JP2010257189A - Portable electronic equipment, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to easily instruct to execute and release a hold mode without generating any erroneous operation, with respect to a portable audio player 10 for performing a hold switching function on a touch panel. <P>SOLUTION: An acceleration sensor is incorporated in a portable audio player 10, and configured to detect acceleration acting on the portable audio player 10. When the portable audio player 10 is set in a hold mode and an operation standby mode (S39, S49), and the portable audio player 10 is shaken by a user (S40, S50), the acceleration is detected by the accelerator sensor, and the portable audio player 10 is switched to the operation standby mode and the hold mode (S42, S51). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device such as a portable audio player, a method, and a program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a mobile phone equipped with an acceleration sensor (FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1). When the mobile phone detects acceleration, the backlight of the display is turned on (FIG. 3S38Y of Patent Document 1). → S39Y → S32), the ringtone is stopped (FIG. 4 S53Y → S55 of Patent Document 1), and the manner mode is set (FIG. 5 S77Y → S80 of Patent Document 1).

  6A and 6B are external views of the front and side surfaces of a conventional portable audio player 80 in the horizontally long state. 6 and 7 relating to the conventional portable audio player 80, the same elements as those of the portable audio player 10 of the embodiment of the present invention to be described later are denoted by the reference numerals attached to the elements of the portable audio player 10. The description will be omitted, and only the main points will be described.

  In FIG. 6, the hold switch 81 is arranged on the side surface portion on the long side of the main body case 28 and is slid in the long side direction. The user switches the hold switch 81 to the both end positions in the sliding direction so as to switch the hold mode and the operation standby mode (hold release mode) of the portable audio player 80.

  FIG. 7 is a hardware configuration diagram of a conventional portable audio player 80. In FIG. 7, the CPU / DSP 11 determines which end position in the sliding direction the hold switch 81 is based on the detection signal from the hold switch 81.

  FIGS. 8A and 8B are flowcharts of an operation standby mode start method 88 and a hold mode start method 98 applied to the portable audio player 80. In the operation standby mode starting method 88, when the portable audio player 80 is in the hold mode (S89), when the user switches the hold switch 81 to one end position (S90), the hold mode is released (S91), and the portable audio player 80 is in the hold mode. The type audio player 80 enters the operation standby mode (S92). In the operation standby mode, any user operation on the touch panel 15 is accepted and corresponding processing is performed.

  In the hold mode starting method 98, when the portable audio player 80 is in the operation standby mode (S99), when the user switches the hold switch 81 to the other end position (S100), the portable audio player 80 enters the hold mode. (S101). In the hold mode, any user operation on the touch panel 15 is not accepted, and the process related to the user operation before switching to the hold mode is continued.

  FIG. 9 shows a conventional portable audio player that switches the hold mode on the touch panel 15 (the portable audio player is not equipped with the hold switch 81 unlike the conventional portable audio player of FIG. 6). It is a flowchart of hold switching control. In the operation standby mode start method 107, when the portable audio player is in the hold mode (S108), when the user touches any position on the touch panel 15 with a finger (S109), the backlight is turned on (lighted state). At the same time, a standby mode for the hold release operation on the touch panel 15 is set (S110). In this state, when the user performs a hold release operation (specifically, a touch operation to the hold release button on the touch panel 15) on the touch panel 15 (S111), the operation standby mode is set (S112). Thereafter, various user operations on the portable audio player are accepted, and processing corresponding to the user operations is performed.

  In the hold mode start method 117, when the portable audio player is in the operation standby mode (S118), when the user performs a hold setting operation on the touch panel 15 (S119: Specifically, touching the setting button on the touch panel 15). Operation), the portable audio player enters the hold mode (S120).

JP 2002-354097 A

The problems of the conventional portable audio player 80 are listed as follows.
(A) Since the hold switch 81 needs to be provided in the main body case 28, the cost is increased accordingly.
(B) Regarding the appearance design, the presence of the hold switch 81 hinders simplicity.
(C) The hold switch 81 needs to be designed to be easy to operate and to have strength, but this causes a design restriction.

  In the conventional portable audio player related to FIG. 9 in which the hold switch 81 is omitted and the hold mode is performed and released by a user operation on the touch panel 15, the user takes out the portable audio player from a pocket, bag, etc., and displays the screen. Since the hold mode is implemented and canceled while watching, the switching operation becomes troublesome. Furthermore, in addition to the hold release operation, other operations may be performed at the same time, and processing not desired by the user may be performed.

  Patent Document 1 shows a user operation in which a hard switch is omitted, but there is no mention of a hold function.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device, a method, and a program that can easily switch a hold function without erroneous operation in a portable electronic device that performs a hold switching function with a touch panel.

  According to the present invention, the acceleration detector is mounted on the portable electronic device and detects acceleration acting on the portable electronic device. The acceleration detector detects acceleration caused by the user vibrating the portable electronic device. Then, the hold function is activated and / or canceled in accordance with the acceleration detected by the acceleration detector.

The portable electronic device of the present invention includes the following.
A touch panel that operates as a user operation unit,
An acceleration detector that detects acceleration; and a hold mode control unit that controls switching between an invalid period and an effective period of a user operation on the touch panel based on an output of the acceleration detector.

The control method of the present invention is applied to a portable electronic device including a touch panel that operates as a user operation unit, and includes the following steps.
An acceleration detection step for detecting an acceleration acting on the portable electronic device; and a hold mode control step for controlling switching of an invalid period and an effective period of a user operation on the touch panel based on the detection of the acceleration in the acceleration detection step.

  The program of the present invention causes a computer to execute each step of the control method of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, the user. If acceleration is applied to the portable electronic device by shaking the portable electronic device, the hold function of the portable electronic device is activated and / or released, so the mechanical hold switch is omitted. Can do. In addition, the user can operate and / or cancel the hold function of the portable electronic device easily and without operating the touch panel without looking at the operation screen.

It is a hardware block diagram of a portable audio player. 1 is an external view of a portable audio player. 5 is a flowchart of hold switching control in a portable audio player. It is a block diagram of the portable electronic device as a high-order concept of a portable audio player. 5 is a flowchart of a portable electronic device control method applied to the portable electronic device of FIG. 4. It is an external view of the conventional portable audio player. It is a hardware block diagram of the conventional portable audio player. 10 is a flowchart of hold switching control in a conventional portable audio player. 10 is a flowchart of hold switching control in a conventional portable audio player in which the hold mode is switched by a user operation on the touch panel.

  In the hardware configuration diagram of the portable audio player 10 in FIG. 1, the portable audio player 10 has dimensions and weight to be placed on the palm of the user, and is stored in the user's pocket or bag when being carried. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) / DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 11 includes a communication unit 12, a program storing flash memory 13, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 14, a touch panel 15, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display unit 16, data Data is input to and / or output from the storage unit 17, the audio codec unit 18, and the sensor unit 19.

  The communication unit 12 includes WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) / WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), a function connected to a mobile phone line, BlueTooth, and the like. The program storage flash memory 13 stores a program. The DRAM 14 stores temporary data at the time of calculation. When the user gives a predetermined instruction to the portable audio player 10, the touch panel 15 is touched to a predetermined part with a finger. The LCD display unit 16 is disposed below the touch panel 15 in a stacked state with the touch panel 15. Information displayed on the LCD display unit 16 is visually recognized by the user from the outer surface side of the touch panel 15 via the transparent touch panel 15.

  The data storage unit 17 stores various data such as music, moving image content, mail, and settings. The audio codec unit 18 is interposed between the CPU / DSP 11 and the microphone / line input terminal 23 and the speaker / earphone output terminal 24, and expands the input to the digital audio signal input from the CPU / DSP 11. Then, it is converted into an analog audio signal and output to the microphone / line input terminal 23. The audio codec 18 also converts an analog audio signal input from the speaker / earphone output terminal 24 into a digital signal, compresses the input, and outputs the compressed signal to the CPU / DSP 11. The sensor unit 19 includes a gyro sensor and a geomagnetic sensor used for GPS (Global Positioning System) processing, an acceleration sensor used for a UI (User Interface) such as a game, and the like.

  2A and 2B are external views of the front and side surfaces of the portable audio player 10 in the horizontally long state. The main body case 28 is rectangular in front view, and the touch panel 15 and the LCD display unit 16 are rectangular similarly to the main body case 28, and the long side and the short side are along the long side and the short side of the main body case 28. It is arranged in front of the main body case 28. The touch panel 15 and the LCD display unit 16 are stacked in a relationship of an upper layer and a lower layer, respectively. The user instruction to the touch panel 15 is performed by pressing the tip of the pressing bar against the corresponding part of the touch panel 15 in addition to the user touching the touch panel 15 with a finger. The portable audio player 10 may be used horizontally as shown in FIG. 2 (a), or rotated 90 ° with respect to FIG. 2 (a) and used in a vertically long state. In the portable audio player 10, the hold switch 81 on the long side surface of the portable audio player 80 (FIG. 6) is omitted.

  When the user holds the portable audio player 10 with one hand and shakes the portable audio player 10 in the A direction, for example, the vibration is detected by the acceleration sensor of the sensor unit 19. Note that the acceleration sensor of the sensor unit 19 may be capable of detecting acceleration in any of the three axes perpendicular to each other. In this case, the direction A in FIG. It may be any of the direction and the front-rear direction.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B are flowcharts of the operation standby mode start method 38 and the hold mode start method 48 applied to the portable audio player 10. In the operation standby mode starting method 38, when the portable audio player 10 is in the hold mode (S39), when the user shakes the main body case 28 (S40), the hold mode is canceled (S41). Accordingly, the backlight disposed in the back of the LCD display unit 16 is turned on (lighted state), and the touch panel 15 enters an operation waiting state (S42). As a result, various user instructions are received by pressing the touch panel 15 with a finger or a pressing rod, and corresponding processing is executed.

  In the hold mode start method 48, when in the operation waiting mode on the LCD display unit 16 (S49), when the user shakes the main body case 28 (S50), the mode is switched to the hold mode (S51). After this, any press on the touch panel 15 becomes invalid, and processing related to the user operation until immediately before switching to the hold mode is held.

  The vibration of the main body case 28 in S40 and S50 is detected from the acceleration of the acceleration sensor in the sensor unit 19. Naturally, the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor includes not only intentional swing by the user but also vibration caused by the user's walking or vibration during riding on the train or bus. End up. It is necessary to prohibit switching of the hold function for acceleration caused by other than intentional swing by the user. Therefore, a predetermined threshold is set, and the hold function is implemented and canceled only when an acceleration greater than the threshold is detected by the acceleration sensor, assuming that the acceleration caused by the intentional swing by the user is greater than the threshold. It will be.

  As described above, in the portable audio player 10, the operation standby mode and the hold mode are alternately switched every time the user shakes the main body case 28.

  A modification of the portable audio player 10 will be described. In the portable audio player 10, the acceleration sensor of the sensor unit 19 detects the acceleration in an arbitrary direction with respect to the main body case 28, but the direction of the acceleration can also be determined. For example, the vertical and horizontal accelerations of the portable audio player 10 are determined and detected. When one and the other of the up and down direction and the left and right direction of the portable audio player 10 are defined as the first and second directions, respectively, an acceleration equal to or greater than the threshold value Da is detected in the first direction. Switching from the standby mode to the hold mode is performed, and when acceleration equal to or higher than the threshold value Db (Db = Da or Db ≠ Da) is detected in the second direction, the mode is switched from the hold mode to the operation standby mode. Also good. In this case, when the user wants to switch to the hold mode without checking whether the current mode is the hold mode or the operation standby mode, the user swings the main body case 28 in the first direction and waits for the operation. When it is desired to switch to the mode, the main body case 28 can be swung in the second direction.

  Note that the normal main body case 28 is not a square but a rectangular thin shape, and the user recognizes three directions perpendicular to each other in association with the long side direction, the short side direction, and the thickness direction of the main body case 28. can do. In addition, the user can recognize the long side direction, the short side direction, and the thickness direction of the main body case 28 without feeling the main body case 28 one by one.

  If the person affirms the question, the head is swung up and down. If the person denies, the head is swung left and right. It is troublesome for the user to memorize which direction the first and second directions are with respect to the main body case 28. Therefore, when the portable audio player 10 is shaken in the vertical direction (up / down / left / right of the portable audio player 10 is generally associated with up / down / left / right of the portable audio player 10 in front view of the LCD display unit 16). In order to reduce the memory burden on the user, the instruction to switch to the hold mode, and the instruction to switch to the operation standby mode when swinging horizontally with respect to the screen of the LCD display unit 16 are advantageous. It is.

  The acceleration action time (= the time during which the user shakes the main body case 28) is measured with a timer, not the direction of the acceleration. (T2> T1), the case of acting and the case of acting for a predetermined time T2 or longer will be referred to as short swing and long swing, respectively. One and the other of the short swing and the long swing may be associated with switching to the hold mode and switching to the operation standby mode, respectively.

  It is also possible to associate the short swing and the long swing with the swing strength instead of the swing time. For example, when an acceleration equal to or higher than Ea and lower than Eb (Eb> Ea) continues for a time Ta or longer, the rotation is short. When the acceleration equal to or higher than Eb continues for the time Ta or longer, the swing is long.

  Alternatively, the vibration pattern performed by the user on the main body case 28 may be identified and detected by correlating the short swing and the long swing with the “Morse” signal “G” and “T”. If the first and second vibration patterns set in advance are detected, switching to the hold mode and switching to the operation standby mode can be performed, respectively.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the portable electronic device 60. The portable audio player 10 is an example of a portable electronic device 60. In addition to the portable electronic device 60, the portable electronic device 60 may be a game machine, a mobile phone, a portable information processing device, a portable wireless device, or other portable electronic devices. The portable electronic device 60 includes a touch panel 61, an acceleration detector 62, and a hold mode control unit 63.

  The touch panel 61 operates as a user operation unit. The acceleration detector 62 detects acceleration acting on the portable electronic device 60. The hold mode control unit 63 controls switching between the invalid period and the valid period of the user operation on the touch panel 61 based on the output of the acceleration detector 62.

  In order to simply call the invalid period and the valid period of the user operation on the touch panel 61, they will be appropriately referred to as “hold period” and “hold release period”, respectively. The hold period and the hold release period in the portable electronic device 60 correspond to the hold period and the operation waiting period in the portable audio player 10, respectively. The acceleration detected by the acceleration detector 62 may be an arbitrary direction or may be an acceleration only in a specific direction. As the specific direction, one or two of the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, and the thickness direction of the portable electronic device 60 can be selected.

  During a period when the user is walking with the portable electronic device 60 or riding a car on a bus or train, the portable electronic device 60 has noise separately from intentional acceleration by the user. Acceleration acts. Typically, in order to distinguish between intentional acceleration by the user and noisy acceleration, a predetermined threshold value U is set, and the hold mode control means 63 detects that the acceleration detector 62 has detected an acceleration greater than or equal to U. Sometimes it can be switched to a hold period or a hold release period.

  In this way, the user can instruct the switching of the hold period and the hold release period without looking at the display on the display unit, and the user operation member instructing the switching can be omitted from the portable electronic device 60. .

  For example, the acceleration detector 62 detects accelerations in the first and second directions perpendicular to each other, and the hold mode control means 63 holds the acceleration when the acceleration detector 62 detects the acceleration in the first direction. When the acceleration detector 62 detects acceleration in the second direction from the release period to the hold period, the hold period is switched to the hold release period.

  Whenever the acceleration detector 62 detects an acceleration equal to or greater than the threshold value U, the user switches between the hold period and the hold release period, even though the portable electronic device 60 is already in the hold period, There is a case where the portable electronic device 60 is shaken in an attempt to switch the portable electronic device 60 to the hold period without forgetting it or not. In this case, the user intends to set the portable electronic device 60 to the hold period, but the portable electronic device 60 enters the hold release period. By associating the acceleration in the first and second directions with the switching to the hold period and the hold release period, respectively, the user switches the portable electronic device 60 to the hold period and the switch to the hold release period. Since the user can instruct by swinging in the first and second directions, the user can perform the switching as intended even if the user does not know whether the current state is the hold period or the hold release period. Can do.

  The first and second directions are the up-down direction and the left-right direction of the portable electronic device 60. Since the normal portable electronic device 60 has a rectangular thin shape or the like, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction can be determined by touch, so that the user does not see the screen of the touch panel 61 and is portable. The acceleration in the intended direction can be applied to the portable electronic device 60 by determining the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the electronic device 60. When a person responds “Yes” and “No”, the head is swung up and down and left and right, respectively, so that switching to the hold period and its release period is associated with acceleration in the up and down direction and left and right direction. Thus, the user can reduce the burden of memorizing the hold period and the direction in which switching to the release period is associated. In the case where the portable electronic device 60 can be either vertically long or horizontally long, the first direction is set to the default vertical direction, for example.

  The hold mode control means 63 can control based on the output from the acceleration detector 62 at a predetermined acceleration. Specific examples of the predetermined acceleration based on the output of the acceleration detector 62 include a vibration pattern as a short swing, a long swing, or a combination thereof described in the modification of the portable audio player 10. The user can give the portable electronic device 60 predetermined accelerations having various working times, magnitudes, or combinations thereof.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the portable electronic device control method 70. The portable electronic device control method 70 is applied to the portable electronic device 60. In S71, acceleration acting on the portable electronic device 60 is detected. In S72, switching between the invalid period and the valid period of the user operation on the touch panel 61 is controlled based on the detection of acceleration.

  The processes of S71 and S72 correspond to the functions of the acceleration detector 62 and the hold mode control means 63 of the portable electronic device 60, respectively. Therefore, the specific modes described for the functions of the acceleration detector 62 and the hold mode control means 63 can be applied as specific modes for the processing of S71 and S72.

  The program to which the present invention is applied causes a computer to function as each means of the portable electronic device 60. Another program to which the present invention is applied causes a computer to execute each step of the portable electronic device control method 70.

  This specification discloses various ranges and levels of the invention. In addition to various devices and methods of various technical scopes and specific levels described in the present specification, the present invention has operations and effects independent of each device and each method within the scope of expansion or generalization. Extracting one or more elements, changing one or more elements within the scope of expansion or generalization, and combining one or more elements between devices and methods Includes replacements.

60: portable electronic device, 61: touch panel, 62: acceleration detector, 63: hold mode control means, 70: portable electronic device control method.

Claims (6)

A touch panel that operates as a user operation unit,
An acceleration detector for detecting acceleration; and a hold mode control means for controlling switching of an invalid period and an effective period of a user operation on the touch panel based on an output of the acceleration detector;
A portable electronic device comprising: The acceleration detector detects accelerations in first and second directions perpendicular to each other;
When the acceleration detector detects acceleration in the first direction, the hold function control means switches from a valid period of user operation on the touch panel to an invalid period, and the acceleration detector is in the second direction. 2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when an acceleration is detected, the user operation on the touch panel is switched from an invalid period to an effective period.   The portable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the first and second directions are a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of the portable electronic device.   The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the hold mode control unit performs control based on an output from the acceleration detector at a predetermined acceleration. In a control method of a portable electronic device including a touch panel that operates as a user operation unit,
An acceleration detection step for detecting an acceleration acting on the portable electronic device; and a hold mode control step for controlling switching of an invalid period and an effective period of a user operation on the touch panel based on the detection of the acceleration in the acceleration detection step;
A control method for a portable electronic device, comprising:   The program which makes a computer perform each step of the control method for portable electronic devices of Claim 5.

Images