Input device and mobile terminal having the input device

• US 8,786,548 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2010
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Chin, Hungchol, Oh, Myungseok
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lu, William
• Application Number:
  US12/862,683
• Publication Number:
  US 20110169743A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,428 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184
• US Class Current: 345/160
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9631 using a light source as part of the switch
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2017/9634 using organic light emitting devices, e.g. light emitting polymer [OEP] or OLED
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/96042 with illumination
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/22 Illumination; Arrangements for improving the visibility of characters on dials
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/233 including a pointing device, e.g. roller key, track ball, rocker switch or joystick constructional details of pointing devices per se G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72466 with selection means, e.g. keys, having functions defined by the mode or the status of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Abstract

An input device and a mobile terminal having the input device are provided. The input device includes a key button with a transparent material having an internal space, an illumination sensor located in an internal space of the key button to sense ambient illumination of the key button, a light-emitting portion located at one side of the illumination sensor to output a light signal to the outside of the key button for detecting a touch applied to the key button, and an input signal generation unit configured to generate a touch input signal according to the light signal being input to a light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a terminal body;

a controller; and

an input device mounted on the terminal body, wherein the input device comprises;

at least one key button formed of a transparent material and having an internal space;

an illumination sensor located in the internal space and having a light-receiving portion, wherein the illumination sensor is configured to sense a first light and a second light, wherein the first light is ambient light;

a light-emitting portion located at a side of the illumination sensor and configured to output the second light to the outside of the at least one key button for detecting a touch applied to the at least one key button;

a spacer comprising an elastically deformable material that is positioned between the illumination sensor and an internal wall of the at least one key button such that the spacer is located below the internal wall of the at least one key button, the spacer configured to cover the illumination sensor in order to suppress shock transferred to the illumination sensor when a contact touch is received via the at least one key button, the spacer including a through hole positioned over the light-receiving portion to transfer light to the light-receiving portion, and

an input signal generation unit configured to generate a touch input signal according to light sensed at the light-receiving portion via the through hole,

wherein the controller is configured to generate a first control command when the light sensed at the light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor is the first light and generate a second control command when the light sensed at the light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor is the second light.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the light-emitting portion is an infrared-emitting module configured to emit infrared rays.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the light-emitting portion comprises a first light-emitting portion mounted at a first side of the illumination sensor and a second light-emitting portion mounted at a second side of the illumination sensor to detect a slide touch applied to the at least one key button.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein the input signal generation unit generates a different touch input signal according to a direction of the slide touch.

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

a display unit mounted on the terminal body and configured to display visual information; and

a brightness adjustment unit configured to adjust a brightness of the display unit according to the first light sensed by the light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to control activation or deactivation of the brightness adjustment unit according to a changed intensity of the second light sensed by the light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to deactivate the brightness adjustment unit if an intensity of the second light sensed by the light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor is changed when the brightness adjustment unit is activated.

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

a dome switch configured to generate a push input signal according to the at least one key button being pressed,

wherein the controller is further configured to apply a control command to components mounted on the terminal body according to the touch input signal and push input signal.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to apply a different control command for each of a touch input, a push input, and a sequential push-and-touch input.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the touch input comprises a slide touch made by sliding a finger on the at least one key button and the controller is further configured to apply a different control command according to a direction of the slide touch.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein:

a plurality of key information is displayed on the at least one key button; and

at least two of the touch input, push input, or sequential push-and-touch input are assigned to one of the plurality of key information.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to apply a different control command according to a duration time of the push input or touch input.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein one of the components mounted on the terminal body is a display unit for displaying visual information and the controller is further configured to apply a control command for controlling a screen display of the display unit according to the push input and touch input.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the control command comprises at least a command for restoring a preset screen during the execution of a specific mode, a command for executing a selected operation, a command for displaying upper-level items of a currently-executed function, a command for displaying a menu, a command for switching to a next or previous page, a command for moving a cursor or pointer, a command for scrolling the screen display in a specific direction, or a zoom-in or zoom-out command.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the touch input comprises a slide touch made by sliding a finger on the at least one key button and the slide touch is assigned to a command for deleting text in a text editing mode.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein a plurality of key buttons are arranged to form at least one column on the terminal body and the text is deleted according to a number of text characters corresponding to a number of the slide-touched key buttons.

17. An input device, comprising:

a key button formed of a transparent material and having an internal space;

an illumination sensor located in the internal space and having a light-receiving portion, wherein the illumination sensor is configured to sense a first light and a second light, wherein the first light is ambient light;

a light-emitting portion located at one side of the illumination sensor and configured to output the second light to the outside of the key button for detecting a touch applied to the key button;

a spacer comprising an elastically deformable material that is positioned between the illumination sensor and an internal wall of the key button such that the spacer is located below the internal wall of the key button, the spacer configured to cover the illumination sensor in order to suppress shock transferred to the illumination sensor when a contact touch is received via the key button, the spacer including a through hole positioned over the light-receiving portion to transfer light to the light-receiving portion, and

an input signal generation unit configured to generate a touch input signal according to light sensed at the light-receiving portion via the through hole,

wherein a sensing of the first light at the light-receiving portion, via the through hole, is used for generating a first control command via a controller, and

wherein a sensing of the second light at the light-receiving portion of the illumination sensor, via the through hole, is used for generating a second control command via the controller.

18. The input device of claim 17, wherein the light-emitting portion is an infrared-emitting module configured to emit infrared rays.

19. The input device of claim 17, wherein:

the light-emitting portion comprises a first light-emitting portion mounted at a first side of the illumination sensor and a second light-emitting portion mounted at a second side of the illumination sensor to detect a slide touch applied to the key button; and

the input signal generation unit generates a different input signal according to a direction of the slide touch.