(12) United States Patent
`Hinckley et al.
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`US006707449B2
`
`(54)
`(75)
`
`MANUAL CONTROLLED SCROLLING
`
`Inventors: Kenneth P. Hinckley, Redmond, WA
`(US); Steven N. Bathiche, Redmond,
`WA (US); James H. Cauthorn, Seattle,
`WA (US); Michael J. Sinclair,
`Kirkland, WA (US)
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
`(Us)
`
`( * )
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21)
`(22)
`(65)
`
`(51)
`(52)
`
`(58)
`
`(56)
`
`Appl. No.: 09/940,505
`Filed:
`Aug. 29, 2001
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2002/0030667 A1 Mar. 14, 2002
`
`Int. Cl.7 ................................................ .. G09G 5/00
`U.S. Cl. ..................... .. 345/173; 345/786; 345/684;
`345/156
`Field of Search ............................... .. 345/684—688,
`345/784—787, 973, 156—179, 668—671;
`178/18.01—18.11, 19.01—19.07
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,418,549
`5,506,951
`5,748,185
`5,771,037
`5,850,211
`5,864,330
`5,889,236
`5,943,044
`5,943,052
`6,034,668
`6,043,809
`
`A * 5/1995
`A * 4/1996
`A
`5/1998
`A
`6/1998
`A * 12/1998
`A * 1/1999
`A
`3/1999
`A * 8/1999
`A
`8/1999
`A
`3/2000
`A
`3/2000
`
`Andersone et al. ....... .. 345/145
`
`Ishikawa .................. .. 395/157
`Stephan et al.
`Jackson
`345/158
`TognaZZini
`Haynes ..................... .. 345/123
`Gillespie et al.
`Martinelli et al. ........ .. 345/174
`Allen et al.
`Jackson
`Holehan
`
`6/2000 Milroy
`6,075,522 A
`7/2000 Milroy
`6,084,570 A
`6,147,683 A 11/2000 Martinez et al.
`6,157,381 A * 12/2000 Bates et al. ............... .. 345/341
`6,314,426 B1 * 11/2001 Martin et al.
`6,369,837 B1 * 4/2002 Schirmer .................. .. 345/764
`6,496,180 B1 * 12/2002 Hedman ................... .. 345/166
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Takeo Igarashi, et al., “Speed—dependent Automatic Zoom
`ing for Browsing Large Documents”, (Dated prior to Aug.
`29, 2001).
`Brad A. Myers, et al., “TWo—Handed Input Using a PDA and
`a Mouse”, Human Computer Interaction Institute, School of
`Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, (Dated
`prior to Aug. 29, 2001).
`OvervieW of Synaptics Touch Pad Features (6 pages),
`(Dated prior to Aug. 29, 2001).
`Scott Mackenzie, “(HoW) To Scroll or (HoW) Not to Scroll”,
`University of Guelph, (Dated prior to Aug. 29, 2001).
`William BuXton et al., “A Study in TWo—Handed Input”,
`Proceedings of CHI ’86, 1986, pp. 321—326.
`Yves Guiard, “Asymmetric Division of Labor in Human
`Skilled Bimanual Action: the Kinematic Chain as a Model”,
`Journal of Motor Behavior, vol. 19, No. 4, 1987, pp.
`486—517.
`
`(List continued on neXt page.)
`Primary Examiner—Lun-Yi Lao
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`
`A scrolling device for a computer may include a touch
`sensitive surface, Which may be elongated and/or have one
`or more active regions. Scrolling may be performed in
`manual as Well as automated Ways that may result in more
`accurate and ef?cient scrolling. Scrolling, as displayed on
`the screen, may further be rounded to the nearest document
`teXt line and/or distance unit, even though a more precise
`scrolling location value may be stored and/or tracked.
`
`12 Claims, 8 Drawing Sheets
`
`\
`
`..
`
`Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourkelves
`and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
`Constitution for the United States at America
`Article. I.
`Section 1.
`All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
`Congress of the United States, Which shall consist 0| 3
`Senate and House of Representatives.
`Section. 2.
`Clause 1! The House of Representatives shalt be
`composed oi Members chosen every second Vear by the
`People Of the several States, and the Electors in each
`State shall have the Quali?cations requisite for Electors
`oi the most numerous Branch oi the State Legislature.
`Clause 2: No Person shall be a Representative who shall
`not have attained to the Age of twenty live Years, and
`been seven Years a Citizen oi the United States, and
`who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
`State in which he shall be chosen.
`Clause 32 Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
`apportioned among the several States which may be
`included within this Union, according to their respective
`Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
`
`404
`
`405
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 1 of 21
`
`

`

`US 6,707,449 B2
`Page 2
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Shumin Zhai, et al., “Improving Browsing Performance: A
`Study of Four Input Devices for Scrolling and Pointing
`Tasks”, Proceedings of Interact97: The Sixth IFIP Confer
`ence on Human—Computer Interaction, pp. 286—292.
`Ken Hinckley, et al., “Interaction and Modeling Techniques
`for Desktop TWo—Handed Input”, Proceedings of ACM
`UIST’98 Symposium on User Interface SoftWare and Tech
`nology, 1998, pp. 49—58.
`William Buxton, et al., “Issues and Techniques in Touch—
`Sensitive Tablet Input”, Computer Graphics, Proceedings of
`SIGGRAPH’85, 19(3), 1985, pp. 215—223.
`Stephen A. BreWster et al., “The Design and Evaluation of
`an Auditory—Enhanced Scrollbar”, Human Factors in Com
`puting Systems, 1994, pp. 173—179.
`
`William Buxton, “There’s More to Interaction than Meets
`the Eye: Some Issues in Manual Input”, User Centered
`System Design: NeW Perspectives on Human—Computer
`Interaction, 1986, pp. 319—337.
`
`William Buxton., “TWo—Handed Document Navigation”,
`Xerox Disclosure Journal, 19(2), 1994, pp. 103—108.
`Synaptics Webpage, http://WWW.synaptics.com/supp—touch
`drivers.cfm, printed Dec. 13, 2000 (3 Pages).
`Synaptics
`Webpage,
`http://WWW.synaptics.com/supp—
`driver—theramin.cfm, printed Dec. 13, 2000, (3 Pages).
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 2 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 1 0f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`100
`
`102
`
`150 \
`
`102V
`
`101V
`
`101 '\/
`
`0/
`
`V
`
`103V
`
`FIG. 1A
`
`FIG. 1B
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 3 of 21
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 2 0f8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`SCROLLING DEVICE
`
`COMPUTER
`
`209
`
`206
`
`PROCESSOR
`
`
`
`
`
`204
`
`
`INTERFACE/
`INTERFACE/
`DRIVER
`
`DRIVER
`
`
`
`
`
`
`OTHER
`
`INPUT
`
`DEVICES
`
`
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`
`Microsoft v. Philips -
`
`|PR2018—00026
`Page 4 of 21
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 4 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 3 0f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`301
`RECEIvESCROLLCOMMAND "V
`
`~
`
`V
`
`CALCULATE NEW VIRTUAL SCROLL
`302
`POSITION BASED ON OLD VIRTUAL /-\_/
`SCROLL POSITION AND SCROLL
`COMMAND
`
`IS VIRTUAL SCROLL POSITION
`WITHIN PERMITTED BOUNDARIES?
`
`304
`v /‘/
`
`ADJUST VIRTUAL SCROLL
`POSITION
`
`305
`CALCULATE ACTUAL SCROLL
`POSITION FROM VIRTUAL SCROLL ’\/
`POSITION
`
`V
`
`306
`SCROLL vIEwED DOCUMENT
`ACCORDING TO ACTUAL SCROLL /\/
`POSITION
`
`FIG. 3
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 5 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 4 0f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`208
`
`\
`
`a
`
`4 6
`
`.4
`
`401
`
`it
`\ \
`
`A
`
`403
`
`/
`
`Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
`and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
`Constitution for the United States of America.
`Article. I.
`Section 1.
`All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a x
`Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
`Senate and House of Representatives.
`Section. 2.
`Clause 1: The House of Representatives shall be
`composed of Members chosen every second Year by the
`People of the several States, and the Electors in each
`State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors
`of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
`Clause 2: No Person shall be a Representative who shall
`not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and
`been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and
`who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that
`State in which he shall be chosen.
`Clause 3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be
`apportioned among the several States which may be
`included within this Union, according to their respective
`Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
`
`402
`
`/
`
`\
`
`\
`
`k as
`
`404
`
`405
`
`Fig. 4
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 6 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 5 0f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`DETECT TOUCH I 500
`
`N WAIT -- FIRST TIMEOUT
`501
`
`NO
`
`MOVEMENT EXCEEDS
`FIRST THRESHOLD?
`
`502
`
`YES
`
`i
`
`STATE : MOVING
`
`503
`
`WAIT -- SECOND TIMEOUT
`K\/
`
`504
`
`STATE = NOT
`MOVING
`
`E
`
`NO
`
`MOVEMENT EXCEEDS
`SECOND THRESHOLD?
`
`506
`
`505
`
`FIG. 5
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 7 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 6 6f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`FIG. 6
`
`600 "\f
`
`(11
`
`~
`
`FIG. 7
`
`701V
`
`700'\/
`
`702
`
`704
`
`d2
`
`\
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 8 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 7 0f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`901
`
`w 010/ w
`
`102
`
`103
`
`FIG. 8A
`
`901
`
`WWW
`
`102
`
`103
`
`101
`
`FIG. 8B
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 9 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar. 16, 2004
`
`Sheet 8 0f 8
`
`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`DETECT TOUCH IN
`901 N ACTIVE REGION
`
`‘
`
`902 N START TIMER
`
`TOUCH RELEASED
`EFORE FIRST TIMEOUT’?
`
`NO
`
`I
`905W BEGIN AUTOSCROLL
`
`YES l
`
`904
`
`INTERPRET AS TAP
`
`CANCEL AND UNDO
`AUTOSCROLL
`
`OUCH RELEASED
`BEFORE SECOND
`TIMEOUT?
`
`NO
`
`I
`CONTINUE
`AUTOSCROLL
`
`FIG. 9
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 10 of 21
`
`

`

`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`1
`MANUAL CONTROLLED SCROLLING
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is related to US. patent application Ser.
`No. 09/940,090, entitled “Touch Sensitive Device for Scroll
`ing a Document on a Display,”, and US. patent application
`Ser. No. 09/940,463, entitled “Automatic Scrolling,”, both
`?led simultaneously With the present application, hereby
`incorporated by reference as to their entireties.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention is directed generally to the scrolling
`of a document on a display screen or the like, and more
`particularly to various apparatuses and methods for control
`ling document scrolling using a touch-sensitive scrolling
`device.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Scrolling of documents, such as Word processing docu
`ments or Internet Web pages, for example, is a common task
`When using computing systems. There have been recent
`efforts focusing on methods and techniques for providing
`pleasant and ef?cient user interfaces for scrolling. It has
`been observed that people perform many real-World tasks
`using both hands. When users operate computers, hoWever,
`they are often required to use a single hand for many major
`interface activities, such as moving a mouse. The single
`hand used is usually the dominant hand of the user. Even
`When using the mouse to scroll through a document, the
`dominant hand is typically used. This can be inef?cient
`Where the dominant hand may be required for other tasks as
`Well, such as entering numbers on a numeric pad or selecting
`objects on the screen.
`KnoWn methods of scrolling documents are also not as
`intuitive or easy to use as they could be. For instance,
`conventional systems typically require that the user ?rst
`move a cursor on the screen to a scroll bar before scrolling
`With a mouse, or that the user press arroW keys on a
`keyboard or rotate a scroll Wheel on a mouse. HoWever,
`some of these techniques do not alloW for precise scrolling
`or the ability to move to a distant portion of the document
`quickly and accurately. There is a need for better Ways to
`accurately control document scrolling. There is also a need
`for providing the ability to accurately control document
`scrolling Without the user having to move his or her hands
`from the keyboard.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`According to one aspect of the present invention, a
`touch-sensitive scrolling device, preferably in the form of an
`elongated touch-sensitive strip-shaped surface, may be used
`to manually control scrolling. The scrolling device may,
`hoWever, be of various shapes, such as square, rectangular,
`oblong, circular, cross-shaped, X-shaped, and oval.
`Various manual scrolling functions may be implemented
`using the scrolling device. According to an aspect of the
`present invention, speed-sensitive acceleration of scrolling
`may be implemented according to an improved acceleration
`algorithm that alloWs for precise, sloW scrolling at loW ?nger
`movement speeds and long-distance faster scrolling respon
`sive to rapid movements of the ?nger (or other pointer)
`across longer distances.
`According to another aspect of the invention, the scrolling
`device may be placed in absolute scrolling mode such that
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`2
`there is a direct correlation betWeen pointer position on the
`scrolling device and the scrolled-to location Within a docu
`ment.
`According to another aspect of the invention, the scrolling
`of a document may be rounded, such as to the nearest Whole
`text line. To alloW for more accurate scrolling to the nearest
`Whole text line (or other type of rounding), both the actual
`scroll position and a virtual scroll position may be tracked.
`According to yet another aspect of the present invention,
`unintended scrolling occurring While the user’s ?nger (or
`other pointer) is removed from the scrolling device (or in
`other circumstances) may be reduced or prevented by detect
`ing Whether the user’s ?nger is moving on the scrolling strip
`so that very small ?nger motions can be ignored.
`These and other features of the invention Will be apparent
`upon consideration of the folloWing detailed description of
`exemplary embodiments. Although the invention has been
`de?ned using the appended claims, these claims are exem
`plary in that the invention is intended to include the elements
`and steps described herein in any combination or subcom
`bination. Accordingly, there are any number of alternative
`combinations for de?ning the invention, Which incorporate
`one or more elements from the speci?cation, including the
`description, claims, and draWings, in various combinations
`or subcombinations. It Will be apparent to those skilled in the
`relevant technology, in light of the present speci?cation, that
`alternate combinations of aspects of the invention, either
`alone or in combination With one or more elements or steps
`de?ned herein, may be utiliZed as modi?cations or alter
`ations of the invention or as part of the invention. It is
`intended that the Written description of the invention con
`tained herein covers all such modi?cations and alterations.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The foregoing summary of the invention, as Well as the
`folloWing detailed description of preferred embodiments, is
`better understood When read in conjunction With the accom
`panying draWings, Which are included by Way of example,
`and not by Way of limitation With regard to the claimed
`invention. In the accompanying draWings, elements are
`labeled With three-digit reference numbers, Wherein the ?rst
`digit of a reference number indicates the draWing number in
`Which the element is ?rst illustrated. The same reference
`number in different draWings refers to the same element.
`FIGS. 1A and 1B are plan vieWs of exemplary scrolling
`devices, in the form of a strip, according to at least one
`aspect of the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary
`system including a scrolling device, and computer, and
`interfaces betWeen them, according to at least one aspect of
`the present invention.
`FIG. 3 is a How diagram shoWing exemplary steps that
`may be performed to implement step scrolling according to
`at least one aspect of the present invention.
`FIG. 4 is an exemplary display on a display screen
`according to at least one aspect of the present invention.
`FIG. 5 is a How diagram shoWing exemplary steps that
`may be performed to implement move/no-move detection
`according to at least one aspect of the present invention.
`FIG. 6 is a plan vieW of an exemplary tWo-dimensional
`scrolling pad according to at least one aspect of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 7 is a plan vieW of an exemplary tWo-dimensional
`multi-legged scrolling pad according to at least one aspect of
`the present invention.
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 11 of 21
`
`

`

`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`3
`FIGS. 8A and 8B are side views of a user’s ?nger in tWo
`different positions relative to the scrolling device of FIG. 1B,
`according to at least one aspect of the present invention.
`FIG. 9 is a How diagram shoWing exemplary steps that
`may be performed to implement speculative autoscroll
`according to at least one aspect of the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a touch-sensitive scrolling
`device 100 may be coupled to a computer 202 (FIG. 2) or
`another electronic processing system such that the position
`of a pointer (e.g., a human ?nger, a stylus, or other appro
`priate object) on the scrolling device 100 affects the scroll
`position of a document as shoWn on an output device such
`as a display screen 208 (FIG. 2). Throughout the
`speci?cation, there Will often be references to the user’s
`?nger. Such reference is merely exemplary and Will be
`understood to apply to any type of pointer.
`Touch-sensitive pads and devices are Well-knoWn, such as
`the touch pad for cursor control commonly found on many
`laptop computers. The present scrolling device 100 may take
`advantage of such knoWn technology and/or be physically
`con?gured in any Way to create a touch-sensitive device.
`The scrolling device 100 may be sensitive to human touch
`and/or to non-human touch such as from a pen or stylus-type
`pointer. The scrolling device 100 also may be utiliZed
`Without actually touching the surface of the scrolling device
`100 With the pointer. For instance, the scrolling device 100
`may be con?gured to detect the pointer position as it hovers
`just over the surface of the scrolling device 100; such
`proximity-detection technology is also knoWn. What is
`important is that the scrolling device 100 and/or other
`device, computer, or interface in combination With the
`scrolling device 100 be able to determine the position of the
`pointer relative to the surface of the scrolling device 100,
`either Where the pointer is near to or touching the surface of
`the scrolling device 100.
`The scrolling device 100 may or may not be physically
`and/or functionally subdivided. Where the scrolling device
`100 is subdivided, the scrolling device 100 may have a
`scrolling region 101 and/or one or more active regions 102,
`103. The active regions 102, 103 may be of any shape and/or
`siZe, and may be physically attached to or separate from the
`scrolling region 101 and/or each other. In another
`embodiment, the scrolling region 101, the active region 102,
`and/or the active region 103 may be physically the same
`continuous touch-sensitive surface and only functionally
`divided. Thus, although the physical appearance Would be
`one single touch-sensitive surface, different portions of the
`single surface may respond differently. For instance, the
`middle portion of the surface may act like the scrolling
`region 101 and the tWo end portions may act like the active
`regions 102, 103. In the case Where the scrolling device 100
`is functionally subdivided into regions, the function(s)
`assigned to one or more of each region may change dynami
`cally depending on the location, timing, direction, and/or
`other properties of the user’s gesture. For instance, a par
`ticular gesture such as double-tapping may cause a particular
`region to sWitch from a ?rst associated function to a second
`associated function.
`The active regions 102, 103 are preferably disposed at
`opposing ends or end portions of the scrolling region 101,
`especially Where the scrolling region 101 is elongated such
`as in the form of a strip. HoWever, the active regions 102,
`103 may be disposed anyWhere proximate to the scrolling
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`4
`region 101. If no active regions 102, 103 exist, then the
`entire scrolling device 100 may be the scrolling region 101.
`The length of the exemplary scrolling region 101 discussed
`herein has a length D along the longitudinal axis, Which may
`be of any length such as about one inch, betWeen about one
`inch and about four inches, or greater than about four inches.
`Preferably, the scrolling region 101 is of a length such that
`a user could easily move his or her ?nger from one end of
`the main scrolling region 101 to the other Without having to
`signi?cantly move his or her hand.
`The scrolling device 100 may be of any desired shape
`and/or siZe. For example, the scrolling device 100 may be in
`the shape of a strip, square, rectangle, triangle, Wedge,
`circle, oval, cross, “X”, or any other desired shape. For
`one-dimensional scrolling, an elongated scrolling device
`100 and/or scrolling region 101 is preferable but not
`required. Where the scrolling region 101 is elongated, the
`scrolling region may be at least tWice as long D as it is Wide,
`or at least four times as long D as it is Wide, or even more
`elongated. For tWo-dimensional scrolling, other shapes may
`be preferable as Will be discussed later. Moreover, the
`surface of the scrolling device 100 may be ?at, curved,
`and/or angular.
`The scrolling device 100 may be a separate device or may
`be incorporated into another device such as a keyboard,
`mouse, and/or laptop computer. In some embodiments, the
`scrolling device 100 may be on the side of a keyboard. In
`other embodiments, the scrolling device 100 may be
`betWeen some of the keys of the keyboard, especially Where
`the keyboard is a split keyboard. Examples of such embodi
`ments are disclosed in co-pending patent application serial
`no. TBD, entitled “Touch Sensitive Device for Scrolling a
`Document on a Display,” attorney docket no. 03797.00124,
`?led simultaneously With the present application, hereby
`incorporated by reference as to its entirety, and particularly
`as to the disclosed exemplary embodiments of touch
`sensitive surfaces and devices. Where the scrolling device
`100 is incorporated into a keyboard, the user may be more
`able to scroll a document Without having to remove his or
`her hand from the keyboard.
`Referring to FIG. 2, the scrolling device 100 may be
`coupled to a computer 203 such as a personal computer (e. g.,
`a desktop or laptop computer). The scrolling device 100 and
`computer 203 together form a system 200. One or more
`interfaces and/or driving circuitry/softWare 202, 204 may be
`utiliZed to provide communication betWeen the scrolling
`device 100 and the computer 203. In the example shoWn in
`FIG. 2, each of the scrolling device 100 and the computer
`203 has its oWn interface and driver 202, 204. HoWever,
`some or all of the interfaces and drivers, if any, may be
`located Wherever is convenient, such as all Within the
`scrolling device 100, all Within the computer 203, or dis
`tributed betWeen the tWo.
`The computer 203 may be a desktop computer, laptop
`computer, mainframe computer, internal or external server,
`household appliance, automobile computer system, and/or
`any other device or apparatus that includes an electronic
`processing system. The computer 203 may include one or
`more of the folloWing, Which may be coupled together, such
`as via a bus 209: various other input devices 205 such as a
`keyboard and/or mouse, a processor 206 such as a micro
`processor or central processing unit (CPU), storage 207 such
`as memory, a hard drive, and/or a diskette drive, and/or a
`display screen 208 and/or other output device for vieWing a
`document. The device for vieWing the document may
`include a CRT screen, and LCD screen, a projector, a
`heads-up display, a virtual-reality goggle display, and/or any
`other device suitable for vieWing the document.
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 12 of 21
`
`

`

`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`5
`The term “viewing” or “displaying” a document is used
`broadly herein and in the claims: this term encompasses not
`only visual viewing or displaying but also “viewing” or
`“displaying” the document audibly via, e.g., a voice synthe
`siZer with speaker that speaks words in the document
`according to the presently-scrolled position of the document,
`or a computeriZed Braille-generator that generates Braille
`words in the document according to the presently-scrolled
`position of the document, as might be used by a visually
`impaired user.
`Referring to FIG. 4, the display screen 208 and/or other
`output device may display at least one document 401 that the
`user of the computer 203 may be working on or viewing.
`The document 401 (which may be stored in the storage 207,
`controlled by the processor 206, and/or modi?ed by various
`input devices 205) may be any type of document at all, such
`as a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a drawing, a
`photograph or other image, and/or an Internet web page. The
`document 401 may be the displayed output, results, and/or
`viewable user interface associated with any software and/or
`hardware-driven application and/or operating system, such
`as a control screen, window, or ?le directory.
`A common feature of many documents is that they are
`often too large to easily view all at once on the display
`screen 208. Accordingly, it often becomes necessary to
`scroll through the document 401 on the display screen 208
`in order to view various selected portions of the document
`401. As shown in FIG. 4, the display screen 208 may also
`display one or more graphical user interface or indicator
`(GUI) scrollbars 402, 404 each having GUI “elevators” 403,
`405 for controlling and/or indicating the scroll position of
`the document 401 in the vertical and/or horiZontal direction.
`The display screen may further display various GUI tools
`406 for controlling and modifying the document 401, such
`as font siZe, underlining, cut, copy, paste, etc. The items 401,
`402, 403, 404, 405, 406 on the display screen 208 may be
`generated and/or controlled by the processor 206 and/or any
`other component of the system 200, including software
`and/or an operating system, either alone or in any combi
`nation or subcombination. Also, scrolling of the document
`401 may be implemented by the processor 206 and/or any
`other component of the system 200, including software
`and/or an operating system, either alone or in any combi
`nation or subcombination.
`Any touching or proximity of the user’s ?nger to the
`touch-sensitive surface of the scrolling device 100 may
`cause the scrolling device 100 to generate at least one signal
`indicating the location, pressure, speed, acceleration, and/or
`direction of the ?nger, and/or which portion of the surface(s)
`of the scrolling device 100 are being touched by the ?nger.
`However, for simplicity of description, the remainder of this
`application assumes that the scrolling device 100 is designed
`to sense touching, rather than a threshold proximity, of the
`pointer. These signals may be received by the computer 203
`and/or interpreted by the processor 206. Signal generation
`and processing may, however, occur anywhere within the
`system 200. For instance, the interfaces and/or drivers 202
`and/or 204 may perform some or all of the signal generation
`and/or processing functions. Thus, in response to the user’s
`?nger, one or more signals may be generated by the system
`200 indicating information about the contact of the ?nger to
`the scrolling device 100, and such signals may be interpreted
`and processed by the system 200 to provide the various
`scrolling features described herein.
`Although scrolling as a general concept is known and
`used everyday in personal computers (e.g., by use of a
`mouse or arrow keys on a keyboard), various new exemplary
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`6
`ways to control scrolling of the document 401 using a
`scrolling device such as the scrolling device 100 are
`described herein.
`The Active Regions
`The active regions (e.g., active region 102) may be
`con?gurable in their functions. The active regions may be
`con?gured to perform different functions when utiliZed in
`combination with one or more keys on a keyboard, and/or
`buttons on a mouse, of the system 200. For example, tapping
`the active region 102 without pressing a key on the keyboard
`may cause the document to page up, while tapping the active
`region 102 while holding down the Ctrl key (or another key)
`may cause the document to jump to the document’s limits
`(e.g., its beginning, end, left edge, or right edge). This may
`occur even where the user is performing another gesture that
`includes the active region 102. For instance, if the user is
`holding the ?nger down on the active region 102, and the
`Ctrl key is later pushed while the ?nger is still held down on
`the active region 102, then the system 200 may immediately
`recogniZe this gesture as requesting the document to be
`paged in the up direction. Such recognition by the system
`200 in this case may occur even before the user removes the
`?nger from the active region 102 and/or before the Ctrl key
`returns to the up position.
`The active regions may further be con?gurable in their
`siZes and shapes. As previously mentioned, the active
`regions (e.g., active region 102) may be physically separate
`from or contiguous with the scrolling region 101. Where the
`active regions are physically contiguous with the scrolling
`region 101, the active regions may be de?ned not physically
`but functionally by the system 200. For instance, the top
`(e.g., 10%) and bottom (e.g., 10%) portions of the length of
`the touch-sensitive surface of the scrolling device 100 may
`be de?ned by the system 200 as being the active regions. The
`siZe of the portions de?ning the active regions may be static
`or they may be dynamically altered in real time by the
`system 200 and/or upon request by the user. The areas of the
`active regions may be de?ned by one or more bounding
`polygons. This may provide for ?exibility in assigning
`regions that are to act as active regions. For instance, an
`active region may be de?ned in a middle portion of the
`touch-sensitive surface of the scrolling device 100 instead
`of, or in addition to, an end portion. The active regions may
`be de?ned as squares, circles, ovals, rectangles, or any other
`shape.
`Also, the active regions 102, 103 may be used, in one
`exemplary embodiment, as auto-scroll regions. Auto
`scrolling is characteriZed in that the document 401 may
`scroll even though the user’s ?nger does not move along the
`touch-sensitive surface of the scrolling device 100. This
`does not mean that the user could not move his or her ?nger
`and that such movement would not also affect scrolling. But
`certain gestures that do not require movement of the ?nger
`across the touch-sensitive surface, such as tapping, holding,
`and/or applying pressure, may nevertheless cause the docu
`ment 401 to scroll.
`For example, responsive to the user initiating ?nger
`contact with one of the active regions 102, 103, the system
`200 may determine which of the active regions are contacted
`and cause the document 401 to automatically scroll in
`different directions, such as up or down (and/or left or right),
`depending upon which active region is contacted. For
`instance, where the active region 102 is contacted, the
`document 401 may in response scroll up, and where the
`active region 103 is contacted, the document 401 may in
`response scroll down. Automatic scrolling may start follow
`ing a short delay after the ?nger contact is initiated with one
`
`Microsoft Ex. 1017
`Microsoft v. Philips - IPR2018-00026
`Page 13 of 21
`
`

`

`US 6,707,449 B2
`
`7
`of the active regions 102, 103. However, a delay is not
`required. Where the auto-scroll regions embodied as por
`tions of the scrolling region 101, auto-scrolling may occur in
`response to the user’s ?nger remaining substantially still
`relative to the scrolling region 101, but not if there is
`movement. This may reduce the possibility that auto
`scrolling Would be initiated Where the user starts a stroke on
`the scrolling device 100 Within the auto-scrolling regions,
`hence alloWing for the auto-scrolling and relative scrolling
`modes to better share the physical real estate of the scrolling
`strip. Scrolling may continue until, for example, the user lifts
`the ?nger off the active region or other portion of the
`touch-sensitive surface that has been touched. Alternativel