Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same

• US 9,965,166 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2013
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kwon, Yunmi, Jung, Hyemi, Kwon, Arim
• Primary Examiner(s): Nabi, Reza
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rodriguez, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US14/101,024
• Publication Number:
  US 20150026613A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,611 Days
• Field of Search: 715764
• 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 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1636 Sensing arrangement for detection of a tap gesture on the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• 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

Provided is a mobile terminal including a main body of the terminal, a sensing unit that detects a tap on the main body, a controller that, if the tap corresponding to a predetermined condition is applied to the main body, controls at least one function that is executable on the terminal, in which the controller performs at least one control operation, based on a position to which the tap is applied.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal comprising:

a main body;

a touch screen located in the main body;

a sensor that senses a tap on the touch screen, wherein the sensor comprises at least one of an acceleration sensor and a touch sensor; and

a controller configured to;

sense, via the sensor, one or more taps applied to the touch screen in a state where the mobile terminal is in a locked state and the touch screen is in an inactivated state, and

determine whether an object that applies the one or more taps on the touch screen has conductivity in response to the one or more taps, execute one of different functions according to a type of the object,

wherein when the object has no conductivity based on the determination, the controller executes a voice recognition function while the touch screen is in the inactivated state such that the mobile terminal is controlled by a voice input, and

wherein when the object has conductivity based on the determination, the controller controls the touch screen to activate such that the mobile terminal is controlled by a touch input applied to the touch screen.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein if the tap is detected a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time, the controller changes a setting value for any one of the functions that run on the terminal, and the changed setting value relates to information that is output to and is input from a position that corresponds to the position to which the tap is applied.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 2, further comprising:

a microphone that is located in the main body and configured to receive voice information; and

a speaker that is formed on the main body and configured to output audio information,

wherein in a state where the microphone and the speaker are all activated, when the tap is applied to surroundings of a region in which the microphone is located, the controller changes a setting value associated with the microphone, and when the tap is applied to surroundings of a region in which the speaker is located, the controller changes a setting value associated with the speaker.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein the controller performs control in such a manner that the extent to which the setting value is changed varies depending on strength with which the tap is applied.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal includes multiple input and output constituent elements, and

wherein the controller performs control of whether or not to activate the constituent element located in the position to which the tap on the main body is applied.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein if a camera is located in the position to which the tap is applied, the camera is activated or inactivated, and

wherein if a flash is located in the position to which the tap is applied, the flash is activated or inactivated.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein concurrent running of multiple applications on the terminal is possible, and

wherein if the tap corresponding to a predetermined condition is applied to a predetermined region of the main body, the controller terminates at least one of the running multiple applications.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein the controller sequentially terminates the running multiple applications each time the tap corresponding to the predetermined condition is applied.

9. A method of controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

sensing, via a sensor, one or more taps applied to a touch screen in a state where the mobile terminal is in a locked state and the touch screen is in an inactivated state;

determining whether an object that applies the one or more taps on the touch screen has conductivity in response to the one or more taps; and

executing one of different functions according to a type of the object,

wherein when the object has no conductivity based on the determining, the method further comprises executing a voice recognition function while the touch screen is in the inactivated state such that the mobile terminal is controlled by a voice input, and

wherein when the object has conductivity based on the determining, the method further comprises controlling the touch screen to activate such that the mobile terminal is controlled by a touch input applied to the touch screen.