JP2012194810A - Portable electronic apparatus, method for controlling contact operation, and contact operation control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable electronic apparatus, a method for controlling a contact operation, and a contact operation control program capable of facilitating an input of a predetermined instruction.SOLUTION: The portable electronic apparatus includes: a housing having a first surface and a second surface in an opposite side of the first surface; a contact detecting unit including a first detecting part disposed on the first surface for detecting a contact and a second detecting part disposed on the second surface for detecting a contact; and a control unit for, when the second detecting part detects a contact to a fourth position corresponding to a second position in a state where the first detecting part detects contacts at a first position and the second position and the second detecting part detects a contact at a third position facing the first position, executing a preset setting process.

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, a contact operation control method, and a contact operation control program.

  In recent years, touch panels have been widely used to realize small portable electronic devices that can be operated intuitively and do not include devices that require a physically large area such as a keyboard. (See Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

JP 2010-26319 A JP 2003-8886 A

  Among portable electronic devices that include a touch panel and have a photographing function, there are portable electronic devices that detect a touch operation input to the touch panel as a photographing instruction, that is, press a shutter button, and photograph an image.

  However, in a configuration in which the shutter button is arranged at a fixed position, it may be difficult to press the shutter button depending on how the portable electronic device is held.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device, a contact operation control method, and a contact operation control program capable of easily inputting a predetermined instruction.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a portable electronic device, the housing including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; A contact detection unit including a first detection unit configured to detect a contact disposed on the first surface and a second detection unit configured to detect a contact disposed on the second surface; In a state in which contact is detected at two positions, and the second detection unit detects contact at a third position opposite to the first position, the second detection unit corresponds to the second position. And a control unit that executes a preset setting process when contact with the position is detected.

  Here, the apparatus further includes an attitude detection sensor that detects an attitude of the housing, and the control unit is a position that is lower than a position of the first detection unit in the position of the second detection unit in the attitude detection sensor. When the second detection unit detects contact with the fourth position corresponding to the second position in the state where it is detected, it is preferable to restrict the execution of the setting process.

  Further, of the surfaces adjacent to the first surface and the second surface of the housing, a quadrilateral formed by connecting the first position, the second position, the third position, and the fourth position. It is preferable that the display unit further includes a display unit disposed on a parallel plane, and the control unit displays a display for specifying the fourth position on the display unit.

  Further, it is preferable that the camera further includes a camera that acquires an image of a subject, and the setting process is a shooting process that acquires an image with the camera.

  In addition, the camera connects the first position, the second position, the third position, and the fourth position among the surfaces adjacent to the first surface and the second surface of the housing. It is preferable that the photographing window is arranged on a plane parallel to the formed quadrangle.

  The camera preferably has an optical axis direction perpendicular to the quadrangle.

  The display unit further includes a display unit disposed on a surface opposite to the surface of the housing on which the camera is disposed, and the control unit displays a preview image of an image captured by the camera on the display unit. It is preferable to make it.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a housing having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a contact disposed on the first surface. A contact operation control method for a portable electronic device having a contact detection unit comprising a first detection unit for detecting a contact and a second detection unit for detecting a contact disposed on the second surface, wherein the contact detection unit A state in which the first detection unit detects contact at a first position and a second position, and the second detection unit detects contact at a third position opposite to the first position. Then, when the second detection unit detects contact with the fourth position corresponding to the second position, a step of executing a preset setting process is included.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is a contact operation control program, comprising: a housing having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; Contact with a portable electronic device having a first detection unit for detecting contact arranged on the first surface and a second detection unit for detecting contact arranged on the second surface, with the contact detection unit. A step of detecting a position; the first detection unit detects contact at a first position and a second position; and the second detection unit detects contact at a third position opposite to the first position. In this state, when the second detection unit detects contact with the fourth position corresponding to the second position, a step of executing a preset setting process is executed.

  The portable electronic device, the contact operation control method, and the contact operation control program according to the present invention have an effect that a photographing instruction can be easily input.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a mobile phone terminal. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the mobile phone terminal. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the mobile phone terminal. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of control executed by the main control unit in accordance with an operation detected by the side contact sensor. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of control executed by the main control unit in accordance with an operation detected by the side contact sensor. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of the control executed by the main control unit in accordance with the operation detected by the side contact sensor. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of the control executed by the main control unit in accordance with the operation detected by the side contact sensor. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone terminal.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following description. In addition, constituent elements in the following description include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art, those that are substantially the same, and those in a so-called equivalent range. In the following, a mobile phone terminal will be described as an example of an electronic device, but the application target of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone terminal, and various devices such as a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), a PDA, The present invention can also be applied to portable navigation devices, personal computers, game machines, and the like.

(Embodiment)
First, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an external appearance of a mobile phone terminal 1 that is an embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the mobile phone terminal 1. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the mobile phone terminal 1. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the mobile phone terminal 1 has a substantially hexahedron-shaped housing having two surfaces that are wider than the other surfaces, and a touch panel 2 and an input on the surface of the housing. A unit 3, a side contact sensor 4, a speaker 7, a microphone 8, and a camera 13 are provided.

  The touch panel 2 is provided on one of the surfaces having the largest area (front), displays characters, figures, images, and the like, and uses a finger, stylus, pen, or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “finger”). Detects various operations performed on. Note that the touch panel 2 may detect any operation such as an electrostatic capacity type or a pressure sensitive type. The input unit 3 includes a plurality of buttons such as a button 3A, a button 3B, and a button 3C to which a predetermined function is assigned.

  The side contact sensor 4 is provided on a surface (side surface, first surface, second surface) in contact with the surface on which the touch panel 2 is provided, and detects various operations performed on the side contact sensor 4 using a finger. . The side contact sensor 4 is provided on the upper side, the right side sensor 22 provided on the right side, the left side sensor 24 provided on the left side, and the side on which the touch panel 2 is provided as the front side. In addition, an upper side sensor 26 and a lower side sensor 28 provided on the lower side are included. The method by which the right side sensor 22 or the like detects various operations may be any method such as a capacitance type or a pressure sensitive type. Note that the right side sensor 22, the left side sensor 24, the upper side sensor 26, and the lower side sensor 28 can respectively detect a plurality of points of contact. For example, when two fingers are brought into contact with the right side sensor 22, the right side sensor 22 can detect a position where the two fingers are in contact. The speaker 7 outputs the other party's voice, music reproduced by various programs, sound effects, and the like. The microphone 8 acquires sound at the time of a telephone call or reception of an operation by sound. The camera 13 is disposed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the touch panel 2 is provided. Specifically, the camera 13 has a photographing window exposed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the touch panel 2 is provided. The camera 13 captures an image of a region facing the surface opposite to the surface on which the touch panel 2 is provided.

  The mobile phone terminal 1 includes the side surface contact sensor 4 in addition to the touch panel 2 to provide the user with various intuitive and easy-to-use operation methods as described below.

  Next, a functional configuration of the mobile phone terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the mobile phone terminal 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile phone terminal 1 includes a touch panel 2, an input unit 3, a side contact sensor 4, a power supply unit 5, a communication unit 6, a speaker 7, a microphone 8, a storage unit 9, A main control unit 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11, a camera 13, and an attitude detection sensor 14 are included.

  The touch panel 2 includes a display unit 2B and a touch sensor 2A superimposed on the display unit 2B. The touch sensor 2 </ b> A detects various operations performed on the touch panel 2 using a finger together with a position on the touch panel 2 where the operation is performed, and notifies the main control unit 10 of the detected operation. The operation detected by the touch sensor 2A includes a tap operation and a sweep operation. The display unit 2B includes, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL (Organic Electro-Luminescence) panel, and displays characters, graphics, and the like.

  The input unit 3 receives a user operation through a physical button or the like, and transmits a signal corresponding to the received operation to the main control unit 10. The side contact sensor 4 includes a right side sensor 22, a left side sensor 24, an upper side sensor 26, and a lower side sensor 28, and various operations performed on these sensors are performed. It detects with the position of a place, and notifies the main control part 10. The power supply unit 5 supplies power obtained from a storage battery or an external power supply to each functional unit of the mobile phone terminal 1 including the main control unit 10.

  The communication unit 6 establishes a radio signal line by a CDMA system or the like with a base station via a channel assigned by the base station, and performs telephone communication and information communication with the base station. The speaker 7 outputs the sound signal transmitted from the main control unit 10 as sound. The microphone 8 converts the voice of the user or the like into a voice signal and transmits it to the main control unit 10.

  The storage unit 9 is, for example, a nonvolatile memory or a magnetic storage device, and stores programs and data used for processing in the main control unit 10. Programs stored in the storage unit 9 include a mail program 9A, a browser program 9B, a photographing control program 9C, and a contact operation control program 9D. Further, the data stored in the storage unit 9 includes side contact operation definition data 9E. The storage unit 9 also stores other programs and data such as an operating system program and address book data that realize basic functions of the mobile phone terminal 1. The storage unit 9 may be configured as a combination of a portable storage medium such as a memory card and a storage medium reading device.

  The mail program 9A provides a function for realizing an electronic mail function. The browser program 9B provides a function for realizing a WEB browsing function. The imaging control program 9C provides a function for realizing a function of controlling the operation of the camera 13 based on an instruction input from another program or the like to capture and acquire an image. The contact operation control program 9D provides a function for executing processing according to various contact operations detected by the touch sensor 2A and the side contact sensor 4. The side contact operation definition data 9E holds definitions for functions that are activated in accordance with the detection result of the side contact sensor 4.

  The main control unit 10 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example, and implements various functions by comprehensively controlling the operation of the mobile phone terminal 1. Specifically, the main control unit 10 executes instructions included in the program stored in the storage unit 9 while referring to the data stored in the storage unit 9 or the data expanded in the RAM 11 as necessary. Various functions are realized by controlling the display unit 2B, the communication unit 6, and the like. The program executed by the main control unit 10 and the data to be referred to may be downloaded from the server device by wireless communication by the communication unit 6.

  The main control unit 10 realizes an e-mail function by executing the mail program 9A, for example. Further, the main control unit 10 realizes a function of taking an image with the camera 13 by executing the shooting control program 9C. Further, the main control unit 10 realizes a function of executing processing corresponding to various contact operations detected by the touch sensor 2A and the side contact sensor 4 by executing the contact operation control program 9D. Note that the main control unit 10 can execute a plurality of programs in parallel by a multitask function provided by the operating system program.

  The RAM 11 is used as a storage area for temporarily storing instructions of a program executed by the main control unit 10, data referred to by the main control unit 10, calculation results of the main control unit 10, and the like.

  The camera 13 is an imaging mechanism that acquires an image. As described above, the camera 13 has a photographing window disposed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the touch panel 2 is disposed. In the camera 13, the optical axis is in a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by connecting the side contact sensors 4. As the light receiving element of the camera 13, a CMOS image sensor or a CCD image sensor can be used.

  The attitude detection sensor 14 is a detector that detects the attitude of the mobile phone terminal 1 (housing). As the posture detection sensor 14, detectors of various methods for detecting posture can be used. For example, a detector for detecting posture by a combination of a triaxial gyro and a triaxial acceleration sensor can be used. it can. The posture detection sensor 14 detects the posture of the mobile phone terminal 1 and sends the detection result to the main control unit 10. Note that when the posture detection sensor 14 detects a change in the posture of the mobile phone terminal 1, the posture detection sensor 14 detects the posture at regular intervals, and sends the change information to the main control unit 10. You may make it send to the main-control part 10. FIG. Further, the posture detection sensor 14 may detect posture information and send the detection result to the main control unit 10 when an instruction to detect posture information is sent from the main control unit 10.

  Next, an example of control executed by the main control unit 10 according to an operation detected by the side contact sensor 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 and 5 are examples of processing for acquiring an image with the camera 13 in accordance with an operation detected by the side contact sensor 4. Specifically, an example of control when a shooting instruction (so-called shutter button pressing operation) is assigned to a predetermined operation that can be detected by the side contact sensor 4 will be described. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating examples of control executed by the main control unit in accordance with operations detected by the side contact sensors. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the mobile phone terminal 1 and the hands (left hand 40 and right hand 50) operating the mobile phone terminal 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the operating hand and the contact point that is contacted by the side contact sensor 4. 4 and FIG. 5 is realized by processing the photographing control program 9C and the contact operation control program 9D by the main control unit 10.

  The mobile phone terminal 1 shown in FIG. 4 is supported by the user's left hand 40 and right hand 50 in a direction in which the longitudinal direction of the touch panel 2 is horizontal. Specifically, the left hand 40 supports a portion on the upper surface sensor 26 side of the left side sensor 24 with the thumb 42 and supports a portion on the upper surface sensor 26 side of the right side sensor 22 with the index finger 44. The right hand 50 supports the portion on the lower surface sensor 28 side of the left side sensor 24 with the thumb 52. When the mobile phone terminal 1 is thus supported by three fingers, the left side sensor 24 detects the contact at the contact point 62 of the thumb 42 as shown in the left diagram of FIG. The right side sensor 22 detects contact at the contact point 63 of 44, and the left side sensor 24 detects contact at the contact point 64 of the thumb 52. That is, the right side sensor 22 detects contact at one contact point of the contact points 63. The left side sensor 24 detects contact at two contact points, a contact point 62 and a contact point 64. The contact point 62 and the contact point 63 have substantially the same position in the longitudinal direction (the direction in which the right side sensor 22 and the left side sensor 24 extend).

  When the user is in contact as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 5, the main control unit 10 of the mobile phone terminal 1 is configured such that the left side sensor (first detection unit) 24 has two contact points (first position) 62. Contact is detected at a contact point (second position) 64, and contact is made at a contact point (third position) 63 where the right side sensor (second detection unit) 22 faces the contact point (first position) 62. It is determined that the state is being detected. Next, the main control unit 10 determines an area that is estimated to detect the pressing of the shutter button among the contacts to the side contact sensor 4 based on the position information of the contact points 62, 63, 64. Specifically, the main control unit 10 is a side sensor on the same side as the contact point (third position) 63, and is an area with a constant width facing the contact point (second position) 63 on the right side sensor 22. Detection of contact in the shutter area 66) is defined as an operation of the shutter button. Further, the main control unit 10 puts a mark 68 indicating a shutter operation in a position corresponding to the shutter region 66 of the right side sensor 22 of the touch panel 2, that is, in a region facing the right side sensor 22 side and the contact point 63 of the touch panel 2. Display. Note that the position of the shutter area 66 may be adjusted based on an operation input by the user, or may be set to an arbitrary position according to the setting input by the user.

  Next, the user moves the index finger 54 of the right hand 50 in the direction of the arrow 59 as shown in FIG. 4 from the state shown in the left diagram of FIG. 5 and moves the index finger to the position on the lower side sensor 28 side of the right side sensor 22. 54 is brought into contact. When the user brings the index finger 54 into contact with the lower side sensor 28 side of the right side sensor 22, the mobile phone terminal 1 moves to the three fingers shown in the left side of FIG. 5 as shown in the right side of FIG. 5. In addition, the right index finger 54 is in contact with the right side sensor 22. Thereby, in the mobile phone terminal 1, the right side sensor 22 newly detects contact at the contact point 65 of the index finger 54. Thereby, in addition to the above-mentioned three points, the main control unit 10 has a contact point (fourth position) 65 at which the right side sensor (second detection unit) 22 faces the contact point (second position) 64. It is determined that contact has been detected. Here, the contact point 65 is an area included in the shutter area 66. Further, when the contact point 62, the contact point 63, the contact point 64, and the contact point 65 are connected, a quadrangle 69 is formed.

  The main control unit 10 determines that detection of contact with the contact point (fourth position) 65 by the right side sensor 22 is input of a shooting instruction, and acquires an image captured by the camera 13. The main control unit 10 temporarily stores an image acquired at the time when a shooting instruction is input and displays the image on the touch panel 2. Thereafter, when a save instruction is input by the user, the temporarily saved image is stored in the storage unit 9. The main control unit 10 may store the image acquired at the time when the shooting instruction is input as it is.

  The main control unit 10 detects the contact at the first position and the second position of one of the two side sensors facing the side contact sensor 4, and the other side sensor facing the first position is the third position. Then, when a contact operation is detected at the fourth position, which is the position of the other side sensor facing the second position, in the state in which the contact is detected, the contact operation is set as a pressing operation of the shutter button. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, an operation similar to pressing the shutter button of an actual camera can be set as an operation for instructing shooting.

  Here, when the two contacts detected by the same side sensor are separated from each other by a certain distance or more, the positions of the respective contacts are the first position and the second position, and the third position and the fourth position. It is preferable to set the position. Thereby, it can suppress detecting the state which one finger | toe contacts with a fixed width as two contact points, and can suppress misdetection. Further, the positional relationship between the two opposing contacts detected by the two opposing side sensors, that is, the first position and the third position or the second position and the fourth position are positions in the extending direction of the side sensor. Need only be within a certain distance range and need not be at the same position.

  When the main control unit 10 detects contact at the first position, the second position, and the third position, as shown in FIG. 4, the fourth position is for the shutter in the region corresponding to the fourth position. It is preferable to display a mark 68 indicating the position. In this way, by displaying the mark 68 which is a display for specifying the region to be the fourth position on the touch panel 2, it is possible to indicate to the user which position is touched to be detected as the fourth position. A finger can be brought into contact with the fourth position, and an image can be taken more reliably.

  Further, the main control unit 10 performs shooting processing (setting processing) based on the orientation detected by the posture detection sensor 14, specifically, based on the relative positional relationship between the two side sensors that detect contact of a finger. May be switched. In the main control unit 10, for example, the side sensor (second detection unit) that detects one contact (contact at the third position) with the side contact sensor has two contacts (contact at the first position and the second position). Side sensor (second detection unit) detecting one contact (contact at the third position) in a state in which it is detected that it is lower than the side sensor (first detection unit) in the vertical direction. ) Detects a contact with the fourth position corresponding to the second position, the image may not be taken, that is, the shutter button may not be detected as a pressing operation. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an operation such as the operation in which the finger on the lower side in the vertical direction is accidentally released as a pressing operation of the shutter button. In this case, the main control unit 10 detects that one contact (contact at the third position) is detected by the side contact sensor, and the side sensor (second detection unit) detects two contacts (the first position and the second position). Side sensor (second detection) detecting one contact (contact at the third position) in a state where it is detected that the sensor is located above the side sensor (first detection unit) in the vertical direction. When the touch of the fourth portion corresponding to the second position is detected, the image can be controlled to be taken.

  The main control unit 10 preferably displays a preview image on the touch panel 2 when the camera control program 9C is processed and an image is acquired by the camera 13. Thereby, it is possible to make it easier for the user to recognize the image captured by the camera 13.

  Here, it is preferable that the optical axis of the camera 13 is in a direction orthogonal to the above-described quadrangle 69. By arranging the camera 13 and the side contact sensor 4 at a position that satisfies the above relationship, the user can appropriately hold the mobile phone terminal 1 when the user touches four points associated with pressing the shutter button. In addition, the object to be imaged and the direction of the line of sight can be basically set in the same direction.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the left side sensor 24 becomes a 1st detection part which detects two contact positions, and the right side sensor 22 is one contact position (contact position corresponding to the contact position which the 1st detection part detected). Although the case where it becomes the 2nd detection part which detects this was demonstrated, it is not limited to this. The mobile phone terminal 1 and the main control unit 10 correspond to the side sensor by using an arbitrary side sensor of the side contact sensor 4 as the first detection unit according to the orientation of the mobile phone terminal 1 and the contact state of the user. The side sensor can be the second detection unit. That is, the first detection unit and the second detection unit are arbitrarily switched depending on the usage state of the user. The positional relationship between the first position and the second position and the positional relationship between the third position and the fourth position may be interchanged.

  Hereinafter, another example of control for detecting an imaging instruction by an operation detected by the side contact sensor 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Another example of the shutter button will be described. 6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating another example of the control executed by the main control unit in accordance with the operation detected by the side contact sensor. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the mobile phone terminal 1 and the hand (left hand 40) operating the mobile phone terminal 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the operating hand and the contact point that is contacted by the side contact sensor 4. 6 and FIG. 7 is realized by processing the photographing control program 9C and the contact operation control program 9D by the main control unit 10.

  The mobile phone terminal 1 shown in FIG. 6 is supported by the user's left hand 40 in a direction in which the longitudinal direction of the touch panel 2 is vertical. Specifically, the left hand 40 indicates a portion on the lower surface sensor 28 side of the right side sensor 22 with the index finger 44, and the lower surface sensor 28 side of the left side sensor 24 with the crotch 46 between the thumb 42 and the index finger 44. The part of is supported. Thus, in the state where it is supported by one finger and the crotch 46 of the finger, the cellular phone terminal 1 detects the contact at the contact point 82 of the index finger 44 as shown in the left diagram of FIG. And the left side sensor 24 detects contact at the contact point 84 of the crotch 46. That is, the right side sensor 22 detects contact at one contact point of the contact points 82. The left side sensor 24 also detects contact at one of the contact points 84. Further, the contact point 82 and the contact point 84 are contact points on the lower surface sensor 28 side which is the lower side in the vertical direction of the right side sensor 22 and the left side sensor 24, respectively.

  When the user is in contact as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 7, the main control unit 10 of the mobile phone terminal 1 detects contact at the single contact point 84 by the left side sensor 24 and the right side sensor 22 contacts. It is determined that contact is being detected at point 82. In this case, the main control unit 10 determines that the user supports the mobile phone terminal 1 with one hand based on the position information of the contact points 82 and 84, and makes contact with a predetermined area of the touch panel 2 as follows. The operation is detected as a press of the shutter button. Based on the position information of the contact points 82 and 84, the main control unit 10 determines the hand that the user holds the mobile phone terminal 1, and displays the shutter button 72 on the touch panel 2 based on the determination result. Determine the position. In the present embodiment, an area 74 that can be contacted by the thumb 42 of the left hand 40 is determined, and a shutter button 72 is displayed in the determined area 74.

  Next, the user moves the thumb 42 of the right hand 40 in the direction of the arrow 49 as shown in FIG. 6 from the state shown in the left diagram of FIG. 7 to contact the shutter button 72 of the touch panel 2. When the user brings the thumb 42 into contact with the area 74 corresponding to the shutter button 72 of the touch panel 2, the cellular phone terminal 1 is in a state where the thumb 42 of the left hand is in contact with the touch panel 2 as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 7. It becomes. Thereby, in the mobile phone terminal 1, the touch panel 2 newly detects the contact of the thumb 42 at the contact point 86.

  The main control unit 10 determines that the detection of contact with the contact point 86 included in the region 74 by the touch panel 2 is an input of a shooting instruction, and acquires an image captured by the camera 13. The main control unit 10 temporarily stores an image acquired at the time when a shooting instruction is input and displays the image on the touch panel 2. Thereafter, when a save instruction is input by the user, the temporarily saved image is stored in the storage unit 9. The main control unit 10 may store the image acquired at the time when the shooting instruction is input as it is.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the mobile phone terminal 1 detects a method in which the user supports the mobile phone terminal 1 based on the contact position detected by the side contact sensor 4 and instructs with one hand. If it is determined that the user's thumb is placed on the touch panel 2, the shutter button 72 is displayed in the area where the user's thumb is placed, so that the operation corresponding to the user's support method can be changed to the pressing operation of the shutter button. Can be assigned.

  Next, the operation of the mobile phone terminal 1 when detecting a contact operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone terminal. The processing procedure shown in FIG. 8 is repeatedly executed based on the functions provided by the imaging control program 9C and the contact operation control program 9D. Note that the process illustrated in FIG. 8 is a process that is executed when a user inputs a camera function activation instruction.

  The main control unit 10 of the mobile phone terminal 1 activates the camera 13 as step S12 and activates the side contact sensor 4 as step S14. In addition, when the camera 13 and the side contact sensor 4 have already been activated, the main control unit 10 proceeds to the next process without performing the processes of steps S12 and S14.

  After activating the side contact sensor 4 in step S14, the main control unit 10 determines in step S16 whether there is side contact, that is, whether side contact sensor 4 has detected contact with any side. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S16 that there is no side contact (No), that is, no side contact is detected, the process proceeds to step S42. If it is determined in step S16 that there is side contact (Yes), that is, contact with the side surface is detected, the main control unit 10 detects a finger contact position in step S18. That is, the finger contact position is detected based on the contact point information of the side contact sensor 4.

  When detecting the finger contact position in step S18, the main control unit 10 determines whether the finger contact position detected in step S20 is the first shutter position. Here, the first shutter position is a correspondence relationship between the contact positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The first detector detects contact at the first position and the second position, and the second detector is the first. This is a state in which contact is detected at a third position which is a position opposite to the position.

  If the main control unit 10 determines in step 20 that the first shutter position is (Yes), the main control unit 10 determines a shutter region in step S22. That is, among the areas for detecting the contact of the second detection unit, an area that is opposed to the second area and is detectable as the fourth position is determined as the shutter area. After determining the shutter area in step S22, the main control unit 10 determines in step 24 whether the contact with the shutter area has been detected by the side contact sensor 4. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S24 that contact with the shutter area has not been detected (No), the main control unit 10 proceeds to step S24. That is, the main control unit 10 repeats the process of step S24 until it detects contact with the shutter area. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S24 that contact with the shutter area has been detected (Yes), the process proceeds to step S35.

  Next, if the main control unit 10 determines that it is not the first shutter position (No) in Step 20, it determines whether it is the second shutter position in Step S26. Here, the second shutter position is a correspondence relationship between the contact positions shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and is a state where the user holds the mobile phone terminal 1 with one hand. When determining that the second shutter position is (Yes) in step S26, the main control unit 10 detects a handle as step S28. That is, based on the position of the finger detected in step S18, it is determined whether the hand is held by the right hand or the left hand. When the main control unit 10 detects a handle in step S28, the main control unit 10 determines the position of the thumb in step S30. That is, the main control unit 10 determines (estimates) the position (movable region) of the user's thumb based on the handle information detected in step S28. After determining the position of the thumb in step S30, the main control unit 10 displays a shutter button on the touch panel 2 as step S32. That is, the main control unit 10 determines an area of the touch panel 2 that can be pressed with the thumb based on the position of the thumb determined in step S30, and displays a shutter button in the area. After displaying the shutter button in step S32, the main control unit 10 determines whether the touch panel 2 has detected contact with the shutter button in step S34. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S34 that contact with the shutter button has not been detected (No), the main control unit 10 proceeds to step S34. That is, the main control unit 10 repeats the process of step S34 until it detects contact with the shutter button. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S34 that contact with the shutter area has been detected (Yes), the main control unit 10 proceeds to step S35.

  If the main control unit 10 determines Yes in step S24 or step S34, the main control unit 10 stores the image as step S35. That is, the main control unit 10 determines that an operation of pressing the shutter button has been input, and at least temporarily stores an image acquired at the time when the operation is input. As a result, the main control unit 10 can acquire an image captured by the camera 13 when an operation of pressing the shutter button is input. After performing the process of step S35, the main control unit 10 proceeds to step S42.

  If the main control unit 10 determines that the second shutter position is not the second shutter position (No) in step S26, it is determined in step S36 that the operation is another operation, that is, the detected contact with the side contact sensor 4 is another operation. Is assigned. If the main control unit 10 determines that the operation is another operation (Yes) in step S36, the main control unit 10 executes a process corresponding to the input operation in step S38. After performing the process of step S38, the main control unit 10 proceeds to step S42. If the main control unit 10 determines that the operation is not another operation (No) in step S36, that is, the operation is not assigned to the detected contact, the process proceeds to step S42.

  If it is determined No in step S16 and step S36, or if the processes of step S35 and step S38 are performed, the main control unit 10 determines whether the process is completed as step S42. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S42 that the process is not completed (No), the main control unit 10 proceeds to step S16. If the main control unit 10 determines in step S42 that the process has ended (Yes), the main control unit 10 ends this process.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the mobile phone terminal 1 switches the process to be executed based on the contact position detected by the side contact sensor 4, so that the user contacts the side contact sensor 4 and inputs various operations. be able to. In addition, the mobile phone terminal 1 can easily be input by the user in accordance with the user's way of holding by switching the operation assigned to the operation of pressing the shutter button based on the contact position detected by the side contact sensor 4. The operation can be a pressing operation of the shutter button. In addition, since the predetermined operation input in each contact state can be a pressing operation of the shutter button, the possibility of being input by an erroneous operation can be reduced.

  In addition, the aspect of this invention shown by said embodiment can be arbitrarily changed in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  In the above embodiment, after detecting contact at the corresponding first position, second position, and third position shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the processing that is executed when the contact is detected at the fourth position is image capturing processing. However, the process to be executed is not limited to this. As the process to be executed, various setting processes set in advance can be used. When the main control unit 10 executes a program other than the shooting control program 9C to realize other functions, the main control unit 10 may execute a setting process set by the program being executed. For example, in the state where an image is displayed on the touch panel 2, when contact is detected at the fourth position after detecting contact at the first position, the second position, and the third position, four contact points are set as the setting process. You may perform the process which designates the area | region enclosed by. As described above, when contact with the fourth position is detected in a state where the three contact positions are detected, it is possible to suppress the setting process from being erroneously input by executing the setting process. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the setting process from being performed carelessly by using a process that requires advanced confirmation with the user as the setting process.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the side surface sensor was arrange | positioned as each of the 4 sides (four surfaces of a side surface) of the housing | casing as the side surface contact sensor 4, it is not limited to this. The side sensor for detecting contact with the side surface may be arranged at a necessary position. For example, when the processes of FIGS. 4 and 5 are performed, the side sensors need only be arranged on the two opposite sides (two surfaces). In addition, when arrange | positioning two side sensors, it is preferable to arrange | position on the two side surfaces which adjoin the long side of the front (surface in which the touchscreen is arrange | positioned) (namely, long side). Thereby, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the position where the normal shutter button is arranged in the camera can be set to the fourth position.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the two contact detection units arranged on the two opposing surfaces are used when detecting the corresponding two contact positions, respectively, and the contact detection units are limited to the side contact sensors. Not. For example, the touch panel 2 may be used as one contact detection unit, and the contact detection unit arranged on the surface (opposite surface) facing the touch panel 2 may be used as the other contact detection unit. Thereby, even if it is the structure which does not provide a side surface contact sensor, ie, the structure which provided the contact detection part in two surfaces with the largest area of the mobile telephone terminal 1, the said process is realizable.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic apparatus having a touch panel as a display unit has been described. However, the present invention is an electronic apparatus having a simple display panel on which a touch sensor is not superimposed as a display unit. It can also be applied to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile phone terminal 2 Touch panel 2A Touch sensor 2B Display part 3 Input part 4 Side contact sensor 5 Power supply part 6 Communication part 7 Speaker 8 Microphone 9 Memory | storage part 9A Mail program 9B Browser program 9C Shooting control program 9D Contact operation control program 9E Side contact Operation definition data 10 Main control unit 11 RAM
13 Camera 14 Posture detection sensor 22 Right side sensor 24 Left side sensor 26 Upper side sensor 28 Lower side sensor

Claims (9)

A housing comprising a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface;
A contact detection unit comprising a first detection unit for detecting contact arranged on the first surface and a second detection unit for detecting contact arranged on the second surface;
The second detection in a state in which the first detection unit detects contact at the first position and the second position, and the second detection unit detects contact at a third position opposite to the first position. And a control unit that executes a preset setting process when detecting contact with the fourth position corresponding to the second position. It further has an attitude detection sensor for detecting the attitude of the housing,
The control unit detects that the position of the second detection unit is lower than the position of the first detection unit by the attitude detection sensor, and the second detection unit is in the second position. 2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when the contact with the fourth position corresponding to the first position is detected, the execution of the setting process is restricted. Of the surfaces adjacent to the first surface and the second surface of the housing, the surface is parallel to a quadrangle formed by connecting the first position, the second position, the third position, and the fourth position. Further comprising a display unit arranged on the surface,
The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the display unit to display a display for specifying the fourth position. A camera for acquiring an image of the subject;
The portable electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the setting process is a photographing process for acquiring an image with the camera.   The camera is formed by connecting the first position, the second position, the third position, and the fourth position among the surfaces adjacent to the first surface and the second surface of the housing. The portable electronic device according to claim 4, wherein a photographing window is arranged on a plane parallel to the rectangular shape.   The portable electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the camera has an optical axis direction perpendicular to the quadrangle. A display unit disposed on a surface of the housing opposite to the surface on which the camera is disposed;
The portable electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit displays a preview image of an image captured by the camera on the display unit. A housing having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a first detector for detecting contact disposed on the first surface, and a contact disposed on the second surface A method for controlling a contact operation of a portable electronic device having a contact detection unit including a second detection unit for detecting,
Detecting a contact position by the contact detection unit;
The second detection in a state in which the first detection unit detects contact at the first position and the second position, and the second detection unit detects contact at a third position opposite to the first position. Detecting a contact with a fourth position corresponding to the second position in the unit, executing a preset setting process;
The contact operation control method characterized by including. A housing having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, a first detector for detecting contact disposed on the first surface, and a contact disposed on the second surface In a portable electronic device having a contact detection unit provided with a second detection unit to detect,
Detecting a contact position by the contact detection unit;
The second detection in a state in which the first detection unit detects contact at the first position and the second position, and the second detection unit detects contact at a third position opposite to the first position. Detecting a contact with a fourth position corresponding to the second position in the unit, executing a preset setting process;
The contact operation control program characterized by performing this.

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