Portable Apparatus Touch Panel Notification Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cellular phones often disturb others with sound or light notifications in quiet or dark environments, as silent mode may not completely eliminate noise, and vibration can still be bothersome in quiet settings.
Innovation Solution
A portable apparatus that determines the user's interaction with the touch panel to switch between sound, vibration, or tactile sensations for notifications, using a control unit to adjust notification methods based on whether the input surface is touched or not, allowing for silent operation in sensitive environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sound or light notification is used, then users can be effectively notified of events, but it disturbs others in quiet or dark environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically switches between different notification methods (sound, light, vibration, tactile sensation) based on the detected user state. When the touch panel is in a contacted state, tactile sensation is used; when not contacted, sound or light notification is used. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by adjusting the notification method to the current situation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of notification method based on the contact state of the touch panel. By detecting whether the touch panel is contacted or not, the system switches between different notification parameters (tactile vs. auditory/visual), achieving effective notification without causing disturbance in appropriate contexts.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If silent mode is used to avoid disturbance, then light emission is reduced, but vibration operation still produces noise in extremely quiet locations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical vibration notification with tactile sensation generation through the touch panel itself. Instead of using a separate vibration motor that produces audible noise, the system uses the touch panel's capacitance changes to generate tactile sensations, eliminating the mechanical noise while maintaining notification effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The touch panel serves as an intermediary between the notification system and the user. By using the touch panel's electrical properties to generate tactile sensations, the system provides an intermediate notification method that avoids both audible noise from vibration motors and the need for light emission in dark environments.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If tactile sensation is used when touch panel is contacted, then notification is discreet in quiet environments, but notification method must switch based on contact state
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the touch panel's own contact state detection capability to automatically determine the appropriate notification method. The touch panel itself provides the information (contacted or not contacted) that controls the notification behavior, making the system self-regulating without requiring external sensors or complex control logic.
Data Source
AI summary
A portable apparatus includes a determination unit, a first notification unit, a second notification unit, and a control unit. The determination unit determines whether there occurs an event which is to be notified to a user. The first notification unit notifies the event to the user by a first method that gives a tactile sensation to an operation element via an input surface. The second notification unit notifies the event to the user in accordance with a second method that is different from the first method. The control unit causes a notification unit to give a notification. Where the input surface is in a contact state when the event occurs, the control unit performs control to cause the first notification unit to give a notification. Where the input surface is in a not-touched state when the event occurs, the control unit causes the second notification unit to give a notification.