Actionable-object controller and data-entry attachment for touchscreen-based electronics

Abstract

A touchscreen-controller and data-entry ensemble are attached conterminously or proximately to a touchscreen device. A touchscreen-controller attachment device has one or more input ends and one or more output ends. The input and output ends may be opposite ends of unitary elements and / or may be remote from one another and connected by wire or wirelessly. Each input end of a unitary conductive element is connected to a respective output end and the plurality of output ends, residing in an attachment base, are in a position of contact with or in close proximity to the soft buttons, keys or controller(s) of a touchscreen. The output ends thus activate the touchscreen when the input ends are manipulated. A base maintains the input and / or output ends in fixed position during use. Input and output elements can be spring-mounted. New controllers offer the user haptic ability.

Description

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13 / 005,315, filed Jan. 12, 2011, which claims full benefits of provisional applications 61 / 282,692 and 61 / 344,158; filed under the same inventor on Mar. 18, 2010 and Jun. 2, 2010, respectively; all these applications are incorporated by reference herein, in their entirety, for all purposes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention targets the technical field of touchscreen-based electronics. Touchscreen-based electronics, in both a portable and stationary environment, can include a wide array of devices such as: personal and notebook computers, netbooks, ATMs, POS or information kiosks, ticket-dispensing machines, portable media players, personal digital assistants, monitors, televisions, tablets, i-devices and Mobile Internet Devices or MIDs such as multi-media and Internet-enabled smart phones; although this list is not intended to be exhaustive. Touchscreens allow ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent describes systems, devices, and methods for improving the control performance and data-entry functionality of soft buttons or soft keys displayed on touchscreens. The invention provides a touchscreen-controller attachment that serves as a physical interface between the touchscreen and a physical controller device. The attachment has input and output ends that serve as conductive elements, allowing for physical expansion of the touchscreen controller. The attachment can be used in both portable and stationary devices and can be wired or wireless. Additionally, the patent describes a data-entry attachment that provides an interface between data-entry soft keys and a physical data-entry controller located remotely from the touchscreen. The attachment has conductive elements that are activated when the input keys are pressed, and the output elements can be positioned to activate the touchscreen. The patent also describes a suspension device that allows for easy attachment of a touchscreen device to a controller device."

Problems solved by technology

Despite mobile apps being wildly popular, a direct consequence of the pocket-sized footprint of portable gadgets may be a user experience that is greatly attenuated by significant limitations of control of an actionable object or “an on-screen graphic”.

In the case of gaming applications on portable hardware, where control of an actionable object or player for a particular gaming title becomes more intricate, these limitations of control can be exacerbated.

Even simple left, right, upward and downward navigation that is engaged by a touchscreen's soft buttons or keys, in a traditional manner, can prove difficult to execute.

Peer-based, business or SMS (Short Message Service) texting in data-entry applications, additionally, can suffer from said tiny portable footprint, where the “hunt and peck”, for example, may not always be as productive as first intended.

With one's finger size often bigger than the soft keys or buttons it was designed for, this can lend itself to accidental “key bleed” between neighbouring keys—that is, with neighbouring keys accidentally being touched in data-entry execution over the intended ones.

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