JPH04338814A - Touch panel type information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain a compact and light-weight system of an information processor and to reduce the development burden of applications by using an attachable/detachable touch panel and putting the detached touch panel on 8 template sheet 9 to obtain a soft key. CONSTITUTION:A display device A is provided to show various types of information together with a templete sheet B, and a touch panel C. The panel C is detached from the device A and put on the sheet B. A bus D is added to secure the connection between the panel C and a main body device. Then a soft key is obtained without breaking an application screen when the attachable/ detachable panel C is detached from the panel C and put on the sheet B. Furthermore an original soft key of each application is also obtained just with production of a sheet B.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having touch panel input means.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable personal computers have become widespread, and technology for making them lighter and smaller is becoming more important. Among these, if an information processing device is configured with only a display device and a touch panel without using a keyboard device as an input means, it is possible to realize further reduction in weight and size.

Conventionally, when realizing soft keys using a touch panel placed on a display device, a keyboard or a diagram in place of the keyboard was drawn on the display screen.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, with conventional implementation means, most of the display screen is occupied by the keyboard or a diagram replacing it, making the application screen invisible and difficult for the operator to use. . These problems are explained in more detail in Figure 2.
This will be explained below with reference to .

FIG. 2 shows an example of a soft key according to the prior art.

[0006] When a character is input in a certain application, the display screen changes to a screen with only soft keys as shown in FIG. When the character input is completed, the original application screen is returned to, and there is a problem in that the operator cannot always look at the application screen. In addition, there are cases where the soft keys do not occupy the entire screen, as shown in Figure 2.
However, there are disadvantages in that the touch range becomes narrower and sufficient functionality cannot be realized.

[0007] Furthermore, when providing unique soft keys for each application, there is a drawback that the burden of application development increases because a keyboard or a diagram in place of the keyboard must be drawn on the screen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned points, an object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel type information processing device that is easy for an operator to use and reduces the burden of application development.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a display means for displaying various information, a touch panel that can be attached to and detached from the display means, a template sheet on which the removed touch panel is placed, and the template sheet. The touch panel includes a control means for realizing a predetermined soft key when the removed touch panel is placed on the sheet.

0010

[Operation] According to the present invention, by removing the detachable touch panel from the display device and overlaying it on the template sheet, soft keys can be realized without destroying the application screen.

[0011] Also, unique soft keys for each application can be created simply by creating a template sheet.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of this embodiment, in which 1 is a CPU, 2 is a ROM that stores system programs such as touch panel control, and 3 is an RA that stores work areas and application programs used in the ROM.
M, 4 is a display device, 5 is a touch panel, 6 is an external storage device, and 7 is a system bus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the touch panel control program stored in the ROM 2, FIG. 4 is a template sheet of system soft keys, and FIG. 5 is an example of soft keys specific to an application.

FIG. 6 is an external view of this embodiment. Here A
is a display device, and B is a template sheet. C is a touch panel, which is shown removed from display device A and placed on template sheet B. D is a bus that connects the touch panel C and the main unit (not shown).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0017] The touch panel control system program includes: ■ When the touch panel is not removed, ■ When the touch panel is removed and system soft keys are used, ■ When the touch panel is removed and the application's own soft keys are used. In this case, there are three states.

It is assumed that whether or not the touch panel is removed can be detected by the touch panel 5 and system bus 7 shown in FIG. Whether or not to use the system soft key is determined as a flag on the RAM 3 in FIG. 1, and initialization is performed within this flowchart. Also, ON/
The OFF setting is in a separate entry in the system program, and can be set by calling from an application.

System soft keys are provided by the system so that applications do not need to be aware of the touch panel.

First, when this program is entered in the power-on process, the program goes from step S1 to step S7, sets a flag to use the system soft key, and ends the program.

[0021] If the power is turned on other than when the touch panel C is pressed, that is, if the touch panel C is pressed, the process goes from step S1 to step S2, and it is detected whether the touch panel C has been removed. If it has not been removed, the touch panel is being used as a normal touch panel on the display screen, so the process goes to step S6, where the touch position is returned to the application as is, and the process ends.

[0022] If the touch panel C has been removed, the process goes to step S3, and a flag indicating whether to use the system soft keys is checked. If you don't use it,
Since the analysis of the touch position is unique to the application, the process goes to step S6, where the touch position is returned to the application as is, and the process ends.

FIG. 5 is an example in which touch analysis in a certain application is performed by creating a unique template sheet. On the application side, touch analysis is performed based on this diagram. On the display screen, there is no need to display the switches on the right side or the switches on the bottom side of the diagram.

On the other hand, if the system soft key is being used, the process goes to step S4, and the touch position is analyzed in accordance with the template sheet of FIG.

In step S5, as a result of the analysis, if the key top corresponds to the key top, it is converted into a key code and passed to the application; if the key top does not correspond, nothing is returned and the process ends.

[0026] In the above-mentioned embodiment, a system was explained that does not include a keyboard device as an input means, but according to the present invention, the keyboard device is made detachable, and an environment in which operations can be performed without a keyboard when carried around is created. It is also possible to provide

[0027]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
By providing a removable touch panel and placing the removed touch panel on a template sheet, soft keys can be realized, making the entire system lighter and smaller and reducing the burden of application development.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of soft keys according to the prior art.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a touch panel control program stored in a ROM.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a template sheet for system soft keys.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of application-specific soft keys.

FIG. 6 is an external view of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A Display device B Template sheet C Touch panel D Bus

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Display means for displaying various information, a touch panel that can be attached to and detached from the display means, a template sheet on which the removed touch panel is placed, and a touch panel on which the removed touch panel is placed. What is claimed is: 1. A touch panel type information processing device comprising: a control means for realizing a predetermined soft key when the touch panel is placed.