Mobile device and method of controlling the same

• US 10,298,734 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2017
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Cho, Sungbae, Gong, Yongtaek, Um, Joonho
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US15/826,608
• Publication Number:
  US 20180084099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 538 Days
• Field of Search: 455566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0268 including a flexible display panel
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a mobile device and a method of controlling the same. In this case, the mobile device according to the present invention includes a sensor unit configured to detect a first action and a second action of a user to fold the mobile device, a control unit configured to control a folding indicator to be outputted on a screen according to the detected first action of the user, configured to control a function corresponding to the detected second action to be executed, configured to control data resulted from executing the function to be outputted on the screen, configured to control the mobile device based on the outputted data, and a display configured to output the folding indicator and the data resulted from executing the function.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a flexible display configured to display information related to the mobile device, the flexible display including a display region configured to be bent by an external force such that a shape of the flexible display is changed physically when the display region is bent; and

a controller configured to;

cause the flexible display to display a first image including a character input region; and

when the display region of the flexible display is bent by the external force while the first image is displayed, cause the flexible display to display a second image in the bent display region, the second image including a virtual keyboard for inputting at least one character in the character input region.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the controller is further configured to cause the flexible display to display an indicator in the first image before the display region is bent, and

the indicator comprises at least one line for guiding the bending of the display region.

3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one line is moveable in the flexible display, and

a size of the second image to be displayed is adjustable according to the movement of the at least one line.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

automatically activate the character input region after the virtual keyboard is displayed,

wherein the character input region is in an inactive state before the virtual keyboard is displayed.

5. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

a keyboard style of the virtual keyboard is selectively changed according to an area size of the second image resulting from the bending of the display region; and

the area size of the second image varies based on a bending position on the display region.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the second image is not displayed prior to the bending of the display region; and

a size of the first image is reduced when the second image is displayed.

7. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein a first portion of the first image is replaced by the second image when the second image is displayed such that only a second portion of the first image is included in the reduced sized first image.

8. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the character input region is included in the first image before the display region is bent and the character input region remains to be included in the reduced sized first image when the second image is displayed.

9. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the character input region is a search window for receiving a search term.

10. A method of controlling a mobile device, the method comprising:

displaying a first image including a character input region on a flexible display of the mobile device, the flexible display including a display region configured to be bent by an external force such that a shape of the flexible display is changed physically when the display region is bent;

determine whether the display region of the flexible display is bent while the first image is displayed; and

when the display region of the flexible display is bent by the external force while the first image is displayed, displaying a second image in the bent display region, the second image including a virtual keyboard for inputting at least one character in the character input region.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the second image is not displayed prior to the bending of the display region; and

a size of the first image is reduced when the second image is displayed.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a first portion of the first image is replaced by the second image when the second image is displayed such that only a second portion of the first image is included in the reduced sized first image.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the character input region is included in the first image before the display region is bent and the character input region remains to be included in the reduced sized first image when the second image is displayed.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the character input region is a search window for receiving a search term.