Operation panel for electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10289269-B2
Application number	US-201314774994-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2013
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	May 14, 2019
Grant date	May 14, 2019

Abstract

An electronic device for displaying an operation panel is provided in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. The operation panel displayed on a screen of the electronic device includes multiple levels of menus. The electronic device displays a first menu of the operation panel on the screen. When a second item being a subordinate item of a first item is selected, the electronic device hides the first menu showing the first item, and displays a second menu of the operation panel on the screen. The second menu includes a central section for identifying the second item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for displaying an operation panel comprising multiple levels of menus on a screen of an electronic device, comprising:
displaying, by a processor of the electronic device, a first menu of an operational panel on the screen, wherein the first menu comprises a central section of a circle, and the circle is divided into fan-shaped sections to represent items under the first menu;
receiving, by the processor, a user selection of a first item of the first menu;
in response to the user selection of the first item, enlarging, by the processor, the fan-shaped section of the first item to accommodate a display of subordinate items of the first item while reducing the fan-shaped sections of remaining items of the first menu;
displaying by the processor, the subordinate items of the first item along an outer circumferential portion of the fan-shaped section of the first item while maintaining the display of the fan-shaped sections of the first item and the remaining items of the first menu;
in response to a user selection of one of the subordinate items of the first item, hiding, by the processor, the first menu that includes the first item;
displaying, by the processor, a second menu on the screen to represent a menu of the selected subordinate item, wherein the second menu comprises a central section representing the selected subordinate item and a plurality of item sections or identifying subordinate items of the second menu; and
positioning, by the processor, the plurality of item sections substantially radially outward from the central section of the second menu.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the subordinate items of the second menu are displayed as icons along the outer circumferential portion of the fan-shaped section of the first item.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
in response to a user touch on one of the icons, highlighting the touched icon and displaying an enlarged icon beside the touched icon.

4. The method according to claim , further comprising:
when the first menu of the operation panel is moved near to a side of the screen, docking the first menu to the side of the screen and reducing the display of the first menu.

5. The method according to claim 4 , when the first menu is docked to the side of the screen, the display of the first menu is reduced to a semi-circle shape.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
moving the display of the first menu on the screen in response to a user touch and drag of the central section of the first menu.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that when executed by at least one processor of an electronic device cause the at least one processor to:
display a first menu of items on a screen of the electronic device, wherein the first menu comprises a central section of a circle, and the circle is divided into fan-shaped sections to represent the items of the first menu;
receive a user selection of a first item of the first menu;
in response to the user selection of the first item, enlarge the fan-shaped section of the first item to accommodate a display of subordinate items of the first item and reduce the fan-shaped sections of remaining items of the first menu;
display the subordinate items of the first item along an outer circumferential portion of the fan-shaped section of the first item while maintaining the display of the fan-shaped sections of the first item and the remaining items of the first menu
in response to a user selection of one of the subordinate items of the first item, hide the first menu that includes the first item;
display a second menu on the screen to represent a menu of the selected subordinate item, wherein the second menu comprises a central section representing the selected subordinate item and a plurality of item sections for identifying subordinate items of the second menu; and
position the plurality of item sections substantially radially outward from the central section of the second menu.

8. The non-transitory computer read able medium according to claim 7 , wherein the subordinate items of the second menu are displayed as icons along the outer circumferential portion of the fan-shaped section of the first item.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to:
in response to a user touch on one of the icons, highlight the touched icon and display an enlarged icon beside the touched icon.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7 , wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to:
when the first menu is moved near to a side of the screen, dock the first menu to the side of the screen and reduce the display of the first menu.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein when the first menu is docked to the side of the screen, the display of the first menu is reduced to a semi-circle shape.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7 , wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to:
move the display of the first menu on the screen in response to a user touch and drag of the central section of the first menu.

13. An electronic device for displaying an operation panel, comprising:
a display component;
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
display a first menu of items on the display component, wherein the first menu comprises a central section of a circle, and the circle is divided into fan-shaped sections to represent the items of the first menu;
receive a user selection of a first item of the first menu;
in response to the user selection of the first item, enlarge the fan-shaped section of the first item to accommodate a display of subordinate items of the first item and reduce the fan-shaped sections of remaining items of the first menu;
display the subordinate items of the first item along an outer circumferential portion of the fan-shaped section of the first item while maintaining the display of the fan-shaped sections of the first item and the remaining items of the first menu;
in response to a user selection of one of the subordinate items of the first item, hide the first menu that includes the first item;
display a second menu on the screen to represent a menu of the selected subordinate item, wherein the second menu comprises a central section representing the selected subordinate item and a plurality of item sections for identifying subordinate items of the second menu; and
position the plurality of item sections substantially radially outward from the central section of the second menu.

14. The electronic device according to claim 13 , wherein the subordinate items of the second menu are displayed as icons along the outer circumferential portion of the fan-shaped section of the first item.

15. The electronic device according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions are to cause processor to move the first menu on the display component in response to a user touch and drag of the central section of the second menu.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co
• Yao Di
• Tang qi feng
• Meng Xia
• Zhang Zhen Ping
• Hewett Packard Dev Company L P

Inventors

• Yao Di
• Tang Qi-Feng
• Meng Xia
• Zhang zhen-ping

Classifications

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/04886

  by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus · CPC title

• G06F3/0482 Primary

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06F3/0488

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title

• G06F3/04845

  for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour · CPC title