Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same

• US 9,990,125 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2014
• Issued: 06/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jung, Egun, Choi, Hongseok, Lee, Haein, Kwon, Eun, Ahn, Yeongnam
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yoon, Eric
• Application Number:
  US14/532,825
• Publication Number:
  US 20150143238A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• 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 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• 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 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• 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: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

The present disclosure may provide a mobile terminal including a body having a front surface, a rear surface and a lateral surface thereof, a display unit disposed on the front surface to display first screen information, a lateral touch sensing unit formed on the lateral surface adjacent to both edges of the display unit to receive a user'"'"'s consecutive touch input, and a controller configured to control the display unit to display second screen information in one region on the display unit corresponding to a touch range of the consecutive touch input.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a body having a front side and a lateral side;

a display located on the front side and configured to display screen information;

a touch sensing unit formed on the lateral side and configured to receive a touch input;

a memory; and

a hardware controller operably coupled with the display, the touch sensing unit, and the memory, and capable of;

executing a first application, a second application, and a third application in sequential order, the sequential order stored in the memory;

causing the display to display second screen information related to the second application that is in an active state, wherein the first application and third application are in an inactive state, in which first screen information related to the first application and third screen information related to the third application are not displayed, while the second screen information is displayed;

receiving, via the touch sensing unit, a first touch input in a first or second direction while the second screen information is displayed and while the first application and the third application are in the inactive state,

wherein the first screen information, the second screen information, and the third screen information are selectively displayed based on an input direction of the first touch input and the stored sequential order;

activating the first application to be in the active state and causing the display to display the first screen information in a first region of the display in response to the first touch input received in the first direction,

wherein the first application has been executed prior to the execution of the second application,

wherein a size of the first region of the display and a size of a partial portion of the first screen information that is displayed in the first region increase as the first touch input moves further in the first direction,

wherein a size of a second region of the display and a size of a partial portion of the second screen information displayed in the second region decrease as the sizes of the partial portion of the first screen information and the first region increase, and

wherein the first screen information and the second screen information are scrolled in the first direction while the first touch input is received in the first direction such that more content of the first screen information is displayed in the first region and less content of the second screen information is displayed in the second region as the first touch input progresses;

displaying an entire portion of the first screen information on the display such that the second screen information is no longer displayed on the display when the first touch input is released from the touch sensing unit while a size of the first region, in which the first screen information is displayed, is greater than a size of the second region, in which the second screen information is displayed;

switching the second application to the inactive state when the second screen information is no longer displayed on the display;

displaying an entire portion of the second screen information on the display such that the first screen information is no longer displayed on the display when the first touch input is released from the touch sensing unit while a size of the second region, in which the second screen information is displayed, is greater than a size of the first region, in which the first screen information is displayed;

switching the first application to the inactive state when the first screen information is no longer displayed on the display;

activating the third application to be in the active state and causing the display to display the third screen information in the second region and to display the second screen information in the first region in response to the first touch input received in the second direction that is different from the first direction, wherein the third application has been executed subsequent to the execution of the second application; and

displaying fourth screen information related to the third application in the second region in response to a second touch input received via the third screen information displayed in the second region such that the third screen information is replaced by the fourth screen information in the second region while the second screen information remains in the first region.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein:

the touch sensing unit is located adjacent to both sides of the display;

the first touch input received in the first direction comprises touching a first point and sliding from the touched first point to a second point; and

the first touch input received in the second direction comprises touching a third point and sliding from the touched third point to a fourth point.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller causes the touch sensing unit to display a notification image at a location of the touch sensing unit to provide guidance for receiving the first touch input for displaying the first or second screen information.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein:

the second screen information comprises a plurality of contents;

the first or third screen information is further information associated with one of the plurality of contents; and

the location of the touch sensing unit where the notification image is displayed corresponds to a location of the display screen where the one of the plurality of contents is displayed.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the size of the first region and the size of the second region are changed in real time according to a touch range corresponding to a distance between the first point and the second point during the sliding of the first touch input received in the first direction such that only the first screen information, among the first, second, and third screen information, is displayed on the display when the second point corresponds to a lowermost end of the touch sensing unit.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the size of the first region increases and the size of the second region decreases as the distance increases.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, wherein the second region disappears from the display when the second point corresponds to the lowermost end of the touch sensing unit.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein only the partial portion of the first screen information is displayed in the first region until the sliding reaches the second point corresponding to the lowermost end of the touch sensing unit.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the contents of the first screen information are displayed in a same size regardless of the size of the first region although more or less contents of the first screen information are displayed in the first region based on the size of the first region that is changed according to the progression of the first touch input.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the size of the first region and the size of the second region are changed in real time according to a touch range corresponding to a distance between the third point and the fourth point during the sliding of the first touch input received in the second direction such that only the third screen information is displayed on the display when the fourth point corresponds to an uppermost end of the touch sensing unit.

11. A method of controlling a mobile terminal comprising a display located on a front side of a body of the mobile terminal and a touch sensing unit formed on a lateral side of the body, the method comprising:

executing a first application, a second application, and a third application in sequential order, the sequential order stored in a memory;

displaying, on the display, second screen information related to the second application that is in an active state, wherein the first application and third application are in an inactive state, in which first screen information related to the first application and third screen information related to the third application are not displayed, while the second screen information is displayed;

receiving, via the touch sensing unit, a first touch input in a first or second direction while the second screen information is displayed and while the first application and the third application are in the inactive state,

wherein the first screen information, the second screen information, and the third screen information are selectively displayed based on an input direction of the first touch input and the stored sequential order;

activating the first application to be in the active state and displaying, on the display, the first screen information in a first region of the display in response to the first touch input received in the first direction,

wherein the first application has been executed prior to the execution of the second application,

wherein a size of the first region of the display and a size of a partial portion of the first screen information that is displayed in the first region increase as the first touch input moves further in the first direction,

wherein a size of a second region of the display and a size of a partial portion of the second screen information displayed in the second region decrease as the sizes of the partial portion of the first screen information and the first region increase, and

wherein the first screen information and the second screen information are scrolled in the first direction while the first touch input is received in the first direction such that more content of the first screen information is displayed in the first region and less content of the second screen information is displayed in the second region as the first touch input progresses;

displaying an entire portion of the first screen information on the display such that the second screen information is no longer displayed on the display when the first touch input is released from the touch sensing unit while a size of the first region, in which the first screen information is displayed, is greater than a size of the second region, in which the second screen information is displayed;

switching the second application to the inactive state when the second screen information is no longer displayed on the display;

displaying an entire portion of the second screen information on the display such that the first screen information is no longer displayed on the display when the first touch input is released from the touch sensing unit while a size of the second region, in which the second screen information is displayed, is greater than a size of the first region, in which the first screen information is displayed;

switching the first application to the inactive state when the first screen information is no longer displayed on the display;

activating the third application to be in the active state and displaying, on the display, the third screen information in the second region and displaying the second screen information in the first region in response to the touch input received in the second direction that is different from the first direction, wherein the third application has been executed subsequent to the execution of the second application; and

displaying fourth screen information related to the third application in the second region in response to a second touch input received via the third screen information displayed in the second region such that the third screen information is replaced by the fourth screen information in the second region while the second screen information remains in the first region.