Display apparatus and method for mobile terminal

• US 20060211454A1
• Filed: 09/13/2005
• Published: 09/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Yoo, Min-Jun, Park, A-Reum, Lee, Ka-Eun, Kang, Yun-Hwan
• Granted Patent: US 8,106,887 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0218 The hinge comprising input and/or output user interface means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0235 Slidable or telescopic telephones, i.e. with a relative translation movement of the body parts; Telephones using a combination of translation and other relative motions of the body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0245 using open/close detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit

Abstract

A display apparatus for a mobile terminal including: an input unit for receiving a user'"'"'s instruction; a controller for simultaneously executing two or more tasks and transferring the received instruction to at least one display unit; a first display unit for performing displaying according to the received instruction; and a second display unit placed at a position where a user can view it together with the first display unit. The mobile terminal can simultaneously process a plurality of tasks through a plurality of display units to allow the user to perform multitasking substantially.

Claims

1. A display apparatus for a mobile terminal comprising:

an input unit for receiving user instructions;

a controller for executing at least one task and activating at least one display unit according to the received instructions; and

a display unit for displaying the executed tasks and being activated according to the received instructions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display unit comprises:

a first display unit for performing displaying according to the received instructions; and

a second display unit located at a position where a user can view it together with the first display unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second display unit operates independently from the first display unit.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the received instructions indicate display conversion, the controller exchanges the tasks of the first and second display units and displays the tasks accordingly.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the received instructions indicate displaying of a list of tasks, the controller displays a list of tasks being currently executed or tasks which can be executed on the first or second display unit.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the received instructions indicate switching of an activated display unit, the controller deactivates the currently activated display unit and activates a previously deactivated display unit.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein icons of tasks which are currently executed or which can be executed appear on an upper portion of the second display unit, and when the user selects one of the icons, a task of the selected icon is displayed on the first display unit.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal includes first and second bodies, and the second body is allowed to rotate in a vertical direction with respect to the first body.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first and second display units are formed on the second body.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first and second display units are separately formed on the first and second bodies, respectively.

11. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal includes first and second bodies, and the second body is allowed to rotate in a horizontal direction with respect to the first body.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first and second display units are formed on the second body.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first and second display units are separately formed on the first and second bodies, respectively.

14. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal includes the first and second bodies, and the first body is allowed to slide upward or downward with respect the second body.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first and second display units are formed on the first body.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first and second display units are separately formed on the first and second bodies, respectively.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second display unit is formed on a lower portion of the second body, so that when the first body is slid upward with respect to the second body, the second display unit is exposed.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second display unit is formed on an upper portion of the second body, so that when the first body is slid downward with respect to the second body, the second display unit is exposed.

19. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller displays menu items on the first or second display unit when the received instructions indicate additionally executing of a new task, and when the user selects one of icons of the menu items, the controller executes a task corresponding to the selected icon and adds the selected icon on a list of tasks being currently executed.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit selecting means for allowing the user to select the first display unit or the second display unit.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tasks are independent from each other.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller simultaneously executes at least one task.

23. A display apparatus for a mobile terminal comprising:

an input unit for receiving user instructions;

a controller for simultaneously executing two or more tasks and transferring the instructions received from the user to at least one display unit; and

a display unit divided into a plurality of display regions, each display region independently displaying according to the instructions.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:

a display region selecting unit for allowing the user to select one of the display regions.

25. A display method for a mobile terminal for simultaneously executing at least two or more tasks, comprising:

receiving user instruction;

activating a first or second display unit according to the received instruction; and

processing an operation of an activated display unit according to the received instruction.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein when the mobile terminal executes only one task, the display unit which does not process a task is maintained in a standby state.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein when the mobile terminal executes two or more tasks, the tasks are displayed on the first and second display units, respectively, according to the user instruction.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received instruction indicates display switching, the task of the activated display unit and the task of the deactivated display unit are exchanged and displayed.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received instruction indicates a displaying of a task list, a list of tasks which are currently executed or which can be executed on the activated display unit.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein when the received instruction indicates switching of the activated display unit, the currently activated display unit is deactivated and the deactivated display unit is activated.

31. A display apparatus for a mobile terminal comprising:

an input unit for receiving an instruction of a user;

a controller for simultaneously executing two or more tasks and transferring the received instruction of the user to a display unit;

a first display unit for performing displaying according to the instruction; and

a second display unit for performing a displaying function of the first display unit according to the instruction.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the tasks are independent from each other.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the second display unit operates independently from the first display unit.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein when the received instruction indicates a displaying of a list of tasks, the second display unit displays a list of tasks which are currently executed or which can be executed.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the second display unit displays the list of the tasks at a lower end portion of the first display unit.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the second display unit displays the list of the tasks in a pop-up format.

37. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein when the user selects one of the tasks of the list, the controller displays the selected task on the first display unit.

38. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:

a display unit selecting means for allowing the user to select a desired screen.