KR20080087940A - Mobile device having touchscreen with predefined execution zone and related method for executing function thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A mobile terminal equipped with a touch screen having an execution zone and a function execution method thereof are provided to prevent incorrect operation caused by an unintentional touch, reduce feedback for input operation, and increase usability and convenience by setting the execution zone in the touch screen, and displaying a lower menu of a corresponding function when a menu is dragged in the execution zone. A touch screen(110) includes a display unit(150) visually representing information on a screen, and a touch detector(140) mounted on the display unit and generating an input signal by detecting a touch. A storing part(120) stores the execution zone and more than one menu item. A controller(130) sets the execution zone to a part of the touch screen, arranges the menu items around the execution zone, and executes a function of the menu item when the menu item is dragged in the execution zone. The controller executes the function of the menu item when the dragged menu item is included in the bottom layer of a menu tree structure, and displays a low menu list of the dragged menu item when the dragged menu item is included in other layers excluding the bottom layer. An execution region storage(170) stores the place and type of an execution region displayed at the display unit.

Description

A mobile terminal having a touch screen with an execution region and a method for executing the function {mobile device having touchscreen with predefined execution zone and related method for executing function

1 is an illustration of a portable terminal having a touch screen according to the prior art.

2 is an exemplary view of a portable terminal having a touch screen with an execution region set in accordance with the present invention.

3A and 3B are exemplary views illustrating a method of executing a function of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2.

4 is an exemplary view illustrating a malfunction preventing effect of the mobile terminal illustrated in FIG. 2.

5a to 5c are views illustrating a modification of the execution region according to the present invention.

6 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal having a touch screen with an execution region set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of executing a function of a portable terminal having a touch screen in which an execution region is set according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a reference diagram for the step of determining whether there is a menu item in the execution region in the method shown in FIG.

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal having a touch screen, and more particularly, to set a running area on a portion of the touch screen and drag a menu therein to display a sub menu or to execute a corresponding function. It relates to a terminal and a method of executing the function.

With the remarkable development of information and communication technology and semiconductor technology, the spread and use of various portable terminals is increasing rapidly. In particular, recent portable terminals have reached the stage of mobile convergence that encompasses the range of other terminals instead of staying in their own traditional areas. In the case of mobile phones, in addition to traditional communication functions such as voice call and text message service, various functions such as multimedia, wireless internet, short range wireless communication, and mobile broadcasting reception are newly added, as well as size, design, resolution, and user interface. Day by day is also developing in terms of back.

As part of this, various technologies for implementing a touch interface on a portable terminal have been recently introduced. For example, a technology that employs a touch pad as an input unit in addition to a conventional keypad, a technology for forming a keypad and a touch pad by mounting a touch sensor in the keypad area, and a technology for completely eliminating the keypad and introducing a touch screen.

Among these, the touch screen is an input device and a display device that perform information input and display on one screen. Since the touch screen can eliminate the existing keypad, the display area can be increased, and there is an advantage that the user can intuitively operate in terms of input. Accordingly, research and development related to touch screens are actively progressing in the field of portable terminal technology, and some commercialized products are attracting attention of the market. However, it is also true that the touch screen implemented in the portable terminal has much room for improvement in terms of usability and convenience.

1 is a diagram illustrating a portable terminal having a touch screen according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, the front of the portable terminal 10 does not have hardware buttons like the existing keypad, and the touch screen 11 is formed to occupy most of the front surface. The executable menu items 12 are displayed on the touch screen 11 in the form of graphical buttons or icons. Each menu item 12 on the touch screen 11 accepts an input command by a user touch and executes a corresponding function.

However, as the touch screen 11 is formed on most of the front surface of the mobile terminal 10, the conventional touch screen 11 has a problem that malfunctions easily occur. That is, since the area where the touch screen 11 is exposed is large, there is a high possibility of unintentional touch, and there is a possibility of malfunction. In particular, in a call state, the user's face may easily touch the touch screen 11, which may cause a fatal malfunction. To prevent this, the touch screen 11 may be set so that the touch screen 11 does not operate during a call, but it is not easy to do so because of other functions (eg, a memo function) that can be used during a call.

On the other hand, the conventional touch screen 11 lacks feedback on the user's input operation. In other words, in the case of a hardware button, the user can feel the touch of the button so that the user can obtain feedback on his or her input operation, but in the case of the touch screen 11, such a point is less. This is also a factor that degrades the usability of the touch screen 11.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent a malfunction due to an unintended touch in a mobile terminal having a touch screen.

Another object of the present invention is to reinforce feedback on a user's input operation in a mobile terminal having a touch screen.

Still another object of the present invention is to improve usability and user convenience of a mobile terminal having a touch screen.

In order to achieve these objects, the present invention provides a mobile terminal and a method of executing the function to set a running area on a portion of the touch screen and drag a menu therein so that a sub menu is displayed or a corresponding function is executed.

The portable terminal according to the present invention comprises a touch screen, a storage unit and a controller. The touch screen includes a display unit that visually expresses information on a screen, and a touch sensor unit mounted on the display unit to sense a touch and generate an input signal. The storage unit stores an execution region and one or more menu items, the control unit sets the execution region on a predetermined portion of the touch screen, and arranges the menu items around the execution region, and the menu item is the execution region. Moving inside executes the function of the menu item.

In the portable terminal of the present invention, the portion where the execution region is set is preferably visually distinguished from other portions of the touch screen. The storage unit may store the location and form of the execution region and store the execution region for each layer of the menu tree structure.

The control unit may execute a function of the menu item when the menu item moved into the execution region belongs to the lowest hierarchy of the menu tree structure, and the menu item moved into the execution region may be applied to the remaining layers except the lowest hierarchy. If belonging to, a sub-menu list of the menu item may be displayed. The menu item may be displayed in the form of a graphic button or icon or in the form of text.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of executing a function, the method comprising: displaying an execution region set on a portion of a touch screen and one or more menu items arranged around the execution region, and whether the menu item is moved into the execution region by a touch; Determining, and executing a function of the menu item when the menu item moves into the execution region.

In the method for executing a function of the present invention, the displaying step may be a step of displaying a portion where the execution region is set to be visually distinguished from other portions of the touch screen. The displaying may include displaying the menu item in the form of a graphic button or icon or in the form of text, and displaying the execution region and the menu item belonging to a specific layer of a menu tree structure. Can be.

The determining may include extracting coordinates of the menu item where the touch occurs and comparing the extracted coordinates with positions of the execution region. The executing step may be a step of executing a function of the menu item when the menu item moved into the execution region belongs to the lowest hierarchy of the menu tree structure, wherein the menu item moved into the execution region is a menu tree structure. If it belongs to the remaining layers other than the lowest layer, it may be a step of displaying a lower menu list of the menu item.

Example

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In describing the embodiments, descriptions of technical contents that are well known in the art to which the present invention pertains and are not directly related to the present invention are omitted. This is to more clearly communicate without obscure the core of the present invention by omitting unnecessary description. In addition, while describing various embodiments, overlapping contents may be omitted without repeating the description. On the other hand, the same reference numerals are used for the same or corresponding components throughout the accompanying drawings.

2 is an exemplary view of a portable terminal having a touch screen in which an execution region is set according to the present invention.

2, the portable terminal 100 of the present invention includes a touch screen 110 formed on the front surface. The touch screen 110 displays and displays the executable menu items 112 in the form of graphical buttons or icons. 2 shows an example of a main menu. The menu items 112 may be displayed in text form in some cases.

The execution region 114 is disposed at the center of the touch screen 110. The execution region 114 is a virtual region set in a portion of the touch screen 110 to execute the functions of the menu items 112 displayed on the touch screen 110. Execution region 114 employs circles, squares, or other graphical elements to visually distinguish them from other portions.

At least one menu item 112 exists and is disposed around the execution region 114. The conventional menu item (12 of FIG. 1) is executed as soon as the user's touch is input, but the menu item 112 of the present invention is not executed by the touch itself.

3A and 3B are exemplary views illustrating a method of executing a function of the portable terminal illustrated in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3A, in order to execute a specific menu item 112a among the menu items 112 disposed on the touch screen 110, the icon needs to be touched and dragged into the execution region 114. That is, only when a specific menu item 112a is captured in the execution region 114, the controller of the portable terminal 100 executes a function corresponding to the menu item 112a.

Execution of a function in the present specification includes not only executing a function set in the selected menu item as it is but also displaying a list of submenus of the selected menu item. Which of the two function executions depends on which depth the menu item is located at. As is well known, the menu of a mobile terminal adopts a tree structure. Generally, selecting a menu item located in the lowest hierarchy of the menu tree structure executes a corresponding function, and menu items located in the remaining layers except the lowest hierarchy. Select to display the submenu list of the menu item.

3A illustrates a case where a call history item 112a is selected from a main menu that is a top layer. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3B, the sub-menu items 116 of the call log 112a are displayed in a list format. Alternatively, the submenu items 116 of FIG. 3B belong to the lowest hierarchy of the call log menu. Therefore, if one of the lower menu items 116 is selected, the corresponding function is executed. For example, if you select delete all 6 times, the call history will be deleted. On the other hand, if you select the first recent call (recent call) or the third outgoing call (outgoing call), etc., the corresponding list is displayed, because the function set in the menu item is a list display function. Therefore, in this case, it can be seen as execution of the corresponding function.

As described above, if the execution region 114 is set in a predetermined portion of the touch screen 110 and the menu item 112a is dragged therein to execute the corresponding function, a malfunction caused by an unintended touch Can be prevented. 4 is an exemplary view illustrating a malfunction prevention effect of the portable terminal illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 4, even if an unintentional touch occurs by a user on a specific menu item 112b on the touch screen 110, the item 112b is minutely moved by the touch and the execution region 114 is executed. Is not dragged inside, so it is not actually executed. Since dragging into the execution region 114 by an unwanted touch is difficult to occur in fact, the menu access and function execution method of the present invention can be said to be very effective in preventing malfunction.

On the other hand, allowing the function to be executed through the dragging of the menu item 112 may also give a user feedback on an input operation. That is, since the menu item can be visually checked during the drag process, the user can obtain feedback on his or her input operation.

In the execution region 114 according to the present invention, the position is not limited to the center of the touch screen 110, and the form is not limited to a circle. The position and shape of the execution region 114 may be variously modified. 5A to 5C are modified examples of execution regions according to the present invention.

5A illustrates an example in which the execution region 114 is set to a semicircle at the center of the right side of the touch screen 110. As shown in FIG. 5A, as the position and shape of the execution region 114 are changed, the arrangement of the menu items 112 is also changed. That is, the menu items 112 are radially disposed on the left side of the execution region 114.

5B shows an example of a lower layer screen of the main menu. As shown in FIG. 5B, the menu items 116 may be displayed in a text form, and in this case, the execution region 114 may be set as an elongated rectangle at the far right of the touch screen 110 to avoid the menu items 116. Can be.

In addition, FIG. 5C illustrates an example in which the execution region 114 is set to a rectangle below the touch screen 110 in the main menu. In this case, the menu items 112 may be arranged in a grid shape above the execution region 114.

As described above, the execution region 114 of the touch screen 110 of the present invention is not limited in position and shape. In addition, the position and shape of the execution region 114 need not be the same for each hierarchical screen of the menu tree structure. The position and shape of the execution region 114 may be variously set depending on the hierarchy, the type and display format of the menu items 112, and other needs.

Up to now, the touch screen and the function execution method of the execution region is set according to the present invention has been intuitively described through the screen example. Hereinafter, the description will focus on the configuration and internal processing of the portable terminal.

6 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal having a touch screen with an execution region set in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the mobile terminal 100 includes a touch screen 110, a storage 120, and a controller 130. In addition, the touch screen 110 includes a touch sensing unit 140 and a display unit 150, and the storage unit 120 includes an execution region storage unit 160 and a menu item storage unit 170.

The mobile terminal 100 according to the present invention may be, for example, a mobile broadcasting receiver such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, or an MP3 player. Multimedia players such as portable multimedia player (PMP); However, the portable terminal 100 of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention can be applied to any portable electronic device having the touch screen 110. The touch screen 110 may be formed on the whole or part of the front surface of the portable terminal 100, or may be formed on both front and rear surfaces, respectively. The mobile terminal 100 may additionally include a conventional input device such as a separate keypad, a pointing device, and side buttons in addition to the touch screen 110.

The touch screen 110 is an input device and a display device for inputting and displaying information on one screen. That is, the touch screen 110 includes a touch sensing unit 140 as an input device and a display unit 150 as a display device.

The display unit 150 is formed of, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and visually expresses various types of information on the screen under the control of the controller 130. In particular, the display unit 150 displays menu items and an execution region.

The touch detector 140 detects a user's touch behavior and generates an input signal according to the touch input to the controller 130. The touch sensing unit 140 is, for example, a touch panel or a touch sensor mounted on the display unit 150. When a touch occurs, the touch sensing unit 140 detects a change in physical quantity and converts the electrical quantity into an electrical signal. In particular, the touch sensing unit 140 detects the touch of the menu item and the movement of the touch.

The storage unit 120 stores various programs and data that are executed and processed under the control of the controller 130, and include one or more volatile memory devices and nonvolatile memory devices. The menu item storage unit 160 of the storage unit 120 stores menu items to be displayed on the display unit 150 screen and functions to be executed corresponding to each menu item for each layer of the menu tree structure. The execution region storage unit 170 of the storage unit 120 stores the position and form of the execution region to be displayed on the screen of the display unit 150 for each layer of the menu tree structure.

The controller 130 is a microprocessor that controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal 100. The role of the controller 130 will be understood from the method execution method of the present invention to be described later. The following description refers to FIGS. 6 and 7. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a function execution method of a portable terminal having a touch screen in which an execution region is set according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

When entering a specific hierarchy of the menu tree structure, the controller 130 displays menu items and execution regions belonging to the hierarchy on the display unit 150 (step S210). For example, when entering the main menu, the controller 130 reads the menu items to be displayed on the main menu screen and the execution region from the menu item storage unit 160 and the execution region storage unit 170, respectively, and displays the display unit 150 screen. Mark on.

Subsequently, the controller 130 checks whether a touch occurs (step S220). That is, when a touch occurs on the touch screen 110, the touch sensing unit 140 detects this, generates an input signal, and transmits it to the controller 130. The controller 130 may check the touch occurrence from the input signal transmitted by the touch sensing unit 140.

When a touch occurs, the controller 130 extracts touch coordinates from the input signal (step S230) and determines whether the menu item is a touch (step S240). The controller 130 may determine whether the touch occurs in the menu item by comparing the extracted touch coordinates and the positions of the menu items. In addition, in this step (S230), the controller 130 may check which menu item is the touched menu item.

If the menu item is touched, then the controller 130 determines whether there is a touch movement (step S250). That is, the controller 130 determines whether the extracted touch coordinates are changed to determine whether to move the touch. The above-mentioned dragging is also a kind of touch movement.

If there is a touch movement, the controller 130 redisplays the menu item on the display unit 150 (step S260). That is, the controller 130 determines the display position of the menu item again in response to the change amount of the touch coordinates and displays the menu item by reflecting it. For example, when dragging a menu item, the display position of the menu item is continuously changed as touch coordinates continuously change.

Subsequently, the controller 130 determines whether the re-displayed menu item is located in the execution region (step S270). The controller 130 may check whether the menu item is in the execution area by comparing the coordinates of the redisplayed menu item with the position of the execution area. 8 is a reference diagram for this step S270.

Referring to FIG. 8, for example, it is assumed that the execution region 114 is set in a circle having a center coordinate of (0, 0) and a radius of r. At this time, if the reference coordinate of the menu item 112a moving by touch is (x, y), it may be checked whether the menu item 112a is in the execution region 114 by the following equation (1).

x ² + y ² ≤r ²

If the reference coordinate (x, y) of the menu item 112a satisfies Equation 1, the controller 130 determines that the menu item 112a is located inside the execution region 114. Here, the reference coordinate of the menu item 112a means a coordinate of a point designated as a representative for displaying the menu item 112a. As described above, since the shape of the execution region 114 can be variously set, the method of determining Equation 1 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

6 and 7 again, if the menu item is located inside the execution region, the controller 130 extracts the function of the corresponding menu item (step S280) and executes the extracted function (step S290).

So far, the mobile terminal having a touch screen in which an execution region is set and a method of executing the function have been described through the embodiments. In the present specification and drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, and although specific terms have been used, these are merely used in a general sense to easily explain the technical contents of the present invention and to help the understanding of the present invention. It is not intended to limit the scope. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention can be carried out in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

As described above, the present invention sets an execution region on a predetermined portion of the touch screen and drags a menu therein so that a lower menu is displayed or a corresponding function is executed. Therefore, the present invention can prevent a malfunction caused by an unintentional touch, give a feedback on a user's input operation through a dragging process, and improve usability and user convenience of the portable terminal.

Claims (13)

A touch screen comprising a display unit for visually representing information on a screen, and a touch sensing unit mounted on the display unit to sense a touch and generate an input signal; A storage unit which stores an execution region and one or more menu items; A controller configured to set the execution region on a predetermined portion of the touch screen, arrange the menu item around the execution region, and execute a function of the menu item when the menu item moves into the execution region; Mobile terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the portion where the execution region is set is visually distinguished from other portions of the touch screen. The method of claim 1, The storage unit stores the location and shape of the execution region. The method of claim 1, The storage unit stores the execution area for each layer of the menu tree structure. The method of claim 1, The control unit executes a function of the menu item if the menu item moved into the execution region belongs to the lowest hierarchy of the menu tree structure, and the menu item moved into the execution region belongs to the remaining layers except the lowest hierarchy. And displaying a submenu list of the menu item. The method of claim 1, And the menu item is displayed in the form of a graphic button or icon or in the form of text. Displaying an execution region set on a portion of the touch screen and one or more menu items arranged around the execution region; Determining whether the menu item moves into the execution region by a touch; Executing a function of the menu item when the menu item moves into the execution region; Function execution method of the mobile terminal comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein The displaying step is a step of displaying a portion where the execution region is set so as to be visually distinguished from other portions of the touch screen. The method of claim 7, wherein And the displaying step is displaying the menu item in the form of a graphic button or icon or in the form of text. The method of claim 7, wherein And the displaying step includes displaying the execution region and the menu item belonging to a specific hierarchy of a menu tree structure. The method of claim 7, wherein The determining step is a step of extracting the coordinates of the menu item in which the touch occurs, and comparing the position of the execution region with a mobile terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein And executing the function of the menu item when the menu item moved into the execution region belongs to the lowest hierarchy of the menu tree structure. The method of claim 7, wherein And executing the menu item when the menu item moved into the execution area belongs to a layer other than the lowest layer of the menu tree structure.

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