Patent Publication Number: US-2007103450-A1

Title: Touch control bar with button function

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is related generally to a touch control bar and, more particularly, to a touch control bar with button function.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Due to its compact size, low cost, low power consumption and long lifetime, touchpad has been widely used as input devices in various electronic products such as notebook computer, mouse, MP3 player and mobile phone, among which touch control bar and touch button are often combined to be utilized in the selection and movement of a list or menu, or the tuning of volume and brightness. However, in conventional electronic products, touch control bar and touch button are usually provided by two separate devices, and therefore on a panel, in addition to LCD display, there is required several button areas and a bar area.  FIG. 1  shows a front view of a typical panel with separate touch buttons and touch control bar, in which panel  10  has LCD display  12 , several button areas  15  and bar area  17 . Since the button areas  15  and the bar area  17  are separated, the panel  10  is limited in both shape and size.  FIG. 2  is the sensor area arrangement of the panel  10  shown in  FIG. 1 , in which button sensor areas  151  are at the positions corresponding to the button areas  15  shown in  FIG. 1 , and scroll sensor areas  171  are at the positions within the bar area  17  shown in  FIG. 1 . When the button sensor area  151  senses a touch thereon, it produces and sends out a button signal. When the scroll sensors  171  sense a scroll thereon, a scroll signal is produced and sent out. Disadvantageously, such arrangement limits the area and mechanical design of the panel, and the panel is hard to reduce in size and is more complex. In the trend of minimizing consumer electronic products, there&#39;s a need to minimize the panel. Moreover, cost reduction is another vital requirement.  
      Therefore, it is desired a touch control bar to increase panel design space, to simplify the structure, to minimize the panel size, and to reduce the cost.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An object of the present invention is to provide a touch control bar with button function.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a touch control bar having simpler structure.  
      Still another object of the present invention is to provide a compact size touch control bar.  
      Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a low cost touch control bar.  
      In a touch control bar with button function, according to the present invention, there are provided a plurality of scroll sensor areas and at least a button sensor area, and the button sensor area is disposed between two adjacent ones of the scroll sensor areas. The touch control bar comprises at least a virtual button, which includes at least a button sensor area. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
      These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  shows a front view of a typical panel with separate touch buttons and touch control bar;  
       FIG. 2  is the sensor area arrangement of the panel shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  shows an embodiment according to the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is the sensor area arrangement of the panel shown in  FIG. 3 . 
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       FIG. 3  shows an embodiment according to the present invention, in which panel  10  has LCD display  12  and touch control bar  19  thereon. The touch control bar  19  has a plurality of button areas  15  embedded thereof, and  FIG. 4  is the sensor area arrangement of the panel  10  shown in  FIG. 3 . The touch control bar  19  has a plurality of scroll sensor areas  191 , and button sensor area  195  is disposed between two adjacent scroll sensor areas  191 . In this embodiment, a button sensor area  195  is composed of an upper region and a lower region, and is defined as a virtual button corresponding to a button area  15 . However, in this embodiment, a button area  15  also covers part of the scroll sensor areas  191 .  
      When the touch control bar  19  is operated therewith, the gesture will determine which function is to be performed. If it is sensed touch, click or pressing on the button sensor area  195 , the button function is active. Namely, a button signal will be produced and sent out corresponding to that button area  15 . If it is sensed scroll on the scroll sensor areas  191 , the scroll function is active. Namely, a scroll signal will be produced and sent out corresponding to that scroll gesture. The detection or judgment of the gesture may be implemented by firmware or software as known in the art.  
      In other embodiments, the shapes and the sizes of the scroll sensor areas  191  and the button sensor areas  195  and the layout of them could be easily designed for each specific application. However, the scroll sensor areas  191  and the button sensor areas  195  are always integrated within the touch control bar  19 , and preferably in such a manner that at least a button sensor area  195  is embedded between two scroll sensor areas  191 .  
      While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.