel on the front side. In this document, when the PDA is operated with one hand, the touch position is displayed at a position on the display panel corresponding to the operation position of the touch sensor so that the button display displayed on the display panel can be operated from the back side. It is described.

JP 11-39093 A Japanese Patent No. 3852368

  Because smartphones are convenient to carry, you often want to use them in places and situations where only one hand can be used, such as in the train or when you have luggage. Hereinafter, a touch operation on the touch screen with a hand that holds the portable electronic device including the touch screen with one hand is referred to as a one-hand holding operation. Smartphones are the size that fits in the palm of your hand or slightly larger than that, and touch screens are provided over almost the entire case according to the size of the case.

  FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 are diagrams illustrating a state in which a one-hand holding operation is performed on an icon displayed on the touch screen. When holding with one hand, it is common to hold the smartphone with the bulging part of the base of the thumb (the thumb ball: Thenar eminence) and a finger other than the thumb, and touch with the free thumb. is there. For example, when held as shown in FIG. 13A, it is easy to touch an icon displayed near the center of the touch screen in the vertical direction, and touch as shown in FIG. 13B.・ There is no difficulty in touching the icon displayed at the bottom of the screen.

  However, in order to perform a touch operation on the icon displayed on the upper side of the touch screen as shown in FIG. 14A, it is necessary to extend the palm so that the fingertip of the thumb reaches the icon and then bend the thumb unnaturally. It becomes difficult. Further, as shown in FIG. 14B, the touch operation may be performed with a finger other than the thumb, but the touch operation is more difficult with the middle finger or the ring finger than with the thumb, and the holding of the smartphone becomes unstable. Therefore, it can be said that it is most suitable to operate the touch screen with the thumb to stabilize the holding of the smartphone and facilitate the operation by the one-hand holding operation.

  However, as described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, even if an attempt is made to perform a touch operation with the thumb while maintaining a predetermined position of the smartphone without changing the holding state, the fingertip of the thumb remains on the touch screen. Since it does not reach the entire area, there is a limit to the area that can be touch-operated. Therefore, in order to operate the icon displayed on the upper side, it is necessary to change the position so as to hold the top of the casing, and in order to operate the icon displayed on the lower side, it is necessary to change the position so as to hold the bottom of the casing. . However, if you change your smartphone with only one hand depending on the position of the target object, it will drop or you will spend time on the operation. Further, when a touch operation is performed by unnaturally bending and extending a finger, the touch operation may be performed on an object other than the target object. Such a problem becomes more prominent as the touch screen becomes larger.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a touch screen type electronic device that can easily perform a one-hand holding operation. It is another object of the present invention to provide a touch screen type electronic device that can perform a pinch-in operation and a pinch-out operation by a one-hand holding operation. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an input control method and a computer program that can be applied to such a touch screen electronic device.

  In the portable electronic device according to the present invention, a touch screen is disposed on the surface of the housing, and a touch panel is disposed on the back surface. The principle of the present invention is to solve the problem of operability degradation in the one-hand holding operation, which has existed in conventional portable electronic devices, by the mutual complementary operation of the touch screen and the touch panel. Specifically, the operability is improved by supplementing a region where a touch operation on the touch screen is difficult with a touch operation from the touch panel. The portable electronic device can operate in a single-sided operation mode that allows a touch operation only on the touch screen and a double-sided operation mode that allows a touch operation from both the touch screen and the touch panel.

  When the double-sided operation mode is set to enable, the portable electronic device sets an operation area composed of an operation permission area for allowing touch operation and an operation restriction area for restricting touch operation to the touch panel. . The operation permission area corresponds to a touch panel area in which a touch operation can be easily performed by a one-hand holding operation. The operation restriction area corresponds to an area where the palm or the base of the finger contacts the touch panel regardless of the touch operation during the one-hand holding operation.

  When the operation area is set for the touch panel as described above, the portable electronic device enables the touch operation on the touch screen and the input by the touch operation on the operation permission area of the touch panel, and restricts the operation of the touch panel. Operates to invalidate input by hand touching the area. Disabling the input means that the coordinates of the touch operation are not provided to the application. The generation of the input coordinates may be restricted on the touch panel, or the coordinates once generated by the touch panel may be limited. It may be restricted at various layers until it reaches the application.

  According to such a configuration, the touch screen or the touch screen can be used depending on the holding state specified by the vertical and horizontal directions of the case and / or the handle when used, and the position on the touch panel where the touch operation is performed. Touch operation can be performed from one or both of the panels. In addition, operations that cannot be performed on a touch screen such as pinch-in and pinch-out by one-hand holding operations can be performed from the touch panel.

  The touch screen is not likely to come into contact with any part of the hand that is unrelated to the touch operation during one-hand holding operation, so it may not be necessary to set an operation restriction area. When touching the panel, a finger may accidentally touch the touch screen. In order to avoid this, it is desirable to provide an operation permission area and an operation restriction area on the touch screen.

  The touch panel is an auxiliary input means that enables input from the back when the case needs to be moved or the finger bends and stretches unnaturally for holding the hand on the touch screen. It has significance as. Therefore, since the area of the touch screen corresponding to the projection of the operation permitted area of the touch panel corresponds to the area where the touch operation is difficult, such an area is set as the operation restricted area of the touch screen, The area of the touch screen corresponding to the projection of the operation restriction area on the touch panel can be set as the operation permission area.

  There may be an overlapping area in the vicinity of the boundary between the area where the touch operation on the touch screen is easy and the area where the touch operation on the touch panel is easy. In this case, a part of the projection of the operation permitted area of the touch panel overlaps with a part of the operation permitted area of the touch screen so that the touch operation can be performed from any surface in the overlapping area. It is desirable to make it.

  The holding state of portable electronic devices changes frequently. The region where the operation on each of the touch screen and the touch panel is easy to operate varies depending on the holding state at that time. Therefore, it is desirable to set the operation area for the double-sided operation mode every time the double-sided operation mode is enabled and whenever the holding state changes. The portable electronic device can enable manual setting each time the duplex operation mode is enabled or the holding state is changed.

  In this case, the portable electronic device receives the input coordinates for the touch screen and recognizes the operation permission area for the touch screen in the holding state of the case at that time. At this time, it is possible to display a prompt screen requesting the user to perform a touch operation on the limit area where the touch operation can be performed with the thumb on the touch screen. Then, a touch panel area corresponding to the recognized projection of the operation permission area can be set as an operation restriction area of the touch panel.

  The operation area can be set automatically by recognizing the touch state of the hand on the touch panel every time the duplex operation mode is enabled and the holding state of the housing changes. . In this case, the portable electronic device can set the operation limit area of the touch panel based on the coordinates received from the area where the hand holding the housing contacts the touch panel. At this time, it is possible to display a prompt screen requesting the user to touch the touch screen with a palm or a base of a finger that cannot perform a touch operation on the touch panel.

  The operation area can be set automatically by recognizing the holding state of the touch panel every time the duplex operation mode is enabled and whenever the holding state of the housing is changed. In this case, the portable electronic device stores a plurality of operation region patterns created in advance according to the holding state, and selects and sets the operation region pattern corresponding to the recognized holding state from the plurality of operation region patterns. can do. Each operation area pattern includes information regarding an operation permission area and an operation restriction area.

  If a holding state that is convenient for the user when performing a one-hand holding operation has been determined, an operation area is set based on a default operation area pattern registered in advance in response to the duplex operation mode being enabled. Can be set. In one-hand holding operation, the keys on the software keyboard can be easily operated with the thumb while looking at the touch screen. When a portable electronic device receives an event in which the software keyboard is displayed on a part of the touch screen from an application, an area other than the area where the software keyboard is displayed is set as an operation permission area of the touch panel. can do.

  By doing so, the housing can be held so that the software keyboard can be easily operated with the thumb, and the touch operation for the range in which the thumb cannot be operated can be performed from the touch panel. It is desirable that the user can recognize the operation permission area and the operation restriction area set on the touch panel from the touch screen. In this case, an image created by the application in the touch screen area corresponding to the touch panel operation permission area or operation restriction area in order to distinguish the touch panel operation permission area or operation restriction area from the touch screen display. The display can be displayed so that the light colors overlap while preventing the display of the display from being damaged.

  Even if the operation area pattern registered in advance corresponds to the holding state, there is a case where it is desired to change the operation area when there is a slight shift in the position of the holding case when the case is held. In this case, a line indicating the boundary between the operation-permitted area and the operation-restricted area on the touch panel can be displayed on the touch screen, and the boundary can be changed by drag and paste operation on the line.

  The touch operation on the touch panel places a greater burden on the user than the touch operation on the touch screen. While the touch operation is being performed on the touch panel, the finger may accidentally touch the touch screen. In this case, the input by the touch operation on the touch screen can be invalidated while the touch panel is operated by the operation of the switch or the operation of a predetermined icon.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a touch screen type electronic device that can easily perform a one-hand holding operation. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a touch screen type electronic device capable of performing a pinch-in operation and a pinch-out operation by a one-hand holding operation. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an input control method and a computer program that can be applied to such a touch screen electronic device.

1 is a plan view showing an outer shape of a smartphone 100. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a smartphone 100. FIG. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating software and hardware configurations that implement a double-sided operation mode in the smartphone 100. It is a figure which shows the initial setting screen of the double-sided operation control program. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which produces and registers an operation area pattern. It is a figure which shows the example of the registered operation area pattern. It is a figure which shows a mode that the application for mail displays the software keyboard on a screen. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for basic operations of the smartphone 100. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which implement | achieves manual duplex operation mode. It is a figure which shows the prompt screen displayed at the time of manual duplex operation mode. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which implement | achieves automatic duplex operation mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the pattern of the input coordinate by the hand which contacted the back touch panel 133 in each holding state. It is a figure which shows a mode that one hand holding | maintenance operation is performed to a touch screen. It is a figure which shows a mode that one hand holding | maintenance operation is performed to a touch screen. It is a figure which shows a mode that one hand holding | maintenance operation is performed to a touch screen. It is a figure which shows a mode that one hand holding | maintenance operation is performed to a touch screen. It is a figure which shows a mode that one-hand holding | maintenance operation is performed to a touch panel. It is a figure which shows a mode that one-hand holding | maintenance operation is performed to a touch panel.

[Configuration of touch screen electronic devices]
The present invention can be applied to a portable electronic device having a touch screen such as a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable game device, or a smartphone. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a smartphone as an example of such a portable electronic device. The smartphone 100 includes a touch screen 121 and a control switch 143 at a position accessible from the outside of the housing. Further, the side includes a USB port, a headphone jack, a power switch, a volume switch, and the like (not shown).

  FIG. 1A shows the surface of the smartphone 100, and FIG. 1B shows the back surface. On the front surface, a plurality of icons 105 are displayed on the desktop screen of the touch screen 121. A touch panel 133 is provided on the back surface. The touch panel 133 is arranged at a position that matches the size of the touch screen 121 and matches the projection of the outer shape of the touch screen 121. However, the present invention can be realized even when the size and projection of both do not exactly match. Since the casing and the touch screen 121 are rectangular, there are a vertical direction and a horizontal direction in the vertical direction of the casing or the touch screen 121 corresponding to the vertical direction of the screen determined by the user's viewing direction. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the vertical direction of the screen is the vertical direction of the touch screen 121. Hereinafter, the vertical direction of the casing corresponding to the vertical direction of the screen is simply referred to as the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the smartphone 100. The block diagram shown in FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the smartphone 100, and actually includes more functions such as a camera and a removable media. Some of these functions can be integrated into one semiconductor chip or divided into individual semiconductor chips. A CPU 111, a display 115, and a main memory 117 are connected to the I / O interface 113. The I / O interface 113 controls data transfer between the peripheral device including the display 115, the CPU 111, and the main memory 117.

  The display 115 employs a liquid crystal display (LCD), but other types of displays can also be employed. In the display 115, an in-cell touch panel formed of a transparent conductive film is provided as a front surface touch panel 119 inside the display 115. As another example, the front surface touch panel 119 may be formed as a separate member with a transparent electrode and placed on the display 115.

  The surface touch panel 119 includes a projection type or surface type capacitance type that outputs coordinates of a position where a finger contacts or approaches the surface, a resistive film type that outputs coordinates of a pressed position, or the like. This method can be adopted. In the present embodiment, a projection type capacitance type is adopted. A complex in which the front touch panel 119 and the display 115 are combined constitutes a touch screen 121. The front touch panel 119 is connected to the touch panel controller 131.

  The main memory 117 is a volatile memory that stores a program executed by the CPU 111. The wireless circuit 123 provides an interface that converts an internal electrical signal and an external radio signal for telephone communication, data communication, and reception of a GPS signal. The audio circuit 125 provides an interface to the microphone / speaker 127. The flash memory 129 is a nonvolatile memory that stores programs such as an OS and applications executed by the CPU 111 and data.

  A double-sided operation control program 200 (FIG. 3) for realizing the double-sided operation mode according to the present embodiment is stored in the flash memory 129. The rear touch panel 133 may be the same projected capacitive touch panel as the front touch panel 119. However, since the rear touch panel 133 is used for the purpose of complementing the touch operation on the front touch panel 119 during the one-hand holding operation, it is not always necessary to have the same function as the front touch panel 119. It may have a low function.

  Therefore, as the rear touch panel 119, a surface elastic method or an ultrasonic method for detecting the coordinates of the contact location from the reflection time when the vibration wave generated by the piezoelectric element on the substrate is reflected by the location touched by the user's finger. Can be adopted. Further, an infrared system that detects the coordinates of the finger touched by the infrared rays emitted from the LEDs arranged around the touch surface can also be employed.

  The touch panel controller 131 provides an interface for converting the coordinates received from the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133 into a predetermined protocol and sending it to the application and the OS. When the touch operation is performed on the front touch panel 119, the touch panel controller 131 outputs coordinates corresponding to the coordinates on the display 115 of the touched fingertip. Similarly, when the touch operation is performed on the rear touch panel 133, the touch panel controller 131 outputs coordinates corresponding to the coordinates on the display 115 of the projection of the touched fingertip. Accordingly, the object displayed on the display 115 can be touched from either directly above or directly below the object from either the front touch panel 119 or the rear touch panel 133.

  In another example, the touch panel controller 131 applies a certain bias to the coordinates of the rear touch panel 133, and coordinates corresponding to the coordinates on the display 115 of the projection of the fingertip that touched the rear touch panel 133. May output different coordinates. By doing so, it becomes possible to perform touch operations on the object displayed within the reach of the finger on the rear touch panel 133 from the rear touch panel 133, so that it supports a one-hand holding operation of a larger touch screen. be able to.

  The acceleration sensor 137 detects the acceleration of gravity generated in the housing of the smartphone 100 and the acceleration due to vibration, and outputs analog acceleration data to the acceleration controller 135. The acceleration sensor 137 includes three orthogonal detection axes (X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis), and each detection axis represents a component of gravitational acceleration and acceleration due to an impact applied to the housing of the smartphone 100. Detect and output.

  The acceleration controller 135 samples the analog acceleration data received from the acceleration sensor 137 at a predetermined cycle, converts it into digital data, and sends it to the application and the OS. The OS calculates the inclination angle of each detection axis with respect to the gravitational direction from the component component of gravitational acceleration received from the acceleration controller 135 to determine the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing, and the display direction of the screen displayed on the display 115 is determined by the user. Change to match the viewing direction.

  A control switch 143, a USB port 141, and a rechargeable battery 145 are connected to the power management unit (PMU) 139. The PMU 139 includes a charger that charges the battery 145, a power control circuit that controls power supply to a predetermined functional block of each device or semiconductor chip according to a power state, a USB interface circuit, and the like. The USB port 141 is used to connect to a host computer or an external charging adapter.

  The control switch 143 can be configured by a switch that can be operated by a user, such as a mechanical type or a capacitance type. When the double-sided operation mode according to the present invention is enabled or a touch operation is performed from the rear touch panel 133, This is used when invalidating the input from the front touch panel 119. Here, the double-sided operation mode refers to an operation state of the smartphone 100 that can be input from both the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133. In contrast, a conventional operation state that can be input only from the front touch panel 119 is referred to as a single-side operation mode.

[Software and hardware configuration for realizing the double-sided operation mode]
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of software and hardware that realizes the double-sided operation mode in the smartphone 100. The touch panel firmware 201 controls the operation of the touch panel controller 131 and transfers the input coordinates of the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133 to the input control unit 205. The touch panel firmware 201 inputs the coordinates together with information for identifying whether the coordinates received from the touch panel controller 131 are generated by a touch operation on the front touch panel 119 or the rear touch panel 113 together with the coordinates. 205 or the operation area setting unit 207. The acceleration firmware 203 controls the operation of the acceleration controller 203 and transfers acceleration data to the operation area setting unit 207.

  The double-sided operation control program 200 includes an input control unit 205, an operation region setting unit 207, a user interface unit 209, an operation region image creation unit 211, and an operation region pattern storage unit 215. These functional blocks are realized by the cooperation of the double-sided operation control program 200, well-known software such as OS and firmware, and hardware such as the CPU 111, the main memory 117, and the flash memory 129.

  The user interface unit 209 provides a user interface for displaying the initial setting screen 300 (FIG. 4) of the double-sided operation control program 200 on the display 115 and performing initial setting. The user performs setting of enabling / disabling of the double-sided operation mode, setting of an operation area, creation of an operation area pattern, and the like through an initial setting screen 300 provided by the user interface unit 209. The operation area pattern storage unit 215 stores a plurality of operation area patterns created for each holding state of the housing through the user interface unit 209 and operation area patterns created in advance by the system.

  Here, the holding state of the casing refers to a state specified in either the vertical or horizontal direction of the casing and / or the handle when the smartphone 100 is held with one hand. The holding state of the housing is related to the operation area in each of the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133, but will be described in detail later. The operation area pattern is used when the smartphone 100 determines the holding state of the housing and automatically sets the operation area. The configuration of the operation area pattern storage unit 215 includes a flash memory 129.

  The operation area setting unit 207 plays a central role in realizing the double-sided operation mode as will be described below. The operation area setting unit 207 sets enable / disable of the duplex operation mode. The operation area setting unit 207 determines that the double-sided operation mode is enabled based on acceleration data indicating a specific pattern received from the acceleration firmware 203 in the single-sided operation mode or the depression of the control switch 143. The unique pattern of the acceleration data can be a pattern of vibration generated in the housing by a tap operation of tapping the housing of the smartphone 100 with a finger. The operation area setting unit 207 can recognize a specific pattern that is enabled by calculating the number of tap operations by binarizing the vibration amplitude received from the acceleration controller 135 with a predetermined threshold.

  Furthermore, the operation area setting unit 207 can recognize a unique pattern from acceleration data when the smartphone 100 is rotated about the longitudinal axis or the short axis. At this time, the operation area setting unit 207 can recognize the number of reciprocations of rotation as a unique pattern of acceleration data. When the operation area setting unit 207 determines that the double-sided operation mode is enabled, the operation area setting unit 207 sets an operation area in the input control unit 205 for each of the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133.

  The operation area refers to an area in which touch operations set on the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133 are effectively handled in the double-side operation mode. An area where the touch operation on the OS or application is valid is called an operation permission area, and an area where the operation is invalid is called an operation restriction area. Hereinafter, the operation permission area and the operation restriction area of the front touch panel 119 are referred to as a surface operation permission area and a surface operation restriction area, respectively, and the operation permission area and the operation restriction area of the rear touch panel 133 are referred to as a rear operation permission area and a rear operation. This is a restricted area. In this embodiment, in the single-sided operation mode, it is necessary to always set an operation restriction area on the rear touch panel 133, but the front touch panel 119 is not provided with an operation restriction area, and the entire operation permission area. Can also be set.

  As shown in the initial setting screen 300 of FIG. 4, the setting of the operation area for executing the double-sided operation mode includes manual setting and three automatic settings. The three automatic settings include automatic recognition setting, automatic pattern setting, and automatic default setting. The operation area pattern used for automatic setting is stored in the operation area pattern storage unit 215. The operation area setting unit 207 performs a process for personalizing the automatically set operation area pattern so that the user can easily use it according to the holding state of the housing at that time. The operation area setting unit 207 can set the input control unit 205 so that all inputs from the front touch panel 119 are invalidated when the control switch 143 is pressed while the double-sided operation mode is enabled. .

  The operation region image creation unit 211 creates image data indicating the front surface operation permission region and / or the back surface operation permission region set by the operation region setting unit 207 and sends the image data to the image data generation unit 217. The image data indicating the operation-permitted area can be, for example, data for displaying a predetermined color such as yellow or green on the pixels selected at an equal arrangement ratio from all the pixels constituting the rear operation-permitted area. The image indicating the operation permission area is displayed on the display 115 so as to be overlaid on the image generated by the application 213. The image data may be created so as to indicate the front surface operation restricted area and / or the back surface operation restricted area.

  The application execution unit 213 includes a known application, operates in response to the coordinate data received from the input control unit 205, and sends image data corresponding to the operation state to the image data generation unit 217. The image data generation unit 217 generates image data in bit map format from the image data received from the application execution unit 213 and the operation area image generation unit 211 and sends the image data to the display 115. When the image data generation unit 217 receives image data from both the application execution unit 213 and the operation area image generation unit 211, the image data generation unit 217 displays the image generated by the application execution unit 213 on the display 115 so that the image can be seen. A predetermined light color image showing the operation area is displayed.

〔Initial setting〕
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an initial setting screen of the double-sided operation control program 200. The initial setting screen 300 is displayed by the user interface unit 209 when a touch operation is performed on the icon of the double-sided operation control program 200 displayed on the display 115. The initial setting screen 300 includes an enable method setting item 301, a disable method setting item 321, a double-sided operation mode setting item 341, and an operation region pattern creation item 351.

  The enable method setting item 301 is a setting item for selecting a method for enabling the duplex operation mode, and can be selected by the user checking one of the three check boxes. Since the operation of the icon displayed on the display 115 may be difficult in the one-hand holding operation, it is desirable that the enable method setting item 301 adopts a method other than the touch operation on the icon. “Tapping 303” is selected when the setting is enabled according to the number of tap operations for applying vibration to the housing of the smartphone 100. When “tapping 303” is selected, the minimum number of tap operations for enabling can be selected.

  “Rotation 305” is selected when the setting is enabled according to the number of rotations when the smartphone 100 is rotated about any axis of the smartphone 100. When “Rotation 305” is selected, the minimum number of rotations for enabling can be selected. “Switch 307” is selected when the control switch 143 is operated and enabled when the duplex operation mode is disabled.

  The disable method setting item 321 is a setting item for selecting a method for setting the duplex operation mode to disabled, and can be selected by the user by checking any of the three check boxes. “Continuous operation 323” is a case where the time from when the finger once leaves the front touch panel 119 or the rear touch panel 133 until the next touch is less than a predetermined time in the touch operation after being enabled. Is selected when setting is made to continue the enable and return to the disable state after a predetermined time.

  “Elapsed time 325” is selected when setting to be disabled when a predetermined time elapses after being set to enable. The “operation 327” can be the same operation as the enable setting item 301. When the duplex operation mode is disabled, it may be difficult to perform a touch operation on the front touch panel 119 with a one-hand holding operation. However, when enabled, the touch operation can be easily performed according to the present invention as described later. become able to. Therefore, the “operation 327” may include a touch operation on the icon displayed on the display 115.

  The double-sided operation mode setting item 341 selects a method for setting the operation area when the setting condition changes such as when the double-sided operation mode is enabled or when the holding state of the housing changes during the enablement. In the setting item, the user can check and select one of the four check boxes. “Manual 343” is selected when the user sets the operation area each time. The automatic setting has the following three setting items.

  “Automatic (recognition) 345” is selected when an operation area is set from a palm or finger contact area on the rear touch panel 133 when a setting condition is changed. “Automatic (pattern) 347” indicates that when the setting condition changes, the operation area setting unit 207 determines the holding state of the casing at that time, and the holding state stored in the operation area pattern storage unit 215 Select to set the corresponding operation area pattern.

  “Default 349” is selected when an operation area pattern registered in the operation area pattern storage unit 215 in advance when the setting condition changes is set regardless of the holding state of the housing. . The operation area creation pattern creation item 351 is a process for creating and registering in advance an operation area pattern to be used when “automatic (pattern) 347” or “automatic (default) 349” is set in the double-sided operation mode item 341. The object to start with.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating and registering an operation area pattern. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating registered operation area patterns. In block 361, the user performs a touch operation on the operation area creation pattern creation item 351 to start the program and start processing. In block 363, the user interface unit 209 displays on the touch screen 121 whether or not the user creates an operation area pattern or uses an operation area pattern prepared by the system.

  If it is selected to use the operation area pattern prepared by the system, the process proceeds to block 365, and the user interface unit 209 activates the operation area pattern registered in advance in the operation area pattern storage unit 215. When the user selects to create the operation area pattern, the user interface unit 209 holds the right hand so that the longitudinal direction of the housing is the vertical direction in block 367 (this is referred to as right-hand vertical holding). To the user. At this time, the user interface unit 209 may display an image indicating the holding method on the display 115.

  The user interface unit 209 requests the user to perform the touch operation with the thumb at a position that defines a range in which the touch operation can be performed without being forced. At this time, the user holds the housing so that the user can perform a touch operation with the thumb without overdoing the vicinity of the lower end portion of the front touch panel 119. The user interface unit 209 may display a prompt screen requesting such a one-hand holding operation on the display 115.

  When the touch operation is not performed near the lower end of the front touch panel 119, the user interface unit 209 requests to hold the lower side of the housing, and lowers the front touch panel 119. The end of the touch panel can be easily touched with the thumb. As a result, an area in which the touch operation cannot be performed with the thumb occurs on the upper side of the front touch panel 119, but the area can be touch-operated from the rear touch panel 133, so there is no problem. When it is determined that a valid touch operation has been performed, the user interface unit 209 generates an operation region pattern corresponding to the right-hand vertical holding in block 369 and stores it in the operation region pattern storage unit 215.

  The operation area pattern A in FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the pattern registered at this time. The operation area pattern A is created by holding the housing so that the user can operate the area 407 near the lower end of the front touch panel 119 with the thumb of the right hand. At that time, an area that cannot be operated with the thumb unless the housing is changed or a surface operation restricted area 403 that cannot be operated unless the thumb is unnaturally generated is generated above the front touch panel 119.

  Further, the front surface touch panel 119 and the rear surface touch panel 133 are provided with a front surface operation permission area 401 and a rear surface operation permission area where a touch operation can be easily performed in the case of holding the right hand vertically. A touch operation can be performed on the surface operation restriction area 403 with a finger other than the thumb from the rear touch panel 133. The front surface operation permission area 401 corresponds to the back surface operation restriction area, and the front surface operation restriction area 403 corresponds to the back surface operation permission area. The user interface unit 209 creates an operation area pattern A indicating the surface operation permission area 401 on the lower side of the screen and the surface operation restriction area 403 on the upper side.

  The user interface unit 209 operates using coordinate data of a boundary 405 that divides two regions and data indicating which region is an operation permission region of the front touch panel 119 or the rear touch panel 133 as an operation region pattern. It is stored in the area pattern storage unit 215. Since the movable range and length of the thumb are different for each user, the easy-to-operate region is different for each user even if it is common for right-hand vertical holding. However, the operation area pattern A created by the actual touch operation by the user using the smartphone 100 can define an operation area that matches the user's characteristics.

  Next, in block 371, the user interface unit 209 requests the user to hold the touch screen 121 with the right hand so that the short direction of the touch screen 121 is the vertical direction (this is called right-hand side holding). FIG. 15 shows a state where the right hand is held sideways. The user interface unit 209 requests the user to perform a touch operation as in the case of holding the right hand vertically, creates an operation area pattern B, and stores it in a block 373. Next, in block 375, the user interface unit 209 requests the touch screen 121 to hold the smartphone 100 vertically with the left hand.

  FIG. 13 shows a state in which the left hand is held vertically. The user interface unit 209 requests the user to perform a touch operation in the same manner as in the case of holding the right hand vertically and creates an operation area pattern C for holding the left hand vertically and stores it in block 377. In block 379, the user interface unit 209 requests the user to hold the smartphone 100 horizontally on the touch screen 121 with the left hand. The user interface unit 209 requests the user to perform a touch operation in the same manner as in the case of holding the right hand vertically, creates an operation area pattern D for holding the left hand horizontally, and stores it in block 381.

  Next, in block 383, the user interface unit 209 requests the touch screen 121 to hold the smartphone 100 horizontally with the right hand or the left hand. An example of how to hold the case with the left hand at this time is shown in FIG. The user interface unit 209 requests the user to perform a touch operation in the same manner as in the case of right-hand vertical holding, creates a horizontal holding pattern E, and stores it in block 385.

  In block 387, the user interface unit 209 requests the user to select an operation region pattern to be used as a default from patterns A to E. The default operation area pattern is an operation area pattern corresponding to a one-hand holding operation that is most easily operated by the user. For example, the operation area pattern C is selected when the user always holds the left hand vertically when holding the one hand.

  The operation area patterns G and H in FIG. 6 indicate patterns that are automatically applied when the software keyboard is displayed. The operation area pattern G indicates a pattern used when vertically held with the right hand or the left hand, and the operation area pattern H indicates a pattern used when horizontally held with the right hand or the left hand. When the application needs to accept character input, it displays a software keyboard in some area of the screen. The software keyboard is usually displayed in the lower half area of the screen so that entered characters are not hidden.

  In the case of one-hand holding operation, the lower side of the screen is easy to operate with the thumb, so QWERTY input and flick input are performed from the front touch panel 119, and other touch operations to the upper side of the screen are performed from the rear touch panel 133. Easy to do. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a mail application displays a software keyboard on the screen. In the upper half area 453 of the screen 451, an icon for selecting an operation menu and characters indicating an input position are displayed. A software keyboard is displayed in the lower half area 455.

  At this time, the rear operation permission area is set so that the upper half area 453 can be operated from the rear touch panel 133, and the lower half area 455 is operated from the front touch panel 119. A permission area 401 can be set. Since the patterns G and H are irrelevant to the characteristics of the user, they can be created in advance as standard and registered in the operation area pattern storage unit 215.

〔basic operation〕
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the basic operation procedure of the smartphone 100. In block 501, each menu item shown in the initial setting screen 300 of FIG. 4 is set in advance. In block 503, the smartphone 100 transitions from the standby state or the sleep state to the power-on state by a mechanical switch or other predetermined operation by the user. The double-sided operation control program 200, the touch panel firmware 201, and the acceleration firmware 203 start to operate when the power is turned on. The operation area setting unit 207 sets the input control unit 205 to always operate in the one-side operation mode when the power-on state is changed.

  Specifically, in the single-sided operation mode, the input control unit 205 in FIG. 3 sends an input from the front touch panel 119 to the OS or application, but invalidates the input from the rear touch panel 133. Alternatively, at this time, the OS may stop the operation of the rear touch panel 133 through the touch panel firmware 201 to reduce power.

  In block 507, the user attempts to perform a one-hand holding operation. The user enables the duplex operation mode by the enable method set on the initial setting screen 300 of FIG. If the operation area setting unit 207 determines that the duplex operation mode is enabled, the operation control unit 205 sets the input control unit 205 to operate in the duplex operation mode. In block 509, the user performs a touch operation from the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133 to execute the application.

  In block 511, the user disables the duplex operation mode using the disable method set on the initial setting screen 300. In block 513, when the operation area setting unit 207 determines that the double-side operation mode is set to disabled, the operation region setting unit 207 sets the input control unit 205 to operate in the single-side operation mode. When the smartphone 100 transitions to the standby state during the double-sided operation mode, the operation region setting unit 207 sets the input control unit 205 to operate in the single-sided operation mode when the smartphone 100 transitions to the power-on state next time. . The procedure of block 509 is described below.

[Manual duplex operation mode]
Next, a procedure for realizing the duplex operation mode when “manual 343” is set in the duplex operation mode item 341 on the initial setting screen 300 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9. In block 507, the user sets the double-sided operation mode to be enabled while holding the martphone 100 in the holding state of an arbitrary housing. The operation area setting unit 207 sets the input control unit 205 so that the coordinates of the rear touch panel 133 output from the touch panel firmware 201 are not sent to the application execution unit 213 and a program such as an OS during the single-sided operation mode. To do.

  The operation region setting unit 207 that has determined that the double-sided operation mode is enabled in block 531 displays a prompt image for displaying a prompt image for setting the operation region on the front touch panel 119 on the display 115 through the user interface unit 209. The user interface unit 209 holds in advance. A plurality of prompt images are prepared corresponding to the holding state of the housing. In block 531, the operation area setting unit 207 determines that the gravity direction is below the display direction of the screen from the acceleration data received from the acceleration firmware 203, and also displays information indicating the vertical and horizontal directions of the housing in the user interface unit 209. send.

  Further, the operation area setting unit 207 determines whether the user holds the smartphone 100 with the right hand or the left hand by the method described with reference to FIG. 12, and sends information indicating the holding hand to the user interface unit 209. The user interface unit 209 determines the holding state of the casing based on the information about the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing and the handle received from the operation area setting unit 207 and displays a corresponding prompt image.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a prompt image displayed on the display 115 by the user interface unit 209 when information held in the left-hand vertical direction is received from the operation area setting unit 207. The prompt image 551 includes a line 553 used for demarcating the boundary between the surface operation permission area and the surface operation restriction area, and a line 555 used for indicating the surface operation permission area among the two areas. Yes. Each line arrow indicates the dragging direction.

  The operation area setting unit 207 recognizes the first touch operation after the double-side operation mode is enabled in block 507 and the subsequent touch operation as inputs for setting the operation area, and operates the application. It can be distinguished from touch operation. The continuous touch operation refers to a series of operations in which the time from when the finger is released from the front touch panel 119 for a certain touch operation until the finger touches for the next touch operation is less than a predetermined value. . Specifically, when the time from when the line 553 is dragged until the line 555 is touched is less than a predetermined value, it is recognized that both the input of the line 553 and the input based on the line 555 are operations for setting the operation area. To do.

  At block 533, the user drags with the thumb according to the arrow indicated in the prompt image. Since dragging is performed in order to set the maximum range in which the user can operate with the thumb, it does not require tracing on the arrow. Since the operation area setting unit 207 can recognize that the area below the line 553 is the surface operation permission area 401 based on the vertical and horizontal directions of the housing, the display of the line 555 is omitted and the dragging according to the line 555 is not performed. It can also be done. Also, the display of the prompt image itself can be omitted.

  In block 535, the operation area setting unit 207 that has received the dragged coordinates from the touch panel firmware 201 sends the surface operation permission area 401 as shown in FIG. 6C to the input control unit 205 based on the received coordinates. And the front surface operation restriction area 403 are set on the front surface touch panel 119.

  The operation area setting unit 207 sets the area defined by the projection of the front surface operation permission area 401 as the back surface operation restriction area on the back touch panel 133 and the area defined by the projection of the front surface operation restriction area 403 by the back surface operation. Set as a permitted area. Regardless of the touch operation, the palm touches the rear touch panel 133 to give coordinate input. Therefore, although it is necessary to set a back operation restriction area for invalidating the input operation on the back touch panel 133, the front touch panel 119 erroneously performs a touch operation on an area other than the surface operation permission area 401. There is little to do.

  Therefore, in another example, the operation area setting unit 207 can set the operation restriction area only on the rear touch panel 133 without setting the front surface operation restriction area 403. In this case, the front touch panel 119 is all an operation permission area, and the rear touch panel 133 is composed of a rear operation permission area and a rear operation restriction area. The operation area setting unit 207 is a double-sided operation that can be operated from either the front touch panel 119 or the rear touch panel 133 along the boundary between the front surface operation permission area 401 and the front surface operation restriction area 403 as shown in Pattern I of FIG. A permission area 407 can be provided.

  The input control unit 205 transfers only the coordinates of the surface operation permission area 401 and the double-sided operation permission area 407 among the coordinates input from the surface touch panel 119 to the application execution unit 213 and the OS. The input control unit 205 transfers only the coordinates of the back surface operation permission area and the double-side operation permission area among the coordinates input from the back surface touch panel 133 to the application execution unit 213 and the OS. 14A and 14B, the touch operation of an icon at a position that is difficult to operate from the front touch panel 119 is performed by a rear touch / touch screen as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B. This can be done easily from the panel 133.

  The touch operation is not only an operation of tapping to indicate a predetermined coordinate, but also an operation called a pinch-in that closes two fingers that are touched at the same time without leaving the surface of the touch panel. There is an operation called opening pinch out. The pinch-in operation is an operation used when the image is reduced and the pinch-out is enlarged. However, in the one-hand holding operation, since the only finger that is free with respect to the front touch panel 119 is the thumb, the pinch-in operation and the pinch-out operation cannot be performed. However, with respect to the rear touch panel 133, as shown in FIG. 18 (A), a pinch-in operation and a pinch-out operation are performed with an index finger and a middle finger that are free by holding the housing with the thumb and ring finger. Can do.

  In block 537, the operation area setting unit 207 sends the coordinates of the set operation area to the operation area image creation unit 211 and requests to create an operation area image. The operation area image creation unit 211 sends data for displaying an operation area image for displaying one or both of the front surface operation permission area 401, the double-side operation permission area 407, and the back surface operation permission area to the image data generation section 217. Alternatively, the operation area image creation unit 211 may create data for displaying an operation restriction area image related to the operation restriction area and send the data to the image data generation part 217.

  The image data generation unit 217 displays an operation region image in a light color so that they can be seen on the desktop screen created by the OS or the application screen created by the application execution unit 213. In block 539, the user recognizes that the operation area has been set by displaying the operation area image on the display 115, and touches the operation permission areas set in the front touch panel 119 and the rear touch panel 133, respectively. Operate.

  When operating the rear touch panel 133, the user cannot know the position of the touch operation in association with the display on the display 115. In this case, when the operation area setting unit 207 receives the coordinates of the rear touch panel 133 from the touch panel firmware 201, the operation area setting unit 207 displays a symbol mark at a position on the display 115 corresponding to the projection of the position touched by the finger. The operation area image creation unit 211 can be instructed to do so.

  Then, the user performs input to the rear touch panel 133 with two actions. Specifically, when the position of the symbol mark is deviated from the target icon position, the user drags the finger to move the symbol mark to overlap the icon. Then, when the finger is released on the icon, the application execution unit 213 or the OS is notified that the coordinates are instructed. The operation area setting unit 207 causes the input control unit 205 to input the input from the rear touch panel 133, the coordinates of the first touched position and the coordinates of the drag are not transmitted to the application execution unit 213 or the OS, and the finger is released. Set to send position coordinates.

  Usually, the touch operation on the icon of the front surface touch panel 119 is performed in one action. That is, the application is executed simply by touching the icon. When scrolling the desktop screen or reception history list screen with a large number of icons using a drag operation, the drag operation becomes an unintended touch operation on the icon or reception history, and the application is executed or the phone is called. May be performed. When performing a one-hand holding operation using only the front touch panel 119, an unintended touch operation is often performed because it is difficult to perform the operation. However, as shown in FIG. Then, since it is easy to perform a drag operation, an erroneous operation can be prevented by performing a drag operation by accurately selecting a place where an object to be executed does not exist.

  The operation area setting unit 207 determines whether or not the double-sided operation mode is set to disabled and whether or not the holding state of the housing has changed while the double-sided operation mode is set to enable. When the operation area setting unit 207 determines in block 541 that the double-sided operation mode is not set to disabled, the process proceeds to block 543, and when determined to be disabled, the process proceeds to block 513 in FIG.

  In block 543, when the operation area setting unit 207 determines that the handle has been changed, the operation area setting unit 207 returns to block 531 and sets the operation area again. When the handle is not changed in block 543, the operation area setting unit 207 determines in block 545 whether the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing have been changed. Even when the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing are changed, the operation area setting unit 207 sets the operation area again by moving to block 531.

[Double-sided operation mode with automatic (recognition) setting]
Next, a procedure for realizing the duplex operation mode when “automatic (recognition) 345” is set in the duplex operation mode setting item 341 on the initial setting screen 300 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In block 507 in FIG. 8, the user performs a one-hand holding operation while holding an arbitrary housing to enable the double-sided operation mode. The operation area setting unit 207 sets the input control unit 205 so that the coordinates output by the touch panel firmware 201 are not sent to the application execution unit 213 and a program such as an OS until the operation area setting is completed. In block 601 of FIG. 11, the operation area setting unit 207 that has determined that the double-sided operation mode is enabled displays a prompt screen on the display 115 for the user to bring his / her palm into contact with the rear touch panel 133.

  The area of the rear touch panel 133 where the palm or the base of the finger is in contact is an area where a touch operation cannot be performed on the rear touch panel 133. In accordance with the prompt screen, the user inputs to the rear touch panel 133 by touching the palm or finger without largely changing the holding position of the housing. In block 603, the operation area setting unit 207 determines that the palm is in contact with the input coordinates for the rear touch panel 133 received from the touch panel firmware 201 and is not actually in contact but is in contact with one hand holding operation. Calculate the coordinates of the area that you expect to do. Then, the operation area setting unit 207 sets the area corrected from the area where the palm or the like is actually in contact as the rear operation restriction area.

  The operation area setting unit 207 calculates the coordinates of the back surface operation permission area, the front surface operation permission area, and the front surface operation restriction area based on the back surface operation restriction area. At this time, the operation area setting unit 207 obtains information on the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing from the acceleration firmware 203, and further holds the user in any state of FIG. 6 from the pattern of the contact area with respect to the rear touch panel 133. It is also possible to adjust the operation permission area so that the pattern is close to the operation area pattern of FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pattern of input coordinates by the hand touching the rear touch panel 133 in each holding state. A contact area 651 indicates an area where the hand is actually in contact with the rear touch panel 133. Pattern A corresponds to left-hand vertical holding, pattern B corresponds to right-hand vertical holding, pattern C corresponds to left-hand horizontal holding, pattern D corresponds to right-hand horizontal holding, and pattern E is held as shown in FIG. Corresponds to the case. The operation area setting unit 207 can determine whether the handle is the right hand or the left hand from the difference in the vertical length between the left end and the right end of the input coordinate patterns A to D in FIG. Further, the pattern E can be specified as a case that does not correspond to the patterns C and D in the case of horizontal holding.

  In block 605, the operation area setting unit 207 sets an area excluding the contact area 651 as a back operation permission area, and sets an area corresponding to the projection of the input coordinates 651 as a surface operation permission area. Alternatively, the operation area setting unit 207 sets the entire front touch panel 119 as an operation permission area. The procedure from block 607 to block 615 corresponds to block 537 to block 545 in FIG.

  In block 617, the application execution unit 213 executing a specific application displays a software keyboard for inputting characters as shown in FIG. The operation area setting unit 207 that has received the software keyboard display notification from the application execution unit 213 receives the operation area pattern G or H corresponding to the vertical and horizontal directions of the casing at that time from the operation area pattern storage unit 215 in block 619. Is selected, an operation region is set in the input control unit 205, and an operation region image corresponding to the operation region is displayed on the display 115.

  The operation area setting unit 207 may receive the coordinates of the area where the software keyboard is displayed from the application execution unit 213 and set the operation area in the input control unit 205. The setting of the operation area for the software keyboard can also be realized by the manual setting described with reference to FIG. When there is no display of the software keyboard, the process returns to the block 611 directly or when the display of the software keyboard once the operation area is set disappears.

[Double-sided operation mode with automatic (pattern) setting]
Next, a procedure for realizing the duplex operation mode when “automatic (pattern) 347” is set in the duplex operation mode setting item 341 on the initial setting screen 300 in FIG. 4 will be described. The procedure in this case is similar to the procedure of “automatic (recognition) setting 345” and will be described with reference to the procedure of FIG. In the case of automatic (pattern) setting, in block 603, the operation area setting unit 207 determines the vertical and horizontal directions of the housing from the acceleration data, and determines the handle from the pattern of FIG.

  The operation area setting unit 207 determines the holding state of the housing, extracts one of the operation area patterns shown in FIG. 6 from the operation area pattern storage unit 215, and sets it in the input control unit 205. The operation area pattern registered in advance may change the operation area when there is a deviation in the position of the case that is held when the case is registered even when the case is held. . In this case, the boundary 405 (FIG. 6) between the surface operation permission area 401 and the surface operation restriction area 403 is displayed on the display 115 so that the coordinates of the boundary can be corrected by a drag and paste operation with two fingers on the boundary 405. Also good.

  At this time, the operation area setting unit 207 displays a boundary 405 when an operation area pattern is selected, and then performs a touch operation with two fingers performed on the boundary 405 from the front touch panel 119 first. It is recognized that this is an operation to correct. Then, the operation area setting unit 207 sets the corrected operation area pattern in the input control unit 205. At this time, the operation area setting unit 207 may have a band-like width at the boundary 405 so that a touch operation from both sides can be performed on the boundary 405. Other procedures are the same as those in FIG. In the automatic (pattern) setting, since the smartphone 100 performs all setting operations, the user does not need to perform any setting operation at the use stage, and the smartphone 100 follows even if the holding state of the housing is changed. To set the operation area.

[Double-sided operation mode by default setting]
Next, the execution procedure of the duplex operation mode when “automatic (default) 349” is set in the duplex operation mode setting item 341 on the initial setting screen 300 of FIG. 4 will be described. The procedure in this case is similar to the procedure of “manual setting 343” and will be described with reference to the procedure of FIG. When the user performs a one-hand holding operation, the user decides in advance a holding state of the casing that is easy to operate, and selects an operation area pattern in block 387 of FIG.

  When automatic (default) 349 is set, the operation area setting unit 207 extracts a previously selected operation area pattern from the operation area pattern storage unit 215 and sets it in the input control unit 205 in blocks 533 and 535. In this case, the operation area setting unit 207 does not determine the holding state of the casing, but is set to enable as long as the user holds the holding area of the casing when the operation area pattern selected by default is created. At the same time, it becomes possible to perform double-sided operation.

  Up to now, the embodiment of the present invention has been described by exemplifying a portable electronic device having a size that can be held so as to be wrapped with one hand like a smartphone, but the present invention further has a display size of about 10 inches. It can also be applied to so-called tablet computers. In this case, the user holds the back of the tablet computer on the entire palm for one-hand holding operation. At this time, since all fingers of the hand to be held do not reach the front touch panel, this cannot be used, but by applying the present invention, a touch operation can be performed from the rear touch panel.

  Although the present invention has been described with the specific embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and is known so far as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved. It goes without saying that any configuration can be adopted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Smartphone 121 ... Touch screen 200 ... Double-sided operation control program 300 ... Initial setting screen 401 ... Front surface operation permission area (back surface operation restriction area)
403 ... Surface operation restriction area (back surface operation permission area)
405 ... Boundary 407 ... Double-sided operation permission area 651 ... Contact area for the rear touch panel

Claims (20)

A method for controlling an input by a one-hand holding operation of a portable electronic device in which a touch screen is disposed on a surface of a housing and a touch panel is disposed on a back surface of the housing,
Enabling a double-sided operation mode that allows touch operations from both the touch screen and the touch panel;
In response to being set to enable, setting an operation area composed of an operation permission area for allowing a touch operation and an operation restriction area for restricting the touch operation to the touch panel;
A method comprising the steps of: enabling a touch operation on the touch screen; enabling an input by a touch operation on the operation permission area of the touch panel; and disabling an input on the operation restriction area of the touch panel. Setting an operation area composed of an operation permission area for permitting a touch operation on the touch screen in response to the enable setting and an operation restriction area for restricting the touch operation;
The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of invalidating a touch operation on the operation restricted area of the touch screen.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the operation on the touch panel includes a pinch-in operation and a pinch-out operation.   The method according to claim 3, wherein a part of the operation permission area of the touch panel and a part of the operation permission area of the touch screen overlap. The step of setting the operation area comprises:
Receiving input coordinates for the touch screen in the holding state of the housing when the double-sided operation mode is enabled, and recognizing an operation-permitted area for the touch screen;
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: setting an area of the touch panel corresponding to the projected operation-permitted area as the operation-restricted area. The step of setting the operation area comprises:
The step of receiving the coordinates of a region in which a hand holding the housing touches the touch panel when the double-sided operation mode is enabled is set to set the operation restriction region of the touch panel. The method according to claim 1. The step of setting the operation area comprises:
Storing a plurality of operation area patterns each including an operation permission area and an operation restriction area created according to the holding state of the housing;
Recognizing the holding state of the housing in response to being set to enable;
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: setting the operation area based on an operation area pattern corresponding to a holding state of the housing selected from the plurality of operation area patterns. .   The method according to claim 7, wherein the step of recognizing the holding state of the casing includes a step of determining a vertical and horizontal direction of the casing and a step of determining a handle of the casing. The step of setting the operation area comprises:
Storing a default operation area pattern including an operation permission area and an operation restriction area;
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: setting the operation area based on the default operation area pattern in response to the enable setting. The step of setting the operation area comprises:
Recognizing that a software keyboard is displayed on a portion of the touch screen;
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: setting an area other than the area where the software keyboard is displayed as the operation permission area of the touch panel.   11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of displaying a light color so that an image created by an application can be identified in order to identify an operation-permitted area of the touch panel on the touch screen. The method described. Displaying on the touch screen a line indicating a boundary between the operation-permitted area of the touch panel and the operation-restricted area;
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: changing a boundary between the operation permission area and the operation restriction area by a drag and paste operation on the line.   The method according to claim 1, further comprising disabling a touch operation on the touch screen while operating the touch panel. A portable electronic device having a touch screen on the surface of a housing,
A touch panel disposed on the back surface of the housing;
An input controller that allows or restricts input to the touch screen or the touch panel;
In response to enabling a double-sided operation mode that enables input from both the touch screen and the touch panel, input by a touch operation on a predetermined area of the touch panel is permitted. A portable electronic device having an operation area setting unit for setting the input control unit.   The portable electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the operation region setting unit sets the input control unit so as to restrict input to a predetermined region of the touch screen.   16. The operation region setting unit receives the input coordinates for the touch screen in the holding state of the housing when the double-side operation mode is enabled, and sets the input control unit. The portable electronic device described in 1.   15. The operation area setting unit receives the coordinates of an area where a hand holding the housing contacts the touch panel when the double-side operation mode is enabled, and sets the input control unit. Or the portable electronic device of Claim 15.   The operation area setting unit recognizes the holding state of the housing when the double-sided operation mode is set to enable, and selects the operation area pattern from a plurality of operation area patterns registered in advance so as to correspond to the holding state The portable electronic device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein an operation region pattern corresponding to a holding state is selected and set in the input control unit.   The portable electronic device according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the operation region setting unit sets a default operation region pattern in the input control unit in response to the double-side operation mode being enabled. In order to control a touch operation on the touch screen and the touch panel in a portable electronic device in which a touch screen is disposed on the surface of the housing and a touch panel is disposed on the back of the housing,
A function to enable a double-sided operation mode that enables input from both the touch screen and the touch panel;
A function to set an operation area composed of an operation permission area that permits input and an operation restriction area that restricts input to the touch panel in response to being set to enable;
A function of validating the coordinates of the touch operation on the touch screen and the coordinates of the touch operation on the operation permitted area of the touch panel; and a function of invalidating the coordinates of the touch operation on the operation restricted area of the touch panel; A computer program for realizing

Images