TOUCH SCREEN APPARATUS AND DIGITAL EQUIPMENT HAVING THE SAME, AND COMMAND-INPUT METHOD THEREOF

• US 20080143684A1
• Filed: 09/24/2007
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: SEO, Dae Sung
• Granted Patent: US 8,674,945 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

The present invention relates to a touch screen apparatus and a method of inputting a user command through the apparatus. A touch screen apparatus of the present invention comprises an input unit 10 having a sensing unit 12 for recognizing user'"'"'s touches and converting the touches into electrical signals; a storage unit 30 for storing execution commands corresponding to relative positions of the successive touches; and a control unit 20 for receiving the signals from the sensing unit 12 and executing an execution command retrieved from the storage unit. According to the present invention constructed as such, a variety of execution commands can be inputted without using a pattern of touches rather than an input area narrowly partitioned in a screen space.

Claims

1. A touch screen apparatus comprising:

an input unit having a sensing unit for recognizing inputs of a user'"'"'s input signals and converting the input signals into electrical signals;

a storage unit to store execution commands corresponding to relative positions of two or more input signals; and

a control unit to receive the input signals from the sensing unit, to retrieve an execution command corresponding to the input signals from the storage unit, and to execute the retrieved execution command.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the execution commands stored in the storage unit are stored in a form of a table categorized according to the number of successive inputs of the input signals and the relative positions of the input signals.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the number of successive inputs of the input signals is the number of inputs successively inputted within a preset time interval.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the relative positions of the input signals are calculated based on an input position of an initially inputted input signal.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input signals are divided into a long touch and a short touch depending on whether a duration of each of the input signals exceeds a specified time value.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control unit detects both the input of the user'"'"'s input signal and release of the input of the input signal, and

if a final input signal among the plurality of input signals is a long touch, the control unit continuously executes a corresponding execution command until the input of the final input signal is released.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the input unit uses a user'"'"'s touch input signal.

8. A digital equipment comprising:

a touch screen;

an input unit to recognize at least two touches to the touch screen;

a storage unit to store execution commands corresponding to information pertaining to the at least two touches to the touch screen; and

a control unit to retrieve an execution command corresponding to the at least two touches from the storage unit based on the information pertaining to the at least two touches, and to execute the retrieved execution command.

9. The equipment as claimed in claim 8, wherein the execution commands stored in the storage unit are stored in a form of a table categorized according to the number of successive touches to the touch screen and relative positions of the successive touches.

10. The equipment as claimed in claim 9, wherein the relative positions of the touches to the touch screen are recognized as one of four directions, including up, down, left and right, based on an initial touch to the touch screen.

11. The equipment as claimed in claim 8, wherein if a final touch among the at least two touches to the touch screen is a long touch that is maintained for a specified time duration, the control unit continuously executes a corresponding execution command until the final touch is released.

12. The equipment as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a buffer memory to store information on touch positions of the at least two touches to the touch screen, relative positions between the at least two touches, and a touch type of the at least two touches, from a time point when a user'"'"'s initial touch to the touch screen is detected to a time point when subsequent touches to the touch screen are completed.

13. A method of controlling a touch screen, comprising:

determining whether at least two input signals are inputted;

if it is determined that at least two input signals are inputted, determining relative positions of the input signals based on reference position information contained in the input signals;

retrieving an execution command based on the determined relative positions of the input signals; and

executing the retrieved execution command.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the step of determining whether at least two input signals are inputted comprises the steps of:

determining whether a preset time is elapsed after an input signal is inputted to a touch screen;

if it is determined that the preset time is not elapsed, waiting for an input of another input signal to the touch screen; and

if it is determined that the preset time is elapsed, determining whether at least two input signals are inputted.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of determining whether at least two input signals are inputted further comprises the step of storing input positions of the input signals in a buffer memory.

16. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least two input signals are at least two touches to the touch screen.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:

after executing a user command, confirming whether a finally inputted input signal is a long touch;

if it is determined that the finally inputted input signal is a long touch, checking whether a release of the input of the finally inputted input signal is detected; and

performing the executing step if the release of the input of the finally inputted input signal is not detected, and deleting data stored in the buffer memory if the release of the input of the finally inputted input signal is detected.

18. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the retrieving step retrieves the execution command from a list of prestored execution commands based on the number of successive inputs of the input signals and the relative positions of the input signals.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the relative positions of the input signals are determined by recognizing the relative positions as one of four directions, including up, down, left and right, based on an input position of an initially inputted input signal.

20. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the preset time is set by a user.