MOBILE TERMINAL AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20150008975A1
• Filed: 07/07/2014
• Published: 01/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: LEE, Kunsik, KIM, Hyungjin, HONG, Hyongpyo, PARK, Misuk, CHA, Youngkyung, KANG, Gooryong
• Granted Patent: US 9,673,817 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 327/517
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/214 for locating contacts on a surface, e.g. floor mats or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/837 Shooting of targets
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/92 Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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: H03K 17/941 using an optical detector H03K17/968 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/95 using a magnetic detector
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/955 using a capacitive detector

Abstract

A method for operating a terminal according to an embodiment includes detecting an object that contacts the terminal, determining an operation of the terminal corresponding to the detected object, and performing the determined operation of the terminal.

Claims

1. A method for operating a terminal detecting an object that contacts the terminal, the method comprising:

detecting the object that contacts the terminal;

determining an operation of the terminal corresponding to the detected object; and

performing the determined operation of the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the detecting the object that contacts the terminal comprises detecting a shape of the object, and

the determining the operation of the terminal comprises determining the operation of the terminal corresponding to the shape.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the detecting the shape of the object comprises:

detecting contact of the object on a touch screen included in the terminal;

detecting a coordinate value of a contact point of the object detected on the touch screen by a proximity sensor included in the terminal; and

determining the shape of the object from the coordinate value of the contact point.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein

the detecting the shape of the object comprises detecting shapes of a plurality of different objects, and

the determining the operation of the terminal comprises operations of the terminal corresponding to the shapes of the plurality of different objects.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting the object that contacts the terminal comprises detecting a content pad attached to the terminal, wherein the content pad is detached from or attached to the terminal.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determining the operation of the terminal corresponding to the detected object comprises:

determining a type of the attached content pad;

retrieving content corresponding to the determined type of the content pad; and

determining the operation of the terminal corresponding to the retrieved content.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the determining the type of the attached content pad comprises:

detecting a distance between the terminal and the content pad; and

determining the type of the content pad on the basis of the detected distance.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the performing the determined operation of the terminal comprises:

executing the content corresponding to the type of the content pad;

receiving a user input for controlling the content; and

performing the operation of the terminal for the content according to the received user input.

9. A terminal for detecting an object that contacts the terminal, the terminal comprising:

a proximity sensor unit configured to detect an object that contacts the terminal; and

a control unit configured to determine an operation of the terminal corresponding to the detected object and perform the determined operation of the terminal.

10. The terminal according to claim 9, further comprising:

a touch screen configured to detect a touch input, wherein

the proximity sensor unit detects a coordinate value of a contact point of the object contacting the touch screen, wherein

the control unit determines a shape of the object on the basis of the detected coordinate value and performs an operation corresponding to the determined shape.

11. The terminal according to claim 10, wherein

the proximity sensor unit detects coordinate values of a plurality of objects contacting the terminal, and

the control unit determines shapes of the plurality of objects on the basis of the coordinate values of the plurality of objects, and performs operations corresponding to the determined shapes of the plurality of objects.

12. The terminal according to claim 9, wherein

the proximity sensor unit detects a content pad attached to the terminal, wherein

the content pad is detached from or attached to the terminal.

13. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein the control unit determines a type of the attached content pad, retrieves content corresponding to the determined type of the content pad, and determines the operation of the terminal for the retrieved content.

14. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein

the proximity sensor unit detects a distance between the terminal and the attached content pad, and

the control unit determines the type of the terminal on the basis of the detected distance.

15. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein

the proximity sensor unit receives a user input for controlling the content, and

the control unit executes the retrieved content and performs the operation of the terminal according to the user input.

16. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein

the proximity sensor unit irradiates light to the content pad, and receives light reflected from the content pad, and

the control unit determines whether the content pad is attached on the basis of an amount of the received light.

17. The terminal according to claim 16, further comprising an optical guide for guiding light irradiated from the proximity sensor.

18. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein the proximity sensor unit comprises:

a first proximity sensor unit configured to detect the content pad; and

a second proximity sensor unit configured to detect the user input.

19. The terminal according to claim 18, wherein

the first proximity sensor unit is provided with a plurality of proximity sensors arranged in a row on a corner side of the terminal, and detects a length of an inner corner side of the content pad on the basis of a distance between the inner corner side and at least one of the plurality of proximity sensors which has detected the inner corner side of the content pad, and

the control unit determines a type of the content pad on the basis of the detected length of the inner corner side.

20. The terminal according to claim 18, wherein the second proximity sensor unit comprises at least one of:

a plurality of first sensors provided to a left side of the terminal;

a plurality of second sensors provided to a right side of the terminal;

a plurality of third sensors provided to a lower side of the terminal; and

a plurality of fourth sensors provided to an upper side of the terminal.