Flat touch screen workpad for a data processing system

Claim 2

A data processing workpad (10) comprising: a housing (12) having a size and shape adapted to rest on a user's (70) lap or other generally upwardly facing support surface (72); a flat display (18) mounted in said housing and being exposed for view preferably in a generally horizontal, upwardly facing, orientation; a transparent touch panel (16) mounted on said housing and overlying said display; a pick up stylus (20) connected to said housing and being manually moveable relative to said touch panel; electrical means (16A, 16B) housed in said housing and being responsive to a user's finger touching said touch panel and to said pickup stylus being adjacent to said touch panel for causing predetermined functions to occur; electrical cabling (56) connected to said electrical means and being adapted to connect to a data processor (60) for controlling the operations of said workpad, said electrical cabling being relatively long and flexible to permit a user (70) to move said workpad relative to said data processor to a variety of different work positions; and at least one manually actuated button switch (30 - 33) mounted on said housing along side of said touch panel and said display, said switch being connected to said electrical means and operative upon actuation thereof to cause predetermined functions which are different from the aforementioned predetermined functions.

Claim 3

Workpad in accordance with claim 1 wherein: said flat display comprises a liquid crystal display (18).

Claim 4

Workpad in accordance with claim 1 or 2 wherein: said switch comprises a manually actuated, mechanical switch (30 - 33).

Claim 5

Workpad in accordance with claim 3 comprising a plurality of switches mounted on said workpad and located for left-hand operation and right-hand operation, concurrently with operation of said touch screen.

Claim 6

Workpad in accordance with any one of claim 1 - 4 wherein: said cabling comprises a single cable (56) including power lines (82, 83) and signal lines (84, 85) for operating said workpad.

Claim 7

A data processing system comprising: a personal computer (60) containing operating system programs (140) for controlling basic system operations and application programs (142) for performing user selectable functions; a workpad (10) connected to said data processor by a relatively long flexible cable (56), said workpad being of such size and weight as to be readily positionable by a user (70) in a variety of work positions including at least one position in which the user has adequate arm support for comfortable interaction with said workpad; a single flexible cable (56) connecting said workpad to said computer and permitting movement of said workpad to said work positions; said workpad being controlled by executing said programs in said data processor and including a housing (12) having a size and shape adapted to rest on a user's lap or other generally upwardly facing support surface (72); a flat display (18) mounted in said housing and being exposed for view in a generally horizontal, upwardly facing, orientation; a transparent touch panel (16) mounted on said housing and overlying said display; a pickup stylus (20) connected to said housing and being manually moveable relative to said touch panel; electrical means (16A, 16B) housed in said housing and being responsive to a user's finger touching said touch panel and to said pickup stylus being adjacent to said touch panel for causing predetermined functions to occur; and at least one manually actuated button switch (30 - 33) mounted on said housing along side of said touch panel and said display, said switch being connected to said electrical means and operative upon actuation thereof to cause predetermined functions which are different from the aforementioned predetermined functions.

Claim 8

A data processing system comprising: a personal computer (60) containing operating system programs (140) for controlling basic system operations and application programs (142) for performing user selectable functions; a workpad (10) connected to said data processor by a relatively long flexible cable (56), said workpad being of such size and weight as to be readily positionable by a user (70) in a variety of work positions including at least one position in which the user has adequate arm support for comfortable interaction with said workpad; a single flexible cable (56) connecting said workpad to said computer and permitting movement of said workpad to said work positions; said workpad being controlled by executing said programs in said data processor and including a housing (12) having a size and shape adapted to rest on a user's lap or other generally upwardly facing support surface (72); a flat display (18) mounted in said housing and being exposed for view in a generally horizontal, upwardly facing, orientation; a transparent touch panel (16) mounted on said housing and overlying said display; a pickup stylus (20) connected to said housing and being manually moveable relative to said touch panel; electrical means (16A, 16B) housed in said housing and being responsive to a user's finger touching said touch panel and to said pickup stylus being adjacent to said touch panel for causing predetermined functions to occur; and at least one manually actuated button switch (30 - 33) mounted on said housing along side of said touch panel and said display, said switch being connected to said electrical means and operative upon actuation thereof to cause predetermined functions which are different from the aforementioned predetermined functions.

Claim 9

System in accordance with claim 6 comprising: emulation program means (304) executed by said computer to interpret operation of said switch as emulating mouse button operations.

Claim 10

System in accordance with claim 6 or 7 wherein: said display comprises a liquid crystal display (18).

Claim 11

System in accordance with claim 6, 7 or 8 comprising: a plurality of switches (30 - 31) mounted on said housing and divided into groups (30, 31; 32, 33) for left-handed operation and right-handed operation, whereby a user can use one hand to operate one group of switches while using the other hand to operate said stylus and/or to touch said touch panel.