MOBILE COMMUNICATION TERMINAL INCLUDING ROTARY KEY AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING OPERATION THEREOF

• US 20080004084A1
• Filed: 04/13/2007
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: PARK, Jun Serk
• Granted Patent: US 8,600,445 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• 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 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. 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 1/236 including keys on side or rear faces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72472 wherein the items are sorted according to specific criteria, e.g. frequency of use

Abstract

A mobile communication terminal including an input unit configured to generate at least a first signal when selected, a display unit configured to display a plurality of menus related to an operation of the mobile terminal, and a controller configured to display an independent menu on the display unit based on the generated first signal. Further, the independent menu includes at least one menu from the plurality of menus related to the operation of the mobile terminal that is displayed on the display unit independently of an application being executed on the mobile terminal.

Claims

1. A mobile communication terminal, comprising:

an input unit configured to generate at least a first signal when selected;

a display unit configured to display a plurality of menus related to an operation of the mobile terminal; and

a controller configured to display an independent menu on the display unit based on the generated first signal,

wherein the independent menu includes at least one menu from the plurality of menus related to the operation of the mobile terminal that is displayed on the display unit independently of an application being executed on the mobile terminal.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the at least one menu included in the independent menu corresponds to an operation frequently performed by a user.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the at least one menu is variably set to be included in the independent menu or is set to be included in the independent menu by a manufacturer of the mobile terminal.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the at least one menu includes a plurality of menus displayed in a listed form, and the controller scrolls through the plurality of menus displayed in the listed form when the first signal is generated.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein the controller highlights each of the plurality of menus displayed in the listed form as the menus are scrolled through.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the controller highlights each of the plurality of menus by increasing a size of a menu scrolled through compared to the other menus.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the controller counts a time period being from when a menu is highlighted, and executes an application corresponding to the highlighted menu when the counted time period is greater than a predetermined time period.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the input unit comprises a rotary key configured to generate the first signal when pressed and to generate a second signal when rotated.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller executes an application corresponding to a highlighted menu when the second signal is generated.

10. A method of controlling a mobile communication terminal, comprising:

generating at least a first signal when an input unit selected;

displaying a plurality of menus related to an operation of the mobile terminal; and

displaying an independent menu based on the generated first signal,

wherein the independent menu includes at least one menu from the plurality of menus related to the operation of the mobile terminal that is displayed on the display unit independently of an application being executed on the mobile terminal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one menu included in the independent menu corresponds to an operation frequently performed by a user.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

variably setting the at least one menu to be included in the independent menu;

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

setting the at least one menu to be included in the independent menu by a manufacturer of the mobile terminal.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one menu includes a plurality of menus displayed in a listed form, and the method further comprises scrolling through the plurality of menus displayed in the listed form when the first signal is generated.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

highlighting each of the plurality of menus displayed in the listed form as the menus are scrolled through.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the highlighting step highlights each of the plurality of menus by increasing a size of a menu scrolled through compared to the other menus.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

counting a time period being from when a menu is highlighted; and

executing an application corresponding to the highlighted menu when the counted time period is greater than a predetermined time period.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the input unit comprises a rotary key configured to generate the first signal when pressed and to generate a second signal when rotated.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

executing an application corresponding to a highlighted menu when the second signal is generated.