Touchscreen Lock Mechanism for Uninterrupted Media Playback

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional media player applications on touchscreen devices often experience interruptions during media playback due to accidental touches on the screen, leading to the need for a user-controllable feature that locks or disables touchscreen functionality.

Innovation Solution

A method and electronic device configuration that control the display of a media player and an interactive lock element on a touchscreen, detecting specific trigger events to lock or disable touchscreen functionality during media playback, ensuring uninterrupted content delivery.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If touchscreen functionality is enabled during media playback, then user interaction capability is maintained, but playback interruptions occur due to accidental touches

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser interaction capabilityVSAvoidplayback continuity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The touchscreen functionality dynamically changes state during media playback. The system automatically enables the touchscreen before playback, disables it during playback to prevent accidental touches, and re-enables it after playback ends. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the touchscreen operational when needed and non-operational when it causes interruptions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from playback state detection to control touchscreen functionality. When the media player detects that playback has started, it automatically disables the touchscreen. When playback ends, it re-enables the touchscreen. This feedback mechanism ensures the touchscreen state always matches the appropriate operational requirement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If touchscreen functionality is disabled during media playback, then playback interruptions are prevented, but user interaction capability is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplayback continuityVSAvoiduser interaction capability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The touchscreen functionality dynamically changes state during media playback. The system automatically enables the touchscreen before playback, disables it during playback to prevent accidental touches, and re-enables it after playback ends. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the touchscreen operational when needed and non-operational when it causes interruptions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from playback state detection to control touchscreen functionality. When the media player detects that playback has started, it automatically disables the touchscreen. When playback ends, it re-enables the touchscreen. This feedback mechanism ensures the touchscreen state always matches the appropriate operational requirement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If a lock feature is added to control touchscreen functionality, then playback interruptions are reduced, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplayback continuityVSAvoidfeature complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The media player application automatically manages touchscreen functionality without requiring user intervention. The system self-detects playback state changes and automatically enables/disables the touchscreen accordingly. This self-service approach reduces the perceived complexity for users while maintaining playback continuity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The media player application incorporates multiple functions including media playback control and touchscreen functionality management. By integrating the touchscreen control feature within the existing media player framework, the patent avoids adding separate dedicated hardware or software components, thereby minimizing the increase in overall device complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS11861095B2Touchscreen lock feature for playback of media content

Publication Date: 2024.01.02 DISH NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES INDIA PTE LTD

AI summary

An electronic device and related operating methodology are disclosed here. The device includes a touchscreen display, at least one memory storage device, and at least one processor. The at least one storage device has instructions stored therein and configurable to be executed by the at least one processor to: control display of a media player on the touchscreen display; control display of an interactive lock element on the touchscreen display; detect occurrence of an activate lock trigger event; and, in response to detecting the occurrence of the activate lock trigger event, lock or disable at least some touchscreen functionality of the media player during playback of media content.