TERMINAL EQUIPPED WITH TOUCH-WHEEL AND METHOD FOR ENTERING COMMAND IN THE TERMINAL

• US 20070229473A1
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Tae Hun, Woo, Boem Young, Ahn, Hyun Ju, Cheon, Ho Sang, Park, Jun Serk, Han, Seung Sook, Yoon, Jeong Hyuk
• Application Number:
  US11/694,008
• Publication Number:
  US 20070229473A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• 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 1/233 including a pointing device, e.g. roller key, track ball, rocker switch or joystick constructional details of pointing devices per se G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

A terminal equipped with a touch-wheel and a method for entering a command in the terminal are disclosed. The terminal includes a first touch-wheel and a second touch-wheel for recognizing a variety of user'"'"'s touch actions, the first touch-wheel and the second touch-wheel being substantially configured concentrically and a controller for recognizing individual user'"'"'s touch actions on the first and second touch-wheels as predetermined user commands. A plurality of concentric touch-wheels are mounted on the terminal such that the outer appearance of the mobile terminal is simplified and a user may enter desired commands in the mobile terminal according to a variety of touch-input methods. As a result, the user can enter a variety of commands for performing composite functions of the terminal using the first and second touch-wheels.

Claims

1. A communication terminal, comprising:

a plurality of touch-sensitive input areas arranged substantially concentrically, each of the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas adapted to receive at least one of rotation contact and cross-movement contact; and

a controller adapted to detect contact with at least one of the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas and recognize the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information.

2. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance such that a non touch-sensitive area is formed between the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas.

3. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further adapted to recognize the detected contact according to at least one of an inter-wheel moving-touch action and a wheel-crossing moving-touch action.

4. The communication terminal of claim 3, wherein the controller is further adapted to recognize the detected contact according to at least one of a direction of the detected contact and a location of the detected contact.

6. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas comprise a touch-screen.

7. The communication terminal of claim 6, further comprising a key pad having a plurality of keys and wherein the controller is further adapted to:

detect contact with at least one of the plurality of keys; and

recognize the detected contact with the at least one of the plurality of keys in conjunction with the detected contact with the touch-screen as the one of a plurality of predetermined information.

8. The communication terminal of claim 7, further comprising a display unit adapted to display the keypad comprising the plurality of keys.

9. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas adapted to receive cross-movement contact comprising at least one of longitudinal contact and latitudinal contact.

10. A method for entering information in a communication terminal, the method comprising:

detecting contact with at least one of a plurality of substantially concentric touch-sensitive input areas, each of the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas adapted to receive at least one of rotation contact and cross-movement contact; and

recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information.

5. The communication terminal of claim 11 wherein the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas comprise a touch-pad.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the cross-movement contact comprises at least one of longitudinal contact and latitudinal contact.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information comprises recognizing at least one of an inter-wheel moving-touch action and a wheel-crossing moving-touch action.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information comprises recognizing at least one of a direction of the detected contact and a location of the detected contact.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information comprises:

detecting contact with at least one of a plurality of keypad keys;

detecting contact with a touch screen; and

recognizing the detected contact with the at least one of the plurality of keys in conjunction with the detected contact with the touch-screen as the one of a plurality of predetermined information.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying a keypad comprising the plurality of keys.

16. A method for entering information in a communication, the method comprising:

detecting at least one of rotation contact and cross-movement contact with each of a plurality of touch-sensitive input areas; and

recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein detecting cross-movement contact comprises detecting at least one of longitudinal contact and latitudinal contact.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information comprises recognizing at least one of an inter-wheel moving-touch action and a wheel-crossing moving-touch action.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein recognizing the detected contact as one of a plurality of predetermined information comprises recognizing at least one of a direction of the detected contact and a location of the detected contact with at least one of the plurality of touch-sensitive input areas.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein recognizing the detected contact as one of the plurality of predetermined information comprises:

detecting contact with at least one of a plurality of keypad keys;

detecting contact with a touch screen; and

recognizing the detected contact with the at least one of the plurality of keys in conjunction with the detected contact with touch-screen as the one of a plurality of predetermined information.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

displaying a keypad comprising the plurality of keys.