Mobile terminal and method for operating the mobile terminal
| Title: | Mobile terminal and method for operating the mobile terminal |
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| Patent Number: | 8,935,637 |
| Publication Date: | January 13, 2015 |
| Appl. No: | 13/155277 |
| Application Filed: | June 07, 2011 |
| Abstract: | A mobile terminal and a method for operating the mobile terminal are provided. The method senses touch of the mobile terminal in a predetermined mode and senses movement of the mobile terminal upon determining that the mobile terminal has been gripped based on the touch and then changes the mode of the mobile terminal according to the predetermined mode and the movement of the mobile terminal. This method enhances user convenience since it is possible to change the mode of the mobile terminal through movement of the mobile terminal while the mobile terminal is gripped. |
| Inventors: | Kim, Cheegook (Seoul, KR); Kim, Jungwhan (Seoul, KR); Kwak, Haengchul (Seoul, KR); Lim, Gukchan (Seoul, KR) |
| Assignees: | LG Electronics Inc. (Seoul, KR) |
| Claim: | 1. A method for operating a mobile terminal, the method comprising: sensing, by a touch sensor of the mobile terminal, touch of the mobile terminal in a sleep mode; changing a mode of the mobile terminal from the sleep mode to an active mode when a first threshold time elapses after the mobile terminal has been gripped by a user touching the mobile terminal that is in the sleep mode, a motion sensor of the mobile terminal being activated; sensing, by the activated motion sensor, movement of the gripped mobile terminal; determining that a current mode is a first mode and changing the mode of the mobile terminal from the first mode to a second mode according to the first mode and the sensed movement when the sensed movement corresponds to a specific type of movement stored in a memory of the mobile terminal; and deactivating the motion sensor when the mobile terminal has been ungripped, wherein the specific type of movement of the mobile terminal, resulting in the change of the mode from the first mode to the second mode, is pre-set by: receiving a first input for selecting the first mode; receiving a second input for selecting the second mode; detecting the specific type of movement of the mobile terminal to be associated with the selected first mode and second mode, the specific type of movement generated by actual movement of the mobile terminal and sensed by the motion sensor; and storing, in the memory, the specific type of movement of the mobile terminal associated with the mode change from the first mode to the second mode such that the mode change is performed in response to a movement corresponding to the specific type of movement. |
| Claim: | 2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein gripping the mobile terminal comprises touching at least one side surface of the mobile terminal. |
| Claim: | 3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising changing the mode of the mobile terminal back to the sleep mode when a second threshold time elapses without occurrence of any event while the mobile terminal is gripped. |
| Claim: | 4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first mode is a standby mode and the second mode is a camera mode; and the sensed movement of the mobile terminal includes rotation of the mobile terminal from a first direction to a second direction. |
| Claim: | 5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first mode is a call connecting mode and the second mode is a connected call mode; and the sensed movement of the mobile terminal includes rotation of the mobile terminal from a first direction to a second direction. |
| Claim: | 6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first mode is a message creation mode and the second mode is a standby mode, the sensed movement of the mobile terminal includes rotation of the mobile terminal from a first direction to a second direction; and a message created in the message creation mode is transmitted to an external device before the mode of the mobile terminal is changed from the message creation mode to the standby mode. |
| Claim: | 7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first mode is a standby mode and the second mode is an augmented reality mode; and the sensed movement of the mobile terminal includes rotation of the mobile terminal by 360 degrees. |
| Claim: | 8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: the first mode is an application execution mode and the second mode is a standby mode; the sensed movement of the mobile terminal includes a rotation of the mobile terminal from a first direction to a second direction; and an application executed during the application execution mode is terminated before the mode of the mobile terminal is changed from the application execution mode to the standby mode. |
| Claim: | 9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising changing a current function performed by the mobile terminal to a different function upon determining that the mobile terminal has been gripped. |
| Claim: | 10. A mobile terminal comprising: a main body; a touch sensor configured to sense touch of the main body in a sleep mode; a motion sensor configured to sense movement of the main body; a memory configured to store information; and a controller configured to: change a mode of the mobile terminal from the sleep mode to an active mode when a first threshold time elapses after the mobile terminal has been gripped by a user touching the mobile terminal that is in the sleep mode, the motion sensor being activated to sense the movement of the main body; determine that a current mode is a first mode and change the mode of the mobile terminal from the first mode to a second mode according to the first mode and the sensed movements when the sensed movement corresponds to a specific type of movement stored in the memory; and deactivate the motion sensor when the mobile terminal has been ungripped, wherein the controller is further configured to pre-set the specific type of movement of the mobile terminal, resulting in change from the first mode to the second mode, by: recognizing a first input for selecting the first mode; recognizing a second input for selecting the second mode; detecting the specific type of movement of the mobile terminal to be associated with the selected first mode and second mode, the specific type of movement generated by actual movement of the mobile terminal and sensed by the motion sensor; and storing, in the memory, the specific type of movement of the mobile terminal associated with the mode change from the first mode to the second mode such that the mode change is performed in response to a movement corresponding to the specific type of movement. |
| Claim: | 11. The mobile terminal according to claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine that the main body has been gripped upon receiving a sensing result from the touch sensor, the sensing result indicating that the touch has been received at at least one side surface of the main body. |
| Claim: | 12. The mobile terminal according to claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to change the mode of the mobile terminal back to the sleep mode when a second threshold time elapses without occurrence of any event while the mobile terminal is gripped. |
| Claim: | 13. The mobile terminal according to claim 10 , wherein: the first mode is a standby mode and the second mode is a camera mode; and the movement sensed by the motion sensor includes rotation of the mobile terminal from a first direction to a second direction. |
| Claim: | 14. The mobile terminal according to claim 10 , wherein: the first mode is a standby mode and the second mode is an augmented reality mode; and the movement sensed by the motion sensor includes rotation of the mobile terminal by 360 degrees. |
| Claim: | 15. The mobile terminal according to claim 10 , wherein the touch sensor comprises a capacitive sensor. |
| Claim: | 16. The mobile terminal according to claim 15 , wherein the main body includes a first key connected to a transmitting terminal of the capacitive sensor and a second key connected to a receiving terminal of the capacitive sensor. |
| Claim: | 17. The mobile terminal according to claim 10 , further comprising a speaker, a microphone, and a display, wherein: the first mode is a call connecting mode entered upon receiving a call signal from an external device and the display displays a screen corresponding to the call connecting mode; the second mode is a connected call mode in which an audio signal received from the external device is output through the speaker and an audio signal received via the microphone is transmitted to the external device; and no user input, except for the movement of the main body, is received to change the mode from the first mode to the second mode. |
| Current U.S. Class: | 715/863 |
| Patent References Cited: | 4970819 November 1990 Mayhak 5668880 September 1997 Alajajian 6321478 November 2001 Klebes 6968216 November 2005 Chen et al. 2004/0140883 July 2004 Jalil et al. 2005/0100147 May 2005 Naick et al. 2005/0134718 June 2005 Honda 2005/0219210 October 2005 Leland et al. 2006/0101694 May 2006 Matteson 2007/0054651 March 2007 Farmer et al. 2007/0162937 July 2007 Casement et al. 2007/0177804 August 2007 Elias et al. 2007/0200734 August 2007 Lee et al. 2008/0071559 March 2008 Arrasvuori 2008/0115072 May 2008 Lu 2009/0051648 February 2009 Shamaie et al. 2009/0197635 August 2009 Kim et al. 2009/0205041 August 2009 Michalske 2010/0123664 May 2010 Shin et al. 2010/0167787 July 2010 Weisbrod 2010/0197352 August 2010 Runstedler et al. 2010/0292945 November 2010 Reynolds et al. 2011/0018817 January 2011 Kryze et al. 2011/0066984 March 2011 Li 2011/0151841 June 2011 Zhang 2011/0167391 July 2011 Momeyer et al. 2011/0175816 July 2011 Shin 2012/0017148 January 2012 Watt et al. |
| Primary Examiner: | Chu, David H |
| Attorney, Agent or Firm: | Lee, Hong, Degerman, Kang & Waimey |
| Accession Number: | edspgr.08935637 |
| Database: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| Language: | English |
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