JP7120280B2 - Terminal device and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to terminal devices and programs.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a handy terminal is known as a portable information processing terminal for inputting various kinds of information for management of products in stores and warehouses. In a conventional handy terminal with a key having many physical keys, the trigger key pressed to read the code information of the bar code is also composed of the physical key.

However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of handy terminals with full-surface touch panels like smartphones, and in these touch panel handy terminals, the trigger keys are also placed on the touch panel as virtual trigger keys (trigger keys for soft keys). There are many. However, compared to the physical trigger key, the virtual trigger key on the touch panel requires a lot of internal processing before recognizing that the trigger key has been pressed. It took a long time to start

As a technology that can be used as a countermeasure, in an information processing terminal capable of touch operation, in a state where an icon of a predetermined application such as a camera application is displayed, a predetermined touch operation ( activating the application in the background when a release icon is dragged a predetermined distance in the direction of the icon position of the application, and activating the application when the icon of the application is selected; A technique for setting the state is disclosed (see Patent Document 1, for example).

JP 2013-246727 A

However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a user's touch operation is received, it is necessary to determine whether or not a predetermined touch operation registered in association with an application has been performed. It was not possible to sufficiently shorten the time until startup. In addition, there is also a problem that the user needs to memorize the predetermined touch operation registered in association with the application, which depends on the user's operation ability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to shorten the time until the start of execution of a process corresponding to a specific operation icon and to improve operability through touch panel input.

In order to solve the above problems, the terminal device of the present invention includes detection means for detecting a touch operation by a user on a touch panel type display unit, and coordinates of an area where the touch operation is detected by the detection means as coordinate information. A specific operation icon for executing two processes of an output means for outputting an output and a second process to be executed after the first process is completed when the touch operation is detected by the detection means. determining means for determining whether or not the specific operation icon is displayed on the display section; and outputting the coordinate information by the output means when the determining means determines that the specific operation icon is displayed on the display section. and a first specific control means for executing the first process without waiting.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the time until execution of a process corresponding to a specific operation icon starts, and improve operability through touch panel input.

1 is a front external view of a handy terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the handy terminal; FIG. It is a block diagram which shows CPU and a touch-panel part. 4 is a flowchart showing symbol reading processing; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a symbol reading screen of the handy terminal; 4 is a timing chart of operations related to scanning in response to touch input on a conventional touch panel. 4 is a timing chart of operations related to scanning in response to touch input on the touch panel of the present embodiment;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the device configuration of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a front external view of a handy terminal 10 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the handy terminal 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the CPU 11 and the touch panel section 121. As shown in FIG.

A handy terminal 10 as a terminal device (portable terminal) shown in FIG. It is a portable information processing terminal operated by a user to input information. The handy terminal 10 has a symbol (barcode, two-dimensional code) scanning function.

As shown in FIG. 1, the handy terminal 10 has an operation section 12, a display section 14, and a scanner section 17 as symbol reading means on a housing 10a. The operation section 12 includes a touch panel section 121 and a physical key section 122 . The touch panel unit 121 has a touch panel 121a. The touch panel 121a is a capacitive touch panel provided on the display panel of the display unit 14 on the front side of the housing 10a, and receives a user's touch input. Note that the touch panel 121a may be a touch panel of another type such as a resistive type.

The physical key unit 122 has a physical trigger key 122a and a physical key group 122b. The physical trigger keys 122a are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the housing 10a, respectively, and serve as physical keys (hard keys) for receiving input from the user to execute scanning (symbol reading) of the scanner unit 17. FIG. The physical key group 122b is provided on the front side of the housing 10a and is a plurality of physical keys that accept various inputs from the user. It has a back key for going back and so on.

The display unit 14 has an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display panel, and performs various displays on the display panel.

The scanner unit 17 is provided on the top surface of the housing 10a, has an aimer light emitting element and an imaging element such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) imager, and scans symbols (barcodes, two-dimensional code) and reads the symbol. For example, the user directs the scanner unit 17 of the handy terminal 10 so that the symbol is positioned within the aimer light, and the user presses the physical trigger key 122a, or the virtual trigger as a soft key displayed on the display unit 14. By touch input of the key, the symbol is imaged and read.

Next, the internal functional configuration of the handy terminal 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The handy terminal 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 as first specific control means, second specific control means, and determination means, an operation section 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a display section 14, and a storage unit. A unit 15 , a wireless communication unit 16 , a scanner unit 17 , a camera unit 18 , an output unit 19 and a battery 20 are provided. Each part of the handy terminal 10 is connected via a bus 21 .

The CPU 11 controls each part of the handy terminal 10 . The CPU 11 reads a designated program out of the system programs and application programs stored in the storage unit 15, develops it in the RAM 13, and executes various processes in cooperation with the developed program.

The operation unit 12 has a touch panel unit 121 and a physical key unit 122 , receives touch input from the user to (the touch panel 121 a of) the touch panel unit 121 and key input to the physical key unit 122 , and transmits the operation information to the CPU 11 . Output.

Here, with reference to FIG. 3, the internal configuration of the touch panel unit 121 and communication signals between the touch panel unit 121 and the CPU 11 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the touch panel unit 121 includes a touch panel 121a and a touch panel control unit 121b as detection means and output means. The touch panel control unit 121 b is a control IC (Integrated Circuit) that controls the touch panel 121 a under the control of the CPU 11 , acquires signals related to touch input on the touch panel 121 a, and outputs the signals to the CPU 11 .

More specifically, the touch panel control unit 121b inputs and outputs signals such as control signals to and from the touch panel 121a. The touch panel control unit 121b outputs a touch panel interrupt signal indicating a touch input to the touch panel 121a to the CPU 11 in response to a user's touch input to the touch panel 121a. Further, the touch panel control unit 121b receives the communication signal Tx as the transmission signal from the CPU 11 (receives it), and outputs (transmits) the communication signal Rx as the reception signal corresponding to the communication signal Tx to the CPU 11 .

The RAM 13 is a volatile memory and forms a work area for temporarily storing various data and programs.

The display unit 14 performs various displays on the LCD display panel in accordance with the display information instructed by the CPU 11 . The display unit 14 may be a display unit such as an EL (Electro-Luminescence) display.

The storage unit 15 is a nonvolatile storage unit such as a flash memory from which information can be read and written. Various data and programs are stored in the storage unit 15 . In particular, it is assumed that the storage unit 15 stores, as an application program, a symbol reading program P1 for executing symbol reading processing, which will be described later.

The wireless communication unit 16 is at least one wireless communication unit that has an antenna for various wireless communication methods, a modulation/demodulation circuit, a signal processing circuit, and the like, and performs wireless communication with a communication destination. A wireless communication system of each wireless communication unit of the wireless communication unit 16 is a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), a wireless WAN (Wide Area Network), NFC (Near Field Communication), or the like. For example, the CPU 11 performs wireless transmission/reception with an access point by Wi-fi communication via the wireless communication unit 16, and transmits/receives information to/from a communication destination device connected to the access point via a network.

Under the control of the CPU 11 , the scanner unit 17 takes an image of a symbol as an object, generates image data of the symbol, and outputs the image data to the CPU 11 . The CPU 11 decodes the image data of the symbol imaged by the scanner unit 17 to acquire code information contained in the symbol. The scanner unit 17 may be a laser scanner that scans a bar code as a symbol by irradiating it with a laser beam and decodes the signal obtained by inputting the reflected light to obtain the data contained in the bar code. .

The camera section 18 is a digital camera section that has an optical system and an imaging element, and that takes an image of a subject and generates image data under the control of the CPU 11 .

The output unit 19 has a light emitting unit such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and a sound output unit such as an amplifier and a speaker. .

The battery 20 is a rechargeable battery (secondary battery) such as a lithium ion battery, and supplies power to each part of the handy terminal 10 . In addition, the battery 20 turns off (powers off) the power supply to each part of the handy terminal 10 under the control of the CPU 11 .

Next, the operation of the handy terminal 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing symbol reading processing. FIG. 5 shows the symbol reading screen 30 of the handy terminal 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a timing chart of operations related to scanning in response to touch input on a conventional touch panel. FIG. 7 is a timing chart of operations related to scanning in response to touch input on touch panel 121a of the present embodiment.

The symbol reading process executed by the handy terminal 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In the handy terminal 10, the CPU 11 reads the symbol reading program P1 read from the storage unit 15 and appropriately developed in the RAM 13 in cooperation with the symbol reading program P1, which is read out from the storage unit 15 and appropriately expanded in the RAM 13, by turning on the power supply by pressing the power key by the user, for example, as a trigger. Execute the process.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, the CPU 11 determines whether or not a touch panel interrupt signal output from the touch panel control section 121b in response to a touch input through the touch panel section 121 is detected (step S11). In step S11, when a touch panel interrupt signal is output from the touch panel control unit 121b to the CPU 11, the CPU 11 outputs a communication preparation completion notification to the touch panel control unit as a communication signal Tx of the touch panel in response to completion of communication preparation with the touch panel control unit 121b. 121b. In parallel with steps S12 and S13, which will be described later, the touch panel control unit 121b acquires the coordinate signal of the touch input from the touch panel 121a in response to the communication preparation completion signal, and transmits the coordinate information of the touch input on the touch panel 121a to the communication signal Rx. , and output to the CPU 11 .

If the touch panel interrupt signal is not detected (step S11; NO), the process proceeds to step S11. When the touch panel interrupt signal is detected (step S11; NO), the CPU 11 displays the symbol reading trigger key (virtual trigger key) on the display unit 14 (before the touch input in step S11 (before the touch panel interrupt signal is detected)). It is determined whether or not it is being displayed (step S12). In step S12, for example, consider a case where the handy terminal 10 is displaying the symbol reading screen 30 shown in FIG. The symbol reading screen 30 has a code information display field 31 and trigger keys 32 and 33 .

The code information display field 31 is a display field for code information (character information) included in the symbol obtained by reading the symbol using the scanner unit 17 . The trigger keys 32 and 33 are virtual trigger keys that are soft keys as operation icons for accepting trigger inputs for symbol reading using the scanner unit 17 . Symbol reading using the scanner unit 17 is executed by touching the trigger keys 32 and 33 on the touch panel 121a. In step S12, for example, it is determined whether or not the trigger keys 32, 33 (including the symbol reading screen 30) are being displayed.

If the trigger key is being displayed (step S12; YES), the CPU 11 activates the corresponding device such as the scanner unit 17 and prepares for symbol reading (step S13). The symbol reading preparation in step S13 may include execution of software processing corresponding to the symbol reading preparation.

Then, the CPU 11 calculates the position coordinate information of the touch input in step S11 on the display screen of the display section 14 according to the coordinate information input from the touch panel control section 121b (step S14). Then, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the position coordinate information of the touch input calculated in step S14 is within the display area of the trigger key being displayed (step S15).

If it is within the display area of the trigger key (step S15; YES), the CPU 11 reads the symbol by the scanner unit 17 (step S16), and proceeds to step S11. In step S16, for example, the symbol CPU 11 decodes image data obtained by imaging a symbol with the scanner unit 17, acquires code information contained in the symbol, and displays the symbol reading screen 30 shown in FIG. The code information is displayed in the code information display field 31 of the display section 14 .

If it is not within the display area of the trigger key (step S15; NO), the CPU 11 stops activation of the scanner section 17 (step S17). Then, the CPU 11 executes processing (other than symbol reading) corresponding to the touch input in step S11 (step S18), and proceeds to step S11.

If the trigger key is not being displayed (step S12; YES), the CPU 11 calculates the position coordinate information of the touch input in step S11 on the display screen of the display unit 14 according to the coordinate information input from the touch panel control unit 121b. (step S19). Then, the CPU 11 executes processing corresponding to the touch input in step S11 (step S20), and proceeds to step S11.

Here, with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the operation of the normal symbol reading process executed by the conventional handy terminal and the operation of the symbol reading process of the present embodiment will be compared. A conventional handy terminal is assumed to have the same device configuration as the handy terminal 10 .

As shown in FIG. 6, in the conventional normal symbol reading process, a low-active touch panel interrupt signal is switched to low in response to a touch input on the touch panel and is input from the touch panel control section to the CPU. In response to the switching of the touch panel interrupt signal to low, a communication preparation completion notification as a communication signal Tx is output from the CPU to the touch panel control unit, and in response to the communication preparation completion notification, touch input coordinate information as a communication signal Rx. (x coordinate, y coordinate) is output from the touch panel control unit to the CPU.

Then, the CPU calculates the positional coordinate information of the touch input on the display screen, and determines whether or not the calculated positional coordinate information of the touch input is within the display area of the trigger key being displayed. Then, after it is determined (recognized) that it is within the display area of the trigger key being displayed, the scanner unit as a device is activated, and after completion of activation of the scanner unit, the scanner unit reads (scans) the symbol. be done. Since the startup process of the scanner section is executed after it is determined whether or not the display area of the trigger key is present, it takes time to start reading symbols.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, in the symbol reading process of the present embodiment, the touch panel interrupt signal (low) is input (corresponding to step S11) in response to the touch input on the touch panel 121a in the CPU 11, and the communication preparation is completed. The notification output execution timing is the same as in the conventional normal symbol reading process.

However, in response to the input of the touch panel interrupt signal, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the trigger key is being displayed on the display unit 14 (corresponding to step S12), and if the trigger key is being displayed, the CPU 11 (corresponding to step S13) as a device is started, and whether or not the coordinate information input of the touch input and the position coordinate information of the touch input are within the display area of the trigger key being displayed. (corresponding to steps S14 and S15) are sequentially executed. For this reason, the process of activating the scanner unit 17, the determination of whether or not the communication preparation completion notification output by the CPU 11, the input of the coordinate information of the touch input, and the position coordinate information of the touch input are within the display area of the trigger key being displayed. , are executed in parallel.

Then, the CPU 11 determines (recognizes) that the positional coordinate information of the touch input is within the area of the trigger key being displayed, and following completion of activation of the scanner unit 17, symbol reading (scanning) is executed. . Thus, in the symbol reading process of the present embodiment, the symbol reading start timing is earlier than in the conventional normal symbol reading process.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the handy terminal 10 detects a touch operation by the user from the touch panel 121a in the touch panel display unit 14, and outputs the coordinates of the area where the touch operation is detected as coordinate information. 121b, and a symbol using the scanner unit 17 as a second process that is executed after the activation process of the scanner part 17 as the first process and the activation process of the scanner part 17 are completed when a touch operation is detected. It is determined whether or not a symbol reading trigger key is displayed on the display unit 14 as a specific operation icon for executing the reading process and the second process, and it is determined that the trigger key is displayed on the display unit 14. and a CPU 11 that executes activation processing of the scanner unit 17 without waiting for output of the coordinate information by the touch panel control unit 121b when the touch panel control unit 121b is input.

Therefore, when a touch operation is detected, the activation process of the scanner unit 17 is immediately executed in response to the trigger key being displayed. operability can be improved. Therefore, the symbol reading time can be shortened. One criterion for the symbol (barcode) reading time is 100 [ms] or less, and the symbol reading processing of this embodiment is expected to improve the symbol reading time by about 10 [ms], that is, about 10%. can.

Further, the CPU 11 determines that the coordinate information (of the touch operation) output by the touch panel control section 121b corresponds to the coordinate information of the display area of the trigger key (inside the display area) while the activation process of the scanner section 17 is being executed. ), symbol reading processing using the scanner unit 17 is executed. Therefore, the symbol reading process can be started early, and the symbol reading time can be shortened.

Further, when the coordinate information of the area where the touch operation is detected does not correspond to the coordinate information of the display area of the trigger key, the CPU 11 stops executing the activation process of the scanner section 17 . For this reason, it is possible to reduce the processing load by preventing execution of activation processing of the scanner unit 17 when the touch operation is not the operation of the trigger key and preparation for symbol reading is not required.

Further, the CPU 11 detects a touch panel interrupt signal of a touch operation, and determines whether or not a symbol reading trigger key is displayed on the display unit 14 when the touch panel interrupt signal is detected. Therefore, it is possible to start execution of the activation processing of the scanner unit 17 when the trigger key is displayed more quickly.

In the above description, an example of using a non-volatile storage unit such as a flash memory as a computer-readable medium for the program according to the present invention has been disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this example. As another computer-readable medium, a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM can be applied. A carrier wave is also applied to the present invention as a medium for providing program data according to the present invention via a communication line.

It should be noted that the description in the above embodiment is an example of the terminal device and the program according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, in the above embodiment, a displayed specific operation icon for accepting touch input is set as a trigger key for symbol reading, preparation processing corresponding to the specific operation icon is set as startup processing of the scanner unit 17, and specific operation is performed. Although the main processing corresponding to the icon is the symbol reading processing using the scanner unit 17, it is not limited to this. For example, a specific operation icon may be a trigger key for photographing a subject, preparation processing corresponding to the specific operation icon may be activation processing of the camera unit 18, and main processing may be processing for photographing a subject using the camera unit 18. may be configured. Further, the specific operation icon is set as a trigger key for starting a predetermined application program, the preparation process corresponding to the specific operation icon is set as the start process of the predetermined application program, and the main process is set in advance included in the predetermined application program. A configuration may be adopted in which a specified process is executed.

Further, the detailed configuration and detailed operation of each component of the handy terminal 10 in the above-described embodiment can of course be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.
The invention described in the scope of claims originally attached to the application form of this application is additionally described below. The claim numbers in the appendix are as in the claims originally attached to the filing of this application.
[Appendix]
<Claim 1>
a detection means for detecting a touch operation by a user on a touch panel type display unit;
output means for outputting coordinates of an area where the touch operation is detected by the detection means as coordinate information;
When the touch operation is detected by the detecting means, a specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit for executing two processes of a first process and a second process that is executed after the first process is completed. a determination means for determining whether or not
a first specific control means for executing the first process without waiting for output of the coordinate information by the output means when the determination means determines that the specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit; ,
A terminal device comprising:
<Claim 2>
When it is determined that the coordinate information output by the output means corresponds to the coordinate information of the display area of the specific operation icon while the first process is being executed by the first specific control means, 2. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising second specific control means for executing the second process.
<Claim 3>
The second specific control means stops execution of the first process when the coordinate information of the area where the touch operation is detected does not correspond to the coordinate information of the display area of the specific operation icon. 3. The terminal device according to claim 2.
<Claim 4>
The detection means detects an interrupt signal of the touch operation,
2. The discriminating means discriminates whether or not the specific operation icon is displayed on the display section when the interrupt signal of the touch operation is detected by the detecting means. 4. The terminal device according to any one of 3.
<Claim 5>
The specific operation icon is a symbol reading trigger key,
The first processing is activation processing of symbol reading means for reading symbols,
5. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the second processing is symbol reading processing using the symbol reading means.
<Claim 6>
the computer,
detection means for detecting a touch operation by a user on a touch panel type display unit;
output means for outputting coordinates of an area where the touch operation is detected by the detection means as coordinate information;
When the touch operation is detected by the detecting means, a specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit for executing two processes of a first process and a second process that is executed after the first process is completed. Determination means for determining whether or not
first specific control means for executing the first process without waiting for output of the coordinate information by the output means when the determination means determines that the specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit;
A program to function as

10 handy terminal 10a housing 11 CPU
12 Operation unit 121 Touch panel unit 121a Touch panel 121b Touch panel control unit 122 Physical key unit 122a Physical trigger key 122b Physical key group 13 RAM
14 display unit 15 storage unit 16 wireless communication unit 17 scanner unit 18 camera unit 19 output unit 20 battery 21 bus

Claims (6)

a detection means for detecting a touch operation by a user on a touch panel type display unit;
output means for outputting coordinates of an area where the touch operation is detected by the detection means as coordinate information;
When the touch operation is detected by the detecting means, a specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit for executing two processes of a first process and a second process that is executed after the first process is completed. a determination means for determining whether or not
a first specific control means for executing the first process without waiting for output of the coordinate information by the output means when the determination means determines that the specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit; ,
A terminal device comprising: When it is determined that the coordinate information output by the output means corresponds to the coordinate information of the display area of the specific operation icon while the first process is being executed by the first specific control means, 2. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising second specific control means for executing the second process. The second specific control means stops execution of the first process when the coordinate information of the area where the touch operation is detected does not correspond to the coordinate information of the display area of the specific operation icon. 3. The terminal device according to claim 2. The detection means detects an interrupt signal of the touch operation,
2. The discriminating means discriminates whether or not the specific operation icon is displayed on the display section when the interrupt signal of the touch operation is detected by the detecting means. 4. The terminal device according to any one of 3. The specific operation icon is a symbol reading trigger key,
The first processing is activation processing of symbol reading means for reading symbols,
5. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the second processing is symbol reading processing using the symbol reading means. the computer,
detection means for detecting a touch operation by a user on a touch panel type display unit;
output means for outputting coordinates of an area where the touch operation is detected by the detection means as coordinate information;
When the touch operation is detected by the detecting means, a specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit for executing two processes of a first process and a second process that is executed after the first process is completed. Determination means for determining whether or not
first specific control means for executing the first process without waiting for output of the coordinate information by the output means when the determination means determines that the specific operation icon is displayed on the display unit;
A program to function as

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