TW201337717A - Electronic device with touch control - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device with touch control is disclosed. The electronic device provides a touch-control unit so that a user can easily reach an iconic button of a graphic user interface (GUI) of an application. While the touch-control unit is operated in a specific mode, a larger touch area of the touch-control unit is provided for a specific button of the GUI to be touched by the user in order to execute an operation indicated by the button.

Description

Touchable electronic device

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to a touchable electronic device that can provide a labeled area for a user to select a button of a graphical user interface of an application.

The popularity of high-end mobile devices has made it increasingly accustomed to the function of the application displayed on the touch screen by touching the touch screen. For example, when using a smart phone or a tablet, the user can perform the corresponding operation of the button according to the graphical user interface presented by the current touch screen application and the button of the graphical user interface.

In contrast, traditional PCs or notebooks do not provide direct access to the screen by the user because of the distance between the display device and the user, the posture of the operation, and the interface design. Traditional personal computers or laptops typically use a pointer as a user's operational representative. The cursor can be input using a mouse, trackball, trackpad, etc. When inputting in a cursor mode, the user must accurately move the cursor to the button of the graphical user interface of the application, and then click the button.

When the user is accustomed to operating a mobile device with a touch screen, it is advantageous to display a touch device on a conventional computer, such as a touch pad, which is inconvenient in the way of cursor input. In view of this, if a new electronic device can be proposed, which has a novel touch input mode, the user's convenience in operation can be improved.

One aspect of the present invention provides an electronic device that can provide a button for a user to easily select a graphical user interface of an application on the touch unit.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can provide a labeled area, and the labeled area can mark a button of the graphical user interface for the user to understand the correspondence between the touch area of the touch unit and the button of the graphical user interface. .

An embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device including: a processing unit for executing an application, wherein the application has a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface includes at least one button; and a display unit is used Displaying a graphical user interface; a marking unit providing at least one marking area; and a touch unit providing at least one touch area corresponding to the at least one button, and corresponding to the mode signal in the first mode or the second mode In operation, wherein the touch unit operates in the first mode, the at least one touch area has a first area; and wherein the touch unit operates in the second mode, the at least one touch area further corresponds to the indication The area has a second area, and the second area is larger than the first area.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented as a computer device, method, or computer readable medium as a computer program product. Therefore, the present invention can be implemented in various forms, such as a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or can also be implemented as a software and hardware implementation. In the following, it will be referred to as "circuit", "module", "unit" or "system". In addition, the present invention can also be implemented as a computer program product in any tangible media form, with computer usable code stored thereon.

<Specific embodiment>

1A-1B are schematic views showing the operation of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show an electronic device 100 of the present invention, which includes a processing unit 110 (shown in FIG. 4), a display unit 120, a labeling unit 130 (shown in FIG. 4), and a touch unit 140. Further details can be found in the following description of each drawing. It should be noted that FIGS. 1A, 1B and the following description omit elements that are less relevant to the present invention.

<first mode>

FIG. 1A shows electronic device 100 operating in a first mode. When the electronic device 100 operates in the first mode (or may be referred to as a normal mode), the user needs to provide a contact on the touch unit 140 to control a cursor 121. For example, display unit 120 displays a graphical user interface 122 of an application having two buttons 123, 124. If the user wants to operate the button 123 of the graphical user interface 122, the user's finger needs to provide a contact and movement on the touch unit 140, so that the cursor 121 overlaps with the button 123 of the graphical user interface 122. This button 123 is used to perform its operation.

In other words, in the normal mode, when the cursor 121 moves to a specific area, the touch unit 140 has touch areas 125 and 126, which respectively correspond to the buttons 123 and 124; the user must move the cursor to the touch area 125 or After the touch area 126, the button 123 or the button 124 can be clicked. In this embodiment, the button 123 and the button 124 have the same size, and respectively correspond to the two touch areas 125, 126 of the same size on the touch unit 140. The touch areas 125, 126 all have the same area A1, but it is known to those skilled in the art that the touch areas 125, 126 do not have to be the same.

<Second mode>

FIG. 1B shows the electronic device 100 operating in the second mode. When the electronic device 100 operates in the second mode (or may be referred to as a click mode), the indicator unit 130 (shown in FIG. 4) displays at least one button corresponding to at least one button of the graphical user interface. As shown in FIG. 1B, display unit 120 displays two buttons 123, 124 of graphical user interface 122. In the click mode, the labeling unit 130 generates two label areas 127, 128 corresponding to the buttons 123, 124 and displayed on the display unit 120, respectively.

In addition, the touch unit 140 also includes two touch areas 131, 132 corresponding to the buttons 123, 124, respectively. The touch area 131 corresponds to the label area 127 and the button 123 , and the touch area 132 corresponds to the label area 128 and the button 124 . The touch areas 131 and 132 all have the same area A2. Preferably, the touch areas 131 and 132 are directly adjacent to each other to fully utilize the touchable area of the touch unit 140. However, those skilled in the art should know that the areas of the touch areas 131 and 132 are not necessarily the same, and are not necessarily directly adjacent.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the area A2 of the touch areas 131, 132 of the click mode is larger than the area A1 of the touch areas 125, 126 of the first mode (see FIG. 1A). Preferably, but not limited to, the total area of the touch areas 131, 132 is equal to the touchable area of the touch unit 140. Therefore, the cursor needs to be carefully moved to the smaller touch areas 125 and 126 than the normal mode. When the user operates the touch unit 140 in the click mode, the touch area 131 or the touch area of the larger area A2 can be transmitted. The control area 132 can be clicked on the button 123 or the button 124 to perform its operation, greatly improving the convenience of the user.

In the present invention, the electronic device 100 operates in the first mode (general mode) or the second mode (click mode) in response to a mode signal, for example, when the specific condition is not met, the electronic device 100 operates in the first mode. And when a certain condition is met, a mode signal is generated, and the electronic device 100 operates in the second mode in response to the mode signal. In addition, the present invention does not limit the specific conditions for generating a mode signal, for example, when the user is operating the graphical user interface of the application, if the application provides a specific window, and the specific window has at least one button executable In operation, a mode signal can be generated to cause the touch unit 140 to operate in the click mode. Alternatively, when the application automatically displays an inquiry window when the application meets a certain condition, and the inquiry window has two buttons that require the user to make a selection, a mode signal can be generated to switch to the click mode. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention further encompasses other specific conditions that can produce a mode signal.

In addition, in order to enable the user to understand the correspondence between the marked area and the specific button, the marked area may be adjacent to the corresponding button, or the marked area may be overlapped with the corresponding button. However, the above manner is only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and the marking area and the corresponding button of the present invention are not limited to the above corresponding manners.

<Return to the first mode by the second mode>

2A shows a schematic diagram of the operation of the electronic device 100 in the click mode. As shown in FIG. 2A, the marking unit 130 provides three marking areas 301, 302, 303 and is displayed on the display unit 120. The indicator areas 301, 302 correspond to the two buttons 123, 124 of the graphical user interface 122, respectively, and the indicator area 303 provides a pattern, such as a prohibition symbol.

In addition, the touch unit 140 also provides three touch areas 304, 305, and 306 having an area A3 corresponding to the marked areas 301, 302, and 303, respectively. The touch areas 304, 305 also correspond to the buttons 123, 124, respectively, and the touch area 306 corresponds to a cancel signal. When the touch unit 140 detects that the user touches one of the touch area 304 or the touch area 305, the processing unit 110 (shown in FIG. 4) should contact the button corresponding to the touch area 304 or the touch area 305. When the touch unit 140 detects that the user touches one of the touch areas 306, the touch unit 140 changes from the second mode to the first mode.

FIG. 2B shows another schematic diagram of the operation of the electronic device 100 in the click mode. As shown in FIG. 2B, the marking unit 130 still provides three marking areas 301, 302, 303 and is displayed on the display unit 120, but wherein the marking area 303 provides a name of a keyboard button, such as Esc. The touch unit 140 provides two touch areas 307 and 308 corresponding to the marked areas 301 and 302, respectively. The touch areas 307, 308 having the area A4 also correspond to the buttons 123, 124, respectively. In FIG. 2B, the area A4 of the touch areas 307, 308 has a larger area than the area A3 of the touch areas 304, 305 of FIG. 2A, and the user can more easily touch the touch areas 307, 308 to operate the buttons. 123, 124. In addition, since the label area 303 provides the name of a keyboard button, the user can know that pressing the button Esc can change the touch unit 140 from the click mode to the normal mode. It should be noted that FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrate that the touch control unit 140 can be changed from the click mode to the normal mode by using one of the touch areas of the touch unit 140 or using a keyboard button. It is not intended to limit the invention.

<Second mode switching flag area>

3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing the electronic device 100 switching the marked area. As shown in FIG. 3A, the electronic device 100 operates in a click mode with a graphical user interface 410 having buttons 421-426. The marking unit 130 provides two marking areas 431, 432 corresponding to the buttons 421, 422, respectively. The touch unit 140 provides two touch areas 441 and 442 respectively corresponding to the label areas 431 and 432, and the touch areas 441 and 442 also correspond to the buttons 421 and 422, respectively.

If the user wants to operate the button 424, the touch unit 140 can detect the contact provided by the user to generate a switching signal, for example, the user touches the touch unit 140 with at least two fingers. Alternatively, the touch unit 140 detects that the user provides a gesture to generate a switching signal, for example, the user slides over the touch unit 140 with one finger. It should be noted that the present invention also encompasses generating switching signals in other manners and is not limited to the embodiments described above.

As shown in FIG. 3B, after the touch unit 140 generates the switching signal, the touch unit 140 and the marking unit 130 switch the plurality of touch areas and the plurality of marked areas corresponding to the other plurality of buttons according to the switching signal. For example, when the user generates a switching signal by sliding the finger over the touch unit 140, the touch area 441 and the label area 431 are switched to correspond to the button 423, and the touch area 442 and the label area 432 are switched to correspond to the button 424.

After the touch unit 140 changes the corresponding relationship between the touch areas 441 and 442 and the buttons on the graphic user interface 410, the user can provide a contact with the touch area 442 to perform the operation of the button 424. .

<device architecture>

4 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device 100 of the present invention. The electronic device 100 includes a processing unit 110, a display unit 120, a labeling unit 130, and a touch unit 140. It should be noted that the description of FIG. 4 and the following description omits elements that are relatively unrelated to the present invention.

The processing unit 110 is configured to execute an application having a graphical user interface. The graphical user interface includes at least one button or a plurality of buttons. The display unit 120 is configured to display a graphical user interface, and the display unit 120 can be a display on a notebook computer or other kinds of displays. The marking unit 130 provides at least one marked area or a plurality of marked areas. The marked area corresponds to the button of the graphical user interface, or the marked area presents a graphic for the user to change the touch unit 140 from the click mode to the normal mode. In addition, in an embodiment of the invention, the marked area is adjacent to the corresponding button; in another embodiment of the present invention, the marked area is overlapped with the corresponding button.

The touch unit 140 provides at least one touch area corresponding to at least one button, or provides a plurality of touch areas corresponding to the plurality of buttons. The touch unit 140 operates in a normal mode or a click mode in response to a mode signal. When the touch unit 140 operates in the normal mode, a touch area corresponds to a button and has a first area (for example, the area A1 of FIG. 1A); when the touch unit 140 operates in the click mode, one touch The control area corresponds to a button and a marked area, and the touch area has a second area (for example, area A2 of FIG. 1B). The second area of the touch area in the click mode is larger than the first area of the touch area in the normal mode, so as to improve the convenience of the touch operation.

When the touch unit 140 operates in the click mode, the touch unit 140 further includes detecting a contact or a gesture to generate a switching signal. After the switching signal is generated, the touch unit 140 switches the plurality of touch regions according to the switching signal, and the plurality of labeled regions correspond to the other plurality of buttons.

As can be seen from the above descriptions, in the present invention, when the user operates the touch unit in the click mode, the specific button on the graphical user interface can be easily selected through a large area of the touch area. To perform its operations. Therefore, the present invention greatly improves the user's convenience in touch operation. If there are many buttons on the interface of the graphic user, the user can easily provide a touch or a gesture of the touch unit to change the correspondence between the touch area and the button. In addition, the user can also touch a specific touch area on the touch unit or use a specific keyboard button to change the touch unit from the click mode to the normal mode.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention; all other equivalent changes or modifications which are not departing from the spirit of the present invention should be included in the following. Within the scope of the patent application.

100. . . Electronic device

110. . . Processing unit

120. . . Display unit

121. . . cursor

122, 410. . . Graphical user interface

123, 124, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426. . . Button

125, 126, 131, 132, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 441, 442. . . Touch area

127, 128, 301, 302, 303, 431, 432. . . Marked area

130. . . Marking unit

140. . . Touch unit

A1, A2, A3, A4. . . area

FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of the operation of the electronic device in the first mode.

FIG. 1B shows a schematic diagram of the operation of the electronic device in the second mode.

2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of the electronic device in the second mode.

3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing switching regions of an electronic device.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the function of the electronic device of the present invention.

100. . . Electronic device

110. . . Processing unit

120. . . Display unit

130. . . Marking unit

140. . . Touch unit

Claims (10)

An electronic device includes: a processing unit for executing an application, wherein the application has a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface includes at least one button; and a display unit for displaying the graphical user The interface unit provides at least one indicator area; and a touch unit that provides at least one touch area corresponding to the at least one button and operates in a first mode or a second mode in response to a mode signal; The at least one touch area has a first area when the touch unit operates in the first mode; and wherein the touch unit operates in the second mode, the at least one touch area is further Corresponding to the marked area and having a second area, the second area is larger than the first area. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the touch unit operates in the second mode, the touch unit detects a first contact with the at least one touch area, the processing unit The first contact should be performed to execute the application to perform one of the at least one button corresponding to the at least one touch area. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one marked area is adjacent to the at least one button. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one marked area overlaps the at least one button. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the graphic user interface further comprises a plurality of buttons, the marking unit further comprises a plurality of marking regions, and the touch unit further comprises a plurality of touch regions, wherein The touch unit operates in the second mode, and each touch area corresponds to a button and a marked area. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the plurality of touch regions are directly adjacent to each other when the touch unit operates in the second mode. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein when the touch unit operates in the second mode, the marking unit further provides a pattern in one of the marking areas, if the touch unit detects the pair When the touch panel is in contact with one of the touch regions, the touch unit is changed from the second mode to the first mode. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the touch unit operates in the second mode, the touch unit and the label unit further comprise switching a plurality of touch regions according to a switching signal and The plurality of marked areas correspond to other plurality of buttons. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the touch unit detects a third contact to generate the switching signal. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the touch unit detects a gesture to generate the switching signal.