Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof

• US 9,395,763 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2010
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Cho, Seong Yoon, Kim, Young Wun, Kim, Hoi Chul, Youn, Je Kwang, Yoon, Young Jung
• Primary Examiner(s): Nunez, Jordany
• Application Number:
  US12/751,138
• Publication Number:
  US 20100251152A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,302 Days
• Field of Search: 715/765, 715/810, 715/863, 345/169, 345/173
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/165 the additional display being small, e.g. for presenting status information
• 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 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

A mobile terminal and as associated method are provided. The method may include displaying one or more menu items on a first touch unit including a touchscreen and recognizing a rotary touch & drag input at a second touch unit as a particular command based on whether one of the one or more menu items has been touched. Accordingly, even if a minimum number of menu icons for executing diverse functions are displayed on a touchscreen, a prescribed one of the diverse functions may be easily selected and executed.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a touchscreen configured to receive a touch input and display a content;

a sub-touch device configured to receive a touch &

drag input; and

a controller configured to;

recognize the touch input received at the touchscreen and the sub-touch device,

when the touch input is received via the touchscreen, control menu items associated with the content to be displayed on the touchscreen, and

when the touch &

drag input is received via the sub-touch device while one of menu items on the touchscreen is selected by the touch input received via the touchscreen, control at least one submenu item subordinated to the menu item selected by the touch input to be displayed on the touchscreen in response to the touch &

drag input,

wherein when the menu item selected by the touch input is related to a function to change a storing folder of the content, the at least one submenu item corresponds to at least one candidate folder to which the content is able to be moved,

wherein when a secret folder is selected from among the at least one candidate folder, the controller is configured to move the content to the secret folder and stop displaying the content on the touchscreen after the movement, and

wherein when a non-secret folder is selected from among the at least one candidate folder, the controller is configured to move the content to the non-secret folder and keep displaying the content on the touchscreen,

wherein when both of another touch input on the touchscreen and another touch &

drag input on the sub-touch device are detected simultaneously, the controller is further configured to change a submenu item in response to the another touch &

drag input, the submenu item being subordinate to the menu item selected by the another touch input on the touchscreen, and wherein when one of the another touch input on the touchscreen or the another touch &

drag input on the sub-touch device is released while the other is maintained, the controller is further configured to execute a command corresponding to the submenu item selected at the time of releasing the one of the another touch input or the another touch &

drag input.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller highlights the selected submenu item when the touch &

drag input is received while one of the menu items is selected by the touch input.

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

a sub-display configured to display an indicator indicating a selected submenu item from among the at least one submenu, wherein the sub-display is provided within the sub-touch device.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, the sub-touch device comprising:

a first transparent body;

a second transparent body; and

a transparent sensor grid positioned between the first and second transparent bodies, wherein at least one of a character or a numeral is on at least one of the first transparent body or the second transparent body.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein a plurality of characters and numerals are on the at least one of the first transparent body or the second transparent body so as to define key buttons of a touchpad that activate the sensor grid in response to corresponding single point touches, wherein the sensor grid is also configured to receive a touch and drag input.

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

a first body; and

a second body slidably coupled to the first body by a sliding mechanism, wherein the first and second bodies are configured to be opened/closed relative to each other by the sliding mechanism,

wherein the touchscreen is provided in the first body and the sub-touch device is provided in the second body, and wherein the second body is transparent.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, further comprising an illumination device provided at an edge of the second body such that when the first and second bodies are in an open position relative to each other, the controller controls the illumination device to emit light.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to execute a prescribed operation in response to a touch gesture of a prescribed type performed on the sub-touch device.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the sub-touch device is configured to receive both a simple touch input corresponding to a prescribed character or numeral and a touch gesture corresponding to a prescribed operation.

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

displaying a content on a touchscreen;

displaying one or more menu items on a touchscreen associated with the content when a touch input is received via the touchscreen;

receiving the touch input selecting one of the menu items displayed on the touchscreen;

displaying at least one submenu item subordinated to the menu item when a touch &

drag input is received via a sub-touch device,

wherein when the menu item selected by the touch input is related to a function to change a storing folder of the content, the at least one submenu item corresponds to at least one candidate folder to which the content is able to be moved,

wherein when a secret folder is selected from among the at least one candidate folder, the content is moved to the secret folder and the content is stopped from being displayed on the touchscreen after the movement, and

wherein when a non-secret folder is selected from among the at least one candidate folder, the content is moved to the non-secret folder and the content is kept from being displaying on the touchscreen after the movement,

wherein in response to both of another touch input on the touchscreen and another touch &

drag input on the sub-device are detected simultaneously, changing a submenu item in response to the another touch &

drag input, the submenu item being subordinate to the menu item selected by the another touch input on the touchscreen, and

wherein in response to one of the another touch input on the touchscreen or the another touch &

drag input on the sub-device is released while the other is maintained, executing a command corresponding to the submenu item selected at the time of releasing the one of the another touch input or the another touch &

drag input.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

highlighting the selected submenu item when the touch &

drag input is received while one of the menu items is selected by the touch input.