Touch control terminal and method and device for unlocking touch control

• US 9,323,450 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2014
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Zhang, Zhijun, Yan, Jiayi, Li, Li, Xu, Haibo, Liu, Yuxi
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US14/287,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20140267120A1
• Time in Patent Office: 700 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-178
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/36 by graphic or iconic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 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

Abstract

For unlocking touch control of a touch control terminal, it is detected if any unlock object is selected, then the selected unlock object is tracked to see if the selected unlock object has slid to any of a plurality of unlocking positions outside the corresponding locking zone. If positive, the touch control for a function corresponding to the selected unlock object is unlocked.

Claims

1. A method for unlocking touch control, performed by a touch control terminal, the touch control terminal having a touch-sensitive surface on which at least one unlock object and a locking zone corresponding to the at least one unlock object are defined, the method comprising steps of:

detecting if any of the at least one unlock objects are selected;

tracking the selected unlock object; and

unlocking the touch control for a function corresponding to the selected unlock object when the selected unlock object is located at any of a plurality of unlocking positions outside the corresponding locking zone,

wherein the step of tracking the selected unlock object includes;

fetching information of the locking zone and information of the selected unlock object; and

determining a positional relationship between the selected unlock object and the locking zone in accordance with the fetched information, wherein the positional relationship is one of a first relationship where the selected unlock object is located inside a margin of the locking zone, a second relationship where the selected unlock object is located at the margin of the locking zone, and a third relationship where the selected unlock object is located outside the margin of the locking zone.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of unlocking positions are in an unlocking zone, which surrounds the locking zone.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information of the selected unlock object is a position coordinate of a geometric center or specified edge point of the selected unlock object, and the information of the locking zone is position coordinates of the margin of the locking zone.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the positional relationship between the selected unlock object and the locking zone is determined by comparing the position coordinate of the geometric center or specified edge point of the selected unlock object with the position coordinates of the margin of the locking zone, and the selected unlock object is detected to be outside the locking zone if the positional relationship between the selected unlock object and the locking zone meets the third relationship.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is a touch-sensitive display, and the unlock object is an unlock image movably shown on the touch-sensitive display.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the information of the selected unlock object is a pixel coordinate of a geometric center or specified edge point of the selected unlock object, and the information of the locking zone is pixel coordinates of the margin of the locking zone.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the positional relationship between the selected unlock object and the locking zone is determined by comparing the pixel coordinate of the geometric center or specified edge point of the selected unlock object with the pixel coordinates of the margin of the locking zone, and the selected unlock object is detected to be outside the locking zone if the positional relationship between the selected unlock object and the locking zone meets the third relationship.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the function to be unlocked is normal displaying of the touch-sensitive display, or execution of an application program of the touch control terminal.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one unlock object includes only a single unlock object, which is operable to unlock the touch control for all functions of the touch control terminal.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one unlock object includes a plurality of unlock objects, each of which corresponds to a specified function of the touch control terminal and is operable to unlock the touch control for at least the specified function.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected unlock object is the one located at a locked position and touched by a user.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, between the detecting step and the tracking step, a step of realizing the locking zone to which the selected unlock object is corresponding.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of keeping all functions locked if no unlock object is selected or the selected unlock object is not located outside the corresponding locking zone.

14. A device for unlocking touch control of a touch control terminal, comprising:

a correspondence-realizing unit configured to realize an unlock object and a locking zone, which correspond to a function to be unlocked;

an information-fetching unit configured to fetch information of the unlock object and information of the locking zone;

a position-correlating unit configured to determine a positional relationship between the unlock object and the locking zone in accordance with the fetched information, wherein the positional relationship is one of a first relationship where the unlock object is located inside a margin of the locking zone, a second relationship where the unlock object is located at the margin of the locking zone, and a third relationship where the unlock object is located outside the margin of the locking zone; and

a touch-control-unlocking unit configured to unlock the touch control for a function corresponding to the unlock object if the positional relationship between the unlock object and the locking zone meets the third relationship.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein the information-fetching unit is a position-coordinate-fetching unit configured to fetch a position coordinate of a geometric center or specified edge point of the unlock object and position coordinates of a margin of the locking zone, and the position-correlating unit determines the positional relationship between the unlock object and the locking zone by comparing the position coordinate of the geometric center or specified edge point of the unlock object and the position coordinates of the margin of the locking zone.

16. The device according to claim 14, wherein the information-fetching unit is a pixel-coordinate-fetching unit configured to fetch a pixel coordinate of a geometric center or specified edge point of the unlock object and pixel coordinates of a margin of the locking zone, and the pixel-correlating unit determines the positional relationship between the unlock object and the locking zone by comparing the pixel coordinate of the geometric center or specified edge point of the unlock object and the pixel coordinates of the margin of the locking zone.

17. A touch control terminal, comprising:

a touch-sensitive display; and

a device for unlocking touch control of the touch control terminal, including;

a correspondence-realizing unit configured to realize an unlock object and a locking zone, which correspond to a function to be unlocked;

an information-fetching unit configured to fetch information of the unlock object and information of the locking zone;

a position-correlating unit configured to determine a positional relationship between the unlock object and the locking zone in accordance with the fetched information, wherein the position relationship is one of a first relationship that the unlock object is located inside a margin of the locking zone, a second relationship that the unlock object is located at the margin of the locking zone, and a third relationship that the unlock object is located outside the margin of the locking zone; and

a touch-control-unlocking unit configured to unlock the touch control for a function corresponding to the unlock object if the positional relationship between the unlock object and the locking zone meets the third relationship.