Mobile terminal and method for controlling the same

• US 9,600,122 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2014
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Hanbin
• Primary Examiner(s): Safaipour, Bobbak
• Application Number:
  US14/506,240
• Publication Number:
  US 20150296062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133345 Insulating layers G02F1/1335, G02F1/1337, G02F1/135, G02F1/136 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133514 Colour filters
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133528 Polarisers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13439 characterised by their electrical, optical, physical properties; materials therefor; method of making
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1368 in which the switching element is a three-electrode device G02F1/136277 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• 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 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• 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 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0447 Position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/047 using sets of wires, e.g. crossed wires
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 : for a display module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 : for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/311 : Flexible OLED
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/868 : Arrangements for polarized light emission H10K50/86 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1213 : the pixel elements being TFTs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/38 : comprising colour filters or colour changing media [CCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/40 : OLEDs integrated with touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/8793 : Arrangements for polarized light emission H10K59/8791 takes precedence

Abstract

A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to provide wireless communication; a body configured to form an external appearance of the terminal; and a touch display unit formed on the body. Further, the touch display unit includes a display panel configured to display screen information, a window formed on the display panel, a first sensing unit and a second sensing unit disposed below the window and configured to sense touch coordinates of a touch input on the window, a deformation region configured to deform with at least one region of the window where the touch input occurs on the window, and a third sensing unit separated from the first sensing unit by interposing the deformation region therebetween. The terminal also includes a controller configured to execute a specific control command based on the touch input sensed by the first through the third sensing units.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a body configured to form an external appearance of the terminal;

a touch screen including a touch sensor and disposed at a front side of the body;

a window formed on the touch screen;

a deformation region deforms with at least one region of the window where a touch input occurs on the window; and

a force sensing layer detects a force of the touch input by sensing a change of capacitance occurred on the force sensing layer and being separated from the touch sensor by interposing the deformation region between the touch sensor and the force sensing layer; and

a controller configured to;

display content in a first display region and a virtual keyboard in a second display region, and

display the content in the first display region based on the touch input applied to the second display region,

wherein the content displayed in the first display region is an indicator based on the touch input applied to the virtual keyboard, if the touch input is determined as a force touch based on the detected force of the touch input via the force sensing layer,

wherein the indicator moves in the first region based on a movement of the touch input,

wherein the content displayed in the first display region is a text entered based on the touch input applied to the virtual keyboard, if the touch input is not determined as the force touch based on the detected force of the touch input via the force sensing layer, and

wherein the indicator moves based on the movement of the touch input not necessarily maintaining the force of the force touch, after the touch input is determined as the force touch.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch screen comprises a TFT layer, a color filter layer, and a polarizer layer, and

wherein the touch screen comprises first and second touch sensing layers disposed between the polarizer and the TFT layer.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the first and second touch sensing layers detect a position of the touch input by sensing a change of capacitance occurred on the first touch sensing layer and second touch sensing layer.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein one of the first touch sensing layer and the second touch sensing layer is a transmit (Tx) layer and the other one is receive (Rx) layer.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein the first touch sensing layer comprises a plurality of first sensing lines and the second touch sensing layer comprises a plurality of second sensing lines.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the controller executes a specific control command based on the detected force of the touch input.

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

an insulating layer formed in regions at which the plurality of first sensing lines and the plurality of second sensing lines are crossed.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein the plurality of first sensing lines and the plurality of second sensing lines are formed on a same layer of the touch screen.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the force sensing layer detects the force of the touch input when at least one region of the window where the touch input is applied is deformed.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the deformation region includes at least one of a gas, a fluid and a gel type solid deformed by an external force applied to the window.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to display the indicator continuously on one portion of the first display region on the touch screen, after the touch input is released.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to select one portion of the information displayed in the first display region on the touch screen when the force of the touch input is detected again while the indicator is displayed.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the indicator is displayed within a limited portion of the first display region.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the touch screen comprises an LCD panel or an OLED panel.