Patent Publication Number: US-2015070302-A1

Title: Electronic device and program

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-186681, filed on Sep. 9, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     The embodiment discussed herein is related to an electronic device and a program. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In recent years, an electronic device installed with a touch panel is increasing in its number. A portable terminal may be listed as such electronic device. Conventionally, in order to improve convenience of a user, downsizing of the electronic device has been desired, while on the other hand, increasing a size of a display unit, or a touch panel, of the electronic device has also been desired. Therefore, on a surface, on which the touch panel is provided (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “display surface”), of a housing of the electronic device, as a result of the touch panel being arranged up to near an outer periphery of the display surface, a region between the touch panel and the outer periphery of the display surface (or, a “frame”) tends to be narrow. That is, “narrowing of the frame” of the electronic device is progressing. 
     When a user holds the electronic device having the narrow frame, there is a possibility that a finger of a holding hand of a user touches the touch panel, and that the electronic device executes a processing operation not intended by the user. In order to prevent this wrong operation, conventionally, there has been proposed an electronic device that executes control of not accepting a touch to an “outer periphery portion” (or, an “outer region”) of the touch panel as a processing operation. A conventional example is described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-194997, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-154766, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-033797, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-237945, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-134895, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-093932. 
     When the control of not accepting the processing operation to the outer region of the touch panel at all is executed, however, the convenience of a user may be decreased even though a size of the touch panel has been increased aiming at an improvement of the convenience of the user. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to an aspect of an embodiment, an electronic device includes a touch panel and a processor connected to the touch panel. The processor performs determination whether there is one touch region or two or more touch regions touched in a first region existing in an outer periphery portion excluding a central portion of the touch panel. The processor validates a touch operation in a case where it is determined that there is one touch region, and the processor invalidates the touch operation in a case where it is determined that there are two or more touch regions. 
     The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one example of an electronic device according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a touch panel region; 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating the touch panel region; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating one example of a processing operation of the electronic device according to the embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) 
     Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to accompanying drawings. Note that this embodiment is not to limit the electronic device and the program disclosed in the present application. Furthermore, in the embodiment, a configuration having the same function is denoted with the same reference numeral, and a duplicated description thereof is omitted. 
     Example of a configuration of an electronic device 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one example of an embodiment of an electronic device. In  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  10  has a touch panel  11 , a processor  12 , and a memory  13 . The electronic device  10  is, for example, a portable terminal. In a case where the electronic device  10  is the portable terminal, it further has an antenna and a radio frequency (RF) circuit that are not illustrated. Then, the touch panel  11  has a display unit  14  and a touch sensor  15 . The display unit  14  is, for example, a liquid crystal device. A central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and the like are listed as one example of the processor  12 . 
     The touch panel  11  is, for example, an electrostatic capacitance type touch panel. The touch panel  11  outputs information regarding a touched position (or, coordinates) and information regarding electrostatic capacitance to the processor  12 . 
     Based on the information received from the touch panel  11 , the processor  12  determines whether there is one “touch region” or two or more “touch regions” touched in a “first region” existing in an “outer periphery portion” excluding a “central portion” of the touch panel  11 . One touch region is a region constituted of consecutive coordinates having the electrostatic capacitance equal to or more than a threshold. Therefore, two different touch regions are alienated. Furthermore, for example, in a case where a next touch region is detected within a certain time from timing of detecting a touch region for the first time, the processor  12  determines that there are two or more touch regions in the above-described first region. That is, the processor  12  determines that there are two or more touch regions in the above-described first region only after when two or more touch regions are detected simultaneously or during the same period in the above-described first region. 
     Here,  FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a touch panel region. In  FIG. 2 , inside of an outer frame is the touch panel region. In the touch panel region, an unshaded portion A21 corresponds to the above-described “central portion”, and a shaded portion A22 corresponds to the above-described “outer periphery portion”. Then, the above-described “first region” may be an entire outer periphery portion or a part of the outer periphery portion. That is, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the “first region” may be, for example, a region excluding four corners of the outer periphery portion (a shaded portion in  FIG. 3 ).  FIG. 3  is a view illustrating the touch panel region. It is also possible to configure such that a size of the above-described first region is settable (or, changeable) to an arbitrary value. 
     Then, in a case where the processor  12  determines that there is one touch region, it validates a “touch operation”. On the other hand, in a case where the processor  12  determines that there are two or more touch regions, it invalidates the “touch operation”. This processing of validating or invalidating the touch operation and the above-described processing of determining are executed, for example, in a lower layer. That is, in a case where the processor  12  determines that there is one touch region, it outputs information regarding coordinates of the touch region from the lower layer to an upper layer. On the other hand, in a case where the processor  12  determines that there are two or more touch regions, it does not output the information regarding the coordinates of the touch region from the lower layer to the upper layer. The upper layer is, for example, an operating system (OS). 
     In a case where the touch region is detected in both of the above-described central portion and the above-described first region, the processor  12  may give priority to the touch operation in the central portion and may validate it. That is, the processor  12  outputs the information regarding the coordinates of the touch region in the central portion from the lower layer to the upper layer. 
     Then, in processing in the upper layer, the processor  12  compares information regarding coordinates obtained by the upper layer with, for example, display coordinates of an icon. In a case where both coordinates match with each other, it executes processing corresponding to the icon. 
     Note that the processor  12  executes each of the processing by reading a program from the memory  13 . Furthermore, in the above description, the processing in the upper layer and the lower layer are executed by one processor  12 ; however, it is not to be limited to this. It is also possible to execute the processing in the lower layer by a first processor and the processing in the upper layer by a second processor, for example. The first processor may be, for example, an integrated circuit (IC). 
     The memory  13  stores various programs executed by the processor  12  and various information used by the processor  12 . One example of the memory  13  is a random access memory (RAM) such as a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, and the like. 
     Example of Operation of the Electronic Device 
     One example of processing operation of the electronic device  10  having the above configuration is described.  FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating one example of the processing operation of the electronic device according to the embodiment. 
     A flow illustrated in  FIG. 4  is started, for example, when a power supply of the electronic device  10  is turned on. 
     The processor  12  determines whether a first touch region is detected or not (step S 101 ). This processing in step S 101  is repeated until the first touch region is detected (No at step S 101 ). That is, the processor  12  is on standby for a first touch in the touch panel region. Note that the processor  12  starts a timer (not illustrated) at timing of determining that it has detected the first touch region. 
     Once the processor  12  determines that the first touch region has been detected (Yes at step S 101 ), it determines whether or not the first touch region is included in the above-described “first region” (step S 102 ). 
     In a case where the first touch region is not included in the above-described first region (No at step S 102 ), or for example, in a case where the above-described central portion is touched, the processor  12  notifies information regarding coordinates of the first touch region from the lower layer to the upper layer (step S 103 ). That is, the touch operation is validated in a case where the touch operation is performed first to the central portion. 
     In a case where the first touch region is included in the above-described first region (Yes at step S 102 ), the processor  12  determines whether or not time T has passed since detection of the first touch region (step S 104 ). 
     In a case where the processor  12  determines that the time T has passed since the detection of the first touch region (Yes at step S 104 ), it notifies the information regarding the coordinates of the first touch region from the lower layer to the upper layer (step S 103 ). That is, in a case where only the first touch region is detected during the time T, the processor  12  validates the touch operation even if the first touch region is in the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region. This is because, in a case where a user touches the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region while holding the electronic device  10 , it is anticipated that the user may touch it with two or more fingers during the same period. On the other hand, in a case where only one touch region is detected during the same period, it is possible to determine that the user has intentionally touched it. 
     In a case where the processor  12  determines that the time T has not passed since the detection of the first touch region (No at step S 104 ), it determines whether or not a second touch region is detected (step S 105 ). 
     In a case where it is determined that the second touch region is not detected (No at step S 105 ), the processor  12  performs the processing of determining in step S 104 . That is, the processing in steps S 104  and S 105  are repeated until it is determined that the time T has passed since the detection of the first touch region. 
     In a case where the processor  12  determines that the second touch region is detected (Yes at step S 105 ), it determines whether or not the second touch region is included in the above-described “first region” (step S 106 ). 
     In a case where the processor  12  determines that the second touch region is included in the above-described “first region” (Yes at step S 106 ), it determines whether or not the time T has passed since the detection of the first touch region (step S 107 ). 
     In a case where the processor  12  determines that the time T has not passed since the detection of the first touch region (No at step S 107 ), it ends the flow illustrated in  FIG. 4 . That is, in a case where both of the first touch region and the second touch region are detected within the time T since the detection of the first touch region in the above-described “first region”, it can be anticipated that the user has unintentionally touched the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region while holding the electronic device  10 . Therefore, in this case, it is possible to prevent wrong operation by the user by invalidating touch operations corresponding to the first touch region and the second touch region. 
     The processor  12  executes processing in step S 108  in a case where it determines that the second touch region is not included in the above-described “first region” (No at step S 106 ) or in a case where it determines that the second touch region is detected after the time T has passed since the detection of the first touch region (Yes at step S 107 ). That is, the processor  12  notifies information regarding coordinates of the second touch region from the lower layer to the upper layer (step S 108 ). Note that as the processing in step S 108 , the information regarding the coordinates of the second touch region is notified here; however, it is also possible to notify the information regarding the coordinates of the first touch region instead. Furthermore, it is also possible to notify both of the information regarding the coordinates of the first touch region and the information regarding the coordinates of the second touch region. In short, at least any one of the information regarding the coordinates of the first touch region and the information regarding the coordinates of the second touch region may be notified. 
     As above, according to this embodiment, in the electronic device  10 , the processor  12  determines whether there is one touch region or two or more touch regions touched in the first region existing in the outer periphery portion excluding the central portion of the touch panel  11 . Then, in a case where the processor  12  determines that there is one touch region, it validates the touch operation. In a case where it determines that there are two or more touch regions, it invalidates the touch operation. For example, the processor  12  determines that there are two or more touch regions in the above-described first region in a case where the next touch region (the above-described second touch region) is detected within a certain time from the timing of detecting the touch region (the above-described first touch region) for the first time. 
     With this configuration of the electronic device  10 , it is possible to invalidate the touch operation in a case where it can be anticipated that the user has unintentionally touched the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region while holding the electronic device  10 , whereby the wrong operation by the user can be prevented. It is also possible validate the touch operation in a case where it can be anticipated that the user has intentionally touched the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region. For example, it is possible to validate a touch operation of an icon displayed in the outer periphery portion of the touch panel  11 , an operation to display a launcher by a swipe operation starting from the outer periphery portion of the touch panel  11 , and the like. Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience of the user. 
     Furthermore, the processor  12  executes the above-described determination on whether there is one touch region or two or more touch regions in the processing in the lower layer. Then, in a case where the processor  12  determines that there is one touch region, it outputs the information regarding the coordinates of the touch region to the upper layer. In a case where it determines that there are two or more touch regions, it does not output the information regarding the coordinates of the touch region to the upper layer. 
     With this configuration of the electronic device  10 , in processing in the lower layer, it is possible to invalidate the touch operation in a case where it can be anticipated that the user has unintentionally touched the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region while holding the electronic device  10 , whereby the wrong operation by the user can be prevented. It is possible to validate the touch operation in a case where it can be anticipated that the user has intentionally touched the outer periphery portion of the touch panel region, whereby it is possible to improve the convenience of the user. 
     Furthermore, in a case where the touch region is detected in both of the above-described second region existing in the central portion and the above-described first region of the touch panel  11 , the processor  12  may give priority to the touch operation in the above-described second region and may validate it. 
     With this configuration of the electronic device  10 , it is possible to execute processing in accordance with the touch operation in the second region regardless of detection of the touch region in the above-described first region, whereby it is possible to save the time in executing the processing as well as to improve the convenience of the user. 
     According to a disclosed aspect, it is possible to suppress the wrong operation by the user and the decrease in the convenience of the user. 
     All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes of aiding the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to further the art, and are not to be construed as limitations to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.