Electronic device having curved bottom and operation method thereof

• US 9,990,010 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Issued: 06/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Suh, Jung-Won, Park, Jeong-Min, Lee, Yong-Whi
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US14/915,497
• Publication Number:
  US 20160209886A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,376 Days
• 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 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• 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 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- 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 without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means

Abstract

An electronic device having a curved bottom capable of a rolling motion is disclosed, and includes a housing which forms an outer appearance; at least one sensor which is accommodated in the housing and configured to acquire movement data corresponding to the rolling motion; and at least one processor which is accommodated in the housing and configured to perform at least one function corresponding to the movement data.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a housing that forms a curved bottom capable of making a rolling motion and forms an appearance of the electronic device;

a screen that is disposed on one side of the housing; and

at least one processor that is disposed in the housing and is configured to;

obtain movement data corresponding to the rolling motion of the electronic device by the curved bottom, the movement data comprising three-axis values from one of an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor,

determine the rolling motion of the electronic device as a long-press input or a short-press input based on the movement data, and

perform at least one function corresponding to the determination of the long-press input or the short-press input.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

obtain posture data of the electronic device if the electronic device does not move within a threshold time, the posture data comprising three-axis values from the acceleration sensor or the gyro sensor, and

determine the rolling motion of the electronic device as the long-press input or the short-press input based on a comparison result of the posture data and the movement data.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the movement data corresponding to the rolling motion in a standby mode.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the standby mode is a sleep mode or a power saving mode.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the movement data corresponding to the rolling motion of the electronic device if a user'"'"'s touch is made on a predetermined position of the electronic device.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one function includes releasing a standby mode.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one function includes at least one function related to an activated application.

8. An operation method of an electronic device having a curved bottom, the method comprising:

obtaining movement data corresponding to a rolling motion of the electronic device by the curved bottom, the movement data comprising three-axis values from one of an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor;

determining the rolling motion of the electronic device as a long-press input or a short-press input based on the movement data; and

performing at least one function corresponding to the determination of the long-press input or the short-press input.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein obtaining the movement data corresponding to the rolling motion of the electronic device comprises obtaining the movement data corresponding to the rolling motion in a standby mode.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the standby mode is a sleep mode or a power saving mode.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein obtaining the movement data corresponding to the rolling motion of the electronic device comprises, if a user'"'"'s touch is made on a predetermined position of the electronic device, obtaining the movement data corresponding to the rolling motion of the electronic device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one function includes the reproducing of audio content or displaying of video content.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one function includes releasing a standby mode.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one function includes at least one function related to an activated application.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising activating the application in response to at least one event.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one event includes at least one of call reception, message reception, or the arrival of a specific time.

17. The method of claim 8, further comprising obtaining posture data of the electronic device if the electronic device does not move within a threshold time, the posture data comprising the three-axis values from the acceleration sensor or the gyro sensor,

wherein determining the rolling motion of the electronic device as the long-press input or the short-press input based on the movement data comprises:

determining the rolling motion of the electronic device as the long-press input or the short-press input based on a comparison result of the posture data and the movement data.