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US005515495A
United States Patent [19] [ii] Patent Number: 5,515,495
Ikemoto [45] Date of Patent: May 7,1996
[54] ICON DISPLAY APPARATUS
[75] Inventor: Hiroyuki Ikemoto, Tokyo, Japan
[73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Japan
[21] Appl. No.: 953,028
[22] Filed: Sep. 29,1992
[30] Foreign Application Priority Data
Sep. 30, 1991 [JP] Japan 3-252492
[51] Int. CI.6 G06F 15/62
[52] U.S. CI 395/159
[58] Field of Search 395/155-161
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,140,678 8/1992 Torres 395/159
5,146,556 9/1992 Hullot et al 395/155
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
IEEE Recommended Practice for Graphical User Interface Drivability, Balloting Draft 1, May 1992, pp. 53 and 134-135.
Tab Window Manager for the X Window System, Excerpt
from manual, Sun Release 4.1, Last Change: 31 Jan. 1991. Microsoft Windows User's Guide, Version 1.03, 1987, pp. 26, 46-49, 52.
Microsoft Windows User's Guide, Version 3.1, 1990, pp. 1-16, 45, 46. Microsoft Corporation.
Primary Examiner—Mark R. Powell
Assistant Examiner—Huynh Ba
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Banner & Allegretti, Ltd.
[57] ABSTRACT
An icon display apparatus includes a display having a screen for displaying at least one window and a plurality of icons, an icon image memory for storing a plurality of icon data corresponding to the plurality of icons displayed on the display, a window image memory for storing a plurality of window picture data corresponding to the plurality of windows selectively displayed on the display, an iconifying circuit for converting a window displayed on a screen of the display into an icon, a mouse for designating a window to be iconified and a display position of the converted icon on the screen of the display, and a display drive circuit for supplying icon data corresponding to the window and coordinate data corresponding to the designated display position so as to display the converted icon at the designated position on the screen.
7 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
