MOBILE TERMINAL AND CONTROLLING METHOD THEREOF

• US 20150220218A1
• Filed: 06/20/2014
• Published: 08/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: JEON, Hyunjoo, LEE, Suyoung
• Granted Patent: US 9,600,145 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• 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 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• 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 mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, which facilitates a terminal to be used in further consideration of user'"'"'s convenience. The present invention includes a touchscreen and a controller, if a 1^st touch gesture is received through the touchscreen, outputting a movable button pad including at least one 1^st touch button to the touchscreen in response to the received 1^st touch gesture, the controller, if a prescribed one of the at least one 1^st touch button is selected, enabling a prescribed function corresponding to the prescribed 1^st touch button. Accordingly, in controlling a touchscreen having a relatively large size, the present invention can provide a touch screen control environment for enhancing user'"'"'s convenience.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal comprising:

a touchscreen; and

a controller configured to;

cause the touchscreen to display a first menu at a first designated area of the touchscreen, wherein the first menu comprises a plurality of items respectively associated with a function;

cause the touchscreen to display a second menu in response to a first touch input received relative to the first designated area of the touchscreen, wherein the second menu comprises at least one item respectively associated with a function,

wherein the at least one item of the second menu includes at least one item corresponding to at least one item of the first menu such that a same function that is associated with the at least one item of the first menu is performed when the at least one item of the second menu is selected.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the displaying of the second menu occurs simultaneously with the displaying of the first menu.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

cause the displayed second menu move in response to a second touch input received relative to the second menu; and

activate a function associated with one of the at least one item in the second menu in response to a third touch input for selecting the one of the at least one item in the second menu.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to:

display a first active screen of a first application, the second menu displayed on the first active screen and including at least one item associated with the first application;

terminate the displaying of the first active screen and display a second active screen of a second application; and

display at least one item associated with the second application such that the at least one item associated with the first application included in the second menu is replaced by the at least one item associated with the second application when the second active screen is displayed instead of the first active screen.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein:

the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to display a home screen including at least one application activation icon; and

the second menu includes at least one item associated with at least one of the at least one application activation icon when the home screen is displayed.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to:

display a third menu at a second designated area of the touchscreen, wherein the third menu comprises a plurality of items respectively associated with a function; and

display the second menu further comprising at least one item corresponding to at least one item of the third menu in response to a second touch input received relative to the second designated area,

wherein a function of each item of the second menu is the same as the function of a corresponding item of the first menu and the third menu, and wherein the displaying of the second menu occurs simultaneously with the displaying of the first menu and the third item.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to partition the touchscreen virtually and select a virtual region of the partitioned touchscreen in response to the first touch input such that the at least one item included in the second menu includes only at least one item that is included in the selected virtual region.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising a sensing unit configured to sense whether the mobile terminal is held by a left hand, a right hand, or both hands,

wherein the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to display the second menu at a different location of the touchscreen based on whether the mobile terminal is held with the left hand or the right hand.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to terminate the displaying of the second menu when the sensing unit senses that the mobile terminal is held with the both hands while the second menu is displayed.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to:

display a reduced icon representing the second menu instead of the second menu when no input is applied to the second menu for more than a threshold time period; and

redisplay the second menu when the reduced icon is selected, and

wherein the reduced icon is movable in response to a second touch input.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to display the second menu at a position designated by the first touch input such that the position of the displayed second menu is different according to the designated position.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising a sensing unit configured to sense a position on the touchscreen of an object for touch-manipulating the touchscreen,

wherein the controller is further configured to change a position of the second menu displayed on the touchscreen based on the sensed position of the object.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

a case configuring an exterior of the mobile terminal; and

at least one hardware button provided to the case,

wherein;

the touchscreen is configured to receive a second touch input on a specific position on the touchscreen; and

the controller is further configured to cause the touchscreen to display, at the specific position, a substitute icon representing a hardware button that is located farthest from the specific position in response to the second touch input.

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

displaying a first menu at a first designated area of the touchscreen, wherein the first menu comprises a plurality of items respectively associated with a function;

displaying a second menu in response to a first touch input received relative to the first designated area of the touchscreen, wherein the second menu comprises at least one item respectively associated with a function,

wherein the at least one item of the second menu include at least one item corresponding to at least one item of the first menu such that a same function that is associated with the at least one item of the first menu is performed when the at least one item of the second menu is selected.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the displaying of the second menu occurs simultaneously with the displaying of the first menu.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

moving the displayed second menu in response to a second touch input received relative to the second menu; and

activating a function associated with one of the at least one item in the second menu in response to a third touch input for selecting the one of the at least one item in the second menu.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

displaying a first active screen of a first application, the second menu displayed on the first active screen and including at least one item associated with the first application;

terminating the displaying of the first active screen and displaying a second active screen of a second application; and

displaying at least one item associated with the second application such that the at least one item associated with the first application included in the second menu is replaced by the at least one item associated with the second application when the second active screen is displayed instead of the first active screen.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying a home screen including at least one application activation icon,

wherein the second menu includes at least one item associated with at least one of the at least one application activation icon when the home screen is displayed.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying a third menu at a second designated area of the touchscreen, wherein the third menu comprises a plurality of items respectively associated with a function; and

displaying the second menu further comprising at least one item corresponding to at least one item of the third menu in response to a second touch input received relative to the second designated area,

wherein a function of each item of the second menu is the same as the function of a corresponding item of the first menu and the third menu, and wherein the displaying of the second menu occurs simultaneously with the displaying of the first menu and the third item.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising partitioning the touchscreen virtually and selecting a virtual region of the partitioned touchscreen in response to the first touch input such that the at least one item included in the second menu includes only at least one item that is included in the selected virtual region.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

sensing, by a sensing unit, whether the mobile terminal is held by a left hand, a right hand, or both hands; and

displaying the second menu at a different location of the touchscreen based on whether the mobile terminal is held with the left hand or the right hand.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising terminating the displaying of the second menu when the sensing unit senses that the mobile terminal is held with the both hands while the second menu is displayed.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying a reduced icon representing the second menu instead of the second menu when no input is applied to the second menu for more than a threshold time period; and

redisplaying the second menu when the reduced icon is selected, and

wherein the reduced icon is movable in response to a second touch input.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising displaying the second menu at a position designated by the first touch input such that the position of the displayed second menu is different according to the designated position.

25. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

sensing, by a sensing unit, sense a position on the touchscreen of an object for touch-manipulating the touchscreen; and

changing a position of the second menu displayed on the touchscreen based on the sensed position of the object.

26. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a second touch input on a specific position on the touchscreen; and

displaying, at the specific position, a substitute icon representing a hardware button that is located farthest from the specific position in response to the user input,

wherein the hardware button is provided to a case configuring an exterior of the mobile terminal.