Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20040250217?dq=5920316
Timestamp: 2018-01-19 08:50:06
Document Index: 132171443

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 25', 'art 6', 'art 25', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 6', 'art 25', 'art 6', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 7', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 6', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 7', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 7', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 25', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 25']

Patent US20040250217 - Menu item selecting device and method - Google Patents
In order to provide a configuration with which a desired function can be started rapidly from a function menu of an electronic device having a plurality of functions together, a circular menu is displayed on a main LCD 21, a function item activated is shifted item by item in response to left-and-right...http://www.google.com/patents/US20040250217?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20040250217 - Menu item selecting device and method
Publication number US20040250217 A1
Application number US 10/890,282
Also published as EP1469375A1, EP1469375A4, EP1469375B1, US7503014, WO2003062976A1
Publication number 10890282, 890282, US 2004/0250217 A1, US 2004/250217 A1, US 20040250217 A1, US 20040250217A1, US 2004250217 A1, US 2004250217A1, US-A1-20040250217, US-A1-2004250217, US2004/0250217A1, US2004/250217A1, US20040250217 A1, US20040250217A1, US2004250217 A1, US2004250217A1
Inventors Jun Tojo, Takuma Sudo
Original Assignee Fujitsu Limited, Ntt Docomo, Inc.
Patent Citations (8), Referenced by (259), Classifications (17), Legal Events (4)
US 20040250217 A1
The present invention relates to a menu item selecting device and method, and, in particular, to a devise and a method with which, in an electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal computer or such, each function can be efficiently selected from a function menu displayed on an operation screen.
[0015]FIG. 1 shows one example of a method of selecting a desired item from a list menu in the prior art;
[0016]FIG. 2 shows another example of a method of selecting a desired item from a list menu in the prior art;
[0017]FIG. 3 shows a block diagram showing a configuration of a cellular phone in which a method of selecting a desired item from a circular menu in one embodiment of the present invention is applied;
[0018]FIG. 4 shows the method of selecting a desired item from a circular menu in the embodiment of the present invention (#1);
[0019]FIG. 5 shows the method of selecting a desired item from the circular menu in the embodiment of the present invention (#2);
[0020]FIG. 6 shows a flow chart illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention (#1);
[0021]FIG. 7 shows a flow chart illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention (#2);
[0022]FIG. 8 shows a flow chart illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention (#3);
[0023]FIG. 9 shows a flow chart illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention (#4);
[0024]FIG. 10 shows a flow chart illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention (#5);
[0025]FIG. 11 shows an example of displaying the circular menu (especially, showing coordinate positions) for illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0026]FIG. 12 shows an example of displaying the circular menu (at a time of left direction operation) for illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0027]FIG. 13 shows an example of displaying the circular menu (at a time of right direction operation) for illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0028]FIG. 14 shows an example of displaying the circular menu (at a time of up-and-down direction operation in a case where the number of items is an even number) for illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0029]FIG. 15 shows an example of displaying the circular menu (at a time of up-and-down direction operation in a case where the number of items is an odd number) for illustrating operation in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0030]FIG. 16 shows another example (list form) of menu display (at a time of up-and-down direction operation) in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0031]FIG. 17 shows another example (list form) of menu display (at a time of left-and-right direction operation) in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0032]FIG. 18 shows a specific example of menu display in the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention;
[0033]FIG. 19 shows a perspective view of a notebook-type personal computer to which the present invention is applicable; and
[0034]FIG. 20 shows a perspective view of a desktop-type personal computer to which the present invention is applicable.
[0036]FIG. 3 shows an internal block diagram of a cellular phone 20 which embodies a menu item selecting method according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0038]FIG. 4 illustrates an example of operation according to the menu item selecting method in the embodiment of the present invention. Images (a), (b), (c), and (d) in FIG. 4 are displayed on a screen of the main LCD 25 shown in FIG. 3, and the respective alphabets A, B, C, D and F show respective items of an operation menu. An example of each of these menu items is: ‘refer to a received mail’, ‘create a mail to transmit’, ‘display/register a phone book (address book)’, ‘display/update a schedule table (scheduler)’ or such.
According to the present embodiment, as shown, the respective menu items are arranged circularly. For example, in a display state shown in FIG. 4, (a), the item A is located at the very front position, and, in this state, the item A is in an active condition. For example, assuming that a function of the item A is ‘refer to a received mail’, this function is started when the user operates a fix key on the above-mentioned main operation part 25 in this state. Thereby, the user can freely refer to a received mail (the contents of which are stored in the registration part 6 a of the above-mentioned memory 6, and the contents are made to be displayed on the main LCD 21) by operating respective keys on the main operation part 25.
When the user wishes to use another function, for example, to perform the function of ‘create a mail to transmit’ and it is assumed that a relevant function key is of the item F, the user operates the cross-shaped key in a right direction. As a result, an operation input signal from this key operation is sent to the control part 4 which then processes it. As a result, the control part 4 sends a control signal to the display control part such as to rotate the display on the main LCD 21 in a right direction along the menu arrangement direction into a state shown in FIG. 4, (b). As a result, the display state shown in FIG. 4, (b) occurs, thus, the item F is located at the front position and becomes active. Then, when the fix key is pressed in this state, the control part 4 executes control such as to start the function of ‘create a mail to transmit’ corresponding to the item F. As a result, the user can freely create a mail to transmit by operating respective keys on the main operation part 25. The contents of a thus-created mail to transmit are also stored in the registration part 6 a of the memory 6, and, then, by operating the main operation part 25, it is possible to transmit the thus-stored contents for a relevant destination address registered in the registration part 6 a.
Further, in a case where the operator wishes to use a function corresponding to the item D (for example, the function of ‘refer to/update a schedule table’), in a state in which the item A is located at the very front position as shown in FIG. 4, (a) where the item A is in the active condition, the user operates the cross-shaped key in an up direction. By this operation, the same as the above, a corresponding operation input signal is sent from the input operation part 5 to the control part 4. The control part 4 then sends a control signal to the display control part 7 such as to rotate the menu arrangement by 180 degrees, as shown in FIG. 4, (d). As a result, the menu arrangement displayed on the main LCD 21 is rotated 180 degrees along the arrangement direction, and thus, as shown, the item D which is located opposite to the item A comes to the front position at this time. When the fix key is pressed in this state, the control part 4 performs control such as to start the function of ‘refer to/update a schedule table’ corresponding to the item D. As a result, the user can freely refer to or update a schedule table with the use of the main operation part 25 as well as the main LCD 21. The contents of the schedule table are stored in the registration part 6 a of the memory 6, and are automatically updated in response to updating operation. The sequence of these operations are executed as a result of the predetermined respective parts being operated under the control of the control part 4.
[0045]FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which the number of items increases from six according to the embodiment of the present invention. This figure shows an example in which menu items include total 26 items, i.e., A through Z. However, since it is difficult to display all the 26 items in terms of the display space, some of them, i.e., nothing other than three items of a front side (i.e., lower side) and three items of rear side (i.e., top side) are displayed, as shows, in the present embodiment (specifically, in the case of FIG. 5, (a), respective items of C through K and O through Y are not displayed, or they are hidden). In this case, in response to operation of the cross-shaped key in a left/right direction, the circular display menu rotates item by item along the arrangement direction as shown in FIGS. 5, (b), (c). On the other hand, in response to operation of the cross-shaped key in an up/down direction, such rotation is automatically performed along the arrangement direction that the item located at the opposite position of the menu items (in the example of the figures, M with respect to A) comes to the front position. In this case, it is possible to skip up to the item located at the opposite position in the case where the respective items are arranged circularly, by single operation. Accordingly, it is possible to remarkably reduce the required time and operation amount in comparison to the case of the prior art. Further, as a result of only the limited number of items located in the front part and the opposite part being displayed, the display is simplified, the required processing amount can be reduced and also a display manner easy to view is achieved.
In the operation of FIG. 7, first, in Step S2, the control part 4 obtains items (A through F) currently located at respective coordinates P1 through P6 on the main LCD 21 shown in FIG. 11 (corresponding to FIG. 4, (a)), and performs control such as to shift the coordinates of the items thus obtained item by item in sequence in a left direction (P6→P5, . . . , P1→P6). As a result, the displayed image changes in its state as shown in FIG. 12, (a) to (b).
After that, the control part 4 performs control to alter display sizes of the items, i.e., performs item resizing (Step S3). That is, control is made such that, as shown in FIG. 11, the front item is displayed in a larger size, while the display size is made smaller as the item moves toward the opposite end. As a result, the display image changes in its state as shown in FIG. 12, (b) to (c). Then, in Step S4, drawing processing is performed. That is, by the display control part 7, processing is performed so that each item is displayed in size altered in Step S3 on the main LCD 21. At this time, processing is performed such as to display the item at the front end most clearly (or sharply) while to display other items intentionally blurry in sequence by defocusing, and thus, to perform display to emphasize which is an item to be selected (i.e., the active item) in response to the ‘fix key’ being pressed in a subsequent step. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 18, control is performed such that, at least for the item at the front end, an item name or a corresponding function name is displayed in text, and thus, the user can further easily recognize the active item.
Then, in Step 31 of FIG. 10, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘fix key’ on the main operation part 25 has been operated. When the result shows that it has been operated, the control part 4 starts the function corresponding to the item (active item) currently located at the front end (coordinate P1) in Step S32. As a result, the displayed image on the main LCD 21 changes in its state as shown in FIG. 12, (c) to (d). Further, the control part 4 determines whether or not an ‘end key’ on the operation part 25 has been pressed by the user after operation by the above-mentioned function is finished. When the end key has been operated, the menu display on the main LCD 21 is finished.
In the operation in FIG. 8, first, in Step S12, the control part 4 obtains items (A through F) currently located at respective coordinates P1 through P6 in the main LCD 21 shown in FIG. 11 (corresponding to FIG. 4, (a)), and performs control such as to shift the coordinates of the items thus obtained item by item in sequence in a right direction (P1→P2, . . . , P6→P1). As a result, the displayed image changes in its state as shown in FIG. 13, (a) to (b).
After that, the control part 4 performs control to alter display sizes of the items, i.e., performs item resizing (Step S13). That is, control is made such that, as shown in FIG. 11, the front item is displayed in a larger size, while the display size is made smaller as the item moves toward the opposite end. As a result, the display image changes in its state as shown in FIG. 13, (b) to (c). Then, in Step S14, drawing processing is performed. That is, by the display control part 7, processing is performed so that each item is displayed in size altered in Step S13 on the main LCD 21. At this time, processing is performed such as to display the item at the front end most clearly (or sharply) while to display other items intentionally blurry in sequence by defocusing, and thus, to perform display to emphasize which is an item to be selected (i.e., the active item) when the ‘fix key’ is pressed in a subsequent step. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 18, control is performed such that, at least for the item at the front end, an item name or a corresponding function name is displayed in text, and thus, the user can further easily recognize the active item.
Then, in Step 31 of FIG. 10, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘fix key’ on the main operation part 25 has been operated. When the result shows that it has been operated, the control part 4 starts the function corresponding to the item (active item) currently located at the front end (coordinate P1) in Step S32. As a result, the displayed image on the main LCD 21 changes in its state as shown in FIG. 13, (c) to (d). Further, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘end key’ on the operation part 25 has been pressed by the user after operation by the above-mentioned function is finished. When the end key has been operated, the menu display on the main LCD 21 is finished.
First, the control part 4 obtains the number of display items in Step S22. That is, in the case of FIG. 4, they are six items in total, i.e., A through F. Then, in Step S23, it is determined whether this number of items is an even number or an odd number. When it is an even number as a result (i.e., the example of FIG. 4 or such), the items currently located in the respective coordinate positions are obtained in Step S24, the same as in the Step S2 or S12. After that, the number of items obtained in Step S22 is halved, and, processing is performed in which the display menu is rotated for the number of items thus resulting therefrom. In the example shown in FIG. 4, 6/2=3, and thus, processing is performed in which the coordinates are moved so that the menu is rotated for three items (FIGS. 14, (a)→(b)→(c)→(d)). Then, the same as in Step S3 or S13, item resizing is performed in Step S26, and thus, the sizes of the items are controlled (FIG. 14, (d) to (c)).
Then, in Step S31 of FIG. 10 the same as the above, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘fix key’ has been pressed by the user. When it has been pressed as a result, the function corresponding to the item (active item) currently located at the front end (coordinate P1) is executed in Step S32. As a result, the display image on the main LCD 21 changes in its state as shown in FIG. 14, (e) to (f). Further, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘end key’ on the operation part 25 has been pressed by the user after the operation of the above-mentioned function is finished. When the end key has been operated, the menu display on the main LCD 21 is finished.
When the number of items is an odd number (for example, in a case of seven items), different from the case in Step S24, 1 is added to the quotient obtained from the number of items being halved in Step S25. In the above-mentioned example (7 items), 7/2=3 with the remainder of 1, and then, 3+1=4. Accordingly, processing is performed in which the menu is rotated for four items (FIGS. 15, (a)→(b)→(c)→(d)). Then, the same as in Step S3 or S13, item resizing is performed in Step S26, and thus, the sizes of the items are controlled (FIG. 15, (d) to (c)).
Then, in Step S31 of FIG. 10, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘fix key’ has been pressed by the user. When it has been pressed as a result, the function corresponding to the item (active item) currently located at the front end (coordinate P1) is executed in Step S32. As a result, the display image on the main LCD 21 changes in its state as shown in FIG. 15, (e) to (f).
Further, the control part 4 determines whether or not the ‘end key’ on the operation part 25 has been pressed by the user after the operation of the above-mentioned function is finished. When the end key has been operated, the menu display on the main LCD 21 is finished.
[0061]FIGS. 16 and 17 shows a variant embodiment in which the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a display way, apparently in a list form, such as that shown in FIG. 1 or such.
[0065]FIG. 18 shows an example of display on a display device (main LCD) in a case where a method according to the above-mentioned embodiment is applied to a cellular phone.
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U.S. Classification 715/810, 715/819, 715/841, 715/817, 715/818, 715/825, 715/820, 715/834, 715/845, 715/243
International Classification H04M1/247, G06F3/033, G06F3/048