MOBILE TERMINAL AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20110078568A1
• Filed: 09/09/2010
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Young Jun, Lee, Ji Sun, PARK, Jin Woo
• Granted Patent: US 9,367,534 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/702
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

A mobile terminal and a method for controlling the same are disclosed, where symbols used often when inputting characters and pointer position moving are input simultaneously by using a touch gesture of a user, such that character input may be accelerated.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a touchscreen; and

a controller operatively connected to the touchscreen and configured to

simultaneously display a keypad and text box on the touchscreen, the keypad comprising a plurality of character keys and functional keys,

detect a touch gesture made on a specific key of the keypad, and

one of

display a symbol mapped to the touch gesture and the specific key at a position of a pointer displayed in the text box on the screen, followed by a move of the pointer, and

move the pointer displayed in the text box in a direction mapped to the touch gesture and the specific key.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch gesture is default-set in the mobile terminal or is preset by a user.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to display at least one menu for setting each of the touch gesture, the specific key of the keypad, and the symbol mapped to the preset touch gesture and the specific key.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch gesture is at least one of

a drag contact or proximity touch,

a flicking contact or proximity touch having a predetermined direction,

a long touch for a predetermined time period,

a multi touch touching two points on the screen, and

a combination of different touches or contacts.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the symbol is a punctuation mark.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the punctuation mark is one of a comma, a period, an exclamation mark, a quotation mark, a parenthesis mark, an asterix, an ampersand, a colon, a semi-colon, a brace, a bracket, a currency mark, an “

at”

symbol, a hyphen, a forward slash, a backward slash, and a mathematical symbol.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the direction mapped to the touch gesture and the specific key is one of a backspace, a forward space, a move to a next line, a move to a previous line, and a tab.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the move of the pointer is one of a backspace, a forward space, a move to a next line, a move to a previous line, and a tab.

9. A method of controlling a mobile terminal having a touchscreen and a controller, the method comprising:

simultaneously displaying a text box and a keypad on the touchscreen, the keypad comprising a plurality of character keys and functional keys;

detecting a touch gesture made on a specific key of the keypad; and

one of

displaying a symbol mapped to the touch gesture and the specific key at a position of a pointer displayed in the text box on the screen, followed by a move of the pointer, and

moving the pointer displayed in the text box in a direction mapped to the touch gesture and the specific key.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the touch gesture is default-set in the mobile terminal or is preset by a user.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying at least one menu for setting each of the touch gesture, the specific key of the keypad, and the symbol mapped to the preset touch gesture and the specific key.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the touch gesture is at least one of:

a drag contact or proximity touch,

a flicking contact or proximity touch having a predetermined direction,

a long touch for a predetermined time period,

a multi touch touching two points on the screen, and

a combination of different touches or contacts.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the symbol is a punctuation mark.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the punctuation mark is one of a comma, a period, an exclamation mark, a quotation mark, a parenthesis mark, an asterix, an ampersand, a colon, a semi-colon, a brace, a bracket, a currency mark, an “

at”

symbol, a hyphen, a forward slash, a backward slash, and a mathematical symbol.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the direction mapped to the touch gesture and the specific key is one of a backspace, a forward space, a move to a next line, a move to a previous line, and a tab.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the move of the pointer is one of a backspace, a forward space, a move to a next line, a move to a previous line, and a tab.