Method and apparatus for unlocking electronic appliance

• US 10,175,875 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2015
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Oh, Mi A, Lee, Woo Je
• Primary Examiner(s): Titcomb, William D
• Application Number:
  US14/691,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20150227282A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,359 Days
• Field of Search: 715863
• 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 3/0488 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: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

An unlocking method and apparatus for an electronic appliance are disclosed. The method and apparatus may enable a user to unlock the electronic appliance by identifying a gesture and to invoke a function mapped to the gesture. The unlocking method includes detecting a preset gesture input when an input means is locked. The method includes unlocking the input means in response to the input gesture. The method also includes invoking an application mapped to the input gesture in response to unlocking.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a touch screen; and

at least one processor configured to;

control the touch screen to display a user interface screen including a plurality of menu items, each of the plurality of menu items corresponding to an application mapped to respective one of a plurality of different gesture patterns having predetermined shapes, the user interface screen configured to receive a user input to change the application mapped to the gesture pattern,

control the touch screen to display a screen associated with a lock mode,

detect an input gesture on the touch screen of the electronic device while a screen associated with the lock mode is displayed,

control the touch screen to display a visual path of a shape being drawn for following a movement of the input gesture on the screen associated with the lock mode,

identify one of the plurality of gesture patterns corresponding to the input gesture based on the shape drawn by the input gesture, and

unlock the lock mode and invoke the application mapped to the identified gesture pattern.

2. The electronic device of claim 1,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect the input gesture irrespective of a location of the input gesture on the screen, and

wherein the input gesture comprises a figure or a pattern.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to map a single gesture pattern to a plurality of applications.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to unlock the lock mode and simultaneously invoke the plurality of the applications mapped to the single gesture pattern when the single gesture pattern is the identified gesture pattern.

5. The electronic device of claim 4,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine priorities between the plurality of applications mapped to the single gesture pattern by a mapping order, and

wherein the mapping order indicates an order in which the plurality of applications are invoked.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, further comprising displaying screen data associated with the plurality of simultaneous invoked applications according to the mapping order.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the menu item includes a name of the application mapped to the gesture pattern.

8. An electronic device comprising:

a touch screen; and

at least one processor configured to;

control the touch screen to display a user interface screen comprising a list of menu items, each of the menu items corresponding to an application mapped to respective one of a plurality of different gesture patterns having predetermined shapes,

change the application mapped to the gesture pattern on the user interface based on a user input,

control the touch screen to display a screen associated with a lock mode,

detect an input gesture on the touch screen of the electronic device while a screen associated with the lock mode is displayed,

control the touch screen to display a visual path of a shape being drawn for following a movement of the input gesture on the screen associated with the lock mode,

identify, among the plurality of different gesture patterns, a gesture pattern corresponding to the input gesture based on the shape drawn by the input gesture, and

unlock the lock mode and invoke the application mapped to the identified gesture pattern.

9. The electronic device of claim 8,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect the input gesture irrespective of a location of the input gesture on the screen, and

wherein the input gesture comprises a figure or a pattern.

10. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to map a single gesture pattern to a plurality of applications.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to unlock the lock mode and simultaneously invoke the plurality of the applications mapped to the single gesture pattern when the single gesture pattern is the identified gesture pattern.

12. The electronic device of claim 11,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine priorities between the plurality of applications mapped to the single gesture pattern by a mapping order, and

wherein the mapping order indicates an order in which the plurality of applications are invoked.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, further comprising displaying screen data associated with the plurality of simultaneous invoked applications according to the mapping order.

14. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the menu item includes a name of the application mapped to the gesture pattern.

15. A method comprising:

displaying, at a touch screen of an electronic device, a user interface screen including a plurality of menu items, each of the plurality of menu items corresponding to an application mapped to respective one of a plurality of different gesture patterns having predetermined shapes, the user interface screen configured to receive a user input to change the application mapped to the gesture pattern;

displaying a screen associated with a lock mode;

detecting an input gesture on the touch screen of the electronic device while a screen associated with the lock mode is displayed;

displaying a visual path of a shape being drawn for following a movement of the input gesture on the screen associated with the lock mode;

identifying one of the plurality of gesture patterns corresponding to the input gesture based on the shape drawn by the input gesture; and

unlocking the lock mode and invoking the application mapped to the identified gesture pattern.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the input gesture is received via another electronic device.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of gesture patterns is stored in the electronic device as a figure or a pattern to be used to unlock the electronic device when selected.

18. The method of claim 15,

wherein each of the plurality of applications is associated with a different application, and

wherein the plurality of applications are mapped to a single gesture pattern.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the unlocking the lock mode and simultaneously invoking of the plurality of the applications mapped to a single gesture pattern occurs when the single gesture pattern is the identified gesture pattern.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determine priorities between the plurality of applications mapped to the single gesture pattern by a mapping order; and

displaying screen data associated with the plurality of simultaneous invoked applications according to the mapping order,

wherein the mapping order indicates an order in which the plurality of applications are invoked.

21. An electronic device comprising:

a touch screen; and

at least one processor configured to;

control the touch screen to display a user interface screen including a plurality of menu items, each of the plurality of menu items corresponding to an application mapped to respective one of a plurality of different gesture patterns having predetermined shapes, the user interface screen configured to receive a user input to change the application mapped to the gesture pattern,

control the touch screen to display a screen associated with a lock mode, and

detect whether an input touch event on the touch screen of the electronic device corresponds to an input gesture while a screen associated with the lock mode is displayed,

wherein, if the input touch event corresponds to the input gesture, the at least one processor is further configured to;

control the touch screen to display a visual path of a shape being drawn for following a movement of the input gesture on the screen associated with the lock mode,

identify one of the plurality of gesture patterns corresponding to the input gesture based on the shape drawn by the input gesture, and

unlock the lock mode and invoke the application mapped to the identified gesture pattern.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein, if the input touch event does not correspond to the input gesture, the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine whether the input touch event corresponds an input for releasing the lock mode, and

release the lock mode if the input touch event corresponds to the input for releasing the lock mode.

23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein, if the input touch event does not correspond to the input for releasing the lock mode, the at least one processor is further configured to:

ignore the input touch event.

24. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the one of the plurality of gesture patterns is identified based on the shape matching one of the predetermined shape independent of locations of starting and ending points of the input gesture on the touch screen.

25. The electronic device of claim 21,

wherein the shape is drawn from a first start point to a first end point on the touch screen, and

wherein the one of the plurality of gesture patterns is identified as a same gesture pattern if the shape, drawn from a second start point different from the first start point to a second end point different from the first end point, matches the one of the predetermined shapes.