KEYPAD TOUCH USER INTERFACE METHOD AND A MOBILE TERMINAL USING THE SAME

• US 20070298849A1
• Filed: 05/17/2007
• Published: 12/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kang, Tae-Young, Hong, Nho Kyung, Lee, Bong-Won, Lee, Chang-hoon
• Application Number:
  US11/750,044
• Publication Number:
  US 20070298849A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/575.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 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 Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof

Abstract

A user interface method and a mobile terminal is disclosed. If a finger touches and moves in a specific direction on a keypad having a touch sensor, a touch is detected by the touch sensor and a type of touch direction is identified by a control unit according to the angle of a touch direction. A screen of a display unit is partitioned into a plurality of blocks, and a screen highlight is located at a specific block. The control unit for moving the screen highlight on the display unit according to the type of the touch direction. A path of the screen highlight is set in one of a forward direction with continuous movement, a forward direction with discontinuous movement, a backward direction with continuous movement, and a backward direction with discontinuous movement. A user interface according to the present invention can include a pointer in the display unit, the pointer being controlled by linking a pointer position with a touch position.

Claims

1. A user interface method in a mobile terminal, comprising:

detecting a touch generated on a keypad;

identifying a touch direction; and

moving a highlighted area of a screen (screen highlight) in the identified touch direction, wherein a screen of a display unit is partitioned into a plurality of blocks and the screen highlight is located at one of the blocks.

2. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein identifying the touch direction comprises classifying the touch direction into at least two types according to an angle of the touch direction.

3. The user interface method of claim 2, wherein a path of the screen highlight is set according to the type of the touch direction.

4. The user interface method of claim 3, wherein the path of the screen highlight comprises at least two from a forward direction with continuous movement, a forward direction with discontinuous movement, a backward direction with continuous movement, and a backward direction with discontinuous movement.

5. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein detecting a touch is performed by a touch sensor installed under the keypad.

6. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein moving the screen highlight is performed when the touch is detected at a specific position for longer than a predetermined time.

7. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein moving the screen highlight is performed while the touch is being detected.

8. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein the display unit comprises a pointer and a pointer position, which are linked with a touch position.

9. The user interface method of claim 8, wherein moving the screen highlight is performed regardless of the pointer position while the touch is being detected.

10. A user interface method for a mobile terminal having a screen of a display unit partitioned into a plurality of blocks and a screen highlight located at one of the blocks, comprising:

detecting a touch generated in a specific direction on a keypad;

classifying a touch direction into at least two types according to an angle of the touch direction;

identifying a path of the screen highlight according to the type of the touch direction; and

moving the screen highlight along the path of the screen highlight.

11. The user interface method of claim 10, wherein the path of the screen highlight comprises at least two from a forward direction with continuous movement, a forward direction with discontinuous movement, a backward direction with continuous movement, and a backward direction with discontinuous movement.

12. The user interface method of claim 10, wherein, if the angle of the touch direction is greater than 0°

and less than 180°

, the path of the screen highlight is set in the backward direction; and

if the angle of the touch direction is greater than 180° and

less than 360°

, the path of the screen highlight is set in the forward direction.

13. The user interface method of claim 10, wherein, if an absolute value of the angle of the touch direction subtracted by 90°

is greater than a predetermined critical angle, the path of the screen highlight is set in a direction with continuous movement; and

if the absolute value of the angle of the touch direction subtracted by 90°

is less than the predetermined critical angle, the path of the screen highlight is set in a direction with discontinuous movement.

14. The user interface method of claim 10, wherein, if the absolute value of the angle of the touch direction subtracted by 270°

is greater than a predetermined critical angle, the path of the screen highlight is set in a direction with continuous movement; and

if the absolute value of the angle of the touch direction subtracted by 270°

is less than the predetermined critical angle, the path of the screen highlight is set in a direction with discontinuous movement.

15. The user interface method of claim 10, wherein the screen highlight path is set:

in the backward direction with continuous movement, if the angle θ

of the touch direction satisfies the condition 0°

<

θ

≦

180° and

|θ

−

90°

|>

δ

, wherein δ

is a predetermined critical angle;

in the backward direction with discontinuous movement, if the angle θ

of the touch direction satisfies the condition 0°

<

θ

≦

180° and

|θ

−

90°

|≦

δ

;

in the forward direction with continuous movement, if the angle θ

of the touch direction satisfies the condition 180°

<

θ

≦

360° and

|θ

−

270°

|>

δ

; and

in the forward direction with discontinuous movement, if the angle θ

of the touch direction satisfies a condition 180°

<

θ

≦

360° and

|θ

−

270°

|≦

δ

.

16. A mobile terminal comprising:

a keypad disposed with alphanumeric keys;

a touch sensor installed under the keypad for detecting a touch on the keypad;

a touch identifier for identifying a direction of the touch;

a display unit having a screen partitioned into a plurality of blocks and a screen highlight located at one of the blocks; and

a screen highlight controller for controlling the screen highlight on the display unit according to the touch direction.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the display unit further comprises a pointer.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, further comprising a pointer controller for linking the touch position on the keypad with a pointer position on the display unit.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the touch sensor substantially occupies the same location as the keypad.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the touch sensor comprises a touch detector for detecting a change of physical property of the touch and a signal converter for converting the change of physical property to a touch signal.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the touch sensor is partitioned into a plurality of areas.