Method of controlling home appliance having touch panel and touch panel home appliance using the same

• US 8,797,276 B2
• Filed: 01/18/2007
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Jong Seok, Lee, Jae Kyung
• Primary Examiner(s): Sitta, Grant
• Application Number:
  US12/375,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20100020027A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,756 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 715/600
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• 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: G08C 17/00 Arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless electrical link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/30 User interface
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/96046 Key-pad combined with display, back-lit
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42208 Display device provided on the remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42221 Transmission circuitry, e.g. infrared [IR] or radio frequency [RF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42224 Touch pad or touch panel provided on the remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42227 the keys being reprogrammable, e.g. soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/195 the transmission using visible or infrared light

Abstract

A method of controlling a home appliance having a touch panel and a touch panel home appliance using the same, such as a remote controller for controlling a television receiver, facilitate user recognition and selection of a specific function key displayed on a touchscreen, to enable enhanced control of the function key by a user desiring to step through many values of a range of values quickly and accurately. The method includes steps of displaying a main menu on the touchscreen of the touch panel, the main menu including at least one function key for controlling the home appliance, the touchscreen enabling a function key of the main menu to be selected by a user; displaying, in response to a user selection of one of the at least one function key, a set of enlarged keys corresponding to the selected function key of the main menu, the display of the enlarged keys on the touchscreen wholly replacing the display of the main menu; and executing, in response to a touch event with respect to the touchscreen displaying the set of enlarged keys, a control function corresponding to the selected function key, the control function having a parameter value set according to properties of the touch event.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a television receiver in a remote controller using a touch panel having a touchscreen exhibiting a plurality of coordinates, the method comprising:

storing structure info nation between a main menu and a sub menu in a database (DB);

displaying a main menu on the touchscreen of the touch panel, the main menu including at least one function key for controlling the television receiver, the touchscreen enabling a function key of the main menu to be selected by a user;

displaying, in response to a first user selection of one of the at least one function key within the main menu, a sub menu that includes a set of keys corresponding to the selected function key of the main menu according to the stored structure information, and the display of the sub menu on the touchscreen wholly replacing the display of the main menu on the touchscreen;

determining a type of parameter change for a second user selection based on a touch motion directionality, wherein the second user selection relates to the television receiver'"'"'s function;

determining a rate of change in parameter for the second user selection based on a dragging distance, wherein at least a key code corresponding to each dragging distance is pre-stored in the database; and

transmitting, in response to the second user selection of one of the set of keys within the sub menu, a key code corresponding to the second user selection to the television receiver.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein properties of the second user selection include a touch location effected with respect to a reference coordinate of the touchscreen.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein properties of the second user selection include a touch area effected with respect to a valid area of the touchscreen.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein properties of the second user selection include a touch motion directionality of a dragging of a curser on the touchscreen and at least one of a dragging distance of the curser and a dragging speed of the curser.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one function key of the main menu and the set of keys are displayed on the touchscreen as graphics user interface (GUI) devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitting the key code comprises:

generating a key code corresponding to a parameter value of a control function; and

transmitting the generated key code to the television receiver.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted key code is encoded into an infrared signal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a control function is executed by one of a stepped increase of a parameter value and a stepped decrease of the parameter value.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, based on the second user selection, which of the stepped increase of the parameter value and the stepped decrease of the parameter value is used in said transmitting of the key code.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the second user selection, a stepping rate of a parameter value, wherein the stepping rate corresponds to a distance between a coordinate of the second user selection and a reference coordinate of the touchscreen.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the stepping rate increases as the second user selection effects a touch location having an increased distance from the reference coordinate of the touchscreen, and wherein the stepping rate decreases as the second user selection effects a touch location having a decreased distance from the reference coordinate of the touchscreen.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on a touch event, a stepping rate of the second user selection parameter value, wherein the stepping rate corresponds to a touch area effected by the second user selection.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the stepping rate increases as the touch area increases with respect to a valid area of the set of keys, and wherein the stepping rate decreases as the touch area decreases with respect to the valid area of the set of keys.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the stepping rate is proportional to a count of touched coordinates in the touch area.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the second user selection includes a dragging of a cursor.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the second user selection, a stepping rate of a parameter value, wherein the stepping rate corresponds to at least one of a dragging distance of a curser and a dragging speed of the curser.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the stepping rate increases as the dragging distance of the curser increases, and wherein the stepping rate decreases as the dragging distance of the curser decreases.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the stepping rate increases as the dragging speed of the curser increases, and wherein the stepping rate decreases as the dragging speed of the curser decreases.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the stepping rate increases as the dragging proceeds from a step-down key of the set of keys to a step-up key of the set of keys, and wherein the stepping rate decreases as the dragging proceeds from the step-up key of the set of keys to the step-down key of the set of keys.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

searching, according to a user selection of one of the at least one function key, a graphics user interface (GUI) database for keys in association with values of the plurality of coordinates and a GUI coordinates database including coordinates values of the keys of the GUI database.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the main menu and the sub menu are hierarchically arranged.

21. A remote controller having a touch panel, wherein the remote controller to wirelessly couple to a television receiver, the remote controller comprising:

a memory configured to store structure information between a main menu and a sub menu in a database (DB);

a touch panel configured to have a touchscreen to exhibit a plurality of coordinates; and

a controller configured to control the touchscreen of said touch panel to display the main menu on the touchscreen, the main menu including at least one function key for controlling the television receiver and the touchscreen enabling a function key of the main menu to be selected by a user, and to control the touchscreen of said touch panel to display, in response to first user selection of one of the at least one function key within the main menu, a sub menu that includes a set of keys corresponding to the selected function key of the main menu according to the stored structure information, and the display of the sub menu on the touchscreen wholly replaces the display of the main menu on the touchscreen,

wherein the controller to determine a type of parameter change for a second user selection based on a touch motion directionality, wherein the second user selection relates to the television receiver'"'"'s function, and the controller to determine a rate of change in parameter for the second user selection based on a dragging distance, wherein at least a key code corresponding to each dragging distance is pre-stored in the database.

22. The remote controller of claim 21, further comprising:

an OSD generator for generating, under control of said controller, OSD data for displaying graphics user interface (GUI) devices on the touchscreen of said touch panel, the GUI devices corresponding to the at least one function key of the main menu and the keys displayed on the touchscreen in place of the display of the main menu.

23. The remote controller of claim 21, further comprising:

a graphics user interface (GUI) database including an arrangement of keys in association with values of the plurality of coordinates; and

a GUI coordinates database including coordinates values of the keys of said GUI database, wherein said GUI database and said GUI coordinates database are searchable according to the user selection of one of the at least one function key.

24. The remote controller of claim 21, further comprising:

an interface unit for communicating function control commands with respect to the remote controller according to the execution of the control function by said controller.

25. The remote controller of claim 21, further comprising:

an IR signal transceiver configured to transmit, in response to second user selection of one of the set of keys within the sub menu, a key code corresponding to the second user selection to the television receiver, wherein the key code is encoded into infrared signal before the transmitting of the key code, and the key code is pre-stored in the database.

27. The remote controller of claim 21, wherein the main menu and the sub menu are hierarchically arranged.