KR20100030030A - Apparatus and method for controlling vibration in accordance with touch botton - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for controlling vibration in accordance with touch button are provided to allow a user to exactly recognize a touch button through only seeing a display of a mobile terminal with a touch screen. CONSTITUTION: A display unit(11) displays a touch button consisting of a plurality of domain frames. A sensor(12) senses the touch to the touch button by a user. A storage(13) stores a plurality of vibration pattern data corresponding to the domain of the touch button. A controller(14) reads out the vibration pattern data corresponding to the touch domain and transmits the vibration pattern data to a vibration generator. The vibration generator(15) is vibrated according to the vibration pattern data.

Description

Apparatus and method for controlling vibration in accordance with touch botton}

The present invention relates to a touch button vibration control apparatus and method.

Today's remarkable developments in telecommunications are changing the communication and broadcasting environment rapidly. In this change, mobile terminals such as portable terminals are used by the majority of modern people to become a necessity in the modern society. With the development and expansion of mobile terminals, the mobile terminals are equipped with various additional functions such as photographing and reproducing pictures and videos, playing MP3 files, etc. in addition to general voice calls.

Recently, mobile terminals equipped with touch screens have been widely used. A mobile terminal equipped with such a touch screen displays a combination of buttons, such as a keypad or QWERTY keyboard, on a touch screen instead of a physical key button, and implements a touch button that detects and inputs a user's touch.

However, the conventional mobile terminal equipped with the touch screen has a problem that it is difficult to check whether the touch button is properly pressed because the user does not feel the feeling of being pressed even when the user presses the touch button displayed on the touch screen.

In accordance with the trend of miniaturization of mobile terminals, the size of touch buttons displayed on the touch screen is also being reduced. Therefore, when a user presses a touch button of a mobile terminal equipped with a conventional touch screen, it is difficult to determine whether the user presses two buttons at once or a frame area between the button and the button.

In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to find the correct touch button even by looking at the display of the mobile terminal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a touch button vibration control apparatus and method for accurately identifying a touch button even when a user only sees a display of a mobile terminal equipped with a touch screen.

An apparatus for controlling vibration of a touch button according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit for displaying a touch button including a plurality of areas; A detector detecting whether the user touches the touch button; A storage unit which stores a plurality of vibration pattern data corresponding to a plurality of areas of the touch button; A controller configured to read the vibration pattern data corresponding to a touch area of a user and to transmit the read vibration pattern data to a vibration generator; And a vibration generating unit generating vibration in accordance with the received vibration pattern data.

A touch button vibration control method according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: displaying a touch button consisting of a plurality of areas; Detecting whether the user touches the touch button; Reading out the vibration pattern data corresponding to the touch area of the user from the plurality of vibration pattern data stored corresponding to the plurality of areas of the touch button; And transmitting the read vibration pattern data to the vibration generator to generate vibration in accordance with the read vibration pattern data.

The touch button vibration control method of the present invention can be implemented as a computer readable program on a computer readable recording medium.

According to the present invention, a user can accurately identify a touch button even by looking at a display of a mobile terminal equipped with a touch screen.

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

1 is a block diagram of a touch button vibration control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the touch button vibration control device 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a display unit 11, a detector 12, a storage unit 13, a controller 14, and a vibration generator ( 15). The operation of the touch button vibration control device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrating a touch button vibration control method according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6.

The touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention can be applied to a mobile terminal such as a portable terminal, a PMP, a PDA, or an electronic product such as a TV, a refrigerator, a computer, a portable computer, or the like. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described mobile terminal and electronic product, and may be applied to an electronic product configured to perform an input by a user pressing a touch button displayed on a touch screen.

Hereinafter, the detailed description of the present invention will be described based on the case where the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention is applied to and used in a portable terminal.

The display unit 11 displays a touch button composed of a plurality of areas (step S61). The display unit 11 may be one of an LCD, an OLED, a thin film transistor LCD, a flexible display, and a 3D display.

2A and 2B are exemplary views in which the touch button vibration control device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention displays a touch button composed of a plurality of areas.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the display unit 11 displays a touch button 21, and the touch button 21 may be in the form of a numeric keypad or a QWERTY keyboard.

The touch button 21 includes a plurality of areas, and the plurality of areas include a plurality of key areas 211 and 212 for inputting numbers, letters or symbols, and a frame area 213 surrounding the plurality of key areas. can do.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the touch button 21 may display each key area adjacent to another key area without displaying the frame area 213 between the plurality of key areas 211 and 212.

The detection unit 12 detects whether the user touches the touch button 21 displayed on the display unit 11 (step S62). The detector 12 may be a touch screen in which a touch screen panel is mounted on the display unit 11.

When the user touches the touch button 21 displayed on the display unit 11, the detection unit 12 may detect the touch area touched by the user and transmit information about the touch area to the control unit 14. .

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the detector 12 may detect a coordinate value of the touch area of the user and transmit the detected coordinate value to the controller 14. That is, by setting an absolute coordinate system such as a rectangular coordinate system of the xy axis on the detector 12 to detect coordinate values of the touch area touched by the user, and transmitting the detected coordinate value information to the controller 14, the controller 14 may obtain information about the touch area of the user.

The storage unit 13 stores a plurality of vibration pattern data corresponding to a plurality of areas of the touch button 21 displayed on the display unit 11, that is, a plurality of key areas 211 and 212 and a frame area 213. The storage unit 13 may be at least one of a RAM, an SRAM, a DRAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, a PROM, a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk type, and a flash memory type memory.

The storage unit 13 may store a plurality of vibration pattern data corresponding to a plurality of areas of the touch button 21 as a database. The vibration pattern data may be at least one of frequency data, amplitude data, and phase data.

For example, referring to FIG. 2A, the storage unit 13 stores vibration pattern data including frequency data of 200 Hz with respect to the number '5' button 211 of the touch button 21, and stores the number. The vibration pattern data including the frequency data of 150 Hz may be stored for the '4' button 212, and the vibration pattern data including the frequency data of 100 Hz for the frame region 213 may be stored.

The controller 14 reads the vibration pattern data corresponding to the touch area of the user, and transmits the read vibration pattern data to the vibration generator 15.

The controller 14 receives information about the touch area of the user from the detector 12, and the vibration pattern corresponding to the touch area of the user from the storage unit 13 according to the received touch area information of the user. The data is read (step S63).

For example, when the user touches the number '5' button, the detector 12 transmits information indicating that the user's touch area is the number '5' button area to the controller 14. Then, the controller 14 receives information about the touch area of the user and reads out vibration pattern data corresponding to the number '5' button area from the controller 14. As described above, the vibration pattern data read by the controller 14 includes frequency data of 200 Hz.

The control unit 14 transmits the read vibration pattern data to the vibration generating unit 15 (step S64).

The vibration generator 15 receives the read vibration pattern data from the controller 14 and generates vibration in accordance with the received vibration pattern data. The vibration generator 15 may be a linear vibration motor or a rotary vibration motor.

The vibration generator 15 generates vibration in accordance with a vibration pattern included in the received vibration pattern data, for example, a frequency of 200 Hz.

As a result, when the user touches the display of the mobile terminal equipped with the touch screen with a finger or a stylus pen, the user may receive different vibration feedback according to the touch area. In addition, the user can intuitively feel which area of the touch button he is touching through the provided vibration feedback.

3 is an exemplary view for explaining how the user uses a portable terminal equipped with the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user may touch the touch button 21 displayed on the display unit 11 with a finger while holding a portable terminal with the touch button vibration control device 1 according to the present invention in one hand. .

The touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention provides different patterns of vibrations, for example, vibrations of different frequencies or amplitudes, according to the user's touch area to identify the buttons touched by the user without looking at the touch buttons. can do.

When the detection unit 12 detects a coordinate value of the touch area of the user and transmits the touch area information including the coordinate value information to the control unit 14, the storage unit 13 stores the touch button. The vibration pattern data may be stored by dividing a plurality of regions, for example, a plurality of key regions 211 and 212 and a frame region 213 by coordinate values.

Therefore, the controller 14 may read out the vibration pattern data corresponding to the touch area information of the user by using the touch area information including the coordinate value information received from the detector 12.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vibration pattern data corresponding to the plurality of key areas 211 and 212 constituting the touch button 21 may have a vibration pattern according to a distance from a specific key area about a specific key area. It can be configured to change constantly.

For example, the number '5' in the touch button vibration control device 1 shown in FIG. 2A or the letter 'G' in the touch button vibration control device 1 shown in FIG. Depending on the centered button, the oscillation frequency may decrease linearly or the oscillation amplitude linearly depending on the distance therefrom.

That is, in FIG. 2A, the vibration pattern of the number '5' button 211 is a vibration of frequency 200 Hz, and the vibration pattern of the number '4' button 212 displayed on the left side of the number '5' button 211 is The vibration may be at a frequency of 150 Hz. Likewise, the number '2' button, the '6' button, and the '8' button displayed apart from the number '5' button 211 by the same distance as the number '4' button 212 also have a vibration pattern of frequency 150 Hz. Can be.

In addition, the vibration of the number '1', '3', '7', '9' button displayed farther from the number '5' button 211 than the number '4' button 212 is a frequency of 130 Hz It may have a vibration pattern, in this aspect it may be configured to constantly reduce or increase the vibration pattern according to the separation distance around a specific key area.

According to an embodiment, the constant change in the vibration pattern may be an increase or decrease in frequency, or an increase or decrease in amplitude.

However, by setting the vibration pattern data corresponding to the frame region 213 constituting the touch button 21 to a vibration pattern having a great difference from the change of the vibration pattern data corresponding to the plurality of key regions 211 and 212, Allows the user to easily identify key areas 211 and 212 and frame area 213.

For example, if the vibration pattern data corresponding to the key areas 211 and 212 varies within a frequency of 100 Hz to 200 Hz, the vibration pattern data corresponding to the frame area 213 is a difference of frequency 10 Hz or frequency 500 Hz. Can be set to a large vibration pattern.

4 is a graph illustrating a change pattern of vibration pattern data corresponding to a plurality of key areas according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention vibrates as the distance from the key located in the center of a specific key area, for example, the touch button 21, of the displayed touch buttons 21 increases. The frequency can be configured to decrease linearly.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the touch button vibration control device 1 stores two types of vibration pattern data, and alternates two types of key regions corresponding to the respective vibration pattern data on the display unit 11. In this example, the user may easily identify the plurality of key areas.

5A is an exemplary view illustrating a state of the touch button 21 displayed by the display unit 11 of the touch button vibration control device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the touch button vibration control apparatus 1 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of key regions constituting the touch button 21 displayed by the display unit 11 may include a first key region 211 and a second key region. It can be composed of two kinds of key areas of 212.

In addition, the display unit 11 alternately displays the first key area 211 and the second key area 212. For example, in the touch button 21 of FIG. 2A, the number '1' button is the first key area 211, the number '2' button is the second key area 212, and the number '3' button is the first key. The first key area 211 may be configured to alternately display the first key area 211 and the second key area 212.

In addition, the storage unit 13 may include first vibration pattern data corresponding to the first key region 211, second vibration pattern data corresponding to the second key region 212, and a frame corresponding to the frame region. Only the three kinds of vibration pattern data can be stored by storing the region vibration pattern data.

According to an embodiment, when the touch button 21 does not include the frame area 213 and each of the key areas 211 and 212 is displayed in close proximity to each other, two types of first vibration pattern data and second vibration pattern data are provided. Only the vibration pattern data of can be stored.

In this case, unlike the case where the vibration pattern is constantly changed as described above, there is an effect of reducing the waste of memory by storing less vibration pattern data.

According to another embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 5A, the user may identify the plurality of key areas 211 and 212 while changing the touch area with a finger or a stylus pen.

According to an embodiment, the vibration pattern data corresponding to the key area 211 disposed in the center of the touch button 21 is set differently from the vibration pattern data corresponding to the other key area, and the vibration corresponding to the other key area. The pattern data may be set as one vibration pattern data or two kinds of vibration pattern data to improve the identification of the key area of the user.

5B and 5C show another arrangement of the touch buttons 21 displayed by the display portion 11 of the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the vibration pattern data of the key region 211 disposed at the center of the plurality of key regions 211 and 212 constituting the touch button 21 is different from the vibration pattern data of the other key region. The vibration pattern data of the other key region is composed of one kind. In this case, the vibration pattern data stored by the storage unit 13 includes a vibration pattern data of the key region 211 disposed at the center, vibration pattern data of another key region, and vibration pattern data of the frame region 213. It's kind.

As shown in FIG. 5C, the vibration pattern data of the key area 211 disposed at the center of the plurality of key areas 211 and 212 constituting the touch button 21 may be different from the vibration pattern data of the other key area. have. In addition, the vibration pattern data of the other key region is composed of two types, and the key regions corresponding to the respective vibration pattern data may be alternately arranged.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the detection unit 12 further detects the user's drag to the touch button, and the control unit 14 according to the drag the vibration pattern data corresponding to the user's drag area. Read in order.

That is, the detector 12 may further detect the drag of the user in addition to whether the user touches the touch button 21 to detect the movement trajectory of the user's finger or the stylus pen.

The detector 12 may transmit the information about the movement trajectory to the controller 14, and in this case, the detector 12 may configure the information about the movement trajectory as a vector.

In addition, the controller 14 reads out the vibration pattern data corresponding to the detected drag area of the user in order according to the drag. That is, the controller 14 sequentially reads vibration pattern data corresponding to a region through which the movement trajectory passes along the movement trajectory of the user.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the user drags a finger from the number '5' button 211 to the number '4' button 212, the detector 12 moves by the user's drag. The trajectory can be detected. In FIG. 3, the movement trajectory starts with the number '5' button 211 and ends through the frame area 213 at the number '4' button 212.

The detector 12 transmits the information about the movement trajectory to the controller 14, and the controller 14 sequentially reads vibration pattern data from the storage unit 13 according to the movement trajectory. The vibration may be transmitted to the vibration generator 15 to generate vibration.

That is, when the user touches the number '5' button 211, the vibration pattern data corresponding to the number '5' button 211 is read and transmitted to the vibration generator 15 to generate the vibration. Let's do it. When the user touches the frame region 213, the vibration pattern data corresponding to the frame region 213 is read and transmitted to the vibration generator 15 to generate the vibration. When the user touches the number '4' button 212, the vibration pattern data corresponding to the number '4' button 212 is read and transmitted to the vibration generator 15 to generate the vibration.

Since each area of the touch button 21 is set to different vibration pattern data, the user can identify a desired button by dragging the touch button 21 without directly looking at the touch button 21.

The touch button vibration control method of the present invention described above may be produced as a program for execution in a computer and stored in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium includes all kinds of storage devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, and the like.

On the other hand, the touch button vibration control method of the present invention described above is used in a mobile terminal, a multimedia player such as a portable multimedia player (PMP), a mobile terminal such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), and an electronic product such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and a TV. It may be implemented by hardware or software.

The touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention may be implemented in various types of mobile terminals. For example, the touch button vibration control device 1 described herein includes a mobile phone, a smart phone, a notebook computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a portable multimedia player (PMP). ), A mobile terminal such as navigation.

7 is a structural block diagram of a mobile terminal 100 provided with the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention.

The illustrated mobile terminal 100 includes a wireless communication unit 110, an A / V input unit 120, a detection unit 12, a sensing unit 140, an output unit 150, a storage unit 13, The interface unit 170, the controller 14, and the power supply unit 190 may be included. 7 illustrates a mobile terminal having various components. However, not all illustrated components are essential components. The mobile terminal may be implemented by more components than the illustrated components, or the mobile terminal may be implemented by fewer components.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in turn.

The wireless communication unit 110 may include one or more components for wireless communication between the mobile terminal 100 and the wireless communication system or wireless communication between the mobile terminal 100 and a network in which the mobile terminal 100 is located. For example, the wireless communication unit 110 may include a broadcast receiving module 111, a mobile communication module 112, a wireless internet module 113, a short range communication module 114, a location information module 115, and the like. .

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives a broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management server through a broadcast channel. The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel and a terrestrial channel. The broadcast management server may mean a server that generates and transmits a broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information or a server that receives a previously generated broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information and transmits the same to a terminal. The broadcast related information may mean information related to a broadcast channel, a broadcast program, or a broadcast service provider. The broadcast signal may include not only a TV broadcast signal, a radio broadcast signal, and a data broadcast signal, but also a broadcast signal having a data broadcast signal combined with a TV broadcast signal or a radio broadcast signal.

Meanwhile, the broadcast related information may be provided through a mobile communication network, and in this case, may be received by the mobile communication module 112.

The broadcast related information may exist in various forms. For example, it may exist in the form of Electronic Program Guide (EPG) of Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) or Electronic Service Guide (ESG) of Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H).

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives broadcast signals using various broadcasting systems, and in particular, digital multimedia broadcasting-terrestrial (DMB-T), digital multimedia broadcasting-satellite (DMB-S), and media forward link (MediaFLO). Digital broadcast signals can be received using digital broadcasting systems such as only), digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H), integrated services digital broadcast-terrestrial (ISDB-T), and the like. Of course, the broadcast receiving module 111 is configured to be suitable for all broadcast systems providing broadcast signals as well as the digital broadcast system described above.

The broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information received through the broadcast receiving module 111 may be stored in the storage unit 13.

In addition, the mobile communication module 112 transmits and receives a radio signal with at least one of a base station, an external terminal, and a server on a mobile communication network. The wireless signal may include various types of data according to transmission and reception of a voice call signal, a video call call signal, or a text / multimedia message.

The wireless internet module 113 refers to a module for wireless internet access, and the wireless internet module 113 may be internal or external.

The short range communication module 114 refers to a module for short range communication. As a short range communication technology, Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Ultra Wideband (UWB), ZigBee, and the like may be used.

In addition, the location information module 115 is a module for checking or obtaining the location of the mobile terminal. One example is the Global Position System (GPS) module. The GPS module receives location information from a plurality of satellites. Here, the location information may include coordinate information represented by latitude and longitude. For example, the GPS module can measure the exact time and distance from three or more satellites and accurately calculate the current position by triangulating three different distances. A method of obtaining distance and time information from three satellites and correcting the error with one satellite may be used. In particular, the GPS module can obtain not only the location of latitude, longitude, and altitude but also accurate time together with three-dimensional speed information from the location information received from the satellite.

Meanwhile, the A / V input unit 120 is for inputting an audio signal or a video signal, and may include a camera 121 and a microphone 122. The camera 121 processes image frames such as still images or moving images obtained by the image sensor in the video call mode or the photographing mode. The processed image frame may be displayed on the display unit 11.

The image frame processed by the camera 121 may be stored in the storage 13 or transmitted to the outside through the wireless communication unit 110. Two or more cameras 121 may be provided according to the configuration aspect of the terminal.

The microphone 122 receives an external sound signal by a microphone in a call mode, a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, etc., and processes the external sound signal into electrical voice data. The processed voice data may be converted into a form transmittable to the mobile communication base station through the mobile communication module 112 and output in the call mode. The microphone 122 may implement various noise removing algorithms for removing noise generated in the process of receiving an external sound signal.

The detector 12 generates input data for controlling the operation of the terminal by the user, and in the present invention, information including a touch area. The detector 12 may be configured of a key pad dome switch, a touch pad (constant voltage / capacitance), a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like. In particular, when the touch pad has a mutual layer structure with the display unit 11 described later, this may be referred to as a touch screen.

The vibration generator 15 receives the driving power from the outside to generate an electromagnetic force and generates vibration using the electromagnetic force. The vibration generator 15 may be mounted near the detector 12 so that when a user of the mobile terminal performs a specific input through the detector 12, the vibration generator 15 may generate vibration to provide tactile feedback to the user. have.

The sensing unit 140 detects a current state of the mobile terminal 100 such as an open / closed state of the mobile terminal 100, a location of the mobile terminal 100, presence or absence of a user contact, orientation of the mobile terminal, acceleration / deceleration of the mobile terminal, and the like. To generate a sensing signal for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal 100 is in the form of a slide phone, it may sense whether the slide phone is opened or closed. In addition, it is responsible for sensing functions related to whether the power supply unit 190 is supplied with power or whether the interface unit 170 is coupled to an external device.

The interface unit 170 serves as an interface with all external devices connected to the mobile terminal 100. For example, wired / wireless headset ports, external charger ports, wired / wireless data ports, memory card ports, ports for connecting devices with identification modules, audio input / output (I / O) ports, Video I / O (Input / Output) port, earphone port, etc. may be included.

Here, the identification module is a chip that stores various types of information for authenticating the use authority of the mobile terminal 100, and includes a user identification module (UIM) and a subscriber identify module (SIM). ), A Universal Subscriber Identity Module (“USIM”), and the like. In addition, the device equipped with the identification module (hereinafter, 'identification device') may be manufactured in the form of a smart card. Therefore, the identification device may be connected to the terminal 100 through a port. The interface unit 170 receives data from an external device or receives power and transmits the data to each component inside the mobile terminal 100 or transmits the data inside the mobile terminal 100 to an external device.

The output unit 150 is for outputting an audio signal, a video signal, or an alarm signal. The output unit 150 may include a display unit 11, a sound output module 152, an alarm unit 153, and the like.

The display unit 11 displays and outputs information processed by the mobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal is in a call mode, a user interface (UI) or a graphic user interface (GUI) related to a call is displayed. When the mobile terminal 100 is in a video call mode or a photographing mode, the mobile terminal 100 displays a photographed and / or received image, a UI, or a GUI.

Meanwhile, as described above, when the display unit 13 and the touch pad form a mutual layer structure to form a touch screen, the display unit 11 may be used as an input device in addition to the output device. The display unit 11 includes a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, a flexible display, and a three-dimensional display (3D). display). In addition, two or more display units 11 may exist according to the implementation form of the mobile terminal 100. For example, an external display unit (not shown) and an internal display unit (not shown) may be simultaneously provided in the mobile terminal 100.

The sound output module 152 outputs audio data received from the wireless communication unit 110 or stored in the storage unit 13 in a call signal reception, a call mode or a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, and a broadcast reception mode. In addition, the sound output module 152 outputs a sound signal related to a function (eg, a call signal reception sound, a message reception sound, etc.) performed in the mobile terminal 100. The sound output module 152 may include a speaker, a buzzer, and the like.

The alarm unit 153 outputs a signal for notifying occurrence of an event of the mobile terminal 100. Examples of events occurring in the mobile terminal include call signal reception, message reception, and key signal input. The alarm unit 153 may output a signal for notifying occurrence of an event in a form other than an audio signal or a video signal. For example, the signal may be output in the form of vibration. When a call signal is received or a message is received, the alarm unit 153 may output a vibration to inform this. Alternatively, when a key signal is input, the alarm unit 153 may output a vibration in response to the key signal input. Through the vibration output as described above, the user can recognize the occurrence of the event. Of course, the signal for notification of event occurrence may be output through the display unit 11 or the voice output module 152.

The storage unit 13 may store a program for processing and controlling the control unit 14, and a function for temporarily storing input / output data (for example, a phone book, a message, a still image, a video, etc.). You can also do

The storage unit 13 may include a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory), Random Access Memory (RAM) Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM) magnetic memory, Magnetic disk It may include at least one type of storage medium of the optical disk. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 may operate a web storage that performs a storage function of the storage unit 150 on the Internet.

And the control unit 14 typically controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal. For example, perform related control and processing for voice calls, data communications, video calls, and the like. In addition, the controller 14 may include a multimedia module 181 for multimedia playback. The multimedia module 181 may be implemented in the controller 14 or may be implemented separately from the controller 14.

The power supply unit 190 receives an external power source and an internal power source under the control of the controller 14 to supply power for operation of each component.

The various embodiments described herein may be implemented in a computer readable recording medium using, for example, software, hardware or a combination thereof.

According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein include application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like. It may be implemented using at least one of processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, and electrical units for performing the functions. It may be implemented by the controller 14.

In a software implementation, embodiments such as procedures or functions may be implemented with separate software modules that allow at least one function or operation to be performed. The software code may be implemented by a software application written in a suitable programming language. In addition, the software code may be stored in the storage unit 13 and executed by the control unit 14.

Although the present invention has been described through the above embodiments, the above embodiments are merely intended to illustrate the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications may be made to the embodiments described above. The scope of the invention is defined only by the interpretation of the appended claims.

1 is a block diagram of a touch button vibration control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are exemplary views in which the touch button vibration control device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention displays a touch button composed of a plurality of areas.

3 is an exemplary view for explaining how the user uses a portable terminal equipped with the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention.

4 is a graph illustrating a change pattern of vibration pattern data corresponding to a plurality of key areas according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5A to 5C are exemplary views illustrating a state of the touch button 21 displayed by the display unit 11 of the touch button vibration control device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a touch button vibration control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a structural block diagram of a mobile terminal 100 provided with the touch button vibration control device 1 of the present invention.

Claims (14)

A display unit displaying a touch button composed of a plurality of areas; A detector detecting whether the user touches the touch button; A storage unit which stores a plurality of vibration pattern data corresponding to a plurality of areas of the touch button; A controller configured to read the vibration pattern data corresponding to a touch area of a user and to transmit the read vibration pattern data to a vibration generator; And A vibration generator for generating vibrations according to the received vibration pattern data; Touch button vibration control device comprising a. The method of claim 1, The plurality of areas of the touch button includes a plurality of key areas for inputting numbers, letters or symbols and a frame area surrounding the plurality of key areas. The method of claim 1, The vibration pattern data includes at least one of frequency data, amplitude data and phase data. The method of claim 1, The detection unit detects a coordinate value of the touch area of the user and transmits the coordinate value to the control unit, The storage unit stores the vibration pattern data by dividing a plurality of areas of the touch button by coordinate values. And the control unit reads the vibration pattern data corresponding to the received coordinate value. The method of claim 2, And the vibration pattern data corresponding to the plurality of key areas is configured to change the vibration pattern constantly according to a separation distance about a specific key area. The method of claim 2, The plurality of key regions includes a first key region and a second key region, The display unit alternately displays the first key region and the second key region, The storage unit is configured to store first vibration pattern data corresponding to the first key region, second vibration pattern data corresponding to the second key region, and frame region vibration pattern data corresponding to the frame region. . The method of claim 1, The detection unit further detects a user drag to the touch button, And the control unit reads the vibration pattern data corresponding to the drag area of the user in order according to the drag, and transmits the read vibration pattern data to the vibration generator. Displaying a touch button composed of a plurality of areas; Detecting whether the user touches the touch button; Reading out the vibration pattern data corresponding to the touch area of the user from the plurality of vibration pattern data stored corresponding to the plurality of areas of the touch button; And Transmitting the read vibration pattern data to a vibration generator to generate vibration in accordance with the read vibration pattern data; Touch button vibration control method comprising a. The method of claim 8, The detecting whether the user touches includes detecting a coordinate value of the touch area of the user, The reading of the vibration pattern data may include reading the vibration pattern data corresponding to the detected coordinate value. The method of claim 8, The plurality of areas of the touch button includes a plurality of key areas for inputting numbers, letters or symbols and a frame area surrounding the plurality of key areas. The method of claim 10, And the vibration pattern data corresponding to the plurality of key areas is configured to change the vibration pattern constantly according to a separation distance about a specific key area. The method of claim 10, The plurality of key regions includes a first key region and a second key region, The displaying of the touch button may include alternately displaying the first key area and the second key area. The reading of the vibration pattern data may include reading first vibration pattern data stored corresponding to the first key region, second vibration pattern data stored corresponding to the second key region, and frame region vibration pattern data stored corresponding to the frame region. And reading the vibration pattern data corresponding to the touch area of the user. The method of claim 8, The detecting whether the user touches further includes detecting a drag of the user with respect to the touch button. The reading of the vibration pattern data may further include reading out vibration pattern data corresponding to the drag area of the user in order according to dragging. A recording medium on which a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13 is recorded on a computer.

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