Side-Button Control Interface for Tactile Input Without Display Obstruction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices with displays face challenges due to mechanical and solid state buttons that occupy valuable display space, are costly, and require complex interactions with touch-screens, leading to user frustration and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing intensity-sensitive side buttons or surfaces separate from the display, combined with touch-screen inputs, to provide visual and haptic feedback, reducing the need for physical buttons and simplifying control interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If mechanical buttons are used on the device, then tactile feedback is provided to users, but valuable display space is occupied and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the button functionality from the display area by placing physical buttons on the side edges of the device. This allows tactile feedback to be provided without occupying valuable display space, as the buttons are positioned outside the display boundaries while remaining accessible to users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions button placement from the traditional front-face display area to the side edges of the device. This dimensional relocation allows buttons to provide tactile feedback while preserving the entire display area, effectively utilizing the device's three-dimensional form factor rather than confining controls to the two-dimensional display surface.
2Area of stationary object
If solid state buttons are used on the display side to replace mechanical buttons, then display space is preserved, but manufacturing and maintenance cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts buttons from the display side entirely and relocates them to the side edges of the device. This eliminates the need for complex solid state button implementations on the display, thereby preserving display space while avoiding the high manufacturing and maintenance costs associated with solid state buttons.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple touch inputs are required to adjust controls on the touch-screen, then control functionality is achieved, but interaction complexity and time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges physical buttons with touch-screen control functionality. Each physical button on the side edge combines tactile mechanical input with capacitive touch sensing, allowing users to access control functions through a single intuitive action rather than requiring multiple sequential touch inputs. This integration maintains versatile control functionality while dramatically reducing interaction time and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces physical buttons as an intermediary between the user and the touch-screen interface. These buttons serve as a mediator that translates simple physical presses into complex control operations, reducing the cognitive and temporal burden on users who would otherwise need to navigate multiple touch-screen menus and gestures.
4Loss of information
If controls are displayed on the touch-screen for adjustment, then visual feedback is provided, but controls are blocked by fingers during manipulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control interface into two distinct zones: physical buttons on the side edges for input manipulation and visual feedback displayed on the screen. This segmentation allows users to press physical buttons with one hand while viewing control adjustments on the display, eliminating the blocking problem where fingers obscure the controls being manipulated.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent relocates control input from the two-dimensional touch-screen surface to the three-dimensional side edges of the device. This spatial separation places the input mechanism (physical buttons) outside the display plane, allowing simultaneous access to both tactile controls and visual feedback without mutual obstruction.
Data Source
AI summary
A control user interface includes a first control for selecting a value for an output parameter of an electronic device, a second control for switching between different modes of a first function, and a third control for turning the device off. In response to an input directed to the control user interface: if the input is directed to the first control, the device adjusts a current value for the output parameter; if the input is directed to the second control and meets first criteria, the device changes a current mode of the first function; if the input is directed to the third control and meets second input criteria, the device initiates a process for turning off the device; and if the input is directed to the third control and meets the first criteria but not the second criteria, the device forgoes initiation of the process for turning off the device.