METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING USER KEYPAD IN A PORTABLE TERMINAL

• US 20120146916A1
• Filed: 12/08/2011
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: GOONG, Bo Ram NAM, LEE, Hwang Joon
• Granted Patent: US 9,244,563 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• 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

Abstract

A method of providing a user defined user key pad and a mobile terminal supporting the same are provided. The method includes displaying guide information when entering a user key pad setting mode, determining a designation range for the user key pad according to a user interaction inputted based on the guide information, computing a key arrangement of the user key pad in response to the determined range, and configuring the user key pad according to the computed key arrangement.

Claims

1. A method of providing a user key pad in a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

displaying guide information when entering a user key pad setting mode;

determining a designation range for the user key pad according to a user interaction inputted based on the guide information;

computing a key arrangement of the user key pad in response to the determined range; and

configuring the user key pad according to the computed key arrangement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuring of the user key pad comprises reconfiguring and displaying the key arrangement of the user key pad in response to an interaction of moving or copying a key of the user key pad to another location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the computing of the key arrangement of the user key pad comprises computing a width, a height of each key in the user key pad, and an interval between keys.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the computing of the key arrangement of the user key pad comprises determining an arrangement for the keys of the user key pad in such a manner that the user key pad is included in the determined range.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing a virtual user key pad configured according to the computed key arrangement for confirmation by a user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing related setting information for the user key pad.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the storing of the related setting information comprises storing setting information related to information of a range where the user key pad is configured, key arrangement information according to a corresponding range, and type information of the user key pad.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting a change of posture information of the mobile terminal when a user input is received using the user key pad; and

executing an input function according to the changed posture information in the detection of the posture information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the configuring of the user key pad comprises configuring the user key pad such that corresponding keys for function execution mapped to the posture information in the user key pad are omitted from the user key pad.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the designation range comprises:

tracing a movement route of the user interaction;

computing a rectangular range by drawing a virtual line according to the traced route; and

determining the range for configuration of the user key pad according to the computed rectangular arranged.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring a plurality of user key pads with various key pad combinations.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user key pad of another combination according to execution of an application.

13. A mobile terminal comprising:

a display unit for displaying guide information when setting a user key pad, and for displaying a touch based user key pad corresponding to a currently executing application;

a storage unit for storing setting information related to the user key pad according to a user setting; and

a controller for determining a designation range for the user key pad based on a user interaction inputted according to the guide information, and for configuring the user key pad according to a key arrangement computed in response to the determined range.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the setting information comprises setting information related to information of a range where the user key pad is configured, key arrangement information according to corresponding range, and type information of user key pad.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the controller reconfigures and displays the key arrangement of the user key pad according to an interaction of moving or copying a key of the user key pad to another location.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the controller detects a change of posture information of the mobile terminal when a user enters an input via the user key pad, and controls an execution of an input function according to the changed posture information.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the controller configures the user key pad such that corresponding keys for the function execution mapped to the posture information in the user key pad are omitted and computes the key arrangement when supporting a user input using the posture information.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the user key pad is provided to have a single key pad structure having one type, or to have a composite key pad structure in which at least two kinds of types are combined.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the controller generates a plurality of user key pads with various keypad combinations, and provides a user key pad of combination which is different for each executing application.