Apparatus and method for activating a trigger mechanism

1. A method of activating a trigger mechanism at a data capture device having a touch display, and a data capture module, the method comprising:

providing, on the touch display, a first region associated with a first application and an input region;

receiving, at the data capture device, an input comprising at least a touch sensor input from the touch display;

identifying, based on the input, an obtained input pattern comprising at least one of a spatial pattern, a temporal pattern, a touch size pattern and a hard-tap pattern, said hard-tap pattern based on a combination of the touch sensor input and a sensor input other than the touch sensor input;

in a first mode of operation of the data capture device, when the identifying is successful, activating the trigger mechanism to initiate a data capture at the data capture module; and

in a second mode of operation of the data capture device:

when the identifying is unsuccessful, activating the trigger mechanism to initiate the data capture at the data capture module, and

when the identifying is successful, changing the mode of operation of the data capture device from the second mode to the first mode.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein activating the trigger mechanism is performed as a consequence of successfully identifying the obtained input pattern, the method further comprising:

providing the captured data to the first application.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first region further comprises an input area associated with the first application and wherein providing the captured data to the first application further comprises providing the captured data to the input area.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the first region further comprises a plurality of input areas associated with the first application, the plurality of input areas arranged for receiving input in a predetermined order and wherein the method further comprises providing the captured data to the first application by providing the captured data to a next one of the plurality of input areas to receive input based on the predetermined order.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

providing at least a portion of the input to the first application when the identifying fails.

6. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

when the identifying fails, providing an application input to the first application, the application input comprising an input location, the input location being based on a location, at the touch display, of the input other than the originating location of the input.

7. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

processing the captured data prior to providing the captured data to the input area.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the input originates at the input region.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the input is received from the input region.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying further comprises:

maintaining, in a device memory, a predefined pattern;

determining, based on the input, the obtained input pattern; and

matching the obtained input pattern to the predefined pattern.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the input pattern comprises at least a touch size pattern and the identifying further comprises:

maintaining, in a memory of the device, a predefined touch size;

determining, based on the input, a touch size indicator; and

comparing the touch size indicator to the predefined touch size.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the device further comprises

an accelerometer and wherein the receiving the input further comprises:

receiving, from the accelerometer, a sensor value;

and wherein the input pattern is the hard-tap pattern and the identifying further comprises:

maintaining, in a memory of the device, a predefined sensor value;

determining, based on the input, the sensor value; and

comparing the sensor value to the predefined sensor value.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first region and the input region is translucent.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the input region is invisible.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein an indication is provided at the touch display indicating the presence of the input region.

16. A data capture device comprising:

a processor;

a touch display, a data capture module and a trigger mechanism connected to the processor, the processor operating to:

provide, on the touch display, a first region associated with a first application and an input region;

receive, at the data capture device, an input comprising at least a touch sensor input from the touch display;

identify, based on the input, an obtained input pattern comprising at least one of a spatial pattern, a temporal pattern, a touch size pattern, and a hard-tap pattern, said hard-tap pattern based on a combination of the touch sensor input and a sensor input other than the touch sensor input;

in a first mode of operation of the data capture device, when the identifying is successful, activate the trigger mechanism to initiate a data capture at the data capture module; and

in a second mode of operation of the data capture device:

when the identifying is unsuccessful, activate the trigger mechanism to initiate the data capture at the data capture module, and

when the identifying is successful, change the mode of operation of the data capture device from the second mode to the first mode.

17. The device of claim 16 wherein activating the trigger mechanism is performed as a consequence of successfully identifying the obtained input pattern and the processor further operates to:

provide the captured data to the first application.

18. The device of claim 16 wherein the input originates at the input region.