Patent Publication Number: US-2017364197-A1

Title: Touch operating methods, touch operation assembly, and electronic device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates generally to a control technical filed, and more particularly relates to a touch operating method, a touch operation assembly, and an electronic device having the same. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Due to its intuition, the touch technology has been widely configured in various types of electronic equipments to improve the facility of equipment control. Relying on the rich operating interfaces provided by touch screen display devices, the user can touch the corresponding display area to trigger the associated function in an intuitive manner, according to a specific function option presented on the operating interfaces. 
     However, for devices whose display area cannot be directly operated, e.g., an immersion head-mounted display device, which typically provides manipulating functions by adopting physical buttons, the following problems may occur. 
     First, with an immersion device equipped, the control buttons cannot be observed, so the user must learn the button layout of the immersion device and their associated manipulating functions before using the device. In addition, a single function served by each physical button may increase the difficulty of use, which leads to a reduction of user acceptance for new devices. 
     Second, the number of physical buttons installed may be limited due to product design considerations, which reduces the functionality provided for user control. 
     In view of the above, with respect to different forms of products, the related art is not able to provide a manipulating method which is compatible with the product&#39;s characteristics and can enhance the user operating experience. 
     SUMMARY 
     One objective of the disclosure lies in providing a touch operating method, a touch operation assembly and an electronic device having the same in order to resolve the problems present in the related art. 
     The disclosure provides a touch operation assembly that comprises: 
     a first touch sensor and a second touch sensor both configured to generate a touch signal in response to a touch; and 
     a judging module coupled to the first and second touch sensors and configured to: judge whether the second touch sensor produces a touch signal when detecting that the first touch sensor produces a touch signal; and trigger a first operation if the second touch sensor produces the touch signal; and determine whether the first touch sensor produces a touch signal when detecting that the second touch sensor produces a touch signal, and trigger a second operation if the first touch sensor produces the touch signal. 
     The disclosure further provides an electronic device comprising the above touch operation assembly. 
     The disclosure further provides a touch operating method, the method comprising: 
     Generating a touch signal by a first touch sensor or a second touch sensor, in response to a touch; 
     Judging whether the second touch sensor produces a touch signal when detecting the first touch sensor produces a touch signal, and triggering a first operation if the second touch sensor produces the touch signal; and 
     Judging whether the first touch sensor produces a touch signal when detecting the second touch sensor produces a touch signal, and triggering a second operation if the first touch sensor produces the touch signal. 
     According to the touch operation assembly, electronic device, and touch operating method provided by embodiments of the disclosure, different operations can be provided based on the order in which the touch signals are detected through a combination of a first touch sensor and a second touch sensor. As a result, more operations can be expanded with a limited physical structure and the operations as defined don&#39;t need to rely on the operating interfaces, thus to enhance the user operating experience. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a touch operation assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a touch operation assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the touch operation assembly of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a touch operation according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a touch operating method according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating a touch operating method according to another embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present disclosure will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, in which the objects, solutions, and advantages of the disclosure will become more apparent. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure. 
     In the following exemplary embodiments, the same reference signs are configured to designate the same components. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a touch operation assembly  1  provided by an embodiment of the disclosure is shown. The touch operation assembly  1  may comprise a first touch sensor  11 , a second touch sensor  20 , and a judging module  30 , The first touch sensor  11  and the second touch sensor  20  may be configured to generate touch signals in response to a touch operation, namely they may produce a touch signal when detecting a touch. The judging module  30  is configured to judge whether the second touch sensor  20  produces a touch signal when detecting the first touch sensor  11  produces a touch signal, and trigger a first operation if the second touch sensor  20  produces the touch signal. The judging module  30  is further configured to judge whether the first touch sensor  11  produces a touch signal when the second touch sensor  20  produces a touch signal, and trigger a second operation if the first touch sensor  11  produces a touch signal. With the touch operation assembly provided by this embodiment, different operations can be triggered depending on different touch orders by using the combination of first touch sensor  11  and second touch sensor  20 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the first operation and the second operation may be different operations corresponding to the same manipulating function. For example, the manipulating function can be volume adjustment, video fast forward and backward adjustment, menu entering or exiting operation, etc. For further clarification, an embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2  will be combined to described in detail, as shown in the figure, the first touch sensor  11  is circular shaped and the second touch sensor  12  is annular shaped as, where the second touch sensor  20  surrounds the first touch sensor  11  and is spaced apart from the first touch sensor  11 . When the user&#39;s finger slides from the first touch sensor  11  to the second touch sensor  20 , the first touch sensor  11  generates the touch signal firstly and second touch sensor  20  generates a touch signal afterwards. At this point, the judging module  30  determines that these two touch signals are detected one after another and triggers a first operation, the first operation may be entering the next level menu according to a function menu item where a focus point currently located on. Correspondingly, when the user&#39;s finger slides from the second touch sensor  20  to the first touch sensor  11 , the second touch sensor  20  generates the touch signal firstly and the first touch sensor  11  may generate the touch signal afterwards, and at this point, the judging module  30  may determine that the two touch signals are detected one after another, and trigger a second operation, the second operation may be returning to a previous level menu. Alternatively, the first operation may be increasing the volume, while the corresponding second operation may be reducing the volume; the first operation also may be fast forward a video, while the corresponding second operation may be fast backward the video. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the judging module  30  may further be configured to: continuously perform an associated second operation or an associated first operation when detecting that the touch signal of the first touch sensor or the second touch sensor is generated afterwards and is continuous, until the continuous signal generated afterwards is terminated. So that, the user&#39;s operations can he simplified in specific scenarios. For example, in the case when the first operation is increasing the volume, then when the user slides the finger from first touch sensor  11  to second touch sensor  20  and hold the touch on the second touch sensor  20  for a certain period of time, the first touch sensor  11  may first generate a touch signal, and second touch sensor  20  may afterwards generate a touch signal for a continuous period of time, namely a continuous signal. At this point, the judging module  30  may determine the two touch signals are detected one after another and therefore may trigger the first operation for increasing the volume. Furthermore, since the second touch sensor  20  continues to generate the touch signal, the judging module  30  may continue to increase the volume in accordance with the continuous signal until the user&#39;s finger leaves second touch sensor  20 . As a result, the user can increase or decrease the volume more convenient. Apparently, the specific application scenario is not limited to adjusting the volume; it can also be adjusting the progression of a video or any other scenario applying this operation suitably. 
     Further, a number of different operations can be triggered when there are a number of second touch sensors. For example, if the number of the second touch sensors is N, then the number of different operations that can be defined in combination with the first touch sensor is 2N. As shown in  FIG. 2 , within the area in which the second touch sensor  20  is disposed in the above embodiment, a number of separated second touch sensors  20 A,  20 B, and  20 C are set. The second touch sensors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C can be respectively combined with the first touch sensor  11  to define a volume adjustment function, a video fast forward and fast backward function, and a menu entering and exiting function, respectively. Namely, when the user&#39;s finger slides from first touch sensor  11  to second touch sensor  20 A, the judging module  30  may first receive a touch signal generated by first touch sensor  11 , and then receive a touch signal generated by second touch sensor  20 A. At this point, the judging module  30  may trigger a volume increasing operation. In reverse, when the user&#39;s finger slides from second touch sensor  20 A to first touch sensor  11 , the second touch sensor  20 A may first generate a touch signal, and the first touch sensor  11  may generate a touch signal afterwards. At this point, the judging module  30  may trigger a volume decreasing operation. When the user&#39;s finger slides from the first touch sensor  11  to the second touch sensor  20 B, the judging module  30  may first receive a touch signal produced by first touch sensor  11 , and then receive a touch signal produced by second touch sensor  20 B. In this case, a video fast forward operation may be triggered. In reverse, when the user&#39;s finger slides from the second touch sensor  20 B to the first touch sensor  11 , the second touch sensor  20 B may first generate a touch signal, and the first touch sensor  11  may generate a touch signal afterwards. At this point, the judging module  30  may trigger a video fast backward operation. Likewise, the combination of first touch sensor  11  and second touch sensor  20 C can be operated in a manner similar to that described above in relation to  FIG. 2 , and so they will not be detail described again. 
     It is to be understood that the above-described manipulating functions may specifically define the first operation and the second operation according to the application characteristics of different electronic devices. Those person skilled in the art will be able to implement the definition in accordance with the particular application principles of the embodiments described above. 
     When the first touch sensor  11  and second touch sensor  20  are disposed within the range controllable by a single hand, the manipulation can be performed by a continuous operation such as a slide across the two touch sensors as the embodiments described above. In other embodiments, when the first touch sensor and the second touch sensor are disposed comparatively far away from each other, the manipulation can be triggered through combining two hands. Therefore, multiple operations can be defined without relying on the interface menus, which reduces the complexity of the menu item settings, and the operations can be clearly defined, which are user-friendly. 
     Typically, the judging module  30  may further be configured to judge whether the touch signals respectively generated by first touch sensor  11  and the second touch sensor  20  that are successively detected are within a preset effective time interval, and if yes, the first operation would be triggered. The judging module  30  may further be configured to judge whether the touch signals respectively generated by second touch sensor  20  and the first touch sensor  11  that are successively detected are within the preset effective time interval, and if yes, the second operation may be triggered. That is, when the judging module  30  firstly detects the touch signal generated by first touch sensor  11 , the judging module  30  may judge whether the second touch sensor  20  generates a touch signal in the preset effective time interval, and if yes, then triggers the first operation. When the judging module  30  firstly detects the touch signal generated by second touch sensor  20 , the judging module  30  may judge whether first touch sensor  11  generates a touch signal in the preset effective time interval, and if yes, then triggers the second operation. Furthermore, the judging module  30  may judge whether a difference between the successive trigger times of the touch signals generated h the first touch sensor  11  and the second touch sensor  20  is within the preset effective time interval and correspondingly triggers the first operation or second operation if the difference is within the preset effective time interval. Therefore, the effectiveness and accuracy of the user&#39;s operation can be ensured. 
     The touch operation assembly  1  may further include a manipulating button  12  for triggering a third operation after being pressed. The manipulating button  12  may be disposed together with first touch sensor  11  or second touch sensor  20  and thus constitute a manipulating module  10 . Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a cross-sectional view of a touch operation assembly provided by the present embodiment. The first touch sensor  11  of the touch operation assembly is disposed directly on the manipulating button  12 , but the disclosure is not limited thereto and the second touch sensor may also be disposed on the manipulating button on account of other considerations such as the product&#39;s specific form, characteristics, and so on. In addition, the first touch sensor  11  or the second touch sensor  20  may be disposed indirectly to the manipulating button  12  through other components or parts, as long as the button can be pressed by pressing the sensor. When the user presses the first touch sensor  11 , thus making the button  12  is pressed down, then a third operation may be triggered, which may be defined as a specific selection operation on the current menu interface, a power switch operation, etc. 
     Typically, the manipulating button  12  may be a button-type rotary encoder used to trigger a third operation upon being pressed and further used to measure the rotation angle for triggering a fourth operation. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the manipulating button can be rotated about the X-axis. In particular, the fourth operation can be volume adjustment, video fast forward and backward adjustment, etc., thus more convenient adjustment ways can be provided depending on the manipulation characteristics of specific products and contents. The button-type rotary encoder has become an existing mature technology, so the principles of which are not to be detail described herein. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the touch operation assembly can use the first touch sensor in combination with the second touch sensor to define different operations corresponding to different manipulating functions, and can further use the button-type rotary encoder in conjunction to provide different control modes with the button and rotary knob, thus providing different manipulating modes with respect to manipulation characteristics of different products, and so optimizing the user&#39;s operating experience. 
     In another embodiment, the judging module  30  may further be configured to trigger a fifth operation when the first touch sensor  11  detects that the touch signal indicates a path slide, and judge whether the second touch sensor  20  detects a touch signal, and if yes, trigger a sixth operation. The judging module  30  may further be configured to trigger the fifth operation when the second touch sensor  2 C) detects that the touch signal indicates a path slide, and judge whether the first touch sensor  11  detects a touch signal, and if yes, trigger the sixth operation. For example, the fifth operation may be a focus movement, while the sixth operation may be a “confirm” operation, such as a current call of the operating interface. Specifically, when a touch operation assembly incorporating a manipulating button is used, the operating interface can be called up by pressing the manipulating button, namely the third operation can be associated with different specific operations based on the currently displayed contents or status. In the displayed operating interface, the user can make a path slide Y→Z on the first touch sensor  11  by the finger, as shown in  FIG. 4 , to trigger a movement of the focus point on the manipulation options in the operating interface; when the focus point moves to the option to be manipulated, the finger can move to the second touch sensor  20  and perform a path slide Z→K to trigger the “confirm” operation so that the next level menu would be entered into. Similarly, if the next level menu includes multiple manipulation options, and further a path slide K→M can be performed on second touch sensor  20 . Thus, the path slide K→M may trigger the movement of the focus on the manipulation options in the menu of this level. When the focus point moves to the option to be manipulated, the finger can move to the first touch sensor  11  via a path slide M→N to trigger the “confirm” operation so as to enter the next level menu under this option. If there is no next level menu, the “confirm” operation would be triggered and the path slide M→N may result in execution of this option. In the above embodiment, the user can trigger multiple operations through continuous motions on different touch sensors. Furthermore, the user&#39;s finger may be detected as detaching from the touch sensor to perform operations such as exit, return, etc. In addition, a return operation can be triggered via performing the “confirm” operation, and then stop performing the path slide, and then performing the “confirm” operation again. For example, the user slides his finger on second touch sensor  20  to make a path slide K→M thus locating the focus over the option to be manipulated, and then slides the finger to first touch sensor  11  to perform a path slide M→N thus entering the next level menu under this option, when find there is no option to be manipulated in the next level, then the user may slide his finger directly back to second touch sensor  20  to make a path slide N→T to trigger returning to the previous level menu. The above specific examples are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and are not intended to be limited. 
     The touch operation assemblies provided by the above embodiments use the first touch sensor in combination with the second touch sensor to define different operations corresponding to different manipulating functions, and further, use touch mode with path slide in conjunction, so that the user can trigger multiple operations through a continuous gesture. Furthermore, the button-type rotary encoder can be used in combination to provide different manipulating methods with the button and rotary knob. Thus different manipulating methods can be provided depending on manipulation characteristics of different products, and so the user&#39;s operating experience can he optimized. 
     There is also provided an electronic device comprising any one of the above touch operation assemblies. The electronic device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a PAD, a computer, a remote control, a headphone, a headset display device, and so on. 
     There is further provided a touch operating method, the method comprising the following steps, 
     In S 101 , a first touch sensor or a second touch sensor may generate a touch signal in response to a touch. 
     In S 102 , judging whether the second touch sensor produces a. touch signal when detecting that the first touch sensor produces a touch signal, and triggering a first operation if the second touch sensor produces the touch signal. 
     In S 103 , judging whether the first touch sensor produces a touch signal when detecting that the second touch sensor produces a touch signal, and triggering a second operation if the first touch sensor produces the touch signal. 
     It can be understood, the execution order of steps S 102  and S 103  as shown in  FIG. 5  constitutes merely one implementation of the disclosure, and therefore is not intended to limit the disclosure. That is to say, the steps S 102  and S 103  can also be executed in reverse or in parallel which are flexible combinations that can be readily made by those persons skilled in the art. 
     Alternatively, there may be multiple second touch sensors, each touch sensor is corresponding to a different function. The first operation and the second operation may correspond to different operations of the same function. 
     Alternatively, the method may further comprise: performing an associated second operation or an associated first operation continuously when detecting that the touch signal of the first touch sensor or the second touch sensor is generated afterwards and is a continuous signal. 
     Alternatively, the steps S 102  and S 103  may comprise judging whether the touch signals respectively generated by the first touch sensor and the second touch sensor that are successively detected is within a preset effective time interval, and, if yes, triggering the first operation judging whether the touch signals respectively generated by the second touch sensor and the first touch sensor that are successively detected are within the preset effective time interval, and, if yes, triggering the second operation. The method may further comprise: triggering a third operation when a manipulating button, on which the first touch sensor or the second touch sensor is directly or indirectly disposed, is pressed down. 
     Alternatively, the manipulating button may be a button-type rotary encoder used for triggering the third operation and further for detecting the rotation angle to trigger a fourth operation. 
     A touch operating method according to another embodiment is provided, the method includes the following steps. 
     In S 201 , a first touch sensor or a second touch sensor generates a touch signal in response to a touch. 
     In S 202 , triggering a fifth operation when detecting the first touch sensor generates a path slide touch signal, and judging whether the second touch sensor generates a touch signal, and if yes, triggering a sixth operation. 
     In S 203 , triggering the fifth operation when detecting the second touch sensor generates a path slide touch signal, and judging whether the first touch sensor generates a touch signal, and if yes, triggering the sixth operation. 
     Since the principles of the above touch operation assemblies can be referred to for the specific principles of this method, they are not to be detailed again. 
     The foregoing description merely depicts some exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, which are not intended to limit the disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made without departing from the spirits and principles of the disclosure shall all be encompassed within the protection of the disclosure.