MOBILE TERMINAL AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20110267316A1
• Filed: 04/15/2011
• Published: 11/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: KIM, Minjoo, Kang, Minhun, Choi, Meeyeon, Jung, Hyunsuk, Hwang, Inyoung, Lee, Byoungnam, Shin, Youri
• Granted Patent: US 8,896,578 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/175
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1639 the display being based on projection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1673 Arrangements for projecting a virtual keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03542 Light pens for emitting or receiving light
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0425 using a single imaging device like a video camera for tracking the absolute position of a single or a plurality of objects with respect to an imaged reference surface, e.g. video camera imaging a display or a projection screen, a table or a wall surface, on which a computer generated image is displayed or projected tracking a projected light spot to determine a position on a display surface G06F3/0386
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0426 tracking fingers with respect to a virtual keyboard projected or printed on the surface virtual keyboards on touch screens G06F3/04886
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0241 using relative motion of the body parts to change the operational status of the telephone set, e.g. switching on/off, answering incoming call
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0264 for a camera module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0272 for a projector or beamer module assembly constructional features of projectors per se G03B21/00; constructional details of projectors using electronic spatial light modulators per se H04N9/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0285 Pen-type handsets
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/70 methods for entering alphabetical characters, e.g. multi-tap or dictionary disambiguation methods for entering alphabetical characters per se G06F3/0237

Abstract

A mobile terminal is presented. The mobile terminal includes an elongated body having a central axis and being structured to form an outer side having a circumference, an end portion located at one end of the elongated body, a touch screen coupled to the body, a projector positioned at the end portion and being configured to project an image onto a surface, and a camera coupled to the elongated body and being positioned to capture at least a portion of the image projected onto the surface.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal comprising:

an elongated body having a central axis and being structured to form an outer side having a circumference;

an end portion located at one end of the elongated body;

a touch screen coupled to the body,

wherein the touch screen is positioned relative to the elongated body to cooperatively form at least a portion of the outer side of the elongated body,

wherein the touch screen is configured to receive user input responsive to contact with the touch screen;

a projector positioned at the end portion and being configured to project an image onto a surface; and

a camera coupled to the elongated body and being positioned to capture at least a portion of the image projected onto the surface,

wherein the captured image permits detection of user contact with the surface at a location that is associated with a particular portion of the projected image.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the elongated body includes a first body and a second body connected with each to permit relative rotation between the first body and the second body.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising a controller for controlling a first image displayed via the projector to be different from a second image displayed on the touch screen.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising a motion sensor module, disposed on the elongated body, configured to detect a movement of the elongated body.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 4, further comprising a controller for displaying characters on the touch screen corresponding to the movement of the elongated body.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the camera is arranged to face a direction in which the projector projects the image.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein a controller activates the camera when a character input mode is activated.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein an optical axis of the projected image is substantially parallel to the central axis.

9. A mobile terminal comprising:

a body;

a projector, disposed on one end of the body, configured to project an image;

a motion sensor configured to detect a movement of the body;

a camera configured to detect an input on the image projected via the projector; and

a controller configured to receive characters via the input detected by the camera to activate a first character input mode, and configured to receive characters via the operation of the motion sensor to activate a second character input mode,

wherein the controller receives the characters via the input on virtual keys projected by the projector in the first character input mode, and

wherein the controller receives the characters via a movement of the body in the second character input mode.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the first character input mode is associated with at least a SMS message creating mode, an email creating mode, or a memo creating mode and the second character input mode corresponds to at least a MMS message creating mode or a picture drawing mode.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the camera photographs the input within a display range of the image projected by the projector.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the virtual keys are displayed in the form of QWERTY keyboard.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the controller displays the received characters on the touch screen.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the controller displays the received characters in response to the trace of the motion when the second character input mode is activated.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 9, further comprising a touch screen having a curved surface structured to form at least a portion of the external circumference of the body.

16. A method of controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

responsive to user input selecting a first character input mode or a second character input mode; and

obtaining characters input by a user via the selected first character input mode or the selected second character input mode,

wherein the first character input mode receives the characters based on an input received on a virtual keyboard and the second character input mode receives the characters based on a motion of the mobile terminal.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

activating a projector;

activating a camera; and

capturing the input received on the virtual keyboard with the activated camera.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising displaying the received characters via the projector.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the second character input mode displays the received characters via the projector according to the trace of the motion.