Abstract:
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to input coordinate information continuously among a plurality of input faces in inputting such coordinate information from the plurality of input faces by specifying coordinate positions. When a time measured between an end of a first input on the first input face and a start of a second input on the second input face is within a predetermined time, the first and second inputs are recognized as one continuous input even if the first input is stopped. Furthermore, when the end position of the first input is within a predetermined region, the first and second inputs are recognized as one continuous input even if the first input is stopped. Accordingly, it becomes possible to make a series of inputs by using the plurality of input faces.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a coordinate input apparatus applied to portable information processing terminals such as an electronic pocketbook comprising a plurality of display integrated tablets in each of which a display and an input device are integrated, a coordinate input method, and a computer-readable recording medium including a coordinate input control program recorded therein. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Hitherto, an apparatus such as an electronic pocketbook having independent two screens is arranged such that, when it comprises display integrated tablets and adopts a pen input apparatus, it can specify a move or the like within one screen. However, in the case of moving to the other screen, a pen must be separated from the one screen once, so that it is judged that an end of move has been specified at the moment when the pen is separated from the screen. 
     Therefore, it has been necessary to specify a region of one screen at first to execute operations such as copying and moving and then to specify a region of the other screen to execute respective operations in specifying the regions ranging across the two screens, thus obliging such very cumbersome operations. 
     In order to solve such problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 6-44001(1994) discloses an apparatus for detecting a moving direction and a moving speed of an icon  21  displayed on display screens  14   a  and  14   b  of an apparatus as shown in FIG.  9  and for allowing the icon  21  to move between the display screens  14   a  and  14   b  by moving it in the moving direction further by a predetermined distance R when the moving speed of the icon is faster than a predetermined speed at the moment when the specification of the move is finished, i.e. a pen  11   a  is separated from the icon  21  (the face of a tablet). 
     However, although the invention disclosed in JP-A 6-44001(1994) allows the icon or a window frame to move across the two screens, it is unable to operate the pen continuously from one screen to the next screen in processing information which is displayed across the two screens and continues from one screen to the next screen such as a selection of a range. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a coordinate input apparatus which allows to input coordinate information of a plurality of input faces continuously among the plurality of input faces by specifying coordinate positions, a method for inputting a coordinate and a computer-readable recording medium including a coordinate input control program recorded therein. 
     In a first aspect of the invention, a coordinate input apparatus for inputting coordinate information of a plurality of input faces by specifying coordinate positions comprises: 
     time measuring means for measuring a time from an end of a first input on a first input face to a start of a second input on a second input face; 
     judging means for judging whether or not the time measured by the time measuring means is within a predetermined time; and 
     input control means for recognizing the first and second inputs as one continuous input when the time is judged to be within the predetermined time by the judging means. 
     In a second aspect of the invention, a coordinate input apparatus for inputting coordinate information of a plurality of input faces by specifying coordinate positions comprises: 
     judging means for judging whether or not a position where a first input has been ended on a first input face is within a predetermined region; and 
     input control means for recognizing the first input and a second input following the first input, on a second input face as one continuous input when the position where the first input has been ended is determined to be within the predetermined region by the judging means. 
     In a third aspect of the invention, a coordinate input method for inputting coordinate information of a plurality of input faces by specifying coordinate positions comprises the steps of: 
     measuring a time from an end of a first input on a first input face to a start of a second input on a second input face; 
     judging whether or not the time measured at the time measuring step is within a predetermined time; and 
     controlling the input by recognizing the first and second inputs as one continuous input when the time is judged to be within the predetermined time at the judging step. 
     In a fourth aspect of the invention, a coordinate input method for inputting coordinate information of a plurality of input faces by specifying coordinate positions comprises the steps of: 
     judging whether or not a position where a first input has been ended on a first input face is within a predetermined region; and 
     controlling the input by recognizing the first input and a second input following the first input, on a second input face as one continuous input when the position where the first input has been ended is determined to be within the predetermined region at the judging step. 
     In a fifth aspect of the invention, a computer-readable recording medium comprising a coordinate input control program recorded therein for causing a computer in which coordinate information of a plurality of input faces can be inputted by specifying coordinate positions, to execute: 
     a time measuring procedure of measuring a time from an end of a first input on a first input face to a start of a second input on a second input face; 
     a judging procedure of judging whether or not the time measured in the time measuring procedure is within a predetermined time; and 
     an input controlling procedure of controlling the input by recognizing the first and second inputs as one continuous input when the time is judged to be within the predetermined time in the judging procedure. 
     In a sixth aspect of the invention, a computer-readable recording medium including a coordinate input control program recorded therein for causing a computer in which coordinate information of a plurality of input faces can be inputted by specifying coordinate positions, to execute: 
     a judging procedure of judging whether or not a position where a first input has been ended on a first input face is within a predetermined region; and 
     an input controlling procedure of controlling the input by recognizing the first input and a second input following the first input, on a second input face as one continuous input when the position where the first input has been ended is determined to be within the predetermined region in the judging procedure. 
     According to the first, third and fifth aspects of the invention, when the measured time is within the predetermined time, the fist and second inputs are recognized as one continuous input even if the first input is stopped. 
     According to the second, fourth and sixth aspects of the invention, when the position where the first input is ended is within the predetermined region, the first and second inputs are recognized as one continuous input even if the first input is stopped. 
     Accordingly, it becomes possible to make a series of inputs by using a plurality of input faces. Thereby, it becomes possible to select a screen range straddling two screens, for example, allowing an operation performance to be remarkably improved. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other and further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be more explicit from the following detailed description taken with reference to the drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of an information processing terminal  31   a  according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing coordinate input processing operations of the information processing terminal  31   a;    
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed structure of the information processing terminal  31   a;    
     FIG. 4 shows an example of display of the information processing terminal  31   a;    
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a structure of an information processing terminal  31   b  according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing coordinate input processing operations of the information processing terminal  31   b;    
     FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a detailed structure of the information processing terminal  31   b;    
     FIG. 8 shows an example of display of the information processing terminal  31   b ; and 
     FIG. 9 shows an example of display of the prior art information processing terminal. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Now referring to the drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention are described below. 
     A first embodiment of the present invention will be explained below in detail. 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a structure of an information processing terminal  31   a  according to the present invention. A coordinate input section  1  of the information processing terminal  31   a  is composed of tablets, for example, and is arranged so that coordinate information is inputted by touching a touch pen with faces of the tablets. It is constructed in a body with a display section  3 . 
     A timer  2  is activated by the coordinate input section  1  and measures a time from the point of time when a pen input has been finished. That is, it starts to measure the time from a moment when the pen has been separated from the coordinate input section  1 . 
     The display section  3  is composed of a LCD (liquid crystal display), for example, and is used to display various data. It is constructed in a body with the coordinate input section  1  as described above. The display section  3  comprises two display screens  10   a  and  10   b  as shown in FIG.  4 . Input faces are set on the display screens  10   a  and  10   b , respectively. 
     An input control section  5  controls input of coordinate information from the coordinate input section  1  under the control of a CPU  7 . A display control section  6  controls display on the display section  3  under the control of the CPU  7 . The CPU  7  controls and manages the whole apparatus. Information necessary for the control of the present invention is stored in first and second memories  8  and  9 , respectively. 
     The first memory  8  is divided into a program memory and a data memory. A range selection control program  8   a , a comparison program  8   b  and other processing programs  8   d  are stored in the program memory. A predetermined time memory  8   c  is stored in the data memory. 
     The medium in which the above-mentioned programs are recorded also falls within the scope of the present invention. A recording medium  12  is, for example, a CD-ROM which is removably attached to a main body of the apparatus via a program reading section  30 . An execution format program which is read and executed by the main body, a source program which can the execution format program to be constructed, and an intermediate program are recorded in the recording medium  12 . 
     In concrete, the above-mentioned range selection control program, comparison program and other processing programs are stored, and the execution format program read into the program memory by the program reading section  30  causes each section to operate and function under the control of the CPU  7 . 
     Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained in order. 
     FIG. 4 shows an example of display screens of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the display section  3  has two independent screens  10   a  and  10   b . This will be explained assuming a case when a screen range selection is made across the two screens by a touch pen  11   a . The screens  10   a  and  10   b  are composed of tablets and are arranged such that coordinate information is input when input is made by the touch pen  11   a.    
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing operations of the invention and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing processing steps of the invention. The flow of the processing will be explained in detail with reference to these figures. 
     It is detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has touched the tablet (screen  10   a ) at step  01  and when the touch pen  11   a  has touched the tablet, the process advances to step  02 . 
     At step  02 , coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches is detected by the coordinate input section  1  and is given to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5 . The coordinate information at this time is stored as x 0  and y 0  in a first display screen input start coordinate memory  9   b.    
     At step  03 , it is detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ). When the touch pen  11   a  is not separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ), the process advances to step  04 . When the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ), the process advances to step  06 . 
     At step  04 , coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches is detected by the coordinate input section  1 , is given to the CPU  7  as (x 1 , y 1 ) by the input control section  5  and is stored in a first display screen input coordinate memory  9   c.    
     Then at step  05 , a range from the input start coordinates (x 0 , y 0 ) to the input coordinates (x 1 , y 1 ) is set to be a selected range in accordance to the input coordinate information. That is, the contents of the first display screen input start coordinate memory  9   b  and the first display screen input coordinate memory  9   c  are stored in a first display screen selected range memory  9   a . Then, based on the information in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a , a range selecting process is carried out under the control of the range selection control section  8   a , and the selected range is displayed on the display section  3  inversely, for example, under the control of the display control section  6 . 
     Thus, the coordinate information is given to the CPU  7  while the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   a ). 
     At step  06 , the timer  2  is activated because the touch pen  11   a  is separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ). 
     At step  07 , it is then detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has touched the next screen  10   b  of the tablet. 
     At step  08 , an elapsed time until when the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   b ) at step  07  after activation of the timer  2  at step  06  is stored in a detection time memory  9   h  and the comparison section  8   b  determines whether or not it is within the predetermined time stored in the predetermined time memory  8   c.    
     When the touch pen  11   a  did not touch the tablet (screen  10   b ) at step  07  or when the elapsed time is not within the predetermined time at step  08 , the process advances to step  09  to implement other processes. 
     When the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   b ) at step  07  and the elapsed time is within the predetermined time at step  08 , the process advances to step  10 . 
     At step  10 , a range from the input start coordinates (x 0 , y 0 ) to the coordinates at the lower right corner (x 10 , y 10 ) of the first screen is set as a selected range. That is, the contents of the first display screen input start coordinate memory  9   b  and the first display screen lower right corner coordinate memory  9   d  are stored in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a . Then, based on the information in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a , the range selecting process is carried out under the control of the range selection control section  8   a , and the selected range is displayed on the display section  3  inversely, for example, under the control of the display control section  6 . 
     At step  11 , coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches is detected by the coordinate input section  1  and given to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5 . The coordinate information at this time is stored in a second display screen input coordinate memory  9   f  as x 2  and y 2 . 
     At step  12 , a range from the coordinates at the upper left corner (x 20 , y 20 ) to the input coordinates (x 2 , y 2 ) of the next screen is set as a selected range. That is, the contents of the second display screen input coordinate memory  9   f  and the second display screen upper left corner coordinate memory  9   g  are stored in the second display screen selected range memory  9   e . Then, based on the information in the second display screen selected range memory  9   e , the range selecting process is carried out under the control of the range selection control section  8   a , and the selected range is displayed on the display section  3  inversely, for example, under the control of the display control section  6 . 
     At step  13 , it is then detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   b ). When the touch pen  11   a  has not been separated from the tablet (screen  10   b ), the process returns to step  11  to detect the coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches by the coordinate input section  1  and to give it to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5 . 
     Thus, the coordinate information is continuously given to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5  while the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   b ). The processing operation is finished when the touch pen  11   a  is separated from the tablet (screen  10   b ). 
     As described above, the coordinate input section  1  activates the timer  2  when the touch pen is separated once from the tablet, and detects the time until when the next screen is touched by the touch pen. When the next screen is touched by the touch pen within the predetermined time, it is determined that the input by the touch pen is not finished yet on the first screen and the process is carried out continuously straddling the two screens. 
     A case of selecting a range as a selected range straddling the two screens will be explained concretely with reference to FIG.  4 . The tablet is touched by the touch pen  11   a  from position P 1  to position P 2  within the screen  10   a  and the touch pen  11   a  is separated from the screen  10   a  once at position P 2 . Then, the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet at position P 3  of the screen  10   b  within the predetermined time and slides into position P 4 . Thereby, hatched portions straddling the screens  10   a  and  10   b  may be selected. When the next screen (screen  10   b ) is touched after a time elapsed more than the predetermined time, it is determined that the input has been finished in the screen  10   a  and no continuous process is carried out between the screens. 
     Next, a second embodiment will be explained. 
     Similarly to FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a structure of an information processing terminal  31   b  of the present invention. Each construction thereof is almost the same with that shown in FIG.  1 . The points of differences between the two are that the terminal  31   b  does not require the timer  2  unlike the terminal  31   a  in FIG.  1  and that the contents of the first memory  8  and second memory  9  are partly different. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing operations thereof and FIG. 7 is a processing block diagram. 
     At step  21 , it is detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has touched the tablet (screen  10   a ) and when the touch pen  11   a  has touched the tablet, the process advances to step  22 . 
     At step  22 , coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches is detected by the coordinate input section  1  and given to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5 . The coordinate information at this time is stored as x 0  and y 0  in a first display screen input start coordinate memory  9   b.    
     At step  23 , it is detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ). When the touch pen  11   a  is not separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ), the process advances to step  24 . When the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ), the process advances to step  26 . 
     At step  24 , coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches is detected by the coordinate input section  1 , and given to the CPU  7  as (x 1 , y 1 ) by the input control section  5  and then stored in a first display screen input coordinate memory  9   c.    
     Then at step  25 , the range from the input start coordinates (x 0 , y 0 ) to the input coordinates (x 1 , y 1 ) is set to be a selected range in accordance to the input coordinate information. That is, the contents of the first display screen input start coordinate memory  9   b  and the first display screen input coordinate memory  9   c  are stored in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a . Then, based on the information in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a , a range selecting process is carried out under the control of the range selection control section  8   a  and the selected range is displayed on the display section  3  inversely, for example, under the control of the display control section  6 . Thus, the coordinate information is given to the CPU  7  while the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   a ). 
     At step  26 , it is determined by the comparison section  8   b  whether or not the coordinates (x 1 , y 1 ) at the moment of time when the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ) are within a predetermined range of the predetermined range memory  8   e.    
     At step  27 , it is then detected whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has touched the next screen  10   b  of the tablet. 
     When the coordinates (x 1 , y 1 ) at the moment of time when the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ) are not within the predetermined range at step  26  or the touch pen  11   a  did not touch the tablet (screen  10   b ) at step  27 , the process advances to step  28  to implement other processes. 
     When the coordinates (x 1 , y 1 ) at the moment of time when the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   a ) are within the predetermined range at step  26  and the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   b ) at step  27 , the process advances to step  29 . 
     At step  29 , a range from the input start coordinates (x 0 , y 0 ) to the coordinates at the lower right corner (x 10 , y 10 ) of the first screen is set as a selected range. That is, the contents of the first display screen input start coordinate memory  9   b  and the first display screen lower right corner coordinate memory  9   d  are stored in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a . Then, based on the information in the first display screen selected range memory  9   a , the range selecting process is carried out under the control of the range selection control section  8   a , and the selected range is displayed on the display section  3  inversely, for example, under the control of the display control section  6 . 
     At step  30 , coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches is detected by the coordinate input section  1  and given to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5 . The coordinate information at this time is stored in a second display screen input coordinate memory  9   f  as x 2  and y 2 . 
     At step  31 , a range from the coordinates at the upper left corner (x 20 , y 21 ) to the input coordinates (x 2 , y 2 ) of the next screen is set as a selected range. That is, the contents of the second display screen input coordinate memory  9   f  and the second display screen upper left corner coordinate memory  9   g  are stored in the second display screen selected range memory  9   e . Then, based on the information in the second display screen selected range memory  9   e , the range selecting process is carried out under the control of the range selection control section  8   a  and the selected range is displayed on the display section  3  inversely, for example, under the control of the display control section  6 . 
     At step  32 , it is then detected by the coordinate input section  1  whether or not the touch pen  11   a  has been separated from the tablet (screen  10   b ). When the touch pen  11   a  has not been separated from the tablet (screen  10   b ), the process returns to step  30  to detect coordinate information of x and y where the touch pen  11   a  touches by the coordinate input section  1  and to give it to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5 . 
     Thus, the coordinate information is continuously given to the CPU  7  by the input control section  5  while the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet (screen  10   b ). The processing operation is finished when the touch pen  11   a  is separated from the tablet (screen  10   b ). 
     As described above, when the touch pen  11   a  is separated once from the tablet in the first screen, the coordinate input section  1  detects the coordinates of the position where the pen is separated. When the coordinates of that position are within the preset range and when the next screen is touched by the touch pen in succession, it is determined that the input by the touch pen is not finished yet on the first screen and the process is carried out continuously straddling the two screens. 
     FIG. 8 is an illustration of selecting a range concretely as a selected range straddling the two screens. The tablet is touched by the touch pen  11   a  from position P 1  to position P 5  of the pen within a specific region  4  within the screen  10   a  and the touch pen  11   a  is separated from the screen  10   a  once within the specific region  4 . Then, the touch pen  11   a  touches the tablet at position P 3  of the screen  10   b  and slides into position P 4 . Thereby, hatched portions straddling the screens  10   a  and  10   b  may be selected. When the next screen (screen  10   b ) is touched after the touch pen  11   a  is separated once from the screen  10   a  other than the specific region on the screen  10   a , it is determined that the input has been finished on the screen  10   a  and no continuous process is carried out among the screens. 
     Although the specific region  4  has been set as a predetermined region at the lower right corner of the screen here, it is also possible to set it at any position from the left edge to the right edge as long as it is on the lowermost line of the screen. Further, the methods for inputting coordinates explained in the first and second embodiments also fall within the scope of the invention. 
     The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning and the range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.