DATA INPUT METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOBILE TERMINAL HAVING TOUCHSCREEN

• US 20130120271A1
• Filed: 11/08/2012
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Joohyung, Na, Seokhee, Dong, Ying, Shim, Junghwa
• Application Number:
  US13/671,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20130120271A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• 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 data input method and apparatus for a mobile terminal having a touchscreen includes: sensing a touch gesture of a user on the touchscreen; checking whether the sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request; and displaying, when the sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request, at least two split keypads in a display area of the touchscreen, and displaying a function execution screen in an unused region (dead space) between the split keypads.

Claims

1. A method for data input in a mobile terminal having a touchscreen, comprising:

sensing a touch gesture on the touchscreen;

determining whether the sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request; and

displaying, when the sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request, a function execution screen in an unused region of a display area between a least two split keypads.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the function execution screen comprises:

displaying one split keypad as a left keypad located at a left side of the touchscreen and displaying another split keypad as a right keypad located at a right side of the touchscreen; and

displaying the function execution screen in the unused region between the left keypad and the right keypad.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the function execution screen comprises:

displaying the function selection screen including menu items associated with functions of the mobile terminal in the unused region; and

displaying, when a contact selecting one of the menu items sensed, an execution screen of a function associated with the selected menu item in the unused region.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying the function execution screen further comprises:

displaying a function change icon in the unused region; and

displaying, when a contact selecting the function change icon is sensed, the function selection screen again in the unused region instead of the execution screen.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the function execution screen is one of a keypad and an application execution screen.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the keypad displayed in the unused region is one of a number keypad, symbol keypad, clipboard, emoticon, template and edit panel.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the application execution screen displayed in the unused region is an execution screen of one of a handwriting recognition application type, a web browser application type, a messenger application type, and a social networking service (SNS) application type.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request comprises:

displaying, when the sensed touch gesture is a touch on a data input field, a keypad selection menu including a split keypad icon; and

sensing a contact on the split keypad icon of the keypad selection menu.

9. An apparatus for data input in a mobile terminal, comprising:

a touchscreen generating a touch event;

a control unit sensing a touch gesture corresponding to the touch event from the touchscreen, and checking whether the sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request; and

a display unit displaying a function execution screen in an unused region of the display area between a least two split keypads under control of the control unit.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the display unit displays one split keypad as a left keypad located at a left side of the touchscreen, displays another split keypad as a right keypad located at a right side of the touchscreen, and displays the function execution screen in the unused region between the left keypad and the right keypad.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control unit controls, when a sensed touch gesture is a split keypad request, an operation to display a function selection screen including menu items associated with functions of the mobile terminal in the unused region, and controls, when a touch gesture selecting one menu item is sensed, an operation to display an execution screen of a function associated with the selected menu item in the unused region.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the control unit controls an operation to display a function change icon in the unused region together with the execution screen, and controls, when a touch gesture selecting the function change icon is sensed, an operation to display the function selection screen again in the unused region instead of the execution screen.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the function execution screen is one of a keypad and an application execution screen.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the keypad displayed in the unused region is one of a number keypad, symbol keypad, clipboard, emoticon, template, and edit panel.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the application execution screen displayed in the unused region is an execution screen of one of a handwriting recognition application type, a web browser type, a messenger application type, and a social networking service (SNS) application type.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the control unit controls, when a sensed touch gesture is a touch on a data input field, an operation to display a keypad selection menu including a split keypad icon, and controls, when a sensed touch gesture is a touch on the split keypad icon of the keypad selection menu, an operation to display the split keypads and the function execution screen.